Chapter 207
It has been more than half a year since Emperor Zhou ascended the throne, but he has still not decided on a crown prince and is immersed in reforms and revising laws.
Therefore, it was Fu Wei who proposed the method of revising the laws and selecting talents, and Fu Wei was also very busy.
As for the appointment of a crown prince, someone in the court would bring it up at first, but the Emperor would always ask about the progress of legal reforms and people's livelihood after the war. If anyone could not explain it clearly, he would reprimand him in court. Besides, the country had just been stabilized and was not yet at peace. The people had not yet lived and worked in peace, yet the issue of appointing a crown prince was repeatedly brought up. With such enthusiasm, why didn't the ministers focus on the prosperity of the country?
After Emperor Zhou said these words, who dared to say anything more?
The officials no longer mentioned it, but they already had their own candidates for the crown prince to follow in the future.
Among the several princes, the ones with the best chances are King Jing and King Ying.
The former was born of a legitimate wife, and the latter had outstanding achievements.
They are incomparable to the other two princes.
As long as Emperor Zhou is not confused in his later years, the crown prince will be one of these two.
In the court, all officials restrained themselves, but in private they were clearly divided.
After the court meeting ended, Fu Wei and Zuo Cheng left together.
After chatting about reforming outdated laws, he left the palace and said, "Just now at court, His Majesty appointed King Ying as commander of the third battalion of the Curfew Battalion. He also confined the Queen and suppressed the Gu family, seemingly intending to personally discipline them."
At this point, Zuo Cheng's expression became much more serious: "Your Majesty has not given up on this legitimate son yet."
Fu Wei sighed lightly.
Indeed, Emperor Zhou still did not give up on his legitimate son, King Ying.
In the past, Fu Wei had lamented the Zhou family's family rules, which only looked at power when inheriting a title, regardless of whether one was legitimate or illegitimate.
But King Ying was raised by Emperor Zhou after all, so the relationship between them would naturally be better than that between him and Zhou Yi, who was raised by the old county lord.
Or perhaps, the Zhou Emperor intended to let the two brothers compete on equal terms or check and balance each other.
Fu Wei smiled faintly, glanced at the palace gate, and said, "How can this humble official guess what the emperor's intention is?"
The Left Prime Minister looked towards the palace gate and saw the figure of King Ying. He smiled knowingly and finally said, "Yes, how can we guess what the emperor means?" I'm afraid that even King Ying might not be able to guess it.
The two said goodbye in front of the palace gate, and Fu Wei looked at the King of England.
Coincidentally, the King of England also looked over, and the two of them looked at each other calmly. When Fu Wei nodded in greeting, the King of England got on the carriage.
It seems like everything is so calm.
After returning to the mansion, he asked the servants and learned that Yu Ying was in the medicine house. After changing out of his official uniform, he went straight to the medicine house.
Yu Ying opened a clinic and a medical school in Kyoto. After several months, he fell ill due to overwork and was forced by Fu Wei to recuperate at home.
Except for attending classes at the medical school every other day, Yu Ying mostly stayed in the pharmacy.
Before Fu Wei opened the gate of the medicine hut, he saw his wife drying medicinal herbs and loosening the soil in the medicine furnace.
He stopped outside and looked quietly at Yu Ying, who had half of her face exposed.
She was wearing a simple cloth dress, without too many pearls and jade on her head, and only a green hairpin held her hair in a bun.
She said that she would wear lighter and more comfortable clothes at home, and would only change into a silk skirt and wear pearls and jade when she went out.
It has been almost five years since they met, but every time they meet again after some time, it always feels like the first time they fell in love.
No matter how I look at it, it seems like I can never see enough.
Yu Ying moved the herbs in the bamboo sieve, seemed to have realized something, put the sieve on the bamboo rack, and turned to look outside the fence.
He met Fu Wei's eyes and smiled: "Why are you back so early today?"
Fu Wei pushed open the gate and lifted the oil-paper bag in his hand: "I brought you some chestnuts."
Chestnut is also known as pointed conical chestnut, which is much smaller than ordinary chestnuts.
Yu Ying smiled and said, "I just happen to be craving something. I'll go wash my hands first."
Fu Wei followed her into the pavilion outside the thatched hut. While she was washing her hands, he turned over a cup and began to peel chestnuts.
Put the peeled orange-yellow chestnut flesh into a cup.
When Yu Ying came back from washing her hands, Fu Wei had already peeled two. Seeing her sit down, he pushed it towards her.
Yu Ying picked up one and ate it, then handed the other one to his mouth.
Fu Wei opened his mouth and ate.
Seeing Fu Weibo, Yu Ying didn't make a move and asked, "Why did you come back so early today?"
Fu Wei has been very busy recently, except for the time when he went to Pengcheng to pick her up, when he had some free time. After he came back, he was treated like two people, leaving home before dawn and coming back after dark.
The family hasn't had a meal together for a long time. Either Fu Wei is not there, or Fu Zhen is not there, and sometimes Fu An is not there either.
Fu An is now thirteen years old. After studying medicine with Yu Ying for two years, Fu Wei suggested that he study at the Imperial College for a few years while studying medicine.
So Fu'an's schedule is now fully scheduled.
Even Fu Ning, who is almost ten years old, is now attending classes at the medical school.
Yu Ying ate the chestnuts peeled by Fu Wei and looked out at the yard outside the shed.
When the wind blows, the bronze bells hanging under the eaves swing with it, and the crisp sound of the bells accompanied by the fragrance of medicine comes with the wind.
Yu Ying couldn't help but prop up her hand, resting her cheek on it leisurely as she looked at the herb garden. A smile crossed her face as she said, "Several years have passed without me noticing. It seems like they just flew by in the blink of an eye."
In the past few years, I went from struggling with nothing to experiencing troubled times, and now the world is at peace, as if everything has returned to peace.
Fu Wei also followed her gaze and looked out of the shed, sitting with his beloved, watching the wind and clouds, and living a leisurely and comfortable life.
He didn't care where, but where she was.
"Yeah, it's been five years without me noticing."
After sitting together quietly for a while, Yu Ying withdrew her gaze, looked at him, and asked, "What's the situation in the court now?"
Yu Ying would occasionally ask about the situation in the court.
Although I knew the ending, I didn't understand the process, so I learned a lot of things from Fu Wei.
Fu Wei took out a few chestnuts from the oil-paper bag and continued to peel them, saying, "The Saint appointed the King of England as the commander of the three curfew battalions to protect the Imperial City."
Hearing this, Yu Ying frowned slightly, but then she wasn't too surprised.
She ate another chestnut and her mouth felt a little dry. Before she could move, Fu Wei poured her a cup of tea.
After drinking half a cup of tea, Yu Ying said, "It's not surprising. After all, you said before that the Saint confined the Queen to Kunning Palace on the pretext of recuperating, and took the opportunity to suppress the Gu family, so he had the intention of cultivating the King of Ying again."
Fu Wei hummed, then said, "Let King Ying take charge of the three curfew camps, and let His Royal Highness King Jing become the generals of the left and right guards."
"What are the left and right guards in charge of?" All officials have their own duties. Yu Ying had heard of some of the official names, but she didn't know what their duties were.
"He is in charge of the palace guards."
Yu Ying was stunned. "Two sons, one in charge of the imperial city's curfew, the other in charge of the palace guards. They check and balance each other. If one of them has second thoughts, the other can restrain him."
Promote King Ying and be wary of King Jing, but at the same time also be wary of King Ying.
Fu Wei said "hmm".
Yu Ying sighed lightly, her leisurely mood completely gone. Looking at Fu Wei, she said somewhat boredly, "I always feel that the previous sect leader and the current saint are a little different."
The sound was so soft that only the two of them could hear it.
Fu Wei shook his head: "It's the same. It's just that I was once a lurking dragon in the abyss, hiding. Now I'm a flying dragon in the sky, so there's no need to hide."
Yu Ying didn't say anything else.
As long as he is not a tyrant like the previous dynasty, there is nothing wrong with being scheming and valuing power.
The most taboo thing for an emperor is not having these.
If he didn't even have much power, how could Emperor Zhou sit in the position he is in today?
Seeing Fu Wei still peeling chestnuts, Yu Ying said, "I'll just eat the ones in the cup. No need to peel them."
As he said this, he handed him the clean Supa on the table.
Fu Wei took it, wiped his hands, and talked about the appointment of King Jing and King Ying: "After the change of these two positions, whether there will be chaos or peace depends on King Ying's mood."
Probably because I knew some things in advance from Yu Ying, I didn't rely on her too much, but I also understood and figured out many things based on these things.
Yu Ying looked at him and roughly understood what Fu Wei meant.
She remembered watching a movie about a royal family struggling for power a long time ago.
The queen mother was often given chronic poison by his father, the emperor, and his son was willing to rebel for the sake of his mother.
But the Queen's current situation is not yet so severe that the King of England would rebel.
Besides, Emperor Zhou was also giving King Ying a chance, how could King Ying not know it?
Fu Wei seemed to see what she was thinking and poured her more tea.
"The Queen is unwilling, and the Gu family is even more unwilling. Even though the King of England is being favored now, anyone with a discerning eye knows that the forces supporting the King of Jing are greater than the King of England. Even if the Saint is favoring him today, doesn't that also give the King of Jing equal power? Their attitude is unclear."
"The Queen is under house arrest, the Gu family is being suppressed, and their years of business are on the verge of collapse. Their chances of winning the throne are probably lower than Prince Jing's. Moreover, the overall situation has been settled, and it is the most likely time for rebellion. How could they continue to endure it?"
The worst possible scenario is that the King of England forces him to abdicate.
"The saint might also have such concerns, so he let King Jing be in charge of the curfew in the inner court, right?" Yu Ying said.
Fu Wei picked up the tea and took a sip: "Maybe."
The heart of an emperor is hard to predict.
Yu Ying was in no mood to continue eating snacks. She took a sip of tea and said calmly, "When will there be true peace?"
Fu Wei looked outside the shed, looking calm.
There will be peace one day.
*
At night, the King of England's confidant brought him a letter.
After reading the letter, the King of England disguised himself as a guard and left the house. When he arrived at the famous house mentioned in the letter, he knocked on the door.
After a while, an old servant came to open the door.
The old servant respectfully invited the person into the courtyard, looked outside a few times, and closed the gate after confirming that there was no one there.
The King of England followed the old servant into the room. The old servant looked at the door of the inner room before leaving.
The door to the inner room opened. The King of England saw who opened the door and called out, "Uncle."
Uncle Gu saw his nephew and said, "Come in and talk."
The King of England entered, and after they had sat down, he asked, "My uncle has something to ask me, why don't you come directly to the palace, but meet in this way?"
Uncle Gu poured him a cup of tea and then looked up at him: "Your Highness should know that the Saint does not like your Highness to have any dealings with the Gu family."
The King of England was silent.
How could he not know.
"Your Highness has just taken up his post at the Curfew Camp. If I were to openly seek you out, I'm afraid I'd anger the Saint."
The King of England was silent for a long moment before he said, "If my father doesn't like it, should I just keep avoiding my uncle?"
Uncle Gu: "It's not that I don't like it, but if you and I meet in private, it will make the Saint suspicious. We can meet in public, but it's better to have less contact in private."
"However, if it weren't for suspicion, why would they let Your Highness command the three curfew battalions while also appointing Zhou Yi as the left and right guard generals? This is simply to guard against you."
The King of England is not stupid, he knows his father's intention.
"I know all this. Now, what did my uncle want to see me for today?"
Uncle Gu put down his teacup and asked, "I heard that you went to see the Empress not long ago. How is the Empress's cash?"
The King of England thought of the empty palace and his haggard mother, and said in a muffled voice, "Not good."
Uncle Gu's expression also darkened. He said, "The Empress has always been very respectable and enjoys a lively atmosphere. Now that she is imprisoned in Kunning Palace, how can she be happy?"
The King of England lowered his eyes and said, "The Queen Mother is recuperating from an illness."
Upon hearing this, Gu Guojiu snorted and said self-deprecatingly, "On the surface, he's recuperating, but in reality, what's the difference between him and imprisonment?"
"The Empress has a strong character and is strong-willed. Her mind is also stronger than that of an ordinary woman. How could she fall into madness so easily?"
At the end of his words, he looked at his nephew intently and asked slowly, "Do you really believe that your mother is suffering from insanity?"
The King of England raised his eyes and met his uncle's gaze.
Some things are understood without the need for eye contact.
Uncle Gu smiled bitterly: "If the king wants his subjects to die, how can I live in disgrace?"
This is what the King of England does not want to think about.
Father, perhaps you are the mastermind.
Uncle Gu: "Everyone says that Emperor Huo is insane because he's been haunted by the ghosts of the wronged because of the heavy slaughter he's committed. But does Your Highness know the truth?"
The King of England looked at him and asked, "What truth?"
The King of England really doesn't know this.
Gu Guojiu: "Someone gave him a hallucinogenic and mind-disturbing drug."
The King's face froze, as if he had thought of something. He then listened to Uncle Gu say, "When the Empress was confined to Kunning Palace, His Highness's aunt came to see her. She said she was really strange. She often complained of headaches and loss of appetite. At night, it felt like someone was whispering in her ear, making her restless."
"If the queen was really drugged, and who that person could be, uncle dare not speak rashly."
The King's expression suddenly darkened, and his grip on the cup tightened.
Father, did you really drug Mother?
Or was it Zhou Yi's doing?
Although he knew that the former was more likely, he still had hope.
Originally he didn't dare and didn't want to think about it too much, but now he wants to check it out.
Investigate thoroughly.
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