Han Ruzi sat upright on the couch, his eyes following the sunlight on the floor. From morning to afternoon, he never tire of it. Even when he was eating, he often took a distracted glance.
For five days, he has said only a handful of words, except to observe the changes of light and shadow, there is basically nothing to do.
The Meng E brothers and sisters didn't show up again, and they might have left the palace they didn't like at all. The King of the East Sea followed the emperor to greet the empress dowager every morning, with a cold face along the way, even more silent than the emperor. Yang Feng was as elusive as before, as if he had forgotten his duty to take care of the emperor, and occasionally appeared in a hurry.
What happened to the stabbing case? Are more people involved? Is Liu Jie alive or dead? Has Taifu Cui Hong set off on an expedition? What's the news from Qi country? What does it mean to marry a queen? All these things are closely related to the emperor, but he can't even get a word of news.
The eunuchs and palace maids came and went. Most of the time they stayed in other rooms and avoided contact with the emperor as much as possible. Han Ruzi also lost his enthusiasm for talking with them, preferring to sit there blankly or pacing back and forth in the room. step, and count the steps silently in your heart.
How long can I endure this kind of life? On the afternoon of the fifth day, Han Ruzi began to ask himself, but he couldn't answer himself, and even fantasized about the situation after he went mad: The King of the East Sea would definitely be very happy, the Queen Mother would not be sad, and the mother would never know what was going on in the palace, what about Yang Feng? ? He said he was going to blaze a trail, but now the people are gone.
The door was pushed open silently, and Yang Feng stepped in, just standing in a position to block the sunlight that slanted in. Han Ruzi shook his head and tried to retrieve the sunlight, but it took a while to realize that Zhong Changshi was staring at him.
"Hey! I didn't expect you to come. It's delicious to have celery for lunch. I ate a few more bites. It's rare to be able to eat fresh vegetables this season. It's good to be an emperor." Han Ruzi smiled.
Yang Feng took a few steps forward, getting closer to the emperor, "Is your majesty complaining?"
"Me? Complaining? How is that possible. Cough... I feel very relieved to have so many ministers to share my worries." Han Ruzi said seriously.
Such lies can't deceive anyone, Yang Feng bent down slightly and said, "I thought you were worthy of training, it seems that I have to reconsider."
"Does your so-called cultivation mean leaving it alone?" Han Ruzi's heart was full of anger. What he cared about was not loneliness, but the closure of the news. So many things were happening, but he was looking for someone who could inquire. not.
"I have to observe to see if you can stand up by yourself, otherwise, even if I am an immortal, I will not be able to help." Yang Feng's tone gradually became severe, and he didn't even call him "Your Majesty".
Han Ruzi stared at Yang Feng, and suddenly found that he was not familiar with this eunuch at all. The contact between the two was actually very little, and the number of conversations with him was not as many as that of the East Sea King, but this is the person who unceremoniously claimed to be observing He wants him to give his full trust.
Mother said, don't trust anyone, Han Ruzi sighed, "I let you down."
"Everyone will occasionally slack off for a while, as long as His Majesty can cheer up."
Han Ruzi stood up, stretched out his arms and kicked his legs, "I've cheered up."
"Yeah." Yang Feng nodded, "Please tell me your opinion."
Han Ruzi was inexplicable, "What do you think? In the entire palace, I know the least things."
"The emperor always knows nothing."
"The previous emperor couldn't be like me."
"When Taizu was chasing the world, he was trapped several times, and his life and death were often in an instant. Looking around, he saw that the enemy troops were overlapping, the soldiers around him were getting fewer and fewer, and the news sent from outside was more and more miserable. It's all the bad news of losing the city. At this time, Taizu was worse than ignorant, but did he give up thinking and opinions? No, he still firmly believes that Da Chu will win."
Han Ruzi pondered for a moment, "Where's Emperor Wu? It's not like he doesn't know anything."
"Emperor Wu knows a lot, it should be said that there are too many, from the inner palace to the court and the public, from princes to commoners, from within ten steps to thousands of miles away, everyone hopes to convey news to Emperor Wu, these messages conflict with each other, Inconsistencies, good or bad, victory or defeat, good or evil... A few words can change, and with this information, Emperor Wu is almost ignorant. Guessing, deduction, inspiration... Every emperor must learn to be at the worst judgement in the environment.”
Han Ruzi couldn't argue with Yang Feng, so he had to think for a while according to his meaning. In fact, he thought a lot these days, but he didn't want to say it too quickly, "Master Cui has already led his army to Qi."
"Well, I set off three days ago." Yang Feng didn't demand details, he just listened to the general trend.
"Liu Jie and the assassin's accomplices were taken to Qi."
"Wrong, they were imprisoned in Dali Temple, and they were interrogated jointly by various judicial judiciaries."
"Liu Jie hasn't been taken away?" Han Ruzi was very disappointed, and immediately understood, "Mrs Cui just took the opportunity to try to figure out the Queen Mother's true thoughts. After achieving his goal, he had to win the trust of the Queen Mother, so he kept Liu Jie and others in the capital. ."
"Um."
"Is Liu Jie in danger?"
"Don't waste energy guessing things that can't be guessed."
"So... Cui Taifu's daughter is really going to be a queen in the palace."
"Is Your Majesty unhappy?"
"The queen is the daughter of the Cui family, I... How old is she?"
"One year younger than His Majesty, twelve years old."
"She won't enter the palace soon, will she? We are all too young."
"The appointment will be made three days later. If there is no accident, after the crusade against Qi State, Master Cui will return to Beijing, and His Majesty will get married."
"But... but..." Han Ruzi still found it hard to believe.
"There used to be an eight-year-old queen in the previous dynasty, so it's not surprising that she was twelve."
Han Ruzi sighed helplessly, "What is the Queen Mother's intention? I thought... when the situation stabilizes, she will... She will get rid of me and establish a new emperor."
"Where did the new emperor come from?"
"There are many descendants of Emperor Wu, any one is fine, such as the King of the East Sea."
"The King of the East Sea can't do it, the Cui family's power is big enough, and they can't give them another emperor. The descendants of each branch have their own foundations. The more the number of people, the more intense the competition. This is not good for the Great Chu and the Queen Mother. Everyone wants the court to be stable."
Han Ruzi thought for a while, "This stumped me, the queen mother won't let me be the emperor forever, right?"
"Your Majesty is getting older, and it will be difficult for the Queen Mother to continue to master the treasure seal and govern when she is crowned." Yang Feng wanted the emperor to think for a while, but suddenly realized that he had made a mistake. The emperor was only thirteen years old, no matter how old. Smart, there are some things he can't think of, "The queen mother needs her majesty to give birth to a prince. Only the future prince can succeed without controversy, and let the queen mother continue to rule."
"How can I give birth to..." Han Ruzi thought it was a joke, and then suddenly realized, "So the queen mother wants to appoint the queen, but... it's too urgent, the queen and I... "
Han Ruzi thought about many things, but he didn't expect that his biggest role was to give birth to a son, and this son would kill him.
"The prince doesn't have to be the queen's son, but with the queen, things will be easier."
"It's not easy at all." Han Ruzi shook his head desperately. "Anyway, I won't... How can I have a son? I should take precautions in advance."
A smile appeared on Yang Feng's stern face, "Don't be nervous, Your Majesty, it will be two or three years later, that is to say, Your Majesty will be safe during this time."
Han Ruzi didn't know whether to cry or rejoice, "What can I do? It won't take long for two or three years."
"wait."
"Just wait and do nothing? I'm afraid I'll go crazy if I don't wait two or three years."
"The emperor will not be idle, if you don't do things, things will find you."
Han Ruzi's eyes lit up, it turned out that Yang Feng was not just here to teach the emperor.
"In the past few days, at least five ministers have written letters one after another, suggesting that the empress dowager choose a master for her majesty as soon as possible. This is a start. Her majesty will be able to contact more ministers and learn many things that are necessary for the emperor. skill."
"Did Yang Gong facilitate this?" Han Ruzi's eyes brightened. The thought of being able to walk out of this room and contact people other than eunuchs and palace maids made his heart beat faster.
"No, I don't know any of the ministers who wrote the letter." Yang Feng refused to take credit, "The emperor is the supreme in the universe, no matter how stupid or wise, whether independent or not, even if it is just a puppet, the heroes of the world will try their best to surround them. , to strive for fame and fortune. Emperor Wu is too much, so he has to cut the axe to cut the waste and save the green; Your Majesty thinks it is too few, but it is not impossible, how to take advantage of these opportunities depends on the ability of Your Majesty and me."
Han Ruzi's heart beat faster, and although nothing was accomplished, his enthusiasm was so high that it almost burst above his head.
He calmed himself down, thought and thought, and decided to ask the biggest doubt in his heart: "What is the matter with the assassin?"
"I said, please don't ask me the truth, I have no way of knowing."
"I don't want the truth, I just want Duke Yang's guess."
Yang Feng is vague on this issue. Unlike a simple emperor, he hides too many secrets, and it is far from the time to reveal them all. "Assassins are real, but everyone has their own details about assassins. view."
"What is Duke Yang's opinion?" Han Ruzi insisted on asking to the end. The Queen Mother's opinion was very clear: lead the assassin to King Qi, use this opportunity to eliminate foreign aggression, and reconcile with the Cui family in order to consolidate the power of the Shangguan family.
"The assassin is probably really sent by King Qi." Yang Feng decided to reveal a little bit of his true thoughts, "But I won't stop here, and I will continue to investigate."
This is exactly what Han Ruzi expected to answer, "Yang Gong also thinks that the death of the emperor's brother has another inside story, right?"
Yang Feng made a rude gesture, raised his hand and patted the emperor's shoulder twice, "Don't let too much news interfere with Your Majesty's thoughts, sometimes ignorance is a blessing, Your Majesty should only care about the most important things. matter."
"The most important thing is definitely not to give birth to a prince." Han Ruzi felt disgusted by this matter.