Chapter 5 Transactions in the Taimiao Temple

Chapter 5 Transactions in the Taimiao Temple

The hall of the Taimiao Temple is wide and gloomy, filled with cigarette smoke, and the tablets are enshrined in deep niches, like hunters hiding in the shadows, but the power of these ghosts is invalid today, and a group of people is under their gaze. Respect.

The door of the hall was open - this is a very rare situation, only two or three times a year - more than 30 eunuchs and palace maids lined up in two lines, blocking the door, looking at their expressions, as if they were about to be dedicated to the Great Chulie The cattle and sheep of the ancestors, the five Taimiao ritual officials lay flat on the ground, chanting incessantly, begging for forgiveness from the ghosts and gods, they dare not stop these intruders.

The two princes sat side by side on the small round stool with no blood on their faces. The imperial concubine Shangguan stood in front of them and stretched out her hand to support the shoulders of a little palace maid, listening to the reports from one messenger after another.

"More than 300 ministers gathered in Chuyang Gate to make noise, and a large number of people gathered outside the gate."

"The ministers have rushed into the inner palace and are heading to the Queen Mother's palace."

"A group of ministers got the news from nowhere and went straight to the Taimiao!"

The news came one after another, and the palace seemed to have become a battlefield, with enemies everywhere, getting closer and closer. Shangguan's concubine's face was calm, and she simply hummed in the face of any news. When she had to answer, there was only one sentence: "The emperor's bones are not cold, and the queen mother is heartbroken. The ministers should be more considerate. , Taimiao is an important place for ancestors, they dare not rush in."

King Donghai obviously had a different opinion on these news. After listening to it, he would give Han Ruzi a light kick to show his pride, but he didn't dare to talk nonsense. Behind him, his hands were extremely strong, and the King of the East Sea was much more honest after receiving two punches.

At dawn, the situation was even more urgent. It is said that the Queen Mother's palace was surrounded by a group of old officials. They knelt in the courtyard and wept bitterly, mourning the three emperors who died within a few years, in order to persuade the Queen Mother to hand over the two princes as soon as possible. The minister rushed outside the gate of the Taimiao Temple, and also knelt together and recited an article in unison.

The King of the East Sea showed a happy expression on his face, and regarded this as his victory. In his heart, Han Ruzi wondered why Yang Feng, who often served Yang Feng, had disappeared. With such a brave eunuch, he should not hide under such circumstances.

In the entire hall, only the Concubine Shangguan remained completely calm, ordering the others to stick to the door and not responding to the chanting outside the hall.

"What are the ministers doing outside? Are you worshipping ancestors?" asked Zuo Ji, the eunuch. He stayed by the imperial concubine's side, but did not share her calmness. His handsome face was paler than the two princes.

"This is an exhortation, or an exhortation." The princess said softly, and listened carefully for a while, "The Great Water in Guandong, the earthquake in Beijun, the fire in Changle Palace... They think that the yin and yang in the world are out of balance and disasters are frequent, and they are responsible for it. It's all up to the Queen Mother and me."

"Nonsense!" Zuo Ji trembled and expressed his indignation, "The Empress Dowager... Do you have any other plans?"

The princess shook her head.

"What about Jing Yao and Yang Feng? Didn't the two of them swear that they could persuade the minister? Why haven't there been any news yet?"

The princess didn't even shake her head.

The chanting outside the hall became louder and louder, and the King of the East Sea became more courageous, and whispered to Han Ruzi: "Actually, it's very simple, hand me over, or just set me up as an emperor in the Taimiao, and all problems will be solved easily. ."

Zuo Ji ran to the door, hid behind the eunuch and looked out for a while, then ran back to the imperial concubine, "It's not the way to go on like this, some of the ministers outside are my acquaintances, let me go and talk to him. If they talk, maybe they can get out of the Taimiao first."

"You?" The princess was slightly surprised.

"I don't know them very well either." Zuo Ji hurriedly changed his words, "It's just that we can call each other's names. It's really inappropriate to besiege the Taimiao. As long as this is clear, they should retreat. Really, have all the imperial guards betrayed? They broke in."

"The guards only follow the emperor's will. Now that the throne is vacant, they are naturally at a loss as to what to do." The princess was not particularly surprised. After thinking for a while, she said, "Go ahead, maybe you can succeed."

Zuo Ji bowed to the ground, turned and ran out. When his figure disappeared, Donghai King snorted, "Zuo Ji Mingzhe protects himself, he is about to escape."

The imperial concubine looked at the East Sea King, with a smile on her face, but she didn't say anything and turned back.

The King of Donghai could only show off to Han Ruzi, "If you want to be an emperor, you have to be a little bit more attentive than others, and you have to know the details."

Han Ruzi nodded, there was only one hope in his heart, things would end soon, and then he would be able to leave the palace and return to his mother. To be honest, the impression of entering the palace this time was worse than the one month he lived there for a short time three years ago.

The King of the East Sea seems to have guessed right, Zuo Ji has not come back, and the sound of reading outside has not weakened at all.

As the sun rose higher and higher, the hall became less gloomy. The King of the East Sea stood up and said loudly, "What are you waiting for? When I become emperor, I will forgive everyone, and the Shangguan family will receive many awards."

The maid holding the box did not say a word, just like carrying a chicken, she dragged the King of the East Sea back to the round stool with one hand.

"Let go of me, I'm going to be the emperor soon... oops." King Donghai didn't dare to struggle, and glared at the palace maid as the first enemy to be killed after he ascended the throne.

The imperial concubine turned around and faced the two princes, "I'm sorry for letting you all go through this, the emperor is also a human being, and when it comes to household chores, it's not much different from ordinary people, but there are more people involved. Whoever becomes emperor will have the opportunity to correct all this and restore the dignity of the royal family."

"'No matter which one'?" King Donghai couldn't control the doubts and anger in his heart, "Only I am worthy of the throne, Crown Princess, you should be clear about this, right? The Cui family will never agree to let Ruzi claim Emperor, look at his name and his appearance, how does he look like the Great Chu Emperor? What is your Shangguan family planning? Do you want the world to be in chaos?"

Han Ruzi sat there still, the imperial concubine smiled at him, and was about to speak, when a eunuch guarding the gate shouted: "The attack is coming!"

Until this moment, the empress finally changed her face slightly. She was able to defend the imperial temple, not because of the large number of people, but because of the awe of the ministers for the ancestors of the Han family. Once the taboo was broken, she and the empress dowager would be completely defeated. .

The maid who guarded the prince opened the wooden box, took out a short sword, put the box on the ground, and strode to the front of the imperial concubine. The King of the East Sea closed his mouth, hoping that the ministers would be firmer this time and not repeat the mistakes of the Dongqingmen.

The two rows of eunuchs guarding the gate and the palace maids collapsed as soon as they rushed. Several people strode across the threshold. The palace maids had their legs slightly bent, and they had to block the enemies by themselves.

"Put down the sword, it's me!" Yang Feng stood at the door with his back to the sun, followed by five or six followers. This was the second deep impression he left on Han Ruzi, which was the opposite of the first one.

The palace maid looked back at the imperial concubine, retracted her sword and returned to its original position.

Yang Feng walked up to the imperial concubine and said calmly, "The negotiation is done, the memorial will be drawn up immediately, and as soon as the new emperor ascends the throne, the royal seal will be affixed immediately."

"What's the deal?" Donghai King asked loudly, but got no answer.

The imperial concubine let out a sigh of relief, "Can't be careless, the Southern Army Chief Sima handed over the seal?"

"It's going on, Duke Jing is watching this."

The King of Donghai was even more puzzled, "Cui Hong, the Chief Sima of the Southern Army, is my uncle, why did he hand over the seal?" Still no answer, he suddenly realized, "So it is, the Shangguan family wants to be the Grand Sima of the Southern Army, and my uncle agrees. Now, in exchange, I can become emperor!"

Still no one answered, Han Ruzi raised his head and looked at Yang Feng, although his mother said not to trust anyone, he was full of confidence in this eunuch. Something is going to happen to him, he thought, but he couldn't tell if he really wanted it.

Another person ran into the hall, this time it was Zuo Ji, sweating profusely, "The ministers agreed to compromise and are exiting the Taimiao in an orderly manner!"

"There is work for Zuo Gong." The imperial concubine said, Zuo Ji smiled, took out the towel to wipe the sweat on his face, and looked relieved.

The King of the East Sea kept muttering that he was about to become an emperor, and cast a threatening look at the sword-wielding maid, who was not afraid at all, glanced around, and remained on full alert.

About half an hour later, when the King of the East Sea was sitting and standing suddenly and was about to be unable to bear it any longer, Jing Yao finally came, and as soon as he entered the hall, he knelt down to the imperial concubine and the two princes, "The empress dowager has a decree, and immediately honored him in the imperial temple. In honor of the new emperor, the ancestors have spirits, and God blesses the great Chu.”

The King of the East Sea laughed several times, jumped to the ground, and prepared to accept the honorary title.

"According to the order." The imperial concubine said, took a few steps forward, turned around, knelt down to the prince, and the maid with the sword knelt down, and placed the sword in her hand on the ground.

"Will it be too simple? Will there be a formal ceremony in the future?" Donghai King asked.

"Prince Song, please pay homage to the ancestors." Yang Feng said.

"Where did Prince Song come from? I am Han Shu, King of the East Sea." The King of the East Sea turned to look at Han Ruzi, and suddenly understood, "This is impossible, my mother and several uncles will not agree... Jing Yao, you said that I can definitely When the emperor, I only entered the palace with you."

Jing Yao crawled on the ground and said coldly, "This old slave doesn't remember saying such a thing."

The palace maid quietly came over, grabbed the arm of the East Sea King, and forced him to kneel. In the hall, only Han Ruzi was still sitting on the round stool, as if she was petrified.

After waiting for a while, Yang Feng walked forward on his knees, came to the stool, and said softly, "Your Majesty must sacrifice to the ancestors before ascending the throne."

"I want my mother to enter the palace." Han Ruzi finally said.

Yang Feng squeezed out a smile and said in a lower voice, "It's not the time yet."

"Then what can I do?"

"What does Your Majesty want to do?" Yang Feng asked.

Han Ruzi looked left and right, and pointed to King Donghai who was forced to kneel on the ground and was struggling unconvincingly, "I want him to stay in the palace."

"As Your Majesty wishes."

"I won't stay, I want to go home!" Donghai King cried, hating everyone in the palace.

Han Ruzi still didn't move while sitting on the stool, Yang Feng looked back at the imperial concubine, the imperial concubine nodded, and took the lead to retreat to the door. Kneeling in front of the stool, he looked up at the thirteen-year-old prince, "If your majesty has anything to say, just tell the old slave."

Han Ruzi said, "Will I be killed?"

Yang Feng was taken aback and pretended not to understand, "Everyone will die."

"I mean 'killed'."

Yang Feng could no longer pretend to be confused, and asked awkwardly, "Your Majesty...why do you have such thoughts?"

Han Ruzi looked at the King of the East Sea at the door, "Everyone has their own advantages, and my advantage is that no one will care after being killed, right?"

Yang Feng was taken aback, everyone had misunderstood the prince, which would bring many variables and even bloody storms to the court, which had finally regained its stability. He regretted that he should not have recommended Han Ruzi, but there was no way out.

"The emperor will not be killed." Yang Feng said, "the real emperor will not."

(seeking for collection and recommendation)