Kneeling in the palace, Xu Youzhen could clearly feel that the Supreme Emperor was examining him.
His current behavior has a standard term in history, called persuading advancement. As the name suggests, it means persuading a person who is not an emperor to become an emperor.
This kind of behavior is extremely dangerous for a courtier. This danger is not only reflected in the fact that it is almost synonymous with usurping the throne and treason.
More importantly, the danger also comes from the person in front of him. Anyone who can persuade others to move forward is actually talking about the emperor as a minister. This means that he has no respect for the current emperor, or he has no respect for the current emperor.
At least, they are dissatisfied and intend to take substantive actions.
This kind of idea itself is treasonous and unethical. For the Supreme Emperor, having such a subordinate who encourages advancement is both a good thing and a bad thing.
What Xu Youzhen said must be the inner thoughts of the Supreme Emperor, but at the same time, as a minister, spying on the Supreme Emperor's thoughts is very dangerous in itself. What's more important is that Xu Youzhen dared to rebel against the person on the throne today.
, when the Supreme Emperor returns to the throne in the future, if Xu Youzhen is treated harshly in any way, there is no guarantee that he will not repeat his old tricks.
After all, once the awe in people's hearts collapses, it is almost impossible to rebuild it. This is the biggest reason why emperors throughout the dynasties often massacred their heroes.
It’s not just people like Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty who are so talented in martial arts that they can overwhelm a group of arrogant people without relying on others. Other emperors, even the founding kings, if the times create heroes, then they will accompany him from humble beginnings.
Those who rise up are often the biggest threats.
The reason is simply that they fought side by side when they were humble. Therefore, these heroes know best that the person sitting on the throne is not the so-called talented person and the immortal king. At the beginning, he was also
It's just that they are from the same background as them.
If you cannot establish complete awe, and if you do not have the foresight to avoid the situation, it is inevitable that you will be eventually liquidated.
This is the current situation that Xu Youzhen is facing now. What he just said exposed his ambition and also meant that his awe of the imperial power has been reduced to the extreme.
In this case, as the former possessor of imperial power, the attitude of the Supreme Emperor towards him does not just depend on whether he wants to rebel or not...
"Because of your loyalty, I will treat what you just said as if you didn't say it today. Go back. The East Palace is still stable after all. The emperor may have the intention to change the crown prince, but I believe that everyone in the court will not
Just sit back and ignore this, and you can safely assist the East Palace. If you have the opportunity, win over more courtiers and speak for the prince in court."
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Youzhen heard the calm and heavy voice of the Supreme Emperor, which contained a hint of warning, making Xu Youzhen sigh inwardly.
Sure enough, it still doesn’t work!
It should be said that he had expected this result, but when he actually heard these words, he felt depressed.
The Emperor is not stupid. The current situation has not reached the final step yet.
In these words, it was actually revealed that the Supreme Emperor did not have such thoughts. However, as he said, the prince was still in the East Palace after all. No matter how many signs the emperor had of wanting to change the East Palace, they were just signs after all.
As long as the East Palace is not moved, the situation is not unmanageable. Of course, more importantly, both Xu Youzhen and the Supreme Emperor must be very aware that the risks of this matter are extremely high, and the probability of success is very low.
After all, although the Yulin Guards of the Nangong Palace and the young army of the East Palace together are considered a powerful force, compared with the Forbidden Army, they are not even the enemy of Yihe, let alone the fact that the Beijing Camp is still in a strong position.
It was tightly controlled by the emperor's confidant, Jing'an Bo Fan Guang.
The imperial army plus the Beijing camp are enough to suppress all changes that may occur in the capital. If these two forces cannot solve the problem, then the hope of success is extremely slim. Once an incident occurs, it will be a dead end.
Xu Youzhen understood this, and he also knew that the Supreme Emperor must understand it. But in fact, when he came today, he had no intention of provoking the Supreme Emperor to start a rebellion directly. He just wanted to make preparations in advance.
However, the Supreme Emperor's attitude was now more decisive than he imagined, and he directly rejected his proposal.
In the final analysis, I am afraid it is because this matter is too big, and he is not trusted enough by the Supreme Emperor. Otherwise, the Supreme Emperor should at least reveal a hint of his intention to plan.
After all, if you want to do it, there is always a way. Although this kind of thing is risky, it is not completely impossible with proper planning and timing.
However, the Emperor's current attitude clearly shows that he does not trust him enough.
Sighing in his heart, Xu Youzhen did not dare to continue to persuade him, because he knew very well that if he continued to persuade him for this reason, the traces would be too heavy.
However, after hesitating for a moment and holding on to the last glimmer of hope, Xu Youzhen finally spoke.
"I obey the order, but Your Majesty, I am here today and there is one more thing I want to report to Your Majesty..."
"What's up?"
Zhu Qizhen looked at Xu Youzhen, with a hint of dissatisfaction evident in his eyes. Apparently, he felt that Xu Youzhen still wanted to persuade him without giving up. Under such circumstances, he still did so, which was obviously a bit ignorant.
However, unexpectedly, Xu Youzhen did not continue to talk about the East Palace, but opened her mouth.
"I heard before that His Majesty took in eleven empresses from among the palace servants serving in Nangong since he returned to the capital. I wonder if this is true?"
Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen was slightly startled, but soon his expression darkened and he said.
"What do you want to say?"
Obviously, Zhu Qizhen felt that Xu Youzhen, like the annoying censors he met when he was emperor, would make irresponsible remarks about his harem.
Even Zhu Qizhen could predict what he was going to say next, which was nothing more than indulgence in beauty and harming the country and the people.
However, this time, Xu Youzhen once again exceeded his expectations.
I saw that his face was tangled for a long time, and finally, as if he had made up his mind, he spoke.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that I should not interfere with the affairs of the harem. However, a few days ago, I accidentally learned of a matter related to your majesty's harem and involving the heirs of the royal family. I have to report the truth truthfully. Please also ask
Your Majesty, please forgive me."
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Qizhen's expression suddenly changed. He had a vague premonition of something in his heart, and he uttered a word with a calm face.
"explain!"
So, Xu Youzhen took a deep breath and said.
"Your Majesty, I have a fellow countryman who is now serving in the Jiaofang Division. A few days ago, I went to his house to talk about things, and accidentally heard the news that he is currently serving in the Nangong Palace.
, all are allocated from the Jiaofang Department.”
"And these women..."
"Your Majesty, you know that the women in the Jiaofangsi are all registered as lowly. If you want to leave the country, you need the emperor's permission, which is extremely difficult. Although these women are not official prostitutes, they are often used for sex.
To add to the fun, in order to prevent heirs from causing trouble, it will be difficult to deal with, so, so..."
Listening to Xu Youzhen's voice getting lower and lower, Zhu Qizhen also vaguely understood something in his heart. His face was ashen and his voice was trembling a little as he said.
"So what?"
"explain!"
Xu Youzhen felt the anger of her superior, the Supreme Emperor, and lowered her head even further, and said hesitantly.
"I heard that after Your Majesty returned to Beijing, there were many concubines in the palace, but... only Concubine Shu and Concubine Chen were pregnant, and these two empresses were the concubines who had been canonized in the palace before Your Majesty went on the expedition. The others
Although the empress is favored by His Majesty, she has never been pregnant. Based on the information I learned from the fellow countryman, I am afraid that all the empresses in the Nangong who are born in the Jiaofang Division...are...all...difficult to be pregnant."
This is still a bit euphemistic. In fact, it means that these concubines who have been canonized in Nangong in the past two years cannot be pregnant at all.
Even though he had expected it when he finished speaking, Xu Youzhen couldn't help but be a little surprised when there was a "bang" and the sound of broken porcelain.
He quietly looked up and saw that at some point, the Supreme Emperor had suddenly risen from his throne. The exquisite white porcelain tea cup with a dragon ring was still steaming on the royal eucalyptus one moment.
The warm tea fell to pieces on the ground.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
A burst of laughter sounded, with madness and anger that Xu Youzhen had never experienced before, and the Emperor's voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth.
"What a good emperor and my good brother. You really have done a good job! Good! Good!"
Two short sentences, using five good words, but the meaning revealed in the words is obviously completely opposite.
Xu Youzhen lowered her head, not daring to make any expression or movement at all.
He knew very well that with the Emperor's current state, it was possible to do anything.
However, despite being nervous, Xu Youzhen also felt surprised.
You know, although this matter is hateful, since the Supreme Emperor lives in Nangong, although this kind of underhand method cannot be brought to the surface, it is really not something too surprising.
Moreover, the Supreme Emperor already has many heirs. In Xu Youzhen's view, the current Supreme Emperor's most important concern should be the status of His Highness the Crown Prince.
It is precisely for this reason that his focus from beginning to end was on exaggerating the instability of the position of the Crown Prince of the East Palace.
But what he didn't expect was that when so many things came out and the status of the East Palace was already in danger, the Supreme Emperor did not panic at all.
On the contrary, it was the Jiaofangsi incident that, in Xu Youzhen's opinion, was not something that warranted getting angry, but it made the Supreme Emperor so furious...
Just like this, Xu Youzhen felt that the air was filled with the smell of nervousness. He didn't know how long it had been. In short, after a long wait, a small golden knife suddenly appeared in front of him.
The sword was an imperial gift, and the person who sent it was the female official beside the Supreme Emperor. Xu Youzhen felt someone approaching in front of her, raised her head slightly, and saw the golden sword inlaid with gems.
So, he hesitated for a moment, continued to raise his head, and his eyes met the Supreme Emperor who was looking at him. At the same time, the Supreme Emperor's voice sounded, saying.
"Xu Qing, you are right. The East Palace is the foundation of the country, where etiquette, law and righteousness lie. As a descendant of Taizu and the eldest son of the late emperor, how can I sit back and watch those who have bad intentions shake the foundation of the country and ignore them?"
"Today, I give you a golden sword handle. You can inform Zhang Shi and Zhu Yi of my intention. The government of the country needs ministers with humerus to assist the left. The hearts of the people of the country need to be stabilized by a king who protects the foundation.
, since there are young people in the court who want to do evil things, you should shoulder the responsibility of the country and make preparations in advance. If it really comes to a point of no return, you should also help me clean up the evil atmosphere and reset the sacred weapon."
"Do you understand?"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my best and serve you to the best of my ability!"
Xu Youzhen still felt unreal in her heart until she walked out of Nangong with the golden sword in her arms.
What he had spent so much time talking about and failed to accomplish was finally accomplished with such a simple message?
However, in any case, the matter was finally done. Looking back at Nangong, which was still brightly lit, Xu Youzhen frowned, not knowing what she was thinking.
After bidding farewell to Meng Jun, he turned around at the palace gate, got on the sedan chair, and immediately said a few words to the boy next to him. Then, the boy's figure disappeared into the night...
At the same time, after Xu Youzhen left, Zhu Qizhen sat back on the throne, his face still extremely gloomy, but he was not as crazy as what Xu Youzhen saw just now.
The two palace men stepped forward carefully and cleaned up the tea cups that had fallen on the ground. Then, Qi Muge, who was dressed as a female official, stepped forward and offered another cup of tea and said.
"Your Majesty, calm down. Although such a method is despicable, it is not unexpected, is it? You have always been wondering why the emperor treats you so generously in terms of treatment. It seems that this is the reason."
The voice was soft and gentle, and seemed to have the power to soothe people. Zhu Qizhen glanced at her, reached out to take the tea cup, took a sip, his expression softened a lot, and sneered.
"I have known for a long time that my younger brother is extremely cruel, but I didn't expect that he could even do such a despicable thing. It was a waste of time for me, but he actually still cared about brotherly love and didn't want to
I was really blind in the past when I took action against him."
"After you go down, take someone with you to carefully check all the food and utensils in Nangong, especially the small kitchen of me and the Queen. You must be very careful, do you understand?"
After entering Nangong, the things at the entrance of Zhu Qizhen were basically made in the small kitchen. In addition, they had to be tested for poison at least three times. But what he didn't expect was that even so, he still failed.
Be on guard.
His wooden frame bowed his knees and saluted, saying.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I will definitely investigate carefully. However, does your Majesty really trust Mr. Xu?"
"Didn't you say last time..."
Upon hearing Xu Youzhen's name, Zhu Qizhen's originally gloomy expression became a little more confident, and he sneered.
"Xu Youzhen is just a chess piece who thinks he is smart."
"If he hadn't come here today, it would be difficult for me to plan. If I give him this golden sword, I would like to see how many people I can fish out..."