lady, please calm down

On March 22, a rain of apricot blossoms wet Tokyo slightly.

Since the assassination of the King of Chu on the 19th, the public opinion field, which had been strangely silent for two days, finally disclosed a lot of details about the case today through the Qiyao magazine platform.

First of all, Qiyaokan refuted the rumor of "the death of the King of Chu" circulating in the city, saying that the King of Chu was only injured in an assassination attempt, and with the efforts of the Imperial Hospital, his injuries have stabilized and he is not in danger of life, and he will be able to attend court soon.

The second edition is an interview by Qiyaokan with officials from the Dali Temple. After interrogation by the Dali Temple, they have obtained solid evidence showing that the assassination of the King of Chu by the Daxiangguo Temple was an organized and premeditated political conspiracy to overthrow the Xin Dynasty's regime.

The descendants of the Xu family, the monks of Xiangguo Temple, the Anfeng Dynasty, and the Hebei prison troops were all involved.

The third edition contained a signed confession by Pei Weishu, the Minister of Rites of Anfeng, which directly named Qin Huizhi and stated with certainty that he had been bewitched by Lin'an. Fortunately, he repented at the critical moment, voluntarily surrendered himself, confessed his crimes, and prevented the implementation of subsequent conspiracies.

The fourth edition, however, came from Ayu's unsigned editorial. In the subsequent coup planned by Pan Xiong and others, the Chen Manchu clan and Ayu and her son were used as pawns. After Ayu learned about the case, she was furious and went all out.

In the comments, not only did he denounce Lin'an's despicable behavior, he also clearly stated, "Lin'an's actions are equivalent to an act of war. Our dynasty regards Lin'an as tearing up the Lin'an Peace Agreement on its own."

The people of Tokyo, who had been in a state of panic for two days, felt like they were on a roller coaster.

The huge emotional fluctuations made many people feel angry. After the case was reported in the newspaper that day, Dong Tianbao and Manager Xu of Niuxing Street got together. They first felt fortunate that the King of Chu survived this incident, and then cursed Lin'an for being insidious.

He felt that he had no place to vent his anger. It happened that Niuxing Street was not far from Daxiangguo Temple, so the two of them discussed it and went to Daxiangguo Temple together.

There are more than a thousand monks in Daxiangguo Temple. In the past, it was not only a big landlord, but also one of the best money lending institutions in Tokyo. How could such a place not have a strong background? In the past, the two small businessmen naturally did not dare to come to Xiangguo Temple to cause trouble.

But now, since the Qiyao Journal has announced that Xiangguo Temple was related to the assassination of the King of Chu, it means that no matter how powerful the backing is, it cannot protect it!
When the wall falls, everyone pushes it!
No one will easily provoke a bad person unless the bad person is about to die.

But there were many people who had the same idea as them. When they arrived at the gate of Daxiangguo Temple, they found out that before dawn and before the Qiyao magazine was published, Chen Jingyan, the new acting magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, had personally led people to seal off the entire temple, and more than a thousand monks in the temple had all been taken away.

Some Tokyo residents who arrived late lamented that this great temple, which had been popular for hundreds of years, had offended the wrong people this time. You monks, you should have been a bunch of monks, and you should have stayed away from worldly affairs, but you occupied fertile farmland, lent money at high interest rates, and now you even dared to do something like assassinating the new monarch!
Live it!

However, some people immediately thought that since the reign of Emperor Liu Qi, the position of the Governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, an important official in the capital, had always been vacant. Chen Jingyan, the Governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, was nominally the second in command, but in fact he was the chief official of the capital.

In this way, the rumors about the Chen family were self-defeating.

It seems that the King of Chu still trusts his family.

The idea of ​​venting anger at Daxiangguo Temple failed. Someone in the crowd shouted, "Let's go! Let's talk to the retired emperor of the Northern Expedition!"

This instantly allowed everyone to find a new goal.

The report in Qiyao magazine was vague, only saying that An Fengchao was also involved, so everyone naturally subconsciously thought that Chai Ji was also innocent.

As the saying goes, a shed phoenix is ​​no better than a chicken.

Now, Chai Ji is the shed chicken that has lost all its dignity and the trust of all its subjects.

Unexpectedly, Junyi Street where Chai Ji was staying was even more lively than the area outside Xiangguo Temple.

The street was halfway blocked by people.

Outside the villa, the ones standing in the front were students from the Imperial College and students from Huaibei such as Cui Zaidao. They held banners that read "severely punish the murderer."

Compared to the students who still had some respect for their father and emperor, the endless common people behind them were not so polite. From time to time, someone shouted into the courtyard: "Duke Anle, have you forgotten who rescued you from Liaodong? Now you are colluding with Lin'an to assassinate the King of Chu. Isn't this repaying kindness with enmity? You two are really father and son!"

Some people also shouted: "Duke Anle lost the city of Dongjing. Now the people are protected by the King of Chu. We have finally lived a few years of peace and stability. Don't jump out and cause trouble for us again."

The ridicule mixed with the booing could be heard far away in the villa.

At the end of last year, there were dozens of Anfeng officials who followed Chai Ji to Tokyo. However, since he issued the abdication edict, the only ones who remained by his side until now were Pei Weishu, who was just released this morning, and two loyal ministers, Tao Chunlai and Xue Huiyan.

Hearing the noise and excitement outside the courtyard, Xue Huiyan looked at Pei Weishu with disdain, but said to Chai Ji: "Your Majesty, does this matter really have nothing to do with you?"

"Don't call me Your Majesty, don't call me Your Majesty"

Chai Ji felt that he was more wronged than Dou E in the opera. It was obvious that he had nothing to do with the twists and turns of the outside world in the past two days, but because of Pei Weishu, he was suspected by everyone for no reason.

Even so, Chai Ji first reminded Xue Huiyan not to call him His Majesty again, and then said with a bitter face: "Master Xue, don't you still believe me? I really have nothing to do with this matter!"

It's no wonder that Xue Huiyan also had doubts, because Pei Weishu was Chai Ji's close confidant. Pei Weishu was deeply involved in the matter and even came forward as a witness, identifying Lin'an as the mastermind behind the incident.

Under such circumstances, it is hard to believe that Chai Ji was completely unaware of the situation.

Chai Ji saw Xue Huiyan's expression and knew that he didn't believe him, so he could only say: "God and earth, if I have anything to do with this, I will not have a good end!"

Chai Ji was forced to swear a poisonous oath on the spot, but Xue Huiyan was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Your Majesty, now that things have come to this, don't struggle any more. The commotion outside is just the people's will to return to the throne, but the people's will cannot be violated. When the new king ascends the throne, Your Majesty will put aside worldly affairs and be at ease as the Duke of Anle."

After saying that, Xue Huiyan bowed, turned around and left.

Tao Chunlai also glanced at Chai Ji and Pei Weishu, then walked out with Xue Huiyan.

"Hey! Master Xue, Master Tao"

Chai Ji called out twice, but Xue and Tao turned a deaf ear to him. This resolute attitude seemed to be telling Chai Ji that the relationship between them as king and subject would end from today.

Feeling frustrated, Chai Ji was angry and sad. He looked at Pei Weishu who was still sitting peacefully in the hall and said angrily, "Why didn't the King of Chu kill you? It's all because of you that I was implicated!"

"The King of Chu did not kill me because I am still useful."

From the time he published the signed article accusing Qin Hui, Pei Weishu had no chance of easing relations with the Lin'an court. He was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water. He said, "Besides, when I was in Anfeng, wasn't it all because of you, Duke Anle? Now Duke Anle is also accusing me, which is really chilling."

Chai Ji could call himself "Mr. Anle" but when his subjects called him Lord Anle to his face, it hurt his heart. He pointed at Pei Weishu and cursed, "You, you, you, villain!"

Outside the annex.

Although the cursing was loud, no one dared to force their way in because Kang Shitou's subordinate Zhao Heng was on duty there. Otherwise, Chai Ji and others would have been dragged out and beaten up.

But it is not a good idea to keep the villa surrounded like this.

At the end of Chenshi, Zhao Heng sought out Cui Zaidao, the leader of the students, to discuss things. As Mao'er's nephew, Zhao Heng had naturally also studied at Lanxiang. In fact, he and Cui Zaidao were senior and junior students.

As they were raised in the same lineage, their thinking was always similar, and the two of them communicated very effectively. When Cui Zaidao heard Zhao Heng persuade him to take his people away, Cui Zaidao said, "Senior, it's not that I don't want to give you this face, but everyone has accumulated a lot of anger in the past three days. If I don't take any action, then the Southern Dynasty will just think that we are weak and can be bullied!"

Zhao Heng said: "Who said you can't take action? You can make it bigger and mobilize the whole city, regardless of whether you are a scholar, farmer, worker or merchant, to take to the streets and protest! Not only for the Southern Dynasty to see, but also for the officials of the court to see."

Cui Zaidao understood instantly that Senior Zhao wanted him to organize a demonstration of surging public opinion. Now, the King of Chu is the new dynasty, and the new dynasty is the King of Chu. The scoundrels in Lin'an are doing sinister things, and there is no reason for us to swallow our anger!

Organizing a massive demonstration was to pave the way for the King of Chu's inevitable southern expedition.
After being enlightened by these words, Cui Zaidao took action immediately and mobilized the Huaibei Student Union organizations at all levels in Tokyo. By the middle of the day, Junyi Street was crowded with people.

But many people still came from all directions of the city.

At noon, more than 30,000 people, led by students from various places and students from Tokyo, followed by representatives from all walks of life, set out from Junyi Street in a long queue of several miles, chanting slogans such as "Lin'an is unfaithful and ungrateful", "Extradite the Qin thieves and punish them severely", "The heavenly army is heading south and striking with thunder", and paraded around the city.

On that day, envoys from various countries all hid in the post station, and no member of the delegation was allowed to go out, for fear of accidentally bringing the anger of the city to themselves.

At noon, when it was time for lunch, Chen Jingyan happened to come to report on official business. Chen Chu simply asked someone to call Ayu and Nian'er, and they accompanied Chen Jingyan in the dining room of the front house while they ate and talked about things.

Old Chen just left the Prince of Chu's Mansion yesterday. He stayed up all night preparing for this morning's operation at Daxiangguo Temple.

His eyes were bloodshot at this moment, but he could not hide his excitement. Indeed, his sudden appointment as the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture was beyond the expectations of many people.

Kaifeng Prefecture is located in the capital area. Historically, the chief officials have been princes, clan relatives, and other people who are related to the emperor by blood.

Chen Chu had no relatives and his children were still young, so Chen Jingyan knew that the affairs of Kaifeng Prefecture were indeed important.

Chen Jingyan, who was a man who always kept silent while eating at home, threw that rule out of his mind when Chen Chu asked him about it at the dinner table. He then told him about the events at Daxiangguo Temple in detail. "Most of the monks didn't know the inside story, but the abbot Huikong was a stubborn person. He practiced the silent meditation and wanted to go on a hunger strike."

Chen Chu, however, did not take these matters too seriously. He only said, "They believe in cutting off the threads of worry, living a life without worries, not asking about the past, not asking about good and evil. It is inevitable that some lawless lunatics use temples as hiding places. The pure land of Buddhism has become a place for filth and dirt. This loophole needs to be filled."

The reason why they waited for two days before taking action against the Daxiangguo Temple was to wait for the report in the Qiyao magazine this morning to lay the groundwork for public opinion so that they could take action against the temple where believers were widely spread without causing unrest.

Chen Jingyan stayed in the palace for two days and understood that Chen Chu wanted to use this assassination attempt to implement many policies.

Not only were there policies aimed at the Lin'an Dynasty, there were also many policies aimed at the internal affairs of Qi.

He said, "Well, I have had a brief discussion with Prime Minister Cai and Minister Du this morning. It just so happens that under the pretext of clearing out the criminals hiding in temples and Taoist temples, a registration system for monks and Taoists will be implemented. From now on, who can become a monk, how large the temple or Taoist temple can be, and how much land can be owned, all require approval from the court."

Chen Chu also nodded and said: "Our dynasty is ultimately a secular society. Various religions and sects do not engage in production, but they gather wealth from the people. They can have it, but they cannot occupy the mainstream of society."

From time to time, Chen Chu would utter some unfamiliar words that Chen Jingyan was not familiar with, but Chen Jingyan did not ask too many questions. As a scholar, he was naturally happy to see the new dynasty crack down on monks and Taoists.

After dinner, Ayu personally made tea for her husband and father. Then she sat aside holding Nian'er and watched the two men quietly. The corners of her mouth rose slightly, and a shallow dimple was faintly visible.

The most important man in her life is here now.

The tranquility here reminded people of the unrest and turbulence in recent days. Ayu looked down at her son in her arms, and suddenly made up her mind. She took advantage of the gap between their conversation and said, "Dad, there is something I want to trouble you with."

"Oh?" Chen Jingyan couldn't help but smile when he saw his daughter suddenly being so serious, "You and I are father and daughter, so if you have something to say, just say it."

"Well, Daddy, I have the princess's trust. I have been teaching Ji'er for the past few years, but I am not very knowledgeable and have been finding it increasingly difficult lately. But Daddy is very knowledgeable. In the future, when Daddy is free, can you come to the mansion to teach Ji'er?"

"."

Chen Jingyan couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. With his daughter's talent, she is qualified enough to be Chen Chu's teacher, let alone teach a seven or eight-year-old child. Why would she suddenly ask an old minister to teach the prince born by the princess?

Then, Chen Jingyan thought of the conversation between his second brother and Ayu a few days ago, and he realized that Ayu had probably completely given up some unrealistic ideas, which was why she expressed it by asking Chen Jingyan to teach Jier. This could also increase the emotional bond between Jier and the Chen family.

Figuring it out is one thing, but making Chen Jingyan completely accept this reality is another.

"It's no problem to teach Ji'er, but I'm your father. I can't be regarded as a master and a disciple with Ji'er, right? Hahaha."

Chen Jingyan said it jokingly, but he didn't make it clear whether he wanted to teach the prince or not.

On the side, Chen Chu also smiled and said, "I think that if we don't talk about master and apprentice, but just grandfather and grandson, it is reasonable for father-in-law to teach Ji'er!"

Although it was also a joke, Chen Chu's words forced Chen Jingyan to think seriously. Especially since the former used the term "father-in-law" which he would not easily say, and mentioned grandfather and grandson.

Although Chen Jingyan and Jier have no blood relationship, it makes sense to say so.

Chen Chu continued with a smile, "I was born in a humble family and have been fighting for half my life. I am far inferior to my father-in-law in terms of government affairs. Even if my father-in-law is appointed as the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, he will have some experience in the future, and I can learn a little from him."

Chen Jingyan then realized that his son-in-law had asked him to take the position of magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture in order to assist the crown prince in the future!

During the Zhou Dynasty, all the prefects of Kaifeng Prefecture were also the crown prince. This almost made it clear to Chen Jingyan that Chen Chu would have to appoint a crown prince after he ascended the throne.

From Chen Chu's perspective, now that Yunong and Jiarou are both pregnant again, appointing a crown prince as soon as possible will put an end to all kinds of thoughts inside and outside the family, thus avoiding internal strife.

In fact, the choice Chen Chu gave to Chen Jingyan was already the best one. As long as Chen Jingyan could change his mindset and help Ji'er wholeheartedly since childhood, the situation of the Chen family would not be embarrassing in the future.

Seeing that her father did not express his opinion immediately, Ayu could not help but feel anxious. She sighed and said, "In the past two days, I have seen clearly that there were terrible rumors on the 19th and 20th. If the prince and princess have any doubts about my family, I will have no way to defend myself. Only when the family is united, others will not be able to take advantage of it!"

After hearing his daughter's words, Chen Jingyan slowly stood up, straightened his robe, and said, "I am honored that the King of Chu has not abandoned my shallow knowledge. I am willing to teach the prince with all I have learned in my life, and I will do my best until my death."

After saying that, he even pretended to kneel down. Chen Chu would not let his father-in-law kneel down before him, so he quickly helped him up and said with a smile, "Father-in-law, why are you doing this? Nian'er is your grandson, and Ji'er is also your grandson-in-law. In the future, father-in-law should beat and scold you. There is no need for us to be so polite as a family."

If I ask you to teach a child, would you devote yourself to it until your death?

It's not an orphan.
At this moment, Xiao Yi from the outside hurriedly approached, stood at the door, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, Luo Ruji led the entire Zhou Kingdom delegation and Wu Gong, the commander of the Zhou army in the east of the city, to request an audience."

"Ask for an audience together?"

Chen Chu couldn't help but wonder. The people outside were marching, but Luo Ruoji dared to come to the palace at this time. Wasn't he afraid of being stopped and beaten on the road?
Before he could ask again, Jiao Tu trotted over at an even faster pace, "Your Highness! Just now, Commander Liu Baishun of the Xiang army sent someone to report that the protesting people marched to Shuyuan Street and suddenly rushed into the Zhou State Posthouse. The Zhou envoy climbed over the wall from the backyard and escaped. The people searched everywhere for him but couldn't find him, so they smashed the posthouse. Commander Liu asked if they should bring people to dissuade them."

"."

When Chen Chu heard this, he immediately understood why Luo Ruoji ran to the palace. It turned out that his old nest was destroyed, so he ran to him to escape!

Chen Chu couldn't help but get angry, "Are those students stupid? The posthouse they smashed is our dynasty's property!" (End of this chapter)