The Child Emperor

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It was a cold winter night, snowflakes fell silently on the hard ground, Han Ruzi was tightly wrapped in a thick velvet cape, and felt that before the snowflakes covered a layer, a lot of them would be frozen to death.

Around midnight, he came to Taimiao again. The previous few times he was in the main hall, but this time he stood outside. The only acquaintance beside him was Yang Feng, but there were quite a few strangers. 300 people, plus the personal caregiver, the number doubled. The Taimiao had no room to accommodate so many people, so they had to wait in the open air for the time being.

Pitiful to these natural nobles, since they were young, they were well-clothed and well-fed, never had they ever suffered such hardships, their faces were pale from the cold, their limbs were numb, and they had rebellious intentions, but they dared not say it out loud, instead they had to put on a solemn expression of filial sons and virtuous grandchildren. When bored, he would take a sneak peek at the Waste Emperor.

Han Ruzi didn't know any of these people, but they all knew him.Yang Feng blocked most of his curious eyes for him, but the whispers around him still surrounded him with Xue Hua.

The clan children in front of the Taimiao do not stand randomly, but are sorted according to title, closeness, seniority, age, etc. Dozens of ritual officials maintain order, and a little further away are hundreds of guards with halberds. They wear iron armor and stand in the cold winter. It was colder, but they all stood up straight, without trembling at all.

Although Han Ruzi was only a tired prince, none of the princes and kings with higher seniority were in the capital, so he was the only one standing in the first row, shivering from the cold, like an unlucky bastard who was pushed out to take responsibility for his crimes .

There was a commotion behind him, Han Ruzi didn't even have the interest to look back, he just wanted to go home now.

It turned out that another newcomer arrived, with a high status, and was brought to Juanhou by the ceremony officer.

"Taizu's military life has suffered so much, but the descendants are so unworthy that they can't even bear the cold. If there is a major event in the world, the descendants of the Han family will all be lambs to be slaughtered." The newcomer complained.

Han Ruzi knew who it was without looking.

After a while, the King of the East China Sea spoke again, this time the voice was not so calm and composed, "It's...too cold today, are you going to... kill people? Hey, how long have you been here?"

Han Ruzi twisted his stiff neck, glanced at the King of the East China Sea who was also wrapped in a cloak, coughed twice, and said, "It's almost an hour, I don't know."

The king of the East China Sea leaned over, but the eunuch he brought wanted to stop him but couldn't, the king of the East China Sea said in a low voice, "Have you heard?"

Han Ruzi shook his head.

"She is a descendant of Prince Ju and Prince Yong. She is the same generation as us. I don't know... where she got her from." In the Taimiao, the King of Donghai dared not mention the word "Queen Dowager".

Han Ruzi didn't say a word, one was too cold, and the other was that it was meaningless to say these things.

The King of the East China Sea refused to shut up, and only chatted with Juanhou, "This trick is really insidious, asking you to abdicate, keeping me in the palace, and sending Jingyao to negotiate, has confused the Cui family for five months! My uncle... oh, he is good at everything, but he is too cautious, if he sent troops back then... oh, oh, my life is so miserable..."

The king of the East China Sea sighed, and Han Ruzi really wanted to warn him loudly to shut up.

Finally, things made progress, and the King of the East China Sea also shut up and returned to his position.

A group of guards walked in from the side doors on both sides, and then came the ministers. There must be at least 200 people. The ones who walked in the front were Prime Minister Yin Wuhai and Military Commander Han Xing.

The ministers obviously walked out of the warm room just now, with some residual heat in their bodies, their steps were steady, their expressions were solemn, and they were not shivering from the cold.

Under the instruction of the official of ceremonies, all the children of the clan moved forward and came to stand under the altar of the Taimiao. The civil and military officials were separated on the left and right. From then on, no one dared to speak at will.

With the light of the lantern, Han Ruzi saw that Prime Minister Yin Wuhai's face was a little red, not because of the cold, but more like excitement, as if he had just cried.

Han Ruzi had already seen an old woman crying tonight, and he was glad that he didn't have to see another old man crying.

A master of ceremonies stood sideways on the steps, his sonorous voice seemed unreal in the winter night, "The Queen Mother is here!"

Escorted by a team of eunuchs and female officials, the Queen Mother walked slowly in court clothes.

Han Ruzi disregarded etiquette and watched carefully. Unfortunately, Wang Meiren was not among them.Yang Feng gently tugged on Juanhou's cloak, Han Ruzi lowered his eyes, and still saw two people following the queen mother, one sixteen or seventeen years old, taller than the queen mother, with an extremely respectful expression, and the clothes on his body showed that he was absolutely It wasn't the eunuch in the palace, the other was younger, only six or seven years old, chubby, with a dazed face, always looking back, probably looking for someone he knew.

The queen mother and the two stood in front of Han Ruzi and the king of the East China Sea.

The military commander Han Xing, who was born in the clan, stepped forward and stood sideways on the steps, facing the MC who was speaking.

"The ancestors have spirits, and the descendants bow down!" The master of ceremonies shouted, and the voice was heard far away.

The Empress Dowager led all the descendants of the Han family to kneel on the ice-hard bluestone ground, with nothing under their knees.

"Kowtow!" The master of ceremonies didn't care about these things. At this moment, he was the spokesperson of the emperors of the Han family. He commanded hundreds of descendants to kowtow in a calm voice.

After kneeling three times, everyone stood up, and then civil and military officials also bowed three times. This was an accidental worship, and the etiquette has been simplified a lot.

Han Xing, the military governor, knelt down to the Taimiao again on the steps. This time, he didn't use the master of ceremonies to call out. He knelt down and stood up by himself, and then read out the will that he had been holding in his hand.

His voice was not so loud, but still clear, his words were quaint, and he quoted a lot of allusions. The ministers were very excited when they heard it, but the clan children who had been standing outside with their heads numb from the cold were at a loss. After a while, I gradually realized that this is a plea for revenge.

According to the usual practice, Han Xing first praised the achievements of his ancestors, and he was especially generous with Emperor Wu. Supervisor Jing Yao's name.

Next, Mingwen began to recall the grievances of the first two princes of Emperor Wu, with both voices and emotions, and soon there was a lot of crying in front of the Taimiao.

Han Ruzi had already seen the "world", and he was still quite surprised at this moment. The teenagers and children standing in front of him were the prince's orphans, and it was understandable to cry bitterly. Why were the others crying?Even the East China Sea King shrugged his shoulders, as if he was crying, and a little bit like snickering.

Han Ruzi couldn't cry, and he didn't know how to act, so he could only lower his head and try not to attract attention, but the crying around him was so contagious that Han Ruzi couldn't help but feel guilty, feeling that he was too heartless .

The long petition was finally finished, and the names of the king of the East China Sea, Han Shu, and the deposed emperor, Han Yu, were mentioned. They are unworthy descendants, with little virtue and little fortune, and cannot inherit the Han family. Therefore, they have to be selected from the descendants of the former prince. Stand one.

A few steps away, Han Ruzi could also hear the teeth of the King of the East China Sea gnashing, but he didn't care. When he heard the words "Unworthy Sun Yi", he didn't even immediately think that it was him.

The most critical moment has finally come. The two princes each left a descendant. The son of Prince Ju is named Han Shi, who is 17 years old this year. The son of Prince Yong is named Han She, who was just six years old. He was still alive when his father died. They were not born in the mother's womb. Although the two were included in the royal family, they had been neglected all the time, and even their names were chosen randomly.

Han Ruzi has experience and knows that the one who becomes the emperor in the end will change his name.

The ministers cried louder, and Han Ruzi felt that some of them were sincere.

Yang Feng leaned into his ear and whispered: "Prince Ju has been in power for more than ten years, and Prince Yong has been in power for six or seven years. They have deep roots among the ministers. Generally speaking, civil servants like Prince Ju, and military officials prefer Prince Yong."

Han Ruzi was stunned, no wonder his father Huandi once wanted to unite his relatives to deal with ministers. Emperor Huan's time as prince was too short and he had no close contact with ministers, and Han Ruzi had not even passed through the stage of prince and had no contact with ministers, so he His abdication was uneventful.

Han Ruzi no longer feels regretful, but also understands that if one day he can really return to the position of supremacy, he must build a foundation from the bottom up.He turned his head and glanced at Yang Feng, not knowing how much this eunuch could help him.

After reading the order, Han Xing spoke out of the manuscript, saying that the two princes were equal, and the orphans were all eligible to succeed. In order to show fairness, they had to draw lots in front of the tablets of the ancestors.

This is the plan that the Empress Dowager came up with after discussing with the ministers for a long time. The clan children who had been thrown outside to be frozen all the time were taken aback, but no one dared to raise objections at this time, the buzz disappeared quickly, and even the King of the East China Sea stopped gnashing his teeth .

The Empress Dowager took Han Shi and Han She up the stairs and entered the Ancestral Temple. Among the officials, only Yin Wuhai and Han Xing accompanied them in on behalf of civil and military officials, and everyone else waited outside.

As soon as the figure of the queen mother disappeared, the king of the East China Sea turned his head to look at Han Ruzi, with real tears streaming from his eyes, and said in a suppressed voice, "Can you believe it? Can you believe it?"

Han Ruzi had nothing he couldn't believe, so he showed an indifferent expression.

The expression on Donghai King's face changed from grief to surprise. Until then, he seemed to really believe that Han Ruzi was not interested in the throne.

Han Ruzi's goal is too far-reaching, and he really can't show interest at this moment.

The lottery was carried out very quickly, and the people outside were waiting so excitedly that they could hardly feel the cold.

Yin Wuhai and Han Xing walked out of the Taimiao first, and brought Han Shi, the orphan of Prince Ju, Yin Wuhai announced in an old voice that Han Shi was named Champion Marquis and Grand Sima of the Northern Army.

The result was decided, Yin Wuhai seemed a little disappointed, and most of the civil servants sighed, but they had no choice but to fight for it, so they could only admit defeat.

The three retreated to one side, and the Queen Mother walked out holding Han She's hand, stood on top of the altar, and said loudly: "The ancestors protect, Han Sheli, the grandson of Emperor Wu, is the crown prince."

All the ministers, including Han Shi, knelt down one after another. He had a chance to become emperor a moment ago, but now he is a minister.

The chubby child was still looking around, not knowing who he was looking for.

Before kneeling down, Yang Feng supported Han Ruzi, and said softly: "The Marquis Juan is allowed to enter the palace without worshiping, except for facing the ancestors, he doesn't need to kneel."

He is not the only person with privileges, there are seven or eight people including Han Xing, and the etiquette officer in the distance checks them one by one to confirm that they are correct.

Han Ruzi lowered his head, but there was a fire in his heart, neither anger nor jealousy, but an inexplicable fire of enthusiasm: now he clearly feels the difference between standing on top and standing below, He knows which one he likes better.

The ceremony was over, and the frozen clan children left one after another. The ministers continued to discuss the enthronement of the new emperor and how to deal with the southern army outside the city.

On the way back home, the fire in Han Ruzi's heart was gradually extinguished. He had to face the reality. In this cold winter, no flame could be ignited.

When entering the Juanhou Mansion, it was already dawn, Han Ruzi just pushed open the door of the bedroom when Cui Xiaojun, who had been waiting anxiously, rushed over, and they hugged each other tightly.

In the cold winter, there is only a little warmth here.

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