Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

Chapter 406: Causes (I)

After Lu Tingfeng and Cai Lao entered the side hall, the emperor ordered Zuo Wenxing to ask all the servants in the hall to leave, and told Zuo Wenxing to guard the door of the hall and not let anyone disturb them. If anyone came, they should stop them.

Lu Tingfeng and Mr. Cai saluted the emperor, and the emperor seemed to put aside his status as an emperor and greeted Mr. Cai casually, as if he was meeting an old friend.

"It's been a long time since we last met. Sir, as Baohu said in the message, you look more energetic and vigorous."

Although the emperor was courteous to Mr. Cai, after he entered the side hall and paid his respects to the emperor, the emperor granted him a seat and had two charcoal basins brought and placed not far from him. Even though he had done a favor to the royal family, the monarch was the monarch and the minister was the minister, and Mr. Cai never dared to forget the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects.

Hearing the emperor's concern, Mr. Cai stood up, bowed to the emperor, and then spoke.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Since I entered Yujing Palace for recuperation after the Dragon Boat Festival, my useless body has improved a lot now."

"Sir, please take a seat. You have done great favors for the royal family. There are no outsiders here, so these empty formalities are unnecessary."

Old Cai had some understanding of the emperor. The emperor, as always, paid great attention to details. The fact that he specially asked someone to bring two charcoal basins in front of him was proof of this. If the emperor accepted his courtesy today, he might not show anything on the surface, but he would definitely be suspicious in his heart. If you act according to etiquette, the emperor would benefit the most.

When Mr. Cai heard the emperor asking him to sit down, he bowed respectfully to the emperor again and sat down again. After a brief exchange of greetings between the emperor and his subjects, the emperor began to get to the point.

"Back then, Ruining was reckless and caused trouble for you, sir. You can't have your own child. Perhaps it was destined by heaven. God left Jingcheng to Ruining. It was I who persuaded the Queen Mother to give Jingcheng to you and your husband. You and your husband put aside their past grudges and not only raised Jingcheng, but also taught him a lot of knowledge and skills. Ruining and Liru will be grateful for your kindness if they are still alive."

"It wasn't all King Cheng's fault for what happened back then, and I and your wife have never meant to blame him. Jing Cheng has been with you since he was young, and he is very smart and clever. We have always treated him as our own child. Instead, we would like to thank Your Majesty and the Queen Mother for their trust in us, giving us the opportunity to truly become parents."

After the new emperor ascended the throne, the sixth prince of the late emperor, Li Ruining, was canonized as King Cheng by the new emperor. He is the brother of the current emperor, but the current emperor was born when the empress dowager was still Concubine Zhuang, while King Cheng was born after the late queen passed away and Concubine Zhuang was canonized as queen. Therefore, King Cheng is your majesty's youngest son.

Cai Zhengqing's words were indeed what he was thinking. At the horse racing meeting that year, the sixth prince Li Ruining, who was only in his early teens, had a conflict with the fourth prince of the late emperor due to instigation of others. The two of them fought fiercely on the racetrack. Beforehand, the sixth prince Li Ruining's horse had been tampered with. In the middle of the race, Li Ruining's horse suddenly went crazy and rushed towards the crowd in the stands. Cai Zhengqing saw the frightened horse rushing towards him. Although his wife Xiao was the daughter of a military general, she was more than three months pregnant at the time. Cai Zhengqing protected his wife regardless of anything.

Cai Zhengqing was trampled by a frightened horse and fainted from the pain. When he woke up, he received the bad news that he could not bear. Because of the chaos caused by the frightened horse, the horse was about to hurt a little girl. In order to save the little girl, Xiao unfortunately had a miscarriage. Cai Zhengqing, in addition to the injuries on her body, could no longer have her own children because of the trampling of the frightened horse.

Although Cai Zhengqing was talented since childhood and learned from the great scholar Wu Daoyuan of the previous dynasty, he had a bad fate when he was young and his marriage was never settled. It was not until he was 25 years old that he married Xiao, the youngest daughter of General Zhaoyong's mansion. After the marriage, the elders in the family passed away. It was not until he was in his early 30s that Xiao got pregnant. Unfortunately, she encountered such a sudden change.

At first, Cai Zhengqing and his wife were full of resentment about this matter, but the other party was the legitimate prince born to His Majesty after Concubine Zhuang was promoted to the position of the emperor. What would they gain by making a big fuss about this matter? If they could get justice, would their child be able to come back? The couple fell into unprecedented despair.

The late emperor ordered a thorough investigation into the horse-frightening incident, and soon the truth came to light. Cai Zhengqing and his wife were innocently involved in the fight between several princes and suffered an unexpected disaster. The mastermind behind this incident was secretly pointed to the late crown prince, and this incident also became the fuse for the late crown prince to be deposed later.

During this period, the Queen condescended to personally bring Li Ruining to apologize and brought many precious medicinal herbs. Naturally, the Queen kept silent about the fact that Cai Zhengqing could not have his own children. The Queen also arranged for the imperial physician to visit the Cai family regularly to help Cai Zhengqing and his wife recuperate, hoping to make up for it as much as possible.

Cai Zhengqing and his wife did not remain depressed and soon cheered up again. Their relationship was not affected by the fact that they could no longer have their own children. Instead, they became even more loving.

The emperor was very satisfied with Mr. Cai's answer, but his face revealed some helplessness.

"According to the news from Baohu, Jingcheng seems to have followed the same path as his father Ruining. His relationship with his junior fellow apprentice Ye Changyan seems to be as close as honey. When Baohu sent back the news, I was furious and wanted to separate them immediately. But when I calmed down, I thought of Ruining's tragedy and the situation when I saw the two children in Shigu Lane, especially the two children. On the night after they won the archery and polo championships, I went to Shigu Lane and saw the two children's high-spirited appearance. My heart was broken."

The emperor placed his hand on his chest and sighed sadly.

"I am worried that if we really force them to separate, the tragedy of Ruining will happen again. I have not yet let the Queen Mother know about this matter. I don't know how she will react after she knows it. The incident of Ruining was really a huge blow to her."

Several of Cai Lao's disciples entered officialdom one after another. After Xiao's death, only the youngest Liang Jingcheng was left by Cai Lao's side. In order to broaden Liang Jingcheng's horizons, Cai Lao planned to take Liang Jingcheng with him to study around. When the emperor knew about it, he agreed very much and sent the commander-in-chief of the Hundred Cavalry Division, Bao Hu, to be with Cai Zhengqing. It was also a good opportunity for him to take advantage of the opportunity of studying with Cai Lao and Liang Jingcheng to investigate the people's sentiments in various places. The daily operation of the Hundred Cavalry Division was handed over to the deputy commander Qiu Bao.