There are very few lights in the cold palace, but today one light is lit because the guests are rarely there.

Looking at Grand Secretary Zhang's silver hair, Jing Jiu realized that so many years had passed.

"I thought you could live for many years. With your means and ability, King Jing's rebellion is just a trivial matter, and Qin Zhao is not a threat, so there will be no problem in the world."

Jing Jiu said: "I didn't expect that this day would come."

Grand Secretary Zhang sighed and said with emotion: "I am eighty years old this year, so I am considered a long life. If it weren't for the elixir given by Your Majesty every year, I would have been bones long ago."

Jing Jiu said, "I want to use you, so you don't need to thank me."

Grand Secretary Zhang said seriously: "Your Majesty dares to use me and trust me is the greatest blessing in my life."

Jing Jiu said, "I think it's good, too."

Grand Secretary Zhang looked at his face, as if he had seen the little prince who didn't like to talk many years ago, and suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, have you succeeded?"

Although Your Majesty has never said it clearly, how can a person as smart as a Grand Secretary not guess something?

Jing Jiu shook his head and said, "Assault requires breaking through existing rules. It is the most difficult thing in a complete world. It may take me many years to go back."

Even in the real world, he rarely explained his practice, only a few people including Zhao Layue had heard of it.

What he said was short at this time, but he gave a serious explanation to Mr. Zhang.

Grand Secretary Zhang patted his thighs with some regret and said, "It's a pity that I can't wait for that day."

Jing Jiu said: "Maybe."

Grand Secretary Zhang looked at his face and said very seriously: "There are only four of the five countries left in the world. Qi is bloated and weak. What eunuch is strong in Zhao State? And the eunuch has no descendants. Don't care too much. I have to work hard for many years, but the people's customs are difficult to correct. The court's appearance is already full of holes. After I die, I am afraid that it will collapse."

"What do you want to say?"

"For the sake of the people, your Majesty, please come out."

Jing Jiu said: "Since it's a mess, why bother to clean up? If you can't beat it, you have to fight it hard. There will only be more people who die."

Grand Secretary Zhang was silent for a long time and said, "Your Majesty's words are reasonable, but I am still too persistent."

Jing Jiu said: "Apart from idiots, everyone will have some persistence."

Grand Secretary Zhang suddenly laughed and looked at him and asked, "Your Majesty, are you a genius or an idiot?"

A faint smile appeared in Jing Jiu's eyes and said, "I am very smart, but I'm a little lazy."

Looking back on the days when His Majesty was in the palace in the past thirty years, Master Zhang expressed a lot of emotion and said: "I used to wonder, how could there be such a lazy person in the world as His Majesty? Later I realized that Your Majesty is an outsider in the world and was just born in the imperial family. For Your Majesty, this is really a disadvantage."

Jing Jiu said: "It is very good for the imperial palace to practice, and you are very good, so it's not a loss."

Listening to His Majesty's praise, Grand Secretary Zhang was in a state of great excitement, almost lost his composure, and forced himself to calm down and asked, "Your Majesty, are you really an immortal descending to earth?"

This is his biggest doubt in his life and the answer he wants to know most before his death.

Jing Jiu thought for a while and said, "Yes."

Grand Secretary Zhang was shocked and speechless, saying, "This... is really... I have no regrets to serve Your Majesty in this life."

Jing Jiu patted his shoulder and said, "Anyway, thank you for your hard work over the years."

Grand Secretary Zhang could no longer control his emotions, and cried in tears, crawling on the ground, unable to get up for a long time.

...

...

In early autumn, the Grand Secretary died.

The whole country of Chu was mourning, and the city was covered with mourning. Even Qin, Zhao and Qi sent missions to pay their respects. According to the statements reported by the Bachelor's Office, the old lady asked to be low-key, but as the de facto ruler of Chu for more than 20 years, this requirement could not be achieved at all. The so-called extreme sorrow and honor were not enough to describe the scene at that time.

With the help of the eldest maid, the old lady was tired for several days with her three sons, but Mr. Zhang, who was sent to the south, did not show up.

Jing Jiu once pointed to Liangwangfeng and told Zhao Layue that as long as any road reaches its end, it can only be turned back. Most things in the world are like this. The funeral of the Grand Secretary brought many negative effects. Not to mention the tombs exceeding the system, the most troublesome thing is that it is prohibited from marrying among the people for a hundred days, which quickly turns the grief in the hearts of the people into complaints.

The atmosphere in the capital is gradually changing.

One morning, several ministers led by Grand Secretary Chen joined forces with the prince and the prince to come to the palace to see Your Majesty, but they didn't know what they were saying.

According to the news from the eunuchs in the palace, His Majesty the Emperor did not see these people at all.

It was not until this time that many officials and the people remembered that there was an emperor in Chu State. When Grand Secretary Zhang was there, these things didn't matter, but now that Grand Secretary is dead, it is impossible for a second official with such great influence to appear in the court, so the position of the emperor suddenly became important.

Mr. Zhang made a lot of preparations before his death. If everything was carried out according to the old rules, the political legacy he left to the State of Chu should have played a role for many years.

Unfortunately, there is never a lack of ambition in the officialdom, and the greed for power is destined to make the court unable to continue to be calm.

When the third autumn rain fell, the Censorate began to take action, and more than ten memorials were handed over to the Secretariat, who was the prefect of a certain county.

After reading the memorials by Grand Secretary Chen and several ministers, they sent them to the palace without saying a word.

His Majesty the Emperor has not used seals for many years, and this time I think it will be no exception. However, the actions of the dukes in the court are themselves a statement.

The prefect was the person in Grand Secretary Zhang's pocket. To be precise, the prime minister prepared by Grand Secretary for the Well ninety years later.

It was hard to stop when the wind and rain were together, and the finger of the struggle was soon pointed at General Pei.

This famous general of the Great Chu returned to Kyoto overnight after drinking a pot of wine and was immediately sent to prison for bribery, corruption, collusion with enemies and raising thieves. The last three charges are relatively simple, and the problem is that the officials who are qualified to be bribed by General Pei... are the dead Grand Secretary Zhang.

The storm turned into heavy rain, and several officials who still cared about the Grand Secretary fell soon, and there were many rumors related to Grand Secretary Zhang in the capital.

The Grand Secretary was indeed too tough in his later years in power. He had long been discussing in the officialdom and the people, but those discussions were hidden in the dark and did not surface until now.

Among those rumors, Grand Secretary Zhang was extravagant and extremely cruel, and was extremely disrespectful to His Majesty and extremely disrespectful to the people.

Gradually, no, it should be said that soon, the Grand Secretary changed from a famous minister to a powerful minister, and then he was about to become the largest treacherous minister in the history of the Chu State.

As the autumn mood grew deeper, an official finally submitted a memorial to punish Grand Secretary Zhang for nine major crimes.

The Bachelor's Mansion was surrounded by imperial guards, and the Dukes in the court did not forget Mr. Zhang who was far away in the south, and sent cavalry to take him back.

The court did not use shackles to Mr. Zhang, nor did it tie him up with the cage, but asked him to ride a horse to accompany him, but deliberately released the news.

The cabbage thrown by the angry people and the ink splashed by the scholars kept flying from both sides of the long street, like a storm, making his head and face full of his face.

Master Zhang sat on the horse, bit his lips tightly, his face pale, and he never said a word.

...

...

There was a lot of crying in the bachelor's mansion, and the old lady went to the imperial prison in a carriage. The imperial guards were a little turbulent, but in the end they did not stop them.

Although the Bachelor's Mansion, which ruled the Chu State for many years, suffered from the storm, it still retained a lot of dark power.

In the dark prison, looking at the eldest son who had not seen him for many years, the old lady seemed to have become older.

Master Zhang knelt down through the iron bars, and said with tears on his face: "Mother, my son is unfilial and failed to send his father the last journey. Now you still have to worry."

The old lady, with the help of the big maid, sat in the chair, stared into his eyes and asked, "Is the ordnance case true?"

Mr. Zhang was silent for a while and nodded, saying, "That happened more than ten years ago. Please forgive my son for being confused."

"I have asked someone to transfer the file to read it. You just ate the money for the ordnance case. There is no other problem, so why are you confused?"

The old lady said tiredly: "Your father has been greedy for too much money than this in his life."

Master Zhang walked forward, grabbed the iron fence and asked, "What exactly are those bastards in the court doing?"

The old lady sneered, "What do you want to do? Of course they want to completely stink your father and trample it down."

After a moment of silence, Master Zhang said, "I am simple, but how can they do this to cure my father's sin?"

The old lady said quietly, "So they carried the emperor out."

Master Zhang was very surprised and said, "That idiot emperor?"

The old lady said: "It is said that your father forged the case of Prince Jing that year in order to imprison His Majesty in the palace. This is a serious crime to kill the nine clans."

Master Zhang's face turned paler and said, "My father is really disrespectful to His Majesty. Is that... that true?"

The old lady said, "Your Majesty is the one you respect most in your life. How could you do such a traitor?"

Master Zhang didn't believe this sentence at all, and said with a wry smile: "No matter what, it will be impossible after all. I don't want to be humiliated by these thieves..."

The old lady said, "I'm here to see you tonight because I'm worried that you'll do something stupid."

Master Zhang asked slightly, "Is there still room for things to turn back?"

The old lady said, "Your father said before his death that nothing needs to be done and nothing will be wrong."

Master Zhang did not understand his father's last words and asked, "What does this mean?"

The old lady said, "I don't understand very well, but I think it should be related to the imperial seal."

Master Zhang thought about the rumors and had some hope, saying, "Is Yuxi really missing?"

The old lady said, "I guess your father should have returned the imperial seal to Your Majesty. The officials in the court now have no seals. How can we cure our Zhang family's crimes?"

...

...

The rain in late autumn is so cold.

Grand Secretary Chen, with the Minister of Rites and other ministers, stood outside the hall and waited for half an hour, but still did not receive the summons from His Majesty.

As the dusk became darker, Grand Secretary Chen glanced at everyone and left first.

Walking in the gate of the imperial city, he said in a faint voice: "Is it really in that temple?"

Jin Cheng, Minister of Rites, was the disciple Zhang's most valued student back then, and he was only over forty years old this year.

No one expected that he would be the first official to conduct surgery on the Bachelor's House.

"The teacher stayed in the palace for midnight, and no one knew what he had said to His Majesty."

Jin Cheng said calmly: "But no one has seen the imperial seal in the cabinet since the next day."

Grand Secretary Chen narrowed his eyes and said, "Your Majesty seems to have regarded Fang Xi as a gold medal in life saving. What do you think?"

Jin Cheng said expressionlessly: "The autumn is high and the sky is dry, so you should be careful of the candle."

Grand Secretary Chen looked at the bluestone slabs wet from the rain outside, and after a long period of silence, he nodded easily.
Chapter completed!