The morning sun shines on the ridge of the palace, and a few birds jump happily on the ridge of the palace. With the rushing cry, a eunuch took a small step forward below the palace eaves, and behind him were the clothes of the palace servants and the figure with a low face hanging down.

Along the way, the eunuch looked around and whispered to the person behind him. When he saw a team of guards coming over, he quietly waved his hand on his hips, allowing the other party to follow him closely.

Soon, bypassing the inspection route, the two of them quickly walked through a crescent door, with many potted plants on both sides of the flowerbed and lawn paved path.

A plump woman was picking a petal, looking at her pretty face carefully, with a slightly sad face. Now she has changed from a queen to an empress dowager. She speaks of dignity, but in fact she has an unsolvable sorrow in her heart. When she heard the footsteps coming towards her, she continued to walk among the flowers with her maid quietly.

"Qi Bian, the Empress Dowager, brought him."

In this case, the eunuch's duty was to inform the person who came to his name and official position. Now that is, it was probably because she was reminded by Empress Dowager He. She glanced at the corner of her eyes. It was Cui Yuan, the Minister of War.

"Meet the Queen Mother."

In informal occasions, the man still bowed respectfully, and then quickly covered it up and followed the woman to help weed and water it, like a working person in the palace.

I think I have been here a few times.

"What's wrong with King Liang's body this morning? He walked awkwardly. Are there any rumors outside?"

Queen Mother He picked a few petals and put them in the maid's basket. She took the scissors and repaired the potted plants in front of her. Cui Yuan, who was pulling weeds in the garden, did not look up.

His voice was very soft: "The King of Liang was walking around today, but there were no rumors outside."

"But there are other ones?"

Queen Mother He stopped the scissors in her hand, looking at the cut branches and leaves, her eyes a little dazzled.

The death of her husband...the death of the prince...the other nine princes, and the youngest son who had no news, could last until she did not fall down, just the breath in her heart and how to protect His Majesty now.

She alone will definitely not be able to accomplish anything. She can only contact the ministers in the court. If possible, she will have to take a chance.

This morning, she followed the emperor to attend the court to listen to politics. When she saw Zhu Wen walking strangely, her legs spread slightly under her robe, and her feet were gently removed. She thought that the other party had some illness in her body, so she left the palace and asked someone to recruit the Minister of War to enter the palace to ask clearly.

After hearing no rumors, I felt regretful after all, and then asked about other things. The words just now meant how many ministers in the court were willing to contribute to the court and get rid of Zhu Wen.

"Empress Dowager, you have also seen the situation in the court. Many civil and military officials have joined Zhu Wen's command. I dare not test it casually, but the original group of people were still standing on His Majesty's side, but..."

"But what?" Empress Dowager He raised her eyes slightly, her eyes clear.

Cui Yuan was pragmatic and could say anything. He paused, "The Queen Mother, the court officials who moved from Chang'an to Luoyang have no military power. It is really difficult to accomplish things. However, if the person with military power can stand up, he may be able to take a risk."

"The minister may have someone who is in love."

"Count........ there is one."

"Who?"

"Shangshu Ling, Geng Qing!" Seeing that Empress Dowager He frowned and became angry, Cui Yuan hurriedly explained, "Empress Dowager, I say that it is not unreasonable, so why not listen to my ministers' analysis."

Cui Yuan pulled up a weed, shook the mud on the rhizomes, and lowered his voice: "It seems to be that the Shangshu Ling is a brother of Zhu Wen, and often goes to and from the Liang Palace. However, according to my observation, Shangshu Ling rarely plans for Zhu Wen, and even doesn't bother to pay attention to official affairs, and does not fight for power or profit. What is this?"

Queen Mother He frowned, nodded slightly, and did not interrupt her. She continued to listen to him.

"......Shangshu Ling has two 13, which is also considered an old minister of the three dynasties. If the Huang thief is included, it will be four dynasties. In such a turmoil, they will be firmly in the court and stand firm. How can their methods be unwise? I look at it. Zhu Wen keeps him because he wants to keep him by his side and not let him go. However, Shangshu Ling naturally understands this, so he lives in a daze and still maintains a brotherly relationship with Zhu Wen on the surface."

"The minister's words make some sense, but these are not worthy of trust."

"I have speculations, too."

Cui Yuan said this, naturally, it was not a nonsense and circumventing the empress dowager. "The former emperor sent the Minister of State to Longyou to Longyou. Later, the Minister of State was deceived by the soldiers and generals of Longyou and forced His Majesty to go back to Chang'an and forced His Majesty to go to Huazhou. But he did not occupy Chang'an and restricted the discipline of the soldiers and generals in Longzhou. Later, he wrote to the former emperor and still claimed to be a minister. It can be seen that he still had some of the imperial court in his heart. But why did he do this back then, perhaps only he and the former emperor knew the size of it."

"That's the only thing?"

"Of course not, the Empress Dowager is waiting for a moment." Cui Yuan squatted on the ground and looked around, and continued, "Later, Shangshu Ling went to Hezhong Prefecture to save his mother. When he returned to the city, he met Zhu Wen and chased Yang Fugong. The two of them didn't know what they said, but it was rumored that the two sides had confronted each other for a long time. After that, Shangshu Ling brought his family to Chang'an to settle down, and then it was about moving the capital. Empress Dowager, do you put together the performance of Shangshu Ling during this period of Luoyang. Do you think that this person had no choice but to surrender to Zhu Wen that day?"

Queen Mother He was silent for a while. As a female, she used to tell her about the court, and she didn't need to think about it. Now she was thinking about it, and it was quite tiring to think about it. After a while, the woman figured out these joints bit by bit, but she never believed why the person who had counterattacked Chang'an and forced the palace with Jiang Xuanhui helped her.

"The minister's words are just speculation. If you want to kill Zhu Wen, you and I will only have one chance."

"But only he has military power in his hands, and the rest are Zhu Wen's confidants."

"Then try to get in touch with the generals under his command?"

"The Empress Dowager doesn't know that Yang Huaixiong was the one whom Shangshu Ling met since Emperor Xizong. This man was originally a master of Green Forest. Later, he joined the Ministry of Justice and became the chief arrester. There was no hope of promotion. Geng Qing brought him to the point of taking charge of the army alone. How could he betray him? Besides, whether such a thing can be achieved is unknown. This man will never take the risk of complicity with his ministers unless Shangshu Ling speaks."

After all, Empress Dowager He is a woman. She only started to get involved in politics for more than a month. She weighed the pros and cons, but was not as thorough as those court officials, but was judged based on women's likes and dislikes.

After hesitating for a long time, Yinya clenched his eyes and finally his eyes became a little firm.

"The minister can go and test it. If it fails, you should not be involved too much."

"yes."

Cui Yuan bowed quietly and said goodbye to follow the eunuch before. Empress Dowager He also calmed down and handed the scissors to the maid. Looking at the trimmed potted plants, he twisted some crumbs on his fingertips and threw them down on the ground. He walked gently and slowly to the front corridor, stood in front of the fence, looking at the flowerbed with butterflies flying, and stood for a long time, thinking about some things in the past, husband, children...

I haven't come back to my senses for a long time.

.........

On the afternoon of arrival, a carriage quietly drove out from the side yard of Cui Mansion. It stopped in the side yard of the mansion with the word "Geng" written on it, and handed over a greeting. Soon, the mansion manager came back and shook his head to the official who saluted respectfully at the door through the gap in the door.

"Mr. Cui, my master said he is not here... Please go back."

Cui Yuan: "..."

The smile on his face froze. The obvious wrong sentence should have been intentional so that he could give up.

‘I was very convinced to obtain the consent of the Queen Mother, but I didn’t expect that I was rejected before I met.’

Cui Yuan sighed, walked onto the carriage, and urged the coachman to leave.
Chapter completed!