The red building is so arrogant

Chapter 769
[Difficult childbirth, but since I said that I want to restore the 4000-word update, I still gritted my teeth and stayed up all night to code it out. 】

Just when Rongguo Mansion was panicking, Jiao Shun was invited to the palace by the queen again.

The reason was that in the afternoon of this day, the cabinet presented a memorial, the content of which was mainly to criticize the new policy of engineering and learning for being inconsistent with the law of the ancestors, and the Beijing-West Railway was a waste of money and people.

It is not known how many papers like this will be sent to the palace every day. There are many people who scolded more ruthlessly than this, even the queen who is not very involved in political affairs is no longer surprised.

But this memorial still attracted great attention from the palace, and the last memorial was none other than Zhongshun Wang Xu Yan.

In the former, he had already aroused the vigilance of the empress [Concubine Xiande] when he wooed the courtiers during the funeral, and now he made such a memorial for the first time.

Originally, the queen wanted to discuss countermeasures with Concubine Xiande, but she was strongly opposed by Concubine Wu Gui.

All kinds of rumors about Jia Yuanchun have now spread to the palace. Concubine Wu doesn't care much about the "Lu Wu's disaster", and she doesn't believe that Jia Yuanchun can control the government at all.

But the saying of "disturbing the master" made Concubine Wu very taboo. After all, if nothing else happened, her son would be the next master of the family.

With the idea of ​​preferring to believe what she has but not to believe what she doesn't, although she hasn't made it clear that she wants Concubine Xiande to be buried in the Emperor's Mausoleum with her, she has already begun to alienate Jia Yuanchun intentionally or unintentionally.

So when the queen was going to discuss matters with Jia Yuanchun, she resolutely objected and elected Jiao Shun.

To say that the person Wu Guifei and the Empress trust the most is undoubtedly someone Jiao. Firstly, it is because they already have a handle on him, and they have gained a lot of understanding about him; secondly, it is because Jiao Shun's future is basically Tied to death on the prince.

So although the queen was a little worried that calling Jiao Shun frequently would cause criticism, she finally called him into the palace.

The place where they were summoned this time was still in Qianqing Palace, but it was changed to the small hall of the side hall.

After Jiao Shun saw the ceremony, the queen ordered someone to pass the memorial to him through the curtain.

Before Jiao Shun could finish reading the content, the always impatient Concubine Wu Gui rushed to ask, "Lord Jiao, what do you think King Zhongshun is trying to do?"

What do you want to do?
Of course I want to be the Regent!

When courting the courtiers earlier, Jiao Shun didn't dare to be too sure about King Zhongshun's intentions, but this memorial fully exposed King Zhongshun's ambitions.

However, he did not express his conjecture in a hurry, but respectfully said: "This is a matter of the foreign court, please invite the prince here, so that the minister can speak."

The more others underestimated the young prince, the more respect he showed for the prince.

Besides, he is now the Shao Zhan of the Eastern Palace, and it is justified to speak to the prince.

Although these words meant to remind the "harem not to interfere in politics", Concubine Wu Guifei didn't feel offended at all.

"Extremely, extremely!"

Without waiting for the queen to speak, she said eagerly: "It is time to invite the prince!"

Naturally, the queen would not stop her, so she ordered someone to invite the prince over.

Taking this opportunity, the Queen and Concubine Wu talked about the recent investigation results. Although Concubine Rong was wronged by killing herself, after an open and unannounced visit, it was discovered that several cats and dogs had died in succession in Yanxi Palace.

No one cared about it at the time, but looking back now, those cats and dogs all died suddenly without warning.

As a result, Concubine Rong was almost locked as a suspect.

But problems also followed. Because Concubine Rong was suppressed by Concubine Wu Guifei a while ago, it was impossible for Concubine Rong to bypass the heavy blockade to get poison, so when she first suspected her, they all guessed that she probably got it when she was visiting her relatives a while ago. of poison.

But the time when those cats and dogs died suddenly was exactly when she was suppressed and rejected.

So how did the poison get into her hands?

In order to figure this out, Concubine Wu Gui recently used some means on Concubine Rong, but Concubine Rong also knew that once she confessed, not only would she die without a place to bury her, she would also implicate her family.

No matter how tortured and humiliated Wu Guifei was, she still refused to plead guilty.

"I originally wanted to deal with that lowly servant girl, but at that time Concubine Xiande thought that there might be something hidden in it, and suggested to continue to investigate the origin of the poison, so..."

Right at this point, the crown prince walked in with short legs, first met the empress and Concubine Wu respectfully, then saluted Jiao Shun with joy on his face, and asked: "Have you met Mr. Jiao, Mr. Jiao?" , when will you be free to give me another lecture?"

Although precocious, he is only seven years old now.

Jiao Shun chatted with the crown prince for a few words before handing over the memorial to the crown prince for review.

The crown prince took it like a grown-up and tried his best to read it. Although some unfamiliar words were not familiar to him, he still understood the general meaning. He couldn't help scratching his head and said, "Gu Zao knew that many people in the court opposed the New Deal, but I didn't expect my uncle to be like this too. .”

"Your Highness."

Jiao Shun solemnly cupped his hands and said, "I'm afraid the lord handed over this memorial because the opposition to the New Deal is strong enough."

The crown prince obviously didn't understand what this meant, Concubine Wu Gui also looked confused, but the empress seemed to have realized something.

The prince waited for a while, seeing that the queen and Concubine Wu Gui did not speak, he cupped his hands and said, "Please enlighten me, sir."

"The minister dares to speak nonsense."

Jiao Shun returned a salute, and continued to explain: "The Empress has passed away, and now the senior relatives in the immediate branch of the court are loyal to King Shun, and His Highness is still approaching his age..."

"You mean..."

When the queen heard this, she blurted out: "King Zhongshun intends to get involved in the regent position?!"

Concubine Wu's complexion changed drastically when she heard this, and she couldn't help but angrily said: "It's simply wishful thinking, he is so muddled as a prince, how can he have the face to plot the position of regent?!"

"That's why there is this memorial."

When Jiao Shun said this, he suddenly changed the subject: "Just now I heard the imperial concubine talk about the origin of the poison, and I suddenly remembered something. When the Empress Dowager ordered King Zhongshun to supervise the interrogation, I noticed that his complexion was different, and it seemed that there was something wrong with him. "

At the moment, I will talk about the subtle expression changes of King Zhongshun at that time, and my intention to lure out the suspect at that time.

"Are you suspecting that King Zhongshun colluded with Concubine Rong to poison him?!"

Concubine Wu Guifei, who was impatient again, blurted out a question.

"I don't have evidence, so I dare not make judgments."

These words seem to be negative, but in fact they confirm Wu Guifei's guess.

Concubine Wu Gui was about to grit her teeth and speak, but was stopped by the queen: "Since there is no evidence, don't jump to conclusions beforehand."

"The minister obeys the order."

Jiao Shun lowered his eyes slightly, feeling a little disappointed in his heart. In fact, what he said just now was hinting at the Empress and Concubine Wu. If they don't want King Zhongshun to be regent, they might as well put the matter of poison directly on King Zhongshun.

But the queen is obviously not so courageous.

But it's no wonder, after all, he is the emperor's younger brother and the current emperor's uncle, so if he wants to kill him, he will undoubtedly need some courage and determination.

Hey~
What a pity, if Jia Yuanchun, the virtuous concubine, came to decide, things might...

No, if Jia Yuanchun was in charge, perhaps before dealing with King Zhongshun, she would first sell the emperor's New Deal with herself at a good price in order to consolidate her power.

Thinking about it this way, it is fortunate that the queen is in charge.

However, she said that after suppressing her doubts about King Zhongshun's poisoning for the time being, she asked again: "From Lord Jiao's point of view, how many important officials in the court will support King Zhongshun?"

"Hard to say."

Jiao Shun shook his head slightly at first, and then said firmly: "However, King Zhongshun's memorial proves that at least right now, he has not yet won the support of the majority of people—if not, there is no need to rush to hand in this letter of nomination to expose the situation in advance. own intentions."

It was indeed Jiao Shun who guessed right. King Zhongshun made countless empty promises overtly and secretly from years to years, but very few actually expressed their support for his regent.

This is because his previous reputation was too bad, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a stinky shit that people hate ghosts; As long as you guide carefully, and make some mistakes in engineering at the right time, sooner or later, the prince and the gentleman will be far away from the villain, and the chaos will be brought back to the right track.

With such an idea in mind, how could he go so far as to launch a new regent?
In the final analysis, those who hate Engineering and Jiao Shun the most these days are actually the lower-middle-class scholars who have been passive-aggressive. Although the court officials have seen the threat brought by Engineering, they are not as urgent as the middle- and lower-class people make it out to be.

This is also the reason why after the chief assistant became official, except for one Wang Zhe, Wang Ge, no important minister stood up to face the New Deal.

But after King Zhongshun ran into obstacles everywhere, he discussed with his advisers and risked exposing his ambitions in advance. He made this plan to criticize the New Deal. The purpose was to make himself a leader in the resistance against the New Deal, and to gain the support of the middle and lower classes first. Then use "public opinion" to coerce important officials in the court.

Hearing that King Zhongshun hadn't won the wide support of the important officials in the court for the time being, the queen was obviously relieved, and asked again: "What do you think, Lord Jiao, how should we deal with this matter?"

"This……"

If Jiao Shun were to say it, it would be to inflict unwarranted charges on King Zhongshun, and let that old man follow the Supreme Emperor to receive lunch together!

But the queen had already denied this plan before, so Jiao Shun was asked to come up with a second plan in such a haste...

Not at all, but the problem is that some things can be done but not said.

Mainly, the fact that King Zhongshun wants to be the regent is just a private speculation, and even if it is not speculation, given the current situation, as King Zhongshun, it is actually not a heinous act.

So at this time, there is really no good way to justify it.

He pondered for a while, and finally he could only say: "Please, Rong Chen, think carefully about it."

The queen was not disappointed, after all, this matter was indeed troublesome.

In the final analysis, it was still the mess left by the emperor, but he had been in a coma for more than a month, and even if he woke up occasionally, he would still be unconscious, and there was no hope at all.

So Wen Yan tried his best to say a few words to Jiao Shun, and let him go out of the palace.

When Jiao Shun and the crown prince left one after another, Concubine Wu sat down opposite the queen, gritted her teeth and said, "I think that lowly maid must have hooked up with King Zhongshun, maybe..."

As she spoke, she made a somewhat obscene gesture to the queen.

"Bah~"

The queen spat, and said angrily: "Every time King Zhongshun enters the palace, his every move is watched. How could he be with Concubine Rong... But the origin of the poison should be investigated carefully."

Wu Guifei gritted her molars after hearing this: "When I go back, I'll make that coquettish hoof well. If she still refuses to talk about it, don't blame me for being cruel!"

The queen hurriedly warned: "You, don't hurt her life, after all, there is no definite evidence yet."

Concubine Wu Gui couldn't help curling her lips secretly, the queen is fine with other things, but she is too benevolent for a woman, she always refuses this and that.

However, although she is domineering, she still doesn't have the guts to kill the concubine arbitrarily - after the crown prince succeeds to the throne, it will be another matter - so she nodded reluctantly and said: "Sister, don't worry, I have a sense of proportion."

As she said that, she suddenly remembered something, and said with a strange smile on her face: "Speaking of that lowly maid, I have some good things to show my sister."

"What good stuff?"

Seeing her mysterious face, the queen heard that she had something to do with Concubine Rong, so she couldn't help being a little curious.

Concubine Wu Gui looked left and right, took out an envelope from her close-fitting small coat, shook it down, and poured it out, but a few pieces of cardboard came out.

The queen recognized that it was the photo that Jiao Shun made last year, so she subconsciously stretched out her hand and twirled one, wanting to see what was on it.

As a result, I just glanced at it, and immediately threw it back in alarm, and said with a blushing face, "You, you, what kind of mess are you? You really don't feel ashamed!"

Concubine Wu Gui was very pleased with herself, picked up the photo that the empress had thrown away, admired it, and said: "This camera is really interesting, you can see that the photo is clearly visible, but it is a pity that it is black and white, if you paint it with color..."

"You, who did you ask to take the picture?"

At this time, the queen suddenly thought of the key point, grabbed her and said, "Don't spread the word!"

"Why can't it be passed on?"

Concubine Wu Guifei looked ruthless, she gritted her teeth and said: "If that lowly servant girl still refuses to confess, I will print out more and have them posted on the gate of Zhou's house, so that she can taste the taste of being ruined and ruined!"

"Don't mess around!"

The queen's face turned pale with fright, and she hastily advised: "Once the investigation is carried out, I'm afraid that even your reputation will be lost, and the prince may be implicated!"

After a pause, he reminded again: "You must pay close attention to the one who took the picture, and don't let her get away with it."

Hearing that the crown prince might be involved, Concubine Wu put away the idea of ​​making Concubine Rong's 'ugliness' public.

However, she still decided to use this to scare Concubine Rong, so she picked up a few and put them away, and then pushed the rest to the queen: "These sisters keep it for fun, I'll go and concoct that lowly maid first!"

"What are you doing for me?! Take it back, take it back!"

The queen avoided snakes and scorpions, and wanted to return it to Concubine Wu, but she didn't dare to touch it, so she could only watch Concubine Wu walk away.

After Concubine Wu Guifei left, she picked it up with a blushing face, planning to hide it in a safe place, or burn it directly.

But having said that, these photos really showed nothing, but Concubine Wu Gui didn't know where she learned it, but she tied Concubine Rong into such a strange look, let alone a man, and her heart beat wildly when she saw it.

One of them specially prepared a bicycle, and that posture was inexplicably familiar...

After hesitating [fan] Yu [look] again and again, the queen finally did not burn these photos, but locked them together with Jiao Shun's two memorials.

(End of this chapter)