The Child Emperor

The dinner was quite sumptuous, but Han Ruzi felt that it was not as delicious as the rice porridge and pickles at breakfast. Zhang Youcai, who was serving at the side, also felt the same way: "I didn't feel anything when I ate it, but now my nose is full of the smell of that time, which is really strange."

After dinner, Han Ruzi went back to his study. The bedroom in the main house was still being tidied up, so he still wanted to live here temporarily.

There are several wooden boxes in the room, which are full of small objects such as pens, ink, paper and inkstones, fans, accessories, etc., but there are no books, and it seems that I will have to buy them myself in the future.

Zhang Youcai came in and lit a candle, and asked, "Master, do you really not need me to serve you?"

Han Ruzi shook his head, he likes to be alone in the study.

Not long after night fell, Cai Xinghai came back. He had not been idle all day, he had been running outside, and finally brought back vital information.

"Tomorrow at dusk, Mrs. Juanhou will leave the palace through the Penglai Gate in the north, walk through Huashi Lane, Foyi Lane and Shuying Lane, and enter Cui's residence through the back door." Cai Xinghai let out a sigh of relief, "It's too much, madam After all, she used to be a queen, even if she was deposed, she still has the right to leave the palace openly and enter the house through the main entrance."

Han Ruzi sympathizes with Cui Xiaojun, and wants to take her to the Juanhou Mansion.

Yang Feng's mind was never on Mrs. Juanhou, and asked: "Is there any news about the establishment of the emperor?"

Cai Xinghai sighed, "The Empress Dowager left the King of the East China Sea in the Cishun Palace. The Superintendent of the Central Committee, Jing Yao, frequently travels between the Inner Palace and the Southern Army these days. It seems that he wants to set up the King of the East China Sea."

"The king of the East China Sea can be considered to have his wish." Han Ruzi was still a little jealous in his heart, and he felt even more uncomfortable when he thought that he might have to bow down to the king of the East China Sea in the future.

Yang Feng sat on a box, thought for a while, and said, "It may not be the king of the East China Sea."

Cai Xinghai knew that Yang Feng was a smart man, but he believed more in the news he had heard, "It has been spread outside that Taifu Cui is in charge of the southern army and asked the queen mother to make his nephew emperor, otherwise the capital will be bloodbathed. I am in the northern army At that time, the soldiers over there were panicked, and they might not know when the battle would start."

"But you can still bring a group of people into the city, which shows that the Northern Army is not ready for war at all." Yang Feng said.

Cai Xinghai scratched his head, "I can't help it. The Northern Army has been scattered for so many years. Even if the Queen Mother wanted to confront the Southern Army, she would not use them. Also, I heard that many ministers went to curry favor with Mrs. Cui. If we don’t get to the Southern Army’s camp, we’ll go to Cui’s house in the city to deliver postings and gifts, and there’s been a lot of traffic in front of the gate of Cui’s house for several months.”

Yang Feng smiled and said nothing, Cai Xinghai chatted for a while and resigned.

Yang Feng stood up, "What does Juanhou think?"

"I have too little information to make a judgment."

"Knowing too much information is not necessarily a good thing. When you are tired, you have to learn to see the small things."

Han Ruzi thought for a while, "Last night you asked me to think about one thing: You are the supreme, how can I express myself clearly."

"Well, do you have an answer?"

"Not yet, I'm thinking about an opposite question: as the supreme being, how can I understand the true thoughts of my courtiers? This is the biggest dilemma for the Empress Dowager right now."

Yang Feng nodded, "Put yourself in the place, this is the key to see the truth, please continue talking."

"It took five months for the empress dowager to let me abdicate. During this period, rumors abounded. As Cai Xinghai said, many ministers defected to the Cui family—maybe this is the way the empress dowager understands the true thoughts of the courtiers, watching their actions instead of just listening to their words .”

Yang Feng was noncommittal, and raised his hand to signal Juanhou to continue.

"There are those who please the Cui family, and there are those who avoid the Cui family and even oppose the Cui family. In this way, the queen mother can see who among the ministers can stand by her." Han Ruzi thought deeply, imagining that he was the queen mother and the one who held the power Emperor, things are slowly becoming clearer, "The Empress Dowager will never establish the king of the East China Sea. The king of the East China Sea is different from me. He has the Cui family as his backer. If he is established as the emperor, it will give the court a wrong message and make the ministers think that the Cui family is the king of the East China Sea. Victory, and the empress dowager's fiasco, in that case, she will never be able to stand up again."

Yang Feng finally nodded, "This is exactly my guess."

The confusion in Han Ruzi's heart didn't disappear, but deepened, "Cui Taifu can't see such an obvious fact? The longer he waits, the worse it will be for him. And those ministers, do they also make the same mistake?"

Yang Feng smiled slightly, "Things are not so easy. Juanhou only put himself in the empress dowager's shoes, but he hasn't thought about Taifu Cui yet."

Han Ruzi thought for a while, and sighed: "It's too difficult, the Cui family is deeply rooted in the court, and Taifu Cui regained the military power of the Southern Army. The chances of winning are quite good, especially if the Queen Mother asks me to abdicate, it is tantamount to showing weakness to the Cui family. Even if the Empress Dowager has clever plans, she may not be able to succeed. No wonder some ministers will vote for the Cui family."

"So it's not necessarily a good thing for Juanhou to abdicate and stay away from disputes."

Han Ruzi smiled. It is easy to abdicate but it is difficult to regain the position. He can only sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and he has had a good time. "Then who will the queen mother make emperor? There are many descendants of the Han family, but the son of Emperor Huan It’s just me and the King of the East China Sea, and if someone else is the emperor, her empress dowager’s position is a bit unfair. Could it be that she still wants to be the King of the East China Sea, but she has found a way to deter the Cui family and the officials?”

"The result will probably be known tomorrow night." Yang Feng didn't say his own judgment, "The struggle between the queen mother and the Cui family is likely to last for a while, but tomorrow's battle is very important, and it is also very important for Juanhou."

"If the king of the East China Sea proclaims himself emperor normally, the power of the Cui family will increase greatly, and the influence of the queen mother in the court will decrease. When someone comes to kill me, it will not be to please the queen mother, but to please the Cui family and the king of the East China Sea."

"Let's rest, we're just talking about the general trend here, we don't have to draw conclusions, the emperor's art is right and wrong, the general trend is right, it's strange that you come and go, the queen mother and Cui Taifu may use a strange move to win, how can this be Can't guess."

However, Han Ruzi couldn't help but calm down immediately, he hummed, still thinking about it in his mind, seeing Yang Feng had already walked to the door, he said: "The officials of the Ministry of Rites saw me like a tiger, did they know something in advance?"

Yang Feng stopped in his tracks, "The Empress Dowager made an exception to promote Yuan Jiuding, Minister of Rites, and introduced him to the Hall of Qinzheng half a year ago. It must not be for no reason."

"At that time, the palace change hadn't happened yet. Could it be that the Empress Dowager wanted me to abdicate long ago? My mother just happened to speak to the Empress Dowager's heart?"

"Don't think too much, some things may never be answered, and some things will only be understood when you are in that position." Yang Feng pushed the door and went out, leaving Juanhou with a lot of doubts.

Han Ruzi undressed himself, blew out the candles, and lay on the bed for a long time unable to fall asleep.

"The Cui family..." Thinking that the Cui family might marry several daughters to the King of the East China Sea as queens and concubines, Han Ruzi felt obliged to bring his wife back.

But Yang Feng's relaxed attitude surprised Han Ruzi. Did he think that the Cui family would definitely lose in the battle with the queen mother, so he didn't care about offending the Cui family?

Yang Feng wanted to use twenty Xiao cavalry guards to directly bring Mrs. Juanhou into the mansion. The plan was simple, but it was not easy to execute.

Early the next morning, when Zhang Youcai came to serve the Marquis of Juan, he said, "It was really helpful to go to the Ministry of Rites to make a fuss yesterday. There are hundreds of officers and soldiers outside our mansion, from the street to the end of the street."

Not only that, the Fucheng and Fuwei sent by the Zongzheng Mansion also began to officially perform their duties. They didn't care much about other things, but they were very strict about the people who entered and exited the Juanhou Mansion, such as name, appearance, reason, time, etc. All are recorded in detail.

Juanhou's mansion is indeed safe, but he has lost the freedom he had at the beginning. Han Ruzi felt that it was difficult for him to go out, let alone rob people halfway, so he couldn't help feeling a little anxious.

Yang Feng didn't show any sense of urgency at all, he seemed to have simply forgotten today's major event, and spent the whole morning entangled with two government officials. These two people were appointed by the court to serve the Marquis Juan, but also publicly As the monitor, Yang Feng is the chief manager of the Hou Mansion. Although he has no rank, he manages more things.

In order to argue about the scope of duties of the two parties and who has a higher status, Yang Feng fought for every inch of land with the government officials.

Seeing that it was past noon, Han Ruzi began to fidget, Cai Xinghai ran in and out, and kept winking at Juanhou.

Shortly after noon, Cai Xinghai was expelled from the Marquis Mansion. He was not on the list of designated eunuchs, and he was not an official slave. It would be unseemly to stay in the mansion for too long.

Yang Feng fought hard, but finally gave in, and personally sent Cai Xinghai out of the mansion, along with Du's grandfather and grandson who were expelled. The origin of these two people is unknown, let alone stay in the mansion.

On the surface, Yang Feng lost more than he won in a series of battles, but as the general manager, there were fewer and fewer things he could manage, and he kept shaking his head and stomping his feet, looking very annoyed.

At one hour in the afternoon, Yang Feng finally won a small victory and obtained the consent of the government officials to hire a teacher for Juanhou.

After a whole morning of fighting, Fucheng and Fuwei were already exhausted. Hearing that the gentleman invited was Guo Cong, the master of Juanhou in the palace, they reluctantly agreed. Guo Cong had been an official in the court for decades and was worthy of trust.

Yang Feng took advantage of the victory to go after him, and he was about to invite a teacher, and it was Juanhou who went to invite him personally, "You know the identity of Mr. Guo. A few months ago, he made great achievements in punishing rebels and was rewarded by the court. If he was not too old, I am resolutely unwilling to enter the court, at least I am now a minister..."

The government official was already dizzy, so he had no choice but to nod, but he made a request that two government officials, twenty Xiao cavalry guards, and officers and soldiers sent by several major departments must follow, and Juanhou must not be allowed to ride through the city alone on horseback.

Yang Feng fought for a while, and reluctantly accepted the terms.

Han Ruzi travels in a carriage, not the kind of canopy carriage with a ventilated face, but a closed carriage like a sedan chair, probably specially made for him, because after he got in, he found that the car curtains on both sides were sewn to death and could not be opened. Looking around, no one outside could see him.

Seeing that it was not long before dusk, Han Ruzi felt that it was too late no matter what. Guo Cong was an old-fashioned gentleman known for his etiquette, and it would take a lot of time just to meet each other.

As a result, Guo Cong was not at home at all, perhaps because he wanted to stay away from the turmoil of the court. The old man retired and returned to his hometown in Kanto within a month.

Yang Feng was very sorry, but the two government officials who came with him were very calm, obviously they knew that this trip would come back in vain.

Han Ruzi only had the word "admiration" for Yang Feng. They finally found time to pick up Cui Xiaojun, but they didn't know how to get rid of the two government officials.

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