Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

"What did you say!?"

In Wen's mansion, Wen Tiren sat up on the sickbed suddenly, pushed away the servant who was holding the medicine, and stared at the doorman who came to report the letter.The servant hurriedly stabilized his wrist, at least he didn't let the medicine spill much, the doorman leaned over, and repeated the news that shocked Lord Shoufu just now:

"Wen Zhenmeng has joined the cabinet!"

In just six words, it is impossible to have other meanings.Wen Tiren's eyes widened, and he raised his throat in one breath: "He didn't attend the court examination, how could he get into the court?"

"I heard that His Majesty invited him to the Qianqing Palace for an interview, and specially briefed him to join the cabinet. At first, Wen Zhen and Mengshang refused on the pretext of being ill, but His Majesty couldn't help persuading him with gentle words, and finally agreed." The young guest's last name was Wang Mingcong, in green clothes and blue hat, dressed as a scholar, but his speech and expression seemed to be that of a newly promoted politician.Hearing this, Wen Tiren frowned, his complexion gradually darkened, and his already sallow skin was covered with a layer of gray.After a while, he let out a short sigh, gritted his teeth, lifted the quilt and got out of bed, and said to the servant beside him:

"Bring the official uniform."

"My lord, your body hasn't healed yet!" Wang Cong was startled and stopped him quickly.

"It's okay." Wen Tiren said while putting on his clothes.But before he finished speaking, he coughed again and again.

Wang Cong stepped forward to caress Wen Tiren's back. While stroking, he persuaded: "My lord, please be calm and don't be impatient. Even if you go to see your majesty right away, it will be of no avail. Now that the deal is done, the only solution now is to wait for the opportunity and make a long-term plan."

Wen Tiren, of course, understands that the situation is a done deal.As for why the emperor wanted Wen Zhenmeng to join the cabinet so urgently, he could guess nine points without much thought.Walking all the way to the position of chief assistant, wading through countless confrontations, Wen Zhenmeng was not afraid at all; but the emperor did not trust himself as much as he appeared on the surface, and this sudden sense of crisis was like a dark wind behind him, sending waves of pain down his spine Cold, restless.It is true that even if we go to meet the emperor now, it will not change the fact that this stubborn rock is already sitting on the position of cabinet minister, but if we do nothing in the face of such a situation, Wen Tiren instinctively feels that the future road of chief assistant , will definitely be a thorn.

Wang Cong saw that he didn't answer, and he was no longer in a hurry to get dressed, so he helped Mr. Wen, who was half-clothed in his official uniform and barely holding back his cough, back to the bed.Wen Tiren took advantage of the situation and sat on the bed, let the servant take off the official uniform for him, covered him with the quilt, lowered his eyes, frowned, and silently counted ups and downs in his heart.

two

Wen Zhenmeng finally joined the cabinet.Although there were early signs of this matter, all the officials in the court were still amazed by Tejian's decree.Before Wen Tiren's position as the chief assistant was hot, the emperor hooked his finger and made an enemy for him in the cabinet with ulterior motives; I thought that the end of the battle for the chief assistant would end with Wen Tiren's complete victory, However, the distrust of the emperor, which no one could detect earlier, immediately made this impressive result lose its luster.The holy will is unpredictable, and the once young and vigorous emperor actually started to play power tricks a little jerky, which made the ambitions incited by the warm and benevolent scenery subconsciously restrained, and quietly retreated to the original place. in the shadows.

But Xi Zhao knew it - the emperor had never fully trusted these courtiers.Perhaps, the emperor never trusted anyone, including Xi Zhao herself.Sometimes, the emperor would be happy to talk about some things with him, whether it was ordinary trivial matters or national affairs, even though he only knew how to listen and could not give any meaningful suggestions.But sometimes everything is kept secret, unwilling to say a word, or even make an expression.The emperor's mind is really hard to figure out, even for himself, a servant who has been with the emperor for more than four years.But after going through all kinds of things in the past, at least a little sunset can be sure that even if he has some reservations, the emperor should have more trust in himself than most of the courtiers, such as Wen Tiren.

On the other side of the Li Supervisor, Wang Chengen, who had conspired with Wen Tiren, also felt a chill on the back of his neck at this time.Even if he had guessed the result earlier, the emperor's behavior still made him feel unspeakably awkward.

"Alas..." At the dinner table, Wang Chengen put down the wine cup and let out a long sigh.

"Things are as Eunuch expected, why is Eunuch sighing?" Li Quan smiled slightly, while beckoning Zhou Xi to fill up the wine for Wang Chengen.

"Oh, it's hard to say." Wang Chengen shook his head, seemingly unwilling to say more.Li Quan didn't ask any more questions, so he smiled and said: "This is the end of the matter, father-in-law, don't worry too much. Mr. Wen can't go smoothly, and it is not a bad thing for us." As he said, he picked up a chopstick and put it on the table. On the disc in front of Wang Chengen, he changed the subject, "It is said that the rotten scholar entered the cabinet, what kind of gift can I give my father-in-law?"

"Good gift?" Wang Chengen raised his eyes and snorted, "Don't talk about giving gifts, he hasn't even said hello to the supervisor."

"No?" Li Quan looked puzzled, "He has been in the cabinet for some time, right? Newcomers to the cabinet have to be given a name card and sent to the cabinet as a gift. This is an old court rule, how could he not know?"

"That old boy's brain is made of stone, you can expect him to know how to communicate." Wang Chengen curled his lips, "Anyway, our family doesn't lack those few taels of silver, that's all."

Li Quan put down his chopsticks, thought for a while, and said, "Although my father-in-law is not short of money, the ceremony of entering the cabinet is not just a question of money. Now that Mr. Shoufu is not very successful, why don't my father-in-law try to win over Wen Zhenmeng, so as to save money?" When ginseng was playing other people’s tendons, it also brought my father-in-law into it.”

"We want our family to take the initiative to show favor to that old boy? Impossible." Wang Chengen rolled his eyes and flatly refused.

"Hey~ This is also for the good of the father-in-law, isn't it?" Li Quan smiled, not in a hurry, and gently persuaded, "How Wen Zhenmeng's stubborn temper messed up the court back then, and the father-in-law also saw it. Naturally, the less slander and impeachment on the eunuch, the better, and the low profile now is also to save some effort in the future, what do you think, eunuch?"

Wang Chengen frowned, weighing Li Quan's words in his heart, his face was very unhappy.After a while, he exhaled and nodded slightly.Li Quan saw that Wang Chengen agreed, so he stretched out his hand to call Zhou Xi over.Zhou Xi hurriedly stepped forward, lowered his body, and listened to Li Quan's instructions: "Go back to Mr. Wen's house and say... remember?" With a smile, he bowed and said: "You two father-in-laws, don't worry, the villain will definitely handle things well."

three

"Grandpa Zhou rest for a while, the younger one will go and call my master."

At Wen Zhenmeng's residence, Zhou Xi sat down in the hall.The servant served tea for Zhou Xi, then lifted the curtain and went into the back hall.

The hall was quiet, without a single sound, only the occasional chirping of birds from outside the door.Zhou Xi had nothing to do, so he looked around, only to see that the hall was low and simple, which was really inconsistent with the status of an important member of the cabinet.The paint surface of the pillars is mottled, cracked fine lines can be seen everywhere on the wooden tables and chairs, there is no display in the room, only a few pots of bluegrass are placed in the dark corner of the room, and many books, large and small, are piled up next to them box.Zhou Xi took a sip of the tea, but felt that the tea was bland and tasteless, frowned, and put the teacup down again.The bottom of the cup tapped lightly on the table, and there was a low click. At this moment, the door curtain was lifted, and the servant came back from the back hall.

"My master asked why Eunuch Zhou is visiting?"

"The Eunuch, the Supervisor of Ceremonies, has something to bring to Mr. Wen in person, please let me know." Zhou Xi smiled slightly, speaking politely.

"Understood." Saying that, the boy entered the back hall again.Not long after, the door curtain was lifted again, and the boy came out from the back hall alone.

"My master is studying, just let me convey if you have anything to say." The boy blinked and said calmly.

The child probably didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said, but after Zhou Xi listened to it, a bad premonition rose in his heart.I didn't expect this Wen Zhenmeng to be so arrogant. If he doesn't show his face, will he say what Mr. Li taught?If Wang Gonggong came here in person and was treated so rudely, he would definitely leave in a huff.But he is just a messenger, no matter what, he is not qualified to stand up for the prince.So he smiled again, and said to the boy:

"Alright, then, my little brother, I would like to ask my little brother to help you convey this. His father-in-law Wang Chengen, the supervisor of ceremonies, has always respected an upright gentleman, and he has also admired Mr. Wen for many years. My father-in-law intends to have a relationship with Mr. Wen as usual. Whatever you do and say, the inner court will definitely act according to your orders."

The young man received the words, saluted, and then entered the inner hall again.After a while, there was a sound of rustling footsteps coming from behind the house, it seemed that it was not alone.Zhou Xi was overjoyed, guessing that Wen Zhenmeng came out to meet the guest in person, brushed off his clothes, and was about to get up to greet him, but the footsteps suddenly stopped behind the curtain.The voice sounded from behind the curtain, the voice was slightly old and deep, but the words sounded extremely harsh and piercing, which made Zhou Xi's face turn red from the hairline to the base of the neck after hearing it:

"People in the hall, please go back. Exhausting the power of the internal officials is just to demote me from the cabinet. This cabinet minister will be clean if he doesn't do it. But this official has behaved righteously and sat well all his life. If he follows the old rules, How can such a shame be washed away after being included in the famous post! Go back and tell your father-in-law that I appreciate your admiration, and please forgive me if you come and go! Wen Qiu, see off the guests!"

four

Clap!

In the supervisor of ceremonies, Wang Chengen slammed the blue and white teacup in his hand to the ground.The body of the cup was shattered into several pieces, and the lid of the teacup was bounced on the ground a few times before rolling to the bottom of the table before stopping with a rattling sound; Everyone was so frightened by the explosion, together with the anger that Wang Gonggong was about to burst out, that he did not dare to vent his breath.

"How do you do things, you idiot!" Li Quan stared and scolded Zhou Xi loudly.Zhou Xi knelt on the ground with a plop, kowtowed like a chicken pecking at rice, and cried out in a crying voice: "Grandpa, forgive me, father-in-law forgive me!" Li Quan hurriedly got up again and made a long bow to Wang Chengen, saying: "Grandpa, please forgive me!" Calm down, the villain is ineffective, willing to be punished!"

This chamber Wang Chengen was holding back his anger, his face turned from purple to blue, and then from blue to white, and it took him a long time to calm down. "It's none of your business." Wang Chengen squinted his eyes and frowned, with a vicious expression on his face like a Rakshasa, "This old bastard who doesn't know what's good or bad, relying on the emperor's special letter, his ass is sticking up to the sky! No toast!" Eat fine wine, okay, then our family will do what he wants, throw him into a pool of fine wine and turn him into mud!!"