The Palace of Qinzheng was where the emperor and ministers dealt with government affairs. Han Ruzi came once on the day he ascended the throne, catching up with the accident of the eunuch Liu Jie protecting the seal with his death. After that, there was no chance to get close to the Palace of Qinzheng.
Until today, a defeat in Guandong brought Han Ruzi to Qinzheng Palace for the second time, and finally met the Queen Mother herself.
There were more people in the hall than last time. Except for Taifu Cui Hong, who was leading the troops outside, the four ministers who took care of life were all here, and there were more than 20 civil ministers and military generals. At the critical moment, the queen mother did not call her brother.
The most unusual thing is that there are very few eunuchs in the hall, only Yang Feng, Jing Yao, and Zuo Ji, the ministers have an absolute advantage in number.
This time, the Queen Mother did not hide in the Tingzheng Pavilion, but sat on the throne and faced the ministers. In fact, the Queen Mother participates in politics every day and has met with the ministers. The only person who has never seen the Queen Mother's true face is the emperor.
The queen mother looks very young, if it is not solemn, and her dress is too formal, some people believe that she is less than 30 years old.
The King of Donghai once complained in private that as long as the Queen Mother was present, the father would not look at others. Han Ruzi now thinks this sentence is too exaggerated. From the perspective of his thirteen-year-old boy, the Queen Mother is indeed very beautiful. But it was not so beautiful that people couldn't take their eyes off it. At least no one of the ministers in the room cared about the appearance of the queen mother, and they were all arguing with each other fiercely.
As soon as the emperor appeared, the ministers quieted down, retreated to both sides, and ranked in sequence, with Prime Minister Yin Wuxian taking the lead, kneeling and kowtowing.
The tablets in the Taimiao can also be treated with courtesy and worship, but they are only dead objects after all, not the incarnation of the emperor, and they will be forgotten by the kneelers after they walk out of the Taimiao. The current Han Ruzi is no different from a moving tablet, handed in hand by the concubine Shangguan and personally delivered to the queen mother.
The throne was wide enough to sit three adults. Han Ruzi deliberately stepped aside, but was pulled over by the Queen Mother. The two were close to each other.
The concubine Shangguan stood beside the queen mother, holding on to the wrist of the king of the East Sea. In this way, the Shangguan sisters held the two sons of Emperor Huan tightly in their hands.
The Meng brothers and sisters and the three eunuchs separated to the left and right, forming the only layer of protection. Meng Che did not wear the costume of a palace maid this time, but appeared as a guard.
Jing Yao, the supervisor of the Central Division, announced that he would be exempted from the ceremony. The ministers stood up and were quiet for a while. Several ministers looked up at the emperor with curiosity and doubts in their eyes.
Han Ruzi was equally puzzled. After all, he was the emperor in name, and the Queen Mother was sitting next to her. Why were these ministers so rude, and the Queen Mother did not respond
Slowly, the ministers began to quarrel again.
Shen Mingzhi, the censor of the right patrol, waved the wat board in his hand, shouted at a minister in his thirties, and continued his previous accusation: "Master Cui led 200,000 troops, and recruited nearly 400,000 people from ten counties, and the king of Qi's troops were only more than ten. Wan, defending Linzi alone, it is clear at a glance who is stronger or weaker. Mrs. Cui has not been able to attack for a long time, which has already shocked the world, and suddenly defeated, and once fell into the imperial court in a dangerous place, this matter is very suspicious!"
The accused minister was blushing, but he did not dare to debate directly, he threw himself on his knees, and kowtowed to the queen mother, "The queen mother Mingcha, the Cui family is only led by Taifu, and all the family members stay in the capital. Although Taifu is temporarily trapped, he will definitely be able to Reuniting the Heavenly Soldiers and fighting the King of Qi again will never let the rebel soldiers approach the capital, nor will the Majesty and the Queen Mother be in danger.
Yang Feng bent down and introduced to the emperor softly: "Jiang Juying, Minister of War, the son-in-law of Taifu Cui."
Han Ruzi understood, and glanced at the queen mother from the corner of her eye, wanting to see how she would solve this crisis.
The mother's hand is always warm and soft, but the queen mother's hand is wet and cold. It is very uncomfortable to hold it. Han Ruzi can't help but wonder if the queen mother is sick.
The queen mother did not speak, and the quarrel between the ministers gradually expanded. Some stood on the side of the right patrol censor Shen Mingzhi and scolded the Cui family, and many people defended Mrs. Cui.
Yang Feng quietly introduced the minister's name, official position and simple background, but the queen mother heard it and did not stop it.
The general structure of the imperial court gradually emerged in front of Han Ruzi's eyes. What made him feel strange was that several ministers who were supposed to belong to the Cui family were also indignantly rebuking Taifu Cui Hong, even more excited than Shen Mingzhi, the censor of the right patrol. .
More ministers are holding both ends, waiting for the situation to become clear.
The person who can decide right and wrong is the queen mother, but she has never shown her attitude. She occasionally speaks and orders a silent minister to express her opinion. Finally, she called the prime minister Yin Wuxian: "Prime Minister Yin, you are a hundred officials. First, why have you been refusing to speak?"
The Empress Dowager has more governance experience than many ministers expected. It is impossible to pretend to be confused in front of her. Yin Wuxian has more contact with the Empress Dowager. "This minister does not dare to hide his secrets, but this is a big matter. There is not much news from Qi State, and there are many contradictions between them. It seems that this information alone is not enough to draw a conclusion."
"Saints and sages know their writings from the slightest. All of you adults are important ministers of the society selected by the late emperor. Even if you can't be called sages, you should get close. No matter how much news, it is always true that the state of Qi is unfavorable in the war. To hold your hands and not to speak is to make Your Majesty feel helpless."
Yin Wuhu hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed to apologize, his vibrato was even heavier, "According to the humble opinion of the minister, Mrs. Cui was accidentally defeated by King Qi. If he can gather the remnants, he seems to be able to fight again. Although King Qi was victorious, there were many casualties. , although the momentum is strong, it may not be able to drive to the capital for a long time. Let's wait and see... "
A military general in his twenties strode to the prime minister's side and said angrily: "Watch, watch, watch, and then the soldiers will arrive at the gate of the city. The queen mother, give the minister 100,000 elite soldiers, and the minister is willing to fight the rebels, If you don't cut off King Qi's head, you are willing to be dealt with by military law!"
Yang Feng only said his name in the emperor's ear: "Shangguansheng."
Needless to say, this is a relative of the Queen Mother, and it probably didn't take long for her to get an official position.
The empress dowager did not respond, Shangguan Sheng became more and more annoyed, and pointed at Cui Hong's son-in-law Jiang Juying with the wat board in his hand, "I have only one condition to arrest all the members of the Cui family, and I cannot give them a chance to cooperate with each other."
Many people offended by this sentence. The ministers refuted it at length, and some even kept kowtowing to the Queen Mother and shouting "Cui's innocence".
It was not the first time that Han Ruzi had seen such a scene. He understood why the Queen Mother rarely spoke and refused to express her attitude. The Queen Mother's thoughts were unpredictable, and the positions of the ministers were even more difficult to judge. , Everyone is hiding their own thoughts, trying to figure out the thoughts of others. The seemingly farce quarrel actually hides subtle wisdom.
Han Ruzi couldn't understand it for the time being. He had to participate in political discussions more frequently before he could figure out the rules.
Jing Yao stepped forward and waved the whisk in his hand a few times, which indicated that the queen mother was really about to speak, and it would be the conclusion that everyone had been waiting for for a long time. The ministers immediately shut up and knelt down in unison.
The queen mother turned her head and glanced at the emperor, as if asking him if he had something to say. Han Ruzi pretended not to be able to see and closed his lips. Compared with the old foxes in the room, he was just a little boy who just walked out of the nest. Beast, Yang Feng reminded right, the only thing he should do now is to listen more and talk less.
"Call Han Ling to the temple."
As soon as the Queen Mother said this, the ministers kneeling below raised their heads in surprise and exchanged glances with each other.
Yang Feng said to the emperor: "Prince of Qi Wang Shizi."
Han Ruzi remembered that when he ascended the throne, all the princes came to congratulate him. King Qi said that he was not yet ill, and it was the prince Han Ling who went to Beijing to worship in his place. After the assassination case, he must have not had time to escape.
Jing Yao went to summon, and not long after, two warriors with halberds escorted one person into the hall.
Han Ling was in her thirties, tall and fat, wearing a red court uniform, standing with her head held high and refusing to kneel. It seemed that she had not suffered much after being imprisoned, and she had heard the news of King Qi's victory.
The Queen Mother did not force the Prince of Qi to kneel. She glanced at the ministers and said, "The King of Qi claimed that the prince was a fake, and said that after the emperor ascended the throne, he was pushed into the well. Prince of Qi, do you still recognize the emperor?"
When the emperor ascended the throne, the Prince of Qi was one of the first princes to congratulate him. Han Ruzi didn't remember him, but Han Ling recognized the emperor and sneered, saying, "Why should the Queen Mother be like this? Fake is fake, it was fake when she was enthroned, and now it's fake. It doesn't come true either."
Han Ling turned to the ministers in the hall, "Lords, please see clearly, don't kneel to the wrong person, Da Chu Jiangshan's surname is Han, not Shangguan."
Shangguan Sheng was furious, and when he got up, he was about to pounce on Han Ling, but the Queen Mother glanced at him and knelt down again.
The queen mother did not get angry, "How can you admit that it is true?"
"It's quite simple. The empress dowager handed the emperor over to the elders of the clan. If this son is a descendant of Emperor Huan, we, the Han family, will find out by checking."
The queen mother was silent for a while, and said to Han Xing, the military governor, one of the ministers, "Han Qing's family is the same generation as Emperor Wu, so he can be regarded as an elder of the clan."
Han Xing immediately said: "When today's son is the second son of Emperor Huan, according to the records, there is no doubt that King Qi's father and son are confounding the public, and the crime is extremely heinous."
Han Ling laughed loudly, "Old thief Han Xing, what benefits did Shangguan's family give you, you even sold your ancestors? Empress Dowager, you hold the emperor in your hand, who would dare to say 'no'? Step back first."
The empress dowager is still not angry, and she will not step aside. "The Qing family has seen that the father and son of the king of Qi are stubborn, and they have to put my mother and son to death. The day before yesterday, the king of Qi sent a guest to assassinate him, in order to protect the emperor's safety, so long In the detention, every day with the honorable children and classmates of civil and martial arts. Today, the emperor is in the Qinzheng Palace, whoever has doubts, feel free to raise them."
The ministers had no doubts. Han Ling laughed even louder and pointed to the young man beside the Queen Mother, "You say he is the emperor? He doesn't even dare to say a word, what kind of emperor is he?"
The queen mother was about to speak when the emperor stood up and gently shook off her hand.
Han Ruzi didn't intend to do this at first, he just wanted to listen, not to speak, but suddenly he had an idea and felt that this was a rare opportunity, he could speak in front of the ministers without being held hostage by the queen mother.
"I am the son of Emperor Huan and the grandson of Emperor Wu, I can prove it."
Han Ruzi's heart was pounding, but he couldn't help but look at the Queen Mother. The moment he threw off the Queen Mother's palm, he clearly saw that there was a wound on her wrist.