Under the leadership of Empress Dowager Zhang, the court began to praise Yang Tinghe's great achievements.

Everything started with Yang Tinghe's young and famous reputation. He said that he passed the provincial examination at the age of 12 and passed the Jinshi at the age of 19, and was one of the few child prodigy in the world. Then he said that when Yang Tinghe participated in the compilation of "The Records of Emperor Xianzong" and "The Collection of the Dictations", every time he drafted the content, Qiu Jun, the then prime minister who was the vice president, could not change a word. Qiu Jun praised him for his talent as a good historian.

After talking about talent, he talked about filial piety. In the twelfth year of Hongzhi, Yang Ting and his grandmother passed away. He resolutely left Zuo Chunfang Zuo Zhongyun, a promising position, and returned home for worry. He returned three years later. He missed the key to the opportunity for his son Zhu Houzhao to explain today, and to study.

On the other hand, someone's grandmother passed away and did not return home. Instead, he took advantage of Yang Tinghe's opportunity to curry favor with the prince and quickly rose to his position and then steal a high position. He was simply shameless... The goal was directed at Chenxi.

After talking about Xiaoyi, he talked about official achievements.

Yang Tinghe presided over the Shuntian Provincial Examination in the 11th year of Hongzhi, and then presided over the 18th year of Hongzhi. It can be said that he has been a huge crowd of students all over the world. Since entering the cabinet, he has been doing things with great dedication and made great contributions to overthrow Liu Jin... So, he forcibly arranged Chen Xi's contributions to Yang Tinghe.

The news spread more and more widely, and soon it was heard from the capital. Everyone in the imperial court knew that someone wanted to force Yang Ting and succeed the position of chief minister whom Xie Qian was resigned.

The mansion of the British Duke Zhang Mao.

Zhang Mao still played chess with Xia Ru as usual.

Now Zhang Mao's health is not as good as before, and he needs to find something to lean on him behind him. Although the doors and windows are closed at this time, he still kept covering his mouth and coughing, and then spitting on his head.

There were two maids standing next to them, one holding a spittoon, which was specially used to receive phlegm for Zhang Mao, while the other kept wiping the corners of Zhang Mao's mouth with a clean brocade.

"I finally understand this move."

After a severe cough, Zhang Mao suddenly held his chin with his hand and said thoughtfully, "Shen Zhihou is back this time and is likely to take charge of the authority of the court... As Xie Yuqiao retreated, there are very few people in the court who can oppose him. The one who is most unwilling to accept this is probably the Zhang family's relatives."

Xia Ru held a chess piece in his hand and did not fall down for a long time. When he felt something, he raised his head and stared at Zhang Mao, his expression full of hesitation.

For others, they can make a neutral or inclined attitude towards Chen Xi during the battle between Zhang's relatives and Shen's relatives to ensure their status.

But Xia Ru couldn't do it because he was also a relative of the foreign country and was also the weakest among the three relatives. Because of the good relationship between Empress Dowager Zhang and Empress Xia, the Xia family had always been close to the Zhang family in the past, and this time they felt tremendous pressure.

Xia Ru thought to himself: "Why did the British Duke know that my Xia family is close to Zhang's relatives, why did he have to express such emotion in front of me?"

Xia Ru's brain turned rapidly and suddenly asked, "Where is Mr. Zhang going to lean towards after Duke Shen returns to court?"

Zhang Mao looked at Xia Ru with a smile and said, "When the father-in-law wants, how should I do it properly?"

For a moment, Xia Ru didn't know how to answer, obviously he didn't want to make a choice.

Zhang Mao understood Xia Ru's mentality and shook his head, "There was no one to shake the Zhang family before, because the last emperor had only Empress Zhang's lineage, but since ancient times, the emperor only married one Empress... Maybe the father-in-law is still unwilling to let His Majesty establish another Empress now?"

Xia Ru had no intention of thinking about playing chess at this time, and the chess piece in his hand couldn't help but put it back into the chess box, with a slightly anxious look on his face.

After a while, Xia Rucai said quietly: "Since ancient times, there are probably unique people who have established two queens at the same time, right?"

Zhang Mao put away his smile. At this time, he could no longer laugh and his expression became serious: "Best-in-law, I am frank, what Zhihou has done over the years is actually beneficial to us old guys. The court has been so powerful that the barbarians because of him... What do you think?"

After thinking carefully, Xia Ru nodded heavily, as if he agreed with Zhang Mao's statement.

"well!"

Zhang Mao suddenly sighed again and said, "However, Your Majesty wants to gather the Shen family for his use, so he made the decision to establish a new queen. From Your Majesty's standpoint, it is understandable to do so. After all, with the current status of the Shen family, I am afraid that Shihou will not agree to let the Shen family daughter enter the palace as a concubine. That gentleman who was in the Eastern Palace was at the peak of his life!"

Xia Ru smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, I don't blame the Shen family for robbing the position of queen, but I am ashamed of your Majesty's love for the little girl. The name of this country's relative is not worthy of its name."

Zhang Mao said: "Even so, are you just watching the other two countries grow bigger and not make any efforts? At this time, you must make a choice!"

When Xia Ru heard this, she looked at Zhang Mao even more confused and asked, "Old Zhang's intention is to let my Xia family move closer to the Shen family? I'm afraid this is not suitable, right?"

Zhang Mao said seriously: "I don't mean to let you move closer, but I just want you to try to stand an objective and neutral position when there is a dispute between relatives..."

"If nothing unexpected happens, there will be a dispute over the name of the relatives of the outside world after Zhihou returns to the court. Let's see how His Majesty's attitude towards the Zhang family..."

"In my opinion, Your Majesty has no indulgence to the Empress Dowager's clan. If you contact His Majesty's entanglement with the Shen family's daughter on the way back to Beijing... and his usual means of doing things, I'm afraid that this struggle will be one-sided."

Xia Ru frowned slightly, lowered her head and remained silent, obviously thinking about Zhang Mao's words seriously.

Zhang Mao continued: "The thing that is not afraid of now is to make the Shen family bigger... The Shen family has no one to take over except for being strong in the court, but once the Zhang family is in great power, there will be no peace in the court."

Speaking of this, Zhang Mao felt that he had said almost everything, so he picked up the chess piece again: "Come on, we won't discuss this issue anymore, continue playing chess."

Xia Ru had no intention of playing chess with Zhang Mao. He made a mistake in the next step and soon lost everything.

Zhang Mao smiled and said, "This game doesn't count. After the father-in-law returns, he will think about this matter more, and come back to see if I'm right at that time."

...

...

On the way north, Shenxi people focused all their thoughts on Xincheng, Nanjing, or Liaocheng, or the capital of Dongchangfu City. He would carefully study any changes in the current situation and prepare for the future.

After Yunliu met Xie Qian, she quickly took Xie Qian's letter to the south.

She should have stayed in the capital, but now there are too many things in the south. Xier is unable to take up the position of intelligence commander by Shen Xi, so Yunliu can only work hard to run north and south by herself.

At the end of March, Yunliu wrote to her that she had passed Linqingzhou and was preparing to meet Shen Xi within three or four days.

"The senior sister said she wanted to take over me, and she said I had no ability and could not help the adults at all."

Usually Xier dared not talk about anything around Shen Xi, but she was Chen Xi's woman after all. In the boudoir, she acted like a little woman, and even Yun Liu, who had always been close to him, expressed her dissatisfaction in front of Shen Xi.

Chen Xi’s attitude is very ordinary: “You have made great progress now and deserve praise.”

Xier pouted and said, "Which is the adult who has made great progress? I always feel that in some things, I cannot take advantage of the adult's wishes."

Chen Xi leaned on the quilt and looked at Xier half-squintedly, but saw a pair of bright eyes staring at him, as if every word he said could be taken seriously by the other party.

Chen Xidao: "No matter what aspect, there is progress, but sometimes you can't control your likes and dislikes in your heart. The same is true for your senior sister, who attaches too much importance to fame, wealth, gains and losses."

"oh."

Xier thought about it and couldn't find a reason to refute because she didn't understand Chen Xi's words very much.

Chen Xi said softly: "You two are stubborn and are competitive in your work. Many times you can't rub sand in your eyes. In fact, this is not a bad thing. But as you work with me, now I am getting closer to the core of power. Many things can no longer be determined by your likes and dislikes. Even if you hate someone, you must consider and take the overall situation into consideration and minimize your likes and dislikes in your heart... The chances of doing whatever you want will be less and less."

Xier was confused about what she said before, but she understood what she said.

Xier said, "Even if you hate it in your heart, do you have to endure it?"

"What about that?"

Chen Xi said angrily, "You can do things willfully, but you can think clearly about the results? People are not sages, so who can do nothing wrong? Even myself, I can't think about everything carefully... I have done a lot of wrong things over the years, which has caused them to suffer a lot today."

Xier blinked and thought carefully about what Chen Xi said about the "wrong thing".

Soon she thought that Chen Xi had indeed done "wrong things", such as Gao Ning's family, and the problems of Hui Niang and Li Jin.

As the intelligence leader, Xier knew many secrets in Chen Xi. She understood Chen Xi more thoroughly than others, but she rarely calmed down and thought seriously.

Chen Xi said: "After following me for so many years, I should calm my mind. Many human relationships and worldly affairs do not need to be considered by you and your senior sister. Just follow the instructions and act... Sometimes it is difficult for me to explain to you why I should do this. I can only rely on you to think about it yourself. You will gradually understand how to do things more beneficial... Your senior sister is much more talented than you in this regard."

Xier pouted again: "Hmph, sir, still be loyal to senior sister...but that's right, who told her to be senior sister?"

...

...

Even if Chenxi can enjoy the warmth of the whole night, the journey will continue after dawn.

In the early morning, heavy fog appeared on the Grand Canal. When Shenxi came out of the inn, a large number of merchant ships were passing by, forming a long dragon and heading south. Hundreds of boatmen were pulling fibers on the shore... When encountering a difficult section of the river, if the wind was still small, the role of the boatmen would be highlighted and the shore was busy.

Chen Xi looked at the willow trees on the shore, and did not rush forward. He sighed softly: "The willow catkins are now dancing north of the Huai River. It seems that spring is really coming."

Although Chen Xi had the right to block the river surface so that his journey north could be safer, he did not do so.

Because he knew that the emperor's trip had brought too many negative effects to the Grand Canal, he had nothing important to do on his way north, and there was no need to destroy the peace along the way. Even if the merchant ships blocked the river at this time, he did not send officers and soldiers to order him to bend to the shore and wait for him to sail. He would rather let him go first and then leave on the boat.

Xier took people to the shore to see it all the time, fearing that there would be assassins hidden in the fleet passing by.

After experiencing the incident in Nanjing, Xier was much more careful when dealing with the assassin. Although she was very willful in many things, she was not vague in protecting Chen Xi.

Xier knew very well that Chen Xi was not only her boss and backer, but also her man, but also her support for her happiness in the rest of her life. If something happened to Chen Xi, then the family fortune she earned and the beautiful future that she worked hard would no longer exist.

"Guard Xi, it seems that there is no one."

Watching the last batch of merchant ships pass by, Zhu Hong and several guards returned to the shore near the inn and said to Xier.

Xier looked at the merchant ships heading south and said dissatisfied: "There are so many goods transported at one time, but we didn't hold the flag of our new city. Could it be that some adults transported private goods?"

Zhu Hong could not answer this kind of question, and even Zhu Hong had never asked about the origin of those merchant ships.

When Xier and his people returned to Chenxi, they saw Chenxi sitting on a bench, looking at the people who were working not far away, smiling and leisurely.

"Sir, you can leave."

Xier saluted behind Shen Xi, "The fog on the river has not dissipated yet. If you are afraid of something unexpected, you can wait until the fog has dissipated before leaving."

Chen Xi didn't look back and asked casually: "If you don't leave for a day, then you won't leave for a day?"

Xier thought about it but couldn't answer.

Chen Xi stood up, looked back at her, and said angrily: "Let's go."

Xier quickly gave way and let Chen Xi pass, while she followed Shen Xi with her people.

The people in the inn did not come out to see him off, and even if they were cursing, they would not dare to take risks. Chen Xi brought four or five hundred officers and five hundred guards, and hundreds of guards, camped next to the inn last night, which made the postmaster and others frightened.

When Chenxi arrived at the shore, the official ship was ready.

Chen Xi stretched out: "The river surface is refreshing, but today I was too tired and had no intention of enjoying the scenery... It seems that I have to make up for my sleep after I got on the boat."

Xier, who was standing behind Shen Xi, heard this and her pretty face became hot. Chen Xi usually stayed late, but because Chen Xi entered her boudoir last night, she was even sleepy and prepared to have a good rest after getting on the boat.

"Sir, you can get on the boat."
To be continued...