That letter of apology was not a letter of apology at all.
That was a death warrant.
Emperor Longqing was still very angry when he thought about it. His eyes moved with coldness and disgust to the conspicuous letter of apology next to him. Suddenly he reached out and grabbed it and threw it into the stove next to him.
Then he just stared at it coldly until it was burned to ashes, leaving no trace.
Then he called Eunuch An to come in.
Eunuch An felt that he was in danger of losing his head recently.
The emperor, whom he had served for decades, became increasingly unpredictable, as unpredictable as a child's face in June.
He started serving the emperor when he was still a vassal king. The emperor used to be a man of very mild temper. He was respectful to his superiors and tolerant to his subordinates, and was very popular.
But since he became emperor, everything has changed.
The emperor's suspicion gradually increased, and finally he even suspected the Ming family. Based on just one letter of denunciation, he actually sent an imperial envoy to bring the Ming family to the capital for trial, resulting in all the members of the Ming family dying on the way.
After that, his suspicion became worse, and it affected the eldest prince, Queen Ming... ... and the eldest prince, one by one, all of them had a bad ending, and later the Feng family also fell.
Not to mention Cao An, Cao Wen and others.
When the emperor used them, he indeed treated them as his trusted subordinates and was very fond of them. He even gave them the privilege of not having to prostrate themselves when meeting the King of Qin. But what about when the emperor became tired of them
They didn't even leave a complete body behind, and all three tribes were wiped out.
And the King of Chu...
Eunuch An survived little by little and eventually became the person who accompanied Emperor Longqing the longest and the person he trusted the most.
He used to be very confident about his position in Emperor Longqing's heart. Over the years, he was the only one who had never let Emperor Longqing down. He said, "Be careful in what you say, do, and think." He asked himself if he had done it.
But even so, he could clearly feel that the emperor had become more suspicious recently, so he had to be extremely careful while serving him.
Emperor Longqing's cough interrupted his trance. He hurried forward and asked softly, "Your Majesty, are you going to Lanyue Palace tonight?"
=Emperor Longqing has been very cold towards Empress Fang recently, and it has been a long time since then. He is either in Concubine De's Lanyue Palace, or in Concubine Lin Shu's place, or in his own Taiji Palace to accompany the Fourth Prince.
Empress Fang even mobilized Princess Yonghe, but unfortunately she failed to make Emperor Longqing change his mind.
Eunuch An also received gifts sent from the Queen's palace, ranging from small items such as pure gold nail clippers to large items such as rosewood carvings and a complete set of huanghuali wood furniture, all of which were included in the gift list.
But he didn't dare to answer it.
He didn't even dare to mention Queen Fang's good points or speak well of her as she wished.
He had been keenly aware of Emperor Longqing's recent anxiety and anger.
Emperor Longqing shook his head and asked him to summon all the cabinet ministers to the imperial study to discuss the matter.
Eunuch An hurried to the cabinet and invited Xia Song and others.
When Xia Song and his companions entered the palace, Emperor Longqing was concentrating on something. He raised his head when he heard the voice of "Long live the emperor". He raised his eyebrows and asked them to come in. He asked them in a friendly manner, "How are the war horses in the north being raised now?"
The Tatars in the north were always eyeing the situation covetously, so Emperor Longqing transferred Lian Bo to the border to raise horses. This job was not easy, but he had to do it well. Now it has been more than a year, and a memorial arrived a few days ago.
Xia Song replied: "Our own war horses are not strong enough and are inferior to the Tatars' horses. After Lian Bo went there, he found a way to get some horse breeds from the Tatars. After improvement, the incidence of disease in these war horses is much lower than before, and the survival rate is also very high. Now there are significant results."
Emperor Longqing looked much better, and even smiled: "A generous reward!"
Xia Song nodded in agreement, and Emperor Longqing asked again: "What about the weapons in Fujian? How is the forging going? Liu Biping said that Dayu General Lai Wenqiang has developed a set of tactics to deal with the Japanese pirates, which requires weapons to cooperate. The drawings have been given to the Ministry of War. How are the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works preparing?"
Xia Song didn't say anything, so Qian Shiyun took over the conversation: "Your Majesty, don't worry, everything is almost ready. The weapons have been built according to the blueprints and are still in the testing stage. After people from Fujian come to take a look, they can be mass-produced and shipped to Fujian."
Emperor Longqing's expression became more relaxed, and he nodded to show his satisfaction. He then changed the subject and asked, "How is the matter with Prince Jin going?"
The group of Jinyiwei who went to chase Prince Jin were completely wiped out. After receiving the news, the prefect of Dengzhou started chasing them overnight, but unfortunately Prince Jin still escaped.
When the news reached the capital, Emperor Longqing was furious. He ordered the cabinet to issue a document, asking local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and make sure the Prince of Jin was arrested.
It has been such a long time since he gave the order to the cabinet. In his opinion, no matter what, there should be a result.
These people are old-timers. They always follow the principle of leaving a way out for the future, and are always unwilling to kill them all. Moreover, some of them may have been bribed by the King of Jin, otherwise how could the King of Jin know the news and run away in advance
This matter should be answered by Xia Song himself. Xia Song paused and told Emperor Longqing: "Strict orders have been issued to all places. The Jinyiwei is also investigating. I believe there will be news soon."
"That's better." Emperor Longqing smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes at all. "Otherwise, I'll be really scared. The Prince of Jin allowed his son to commit a crime right under my nose, and then he wrote a letter to provoke me... If this can make him run away, then I'll really have to doubt whether this court is my court or the Prince of Jin's court."
These words were so heartbreaking and had hidden implications that everyone was shocked. They looked at each other, shook their heads and shouted "Long live the emperor", but then they all said they didn't dare.
Even Xia Song was somewhat moved, and shook his head and said, "I am terrified, Your Majesty is worrying too much. The court is naturally Your Majesty's court, and of course we are all your subjects."
Emperor Longqing smiled slightly, without making any comment. He only kept Xia Song to have dinner with him, and dismissed the others before asking, "Sir, do you know what the letter of apology from the Prince of Jin wrote to me says?"
Xia Song was given a seat. He leaned forward and stroked his beard, shaking his head, "I don't know."
Emperor Longqing looked at him and slowly put away the smile on his face: "It's a letter to me. In it, he listed all the sins I have committed since I ascended the throne. From saying that I did not get the throne legitimately to accusing me of killing meritorious officials... In short, it means that I am not qualified to sit on this throne."
Xia Song's expression gradually changed.
These were not words he should hear, but now Emperor Longqing told him.