Seven years after traveling to this world, Zheng Haizhu finally faced the emperor of the empire.
He was also the shortest-lived emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty, unlike the later dynasties, did not have the so-called "monarch etiquette" that allowed ministers to call themselves slaves and kneel down frequently.
As a registered lecturer in the Ministry of Rites, Zheng Haizhu, like Ding Yun, a lecturer on the side, did not have to bend his knees when he saw the Holy Master.
All she had to do was bow slightly.
Before lowering her head, she quickly took a look at Zhu Changluo's appearance.
The middle-aged emperor has a slightly overweight figure, ordinary facial features, slender eyes and squinted eyes, and does not have the aura of a ninety-five supreme emperor who is not angry and self-powerful.
Wang An, the eunuch who accompanied the driver, took a few steps over at the emperor's signal. He scanned everyone before his eyes rested on Eunuch Xue.
Eunuch Xue immediately spoke: "Your Majesty, my servant deserves to die. I didn't stop Master Zheng and disturbed the Holy Master."
Wang An glanced at Zheng Haizhu.
Zheng Haizhu calmed down at this time and was not in a hurry to talk. She stared at Eunuch Xue coldly and listened to what he would make up later.
Wang An had heard about this girl from Yang Lian before, and his first impression today was acceptable, so he scolded Eunuch Xue: "Just tell me the whole story."
Eunuch Xue sighed: "My servant wanted to take Master Zheng to change into the official's scarlet robe, but she said she didn't want to meet the ministers at the imperial court, so my servant took her around from the back of the imperial pharmacy to the side hall to the west of the Wenhua Hall. Unexpectedly, as she was walking, she actually asked her slave to take her to the third hall first. The slave asked her why. She first said that she had never seen the grandeur of the Forbidden City and was curious. When she saw that the slave did not believe it, she stuffed her with a bag of gold. She said she heard that Long Live Lord was coming to the Third Hall today, and she wanted to see Long Live Lord."
At this point, Eunuch Xue staggered away from Wang An, and with a pop, he knelt down towards Zhu Changluo who was standing behind him, half panicked and half upright.
"Your Majesty, the palace has palace rules. How can a slave and a foreign minister run around in the palace? I don't want Master Zheng to come here like a cat pouncing on his food. He can't stop him... Hey, Ding is admonishing me. We just happened to bump into each other, right?"
Ding Yun showed contempt and disgust: "Why do you want to see Lord Long Live? I see, this woman clearly wants Lord Long Live to see her. Please tell me, is this Dong Shaoqing next to Your Majesty?"
"My official is Dong Qichang of Taichang Temple."
Dong Qichang stood across from Wang An and greeted the young minister who could be his grandson with a kind face.
There is no way, most of the Yanguan of the Ming Dynasty have such a menacing style, the emperor is very frightened. How can an old guy who has just become the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple dare to talk to the Yanguan because of his teacher-student relationship with the new emperor? put on airs.
Ding Yun sneered: "Dong Shaoqing, I heard that Mrs. Zheng and you have a friendship from the same hometown. No wonder she knew that His Majesty was coming to the third hall today, and she was crying and making trouble to get His Majesty to take a look at her. This is not the master of the prince, she is clearly Want to do..."
How could Dong Qichang not understand the meaning behind Ding Yun's words?
Today, he indeed responded to the imperial edict and entered the palace to accompany Zhu Changluo to inspect the three main halls. As the official of Taichang Temple, he made some plans for the ceremony after the renovation of the new hall was completed.
With such a blame on his back for no apparent reason, no matter how good Dong Qichang was, he would inevitably change his temper.
"Don't be angry, Mr. Dong." Zheng Haizhu raised his head and said to Dong Qichang, "I have never known Eunuch Xue and Ding Geijian. I don't know why they framed me and spoke so badly of me."
Zheng Haizhu paused and turned his gaze frankly to Zhu Changluo.
"You must not be rude before you." Wang An reminded her with a stern rebuke.
Zheng Haizhu lowered his head in time, but his voice doubled: "I am trusted by Wansui and the court, and I just want to be a master for the princes. Today, Eunuch Xue tricked me into coming here on the pretext of avoiding cabinet ministers. When I sensed something fishy, I turned around and ran away. On the ground between the palace walls, there were two lines of footprints facing opposite directions. I beg your Majesty to send the prince to investigate carefully."
Wang An felt relieved when he heard that she spoke clearly, without panic, and had an upright spirit.
This person was recommended by Dong Lin. If he really had a dirty mind and acted stupidly and recklessly, wouldn't he, the man who had spoken kind words for her in front of the emperor, have something to do with it?
Zhu Changluo's voice finally sounded, slowly and gently: "Oh, the little firemen just swept over that road, and there are many footprints."
Zheng Haizhu said: "Your Majesty, I am wearing cloth shoes from my own workshop. The soles are made of Jiading yellow grass to have the shape of our Songjiang square tower, not only to increase friction, but also as a mark of my name. Please go and see me." have a look."
When Zhu Changluo first heard Eunuch Xue's complaint, he looked at Zheng Haizhu and saw that there was only a wooden hairpin inserted in her simple bun. Her face under the black hair was straight, but there was no trace of makeup. After careful painting, the face appears black and rough, which is completely different from the shy and lovely concubines in the harem.
The color of the clothes is even darker ocher.
Zhu Changluo murmured, "It's not like the beauty of a willow tree, but how can anyone seduce you without applying makeup?" If they hadn't gotten into trouble and this woman had walked past my eyes, I would have just thought she was a maid in the palace.
"Wang An, go take a look." Zhu Changluo ordered calmly.
Wang An quickly ran to the corridor between the palace walls, leaned over and looked back and forth.
Zhu Changluo noticed that Eunuch Xue's expression was no longer as arrogant as before, so he said kindly: "Little Xue also goes to see, so as not to worry about Wang An lying about the military situation because he is concerned about my Master Dong."
As soon as Zhu Changluo said these words, Zheng Haizhu understood seven or eight points of his attitude towards the emperor.
Eunuch Xue concealed his apprehension, said "obey the order", and moved near Wang An.
Wang An pointed to the ground: "It really looks like the top of a tower. This series of footprints is pointing towards the three main halls. Look at this series of footprints again. The tip is pointing towards the Wenhua Palace again, isn't it, Xiao Xue?"
Eunuch Xue felt a chill running down his spine. Wang An's voice seemed to be far away, and he began to think about what to do next.
He subconsciously turned back to see Ding Yun, only to see the female Taoist priest Jingzhao, who had always been standing behind everyone, standing in front of Tianzi to speak.
"Okay, let's go." Wang An called Eunuch Xue with a meaningful smile.
After Zhu Changluo listened to Wang An's truthful report, he said to Eunuch Xue calmly: "Taoist Master Jingzhao said that she came into the palace today to teach the imperial concubine the "Tongxuan Zhenjing", and she just saw you and Master Zheng from a distance. Pulling, she seems to be running back, but you are holding her back, right?"
Eunuch Xue felt like he was being shocked.
This testimony was tantamount to directly convicting him of deceiving the emperor.
How could he be so unlucky to meet this smelly Taoist nun who was passing by and meddling in his own business at such a critical moment!
But no matter how frightening the situation was, Eunuch Xue made a decision quickly after years of experience in the palace.
Ding Yun, who was the conspirator around him, cannot be exposed, nor can they be exposed as a trap for Yao Zongwen to avenge Zheng's Chongming annexation of troops. What he did today should not be punishable by death. After being sent out of Beijing, he could still find a way to rely on Yao Zongwen and the others to come back.
Eunuch Xue then gritted his teeth and knelt in front of Zhu Changluo again: "Your Majesty, this slave is dead and confused! Because I heard that the Zheng family was in Tong County before, in order to cling to Zuo Yushi, I made a big deal on the manager of the imperial village who cleared the land for Empress Li. Disrespectful, considering that Empress Li has always been kind to the people in the palace, I will make my own decision today to give Empress Li a sigh of relief."
After saying this, he turned his knees half a circle and kept bowing to Ding Yun: "Master Ding, this servant misled you and made you misjudge the palace discipline. I can't do it to you, I can't do it to you. "
Who among those who hang out in Liu Ke Gallery is not a human spirit, and which one has no quick wit? Ding Yun heard that Eunuch Xue meant to take over the trouble by himself, and his heart that had jumped into his throat suddenly fell back into his stomach.
He gave Eunuch Xue a hard look, with a tortured and angry look on his face. His eyebrows were twisted into deep grooves that could trap mosquitoes. He took a few breaths, then seemed to come to his senses and walked towards Zhu Changluo. In front of him, he bent his waist into a shrimp.
"My lord, I have no place to show my dignity, I have no place to show my self-confidence!"
Zhu Changluo felt complicated for a moment, thinking to himself that his father, Wan Li, would never admit his mistake so straightforwardly and apologize for it.
"Ding Qing's family, you didn't feel sorry for me today," Zhu Changluo teased, "Sorry, I apologized to the wrong person."
Ding Yun bit his back teeth, turned around and bowed to Zheng Haizhu: "Master Zheng, please forgive me."
Zheng Haizhu observed the performance of Eunuch Xue and Ding Yun from beginning to end, especially Ding Yun's plausibly trying to drag Dong Qichang, who was friendly with Dong Lin, into the water. He simply did not believe that this person was a confused melon-eater.
This person surnamed Ding belongs to Hu Kedu Shizhong... Isn't Yao Zongwen the same as Hu Kedu Shizhong? Isn’t Yao Zongwen the pawn of Fang Congzhe, Donglin’s mortal enemy and leader of the Zhejiang Party?
In this section, Zheng Haizhu had been guessing a moment ago.
How could a chamberlain like Eunuch Xue, who had already sneaked into the ceremonial department, go to all the trouble to stage such a farce just to vent his anger on the concubine?
But at this moment, she couldn't question impulsively, she had to look at the emperor's attitude first.
I saw that Zhu Changluo still looked like a tepid family man. He shook his head and said to Eunuch Xue: "Manager of Huangzhuang, it was clearly an invasion of land that day. After I heard about it, I not only reprimanded Empress Li, but now I should I would like to reward Master Zheng for speaking up. Fortunately, you are still the Supervisor of Ceremonies, so you don’t know the difference between right and wrong. Wang An..."
"My slave is here."
"According to my oral instructions, Xue Erbao was transferred to Fengyang to guard the imperial mausoleum."
"According to the order." Wang And said.
"My slave, thank you, Long Live the Lord." Eunuch Xue said in a low voice.
After Xue and Ding retreated in embarrassment, Zhu Changluo said to Zheng Haizhu with a warm face: "Master Zheng was falsely accused in vain. It is really an unreasonable disaster."
Zheng Haizhu saluted: "Your majesty is wise, and there is Taoist Master Jingzhao who can distinguish right from wrong. I will ensure that I am not in danger."
Zhu Changluo said: "The emperor's eldest son and the emperor's fifth son, I ordered them to wait at the Wenhua Hall early in the morning. If you are frightened and tired today, I will ask Wang An and Sun Hanlin to tell you that the class will be rescheduled."
"Your Majesty, as the ancients said, I advise you to cherish every inch of your time and every inch of gold in your youth. I am in high spirits right now. What I want to do right now is to go to the Wenhua Hall and teach the princes together with the assistant Lu Xiangsheng."
Zheng Haizhu deliberately bit the word "Lu Xiangsheng" clearly and brushed the emperor's ears.
Zhu Changluo smiled with satisfaction: "Yes, teachers are more anxious for them to become talented than I am as a father. Okay, Wang An, you can lead Master Zheng to the Wenhua Hall to serve Fei and give lectures."
After Zheng Haizhu thanked him, he once again offered blessings to Jingzhao, who was standing silently aside: "Today I have received the Taoist priest's testimony, and I will visit the Taoist priest's temple another day."
Jingzhao leaned forward and said, "Baoxuguan next to the Imperial Academy is waiting for Master Zheng."
The young female Taoist priest stood there and respectfully sent Zhu Changluo and Dong Qichang to the west side of the three main halls. Then she turned around and watched Zheng Haizhu follow Wang An hurriedly eastwards.
"General Ma, Amber returned a favor to you today."
She said in her mind.
