That year, that cicada, that sword

Chapter 397

The folks are always very curious about the residence of Tianjia. It is rumored that there are tens of thousands of palaces in the imperial palace, but in fact they are not far away. A great eunuch once personally counted that there are a total of palaces in the entire palace city. There are nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine palace rooms. The big one is like Weiyang Palace, which can accommodate hundreds of people, while the small one can only accommodate two or three people.

In this sea of ​​palaces, there are three most important palaces, namely the Weiyang Palace where the court ceremony is held, the Feishuang Palace where the queen's bedroom is located, and the Ganquan Palace where the emperor's bedroom is located.

Among them, the Ganquan Palace is the most mysterious. Because there is no order from His Majesty the Emperor, no one is allowed to enter the Ganquan Palace, even the Empress Qi Wang is no exception. There are only a handful of officials who can set foot here. According to private statistics , the one who entered Ganquan Palace the most times was Master Lan, followed by Elder Han Ge, and the third was Dudu Wei of the Dark Guard Mansion.

But there is one exception, that is Zhang Baisui, the supervisor of ceremonies, as the "big steward" serving the emperor, he can enter the Ganquan Palace without being called.

Today's Ganquan Palace is as usual, except for the maids and eunuchs, there are the silent guards like sculptures.

Zhang Baisui walked through the long corridor in the hall, slowly pushed open the two dark red doors at the end, and entered the inner hall.

The ground in the inner hall is as smooth as a mirror, and smoke curls up from the tortoise and snake copper furnace.

A three-story round platform can be vaguely seen in the smoke, and there is a gorgeous throne on the platform, and one person sits on it.

Zhang Baisui folded his hands in front of him, and said softly: "Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness has arrived at Prince Qi's Mansion safely, do you want to send someone over to take care of you?"

Sitting on the throne, the current emperor Xiao Xuan shook his head lightly, and said: "Since Xiao Lin has leaked traces, then their plan will be in vain, and Qi Yang is safe with King Qi."

Zhang Baisui has been up and down in the temple for nearly a year. He has seen the soldiers of the Northeast Army approaching the city when the world was fighting for the throne in the early years. He has seen Qingchen assassinate Emperor Xiao. He has also seen the blue and Korean faction struggle when the new emperor ascended the throne. In Zhang Baisui's eyes, pointing at the formation is really nothing, and he also knows what to control and what not to control, so after hearing what Emperor Xiao said, he didn't say much about it.

Zhang Baisui turned around and said: "Recently there are undercurrents in the imperial court, people from the blue party are constantly stirring up troubles, and there are those Qingliu aristocratic families contributing to the troubles. At this moment, there are constant disturbances, which is very unfavorable to Your Majesty."

After all, Xiao Xuan has been an emperor for 20 years, so he naturally understands the unfinished meaning in Zhang Baisui's words.

Since Chen Qiong was dismissed from office, the Blue-Korean Party dispute surfaced again after 20 years. Up and down the temple, there is a feeling that the mountain rain is about to come and the wind is full of the building.

At this time, the unfinished meaning in Zhang Wubing's words is nothing more than the six words "to fight against the outside world, you must first settle the inside". Whether it is to solve the foreign aggression or to contend with the Daoist sect, the first thing is to calm down the inside, otherwise you will end up in a situation of internal and external troubles. In the end, even if the gods go down to earth, they will be powerless to return to heaven.

Xiao Xuan got up from the throne, and slowly said: "Why don't I know this, but Lan Xiang is not willing to retreat, I can only slowly figure it out. You know, my companion, Lan Xiang was already born before I was born. Following the late emperor's side, this veteran official of the two dynasties has such a great foundation and such a deep foundation that even I find it difficult."

Zhang Baisui sighed softly, and said: "In fact, Lan Xiang's loyalty is there, but he is too nostalgic for his old feelings, entangled with the Taoist school, reluctant to bear the power in his hand, and forgets the sage's teaching that a gentleman is a friend and not a party. If you disagree with His Majesty, you will lose the way of a courtier."

Xiao Xuan's face was hidden in the curling smoke, and he said calmly: "Looking at the whole court, although Zhao Zongxian is upright, he is weak in strategy and inflexible. Li Zhenji's structure is not enough, and he lacks a sense of atmosphere. As for Duanmu Ruisheng, even though he has a bit of talent, he is trapped in a private word, obsessed with power and wealth, let alone mentioning it, there is only one Han Xuan left, but he is very old Well, I don’t know how many more years it can last.”

Zhang Baisui was silent for a moment, and said softly: "If it wasn't for the disaster that happened back then, if Uncle Xu Guo was still alive, he would be able to help His Majesty share his worries now. After all, Uncle Guo is the late emperor's favorite candidate for prime minister."

Xiao Xuan walked down the round platform slowly, and said in a deep voice: "In the final analysis, what happened back then has something to do with the mother. Because of Lin Han, the mother was afraid that there would be a second relative who was too big to lose, so she acquiesced to Duanmu Ruisheng to take advantage of the chaos. As a son of man, I am not good at commenting."

Zhang Baisui hesitated for a moment, and asked softly: "Your Majesty, this old servant has the guts to ask, does the Empress know about this?"

Xiao Xuan said plainly: "It's not without reason that the empress and the empress do not get along, and even don't get close to Qi Yang, who is very similar to the empress."

Zhang Baisui suddenly remembered something, he hesitated to speak.

Xiao Xuan said: "In the Xu family, first there is Xu Lin, the king of Xihe County, who is the first governor of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and Xu Yan, the prime minister who is the head of the three heroes. If Xu Yan can become the second cabinet minister after Prime Minister Lan The chief assistant, coupled with his status as a foreign relative, is indeed a tendency to be difficult to control, and the empress mother's worry is not unreasonable."

Zhang Baisui was silent.

When both the first emperor and the empress dowager were still alive, there was always a saying in the court that the two saints were coming to court, which shows the power of the empress dowager. In fact, in Zhang Baisui's view, in terms of dealing with affairs in the temple, your majesty is not like the first emperor, but more so. Like the empress dowager.

Xiao Xuan glanced at him, "I know what you're worried about, it's nothing more than the adopted son of Mr. Han Ge. According to the investigation of the Dark Guard House, Xu Beiyou's birth time can almost match what happened back then. What Duanmu Ruisheng did has nothing to do with others."

Zhang Baisui bowed and said, "No."

Xiao Xuan walked slowly to the screen next to him, looked at the writing on the screen and slowly said: "The Duanmu family was just a small family that was driven from Shuzhou to Zhongzhou, and it was almost impossible to gain a foothold in Zhongzhou, if it wasn't for a coincidence They were able to serve the late emperor, how can they have the glory they have today."

Zhang Baisui said softly: "There is no shortage of people who will avenge their kindness in this world."

Xiao Xuan wrote lightly: "Sheng Mi En, Dou Mi Qiu, there is never a shortage of people who are greedy in this world, and there will be no shortage of people who are greedy for revenge. My father told me a story before, saying that when my grandfather was young, A friend surnamed Zhao entrusted him with a pair of orphans and 30 taels of property before his death, saying that when the pair of orphans grow up, let him divide the 30 taels of family property into three equal shares, and the two orphans will each receive 10 taels , and the other 10 taels as a gift to the emperor's grandfather."

"However, the imperial grandfather didn't ask for the 10 taels. Instead, he gave each of the two orphans 15 taels after they grew up, and told the truth about what happened back then. The two orphans had different reactions, and one of them was very happy. , thinking that the imperial grandfather Gao Yi, while another person believed that the imperial grandfather could take out 30 taels, and he could covet 70 taels back then. I have not been half grateful for my kindness for many years, but I have resentment instead."

Zhang Baisui asked softly: "Looking at it now, the Duanmu family is no different from the one who harbors resentment among the brothers."

Xiao Xuan smiled lightly, "The fate of the two brothers back then is not difficult to guess. The one who felt resentment in his heart naturally died, and died quietly, while the one who was happy in his heart survived."

Zhang Baisui asked softly: "Then Duanmu Ruisheng?"

Xiao Xuan said calmly: "The supervisor of ceremonies should start preparing."

(End of this chapter)