On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, thirty miles east of the capital city, a group of people were heading towards the capital.
In front of the team was a guard of honor, accompanied by hundreds of guards, and there were more than 20 carriages in front and behind.
Looking at the level of the ceremonial guard, it is definitely not something that ordinary officials can enjoy. Only first- and second-grade officials in the court can have this qualification.
The identity of the team owner has been named on the ceremonial guard and flag, because they all have the words "Beijing" written on them.
In a carriage in the middle of the team, Wang Shuirong of Beijing was sitting upright, feeling like he was returning home.
It has been half a year since he went north under the orders. He was far away in a bitter and cold place on errands, so he missed all the people and things in the divine capital.
Fortunately, this mission has been fulfilled, and several errands assigned by the emperor have been completed. After arriving in Beijing today to deliver the order, I can return home to reunite with my family.
Although he has inherited the title of county king, Shui Rong is only twenty years old now and still has some youthful nature that has not dissipated.
Just as he was looking forward to returning home to be reunited with his lovely wives and concubines, and listening to his children calling him "Father," the voices of his followers came from outside.
"Your Majesty, Eunuch Zhang from the East Palace is here."
Shui Rong naturally knows who Eunuch Zhang from the East Palace is. It is not an exaggeration to say that this person is the incarnation of the prince.
Although the other party was just a eunuch, Shui Rong did not dare to be negligent at the moment, and immediately ordered a stop and got off the carriage.
Outside the carriage, Zhang Xin, the eunuch in charge of the East Palace, along with several eunuchs and more than a dozen guards, were already waiting on the side of the official road.
"Eunuch Zhang, why are you here? His Royal Highness is always kind." Shui Rong hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.
Zhang Xin had a slight smile on his face, put his hands in front of him and replied very calmly, "Your Highness is doing well recently. When I learned that the prince was back, I specially ordered my servants to come to greet you."
The crown prince of the prince's country ordered people to come out of the city to greet him, the little prince. Such courtesy was too much.
This made Shui Rong particularly fearful, fearing that he would be involved in the battle for the right to inherit the heir. The tragic experience of the previous generation made him really not want to get involved again.
"How dare Xiao Wang be treated so politely by the prince? I am really scared." Shui Rong said it a bit straightforwardly, which could be regarded as an indirect expression of his attitude.
"The prince said that the lineage of King Beijing is the pillar of the country. Now that he has successfully completed the imperial mission, he should be praised more."
Hearing Zhang Xin talk about it While talking, Shui Rong had a smile on his face, but he was actually crying in his heart.
No matter who they get entangled with, the Crown Prince and Prince Rui are huge troubles in his opinion, and they are the kind that cannot be shaken off.
At this moment, Shui Rong couldn't help but regret. He shouldn't have gone out and messed around. He should have just stayed in the palace and waited until death.
But this is just a thought. If he really waits to die, his palace will be defeated, or he will have to be removed from the rank and become a people in a few generations.
Next, Shui Rong listened to Zhang Xin talk a lot of nonsense, he himself had to add a few sentences from time to time to prevent the scene from becoming cold.
About a few minutes later, Zhang Xin finally got to the point.
"I heard that the prince went north this time and found a number of good horses among the various tribes and vassals in the north."
This is indeed true. What makes Shui Rong curious is that , how could the prince pay attention to this matter, or that the eunuch in front of him had some ideas.
"I bought a few good horses. Is it possible that Eunuch Zhang is short of horses? When the horse arrives, I will give you one."
Of course this is a test. If it is Zhang Xin Of course Shui Rong would not refuse the eunuch if he wanted a favor, but would just give him a horse at will.
Zhang Xin immediately explained, "It's not that the slave wants it, but the prince likes it, so he specially ordered the old slave to come and ask the prince to buy two horses."
Zhang Xin promised to find a good horse for Zhu Jinghong. After that, Zhu Jingyuan specially asked people to discuss the matter. In the past two days, he learned that Shuirong had acquired a group of good horses.
In order to prevent Lao Liu from attacking first, Zhu Jingyuan ordered people to come out of the city to meet him, just to get the horse.
He did not expect that Lao Liu had already taken action several days ago and even sent a gift to Princess Beijing.
But unfortunately, although Princess Beijing agreed to the matter, she forgot to inform her husband, resulting in Shui Rong still being kept in the dark.
In other words, Shui Rong was determined to stay away from the fight for the heir, but he didn't know that he was being targeted by Prince Rui and became the core of the struggle between the two.
At this moment, Shui Rong did not realize the seriousness of the problem at all. Instead, he smiled and said to Zhang Xin, "This is a simple matter. Since His Highness the Crown Prince likes it, I will send it to you in a few days."
The prince specially sent someone here. Even if Shui Rong loved these horses, he couldn't think of rejecting them.
Obviously Zhang Xin also felt that this should be the case, so he asked with confusion "in a few days"
How many days will you wait for what the prince wants? What do you call it? Meaning
Afraid that Zhang Xin would misunderstand, Shui Rong quickly explained, "That batch of horses must be carefully taken care of. None of them followed the group, so it will take two days to arrive."
"Oh"
p>It could be heard that Zhang Xin was a little disappointed. He expected to take the horse back now.
"I'm really sorry. I hope Eunuch Zhang will explain it to the prince for me."
Speaking of this, Shui Rong made a gesture to his entourage, who understood and took out the He took the banknote and gave it to the young eunuch behind Zhang Xin.
"This" Zhang Xin looked puzzled, obviously pretending to be confused.
Shui Rong didn't need any explanation, and his entourage replied, "My father-in-law has worked hard all the way, so we can buy tea on the road with this little money."
"How embarrassing is this?" Zhang Xin looked at Shui Rong.
"Eunuch Zhang, there is no need to refuse. It will take you a lot of trouble to explain things to the prince."
"It's just a small matter."
Zhang Xin agreed, and then After some more chatting, he left with a group of his men.
After watching him leave, Shui Rong returned to the carriage with a look on his face.But it was a sad look.
He was not worried about those horses, but worried that he would be involved in the whirlpool, which would be a disaster.
"Your Majesty, if you set off too late, you won't be able to enter the palace."
Hearing the reminder from his personal entourage, Shui Rong sighed, and then ordered the team to continue. forward.
Anything can be delayed, but today's meeting with the emperor cannot be delayed. This is ten thousand times more important than his reunion at home.
The team continued on their way and entered the city more than an hour later. Shui Rong only asked some of the guards to escort him into the palace, while the rest went directly back to the palace.
Shui Rong was originally high-spirited when he came back this time, but the fact that the prince sent someone to look for him made his high spirits disappear.
So after entering the palace, Shui Rong kept a low profile as much as possible, choosing places with few people to walk, for fear of being encountered again.
Fortunately, nothing happened along the way, so he was able to arrive outside the Qianqing Palace smoothly and entered the Qianqing Gate under the guidance of the eunuch.
Normally speaking, the emperor is relatively free in the afternoon, so civil and military officials choose this time to meet.
"I dare to ask my father-in-law, if there are many people who are going to see me today, can they inform the Holy Master in advance for me?"
When I entered the palace gate just now, there were more than a dozen people waiting outside. Apparently there are many people coming to see him today.
As long as he is not a cabinet minister, six ministers, or the governors of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, it will be easy for him to "jump in line".
After entering the palace gate, there were no such people waiting outside the hall, so Shui Rong asked.
"There are only a dozen or so people outside. Most of them are officials who have come to remonstrate. The prince does not need to pay attention to them."
It is normal for officials to impeach civil and military officials, but today It was unusual for him to show up at Qianqingmen.
Since the time of Emperor Taizu, three hundred years since the founding of the country by Taizu, the officials of the Ming Dynasty have dealt heavy blows to their colleagues, but they have always been honest in front of the emperor.
"They are so bold"
Hearing Shui Rong's question, the eunuch who led the way couldn't help but smile and said, "They are admonishing this time to ask the Lord to give you a title." Please remember to bookmark, website The latest and fastest way to find and add books for free without anti-theft. You can join the qq group 952868558