The fragrance of birds lingered in the pavilion, and the sound of the piano was melodious. After bidding farewell to Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng sat alone in the small pavilion, playing the piano and thinking secretly about the strange events in the palace.
The country's affairs are in dire straits, and now among the ministers of the two governments, all of them are Ding Wei's party members.
When Li Xiang (Li Di) was still alive, he still had a helper, but now he is the only coolie supporting him.
If it weren't for the fact that he had a good relationship with Qian Weiyan and Qian Weiyan was involved in it, I'm afraid he wouldn't have been able to escape the fate of being demoted.
"well."
After a while, the sound of the piano suddenly stopped. The more Wang Zeng thought about it, the more depressed he became. Playing the piano was an elegant thing, so naturally he couldn't continue talking because he felt uneasy.
On the other side, Lu Yijian returned to the mansion. As soon as he entered the house, he heard the report from the concierge that his brother-in-law, a direct bachelor of Longtuge and a lecturer on Lu Zongdao, had come to visit.
(As mentioned in the previous article, the direct bachelor of Longtuge is an honorary title for senior civil servants. The minister is the emperor's adviser and belongs to the Hanlin Academy)
"Brother-in-law, why are you here today?"
Walking into the living room, Lu Yijian looked quite surprised when he saw Lu Zongdao.
"well."
Lu Zongdao sighed and looked embarrassed. There were some words that he was really embarrassed to say.
In the court, he was a "straight minister" who dared to argue with the emperor, but he took off his official uniform and returned home.
Just don’t mention it.
In short, he is a different kind of wife-controller.
His wife Lu, who is Lu Yijian's sister, is not that aggressive, but a very gentle woman.
But once it came to some major matters, Lu Zongdao couldn't defend his wife.
Not long ago, the Queen Mother issued an edict that after the death of Gui, she should summon her ministers to the palace to give lectures to the young emperor.
What the Queen Mother meant was that she hoped that officials would not neglect their studies.
Lu Zongdao was one of the list of ministers.
Although he is still concurrently appointed as Quanrenliu Neiquan and is relatively busy with official duties, no matter how busy he is, it is not as important as educating the official family.
(Liunaiquan is one of the official assessment agencies. It is mainly responsible for assessing junior officials, such as county magistrates, etc.)
Therefore, he himself readily accepted the appointment.
But his wife, Lu, had different opinions. Although Lu was a woman, her political vision was not bad.
She suggested that Lu Zongdao should not go to the palace to give lectures, since Liu Neiquan was well known to be busy with official matters.
Using this as an excuse makes it hard for others to say anything.
However, Lu Zongdao didn't think so, so the two had a quarrel.
In the end of the quarrel, Lu Zongdao failed to defend his wife. No, he came to Lu Yijian just to seek help.
It's just that this matter is indeed a bit difficult to talk about, so he hesitates.
"this……"
Not long after, after listening to Lu Zongdao's narration, Lu Yijian couldn't help but feel a little dumbfounded.
In this matter, my sister's approach was indeed inappropriate, but my sister's suggestion was correct.
"Brother-in-law."
Lu Yijian pondered for a moment and organized his words.
"Actually, I am on my sister's side in this matter."
"you……"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Zongdao stood up from his chair and was about to walk away on the spot.
What a good Lu Yijian, helping relatives but not taking care of things! This is it!
"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, don't worry."
Seeing that Lu Zongdao was about to leave, Lu Yijian quickly stood up and grabbed his embroidered robe.
"Brother-in-law, please listen to me slowly."
"I agree with my sister, not because she is my sister, but because of the current situation in the palace."
Lu Yijian knew his brother-in-law very well. He was upright and dared to speak out. If the late emperor was still alive and his brother-in-law went to give lectures in the palace, he would not say anything.
But now the Queen Mother is in power.
Time has changed, and he is worried that his brother-in-law may have said something wrong. If he offends the Queen Mother, how can his brother-in-law live a good life in the future?
The Queen Mother will definitely wear her shoes.
However, Lu Yijian still underestimated Lu Zongdao's stubbornness. Even though he tried to persuade him for a long time, Lu Zongdao still did not let go in the end.
Seeing this, what else could Lu Yijian do?
I can only go back and persuade my sister. The current situation is unclear and the family is uneasy, which is not a good thing.
"Forget it, brother-in-law, since you insist on this, then go to the palace to give lectures. In this way, I will write a letter and explain the pros and cons to my sister carefully."
…
…
The first year of Qianxing, March 13th.
Great Auspicious Day.
Under the guidance of Taichang Liyuan, Li Jie performed a Daxiang sacrifice to Zhenzong. After the ceremony was completed, he changed out of the Xiaoxiang clothes and put on the Daxiang clothes.
Then, all the ministers entered the palace to mourn the late emperor.
A set of tedious memorial ceremonies ended, and it was already afternoon.
The west gate. (a place dedicated to comfort, one of the palace gates connecting the inner and outer dynasties)
Li Jie looked at the ministers not far away with a 'sad' look on his face. Many of the ministers standing in the front row were his acquaintances.
For example, Zhang Shixun, Lu Zongdao, Yan Shu, Feng Yuan, etc. were all his teachers during the East Palace period.
Although they are not yet ranked in the two palaces, they are already senior civil servants. If they can be brought together, it will be a big help.
Among them, Lu Zongdao and Zhang Shixun are both in-laws of Lu Yijian. Although Lu Yijian has not yet been admitted to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, his uncle Lu Mengzheng still has connections.
This power is what Li Jie must strive for.
Secondly, although Feng Yuan was slightly less powerful, he and his teacher Sun Shi (shi four tones) were both famous Confucian scholars and quite prestigious among the scholars.
Another half an hour passed, and the tedious memorial ceremony was finally over.
Li Jie bid farewell to the ministers and returned to the inner court. The chamberlain with him today was not Zhang Maoze, but another Xiaohuangmen.
Zhang Mao was sent by him to the inner east gate, where the ministers comforted the Queen Mother, and most of the internal servants were also there.
I sent Zhang Maoze over so that he could find an opportunity to hand over the tips bag to Lei Yungong.
Inner east gate.
After the memorial ceremony was over, Zhang Mao found an opportunity to get close to Lei Yungong.
Strictly speaking, Lei Yungong can be regarded as a former official of the official family, so it is not too unexpected for Zhang Maoshi to go to Lei Yungong.
"What are you looking for?"
However, Lei Yungong was very unhappy with Zhang Maoze's rash approach to him.
He hasn't forgotten what happened before.
If he hadn't been too busy recently, he would have looked for an opportunity to deal with Zhang Maoze.
"Lei Yaban, the officials asked me to look for you."
As he spoke, Zhang Mao quickly took a look at his surroundings. Seeing that there was no one around, he immediately took out his kit from his arms and presented it with both hands.
"The official asked me to give this to the escort. The official said that this bag can only be opened when it comes into contact with water."
Upon seeing this, Lei Yungong did not take the bag of tips immediately. Instead, he looked at Zhang Maoze with a strange look.
Did this kid take the wrong medicine?
Are you actually messing around with Xiaoguan's family?
Return the gift bag?
If Lei Yungong had been born a few hundred years later, he would probably know the meaning of "a clever trick".
However, this is the Song Dynasty, and he does not know the famous Prime Minister Zhuge, nor does he know the allusion of the clever plan to calm the world.