The Child Emperor

Han Ruzi met Xiao Sheng, the censor of Zuo Cha at Chai's house.

One of Xiao Sheng's nephews was the son-in-law of the Chai family, and he was the one who introduced him and facilitated the meeting. Princess Hengyang passed away, and her own children were released back to Beijing. There was no reason for the Chai family to be enemies with Marquis Juan. In order to express their gratitude, they were willing to help, but none of the real Chai surnamed people showed up.

The capital is in the most chaotic period. Everyone is eager to express their opinions, but all of them are not so sincere. Stepping on two or even several boats can be an open choice. No one is ashamed. Yumenlu, be sure to make your feet stand firmer.

Under such circumstances, the meeting between Han Ruzi and Xiao Sheng was doomed to be awkward.

The two did not meet alone, they both brought their entourage. Han Ruzi brought Yang Feng and Xiao Sheng brought Lu Congxin.

Among all the hopeful people Han Ruzi has seen, this Lu Congxin is the most taciturn, so gloomy that he is not like a warlock, but a lonely knight with peerless martial arts, but Yang Feng has already inquired about it. It is clear that Lu Congxin does not know martial arts, and his silence is only a genre of the technique of watching Qi.

Xiao Sheng showed by his actual actions that it was not a fluke that he could become a high-ranking official of the court. He came dressed in casual clothes, greeted Hou Juan with a smile, and bowed his hands politely. After taking his seat, he congratulated Hou Juan without being humble or arrogant, congratulating him on the recent period of time. After winning one victory after another, Han Ruzi also thanked the other party for their cooperation and did not interfere in the matter of opening the warehouse and placing food.

He politely maintained the time for a cup of tea. Xiao Sheng would not be the first to clarify his attitude. This is the capital he is familiar with, and he will not make the impatient mistakes of Shenxiongguan again.

"Might as well say it clearly, Master Xiao, I need your support." Han Ruzi made his move first.

Xiao Sheng took a sip of tea with a smile, put down the tea cup, and said, "In that case, I might as well say clearly that Hou Juan did a good job. If you had the reputation you have today, the Queen Mother couldn't have deposed you at the beginning, but unfortunately, times have changed. I won't say anything else, the status of the Emperor Juan is a big problem. It is too rare for the emperor to be re-established. It has never happened in this dynasty, and the re-establishment of you as the emperor means that the entire imperial court will be re-established. They have all made unforgivable mistakes, how should I explain it to the world at that time?"

Han Ruzi had already expected this question, and he had already thought about the answer, "The emperor was deposed, naturally there were traitors who interfered, deceived the court, and deceived the whole world."

Xiao Sheng raised his eyebrows, "Dare to ask who the traitor is? How could he have such great ability?"

"One can always be found, not many, only one." Han Ruzi refused to give his name.

Xiao Sheng laughed and didn't ask any further questions. After thinking for a while, he shook his head, "Does Marquis Tien think he will be able to take power once he ascends the throne?"

"Can't you?"

"The southern and northern armies are stranded outside Beijing, and the Eighth Battalion of Suwei is expanding every day. Why does the new emperor hold power?"

Han Ruzi glanced at Lu Congxin, who was looking at the anger, and asked, "Does Mr. Xiao think that I can't be in power, or do you think that no matter who gets the throne, he can't be in power?"

"Of course I won't specifically target Tien Hou."

"And what difference does it make who the ministers support?"

"Of course there is." Xiao Sheng became serious. "As ministers, we have only one purpose. We hope that the court will be stable and the world will be peaceful. The new emperor must be a patient person. The queen mother cannot live forever, and neither does the Shangguan family. He will always control the Eighth Camp of the Guards, and the new emperor will eventually come to the government in person one day, but before that, the new emperor must be content with the status quo. Can Marquis Juan and the King of Donghai get along peacefully with the Queen Mother? Especially Marquis Tien?"

The empress dowager abandoned the son of Emperor Huan and did not choose, and replaced the orphan of the former prince to become the emperor. Only this point, the hatred has been deeply rooted, at least in the eyes of outsiders, no matter who the two brothers ascended the throne, it is impossible to let go of the empress dowager.

Han Ruzi smiled and said, "If I say 'Yes', you won't believe me either."

Xiao Sheng also smiled and shook his head, "Wanhou doesn't believe it himself. You just said that you will blame the Queen Mother for the crime of abolishing the emperor."

"Someone must be responsible for the abolition of the emperor, but I'm not talking about the queen mother."

The smile on Xiao Sheng's face suddenly disappeared, and he found that he had made a simple mistake. Hou Juan only said that someone should be responsible. He naturally thought of the queen mother, but he did not hear Hou Juan say it himself. If the other party is a wily guy, Xiao Sheng will pretend to be confused to the end, but in the face of teenagers, he can't help but underestimate the enemy.

Xiao Sheng stared coldly at Hou Juan, and after a while he asked, "Who else is it if it's not the Queen Mother?"

"A superfluous person."

Xiao Sheng received his lesson, without saying a word, and without questioning, Han Ruzi added: "The prime minister Yin is harmless, he is the leader of the group of officials, and the leader of the ministers appointed by the late emperor, but he has failed Emperor Wu and Emperor Huan. I entrusted him to abolish the emperor in the palace, he said nothing, and the orphan of the former prince was appointed.

Xiao Sheng was surprised, this is real surprise, not pretending, "All the ministers have done the things you said, not just the prime minister."

"Since he is the prime minister, he must take the greatest responsibility. If he was willing to stand up, would it be so easy to get rid of it?"

Xiao Sheng was silent, the Empress Dowager's ability to grasp real power in a very short period of time was indeed directly related to Prime Minister Yin Wuxian's connivance and inaction attitude.

"Great Chu has constant internal and external troubles. Just as Mr. Xiao said, after the new emperor ascends the throne, it will take some time for him to come to power in person. In this way, the prime minister is responsible for all the important responsibilities in the world. If he continues to 'govern by inaction', the great Chu will be terminally ill."

"Since Marquis Tien is willing to get along peacefully with the Queen Mother, where does the power come from to replace the prime minister?"

"If I become emperor again, the queen mother also needs to give the world an explanation. This is an obvious thing. I have my own way to persuade the queen mother."

Xiao Sheng fell silent again.

Han Ruzi smiled at Lu Congxin, who was watching the qi, "What do you think, Your Excellency?"

Lu Congxin stood beside Xiao Sheng, shook his head, and refused to speak.

Xiao Sheng stood up and said: "Marquis Juan...uses strange tricks well, and I admire them, but the way to govern a country is based on keeping upright, so - I still can't support Marquis Juan, this sentence must be clearly stated in person to avoid misunderstandings. , this is also the most important reason why I came to see Hou Juan."

Han Ruzi also stood up, cupped his hands and said: "Master Xiao is not right, he is worthy of being the mainstay of the Great Chu, I admire it too, please believe me, Master Xiao, I have no personal grudge against anyone, even if it is the opinion of the prime minister, it is a last resort. And for that, I also have no resentment towards Lord Yin."

Xiao Sheng said his goodbyes. Although the words of Hou Juan during this meeting were unbelievable, they did touch him.

Lu Congxin, the one who wanted to breathe, followed behind. When he passed by Juan Hou, he stopped and finally said, "We know who the murderer is."

Han Ruzi was slightly taken aback, "The murderer?"

"She's not in the capital, and she's not a protected target. I just inform Juan Hou: You'll never see her again."

Han Ruzi smiled, "Then I will be very sad."

The deer also left from the heart.

Han Ruzi said goodbye from Chai's house, returned home, and asked Yang Feng, "Will Xiao Sheng be tempted?"

"That's not important, he will publicize Hou Juan's words, force Yin Wuxian to respond, and show his true position, and Shen Mingzhi, the censor of the right patrol, will also be affected."

The two censors are by convention the candidates for the prime minister's succession. Any change in the position of the prime minister will cause ripples in the hearts of the two. Although Yin Wuxian has promised that the champion will be appointed to the throne after he is proclaimed emperor, such a slippery old man, Ministers will not be entirely convinced.

Champion Hou is grateful to Yin Wuxian, but Tired Hou wants to indict the prime minister. It is clear at a glance that under which emperor will the prime minister be vacant.

This is the plan formulated by Yang Feng. So far, the position of the ministers is still very consistent, and we must find a way to make a gap. As for the message that must be passed through Xiao Sheng, Yang Feng also considered: Xiao Sheng is at odds with Marquis Juan, whether his words are credible or not, and when necessary, Marquis Juan can deny it completely.

Yang Feng is like an experienced hunter. In order to hunt down his prey, he does everything he can, including traps, bows and arrows, nets, poisons, swords...all that he can use, without any hesitation or compassion.

Han Ruzi admired him and occasionally felt a chill in his heart, but now, Yang Feng was his right-hand man and indispensable.

"Why hasn't there been a letter from the general's side?" Han Ruzi asked, the capital was already full of commotion, and even the champion Hou believed that Han Xing was completely on the side of the Juan Hou, but it was Han Xing himself, who never received a letter, Qu Zixi, Meng E He has never returned to Beijing.

"He's watching. If the opening of the warehouse goes smoothly, Han Xing will have to choose Juan Hou. If it doesn't work out, he still has a chance to win the champion's forgiveness."

Han Ruzi sighed, "The ministers in the DPRK and China are all such old slickers, if I were to be the emperor..."

"If Hou Juan becomes emperor, he must thank these old slickers and reuse them."

"Why? Let them continue with the mud?" Han Ruzi was a little unwilling.

"Marquis Tien has read many historical books, have you seen the exact same emperor?"

Han Ruzi shook his head.

"When the new emperor ascends the throne, how many people can completely not violate the will of the previous emperor?"

Han Ruzi thought for a while, then shook his head. On the surface, all the new emperors would praise the merits and greatness of the old emperor, claiming that everything would remain the same, but secretly, everyone had changed. Emperor Huan changed Emperor Wu's strategy, but neither did the queen mother. Obey the will of Emperor Huan...

"So, if the ministers were all loyal and loyal, the court would cease to exist. They would either stick to the previous emperor's government and be incompatible with the current emperor, or go along with the current emperor's idea and be disloyal to the former emperor. Pure loyalty is impossible. It's useless, the emperor is different from the emperor, like two different rutted cars, you must have people with muddy mud, so that the new car can run smoothly on the old road."

Han Ruzi felt that Yang Feng's words had some truth, but it was difficult to accept. He had never received the support of the minister, so he could not sincerely accept the minister.

"It's too early to say this." Yang Feng said that he had to help Juan Hou solve the battle at hand, "Lu Congxin is not provocative for no reason, he wants to induce you to leave the capital and lose your qualifications for the title. Champion Hou He started to value you and regretted pulling you in, so he will try his best to push you out, be careful and don't act recklessly."

Han Ruzi nodded, "But I have to send someone to notify Meng E."

"In that case, Hou Juan will be fooled."

Notifying Meng E means that Marquis Tien attaches great importance to the female bodyguard. Without notification, the hopeful will not easily let go of the murderer who killed his companion.

It was only then that Han Ruzi understood that the Qi-seeker had presented him with a problem.