King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 735 The Fire Started

"On May 26, the 18th year of the Zhengtong reign, Empress Yang passed away. The Emperor wept bitterly and could not stop..."

"A moment earlier, she summoned the Crown Prince, Prince Rui, and Prince Xiang to come in one by one, and finally invited the Emperor to come into the palace. The Empress said to the Emperor: 'Life and death are determined by fate. Would you not blame the doctors and maids for my sake?' Then she died at the age of fifty-five..."

"On May 27, all civil and military officials wore plain clothes and performed the ceremony of consolation. The emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites to examine the regulations for the empress's mourning clothes, so the Ministry of Rites said: According to the regulations..."

"On May 28, the Ministry of Rites decided on the funeral of the late Empress: All civil and military officials in the capital..."

"On the fifth day of the sixth month, sacrifices and wine were offered to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the posthumous title of the late Empress was presented..."

In the Hanlin Academy, historians recorded recent events, and these became history.

After finishing writing about today's events, he glanced at the clock behind him and found that there was still half a minute before the next shift.

Under normal circumstances, he could have found an excuse and left work early at this time, but today he did not move at all.

Not only him, but all the officials who stayed in the Hanlin Academy also stayed at their posts, and the inner and outer courtyards were silent.

If you broaden your view a little more, you can see that the six ministries, five temples, five military governors' offices, and the 24 government offices of the inner court are all in a very tense atmosphere.

All this is due to the death of the Queen. The Emperor is deeply in grief and has become moody recently.

Sixteen eunuchs in the Qianqing Palace were beaten with sticks and exiled, and eighteen officials from various ministries and agencies were either dismissed from office or had their salaries fined for slightly exceeding the rules.

Under such circumstances, officials dare not be dishonest and have been behaving much more obediently recently.

When the queen passed away, it was a national mourning, which lasted about a hundred days.

But in fact, officials can take off their mourning clothes after three days, after all, the court still has to keep functioning, and of course this is also a custom.

The requirements for others are not that high, but the requirements for the royal family are much higher.

The Eastern Palace, the imperial concubines, the princes and the princesses all had to stand guard before the Queen's spirit until her coffin was buried in the Emperor's mausoleum.

These days, Zhu Jinghong and his wife, two concubines, and Zhu Muzhen have been in Kunning Palace during the day, and the same is true for Crown Prince Rui and Prince Wang.

By now, more than ten days had passed since the emperor's death, and Zhu Jinghong's heart had calmed down. He believed that the same was true for the fourth and sixth brothers.

After staying in Kunning Palace for a day, Zhu Jinghong and his party returned to the palace by car.

The palace was also in mourning. Several selected maids and concubines were also wearing mourning clothes and were extremely tired after a day of mourning.

In the Yin'an Hall, Zhu Jinghong sat quietly, thinking about recent events.

"The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory have decided to hold the funeral on the ninth day of the seventh month!"

In other words, the funeral will be held in another month.

"Ok!"

After nodding, Zhu Jinghong replied: "I always feel a little uneasy, thinking they are going to take action!"

He has been paying close attention to the situation in the imperial city, and intelligence shows that everything is stable and there has been no unusual movement from those people.

The Eastern Palace has planted more than 200 people in the Imperial City, and these people are distributed in different positions. If they want to take action, they must concentrate their manpower, and it will be easy to be discovered if someone pays close attention.

Now that these people are following the routine, it naturally proves that he has no intention of taking action yet.

Zhu Jinghong is feeling uneasy now. This is because he has been "on guard against thieves" for too long, and he can't help feeling anxious.

"Before my mother died, she told me... not to fight with the fourth and sixth sons!"

Hearing this, Baochai muttered in a low voice: "Didn't you say you didn't hear clearly?"

"I didn't hear it clearly, but the meaning was almost the same. But look... this matter is not something I can decide!"

After thinking for a while, Baochai came closer and said, "Do you think that the Queen Mother said the same things to the Crown Prince and Prince Rui?"

"We have to ask them!" Zhu Jinghong said helplessly.

"My queen mother is wise, she knows the current situation. I don't think she means that you should stop fighting with these two!"

"Why is that?"

"Don't do anything, Fourth Brother or Sixth Brother...right!"

"Yeah!" Zhu Jinghong nodded.

"So mother thinks you can do something to the fourth and sixth brothers, right?"

Hearing this, Zhu Jinghong's expression changed and he motioned Baochai to continue.

After carefully sorting out her thoughts, Baochai continued to analyze: "The fact that your mother warned you of this shows that you can do whatever you want to your fourth and sixth brothers, and your father can't stop you. What does this mean?"

Although he already had the answer in his mind, Zhu Jinghong still asked, "What does it mean?"

Leaning closer, Baochai cautiously concluded, "This means that the Queen Mother has determined that you will... take that seat in the future!"

"That's why, before she died, she asked you not to embarrass your two brothers!"

Zhu Jinghong misheard two words in the middle, but Baochai had already figured them out, but neither of them knew it.

"Why don't you speak?" Baochai turned her head and looked straight at Zhu Jinghong.

"This is just your guess!" Zhu Jinghong said calmly.

He is just like that. Even if he agrees that Baochai's inference is reasonable, he will not feel complacent and will still prepare for the worst case scenario.

Back inside Prince Rui’s mansion, Zhu Jingyuan and his wife were leaning on the couch, discussing something in secret.

"If we keep waiting like this, we might as well just give up!" Zhu Jingyuan sighed.

"You want to take action? At this critical moment? Aren't you walking into the emperor's trap?" Chen Zhi reminded him in time.

Zhu Jingyuan replied: "The fourth brother has prepared a group of people in the palace, just force him to act as soon as possible!"

"As you thought before, reveal the Jia family's affairs?"

"Ok!"

Chen Zhi continued, "This matter needs to be carefully planned, so as not to involve us!"

After thinking about it again, Zhu Jingyuan said, "There is no need to rush. We need to wait until the right time and let Old Four have a better grasp of the situation to take down Old Thirteen and the old man!"

"When the time comes, I will expose the beastly behavior of Old Four, and then lead my trusted aides to attack him!"

"If the fourth brother makes a move, he will definitely make a move on you, so you are in his trap. But if you don't go... he may not make a move!"

"The people he arranged are in the palace, so we can only do it in the palace. Whether it's a family banquet or a sacrifice, I will participate!"

"As long as I realize that the fourth brother is about to take action, I can just not enter the palace temporarily!"

"When the time comes, he will have no choice but to attack the old man and Old Thirteen first. How can he care about me?"

"So, we have to push him back before he completely takes control of the situation!"

"The key is that Old Thirteen must die. If he dies, the generals will have no one to rely on. They will rely on me for revenge. This way, I will have a 100% chance of winning!"

Zhu Jingyuan talked a lot, and although Chen Zhi didn't respond, she was thinking carefully.

It had only been ten days since the Queen passed away, and her three sons were already plotting against each other, and were even trying to kill each other. If she knew, she would probably be so angry that she would come back to life. As for the East Palace, the Crown Prince felt unwell after returning home. After the imperial physician examined him, he took some medicine and lay down.

His mother passed away, and he lost his greatest support, which made him feel deeply frightened recently.

His current weak body made it even more difficult for him. He already wanted to take action without Zhu Jingyuan forcing him.

But although he has a strong desire to take action, he lacks the courage to make a decision.

Without Yuanchun's support, he always felt uneasy, so he could only continue to wait.

As for the queen's last words, he didn't listen to a word of them. Now he just wanted to kill his two brothers.

In the blink of an eye, another twenty days passed and it was time for the queen's funeral.

The royal cemetery is not too far from Beijing, but the whole process takes three days. During these three days, Zhu Jinghong and Baochai were in the funeral procession.

Here, the three brothers were constantly fighting each other, and they sent people to keep an eye on each other and the accompanying escort troops, for fear of any accidents on the road.

As for the emperor, he did not attend the funeral ceremony in person because he was too sad.

On the ninth day of the seventh month, the empress's coffin was carried into the imperial mausoleum and placed next to the emperor's seat.

The funeral ceremony is over, and with the burial of the queen, the mourning period in the capital will be gradually lifted.

In the blink of an eye, another ten days passed. In Prince Xiang's mansion, Zhu Jinghong, wearing a green robe, lit a stick of incense in front of the Queen's shrine.

Sitting on the futon, Zhu Jinghong looked at the desk quietly. These days, he would often be in a daze like this for an hour or two.

The war in the northwest has ended, and now the world is at peace. He no longer has any work to do, and he cannot have any entertainment during the national mourning period. There is really nothing to do except to daydream.

In comparison, Baochai is much busier. After all, she is also responsible for contacting nobles and receives many visiting ladies every day.

"It's already July 20th. I really don't want to wait any longer. I have to either expose Lao Si's activities directly or force him to take action!"

"If I keep on preventing this, I'll get depressed!"

As Zhu Jinghong was muttering to himself, Yu Hai's voice came from behind him.

"Your Majesty, Deng An wants to see you!"

"Tell him to come in!"

A few breaths later, Deng An entered the hall, bowed and reported, "Your Highness, I just received news that Zhao Jin, a second-class man, beat the drum to report the incident, accusing the Jia family of Ningguo Mansion of committing adultery and incest during the national mourning period!"

Zhu Jinghong was just thinking about whether he should force the prince, but he didn't expect that someone would do it.

After a brief thought, Zhu Jinghong asked, "Where did this Zhao Jin come from? Does he have a grudge against the Jia family? Or was he instructed by someone else?"

"I have sent someone to investigate and am just waiting for news!"

After nodding, Zhu Jinghong ordered again: "Send a message to Chen Yuntai and Ni Er immediately, tell them to open their eyes wide and keep a close eye on the people they should keep a close eye on, but be sure not to alert the enemy!"

The Crown Prince and the Sixth Prince can serve as a buffer between Zhu Jinghong and the Emperor, so Zhu Jinghong is not very willing to take the initiative to get rid of them, which is why he is struggling over whether to take action or not.

But if the prince took the initiative to seek death, it would save him the trouble and he could wait for the result with peace of mind.

What he is thinking now is that the best outcome is that the fourth and sixth brothers are both dead. In this way, the old man will have no choice and will not need a so-called buffer. He will just have to keep a low profile then.

The problem now is that the sixth brother is also eyeing the fourth brother, and it is not easy to trap him, which is a headache for him.

"If there is any situation, report to me immediately!

"Yes!"

Zhu Jinghong did not wait for Deng An's report, but instead received an imperial edict summoning him, which surprised him.

Even so, he packed up quickly and hurried to the palace.

Inside the palace, mourning clothes had also been removed, and the guards and palace maids only tied cloth strips around their waists to show that they were in mourning for the queen.

As for Zhu Jinghong, he was wearing a dark robe and came to the outside of Qianqing Gate.

He was greeted by Cheng Ying, the old eunuch who was not only the chief steward of the Qianqing Palace, but also the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot.

Normally, the commander of the Eastern Depot would have to enter the Imperial Household Department, but Cheng Ying still served the emperor.

As for Dai Quan, he had been removed from his post as the chief scribe of the Imperial Household Department half a month ago and was assigned to guard the imperial mausoleum.

In other words, apart from the eunuch Lu Tong who holds the seal in the Imperial Household Department, there is only one person in charge of writing in the Imperial Stables, Liu Zhong.

"Eunuch Cheng, why did the emperor summon me?
"This... I don't know either. The Lord ordered His Highness to come to the throne for an audience only after he learned about the incident!"

Cheng Ying said all that needed to be said, and Zhu Jinghong also looked at her with gratitude.
"Your Highness, please!"

Afterwards, Zhu Jinghong was led into the main hall and came to the side hall where the emperor handled miscellaneous affairs.

Due to the death of the queen, Zhu Xianming has lost a lot of weight in the past two months, but it makes him look more majestic.

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

"Get up!" Zhu Xianming said calmly.

After Zhu Jinghong stood up, Zhu Xianming asked, "Today, someone beat the drum to report the incident, accusing the Jia family of Ningguo Mansion of committing adultery and incest during the period of national mourning... Did you know?"

There was no need to lie about this matter, so Zhu Jinghong replied: "My son just heard about it, I hope my father will investigate it carefully!"

Not only did he admit that he knew about it, he also expressed his determination to conduct a thorough investigation, which is the attitude a son should have.

The Ningguo Mansion's Jia family has a close relationship with the prince. Zhu Xianming originally thought that Zhu Jinghong would consider it carefully, but he did not expect this guy to respond so decisively.

"That Zhao Jin, he served in the Northwest Army a few years ago and conquered Hami City under your command. Do you have any impression of him?"

This is almost saying it bluntly. Zhao Jin is Zhu Jinghong's disciple, and he might have been the one who instigated the complaint today.

There were so many people who had worked under Zhu Jinghong that he didn't have much impression of the little second-class man, so he asked someone to check his background.

Apparently the emperor checked faster and directly pointed out Zhao Jin's resume.

"I have no impression of this person!" Zhu Jinghong answered frankly. He didn't know whether the emperor would believe it.

He had too many people under him and they had too little contact on a daily basis, so Zhu Jinghong really couldn't predict what his subordinates would do in order to pave the way for him.

The fourth and sixth brothers had experienced this kind of situation where the lower-level people acted on their own and coerced the higher-ups many times, and Zhu Jinghong was certainly no exception.

In other words, Zhu Jinghong could not be sure at this time whether Zhao Jin did this for him, or was instructed by someone else, or whether he had a grudge against the Ningguo Mansion.

Zhu Xianming was indeed suspicious, but he was not as furious as usual, because the person in front of him was his chosen successor.

At this time, Zhu Xianming sighed: "If this matter is thoroughly investigated and affects the prince, I'm afraid your mother will not be at ease!"

Although he knew that the old man was still testing him, Zhu Jinghong still said firmly: "Dad, the Jia family is the Jia family, and the fourth brother is the fourth brother. If the Jia family really committed such a serious crime, you can punish them... What does it have to do with the fourth brother?"

"Son, you shouldn't hide it. The Jia family committed such a beastly act. No matter what relatives he has... they must be severely punished!"

These words touched Zhu Xianming's heart. He also hated the Jia family for the evil they had done.

"You're right... If they really acted like beasts, they must be severely punished!"

(End of this chapter)