General Constitution of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 56 Feather and Ascension
Just after Ning Jue, Zhou Liang and others finalized the general idea, a carriage also drove into the real man's mansion under the protection of Dongchang Fanzi.

After the lightning strike in the Temple of Heaven, Tao Zhongwen thanked the guests behind closed doors, and all the turbulent waves in the capital seemed to have nothing to do with him.

While Tao Zhongwen was meditating in the hall, the maids and school captains in the real man's mansion suddenly retreated one after another. In the huge hall, only Tao Zhongwen and a man in black were left.

The black-robed man did not wake Tao Zhongwen up after he entered the hall, but walked up to the portrait of Sanqing, and put three pillars of high incense on it.

Listen to the "crackling" sound of sandalwood burning.

Tao Zhongwen, who was meditating on the side, opened his eyes only now, but Tao Zhongwen didn't seem too surprised when he saw the man in black, and his face relaxed a lot.

"Pin Dao failed to meet him far away, so I ask the emperor to forgive me."

The man in black took off his hat and heaved a long sigh.

"Really, do you think I can still trust you?"

In the past, Tao Zhongwen would have knelt down and begged for mercy, but today Tao Zhongwen seemed to see an old friend.

"Credible, not credible."

Jiajing sneered when he heard the words.

"Oh? Zhenren is going to switch to Samana? Why are you talking about such things?"

Tao Zhongwen stared blankly at the portrait of the Patriarch in the distance.

"Perhaps it is true that the three religions have the same origin, and the teachings are interlinked."

Jiajing sat on the grand teacher's chair beside him, frowned as he looked at the rockery and rocks in the courtyard of the Immortal Mansion in the distance.

"Then what can I believe in a real person, and what can't I believe in a real person?"

"Your Majesty can believe what Pindao said, but His Majesty has the right to joke about those prophecies."

But at this point, Tao Zhongwen took a deep breath, and said leisurely: "Of course, the emperor can also believe in the loyalty of the poor."

A little smile gradually appeared on Jiajing's face.

"I have never doubted the loyalty of a real person."

After Jiajing said these words, a little smile finally appeared on Tao Zhongwen's face.

He knew that the lives of his sons were saved.

The rest of Tao Zhongwen no longer ask for anything extravagantly.

"How many things rise and fall through the ages, Yoyo..."

Jiajing let out a long sigh, and the hall fell into silence again.

Ever since Ning Jue revealed the prophecy that "the two dragons will not meet", Jiajing has been thinking about Tao Zhongwen.

If Tao Zhongwen had the slightest disobedience, the people under Jiajing would not tolerate him to this day.

Jiajing just wanted to verify his conjecture when he came to the door today.

Jiajing is not at ease if he asks others to ask these words.

"Then can I trust Yan Song's loyalty like I trust a real person?"

Jiajing didn't choose to continue making detours, but directly asked his own questions.

Tao Zhongwen showed a little bitterness when he heard this.

"The emperor can trust Mr. Yan Ge, but Mr. Yan Ge really hurt the poor."

"In this poor life, I regret knowing two people the most. One is Shao Zhongkang, and the other is his Fenyi Xianggong."

Tao Zhongwen's alchemy is fake, all kinds of prophecies are fake, and the fortune-telling is a result of previous collusion.

But Tao Zhongwen could figure out what Jiajing wanted him to guess.

Can Tao Zhongwen guess all kinds of things about the fire in the palace?
Jiajing didn't believe it.

But if there is such a person in the court, neither side can offend him, he neither wants to die, nor does he want the thieves to hold grudges against him, so he sends a message to himself through Tao Zhongwen's mouth.

That Jiajing is too trustworthy.

Jiajing sighed helplessly.

"By the way, is the real Guigeng coming this year?"

Tao Zhongwen's heart trembled.

"Poverty, three out of seventy this year, it's a rare year, and I still look forward to the emperor..."

Before Tao Zhongwen could finish speaking, Jiajing directly interrupted Tao Zhongwen's words.

"Three out of seventy, with white hair and a youthful face, there must be something in the Daoist's internal skills. The Daoist should still practice well, and in the future he will assist the crown prince in governing the Great Ming Dynasty."

Having said that, Jiajing's voice paused, and then he looked at Tao Zhongwen.

"What did the real man want to say just now?"

Tao Zhongwen sat slumped on the futon as if all his strength had been emptied.

"No, nothing."

Jiajing was very satisfied with Tao Zhongwen's answer, and after a long sigh, Jiajing stood up.

"Since that's the case, then I won't bother Daoist Qingxiu, I just miss Daoist, come and have a look."

After all, Jiajing took a meaningful look at Tao Zhongwen, and immediately wanted to get up.

The moment Jiajing walked out of the hall of the Immortal Mansion, Tao Zhongwen, who was originally sitting on the futon, stood up.

Then he solemnly knelt down on the ground, saluting like he did when he saw Jiajing for the first time.

"Crassman Tao Zhongwen, thank you Your Majesty!"

Jiajing's footsteps hesitated for a moment, but without looking back, he walked unswervingly to the carriage in the distance.

Looking at Jiajing's back, Tao Zhongwen was completely lying on the ground, and his Taoist robe was soaked in cold sweat at some point.

As the carriage left the Real Man's Mansion, Tao Shitong, who had just hid in the back hall, also hurried out to help Tao Zhongwen, who was slumped on the ground.

"Father, what's wrong with you? What did His Majesty tell you?"

At this time, Tao Zhongwen no longer has the immortal demeanor of the past:

"Shitong, pack your things, we can go back to Huangmei's hometown."

Tao Shitong was startled when he heard the words, and then looked at his father ecstatically.

"Father, do you think it's true? Then these gold and silver crowns...?"

Tao Zhongwen shook his head with a smile on his face.

"Leave them all and return them to His Majesty."

Although Tao Shitong was a little bit reluctant, it was beyond his expectation to be able to withdraw from the capital this time.

"Father, you wait here, my son will go clean up now."

"Go, pack up quickly, bring only some money, get two carriages, and our Tao family will leave the city before dark tomorrow."

"Here!"

Tao Shitong didn't doubt him, so Dang even brought the servants of the real man's mansion to pack up his things.

He didn't want to stay in Lao Shizi's capital for a quarter of an hour.

Tao Shitong cleaned up for most of the night, until it was dark, and Tao Shitong saw that there was still no one lighting the lights in his father's dojo, so he realized something was wrong.

"Why is no one holding a lamp for my father?"

"My lord, Daoist Master ordered before dark that he will make a bigu for the last time, and no one else is allowed to disturb him."

Tao Shitong's brows gradually furrowed, he threw away the bundle in his hand, and immediately walked into the hall holding an oil lamp.

I saw Tao Zhongwen still meditating in the hall as in the past, and on the desk not far away was a piece of rice paper with wet ink on it.

"father?"

Tao Shitong stepped forward to take a closer look, only to find that Tao Zhongwen, who was meditating on the futon, had already lost his breath.

It was night, there was a lot of crying in the real man's mansion. In the early morning of the next day, Tao Shitong, the prime minister of Taichang Temple, reported to the cabinet. Tao Zhongwen, a real man from Shenxiao Baoguo, ascended to the real man's mansion in the capital. , give sacrifices to ten altars, send Zhongguan brocade clothes to protect the funeral, and have a burial in the camp, with the Earl's ceremony.

Of course, Jiajing didn't go to court in the first place, so this day is not considered absenteeism.

Since entering the capital, Tao Zhongwen has become a pawn in the court.

Although Jiajing favored him, he never asked him about politics.

Yan Song colluded with him, but he just wanted to use his mouth to hide some trouble for himself.

When the game of the emperor's new clothes was dismantled, Tao Zhongwen became the most inconspicuous abandoned child.

It wasn't until the last breath of turbid air that Tao Zhongwen really felt what happiness was.

There is a saying in the history of the Ming Dynasty: Although Zhongwen was an extremely human minister, he was careful and meticulous, and did not dare to act recklessly.

(End of this chapter)