The Second Master of the Red Chamber

In the Princess Palace, behind the central hall, there is a luxurious bathing pool, which was built by Prince Yizhong for the princess.

After Princess Zhaoyang got this mansion, she saw its exquisite structure, so she redecorated it for her own use.

It was late autumn and the weather was cold, so it was rare for Princess Zhaoyang to bathe here.On the floor beside her, two maids with excellent temperament burned the stove to cook tea for her to taste. On the open space in front of the pool, there were three beautiful, tall and graceful beauties, dressed in light silk gauze, dancing gracefully .

A wonderful picture scroll that is both elegant and romantic.

Suddenly, a maid pushed the curtain and entered, knelt on the other side of Princess Zhaoyang, leaned over and whispered.

Princess Zhaoyang, who was pinching the teacup and enjoying the dance leisurely, didn't change her expression after hearing the words, she even turned around and put down the teacup without haste, and then asked: "Are you sure there are those who are loyal to the palace?"

"Back to the princess, I have confirmed that it is the second son Wei Yan."

"Well, I know, you can step back."

After dismissing the confidant maid, Princess Zhaoyang picked up the hot tea poured by the maid again and began to sip slowly, but her eyes were no longer focused on the dancing maid in front of her.As a result, after the three maids danced to a song, they did not receive instructions and could only stand quietly in a row.

Suddenly Princess Zhaoyang stood up from the water and walked ashore along the stone steps in the pool.

"Let's change clothes."

Following Princess Zhaoyang's order, the maids who had been prepared a long time ago lined up to cover Princess Zhaoyang's flawless skin after being soaked in warm water under gorgeous skirts.

……

On the long street, in the face of the four princes' abuse, the Zuo clan of the clan's mansion did not dare to speak back even though their complexion was dark.

He was really afraid that Jia Lian would use this as an excuse to arrest him too.

Not daring to do anything to the fourth prince, he had no choice but to point his gun at Jia Lian.

"Commander Jia, do you understand that you are blatantly opposing my Clan Mansion? If I remember correctly, the title of your Jia Jianing State Mansion is still pending. Don't you be afraid that the Clan Mansion will not give you any instructions? You should know that according to the scandals of your Ningguo Mansion, it is not an exaggeration to deprive your Ningguo Mansion of your title..."

As expected, he was in charge of the clan's mansion, and he seemed to have a clear understanding of the Jia family's affairs.

Youshi's son Jia Wu is too young, according to the usual practice, he should wait until he is a little older, at least able to walk and run, before going to the clan mansion to receive a title.The Jia Mansion also prepared in the same way.

Unexpectedly, this could also be threatened by others.

In particular, the fourth prince, who was naturally curious about the baby's attributes, turned his head and asked him, "Scandal? What's wrong with your family?"

Jia Lian's complexion was even darker, and it was also not good to treat the fourth prince. He just looked at Zuo Zongren and sneered: "My family's Spokesman came here with blood and life. Go to the clan mansion to decide? Not to mention, as a subordinate official, when will you be able to represent the clan mansion and His Majesty today."

Naturally, Jia Lian would not be afraid of such threats.Although the Clan Mansion is in charge of all the inheritance of titles in the world, it has never been the Clan Mansion, nor can it be the Clan Mansion, who can really decide who can inherit the title and what kind of title.

The title is the great tool of a country, if the emperor can't hold it in his own hands, then it can be said that even the emperor can't be regarded as a real emperor.

In other words, as long as Emperor Ningkang feels that the title of Ningguo Mansion can continue to be passed on, even if all the officials of the Clan Mansion object, it will not help.

We were having a boring chat when suddenly we saw a group of cavalry coming from the east.From its special, glittering costumes, it is not difficult to see that it is the imperial guards in the imperial city.

Behind the imperial guards was a Baogai carriage, which drove up to Jia Lian and others before stopping.

"Hey, Mr. Zhou, why are you here, old man?"

Mr. Zuo Zongren, who was still very stubborn before, immediately stepped forward to greet him with a smile after seeing the eunuch coming out of the carriage.

This week, Eunuch Zhou stepped down from the carriage without a smile on his face. Facing his hot face, he didn't feel cold at all. He just swung his fly whisk past him, walked up to Jia Lian and the fourth prince, and declared loudly: "Your Majesty has a decree, Emperor Xuan's fourth son Wei Ling and Marquis Jia Lian of Zhenyuan enter the palace to have an audience!"

Jia Lian immediately knelt down on one knee, "I accept the order."

The fourth prince also bent down and said: "My son leads the order."

This week's father-in-law, Jia Lian, naturally also recognized him, but he was not as close to Dai Quan and Xia Shouzhong, as he was also a close confidant of Emperor Ningkang.

After announcing the oral order, Duke Zhou showed a warm smile on his face, and said to the Fourth Prince and Jia Lian, "Your Highness Fourth and Lord Zhenyuan should enter the palace as soon as possible. Your Majesty is waiting for you."

"Then these people..."

The fourth prince was impatient, and immediately pointed at Wei Xian and the others.He felt that they spent so much energy on these people today, if they let them go without knowing why, it would be a bit of a loss.

Eunuch Zhou explained in advance: "Your Highness, don't be in a hurry. Your Majesty already knows about today's affairs and has made arrangements."

As he said that, Eunuch Zhou looked around, waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty's will, temporarily hand over the people involved in today's case to the guards, and make a decision after the truth is found out."

This result was within Jia Lian's expectations, so he responded immediately and beckoned to hand him over to the imperial guards.

Although the Zuo Zongren was in a hurry, he didn't dare to disobey Emperor Ningkang's order, he could only reluctantly cup his fists and salute, and then watched helplessly as the imperial guards took Wei Xian, Wei Yan and other clan children away.

In the South Study Room of Daming Palace, when Jia Lian and the fourth prince arrived, they saw not only Emperor Ningkang who was reading the memorials before the first case, but also a middle-aged man in a black python robe with a pot belly, kneeling on the ground with an aggrieved appearance. middle.

Seeing them coming in, the middle-aged man smiled reluctantly at them.

Jia Lian's heart trembled, of course he recognized this person, but he didn't know how he could kneel here, and it looked like he had been kneeling for a long time, beating his knees and legs there.

Jia Lian was about to go forward to salute Emperor Ningkang, but the fourth prince stepped forward and said loudly: "Father, since you know what happened today, you must not let them go easily. You don't know, How abominable they were at that time, what they said... How, um, they were not sons of man! Yes, they were not sons of man!!"

The fourth prince had a lot of swear words, but the more elegant swear words were pitifully small, and he racked his brains to think of a heavy word.

Emperor Ningkang ignored him, and just flipped through the memorabilia, and when he finished reviewing the stack in his hand, he picked up the gap in the other stack, and said without raising his head, "Where did you go today?"

"Uh, this, this..."

The fourth prince wanted to be fooled subconsciously with a guilty conscience, but he also thought that he still had to testify to Jia Lian. If he lied now, he would be untenable later.

When he was in a dilemma, Jia Lian stepped forward and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, forgive me. Today, I took the Fourth Highness to Jinpin Pavilion with my arbitrariness. If your majesty wants to punish, please punish my minister."

Jia Lian didn't say that, but when he said that the fourth prince would not do anything, he immediately knelt down and said, "Father, don't listen to his nonsense, I'm going by myself. They are all very timid, how dare they take me with you?" go to that kind of place.

Father, you don't have to be angry. According to the ancestral system, my prince Wei became an adult at the age of 16.Now that I'm almost full, I'm no longer a child, I have the right to go to that kind of place!
Besides, we originally only planned to have a meal, and we didn't plan to do anything else..."

Although the fourth prince looked upright, he still blushed as he spoke, and when he realized this, he immediately changed his tone and said: "Also, if I don't go there today, how can I know that those members of the clan see it that way?" Father! Father, you don’t even know how they arrange you in the box on the third floor. Even I can’t listen to it anymore. I’m standing up for you today. Don’t be ignorant ..."

Hearing this, Jia Lian secretly wiped off a cold sweat.

Even King Zhongshun who was kneeling in front couldn't help but look back a few times, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Ever since he was punished to kneel here by Emperor Ningkang, he has been puzzled, and Emperor Ningkang did not explain to him.Originally thought that he refused to accept the task of persuading the clan to respond to the new tax law, but now it seems that the problem is elsewhere.

The fourth prince was used to his mouth, and finally realized something was wrong, so he shut up.Who knew that Emperor Ningkang didn't look angry at all, instead he looked up at him, and asked curiously: "Oh, I really want to know how they arrange me behind the scenes."

"They...! Oh, father, you'd better not know. In short, it's some unreasonable words. Father listens to what he does, and he is angry for no reason."

It's rare that the fourth prince is still considerate.

Emperor Ningkang looked at Jia Lian.

Jia Lian understood, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, today, the minister and the Fourth Highness, as well as the four Highness's companions, Zhang Su brothers, are indeed in the box on the third floor of the Jinpin Pavilion, and heard many criticisms of the government. Words that damage His Majesty Longwei. The degree is far more serious than the ignorant words of ordinary dudes. It is indeed unforgivable.

His Highness the Fourth Highness loves His Majesty so much, it is really unbearable for them to confuse black and white and slander Sheng Gong, so he ordered the servants to arrest all the secret meeting people and prepare to be handed over to His Majesty.

The minister knows that arresting the clan's children without authorization is against the law of the country, and the minister is willing to accept the responsibility. "

Emperor Ningkang was a man with deep opinions, so he didn't need to explain too much in front of him, let alone speak well of himself.

Sure enough, after hearing Jia Lian's words, Emperor Ningkang snorted seemingly indifferently, but in fact, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

He finally looked down at King Zhongshun in front of the case, "You heard what they said, what do you think?"

King Zhongshun was quite familiar with Emperor Ningkang, and from the tone of his voice, he knew that Emperor Ningkang must be angry.

He also became nervous.After all, as the person in charge of the clan mansion, to put it bluntly, he was helping Emperor Ningkang look after the clan and relatives.

From the current situation, it seems that some children in the clan said some disrespectful words behind their backs, and Jia Lian and the fourth prince caught them on the spot.

If it's just Jia Lian, no matter how important he is, he's just a courtier, and it's easy for him to change his mind.But there is still the fourth prince, and the fourth prince is a very handsome child, so it's difficult...

Thinking quickly in his mind, King Zhongshun finally decided to protect himself: "If what the emperor's nephew and Marquis Zhenyuan said is true, then these clan children are really daring and reckless. In my opinion, all false comments on government affairs should be thrown away. , those disrespectful sons who are disrespectful to the emperor will be severely punished, so as to serve as a warning to others."

King Zhongshun, with a posture of hating iron but not steel, and killing relatives righteously.

Jia Lian also understood that King Zhongshun probably didn't know that his son was also involved in the incident.But if this is the case, then what happened to Qiu Liang blocking the way, he clearly stated that he was instructed by the Zhongshun Palace...

Emperor Ningkang looked at King Zhongshun with a half-smile, "Oh, is that so? Jia Lian, tell me, who are the descendants of the clan you caught."

Jia Lian frowned, and still obeyed: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the person in charge is Prince Duan's son Wei Xian, and the other ten people are from Yongning Fuguo's mansion..."

Jia Lian briefly reported the identities of those clan children, and replaced them with "waiting" for those who were not clear, and finally said: "There is also... Prince Zhongshun, Mr. Wei Yan..."

King Zhongshun froze in place immediately, and instantly understood why Emperor Ningkang asked him to continue kneeling just now.

His complexion changed suddenly, and he immediately kowtowed and said, "Brother Mingjian, there must be a misunderstanding here. You know it, Xiaoer, he has been well-behaved and sensible since he was a child, how could he do such rebellious things... By the way, recently For a while, I heard from his mother and concubine that he was often sought out by clan children, and he must be coerced by those people. He was young, and he got mixed up with those unworthy people because of his carelessness."

King Zhongshun said with snot and tears, and looked back at Jia Lian eagerly: "Master Zhenyuan, you just said that you heard what those people said with your own ears. Did you hear it? Did you say something disrespectful to His Majesty?"

King Zhongshun is a prince, and Jia Lian is just a second-class marquis, so the disparity in status is huge.At this time, King Zhongshun was addressed as "Hou Ye", which shows that it is not without merit that this person can be trusted by Emperor Ningkang.

Speaking of it, Jia Lian always thought that King Zhongshun was the potential greatest enemy of the Jia Mansion. After all, the decline of the Jia Mansion in the original book was obviously inseparable from the Zhongshun Prince's Mansion.

But after many calculations, Jia Lian found that he seemed to have got one thing upside down.

The enemy of the Jia family may not be King Zhongshun.Because King Zhongshun belonged to Emperor Ningkang, if Emperor Ningkang was dissatisfied with Jia's mansion in the original book, then it would be perfectly reasonable for King Zhongshun to come forward to suppress Jia's mansion.

And in this life, because of his existence, Emperor Ningkang did not show obvious dissatisfaction with the Jia Mansion, so King Zhongshun may not be the enemy of the Jia Mansion.

Therefore, Jia Lian never thought of intentionally antagonizing King Zhongshun. Hearing the words, he nodded frankly and said: "Returning to the prince, I really didn't hear that Mr. Yan said anything disrespectful to your majesty. I think it is indeed as the prince said. It is said that Mr. Yan was kidnapped by Wei Xian and others."

King Zhongshun was overjoyed by Jia Lian's words, he nodded quickly, and was about to turn around and talk to Emperor Ningkang.

The fourth prince quit immediately, "Although he didn't personally say anything disrespectful to my father, he didn't stop and scold those people when they slandered my father. Moreover, according to Wei Xian's voice, they are today The purpose of specially inviting Wei Yan is to let Wei Yan persuade you, Fourteenth Uncle, to suggest to my royal father on behalf of the clan that you want to abolish that tax law!"

King Zhongshun knew he was about to suffer as soon as he heard it.In my heart, I scolded my unbelievable son to death.

He just refused to become a lobbyist for Emperor Ningkang, but that little bastard almost became a lobbyist for the clan?Do you want him to let Emperor Ningkang cancel the new tax law?If he has that ability, still use those bastards to say it?
Looking up, he happened to catch the chill in Emperor Ningkang's eyes. King Zhongshun shrank his neck, not daring to hesitate at all, and was about to explain.

But Dai Quan came forward to report: "Your Majesty, the eldest princess is asking to see you outside the palace."

Emperor Ningkang frowned, but still nodded and said: "Let her in."

"Princess Xuanzhang has an audience."

……