Seeing that Yun Fenghuang's expression was slightly startled, the corners of the Empress Dowager's lips became more and more raised, and she said quietly: "The Imperial City Department has been the eyes and ears of the emperors in the past dynasties, and it is also a sharp sword for the emperor to control his ministers and monitor the world. However, in the hands of this emperor … This sword is a bit too blunt, isn’t it?”
"... So it turns out that it was the Imperial City Division that the late Emperor Shenzong relied on and trusted?" Yun Fenghuang was a little confused for a moment. The performance of the Imperial City Division over the years was indeed very disappointing for their reputation in historical records.
To put it bluntly, the officials' expressions changed after hearing this. Even many of the missions assigned by the emperor himself were often confused.
Even Sun Yu, the last imperial envoy, has died in a mystery!
To be honest, it feels like an ordinary yamen.
Yun Fenghuang privately had doubts about their inability, but considering that the Imperial City Division was passed to the regent before Xiaozong's death, and after that, Chunjia ascended the throne and tried every means to regain some control from the regent. The uncle and nephew were in charge together for several years before it was completely returned to the emperor's hands.
No matter how powerful it is, it is understandable that after such a torment, one's vitality will be severely damaged.
Not to mention that Gong Xiangxiao also revealed before that when the Imperial City Division was in the hands of the regent, the regent arranged for Concubine Yuan's family to enter and take over the power. After Concubine Yuan died suddenly, Gong Xiangruo continued to marry the Lu family, and gradually fell in love with Concubine Yuan's family. As we walked further and further away, there was bound to be another fight here.
It can be said that the Imperial City Division has never been stable since Xiaozong's later years.
Therefore, it is understandable that when he returned to Chunjia, he was not as good as before.
But now it seems that the fundamental reason why the Imperial City Division is not good is not that Xiaozong passed the rule to his younger brother, but that when Xiaozong got it, maybe it was the Imperial City Division that had its backbone transferred
Yun Fenghuang couldn't help but suddenly realized that Xiaozong was not Shenzong's biological flesh and blood. Shenzong had even made the decision to return the throne to Gongxiang before his death. In this case, he could just pass on Xiaozong in public, but how could he really hope that Xiaozong's throne would be stable
The Imperial City Division, a powerful weapon used by emperors to consolidate the throne, did not mention that Shenzong still needed their help in returning the throne to the Gongxiang family. What if it was given to Xiaozong, and if someone happened to meet someone powerful, and the fake became true, and the throne would be stolen from generation to generation, what would happen? manage
"The Imperial City Division that Xiaozong got is just an empty shell." The Empress Dowager said lightly, "Otherwise, if a family like the Dou family wants to occupy a high position in it, they will look down on the Imperial City Division too much..."
Yun Fenghuang couldn't help but think of one person: "May I ask Grandma Huang, is that Lu Chuncao a member of the Imperial City Department who has the orders of Shenzong?"
"You react quickly." The Empress Dowager muttered, "Yes, he was the deputy of the Imperial City Department when the late emperor was here."
Lu Chuncao is just a deputy
Yun Fenghuang couldn't help but ask: "Who is the person left by the late emperor to take charge of the overall situation?"
The Empress Dowager did not answer the question, but instead said with a half-smile, "The Ai family thought you would ask why Lu Chuncao would marry his adopted daughter to the regent as his step-concubine?"
"Is there any need to ask?" Yun Fenghuang asked back, "Since Lu Chuncao has the mandate of the late Emperor Shenzong and is loyal to Shenzong, he naturally wants to control the regent and prevent him from becoming powerful! He promised his adopted daughter to the regent. Not only did it eliminate the chance for him to marry a noble daughter and marry into a powerful family, but he could also monitor the regent closely to prevent him from making small moves in private... Even after the step-concubine gave birth to Marquis Yongchun for the regent, she was able to legitimately suppress the prince and prevent him from doing so. When it grows up, its wings will be full and its tail will be so big that it won’t fall off.”
She had found it strange at the beginning that the regent's concubine Yuan died suddenly and so coincidentally. It was clear that the regent's mentality had changed, from pursuing true love to considering the overall situation when it came to marriage.
In this case, it was actually a bit inappropriate to marry the adopted daughter of the Qingping Marquis at that time as the principal concubine.
After all, no matter how reliable Lu Chuncao was, he was born as a eunuch and was naturally despised by the powerful scholars.
Ordinarily, it would be most appropriate to give the Lu family the status of a side concubine and marry a noblewoman from a high family as the principal concubine. But not only did the regent do this, he even did not take any more concubines, not even a few concubines, which was outrageous.
What is the difference between this and the previous time when Concubine Yuan was there? It's just that there is an additional assistant from Qingpinghou.
But in fact, Lu Chuncao didn't seem to help him do anything
And in terms of his attitude towards his two sons, it doesn't matter if he abolishes the eldest son or establishes the younger son. The key point is that he has two sons under his knees, but neither one of them is promoted, which is puzzling.
Now I understood that Lu Chuncao, who seemed to be the Regent's closest ally, was actually the shackles that trapped the Regent!
Yun Fenghuang thought about it and said, "However, after the regent left, His Majesty intended to eradicate Lu Chuncao. Later, the Emperor's grandmother came forward to save it... But I don't know what method the Emperor's grandmother used to make Your Majesty give up. Investigate Lu Chuncao? You can’t. Did you tell His Majesty the truth at that time?”
This shouldn't be possible.
If Chunjia had known about Xiaozong's life experience at that time, he would have already started to deal with the edict in King Mao's hand, and would not have given King Mao the chance to cause such a disturbance.
Sure enough, the Empress Dowager said calmly: "Why bother future generations about Chen Sesame and rotting millet? The Ai family just asked the emperor to be merciful and merciful."
Yun Fenghuang asked curiously: "Is your Majesty so easy to talk to?"
"The regent went unexpectedly, and everyone in the government and the public was already suspicious of the emperor." The Empress Dowager said calmly, "Lu Chuncao was born as a eunuch, so as long as he loses the royal appreciation, there is nothing to worry about. Killing him is meaningless, but keeping him will help. It clears the emperor’s suspicion to a certain extent, doesn’t it?”
This is true.
The regent was killed by the Lu family. If the Lu family's adoptive father was executed, under the circumstances at that time, it might be considered that the emperor killed someone and silenced him.
If he kept it, it would indeed appear that the emperor had a clear conscience.
However, based on Yun Fenghuang's understanding of Chunjia, I am afraid that these reasons are not enough to convince him.
Most likely the emperor will continue to monitor Lu Chuncao
She thought about it and continued to ask: "The Imperial Grandmother mentioned the Imperial City Division just now... but she doesn't know who Sun Yu was harmed by?"
This matter made a big fuss at the time, and Yun Fenghuang was also quite surprised. After all, no matter how defeated, the Imperial City Division was still the Imperial City Division.
The culprit who was ordered to thoroughly investigate the palace incident failed to reveal anything, and even risked his own life. This is really...
Unheard of.
"Have you not heard the details after Sun Yu was killed?" Hearing this, the Empress Dowager looked at her expression, but it was a bit strange, and said slowly, "He actually found some clues, but not only was he killed, but also the things he found Everything that was found was gone! Under those circumstances, why did the Imperial City Secretary not report the clues immediately, but instead gave others the opportunity to murder him? "
Yun Fenghuang was startled and said subconsciously: "I'm afraid it's because the results were too shocking?"
"But he is the envoy of the Imperial City." The Empress Dowager said with a smile, "The emperor was still pressing hard at that time. No matter how shocking it was, the emperor still had the final say. Why was he panicking?"
"So this matter has something to do with him?" Yun Fenghuang guessed.
The Empress Dowager shook her head slightly and said: "The Imperial City Secretary has been in the hands of the regent. Even if it is mixed with sand, the emperor can understand it. After all, the regent's death was not long ago. This is not enough for him to push for results after the emperor repeatedly When he hesitated, the most likely reason is that the answer he found out made him hesitant to report it to the emperor."
Yun Fenghuang asked in surprise: "Why is this happening?"
"Are you pretending to be confused because you understand, or have you really not thought of it until now?" The Empress Dowager lost her patience and said sarcastically, "Since Sun Yu is the envoy of the imperial city, he is naturally very favored, and ordinary officials The impeachment was protected by the emperor, and he was not afraid of those people. But there was only one person who made him hesitate to move forward. He was worried that after reporting, he would be beaten down and even be killed... It was a pity that when he hesitated, he Instead, people seized the opportunity to eradicate them... "
Yun Fenghuang's expression changed drastically, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Xie Wuzheng?!"
"It was indeed Ji Qin and the others who did it." The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Have you come to your senses? When it comes to this matter, it is your fault. After all, the Ji family had been destroyed and the regent had gone. In the previous dynasties and harems, the emperor made decisions with his words. At that time, besides you, a beloved concubine who is good at confusing right and wrong, who else can make Sun Yu hesitate and embarrassed? "
"He just paid it back if he found other people, but he found Xie Wuzheng. How can he not think of you? Can he not be afraid?"
"..." Yun Fenghuang said with a dark face, "What did Ji Qin and the others do to cause the palace change? And when the two empress dowagers fell into the water, was it them or the empress dowager who was the loving mother?"
The Empress Dowager muttered: "It's not like the Ai family can do calculations, so how can they possibly know everything?"
Seeing Yun Fenghuang staring at him, he said calmly, "The two queen mothers who fell into the water were not seriously injured, but the twelfth prince suffered a big loss. Think about it for yourself, how did the twelfth prince deal with it afterwards? "
"I stayed in Taichu Palace for a long time." Yun Fenghuang frowned and said, "Grandma Huang means that this is an arrangement by the Gu family to let the Twelve Princes get close to His Majesty? But His Majesty doesn't seem to be biased towards the Twelve Princes because of this? "
The Empress Dowager said: "One moment and the other. At that time, King Chongxin and the Twelve Princes had not grown up, so they did not know the wise and foolish, and Your Majesty did not value any one of them in particular. But King Chongxin was older than the Twelve Princes, but this time After what happened, His Majesty finally paid more attention to the Twelve Princes. Of course, it would be better if this fall into the water could cause some problems for the loving mother, the Queen Mother. It is a pity that Gu's methods are not enough. It was just a false alarm.”
Yun Fenghuang was quite speechless. She always thought that this matter was done by the Mother Queen Mother to deal with the Holy Mother Queen Mother, or vice versa.
"This Gu family really has some successes but more failure than failure." After commenting, she asked again, "What about the palace change? What's the purpose of this? Is it just to help Ji Minggan get out of trouble?"
The Queen looked at the Queen Mother with some suspicion, "I wonder if the Queen Mother has ever worried about this matter?"