Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and then said in surprise: "Who else was hurt?"
Sun Long replied: "Back to Lord Long Live, one of the maids serving the concubine is dead and one is injured, but nothing else."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun got off the bed and asked Wei Chao to dress him and comb his hair. Then he asked Sun Long: "This Xiyuan palace was only built last year. How could it be like this?"
Sun Long got stuck again. Wei Chao had come to his senses and said from the side: "Your Majesty, Mr. Sun took a look and found that the broken purlins had been eaten away by termites, and there was only a layer of paint on the outside."
Sun Long said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, if the concubine dies unexpectedly, there will be an uproar. Your Majesty, you must control your anger. Don't let your anger break your body."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun lowered his face and asked, "Is the Queen Mother frightened? How did you say that?"
Sun Long said: "The two palaces and Eunuch Zhang are now in the main hall. Because they are worried that there are hidden dangers in the palace, they have bowed to the emperor. The queen mother asked the servants to wake up the emperor and ask him to go to the main hall."
While talking, Zhu Yijun was dressed. Because he was afraid that he would be cold, Wei Chao took out another piece of Isaac and put it on him.
Zhu Yijun left the Nuan Pavilion, and people holding lamps and hot water gathered around him, and they followed Zhu Yijun to the main hall.
There were only a few steps to go. When Zhu Yijun entered the hall, he saw a crowd of people standing in the main hall. They all knelt down to pay their respects after hearing the registration of the inner prisoner.
Queen Mother Chen and Queen Mother Li were sitting and talking when they saw Zhu Yijun coming. Queen Mother Chen's eyes were red at first, she pulled him into her arms and said with tears: "The queen is scared to death, is the emperor scared?"
While talking, he touched Zhu Yijun's ears, as if he wanted to give him a jingle of "The cat is scared, the dog is scared, but our emperor is not scared."
Queen Mother Li was standing aside and wanted to reach out and touch Zhu Yijun, but Queen Mother Rensheng held her tightly and could not put her hand in, so she put her hand down again.
He sighed and told the people around him: "Go and see King Lu and the princesses. Don't wake them up." The decent palace lady agreed.
Zhu Yijun gently broke away from Rensheng's arms and said: "My son is fine, are the two queens frightened?"
Empress Dowager Li looked worried and said: "Both the Ministry of Works and the Superintendent of Zhidian should die! They are to blame for the death of Concubine Qi!"
After Zhu Yijun heard this, he glanced at Zhang Hong and others who were standing by. He said softly: "Where is Chen Ju?"
Chen Ju came out from behind Zhang Hong, knelt down and said, "I am here."
Zhu Yijun asked in a deep voice: "How many eunuchs are there in the East Factory?"
Chen Ju replied: "Back to the emperor, there are one hundred and fifty people."
Zhu Yijun said: "Separate fifty people to guard the Ningcui Hall. No one is allowed to approach!" Chen Ju agreed and went to assign himself.
Zhu Yijun glanced at the main hall again and ordered: "What is the use of these many people here? The Chief of Ceremonies will arrange it and take a ladder to check everywhere. If there are any rotten beams or purlins, let everyone inside come out."
After hearing this, Zhang Hong arranged for everyone in the palace to go out. Then he knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, this main palace is not in danger, but for the sake of safety, do you want to return to the palace at night?"
Zhu Yijun sneered after hearing this, his lips seemed to be filled with ice: "I served the two palaces and came to Xiyuan for a day, and then returned to the inner palace in despair at night. Wouldn't it make all nations at home and abroad laugh?"
Da Yue, who stayed in the palace, felt a chill reaching his heels when he heard the emperor's determination.
Yin Xiang, who was promoted to the Zhidian Supervisor only in February last year, was already under custody at this time, but Zhu Yijun estimated that the old Yin Xiang must have been coaxed by the people below, and this matter needs to be dug deeper.
Then he ordered Zhang Hong: "Hurry up and arrange for people to inspect the main hall." Empress Dowager Li interjected: "The inspection here has been completed. All the wood is good, and there is nothing wrong."
After Zhu Yijun and Queen Mother Li finished speaking, she nodded. Then he sneered: "It's a good thing that I'm young——"
After a pause, he said: "Otherwise, I don't know how many unpleasant things people have said about me."
Empress Dowager Li had never thought of this before. When Zhu Yijun reminded her, she suddenly thought that the shit basin might be on her head.
The emperor was too young to be accused of "sexing his mother and concubine", but he couldn't bear to tell Queen Li a story about jealousy, hatred, forbearance, power and murder.
She turned pale with anger and ordered Zhang Hong: "Those who know today should keep their mouths shut! If any unfavorable rumors spread about the royal family, you are the only one to ask!" Zhang Hong secretly complained and knelt down to answer.
Seeing that Empress Dowager Li had fallen into the trap, Zhu Yijun secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The son will just live with his mother tonight. We will talk about the rest tomorrow."
Queen Mother Li glanced at the clock and saw that she had arrived at Zizheng. With a face full of frost, he said: "Just follow the emperor's instructions and do it!"
...
Early the next morning, it was still sunny. Zhu Yijun accompanied the two palaces and went to the scene to take a look.
Ningcui Hall faces west and faces east. The main body is intact. Only the north part of the roof of the hall collapsed. The glazed tiles outside and inside the hall fell to the ground.
Listening to the report from the eunuch who was serving Concubine Qi, Concubine Qi had not gone to bed when the accident occurred, but was playing with the palace maid next to her, playing Shuanglu with chess pieces. When the roof of the palace collapsed, I couldn't dodge, and two glazed tiles hit my head squarely, and I was gone immediately.
Zhu Yijun stood outside the security line, coughed, and asked Chen Ju: "Can the body of the concubine be collected? Has the family been notified?"
Chen Ju replied: "The body has been collected. The concubine's home is in Suzhou, and there is no one in the capital. We have rushed to Suzhou to report the news."
Empress Dowager Chen recited two lines of Buddha and sighed: "Poor! Such a young man suffered this disaster." After saying this, her eyes became red. Zhu Yijun's heart felt heavy as he thought of the surprising glimpse the day before.
Seeing the heavy curtains in the main hall, Empress Dowager Chen added: "It's a good thing that the broken lamp didn't light the curtains. Otherwise, if the fire started, the chaos would be even greater, and our mothers would inevitably be embarrassed."
Empress Dowager Li could not sleep last night. At this time, her face was ashen and she said bitterly: "Who is responsible for the construction of Xiyuan?"
Zhang Hong had already found out last night, and at this time he replied: "According to the Queen Mother's decree last spring, the Supervisor of Ceremonies transferred 150,000 taels of silver; the cabinet ordered the Ministry of Works to be responsible for the construction; Zhu Heng, the Minister of Works, approved the transfer to the camp and repair department staff Yang Song, the foreign minister, is in charge of the general affairs, and the platform factory supplies wood; Wang Li, the young eunuch of the direct hall, is the supervisor; here is the list of the rest of the secretarial office, dispatch and other officials." After saying this, he knelt down to present the list.
Empress Dowager Li took it over and gave a stern order: "Capture them all together, and really investigate! And let Zhang Juzheng and Zhu Heng come here!"
Chen Ju said: "Return to the Queen Mother. I have sent an order to Dongchang to arrest the relevant persons separately. Mr. Zhang and Zhu Heng are already kneeling outside Bailu Palace to plead guilty."
When Zhu Yijun heard this, he was surprised and said: "Can Mr. Zhang still supervise the construction in person? Let him come in quickly and find a suitable place to rest."
Chen Ju felt deeply embarrassed after hearing this. Zhang Hong knelt down and reported back: "I think that the Queen Mother and the Emperor do not live here permanently, so the palace arrangement is not divided into internal and external. At this time, Bailu Palace is all for the inner palace, and the foreign ministers follow the etiquette——"
Empress Dowager Li interrupted: "What is the difference between inside and outside at this time? In the clear sky and white sun, in full view of the public, how can we have an affair? Find a small hall near the palace gate and put up a screen. I will also go and listen to their explanation. !”
This decree was so crisp that Zhang Hong could not argue, so he hurriedly stepped back and made arrangements.
After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Zhang Hong came back to ask for a ride. Queen Mother Li asked Queen Mother Chen. Queen Mother Chen was frightened and said she had not slept all night and wanted to go back to rest.
Empress Dowager Li did not force herself and took Zhu Yijun on a chariot to the small hall arranged by Zhang Hong. There was a throne in the palace, and a screen was placed behind the throne. Empress Dowager Li sat behind the screen, and Zhu Yijun sat on the throne.
The eunuch saw the two mothers sitting down and went out to deliver the order. After a while, Zhang Juzheng asked to come in from outside the palace.
Chen Ju shouted to see him, and Zhang Juzheng walked into the hall. Before he entered the door, he knelt down and said: "My minister, Zhang Juzheng, was careless and disturbed the emperor and the two palaces. He cannot escape the crime of neglect. I beg the emperor to punish him!"
Zhu Yijun said warmly: "Old sir, please get up. There is no need to deny yourself for this unintentional mistake - this time, we must pursue the main responsibility."
Zhang Juzheng said with tears: "The emperor was lenient and forgiving, and did not condemn her. The great ministers of Shengdu are just grateful. However, the concubine died in an accident. How can the government be blameless? I also ask the emperor to impose heavy punishments and correct the discipline."
Zhu Yijun understood what he meant and still insisted: "This matter can be discussed later. The old gentleman is safe and comes closer to discuss the follow-up with me."
After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng stood up helplessly, walked to the throne and knelt down again. Zhu Yijun still called out warmly and offered him a seat. The eunuch took a small pillar and Zhang Juzheng thanked him and sat down.
Zhu Yijun smiled bitterly and said: "Old sir, is Bailu Palace at odds with the royal family? It caught fire during the reign of Emperor Shizong. It was rebuilt and renamed twice, but it has not yet been transferred."
Zhang Juzheng did not expect Zhu Yijun to say this and was speechless. After a while, he came back: "This is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster. I believe that everyone below me who is related to the construction of Xiyuan must be investigated thoroughly. The supervisors of the inner court and the Supervisor of Ceremonies must also be strictly investigated. So. Only then can we calm public opinion and prevent turmoil.”
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "I agree with what the old gentleman said. If the concubine is killed, if she doesn't kill everyone, where will the law and discipline be?"
Zhang Juzheng didn't mean this originally. Because Zhu Yijun guided the topic, he said the word "man-made disaster" first. At this time, the emperor's murderous intention was revealed, but he could not retreat.
