Reincarnation of the powerful minister

A large group of royal guards surrounded Su Yan, galloping through the streets of the capital in the early morning.

Compared with the hustle and bustle of the past, the streets are a little deserted now.As the news spread that the emperor left the palace and Beimo soldiers approached the city, the whole capital entered into a state of martial law, and the people were shrouded in a sense of urgency by a black cloud overwhelming the city, and they dared not even leave their homes.

Su Yan was flying along the wide Zhengyangmen Street towards the imperial city in the north, and suddenly felt that the sky was dimming, as if some dark cloud covered the sun.

Suddenly someone yelled loudly by the side of the road: "Look, the dog is swallowing the sun!"

He subconsciously turned his head to look at the eastern sky, and indeed he saw a rare sight of a solar eclipse. The bright solar disk was eaten away from the lower right corner to form a thin curved gap.The solar eclipse has just begun, I don't know if it is a total eclipse or a half eclipse.

"It's an ominous sign, I'm afraid something big will happen!" "The northern barbarians are about to attack the city, this is a warning from God..." "Quick, beat the pots and pans and drive away the tengu!" The surrounding people looked up. Looking up at the sky, there is a lot of noise, full of worry and panic.

Su Yan stared at it for a few seconds, then retracted his gaze, and shook the rein with a sullen face, pushing the horsepower to the extreme.

The majestic Meridian Gate tower stands in front, and the left and right gates guarded by Habayashi guards are the passages for courtiers to enter and exit.Su Yan didn't slow down, and rode his horse straight towards the left door.

The gatekeeper Habayashi Guard General's long Ge Dundi yelled sharply: "Who dares to ride a horse to the Meridian Gate?!"

Gao Shuo urgently reminded: "Lord Su, the officials outside the Meridian Gate should dismount and walk..."

Su Yan turned his head and glanced at him meaningfully: "I want to break into the palace."

"What?" Gao Shuo was taken aback.

"I, Su Qinghe, want to ride my horse straight to Fengtian Hall."

Gao Shuo was completely dumbfounded.

Amid the slight frown of the other party's dislike, he was enlightened like a god, and with an arrogance befitting Jin Yiwei's status, he asked Yu Linwei loudly: "President Su returns to court, who dares to stop him?!"

Su Xiang is back?It is rumored that the emperor took Su Xiang away when he secretly left Beijing. Now that he is back, does it mean the holy driver... The guards froze, and Su Yan's mount passed in front of him, followed closely by the majestic Jinyiwei, Step across the Jinshui Bridge, pass through Fengtianmen Square, and go straight to Fengtian Hall, the first hall of the outer court.

A Habayashi guard murmured: "It's over, if we didn't guard the door, we will be punished for negligence of duty..."

Another Habayashi guard suddenly retorted as if awakened: "It's over! It's saved, it's saved!"

A temporary emergency, which can be called a crude reserve ceremony, is going on in Fengtian Hall.

The dragon chair was vacant, and the palm prints of the supervisor of ceremonies and the eunuchs Fu Bao and Cheng Sheng were standing next to the throne holding books and treasures in their hands.The important officials of the court are located on both sides of the lower throne.Standing on the steps, Yang Ting, the chief assistant of the cabinet, was watching Zhu Xian, the son of King Ning who had received the treasure book, walking towards him step by step.

"There is a system!" The system officer shouted outside the gate of the palace.

The praise officer shouted: "Kneel!"

Zhu Xian knelt down towards the empty throne, extremely nervous and excited, his heart almost rose to his throat.

Yang Ting said in a deep voice: "Prince Ning Zhu Tanluo was designated as the acting heir, and Prince Ning's son Zhu Xian received the book and treasure on behalf of his father."

Zhu Xian bowed down and bowed to the throne three times.

Fu Bao stepped forward, bowed and handed the book to Yang Ting.Yang Ting solemnly held the booklet in his hands, and the ceremonial officer loudly said: "Give the booklet!"

Zhu Xian suppressed his rapid and heavy breathing, and raised his palms upward.

Just when Yang Ting put the book in Zhu Xian's hands, there was a voice from outside the palace gate: "Wait a minute—"

The voice was not high-pitched or loud, but it sounded like a thunderclap on the ground, striking Zhu Xian heavily.At that moment, he had the illusion that the sharp sword that had been hanging high above his head had finally come down. Zhu Xian's whole body trembled violently, and he missed and fell to the gold brick floor.

The courtiers subconsciously turned around and looked towards the entrance of the hall. After seeing the figure clearly in the backlight, they blurted out: "Old Suge?!"

"Master Su!"

"Su Twelve!"

"Su Xiang!"

Su Yan didn't change into the court clothes, and only embroidered a few magnolia flowers with long jade petals on his waist in a light-colored green shirt, like a romantic scholar returning from an outing rather than an important official of a country.However, none of the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty dared to treat him as an ordinary scholar.

Chief Assistant Yang Ting raised his eyebrows with joy, and walked up to him quickly: "After receiving the report from the Guangqumen defenders, I was worried that someone would use your name to make trouble, so I ordered Beizhen Fusi to send someone to verify your identity. It's really you!" He looked outside the gate of the palace again, there was no movement except the Jin Yiwei standing there, he couldn't help frowning in doubt, "Where is Shengjia?"

Su Yan replied calmly: "I went back to Beijing alone, so I don't know where Shengjia is."

Yang Ting was shocked.Others didn't know the inside story, and only guessed that Su Ge, who was also missing, might be with Shengjia, but Yang Ting actually knew that the emperor took the alias "Mu Xun" to lead the army to quell the chaos, and he indeed brought Su Yan with him when he left Beijing. around.Now that Su Yan came back alone, where is the emperor?

"How could you not know?!" Yang Ting asked.

Su Yan looked directly at Yang Ting, without saying a word.Looking at his expression, Yang Ting realized that he could no longer see what the other person was thinking, and suddenly felt a strong sense of uneasiness.

The chief minister and the second minister of the cabinet looked at each other silently as if they were wrestling, and everyone in the hall held their breaths in silence.After a while, Su Yan's eyes turned red, and a teardrop that lingered at the end of his eyes finally fell down.

Except for this tear, there was no expression on his face, and his voice was still calm: "Sheng Jia disappeared in the chaos."

Missing?It's just missing, you, Su Qinghe, will have this kind of tone, this kind of mood?Yang Ting understood the digression, it was as if a basin of ice and snow splashed his head, his face was pale and his heart was cold, he staggered and almost fell down in public.

"Yang Shoufu." Su Yan stretched out his hand to support Yang Ting, with a faint stern look in his eyes, "The saint is just missing, and he may come back one day. Now that the country is in chaos, only the cabinet ministers and the court officials With the help of the public, we will overcome the difficulties together, and you should be stronger as the chief assistant."

Yang Ting always held the idea that "the emperor has his own arrangements and will appear at critical moments".During this period of hard work, he tried his best to maintain the stability of the court, and it was this kind of belief that supported him, but in the end, his belief was emptied, and his mood suddenly collapsed like a building, almost completely collapsed.

At this moment, Su Yan's words forced him to regain his sanity, and he said in a trembling voice: "Maybe the emperor... there is a turning point..."

Su Yan no longer looked at him, but turned to look down at Zhu Xian who was kneeling in front of the imperial steps.

Zhu Xian was flustered and held the book tightly in his hand.

Su Yan asked: "My lords, who is this person who will be registered?"

Someone among the officials immediately replied: "As for Mr. Su Ge, this is Zhu Xian, the son of Prince Ning."

Su Yan showed a surprised expression: "Prince Ning's son? No, he is obviously Su Xiaojing, the servant I bought from Ren Yazi five years ago for three taels of silver."

Everyone is in an uproar!

Zhu Xianru was hit by the hammer and almost fainted, but at the same time, a bad breath rushed out of his gallbladder, burning into a raging fire in the bottom of his heart.He knows that if there is a life-and-death moment in a person's life, it is now!

He didn't want to die. If he wanted to survive, he had to remove the obstacles and climb up the imperial steps step by step before he could touch the dragon chair that was right in front of him.

"What you said is true?" Yan Xing, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was shocked, "Master Su is joking?"

Su Yandao: "Certificate as an acting reserve, how can you joke about such an important matter! Am I the kind of person who doesn't know the importance?" Turning to look at Xie Shiyan and Jiang Chunnian, "This young man in my house is in charge of guarding the door. The two elders should Have an impression?"

Xie and Jiang suddenly remembered the shameful past of helping him to support the sedan chair, and their expressions suddenly became extremely ugly.Jiang Chunnian stammered, "No, no impression!"

Su Yan asked all the ministers again: "There are quite a few Beijing officials who have cast famous assassins on my house over the years, and you don't have any impression?"

Countless eyes stared at Zhu Xian, all the ministers whispered, and someone called out uncertainly: "It seems...it really looks like it! Since you are a servant in the old mansion of Su Ge, why did you become the son of Prince Ning?"

"Then I have to ask him himself." Su Yan smiled faintly, and looked at Zhu Xian, "Is it, Su Xiaojing?"

Zhu Xian gritted his teeth in secret, got up calmly, and bowed his hands to Su Yan: "It turns out that he is the youngest member of the cabinet, Mr. Su Ge, who has long admired his name. From what Mr. Su Ge said, how similar is the young servant of your mansion to this son? That's true." His creation."

"That's your fate." Su Yan approached him two steps, "I said, Xiao Jing, when you stole the Heavenly Emperor Jade Document from the Taimiao in my name and fled against the Lord, you should have fled to the end of the world It’s time to go, but once again pretending to be the name of King Ning’s son to go to Beijing to cheat, isn’t this a self-inflicted trap? Don’t you believe in the words 'the sky net is restored, and it is sparse but not leaked'?"

Zhu Xian stood up and confronted him calmly: "It seems that Mr. Su Ge lost the whereabouts of his sage, and he was so sad that he became mad. It is ridiculous to insist that this son is your servant! I, Zhu Xian, I am the son of King Xin, as evidenced by the Tianhuang Jade Document and the relics of King Xin. When His Royal Highness Prince Ning adopted me as his adopted son, he said that I look exactly like his elder brother and must be blood relatives. There is also an old woman beside me who has served The old people of Wang Xin and Concubine Xin's palace can also be witnesses. I don't know if Mr. Su Ge randomly identified this son as an impostor, what iron proof is there?"

Both sides spoke so eloquently that it was difficult for the ministers to tell the truth from the false for a while.It stands to reason that compared to Zhu Xian who just entered Beijing, Su Yan, the cabinet minister, is far superior in prestige, weight, and credibility. The succession of a new monarch is a huge matter and must be treated with great caution.

So all the ministers turned their eyes to Su Yan for proof.Xie Shiyan asked: "Master Su, do you have evidence to prove that Prince Ning's son is a fake?"

Su Yan said unhurriedly: "I bought him when he was 13 years old, named him Su Xiaojing, and served me together with another servant, Su Xiaobei. There are not many servants in my house, and there are even fewer close servants. Just these two boys. I treat them as my children, and I don’t shy away from them in daily life. In summer, he often takes a shower by the well naked. , hair grows on the mole. If you want to know the truth of what I said, don’t you know if you take off his trousers?”

Such evidence, said casually, is even more dismissive and contemptuous.All the officials covered their mouths when they heard it, but Zhu Xian's face was pale and blue, and his shoulders shook involuntarily.

Su Yan scoffed: "If you think it's insulting to the gentleman, you can bring cinnabar and ask him to make his fingerprints in public. I still have his deed of sale in my hand, and the palmprints on it are clearly legible. Even if a person grows older, his fingerprints will change. It’s bigger, but the shape and direction of the palm prints and fingerprints can’t be changed, is it Su Xiaojing, a young servant from the Su Mansion, you can tell the truth by comparing it.”

The deed of sale... Zhu Xian suddenly remembered that before he decided to leave the Su Mansion, Su Yan had mentioned to him the matter of expropriation of slaves, saying that he would return the deed of sale to him, and that he wanted to send him to the academy to study with the officials' children. He claimed to be his cousin, and when he had completed his studies and was named on the gold list, he could become an official and set up another family.But at that time, he felt resentment in his heart, like weeds spreading wantonly in spring, and he didn't feel that he was a material for studying, so he finally chose to abandon Su Yan's belated arrangement.

If I had known this before, I should have obtained the deed of selling myself in the first place, destroyed it completely, and then left!Zhu Xian regretted it.

Fu Bao cleverly took white paper and an inkstone filled with cinnabar from the imperial case and approached it.Su Yan said to Zhu Xian with a half-smile, "It's just a fingerprint, isn't it difficult?"

Zhu Xian's pupils constricted, and he shook his head and took a step back: "I am the son of King Ning, a nobleman of Tianhuang, why should I be attacked arbitrarily by a courtier like you? If you say you have a body test, you can have a body test, and if you say you have a fingerprint, you can press your fingerprint. How overbearing and arrogant! Besides, I am here today to receive the treasure book on behalf of my father, and you, Su Yan, are just one of the ministers of the cabinet. Why do you want to overturn the resolutions of the Sixth Ministry, other important ministers of the cabinet, and even the chief minister, Mr. Yang? Do you, Su Twelve, think that you have great power and you can cover up the sky with one hand, bully the clan, and look down upon the officials?"

These words hit the point, they clearly provoked Su Yan and the officials, and he broke out with super fighting power, which made Su Yan look at him with admiration.

Ordinarily, when the other party throws out the words, the countermeasure is to retreat rather than advance. You should first appease the dissatisfaction of the ministers being provoked, and show that you have no intention of bullying others.But Su Yan was uncharacteristically, and sneered: "Well said! As soon as I, Su Twelve, really come back, I will overturn the decision of the ministers! Today I will leave my words here, and I can set up a 'deputy prince'. But you have to follow the rules, no matter what, it won't matter to Prince Ning's son!"

At this time, not only the officials were surprised, but even the first assistant Yang Ting looked at Su Yan in surprise, feeling extremely unfamiliar with his demeanor.

Su Yan raised a hand to Fu Bao beside him.Fu Bao comprehended, immediately put down the paper and inkstone, supported his palm with the back of his hand, helped him up the steps, and waited for him to stand beside the imperial case in front of the dragon chair.

"My lords." Su Yan spoke quietly and clearly, and Qingyue's voice echoed in the hall, "According to the ancestral system, Zhu Hezhao, the second son of the late emperor and the emperor's younger brother, should be registered as the crown prince. You are all well-educated people. Don't you know the order of elder and younger? Even if other people don't know, don't you, Master Yan Xingyan, who is the Minister of Rites, also don't know?"

Yan Xing was choked and speechless for a moment.Yu Chezhi stepped forward: "Master Yan raised it, and I objected. Firstly, the four-year-old crown prince could not guard the capital in the face of the great enemy; secondly, the late emperor had a will in front, ordering the second prince to leave the palace when he reached adulthood. Mr. Su should know this better than anyone else."

Su Yan said: "The late emperor's edict must be obeyed, but from time to time, when the late emperor issued this edict, how could he have expected the current situation where the emperor is missing and has no heirs? As for the four-year-old prince who can't guard the capital, that's right. But the ministers can guard it, and I, Su Yan and Su Qinghe, can guard it! Make Zhu Hezhao the crown prince, and as the emperor's teacher, I will naturally do my best to help the young master and manage the government."

The ministers were in an uproar again!This is to tell everyone blatantly: make a child with a yellow mouth as the prince, because I want to be regent!

Xie Shiyan scolded unbearably: "Su Yan! What right do you have to say such a thing? This is treason!"

Su Yan showed him a mocking expression: "Mr. Xie Ge, you have to be responsible for what you say. Why is it so treasonous? Could it be that my 'Emperor Master' was not appointed by Emperor Jinglong himself? I will work hard and do my best just like assisting Emperor Qinghe." Is it wrong for Kuang to help the next young master? You let the orthodox emperor's younger brother not be registered, but go to register a side branch, what is the idea in your heart?"

The courage to prepare for the country was splashed with sewage, and now even Yu Chezhi was enraged, and said loudly: "The sun is shining! If it weren't for the national crisis, the emperor's younger brother was weak, and the king of Yu didn't call, why should he think about it?" King Ning's lineage! We serve the country loyally, but in your eyes, Su Qinghe, you actually have other plans? The sun is shining!"

Zhu Xian, the son of King Ning who "why think about it", knew that he was the last choice of all the officials, but he felt humiliated when he was beaten up in front of everyone.

But at this moment, the warning voice of the officials of the Qin Tianjian came from outside the gate of the palace: "Total eclipse! The sun is the image of the king, and the sun is an eclipse. The king is not the king!"

The officials standing near the gate of the palace couldn't help but move their feet and went to the corridor to watch the sky.

I saw that the sun in the middle of the sky became a dark circle, like an unfathomable black hole, surrounded by blurred gold borders.There was no light in the sky, and the entire land was shrouded in a huge invisible shadow, as dark as dark.

A total solar eclipse, the king is not the king... Doesn't it just confirm the current predicament of Da Ming?

Who can resolve this fierce celestial phenomenon?Who can repel the menacing Beimo army outside the city?Who can take the helm for the court and break the predicament for the Daming Dynasty?

Can the soon-to-be-dyed King Ning and the allegedly impersonated Prince Ning's son be able to get along?Can the four-year-old child who still smells of milk in the arms of Concubine Shu do it?

Or he—Su Yan, can Su Qinghe do it?

Outside the gate of the palace, Yu Chezhi suddenly looked away, walked a few steps into the palace, and said bluntly: "Su Yan and Su Qinghe naturally have the qualifications. Over the years, both the former emperor and the present emperor have followed your strategy of governing the country like this." Liu. Your allies are all over the court, your new policy is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and your words are spread all over the world. You are not a prime minister, but better than a prime minister. But because of this, I, Yu Chezhi, firmly oppose you supporting the young master, in case you have the heart of regent, It will become a hidden danger of a new rebellion in the future! It should be noted that "the Duke of Zhou feared the day of rumors, and Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the time." At present, who can say that he is loyal and traitorous?"

Yu Chezhi's words, Geng Lie dared to speak out, were purely public, and the officials were also touched by it, and they all showed their approval.

Su Yan looked at Yang Ting: "Yang Shoufu also meant this?"

Yang Ting is in a dilemma. On the one hand, he does not want to believe that Su Yan is a power-hungry person, but on the other hand, he feels that Yu Chezhi's worries are justified.Indecisive nature got the better of him, and for a moment he didn't know how to speak.

Su Yan nodded: "Understood. Don't worry, I, Su Yan, will not go my own way against things that everyone opposes."

All the ministers breathed a sigh of relief, with the lessons learned from Feng Qu'e, Wei Shi, the Empress Dowager, etc., no one wanted to fight to the death with Su Twelve, who played so many cards in his hand.Even Xie and Jiang, who were dissatisfied with him no matter how dissatisfied they were, left a psychological shadow because of the incident of helping the sedan chair pole, and their fear was greater than resentment.

So Su Yan continued to say: "Since the emperor's younger brother Zhu Hezhao is not suitable, then Zhu Jincheng, King of Yu, can be registered."

... King Yu?Didn't he refuse to leave the fief because of a sudden illness, and couldn't even push the gold medal from the court?

King Yu is a more suitable choice for the crown prince... It's just that he is domineering after regaining his military power, and I'm afraid he won't pay attention to civil servants after he gains power.

It's better than the young master being ignorant and ignorant, asking Su Twelve to hold the emperor to order the officials!

The courtiers were discussing in low voices, when suddenly there was a burst of "hahaha" laughter in the hall, which was extremely abrupt.

Everyone followed the prestige and saw that Prince Ning's son, whose identity was doubtful, was laughing so hard that his delicate face was distorted.He pointed at Su Yan on the steps, and said with a strange smile: "If you can't make a puppet, you can support your lover!

"My lords, don't you know what kind of relationship King Yu has with our Mr. Su Ge? Maybe you privately think that it's normal for a flirtatious person to have some gossip. Who doesn't Mr. Su Ge have any gossip with? Shen Qi, the Commander of Jin Yiwei back then, was even with the missing Qing He Emperor..."

Gossip in private is gossip, and it would be disrespectful to show it so openly—not only the person concerned, but also the person who exposed it.In the disgusted expression of the ministers frowning, Zhu Xian thought that the snake had hit seven inches, and continued to laugh: "I tell you, these are not gossips, but facts! When the king hooked up and committed adultery, he was unsightly and ugly on the bed. Now that he wants to promote his lover to the top, does he want to be the lord of the six palaces in the future? Hahaha..."

All the ministers shook their heads and sighed, and some even covered their ears with their sleeves to show that they should not listen to indecent words.

Without changing his expression, Su Yan walked down two flights of stairs and asked in an almost friendly tone: "How did you see that you picked the crack of my bedroom door during night service?"

Zhu Xian blurted out: "So what? You can do it, and you're afraid of being seen?"

Su Yan smiled: "So, you still don't admit that you are the false prince pretended to be by the servant of the Su family?"

Zhu Xian was stunned.

"This is the court, and what we are talking about is state affairs, not someone's love affairs. If you want to talk about love affairs, which adult present is not a lot at home?" Su Yan looked around the officials with a smile on his face, so thick-skinned Everyone felt ashamed, "So, whoever disrupts public affairs and national policy with officials' private affairs that do not violate the law has bad intentions. The matter of establishing a reserve is actually very simple, just use the method of exclusion."

"Young master, don't worry. If you are afraid of being regent by me, a powerful minister, then exclude him. King Ning is terminally ill and childless, so exclude him. King Gu and King Wei were defeated. Those who died died, those who fled, and those who escaped. Who? Don’t make the King of Yu, who is a kinsman with the first emperor, as the heir apparent? Are you going to make this—” He pointed at Zhu Xian, “this humble servant, full of lies, traitorous, and pretending to be the clan—Su Xiaojing? !"