Zheng Yuheng pondered fruitlessly and entered the Cining Palace. When he arrived in front of the palace, the eunuch on duty at the door hurriedly came up with an umbrella and said, "Why did you forget to open the umbrella again? Although it is hot in midsummer, it is easy to catch a cold if you get wet."
　　Zheng Yuheng said, "Maybe I am unlucky. It often rains halfway through the walk."
　　The eunuch stopped him and said in a nice way, "Don't think so. Who can be as lucky as you? If you come early, the minister is inside, and you can't see the queen."
　　Then he led Zheng Yuheng in.
　　Zheng Yuheng was at the door, dispelling the cool air a little, and asked the queen mother about her three meals a day and whether she took medicine on time, and then went to her side to check her pulse. When
　　Dong Lingjiu saw him coming at this time, she thought that the child might have run into Minister Gan. As a monarch and a minister for more than ten years, she knew Gan Wenyi very well, and it was estimated that the old minister might have many speculations.
　　While Zheng Yuheng was feeling his pulse, Dong Lingjiu's eyes had been silently and gently covering him, making him a little nervous for no reason. He loosened his hand and was about to speak when he heard the empress dowager say, "Did you run into anyone?"
　　Zheng Yuheng felt that she was simply a god, and couldn't help but have a little admiration for her. However, Dong Lingjiu continued, "If you come here at this time and take the road you usually take, you should meet Minister Gan, right?"
　　He choked, and the bubbles of admiration were punctured one after another, so he said, "Yes..."
　　"Did he stop you?"
　　"Yes."
　　"Did he say anything?"
　　Zheng Yuheng shook his head.
　　Dong Lingjiu touched the paper, thinking that the old minister was still calm. If it was the chief censor of the Censorate, the Chief Censor would definitely turn around and question the empress dowager's virtues. If Meng Zhen hadn't said that he needed such a loyal and frank person, Dong Lingjiu would have sent this donkey-tempered person away long ago.
　　When she asked this, she stopped asking for details and finished reading the two articles on hand. When she turned to the next page, her eyes suddenly froze.
　　This handwriting...
　　Dong Lingjiu turned his eyes and looked at Zheng Yuheng beside him, and said to Ruixue: "Bring the prescription."
　　Ruixue responded and immediately sent the prescription written by Zheng Taiyi these days. Zheng Yuheng was beside the empress dowager. Dong Lingjiu asked for the prescription but did not ask him directly. This made the young doctor feel a little nervous, not knowing what her intention was.
　　Dong Lingjiu took the prescription and checked the handwriting. Sure enough, the handwriting was the same. Since this was the spring examination paper that was dismissed in the past, the name and place of origin of the examinee were not on the paper during the process of sealing the test questions and anonymous review.
　　Dong Lingjiu glanced at him and pulled out the list presented by Minister Gan from the bottom. Sure enough, he found Zheng Yuheng's name among the examinees of the spring examination in the past. There was a red circle on it to show that it was different from the other Jinshi who entered the Hanlin Academy.
　　She said, "Zheng Yuheng."
　　Zheng Yuheng was still unsettled, and when his full name was called, he immediately concentrated and said, "Yes."
　　"Three years ago, regarding the issue of too many hidden fields and insufficient taxes," Dong Lingjiu raised his head and looked into his eyes, "Among the top candidates evaluated by the chief examiner, only one insisted on clearing the fields immediately, reducing hidden fields and private soldiers, and starting with the princes and royal relatives, tempting them with benefits and imposing criminal laws, and also wrote a detailed land judgment strategy."
　　Zheng Yuheng was almost frozen in place by her calm words. For more than a thousand days and nights, countless topics that had repeatedly emerged in his mind, and countless articles that had been repeatedly revisited, were just like this, dissected and suddenly presented in front of him.
　　His reaction was even a moment slower, but in the moment he came back to his senses, he subconsciously said, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty was wrong."
　　"You are not wrong." Dong Lingjiu said, "You are not wrong."
　　Zheng Yuheng was speechless.
　　Dong Lingjiu retracted his gaze and fell on this article, saying: "The methods of other candidates are too soft. How can such an illness be comforted? Exploiting tenants and squeezing the people's blood and sweat should be killed." The
　　Queen Mother's words have always been gentle and soft, but when her calm tone fell on these words, there was still a sense of power that made people tremble all over.
　　Zheng Yuheng seemed to have been pressed to open a mechanism, like a tank of water with a thick barrier broken. The mood that he couldn't figure out for many years spread like water.
　　His voice was hoarse, and he said: "... But, the late emperor, the late emperor said that I was wrong."
　　Dong Lingjiu smiled and stretched out his hand. The young doctor hesitated for a moment, but still handed his hand over, and was pulled to the side of the chair by her. Zheng Yuheng always kept in mind the rules of serving the Queen Mother. Just as he was about to bow, Dong Lingjiu said: "Move a chair."
　　The eunuch moved a chair swiftly. Zheng Yuheng was almost pressed by her to sit beside her.
　　She said, "I was the one who deposed you."
　　Zheng Yuheng: "Hmm...ah?"
　　He responded subconsciously, and then realized what she said. Even though he was sitting next to her, he suddenly felt his hands and feet cold, and an inexplicable emotion kept surging and fermenting.
　　Seeing his surprised look, Dong Lingjiu couldn't help but poked the young doctor's forehead and said, "If I didn't do this, the late emperor would have almost chopped off your head in anger."
　　"Oh..." Zheng Yuheng felt a chill on his neck, and lowered his head silently to listen to the lecture, "Your Majesty is a wise monarch."
　　"When a wise monarch is pushed to a certain point, he will also have anger that he can't vent." Dong Lingjiu recalled and slowly narrated, "Although your method is not wrong, what kind of situation was it? The south has been dry for two years, and winter is coming soon. Nomadic tribes are looting in the northern border. The Shenwu Army, the Shenyong Army, and even the Imperial Camp Army, which side's officers and soldiers don't need real money to support, do you think we don't want to cut off the land and confiscate the property?"
　　"We", Zheng Yuheng caught this word very sensitively, and he felt a little subtle envy in his heart. The Queen Mother thought that she and the late emperor were "we".
　　He asked: "Then why..."
　　"Because they took the path of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and presented 80 million taels of silver to the emperor."
　　Zheng Yuheng was shocked by this number and took a breath.
　　These people... actually bribed the emperor through the eunuchs? !
　　Dong Lingjiu continued: "Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, and your method cannot save the urgent situation. Instead, we have to deal with them. So the late emperor accepted this bribe. In order to issue military pay and to show this attitude, he argued with the court officials and scholars from the three provinces and six ministries for more than ten days, and refuted nearly six rounds. When he was exhausted, your article was sent to the imperial desk."
　　Hearing this, Zheng Yuheng couldn't help but touch his neck and found that it was still intact. He became bolder: "A gentleman does not vent his anger on others."
　　Dong Lingjiu carefully examined him, with a smile on his lips, and said: "You dare to say in front of me that the late emperor was not a gentleman. It's really lawless."
　　Zheng Yuheng was a little arrogant because of his favor. Not only did he not admit his mistake, he also asked: "The bribe alone can come up with such a large amount, then the gold and silver embezzled by these local tyrants and royal relatives..."
　　That is almost an unimaginable number.
　　Dong Lingjiu nodded slightly and said calmly: "So before the death of the late emperor, the only document he personally read while he was ill was the implementation of the land clearing and land clearing, copying those who should be copied and killing those who should be killed. The national treasury was sufficient, and this was the last thing he did for the prince."
　　Outside the eaves, the sound of rain was pouring down, hitting the stone road in front of the hall.
　　These words, spoken by the Queen Mother, always made Zheng Yuheng feel a chill on his skin. He couldn't imagine whether the Queen Mother was sad or shed tears for a man who was classified as "us" by the Queen Mother, a husband who had participated in government affairs for more than ten years, after his sudden death. Would the
　　Queen Mother shed tears? She was so gentle and so powerful.
　　Zheng Yuheng fell into a slightly confused deep thought, and even constructed the man he had never met in his mind. He attached many characteristics that he never had to the late emperor, as if he must be a nearly perfect saint, otherwise he would not be worthy of the Queen Mother.
　　Dong Lingjiu coughed lightly and said, "What are you thinking about?"
　　Zheng Yuheng paused and said, "I'm thinking about... this article."
　　"If I hadn't forgotten about it, I should have thought that such a treatment would cut off your official career." Dong Lingjiu said, "Do you still want to be an official now? I can help you arrange it."
　　She arranged it for Zheng Yuheng based on his talent, which had nothing to do with his handsome appearance.
　　The thing that he had longed for so much suddenly appeared before him, but Zheng Yuheng did not feel happy. He stared at the other party in a daze, and could not even say thank you. After a long stalemate, he said, "I haven't studied for a long time."
　　Dong Lingjiu knew he was lying, but he still listened.
　　"I am afraid I don't have the sharpness of the past, nor the character of a civil servant." He tried to analyze, "I have been studying medicine with my teacher, and I have forgotten the Four Books and Five Classics. I am not qualified for such a generous treatment."
　　In his awkward self-deprecation, Dong Lingjiu said, "Don't you want to leave me?"
　　Zheng Yuheng's fingers on his side suddenly tightened, and his wet palms wet a corner of his clothes.
　　He kept silent.
　　"Becoming a civil servant and embarking on a career in politics, I can still die for the people of the world." Dong Lingjiu said to him, "You..."
　　"Are you going to drive me away, my queen?" He suddenly interrupted and raised his eyes suddenly. The two looked at each other, feeling the warmth of each other's eyes, and Zheng Yuheng was almost melted by her infinite love and compassion.
　　Dong Lingjiu paused for a moment, then said: "How could it be..."
　　She stretched out her hand and hugged him simply and warmly, as if he could become a cat, a pet, and return to the carefree time, and he could cuddle up to her without worrying about the wind and rain.
　　Dong Lingjiu put her hand on his back and gently on the back of his neck, and said softly, sweetly and peacefully like a dream: "No."