There is an undercurrent in the capital, but the Prince's Mansion does not seem to be affected.
The beautiful woman in gorgeous clothes didn't get up until three o'clock in the morning. She was lying on the bed as lazily as a demon, wrapping black silk between her white fingers, and selecting the gold and silver hairpins in front of her with her big watery eyes.
Like all women in the world, she has a special liking for beautiful jewelry, and now she has become a major customer of Baixinzhai, the largest gold shop in the capital.
Zhang Yujiao picked up a beautiful golden phoenix hairpin from the plate and asked as if she suddenly remembered something: "How many days has the prince been sleeping in the study?"
"Replying to the Crown Princess, it has been five or six days!" Xiao Zi, the chubby-faced palace maid, knew that the Crown Princess wanted to show mercy to the Crown Prince, so she immediately replied happily.
Zhang Yujiao played with the hairpin carved with a golden phoenix in her hand and asked indifferently: "Has the prince been dishonest to anyone these days?"
"No! Your Highness, the Crown Prince, gets up very early these days for morning exercises, and then goes to the daily lecture hall as usual. He is not being dishonest to anyone!" Xiao Zi immediately shook her head like a rattle and responded very seriously.
"I don't want this one, keep the rest!" Zhang Yujiao handed the jewels and gold hairpins in her hands to the palace maid next to her, and then told the palace maid Xiao Zi: "Don't let the prince continue to sleep in the study tonight, arrange for him to come back to sleep! "
"Yes!" Xiao Zi's eyes suddenly lit up, and she said as if she was expressing her stance.
The dark clouds over the Prince's Mansion for many days seemed to be dissipating. Prince Zhu Youtang, who had been neglected by the Crown Princess, finally received grace and no longer needed to sleep in the study tonight.
Zhu Youtang has slowly adapted to this new identity. He stays in the Prince's Mansion every day. Apart from attending classes, he spends the rest of his time flipping through books in the study and sorting out some useful knowledge points based on his memories from previous lives.
During this period, not only did Xu Pu often come over to instill the idea of governing the country in him, but even Liu Jian, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, also came over to join in the fun, and even pretended to accidentally mention the demoted former eunuch Huai En .
It is said that civil servants and eunuchs are naturally hostile groups, but this is not absolutely true.
Huai'en was born in the Dai family of Suzhou. His brother Dai Lun, the minister of the Ministry of War, was ordered to be beaten to death with sticks. His father Dai Xiwen was a servant at the time, and his uncle Dai Xian, the prefect of Henan Province, was confiscated and imprisoned. He was castrated as a eunuch and given Named Huai En.
That's right. Although Wynn is a eunuch, he is actually a member of the civil service group.
Zhu Youtang realized that there was an extremely huge network of relationships and that he was facing a very powerful force. It was not easy to completely control this court.
"Prince, the food is ready, please have lunch!" Although Tan Conggui is no longer Zhu Youtang's personal eunuch, he has resolutely become the eunuch in charge of food in the Prince's Mansion. He greeted Zhu Youtang respectfully.
Zhu Youtang looked at the very bland dishes on the table and immediately asked in confusion: "Only for one or two days, why is the food so bland every day?"
As soon as these words came out, the eunuchs and maids present could not help but silently exchanged glances.
Zhu Youtang frowned slightly, and immediately turned his attention to Tan Conggui, who was in charge of the meals, but Tan Conggui didn't dare to say a word as if he was constipated.
The other eunuchs and maids lowered their heads one after another, resolutely not daring to accept these words.
Zhu Youtang's face suddenly became more solemn. It was not entirely because of the lack of oil and gas in the food, but because he felt that everyone did not take his prince seriously.
"Your Highness, I heard that there is not much silver left in the prince's treasury, so all of us have to be careful about our meals. You are already doing very well!" Niu Mengmeng couldn't bear it when he saw that no one dared to speak. Zhu stood up and revealed the truth.
But as soon as these words came out, the eunuchs and maids, including Huang Pan, all looked at Niu Mengmeng with pity.
Zhu Youtang looked at this palace maid with particularly clear eyes, but said with great confusion: "I remember that at the beginning of the opening of the palace this year, my father allocated a total of ten thousand taels to the prince's palace!"
Qin Conggui swallowed hard, but when he noticed that Niu Mengmeng still dared to continue talking, he immediately winked and shook his head.
"Prince, that's right! But the Crown Princess spends too much. She not only bought a lot of gold and silver jewelry, but also gave a lot to her family..."
Niu Mengmeng's face straightened, and she was counting with her fingers like a housekeeper. However, Tan Conggui's heavy coughs next to her finally made her realize that these words seemed not to be spoken nonsense, and she obediently closed her mouth.
Zhu Youtang looked at Tan Conggui, who looked like he had tuberculosis, and said dissatisfiedly: "Tin Conggui, are you really suffering from some serious disease? Do you want to stop appearing in front of me from now on?"
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, it's nothing... nothing!" Tan Conggui hurriedly stopped coughing and waved his hands repeatedly.
Zhu Youtang looked at the Eight Vegetables and One Soup in front of him and finally understood the problem.
The finances of the prince's palace are tight, not because of the problem with Sui Ci, but because of marrying a profligate princess. Unfortunately, the princess also had to support her mother's family.
In view of the dangers of foreign relatives interfering in politics in the Han Dynasty, after Taizu conquered the country, he restricted the marriage partners of princes to small families to prevent foreign relatives from getting bigger.
Zhang Yujiao's father, Zhang Luan, entered the Imperial Academy as a tribute from his hometown. His cousin Zhang Qi was the former governor of Liaodong, but after all, he did not belong to the aristocratic family, so he could only be regarded as a middle-class family.
Zhang Yujiao is the daughter of the Zhang family, and she and Zhu Youtang have just been married for half a year. It is impossible to say how deep the relationship between the two is. After taking control of the financial power of the Prince's Palace, although ten thousand taels seemed like a lot, the money could not withstand her squandering, and now she would naturally be stretched thin.
Zhu Youtang couldn't help but shook his head bitterly. The former owner of his body was too indulgent.
Not to mention that ordinary families cannot do this, let alone an imperial family. In the original history, it was because she doted on Empress Zhang too much that she left behind a ruthless righteousness and ruined her own lineage.
Zhu Youtang looked at the clear soup in front of him. Only the plate of mutton crystal dumplings on the table had a meaty taste, so he stretched out his chopsticks and picked up one.
Gu...
Niu Mengmeng, who was standing nearby, looked at the mutton crystal dumplings on Zhu Youtang's chopsticks. His stomach suddenly growled, and then he lowered his head in embarrassment.
Zhu Youtang was slightly startled when he heard this movement. Then he noticed that among the row of palace maids, only Niu Mengmeng was staring shyly at his toes, and realized what was going on.
Tan Conggui also heard the noise, but glared at Niu Mengmeng sternly.
Zhu Youtang knew that the life of the palace maid down here might not be easy, so he pointed at the plate of mutton crystal dumplings and said: "Niu Mengmeng, you are very loyal to me, so I will reward you with this pot of mutton crystal dumplings!"
"Ah?" Niu Mengmeng raised his head suddenly, his beautiful big eyes looking unbelievable.
However, Qin Conggui didn't really like this carefree palace maid, so he immediately reminded her, "You still don't want to thank the crown prince for your kindness?"
"Thank you, Crown Prince, for the reward!" Niu Mengmeng suspected that he had heard wrongly, and then he hurriedly thanked him.
A pot of mutton crystal dumplings was a dish that the prince could eat almost every day, but to her it was a fishy and oily dish that she had never tasted before, but it was one of the foods that she dreamed of.
Niu Mengmeng took over the pot of mutton dumplings and immediately stuffed one mutton dumpling into his mouth, his meaty face looking even fatter. However, he suddenly noticed that Qin Conggui was glaring at him fiercely, so he hurriedly walked out of the door with the plate of mutton dumplings.
The maids present couldn't help but look at each other, who did they learn this court etiquette from?
When Zhu Youtang saw Niu Mengmeng eating so happily, it was only then that he felt that he was the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, the master of the crown prince's mansion with weight, and the prince who could create happiness for others.
Bang!
Naturally, what happened in the dining room could not escape the eyes of the princess. After learning that Zhu Youtang was dissatisfied with the food, Zhang Yujiao immediately smashed the porcelain bottle he was playing with.
"Crown Princess, that Niu Mengmeng is really hateful. I think she just wants to seduce the Crown Prince!" an older palace maid made a small report, adding even more jealousy.
But as soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Zi, the palace maid next to her, immediately reprimanded: "Stop talking nonsense! With the Crown Princess here, how could she be so pretentious in seducing the Crown Prince with her little beauty!"
"Yes, my slave made a mistake!" the elderly palace maid who made the report immediately admitted her mistake.
Zhang Yujiao waved her hand at the palace maid who was snitching. After the palace maid left, she said angrily to the palace maid Xiao Zi beside her: "You asked His Highness the Crown Prince to continue to stay in the study tonight. If I don't serve him anymore, let me From now on, he can go wherever he wants to stay!"
"Yes!" Xiao Zi was well aware of Zhang Yujiao's strength, so she agreed bravely.
But who can be blamed for this? If the Crown Prince had not asked about Ku Yin today and stayed away from the palace maid named Niu Mengmeng, then he and the Crown Princess could get back together tonight.
Zhu Youtang stood in the courtyard that night and looked towards the direction of the Forbidden City. It was supposed that at this time he should have called the prince into the palace to accompany him, but the world seemed to have forgotten him.
Perhaps, in the eyes of many people, his prince is truly dispensable, or the most ideal puppet.
