Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 497 Where Do People Come From

These words were somewhat joking, and Zhu Qiyu could hear that Wu was trying his best to ease the heavy atmosphere brought about by the previous topic.

However, there was no joke on his face, and he asked instead: "If the draft can allow the Supreme Emperor to stay in Nangong safely, why not?"

Empress Dowager Wu was stunned for a moment, but she didn't expect Zhu Qiyu to nod when she said something casually.

Surprised, she couldn't laugh or cry, said.

"How is this possible, not to mention that he returned from the north, and he will definitely be reviled at the draft right now. Even if he is selected, how can a few women make him peaceful?"

"Ai Jia remembers that you once said that there are many people in the court who are waiting for him to come back. How can they sit and watch the Supreme Emperor stay peacefully in Nangong?"

People's desires are endless. The so-called lying drunk on the lap of a beautiful woman, awake and in charge of the world, is the ambition of a man.

The reason why people in the government and the opposition have been agitating public opinion that Zhu Qiyu does not want the Supreme Emperor to return to the court is because this kind of public opinion has room for growth.

Daming has never had a Supreme Emperor, so naturally there is no precedent to follow.

In the etiquette and law, although there are high and low, but in the specific system, there is a blank, and everyone can only move forward by groping.

Blank means ambiguity, which means that many things have a lot of room for manipulation without violating the basic principles of etiquette.

Take this note on the welcome ceremony as an example, because there is no precedent, so there is nothing wrong with the emperor welcoming him in the palace. It is necessary to make a big fanfare and worship the heaven in the suburbs of Beijing.

What's more, even if it is so simple that it is sent directly to Nangong with a small sedan chair, at most it will be scolded for disrespecting the emperor, and there is no way to refute it with practical examples and codes.

This is just the beginning, and there will be many more things like this in the future.

After the Supreme Emperor returned to the court, during the festivals, whether all the officials should pay homage and salute, and whether the emperor should go to pay his respects in the morning and evening.

Whether the Supreme Emperor is qualified to participate in matters that are undecided in the government, if the Supreme Emperor sends orders to the emperor or courtiers, must they be obeyed, or the six subjects can also be denied.

All of this was blank in the past.

Only when they meet, the courtiers argue, discuss, and argue, can finally form a routine and follow it.

Therefore, the Supreme Emperor's return to the court will inevitably conflict with the current political situation. There is no doubt about this, and it is not even up to the Supreme Emperor to decide.

As Empress Dowager Wu said, there are many people in the court who want to take advantage of this, and they will not let the Supreme Emperor really stay in Nangong peacefully.

Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu sighed, it was quite regrettable, said.

"Actually, it would be a good thing if the Supreme Emperor understands the truth and agrees to the draft. But having said that, it doesn't really matter if you choose or not. What should come will eventually come."

Empress Dowager Wu frowned, and asked a little puzzled: "Then you still..."

Zhu Qiyu obviously knew what Empress Dowager Wu was wondering about, smiled gently and said.

"It's my wish to draft for the Supreme Emperor. The Empress Dowager Sun refused for the Supreme Emperor, so let's refuse. However, there are some things that Mrs. Sun may not be able to stop if she wants to."

While speaking, Zhu Qiyu looked at Empress Dowager Wu with an inexplicable expression on her face, and continued.

"My concubine was worried just now that the Supreme Emperor will return, and Yunniang can't arrange the service, sweeping, and arrangement of the various parts of the Nangong Palace. In fact, she doesn't need to arrange it. I have already ordered the many maids who will serve the Supreme Emperor in the Nangong Palace."

Now, Empress Dowager Wu is really interested.

She wanted the Hang family to assist the palace affairs before, of course she wanted to promote the Hang family, but even if she wanted to promote, she needed an opportunity.

The return of the Supreme Emperor is actually an opportunity.

Nangong sounds not famous, but in fact, it is a huge palace complex. It was originally built by Emperor Taizong for Emperor Xuanzong, who was still the grandson of the emperor at that time.

Therefore, the specifications of Yiying are all compared with the East Palace. Later, Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne and renovated and expanded it. It occupies an area as small as half the size of the harem.

Such a place has not been lived in for a long time, and it needs to be renovated, cleaned, furnished, and arranged for service in a short time. Naturally, there are a lot of things.

Therefore, Empress Dowager Wu asked the Hang family to be the assistant because she was worried that the queen would not be busy.

However, she did not expect that the emperor would personally intervene in this matter.

After all, during this period of time, Zhu Qiyu's energy has been placed in the outer court, and he has basically never participated in the affairs of the harem.

More importantly, Empress Dowager Wu had previously cleaned Empress Dowager Sun's staff in the palace, intentionally or unintentionally, and naturally replaced them with a group of her own staff.

Therefore, she can't say that she knows all about the disturbances in the inner palace, but she can know the general news at the first time.

Before today, she only knew that the empress had been busy arranging servants and eunuchs to serve in the Nangong, but she had never heard that the emperor had also selected someone for the inner palace.

One must know that the Nangong Palace is so big that it needs a lot of manpower. If the Emperor's concubine moves there, at most she will take away her personal maid. It is impossible to move the entire palace there.

Even if it is an ordinary concubine, as long as she can occupy the position of the lord of the first palace, there will be no less than a hundred court ladies and eunuchs serving in total.

However, most of these people are on rotation, belonging to the 24 yamen of the inner palace and under the jurisdiction of the queen.

Every once in a while, these eunuchs have to adjust back and forth among the palaces and yamen according to the situation.

Those who are really fixed in the palaces are only a dozen or so who serve personally.

Empress Dowager Sun said that she would arrange the servants, which actually means these people.

No matter how many there are, there is no point in arranging them, because they may be transferred at any time.

What's more, she couldn't find so many confidantes.

This was also what Empress Dowager Wu was most puzzled about. Even if it was just to arrange the manpower to serve the Supreme Emperor, apart from the personal servants that Empress Dowager Sun hired, there would be hundreds of people left.

But the problem is...

"When did you hire someone? This matter is going to be done. There will be a lot of noise. Why hasn't Ai's family heard anything about it?"

Seeing Empress Dowager Wu's puzzled eyes, Zhu Qiyu didn't continue to show off, and said.

"It's normal that the mother and concubine didn't get wind of it, because these people were not recruited from the inner palace."

Empress Dowager Wu's face darkened, her voice became a little displeased, and she asked.

"Could it be that, because of the Nangong incident, you ordered someone to recruit maids from outside?"

This is not a good thing.

Not to mention that repeatedly expanding the number of people in the harem will lead to impeachment by the courtiers, just choosing the maids to enter the palace is itself a matter that is easy to be scolded.

Except for a few of the eunuchs serving in the palace who were confiscated due to crimes, a larger part was selected from common people's homes.

In principle, it is not compulsory, but in fact, when many officials do it, it is easy to become a rape of civilian women.

These bad reputations will only be fed back to the emperor in the end.

At the end of the last draft, the Empress Dowager Wu made a decree to give money to all the contestants, send them back home, and remarry, just because she was afraid of bad influence on Zhu Qiyu's reputation.

Facing the sinking expression of Empress Dowager Wu, Zhu Qiyu said calmly.

"Mother and concubine, don't worry, people are indeed not ordered in the palace, but they are not recruited separately."

Empress Dowager Wu was not in the mood to joke anymore, so she asked directly.

"Then you tell Aijia, where did people come from? They couldn't be conjured out of thin air?"

Zhu Qiyu's expression was still calm, and he spit out a few words lightly.

"Jiaofang Division."

(End of this chapter)