Wu Chengsi was walking on the palace avenue. As he walked, Shangguan Wan'er asked Shangguan Wan'er about her current life.
Shangguan Wan'er tilted her head and said: "My lord, don't you ask me what the Queen wants you to do?"
"No need to ask, it must be about the punishment of He Lanmin's brother and sister. My aunt wants to see if I have any objections!" Wu Chengsi wrote lightly.
Shangguan Wan'er lowered her head and praised in a low voice: "You are so smart."
Wu Chengsi glanced at her and asked curiously: "Why don't you look happy?"
Shangguan Wan'er said with a smile: "No." She turned around and glanced at the eunuch and the maid behind her, leaned into his ear, and whispered: "My lord, from now on I will regularly report to you all the affairs of the queen.
.”
Wu Chengsi was stunned for a moment, then looked back and said in a lowered voice: "Why do you want to report it to me?"
"Isn't it just for this purpose that you asked me to serve the Queen?" Shangguan Wan'er blinked.
Wu Chengsi's eyes widened, and Shangguan Wan'er looked at him quietly. After a long time, Wu Chengsi said numbly: "How old are you this year?"
"Ten, fourteen years old." A faint blush appeared on Shangguan Wan'er's cheeks.
"It doesn't look like it, but I think your mental age is probably more than twenty years old." Wu Chengsi said angrily.
Shangguan Wan'er reacted for a while before vaguely understanding the meaning of his words. She lowered her head, looking aggrieved.
"Okay, okay, I'm just joking, don't be angry." Wu Chengsi said hurriedly.
Shangguan Wan'er said quietly: "My lord, Wan'er has been looking forward to growing up early so that she can protect her mother since she was a child. You said that I am twenty years old, but I feel happy in my heart."
Wu Chengsi felt sad in his heart and said: "Good boy, the hard days are over. No one will bully you in the future."
Shangguan Wan'er's eyes turned red, and she lowered her head in a hurry. After a moment of silence, she whispered: "From now on, I will write you a note every half month to record your daily affairs, and you will send a secret message
Someone comes to the maid to get it. Even if the maid is exposed, you are still safe."
"What are you always thinking about in your little head?" Wu Chengsi stroked his forehead with a helpless expression.
Shangguan Wan'er raised her head with a puzzled expression.
Wu Chengsi said patiently: "Wan'er, you have to remember that from now on, as long as you are in this palace wall, you must think of the Queen wholeheartedly and share your worries. Only in this way can you protect yourself and your mother.
,Understand?"
Shangguan Wan'er looked at him quietly for a while and nodded lightly.
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "This is a good boy. Okay, let's leave quickly."
Arriving outside the main hall, after Wu Chengsi entered the hall, Shangguan Wan'er looked at the four palace maids and eunuchs behind her, and said calmly: "No one is allowed to spread rumors about Duke Wu's visit to Ye Yuqiu, or I will tear him to pieces.
Do you understand what he said?" At such a young age, he has quite a ruthless temperament.
"Slave, you obey!" the four of them said in unison.
When Wu Chengsi entered the main hall, he saw Wu Mei meeting with officials. He glanced at his highness and saw two men in purple robes standing there, namely Zhongshu Ling Liu Rengui and the Ministry of Civil Affairs Minister Li Yifu.
Liu Rengui had defeated the Japanese army in the naval battle at Baijiangkou a few years ago. Wu Chengsi respected him very much and saluted him. Liu Rengui nodded in return when he saw it.
Li Yifu was reporting something to Wu Mei. After listening for a moment, he seemed to be saying: Pei Xingjian, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was reported for corruption, accepting bribes, and buying and selling officials. After detailed investigation, the Ministry of Punishment has obtained conclusive evidence.
Wu Meihan said in a loud voice: "The Ministry of Civil Affairs is a key department in charge of the promotion and promotion of officials across the country. The deputy minister is so bold and reckless. As the chief official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, don't you have no responsibility?"
Li Yifu hurriedly knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "I am guilty."
Wu Mei snorted coldly and said calmly: "That's all, because you have merit in reporting, I will not be punished this time. Liu Qing, please send an order to the Ministry of Punishment, asking them to speed up the trial of Pei Xingjian's case and punish him as soon as possible!"
Liu Rengui cupped his hands and said: "Mother, I think that Minister Pei has always had a good reputation among the people. If he was praised by the people when he was the magistrate of Chang'an County, there may be a hidden reason behind it!"
Wu Mei said coldly: "Liu Qing, are you trying to excuse Pei Xingjian?"
Wu Chengsi knew clearly that Pei Xingjian had always opposed Wu Mei, so Wu Mei wanted to take the opportunity to remove this obstacle. Even if there was a hidden secret in the case, she probably didn't want to know.
Liu Rengui sighed secretly, cupped his hands and said, "Old minister, I don't dare."
"Everyone, go down." Wu Mei waved her hand.
After the two left, she turned her attention to Wu Chengsi and scolded: "Chengsi, you have been in Dali Temple for so long, haven't you heard about Pei Xingjian's corruption? You still need Li Yifu to report the impeachment personally?
Only this palace can know?"
Wu Chengsi didn't know that this could be implicated, so he hurriedly said: "Aunt, my nephew has never heard of it." He thought to himself: "In history, Pei Xingjian is as famous as Xue Rengui. He is highly regarded and is not expected to be corrupt or bribery."
.As Liu Rengui guessed, there is something hidden behind it, maybe it was Wu Mei who instigated Li Yifu to do it!"
He was currently standing on Wu Zetian's ship. Although he sympathized with Pei Xingjian, he was unwilling to interfere with this matter.
Wu Mei said seriously: "I'm not asking you to go to Dali Temple just to have fun. You must keep your eyes brighter and your ears longer in the future. Do you understand?"
"Nephew, I understand." Wu Chengsi cupped his hands and said.
Wu Mei said lightly: "Okay, come and take a look. This is the result of my palace's handling of He Lanmin's case. What do you think?"
Wu Chengsi went up to the throne table, took the official document from the imperial case, and sighed in his heart after reading it.
Helan Minrou was thrown into the Yeting Palace, and Helan Minzhi was sent to Lingnan. Puhai, Mo Wuxin, Gao Long and other people involved in the case were all executed. Even people like Helan Caozhi, who were only lightly involved in the case, were executed.
It was obviously Wu Mei who was trying to comfort him.
However, the Zheng family's case was concealed, and only the Baiyun'an case was announced.
"Aunt, my nephew doesn't think it's appropriate." Wu Chengsi said in a deep voice.
Wu Mei showed a hint of displeasure on her face and said: "Chengsi, you have to know that in order to convict Helan brother and sister, I almost had a quarrel with the emperor last night. If Helan Minrou is really executed..." At this point,
Her voice became softer: "I'm afraid that he will be too sad and his condition will worsen. What should I do?"
Wu Chengsi was secretly surprised. Looking at her expression, she seemed to really care about Li Zhi's health. From this, it seemed that she would not usurp the throne when Li Zhi was in power.
"Then you can always kill He Lan Minzhi!" Wu Chengsi tried.
"The relationship between his brother and sister is very deep. If Helan Minzhi is killed, Helan Minrou will probably seek death as well."
Wu Chengsi remained speechless.
Wu Mei glanced at him, patted his arm and said: "Chengsi, I know that you have been wronged this time, so don't I compensate you? Let this matter go by like this, okay?"
"My nephew is not sorry for himself, but feels a little guilty because he has caused trouble to the Zheng family."
Wu Mei thought for a moment and said: "Then I will grant a title to the three daughters of the Zheng family. What do you think?"
"Then what do you want?" Wu Mei's voice turned cold.
Wu Chengsi said loudly: "My nephew thinks that the Zheng family's case does not need to be covered up, and it cannot be covered up!"
"Oh, why can't you? Come and listen to me?" Wu Mei said expressionlessly.
Wu Chengsi looked at Xie Yaohuan and others, Wu Mei waved her hand, and Xie Yaohuan led the maids to retreat and closed the door.
Wu Chengsi whispered: "Aunt, what will happen if the Zheng family's affairs are exposed?"
Wu Mei said angrily: "You don't have to ask. For the sake of the position of Zhou Guogong, cousins are fighting against each other and killing dozens of people. The reputation of the Wu family will be affected!"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "Forgive me, nephew, except for you, my Wu family, the reputation of everyone else in the Wu family is not very good. He Lan Minzhi is the mastermind of this incident and has been punished. It will not make our reputation worse.
Already."
Wu Mei stared at him for a moment, her cold face finally lost its strength, she smiled and said: "You don't have to flatter me, I have a worse reputation than you, don't you know that you treat me like me?"
"My aunt is mixedly praised and criticized by the public, unlike us, who are all criticized and not praised at all!" Wu Chengsi said with a smile.
"Okay, don't just pick nice things to say. Is it just for this reason that you can break the pot without worrying about the reputation of the Wu clan?" Wu Mei narrowed her eyes and said.
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "It's not a broken jar. Think about it, aunt. He Lan Minzhi is your nephew. No matter which dynasty you are in, even if a relative of the emperor commits a serious crime, most of the time he will be protected! But you are
If you send him to Lingnan, will the civil and military officials of the court and the people of the world scold you, or will they praise you for your selflessness?"
Wu Mei was stunned for a while, then smiled and said, "You are really getting better and better at talking."
Wu Chengsi said: "This is only one, and the second is that my nephew thinks that the quarrel between you and Your Majesty last night should be spread. Then everyone in the world will know that you have done your best, and the responsibility lies entirely with Your Majesty."
Wu Mei said angrily: "Chengsi, are you trying to sow discord between me and the emperor?"
Wu Chengsi said seriously: "Aunt, to be honest, the responsibility for this matter originally belongs to Your Majesty. Helan Minrou is your niece, but he behaved like this without caring about your feelings at all. He should be punished like this."
Wu Mei looked at him in surprise. After a long time, she sighed: "So you are brooding over this matter. You can feel unfair to my aunt. My aunt is very grateful."
After a moment of silence, he said faintly: "But Chengsi, you don't understand His Majesty's feelings for me. He was suffering from illness and could not manage the country's affairs, so he asked me to help him manage it. This made me unable to serve him distractedly. Later,
He regretted it and wanted me to concentrate on being with him, but I didn't want to. He didn't force me, so he found someone else to take his place. How can I blame him?"
Wu Chengsi was shocked, this was a shocking secret.
Suddenly, a strange idea came into his mind. Could it be that Li Zhi doted on Helan Minzhi so much because she was Wu Mei's niece?