Empress Dowager Cining refused to leave Beijing for Luoyang.
"What are you going to Luoyang for the New Year's Eve? You can enjoy the snow and let the emperor come back. After the Chinese New Year, my wife and I will go to Luoyang together."
Mrs. Ping'en Hou relayed the original words of the Empress Dowager Ci Ning with a helpless expression on her face.
The King of the East Sea was even more helpless, "This... Your Majesty's decree to welcome you, isn't it bad for the Queen Mother to answer like this?"
"No way, the queen mother is angry. King of the East Sea, His Majesty sent you back, just because he trusts you. You first find a way to get His Majesty to return to Beijing, and the Queen Mother will remember your credit." Mrs. Ping Enhou blinked.
"Let me go back and think about it." King Donghai resigned. He can't enter the harem now. He can only pass a message to the queen mother through Mrs. Ping'en Hou in Lingyun Pavilion.
After leaving the palace, King Donghai went home first, and saw several sedan chairs parked in front of the house from a distance. He knew that there was trouble waiting for him, so he had to bite the bullet and jumped off his horse when he was about to arrive, smiling to meet him.
Several ministers, including Feng Ju, the censor of Zuocha, Yuan Jiuding, the minister of officials, came to block the King of Donghai in person. Because only the princess was at home, they had been waiting outside the door.
In the cold and winter, several ministers were sitting in the sedan chairs holding the hand warmer, and their faces were still frozen blue.
The King of the East Sea hurriedly invited the ministers into the house, and he had no time to meet the princess.
These ministers were much more polite than Liu Zeqin and the others. The guests and the host were seated separately. There was only one person on the side of the King of the East Sea, and there was a row on the opposite side. They were sorted according to the rules, and Feng Ju was at the top.
After a few greetings, Feng Ju said: "King of the East Sea, I might as well say it bluntly, I came to see you today only for one thing, please tell us the truth, is Your Majesty going to move the capital? Will he return to Beijing? When? Back to Beijing?"
"This isn't a 'truth', it's three sentences." Donghai Wang said with a haha, then looked straight, "To tell the truth, the doubts of the adults are also my doubts, but I heard that His Majesty has made it clear in Luoyang that he will not move the capital. , I also need to investigate the source of the rumors of moving the capital. I think this is the conclusion. Since the capital will not be moved, His Majesty will definitely return to Beijing. As for when, it is not good for us to be courtiers. It is better to wait for His Majesty's own decision ."
Several ministers glanced at each other and were not satisfied. Yuan Jiuding said: "The King of the East Sea has just returned to Beijing, let's not push too hard. How many days will the King of the East China Sea stay in Beijing?"
"It's hard to say, it all depends on the meaning of the palace."
Yuan Jiuding said with a smile: "It's probably not too early. Tomorrow, we'll come to visit again."
The King of the East Sea got up and prepared to see off the guests, and also smiled: "When will you all come, I'm just a few words, I really don't know, and if I say something bold, if I know something, Your Majesty will not send me back, right? wrong?"
Yuan Jiuding laughed, and several ministers left.
The expected big trouble was anticlimactic, and the King of the East Sea was a little surprised, but he was relieved, and hurried to the back house to see the princess, but the two hadn't seen each other for several months.
Tan was sitting in the bedroom waiting. Compared with her husband who was full of spring breeze, she was more indifferent and said plainly, "You are back."
"No." Donghai Wang frowned, "What's the matter, Princess, are you not happy to see me?"
"Of course I'm happy, but this happiness can't suppress the annoyance in my heart."
The King of the East Sea smiled and said, "What happened? Tell me and I'll fix it."
"you can?"
"Uh... Let's talk about what's bothering you first. No matter how bad it is, I can enlighten me." King Donghai is more cautious now, and he doesn't dare to talk big in front of the princess.
Mrs Tan sighed, "It's quiet when you're a princess, and there's nothing to do. The only thing that bothers me is my maiden's family."
"I have asked, the Tan family is doing well in the East China Sea, and the farm house was bought less than three years ago, and all the servants in the family were bought normally. There are no soldiers or private servants who are not naturalized. robbery."
Tan said coldly: "My husband really knows how to 'enlighten'. I'm not talking about this, it's the business of the Tan family."
"What's wrong with business?"
"Since the Tan family was soft to the ugly king in Luoyang, and the family moved to the East China Sea, the business has become more and more difficult to maintain, and it is barely maintained, but now it is difficult to even maintain it. The family is making things difficult, and if this continues, our Tan family will only be able to farm in the East China Sea."
"Isn't farming bad? There is less right and wrong." King Donghai hoped that the Tan family would be more honest, but when he saw the frost on the princess' face, he smiled and said, "I see, someone deliberately embarrassed the Tan family, do you know who it is?"
"Everyone has blocked the door, you still ask who I am?"
The King of the East Sea was taken aback, "No way, those people are all important officials in the court... Besides, I just came back from Luoyang, the court's response won't be so quick, right?"
"I only know that a batch of goods that the Tan family has just transported to the capital from the south has been detained and must pay a heavy tax before they can be released. The steward who brought the goods said that the tax official hinted that this is just the beginning. In the future, as long as it is the Tan family's goods, You have to pay heavy taxes when you enter and leave the capital.”
"Then don't come to the capital, the Tan family's business is so big..."
"The Tan family's business accounts for half of the capital, and the officials are connected. The capital makes things difficult for the Tan family. In the future, tax officials in other places will follow suit. This is to drive the Tan family to a dead end."
The King of the East Sea hummed, but did not respond.
"What should I do? Say something." Mr. Tan urged.
"Let me think about it, it's not easy."
The Tan family sighed, "Since I married you, the Tan family has never encountered anything good."
The King of the East Sea smiled and said, "Where can I find a husband like me who sings along and lets you bully? That's a good thing."
With a cold face, Mrs Tan got up and walked to King Donghai, grabbing his arm with his right hand, "I don't care, it's you who caused the trouble, you are responsible for solving it. You are a poor king, without the support of the Tan family, we would have to live better. hard days."
The King of the East Sea begged for mercy while hugging the Tan family, "Don't worry, the emperor is getting more and more ruthless, I can be like a duck in water in front of him, this little thing can't help me."
In the evening, Mrs. Ping'en Hou came to the door in the name of visiting the princess, drank a cup of tea, rejected the servant girl, and said to the king of Donghai: "You are asking for trouble, you will offend the emperor and the queen mother at the same time if you are not careful, it is best. The result is also to offend one party, what do you think, to take this kind of thing?"
The King of the East Sea smiled bitterly, "Where did I take this? The Queen Mother wrote to me, asking for my help."
"The queen mother asked you to help persuade her majesty to return to Beijing, not for you to invite the queen mother to Luoyang."
"Can Your Majesty listen to me? As soon as I opened my mouth, His Majesty came up with this idea. If I had to invite the Queen Mother and Queen, I couldn't help myself."
"Let's make it clear first. Although my good brother has helped me a few times, I can't help you this time. The queen mother is angry and will not listen to anyone's advice." Mrs. Ping'en Hou owes a lot of favors to the King of the East Sea and does not want to be involved in this matter. Repay on the matter.
The King of the East Sea smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, I've inquired about a few things, you just need to tell me the truth."
"I don't necessarily know."
"Just say it if you know it, forget it if you don't know, I don't force it."
"Then ask." Mrs. Ping'en Hou was a little wary. She finally gained the trust of Empress Dowager Ci Ning, and she never wanted to lose it easily.
The East Sea King thought for a while and asked, "Why is the Queen Mother angry?"
"I thought you were trying to find out some secrets. Of course the Queen Mother was angry. Her Majesty left, and if she didn't come back, she had to take the Queen Mother to Luoyang. You know..." Mrs. Ping'en Hou lowered her voice, "How long has the Queen Mother waited for? , How much suffering did you endure before entering the palace to become the empress dowager? The palace is as important to the empress dowager as the world is to the emperor, and she will not give up no matter what."
"No one said that the queen mother should give up the palace. She just went to Luoyang to live for a while, and spent the New Year with your majesty, and then came back."
"Your Majesty told you that?"
"yes."
"Do you trust Your Majesty?"
"The Son of Heaven has no jokes, of course I believe it."
"Your Majesty is so smart, why don't you think of other excuses to keep the Empress Dowager after the New Year? Don't talk about giving up the palace, and don't talk about moving the capital. In the end, in fact, you are staying in Luoyang. Can you guarantee that Your Majesty will not do this?"
"This... I can't guarantee it."
"The queen mother is afraid that her majesty will be confused and will waste everything that she has finally obtained."
The King of the East Sea nodded, expressing his understanding that if he had won the throne, he would never have left the palace casually. In this matter, he admired the determination of the current emperor, but he did not particularly agree with it.
"So the queen mother is worried that she will be left behind by the emperor after going to Luoyang, and will never be able to return to the capital again?"
"Right, that is it."
"Didn't your majesty send someone to explain it several times? Why doesn't the queen mother still believe in majesty?"
"His Majesty fought so fiercely with the minister, with a posture that he would rather die than lose the net. How does the Queen Mother know which of the words Her Majesty sent someone to say are true and which are intended to be passed on to the minister on purpose?"
The King of the East Sea nodded again. The emperor used too many methods, but his relatives could not tell the truth from the fake. "Your Majesty has indeed gone too far. If this continues, everyone in the world will be at a loss."
"It's no use complaining, the trouble is yours, it's up to you how to solve it." Mrs. Ping'en Hou was a little gloating.
The East Sea King smiled and continued to ask, "How about the Queen?"
"What else? The Queen is so honest that she doesn't look like Little Jun's sister. She takes care of Prince Qing and the Princess every day, and doesn't participate in anything. What the Queen Mother says?"
"Um... what about the other queen mother?"
Mrs. Ping'en Hou immediately became vigilant, "Now is not the time for you to take revenge."
"You think too much, I just ask casually, if Empress Dowager Cishun persuades her, will Empress Dowager Cining listen?"
"Anyway, Empress Dowager Ci Ning still respects Empress Dowager Cishun as before, but if you want Empress Dowager Cishun to help, it is more difficult than persuading Empress Dowager Cining directly."
The King of the East Sea smiled and asked casually, "Apart from you, which other women have been in the palace recently?"
"A lot, everyone is rushing to please the queen mother."
"Besides you, who else is more favored?"
The two words "except you" made Mrs. Ping'en Hou smile on her face, "I have made real contributions to get the Queen Mother's favor, and other women only say nice things, how can they compare with me? That is to say, several female relatives of the Wang family, relying on family affection, are more favored."
Mrs. Ping'en Hou put away her smile, "Especially that Wang Cuilian, strictly speaking, is not a relative, just because she called the Queen Mother a few times when she was a child, 'Miss Sister'. What is it? You don't even have the status of a court-ordered wife."
"It's often like this." King Donghai persuaded and asked a few more things, but he already understood in his heart that the problem and the key to solving the problem were all on that Wang Cuilian.