Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

In the early morning of the second day, Taizong had a gloomy face, all the ministers said nothing, and Defang sat aside and did not speak. At this moment, Zhao Pu stepped forward, "Your Majesty, yesterday..."

Taizong didn't wait for Zhao Pu to finish speaking, he stood up and said, "Don't talk about it, Zhao Pu's main hall is drafting a decree!"

Zhao Pu raised his head and looked at Taizong's "Chen Zunzhi" and immediately ordered people to sit on the small table, and the imperial edict was laid out

Taizong looked at the ministers and declared, "From now on, Zhao Yuanzuo, king of Chu, will be abolished as a commoner. He will move out of the palace and send him to Junzhou, where he will pay all his salary!"

The officials were all surprised, they looked at each other, but none of them dared to speak out, Defang was very anxious, so she stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, please Your Majesty..."

Taizong raised his hand, signaled to stop talking, and ordered someone to fetch the jade seal and stamp it on the imperial decree. He looked at Zhao Pu and said, "Go and announce the decree right away."

"Minister Zunzhi" Zhao Pu took the imperial decree and left, Taizong immediately withdrew from the court, Zhao Pu came to the Chu Palace to announce the decree, a group of soldiers were running to each house to move things, the mansion was in chaos, all the servants were kneeling on the ground trembling with fear Not daring to make a sound, the soldiers guarded the king of Chu's family and went to Huangshan. Defang and all the ministers kowtowed repeatedly, Taizong recalled Yuanzuo and placed him in the capital, and sent envoys to watch over him, not allowing him to meet anyone. age.

Back at the post station in the capital, Zhao Pu took the imperial decree, and the soldiers threw and carried boxes of all sizes at random, while Yuan Zuo sat on the sidelines with a jug and drank expressionlessly. Defang went to the court and learned that Yuan Zuo When Zuo returned to the capital, he immediately rushed to the post station in a sedan chair. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Yuan Zuo sitting on a bench, "Yuan Zuo! Yuan Zuo!"

Yuan Zuo raised his head to look at De Fang, and smiled foolishly, "Brother Wang... come... drink..."

"Yuan Zuo! Why on earth are you doing this!" De Fang was in great pain. Although Yuan Zuo was not her own brother, she had a deep friendship with Yuan Zuo, Yuan You, and Yuan Xiu. In this situation, I can't help but feel sad.

Yuanyou and Yuanxiu also rushed over, squatting beside Yuanzuo with tears in their eyes, Defang stood up, looked around, walked up to Zhao Pu, "Prime Minister"

Zhao Pu looked at Defang, "What's the matter, my lord?"

"Prime Minister, in any case, Yuan Zuo is also His Majesty's prince. It is really wrong to make such a big mistake, but now that this situation has happened, please allow a few more hours for the people in the house to pack up the things."

Zhao Pu looked at the imperial decree, "My lord is benevolent, how can the truth be unreasonable? His Majesty didn't say when he will move into the detention center today, so please leave everything to the lord, and the truth will go back and return to life."

"Thank you, Prime Minister." Defang and Zhao Pu bowed their hands to each other, and Zhao Pu got on the sedan chair and returned to the palace.

Defang looked at the soldiers running back and forth. They dragged and discarded Yuan Zuo and his family's furnishings at random. He couldn't help being very angry, so he shouted, "stop!" All the soldiers stopped

"What are you doing! Where is the general?"

"Subordinates" an officer leading the team came to Defang

"Yuanzuo is still a prince no matter what, don't be so rude, you heard what the prime minister said just now, this place will be handled by this king, and you should lead the team to wait outside the door" Defang said

"Yes, my lord, my subordinates obey." The officer led a team to guard outside Chu Wang's mansion.

Yuan You and Yuan Xiu ran over, "Brother Wang, what should I do?"

"...The matter has come to this point, and it is irreparable...The emperor's order is imminent, and you cannot disobey it. Yuanyou Yuanxiu, you arrange people in the mansion to pack up the belongings, and bring Yuanzuo's family members to the sedan chair."

"Yes, Brother Wang." Yuan You and Yuan Xiu looked sad and helpless

(It is said that Taizong was worried about Yuanzuo's illness, so he was told to take a good rest, but after Taizong summoned several princes and the palace banquet was properly arranged, Yuanyou went to Yuanzuo's mansion again. After Yuanyou left the mansion, Yuan Zuo suddenly went berserk, it is difficult to guess what Yuan You said to Yuan Zuo, but some people thought it was Yuan You's deliberate instigation.)

Defang took care of Yuan Zuo's affairs and sent him to a small house where he was demoted. There were soldiers guarding the door all the time, and family members were not allowed to enter or leave at will.After everything was settled, Defang returned to Nanqing Palace.

Concubine Di waited anxiously at the gate of the palace. When she saw the sedan chair team entering the empty space, she ran over. The sedan chair team quickly stopped and knelt down. Defang got off the sedan chair and stepped forward, "Ma'am, why do you look so anxious? What happened?" ?”

"No, I'm worried about you. I heard that Yuan Zuo was deposed, and you haven't come back for so long after the imperial court. There was no one to inform you..." Concubine Di said worriedly

Defang helped Concubine Di, "I'm really sorry Ma'am, because I was worried about Yuan Zuo's situation, I rushed over immediately, and I forgot to let someone go back to the house to report. It's my fault for making Madam worry."

Concubine Di and Defang walked side by side, feeling a little relieved, "It's good to be back, it's good to be back, then... Yuanzuo him..."

"Hey..." Defang shook her head and stopped talking

In December, Prime Minister Song Qi and Deputy Privy Envoy Chai Yuxi were dismissed.