I, Liu Bian, the hero

Chapter 120 Cleverly talking about the Empress Dowager Dong

"Really? He refused?"

The next day, Liu Bian went to Chongde Hall a little earlier, and listened to Qu Mu's contemptuous report to him about the secret meeting with Dong Zhong and others last night.

"It's not so much a refusal, but a lack of courage at all."

Qu Mu smiled softly, the horrified expressions of Dong Zhong and the others flashed in his mind last night.

Originally, Dong Zhong and the others just wanted to use Empress Dowager Dong to put pressure on the new monarch, but when he said those words, he obviously saw that the faces of those people turned pale with fright.

After Qu Mu taught Liu Bian all these things vividly, Liu Bian nodded with a light smile and said, "It's okay, it seems that there is still some sense of propriety, and I haven't completely lost my mind yet."

This situation is what he likes to see, otherwise, if Dong Zhong is stupid enough to try to regain power through a mutiny, then he can only get rid of him - getting rid of Dong Zhong and Dong Cheng is actually nothing, the key is what the Queen Mother will do. Thinking about all the entrustments of Emperor Yu to him and the entrustment before his death, Liu Bian still hoped to give this old lady whom he called his grandmother a happy old age.

After a while, with the arrival of Lu Zhi, Cao Song, and Cui Lie, Liu Bian stopped talking with Qu Mu.

Not long after, Yang Xu and Dong Zhong also came one after another.

I don't know if it was Qu Mu's words last night that frightened Dong Zhong. Dong Zhong seemed a little out of his mind today. Sometimes he secretly glanced at Liu Bian, sometimes he was in a daze, and for a while he showed a struggling and dignified look on his face, which made Lu vaguely aware of this matter. Zhi and Yangxu were a little suspicious: what's going on with this guy?

Until noon, when the ministers in the hall were about to leave and go back home for dinner, Liu Bian called Dong Zhong: "Dong Weiwei, wait a moment."

Dong Zhong obviously didn't expect Liu Bian to call him, he was slightly taken aback, and then panicked.

"His Majesty?"

Yang Xu noticed something strange and frowned slightly.

Liu Bian said with a smile: "It's nothing, I just want to say a few words with Dong Weiwei, you gentlemen, let's go."

Seeing this, Lu Zhi, Yang Xu and the others nodded, and after intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Dong Zhong, they all took their leave and left.

They were not worried about Liu Bian's safety. After all, the entire Chongde Hall was guarded by the guards of the Arch Guards—the only armed eunuch who was currently qualified to wear weapons in the Chongde Hall. Outside the hall was the Huben Army, which was nominally under the jurisdiction of the Arch Guard Division. Dong Zhong was alone and unarmed, so naturally he could not threaten the new king.

But also because of this, seeing Lu Zhi and Yang Xu leaving in detail, Dong Zhong, who sat back in his seat, was obviously a little panicked, and said with a disturbed face: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I don't know why you want to stay with me. "

Hearing Dong Chong call him His Majesty, Liu Bian was delighted, and said with a smile: "Dong Huanqi always called me Liu Bian's son, why did he suddenly change his mind?"

"..."

Dong Zhong forced a smile and said: "Your Majesty is joking, minister... how dare I?"

"Really?" Liu Bian looked at him and said with a playful smile, "Last night when you, Sun Zhang, Duan Gui, Xia Yun, and your brother Dong Zhong were plotting in a small hall of Yongle Palace, didn't you call me Liu Bian's son?" Is it?"

After that, he turned to look at him: "isn't it, him?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Qu Mu bowed and bowed with a smile on his face.

"..."

In the interval of about one breath, Dong Zhong's eyes gradually opened wide, his lips trembled, he stared at Qu Mu so hard that he couldn't speak.

Suddenly, he stood up abruptly, regardless of the chance of being knocked over by him, and rushed to the palace door, his actions were so abrupt that even Liu Bian was startled, and he couldn't laugh or cry after he realized it.

It's a pity that Dong Zhong's desperate escape was unsuccessful, and he was immediately taken down by the four officials standing in the gate of the palace.

He shouted in horror: "The new king wants to kill me, the new king wants to kill me, the empress dowager save me! The empress dowager save me!"

Seeing this, not only Zhang Rang, Zhao Chun, and Qu Mu secretly sneered, but even Liu Bian laughed out loud. When Dong Zhong was sent to the palace by the four eunuchs, he said to Dong Zhong with a half-smile: "With such courage, why bother to squeeze into the Shangshutai?"

After finishing speaking, he waved his hand and signaled the four eunuchs to let go of Dong Zhong. Unexpectedly, Dong Zhong's legs were so frightened that he fell to the ground with a plop.

"I didn't wrong you, did I?" Liu Bian looked down at Dong Zhong and said.

Dong Chong's lips trembled in fright, and he didn't dare to respond. He suddenly prejudiced against Qu Mu who sneered at him, and said in a hateful voice: "Qu Mu, you vicious eunuch, you betrayed and framed me to please His Majesty..."

Qu Mu was displeased when he was scolded as an eunuch, and he snorted coldly, "Betrayal? Our family has always been loyal to His Majesty."

"..."

Only then did Dong Zhong come to his senses, and looked at Liu Bian in amazement, his face turned pale for a while, and he said with difficulty: "If Your Majesty kills me, the Empress Dowager will definitely blame him..."

This brain... is not the same as my uncle.

Liu Bian shook his head slightly, then looked at Dong Zhong seriously and said, "Dong Zhong, don't overestimate yourself... It's okay for me to tell you, the late emperor told me to treat my grandmother and my younger brother well before he passed away. The late emperor also said, if I am not at ease, I can get rid of you and Dong Cheng..."

"That's right, His Majesty said it himself, and our family was there at the time." Zhang Rang agreed with a smile.

Dong Zhong's heart was shocked, and he subconsciously wanted to say 'don't believe it', but he already believed it a little bit.

At this time, I heard Liu Bian continue to say slowly: "...Actually, to be honest, since you stayed in the mansion honestly and didn't cause trouble that night when you were changed in the palace, I think it's okay to keep you. I never thought about it. You secretly conspired with Sun Zhang and others to rebel..."

Dong Zhong was startled and trembling all over, and loudly argued: "Your Majesty is wronged, wronged, I absolutely dare not have the heart to rebel, it was all instigated by Qu Mu, a damned eunuch. At that time, I sternly refused, if Your Majesty asked him."

When Liu Bian turned his head to look at it with a funny face, Qu Mu nodded with a smile and agreed: "It is true that I rejected it sternly, and I was quite frightened."

Dong Chong was overjoyed when he heard the words, and then he heard Zhang Rang and Zhao Chun sneer, and realized that he was ridiculed by Qu Mu. He gave the latter a bitter look, and then begged: "Your Majesty, I really dare not rebel!" Heart, the minister was just... just a little complaining in his heart, so he had a secret meeting with Sun Zhang and the others... No, no, it was not a secret meeting, just crying to them, but it was this damned Qu Mu who kept instigating the minister... ..."

At the end, he suddenly realized something, and changed his words to beg for mercy: "Your Majesty, if I spare my life, I will never dare to have any resentment in the future. In the future, I will do whatever Your Majesty asks me to do, and I will never neglect it."

"Really?" Liu Bian asked casually.

Hearing this, Dong Zhong seemed to see the hope of life, and repeatedly kowtowed to reassure: "It's absolutely true!"

Seeing this, Liu Bian nodded, and said again: "Okay, for the sake of his grandmother, I will forgive you for a while, and hope you learn a lesson. Get up and follow me to see the Empress Dowager."

Dong Zhong was obedient and got up from the ground with lingering fear.

In order to prevent this guy from biting back in front of the Empress Dowager Dong, Liu Bian also specially asked Dong Zhong to write down the number of private secret meetings and the matters discussed, including Dong Zhong's resentment against Liu Bian and private insults, but it turned out that Liu Bian Debate is superfluous.

After about two quarters of an hour, Liu Bian took Dong Zhong to Empress Dowager Dong's Yongle Palace, told Empress Dowager Dong what had happened in detail, and handed over the criminal evidence written by Dong Zhong to Empress Dowager Dong for review.

The Empress Dowager Dong, who had previously claimed that Dong Zhong would never have a second heart, sank after seeing the incriminating evidence written by Dong Zhong, her fingers trembling with anger: "Dong Zhong, is it true?"

Dong Zhong was submissive and did not dare to quibble.

Seeing this, Empress Dowager Dong was so angry that she wanted to raise her crutches to beat her, but Liu Bian hurriedly stopped her.

Of course he knew that Empress Dowager Dong was pretending to show him. After all, it was this old lady who wanted to support Liu Xie the most in the world. There is no need to expose things, and it becomes embarrassing for each other and difficult to get along with.

So he said sternly: "... My name is Dong Zhong, and Dong Cheng guards my grandmother so that my grandmother can have a few trustworthy people to command her. Unexpectedly, this kind of thing happened. For my grandmother's sake, my grandson is now Cover it up, but it's never going to happen again."

Even if Dowager Dong doesn't like Empress Dowager He very much, he must admit that the eldest grandson has indeed done his best in this matter, nodded and thanked: "Thank you, the emperor, for embarrassing the emperor."

"Grandmother, what are you talking about?" Liu Bian took the opportunity to tell Empress Dowager Dong about Emperor Yu's dying instructions: "...Before the father passed away, he repeatedly told his grandson to be kind to his grandmother. How dare he forget it?"

Empress Dowager Dong didn't know about it, and said in surprise: "There is such a thing? When is it?"

Liu Bian said bluntly, "It was the day when my grandson was conferred the crown prince."

Hearing this, Empress Dowager Dong suddenly understood what was going on, and thinking about her deceased son, her eyes turned red, she sighed for a long time, and then asked Liu Bian: "I have never been in harmony with your mother, and I am also... Isn't it strange?"

"Don't dare." Liu Bian said seriously: "You are the birth mother of the late emperor, and also the grandmother of the grandson. Is there any reason in this world for the grandson to resent the grandmother? Besides, my mother sometimes really..."

He showed an indescribable expression, seeing the joy in Empress Dowager Dong's heart, he laughed twice and said with emotion: "Although the emperor is young, he really knows the truth better than your mother."

After that, she nodded and said solemnly: "Don't worry, the emperor, I will definitely reprimand those people severely this time, and will never let them cause trouble for the emperor again."

Liu Bian cupped his hands in thanks, and immediately said, "Thank you grandma....The queen mother, please forgive me in the future, don't you have to..."

"This is..."

Empress Dowager Dong didn't immediately respond to these words, and after looking at Liu Bian for a few times, she reluctantly said, "In the future, the emperor will not let the old man meet her."

Obviously, Empress Dowager Dong's prejudice against Empress Dowager He is much greater than that of Liu Bian.

Hearing this, Liu Bian didn't say any more. After all, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have hated each other for more than ten years, and it is true that it cannot be resolved overnight.

Liu Bian was already very satisfied that Empress Dowager Dong could lift her guard against him.

The next day, Dong Zhong resigned from the post of Shangshu. Considering that Dong Cheng also resigned from Yubayashi Zuojian on the same day, it can be seen that the reason for Dong Zhong's resignation was not only because he was frightened by Liu Bian, but also because of the empress dowager Dong. Conciliation and concession decisions made.

Liu Bian naturally knew what was good and what was wrong, so he changed the title of Dong Cheng to Wei Wei Shaoqing to help his clan brother Dong Zhong guard the North Palace.

Liu Bian was very happy to have resolved such a family dispute. After all, this family dispute seriously affected his reputation.

On the contrary, after being unhappy for a few days, Liu Bian encountered two unpleasant things in succession.

On that day, Chen Wang Liu Chong sent his son and Chen Xiang Luo Jun to Luoyang to pay homage to Emperor Yu...

(End of this chapter)