"Your Majesty has decreed that you will not attend court for three days."
When the ministers were preparing to go to court, Liu Jin came to announce the decree with a decree. He said in a confused way that he would not go to court for three days without explaining, leaving the ministers confused. Anyway, it was not a big deal. In the end The ministers returned individually.
Liu Jianjian is the chief minister, and naturally he is not something Liu Jin can offend. Liu Jin privately confessed two words from His Majesty, saying: "Mr. Liu, your Majesty has ordered that Mr. Liu is not feeling well occasionally and will not go to court for the time being. I ask Mr. Liu to keep his mind in good health. Your Majesty." fine."
Liu Jin's words made Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian sigh in relief. It's fine that Your Majesty is fine. Since you have already agreed to go to court in three days, let's talk about it in three days. Anyway, it's nothing big.
After the ministers left, Zhu Houzhao dressed in casual clothes and left with Liu Jin and the middle-aged scholar from Tie Yingwei. In fact, only now did Zhu Houzhao know that the middle-aged scholar was actually a eunuch, but he was a military commander before. , accidentally injured an unspeakable part on the battlefield, so he simply entered the palace and became the leader of the Iron Eagle Guard.
Since he is a eunuch, there is no problem in staying in the palace. Originally, Zhu Houzhao planned to send him out and set up another army to protect the imperial city. He even thought of a name, but he knew his identity. Give up.
From then on, Zhang Zhong became a shadow beside Zhu Houzhao. He was taciturn and followed Zhu Houzhao wherever he went, protecting his majesty's safety.
Initially, Liu Jin was worried that Zhang Zhong would steal her limelight, so she was a little worried and wary. Later, she realized that her worries were unnecessary. Your Majesty is still the same Majesty. The reason why she kept him may just be because of his kung fu.
As for what Zhu Houzhao has planned, only God knows, and he himself.
After a few people left the palace, a carriage stopped outside the palace gate. At this moment, history continued on the right track. Zhu Houzhao's future queen, Xia, was summoned into the palace by Empress Dowager Zhang. When the late emperor was still alive, he chose After deciding on this girl, the late emperor left not long after, and the matter was delayed.
After the New Year, Zhu Houzhao turned sixteen and Xia turned fourteen, so they were getting married.
"Mr. Xia, a daughter of the common people, has met the Queen Mother. She is a thousand years old and may she be blessed with peace and prosperity." Xia's mouth was very pleasant.
The Queen Mother was full of joy, holding her little hand and talking, she seemed very cordial. Xia was curious and a little uneasy. He was a little uneasy about the majesty she was going to marry. He remembered that when he first entered the palace, this majesty ran away by himself. I came to look for myself, but no one saw me. I heard that Your Majesty was taught a lesson by the late emperor back then. Does he still remember this? Will you cause trouble for yourself and hate me?
Thinking of this, Mrs. Xia felt a little uneasy. Ever since that time, her father always told her some things in the palace, which made her a little nervous. The Queen Mother could probably tell that no one was too young. The Queen Mother, Ahem, okay, okay, but he is calmer than Xia.
In order to ease her mind and let her relax, the Queen Mother chatted with her about household matters, calligraphy and painting. Xia was proficient in playing chess, calligraphy and painting. After opening the topic, Xia felt much more relaxed. It was not until the afternoon that she was sent out of the palace.
The Queen Mother was very satisfied with Xia, and liked this timid and quiet daughter of Xia Ru very much. When Xia left, the Queen Mother asked about the whereabouts of the emperor. The eunuchs went to inquire, but they came back and reported that they did not know. This morning , His Majesty asked Liu Jin, the Chief Superintendent of Ceremonies and Chief Seal, to announce that he would not go to court for three days, and then, he would leave the palace.
Empress Dowager Zhang held her forehead, shook her head, and sent them out. There was nothing she could do about her son who was now the emperor. Forget it, the Ai family doesn't care about you anymore, and they can't control you anymore.
Zhu Houzhao looked at the bustling capital and the flow of people in the streets and alleys, and was filled with emotion. A hundred years later, all this prosperity will disappear. By then, everyone will have a money rattail hanging on the back of their head, leaving their hair intact. Hair, hair but not head, broke the backbone of China for thousands of years. In later generations, it has not fully recovered. There are still people shouting about the prosperous age of Qing Dynasty.
He couldn't help but ask himself, he really wanted to watch this great country decline, leaving the Han people unable to hold their heads up for hundreds of years, and finally being bullied by foreigners. The braided dynasty was a big disaster, so as their ancestors, Jianzhou Wei Jurchen deserves to die even more.
They enjoyed all the favors and conveniences from the court, and were given money and food, but secretly rebelled against the Tatars, and harassed the border. Only when the court did not follow their wishes, they used excuses to cause trouble. Anyway, the court could not do anything about them. There was also no effective control, which laid the foundation for the Tumu Fort battle.
Emperor Chengzu Yongle once said that the troubles of the Ming Dynasty came from the north, which is not unreasonable.
Zhu Houzhao just sighed secretly, and quickly recovered. Why did he think so much? If he works hard, he might have a different Ming Dynasty. However, the street was almost completely dark. At this time, people were already starting to bustle. go home.
This is the curfew of this era, which is also the night curfew. In this era, there are no street lights. People wandering around in the dark in the dark are definitely not good people. Except for patrol guards or people with pass tokens on the street, they can When walking, even the ministers dare not violate the rules, which shows the strictness of the midnight curfew. If ordinary people are caught, they will be slapped with a slap in the face for thirty years at the least, and they will be exiled at the worst.
"Your Majesty... Young Master, let's not go shopping. Night curfew is coming soon. If we are caught by the patrol sergeant, I will be fine. But Young Master, the patrol censor is a stubborn old man." , If you don't change the past, there will be complications again, do you think?" Liu Jin carefully explained the consequences and asked Zhu Houzhao to make the decision himself.
I saw that Zhu Houzhao looked unhappy, but he had nothing to do. He didn't want to be caught by the censor of the city and impeached for leaving the palace without permission. Although this was not a big deal, it didn't sound good. Where did he go? He came out in a hurry. , I forgot to find a good place first and just went to have fun.
Just as he was walking and searching for where to go, two women walked towards him on the dark street. They were walking in a hurry and didn't see each other. They didn't see each other until they walked in. They were about to bump into each other. At this moment, Zhang Zhong suddenly rushed in front of Zhu Houzhao and raised his palm to push the two women away, causing them to exclaim, "Ah."
Zhu Houzhao shouted, "Stop."
Zhang Zhong's hands froze in front of the two women, and then he bowed back. Liu Jin was about to step forward, but took a step slowly, carefully protecting Zhu Houzhao, and said to the two women: "You are the women of that family, walking Don’t you have eyes?”
Although their faces can't be seen clearly, judging from their voices and body shapes, they should be young and not very old. They don't know where they are going and are in such a hurry.
"Miss, are you okay? You are so rude. It's obvious that you almost hit someone, but you are still so cruel, huh." This one sounded like a maid.
Zhu Houzhao had no intention of getting angry with them, but Liu Jin was not very angry. Seeing that Zhu Houzhao remained silent, his temper suddenly came out. He pointed at the little maid and said in a sharp voice: "You little hooves who are raking over, look at us." ····.”
"Steward Liu, forget it, let's go." Zhu Houzhao said calmly.
Liu Jin suddenly no longer dared to be presumptuous and followed him quietly.
At this moment, the young lady who had been silent until now said, "Young master is generous, the little girl Hua Niang has thanked you. Just now, Yu Rong and her maidservant were anxiously turning back to the Qiong Tower and bumped into the master, so I took my leave. "This young lady's voice is so sweet and beautiful that one can't help but imagine that she is being held in one's arms with pity.
Zhu Houzhao coughed consciously and awkwardly. Although he couldn't see the appearance of the woman in front of him, he guessed that she might be a stunning beauty. At this time, shouldn't I be more graceful and give them a gift? Yes Okay, where is Qionglou? Restaurant? Or a teahouse? Hua Niang, he is a little moved.
"My discipline is not strict and I clash with the beauty. It is really rude. My surname is Zhu and my first name is Shou. I am a scholar. Enke is about to come. In addition, I am in a hurry. I can't find a place to live for a while. I am ashamed to say that it is already late at night. It seems that today I am waiting for the master and servant, I am afraid that I will have to sleep on the street. Miss Tinghua just mentioned Qionglou, but I didn’t know it was an inn. That’s just right. We have no place to go. Isn’t this fate?” Both of them briefly introduced themselves. name.
Zhu Houzhao was funny in conversation, a scholar, and a young and elegant young master. Hua Niang and his servants relaxed their vigilance. These days, scholars are good.
But Liu Jin behind him suddenly felt bad, Qionglou! That's not a good place, Your Majesty. If the Queen Mother or the ministers find out that the servants are taking Your Majesty out of the palace to Qiong Tower, they will be beaten to death by Liu Li Xie, the three old men.
Then Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, but they dared to hunt down the ministers with golden melons in front of the late emperor in front of all the civil and military officials and the late emperor. Well, these are not important. The most important thing is, you let Is it really okay for my father-in-law Zhang Zhong and I to go to a place like that with you?
"Master, ahem, let me see..." Liu Jin shut up again.
Zhu Houzhao interrupted him and said, "Tonight, I will stay in Qiong Tower."
Every time I couldn't finish what I said, I was interrupted by Zhu Houzhao. This was very uncomfortable. Well, forget it, you are His Majesty, and everything you do is right.
Zhang Zhong was silent and very honest, like a wooden man. He still knew where Qionglou was. With a smile on his lips, he glanced at Liu Jin and was indifferent again. He only wanted to be the emperor. As for His Majesty's departure He doesn't care about who threatens His Majesty, that's what he cares about.
The flower girl covered her mouth and chuckled in amusement, but quickly recovered, thinking to herself, she is still a nerd.
"Oh, then, sir, please follow the little girl. We have to go back soon. The soldiers patrolling the city are about to start patrolling the city." Hua Niang called anxiously.
Zhu Houzhao felt like his heart was about to melt. The voice was so beautiful. The flower lady and the maid passed by him, blowing up a burst of fragrance. This fragrance was very fresh, not tacky at all, but I didn't know what kind of spice it was made from.
Hua Niang wore a scarf on her face, and Qionglou finally arrived. It was on the street they just passed. It didn't take long to walk, and it was almost half a stick of incense.
Zhu Houzhao was dumbfounded. When he stood under the Qiong Tower, the light from the building shone on the delicate and pretty figure of the flower lady, who was naturally charming. He couldn't help but think of one of the verses of Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" that has been sung through the ages. He looked back and smiled with all the charm. When she was born, the pink and white in the Sixth Palace were colorless. At this moment, when the flower lady looked back and smiled, the breeze lifted her gauze scarf, and Zhu Houzhao was mesmerized.
However, when he spotted a vertical flower card from the corner of his eye, the place in front of him made him speechless. At this time, he remembered what Liu Jin had to say before, probably to stop himself. .
Liu Jin looked at Zhu Houzhao's face and knew what his Majesty was in a daze. He complained in his heart, "I want to stop you, but you don't listen. No wonder I am the slave."
"Liu Jin, since Qionglou is a place for fireworks, wouldn't the flower lady..." Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a while, with an unhappy look on his face.
At this time, Hua Niang's voice came again, saying: "Master Zhu looks down on me, a little girl from Qionglou." Hua Niang asked bitterly, with a sense of grievance and loss.
Zhu Houzhao couldn't tell what he felt, and felt a little irritable for no reason. But after hearing Hua Niang's beautiful voice and her disappointed and aggrieved expression, Zhu Houzhao calmed down and opened the fan with a "pop" sound, shook it twice, and pretended He didn't care and said, "I don't know why Qionglou went there just now? Plus I was anxious for this place to stay, so I got distracted and made the lady laugh. I'm not one of those pedantic bookworms. Butler Liu, Zhang Zhong, let's go."
Hua Niang has just seen Zhu Houzhao's face clearly. It would be a lie to say that she is not impressed. After all, there are not many scholars like Zhu Houzhao who are dignified and not pedantic, but also very dignified and funny. In the past, those pretentious and talented people could not Shamelessly, how could Mr. Zhu enter here so generously? They were not secretive that time, for fear of being seen.
Yes, it seems that scholars in our dynasty are prohibited from entering and exiting these places. Isn't Mr. Zhu afraid of him? It seems that he is really a fool~!
