139. The incident

The morning court two days before New Year's Eve was held as usual in the Xuanzheng Hall, but Rongse could already feel the tense atmosphere. Perhaps it was because of the battle report sent back from the border during the morning court today, or perhaps it was because of something else.

Liang Shenyu had already fought against the Huns.

Without receiving any orders from the capital, Marquis Dingbei immediately opened the city gates and left Qiangzhou on his own initiative after arriving there. Marquis Dingbei and other generals from Qiangzhou killed five Xiongnu generals in succession, and the Xiongnu were defeated and retreated.

The first battle was a success.

"Although the Marquis of Dingbei won this battle, how could he rashly send out his troops! The Xiongnu did not attack the city, so there was still a chance for mediation in this battle!" The Minister of Rites stepped out and said with great sorrow, "If we could negotiate with the Xiongnu, perhaps we would not have to go to war with them!"

It's the same old argument again. The Minister of Rites is old and lacks strength when he speaks, so it sounds more like a sigh of regret.

But Rong Se remained unmoved. He held the battle report in his hand. It was written by Liang Shenyu himself, and he recognized it.

"Marquis Dingbei's victory in the battle is a great achievement." Rong Se's tone was calm, but still carried an unquestionable calmness. He glanced at the Minister of Rites, smiled, and said softly: "Lord Xu is old, but timid. War is indeed costly, but the Xiongnu army is already at your doorstep. Why are you still thinking about peace talks? If the Xiongnu wanted to negotiate, they would not send soldiers, but envoys, or--"

Rong Se paused for a moment and asked gently and slowly: "Minister Xu, are you willing to serve as an envoy for the Great Jin Dynasty and visit the Xiongnu camp?"

Minister Xu's face changed. "This... Now that the war has started, there is no room for negotiation...!"

"Minister Xu also knows this." Rong Se's face suddenly turned cold. "Then why are you still saying these nonsense to me? Why do you want me to charge Dingbei Hou with the crime of killing first and reporting later? How can you punish someone for winning a battle? How can this be justified in the world?"

The Minister of Rites, with his white beard, shuddered and raised his tablet and said, "The merits and demerits cannot be offset. Dingbei Hou did win the battle, but it is also a fact that he dispatched troops without authorization!"

"I have approved it." Rong Se said bluntly, "Whether the Marquis of Dingbei is guilty or not is up to me to decide. If I have approved him to send troops, then he is not guilty!"

Minister Xu's face did not look very good, but he did not refute it.

Rong Se held great power in his hands. He glanced at his ministers, which was like looking at a stagnant pool of water, with undercurrents of their own thoughts surging beneath the water. Very few of them cared about the country and the people. The nobles from aristocratic families dominated the court and the country, and all they cared about was the glory of their own family.

They are unwilling to fight and even want to spend money to buy peace. What they fear is not the loss of workers and property, but the damage to their own interests.

Rong Se knew early on that Liang Shenyu was waiting for this opportunity. This battle was not for anything else but for the stability of the next few years or even decades.

"As long as the Xiongnu is not destroyed, they will always be a hidden danger." Rong Se said, "Everyone thinks that the Xiongnu is incompetent, but the Xiongnu has never been a vassal of the Jin Dynasty, and now they are raising troops to attack. If we turn a blind eye to this, the Xiongnu will think that the civil and military officials of the Jin Dynasty are incompetent and can be bullied! Minister Xu thought that the Xiongnu did not attack the city, which means that there is spare land, but I think that the Xiongnu is testing the attitude of the Jin Dynasty. The battle of Dingbei Hou has demonstrated the national prestige of our Jin Dynasty. My lords, does anyone still think that Dingbei Hou should be punished?"

Rong Se's argument was well-reasoned and this way, he could shut up the ministers. As expected, no one refuted it this time.

After the court was adjourned, all the ministers left. Rongse had dreamed a lot the night before and woke up early. He was not in high spirits at the moment, so he just sat on the Qilin throne and stroked his forehead gently, but did not get up.

"The emperor's uncle really protects him." Rong Jing snorted coldly.

Rong Se then raised his eyes, looked over lazily, and asked with a smile: "Are you jealous?"

Rong Jing's expression changed, and he forced a smile: "Uncle, you are joking."

"Not the best." Rong Se stood up slowly, thinking of the tragic defeat at Guzhuling that year, and suddenly turned around, looked at Rong Jing, and said, "The Liang family's father and son died in the battlefield, the women died of illness one after another, and the Crown Prince's wife died of two lives. Now the only male left is Sanlang. Isn't this considered a family full of loyal heroes? If you had that much care and the friendship between classmates and the loyalty between monarch and subject, I wouldn't have to protect him."

Rong Jing slowly clenched his fist. There was no need for him and Rong Se to pretend anymore. Rong Jing had been frightened for days and was already at the limit. Hearing these words, he stood up suddenly and said harshly, "What do you know!"

"I am the emperor! Their lives depend on my thoughts! I don't want to stay at the border, fight, suffer, and take risks! Is that wrong?!"

Rong Jing stared at Rong Se fiercely, pausing at every word, as if trying to convince himself: "I'm right! I'm not wrong!"

"How high-sounding!" Rong Se sneered. "It's not up to others to think about what Sanlang wants to do. As for your majesty, you know how much you do for him and how much you do for yourself. It's come to this day, how can your majesty still think that you can do whatever you want as an emperor? If the world recognizes you as an emperor, you will be honorable and unparalleled. If the world does not recognize you, then you are not as good as the emperor as I say. Your majesty, you were arrogant and arrogant in the palace, but you didn't expect this day to come, did you?"

Rong Jing's eyes flickered.

"You have been lying to others for so long that you even believe that you are innocent?" Rong Se slowly told the original owner's memory with a mysterious look on his face. "Who killed Ling Fei's dog? Who pushed the maid Qiu'er into the ice pool? Rong Jing, San Lang, or anyone else, why do they hate you? Don't you understand?"

The two men confronted each other in the empty Xuanzheng Hall. The palace servants had already seen that things were not going well and had all fled. Rong Se was frank and the first to retreat was naturally Rong Jing. He looked away and sneered, "Yes, you are a saint, and those people want to worship you as a god, but so what? I am the emperor after all, and you, my uncle, are always a sycophantic minister."

Rong Se thought to himself that you are quite confident, so he withdrew his gaze and said with a calm smile: "Let's wait and see, Your Majesty."

A respectful title, when pronounced slowly, sounds extremely ironic.

Rong Se turned and walked out of the hall. He was hit in the face by the cold wind and could not help but pull his outer robe up. Yun Chu, who was waiting outside, immediately put the cloak on him and whispered, "Why did you stay in here for so long, my Lord?"

"Have a few words with my nephew." Rong Se took the hand warmer from Yun Chuchen and whispered as he walked, "I think he is very stubborn. I am afraid he wants to end things with me. Be alert in the next two days."

Of course, all the words he said to Rong Jing were not just nonsense, and it was not just to seek verbal justice for Liang Shenyu. In the past, Rong Jing would at least show respect to him on the surface, but today they were arguing and confronting each other, as if they were not afraid of a falling out. Rong Se even thought that they would not wait until after the New Year to take action.

Yun Chu nodded, helped Rong Se onto the carriage, and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Your Majesty."

Rong Se said nothing more and closed the carriage door.

.

The war on the border did not have any impact on the people of Jinjing. In recent years, with Dingbei Hou guarding Qiangzhou, he was like a sword that could suppress all directions and at the same time calm people's hearts. The people firmly believed that as long as he was on the border, the Huns would find it difficult to pass through.

That night, Rong Se saw Liang Shenyu in his dream. He was no longer a young man. His eyes and brows were much more resolute and steady. He had become Marquis Dingbei. Rong Jing wrote to him several times in person, urging him to hand over the military power and return to Jinjing.

Liang Shenyu ignored it all until Rong Xu died. Just like when Rong Se had just arrived in this world, Liang Shenyu rushed to the king's aid and the Regent King was forced to step down. However, what happened afterwards was different from the original novel and also different from what Rong Se experienced.

At the palace banquet, the original owner and Liang Shenyu had a tit-for-tat argument and parted unhappily, but Liang Shenyu did not have the same sentimental feelings for Rong Jing as in the original novel. Dingbei Hou watched the dispute between the Regent and the relatives of the emperor coldly, but he was also quietly undermining the power of the original owner, intending to let the Regent and the relatives of the emperor consume each other.

——This was Liang Shenyu’s original plan.

Rong Se's dream was interrupted here.

He felt that what he saw in his dream was the original direction of this world, rather than the romantic and lingering scenes in the original novel.

On New Year's Eve, after the officials had attended the morning court, the emperor would in previous years host a banquet for his ministers on this day to demonstrate the royal benevolence and the unity between the monarch and his ministers. Then the emperor would take a day off from the first to the third day of the new year and skip the morning court.

But this year there was a war on the border, so Rongse canceled the palace banquet and asked all the ministers to go back.

The snow from the previous two days had not melted yet. The sunlight shone on the snow, and the sky and the earth seemed to be covered with frost. Although there were no lanterns or decorations, the New Year's Eve dinner still had to be eaten. As soon as Rong Se returned home, he went into the stove room. However, just as the fire was lit, Yun Chu came in hurriedly. As soon as he reached the door, his voice had already been heard inside.

"My Lord, there's movement!"

Rong Se suddenly stopped the knife he was using to cut vegetables, turned around with the knife in his hand, and asked calmly, "What's going on?"

Yun Chu walked in and said solemnly, "The Imperial Clerk Li Yanheng led the censors to kneel in front of the Xuanzheng Hall, accusing you of poisoning the late emperor, killing loyal ministers, controlling the government, and disrupting the government."

"Li Yanheng." Rong Se thought for a moment. This man was a censor from Cao Lun's lineage. He had an impression of him and nodded gently. "If I don't kneel down and make a scene, I'll be sorry for them for causing such a big commotion."

Just as he finished speaking, another servant came hurriedly and shouted, "Prince, Prince! Someone has come from the palace and wants to summon you to the palace!"

Rong Se snorted and chopped the kitchen knife on the chopping board, then put down his sleeves and said in a calm voice: "It's just right, I was planning to go see the excitement and get ready to change clothes!"

Yun Chu nodded: "Yes."

As soon as the two of them walked out of the Golden Restaurant, the eunuch who was delivering the imperial edict came up with the people from the Mysterious Camp behind him, and said in a strange and feminine tone: "My Lord, please follow me."

"Your Highness will enter the palace after washing and changing his clothes." Yun Chu said.

The eunuch who delivered the order smiled and said, "It is an emergency. There is no need to be careful. Your Majesty, please follow me."

Rong Se winked at Yun Chu.

Yun Chu understood and immediately stepped forward and kicked the eunuch on the leg. He heard a scream of "Ouch!" and the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict fell to his knees with a scream. Yun Chu raised his foot and stepped on the eunuch's back, stepping him down. The soldiers in the dark in the mansion also drew their weapons and surrounded Xuanjiying and others.

Yun Chu raised his chin slightly and said in a clear voice: "Our prince wants to change his clothes. Who else has anything to say?"

The mysterious camp was silent.

Who dares to speak?

They were clearly here to arrest someone, and now they were all so quiet that even their breathing slowed down.