King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 755 Questions from the sister-in-law!

"What did you say?"

Sitting up from the bed, Zhu Jinghong was also shocked, but he quickly accepted the fact.

"Someone has come outside to summon you to the palace to see the emperor!"

The death of the crown prince was a major event, and it was indeed reasonable for the emperor to summon Zhu Jinghong to the palace to discuss the matter.

"Okay!" Zhu Jinghong stood up from the bed.

Ying'er then ordered people to light all the candles, and then maids came into the hall to serve.

While getting dressed, Zhu Jinghong instructed: "There are two things you need to do. First, you need to go to the East Palace in person and appease the Crown Princess and other female relatives!"

Baochai nodded, this was certainly what should be done.

Zhu Jinghong then ordered: "Then order the people in the palace to mourn. The prince has passed away and everyone should observe mourning!"

The crown prince is the eldest brother, and it is only natural for his younger brother to mourn for his elder brother when he passes away.

"Don't worry, I'll make arrangements right away and go to the East Palace overnight!"

After hearing Baochai's response, Zhu Jinghong thought for a while and said, "You are not feeling well, so you should go tomorrow morning!"

Baochai had just finished her confinement, and Zhu Jinghong was worried about her health.

"I know my limits, you don't have to worry!" Baochai replied with a smile.

But just as she finished speaking, she saw the outer robes brought by the maids, and her face suddenly became stern, and she scolded: "Fool, how can you wear casual clothes tonight? Go get a casual robe and a white ribbon!"

What Baochai called a casual robe was the prince's daily dress, a red round-necked robe with four dragons on it, which he usually wore when entering the palace to meet the emperor.

The "casual robe" she mentioned was Zhu Jinghong's daily wear. Of course, he sometimes wore it when meeting the emperor, and the number of times was not too few.

Seeing Zhu Jinghong's gaze, Baochai said slowly: "Tonight... it's not the prince meeting the emperor, it's the son meeting his father!"

Previously, Zhu Jinghong had blamed Baochai for not being cautious because of the punishment of Lao Liu, but on the eve of the victory, he was surprised that she was so cautious.

Just now, after learning that the crown prince had passed away, Zhu Jinghong's first thought was not sadness, but happiness that the position of crown prince was vacant.

So although he had a stern face throughout the whole process, he was actually very happy in his heart.

From the tenth to the eighteenth year of Zhengtong, he worked tirelessly, struggled hard, and risked his life for eight years, all for the purpose of successfully seizing the throne.

And now, the position of crown prince is right in front of him, and the fruits of victory are waiting for him to pick and taste.

To use an inappropriate metaphor, his current state is like that of a monk waiting to ascend to heaven. It is hard not to be complacent.

Therefore, one of the most difficult things in the world is to stay calm and composed at all times. From this perspective, Zhu Jinghong still needs more experience.

Hearing Baochai's reminder at this moment, he instantly came to his senses and adjusted his mentality.

Putting the Yishan crown on Zhu Jinghong personally, Baochai looked up and admonished: "You should comfort your majesty with all your heart for the loss of his son!"

"Don't worry, I understand!" Zhu Jinghong responded.

Afterwards, the two men parted ways. The palace guards had already been prepared, and the Five Cities Army had also mobilized its forces to escort Zhu Jinghong all the way to the palace.

About half an hour later, Zhu Jinghong arrived outside the Qianqing Gate. At this time, the seal-holder and pen-holder of the Silijian, as well as eunuchs from other inner court offices, were all waiting outside the palace gate.

"Your Highness!"

Led by Lu Tong, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, a group of eunuchs saluted Zhu Jinghong one after another.

"Where is the emperor?" Zhu Jinghong asked.

Lu Tong replied: "Your Highness, the Lord is waiting for you in the bedroom. He has ordered...if you come, you should come directly to the palace to see him!"

Nodding, Zhu Jinghong walked towards the palace gate.

Walking to the end of the Imperial Road, Zhu Jinghong stepped onto the stairs and in front of him was the gate of the Qianqing Palace.

When he entered the hall, there was no one there and it was very quiet, so Zhu Jinghong could only judge where the emperor should be by the brightness of the light.

Finally, he came to the northeast corner of the Qianqing Palace, which was one of the emperor's bedrooms.

Appearing at the dormitory door, Zhu Jinghong took a look inside, but found no trace of the old man, so he had to change places to look.

Finally, in the small study on the east side of the Qianqing Palace, he saw the emperor sitting behind the desk, leaning his forehead against the chair and sleeping.

Just this scene made Zhu Jinghong realize the loneliness. Although the man in front of him was the emperor, he was just an old man who had lost his son.

Zhu Xianming had many sons, several of whom had passed away, but the death of his legitimate son was completely different and brought him a great blow.

So with just one glance, Zhu Jinghong could clearly feel that the old man looked much older.

After entering the small study, Zhu Jinghong walked to the desk and saw that the emperor had written a few words.

"Sacrificial Essay..."

Apart from these three words, the first word of the sacrificial text was only written with a dot, and it was obvious that the emperor had no idea where to start.

"father?"

"father?"

Zhu Jinghong called out twice in succession, and the emperor finally opened his old eyes. Although his eye sockets were dry, endless sorrow and pain flowed out of them.

"Old Thirteen, you... are here!" Zhu Xianming said in a hoarse voice.

"Dad, my son is here, and my fourth brother..."

After Zhu Jinghong finished speaking, Zhu Xianming stretched out his hand, showing the "three-character manuscript" in front of him, and said in a calm tone: "Your fourth brother passed away, and I wanted to write a memorial, but...but..."

Having said this, Zhu Xianming finally couldn't hold back his tears and burst out, and he couldn't say the rest of what he wanted to say.

He is a strong man, but he is also essentially a human being. He lost the love of his life, his wife, last year, and now he is seeing his loved one die. It is natural that his pain and sadness are difficult to suppress.

"Dad... please accept my condolences. Fourth brother doesn't want to see you so sad!" Zhu Jinghong could only try his best to persuade him.

The old emperor lowered his head slightly, trying his best to maintain his image, but his extreme grief made him not want to pay attention to these things.

Of course, Zhu Xianming just shed tears, he didn't cry out loud.

Listening to his youngest son's consolation, Zhu Xianming slowly leaned back in his chair, then stared at the roof beams with empty eyes, and said in a desolate voice: "I... am tired!"

At this moment, the emperor seemed to have lost his soul and looked like a living dead.

"The funeral of the fourth brother will be taken care of by you and the Ministry of Rites. I am tired...tired!"

"Yes!" Zhu Jinghong replied.

He wanted to say something more, but when he saw the emperor's expression, he felt that saying more might not be a good idea, and it would be better to just do his job well.

"Dad, take a rest first. I'll go get someone to deal with it right away!"

Still with an empty look in his eyes, Zhu Xianming said, "Go!" The prince is the heir to the throne. His funeral is no worse than that of the queen. It is a very large project.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty lasted for 300 years, and the premature death of the crown prince had happened once before, so there was a precedent for how to deal with it, but this matter still depended on the efforts of the Ministry of Rites.

In fact, officials from the Ministry of Rites have already arrived and started working.

Officials in government offices such as the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy are all exceptionally noble and relatively the most traditional scholar-officials. Even though the situation for the crown prince has been extremely unfavorable in recent years, most of them still support him.

Now that the prince has passed away, these people are truly sad and feel like their hope is gone.

Therefore, in the Ministry of Rites, all the officials felt as if they had lost their parents, and the atmosphere was extremely heavy.

"His Royal Highness Prince Xiang has arrived!"

As the shouting outside came, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were all stunned. Most of them were in a gloomy mood, thinking that Zhu Jinghong came to show his presence. This aroused the rebelliousness of some officials, and they chose to continue working instead of going out to greet him.

Of course, there were also some officials who were more tactful. Although they looked down on Zhu Jinghong in their hearts, they followed the officials to greet him.

Inside the main hall of the Ministry of Rites, looking at the people who came to greet him, Zhu Jinghong said sadly: "The Crown Prince has passed away, His Majesty is in great grief, unable to control his emotions... He ordered me to preside over the Crown Prince's funeral!"

This one sentence made the situation clear, and the officials present became even more dissatisfied, because this matter should have been handled by the cabinet ministers and the prime minister.

But this is the will of the emperor, and they can only obey.

Of course, what is more important is that these people do not have enough integrity, otherwise they should argue on the spot and refute that Zhu Jinghong should not be in charge of this matter.

But is there anyone in this world who dares to oppose Zhu Jinghong to his face?

With the arrival of Zhu Jinghong, the Ministry of Rites became increasingly busy, and he himself stayed in the ministry. He had to make many decisions tonight.

On the other side, the Eastern Palace was in mourning, with the family members, eunuchs and maids weeping.

The prince stopped breathing in the middle of the night. No one knew the exact time of his death. Now he has changed his robes and been sealed in a coffin in front of everyone in the Eastern Palace.

Watching the nails being hammered in one by one, Yuanchun cried bitterly. At this moment, her world had collapsed and she felt like a duckweed floating in the water, not knowing what her fate would be next.

So she was crying for the prince and for herself at the same time.

Behind her, the prince's concubines and children were all crying loudly, and the entire Chengyun Hall was shrouded in sadness.

Afterwards, members of the royal family arrived one after another. As relatives and subjects, they were supposed to come, but only officials were allowed to come the next morning.

The first to arrive were Prince Yunyang Zhu Jingze and his wife. Now that the fourth son Zhu Jingyuan had passed away, he was the de facto eldest son.

After Zhu Jingze, there was the seventh brother, King of Xingshan, Zhu Jingzhi, and then the ninth brother, King of Ningyuan, Zhu Jingshen.

After that, more people came. In addition to the princes, there were princesses, county ladies, generals guarding the country, county ladies and generals...

Soon, the East Palace was filled with people. Although everyone looked sad or shed tears, Zhu Yunsheng was the saddest among them.

She knew that the prince had faults, but he was still her elder brother, the one who cared for, loved and taught her since she was a child.

But now, her eldest brother is gone, and what makes her most sad is that none of her brothers are here!

From Zhu Yunsheng's perspective, the other half brothers don't count, only the sixth brother and Zhu Jinghong are brothers.

It would have been fine if Zhu Jingyuan was under house arrest, but Zhu Jinghong hadn't come yet, which made her very disappointed, especially when other people had come.

Unlike others, Zhu Yunsheng was very quiet at this moment, sitting quietly in front of the prince's coffin.

She was originally afraid of things like coffins, but now she was sitting in front of the coffin, just like she had been guarding her mother last year.

After crying in advance, Yuanchun took on the responsibility of being the head of the family, and went back and forth to greet the relatives present and arrange all the funeral ceremonies.

"Princess Xiang is here!"

Whenever a royal family arrived, an announcement would be made outside, but now the announcement of "Princess Xiang has arrived" actually quieted the sad and noisy scene.

Everyone's attention was now focused outside the Chengyun Gate, and some smart female members had already stepped outside to greet them.

A few breaths later, Princess Xue Baochai of Prince Xiang appeared in front of everyone in plain clothes. Behind her followed Princess Xu of Prince Qingyang, Princess Zhao of Prince Jinghai, and then Zhu Jingchun and Zhu Jinghao respectively.

Zhu Yunsheng had walked from the coffin to the door. When she heard "Princess Xiang is here", she felt something was wrong. Now that she saw that Zhu Jinghong really didn't come, Zhu Yunsheng became even more sad.

But at this moment, no one cared about her concern, because everyone was only thinking about one thing, which was how to greet the princess later.

It was at this time that Crown Princess Yuanchun walked down the steps in front of Chengyun Hall. Seeing this, Baochai quickened her pace and went over to greet her.

"Baochai, you just gave birth to a child. You should take a good rest so late. It won't be too late to come back tomorrow. Why are you doing this?"

Yuanchun stepped forward to complain, but everyone present saw her as just trying to please him. The strangest thing was that no one found it strange.

The prince is gone, so what does Yuanchun, the crown princess, matter to?

As for Princess Xiang, she is the princess today, but she may not be the princess in the future...

While everyone had different ideas, the smart people had already thought of what to say, so they went down the stairs and started a conversation, the main idea of ​​which was similar to Yuanchun's.

You have to admire their cleverness. They can use the fact of the prince's death to flatter Baochai in a very clever way.

What’s even more bizarre is that the deceased prince should be the protagonist at the moment, but Baochai’s arrival directly squeezed out the prince’s presence.

Seeing that everyone was fawning on Baochai, Zhu Yunsheng's sadness gradually turned into anger. When Baochai and her group walked up the stairs, she walked up to Baochai.

Looking at her sister-in-law who looked at her unkindly, Baochai lamented, "Third sister, the passing of our fourth brother is really heartbreaking..."

"Sister-in-law Thirteen, why didn't my Thirteenth Brother come?"

If it was asked in a normal tone, it wouldn't be a big deal, but Zhu Yunsheng asked with a hint of questioning.

Hearing her question, the atmosphere at the scene froze instantly.

Everyone became cautious, because if they were not careful at this time, they could easily get themselves into trouble.

To be honest, when Zhu Yunsheng asked this question, Yuanchun was frightened, because it seemed like he was accusing Zhu Jinghong of not valuing filial piety.

Of course, the one who was most frightened was the imperial concubine's captain Liang Yi, who was talking to another imperial concubine's captain at the time.

Looking at Zhu Yunsheng's eyes, Baochai's mood changed rapidly, from surprise to anger, then to suspicion and finally relief.

Based on her understanding of Zhu Yunsheng, she knew that the sister-in-law had no intention of harming the Prince Xiang's Mansion, and the current issue was simply an expression of dissatisfaction.

Of course, no matter whether Zhu Yunsheng is like this or not, Baochai has to deal with it this way, otherwise it will not end well.

After two breaths, Baochai replied solemnly: "I was shocked to hear the tragic news. Your Thirteenth Brother is in great grief and wanted to rush to the East Palace to see Fourth Brother for the last time!"

"But since the emperor has summoned him, he can only go to the palace first. He will come back as soon as the matter is settled!"

"Third sister, your thirteenth brother went to the palace crying. Before he left, he pulled me aside and cried, saying, 'My fourth brother is gone, I don't have a fourth brother anymore!'"

Baochai looked sad and acted very serious, which really moved many people.

Those who had good acting skills on the spot had already started crying, while those who were thicker-skinned were already muttering "King Xiang is benevolent and filial."

(End of this chapter)