Chapter two hundred and sixty-two: the anxiety of the concubine
As one of the only six remaining imperial palaces in the Ming Dynasty, the British Imperial Palace has a profound heritage and extraordinary charm.
However, since the death of the old British Duke Zhang Fu, the palace has been in chaos for a while because of the British Duke's title.
Fortunately, in the end, the second and third masters of the mansion came forward to report to the court. On the grounds that the eldest son Zhang Zhong was ill, the title was finally transferred to the second son Zhang Mao.
However, because the newly-appointed Duke is only eight years old now, his two uncles are in charge of all affairs of the British government.
Logically speaking, given his age, it should have been Zhang Shi, the second wife, who made the decision, but in fact this was not the case.
Passing the title to Zhang Mao, his youngest son, was Zhang Fu's decision long before his death.
The old man only had this young son when he was nearly sixty years old. Naturally, he had to consider who should take up the important role in the British government for him once he passed away and the young son had not yet grown up.
He chose Zhang Fu from Sanfang!
On the one hand, it was because Zhang Fu himself had military merit and had participated in the Battle of Luchuan and the battle to quell the Miao Rebellion, which made it easier for him to gain a foothold in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion.
On the other hand, it was also to prevent Zhang Mao from being attempted to seize his title in the future.
After all, the third bedroom is the third bedroom. Even if the old man is gone and Zhang Fu gets the power of the British government, if he wants to seek a title, he must first get rid of the second bedroom, which is too difficult.
Based on these considerations, when making arrangements, the old man directly arranged Zhang Fu to the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion, and arranged Zhang Min to the Jingwei Commander's Office.
Sure enough, during the civil war, my husband unfortunately died.
Relying on the friendship he had established at the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion and other dignitaries' mansions, Zhang Fu naturally inherited the political legacy of the British Crown Prince and stepped in to stabilize the situation.
Not only that, the third master also coaxed his second brother around so that Zhang Shi had no objection to him coming to take charge of the Duke's palace, which shows his clever methods.
The sun slanted across the sky and began to slide down to the west.
In the backyard of the British government palace, Zhang Shi had no time to change out of his official uniform. Under the guidance of his servants, he hurried to a warm pavilion.
When he opened the door and took a look, his third brother and another person were sitting opposite each other. The tea cups on the table were already cold, so they had obviously been waiting for a while.
After ordering people to guard the outside, Zhang Xi strode in and said:
"Third brother, Prince Consort, you are so anxious to call me back, but something happened?"
In the Nuan Pavilion, the person sitting opposite Zhang Fu was none other than the prince-in-law, Jiao Jing, who had been idle for a long time.
Zhang Fu didn't say anything. He stood up and led Zhang Min to sit down. Fang turned his attention to Yijiao Jing and said.
"Prince-in-law, what's the matter? Can you tell me now?"
Others don't know it, but Zhang Shi knows it.
This prince-in-law seems to have no job and is light-hearted now, but in fact, he is an important figure in the relationship between his relatives and the palace.
At the beginning, Li Xian led a group of descended generals and noblemen, and while the title of the British Duke was still undecided, he secretly conspired with King Tan and leaned on the lap of the current emperor.
Even the empress dowager and empress dowager in the palace became alienated from their relatives.
There has always been a deep gap between the Jingnan lineage and the Jiangjiang lineage, and it's not just as simple as dislike of each other.
Today, I value the Jingnan lineage, and at one time I secured two governorships for them in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, and also took away the capital camp.
These were originally the sphere of influence of the British government.
Not to mention, now he is still supporting a grand duke.
The struggle within the clan is no weaker than that of the civil servants.
The rise of the Jingnan lineage was actually usurping the authority of the British government.
Therefore, to regain these powers, they can only rely on the Queen Mother of the Supreme Saint in the palace, and His Majesty the Supreme Emperor who is still in Yibei.
However, because of the betrayal of Li Xian and others during the great court meeting, the Empress Dowager Shangsheng in the palace had already become suspicious of Xunqi.
It was this Consort Jiao who used his status as the Supreme Emperor's confidant to make peace with the Shangsheng Emperor and the Empress Dowager, which promoted internal and external cooperation.
Since then, the consort, like Jin Ying, has become a matchmaking figure between the two parties.
Seeing that everyone was here, Jiao Jing looked around and spoke.
"I came here today because of two things."
"The first thing is the future dealings with the palace. I can no longer be responsible for it. After Jin Ying was sent to Nanjing, I went to the palace too frequently, and I was afraid that someone would see the flaw."
As he spoke, Jiao Jing frowned, looking a little uneasy, and said.
"In the matter of Dongchang, although Yang Shan said that the person died without finding anything, I sent people to search several nearby mass graves, but there was no trace. Is Shu Liang's words true or false?
I’m afraid I’ll have to investigate further.”
"Also last time in Tingju, although Jinyiwei said that they notified the Ministry of War in advance before sending people to track Shi Pu, but about this matter, our people buried in Jinyiwei had no news in advance."
"So I think Jin Yiwei might be just like Dongchang, and has been completely controlled by that person."
"With these two powerful weapons in hand, we must be more cautious in our subsequent actions."
Zhang Fu nodded and said.
"Yes, this person in the palace is not easy to deal with, especially Dongchang, who is pervasive. Although we have made preparations, we still have to be careful."
With that said, Zhang Fu sighed and said: "It's a pity that Eunuch Jin, without him, the Holy Mother will have no eunuchs available to communicate with the inside and outside. After all, you are a relative, and you are likely to attract attention if you enter the palace too frequently."
A trace of sadness flashed across Jiao Jing's brows, and he said, "What the second master said is true, but the most urgent task right now is to find someone to replace me."
After a brief pause, Jiao Jing turned to Zhang Xi and asked.
"Third Master, how is the progress over there?"
Zhang Min shook his head when he heard this.
He now serves in the Beijing Guards Command and Envoy Department, and he can be regarded as dealing with the Imperial Palace.
Although he could not enter the inner palace, he could still come into contact with some palace maids and eunuchs from time to time. Therefore, he was also trying to win over these people and deliver news to them.
Zhang Xi sighed.
"This matter is not easy to handle. The Holy Mother originally liked Cao Jixiang and planned to let him pretend to seek refuge with Cheng Jing, but she never thought that that person would be so ruthless and put Cao Jixiang on death row just because of his slight involvement with Wang Zhen.
He was charged with treason."
"After Eunuch Jin left, the high-ranking eunuchs who were able to come and go freely in the palace were basically promoted by Jingyang Palace. I dare not recruit them rashly."
"I have tried to win over some eunuchs who can regularly enter and leave the palace to purchase goods, but the time is too short and they are not trustworthy enough. If I hand over the matter to them and then betray them, it will be over."
"This matter takes time. After waiting for a long time, they have some control in our hands before they dare to trust them. So for a while, I don't have much manpower available here."
"this……"
Jiao Jing also felt very troubled.
Although the Queen Mother of the Shangsheng Emperor has now retired to the deep palace, she devotes most of her energy to educating the Prince.
But there is no doubt that if they want to plan to bring back the Emperor, they need to be informed of many things and even obtain the consent of the Queen Mother.
After all, they need to borrow her old man's banner in order to carry out activities in the outer court.
But now, Jin Ying has gone to Nanjing, and Jiao Jing, as a relative, frequently visits the palace and is too conspicuous, so the transfer of information from inside and outside has become a problem.