Chapter 564 Undercover, Undercover, All Undercover
In the first small court meeting held by Su Mingzhe, he distributed the seats under his command.

Basically all the ministers benefited and felt very satisfied.

When the small meeting for distributing benefits was over, most people left feeling satisfied.

But there are also a small number of people who did not gain any benefits and even had their powers reduced, so they are naturally not very happy.

At this small court meeting, Lin Ruofu was the one who did not gain any benefits and whose power was weakened.

As the first person to persuade the emperor to ascend the throne, Lin Ruofu considered himself a meritorious minister. However, after the new emperor ascended the throne, not only did he not receive any rewards, but his power was greatly weakened.

Lin Ruofu naturally felt unhappy.

After the court session and paying tribute to Emperor Qing's spirit, Lin Ruofu returned to his residence and called his adviser Yuan Hongdao. He told him everything and asked him to analyze for him what the new emperor's ascension to the throne meant by targeting him, and how he should respond.

After hearing Lin Ruofu's question, Yuan Hongdao frowned and remained silent for a while.

Lin Ruofu didn't know that although Yuan Hongdao was poorer than him, before the two met, Yuan Hongdao was a man of Chen Pingping, the director of the Inspection Institute.

Now Emperor Qing has passed away and the new emperor has ascended the throne.

Yuan Hongdao had not received any task notification from Chen Pingping yet, so he naturally did not dare to speculate on his superiors' intentions. He could only say some comforting words to fool Lin Ruofu and tell him not to worry.

"Prime Minister, you are now the chief minister of the cabinet, the prime minister of the dynasty, second only to the emperor. I guess His Majesty is also worried about how to reward you..."

Not to mention how Yuan Hongdao, one of the four top undercover agents in "Joy of Life", fooled Lin Ruofu.

As for Su Mingzhe, after paying tribute to Emperor Qing, he first went to Yanshou Palace where the Queen Mother lived to visit her "grandmother" who was extremely sad.

This old lady is a lucky person, but also a miserable person.

When she was born, her family was the most powerful in Nanqing. However, when she was young, her father, the head of the family, died unexpectedly. Seeing the family begin to decline, she, as the eldest daughter of the family, was forced by her clansmen to marry the third prince, Prince Cheng, who was the most incompetent at the time.

Fortunately, her husband, King Cheng, ascended the throne and she became the queen.

But after a few years, her husband also passed away.

After losing her husband in middle age, the old lady moved into Yanshou Palace and managed the harem for her son Emperor Qing.

Twenty years passed in a flash.

The old lady, who is nearly 70 years old, is now experiencing the pain of losing a son in old age.

The three greatest pains of being a woman: losing your father in your youth, losing your husband in your middle age, and losing your son in your old age.

This old lady has tried them all.

As the instigator, Su Mingzhe could only say as many comforting words as possible after he came in front of her.

The grandfather and grandson chatted for a while, then Su Mingzhe said goodbye and left, coming to Yaohua Palace.

At this time, the other concubines had already returned to their respective palaces.

The queen doesn't need to hide anything in front of her son.

She finally took off the phoenix crown and bridal robe that symbolized her status as queen, and put on a plain long dress, lightly made up, with curved eyebrows, sweet face, and a lovely smile. When she saw Su Mingzhe, she took him affectionately and said with a smile:

"Qian'er, mother heard that you just summoned all the ministers to discuss state affairs. Did those ministers make things difficult for you?"

"Mother, I just ascended the throne today. Even if they have any ideas, they will talk about them later. It is impossible for them to oppose me today."

After all, Su Mingzhe was not her biological son Li Chengqian. When he was held by her fair and slender hands, the smoothness of their skins touching made his heart flutter.

Fortunately, Su Mingzhe restrained his thoughts in time and even squeezed out a trace of sadness on his face.

When the Queen saw her son's expression change, she remembered that although Li Chengqian was her son, he was also the son of Emperor Qing, her great enemy who had wiped out her entire family.

Therefore, she could be excited about the death of Emperor Qing, but her son could not be happy with her.

Thinking of this, the Queen's mood also became a little depressed:
"Qian'er, please accompany mother for lunch today. Since you moved to the East Palace, you have never accompanied mother for lunch again."

Although Su Mingzhe didn't want to stay with the queen for a long time, he couldn't refuse. In the end, the queen pulled him to sit down and they had a meal at the same table.

After dinner, Su Mingzhe chatted with the queen for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.

The Queen was reluctant to let Su Mingzhe go and sent him out of the palace.

As he was about to leave, Su Mingzhe turned around suddenly and said to the queen:

"Mother, I think the eunuch Hong Zhu in charge of your palace is quite good. Why don't you lend him to me for a few days?"

"You kid, you are still so polite to your mother. If you like anyone in Yaohua Palace, just take them away."

The Queen's family was all killed by Emperor Qing, and now she regards Su Mingzhe, her "son", as her only concern.

Su Mingzhe just wanted a eunuch to be in charge, so she naturally would not refuse.

"Thank you, mother."

When Su Mingzhe heard the queen's agreement, he immediately thanked her, as if he valued Hong Zhu very much.

Hong Zhu, who was standing aside, was confused. He knew his abilities, but he didn't know when he had caught the new king's eye.

No matter what Hong Zhu muttered in his heart, now that the new king valued him, he naturally had to express his gratitude quickly and then bid farewell to the old master.

Su Mingzhe brought Hong Zhu back to Weiyang Palace, which had already been cleaned up by Eunuch Hou and his men.

The traces of the assassination and fighting last night have basically been cleaned up. Su Mingzhe brought Hong Zhu to the imperial study, sat on the kang, and said without any nonsense:

"Hong Zhu, I need you to do something. Can I trust you?"

"Please give your Majesty's orders."

Seeing Su Mingzhe's serious tone, Hong Zhu knew that he must have something important to tell him, so he immediately calmed down and kowtowed, saying:

"I am loyal to the Empress and Your Majesty. If I rebel, I will be torn into pieces by five horses."

After hearing this, Su Mingzhe almost couldn't help but curl his lips.

In "Joy of Life", because many forces are involved, there are naturally many undercover spies.

Among so many undercover agents, four top undercover agents were selected by the curious:

The number one should be the 'King of Infernal Affairs' Yan Ruohai, who first followed Chen Pingping's instructions and went undercover to the side of Qin Ye, the top man in the army. Later, he was sent to the Inspection Institute by Qin Ye. His son Yan Bingyun inherited his undercover talent.

Second, Ye Liuyun. Ye Liuyun pretended to be at odds with Emperor Qing and prepared to rebel against him. As a result, the entire Ye family followed him undercover and eventually gave the second prince and the other two masters a wrong lead, helping Emperor Qing to achieve great military exploits.

Third, Yuan Hongdao was also an undercover sent by Chen Pingping. He first went undercover on Lin Ruofu. As a result, when he saw that Lin Ruofu and Li Yunrui were in love, he directly acted as a matchmaker.

When Li Yunrui became pregnant with Lin Ruofu's child, Emperor Qing was almost mad to death.

Fourth, it’s almost Hong Zhu’s turn.

In the novel, Hong Zhu was originally an orphan of the Chen family in Yingzhou. Later, he killed himself and entered the palace to make a living.

After entering the palace, because of his good eyesight, he took Hong Sixiang as his godfather and changed his surname to Hong.

Because of his capable service to Hong Sixiang, he was recommended to Emperor Qing by Hong Sixiang. Later, Emperor Qing arranged for him to be an "undercover" beside the Queen.

As a result, no one knew what was going on with Hong Zhu, who had become the confidant of the emperor, empress and prince, and did not try to avenge his family.

Unfortunately, his hidden family background was discovered by the male protagonist Fan Xian.

In the end, Fan Xian helped him get revenge.

Hong Zhu became Fan Xian's most trusted confidant.

Later, it was Hong Zhu who told Fan Xian about the affair between Crown Prince Li Chengqian and Princess Li Yunrui.

Su Mingzhe knew Hong Zhu's background, so he naturally knew how to deal with him.

At the moment, Su Mingzhe did not explain in detail, but just asked him to go to Changling first to supervise the burial of Emperor Qing.

After Hong Zhu left, Su Mingzhe waved and asked Eunuch Hou to come over and instructed:
"Eunuch Hou, Hong Zhu is very young and has only been in the palace for a short time. He may have someone at home. Go ask him. If his family needs any help, ask the Internal Affairs Office to help. Also, pay him 10,000 taels of silver from the East Palace account."

"Here."

After Eunuch Hou responded, he flattered with envy: "In the past, everyone in the palace said that Your Majesty is kind and generous. Today, this old servant knows that what they said is true..."

"Okay, we are all family, so don't say these things in front of me."

Su Mingzhe had a good impression of this eunuch Hou and chuckled:
"You too, take 10,000 taels. Those who are one rank below you in the palace take 1,000 taels, those who are two rank below you take 100 taels, and the rest of the palace take 10 taels."

"I thank your majesty for your grace."

Eunuch Hou did not expect that Su Mingzhe would be so generous after becoming emperor. He was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

"Tell them that as long as they do a good job, I will reward them generously."

Su Mingzhe knew that these eunuchs and palace maids would stay in the palace almost their entire lives, and their obsession with gold and silver was far beyond that of ordinary people.

Rewarding them with gold and silver is more effective than uttering ten thousand words of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

Eunuch Hou quickly agreed.

Seeing that he just agreed but didn't leave, Su Mingzhe thought for a moment before asking:

"Eunuch Hou, do you have something to say to me?"

"Yes, I have something to report to your majesty."

Eunuch Hou suddenly knelt on the ground trembling and said:
"Your Majesty, Hong Zhu was originally sent by the late emperor to be by the Empress' side."

"Huh? Really?"

Su Mingzhe raised the corners of his mouth slightly, with a hint of surprise in his eyes, feeling that the matter was a bit unbelievable.

"It is absolutely true. It was I who delivered the imperial decree at that time. Normally, it was I who communicated with him."

Eunuch Hou was also desperate. He directly reported all the undercover agents assigned by Emperor Qing, even the spies in the East Palace. Finally, he said in a pitiful voice:

"Your Majesty, these are the tasks assigned to me by the late Emperor. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Su Mingzhe didn't expect that Eunuch Hou would surrender to him so quickly.

Thinking back to the novel, this eunuch Hou was shot to death by thousands of arrows in order to protect the empress dowager. He was also the most loyal one among Emperor Qing's many confidants.

Thinking of this, Su Mingzhe got off the kang himself and helped him up:

"Eunuch Hou, don't kneel down so easily in the future. What you did before was all due to your duty. How could I blame you? Get up quickly. I still have something for you to do..."

(End of this chapter)