[Comprehensive] Empress Variations

"Your Majesty, please see Yuan Luhou." Zhang Cheng glanced at the book in Liu Xiu's hand and bowed his head hastily.

What the emperor studies is not the memorials of the government, nor is it the literary classics respected by some great Confucians.It's a travelogue, a travelogue that doesn't seem to be supposed to appear in this non-temple.The emperor looked at the travel notes very seriously, and even copied some things down and read them again.

He didn't know why the travel notes became so important, but he also knew that the emperor's change might have something to do with the Queen Mother Zhongshan in the North Palace.This habit of the emperor has only existed since he left the Beigong last time.

"Send him in." Liu Xiu frowned slightly, put away the travel notes, and put them in a relatively secret drawer.

Since that day when he left the North Palace, he didn't want to discuss political affairs with Guo Shengtong any more.If you want a person to relax his vigilance, you have to do what he likes.So there are more travel notes in this study, and he is confident that when he sees Guo Shengtong again, he can have a good talk with her about the greatness of the great man.It will not let the topic be drawn again. For the two of them, the past is not very good.

"My humble servant sees the emperor." Yin Zhi bowed respectfully to Liu Xiu.

"There's no need to be too polite." Liu Xiu's expression was the same as usual, he was very clear about the reason why Yin Consciousness asked for an interview this time.

Liu Xiu handed over the rumors that had been raging a few days ago to the Yin Consciousness. The longer this matter drags on, the worse it will be for the Yin Family.Yin Zhi naturally thought of closing the case early.Liu Xiu had no doubt that after this period of time, even if he wanted to investigate, there would be insufficient evidence.

Yin Zhi got up, and brushed the dust on the skirt of his clothes indiscriminately.His actions and words are exceptionally calm, and this posture is the most convincing. "My minister asked Huang Ming to investigate the rumors. Recently, my minister has used all means, and finally has some clues. I am here to report to His Majesty."

"I know Yuan Luhou's ability very well, but the culprit this time has already been caught?!" Liu Xiu was a little impatient at this time, he knew very well that this matter was the mastermind of the conspiracy.When he asked the dark consciousness to investigate, he also asked his own forces to investigate.It's just that the things he investigates are not intended to be seen by anyone except himself.

He knows the facts of the matter, but here is the mastermind how to push all the faults on another person.That person must have been involved in this matter, and he may be a confidant of Yin Consciousness himself, so he is not worthy of sympathy.What he was impatient with was that Yin Consciousness tried every means to conceal him.

When he planned to let the Yin family go this time, he was doomed to swallow this breath.But after this incident passed, he would never hide it for the Yin family again.If Yin Zhi or Yin Lihua did something, they would be dealt with as they should.

If Yin Lihua was sincere to him, Liu Xiu, then he, Liu Xiu, owed Yin Lihua a little.Now he knew that Yin Lihua had never had much true affection for him, but used her as a bargaining chip to gain power.Then he, Liu Xiu, can also say with a clear heart that he himself does not owe the Yin family anything.

Yin Lihua gave his youth, why didn't he, Liu Xiu, treat her sincerely for more than ten years.Even for Yin Lihua, he hurt a person who had been doing everything for him many times.Don't pursue the past and keep the honor of the Yin family, that's the limit of what he can do.

Yin Lihua's status as a nobleman is already at the peak in the current harem, and she is still in charge of the affairs of the harem, no one can surpass him.The Yin family has grown from a wealthy family in Xinye to a well-known noble family of a big man, and he has supported them step by step.Already having these, they should also learn to be content.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Yin Zhi didn't happily respond to Liu Xiu, saying that the sinner had already been caught. Hearing Liu Xiu's words, he saluted Liu Xiu again. "My minister has detected some things, if there is no instruction from the emperor, I will definitely not dare to investigate further."

Liu Xiu's sight became somewhat dangerous, and he stared closely at Yin Sense.Yin Zhi, who was looking directly, felt a layer of cold sweat appearing on his back, so he opened his mouth. "What is it?!"

Yin consciousness stabilized his somewhat accelerated heartbeat, the emperor's power is really getting better day by day.The sight just now even made him feel like he was seen through at a glance.However, he didn't care.He believed in Yin Lihua's influence on the emperor, and also believed in the emperor's trust in him.

Liu Xiu was slightly angry at this time, probably because of the importance she attached to the crown prince Liu Jiang.It's a good thing for him that he takes it seriously.

"Your Majesty, I found out that this rumor may be related to Marquis Mianman. Marquis Mianman Guo Kuang has always been highly valued by the emperor. Without your majesty's order, I dare not investigate..." The words show his respect for Liu Xiu, he is really 'loyal'.

Liu Xiu looked at Yin Zhi, and if it wasn't for the wrong timing, he would even have the urge to sneer.Who gave the Yin family the guts not to quickly cover up their wrongdoings, but to use this to blackmail the Guo family? ! "Yuan Luhou, have you really investigated this matter carefully?! The Empress Dowager Zhongshan and Mianmanhou Guo Kuang are the same mother. Why does Guo Kuang want to discredit the crown prince?!"

If Guo Shengtong is the person who most hopes that Prince Liu Jiang will ascend the throne, then Guo Kuang is definitely the second.Even if the Guo family doesn't need an emperor to help them now, only the emperor with the blood of the same family is the closest to the Guo family.The Guo family will not be hit with unwarranted excuses.Guo Kuang, how could he harm someone who is close to Liu Jiang so much.

"Your Majesty, what if the purpose of Marquis Mianman is not to smear the Crown Prince?! Your Highness the Crown Prince has been very close to you these days. Even if you want to smear the Crown Prince, you will definitely be able to see clearly." Liu Xiu applauded, "Your Majesty, I have always been at odds with Marquis Mianman..."

Yin Zhi didn't directly say the real purpose of Mianman Hou Guo Kuang, but the word 'disharmony' has easily explained the problem.

Who will benefit most from the crown prince being discredited?It is Yin Lihua and Liu Yang!Even if he introduces someone who apparently has nothing to do with his Yin family, some people will always spread rumors that it will be extremely detrimental to their Yin family's reputation.If he pushes out a person who has a close relationship with the Yin family, he may be accused of being unfavorable in discipline or not knowing people clearly.In the future, it will be extremely difficult for him to win over contacts in the court, with Guo Kuang's obstruction, and with such a bad reputation.

But... If this is what Mianman Hou Guo Kuang did to hurt their Yin family, then their Yin family will be in the position of a victim.It is indeed beneficial to the Yin family to discredit the prince, but isn't this discredited yet?Their yin family also suffered a loss of reputation because of this.

"It is true that you are quite discordant, but you cannot draw conclusions based on this." Liu Xiu narrowed her eyes slightly.The Yin family's approach is very similar, whether it is Yin Lihua or Yin Zhi, they both like to put themselves in a weak position and let him, the emperor, support them.In fact, they are more aggressive than anyone else. "Marquis Mianman has always acted cautiously, so how could he do something that obviously displeases me?"

"If I have no evidence, how dare I speak." There was also a look of pain on the face of Yin Zhi, and he quickly suppressed it.His expression at this time, it is easy to think of words such as "righteousness destroys relatives" and "righteousness". "This time, I also have a reputation for not knowing people. The staff I trust have some private contacts with the people trusted by the Marquis Mianman. If I hadn't been vigilant, I'm afraid..."

Yin Zhi stopped his words in due course and let Liu Xiu guess by himself.The people he pushed out who had a close relationship with their Yin family would indeed give him a reputation of being ignorant.After the Guo family lost power, their Yin family was the closest family to the emperor, all this is no longer important!Thinking of how the whole court would respect him in the future, he couldn't help but feel more eager.

"Show me the things you investigated." Liu Xiu tightened his fingers, and he even felt a little pain in his palm, and then he suppressed his almost boiling anger.He wanted to leave a way out for the Yin family, but he didn't expect that the Yin family didn't appreciate it.He even wanted to use this opportunity to pull Guo Kuang off his horse.Really, what a calculation!

In this way, other people will pay more attention to the Guo family, and the adverse impact of this matter on their Yin family can even be ignored.If the Guo family was really weakened by him because of this matter, even if Yin Lihua did not sit on the queen's seat, the crown prince Liu Jiang's position would definitely not be secure.

Not long after he made a promise to Guo Shengtong that he would protect Liu Jiang, someone attacked Liu Jiang openly.If Yin Consciousness really succeeds, then he and Guo Shengtong may truly break it off.

Liu Xiu understood in his heart that it was impossible for Yin Consciousness to attack the Yin family by himself, and he did not have the ability.What the Yin family likes most is to use his knife to kill people.Therefore, as long as he is not willing, Yin Consciousness must be impossible to succeed.

However, as long as he thinks that Yin Zhi has such an idea, his anger can't be suppressed to a certain extent.Intellectually, he was very clear, but he couldn't suppress his somewhat turbulent emotions.

Even when he liked Yin Lihua, he was always methodical.Perhaps, his feelings for Guo Shengtong are deeper than he imagined.Let him, a man in his forties, appear to be a little worried about gains and losses that only a teenager would have.

"Yes!" Yin Zhi had already planned, and he had naturally prepared the evidence.He looked at this thing back and forth for countless times.It can be said that it has been foolproof.

After presenting the evidence of his investigation, Yin Zhi raised his head to observe Liu Xiu's expression from time to time, and saw that his expression was getting more and more gloomy, but his heart became more stable.He lowered his head slightly, hiding the pride in his eyes.

Liu Xiu couldn't help but reached out and threw down the evidence brought up by her yin consciousness, leaving her yin consciousness scattered all over her body. "Absurd, really absurd!"

The angry voice, because there is no subject, so it is not clear who he is talking about.

Yin Zhi naturally thought that the absurdity Liu Xiu said was referring to Mianman Hou Guo Kuang, Liu Xiu got angry only after seeing this evidence, and all the clues of this evidence point against Guo Kuang.He even said implicitly that Prince Liu Jiang had a tendency to actively cooperate.At this time, the emperor may not care. When they want to attack Liu Jiang in the future, this is one of the strong evidences.

"Your Majesty, should I continue to investigate this matter?" No joy could be heard in Yin Zhi's voice, and even a bit of hesitation could be heard.

He had already said that he was not on good terms with Guo Kuang, and his hesitation at this time must not be due to his hesitation of not wanting to take action against Guo Kuang.His hesitation was because the emperor hesitated.Guo Kuang is Guo Shengtong's younger brother, and the image of the emperor has always been gentle outside, so he must be nostalgic for old love.

The hesitation of Yin Consciousness is to show the 'worry about the king'.Taking this opportunity to lower Guo Kuang's image, he can improve his own image.

"Check, let me find out 'thoroughly'! Those who participated in this incident will be arrested immediately." Liu Xiu's voice was obviously indifferent, and he looked at the dark consciousness firmly. "Yuan Luhou, don't betray my trust in you."

"My minister complies with the order!" Yin Sense responded quite solemnly.Of course he has to check it out 'thoroughly'.

In this incident, he not only had to sacrifice a capable man by his side.In order to be able to prove that what he said is the truth, most of the hidden stakes who have worked so hard to plant around Guo Kuang over the years will probably sacrifice most of them.However, it must be worth it.

This time, the Guo family will definitely be wiped out, and these hidden piles will no longer be useful in the future.Why not take advantage of this opportunity and let Guo Kuang never stand up again! !

After Yin Zhi accepted Liu Xiu's order, he left and Zhang Cheng re-entered the room.After he closed the door, he turned around and saw Liu Xiu's weird smile.Zhang Cheng quickly lowered his head, feeling as if a layer of cold sweat had broken out on his body.

Liu Xiu didn't care about the servant's reaction, he took out the travel notes he put in the drawer very solemnly, and continued to study seriously, as if nothing had happened.

After a while, he looked up at the sky outside the window, and closed the travel notes in his hand. "Zhang Cheng, send someone to tell the prince that after the next few days, he doesn't need to come to Quefei Hall to study again."

"Yes!" Zhang Cheng lowered his head a little deeper. He didn't know what Yuan Luhou said specifically, but he could guess that it might be related to His Royal Highness.Thinking of the smile that the emperor just showed, I always feel that someone will be unlucky soon.

……

'Yuan Luhou got the emperor's order to investigate rumors'. Many ministers knew about this matter, and most of them also felt that after Yuan Luhou Yinzhi had an audience with the emperor, this matter would come to an end.Unexpectedly, Yin Consciousness began to imprison ministers one by one.

Many people keenly discovered that these ministers were more or less related to Mianman Hou Guo Kuang.The emperor even made an order not to let Prince Liu Jiang go to the Quefei Hall to study in the near future.When they thought about it again, this matter seemed to have a lot to do with Yin Zhi, but the emperor still asked Yin Zhi to investigate.

Some people feel that they have touched the truth. 'It seems that those rumors were not intentionally spread by the Yin family, but the Guo family's means to frame the Yin family. '

All of a sudden, many people began to try to distance themselves from the Guo family, and the Yin family became more and more powerful.Some veterans, seeing such a scene, did not have much words.

"His Royal Highness, why are you still interested in reading travel notes at this time?!" Zhang Zhan hurried into the prince's mansion, seeing his laid-back look, he hated iron for nothing.The prince didn't have to go to the Quefei Palace these days, and the emperor no longer assigned him tasks, so he obviously had more time for himself.Who knows, he doesn't have to think of ways to deal with the Guo family's affairs at this time, instead he just sits here and reads travel notes.

When Liu Jiang heard the sound of footsteps, he closed the book in his hand.He placed the book in the center of the table with great care, so as not to damage the book accidentally. "Didn't the Taifu also encourage me to read more books and walk more on weekdays?!"

"My minister asked you to read more books, what kind of books do you want to share?! Asking you to walk more is not to let you enjoy the scenery, but to let you sympathize with the people!!" Zhang Zhan sighed, he looked at the books, I didn't even think about venting my anger with it.This is a book given by the Queen Mother of Zhongshan. His Royal Highness is filial to the Queen Mother, so he attaches great importance to this book.It would not be a good thing for His Royal Highness to have a gap with him because of these books.

However, seeing such a prince, Zhang Zhan's original admiration because of Guo Shengtong's resignation from the later post almost completely disappeared.Even though he knew that Guo Shengtong had good intentions for the prince to "combine work and rest", he felt that she was doing bad things with good intentions.

"I have my own measure." Liu Jiang put his gaze on the travel notes, with a soft smile on his lips.Everyone thought he fell in love with travel notes, and even felt that he was ignorant, but who knew that this was just the way his mother educated him? !Almost everyone thought that he was still the meek prince in their impression, but they didn't know that he had already stripped that image.

Now, his purpose is particularly clear.His purpose is similar to those of the ministers around him who care about him.Therefore, he will naturally not disappoint these ministers who sincerely support him.

"If you have a sense of proportion, why would you read travel notes at this time?! You shouldn't have explored the Guo family with Mianmanhou?! Yuan Luhou is aggressive this time. If you don't deal with it properly, your crown prince will be ruined." It's dangerous!!" Zhang Zhan, as the prince and tutor, has always been gentle and respectful to him.When necessary, he dared to reprimand the prince.

"No. If I negotiated with my uncle, it would be like Yinzhi's will. Standing still is the best way. Those people taken away by Yinconsciousness do have some relationship with the Guo family, but for the Guo family It's no big deal."

Liu Jiang has been paying attention to this incident, he knows who is taken away by his dark consciousness.It looks like a huge number, but there are not many people who are really in important positions.Moreover, the few with higher positions are young, and the Guo family has never entrusted them with important matters.

"What if Yuan Luhou's goal is Mianmanhou?!" Zhang Zhan didn't care about those people who were taken away, he cared about Guo Kuang.As long as Guo Kuang survives, the Guo family will be there.With the support of the Guo family behind him, the seat of Prince Liu Jiang will be secure.

"If the purpose of Yin Consciousness is really Uncle, then you should worry that it's not me." Liu Jiang raised the corners of his lips slightly.His father sent someone to tell him that he didn't need to go to Quefei Hall to study these few days, and he was asked casually which travel book his mother liked the most recently.

He didn't think that his father had no other way to know which travel book his mother was reading. Compared to him, Bai Qin beside his mother knew her movements better, didn't he? !That Bai Qin was the one that my father had placed beside my mother a long time ago.

In this way, the emperor's sudden questioning of him had only one purpose, and that was to reassure him.Yin consciousness has stirred up a commotion in the entire imperial palace now, and I don't know how he will end up then? !

"His Royal Highness..." Zhang Zhan was obviously worried.

"Don't worry, my uncle, my uncle never did this. Now, no one can pour dirty water on my uncle." Liu Jiang replied very firmly.

Liu Jiang has seen how much Liu Xiu indulged Yin Lihua back then, but now that he is a different person, the same feelings will naturally be the same indulgence.Yin Lihua's younger brother really made a mistake back then, and Liu Xiu could not hold it accountable.What's more, this time itself is an unwarranted crime.

That's right, Liu Jiang knew Liu Xiu's feelings for Guo Shengtong at this time.After Liu Xiu left from Beigong that day, he really began to teach him the way of being a king.However, occasionally, I always use the saying of "work and rest" to inquire about my mother.

He, Liu Jiang, is no longer a child, and he already has some understanding of the relationship between men and women.He didn't think there was anything wrong with Liu Xiu's inquiring once or twice, but how could he not doubt it after too many times.What's more, Liu Xiu never wanted to hide it in front of him.

Probably, his father thought.As his biological son, he should also be the one who wants his parents to have a harmonious relationship, so there is no need to hide his belated thoughts.If his mother is still the queen now, he really hopes that his parents will be harmonious, and the dragon and the phoenix will sing together.Now, the mother is only the Empress Dowager Zhongshan.

Heh... Liu Jiang's smile became brighter, but it made people feel a little cold.Instead of letting the mother pin the future on the love of the father who doesn't know when it will change.It's better to let the mother entrust her future with him, her own son.No matter how you look at it, he also feels that he is more reliable than his father.

Liu Xiu thought that Liu Jiang would be relieved, but she didn't know that his feelings had shifted, which made Liu Jiang even less trusting of him.If he is always infatuated with Yin Lihua, Liu Jiang can only say that it is good fortune.However, after the matter had come to this point, Liu Xiu showed affection for his mother again, which really left him speechless.

"His Royal Highness, are you sure?!" Seeing Liu Jiang's unhurried appearance, Zhang Zhan's face became more serious.The prince in his impression would not lie to him.As the Taifu, he can say without hesitation that he is one of the prince's most trusted ministers.

"Teacher, I'm [-]% sure." Liu Jiang replied without hesitation.He reached out and took the travel notes placed in the center of the table again, and caressed the skin that was very unusual in the eyes of others.

Seeing Liu Jiang's behavior like this, Zhang Zhan felt less trust in his heart.Liu Jiang's smile remained unchanged, and he casually opened the travel notes in his hand.Zhang Zhan subconsciously looked at the book, but after reading a few lines, he was shocked.

He took a step back respectfully and saluted Liu Jiang.There was still a sense of shock and guilt that couldn't be concealed in his gaze. "My minister trusts His Highness the Crown Prince."

The contents of that book... people all say that the Empress Dowager Guo is ignorant and ignorant of political affairs, but they are all delusional.Empress Guo is the eldest lady of the Guo family, the most beloved niece of King Zhending.If it is said that she really doesn't understand anything, who will believe it?

Empress Guo once looked like that, probably all because of the word love...