That night, Qianqing Palace.
Jiajing was seen finishing his Qing Dynasty and slowly getting up from the futon. Seeing this, Lu Fang on the side came up to him immediately.
"His Majesty!"
"Um."
After that, Jiajing looked at the sky outside, then turned around and gave instructions to Lu Fang who was beside him.
"The weather is nice today, come with me for a walk!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After hearing this, Lu Fang immediately followed Jiajing step by step and walked out of Qianqing Palace.
At night, a little breeze blows by, coupled with the stars in the sky, it makes people feel relaxed and happy.
Along the way, when the eunuchs and maids saw the emperor leaving, they quickly stopped what they were doing and hurriedly retreated to the side, the lanterns in their hands emitting orange light.
Jiajing just walked around at a leisurely pace in the Forbidden City. Perhaps he was tired of it, but he saw Jiajing stop in front of a pavilion.
When the eunuchs and maids behind him saw this, they immediately stepped forward, covered the stone benches with soft cushions, and placed all kinds of exquisite pastries on the table, as well as jade-like green teapots that were still steaming.
Jiajing looked at Lu Fang who was still standing and gave instructions.
"You sit down too!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
When Lu Fang heard this, she didn't dare to refuse, and immediately sat across from Jiajing.
The maid on the side immediately came forward and poured a cup of hot tea for Jiajing and Lu Fang each.
Jiajing admired the night scene around him and couldn't help but sigh: "Today's weather is really nice!"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Lu Fang immediately responded.
"Yes, Your Majesty, according to the Qintian Prison, the weather in the past few days should be pretty good."
Jiajing did not make any comment on this. He just picked up the tea cup and took a sip. Soon, Jiajing picked up a piece of pastry and put it into his mouth, and then gave instructions to Lu Fang.
"Lu Fang, try it, this is the new flavor from the imperial kitchen!"
Lu Fang didn't dare to refuse, so she immediately picked up a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth, savoring the taste.
"how is the taste?"
"Well, it's very good. It's much stronger than before!"
When Jiajing heard this, he immediately withdrew his gaze from Lu Fang's face and complained instead: "Sometimes I really don't know how things are done in the imperial dining room. How can a good thing be in their hands? It’s so delicious!”
When Lu Fang heard this, she immediately looked stern and assured Jiajing: "Your Majesty, do you need me to go to the imperial kitchen..."
Before Lu Fang finished speaking, she heard Jiajing add: "Forget it, I will have to replace all the imperial chefs in the imperial dining room sooner or later!"
At this moment, Jiajing changed the topic and asked Lu Fang: "By the way, Lu Fang, is there any news about my two sons recently?"
When Lu Fang heard this, her heart thumped. After considering the words in her mind, she answered carefully.
"Your Majesty, His Highness King Jing has not done anything too outrageous since he arrived in the fiefdom. Not only that, His Highness King Jing is also quite kind to the local people."
After listening to Lu Fang's report, Jiajing nodded slightly, and then said in a cold voice: "It seems that this traitor has listened to what I said before. If he dares to do anything wrong, let's see if I don't skin him! "
Lu Fang was frightened when he heard this. Based on his understanding of Jiajing, Jiajing could really do such a thing, even his own son.
After that, Jiajing saw Lu Fang's face full of hesitation, and immediately asked: "Tell me, why don't you continue? There is also Prince Yu!"
When Lu Fang heard this, after a long battle between heaven and man, she bit her lips and said bravely: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Yu, in recent days, Mr. Xu Ge..."
Before Lu Fang finished speaking, Jiajing interrupted impatiently: "Okay, no need to go on, I already know what you want to say!"
When Lu Fang heard this, she immediately lowered her head and looked at the ground intently, intending to reduce her sense of presence.
The more Jiajing thought about it, the angrier he became. He immediately slammed the table and reprimanded: "This evildoer, as far as I'm concerned, is worse than his fourth brother!"
"Zhu Zaizhen at least knows where to sit his butt, what about him?"
"This idiot has been deceived to the point that he doesn't even know his last name. With his kind of virtue, how can I rest assured that I will hand over the Ming Dynasty and the country into his hands!"
When Lu Fang heard what Jiajing said, she couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and secretly rejoiced.
"It seems that His Majesty has been extremely disappointed with Prince Yu and Prince Jing. Therefore, His Majesty should place all his hopes on the child in the belly of Imperial Concubine Shen!"
"In addition, your Majesty is now successful in cultivating Taoism, and the national power of the Ming Dynasty is also flourishing under your leadership!"
"At that time, when the child in the imperial concubine's belly successfully succeeds the emperor, what your majesty will leave to him will be an extremely powerful empire!"
Thinking of this, Lu Fang couldn't help but raise her head, look at the stars hanging in the sky, and pray secretly.
"Mother, you have to work harder, everyone is counting on the child in your belly!"
Just as Lu Fang was stunned, Jiajing's voice rang in his ears: "Lu Fang, from now on, you look very worried. What are you thinking about?"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Lu Fang suddenly came back to his senses, his eyes full of evasion: "Your Majesty, I just thought of some insignificant things!"
When Jiajing saw this situation, he didn't delve into it further. He immediately looked away from Lu Fang and gave instructions.
"Okay, come with me to the Ganlu Palace. I want to go see the imperial concubine along the way!"
When Lu Fang heard this, she suppressed the excitement in her heart and responded.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
…
At this moment, Yan Mansion.
Since Yan Song recovered from his illness, Yan Shifan has gradually returned to his previous life.
At this moment, Yan Shifan was in the room, muttering silently to the steam engine drawing drawn in front of him.
"Hey, how can we make the steam engine achieve the efficiency it should have?"
While Yan Shifan was still thinking hard about this, he heard a knock on the door.
The thoughts in his mind were interrupted, and Yan Shifan suddenly became impatient. After a while, he said coldly.
"who?"
As soon as Yan Shifan finished speaking, the butler's voice came from outside the door.
"Mr. Xiao Ge, Mr. Yan Ge wants you to come over!"
"Well, I know, I'll be there right away!"
After that, Yan Shifan took another reluctant look at the steam engine drawings in the room, then sighed helplessly, opened the door, and headed towards the room where Yan Song was.
When Yan Shifan came to the room where Yan Song was, he took a deep breath, and after adjusting his emotions, he opened the door and entered.
As soon as Yan Shifan entered the room, he turned his gaze to Yan Song who was sitting behind the desk and asked.
"Father, what do you want from me?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Song immediately looked away from the books in front of him, pointed to the empty seat beside him, and immediately gave instructions.
"Sit down, don't close the door!"
"Yes, father!"
After Yan Shifan listened to Yan Song's instructions, he didn't doubt his presence and immediately sat down where Yan Song pointed out.
After Yan Shifan sat down on his seat, he asked before Yan Song could speak.
"Father, it's so late, why don't you rest?"
After Yan Song heard this, he immediately looked away from the books in front of him and gave instructions.
"I came here to tell you that from now on, pay more attention to this Zhang Juzheng."
When Yan Shifan heard this, his face was full of doubts, and he immediately spoke.
"Father, isn't this Zhang Juzheng from Xu Jie's side? Why are you alone..."
After hearing Yan Shifan's answer, Yan Song glanced at him with hatred, and then explained: "Who told you that Zhang Ju is from Xu Jie's side?"
After Yan Song finished speaking, he paused for a moment and then continued: "If he was from Xu Jie's side, would he still have to inform us that Qingliu's side was going to destroy embankments and flood their fields in Zhejiang?"
When Yan Shifan heard this, he looked at Yan Song subconsciously, with a look of disbelief on his face, and then said in a deep voice: "Father, you mean that the letter was sent to us by Zhang Juzheng!"
When Yan Song heard this, he nodded slightly, and then continued: "This is natural. This little thing can't be hidden from me, Yan Song!"
At this moment, Yan Shifan was completely confused. Soon, he summoned up the courage and asked Yan Song: "Father, since you know, why didn't you tell the child before?"
When Yan Song heard this, he was immediately speechless. There was no way he could tell Yan Shifan that Zhang Juzheng was also from His Majesty's side.
Yan Song knew in his heart that this was a layer of window paper that could never be broken, and he was prepared to take this secret to the grave.
Immediately, Yan Song turned his gaze to Yan Shifan, lowered his eyes, and said silently to himself: "Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, Zhang Juzheng, oh, all of us are under His Majesty's control!"
After that, Yan Song came back to his senses, an angry expression appeared on his face, and he immediately reprimanded: "Don't you know how to use your brain?"
"The content in that letter was so detailed, and even included the detailed plan discussed by Xu Jie and others. How could we know it if we weren't at the scene?"
"Besides, it's impossible for Gao Gong to leak this matter. As far as I know, he is still eagerly waiting to take over Xu Jie's position!"
After listening to Yan Song's explanation, Yan Shifan immediately put on an expression of sudden realization, turned his gaze to Yan Song, and said excitedly: "Father, the child understands!"
Immediately, a look of hesitation appeared on Yan Shifan's face again. He looked at Yan Song cautiously and asked, "Father, what the child doesn't understand is that in this case, why do you want the child to pay more attention to this Zhang Juzheng?"
Hearing this, Yan Song glanced at Yan Shifan and immediately said: "I want you to learn more from others, Yan Shifan, I have a hunch that he will have to take the position of chief minister of the cabinet in the future!"
When Yan Song said this, his eyes were full of determination.
When Yan Shifan heard this, a look of surprise flashed across his face, and he subconsciously said: "Father, the child feels..."
Unexpectedly, before Yan Shifan finished speaking, he met Yan Song's extremely cold gaze. He immediately stopped talking and buried his head deeply, not daring to say another word.
At this moment, Yan Song's emotionless voice sounded in Yan Shifan's ears: "Have you remembered what I just told you?"
Although he was still a little unwilling, Yan Shifan still answered bravely.
"Yes, father, the child has remembered it!"
Hearing this, Yan Song looked Yan Shifan up and down before giving instructions.
"Well, it's getting late, you should go back to your room and rest early!"
"Yes, father!"
…
The night was already very deep, but at this moment, Hai Rui was still not sleepy at all. He just lay on the bed, staring straight at the night outside the window.
After getting off duty, Hai Rui didn't stay out too much and went straight home.
In order not to worry his wife, Hai Rui did not tell his wife Wang that he was about to go to Shandong to investigate the White Lotus Sect, even at the dinner table.
Even though Hai Rui had been thinking about the words in his mind for a long time, he still didn't say them out loud.
At this moment, looking at his wife's peaceful sleeping face, Hai Rui sighed helplessly, then put on his clothes and tiptoed out of the room. After a while, the lights in the study turned on again.
At this moment, Hai Rui was seen sitting next to the book desk, holding a copy of "Da Ming Law" in his hand and studying it carefully.
Just as he was immersed in the many cases and various clauses, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of Hai Rui, blocking the light in front of him.
Seeing this, Hai Rui subconsciously raised his head. When he saw the figure of the person clearly, he suppressed all the words he originally wanted to say.
After a moment, Hai Rui closed the "Da Ming Law" in his hand, laughed sarcastically, and then asked, "Why are you here?"
The person who came was none other than Hai Rui's wife Wang. At this moment, she was as cold as ice. She did not choose to answer Hai Rui's words, but said coldly: "I would like to ask you, why are you staying up so late and running to the study to see me? "Laws of the Ming Dynasty", Hai Rui, are you acting stupidly as an official?"
Facing his wife's doubts, Hai Rui was speechless. After all, it was an irrefutable fact that he stayed up in the middle of the night and went to the study to read "The Law of the Ming Dynasty".
Just when Hai Rui was about to forcefully explain and fool his wife, Wang sighed helplessly, as if he could see through Hai Rui's whole being.
"Tell me, did something happen again?"
"No...no, I just can't sleep!"
Naturally, Mrs. Wang didn't believe what Hai Rui said. Soon, she looked away from Hai Rui and said slowly: "I don't know about you yet. You have something to say during dinner in the evening." You want to tell me, but you just haven’t spoken!”
"Tell me, what happened?"
When Hai Rui saw this, he immediately stopped hiding it and told Wang everything about his upcoming trip to Shandong to investigate the White Lotus Sect.
After listening to Hai Rui's narration, Wang was silent for a long time. Soon, he came back to his senses and reminded: "Well, since you have agreed, let's go!"
When Wang said this, he suddenly changed the subject and continued: "But I want to remind you, don't be brave. If something happens, don't rush forward foolishly. Pay more attention to your own safety. Understand?"
After hearing his wife Wang's instructions, Hai Rui couldn't help but feel a warmth flowing through his heart, and then said softly: "I will pay attention!"
(End of chapter)
