Princess Yongkang's sedan chair left Chen Mansion, and Chen Xi kept watching the team walk away before walking back.

Zhu Qi followed behind him and Chen Xi said, "Dad Zhu, the princess just visits her house occasionally. I believe that today's things will be difficult to set foot in the Chen Mansion in the future."

“Yes, yes.”

Zhu Qi was respectful and did not express his opinion on this matter.

On the other side, Princess Yongkang was sitting in the sedan chair, telling me something to Eunuch Lu who was jogging all the way outside. Eunuch Lu's head was stuck at the seat of the sedan window and tried hard to listen.

"...Shen Zhihou is a minister trusted by His Majesty. He is helpful to the prince-consort and does not have to treat him as an enemy. However, don't let the prince-consort come over in the future. The prince-consort cannot handle an old fox like Shen Zhihou." After a while ago, Princess Yongkang had a basic judgment on Chen Xi's character.

Eunuch Lu asked, "The princess, have you told the princess about the matter when she arrived in Chen Mansion today?"

“No need.”

The princess's voice came again from the breath window, "The prince consort is busy now, why bother him with these trivial matters? It is best not to let the prince consort know that this palace has come to Shen Mansion to support him... The prince consort is very independent and will never have low attainments in the officialdom in the future."

Cui Yuan didn't know that he was fooled by his wife. Princess Yongkang was a little worried at this time and considered how to turn Chen Xi's suggestions into her own words and tell her husband.

Chen Xi was not curious about the arrival of Princess Yongkang. Women in the royal family were usually arrogant and came to find a place because the prince consort was despised. Chen Xi could understand.

Of course, he also believed that this was a signal that Princess Yongkang was trying to enter the core level of power. Because Xiaozong was a poor family, these royal relatives and nobles began to try to show themselves. Because Cui Yuan was suddenly reused, Princess Yongkang could not suppress her desire for power and jumped out. Although she would not rebel or make ill-gotten her plans, she still wanted to show her existence.

Xie Qian soon learned about Princess Yongkang and his wife visiting the Shen Mansion.

Because Cui Yuan and Princess Yongkang entered from the main gate of Chen Mansion, Chen Xi was the target of public criticism at this time, and there were many people following Chen Mansion. Chen Xi was too lazy to send people to drive him away, so it quickly spread throughout the capital.

"... The prince consort and the princess went to see Zhihou, it's nothing." Xie Qian's tone was calm. At this time, he was holding a memorial in his hand. Although he was staying in the courtyard of Chang'an Street, he was dealing with official duties, which was equivalent to taking official affairs back to his private residence for disposal. This was a serious violation.

But for Yang Tinghe who came to visit, this kind of thing has long been commonplace.

Yang Tinghe said: "I'm afraid that they will negotiate something privately, which will lead to a mistake in the defense of Gyeonggi."

Xie Qian said: "Since Zhihou agreed to lead the troops to the expedition, there is no need to think about his arrangements for the defense of the capital... The princess and the prince-consort are royal families and will not do anything harmful to the court. Zhihou has a deep military attainment. It is not a bad thing to have him help the prince-consort's subordinates in the capital defense."

"Then why did the princess come to the door again after the prince consort left?" Yang Tinghe asked.

Xie Qian hesitated for a moment and said, "Maybe thank you! After all, the position of the prince-consort was obtained by Zhihou, and he should express his gratitude for both emotion and reason."

"Then why aren't the princess and the prince consort together?"

Xie Qian thought about it and said, "Maybe one is for public affairs and the other is for private affairs! This will make it clear that public and private affairs are clear! Send someone to the Governor's Office to find out the situation and see if Zhihou has plans to install people in the Governor's Office or the Beijing Camp. If not, just pretend that this has not happened. In two days, His Majesty and Miss Shen will get married. Do this first and then talk about other things."

...

...

It was almost dusk that Yang Tinghe came out of Xie Qian's courtyard.

He was somewhat disappointed with Xie Qian's change in attitude. He could naturally feel that after Chen Xi agreed to send troops, Xie Qian's tolerance for Chen Xi became increasingly important. He seemed to have a tendency to stop interfering in Chen Xi's work, from the emperor marrying Miss Shen's family to enthroning Chen Xi's Duke, etc.

Yang Tinghe was going back to the house, after all, he didn't need to be on duty in the cabinet that day, so he didn't have to go back to the palace. But before he could take a few steps, he saw the people in front of him coming. Yang Tinghe recognized that he was the eunuch who was close to Empress Dowager Zhang.

"Mr. Yang, right? The Empress Dowager asked you to go to the inner garden." Several eunuchs came over, and the old eunuch who was in charge said respectfully to Yang Tinghe.

Yang Tinghe frowned: "Didn't you come to find Master Xie? Why do you know that I am here?"

The eunuch said, "We came here after inquiring from many sources, not to come to find Mr. Xie... The person the Empress Dowager wants to meet is Lord Yang. Does Lord Yang have anything to prepare? Or go to the palace now?"

Yang Tinghe didn't think anyone would fake the imperial edict of Empress Dowager Zhang. Thinking that he had nothing else to do, he nodded and went to the palace with several eunuchs.

...

...

In Yongshou Palace.

Empress Dowager Zhang sat on the phoenix chair in the middle, and the scent of fragrance wafted out of the incense burner next to her. Yang Tinghe immediately saluted after entering the hall.

"Empress Dowager Jin An."

Yang Tinghe bowed and bowed.

Empress Dowager Zhang smiled and raised her hand and said, "Sir Yang, I haven't seen you for a long time, how are you doing? Come and give me a seat to Lord Yang."

Empress Dowager Zhang seemed very polite.

The eunuch prepared the seat, Yang Ting and Xie En sat down, but still lowered their heads and did not look at Empress Dowager Zhang.

As the eunuchs and palace maids in the main hall of Yongshou Palace retreated, Yang Tinghe understood that Empress Dowager Zhang wanted to tell him some secret matters, but after thinking about it, he should not discuss with him if he had any questions. After all, the minister whom Empress Dowager Zhang trusted the most in the court was Xie Qian, and there were many eunuchs who could use their skills around Empress Dowager Zhang.

The door creaked and closed, and the light in the room was dim. Even with candles on all sides, it could not completely illuminate the space between Queen Mother Zhang and Yang Tinghe.

Empress Dowager Zhang said: "Yang Qing family, Ai family will not go around with you. I heard that you have just met Mr. Xie before?"

"yes."

Yang Tinghe did not shy away. After all, the person who was looking for him was intercepting him on the street outside Xie Qian's courtyard.

Empress Dowager Zhang seemed very eager: "Then can the Ai family take the liberty to ask, what did the Yang Qing family say to Mr. Xie?"

"this……"

Yang Tinghe was a little embarrassed, and after hesitating a little, he explained his intention to leave, "I went to see Mr. Xie, and what I talked about was Princess Yongkang and the son-in-law meeting with Shen Zhihou, the Ministry of War."

"So that's the case. The Ai family just heard about it... Yongkang rarely goes to the palace. Why? Recently, she has been concerned about the affairs of the court?"

Empress Dowager Zhang showed suspicion, "The emperor arranged for her son-in-law to be a servant. As a female family, she should abide by the wife's manners, but she showed up in public and went to see Shen Zhihou alone. What kind of morality is that... who is a man with a strong spirit."

When Yang Tinghe heard this, he wondered what the purpose of Empress Dowager Zhang was.

"This incident happened not long ago. Whether Princess Yongkang had ever met Shen Zhihou seemed to have nothing to do with the Queen Mother... The Queen Mother might just be inspired."

As expected, Empress Dowager Zhang immediately changed her tone: "Forget it, let's not mention this matter yet. She is the Princess of the Ming Dynasty and has a decent relationship with the royal family. If there is any problem with the Ai family, will she ask her in person... Yang Qing family, is Chen Shangshu saying he is going to go to war?"

Yang Tinghe said: "Yes. After Your Majesty's wedding, Shen Zhihou will personally lead the troops to fight. The time is set at the end of March and early April. Currently, the date of dispatch of troops by the Ministry of War is March 28, and there may be temporary changes."

“Okay.”

Empress Dowager Zhang nodded slightly, "I heard that the rioters have arrived at Shuntian Mansion this time, and they are at the feet of the emperor. If the thieves are not eliminated quickly, there may be a few more people who are king and emperor, which will cause trouble for the royal family... Is it really against them! What does Mr. Xie think about this?"

Yang Tinghe was a little scared and thought to himself: "The Empress Dowager said she would not go around in circles, but she ended up going around in circles!"

Yang Tinghe could only think about what Empress Dowager Zhang was thinking. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly realized that Empress Dowager Zhang was obviously afraid of Chen Xi. Now Xie Qian seemed to have changed his attitude towards Chen Xi. So when encountering something against Chen Xi, Empress Dowager Zhang was worried about Xie Qian, so she turned to him who had a more determined attitude against Chen Xi.

However, he still had something he couldn't understand and answered cautiously: "Old Xie fully supported Shen Zhihou's leadership of troops, and even handed over the details of the troops, including the number of troops and the supply of food and grass, to Shen Zhihou for dispatch. The cabinet has not yet inquired about the relevant matters."

"Why, I didn't even ask about the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue? The emperor may not have any idea of ​​how much grain the Ministry of Revenue allocates. You cabinet ministers don't take it any more, so what should we do?"

Empress Dowager Zhang frowned slightly, looking very worried.

Yang Tinghe said: "The dispatch matters belong to the Ministry of War, but the specific number involved will be kept. No false reports from the Ministry of War are found."

Empress Dowager Zhang suddenly stopped talking and sat there with a dark face, without saying a word.

Yang Tinghe further pondered Empress Dowager Zhang’s thoughts and asked for instructions: “I wonder what the Empress Dowager has to give?”

Empress Dowager Zhang said: "The Ai family thinks that you must not ignore the matter of transferring troops and grain. The emperor does not ask about the cabinet or ask. Even the Ministry of Revenue is dispatched by the Ministry of War. It is too much right to centralize power? The emperor has few capable ministers who know the soldiers around him. Chen Qing's family leads the war. What should I do if the capital is prepared for defense?"

Speaking of this, Empress Dowager Zhang exposed her intentions.

Yang Tinghe was a discerning person and immediately realized that Empress Dowager Zhang wanted the Zhang brothers to return to the court to do business. It would be better to take back the authority of the Beijing camp to reorganize. If the contribution is made this time, the Zhang brothers can return the title.

Yang Tinghe didn't want to pay attention to the matter about the Zhang brothers. This idea was similar to Xie Qian. He knew very well that the Zhang brothers had no ability and had all relied on nepotism to gain power. But if he thought about it carefully, if he compared the Zhang brothers with Cui Yuan, a young and weak prince-consort, he would become both experienced and capable.

It depends on who will compete with whom. If the Zhang brothers are compared with Chen Xi, it will be impossible to compete with each other.

Yang Tinghe stood up and saluted respectfully: "I have also wanted to persuade Mr. Xie to ask about this matter, but Mr. Xie once said that he agreed to Shen Zhihou not to interfere in the affairs of military dispatch, so he had to abide by the agreement with Mr. Shen Zhihou on many issues."

"Absurd! Absurd!"

Empress Dowager Zhang became even more anxious and said, "How can we make promises easily in the court? Are the courts belonging to the Shen family and Xie family? If the Ai family had something to do, they would have to bother you again and again? Yang Qing family, military and national affairs, the emperor and Xie Lao didn't want to ask too much. This matter depends on you! The Ai family has full trust in you."

The Shen family was immediately in-laws of the royal family, but Empress Dowager Zhang was still very cautious about Chen Xi. Yang Tinghe roughly judged that this should be related to the fact that Chen Xi was in charge of the Zhang brothers before.

Yang Tinghe was at a loss for how to guide the emperor and interfere with Chen Xi's troops, but he still received the imperial edict from Empress Dowager Zhang and went back to find a way to do it himself, both to target Chen Xi and bypass the emperor and Xie Qian, which made him very embarrassed, because his position in the third place in the cabinet was very embarrassing.

However, he knew that Empress Dowager Zhang had no choice but to ask for help in his name. If he could successfully win over Empress Dowager Zhang, it would be of great help to replace Liang Chu as the secondary assistant or even serve as the chief assistant in the future.

Since Empress Dowager Zhang did not seek help from Xie Qian, it is enough to show that Empress Dowager Zhang's trust in Xie Qian is also limited, which is very beneficial to his rise to power.

At this time, the best way Yang Tinghe could think of was to coordinate the officials of the Six Ministry and the Governor's Office, especially Yang Yiqing, Li, Cui Yuan and others, to restrict Chen Xi's mobilization of personnel and supplies. At the same time, he had to try to find someone to advise the emperor to strengthen the defense of the capital, so that the emperor was worried about his own safety. Out of trust in his mother and younger brother, the Zhang brothers were allowed to take over the military power of the capital again.

Yang Tinghe wanted to replace Cui Yuan, not entirely because Cui Yuan was not qualified enough. After all, the Zhang brothers were also people who had experienced the battle of defense of the capital, and had many highlights in their resumes.

...

...

I saw March 25th, and there was only one day left before the Emperor and Chen Yier's wedding.

Chen Mansion is very lively. Not only is the gongs and drums on the side of Shen Mingjun's mansion audible, but Chenxi's mansion also has lanterns and decorations, because the emperor officially issued an imperial edict to enthrone Chenxi as "Duke of Chen".

The rules of the Ming Dynasty were that "any title cannot be granted without the country's military merits, and no title cannot be granted without special orders." These can be given imperial edicts and iron certificates for alchemy.

At the same time, there are also special cases in long-term implementation, such as Yan Shenggong, the descendant of Confucius in Qufu, the son-in-law of the son-in-law, and the relatives of the foreigners, who can also be awarded titles.

The titles of the relatives and those who received the kindness of the royal relatives were granted only the titles but not the titles. The titles of the relatives were basically not inherited. However, when Chenxi came here, it was completely different from ordinary relatives. He did not say that he directly granted the titles of the Duke, but also gave the titles together. The power of the iron certificates in the Ming Dynasty could directly avoid death or even the descendants' death. Chenxi's food was 2,000 stones, which was hereditary titles.

The title of Ming Dynasty did not have a fief, but the salary of Chen Xi, a 2,000-stone s, was comparable to that of the prince, reflecting Zhu Houzhao's respect for Chen Xi.

If it were others, a bunch of people would have submitted memorials to state that the emperor was awarded titles without authorization and destroyed traditions, but Chenxi's title of Duke did not cause any trouble.

Everything is that Chen Xi was granted title as a relative of the foreign country, and he also made unparalleled military achievements.
To be continued...