The second year of Zhengde, the sixth day of the first lunar month.

On that day, Chen Xi was reading a book in his study at home. Xie Qian sent someone to pass on the message, saying that he would organize court officials to come to the palace to meet the emperor tomorrow morning.

Because Chen Xi did not see Xie Qian himself, even though he felt that this matter was a bit inappropriate, he could not point it out. Without any way to refuse, he could only passively accept the reality of entering the palace to meet the saint the next day.

In the afternoon of the same day, an uninvited guest came to Shen Mansion.

It's Zhang Yuan!

During this period of the New Year, Chen Xi had never seen Zhang Yuan's people, and privately speculated that he might have left Beijing to search for Mrs. Zhong's whereabouts. Even if he was just pretending, he could not stay in the capital and cause annoyance to the emperor.

Chen Xi did not expect that Zhang Yuan would visit his mansion during the Spring Festival.

"... Our family was ordered by His Majesty to find Mrs. Zhong, and we will not return to the palace at the end of the year to be responsible for the liaison matters inside and outside the palace. We can no longer enter and exit the leopard room as freely as before. Your Majesty is not as favored as before, and his status may be difficult to preserve. Qilang, do you have no way to recover?"

Zhang Yuan complained as soon as he came, as if Chen Xi was responsible for all this.

Chen Xi was a little surprised: "There is no flower that grows red for a hundred days, and no one can guarantee that he can win the trust of His Majesty for a long time, even this official... Eunuch Zhang is too much of aggrieved, right?"

Zhang Yuan shouted, "Who said no one can always win the trust of His Majesty? Isn't Liu Jin? Everyone thought that this traitor was in a slump, who thought he was more glorious than anyone else now... After Mrs. Zhong disappeared, His Majesty also asked him to find him. There was no clue on him. Who would have thought that His Majesty's trust in him increased day by day, and our family had nothing to do with Mrs. Zhong's disappearance, but he was implicated innocently. If he had known this... "

"How are you?" Chen Xi asked with a frown.

Zhang Yuan wanted to say something but stopped. Chen Xi knew what his cheap uncle wanted to say. When Mrs. Zhong escaped, Zhang Yuan felt like he was digging a hole and jumping by himself. Before Mrs. Zhong escaped, he thought he could use this to suppress Qian Ning and then weaken Liu Jin's power. He could also invite favors in front of the Zhang brothers to achieve the goal of killing more than one bird.

The result was that Qian Ning was suppressed, but Zhang Yuan was also implicated and couldn't help but regret not trying his best to stop Mrs. Zhong from escaping.

Zhang Yuan did not answer and asked back, "Qilang, ask you something, how much does it have to do with Mrs. Zhong's escape?"

Chen Xiyakou denied: "What does it have to do with me? Didn't I reject your request at the beginning?"

"You don't deny it. There are not many people in this world who can let Mrs. Zhong's family escape. You are one of them with this ability. I heard that your relationship with Your Majesty became tense after this incident. Is it because Mrs. Zhong's escape was caused by you planning behind the scenes?" Zhang Yuan said in a questioning tone.

Chen Xi looked at him disdainfully: "How do you want to do it! I have given you enough face to welcome you into the mansion today. You don't want to be wild here, right?"

Zhang Yuan said angrily: "If I had known you wouldn't admit it, our family would have figured it out. There are only a few people in the capital who have the ability to let Mrs. Zhong's family escape. This matter was not done by the two uncles. There is a great possibility that you instruct and facilitate it. You have to thank our family for not exposing you in front of His Majesty."

Chen Xi raised his face: "I refused your request sternly, but I was very unhappy about it. How could you push things to me? But, your mouth is on you, and you want to say it, no one stops you, see who will believe it!"

Zhang Yuan's face was red. He found that it was meaningless to threaten Chen Xi like this... Chen Xi could make some harsh words in front of Zhu Houzhao, and even took the initiative to cut off contact with Zhu Houzhao after Mrs. Zhong escaped. Zhang Yuan had no confidence to challenge Chen Xi.

"Qilang, Mrs. Zhong's family really can't be found. Now there is no other way... Can you give me some advice on how to get the person back?"

Zhang Yuan changed his tough attitude and said in a pleading tone.

Chen Xi shook his head: "If Eunuch Zhang comes for this, I advise you not to waste your energy. I will never help in such matters. If you, Eunuch Zhang, understand the worldly ways, you should know that no Chinese official in the court wants Your Majesty to be addicted to Yile. No matter who does this, you are responsible for Your Majesty and the court. If you Eunuch Zhang wants to help the evil, then we have no common language. You can ask for it!"

Zhang Yuan opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he still endured it. After a while, he said, "Qilang, we are our uncles and nephews!"

Chen Xi said disdainfully: "Your Zhang Yuan's surname is Zhang, what does it have to do with my Shen family? From now on, don't be involved with me anymore. If you want to make a fuss about this, I will not stop you. I know that even if you Zhang Yuan loses power, there are ways to make others restless. But Chen is sitting upright and not afraid of confronting you in front of His Majesty."

Zhang Yuan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "You think our family is too despicable. What are the benefits of exposing the relationship to our family? Instead, it caused the Shen family to suffer disaster..."

When Zhang Yuan said this, he was careful to pay attention to the change in Chen Xi's expression, as if he wanted to know what his nephew's attitude towards this. In the end, he was disappointed. Chen Xi's face was always cold and silent, as if he didn't care about this matter at all.

"Please do it!"

Chen Xi issued an order to expel guests.

Zhang Yuan looked ugly. Before leaving, he reminded him: "Your Majesty now has great trust in Liu Jin. If you want to protect yourself, it is best to cooperate with the Shouning Hou Mansion. Shouning Hou is facing tremendous pressure from the eunuch party and now needs help from others. Even if you refuse to surrender, it will be harmless to cooperate with each other!"

After discovering that Chen Xi ignored it, Zhang Yuan left in shame, but he was still at the side door of Chen's mansion because he was afraid that he would make things worse.

...

...

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Chenxi rose very early.

Originally, the Ministry of War was in the break period, and the military school was also on holiday. It was supposed to be light and light, but Chen Xi had to wear court robes and go to the palace to meet the saint.

Of course, Chen Xi knew that it was very likely that he would not see Zhu Houzhao himself today. The emperor had a lot of fun in the leopard room during this period. According to Chen Xi's investigation, Zhu Houzhao did not return to the palace these days. Even if the civil servants gathered together, they would be obstructed by Liu Jin when they entered the palace gate, and the chance of meeting Emperor Zhengde was slim.

As for whether Xie Qian knew about these situations, Chen Xi didn't know, but according to his estimate, Xie Qian had the determination to fight Liu Jin to the end.

Chen Xi thought that under this premise, it would be even more embarrassing to see Zhu Houzhao, and it would be better not to see him.

Chen Xi went directly to the Ministry of War. When Chen Shi passed, he walked towards the left gate of Chang'an. He had already seen many court officials halfway through. He Jian, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War who did not go to the Ministry of War in the morning, was also listed. He was entering the palace with the people from the Ministry of Works.

When Li Jue, the Minister of Works, saw Chen Xi, apologized to his colleagues around him and walked towards Chen Xi.

When he arrived in front of Chenxi, Li Li felt a little embarrassed: "Zhihou, what did you say Xie Shangshu meant? After entering the palace, can we meet the saint?"

Chen Xidao: "Since it was arranged by Secretary Xie, there must be his reason. We are just supporting this matter. What happened will be solved by Secretary Xie. Why do you have to think too much about it?"

"Um."

Li Ju nodded slightly. He wanted to find out more news from Chen Xi, but Chen Xi deliberately pretended to be confused, so he stopped asking.

The two of them said something more, which was basically related to the joint efforts of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works to cast weapons.

Li Li cooperated with Chen Xi and everything went smoothly.

Others have a close relationship with themselves, and Chen Xi doesn't care so much about this, but he has a good relationship with Li Yu. Li Yu is grateful to Chen Xi for his past encouragement and support, and when Shen Xi needs help, he will support him as much as possible.

After passing the Meridian Gate, Li Jue reminded intentionally or unintentionally: "When you arrive at the Ganqing Palace, it is best not to talk nonsense. In my opinion, Liu Jin will probably send someone to cause trouble, and then we will only see how Xie Shangshu dealt with it."

Officials entering the palace gathered in front of Fengtian Gate.

This is different from the previous ministers who came to the palace to meet the saint. Usually, court officials usually went to Wenhua Hall to attend court meetings. This time, they were afraid that Liu Jin would make an obstruction, so Xie Qian set the agreed meeting place in front of Fengtian Gate.

Before the cabinet members arrived, the civil servants summoned by Xie Qian were basically here.

In addition to some deeply rooted eunuch party members, civil officials above the fifth rank in the court received invitations, and all of them came. Some civil officials of the sixth and seventh rank were even from the Hanlin Academy.

After all, Xie Qian called the court officials into the palace on the pretext of asking Zhu Houzhao to pay New Year's greetings and adding news. Even though many people knew that Xie Qian wanted to cause trouble, they thought of his decent person and the famous teacher in the palace this time, everyone was not so worried.

If Liu Jin initiated it, most people here would pretend to be sick or simply not come directly, but the court officials still have to give Xie Qian a face.

Regardless of whether Liu Jin was evil or not, at least the position of chief minister of the cabinet was retained. Even Liu Jin could not help Xie Qian. The civil servant finally followed Xie Qian's first horse.

Chen Xi was humble and someone came to say hello, and he responded one by one, but if he asked about specific matters, he would pretend to be confused. No one came to disturb him, so he would talk to Li Li without saying a word. Soon at noon, there was a lot of darkness in front of Fengtian Gate.

Chen Xi looked at it and even the new Minister of Justice and the Minister of Rites came. There were only a few people who came to support the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue. The main reason was that these two yamen were basically controlled by the eunuch party.

Soon, Xie Qian brought several Grand Secretary of the Cabinet to come, and Jiao Fang, who was very close to Liu Jin, was listed. Although Jiao Fang was considered to be the leader of the eunuch party, his status in the court was not low. Even Xie Qian knew that Jiao Fang was accomplice to the King, he still maintained his due respect for him.

After Xie Qian arrived, he first greeted the ministers, ministers and Hanlin scholars from various departments. When he arrived at Chenxi, Xie Qian did not say hello to Chenxi.

Chen Xi knew that Xie Laoer wanted to avoid suspicion.

What Xie Qian minds most about others is that he promoted Chen Xi. Although Chen Xi deserves to be the Minister of War and does a good job, some people always say that the grapes are sour. Xie Qian never tires about explaining it, and later he simply does not make excuses.

After Xie Qian arrived, even if everyone arrived, there were about fifty people, the main forces came from the Hanlin Academy, the Zhanshi Mansion and the Ministry of Rites.

Confucianism advocates establishing a heart for the world, establishing a destiny for the people, and inheriting unique knowledge for the past saints. It has always taken the world as its own responsibility. The officials of the Hanyuan system are very concerned that the power of the court is fully controlled by Liu Jin. In addition, he is used to being arrogant and arrogant. Xie Qian issued a call and all responded.

The group of people headed towards the Ganqing Palace in a mighty manner.

...

...

Just when the ministers went to the Ganqing Palace to invite Zhu Houzhao, the master was still sleeping in the leopard room with the woman in his arms.

With Zhu Houzhao's lifestyle habit of black and white, he wanted him to know what happened in the palace in broad daylight and insisted that someone in the palace send him a message, but at this time, all channels were blocked by Liu Jin. If someone wanted to secretly pass the news in, it would be like having a feud with Liu Jin. Liu Jin would definitely end up in a bleak end after he noticed it.

Xie Qian took his ministers outside the Ganqing Palace. He did not enter or kneel down to petition. He just stood at the door waiting for Zhu Houzhao to summon him.

There is not even a person who can deliver the message.

Chen Xi saw Xie Qian stand in front of the crowd, and his heart quickly sinks, thinking: "I won't be punished to stand for one day in this ghost place, right? Fortunately, it's not a punishment for kneeling for one day!"

Thinking of this, Chen Xi couldn't help but look up. The weather is still good today, with blue sky and white clouds, and the sun shining golden light through the clouds from time to time. However, the winter in the capital of Daming is too cold. Even if it is sunny, the north wind is still howling. Chen Xi feels a faint feeling of uneasiness in his heart.

"If Zhu Houzhao didn't come out for a day, would he have to wait for the next day here? The cold wind at night is not something that ordinary people can bear."

"Oh, it's fine if you thank the old man for coming by yourself. The six ministries and seven ministers come with you, which is all for you to give face, but what do you mean by asking your son to come? Finally, I know why your son entertains his colleagues in the Hanlin Academy on the first day of the Lunar New Year. For your political ambitions, even your son needs to use it to let the entire Hanlin Academy make a fuss with you!"

Others think this is an opportunity to show their integrity. They hold their heads up and their chests up, and they stand out. Chen Xi is lazy and stands lazy, with many complaints in his heart, and began to think about how to end this damn farce.

In Shen Xi's eyes, this kind of petition was only created to help Xie Qian express his determination, and its actual effect was zero. What was annoying was that he could not point it out in person. He could only stand in the cold north wind with the flow. He didn't know what others thought in his heart, but he knew that he didn't want to continue.

...

...

When the ministers first entered the palace and gathered at the gate of Fengtian Hall, Liu Jin had already received the news.

Liu Jin had learned some information from Sun Cong before. After all, Xie Qian contacted the ministers to come to the palace to meet with the emperor's request. Many ministers were swaying left and right between the eunuch party and the civil servant group, and easily revealed the news to the eunuch party.

At first, Liu Jin didn't take it seriously. He knew very well that Zhu Houzhao would not return to the palace, but when he knew about the team's formation, he became cautious and immediately sent someone to the Leopard Room to stare. According to Liu Jin's words, anyone who spreads the message must take it down. This matter cannot be known to Zhu Houzhao.

"These old guys, and that boy Shen Zhihou, must want to put pressure on Your Majesty again... If Your Majesty knows the purpose of your visit to the palace, you guys will suffer. Our family just doesn't want to ruin Your Majesty's interest now, and let you drink the northwest wind outside the Ganqing Palace to see how long you can hold on."

Liu Jin had the previous experience of kneeling court officials outside the Meridian Gate, and he was already familiar with this kind of thing.

In Liu Jin's opinion, this matter would never be known to Zhu Houzhao, and he could take this opportunity to do some articles. He did not intend to review the memorials, so he rushed to watch the good shows of the ministers outside the Qing Dynasty.

When Liu Jin went to the Ganqing Palace, he met an "old friend". It was Wei Bin, who had lost his position as eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Supervision Office and was criticized by Xie Qian before.

Originally, Wei Bin was sent to the Imperial Village in the suburbs of Beijing to work in an idle place, but Liu Jin returned to the court and immediately transferred him back to the palace. He was still working in the Imperial Horse Supervisor, but he only had a name and had no specific duties. Although Liu Jin believed in Wei Bin's loyalty, the fact that Wei Bin lost the Three Thousand Camps made him realize that this person was not capable, so he did not reuse it.

"Eunuch Liu, are you going to the Ganqing Palace?" Wei Bin saw Liu Jin coming, guessed roughly what was going on, and came forward and asked flatteringly.

Liu Jin nodded: "Ministers are making trouble outside the Qing Dynasty palace. How can we not go and see it? What are you doing here?"

Wei Bin said nervously: "Eunuch Liu, you said that the ministers will enter the palace, and the matter will be small. If they cause trouble in the palace, the Imperial Horse Prison will also be implicated, so the young ones come to see it."

"Hmph, you are responsible!" Liu Jin's tone was a little unkind.

Wei Bin couldn't raise his head in front of Liu Jin and smiled ashamed: "I didn't do anything well before, and I let my father-in-law down. Now I have a rare opportunity to show my performance, so I can only do it well. I hope you can appreciate Your Majesty and Eunuch Liu and take a look at it."

Liu Jin didn't want to talk nonsense to Wei Bin, so he waved his hand: "Let's go, let's take a look together!" nt
Chapter completed!