klisemfg Chapter 365 Branches
Chapter 365 Branches
The Queen Mother leaned over and teased the Grand Master: "Now that your beloved juniors are here, are you finally happy? Not annoyed anymore? Not sad anymore?"
The Supreme glared at her and cursed: "No one in the world is better at ruining my career than you!"
Everyone covered their mouths and laughed.
Dai Quan, Cheng Qian and Aunt Meng were busy preparing a small banquet.
The Supreme Lord and the Queen Mother sat at the top.
The men in the row below are Situ Sheng, Cao Yu, and Feng Ziying; the women in the row are Lin Daiyu, Princess Hongchang, and Tanchun.
When Feng Ziying and Tanchun looked up and saw each other, their faces blushed and they quickly lowered their heads again.
Hongchang then pulled Daiyu to look at this Western scene and laughed quietly.
In the past, Cao Yu and Situ Sheng had little contact with each other. Although this was not their first meeting, it was the first time they sat together for a drink, and they began to exchange polite greetings.
The two saints were above, looking at the children below, and they finally became happy and in the mood to celebrate the New Year again.
Cao Yu was a master at making small talk. After just three or five words, the three young men stopped addressing each other by their titles and started calling each other by their courtesy names. They got along very well.
They took turns saying auspicious words to the two saints and drinking wine together. In less than half an hour, they were all drunk.
However, Daiyu and Tanchun knew that Cao Yu's alcohol tolerance was much higher than that, so they hurriedly pulled Hongchang aside to warn him quietly.
Unexpectedly, Hongchang just winked and didn't move. The two men understood and realized that the two were just acting, and only Feng Ziying was really drunk.
Tanchun couldn't help it, she glared at Feng Ziying with disappointment, then turned away and went to drink by herself.
Poor Feng Ziying was busy to death at first, then scared to death, and finally anxious to death. After everything was finally settled, he had to face his beloved by candlelight on New Year's Eve. How could he keep his composure?
He ate and drank heartily! After a while, he fell on the table, snoring loudly and fell asleep!
The Supreme Lord and the Queen Mother looked on and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
The empress dowager was afraid that he would catch a cold, so she ordered people to carry him to a side hall to sleep. She also ordered people to keep an eye on the fire and cover him with a quilt.
Here, Cao Yu and Situ Sheng both laughed helplessly.
Say a few more words and it will be midnight.
The eunuch outside ran in and reported happily: "The Linde Palace said that fireworks will be set off soon. The Queen Mother invites the Emperor and the Queen Mother to watch!"
It was getting late at night. The two saints were actually very tired and too lazy to move. They looked at each other hesitantly.
Daiyu was the first to stand up, smiling: "The year is over with the sound of firecrackers. This is a must to celebrate the occasion."
"This is my first time watching fireworks in the palace during the New Year. Your Majesty, Queen Mother, please tell me a good place where I can see the whole view?"
Seeing her so interested, and looking at Tanchun and Hongchang who also looked curious and excited, the two saints smiled and became excited again.
"Let's go! I'll take you there!" The Queen Mother stood up first, holding the hands of Cheng Qian and Zijuan, and went to the back hall.
There is a two-story pavilion in the rear courtyard.
Looking toward the Daming Palace from the second floor, you can just see the gorgeous fireworks exploding in the sky.
"Hey! This birthday peach is new. We didn't have it last year!"
“This peacock is beautiful!”
"What peacock? That's a phoenix!"
“…A hundred birds pay homage to the phoenix!”
As they talked, the Supreme Lord and the Queen Mother began to argue.
Daiyu and others laughed softly.
"Look, mother! Is this a monkey?" Tanchun took the empress dowager's arm in surprise and drew her attention to herself.
Tai Shang glanced at them and took a step back gently.
Daiyu took up the position without any hesitation, leaning on the empress dowager's shoulder, soft and tender:
"Well, it's beautiful, but it's a little far..."
"What's there to be afraid of?" the Queen Mother said hurriedly, "Let's get a few and put them in this yard!"
The repeated calls made people go and look for it quickly.
Daiyu hugged the Queen Mother's arm and whispered coquettishly: "Although the Queen Mother is not my mother, she loves me as much as my mother does..."
On the other side, Tai Shang took Cao Yu and Situ Sheng back to the main hall.
Sitting back down, the Supreme Emperor looked at Cao Yu and said solemnly, "How is the Linde Palace?"
“In reply to the Majesty: When the Prince of Dongping entered the palace this afternoon, he had already sent the body of the Prince of the North to the Dali Temple.
"After Master Zhitong checked, he re-examined Taoist Zhang and went to the Northern Palace to talk to the Northern Princess. In the end, he obtained a confession."
Cao Yu instantly switched to serious mode and reported word for word.
The Supreme frowned, "Confession? Whose confession? Princess Bei's?"
"No. Princess Bei carefully preserved an eyewitness testimony of Prince Zhongshun exterminating three families in Jiangnan."
Cao Yu lowered his voice and said, "Jia Hua and Jia Yucun were accomplices of Prince Zhongshun. They participated in the whole process and even got a lot of the stolen goods.
"After he returned to the capital, he presented all the stolen goods to the King of the North.
“The Northern Prince was at odds with Prince Zhongshun, so he took the opportunity to force him to write down everything that happened.
"The confession contained a list of stolen goods and a drawing of a daughter who had accidentally escaped."
Tai Shang suppressed the irritation in his heart and closed his eyes tightly.
At this moment, new complications arise!
"Any more?"
"Yes." Master Zhitong took the confession and went to ask Jia Yucun what he had said while the iron was hot.
"But Jia Yucun is a coward. The master only said a few words, and he confessed everything about the Bei Wang, Zhongshun Wang, Jia Wang and the other two families, and even the little secrets of the officials that he knew."
Although he spoke sarcastically, Cao Yu never raised his head to look at the expression on the retired emperor's face.
This Jia Yucun was a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination in the Taishang court. He was demoted by the Taishang and reinstated again by the Taishang. He even almost sat on the side of the emperor and became a prime minister in the Taishang court!
But when the big thing happened, this person was just a coward and refused to take any responsibility at all!
"This man was brought up by the Wang family to compete with the civil officials. He is not tough, but he is very smooth.
"The Wang family, the Northern King, and even the four kings and eight dukes combined, all lack such a civil official who is a genuine Jinshi."
The Supreme's voice was icy and insightful, "I agreed to reinstate this man because I saw that he was a coward."
Cao Yu suddenly realized.
This man is very skillful and can get along with everyone, so he can temporarily fool the four kings and eight dukes and King Zhongshun to maintain the balance.
Precisely because he is spineless, he will not completely side with either side. Instead, when intimidated by the imperial power, he will turn against them and send both factions to hell completely!
For many years, the four kings and eight officials have recruited numerous civil officials. Why did the emperor choose Jia Yucun to promote?
It is definitely not because he is old and his eyesight is blurry, but because he had already made plans and just stood by and watched!
"The Supreme Candle illuminates a thousand miles!" Cao Yu kowtowed in submission.
The emperor's expression relaxed, he waved his finger, and whispered, "Go on."
Cao Yu knelt down and sat up straight, answering seriously: "Yes!"