Sometimes the palace is sunny

Chapter 12
"Greedy money and food."

Looking at the evidence presented, His Majesty the Emperor lightly raised his hand and touched his chin.

In front of the book case, the officials of the criminal department who were ordered to investigate several ministers and the deputy commander of Jin Yiwei lowered their heads and remained silent.

Sishu, the eunuch in charge of the affairs of the East Factory, stood in the corner, like a silent shadow.

A few days ago, His Majesty met several ministers who wrote a letter asking to behead Chen Shouzhang. Among them, like Ning Anbo Xie Wenyuan, they all came from aristocratic families who urgently needed to make military achievements, and there were also military generals who already had military achievements. As far as they are concerned, killing Chen Shouzhang can not only please His Majesty, but also give them more opportunities to make contributions.

No one expected that His Majesty would send them all away.

Especially General Guangwei Zhang Qi, who came from a military household and could not read a few big characters. When His Majesty met him in Jinyang, he was only from a hundred households, but he was very powerful. He stood out, and later His Majesty's Zhengduqin Department let him guard the left and right, which really made him a lot of achievements, and then he rose all the way, from a hundred households to a fourth-rank Guangwei general.

Such a confidant, because he asked His Majesty to kill Chen Shouzhang in a letter, was reprimanded by His Majesty for being "too selfish", and he was investigated for his disrespectful words.

Civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty hadn't figured out His Majesty's intentions, so they were shocked by the results of the investigation.

However, after three or four years of being proud, this deed was actually greedy for tens of thousands of taels of military pay. According to the news sent back by Jin Yiwei, in the barracks under his control, soldiers can only wear single clothes in the severe winter, and eat grass roots and coarse grains. Panzi, "has a look of hunger on his face, and has no strength to hold a soldier." At the same time, Dongchang found dozens of boxes of gold and silver treasures in his home in Yanjing.

"Snatching civilian women by force, disregarding human life."

Because of her own experience, Shen Shiqing prefers Xunzi's theory of "evil nature" compared to Mencius' theory of "good nature". She believes that people are born with greed and should be educated with legal principles. How could someone have become such a vicious person in just four years.

The room was silent, except for the sound of water outside the window, which was like blood falling to the ground amidst the countless tragedies.

Shen Shiqing felt a chill in her heart.

Tong Xingjin, the deputy commander of Jinyiwei, said softly: "Your Majesty, there are still some evidences on the way to be verified. These days, General Guangwei has been wanting to see His Majesty, and occasionally he has some disrespectful words..."

Yi Ji standing beside His Majesty did not move, but Er Gou looked up at Tong Xingjin.

Since the establishment of the Yong Dynasty, the commander of Jinyiwei has been held by the emperor's cronies. The last commander, Zhu Qi, was the cronies of the great eunuch Zhang Wan. When Zhang Wan was beheaded by His Majesty on the list of nine crimes, Zhu Qi has been a tiger for many years. The party members were also doomed, and since then, the position of Commander of Jin Yiwei has been vacant.

Tong Xingjin has been the "deputy commander" for so many years relying on his prudence, what he is most afraid of is that someone will be more favored by the sage than him, and naturally he finds Zhang Qi and his ilk extremely displeasing to the eye.

Now I can't help but want to come out and step on it.

"Disrespectful words? I have done reckless things about human life, so what's the point of saying a few disrespectful words? Anyway, he can't grow a second head on his neck for me to chop off."

"Emperor Zhaode" stood up slowly.

Today "he" is wearing a dragon pattern woven in gold on a blue background, with a gold jade leather belt around his waist, making him look taller and more vigorous, not much worse than Tong Xingjin who was born in the army.

The light from the sky entered the palace, illuminating the sword eyebrows and stars, as if shining on a handful of autumn frost.

Even the words of the young king showed coldness: "Let me check out Zhang Qi's actions one by one."

"I take orders." Tong Xingjin lowered his head, but said again, "There is only one thing, the deed claims that he has made military exploits, and His Majesty granted him wealth for three generations."

Shen Shiqing stood in front of the window, looking at the few golden osmanthus sticking out from the courtyard wall in the distance.

"Heh, did I still say such a thing? He used this kind of words as a talisman?"

After a pause, Shen Shiqing remembered the various crimes of Zhang Qi written on the paper.

Originally, she just couldn't bear the heart of a minister dying just because she said a few words about the suffering of the people, and wanted to find a substitute for Chen Shouzhang, but now, she really wanted Zhang Qi to die.

Sincerely, I hope he dies.

"Three generations of wealth? After Zhang Qi's death..."

With her hand on the window lanyard, Shen Shiqing said in a light tone:

"Ergou, go and fetch a piece of tribute silk."

"Yes!"

Er Gou hurriedly retreated, and came back with a bolt of crimson tribute silk in a moment.

"My lord, the tribute silk has been brought."

Shen Shiqing turned around, pointed to the piece of tribute silk and said, "Three generations of Zhang Qi's family have wrapped their corpses in silk after death."

Who can say that a corpse is not rich?
There were no fools in Chaohua Garden, and they all understood His Majesty's intention to make Zhang Qi plead guilty. Tong Xingjin knelt on the ground with both hands holding the piece of tribute silk, and said loudly:

"Sir, lead the order."

In the afternoon, the Chaohua Garden became quiet, His Majesty did not call any more courtiers, but only said that he wanted to be quiet for a while.

Yiji immediately retreated with a group of eunuchs, big and small.

The eunuchs also stood and waited for most of the day, and at this time they were able to take some time to rest in a side room in Chaohuayuan.

Taking advantage of no one around, Ergou poked his head in front of Yiji:

"Before, I thought that the emperor would definitely kill Chen Shouzhang. Why didn't the sour scholar who is afraid of death die, and the emperor wanted to kill Zhang Qi instead?"

Yiji took a sip of tea first, watched Sanmao take out a bowl of stewed pheasant and a few side dishes from the warm water basin, and saw that Sanmao was also looking at him, so he stared at his toes and said:
"The reason why the emperor wants to kill Chen Shouzhang is because of the necessity of the western expedition next year. The reason why the emperor wants to kill Zhang Qi instead of Chen Shouzhang is also because the western expedition is necessary next year."

After speaking, he picked up the round-grained rice in the fine porcelain bowl, took a few mouthfuls of pickled radish, and then poured the hot tea in the cup into the rice for a few mouthfuls.

Ergou thought for a while and asked Sanmao: "Sanmao, do you understand?"

Sanmao didn't even look at him, tore off the pheasant wings and poured some soy sauce on the rice, he said: "The emperor loved Zhang Qi so much before, just because he dared to touch the food, the emperor wanted to kill him, Once this matter happens, everyone should be more careful, it is more useful than killing a sour scholar."

Ergou finally understood.

He also picked up his rice bowl and directly soaked the stewed pheasant soup into it:
"The emperor's work is really more difficult to guess than before. I thought the emperor could spare that surname Zhang."

The emperor they serve is a person who doesn't hide his likes and dislikes. He is willing to take care of anyone who makes him happy, and cause big things, but it is rare to see such decisiveness.

No one even the four rats spoke up. After a few people finished their lunch in a hurry, Yijiu first wiped his teeth with green salt, then rinsed his mouth with tea. After making sure there was no bad smell in his mouth, he said slowly:

"The emperor is the emperor. The emperor has never been the only one who wants to do what he doesn't want to do. We wait for the servants to serve with all our heart. What kind of famous person do you think you are?"

Er Gou shrank his neck and didn't dare to say more.

In Chaohua Palace, Shen Shiqing had been staring at a page for a long time.

There is a person who is doomed to die because of her words and a piece of silk.

Up to now, this matter is still like a long scripture that can't be finished, and she refuses to leave in her mind.

Zhang Qi deserves to die, she has no doubts and no regrets.

The woman in the body of a king panted slowly, looking at the hands that were still trembling slightly.

The hands trembled with fear.

As a king, you have such power.

This power seems to be boundless, like the endless sky, the deep sea that can't reach the bottom, the sky is high, the sea is deep, anyone who tries it with his body will die, and the same is true for imperial power.

Clenching her fist slowly, Shen Shiqing slumped back on the chair made of golden nanmu.

She knew that while she was frightened, there were countless secret joys and desires slowly gushing out from the countless cracks in her heart.

The boundless power belongs to her right now.

She is happy about it.

And fear such joy.

This joy is like a drop of cinnabar falling into water.

As long as there is a drop of cinnabar, the water is definitely not clear water.

Osmanthus scented in Chaohuayuan, imitating handwriting, training courtiers, belittling Xie Wenyuan, beheading the emperor's favored officials... Shen Shiqing, who had been the "Emperor Zhaode" for several days, was really embarrassed about his situation for the first time.

Because her own heart was disturbed.

Raising her head to look out of the window, Shen Shiqing has always been used to this in the past seven years, but at this time, she is not just looking at the scenery outside the window.

Compared with the small courtyard of Ning'anbo Mansion, Chaohua Garden is huge, Xiyuan is bigger, and Xiyuan is just a palace for the emperor. Outside Xiyuan is the Imperial City, and outside the Imperial City is Yanjing , outside of Yanjing is Zhili, outside of Zhili is the world.

As far as the eye can see, where the wind goes, where the masses of people live, where civil and military officials rely, the northwest is wild, the southeast is vast, and life and death are seized, and no one dares not to follow.

This is the power in the hands of her, a woman, at this moment.

Shen Shiqing smiled.

The breeze came slowly, and the petals rolled with a little gold happened to land on the hand of "Emperor Zhaode".

"He" picked up this piece of broken gold, and after a while, he suddenly said loudly:

"Come here, summon Li Congyuan, a scholar of the Martial Yingdian University."

The chickens, dogs, cats and mice came out of the wing room after eating, and saw the afternoon light slanting down, and the emperor they served was standing in front of the window, smiling lightly with downcast eyes.

His Majesty made an urgent call, when Li Congyuan Wenyuan Pavilion arrived at Chaohuayuan, it was almost late, and the four rats were waiting for him in front of the gate of the palace.

"Boss Li Ge quickly follow our house, the emperor has orders, please come in as soon as you come."

As the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Li Congyuan never flaunted his arrogance to the eunuchs. He nodded to the four mice:

"Please ask the officer to lead the way."

The Four Rats just looked down at the road. He was not tall, and he walked beside Li Congyuan, who was so heroic and mighty, just over his neck. The ministers have nothing to do with each other, walking around the court like a shadow.

When bypassing the sycamore tree, the "shadow" suddenly spoke:

"Old Li Ge, Your Majesty is different from before. If you want to save Chen Shouzhang's life, you must first let go of your plans."

Li Congyuan folded his hands in his sleeves, but did not make a sound.

　Shen Shiqing, who had just changed her body, seemed to be able to handle things with ease, because she was an inertial thinker, as long as she could use the emperor's shell, she would be fine.

　　But power, really, is a fascinating thing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)