Hundreds of households in Liaodong, covering the light with one hand

It is August 23rd, the third year since the dawn of the Ming Dynasty.

After wasting four or five days, Shi Kefa finally waited for the time to meet with Emperor Tianqi.

This meeting was approved by the seven-member council, and then Wang Tigan made the detailed arrangements.

It was early this morning that Shi Kefa received the final news that no members of the parliament would participate in today's meeting.

This meant that Shi Kefa could meet alone with the emperor.

Ignoring whether this was a trap by Wang Qi, Shi Kefa realized that he had nothing to say to others.

Entering Beijing to meet the emperor is to welcome the emperor.

There is nothing to hide.

Outside the East Pavilion, Shi Kefa stood in the white marble square, not caring about the scorching sunlight above his head, silently arranging his purple robe, standing upright like a strong pine.

"Xuan! Shi Kefa, the minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, enters the palace to meet the saint!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was movement around Shi Kefa, and he took steps towards the not-so-lofty palace not far away.

After steadily crossing the threshold, Shi Kefa lowered his eyes, took nine steps forward, and stopped in the center of the hall.

The East Pavilion Hall was only thirty steps square. Standing there, Shi Kefa could almost feel the breathing of the emperor on the throne.

However, Shi Kefa did not raise his head to look at the emperor on the throne, which was inconsistent with etiquette.

Of course, it's not necessary.

Shi Kefa believed that Wang Qi had not yet reached the stage of deposing the emperor.

If Wang Qi really did that, Shi Kefa would never be able to walk into the East Pavilion.

With his eyes slightly lowered and his body standing still, Shi Kefa knelt down on his knees, kowtowed and said: "Long live my emperor, long live my emperor!!!"

thump.

thump.

thump.

After three prostrations and nine prostrations,

Shi Kefa's body lay tightly on the ground.

Sticking to the floor, Shi Kefa felt a little cold on his forehead, but he could not get up without the emperor's permission.

He was waiting for the voice of the emperor on the throne, or the voice of the eunuch accompanying him.

After a few breaths, a voice finally came.

"Get flat"

It's a gentle female voice.

In an instant, Shi Kefa, who was kneeling on the ground, shrank his pupils. He immediately raised his head to look at the throne, regardless of the fear in his heart. Then he got up from the ground, pointed at the throne with his finger, and shouted angrily: "Who is there? Where is the emperor?"

Shi Kefa looked around and saw Zhu Youxiao sitting peacefully on the throne, and not far behind the emperor, behind the jade curtain, there was a faint figure of a woman in a phoenix crown and a gorgeous dress.

"Master Shi, please be patient," Zhang Yan's voice sounded again: "The emperor cannot speak. I will take care of the affairs in the imperial city."

"The queen lowers the curtain?" Shi Kefa glanced around. In the entire palace, apart from himself, the emperor and the queen, there was only Xiao Guizi, whom he had met last time.

"Please forgive me, the Queen. I want to have a chat with Your Majesty alone." After Shi Kefa was shocked, he first looked at Xiao Guizi beside him, and then saluted the Queen.

"Your Highness is ill. The imperial doctor has told you not to let strangers in. If Master Shi has anything to say, you can tell me!" Inside the jade curtain, the queen frowned slightly, obviously dissatisfied with Shi Kefa's proposal to meet alone.

The meaning is already obvious. Why, you, Shi Kefa, don't believe me? Facing the unyielding queen, Shi Kefa was speechless for a moment.

After all, he made various plans before coming, whether it was Wang Qi sending people to monitor, Wang Tiqian and others attending the meeting, or hundreds of officials and ministers being present. But he didn't count the Queen hanging the curtain?

If his teacher Zuo Guangdou was here, he would definitely denounce him: "The chicken is in charge of the morning, and Tai'a is holding the throne. This is the source of the chaos in the country. In any case, please ask the queen to avoid the table, and then face the emperor alone."

But Shi Kefa was still a little bookish after all. He stared at the queen behind the jade curtain for a long time, and then moved his eyes to Xiao Guizi aside: "Eunuch, please move!"

"Our family is here just for the convenience of taking care of the emperor. If Mr. Shi has any inconvenience, our family will leave first." Xiao Guizi didn't seem to care at all that Shi Kefa was alone with the emperor. He bowed slightly and said, "If necessary, please feel free to do so." You can call us home."

Not long after, in the East Pavilion, there were only the angry Shi Kefa, the dull and stupid emperor, and the queen Zhang Yan whose expression was unclear behind the jade curtain.

"Queen, forgive me," Shi Kefa straightened his robes, apologized, and then slowly stepped forward.

Da da da.

up the stairs,

Shi Kefa stood at the top of the jade steps, one step away from the emperor on the dragon throne.

"Your Majesty?" Shi Kefa tried to call the emperor.

One step away, the emperor's eyes on the dragon throne moved slightly, but their eyes were unfocused and showed no response to the call from outsiders.

"Does your Majesty know me?" Shi Kefa wanted to confirm whether the emperor was pretending to be crazy?

After all, Tang Xuanzong was a veteran emperor who pretended to be crazy and acted foolishly.

There is no guarantee that the emperor of the Zhu family will not be like this.

"Haha, hahaha," Zhu Youxiao sat on the dragon chair, drooling from the corner of his mouth. Facing Shi Kefa's call, there was no response for a long time.

Looking steadily at the emperor who was still healthy four months ago, Shi Kefa felt an indescribable sadness well up in his heart, and then his whole body became rickety, looking filled with a huge sadness.

"I failed to save His Majesty in time and was caught in fire and water. I am guilty." Before speaking formally, Shi Kefa also wanted to confess himself.

"Master Shi, the situation is critical, please stop talking nonsense and talk about business!" Behind the jade curtain, Queen Zhang Yan frowned and looked at Shi Kefa who was still confessing, and said with some helplessness: "The emperor has become like this, what are your plans? Please tell me quickly!"

Interrupted by the Queen, Shi Kefa's expression changed slightly, he looked at the Emperor again, and then bowed to the Queen: "Your Majesty, I would like to rescue Your Majesty from fire and water in the near future. Please also ask Your Majesty to pay attention to the East Pavilion from today on." In case of an external situation, find two or three loyal servants who are close to you. As soon as something happens, they will escort the emperor and rush to the Yangxing Hall behind the Huangji Palace. There will be someone there to help!"

"It happened, why did it happen?" The queen frowned slightly. Such a general reminder asked people how to judge.

"Your Majesty, please don't ask any more questions. If something happens, you can make your own decision!" Shi Kefa bowed and bowed again.

"What if it fails?" The queen was silent for a while and asked again.

Lowering his eyes and not looking at the queen's position, Shi Kefa's eyes fell on the emperor: "If it fails, hundreds of thousands of people will be buried with the emperor, and I will also accompany your majesty to hell! The soul of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong may be able to rest in peace in heaven. .”

"What I mean is," Zhang Yan's eyes moved slightly and she looked at Shi Kefa: "What about the Ming Dynasty?"

Shi Kefa looked at the queen, his beard trembling slightly at the corners of his mouth: "I hope the queen can understand."

understand?

Hearing Shi Kefa's answer, the queen raised her chin slightly, the brilliance in her eyes flashed slightly, and her red lips opened slightly. Through the curtain, Shi Kefa couldn't see her expression clearly, and she could only hear the gentle voice: "Of course I understand. .”

Hearing the queen's answer, Shi Kefa bowed and took a few steps back: "On behalf of the loyal ministers in the world, thank you very much, empress!"

Without wasting much time, Shi Kefa retreated.

The queen sat behind the bead curtain and did not move for a long time.

Until Xiao Guizi came in with several eunuchs and maids.

"Your Majesty, would you like to take His Majesty back to the palace?" Xiao Guizi looked at the Queen, without any temptation, just asking simply.

After a while, as if suppressing the anger in her heart, the Queen said: "Be careful, don't let your Majesty bump into you." (End of Chapter)