Shengshichun

Chapter 335 King Yan (asking for monthly votes)

The military report received by the Ministry of War came from the northwest. Of course, this news could not be hidden from Pei Zhan, the general of Pingxi.

When they arrived at Qianqing Palace, Liang Chen, Minister of the Ministry of War, had already arrived. The emperor was sitting on the couch with his legs bent. He was wearing loose clothes. His face was thinner, but his energy had recovered a bit. At least he no longer had to stay in bed today.

There were some military reports on the Kang table beside the emperor, and it seemed that they had been discussing it for a while.

"The generals stationed in the northwest heard about a conflict when they were patrolling outside the customs. The officers and soldiers of the Dayue Kingdom fought with another group of people. The other side did not raise a flag and their origins were unknown, but they were very brave. The military newspaper said that with the Judging from their weapons and attire, some of them look like people from the Dongzi Kingdom.

"Isn't this Dongzi country very law-abiding in the past years? Why is it facing Da Yue again?"

The emperor calmly handed over the military report.

Dongzi State also borders the Great Zhou Dynasty and does not harass other countries. During the years when Da Yue and Da Zhou were at war, Dongzi was provoked into the war by Da Yue's attempts several times, but they never fell into the trap.

Therefore, after the battle turned around, Dazhou did not harm Dongzi at all.

It is equivalent to saying that Dongzi has no sense of presence in the war between the two countries in recent years.

Why are they fighting with the current government officials in Dayue at this time?
The Great Zhou Dynasty had just calmed down and could no longer bear any turmoil, so it was natural to pay attention to this situation.

Pei Zhan took the military report and read it carefully, then looked up: "The Dongzi royal family and Dayue had a marriage. Princess Yilan, the sister of King Jinxu of Dongzi, married King Yi. Princess Yilan was the original princess of King Yi, but after the marriage She died within a year."

"Oh?" the emperor asked doubtfully, "Then did she leave any children?"

"No. All of King Yi's children were born to Xu Xian, including Duan Mian who was sent out."

The emperor nodded and signaled to the Ministry of War: "Send an order to the generals guarding the northwest border to pay more attention to the relationship between Dongzi and Da Yue."

The Minister of War received the order and resigned from the palace.

Liang Chen and Pei Zhan were still left in the store. When they saw the emperor descending to the ground, they stepped forward to help him. The emperor brushed them away: "We haven't reached that point yet. I, the Crown Prince of Zhou Dynasty, have not yet been appointed, how can I fall?"

Pei and Zhan immediately bowed their heads and retreated.

"The people who went to Tanzhou to escort the remaining prisoners will arrive in Beijing soon. After the interrogation is completed, the case of the prince's brother-murder will be settled. Do you have any other thoughts about this case?"

Pei and Liang looked at each other, and then Pei Zhan took a step forward: "Xu Yin deserves to be punished for his crime. The evidence is conclusive, and I have no objection."

"What about the prince instigating Prince Rong and his son to kill the eldest son of the emperor?"

The emperor walked slowly. Although he was neatly dressed and moving smoothly, this slow movement still showed his weakness.

Pei Zhan said: "The crime committed by the prince has been personally confessed by him, and there is nothing wrong with it. If no new evidence emerges, then there should be no further turning point in the case."

Since the empress found Fuzhen and inquired about Ningbochi in front of the emperor, the empress must have gotten over it and reached a consensus about the doubts about the deceased in Baiyu Hutong.

But this is not so easy to say. In the absence of any evidence to prove that Yang Zhan killed the wrong person, the speculation that the deceased was not like the eldest son of the emperor is untenable.

Besides, if the emperor and the empress still have their own thoughts, then there is no room for nonsense when it concerns the eldest son of the emperor.

"Yes." The emperor took a deep breath and said to himself: "Other than that, what else is possible?"

Neither Pei Zhan nor Pei Zhan could answer the conversation, so they looked at the ground with their eyes, nose, and heart.

At this time, the emperor said again: "I heard that Xu Yin's confidant named Lian took advantage of the opportunity and escaped. I don't know why, but I always feel that there is no real peace in Dayue.

“Especially now that we are involved in another Dongzi country.

"You two are the coaches who have passed through Dayue in relays. No one has a more comprehensive grasp of the situation in Northwest and Yue than you. From now on, you allocate some energy to pay attention. Putting the Yiwang Mansion and Lian Yang together Let’s find out the feud between Zhi and the Da Yue royal family.”

"My minister obeys."

The two accepted the order, and the emperor planned to let them retreat.

Pei Zhan accepted the task in front of Fu Zhen last night. He wanted to find out whether the emperor and the empress really had their own thoughts. When he saw this, he rushed to the emperor and said before he spoke: "I heard the emperor say earlier that after so many years, People have been sent all over the country to search for traces of the eldest son of the emperor. After the truth about the case of Bai Yuhu and his classmate came to light, I wonder if these people sent out have ever come back?
"If you have already arrived in Beijing, I still have some things that I want to know clearly about Xu Yin's conviction. Please allow me to find them and meet with them."

The emperor looked at him: "You go to the Imperial Guards Office to find Zhang Yuan, the commander of the guards. He is responsible for this matter."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Pei Zhan thanked him and resigned.

After leaving Qianqing Palace, Liang Chen couldn't help but pull him back: "What else do you want to find out from the guards? Haven't you already found out everything about Xu Yin?"

When Pei Zhan saw him, he remembered that he had brought a group of people to trouble him the day before yesterday. He said with a cold face, "You don't understand even if I tell you."

Liang Chen snorted and blocked his way: "Are you still jealous of Xu Yin? Are you a man? Are you so mean-spirited? It's not like you don't know that he had an affair with my little aunt in the past. You didn’t care about the engagement until now. Isn’t it too late? What have you done? Just because of Xu Yin, you are so angry that you want to divorce me. You can’t do it!

Pei Zhan looked at him: "Who told you that I was jealous of him?"

"Does this need to be said?" Liang Chen snorted and cast his eyes sideways, "We have been together for so many years, and you didn't even let me see that you didn't get married for so many years. It was because you missed me. Auntie, do you see how persistent you are?

"Other people and things really can't deal with you. Only Xu Yin spends so much time with my aunt. My aunt is only interested in revenge and has no thoughts about you. Why don't you think about it? Do you dare to say that? no?"

Pei Zhan squinted at the glazed tiles opposite him and straightened his back: "Who is the person named Xu? I won't take him seriously."

Liang Chen's cold snort was as loud as a firecracker. "Just be tough!"

After saying that, he put the person down and strode forward.

Pei Zhan shouted: "Aren't you going to follow me to the Imperial Guard's Office?"

Liang Chen didn't even reply: "I'm too lazy to pay attention to you!"

Pei Zhan said, "Follow me, and I'll tell you a secret later."

Liang Chen still ignored him.

Pei Zhan turned around and walked towards the Imperial Guard's Office.

After taking a few steps, a gust of wind passed behind him, and then like an arrow in the early morning, it flashed before his eyes:
"What secret?"

Pei Zhan smiled and said, "You'll find out if you follow me!"

……

The Imperial Guard is on the west side of the palace.

Commander Zhang happened to be taking people to practice archery. He enthusiastically came up to serve tea to Pei and Liang, and then invited them to demonstrate their bows to the guards.

Pei Zhan followed the good example, picked up the bow and arrow, and then said casually: "When did Commander Zhang come back? Did you go to see the empress?" Zhang Yuan restrained his expression: "Are the two generals from the emperor?"

Liang Chen smiled and said: "Ask you, kid, you are still making all kinds of twists and turns. Without the emperor's permission, do we dare to ask you these questions?"

Zhang Yuan said hurriedly: "My subordinate is stupid and I'm offended." Then he said: "We returned to the capital three days ago, and we went to report our lives to the emperor as soon as possible. The empress was there at that time, so we didn't report to the emperor again. ”

Pei Zhan fully drew his bow and shot an arrow that hit the target. Then, amid the exclamations of the guards, he asked, "Then you have traveled back and forth many times over the years, and you only follow the emperor?"

Zhang Yuan personally refilled an arrow for him: "That's not true. After restoring the emperor's life in the early years, he had to go to Kunning Palace to restore his life to the empress. In the following years, the empress said that she was even more disappointed after hearing this, so she let him We don’t need to go until there is definite news, so we won’t make special trips in these years.”

Pei Zhan looked at him: "What do the guards of Kunning Palace usually do? Do they go out often?"

"The empress has not left the palace for many years, so the guards of Kunning Palace are naturally only used for protection in the palace."

Pei Zhan shot another arrow and handed the bow back to the guard beside him: "Besides the guards around the emperor, who else in the imperial guard office needs to go out often?"

Zhang Yuan thought for a while: "Basically, I just follow the emperor's arrangements. In addition, only the people in Prince Yan's palace need to go out frequently to buy medicinal materials and the like."

"King Yan?" Pei Zhan took a cup of tea and glanced at him again midway.

Zhang Yuan nodded: "The few herbs that King Yan takes all year round are rare, and the Imperial Hospital doesn't have much in stock. So we need to go out a few times a year, usually to Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places to wait for new ones.

"Often, as soon as the herb collector gets it, the brothers in King Yan's palace will immediately send it back to the palace."

Pei Zhan frowned.

By this time Liang Chen had finished shooting three arrows and came back.

Pei Zhan put the cup back and said, "Speaking of which, I haven't gone to pay my respects to His Highness King Yan for a long time. The general and I are going to sit down."

He winked at Liang Chen, and Liang Chen talked about the two recent paintings painted by King Yan in a tacit understanding, and then left the Imperial Guard Office.

When they got outside, Liang Chen couldn't help it anymore: "What the hell are you doing? Why are you suddenly going to see King Yan?"

Pei Zhan looked at the stacked palaces with his hands on his hips, frowned and said: "A few days ago, when I went to the Tianlao to inquire about some news about my grandfather from Prince Rong and his son, I heard something from Yang Zhan. .

"He said that the palace sent two groups of people to look for the emperor's eldest son, one group belonged to the emperor, and the other group belonged to the empress. However, the group of people sent by the emperor did not know that the empress had also sent people out. "

Liang Chen paused: "Why did the empress do this?"

"If I knew, would I still need to drag you here?" Pei Zhan snorted, "The only people the queen can mobilize are the guards in the palace, but the people from the Imperial Guard said that the guards in Kunning Palace have never been far away from the palace. "

Liang Chen realized: "You mean, the guards in Prince Yan's palace who go out several times a year to buy medicinal materials are actually the ones secretly looking for the eldest son of the emperor?"

"It can only be them." Pei Zhan looked at him, "Now in the harem, apart from the emperor and empress, only the guards of King Yan can be sent out of the palace alone.

"The prince sent people from Prince Rong's Mansion. It is impossible for these people to hide Yang Di's secrets, so we can rule out the East Palace.

"The concubines in the harem are far from that powerful, and they will not put their hands on the emperor's eldest son.

"It's just that we don't know whether these people were sent by King Yan or the Queen."

Liang Chen nodded: "I understand. So we really should go visit King Yan."

Pei Zhan stepped up and said, "Let's go."

……

King Yan lived in Jingren Palace, not far from Kunning Palace.

When Pei and Liang arrived outside Jingren Palace, the eunuch beside King Yan walked out of the door. Pei Zhan asked him to report, and the eunuch said: "His Royal Highness King Yan is in the Imperial Garden."

The two of them went to the Royal Garden again.

King Yan's illness was not brought about in the womb, and he was very active as a child. After he contracted the disease, he spent more than half of the year in his Jingren Palace and could not go out. , will come out and move around.

There is already the fragrance of osmanthus in the imperial garden, and in the octagonal pavilion surrounded by various chrysanthemums, King Yan is playing the piano, but the queen is also there, sitting beside her and looking at the strings in trance.

After the eunuch came forward to report, both mother and son cast their eyes towards the pavilion.

King Yan stood up: "General, General Pei."

The young man's face is pale, but his obsidian eyes are extremely clear. Because he has been with his parents since he was a child, his voice is also somewhat well-behaved.

"See the Queen, Your Highness the King of Yan."

Pei and Liang saluted, and the queen also stood up and said warmly: "How did you find yourself here? But what happened?"

There was still a lingering daze on her face, and no one knew what she was thinking when the piano sounded just now.

"The emperor told us that we went to the palace to discuss the military report. After receiving the case of the emperor's eldest son, we went to the Imperial Guard Office to find Commander Zhang. Remembering that we had not come to pay respects to His Highness King Yan for a long time, we came here again."

King Yan said: "The two generals are busy with military affairs, how dare I delay you? Please sit down, please."

The queen also said: "Sit down. It'll be fine."

The two sat down on the stools brought by the eunuch. Pei Zhan looked at Jiao Weiqin and said, "Your Highness is in great spirits, which is a blessing to the court and all the people."

King Yan replied shyly: "I spend three days fishing and two days drying the nets. I am not good at studying. I have lost the face of my master and made the general laugh."

"What can he laugh at? Apart from dancing with a gun and playing with a stick, he is not good at poetry and painting, and is tone deaf, how can he laugh at you, Your Highness? Of course, I don't understand either. I am worse than him!"

Liang Chen laughed and said.

The queen looked at him with a smile: "How are your mother and second aunt? I heard that they are back, but they didn't come to the palace to see me."

"I will bring the Holy Edict with me when I get back!"

"You are already a father, and you are still so naughty!" the queen laughed and scolded, then turned to Pei Zhan, "I just met your wife yesterday, and you are here today. You have good taste. That wife is generous and calm. , quite comparable to you.”

Pei Zhan also smiled: "Thank you for your compliment, my wife. However, my wife is indeed the first to win this big case."

The queen nodded and said seriously: "So I also rewarded the Ning family heavily. It's a pity that Ning Bochi left a little early.

"—Let's have tea."

Pei Zhan picked up the tea and said calmly: "My mother-in-law took over the Ning family's business. She had shops in the north and south of the Yangtze River. She also dealt in medicinal materials and served as an imperial merchant in the previous dynasty.

"I wonder if His Royal Highness, King Yan, has sufficient medicinal materials recently? Is there anything I can do for you?"