Shi Junhe left the imperial study, ignored the whispers of the ministers behind him, and returned directly to the Shifu.
But even so, the news spread far faster than he expected.
As soon as he entered the gate of Dongyuan, before he could return to his dormitory, someone from Shou'an Hall came over to send a message, saying that the eldest princess had invited him to come over.
Shi Junhe met Shi Qingxue's confused gaze, sighed helplessly, and said with a wry smile: "Mother's news is really well-informed!"
"Dad, what happened?" Shi Qingxue's heart tightened because of Shi Junhe's laughter. She always felt that something bad was going to happen.
"It's okay." Shi Junhe shook his head slowly and pushed Qingxue back into the study.
He also patted her head and coaxed: "Wait here obediently. I'll talk to you when I get back."
After that, he followed the maid from Shouantang Hall and left.
Shi Qingxue stood at the door, with a bad premonition getting stronger and stronger.
She was not an obedient person. As soon as Shi Junhe stepped out of the gate of Dongyuan, she ran out of Shi's house.
——
When Shi Junhe came to Shou'an Hall, he saw Mo Shujun sitting in the living room, with a dignified face that could not hide his anxiety for the first time, and his heart sank.
But he quickly regained his composure, stroked his sleeves, and stepped forward to say hello: "I wonder why my mother called my son here for something important?"
Mo Shujun couldn't even wait for Shi Junhe to greet him, so she waved her hands in a hurry, "What is going on? Why did the emperor dismiss you from your position? What did you do? You must have done nothing good to make the emperor angry, otherwise our family's Reputation and status…”
Three questions were asked in a row, and Shi Junhe had no room to interrupt, so Mo Shujun began to ask and answer questions.
Shi Junhe had to wait patiently for Mo Shujun to mumble and forget, and then comforted him: "The censor asked the emperor to read a copy of me, suspecting that the Shi family was colluding with the rebels. Although the emperor did not believe what the censor said, he still asked me to I am recuperating at home for the time being. Don’t worry, mother, your Majesty has no plans to dismiss me at the moment. He is just staying at home and... "
"How can you save Cai'er if you lose your official position?" Mo Shujun blurted out her concern for Shi Juncai.
As soon as she finished speaking, both of them were stunned.
Shi Junhe originally thought that Mo Shujun at least cared about him - even if there was an element of family honor and disgrace in it - he was still very grateful, but he didn't expect... It turned out that the person Mo Shujun was most worried about and cared about the most was always Shi Juncai.
Shi Junhe lowered his head to hide the disappointment in his eyes, but he couldn't say any more anyway.
An awkward silence hung in the air.
Logically speaking, Mo Shujun had just exposed her partiality, and now she should find a way to win back her eldest son's heart.
But she didn't feel that she had done anything wrong. She admitted that she was partial to her younger son, but the younger son was not as old as the older son, and his status and ability were not as good as the older son. Shouldn't he get more care
As the eldest brother, Shi Jun should protect his younger brother.
The more Mo Shujun thought about it, the more dissatisfied she became with Shi Junhe.
He just didn't show it on his face, pretending to be very concerned about Shi Junhe, and persuaded him earnestly: "Junhe, even if it wasn't for your brother, you can't just watch your official position be suspended and your title taken away! The title of Duke of Shi is the title left to you by Yunyang, and it is the medal that he has spent most of his life in the army. If it is taken back by the emperor like this, how will you see him after my death
How will you explain to him in the future? "
The second generation official? Shi Junhe was silent for a long time, then smiled at Mo Shujun and said calmly: "The situation in the court is changing strangely and it is difficult to predict. Ups and downs are normal. Father will definitely not blame me."
Mo Shujun: "..."
The eldest princess mentioned Shi Lei just to arouse Shi Junhe's fighting spirit. After all, she had lost the things passed down to her by her ancestors, and no one had the shame to go down below to see their ancestors.
Who would have thought that Shi Junhe was still a weirdo, or maybe he really knew his father too well and knew that Shi Lei fought on the battlefield and was dedicated to protecting his family and country because he felt that it was their raising of troops that allowed the people of Mo Country, who were already in trouble, to return. Having suffered from war and separation from family members, I have always wanted to return a peaceful and prosperous age to the people.
As for the title, Shi Lei refused to be conferred the title of King with a different surname from the beginning. It can be seen that he never cared about his status. If the late emperor had not insisted on conferring him the title of Duke, Shi Lei would have preferred to stay in the military camp and become an ordinary general. , and do not want to take a trip into the muddy waters of officialdom.
As Shi Lei's son, Shi Junhe was raised by him personally, and his temperament, temper, and abilities were almost perfect, if not perfect.
Ever since he defeated the Liang army and returned to the court, Shi Junhe had expected that something like this would happen.
And he had been making plans since then. Now that Mo Xiangbin has no substantive evidence of the Shi family's crimes, at most he will be just as flamboyant as he is today, and will not take any substantive action.
But it doesn't mean that Shi Junhe can't choose to retreat bravely at this time.
After Mo Shujun understood Shi Junhe's thoughts, she was furious. Regardless of her image, she pointed at him and yelled: "Are you kidding? The Shi family's today's honorary status was all built step by step by Yunyang and me. It has been accumulated by this palace for so many years, and it has finally allowed the Shi family to truly gain a foothold in Kyoto, no less than any other noble.
Now you are unwilling to do anything, and you still want to watch the Shi family collapse. Is this how you should be a human being? "
Shi Junhe didn't want to make Mo Shujun angry, so he shouted "Mother, calm down" several times.
After Mo Shujun calmed down a little, he sighed helplessly, "It's not that I don't want to fight. The purpose of our Shi family has always been to be strict with ourselves, obey the law, be a pure minister beside His Majesty, and never participate in partisan disputes.
Even because of this, the child has been unwilling to let Qingxue marry Mo Junyang before, just because he is afraid that our family will be labeled as a princeling. It's just that the trees want to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop. No matter how low-key the Shi family is and keeps aloof from the world, the good people outside are still unwilling to let our family go. "
"Then why don't we let them go?" Mo Shujun was very dissatisfied with Shi Junhe's timid attitude and said forcefully.
He has the aura to kill anyone who dares not to obey.
Shi Junhe: "...Mother, Your Majesty is afraid of the Shi family because of their high position. If trouble happens again, I'm afraid even the Shi family won't be able to protect it in the future!"
Only then did Mo Shujun realize that what she just said was a bit impulsive, she smiled and quickly explained: "I just said it casually, the top priority is to restore your majesty's trust in the Shi family.
I think that when your father was still alive, the Shi family's status in the court was even greater than it is now, and they were still highly regarded by the emperor's younger brother. Who would dare to disapprove? However, after Yunyang passed the title to you, the influence of the Shi family army in the Mo army has been reduced by a quarter, and you are often unknown in the court, which makes me anxious for you! "
Mo Shujun spoke very grandly, expressing her dissatisfaction with Shi Junhe for not meeting her expectations.
She said it easily, but she didn't think about it at all.
Shi Lei was the one who conquered the country of Mo for the late emperor. The two shared weal and woe, and their friendship was extraordinary. The late emperor treated Shi Lei as his own brother, so naturally he would not be suspicious.
Later, Mo Shujun married Shi Lei.
Princess Shi Leishang, even if he did nothing and was just a prince-in-law waiting to die, no one would dare to disrespect her, let alone the fact that he still had an invincible Shi family army in his hands.
With all the conditions put together, Shi Lei could certainly defeat ten thousand people without being guarded by the late emperor.
After Shi Junhe's generation, the close trust between the emperor and his ministers dropped drastically, and the emperor and his ministers were just their ministers.
Mo Shujun had been away from worldly affairs for a long time, and her influence in the court and harem was greatly weakened.
Shi Junhe has always adhered to his father's teachings and kept a low profile, hoping that the Shi family would stay out of the public eye and be preserved. But now that he has entered the center of the whirlpool again, he really feels that he has failed his father's trust.
"Mother, you were born in the royal family, don't you understand the truth? Your Majesty never needs ministers that he thinks may threaten the country, and he will discard them no matter how useful they are!" Shi Junhe sighed helplessly, no longer knowing How to explain such a simple and easy-to-understand truth to Mo Shujun.
If you don't retreat bravely, you will wait for others to pull you down.
Same reason.
Mo Shujun did not give up, but said: "In this case, let's regain His Majesty's trust. I have watched Your Majesty grow up, and I understand his temperament. As long as I trust you, that's fine." If you are targeted by thousands of people, he will still protect you!"
Shi Junhe opened his mouth, but suddenly ran out of words and had to ask Mo Shujun humbly: "I wonder if mother has any clever ideas to help the Shi family regain His Majesty's trust?"
"It all depends on what you do!" Mo Shujun pretended to be silent at this time.
Shi Junhe looked at Mo Shujun's face and guessed that the other party must have a clever plan, and it would definitely require him to pay a certain price.
Even if you don’t really believe that the other party really has such a good solution, who doesn’t want to make their own situation better
He quickly bowed to Mo Shujun and said respectfully: "Of course Junhe hopes that the Shi family will prosper forever. If mother really has any way, which will not violate the laws of nature and allow the Shi family to stand firm in the turbulent court, Please also ask the mother to make it clear that the child will go through fire and water without hesitation."
Mo Shujun was very satisfied with Shi Junhe's 'advancing', nodded, and said with a smile: "This does not require you to do anything dangerous. To be precise, it is others who need to help this time."
"Who?" Shi Junhe frowned, suddenly feeling a bit ominous.
"Qingxue!"
Shi Junhe pointed out expressionlessly: "Qingxue is just a weak woman, what can be done?"
Mo Shujun almost rolled her eyes indecently, spurning Shi Junhe's decadence, but the smile on her face became even more excited, "Why is there no other way? We can let her marry His Highness the Fourth! As long as Qingxue becomes the Fourth Prince's concubine , the Shi family once again became relatives of the emperor, and the Shi family army was the emperor's most loyal army. How could the emperor doubt the loyalty of the Shi family again
And in this way, the Shi family will continue to prosper, and whether it is a large or three-bedroom house, they will get great benefits. They will no longer have to worry about Tianwei every day and be unable to sleep like now... "
"Mother!" From the moment Mo Shujun proposed that Shi Qingxue and Mo Junhao get married, Shi Junhe was stunned and did not recover for a long time.
When Mo Shujun's words became more and more outrageous, Shi Junhe finally couldn't bear it anymore and interrupted the former, "Mother, do you know that Qingxue is the child's daughter, not a commodity. And she has already fallen in love with someone, and she will never agree to marry anyone else."
Mo Shujun's face turned cold and she scolded: "What are you talking about? Qingxue is the wife of the Shi family, a well-behaved girl raised by our family with real money. Now that the Shi family is in crisis, doesn't she Should you contribute
Besides, even if she really has any objections to her parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, she must obey me and marry her. "
Shi Junhe was almost so shocked by Mo Shujun's shocking remarks that his eyes almost fell out of frame. After enduring it for a while, he reluctantly swallowed back the words in his heart.
With a stiff face, he said coldly: "My child knows that my mother is doing it for the good intentions of the Shi family, but my child will never sell her daughter for glory, or trade her daughter's lifelong happiness for the prosperity of the whole family. Please forgive me."
This was probably the first time Mo Shujun was so bluntly rejected by Shi Junhe. It was like being poured cold water on her head, making her freeze on the spot.
Before she could speak again, Shi Junhe lowered his head and continued slowly: "And this was also my father's wish before he died. If he knew that we bullied his most beloved granddaughter after his death, wouldn't it hurt him even more? Heart?"