A Thousand Hills

Chapter 327

Although the Fourth Prince and Concubine quietly told Xie Moru about the matter of the old lady of the Zhu family, the matter was settled by Cheng Engong's family, and there was no need for Marquis Nan'an to intervene.The Marquis of Nan'an just asked his son to ask his father, Old Cheng Engong, "Do you want this title to be passed on to the second wife in the future, or should it be returned to the elder brother?"

Old Cheng Engong was still a little hesitant, after all, he was his elder sister-in-law. Moreover, the old Cheng Engong did not inherit the title because his brothers fought for the title, but because his elder brother committed a crime and lost the title, so the title fell to Erfang.It's not that the two brothers didn't have feelings back then, the elder sister-in-law has been widowed these years, and the more she guards, the more extreme she becomes... Alas, after the death of Princess Ningrong, Cheng Li also resigned, and this old Cheng Engong has no idea... The old Cheng Engong has no idea, and the young Cheng Engong is not without ideas. Now Cheng Engong is the elder brother of the Marquis of Nan'an, and Cheng Engong's ability is far inferior to that of his younger brother Nan'an Hou. As the eldest brother, Cheng Engong was even a little jealous of his younger brother.It's just that, as he got older, the Marquis of Nan'an was divided into another mansion earlier.Moreover, no matter how you look at it, the Marquis of Nan'an has a better future.Even if Cheng Engong is not for himself, even for his children and grandchildren, he must have a good relationship with his younger brother.What's more, the Marquis of Nan'an sent a letter to Cheng Engong this time, and it was not deliberately provoking.

When the prince went to the south of the Yangtze River, he brought Dalang, the great-grandson of the long house, by his side. The prince was close to his uncle's family. It can be said that the family with a serious grandfather's uncle was the head of the house, not the second house of the Hu family.The old lady Zhu is willing to serve the prince in this way, and the prince will reward her for her contribution in the future.Cheng Engong can also know what Zhu's wish is these years.

The choice between the title and the Zhu family is extremely easy.

However, Cheng Engong has other difficulties.

For this, Cheng Engong also made a special trip to Nan'anhou's mansion. Since Nan'anhou returned to court at the age of last year, he began to observe filial piety and rarely went out on weekdays.The Marquis of Nan'an roughly guessed the reason for Cheng Engong's visit, so he got up and asked his elder brother to go to the study to talk.

Cheng Engong opened his mouth and sighed for a while. Holding the teacup, he didn't even think about drinking tea. He said to Nan'an Hou, "Our fellow brothers, if you have something to say, I won't hide it from you. In recent years, I have been in a dilemma for my brother. When I beat my father Since I was on official business in the court, when I came to my place, our family has been respectful and loyal to His Highness the Crown Prince, but I see, the Crown Prince seems to be more willing to pull the long house. It’s not that I don’t see the good of the long house, brother, they are both ancestors As long as the brothers, nephews and nephews in the long house are promising, and they are looking for vacancies outside, father and you and I will help if they can. But this title was not taken by the father in the first place, but the uncle of the long house lost his title due to a crime. Who is not a family member, other things can be tolerated, but I can't tolerate this matter. It's just that we have taken care of the old lady here, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for the prince to speak." Cheng Engong felt, My own family is simply two-faced and not human.The relationship with the fifth prince has always been mediocre, please hold on to the prince, the prince is close to the eldest son.

If you want to change someone, the Marquis of Nan'an will never care about it.But my own elder brother came over so eagerly, and said these words, Nan'anhou actually knew what his elder brother wanted, and without the backing of the prince, his elder brother naturally wanted to use him to connect with the fifth prince's mansion.The Marquis of Nan'an is not such a person who does not take the line, and the line is not the way his brother said.The Marquis of Nan'an asked, "Brother, do you think that by disposing of the old lady, you are showing kindness to King Min?"

Cheng Engong hurriedly said, "Brother, why would you think so, but, our family has worked hard, so it's better not to let King Min know."

Why is the Marquis of Nan'an the Marquis of Nan'an, his mind is a hundred times clearer than that of Cheng Engong, Nan'an Hou said, "The old lady is nothing more than a trivial matter, brother thinks, does your Majesty have a chance to recover?"

"Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and he will be in good health."

"Since that's the case, why do you need to consider the prince's happiness and anger?" Nan'an Hou said, "In other words, if the old lady makes trouble, it's because the Hu family is not careful. It is the Hu family who understands the old lady's affairs. It is a matter of our Hu family. If my elder brother uses this to claim credit for the King of Min, what will the King of Min think?" You have wiped out your own troubles, but you want those who failed to do so to thank you?Where does this come from?This is your own business. If you don't take care of it yourself, why not wait for others to do it for you?If someone else makes a move, I'm afraid they won't be so friendly!

The Marquis of Nan'an asked Cheng Engong coldly in a few words, and Cheng Engong asked with cold sweat on his brow, "Brother, do you think, Prince, really, there is no chance at all?"

Nan'an Hou said, "I'm going out to fight, do you know how to decide the winner?"

Cheng Enzheng was nervous, and he was not dissatisfied with his brother's idiot questioning, he said, "Whoever wins wins, right?"

Nan'an Hou asked idiots, and Cheng Engong answered even more idiots.The two brothers really didn't have a tacit understanding, Nan'an Hou sighed and had to answer the question himself, saying, "Whoever kills the opponent's general first is the winner."

The Marquis of Nan'an said these words plainly. At this moment, the sunlight in early May spilled into the study through the window paper, reflecting warmth on Marquis Nan'an's sharp facial features, but Cheng Engong just felt his heart sink. cold.Nan'an Hou said, "If you want to win a battle, the most important thing is to find your opponent. If you don't even know who the opponent is, what is the victory or defeat!"

When Cheng Engong left his brother's house, he was in a daze, and he really didn't understand what his brother meant.The Marquis of Nan'an looked at his elder brother's old background, and he did not say a word in a heavy voice.

The prince has always regarded King Min as his opponent, what a joke!You are a majestic crown prince, why should you taboo a vassal king.As a prince, there is only one biggest opponent in his life, and that is His Majesty.You have to rely on him, understand him, and replace him one day, this is what the prince should do.Like the prince, he killed the emperor half to death, and then fought against the vassal... It's not that Marquis of Nan'an is narrow-minded, no matter how he looks at it, he can't see where the prince will win.

Of course, the Marquis of Nan'an was already at odds with the prince, and he was happy to see his enemy suffer, so he informed his daughter about it.

As for the old lady Zhu Shi, she died of illness that day, so naturally she couldn't enter the palace to talk with the queen mother.Princess Wenkang also persuaded Queen Mother Hu in private, "At this juncture, even the market in the Eastern City of the Imperial Capital has been changed from opening every day to once every five days. The studies of the emperors and grandchildren in the palace have also been suspended. Even the greetings from the edicts are also avoided, isn’t it because there are so many people who are sick now? My mother wants people to talk, but if it’s me, it’s hard to do, I can’t talk. Why bother to preach to those people outside, especially the eldest aunt, She's older than my mother, almost eighty. It's not that I don't listen well, it's because I'm sick at home. What should I do if I come to the palace with a sickness? My mother is also old. People are gone, don’t be like this.”

Only then did Queen Mother Hu tell the truth, and said, "I heard people say that your aunt knows the goddess of Guanyin Nunnery, and I heard that the goddess is also very effective. I want to call your aunt into the palace to ask, if It’s really efficacious, and it’s good to ask the goddesses to come to the palace to talk about the Dharma.” After being taught by Immortal Baiyun and Master Wenxiu, Empress Dowager Hu’s superstitious enthusiasm was aroused, and she wished she could call a few immortal monks into the palace to talk every day.

Princess Wenkang said calmly, "I don't want to ask someone, and I don't necessarily have to use my aunt. I will ask for my mother, how about it?"

Queen Mother Hu is very happy.

Xie Moru always did things quickly, on the second day, Princess Wenkang went into the palace and told her mother in private, "Mother doesn't need to talk about Guanyin Nunnery anymore, there was a big scandal the night before, and even the whole emperor was alarmed."

"How to say?"

"Isn't the Guanyin nunnery a nunnery? It is said that the nun of the nunnery is very unscrupulous. It turns out that some nuns who went there at a young age often disappear. People only thought they were lost. Only then did they know that she was actually asked to take care of them." Alright, send it to make friends with dignitaries." Princess Wenkang clicked her tongue twice, "I don't even like to say it, I'm afraid it will dirty my mouth."

Empress Dowager Hu also poohed twice, and said, "Sure enough, it's not a good one!"

Princess Wenkang quietly said to her mother, "Fortunately, my mother told me about the Guanyin Nunnery in secret, and I also ordered someone to investigate it quietly. Otherwise, if outsiders know that my mother is going to call such people into the palace, it will not be good for my mother's reputation." No damage?"

Empress Dowager Hu thought so deeply, and Princess Wenkang said, "The emperor is sick right now. I know mother is worried, but I just thought that no one in this imperial capital can match Master Wenxiu in terms of divination. Mother must not I'm looking for someone else, I'm afraid of being taken advantage of by villains, but I don't know that Guanyin Temple may be a trick to lure my mother into the bait."

"That can't be, your aunt is not that kind of person."

"My aunt is not that kind of person, but no matter how old she is, she may not be deceived by others."

Empress Dowager Hu decided to listen to her daughter, and would not call those gods and immortals into the palace in the short term.

In this way, Xie Moru cut off the peace at both ends, and it is considered to be the matter of the Zhu family.

As for Jiang Liuniang's nonsense, he directly let Anjun Wang take the trouble.You, Jiang Liuniang, are a female stream. Although Xie Moru does not discriminate against women, I have to say that women's gender is really a big disadvantage in the field of power.King An is the legal heir of the Jingjiang family, so it goes without saying whether his words carry weight or Jiang Liuniang's words carry weight.

The five princes all said, "If you do good deeds on weekdays, you will be rewarded with blessings."

Xie Moru said, "It's just standing in line. King An is on His Highness's side. Speaking of which, His Highness defeated Jingjiang, and his hatred for Jingjiang is actually greater. But the crown prince, just tried dozens of people to death , compared to what happened to Jingjiang today, the crown prince is not the main culprit."

The fifth prince said, "How is this the same? I defeated Jingjiang in an upright way. Whether I win or lose, there is no personal grievance. In the case of the Ministry of Punishment, the East Palace was all out of self-interest and punished Jingjiang's descendants excessively. Little, Jomo was someone else's idea for him."

The news of Li Jiujiang was very fast, and he quickly found out that it was not the Jiang family who made up the mind for King An, but Lin Fan and Master Zhong.

The fifth prince said, "With such two sensible people taking care of him, Prince An's life will be easier in the future."

The opinion of the two is that the crown prince lost Jiangnan, and the King of Fujian gained Jiangnan. Although the crown prince has the upper hand at the moment, the result is hard to say.Because both of them were brought into the imperial capital by the King of Min, and Master Wenxiu's hexagrams were never wrong, they were more willing to bet their treasure on the side of the King of Min.For this reason, Jiang Liuniang became angry and slapped King An. Xie Moru immediately reported this to her mother-in-law, Empress Su. slandering the prince" and immediately dispatched the palace's stout servants and nuns to detain Jiang Liuniang.

Concubine Liu Xian still said in front of the Empress Dowager, "Then Jiang Liuniang is still the aunt of King An Jun. It turned out that the aunt and nephew had a bad quarrel for a while, but it's not a big deal."

Empress Su still had that weak appearance, but since Emperor Mu Yuan fell ill, she was no longer in Fengyi Palace. Seeing Tian'er come to the Palace of Mercy to report, and hearing Concubine Liu Xian's words, Empress Su still had that gentle look. With a gentle tone, "The king of Anjun is the king who was appointed by the court. Jiang Liuniang, who has no title or patent, is nothing more than a commoner. It is because of the kindness of the king of Anjun that he allowed her to live in the palace of the king of Anjun. A commoner, can it be Because of a higher seniority, you can beat the county king? If you want to say this, you don’t judge superiority by status, but by seniority. After that, it’s better to give up the Fengyi Palace and Mercy Palace. The senior ones come to live, and the Queen Mother and I hide out. In our imperial court, we don’t need to talk about official positions, we just look at whoever is older and seniority, and let him be the head of the house.”

Concubine Liu Xian got up quickly, "Isn't that what the concubine meant?"

"Then what do you mean, tell me, otherwise, I'm afraid I have misunderstood Concubine Xian."

Concubine Liu Xian's face immediately flushed with embarrassment, Empress Su coughed lightly, sipped herbal tea, and said softly, "Since Your Majesty's dragon body has been slightly ill, I have been restless in my heart, and I am always worried about Your Majesty's dragon body. Copy some scriptures of peace for your majesty and offer them to the Buddha, because I can't let go of this, and I haven't written any pen yet. The concubine Xian was known for her talent when she was not in the palace. She has a hairpin flower in her hand, and she is very beautiful. I will let you, concubine Xian, replace the palace Copy some peace scriptures."

Concubine Liu Xian respectfully accepted the order.

Empress Su said again, "Although it is important to be filial in front of the Empress Dowager, after all, there are my daughter-in-law here, and the two concubines Zhao Xie, who are also very sensible, and you are not bad, so you can go to copy the scriptures first."

Concubine Liu Xian looked directly at Empress Dowager Hu with watery eyes. Empress Dowager Hu was slow-witted, still thinking about what Empress Su said, and she was talking about it, as if she asked Concubine Liu Xian to copy it for her son. through.Yes, copying scriptures is also a good idea.The Buddha and Bodhisattva will surely bless his son.Empress Dowager Hu was thinking, so she didn't pay attention to Concubine Liu Xian's eyes asking for help, but Empress Su smiled faintly, and said to Empress Dowager Hu, "My words don't work, I have to ask Empress Dowager to order."

Concubine Liu Xian didn't dare to say anything anymore, she quickly said, "I respectfully receive the imperial concubine Fengyu."

Princess Wenkang hated Concubine Liu Xian's lack of winks in her heart, she smiled and said to Empress Su, "The queen mother is old, so there must be a sister-in-law in the palace to watch over her. Especially now, the most important thing."

Empress Su sighed, "Yes, in the past, the descendants of Jingjiang were so peaceful. As soon as your Majesty got a little sick, they started jumping one by one. How could Jiang Liuniang be a good person? Her mother, the Qiu family, had run the Jingjiang heirs down. Afterwards, the mother and son of the Qiu family became even more frenzied and poisoned the prince. With such a mother, Jiang Liuniang's character can be imagined. I know her thoughts. Among the descendants of Jingjiang, there is Jiang Liuniang's own nephew, There is also King An, when His Majesty bestowed a title on him back then, thinking that King An was one of the eldest sons, and Jiang Liuniang’s nephew was a commoner, so he bestowed the title on King An. Today, Jiang Liuniang dared to beat Prince An because he was right. His Majesty's arrangement was dissatisfied, and he wanted to kill King An, and her nephew would just attack him."

Empress Dowager Hu was already unhappy when she heard this, and someone dared to question her son's arrangement, and immediately said with a straight face, "Prince Jingjiang is a bad breed, and this Jiang Liuniang is not good either."

Zhao Xie and Zhao Xie were so surprised that they couldn't speak when they saw Empress Su go crazy. Seeing what the Empress Dowager said, Princess Wenkang was willing to give Empress Su face, and they all agreed.

Empress Su said softly again, "Concubine Xian said that I did not deal with it properly, but in fact, I just detained him and took care of him, but nothing happened. How to deal with it is still up to the Empress Dowager to decide."

Empress Dowager Hu said, "Such an ignorant slut deserves a good beating."

Empress Su said, "It's a bit troublesome."

Empress Dowager Hu asked, "According to the Queen's wishes."

"In the past, it's okay to learn a lesson or two. But now, it's not important. I'm afraid everyone will follow suit. They will think we are easy to bully, and everyone will rise up to rebel." Empress Su sighed with a weak look, " Just give her a three-foot white silk."

Empress Su took care of Jiang Liuniang. Once Jiang Liuniang died, no one would dare to mention her words.Empress Su has always been a reclusive person, and even the palace affairs are represented by the two noble concubines Zhao Xie, so that everyone habitually forgets her existence.As a result, after her attack, people realized that there is a mistress in the harem.

The eldest prince and the three princes all spoke for the fifth prince, saying that Jiang Liuniang was talking about government affairs and slandering the king. Her words must not be trusted.I think so, if there is such a thing as the Jade Seal of Chuanguo, it will definitely not be able to hide it in Jiangnan.

Not only the eldest prince and the three princes expressed their views, but also the court officials such as Minister Qin of the Ministry of Rites, Lord Yan of the Ministry of Industry, Lord Tang of the Ministry of Households, Lord Yu of the Ministry of Officials, and even the Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and Lord Yushi Tie, the left capital of Yushitai. Wait, they all expressed their views.Perhaps it was because the empress had been vacant for many years, so that these adults seemed to have just realized that even if the prince succeeds, according to the etiquette, the empress must be respected as the mother empress dowager. With Empress Su in the harem, the fifth prince can be kept no matter what .As long as the fifth prince's life is safe, this future... Amitabha, the Buddha said, not to be said.

The crown prince was very angry, and said bitterly in private, "She still plays the queen's score!"

This is not easy for the princess to accept.After all, Empress Su is the empress, even if the prince comes to her, she has to respectfully call her empress.

Once Jiang Liuniang's matter was settled, Dali Temple and Yushitai found out that Uncle Zhongyong was innocent, the prince had no choice but to reinstate Uncle Zhongyong to his post, and at the same time comforted Uncle Zhongyong.I don't know if it's a feng shui problem, but the prince found that everything is not going well here. Not only are there officials in the court and the annoying eldest prince, the third prince is against him in everything. What are you researching in secret.

The fifth prince kept a close eye on the East Palace, and the East Palace also kept an eye on Prince Min's Mansion.The Imperial Physician Cheng was originally ordered by the Fifth Prince to study anti-epidemic prescriptions, but was recalled by the Fifth Prince just a few days ago, and has not participated in the research on anti-epidemic prescriptions since then.That is to say, the second day after Doctor Cheng returned to the palace, Jiang Xingyun took people out of the imperial capital.

The news came back that Jiang Xing went to Yunnan.

Go south!

Where will you go south?
The explanation given by Ning Jijiu was, "The forces of the five princes are all in the south of the Yangtze River, and I'm afraid they have contacted those people."

Li Xiang's conclusion is the opposite, "The south is too far away. If you send troops to condemn the generals, you can't hide it from the court. Besides, the court is in the imperial capital, not in the south of the Yangtze River. No matter how many people she contacts now, it will have no effect on the overall situation. Earl Jiang must not go south to contact people. Go, the King of Min has not reached this point yet."

Although Ning Jijiu was dissatisfied with Li Xiang's opposition to him, he suddenly had a plan and suggested to the prince, "Why don't you transfer the King of Fujian?"

The prince was surprised, "Don't you let the tiger go back to the mountain?"

Ning Jijiu smiled slightly, and said with a beard, "I didn't say that I want to transfer the King of Min to the south of the Yangtze River. It doesn't matter whether I go north or west."As long as the King of Min is not around, the people of the King of Fujian have nothing to rely on. There are thousands of ingenious schemes and methods, and I am afraid that there is nowhere to use them.

The crown prince has repeatedly failed against the King of Min. The King of Min himself, including the lineage of the King of Fujian, is extremely difficult to deal with. Even the ministers of the court and central government, there are many who are willing to speak for the King of Fujian.King Min couldn't be dealt with in the imperial capital, so Ning Jijiu came up with this idea, which suits the prince's wishes.The prince didn't want to see the King of Min for a long time, but the prince also has his own difficulties, the prince said in a low voice, "If there is no proper reason, don't talk about Empress Su, even the emperor's grandmother, I'm afraid it won't make sense."

Empress Dowager Hu is easy to fool, but Empress Su can't do it. This woman seems to have never had a seizure before. Empress Dowager Hu is free in front of her, and a few words can make Empress Hu faint.What's more, Empress Su is the aunt after all, if she has something to say, even the crown prince will obey her.

Li Xiang strongly disagreed with this plan, frowned, and said immediately, "Duke Jingnan, Marquis of Nan'an, and Uncle Zhongyong are all illustrious generals in the imperial court. The prince goes out to fight? There is no such reason in the world, let alone when His Majesty is seriously ill, if His Highness mentions this in the court, he will be criticized by the courtiers."

Ning Jijiu is also a veteran of the two dynasties, with a lively mind, very comparable to others, he changed his mind to regenerate a method, and suggested to the prince, "Jingnan Gong, Nan Xunhou, Zhongyong Bo and others are all the wings of the King of Fujian. , When will we wait? Wouldn’t it be easy to transfer the three of them out of the imperial capital first, and then deal with King Min.”

The prince was quite moved, but also embarrassed, "The world is peaceful, and there is no war."

Ning Jijiu glanced at Li Xiang with a smile, and said with deep meaning, "Other places are not easy. Li Xiang has been operating in Shaanxi and Gansu for many years, so I must have some experience."

Hearing this, Li Xiang fell down angrily, thinking of my cabinet minister, I want you to be a little commander of the wine ceremony!What's more, the meaning in Ning Jijiu's words is that Li Xiang wants to be the chief assistant, and he wants to assist the prince to take the position, and he can no longer tolerate such a vicious idea of ​​Ning!Even though Duke Jingnan, Marquis of Nan'an, Uncle Zhongyong and others had acquaintance with the five princes, they were still courtiers.Li Xiang doesn't think these people are pleasing to the eye, but Nima has killed all the people now. In future wars, do you want the surname Ning to go into battle?Li Xiangdeng was furious and pointed at Ning Jijiu's nose and cursed, "In any war, bandits everywhere can be wiped out with the local garrison. If the local garrison loses, the imperial court will send troops. Even if they send troops, such as Jingnangong and others , all dukes and counts, what a noble! Why do you need them to go out for a small war! But if you use them, it will be a big battle! Although we plan for His Highness, we have been in power for many years, how can we treat war as a trifle and regard the lives of the people Fight for nothing! Fight in the imperial capital! If the country is ruined and the world is in chaos, the throne is not worth it! It is a minister who has been deeply favored by two generations of emperors. He is trembling in the court, but he can’t afford to bring disaster to the country. Two words! I am even more ashamed to be with villains!" After saying that, he walked away!

(End of this chapter)