King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 647 After Passing
In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Jinghong was still being taught a lesson by the emperor.

Although the words were unpleasant to the ear, they sounded like heavenly music to his ears. After all, the most difficult hurdle had been passed.

After talking for a while, Zhu Xianming was tired, so he just told Zhu Jinghong to get out.

But when the latter relaxed and was about to leave after paying his respects, Zhu Xianming stopped him again.

"Dad, do you have any other instructions?" Zhu Jinghong turned around and asked, bending his waist.

Zhu Xianming smiled and asked calmly, "Just now you said that you had no private interests, so what was the purpose of sending Sun Shaozu to North Korea?"

Hearing this, Zhu Jing's brain suddenly overloaded, and he thought of many things at once.

It can be said that this is a stress test given by the emperor. How to properly respond in a short period of time will greatly affect his final assessment.

"Dad...you want to hear the truth?"

"Are you still listening to lies?"

"The Korean Li Hui said that he is willing to contribute an additional 100,000 to 200,000 silver coins every year in addition to the gold donated previously. Sun Shaozu is a steady and careful person, so it is appropriate for him to supervise Li Hui!"

After saying this, Zhu Jinghong added, "Don't worry, these are still the same as before, we will split them 30% and 70%!"

In the past two years, Li Hui has indeed delivered five to six thousand taels of gold every year as agreed before, and most of it was sent to the inner treasury.

Zhu Jinghong had originally planned to keep the 200,000 taels of silver for himself, but now that he was asked, he had no choice but to cut his losses.

"If I don't ask about this, when are you going to report it?"

Zhu Jinghong showed a helpless look on his face and replied: "My son thought you already knew about it. Could it be that Li Hui didn't report it?"

Zhu Jinghong felt no guilt in putting the blame on Li Hui. After all, this guy really owed him a big favor.

But if Li Hui knew about this, he would definitely feel very unbalanced. He donated more than 200,000 silver coins every year. Couldn't he repay Zhu Jinghong's kindness?

Zhu Xianming smiled. Although Old Thirteen was not honest, it made him feel more at ease.

"get out!"

"Yes!"

"For the next few months, you should stay in the mansion and study hard to cultivate your character. Don't make trouble for me anymore!"

"My son understands!"

This time, Zhu Jinghong really left the hall, and only after he walked out of the Qianqing Gate did he finally relax.

Back inside the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Xianming leaned back in his chair, looked at Cheng Ying and asked, "Isn't this kid too bold? He actually spoke to me like that just now!"

Cheng Ying leaned over his waist and said with a smile: "It is because of your majesty's generosity that Prince Xiang is more relaxed now!"

Cheng Ying is very good at flattering people.

But just as he finished speaking, Zhu Xianming continued to ask: "You were present the whole time..."

Zhu Xianming stroked his beard and asked with a half-smile, "How much of what he said is true and how much is false? Which parts are true...and which are false?"

At the meeting in the Qianqing Palace just now, everyone else was dismissed and only Cheng Ying was present to serve, so Zhu Xianming could only ask him questions.

Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. Not only is it dangerous when the emperor shows his power, but it is also extremely dangerous to hear and see something when following the emperor.

Having followed the emperor for a long time and experienced countless dangers, Cheng Ying has developed a strong heart.

Whether it is true or false, which ones are true and which ones are false... these questions are not something he can evaluate.

Even if he could guess the emperor's mind, he must not show off at this time. Once something that should not be revealed is pointed out, he will be doomed.

Kneeling on the ground, Cheng Ying kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I was distracted just now and didn't remember what Your Majesty said, so I don't know what is true or false!"

Hearing this, Zhu Xianming's smile became warmer and he cursed: "Old thing...you are getting more and more slippery!"

After saying this, Zhu Xianming did not pursue the matter any further, but stood up and walked into the inner room.

“If I’m not stupid or deaf, I’m not qualified to be the father of the family…” Zhu Xianming murmured in a low voice.

For him, truth or falsehood is not important. What is important is that he is sure of two things.

First, he sorted out his thoughts, and second, he wanted to ensure that he had absolute power.

The former is for long-term considerations, while the latter provides protection for the present.

He walked to a side hall, where there was a quiet room at the back, where he usually thought about problems.

There was no one to disturb us here. When Zhu Xianming was thinking about how to clean up the situation, Lu Tong, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, came outside the hall.

As the number one eunuch, Lu Tong, known as the "Inner Prime Minister", had extremely high access rights in the Qianqing Palace and could come directly to Zhu Xianming.

Outside the quiet room, after Lu Tong bowed, he was allowed to enter the room.

"Your Majesty, this is a new memorial!"

"Impeaching Old Thirteen and Old Fourteen again?"

Zhu Xianming has received too many memorials like this in recent days, so he made such a judgment.

At this time, Lu Tong replied: "Your Majesty, this memorial... was submitted by Wang Pei'an, the chief historian of the Prince of Xiang's palace!"

Zhu Xianming basically would not read the impeachment memorial, but when he heard that it was handed over by Wang Pei'an, he became interested in reading it.

"bring here!"

Lu Tong quickly handed over the memorial and said, "Your Majesty, Wang Pei'an submitted a memorial... to defend His Royal Highness Prince Xiang!"

Wang Pei'an is recognized by the world as a clean official, a clean official among the clean officials.

His memorial to defend Zhu Jinghong would naturally attract great attention and would inevitably lead to resistance from the court.

He had spared no effort to investigate the case before, and now he was doing the same to uphold justice. This made Zhu Xianming once again convinced of his character.

Looking at the well-reasoned defense in the memorial, Zhu Xianming's thoughts were elsewhere.

Wang Pei'an is a rare loyal and upright minister. He should be a sharp sword to clarify the officialdom, and should not be defeated in meaningless political struggles.

"Keep this memorial!" Zhu Xianming said this after reading it.

Although Lu Tong felt puzzled, he still nodded in agreement.

"Who is behind this incident?"

Faced with the emperor's question, Lu Tong frowned and thought deeply, and did not answer in a hurry.

He had actually thought deeply about this issue and knew that it involved two legitimate princes, so the old eunuch wanted to pretend to be confused.

"Your Majesty, there must be a villain who is trying to disrupt the government!"

This was nonsense. Zhu Xianming knew the old eunuch's difficulties, so he had no intention of forcing him to answer.

"Go down!"

"Yes!"

The emperor began to deal with government affairs here, while Zhu Jinghong, who walked out of the palace at the other side, felt a sense of fear in his heart.

Because he had realized that his performance during the audience actually had many loopholes, but the emperor just turned a blind eye to them.

But in the end, the relationship between father and son was restored. What does this mean...

Although that possibility really exists, Zhu Jinghong only thought about it for a moment and still felt it was too outrageous.

It is now the fourteenth year of the orthodox era, and he has only been traveling here for four years. How can he already touch that level... Zhu Jinghong couldn't believe it.

Sitting on the sedan chair, Zhu Jinghong left the palace.

Inside and outside the palace walls, there were countless eyes staring at him, many of them with ill intentions.

By the time we were driving back to the palace, the sun had already set.

Baochai personally brought him into the mansion, and Zhu Jinghong came back earlier than she expected.

After the two entered the Yin'an Gate, they waved away the maids and eunuchs who were serving them and strolled alone in the courtyard.

"What do you mean?" Baochai couldn't help asking. Walking slowly forward with his hands behind his back, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile: "I passed!"

"Does the old man believe you?" Baochai asked.

"That should be the case!" Zhu Jinghong didn't say too confidently.

"only……"

Hearing his change of tone, Baochai immediately asked, "Just what?"

Sighing, Zhu Jinghong said: "But the loss is not small!"

"Has your salary been fined again? Or has your title been stripped? Or...has your old friend been dismissed again?"

Baochai's guesses are progressive, each one more serious than the last.

Zhu Jinghong sighed, and then said: "North Korea's two hundred thousand taels of silver have nothing to do with us!"

"what……"

Upon hearing this, Baochai's face turned pale, and it was obvious how sad she was to lose such a large sum of money.

"How...how come it's gone!" Baochai asked.

Although the Prince Xiang's Palace has a good normal income, it is currently spending a lot in all aspects. The hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from Korea every year are extremely important to the operation of the palace.

"If the old man asks, how can I hide it?" Zhu Jinghong said unhappily.

Baochai was very depressed at this time. How to maintain the operation of the palace in all aspects became a very headache for her.

I only heard her complain: "Of course I have to tell you, but that's the money you earned, how can you just say it's gone!"

Zhu Jinghong stopped and turned around to look at Baochai who was chattering non-stop. He said with dissatisfaction, "Should I tell the old man that the money was a bribe from Li Hui to help him seize the throne?"

"Besides, it's just a few silver coins. Is it worth you to be obsessed with it so much?"

Baochai couldn't refute the first sentence, but when she heard Zhu Jinghong's light-hearted second sentence, she really couldn't stand it.

I only heard her sneer and said, "You say that easily. Social relations, weddings and funerals, annual festival rewards, and your daily singing and dancing, which one doesn't cost money?"

"You only care about having fun and don't care about any of the affairs in the mansion. Do you think there is endless money in the house?"

As a result, the couple started arguing, and the argument went all the way around the inner house. In the end, Zhu Jinghong was defeated.

The fact that they were quarreling actually showed that the "external threat" had been resolved, otherwise they would not have had the energy to argue.

In fact, bickering itself is also a kind of pleasure between couples.

At night, after Zhu Jinghong had dinner with the girls, he did not stay in Yin'an Palace to rest, but went to the courtyard where Keqing was.

Keqing is pregnant now, so Zhu Jinghong needs to pay more attention to her, so he comes to talk to her.

As for sleeping with him tonight, Zhu Jinghong didn't need to worry about it at all. Qiqige and Nuomin, who were also in the hospital, were already waiting eagerly by the side.

The four people were talking together, but the three women had different thoughts.

Not to mention Nuomin and Qiqige, what Keqing was thinking about at this moment was to keep Zhu Jinghong.

The night was long and Keqing felt insecure, so she wanted to be with Zhu Jinghong.

While these three people were doing their own thing, an uninvited guest came to the courtyard. It was the concubine Yang Jingting.

"Yo, yo, yo... it's still lively here, it seems I came to the right place!"

Yang Jingting came quietly, so she didn't ask anyone to inform her. Her sudden visit made Keqing and the other two quickly stand up and salute her, the "second in command" of the inner house.

Although everyone looked respectful, the women were actually disgusted by her arrival.

Yang Jingting entered the room and bowed to Zhu Jinghong, then took the seat closest to him, forcing Qi Qige to sit further away.

"Your Highness, Sister Keqing is pregnant now, she should have rested well. You come here so late... Aren't you afraid of disturbing her?"

The three women present knew exactly what Yang Jingting was thinking.

They didn't expect that this guy would come and snatch people away, which was really rude.

Of course, Zhu Jinghong couldn't put himself in the shoes of these women and couldn't see the intrigues so clearly.

"It's indeed a little late!" Zhu Jinghong responded.

"Your Highness, it's just a conversation, it won't cause any trouble!" Keqing explained.

Then Nuomin said, "It's rare for the prince to come here, so you have to stay a little longer tonight!"

"Come to think of it, the prince hasn't stayed in our Jiangyunzhai for more than ten days!"

Qi Qi Ge's last sentence can be said to be particularly straightforward, and his intention is quite obvious.

"That's true!" Zhu Jinghong replied.

Unexpectedly, Yang Jingting smiled and said, "My two sisters, the prince has a lot of things to do, you should be more considerate!"

It seemed like they were joking, but in fact, they were scheming against each other. Zhu Jinghong also heard it at this moment.

His original idea was actually to stay overnight in Jiangyunzhai and discuss life with Nuomin and Qiqige.

Zhu Jinghong then looked at Yang Jingting and asked, "Ting girl, you came here so late, is there something wrong?"

Yang Jingting replied: "I heard that the prince was there, chatting and laughing with the sisters, so I came here to join in the fun!"

"It's getting late. If you have nothing else to do, go back and get some rest!"

Without too many language skills, Zhu Jinghong's meaning was very clear, which was to ask Yang Jingting to leave quickly and not to join in the fun here.

In order to save some face, Yang Jingting looked outside through the window and said with a smile: "It's already late at night. Your Majesty is right... It's time for me to go back!"

Before she could even sit down, Yang Jingting had to stand up, say goodbye to everyone and leave.

There were many women in Prince Xiang's Mansion, and there were many internal intrigues, but Zhu Jinghong ignored them in most cases.

In the blink of an eye, another two days passed, and the debate in the court was still fierce.

On March 22, the 14th year of the Zhengtong reign, the Ministry of Clan Affairs had just concluded its "trial" and announced that Zhu Jingting died of a serious illness and had nothing to do with Qingyang Prince Zhu Jingchun.

This of course aroused widespread opposition, but the emperor ignored it and instead ordered the crown prince and Prince Rui to suppress it.

The royal family's reputation and the harmony among clan members both need to be maintained, and the Crown Prince and Prince Rui are willing to do so.

But they didn't know that the emperor wanted to deal with whoever caused the trouble. He thought that the crown prince and Prince Rui were colluding and wanted to kill Zhu Jinghong.

Since the incident was caused by the two of them, the emperor believed it was only natural to let them suppress it.

There is no reward if you do the job well, but you will be punished if you don’t do it well!

There was a great deal of controversy in the court and the country, and it was not easy to suppress the matter. This was a test of the Crown Prince and Prince Rui's ability.

Another two days passed, and when the situation had not yet completely calmed down, Zhu Jinghong received Wang Pei'an's farewell letter.

In the Yin'an Hall, Zhu Jinghong was holding a pen and looking at the teacher in front of him with great surprise.

"Are you leaving now?"

"Yes!"

"where to?"

"Northwest, Southeast, Liaodong, Annan...all are fine!" Wang Pei'an replied calmly.

Putting down the pen in his hand, Zhu Jinghong stood up and asked, "Why do you suddenly want to leave? Is it because I didn't entertain you well enough?"

"Your Highness is very kind to me!" Wang Pei'an answered frankly.

The Prince Xiang's Mansion was indeed very good to him and his family. Although Wang Pei'an was upright and honest, he was also grateful for Zhu Jinghong's kindness.

"Since everything is fine, why do you suddenly want to leave, sir?" Zhu Jinghong was still puzzled.

Wang Pei'an was silent for a while, and still said calmly: "Since Your Highness has overcome the difficulties, I can set off with peace of mind... Naturally, there is no need to stay in the palace!"

(End of this chapter)