The Child Emperor

Han Ruzi sat upright on the couch, his eyes followed the sunlight on the floor, he never tired of it from morning to afternoon, even when he was eating, he often took a distracted glance.

For five full days, he has said only a handful of words, and there is basically nothing to do except observe the changes in light and shadow.

The Meng E brothers and sisters never showed up again, and they might have left the palace they didn't like at all. The king of the East China Sea followed the emperor every morning to pay his respects to the empress dowager, with a cold face along the way, more silent than the emperor. Yang Feng was as elusive as before, as if he had long forgotten his duty to take care of the emperor, and when he appeared occasionally, he was in a hurry, at most asking about his daily life, and never talking about other things.

How's the assassination case going? Are more people involved? Is Liu Jie alive or dead? Is Tai Fu Cui Hong going to war? What's the news from Qi State? What does it mean to marry a queen? All these things are closely related to the emperor, but he can't get even a word of news.

The eunuchs and maids came and went, most of the time they stayed in other rooms, trying not to contact the emperor, Han Ruzi also lost the enthusiasm to talk to them, preferring to just sit there blankly, or pace back and forth in the room Step, count the steps silently in your heart.

How long can I endure this kind of life? On the afternoon of the fifth day, Han Ruzi began to ask himself questions, but he could not answer them. He even fantasized about what would happen after he went crazy: the king of the East China Sea would be very happy, the queen mother would not be sad, and the mother would never know about the affairs of the palace. What about Yang Feng? ? He said he was going to open a road, but now even the people are gone.

The door was pushed open without a sound, and Yang Feng stepped in, standing in a position that just blocked the slanting sunlight. Han Ruzi shook his head and tried to get the sunlight back, but it took him a while to realize that Zhongchang Shi was staring at him.

"Hey! I didn't expect you to come. There was a dish of celery for lunch that was delicious. I ate a few more bites. It's really rare to be able to eat fresh vegetables in this season. Being an emperor is a bit good." Han Ruzi smiled.

Yang Feng took a few steps forward, getting closer to the emperor, "Is Your Majesty complaining?"

"Me? Complaining? How is it possible. Cough... I am very relieved to have so many ministers sharing my worries." Han Ruzi said seriously.

Such a lie can't fool anyone, Yang Feng bent slightly and said: "I thought you were worthy of training, it seems I have to reconsider."

"Does your so-called training mean leaving it alone?" Han Ruzi's heart was filled with anger. What he cared about was not loneliness, but the closure of news. So many things were happening, but he couldn't even find anyone who could inquire less than.

"I have to observe to see if you can stand up by yourself, otherwise, even if I am a god, I can't help you." Yang Feng's tone gradually became severe, and he didn't even call him "Your Majesty".

Han Ruzi stared at Yang Feng, and suddenly realized that he was not familiar with this eunuch at all. In fact, the two had very little contact, and the number of conversations with him was not as much as that of the king of the East China Sea, but this was the man who bluntly claimed to be observing He wants him to give him complete trust.

Mother said, don't trust anyone, Han Ruzi sighed softly, "I let you down."

"Everyone will slack off for a while, as long as His Majesty can cheer up."

Han Ruzi stood up, stretched his arms and kicked his legs, "I've pulled myself together."

"En." Yang Feng nodded, "Please tell me your opinion, Your Majesty."

Han Ruzi was puzzled, "What do you think? In the whole palace, I know the least."

"Emperors always know nothing."

"The previous emperor could not be like me."

"When Taizu was chasing the world, he was trapped several times, and life and death were often in an instant. Looking around, he saw the enemy army piled up one after another, the number of soldiers around him was getting smaller and smaller, and the news from outside was getting more and more miserable. It’s full of bad news about the general who lost the city. At this time, Taizu was worse than ignorance, but did he give up thinking and thinking? No, he still firmly believes that Great Chu will win.”

Han Ruzi pondered for a moment, "Where's Emperor Wu? It's not like he doesn't know anything."

"Emperor Wu knows a lot, it should be said too much. From the inner palace to the government and the public, from princes to ordinary people, from within ten steps to thousands of miles away, everyone hopes to convey news to Emperor Wu. These messages conflict with each other. Inconsistency, good or bad, victory or defeat, good or evil... A few words can change. With this information, Emperor Wu is almost ignorant. Guessing, deduction, brainstorming... Every emperor has to learn Judgment in the worst circumstances."

Han Ruzi couldn't argue with Yang Feng, so he had to think about what he wanted for a while. In fact, he had thought a lot these days, but he didn't want to say it too quickly, "Cui Taifu has already led the army to Qi."

"Well, I set off three days ago." Yang Feng is not demanding on details, but only listens to the general trend.

"Liu Jie and the assassin's accomplices were taken to Qi."

"Wrong, they were imprisoned in the imperial prison of Dali Temple, where they were interrogated by various judicial departments."

"Liu Jie was not taken away?" Han Ruzi was very disappointed, and immediately understood, "Teacher Cui just took the opportunity to figure out what the queen mother really thought. After he achieved his goal, he still had to win the trust of the queen mother, so he left Liu Jie and others in the capital. .”

"Um."

"Is Liu Jie in danger?"

"Don't waste energy guessing the unguessable."

"So... Taifu Cui's daughter is really going to enter the palace and become a queen."

"Is His Majesty unhappy?"

"The queen is the Cui family's daughter, I...how old is she?"

"One year younger than His Majesty, and twelve years old."

"She won't enter the palace soon, will she? We are all too young."

"The appointment will be made in three days. If there are no accidents, after the crusade against Qi is over, Taifu Cui's class will return to Beijing, and His Majesty will get married."

"But...but..." Han Ruzi still found it hard to believe.

"There was an eight-year-old queen in the previous dynasty, so it's not surprising that she was twelve."

Han Ruzi sighed helplessly, "What is the Queen Mother's intention? I thought...after the situation stabilizes, she will...she will get rid of me and establish a new emperor."

"Where did the new emperor come from?"

"There are many descendants of Emperor Wu, any one is fine, such as the King of the East China Sea."

"The king of the East China Sea is not good. The Cui family is powerful enough to give them another emperor. The descendants of the branches have their own roots. The more people there are, the more fierce the competition will be. This is not good for Da Chu, and it is not good for the Queen Mother. Everyone hopes that the court will be stable."

Han Ruzi thought for a while, "This really stumps me, the queen mother won't let me be the emperor forever, will she?"

"Your Majesty is getting older. After reaching the crown, it will be difficult for the Queen Mother to continue to hold the seal and listen to the government." Yang Fengben wanted the emperor to think about it for a while, but suddenly realized that he had made a mistake. The emperor was only thirteen years old. Smart, there are some things he couldn't think of, "The queen mother needs your majesty to give birth to a prince, only the future prince can succeed to the throne without dispute, and let the queen mother continue to listen to the government in a legitimate way."

"How could I give birth to..." Han Ruzi thought it was a joke, and then suddenly realized, "So the queen mother wants to be a queen, but...it's too urgent, the queen and I..."

Han Ruzi thought about many things, but he didn't expect that his greatest role would be to have a son, and this son would kill him.

"The prince doesn't have to be the queen's son, but with the queen, things will be easier."

"It's not easy at all." Han Ruzi shook his head desperately, "Anyway, I can't...how can I have a son? I should take precautions in advance."

A smile appeared on Yang Fengyi's stern face, "Your Majesty, don't be nervous, it will be two or three years later, that is to say, Your Majesty is safe during this period."

Han Ruzi didn't know whether to cry or be thankful, "What can I do? It's not long after two or three years."

"wait."

"Just waiting and doing nothing? I'm afraid I'll go crazy if I can't wait two or three years."

"The emperor won't be idle. If you don't do something, things will come to you."

Han Ruzi's eyes lit up, it turned out that Yang Feng didn't just come to teach the emperor a lesson.

"In the past few days, at least five ministers have written letters one after another, suggesting that the queen mother should choose a master for your majesty as soon as possible. skill."

"Did Yang Gong make this happen?" Han Ruzi's eyes became brighter, and his heart beat faster when he thought of being able to get out of this room and contact people other than eunuchs and court ladies.

"No, I don't know any of the ministers who submitted the letter." Yang Feng refused to pretend to be credited, "The emperor is the supreme in the universe, no matter if he is stupid or wise, and regardless of whether he is independent or not, even if he is just a puppet, the heroes of the world will try their best to surround him , to strive for fame and fortune. Emperor Wu thought too much, so he had to cut the chaff and save the essence; His Majesty thought it was too little, but it would not be nothing. How to make use of these opportunities depends on your Majesty and my ability."

Han Ruzi's heart beat faster, although he hadn't done anything yet, his enthusiasm was so high that it almost broke through the top of his head.

He calmed himself down, thought and thought, and decided to ask the biggest doubt in his heart: "What's the matter with the assassin?"

"I said, please don't ask me the truth, Your Majesty, I have no way of knowing."

"I don't want the truth, I only want Duke Yang's conjecture."

Yang Feng was ambiguous on this issue. Unlike the simple emperor, he hid too many secrets, and it was far from the time to tell them all. "The assassin is real, but the details of the assassin, Everyone has an opinion."

"What is Duke Yang's opinion?" Han Ruzi insisted on asking to the end, but the queen mother's opinion was already very clear: lead the assassin to King Qi, use this opportunity to eliminate foreign aggression, reconcile with the Cui family, in order to consolidate the power of the Shangguan family.

"The assassin is probably really sent by King Qi." Yang Feng decided to reveal a little bit of his true thoughts, "But I won't stop here, I will continue to investigate."

This was exactly Han Ruzi's expected answer, "Mr. Yang also thinks there are other reasons behind the emperor's death, right?"

Yang Feng made an impolite gesture, raised his hand and patted the emperor's shoulder twice, "Don't let too much news interfere with your majesty's thinking, sometimes ignorance is a blessing, and your majesty should only care about the most important things. matter."

"The most important thing is definitely not to give birth to a prince." Han Ruzi was disgusted by this matter.

(The third update will be released around 6 pm, so as to increase the number of hits.)