On the twenty-third day of the lunar month, it is the great cold solar term. A white sun in the sky looks a little dazzling, but there is not much heat spilled into the world. The cold wind swept through the streets, rolling dead branches and leaves, whistling and rolling on the ground.

In the small shop of Duan Yunjie and Tan Erniang near Panlou Street, Xu Ping, Li Zhang, and Shi Quanbin sat together drinking at a table with the charcoal in the charcoal basin next to them burning red.

According to the customs of the capital, the 24th day of the second lunar month is the "handover of the year", the day of the sacrifice stove. Xu Ping has now supported the portal, and the various etiquettes of this festival are now in his hands, and his father Xu Zheng has completed his task and has long ignored these miscellaneous matters. Tonight he will return to his home outside the city, ready to start his busy work early tomorrow morning.

It's almost the New Year's Day, today Xu Ping and Lin Suniang went to Li Zhang's house as guests, because Li Zhang was on duty, Xu Ping left with him early, leaving Lin Suniang and Su Er to continue gossiping. If the time is late, Lin Suniang will not go out of the city, live in the original Xu family's small courtyard, and return to the mansion outside the city early tomorrow morning.

When he and Li Zhang arrived near the imperial city, they happened to meet Shi Quanbin, and the three of them made an appointment to have a drink.

Xu Ping's recital has gone up, and the imperial court decided to set up a compilation and revision of the regulations of the three divisions, Xu Ping served as the editor and revised the official, and selected officials to help him sort out the case files of the three divisions in recent years, and formed new regulations. Since it was only a change in the way of bookkeeping, the specific law did not change, and the Zhongshu gave the power to the three divisions, and it was enough to play it every five or ten days.

Shi Quanbin immediately asked himself to raise the miscellaneous affairs of the ordinance office, and left the palace to take up the post of the ordinance office, and pushed the ministry of the queen's palace to others. In the past two days, he was busy moving outside the palace, busy inside and out, and happened to meet the two of them.

Duan Yunjie deliberately avoided Xu Ping, and Tan Erniang came up with the wine and food, and she was always outside the house. On this cold day, I don't know where the guests are coming from.

After the death of his parents, Duan Yunjie had to keep filial piety for three years, and the affairs of men and women should be consciously avoided, and Xu Ping also understood. Since the last time he reunited with Duan Yunjie, he had only come two or three times to see if there was anything he could do to help. As a result, the dishes in this small shop are very popular in the palace, and there are people in the palace to take care of them, and Xu Ping can't do anything.

Poured wine, and the three of them drank a glass.

Shi Quanbin put down his wine glass, looked at Xu Ping and Li Zhang, and said, "There was a big incident in the palace today, you two probably don't know it yet, right?" ”

Li Zhang said: "Approaching the end of the year, the palace is also very busy, who is still in the mood to toss, what big can it be?" ”

Shi Quanbin said slowly: "There is a Ming edict today, Queen Guo has no children for nine years after entering the palace, and she is willing to enter the Tao, and she has been named Concubine Jing, Yujing Chong Miao Immortal, and the Taoist number is Qingwu." In the future, she will not be the queen, and she will concentrate on cultivation in Changning Palace. ”

"What?!" Xu Ping almost exclaimed in surprise with Li Zhang.

What the edict says about having no children and being willing to enter the Tao and so on are all pretexts, in fact, they are abolishing the queen. What a big thing it was after the abolition, how could it be so sudden that a holy decree would create a fait accompli?

Xu Ping asked Shi Quanbin: "When did this happen?" ”

"This afternoon, the official family sat in the side hall again, and after seeing Zaifu, the edict came down."

Xu Ping asked again: "Isn't there any opposition from the ministers?" ”

Shi Quanbin said: "Naturally, there is. As soon as the edict was issued, the Taiwan admonitions were written one after another, hehe, but they were all detained in the political affairs hall, and they couldn't enter the palace at all. ”

This must be instructed by the emperor that the prime minister should avoid the suspicion of dictatorship, otherwise he would not have done so.

Xu Ping knew more about the affairs in the palace than ordinary foreign officials, and he was not as fiercely opposed as Taiwan. Now that there is a lot of trouble in the palace, Queen Guo has launched a ruthless attack, and she has to stir up the situation with almost any beautiful concubine Zhao Zhen, how can she get it like this? If there is a conflict between husband and wife, one party must compromise, and if it falls on the emperor, it is natural for the queen to compromise. But Empress Guo has no such consciousness at all, the emperor and the queen are hard topped, and the rest of the palace can't live!

Whether it is the emperor Zhao Zhen or the prime minister Lu Yijian, of course, this thought has started a long time ago. However, you can't use the ridiculous reason that the queen slapped the emperor to abolish the queen, so it has been delayed for so long. It just so happened that Fan Yan, who had been relying on not taking office a few days ago, was driven out of the capital by the unbearable Taiwanese officials, and when he left to visit Lu Yijian, he came up with an idea. Since the emperor's wedding and the queen's entry into the palace, it has been nine years, and the queen has no children for nine years, and the queen should be abolished.

And today is the most suitable day. Lu Yijian's most feared figure, the privy envoy Wang Zeng was sent out of the capital by the two queen mothers, and the second minister Zhang Shixun, as an old official of the East Palace, had a close relationship with the emperor Zhao Zhen, and the other governors who stayed in the capital could not make waves under Lu Yijian.

When the emperor first came into power, Lu Yijian was unexpectedly demoted out of the capital, although he was quickly recalled, but the mustard in his heart was still left. The reason why she was degraded was because Queen Guo said something in front of the emperor, and at that time, Lu Yijian said that the other rulers were all Quyi Afu Empress Dowager, so why didn't Lu Yijian herself? Because of this sentence, Lu Yijian was demoted along with Zhang Qi, Xia Zhu and others.

However, although there is such a holiday with Empress Guo, Lu Yijian's full support for the emperor's abolition is not all selfish. Others may not know, but as the prime minister, he knows that the chaotic situation in the palace cannot continue, otherwise it will affect the government sooner or later. Sooner or later, if you have to take this step, it is better to cut through the mess quickly.

Thinking about this, Xu Ping didn't know how to judge this matter, and asked Shi Quanbin: "If you can't enter the palace, will the Taiwanese officials give up?" ”

"How is that possible! Now the secretary Fan Zhongyan and the imperial historian Kong Daofu are taking a few Taiwanese officials to theorize with Zai Fu in the political affairs hall! When other Taiwanese officials got the news, they also hurried over. ”

Speaking of this, Shi Quanbin said to Li Zhang: "By the way, when I came out of the palace just now, I heard that the official family had already ordered the gate, and no matter who asked for the right person today, the official family will not be seen." If the Li family can entrust an acquaintance, it is better to let someone be on duty for you for a day, so as not to go to the troubled waters this time. ”

Li Zhang smiled bitterly when he heard this: "At this time, where can I find someone to replace me?" Who will take my place? ”

I know that it is troubled waters, how can others not know? Who is looking for this trouble.

Outside the door, there was the sound of gongs and drums, accompanied by a commotion.

The three of them turned their heads to look out, and saw two young men in women's clothes outside the store, twisting and twisting there. There were also a few people dressed as gods and monsters, coaxing around the side, holding gongs and drums in their hands.

This is the traditional custom of "beating a night beard", a traditional custom in the capital. As soon as they entered the wax moon, the beggars in the city pretended to be like this, and begged for money from the shops on both sides along the waiting road, which also had the meaning of driving away evil spirits and avoiding disasters.

"Playing the night beard" will end tomorrow on the 24th "New Year", and today is the last day, and these beggars will work hard.

Look at it at the end of the year, the capital is really lively every day, and it is so lively that it makes people feel annoyed. (To be continued.) )