"Your Majesty! This servant has something to ask for!"
In the middle of the night, there were several cold shouts outside the dormitory, which frightened the guards at the door. They took torches and shined them from a distance. Seeing that it was Manager Shen who was staggering, they quickly walked into the back room. Report to the emperor. When the emperor heard about it, he ordered people to bring Shen Jing here to answer the question.
"Eunuch Shen, you are so old, why do you need to make this trip yourself?" The emperor sat beside the bed, with his dragon robe only on his body, lowered his body slightly, and asked in a caring tone.
Shen was silent. He only took off his hat, revealing his white hair, and kowtowed gently: "Your Majesty, this servant is no longer worthy of this position. Please allow me to be dismissed from office."
The emperor's eyelids twitched: "Are you... threatening me?"
"This servant never dares to threaten the Emperor and is completely sincere to the Emperor. But someone forced me to give up this position. In order to preserve my reputation and fortune, I have no choice but to do this. Please allow your Majesty!"
"You are my slave, who dares to force me?"
Shen Jing replied: "That man is also a chamberlain in the palace. I am afraid that seeing that I am old and frail, he wants to take the opportunity to seize my position as steward."
"Don't hesitate to tell me this person's name!" The emperor was suspicious and angry, and his tone became obviously serious.
"Well, the slave said," Shen Jing pretended to be nervous, his hands were trembling, and his voice was hesitant, "This person is Lu Xinzhong. The slave has always treated him as his own son and left all major matters to him. Unexpectedly, when we met that day, he suddenly mentioned something about Lu Tingci and tried to prevent me from coming to see the emperor, saying that the emperor was troubled by this. But he had not participated in the court discussions a few days ago, so how could he know so much? The slave was convinced. He has something to hide, but none of the servants told me. I am afraid, fearing that they will join forces to plot against me, and I will have no leisure time in my old age..." After saying this, he kept sobbing.
When the emperor heard this, he didn't have any violent reaction. He just took a breath, nodded, and looked at him with a very majestic expression: "What he hid from you should be Ye Yongjia's impeachment of the emperor's uncle."
Shen Jing's eyes were straightened, and his heart suddenly pounded. He immediately understood Lu Xinzhong's purpose. But soon, he also calmed down from the shock.
"Why was the emperor's uncle reported by him?"
"It is said that the emperor's uncle falsely conveyed my orders outside the capital in order to conquer the people, but there is no conclusion yet," the emperor answered his question perfunctorily, obviously focusing on the following words, "but now it seems that there are some You have a good look. Not to mention how Lu Xinzhong got the news of the court meeting, if one of his subordinates can ride on your head, it is already an unforgivable crime!"
He stood up quickly: "Manager Shen, please quickly get a pen and paper. I want to write down an edict with my own hands, asking you to go back and capture Lu Xinzhong first!"
When the situation was tense, Lu Xinzhong certainly did not dare to go out and cause trouble. He only hid in the guest room and inquired about Manager Shen's actions at any time. After hearing that Shen actually sent someone to the accounting room, he became more and more uneasy and immediately stopped. A bright light, together with several confidants, discussed: "The boss is afraid that he is already suspicious, so he uses this trick to test my true and false situation. In the next few days, something unexpected may happen. You should stay with me at all times and do not leave."
The confidants obeyed the order one after another, but Lu Xinzhong felt that it was not safe, so he ordered them all to prepare short-edged weapons. If Shen Jing made an attack, he would be held hostage, and several of his major crimes would be announced, so as to strike first. After the discussion, several people He was sleeping on the floor, not knowing that Shen had secretly met with the emperor.
In the early morning of the next day, Lu Xinzhong and others got up early, drank a few sips of tea, and then urged the imprisoned little eunuch to light a fire and cook. The little eunuch didn't know how to do this, and he had to be beaten and scolded by Lu Xinzhong to figure it out. After a while, a table of dishes was finally prepared for them, as well as the chopsticks.
Lu Xinzhong was chatting and laughing with others, and was about to use chopsticks when he suddenly saw the two door panels in front of him open. A confidant reported in a panic: "Eunuch Lu, Mr. Shen is in his room, asking you to come and see him."
Eunuch Lu and everyone looked at each other in disbelief. He was so frightened that his hands shook and he dropped the pair of chopsticks on the ground.
"Shen, who is next to Mr. Shen?" Eunuch Lu asked as he bent down to pick up the chopsticks.
"He's the only one."
"What?" Lu Xinzhong suddenly raised his head and looked at him with all his attention, "Are you serious? There is no one there?"
"You can see clearly, little one, there's no one else there!"
Lu Xinzhong remained silent, and continued to reach forward and pick up the chopsticks; but there was already a whisper in his ear, and a father-in-law kept chanting: "It's more bad than good, it's bad..."
"Hahaha! Haha..."
Lu Xinzhong suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, stood up from his chair, and said with a smile on his face: "Everyone, how can this be a disaster? We are clearly going to win a big victory! I thought he was actually asking Shen to invite you. Only when someone from the imperial court came did he dare to be so arrogant. Who knows how one soldier can withstand thousands of troops! Now everyone in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is our brother. As long as we go together, we will take off his official uniform. Yes, how could anyone not obey?"
The father-in-laws were overjoyed and all looked at him with admiration: "This is really a chance to survive from a desperate situation!"
"That old dog, I have treated him sincerely for so many years, and yet he repays me like this!" Lu Xinzhong held up the table and took several big mouthfuls of food, with the corners of his mouth full of vegetable dregs. He slightly raised a pair of vicious eyes, "Since he wants to sever ties with me, I must let him die without a burial place to relieve the great hatred in my heart!"
Shen Jing faced the dazzling sun, and the golden light shone on his clothes, making the wrinkles and ravines on his face more conspicuous. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Lu Xinzhong and several tall and round eunuchs. He walked in aggressively.
"Mr. Shen, you called me here because you must want to sever ties with me, right? You have to think about it." Lu Xinzhong took two big steps and came to him with a rough fist.
Shen Jing smiled: "There is no turning back when you shoot the bow."
"Okay!" Shen Jing winked anxiously to both sides.
In an instant, the eunuchs on both sides drew out their daggers and quickly approached Shen Jing's body, with several daggers surrounding his neck.
"Do you dare to kill me?" Shen Jing asked calmly.
"I don't dare to kill you, but I will tie you to the emperor and see how you argue and divide the spoils with Tai Su!"
"Remove the knife." Shen ignored him and turned to look at the other eunuchs. How could they agree? Instead, they tightened their grip on the knife handle.
"I have this thing, but I don't know if it works?"
Shen Jing slowly took out an imperial edict from his arms and waved it in front of their eyes - before he could say anything more, those people dropped their weapons and knelt at his feet.
Lu Xinzhong was stunned on the spot. He did not expect that the party members he had worked so hard to win over would be vulnerable to this will. Only then did he fully understand why Shen dared to indulge himself like that.