After Zhu Jinghong withdrew, Zhu Xianming let Prince Chuan in.
"My son, please pay homage to your father!"
On the dragon chair, Zhu Xianming had changed into his regular clothes and was sitting on the dragon chair, reading the memorials.
"Prince... What did you see in the memorials I asked you to read recently?"
With Zhu Jinghong's plea, Zhu Xianming no longer wanted to pursue the armor matter.
To put it bluntly, the meaning of armor is given by people. Since the prince does not recognize those meanings, then it is just a cold armor.
Hearing this, Zhu Jingyuan breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he had made some mistake and was going to be scolded by the old man again.
After briefly sorting out his thoughts, Zhu Jingyuan replied: "Dad... my son has learned something after watching it these days!"
Seeing the prince still kneeling on the ground, Zhu Xianming couldn't help but think of Zhu Jinghong. If this kid was here, he would never kneel honestly.
"Get up and talk!"
"yes!"
After standing up, Zhu Jingyuan bowed and replied: "These memorials are from the 10th year of Taiping to the present. They list many things. After my son read them..."
While Zhu Jingyuan was answering, Zhu Jinghong left the Qianqing Palace and unconsciously went to the inner court.
That's right, he went to Kunning Palace to learn how to play chess again.
It is normal for people to have one or two hobbies. Who said that Zhu Jinghong can only dance with guns and sticks.
After entering Kunning Palace, Zhu Jinghong learned that Princess Nan'an and several other imperial concubines had come to the palace to talk to the queen again.
This fulfilled Zhu Jinghong's wish, so he went to Zhu Yunsheng's palace, where several girls were working together as female workers.
"Brother Thirteen, why are you here again?" Looking at Zhu Jinghong in armor, Zhu Yunsheng looked very surprised.
Zhu Yunsheng's question made Zhu Jinghong very embarrassed.
He despised Jia Baoyu and felt that he had no ambition and only wanted to get involved with women. But now his behavior is no different from Jia Baoyu.
"Third sister, I am your thirteenth brother, why don't you come and see me?"
Unexpectedly, Zhu Yunsheng asked: "Are you here to see me?"
After saying this, her eyes swept towards Baochai, but the latter lowered his head and ignored it, otherwise the rest would be endless.
At this moment, a palace maid outside reported: "Princess, I have told you to go with Miss Yang and Miss Xue!"
"Oh... Got it!"
After getting up, Zhu Yunsheng said to Baochai and the others: "Let's go!"
When passing by Zhu Jinghong, Zhu Yunsheng smiled and said, "Brother Thirteen, we're sorry!"
Then Yang Jingting passed, and then Baochai left in a hurry, leaving only Zhu Jinghong and Zhen Qin in the room.
Zhen Qin was very happy. After Baochai and others had gone away, she faced Zhu Jinghong.
"Master Thirteen, let me teach you how to play chess. Although I am worse than Sister Bao, I am still..."
"Oh... that... Miss Zhen Qin..."
"I suddenly remembered that there was something urgent at Shanglinyuan, so I took my leave too!"
After coming up with a lame excuse, Zhu Jinghong turned around and left, making Zhen Qin jump in anger.
"Why am I so unlucky? I finally encountered an opportunity today, but I encountered something wrong with Master Thirteen!"
Let's say that Zhu Yunsheng and his entourage arrived at the main hall of Kunning Palace. There were eight wives sitting on the left and right sides, chatting with the queen about their daily life.
Seeing Zhu Yunsheng's arrival, these superlative ladies stood up and saluted one after another.
"Hail Princess!"
"This girl Sheng'er has made a lot of progress now that she has an attendant!"
Pointing to Baochai and the two who followed behind, Yang Qingyin said with a smile: "With this result, these two girls are indispensable for their supervision and restraint, which makes me feel relieved a lot!"
"Come on, you two come over to greet me!"
At the Queen's prompting, Baochai and his wife walked to the center and saluted the senior wives present one by one.
Although the selection of attendants has been completed, these high-ranking ladies have not given up and will recommend their daughters from time to time.
After all, replacing the attendants or adding a few more places is just a matter of a word from the queen.
As long as their daughters can enter the palace and protect the family inheritance, these high-ranking wives are willing to make unremitting efforts.
The queen called Baochai and the others over to dispel their thoughts.
No matter how outstanding your daughter is, can she still be better than these two girls?
This also explains why Zhen Qin was not summoned. Obviously in the queen's mind, she was worse than Baochai.
When the examination of Kunning Palace began, Zhu Jinghong also returned to Chengmingyuan.
Jia Zhen, who was waiting outside the door, immediately greeted someone when she saw someone coming.
"Your Majesty, Jia Zhen, come to see the Thirteenth Master!"
Looking at the third-grade military attache kneeling in front of him, Zhu Jinghong said in an indifferent tone: "Are you Jia Zhen?"
This made Jia Zhen's heart tremble, and she cautiously replied: "Yes!"
After taking off the iron armor, Zhu Jinghong threw it to the accompanying eunuch and asked, "Has the person been found?"
Jia Zhen replied: "I have not found the culprit even though I am dead. I have violated the Thirteenth Master's instructions and I am here today to receive my punishment!"
Being punished for violating Zhu Jinghong's instructions is tantamount to saying that the Jia family does not recognize the Qin family's accusation and is defending themselves in disguise.
These words were thought of in advance in the mansion, so Jia Zhen blurted them out.
With his hands behind his back, Zhu Jinghong walked up to Jia Zhen, who knelt down lower so that only the tips of Zhu Jinghong's toes could be seen.
Pulling out the saber from his waist, the sound of gold and iron clashing made Jia Zhen's heart tremble.
He wanted to run away, but he didn't even have the courage to stand up. He wanted to beg for mercy, but he was so scared that he couldn't even make a sound.
Jia Zhen has lived for so many years, and even during the Donghuamen Incident ten years ago, he has never been as desperate as he is today.
Although his reason told him that as a first-class man in the imperial court and a third-class general, Zhu Jinghong would not kill him in public.
But who can say clearly about this kind of thing?
Zhu Jinghong really killed him, and then if he was charged with assassination, the matter would be easily solved.
There will be absolutely no one to complain on his behalf, and even the Jia family will remove him and cut him off to preserve the safety of the clan.
Putting the knife on Jia Zhen's shoulder, Zhu Jinghong asked softly: "Were you the one who ordered us to go to the Qin family to provoke?"
In fact, Zhu Jinghong had already judged whether it was the Jia family's instigation, and asking questions now was just a trick.
In fact, even if it was really the Jia family who did it, Zhu Jinghong would have no choice but to let them go as the emperor had given instructions two days ago.
"Back... back to the Thirteenth Master, I guarantee on the honor of my ancestors that this matter has absolutely nothing to do with me or the Jia family!"
In Jia Zhen's view, this was the last chance to survive, so he said this resolutely.
Unfortunately, after he finished speaking, Zhu Jinghong's knife was still on his neck, indicating that Jia Zhen's difficulties were not over yet.
Zhu Jinghong then asked: "Why do you want to embarrass the Qin family?"
Objectively speaking, the Jia and Qin families were engaged voluntarily, and it would not be reasonable for the Qin family to unilaterally break off the engagement. In terms of current values, the Jia family should feel aggrieved.
Jia Zhen could only bite the bullet and explain: "Thirteenth Master is generous, the daughter of the Qin family is engaged to Quanzi. Relatives and friends already know about this, and the Qin family suddenly wants to break off the engagement... If I agree directly, the Ningguo Mansion will definitely be disgraced!"
"I am not a minister who is making things difficult for the Qin family. It is really for the sake of the public's face. I have to do this..."
Zhu Jinghong sneered: "It's really just for the public face, not if you have any other ideas?"
Jia Zhen was shocked when she heard this, but fortunately he was lying on the ground so no one could see his expression.
"I don't have other ideas. I hope the Thirteenth Master will learn from it!"
The scene was silent for a few seconds, and the knife was still on Jia Zhen's neck, which made him feel that these few seconds were extremely long.
"I...believe you once!"
(End of chapter)
