King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 536 Brothers
"Go away and call the prince!"

"Yes!"

When the queen gave these instructions, the emperor who walked out of Kunning Gate also spoke in a stern tone and asked people to find the prince.

Zhu Xianming was very angry after being scolded by his wife today.

Everything happened because of the prince's oversight. Although he couldn't do anything to the queen, he could find the prince to take out his anger.

After giving these instructions, Zhu Xianming still felt aggrieved. The queen's words were like sharp knives, still stabbing into his heart.

Do I really have no regard for human ethics? Am I really headstrong? Am I really mean and unkind?
At this time of extreme anger, Zhu Xianming was still reviewing himself, which shows that he does have some Tang Zong magnanimity.

Sometimes, people really need a wake-up call before they can truly take a comprehensive look at themselves.

The result of Zhu Xianming's review was that he admitted that what the queen said made sense.

Let's talk about the prince's side. After all, the emperor's will was one step ahead. He was taken to the Qianqing Palace by the eunuch.

The Lin family was also a noble family before, but their transformation was very successful and they are now fully integrated into the scholar-bureaucrats.

"Thank you, Father, for the tip!" Zhu Jingyuan saluted solemnly.

Looking at his son's leaving figure, Zhu Xianming couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Thinking of the prince's panic, Zhu Xianming felt even more unhappy, so he sarcastically said: "Is the prince sick again? Why can't he walk steadily?"

Entering the hall and seeing his father with a gloomy face, Zhu Jingyuan quickly knelt down and saluted.

After some teachings, Zhu Xianming felt that it was almost done, and then let Zhu Jingyuan leave.

So at this time, he no longer knew how to answer, and the hall fell silent for a while.

"I heard that you want to marry the Jia family and the Lin family?"

"Yes!"

When they arrived at Kunning Palace, the queen first asked Zhu Jingyuan about the situation of the face-to-face meeting, and she breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the explanation.

"You must make decisions before taking action. Don't panic at any time. If you panic, something will happen easily..."

"Do you know that the girl from the Lin family you want to marry is attracted by your thirteenth brother?"

Seeing that his father called him here just to point out this matter, Zhu Jingyuan couldn't help but feel grateful, secretly thinking that his father was still a little embarrassed.

I still wanted to win over the thirteenth brother and ask him to go to Jinling to check and balance the sixth brother, but now I have married the Lin family girl to someone else. This is really...

"My son... my son..."

"Son, resign!"

At this moment, Zhu Xianming also calmed down and played the role that a father should have. This shows that the queen's words did have an effect.

Let's say that when the prince left the palace, he thought of the group of subordinate officials under his command, and he became angry.

"It's true, but..."

As soon as he walked out of Kunning Palace, people from the Queen's Palace came to find him, so he hurried to Kunning Palace again.

Originally, the emperor was looking for the prince to vent his anger, but seeing how weak he looked, Zhu Xianming lost all interest for a while.

"I do have such an idea, but we are still discussing it!"

This time Lao Liu was kicked out of Beijing, and his father gave him unprecedented advice, which made Zhu Jingyuan couldn't help but boldly guess that maybe this was all to pave the way for him.

As soon as the emperor said these words, the queen's scolding words appeared in his mind. Obviously, his current behavior confirmed the queen's accusation.

"Let's go back!"

"My son, please pay homage to your father!"

It was rare to hear his father's teachings. Zhu Jingyuan was particularly excited, so he listened attentively and nodded in agreement.

Now that she knew that the emperor was not furious, she finally felt at peace.

However, the disappointment in the emperor's heart deepened, and the prince himself was unaware of it. At this moment, he even felt that the future was bright.

It's just that this kind of thing is nothing as long as you don't dig into it. Even if someone does it, they can debate it in court. In the end, who has the final say is more powerful.

"My son has neglected his duty and failed to plan ahead!"

These words made Zhu Jingyuan even more surprised. He had never understood these things before.

"Don't push the marriage issue. When you go back... scold all the mediocre people in your house. They are just messing around!"

So he hurried back to his house, and then ordered to summon his subordinates.

But now it was the emperor who was questioning him. The emperor was the most powerful person in the world. How could the prince and his men dare to argue with him?

Although he admitted that he was responsible for what happened to his sons, he did not deny that the prince was indeed incompetent.

He scolded the emperor, no matter which dynasty or generation he was, he was treasonous. Even his wife Yang Qingyin was heartbroken.

Fourth child, fourth child, can't you make some progress?

"If it's not possible, why does the prince allow it?"

Zhu Jingyuan knew that the marriage was inappropriate from the beginning, but he didn't expect that there was such a big surprise.

Idiot, I obviously want to blame you, don't you know how to blame me?
Zhu Xianming finally tolerated this sentence, and then asked: "The Jia family is a noble family, and the Lin family is now a civil servant, is it okay to marry?"

There were more than twenty officials in the East Palace, but only a few people from Xu Xinan were summoned by the prince. After all, it would not be good to tell too many people about this embarrassing matter.

"Do you know why Father summoned you today?"

Several officials looked at each other and then heard Xu Xinan say: "Your Highness, please make it clear!"

"Your Majesty learned that I wanted to marry the Jia and Lin families, so he scolded me for not abiding by the court rules. You have done me a lot of harm!"

Even if he wants to curse, a kind person like Zhu Jingyuan can only say so much.

No one expected that His Majesty the Emperor would react so strongly and be so angry about something that didn't happen.

They were indeed surprised. Logically speaking, although a civil-military marriage was against the rules, this kind of thing was not a serious matter. Now that the incident had not happened and the court had not started criticizing it, there was no need to call the prince to scold him.

At this time, these East Palace scholars can still think of these things, which shows that they are indeed qualified political creatures.

Rules, laws, etiquette, systems... to them, they are just tools that can be used.

"Everyone, in the future, you should abide by the system and act accordingly!"

Everyone present listened respectfully to the prince's words, which made him feel slightly better.

"Yes!"

After everyone responded, Zhu Jingyuan did not let them leave, but thought about his inner plan.

"Everyone... Jia Lin's marriage is not feasible, but I have another way!"

This method came from his random thoughts on the way back home.

After being the prince for so many years, Zhu Jingyuan rarely proposed methods. Most of the time, he let the bachelors discuss and he made the final decision.

The marriage failed, so how to check and balance Prince Rui became a top priority. At this moment, the officials were thinking about countermeasures, but they were not in the mood to listen to the prince's nonsense.

It's just that the prince is their master after all, so these people have to endure it even if they feel anxious.

"I will listen to His Highness' instructions!" "Today I learned that Prince Xiang is interested in the daughter of the Lin family!"

After considering his words, Zhu Jingyuan said slowly: "You have said before... that you can ask King Xiang to help me check and balance King Rui. However, King Xiang's Nalin family daughter is not in line with the rules. We may be able to help him achieve his wish!"

Zhu Jingyuan came up with this bold idea after learning about these situations from his conversation with the Queen just now.

This idea is indeed bold. Marriage between civil and military officials is against the rules, and it is even more against the rules for the royal family to admit scholars and women.

In the absence of the emperor's intervention, although the civil-military marriage was against the rules, they could use their advantage of public opinion to suppress the opposition of Prince Rui's family.

But now the emperor is clearly opposed to it, causing the marriage to fail, and the East Palace has done even more unruly things. Isn't this a deliberate move against the emperor?

Seeing that the prince was full of hope and waiting for a response, the bachelors all felt very sad, secretly thinking that the prince was too naive to consider the matter.

But this is the prince they taught, and they have to hold on to the belt even if they can't handle it.

Seeing that no one stood up to express his position, Zhu Jingyuan felt very embarrassed, so he asked again: "What do you think?"

"Your Highness, this plan... may not be appropriate!" Xu Xinan carefully organized his words.

"Prince Xiang accepted the daughter of the Lin family as his concubine. Compared with the marriage between Jia and Lin, it is against the rules. Now His Majesty is furious. If I mention this matter again, I'm afraid..."

Xu Xinan analyzed the stakes, which Zhu Jingyuan had also thought about on the way, and he also had his own thoughts on this.

"This time the Thirteenth Brother goes to Jinling. If he completes the important tasks entrusted by His Majesty and makes great achievements, he will invite the Lin family daughter into the palace. I think Your Majesty will not be too opposed to this matter!"

"Even if there are objections in the court, we can still speak for him and suppress those arrogant voices!"

The prince is following his example, and now he has mastered this method of using power to overwhelm others.

At the same time, he is also good at drawing cakes. After Zhu Jinghong has completed the emperor's mission and completed the conditions to check and balance the sixth son, the East Palace will help him achieve his wish.

After several officials considered it, one of them said: "So... it's not impossible!"

His ancestral home is in Zhejiang, and many of his family and friends are involved in smuggling, so he was the quickest to express his stance among the people present.

The other people also nodded one after another, so Zhu Jingyuan looked at Xu Xinan.

"Xu Qing...what do you think?"

"Your Highness, although this plan is feasible, it is extremely risky, especially His Majesty's will is unpredictable..."

"If we fail to do something by then and make King Xiang jealous, I'm afraid... the gain will outweigh the loss!"

Xu Xinan thought very well, because even if they help suppress public opinion, there is no guarantee that the emperor will not personally oppose it, and the possibility of the matter failing is very high.

"When the time comes, I will ask my mother to intercede, and with her help... I think it can be done!"

Even if the Queen is willing to intercede, no one present can guarantee whether this matter will be accomplished.

While Xu Xinan was thinking, someone said: "Master Xu, please pass this hurdle first, and then think about other things!"

Not to mention that the civil servants all over the world are not of the same mind, even within the small group of the East Palace, the interests of the scholars are not the same.

A few breaths later, someone else said: "Dang Duan constantly suffers from the chaos, Mr. Xu... just take it one step at a time!"

This was the first time that Zhu Jingyuan took the initiative to make a plan. Now that he was receiving continuous support from his subordinates, he felt a sense of accomplishment.

"Okay..." Xu Xinan said reluctantly.

Hearing this, Zhu Jingyuan said: "I will invite my thirteenth brother to come over later and make an agreement with him!"

"Is it too hasty?" Xu Xinan still had doubts.

Zhu Jingyuan immediately replied: "It's not too late. We are the ones who advocate this matter of the Jia family. If we don't clarify it in time... we will offend Lao Shisan and regret it too late!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was speechless, and then Zhu Jingyuan sent someone to Prince Xiang's Mansion.

At Prince Xiang's Mansion, Zhu Jinghong unexpectedly received an invitation, which made him very confused.

"Invite me to tea? The sun is going down. What kind of tea are you drinking?"

Of course drinking tea is an excuse, so the prince must have something to do when he asked me to go... Zhu Jinghong thought to himself.

At this moment, he was sitting with Baochai in the back garden. The latter said at this moment: "It seems that the affairs of Jia Lin's family really have something to do with the prince!"

"The prince is so well-informed? I just sent Deng An out, and he noticed it without doing anything?"

For a moment, Zhu Jinghong realized that he had underestimated the prince, and his level of information gathering was too high.

"Is it possible that there are ears and eyes placed around you?" Baochai's eyes flashed fiercely.

"This may not be possible!" Zhu Jinghong looked solemn.

The dozen or so eunuchs who serve him personally are all carefully selected by Yu Hai, and they are absolutely reliable under normal circumstances.

But neither Zhu Jinghong nor his wife can guarantee that these people are 100% reliable. After all, there are no such people in the world.

"We have to investigate... order people to investigate on the grounds that Yin'an Palace was stolen!" Baochai said with a frown.

"You can arrange this matter!" Zhu Jinghong responded.

The couple finalized the matter, and then Baochai reminded: "You'd better go to the East Palace and listen to what the prince has to say!"

"Ok!"

Immediately, Prince Xiang's Mansion began to prepare for the trip, and at the same time sent people to the Five Cities Military and Horse Division to report the situation.

Another half an hour later, Zhu Jinghong arrived at the East Palace, and his good brother was already greeting him at the second gate.

According to Zhu Jingyuan's intention, he wanted to go directly to the east palace gate to greet him, but he gave up only after the bachelors strongly blocked him.

"Thirteenth brother, there is good tea today. I don't dare to enjoy it all to myself, so I invite you to review it!"

Because he didn't know that Zhu Jinghong already knew the situation, Zhu Jingyuan was still calm at the moment, thinking about turning bad things into good things today.

What's funny is that at this moment, Zhu Jinghong thought that Zhu Jingyuan knew that he had taken action. Seeing that he was acting as usual without any shame, he just thought that this fourth brother had really improved.

Following Zhu Jingyuan into the second door, Zhu Jinghong said slowly: "Fourth brother, you don't even know what I like. This brother is not very good at it!"

Zhu Jingyuan smiled and replied: "Actually, you can try it even if you don't like it. Drinking and appreciating tea is a science, and there are many new things in it!"

These words left Zhu Jinghong speechless. He felt that he should take back his previous opinion. It seemed that the four of him had not made much progress.

With such an obvious reminder, you still care about whether I drink tea or not. Do you really think I have no temper?
"Fourth brother, the old man just suppressed me. Now you want to suppress me too?"

Although Zhu Jinghong was smiling when he spoke, it made Zhu Jingyuan's back feel cold. At this time, he also realized that something was not right.

Could it be that Old Thirteen knew about my arrangement for Jia Lin’s marriage?

Thinking of this, Zhu Jingyuan suddenly became confused and lost the calmness he had just shown.

Zhu Jinghong looked around and saw that there were at least thirty eunuchs and maids. How many informants were there among those on duty outside the house?
Looking at the prince, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Fourth brother, fourth brother, you are like this... If the old man finds out, won't you have to deduct points again?"

With a smile on his face, Zhu Jinghong said: "Fourth brother, aren't you having tea... let's not hang around here!"

With Zhu Jinghong giving him the steps, Zhu Jingyuan naturally walked down the slope and raised his hand to guide the way: "It's true what the thirteenth brother said, let's go to the back garden first, sit down and talk slowly if we have anything to say!"

"Thirteenth brother, please!"

"Fourth brother please go first!"

So, the two brothers, who had different thoughts, walked to the back garden of the East Palace together.

(End of this chapter)