The rain in the sky gradually subsided at some point, and by the time I realized it, the sky had completely cleared up.
Only the moisture on the clothes and water stains on the ground left some clues.
Royal Palace.
Outside the Meridian Gate.
Surrounded by hundreds of officials, Emperor Xin and King Cheng were smiling and chatting. Their words were filled with concern and appreciation for each other. To someone who didn't know what was going on, they seemed to be a pair of brothers with deep love and righteousness.
However, no one present was truly stupid.
Seeing King Yu and King Cheng chatting happily, an idea came to everyone's mind.
Posturing.
Di Xin and King Cheng also knew that their actions were fake in the eyes of outsiders, but they had no choice but to do so.
In the eyes of outsiders, the two are half-brothers after all. No matter how fierce they fight in private, their reputation on the surface still needs to be scrupulous.
Even if they want to turn around and stab each other, two people still need to act like brothers and sisters in front of officials.
Of course, this should be King Cheng’s idea.
As for Di Xin, his behavior at this moment was just to temporarily confuse King Cheng for the purpose of planning for the subsequent court meeting.
The two people who didn't mean what they said continued to chat until about three o'clock.
This is also the time when the Great Chao Meeting starts.
With the sound of six bells, the small doors on both sides of the Meridian Gate opened, and all the officials quickly returned to their places.
Di Xin and Cheng Wang finally stopped flattering each other.
"Brother, please."
"Fifth brother, please."
After the voice fell, the two of them stood in front of the officials.
Although many military officers and nobles in the court had already defected to King Cheng, his initial foundation was among the civil servants, so at this moment he was still standing at the forefront of the civil servants as usual.
Although Emperor Xin was not a capital official, his status as King Yu could not allow him to stand behind other officials, so he stood at the forefront of the military attachés.
"All officials come to see you."
The shrill voice of the little eunuch sounded, and the civil and military officials on both sides, headed by King Cheng and Emperor Xin, walked in from the left and right doors of the Meridian Gate respectively.
Then he followed the steps and walked into the main hall.
Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Because the emperor's golden palace is here, it is also called the Golden Palace.
In normal small court meetings, because the number of officials attending court is limited, they usually take place in the side hall of the Jinluan Hall. Only during large court meetings, when all officials in the capital gather, will the larger main hall be chosen.
Today is the weekly imperial meeting.
…
Since ancient times, there have only been ministers waiting for the king, but there has never been a principle of the king waiting for his ministers.
After entering the Jinluan Hall, the officials were divided into civil and military officials in the order they entered, and stood in their own positions according to their rank.
And just when all the officials were standing, the old emperor arrived belatedly.
Di Xin also saw the old emperor for the first time in more than a year since he helped him treat him.
Unlike the way he looked when he was lying on the hospital bed, although the old emperor's face was still a little pale, he no longer felt like he was about to die. When he raised his hands to speculate, the emperor's majesty was vividly displayed.
Walking in front of the Golden Throne, the old emperor secretly glanced at Di Xin, who was standing at the forefront of the generals, and then pretended to be casual and withdrew his gaze and sat down.
The holy face cannot be looked directly at, so no one saw it. There was a trace of surprise in his eyes.
As the saying goes, too many mistakes lead to too many mistakes. In order to prevent leaving too much evidence, the old emperor and Di Xin never met again after discussing the rough plan, and there was almost no secret communication.
Therefore, although he knew that Emperor Xin had arrived in the capital, he did not know that he would come to court today.
But although he was a little surprised, he was not at all panicked.
Although the two did not agree on a time at that time, they had agreed that when Emperor Xin came to Beijing to attend court, that would be the time for their plan to begin.
After sitting down calmly, the eunuch chief standing beside the old emperor also spoke.
"Go to court."
Including Emperor Xin and King Cheng, all the officials of His Highness knelt down.
"Greetings to my emperor, long live my emperor."
The old emperor's old but majestic voice sounded.
"All the ministers are equal!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
There was another roaring sound, and after the officials stood up, they stood like pillars with their eyes lowered.
The old eunuch's voice sounded again.
"When there is something going on, we will start, and when there is nothing going on, we will retreat."
"My son, I have a story to tell!"
…
As Di Xin took a step forward, even in front of the emperor's holy face, a little commotion could not be controlled among the officials.
They had a premonition when His Royal Highness Prince Yu, who had been to Beijing several times before but had never been in court before, appeared outside the Meridian Gate today.
His Royal Highness Prince Yu today must not be acting on a whim.
But they never expected that he would be the first to stand up.
After all, according to convention, whether it is a small court meeting or a large court meeting, the first thing to be dealt with should be the issues that were discussed but unresolved in the court meeting before.
However, conventions are not fixed procedures. Although the officials were a little caught off guard, they didn't say much.
"Crack!"
"quiet!"
The old eunuch waved the whip in his hand, and the sound of breaking through the air suppressed the voices of the officials below the steps.
After all the officials were quiet, the old emperor asked with a hint of surprise: "Xiao Wu, if you don't stay well in Northern Xinjiang, what are you doing back to the capital?"
He said with a slightly scolding tone: "The token I gave you was not meant for you to waste and play with."
However, Di Xin seemed not to have heard anything, and still lowered his head and said: "My son, I am not returning to the capital this time just for fun, but I have something serious to report to my father."
"explain!"
The old emperor's voice contained neither joy nor anger.
All the officials looked at their noses and hearts, all bowed their heads and said nothing.
In their eyes, the emperor didn't like King Yu, but he wasted an opportunity to return to the capital just because he was playful.
As for the matter that His Royal Highness Prince Yu wants to report, they are not very concerned about it.
The imperial court has never withheld supplies from Northern Xinjiang, and officials like them in the capital have always kept a respectful distance from Northern Xinjiang and never interfered with Northern Xinjiang's affairs.
His Royal Highness King Yu is the Dingyuan Marshal of Northern Xinjiang, so the matter of requesting a petition should be related to Northern Xinjiang, so naturally he has little to do with them.
But no one expected that Di Xin's next words would make everyone jump.
"Report to Father."
Emperor Xin raised his hands and said, "My son wants to sue King Cheng for colluding with foreigners and assassinating members of the royal family."
As soon as he said this, everyone was shocked.
The most surprised person seemed to be the man sitting on the golden palace on the steps.
The old emperor suddenly raised his head, his eyes seemed to be filled with light.
"Nonsense."
He said with an unkind expression: "Do you know what you are talking about?"
"My son knows."
Emperor Xin still stood with his hands folded and said calmly: "I want to sue your eldest brother, my father's eldest son, and the current superintendent of the country, His Highness King Cheng.