Chapter 45 Chapter 45 "What about the Queen? Are you willing to let her go? ...
Prince Feng Zhou Yu, the fifth son of Emperor Zhuang, went to Fengzhou to be a vassal in the first year of Xining.
According to the rules, the princes of the Great Jin Dynasty only received fiefs and did not participate in local management. However, Fengzhou had a special location, connecting with the neighboring country in the north and was the gateway to the Great Jin Dynasty. Therefore, the position of King Feng had real power. However, because he was still young when he became a vassal, he did not participate in many local affairs at first. Later, as he grew older, he gradually participated in the core level of local governance and military management.
However, in the final analysis, these were just daily affairs, and the prince was still in an assisting position and could not take charge of a region. But this situation changed after the young emperor ascended the throne.
The Northern Kingdom has many grasslands, and cavalry has always been its main combat force and its most powerful army. Although the two countries have generally been at peace for many years, there have been many small conflicts on the border. The Northern Kingdom does not actually want to fight, but due to its lack of supplies, they often send out multiple small teams of cavalry to explore the territory of Dajin and loot the villages on the border of Dajin. They come and go quickly, and leave as soon as they have robbed. The suffering people have always been miserable. However, due to the mobility of its cavalry, Dajin has no good defense method.
That year, Emperor Zhao died suddenly. Perhaps taking advantage of this opportunity, the Northern Kingdom invaded again. Prince Feng, who was supposed to be in the rear, led his troops to attack in person, predicted the direction of the enemy's guerrillas, organized a encirclement and suppression, and wiped out all the enemies sent by the Northern Kingdom. For a time, the people in the border areas were all happy, the morale of the border troops was greatly boosted, and the whole country of the Northern Kingdom was shocked by that battle.
After that battle, King Feng's prestige grew day by day. He not only won the hearts of the people on the border, but also established a foothold in the army.
Prince Feng had developed tactics to fight against the Northern Kingdom's cavalry, and the Northern Kingdom also began to fear Prince Feng. In order to ensure border stability, the court at that time strengthened his power in the army and coordinated with the Anbei Protectorate to manage border affairs. Also, considering his role on the border, Empress Dowager Shangguan Xu discussed with the ministers and exempted him from the annual audience in Beijing.
Therefore, since the young emperor ascended the throne, Prince Feng never set foot in Chang'an again, and even hardly participated in the affairs of the court.
The emperor does not appoint a king, and the king does not act as regent. They only care about maintaining stability in one area.
Unexpectedly, Shangguan Li's case alarmed the prince far away in the north.
On the day the evidence was delivered to the capital, it was personally escorted into the city by Prince Feng's personal soldiers. After hearing the news, officials in government offices speculated privately that Prince Feng had not been involved in state affairs for several years, and his only annual interaction with the court was around New Year's Day when he would send people to deliver gifts to the capital to convey his regards to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager on his behalf. But why did he make an exception this time?
Moreover, after the evidence reached the Ministry of Justice, everyone learned one more thing - it turned out that the evidence of the Luozhou Bridge incident was collected by people sent by King Feng himself, and during the process, King Feng's people also took out King Feng's token and took a tough attitude to put pressure on local officials and speed up the process of evidence collection.
Prince Feng had not had much contact with the court since Emperor Youdi ascended the throne. In fact, everyone secretly thought that Prince Feng was dissatisfied with the court and the Queen Mother because of the issue of succession to the throne. After all, after the Xining incident, he was the only surviving prince of Emperor Zhuang. Logically, he could have inherited the throne, but no one expected that he would take action for the Queen Mother's brother this time.
The Yellow River flooded severely that year, affecting the entire Guanzhong section of the river basin. Luozhou was the worst hit area, and the imperial court essentially exhausted all possible means to mobilize supplies and manpower for disaster relief.
At that time, King Feng, who had just made a name for himself in the north, also sent people to support him, and Shangguan Li was the one in charge of disaster relief in Luozhou at the court.
Disaster relief is not just about distributing supplies and reinforcing embankments, but also about a series of subsequent repairs, including bridges that were destroyed by floods.
At that time, there were not enough civilian workers, so King Feng's people joined the bridge construction and cooperated with Shangguan Li. Therefore, the reason King Feng gave for participating in the Shangguan Li case was that his people from Fengzhou were also involved in the bridge construction at that time. In order to avoid other troubles in the future that would implicate the generals of Fengzhou, he needed to investigate the matter in detail, at least to make sure that the fire would not burn his generals.
This time, the evidence brought by the people he sent not only proved that the collapse of the Luozhou Bridge had nothing to do with Shangguan Li, but also caught the real culprit.
The collapse of the bridge was indeed caused by the quality of the construction materials, but the person who replaced it was the former Luozhou Chief Secretary, now the Luozhou Deputy Governor.
At about the same time, the officials from the Ministry of Justice who were sent by the court to Luozhou to investigate also quickly sent back the evidence they had collected. Once the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice had verified the details, Shangguan Li would be cleared of all charges.
However, as for the cases that Xu Qing'an had previously suggested to be combined with the Luozhou bridge collapse, the officials involved were not so lucky. Basically, evidence was found and they were convicted.
Although it would take some time to handle several cases together, fortunately the overall situation on Shangguan Li's side had been settled, so Shangguan Xu could feel more at ease.
A Zheng finally recovered and regained her spirits. Except for the external injuries, the rest of her body had recovered. Today, in her daze, she vaguely recalled some past events.
"I seem to see the home of my childhood and the home of my youth." She leaned back on the pillow, her face still pale. "In the picture, the two homes of the period are in different places, but what is the same is that there are archery targets and weapon racks for long spears in the courtyard."
Shangguan Xu pondered. "I guess that's why you're good at martial arts," she asked. "Have you ever thought about what your family does? Do they run a martial arts school? Or are they working in the escort agency or the military, as your father did?"
Ah Zheng shook her head. "I can't recall. But I vaguely remember that besides my father and mother, I also have a younger brother."
"Brother?" Shangguan Xu asked, "How old is he?"
A Zheng: "I can't remember clearly. I think he was still in his infancy when I was a teenager."
Shangguan Xu thought to himself, based on A Zheng's current age, the child would probably be only a few years old now. If A Zheng's family really settled in Luozhou, then such a young child might have met with an accident during the Luozhou flood that year.
She couldn't help but sigh softly.
Shangguan Xu comforted him, "I've already hired someone in Luozhou to investigate which families have the surname Yao. I'm sure there will be news soon. You should focus on getting well first, and we can take care of the rest later."
——
After nightfall, Xu Qing'an climbed in through the window as usual, but this time he was wearing a nightgown.
Shangguan Xu sat at his seat waiting for him, with two cups of hot tea on the table.
Lanterns were still lit in the courtyard, and the light shone through the gauze windows. Xu Qing'an walked through the dim light and could roughly see the two cups of tea.
He paused.
This seemed to be the first time she prepared tea for him, and she had to change the water frequently to keep the tea at the right temperature.
Xu Qing'an thought again. He hadn't informed her in advance that he was coming tonight. So, had she made a pot of tea like this and waited for him every night before he came?
Xu Qing'an's eyes darkened, and the shadow under his long eyelashes became heavier.
Shangguan Xu saw him standing there motionless and smiled, "Why don't you come over?" She invited him, "Come and taste this tea. It's new. How does it taste?"
Xu Qing'an walked over slowly and sat down next to her.
Shangguan Xu raised his hand to him, indicating that he should taste the tea.
Xu Qing'an took a look and picked up the cup of tea next to him. However, from the time he raised the cup to the time he drank it, his eyes were focused on her face.
"Good tea, worthy of being a tribute to the Empress Dowager." He commented indifferently. As he put the cup down, a slight collision sound came from the table, as cold as his eyes.
Shangguan Xu was unaware of this and continued with a gentle smile, "If Xu Qing likes it, I'll have some sent to your house tomorrow."
But he said calmly: "Does your Majesty like giving gifts?"
Shangguan Xu raised his chin slightly and looked over.
Xu Qing'an said, "First you rewarded me with incense, and now you're giving me tea. What else does Your Majesty plan to give me in the future?"
Shangguan Xu curled his lips and chuckled softly, "How can I explain this clearly? I can only say that if I meet someone suitable, I will definitely think of Xu Qing first."
Xu Qing'an lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Shangguan Xu said, "Could it be that Xu Qing doesn't like it? But wasn't the affection between you and me built up from gifts one by one? Xu Qing has given me so many gifts before, so I have to reciprocate."
Yes, from the initial Censorate to Xue Hong later, these were all the gifts he had said he would give her. It was also with these gifts that he joined her team and was valued by her.
Xu Qing'an opened his eyes and looked over coldly without any emotion.
He suddenly smiled and said, "It's customary to exchange gifts... Your Majesty is right, but I'm afraid your gift is too expensive and I can't afford it."
Shangguan Xu was unconcerned: "They are just objects. If no one uses them, they have no value."
"Yes." Xu Qing'an responded softly. This time he did not follow her words and bring up the matter of the children.
He didn't dare mention it.
Xu Qing'an took a deep breath and said, "Thanks to Her Majesty's favor, many of your rewards have been given to me, so I cannot let Her Majesty down. This time, I came here to bring you good news."
"Oh?" Shangguan Xu listened attentively, and his tone seemed to be interested.
Xu Qing'an pulled out a medicine bottle from his bosom and placed it on the table. "When the Empress told me about Madam A Zheng's illness, I relayed it all to the miraculous doctor at home. Based on his years of medical experience and the cases he'd learned from medical books, he roughly thought of several possible causes of the illness. He then prescribed a prescription and prepared a bottle of pills."
Xu Qing'an pushed the medicine bottle on the table closer to Shangguan Xu. "Your Majesty, please let Madam Azheng use this pill for the next few days. It's warm in nature and won't hurt your body. Just take one pill after each meal. Madam Azheng has just been seriously injured, so strong medicines aren't suitable for her. After these pills are used up, I'll find an opportunity to have the genius doctor and Madam Azheng meet."
Shangguan Xu's eyes fell on the medicine bottle: "Okay, I'll give her this medicine tomorrow."
The person who injured A Zheng clearly intended to kill her, and they knew her. Why wouldn't they let her go now that she has no memory? Could it be related to something going on at home? A Zheng and her brother were in danger at almost the same time; is there a connection?
However, these things can only be thought over and over again in Shangguan Xu's mind. The real answers to these questions may lie in A Zheng's lost memories.
So now she must help A Zheng recover her memory as soon as possible. Only after knowing the whole story can she regain the initiative.
After that, the two people in the room were silent for a while.
"Is the Queen going back to the palace?" Xu Qing'an asked suddenly after turning the teacup for a while.
Shangguan Xu was puzzled and didn't understand the meaning of his question.
Xu Qing'an didn't give her time to think and said directly, "Lord Shangguan has been cleared of all charges and will be able to return home soon. Madam Azheng's injuries have also improved a lot, and it would be more appropriate for her to rest in the palace. Now that the crisis surrounding the Madam has been resolved, shouldn't she return to the palace?"
Shangguan Xuqing hummed: "It's time to put it on the charter. What's the matter? What's the matter?"
Xu Qing'an looked up at the sky and sighed, "I just can't bear to leave the Empress." He looked over and looked at her with a half-smile, "What about the Empress? Can you bear to leave her?"
Are you willing to meet him at night like this, like having an affair?
Shangguan Xu sneered almost inaudibly. It was just a pretense. What was there to talk about whether he was willing to give up or not? It would be better to ask her if she felt tired dealing with him at night like this?
But Shangguan Xu still leaned toward him, his elbows resting on the table, his cheek supported by the back of his hands, his eyes filled with affection, a look that seemed neither angry nor angry. "Tell me, how should I answer you when I ask this? I entered Da'anguo Temple because of my brother's situation, and my departure and return to the palace means that my brother has escaped danger. You ask me if I'm reluctant to leave. If I say no, wouldn't that mean that our relationship is based on my brother's suffering?"
Xu Qing'an hadn't expected her to ask him back like that. He lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment before laughing, "Your Majesty is right. I am shallow."
He raised his eyebrows and continued, "Then I won't joke with you, Your Majesty. Since Your Majesty is going back to the palace, we might as well make plans tonight. After all, tonight might be our last night out for a long time."
Shangguan Xu raised his eyebrows in agreement and said, "Great! Such a beautiful day and scenery, we shouldn't waste it. But I wonder what Mr. Xu is planning?"
Xu Qing'an feigned surprise: "What do I want to plan? Shouldn't I ask Your Majesty this question?" He smiled, "Your Majesty is the ruler, and I should obey Your Majesty."
"Oh—" Shangguan Xu suddenly realized, "I was just thinking that during our time together, our affection for each other had long since dissolved the distinction between ruler and subject."
Xu Qing'an clenched his fists and said, almost gnashing his teeth, "So that's what Your Majesty thinks. It's me who's not familiar with it."
Shangguan Xu curled his lips and chuckled.
She sighed, "Although my brother and Zheng are both out of danger, this experience was so dangerous that I've been unable to recover. Even now, I'm still terrified and can't think about what's next. But when Xu Qing asked this today... do you already have a plan in mind?"
Of course, what Shangguan Xu was thinking was not what she said. Even though her recent experiences did make her scared, she would only think about how to take the initiative in the next struggle. How could she lose her determination because of this setback?
She said this to Xu Qing'an simply because she wanted to know what cards he had up his sleeve. His background was becoming more and more unfathomable, and she needed to find out more about him.
Xu Qing'an looked at her with a dark look in his eyes. Her posture and sigh made it difficult for him to understand what she was thinking.
Perhaps it was because Shangguan Li was too important in her heart that she was confused for a moment. After all, that night, she made a promise to Shangguan Li.
A wave of self-mockery surged in Xu Qing'an's heart again.
It's not that she has no heart, she just doesn't put her heart on him.
Xu Qing'an turned his gaze away from her face, pondered for a moment, and then replied, "I do have an idea in mind."
"Oh? What is it?" Shangguan Xu looked at him eagerly.
Xu Qing'an looked back and said calmly, "Your Majesty, do you still remember the proposal I made to you on the hill behind Jingming Temple?"
Shangguan Xu thought carefully.
Xu Qing'an said, "The Censorate's Su Zhongcheng is my former superior, Su Xingzheng."
Shangguan Xu recalled that the Censorate was in chaos because of his remarks at the joint trial of the three courts, and he had also mentioned in the back mountain of Jingming Temple that he could take advantage of the chaos in the Censorate to dig deeper and drag Su Ran, the mastermind behind the Liu Chang case, into the water. However, at that time Shangguan Xu was concerned about the disparity in power between him and Su Wang, and was afraid that he could not withstand his counterattack, so he gave up the plan.
And now that he mentioned it again, not only had the political situation changed, but she also knew the power behind him, and guessed that he might really have a way to deal with Su Ran.
Seeing that Shangguan Xu didn't object and was still willing to let him continue, Xu Qing'an continued, "When I first mentioned this idea, Your Majesty temporarily suppressed it on the grounds that Prime Minister Su was too powerful and could not withstand his counterattack. However, now, I feel that the time is right."
"Although the Censorate was in turmoil for a while because of Liu Chang's case, it will eventually recover. Your Majesty can't always use Liu Chang's case as an excuse to keep the Censorate out of court affairs. Besides, with Chen Feng, the scapegoat, stepping forward, and then there's Su Zhongcheng, the Jiangnan Water Transport Minister, stepping in to appease the people, it's only a matter of time before the Censorate regains its former power. By then, the gap between Prime Minister Su and Your Majesty will widen again."
"And the things Your Majesty has done over the past few months have actually weakened his power in various ways. So now is the time to strike while the iron is hot and not retreat in the face of adversity. Furthermore, with the matter of Lord Shangguan, Your Majesty should have seen that when Prime Minister Su strikes, he's deadly. He's swift and ruthless, and he doesn't care about any kinship. So, whether it's to seize the initiative or to protect yourself, Your Majesty should take action against his right-hand men this time."
Shangguan Xu: "It's not that I haven't thought about what you said. I just think Su Xingzheng is not very active. Prime Minister Su won't give up on him that easily. Or do you have a better idea?"
No matter how reasonable and well-founded his words were, she did not forget to test him.
Xu Qing'an's eyes darkened, his brows tinged with sadness. He said, "I'd like to ask Your Majesty first: how do you intend to deal with him? Do you intend to punish him according to the law, or do you, out of consideration for our past friendship, simply want to strike him down, deprive him of his power, and thus leave him a chance to live?"
"What you're asking doesn't make sense."
"oh?"
Shangguan Xu looked at Xu Qing'an and said calmly, "As long as you can find a crime that can put him to death, he will have no chance of survival. No matter what the crime is, with his third uncle around, he will have no chance of survival."
Xu Qing'an lowered his eyes and let out a long, deep sigh, as if expressing regret or a sigh: "Yes, with his third uncle around and the example of his fourth brother, there's no way he can survive no matter what."
Yet he shouldn't have a chance to survive.
Xu Qing'an raised his eyes, his expression extremely serious: "Then I will tell your Majesty about my plans for him."
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