King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 551 Catching the Wind
"Exactly!" Yang Yan replied.

"Do you know what you are talking about? Do you have that ability?" Chen Fuli asked.

Although he is the king of the White Lotus Sect, and although he is well-informed and experienced, Chen Fuli still underestimated the strength of the prince's protection when traveling.

This resulted in that even though he had a thorough plan and dispatched the most capable manpower, he did not even see Zhu Jinghong's shadow, and then the entire army was annihilated.

So now, when he heard Yang Yan say that he wanted to do it again, he thought that this kid was crazy, or that he was trying to get into trouble.

"Master, I have a solution!"

Chen Fuli only thought that Yang Yan was acting on his own initiative, so he said coldly: "Don't think about this matter anymore. Since the saint has dismissed you from your post, you can stay in the house honestly these days!"

"Master, I really have a way this time. I have found a way in Prince Yan's Mansion. As long as I plan properly... I will definitely kill the boy from the Zhu family!"

"Hum..."

Chen Fuli sneered twice. Although he didn't say a word, he already made his attitude clear.

"Sir, the Prince of Yan's Palace has been inherited for more than three hundred years. There are at least thousands of Zhu families. Their relationship with the clan is complicated. There are countless poor people among them. One of them happened to have joined our sect a few years ago!"

Yang Yan only learned about this situation in the past two days, and even sent someone to verify it. He only got feedback this morning.

Yes, there were indeed common people of the Yan vassal who could not survive and directly joined the White Lotus Sect to find a way to survive. This is also very ironic to say.

Although Chen Fuli was deeply surprised at this time, he still kept his head clear.

"How useful can a Yuanzhi clan member be if he can't even enter Prince Yan's palace?" Chen Fuli sneered.

"Master, it doesn't matter how useful he is, as long as he can bring our people into the palace, we will have a chance to kill Zhu!"

Having said this, Yang Yanxia calmed down: "Even if we fail, we will only lose some manpower!"

The person who can be sent to assassinate Zhu Jinghong is naturally the most capable believer in the White Lotus Sect. For Yang Yan, he is just a consumable.

"Master...Dad..." Yang Yan was full of hope.

This "Dad" really made Chen Fuli soften his heart.

But he remained rational after all, knowing that he couldn't confront the saint right now, otherwise he would be in danger.

"This matter is not urgent. Let's wait for a few days... wait until the saint leaves Peiping!" Chen Fuli said calmly.

Yang Yan wanted to say a few more words, but in the end he held it back, thinking that it wouldn't hurt to wait a few more days before taking action.

The two of them had agreed on matters here. On the other side of the palace of Prince Yan, Lieutenant Zhen Guo Zhu Yibin was already too busy to touch the ground.

In fact, if he was willing to seize his leisure, Zhu Jinghong's daily life matters would not bother him at all, so how could he give up this opportunity to flatter him.

The only prince of the Ming Dynasty has arrived. As long as he can serve him a little better, it will be easy to give him a title or two.

After the big things were arranged, Zhu Yibin finally took a breath, and then the tribesmen led the boys to carry the utensils over.

"Sir, these things..."

With a dissatisfied look on his face, Zhu Yibin said impatiently: "Under the east corridor of Cunxin Hall..."

"Yes!"

After these few people left, several more people came to ask for instructions, leaving Zhu Yibin breathless.

"Where is Jin'er?" Zhu Yibin asked the boy behind him.

"Go back to the eldest sir. The eldest uncle is now welcoming guests at the East Point Gate!"

Zhu Yibin said in a deep voice: "The guests are almost here, let him come here to greet them!"

"Yes!"

After a while, Zhu Bojin came in from the outside and saluted his father after seeing him.

"The civil and military officials have almost arrived. You go to Cunxin Hall to greet me, and for my father, go and wait outside Yin'an Hall!"

"My son understands!"

"Jin'er, today the civil and military forces of Beiping are supporting the Thirteenth Master. You and I have to deal with it carefully. The stakes are very high... You have to understand!"

"Dad, my son understands, just don't worry!"

"Ok!"

After saying that, the father and son split up. Zhu Boxin went to greet Yanshan Civil and Military Affairs, while Zhu Yibin went to Yin'an Hall.

Only when he came to Yin'an Palace did he find out that Zhu Jinghong had gone to the ancestral temple in Prince Yan's Mansion, so Zhu Yibin also rushed there.

Let's talk about the ancestral temple of Prince Yan's Mansion. Zhu Jinghong was visiting the internal rankings and portraits.

The kingship of Yan Fan was passed down for ten generations. The second King of Yan was Zhu Gaochi. Unfortunately, he died of illness after only sitting for two years. Then Zhu Zhanji inherited the title.

The situation changed here. Zhu Qizhen was deposed because of his tyrannical behavior, and his son Zhu Jianshen inherited the throne in advance.

"Your Majesty, Lieutenant Zhu Yibin of Zhenguo wants to see you!"

"Ok!"

Zhu Jinghong just responded without saying whether he would see him or not, so the eunuch who made the report had no choice but to leave first.

Outside the ancestral temple, Zhu Yibin could only wait patiently, while recalling the history of his ancestors in order to wait for Zhu Jinghong to ask later.

He really guessed what Zhu Jinghong was thinking. After a while, Zhu Jinghong came out and the first thing he asked was: "Is King Yankang fat?"

King Yankang is Zhu Gaochi, an ancient man who lived more than two hundred years ago.

"Oh...this...is a bit fat!"

Being too fat is not a good thing after all, so Zhu Yibin answered vaguely, but Zhu Jinghong already understood the meaning.

"King Xuan of Yan likes to play with crickets?"

"Oh... as far as I know, there is no such thing!" Zhu Yibin replied seriously.

"King Yancheng loves mature women?"

Zhu Jinghong always asks such tricky questions, and the subjects are his ancestors, which is very impolite in this era.

But he was a prince. Although Zhu Yibin was dissatisfied, he could only greet him with a smile at this time.

Arriving in front of Zhu Jinghong, Zhu Yibin saluted solemnly and said: "Your Highness, these are all falsehoods. Someone must have maliciously slandered me!"

The Yan clan was already in a bad state, and now others were slandering them. If this spread in the capital, their branch would not only not be promoted, but would probably be demoted by one or two levels.

So now, Zhu Yibin must explain very seriously and eliminate risks for the family as much as possible.

Zhu Jinghong smiled, and after personally helping Zhu Yibin up, he said, "Don't be nervous, I'm just asking casually!"

He came over to take a look out of curiosity, and asked about it out of curiosity, but he didn't expect to scare Zhu Yibin.

"Are they all here?"

Zhu Yibin quickly replied: "Everyone is here, and the singing and dancing moonlighting troupe is also ready!"

The first half of his sentence was a reply, and the second half was a show of merit. The singing and dancing troupe was prepared by his father and son.

"Then it's time for me to show up!" Zhu Jinghong said nonchalantly.

His calmness and easy-going nature really made Zhu Yibin envious and even jealous. He secretly thought that if he had a prince in his family, he would also be so arrogant.

"Let's go!" "Your Majesty, please!"

The two of them went to the Cunxin Hall together. At the Tongxin Hall of the palace, Zhen Qin ordered the maid to close the doors of the Tongxin Hall while Nuo Min was reading in the bedroom of the side hall.

At this time, in the main hall of Tongxin Hall, Zhen Qin was standing alone in the center of the hall, wearing the dress of a chosen lady.

In the side halls on both sides of the main hall, there are portraits of Princess Yan in the past. Zhen Qin was a little scared to be alone.

But when her eyes fell on the center of the main hall and saw the exquisitely carved phoenix throne, she forgot her fear.

Zhen Qin slowly walked towards the phoenix chair and stood in front of the chair for a few breaths. Zhen Qin slowly turned her back to the phoenix chair, then slowly lowered her body and sat on it.

"Oh~~"

Zhen Qin didn't directly exclaim, but she felt different sitting here.

This is the throne of Princess Yan in all dynasties, and I’m done with it... Zhen Qin thought.

Now the position of concubine is still vacant. When I return to Beijing after traveling around with the prince, this position should always be mine...

"Until then, I will still be the royal empress Zhen!" Zhen Qin whispered.

Now her situation is very embarrassing, especially after Yinglian's wedding, she was granted the title of Chosen Attendant, which resulted in two "Selected Attendants" in Prince Xiang's Mansion, and Zhen Qin's title of "Dazhen Empress" was no longer stable.

But as long as she takes a step further and becomes a concubine... the advantage will still be with her.

With a creaking sound, a door on the side of the main hall was pushed open, and Zhen Qin jumped up from her position as a princess in fright.

"Who is over there? Didn't I say that no one is allowed to enter without permission? Who is so bold!" Zhen Qin scolded.

"I also want to ask, who is so bold as to sit in Princess Yan's seat!" Nuo Min's voice came from the side.

Nuo Min knew exactly what Zhen Qin was thinking.

The two of them were already blushing, and Nuo Min would not save face for Zhen Qin at this moment.

"I said, Madam Zhen, while you are sitting in someone else's seat, have you ever said hello to all the princesses?"

"Don't talk nonsense, I have never sat in their seats!"

Seeing that Zhen Qin refused to admit it, Nuo Min walked to the center of the hall with a smile, looked left and right and said: "There are so many people watching you, so you can't lie, otherwise the princesses will come to find you at night!"

Zhen Qin felt guilty and looked left and right. At that moment, a gust of wind blew in, causing the paintings on the wall to fluctuate.

Zhen Qin was originally scared, but now she was so frightened that she immediately thought of escaping from here.

Just as Zhen Qin was about to get up and leave, Nuo Min said with a horrified look on her face: "Look behind the chair, there is someone..."

For a moment, Zhen Qin was so frightened that her hair stood on end, and then she rushed out of the hall as if running away, secretly saying that she must never come back to this place again.

In the main hall, Nuo Min felt happy after taking revenge.

Glancing at the empty phoenix throne and looking at the portraits of the previous concubines of Yan Fan, Nuo Min walked out without looking back.

What she cared about was Zhu Jinghong, who had no idea about his position. She even wanted to go back to the tribe on the grassland because it was boring to stay in the palace.

Of course, all this is basically impossible, so Nuomin can only have fun for herself. Taking care of Zhen Qin can obviously make her feel better.

"I'll go to Yin'an Gate tonight to guard it, and I won't let anyone named Zhen succeed!" Nuo Min thought to himself.

With Zhen Qin, although Nuo Min originally wanted not to compete with her, now he still had to compete with her.

As a prey, Zhu Jinghong couldn't think of this at all. Even if he could think of it, he wouldn't care. Anyway, Zhen Qin and Nuo Min are both beauties. No matter who they are, they should let him have fun.

As for Zhu Jinghong at this time, he had arrived at the Cunxin Hall, and more than thirty civil and military officials present stood up to greet him.

Before he sat down, Zhu Jinghong stood on the stage and said: "Everyone... you are so polite. I am here to handle the emperor's errands, how can I care about these false gifts!"

The chief envoy Yang Yunguang replied: "It is the right thing to accept the wind and wash away the dust. Your Highness does not need to refuse!"

"If even the wind is gone, outsiders will say, "How can I explain to the government, the public, and the Holy Father?"

Arriving in front of the throne, after Zhu Jinghong took his seat, Fang motioned for everyone present to take their seats.

However, even though it was not a formal greeting, all the officials present walked to the center of the hall with a tacit understanding, lined up their positions and saluted Zhu Jinghong one after another.

"Free gift"

After everyone stood up, Zhu Jinghong motioned for them to take their seats, and then the banquet officially began.

Following Zhu Yibin's order, the musicians outside began to play, and then dancers came into the hall to perform dances.

Now the dancers all had pretty faces. Even though Zhu Jinghong was someone he had met before, he couldn't help but turn his attention and follow the dancers as they danced.

"I respect the Thirteenth Master and wish him a long life!"

"Everything goes well for you, Prince Zhu..."

After one, two or three glasses of wine, the banquet really begins.

Among the officials present today, Wen Huan was basically prefect or above, and the military attachés were all commanders or above, including nearly 50% of the senior officials in Yanshan.

"Your Majesty, please!" Zhu Yibin personally gave Zhu Jinghong the wine.

Taking the wine glass, Zhu Jinghong said calmly: "You don't have to follow me, just find a place to sit by yourself!"

Zhu Jinghong could roughly guess the purpose behind Zhu Yibin's attentiveness.

Zhu Jinghong actually did not want to get involved in the matter of the vassal succession. After all, this aspect was under the control of Zongzheng, and now Rui Wang Zhu Jingyuan was Zongzheng.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that the hospitality will be inadequate, so I really don't dare to covet comfort!" Zhu Yibin didn't want to leave.

However, Zhu Jinghong didn't look at him at all. He picked up his wine glass and looked at the dancer in front of him, and said in a calm tone: "Go!"

Although there were only two plain words, they had great power and scared Zhu Yibin to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat.

At that moment, Zhu Yibin seemed to hear the roar of a tiger, which made him think that there really was such a ferocious beast in front of him.

"Yes!" Zhu Yibin responded, then carefully stepped back.

The momentum of King Xiang is really extraordinary... Zhu Yibin sighed secretly.

So, Zhu Yibin found an empty seat at the edge and sat down.

His table was basically composed of generals from the Yanshan guards. Zhu Yibin seemed out of place, but he was unwilling to break up directly.

"Everyone, even though I came to Yanshan on an inspection tour, you don't have to be too nervous. I'm just checking it out for your Majesty!"

"Yanshan Mountain is the northern barrier of the Ming Dynasty. It is very important for local stability and sufficient military equipment, so I came here..."

"Today, I am really surprised to see the Thousand Households Guarding Station in Peiping. The Thousand Households..."

Zhu Jinghong was reading in the main seat, while Xia Yang, who was also in the corner, had received continuous congratulations from the military attache at the same table.

On such an occasion, Zhu Jinghong always mentioned Xia Yang, which shows that the latter really received attention.

"Come, cheers to this successful inspection and to the tacit cooperation of all the government offices in Yanshan!"

"Your Highness, please..."

After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere at the scene was fully mobilized, and compliments and flattery could be heard all the time, which profoundly explained what "singing and dancing means peace".

In fact, the only people who could come to toast in front of Zhu Jinghong were the chief officials of the third division and the imperial censors of the inspection department, so there was not much pressure on Zhu Jinghong to drink.

(End of this chapter)