My bad words were heard by all the civil and military officials in the court

Royal Palace, Jinluan Hall.

"Your Highness, has His Majesty not recovered yet?" Prime Minister Shangguan asked with anxious blisters on the corners of his mouth.

Your Majesty has not attended court for three days since the news of the flood in Jianghe City was reported back to the court.

Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had arranged everything in an orderly manner and the relief workers had already set out, he felt uneasy as he had not seen His Majesty for several days.

The most important thing is that Ye Shengxin, that troublesome guy, has not attended court for several days.

He doubted whether His Majesty had been murdered by her.

The Grand Tutor and a group of old ministers beside him were also eagerly waiting for the prince's answer.

The prince suppressed his anxiety and exchanged glances with Eunuch Lin who knew the truth. Finally, at the nod of Marquis Pingqing, he smiled:

"The emperor is recovering and will be back in court soon. My Lords, please do not worry."

Ahhh, his father is missing. In order to stabilize the court and the country, he, the crown prince, cannot look for him openly.

So angry! So anxious!

The Grand Tutor felt that something was amiss, so he asked tentatively, "Lord Zhang Liang has not attended court for many days. Does Your Highness have his leave note?"

The prince pretended to be calm: "Of course there is, Master Zhang will come to the court as scheduled tomorrow."

Zhang Liang, who had drifted in the flood for several days like many other people but was no longer in danger of death, was finally found and was on his way back to Beijing.

Once he comes back, he will be able to dispel some of the court officials' suspicions.

"Since His Highness has a leave note, I wonder when Lord Ye Xingxin will go to court again?"

The prince looked at the tutor, speechless. Did the teacher set a trap for him here?

He remained calm and said, "Don't worry, my lords. When Lord Ye recovers from his illness and returns, he will bring the anti-drowsiness book (a secret book for ministers). Then we can continue to have fun in the court."

"Our happy days are still to come."

Ministers:...

No, that's not what they meant.

Chang Zunli, who thought he would be affected, poked Xu Zhong's arm and motioned him to speak.

Xu Zhong dodged over and closed his eyes, looking calm.

Changyu, Ye Shengxin and His Majesty disappeared from their sight at the same time. He knew that there must be a lot of tricks involved, and he was sure that it was related to the previous jailbreak of Jingzhao Yin, but the prince was still able to remain calm.

Marquis Pingqing didn't seem to be anxious or angry.

He understood that even if His Majesty had something wrong, with Ye Shengxin, the troublemaker, nothing serious would happen, so he didn't take it too seriously.

He even spoke up to support the Crown Prince: "Your Majesty is in poor health. Although the flood in Jianghe City was severe, no one died. Your Highness the Crown Prince has stabilized the situation and captured the traitor Wei Haoguan. You all should stop worrying about Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, the recovery of your dragon body is important."

Coincidentally, Wei Haoguan was the only person who drowned in the flood, and his body floated to the officials.

Because of him, the Jingzhao Yin prison break incident came to an end.

Xu Zhong's words made the Grand Tutor look at him.

Strangely enough, no civilians or poultry died in the flood. If he were to ask who in the world could do this, the only person he could think of was Ye Shengxin.

It just so happened that the common people also put the blame on the imperial teacher and the royal family. Lord Ye, who was absent due to illness...

Never mind, never mind. I can’t think about it any further.

The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne, and an heir whom the Emperor values ​​and loves very much. Even if the Crown Prince takes the opportunity to ascend to the throne, Your Majesty will probably not say anything except being sulky.

He keeps digging into the causes and effects of everything, which makes him unpopular.

Not only the Grand Tutor thought so, many ministers in the court also had the same idea, so they accepted the result given by the Crown Prince.

Down towards the back.

The prince left Pingqing Hou behind, and the two of them changed their clothes and rode fast horses towards Fo'an Temple.

The abbot of Fo'an Temple is a highly respected monk who has a strong affinity with Buddhism since birth. Although he was born into a royal family and is the uncle of the prince, he entered Buddhism at the age of three.

If we were to ask who are the most astute people in this world, Master Tongshan would definitely be among the top three.

At the beginning, Ye Shengxin's voice shocked the court. The emperor was not without fear, but he chose to accept it in the end, and one of the reasons was the letter from this uncle.

He asked his father to treat this opportunity of the Great Zhou calmly.

Now that his father and Ye Xingxin's whereabouts are unknown, the prince came to Fo'an Temple to stabilize the situation.

He wanted to get the whereabouts of the two of them from his uncle.

"Your Highness, the abbot is meeting guests in the backyard. Please follow me."

The young monk who had been waiting at the gate of the courtyard clasped his hands together and bowed, then led the way.

The prince was not surprised that his uncle knew the purpose of their visit, but he didn't know who the guest his uncle was meeting was?

-

"Master, which god's clay statue do you think I should take back?"

"Is it the Yue Lao God who helps with marriages or the God of Wealth who controls money? Wen Qu Xing Jun is no longer needed. My grandson passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar. There is no need to worship Wen Qu Xing Jun anymore. It is a waste of incense and candles."

"It just so happens that when I get back I'll move the statue of Wenquxingjun out of the cabinet and replace it with Yue Lao or the God of Wealth."

"Which of them do you think is suitable to live in my house?"

Old Mrs. Ye came here to burn incense and worship Buddha. She originally planned to stay for three days and then go back. However, on the day she was about to leave, she happened to meet the abbot coming out of seclusion.

Seeing that she had some affinity with Buddhism, Old Mrs. Ye stayed and has stayed until now.

I was also nervous and cautious at the beginning when interacting with the abbot.

After realizing that he was not as solemn, mysterious and unattainable as people had imagined.

We became like good friends who could talk about anything.

For example, today, she moved two statues of gods that she liked and prepared to take them back to worship.

As for Mrs. Ye, who brought small statues of Buddha and gods home, she would take out whichever statue she needed to show her power and burn incense to it. If she didn't need it, she would take the statue down from the altar and put it in the cabinet to collect dust.

Master Tongshan was speechless and helpless in his heart, but he had a smile on his face.

"Amitabha, if there is extra space in Mr. Ye's cabinet, it is not impossible to move the two statues back."

Master Tongshan was dressed in a grey monk's robe. He was fifty years old and had a long beard, but his face did not look old and his temperament was gentle and calm.

He is an old monk who has walked out of the years. He does not have much of the worldly air, but he does have some of the joys, sorrows, anger and happiness of ordinary people.

After getting the result, two wrinkles appeared on Old Lady Ye's kind face: "There is only one vacant position left, but I can build another cabinet."

"It will just cost an extra ten taels of silver."

She was a little reluctant to spend the money, but since that was the case, she continued:

"There are a lot of empty spaces in the cabinets that we've created. Master, which statue do you think would be best for me to take back?"

Master Tongshan twitched his lips, and was once again shocked by the way Old Lady Ye worshipped gods and Buddhas when they were useful and threw them away when they were useless.

But still gave advice in a calm voice:

"Take an Arhat back with you. I see that your family is in trouble of lack of money and military power recently. A martial Arhat is the most suitable person for you."

Master Tongshan's words made Mrs. Ye feel a little nervous. She wanted to ask which relative it was, but seeing the master lower his head, she knew he wouldn't say.

Thinking about it again, it didn't seem to be a serious matter, so Old Lady Ye stopped asking and decided directly:

"Master, each of the Eighteen Arhats of Buddhism has great magical powers. If we squeeze in a little, I can still fit another cabinet in my temple."

"I will take all the Eighteen Arhats home with me."

It’s just about twenty taels of silver and some incense, which the old lady can afford.

Master Tongshan said: "...If this is the case, the donor will be happy."

In my heart: As long as you are happy, I won’t say more.

Suddenly, Tongshan heard some noise nearby and looked at the stunned Crown Prince and Marquis Pingqing who had been standing at the gate of the courtyard for who knows how long.

He said, "You two are here?"

The Crown Prince and Marquis Pingqing came over, and Old Lady Ye got up and left considerately.

"I just heard what the abbot said. I think the abbot should also know the purpose of my coming here. I hope the abbot can give me some advice."

The prince clasped his fists and bowed.

"I do know where the Emperor and Lord Ye are."

As the prince's eyes lit up, Tongshan continued: "But I cannot say it."

"Why?" the Crown Prince and Marquis Pingqing asked at the same time.

Tongshan looked at the prince and said, "Because only if Your Majesty understands the sufferings of the people can you truly become a wise ruler whose reputation will last forever."

"This disaster is an opportunity for your majesty and the Great Zhou."

"Your Majesty will be back after this disaster, you two can rest assured."

The Crown Prince and Marquis Pingqing exchanged a glance and asked, "My father is not in the court, and the ministers are here for a long time. I can't explain it."

Tongshan nodded: "It is indeed a long time."

The prince was anxious: "Then can we know where our father is, but not interfere with his misfortune?"

"That depends on whether the amnesiac Lord Ye is willing to let you see it."

"Uncle, what do you mean? What amnesia?" asked the prince.

Master Tongshan did not respond, but turned around and took the bag he had prepared long ago from the young monk's hand.

"Come on, I'll go back with you. During the time that His Majesty is away, I'll go to court with you."

Otherwise, this kid won’t be able to stop what will happen next.

The prince was shocked but said nothing more. He arranged for a carriage to take his uncle back to the palace.

On the way, Tongshan Tongping Qinghou said: "Your daughter is very capable. Instead of looking for Your Majesty outside, it is better to focus on disaster relief in the local area. Only in this way can you fully protect the people in the next city."

Pingqing Hou was a man of insight. He knew that Master Tongshan must have said this because there must be some hidden danger in Jianghe City that needed to be solved by Anle, so he nodded.

When I was ready to go back, I wrote a letter to inform Anle.

-

Cining Palace.

The Queen Mother stared at her chief of secret guards and said in a cold voice: "What did you say?"

The chief of the secret guards lowered his head in fear and said, "The hundred-year-old corpse that the master wanted was taken away by Lord Zhang Liang."

"The gravedigger I sent was sucked dry and died."

Because the Queen Mother had a bad smell and was often bedridden, and there were concubines on duty around her day and night, and the Crown Prince and the Emperor also arranged people to take care of her.

The chief of the secret guards only reported this news now.

The tribute that she had worked so hard to find was gone, and the empress dowager, who was still smelling bad, was furious. She threw the medicine bowl in her hand directly at the leader of the secret guards.

"What's the point of me raising you? You can't even handle such a small matter!"

The leader of the secret guards knelt down and accepted the punishment.

The Queen Mother looked at him like this and felt unhappy again.

I secretly calmed down my anger for a long time, thinking about the two missing donkeys and the mirrors on their necks.

She felt that the ghost was not around, although it could not solve the problem of her odor for the time being.

But she also had time to snatch the tribute from Zhang Liang.

So he ordered his subordinates to take charge of this matter.

"Also, the emperor has been acting strange these days. Please investigate carefully. I suspect that the emperor is no longer in the capital."

"Including the two donkeys that disappeared together, I will find them even if I dig deep into the ground."

"I obey your command." The leader of the secret guards retreated.

The Queen Mother closed her eyes. There was no one in the hall at this time. She was just about to take a nap when a palace maid came to report that the Queen had arrived.