In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Qiyu changed into casual clothes and sat in front of the case. He looked at Shu Liang, who had a low eyebrow in front of him, and frowned slightly.
To be honest, what happened to Xiao Tan today was something he didn't expect.
He didn't have time to think about it in detail when he was in the palace, but after returning to the palace, he naturally realized that this matter was unusual, and Genjie was on Shu Liang's body in front of him.
"what happened?"
The emperor's tone seemed displeased, so Shu Liang also became a little cautious, knelt down and said.
"Back to the Emperor, I was thinking that to find out this matter, I have to start with Academician Xiao, so I thought of provoking him. However, I didn't expect that Academician Xiao has such a strong character. I am guilty. Please ask the Emperor." I will punish you!"
The words were not spoken directly, but the meaning was clearly expressed.
Zhu Qiyu's expression darkened and he said.
"So, the soldier who broke in was sent by you?"
Shu Liang lowered his head and said with a somewhat guilty look.
"Your Majesty, Shengming, however, this slave has absolutely no intention of harming Scholar Xiao. The scholar climbed over the wall and only cursed a few words. He never thought..."
Looking at Shu Liang's appearance, Zhu Qiyu knew that those so-called "several words of curse" were by no means just an ordinary accusation. They could make Xiao Tan, a good-tempered man, so angry that he wanted to cut his veins and commit suicide. It was obvious that those words How ugly it sounds.
After frowning and glaring at Shu Liang, Zhu Qiyu gradually regained his composure and said calmly.
"I made my own decision and killed the minister. Go down and get twenty sticks to help me remember!"
"This slave takes the order."
After sending Shu Liang away, Zhu Qiyu looked at his leaving figure and couldn't help but sigh softly, with a complicated look on his face...
He leaned on the couch and gently rubbed his forehead. Before he could rest for a moment, there was a slight but rapid sound of footsteps in his ears.
It's Wynn!
Opening his eyes, Zhu Qiyu's face was slightly confused. Wynn's temperament had always been steady. Could it be that something urgent had happened when he came over in such a hurry?
"Your Majesty, news just came from outside the palace..."
Standing next to the emperor, Wynn's face looked a little heavy, he cupped his hands and said.
"Prince Min... has passed away!"
Although it was just a short sentence, Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but feel a little stunned. His already complicated mood was mixed with a lot of unspeakable sorrow.
He had not been in contact with this great-uncle for a long time, but it had to be said that although this great-uncle had shortcomings of one kind or another, he was still dedicated to the affairs of the Zhu family.
No matter what ridiculous things he has done before, to Zhu Qiyu, he is an elder worthy of respect!
Although the news came urgently, it was not unexpected.
In fact, Zhu Qiyu knew very well that his great-uncle's body had long been exhausted. There were already signs of this as early as last year when he entered Beijing.
If he hadn't stayed in the capital, and the imperial physician poured all kinds of precious medicinal materials in the inner storehouse at all costs, his life would have been long gone.
Even in this case, the imperial doctor reported that Prince Min might not survive the winter.
But perhaps for the sake of his grandson's future, or because of the anger in his heart, the old man endured these two months.
However, manpower eventually ran out, and he was still unable to hold on...
Zhu Qiyu waved his hand gently and said.
"I passed the decree that I would stay out of court for three days to express my condolences, and ordered the Minister of Rites, Hu Chong, to go to the Mansion of Prince Min to offer sacrifices on my behalf. I also planned to give him the posthumous title of King of Minzhuang, and ordered Yousi to prepare a camp for burial."
"According to the decree..."
Wynn could naturally tell that the emperor was in a bad mood, so he responded in a low voice and hurriedly retreated to make arrangements.
On this day, the sun was shining brightly, and Prince Min's Mansion had already become a deserted place. Looking from a distance, a burst of crying could be heard.
Hu Hui, dressed in official uniform and wearing a plain coat, came to the gate of the palace. With him were the emperor's personal attendants, the eunuch Huaien, the eunuch Bingbi, the chief of etiquette.
"I've met Uncle Zong!"
Standing outside the door of the mansion was a young man in his twenties, also dressed in plain clothes, with eyes that were already red and swollen from crying.
This person is none other than Zhu Yinqi, the eldest grandson of King Lao Min and the eldest son of King Zhennan.
Hu Hui returned the salute in an upright manner, cupped his hands and said.
"I have met the Crown Prince. I and Eunuch Huai'en came here to pay tribute according to His Majesty's order. I hope the Crown Prince can spare his condolences!"
Zhu Yinxi nodded, a trace of sadness appeared on his face, and tears seemed to appear in his red and swollen eyes, but in the end he endured it and said with a cupped hand.
"Thank you for your majesty's grace. Please come with me. My father is guarding my grandfather's soul. It is inconvenient to go out to greet you. I hope you will respect me."
Hu Bing nodded to express his understanding, and was about to follow Zhu Yinxi to the mansion, when he was suddenly attracted by the sound of a carriage and stopped.
The carriage made a lot of noise, and along with a long queue, it stopped outside the door of Prince Min's Mansion, which made Hu Hui and Huaien frown.
On the other side, Zhu Yinqi's expression suddenly darkened and he said.
"Prince Xiang, what on earth are you going to do?"
Yes, this guard of honor is exactly the guard of honor for the prince, and in the capital today, there is only one person who can afford this guard of honor...
King Xiang Zhu Zhanyi!
Sure enough, the curtain of the carriage was opened, and Zhu Zhanchen, who was wearing a green python-patterned robe, was sitting in it. With the help of his servants, he stood firmly in front of everyone.
Facing Zhu Yinqi's question, he shook the fan in his hand and said.
"Your Majesty, what are you saying? Your great uncle, King Min, has passed away. As a junior, I naturally come here to pay my respects!"
However, these words not only did not make Zhu Yinxi's face improve, but the slightly frivolous tone made Zhu Yinxi even more angry and shouted sharply.
"To pay homage? As a junior, do you come here to pay your respects in such a arrogant manner? I think you are not here to pay homage to my grandfather at all, but to provoke!"
"Go away, you are not welcome in Prince Min's Mansion!"
Perhaps it was the sudden big change, or maybe it was King Xiang's behavior that really made people angry, so that Zhu Yinxi, who had always been gentle and elegant, actually said such words.
Hu Hu and others looked on and couldn't help but sigh.
These clans...are indeed domineering!
However, it is not surprising that Zhu Yinqi was angry. King Min passed away, and everyone in the palace mourned. The emperor ordered to stay away from court for three days to express his condolences.
In the past two days, people from the court's civil and military ministers, noble families, and clan members from the capital have been coming to pay their respects.
However, without exception, whether traveling in a sedan or carriage, they would at least stop at the entrance of the alley and come on foot to show respect.
Even Hu Hui and Huaien, who came on behalf of the emperor, were no exception. They parked their sedan chairs far away, but Prince Xiang was about to ride a carriage to the door of the mansion.
Not to mention, King Xiang said he was here to pay homage, but he was wearing ordinary clothes and not plain white, so there was no hint of him coming to pay homage.
Such rude behavior would make anyone angry.
However, perhaps this is exactly what King Xiang wanted to achieve.
After all, the feud between King Lao Min and King Xiang was heard by everyone in the court. Before King Lao Min passed away, the last time he carried his sick body out of the house was when he went to the Zongxue and beat King Xiang with several sticks. It is said that That time, King Xiang stayed in bed for half a month to rest.
Now that King Xiang is behaving like this, it is difficult to say that he is not venting his grievances at that time.
Otherwise, there is no way to explain the faint smile on Prince Xiang's face now.
"Your Majesty, what are you talking about? My great-uncle passed away suddenly. As a junior, is it wrong for me to come to pay my respects? To say the least, this is Prince Min's Mansion. You, the crown prince of Zhennan Prince, can't say that Prince Min's Mansion doesn't welcome you. These kings..."
"What about this king?"
Before King Xiang finished speaking, a deep voice came from the gate of the mansion.
Everyone looked back and saw a plump figure walking out of the door of the mansion. It could be seen that this person was very tired. He was also dressed in plain clothes and had a calm face, but he also looked somewhat majestic.
"I've met King Zhennan."
When Hu Hui and others saw this figure, they raised their hands and saluted at the same time. Fortunately, Zhu Huixun had a good temper. In this case, they still returned the salute to Hu Hui and said rudely, and then , then turned around, strode to Zhu Zhanzhen, looked at him coldly, and asked.
"Prince Xiang, as the Crown Prince of the Min Palace, I am not qualified to welcome you in the Min Palace."
"Enough, of course it's enough!"
Looking at the sullen fat prince in front of him, Zhu Zhanzhen didn't panic at all, and even continued to have a smile on his face as he said.
"It's just that, King Zhennan, although you are the eldest son of Min Mansion, you haven't inherited the throne of King Min yet, and you don't even allow your clan members to pay homage to the old King Min. Is it possible that..."
Zhu Zhanzhen's expression faded, and he ignored Zhu Huixuan's extremely gloomy expression and spoke.
"Are you afraid that the king will notice something wrong after seeing his uncle's remains?"
"What do you mean?"
Hearing this, Zhu Yinxi couldn't help but pointed at Zhu Zhanxi and asked.
However, Zhu Zhanzhen was here to make trouble, so how could he be afraid of making things worse? He snorted coldly and said.
"It's not interesting. I just think it's a bit unexpected that my great-uncle passed away suddenly. It's a coincidence that for the past few months, my great-uncle has been ill and no one has seen him."
"You two, father and son, are going to get married to the Jing'an Bo Mansion. They say you are planning to get married. However, the marriage has been going on for several months and you have not left the capital. It seems that you are waiting for something..."
"But it's a good thing that this is the case. Otherwise, when my great-uncle left like this, there wouldn't even be any funeral arrangements. Don't you think so, Prince Min?"
Zhu Zhanzhen bit these last four words very hard, with a strong sense of provocation.
"Nonsense!"
"Prince Xiang, be careful what you say!"
Two voices sounded at the same time. The former was full of anger and came from Zhu Yinxi, while the latter was old and calm and came from Hu Ming who had been silent.
To be honest, the eldest uncle did not expect that he would see such a drama in the clan just because he came to pay homage to the old King Min on behalf of the emperor.
From the very beginning, he could tell that King Xiang's purpose was not pure.
However, with the ancestral teachings of Emperor Ming, the amulets on the clan's body are more useful than the iron coupons of the elixir, so Mr. Hu just wants to sit back and watch, and does not want to wade into this muddy water.
What I didn't expect was that the matter became more and more serious, and what King Xiang said became more and more outrageous.
His words were almost saying that King Zhennan killed Old Min King. What if this spread out?
Therefore, in desperation, he had to intervene.
However, unexpectedly, King Xiang didn't even give him face this time, and instead climbed up the ladder.
"Uncle Zong, since you are here to offer sacrifices, you might as well bear witness to this king. How about we go to the mourning hall to see my uncle and find out more about him?"
Ah this...
Mr. Hu was stunned for a moment. He had never thought that Prince Xiang would be so unyielding. For a moment, even he couldn't help but murmur in his heart.
This can't be true, right?
Could it be that there is really something fishy about the death of King Lao Min this time?
However, at this moment, Wynn on the side spoke.
"Prince Xiang, logically speaking, there is no room for us to speak on this occasion. However, this is Prince Min's Mansion after all. Even though you have a noble status, you should restrain yourself. After all, the deceased is the most important, and disturbing Prince Min is the real thing. sin."
No one expected that Wynn would speak at this time, but these words reminded Hu Bi and made him put away his little thought that had just arisen.
It wasn't that he thought it was impossible, but that he suddenly realized that it didn't matter whether the guess was true or false.
If King Zhennan wants to stay in the capital, he must have the emperor's approval. Even if there is something fishy in this, it is still the emperor's arrangement.
Therefore, it is best not to know anything about this kind of thing, whether it is true or false!
Even if it is true, it must be counted as false, not to mention...
Seeing that Huaien, the eunuch, dared to stop him, King Xiang's face finally darkened and he shouted sternly.
"You are so presumptuous, there is no room for you, a slave, to speak in front of this king! Get away!"
King Xiang seemed to be talking about Huaien, but what he was talking about was Zhu Huixun, King of Zhennan, which seemed to be referring to Sang and Huai.
However, the strange thing is that at this time, Zhu Huixuan calmed down, with a sneer on his fat face and said.
"Prince Xiang, okay, okay, okay, I understand now that you came here today not to worship my father, but to cause trouble!"
"Our Prince Min's Mansion indeed has no backbone now, but not everyone can be bullied..."
As he spoke, a trace of ferocity flashed across Zhu Huixuan's face, as if he had made some determination, and he shouted sharply.
"Somebody come!"
With an order, a group of servants dressed in plain clothes suddenly emerged from the mansion, all holding short sticks and looking fierce.
Immediately, the fat prince's voice was heard again, with only a few simple words.
"Hit me!"
The scene suddenly became a little chaotic. Seeing the servants rushing towards him, Zhu Zhanyi finally panicked.
He didn't expect that Zhu Huixun would be so crazy. Could it be that he was really stimulated too hard?
He subconsciously stepped back, but before he could even take two steps back, he felt a pain in his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw that someone had hit him heavily on his shoulder.
When he looked up again, he saw that the person who did it was none other than King Zhennan himself, whose eyes were full of anger. He also saw that he had a short stick in his hand at some point. He hit him on his left shoulder first, and then struck him with a stick. Then he went straight to the front door.
"Escort!"
Fortunately, this time Zhu Zhanzhen brought all his confidants. Although he didn't react to the first attack, someone immediately blocked the second attack.
Since the prince's guard of honor was used, there were naturally a lot of people coming. However, unlike the servants of the Min Palace, they did not receive orders, so they could only be beaten passively, dodge and do not dare to fight back directly.
Prince Xiang was hit with two sticks and his mind was a little dazed. In a panic, he was helped into the carriage, and then they all left in confusion...
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