At this time, in the palace, another stack of memorials from the front line was sent, saying that the war was unfavorable, and five cities had been lost in a row. The emperor's face changed suddenly, and he swept the memorial on the case to the ground with a wave of his sleeve. The little eunuchs and palace maids who served on the left and right did not dare to speak out, for fear of offending Longyan by saying something wrong and losing his life.
The emperor who had always been prudent was now pacing back and forth in the palace. Regarding Yang Tingming, his fourth son, he really didn't know how to treat him, and he was in chaos for a while.
The national teacher had told him a long time ago that the Fourth Prince Yang Tingming had always had the heart of disobedience. It was false to go to suppress the rebellion this time, but it was true that he was secretly planning to rebel, and he joined forces with King Qi Nan to overthrow the country. Another day.
For such a statement, the emperor did not believe it at first. His own son knew that although he was a bit headstrong, he was a straightforward character. It stands to reason that he would never have the intention of treason, let alone unite with King Qinan This charge of treason is linked.
So he didn't believe it, he didn't believe that the son who had grown up with him would really betray him. He prefers to believe that everything is just the national teacher's concern for the country, so he is unavoidably suspicious. He even selfishly speculated whether the national teacher had some grievances with Yang Tingming, so he wanted to point the finger at him.
What's more, Yang Tingming may have other considerations if he will not accept the order of the foreign emperor? Then the so-called collusion with King Qinan may be just a cover-up for him, but in fact he is still a loyal prince.
Taking a step back, even if Yang Tingming really had that kind of thought, he still felt that he didn't really want to. Yang Tingming is not his favorite son, and the relationship between father and son is not particularly close on weekdays, but as a prince, he has always been respectful. After he was established as a king, he often went to the palace to pay his respects. He still remembers looking for some rare calligraphy and painting antiques Send it to honor yourself.
But now, he had to believe it. A lot of doubts made him flustered, and the news of losing the city one after another made him very angry.
He immediately issued an order to order General Wuhu to enter the palace to discuss counter-insurgency matters in the frontier, and ordered him to select several loyal generals to enter the palace together.
General Wu Hu was a confidant he had cultivated when he was still the prince, and he was absolutely trustworthy, so it was most appropriate to send him there.
After the general entered the palace, the rest of the people waited outside the hall, and the emperor called him into the quiet room alone for a secret talk. The last sentence was a bit difficult to say, and it was the last thing the emperor wanted to say: beware of the fourth prince, Yang Tingming, but he was secretly watched, and if there was any change, he would immediately report it to the palace with a secret letter.
The general knelt down to listen to the order, and when he heard the last sentence, he raised his head and glanced at the emperor. For the first time, he felt that this ninth-five-year-old man was also vulnerable. It was a small blow, but as a courtier, he couldn't share his worries, so he couldn't help but sighed secretly.
After the secret talk, the emperor went out of the quiet room with him, announced that all the generals would enter the palace to listen to the order, ordering them to bring elite soldiers to the border to support the suppression of King Qinan's rebellion.
After several people were ordered to leave, the emperor sat alone in the hall for a long time. The so-called king is in the world, but he is too cold at a high place. He asked himself that although he had not made great achievements in his life, he was worthy of his ancestors. For some reason, his son, who has always been honest, betrayed him.
It wasn't until the little eunuch timidly reminded him that it was getting late, whether he wanted to have dinner, he came back to his senses, but he didn't want to pass the meal, but ordered someone to send the secret guard. He had earlier called them to the army to investigate the unexplained disappearance of Feng Renxian, he heard that Fang returned to the palace last night, but today he was furious because of the loss of five cities in a row on the border, and even forgot to send them to inquire.
After a while, the leader of the hidden guard brought several people to the hall, and respectfully bowed down to obey orders.
At this time, the emperor had put away the downcast face just now, restored the majesty of the emperor, and asked if they had found Feng Renxian.
The leader of the dark guard looked uneasy, and kowtowed: "Please forgive me, my minister is not effective, and Feng Renxian has not been found. Although I tried to find clues several times, but in the end I found nothing. Some people have been blocking our actions. I am ashamed." Unfortunately, Wei Chen and others have not found out where these people came from."
Hearing that the hidden guards found nothing, the emperor was immediately displeased, and the anger he had accumulated all afternoon erupted instantly. He picked up a green jade pen washer on the table and threw it on the ground. As soon as the brush touched the hard ground, it shattered into thousands of pieces, and some even splashed on the hands and clothes of the hidden guards, but no one dared to brush it off, and none of them dared to vent their anger.
Seeing their appearance, the emperor became even more angry: "You are worthless, what is the use of supporting you? What about you? A bunch of trash can't even find a single person. Get out, get out!"
Seeing that the situation was not good, the hidden guards didn't dare to force themselves to defend themselves, and they all backed away with pale faces. The emperor was so angry that it was useless to even have dinner, and after drinking the hidden guards, he sat alone on the dragon chair , picked up a pen and ink, but did not write a single word. During this time, the palace people quietly picked up the fragments of porcelain brush washers on the ground without saying a word.
The emperor barely fell asleep until midnight. I slept very restlessly that night. For a while, I dreamed that the border gate was lost and half of the country fell into the hands of King Qinan. For a while, I dreamed that the fourth prince Yang Tingming pointed his sword at him, and then stabbed him bloody, step by step towards the Golden Luan Hall. Dragon seat in…
Before dawn, the emperor woke up in a cold sweat, only to realize that everything was just his imagination. So I asked the maid to bring fragrant tea, waited for me to wash up, sat at the desk and drank a few sips, and then I regained my composure.
Last night, I was so angry that I only pinned all my hopes on the dark guard. Now that I think about it, I might as well find a way elsewhere. Feng Renxian's daughter, Fenghuang, might be able to find something from her. Perhaps she was the one who hid her father. This girl is a talented person, and now she is married to Yang Tingjing and has become her seventh daughter-in-law, but she still can't believe it too much.
The emperor found a reason, and ordered the Seventh Princess Feng to come to the palace for an audience.
When Fenghuang heard that the emperor had called her into the palace, he was very surprised. The eunuch who delivered the decree said that the concubine misses her daughter-in-law after not seeing her for a long time, and hoped that she would come to the palace to accompany him and talk about homely things. But Concubine Shu's attitude towards Yang Tingjing, Fenghuang, has always been aware of it. I can't say I hate it, but I can't say how much I like it. On weekdays, when mother and child meet occasionally, they are as distant and polite as strangers, so how could they suddenly miss themselves as an outsider?
But the imperial decree must be obeyed, so Fenghuang asked the little eunuch to drink tea first, and then ordered the maid to bring the dresses that the emperor and the ladies would wear when meeting the emperor and the ladies, dressed them up carefully, and made sure that they did not break the etiquette, and then sat down The carriage sent by the palace enters the palace
After entering the palace, the servants first led Fenghuang to the imperial study room, where the emperor was waiting for her. After Fenghuang entered the study room, he kowtowed to pay her respects. The emperor motioned her to get up, saying that his family members did not need to be so restrained, and their attitude was very gentle and kind. I wondered in my heart, did the emperor call her into the palace just to say these pleasant words? The two chatted casually for a while, the emperor asked about irrelevant matters, Fenghuang answered respectfully with a smile on his face.