marry queen

During breakfast, Fu Yi told Shen Zhiqiu about the disaster in Hexi and his own doubts. Shen Zhiqiu felt that his worries were not unreasonable, but this Prince Rui, he had never heard Fu Yi mention it before, and was very curious. The rice and meat porridge in the bowl, he said: "My fourth brother has always been very idle and rarely shows up in court. He did come to the New Year's Eve banquet last year, but you didn't go, so we haven't met."

Shen Zhiqiu said: "Is it Fu Chen, the fourth son of the late emperor?"

"Well." Fu Wei replied, "His mother and concubine are the pure nobles of the father. I was raised by her for a while, and then I was carried to the Queen Mother's Palace after my elder brother passed away. Her father loves her, so she has always lived a cautious life, but she is very smart, never against the queen mother, and she also warned her fourth brother not to covet what he shouldn't get, because their mother and son have always been cautious, and the fourth brother made it clear that he did not compete for the crown prince. The empress dowager let them live out of their hearts, but the pure mother concubine was too worried and exhausted, and died shortly after her father's illness. The empress dowager made the decision to make her fourth brother Prince Rui, and left the palace early to open the mansion. .”

"That's why Prince Rui has always been fond of Fengyue and rarely interfered with government affairs." After hearing this, Shen Zhiqiu also understood the good intentions of Concubine Chun.

Fu Yu sighed softly, "After I ascended the throne, I tried to persuade him to come back to help me, but he refused. I don't know if it's because he really doesn't like the director, or he still has concerns."

Shen Zhiqiu personally poured a cup of tea for Fu Lie, and the two walked to the Nuan Pavilion hand in hand, Shen Zhiqiu said: "I've been at home for too long, maybe Prince Rui's temper has already calmed down, since he is willing to go to Hexi this time, it means that he doesn't care about it. It's not that he hates political affairs and doesn't want to help you, Prince Rui will understand how the emperor treated his brother with good intentions."

"I hope he can bring back good news." Fu Yi said with a tangled brow.

Shen Zhiqiu asked Chen Xiang to bring two jars of wine, smiled and said to Fu Yi: "Last year the emperor praised the wine as delicious, this year I asked them to brew two more jars, when Prince Rui comes back the emperor will bring it to him."

Fu Yi lifted the cloth that was sealed on the wine jar, and the aroma of the wine immediately spread out. The faint scent of bamboo leaves was surrounded by the fruity aroma, which was sweet and alluring. Fu Yi closed the lid, took Shen Zhiqiu's hand, and said with a smile : "What are you going to do for him? I haven't had enough to drink yet, so I'll leave it here with you. I'll come to drink anytime. I'll ruin it for him."

However, Shen Zhiqiu said: "The Empress Dowager has withdrawn my sign. Your Majesty, it's better not to come to Ganquan Palace during this time. You can't keep fighting against her. You can still save face now."

What he said was the same as what the queen said a few days ago. Fu Yi knew that they were all worried about him. He could bow his head to the queen mother, or accept the girl from the Zhou family as she wished, but if he didn't come to see Shen Zhiqiu, he would But he couldn't do it. The scene of making out just now is vivid in his memory, which is a joy that Fu Yi has never experienced.The first time because he drank wine, his own feelings were not as pure as this time. After the two happy times, every inch of Shen Zhiqiu's body, hair and skin were too in line with his wishes, and even the depressive voice when the love was hard to contain The crooning made him want to stop.He pulled Shen Zhiqiu over and sat in front of him, hugged him, rubbed his waist as if playing tricks, and said with a smile: "Aiqing is so charming, I don't want to come."

In the clear sky, Chen Xiang and the others were outside, Shen Zhiqiu was really not used to being so intimate with Fu Yu, he leaned out, got rid of Fu Yu's control, deliberately imitating the tone of those old courtiers and said: "Your Majesty, please put your children first!"

Fu Yi loved his occasional naughtiness so much, he immediately leaned over and bit his neck, and said fiercely: "Why don't Yunyu give birth to a child for me, huh?"

The two frolicked for a while, wiped their guns and misfired, and almost rolled on the bed again. Fortunately, Jin Fu spread the word that a minister was waiting for Fu Yi in the imperial study, so Fu Yi pinched Shen Zhiqiu's face and left bitterly. up.

Shen Zhiqiu's heart skipped a beat when he was teased by Fu Yu. He straightened his clothes, sat cross-legged by the window and looked at the green bamboos that had grown to a person's height. He couldn't help thinking of when he first entered the palace. Fall in love with this man.

On the other hand, after Fu Yi left in the morning, Zhou Yixin also dressed neatly and respectfully went to pay her respects to the Queen and the Queen Mother. The Queen was not in good health, she woke up early and was depressed, so she sent her away without seeing her. The Queen Mother was very happy and took her Talking very intimately, she didn't look down on this concubine niece at all in the past.

The Empress Dowager Zhou knew that Fu Yu was worried about Hexi's affairs a few days ago and did not go to the harem for a few days, and she was the first to go to the Yuxiu Palace as soon as the matter calmed down. "You just went to bed yesterday, so you don't have to come so early today."

Zhou Yixin smiled faintly, and said respectfully: "It is the concubine's duty to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, and I dare not slack off."

"With Auntie, you don't have to worry about it. It's your blessing that the emperor likes you. From now on, you will serve the emperor well and strive to give birth to a prince as soon as possible." The Queen Mother Zhou said to Zhou Yixin with great concern, and ordered the flag on the side of the border. He bought two bowls of steamed milk with honey and put it on the low table, signaling Zhou Yixin to share some with her.

Hearing her words, Zhou Yixin paused the hand holding the milk, and smiled sweetly but unfamiliarly, "Yes, my concubine wrote it down."

After finishing speaking, the two chatted about some chores of the Zhou family, and they seemed intimate like uncles and nephews who had a good relationship. Zhou Yixin didn't mention a word about Fu Wei's behavior last night.

The process of asking for peace was told by Liansheng, a court lady who followed Zhou Yixin to the Yongshou Palace, and Fu Yi was leaning on the soft couch. After hearing this, he was very surprised. He had already made plans for Zhou Yixin to sue the Queen Mother. Unexpectedly, she didn't say anything. Could it be that Zhou Yixin and the queen mother are not in the same group?

He sneered in his heart, decided to wait and see what happened, raised the book in his hand and said to Liansheng: "Understood, you can go."

After Lian Sheng knelt down, he quietly retreated.

For the next few nights, Fu Wei kept flipping through Zhou Yixin's signboard, and the eunuchs in the respect room carried her to Chengguang Hall in sedan chairs every night, attracting countless envious and jealous eyes from other palaces.Zhou Yixin was sitting in the sedan chair, but instead of joy, her pretty face reflected deep sadness. She lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and looked out. The palace shrouded in darkness was like an endless black hole, locking her in from now on. in.

Zhou Zhaoyi became a new favorite for a while, which made Ganquan Palace a little more desolate. Shen Zhiqiu stood in the yard and tied the ropes for the overblown Qiuju, and listened to Ginkgo's report on the gossip outside. He was so tired that he had to do a play for the Queen Mother every night, and the next day he quietly came to Ganquan Palace to torment him, but he was full of energy.

After squatting for a long time, he felt back pain, Shen Zhiqiu rubbed his waist and stood up, sat on the recliner beside him to rest, and ordered Qibao to water the flowers and plants in the yard.Fu Yi came a bit late today, and when he came in his face was not very good, Shen Zhiqiu knew something was wrong, he turned away from the left and right, and entered the inner room alone with Fu Yi, Fu Yan said with a sullen face, "Fourth brother entered the palace last night."

Shen Zhiqiu was startled, "Prince Rui is back? Did you find anything?"

Fu Yi snorted coldly, clenched his right fist, and said fiercely: "There are too many things found! Most of the money I allocated to build dams in Hexi in the past years went into Cai Zhiyi's pocket. He is really a good secretary of the household department." ah!"

Shen Zhiqiu was also deeply shocked when he heard this. Hexi is located along the Yellow River, and it is an area with very developed farming. It was hit by floods in the early years. After the dam was built, Hexi was free from floods and became prosperous again. In the past two years since Fu Yu took the throne, he had allocated funds to strengthen the dam in Hexi, but he did not want to be embezzled by Cai Zhiyi into his own pocket, causing the flood to recur and costing people money.

Shen Zhiqiu frowned and said: "The amount of money allocated to Hexi is wrong, why didn't the prefect of Hexi report it?"

"Hexi Zhizhou and Cai Zhiyi have long been in the same boat. They changed the amount of funds without authorization and enriched their own pockets. What's even more hateful is that they have greedy for a lot of disaster relief funds this time. It's a waste of human life!" Fu Yi said bitterly.

Shen Zhiqiu hurriedly asked: "The Taichang Temple Minister who went to rescue the disaster with Cai Zhiyi is one of them?"

Fu Yi was quite disgusted, "That's not true, he is very stupid, and he was completely hidden by Cai Zhiyi."

"Now that His Highness Prince Rui has found conclusive evidence, how does His Majesty plan to deal with them?"

Fu Wei squinted his long and narrow eyes, and there was a cold light in his eyes. He said slowly: "Naturally, they will be dealt with according to the law. They will return to Beijing to resume their duties tomorrow. At that time, they will be released together. It's been a cash cow for long enough, it's time to let it go."

In the early morning of the second day, after Cai Zhiyi, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Minister of Taichang Temple finished reporting on the disaster relief work, Fu Yan smiled with satisfaction. Judging from their notebooks, their errands were handled seamlessly, and no mistakes could be found. , Hubu Shangshu looked at Fu Yu's face, and secretly rejoiced. Before he could finish thinking about the reward he would get, Fu Yu threw the book on his head and said angrily: "Cai Zhiyi, you are so big!" courage!"

Cai Zhiyi was so frightened that his legs went limp, he knelt on the ground and tremblingly said: "I...I don't know what I have committed, but I beg Your Majesty to calm down."

"You don't know what you have committed? Heh, do you know?" Fu Yi looked at the crowd with a sullen face. The other adults knew that they didn't know, so they all knelt down and said loudly, "I don't know."

"Okay, I'll let you see what he committed now! Biography to Prince Rui!"

"Prince Rui——" the eunuchs outside the main hall uttered the word, Prince Rui Fu Chen, dressed in a purple royal robe, walked up to the hall, knelt down to pay respects to Fu Wei: "My brother, see the emperor!"

Fu Wei said in a deep voice, "Come on."

"Yes." Prince Rui took the order, stood up, faced all the adults, and said word by word: "This king was ordered by the emperor to go to Hexi in disguise to assist Lord Cai and Lord Li in disaster relief, but unexpectedly found out Something astonishing, Mr. Cai, guess what it is." He glanced at Cai Zhiyi as he spoke, and deliberately paused for a moment, only to see Cai Zhiyi lying on the ground, his back trembling slightly, presumably dripping with cold sweat, and dared not answer, Prince Rui lightly With a laugh, he continued: "In the 38th year of Yongfeng, the treasury allocated 30 yuan to build dams in Hexi, and only 13 taels of official silver were finally transported to Hexi. In the 40th year of Yongfeng, the dams in Hexi were broken, causing small-scale floods. The state treasury allocated 40 yuan to repair and strengthen the embankment, but only 15 taels were transported to Hexi... In the first year of Huicheng, the state treasury allocated 20 yuan, and finally less than 15 yuan went to Hexi. In April this year, the state treasury allocated another 5 yuan for Consolidate the embankment, but in the end, only 35 taels are left in Hexi! And this disaster relief fund, my king heard that the treasury allocated [-] taels, Mr. Cai, guess how much Hexi received in the end?"

Cai Zhiyi could not wait to lie on the ground with his whole body, he said tremblingly: "I... I don't know, I am wronged, please Your Majesty to investigate!"

Prince Rui turned around and bowed to Fu Yi, and presented the evidence he had found with both hands, saying: "Your Majesty, these are the accounts, account books, correspondence between the Minister of the Ministry of Households and the governor of Hexi Province, and the registration booklet for the construction of dams in Hexi." , the confessions of some officials in Hexi and other evidence, please take a closer look at the emperor."

Jin Fu stepped forward to present the evidence to Fu Wei, who flipped through two pages, then slammed the table, stood up and pointed at Cai Zhiyi, angrily said: "You are pocketing your own money, disregarding human life, and endangering state affairs, why don't you plead guilty! "

The emperor was furious, and everyone in the hall knelt down and shouted in unison: "Your Majesty, calm down!"

Cai Zhiyi was so frightened that he was about to faint, and the minister of Taichang Temple, who was helping him with the disaster relief, was too frightened to speak. He really didn't know that the disaster relief money was tricky this time, and he was afraid that someone would be involved accidentally.Prime Minister Dugu quietly listened to all this, smiled secretly, stepped forward to persuade: "Your Majesty, this is a serious matter, please be careful with your Majesty."

"Of course we have to be careful, Cai Zhiyi alone can't handle so many things." He said coldly: "The matter will be handed over to the presiding judge of Dali Temple, Zhao Yunchen and Duguxiu's assistant, appointed Zhao Yunchen as the imperial envoy, holding my handbook, Be sure to uproot this group of moths, and do not favoritism!"

"Yes!" Zhao Yunchen received the decree very angrily, Prime Minister Dugu Bingde and his eldest son Dugu Xiu, who was then a member of the Ministry of Officials, were also busy receiving the decree.

Dugu Bingde looked at Fu Yu, and his heart trembled. The former second prince was really different from before. Did he actually endured it for so many years?Hubu Shangshu belongs to the Empress Dowager, so if he asks his son to go to trial, he will naturally not show mercy, and Zhao Yunchen is the most upright person, let alone favoritism. It seems that this time, Fu Yi is going to pull out many of the Empress Dowager's followers .

When this matter reached Yongshou Palace, the Empress Dowager Zhou was very shocked. She stood up from her chair and asked, "Did you hear me right?"

Bian Qi hurriedly said: "Your servant heard me right, Yuan Jiao in front of the imperial court personally said that he is on duty in the main hall today, saying that His Majesty has made a big fuss."

Empress Dowager Zhou's face immediately sank, her hands must have exerted force, and the pug dog, who was sleeping in her arms, screamed in pain, broke away from her hand, jumped down and ran, the Empress Dowager said coldly: "Okay, this Cai Zhiyi , What a guts, to commit such a big thing behind Ai's back, idiot!"

Bian Qi said: "He didn't have much money to spend on us in the past, but he was greedy for so much money."

"It's an unforgivable crime to embezzle money for disaster relief! He deserves to die. You don't need to protect him. You go and find out who else is involved in our party. Report a list." The Queen Mother Zhou simply She wished to execute Cai Zhiyi immediately. She raised him step by step from a small magistrate to this position, just for the sake of handling things. Determined not to use the money for disaster relief and water treatment, a bunch of idiots!This matter is too big, and once the other people involved are convicted, she has no reason to go to Fu Yu to forgive her. Cai Zhiyi really did not succeed in what he did, and the Queen Mother Zhou sat back on the chair angrily.

Fu Lie, her good son, it seems that she can no longer be underestimated, and Prince Rui, heh, it's really her own kindness that let the tiger go back to the mountain.