King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 792 My sister also abandoned me!
"You have tried your best, it's not your fault!"

When Liang Yi was trying to comfort him, Zhu Yunsheng continued, "My mother once said that my thirteenth brother is scheming, cunning, ruthless, and capable. He is born to be an emperor!"

"At that time, my mother mentioned many times that she couldn't see through my thirteenth brother, but I didn't agree... Now it seems that my mother is wise!"

As if he had accepted the reality, Zhu Yunsheng's crying gradually became softer as he spoke, but the grief in his heart became deeper.

"Madam, you should only say these words in the mansion, and never speak nonsense outside!"

"Are you saying that Thirteenth Brother will kill me?" Zhu Yunsheng asked back.

"This……"

Although Liang Yi thinks it is impossible, who can say for sure?

Wiping away tears with a handkerchief, Zhu Yunsheng sat up straight and said to Liang Yi solemnly: "Don't worry, from today on, I won't ask about these things anymore, let's live a peaceful life in the future!"

After nodding, Liang Yi thought about it again and again, and reminded: "Don't blame the emperor, the death of King Gongshun may not be caused by him!"

There is indeed no evidence to prove this, but Zhu Jinghong did not allow Zhu Yunsheng to attend the funeral, which seemed to make him seem guilty.

Zhu Yunsheng replied calmly: "He is the emperor, how can I hate him, and how dare I hate her?"

At noon, Prince Gongshun's palace handed Zhu Jingyuan's "last memorial" to the Ministry of Communications, and after a series of procedures, it was delivered to Zhu Jinghong.

In his will, Zhu Jingyuan recounted his mistakes over the years, realized that the late emperor's punishment was a show of love for him, gave a detailed account of his repentance over the past two years, and finally expressed his gratitude for Zhu Jinghong's concern and praised his wisdom.

The contents of the memorial were spread during a series of transfers, and the officials who knew the contents had mixed feelings.

Not many people doubted that Zhu Jingyuan was killed, because it was indeed a reasonable death, and the result was a happy one for everyone.

Know your mistakes and you can correct them.
At the same time, officials from various ministries and agencies were also waiting for the emperor's review.

This kind of memorial is sent directly to the emperor, and the cabinet will not form a draft opinion.

The memorial was delivered to the emperor at noon, and the cabinet received the first edict in the afternoon, which contained a reprimand for all officials.

"When King Gongshun passed away, all officials above the fifth rank were supposed to go in person to pay their respects according to the regulations. However, when the time came, almost no one went. Is this the duty of a minister?"

The above is the main content of the edict. After receiving the edict, the cabinet immediately copied it to various ministries and agencies. The reason for its high efficiency was that they were reprimanded by the emperor in person.

Why didn't everyone go to pay their respects? It was because they were afraid of the emperor's suspicion.

Everyone understood that the emperor wanted to build a reputation by admonishing all officials, but they could only endure the grievance and act according to his will.

Of course, in the process of executing the decree, most officials were cautious, and only a very small number of people went there on the same day.

Others, especially those of high rank, arrived one after another the next day, but they only arrived and performed the formalities before leaving Gongshun Palace in a hurry.

The next day, another imperial edict was delivered to Prince Gongshun's palace.

Compared with yesterday's imperial edict, today's is a formal imperial decree, so the standard of issuing the decree is very high, and it will be conveyed by officials from the Ministry of Rites.

Inside Prince Gongshun's palace, everyone was kneeling in the Chengyun Hall. Zhu Muyu and Chen Zhi were at the front, followed by Zhu Jingyuan's other children and clan members.

"The rule says..."

"Gongshun Wang Yuan is the sixth son of the late emperor. He was famous for his talent when he was young, and his reputation spread far and wide when he grew up. However, he was arrogant and disrespectful to his elder brother, so he was dismissed by the late emperor..."

The first half of the imperial edict, centered around the struggle between the sixth and fourth brothers, explained the main reason for his dethronement. This was done by Zhu Jinghong to clear himself.

"When the late emperor was alive, he once told me that Yuan was harboring resentment, which might be a disaster for the country, and asked me to prepare for it..."

Here, the old emperor is again used to accuse Zhu Jingyuan of being a bad guy who brought disaster to the country and the people.

Regardless of whether the dead old emperor said such words or not, he now has to take the blame for Zhu Jinghong.

"But I told the late emperor that Sixth Brother is kind-hearted by nature. Your Majesty loves his sons and is strict, so he often criticizes his elder brother!"

Since the old emperor took the blame for criticizing the sixth son, Zhu Jinghong naturally had to pretend to be a good guy. At least that's what the edict said.

"Yesterday, the last memorial of the King Gongshun was sincere and sincere, which shows that my judgment was correct. The late emperor can rest in peace in his grave!"

The imperial edict said a lot up to this point, the main point being that the sixth brother was not a bad person by nature, and the old emperor punished him because he loved his son too much, but the current emperor still had high hopes for the sixth brother.

In a word, our royal family is still as kind and filial as a father. Everyone is a good person without any bad intentions.

"However, God did not grant me longevity. My brother died suddenly in his prime, leaving me with the grief of losing a brother and sister, and my sorrow will never end..."

Although these words were a little boring, they were like a refreshing rain after a long drought to Zhu Muyu. The more the emperor emphasized the good relationship between brothers, the safer his family would be.

Only Chen Zhi, although she accepted the reality, was filled with hatred in her heart, but that was all.

"I now posthumously confer the title of Prince Yuan on him, and use the title of Prince Rui to hold funerals for him. His son Mu Yu will continue to inherit the title of Prince Gongshun. I decree this!"

Zhu Jinghong restored Zhu Jingyuan's title of prince, which, in the eyes of most people who were not aware of the situation, was indeed an act of repaying evil with kindness.

It doesn't mean much to just talk about benevolence, but it makes a whole different story when it comes to actions. It has to be said that he really won the hearts of many people by doing this.

When everyone in the Gongshun Palace expressed their gratitude, the happiest person was Zhu Muyu, after all, the title of Prince was well and truly in his hands.

At this moment, he swore in his heart that he would play the role of a "good nephew" well in the future and let his uncle on the dragon throne show off to his heart's content.

"Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your kindness. I bow down to thank Your Majesty...Long live the emperor!"

Zhu Muyu looked overly excited, with tears streaming down his face and incoherent speech. His acting skills should not be underestimated.

After receiving the imperial edict, the officials from the Ministry of Rites left with the guards, and a group of royal family members came to congratulate Zhu Muyu.

Of course, since it was a funeral after all, everyone simply expressed their congratulations, and then peace returned to the scene.

Thanks to the efforts of the Northern and Southern Pacification Offices and the Eastern Depot, these things had gradually spread inside and outside the capital, and the emperor's reputation for benevolence and virtue became even greater.

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed, and a carriage arrived at the Prince Consort's Mansion, and the visitors were the two princesses Xu and Zhao.

They came to visit Zhu Yunsheng and assess whether she could go to Prince Gongshun's Palace.

"Why are the two sisters-in-law here?" Zhu Yunsheng looked calm.

Xu smiled awkwardly, then stepped forward and asked, "The Queen's sister-in-law ordered us to come and visit my sister. She has been recuperating for the past two days... Is she feeling better?"

Zhu Yunsheng was neither happy nor sad, and said calmly: "I feel better now, but if Sister-in-law Thirteen has an imperial decree... I can continue to be sick!"

Xu and Zhao felt even more embarrassed after hearing this. It was really very troublesome and stressful to cover up the royal family's troubles in a bright and beautiful way.

"The Empress's sister-in-law said that if my sister recovers, she can go to pay tribute to my sixth brother!" Zhao continued.

But just as she finished speaking, Zhu Yunsheng got up and left, which surprised Xu and Zhao.

"Someone, help me change my clothes!"

After hearing what Zhu Yunsheng said, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief, and then began to discuss in a low voice.

Zhu Yunsheng will go to Prince Gongshun's mansion later, and they will have to pay attention to what he does and says, after all, the responsibility falls entirely on them.

Fortunately, Zhu Yunsheng has indeed become much more sensible. Nothing went wrong during this visit to Prince Gongshun's mansion. He just sat in front of the coffin in a daze and didn't even say a few words.

In a blink of an eye, a few days passed, Zhu Jingyuan's funeral came to an end, and the day for his burial arrived.

In fact, the prince's funeral could have been more grand, but Zhu Muyu was really considerate. He was afraid that his father's body would stay too long and make the emperor unhappy, so he tried to shorten the funeral time as much as possible.
On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Jingyuan's funeral ceremony ended, and he moved to Guande Hall in accordance with the imperial decree, waiting for the old emperor to be buried before he could be buried in the imperial mausoleum. The date of the old emperor's burial has not yet been officially determined, because the completion date of the imperial mausoleum has not yet been set.

The emperor cancelled the grand court meeting on the first day of December due to the death of his brother, and the regular court meeting that was supposed to be held on the tenth day was also cancelled.

In order to show his brotherly love and respect for his younger brothers, Zhu Jinghong really tried his best and made every effort in all aspects.

December 12th was an ordinary day, except that there was even more snow.

Outside Donghua Gate, a sedan chair stopped outside the palace gate and Zhu Yunsheng walked out of the sedan chair.

She looked up at the familiar Donghua Gate. Although only half a month had passed, her feelings were completely different.

Whenever she came here in the past, even though her parents had passed away, she felt like she was going back to her brother's home, with a feeling of going back to her mother's home.

But now, she no longer had these feelings and thought that she was coming to pay homage to the king and father.

She came to the palace today because she was invited by Imperial Concubine Daiyu to reminisce about the past. Although Zhu Yunsheng didn't want to come to the palace, but considering Daiyu's repeated invitations, she had no choice but to come in as she requested.

Once you enter the palace, everything seems so familiar, yet so strange.

To enter the inner court, one had to pass outside the Qianqing Palace. When Zhu Yunsheng saw the extremely familiar palace gate again, he no longer had the thought of going in, and even thought of staying as far away from it as possible.

The Yaohua Palace where Daiyu lived was next to the Kunning Palace. Zhu Yunsheng had the same feelings towards the Kunning Palace and at the moment he didn't even want to take another look at it.

When she rushed to Yaohua Palace, Daiyu and Xiangyun were there. They were her best friends in her life.

And her two friends did not disappoint her. After meeting each other, they did not talk about those unhappy things. Instead, they comforted her very carefully while joking.

Only the past can be looked back upon, and recollecting the joys of the past always makes one feel good.

Zhu Yunsheng didn't have many people she could talk to, and even fewer with whom she could truly confide, so she cherished her friendship with Daiyu and Xiangyun very much.

However, before they could chat for too long, someone outside announced that "the Lord has arrived," so Daiyu and the other two went out of the palace to welcome him.

Baochai came with Zhu Jinghong. Today, they were both wearing casual clothes, similar to the attire of ordinary scholar couples, except that the fabrics of their clothes were more exquisitely made.

This makes him look more casual and approachable, and Zhu Jinghong basically dressed like this half of the time he was in the palace.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

In the past, Zhu Jinghong would help Daiyu, but this time he helped Zhu Yunsheng first.

"Third sister, I haven't seen you for a few days. You have lost a lot of weight. Now there are only you and me left under our mother's care. You must take good care of yourself!"

Looking at his biological brother in front of him, the hero he once admired, Zhu Yunsheng had a blank expression on his face.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Jinghong was a little disappointed that he was called "Your Majesty" instead of "Thirteenth Brother". He could only hide his embarrassment with laughter.

"It's cold outside, let's go inside and talk. You keep saying you're worried about your sister, but why are you letting people get cold outside?"

It was Baochai who spoke, and then she winked at Daiyu, who understood and immediately came to Zhu Yunsheng's side, pulling her towards the main hall.

"Yes, yes, let's go in and talk!" Xiangyun also echoed and followed in.

Baochai tugged at Zhu Jinghong's sleeve and reminded him, "Let's go in and talk!"

Afterwards, the two of them walked into the hall together, and then the host and guest took their seats.

Zhu Jinghong and Baochai sat in the main seats, Zhu Yunsheng and Daiyu sat in the first seats on the left and right, and Xiangyun sat in the second seat on the right next to Daiyu.

At the beginning, when there were only three of them, the conversation was interesting and cheerful, but now with Zhu Jinghong and Baochai, the atmosphere became much more solemn.

Even though the two of them didn't talk much, and even though Daiyu and Xiangyun continued the topic, Zhu Yunsheng rarely spoke.

The atmosphere gradually became solemn, and it would be awkward to continue the conversation, so Baochai glanced at Zhu Jinghong, but the latter glared at her in return.

There was no other way, Baochai could only smile and look at Zhu Yunsheng very kindly, saying: "Third sister, you were not feeling well a few days ago. Your thirteenth brother told me many times that you are his only sister and he must take good care of you!"

"After you recovered, he also said several times that he wanted to meet you and talk to you...but due to the busy state affairs, he was unable to do so!"

Of what Baochai said, only the last half was true. Zhu Jinghong was indeed very busy during this period, and he had to squeeze out an hour to see Zhu Yunsheng this morning.

Zhu Yunsheng did not respond. Logically, she should have said something, at least thank her brother for his concern.

Although she was rude, no one blamed her, so it was not rude.

Seeing that Baochai's words were useless, Zhu Jinghong put down his teacup and said, "Third sister, I know... you have some opinions about me, but... you don't know my difficulties!"

"Your Majesty is the emperor. The emperor shoulders the sun and the moon, and the country... Naturally, he has his own difficulties!"

Zhu Yunsheng's words seemed to express understanding, but upon closer thought, that was not the case. This made Zhu Jinghong feel even more sad.

Although he is tenacious, he feels sad when not understood by his closest relatives.

He wanted to reveal all of Lao Liu's crimes, but that would be tantamount to directly admitting to killing his brother, so he had to drop the topic.

He forced a smile and said lovingly, "When my father and mother were alive, they always told me to take good care of you. Now that your brother has ascended the throne, I will treat you with more kindness!"

"A few days ago, I discussed with your sister-in-law about conferring you the title of the eldest princess. Your sister-in-law has been working hard these days and has finally planned everything thoroughly!"

"I have decided that the first major event of the first year of Qiansheng next year will be to confer a title on you..."

Before Zhu Jinghong finished speaking, Zhu Yunsheng stood up from his chair and knelt in front of him very solemnly.

"Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your concern, but I cannot confer a title on you. First, my brother's body is still warm, and it is inappropriate to confer a title on you. Second, I have not done anything, and granting you a high position will damage your Majesty's reputation. Third..."

Zhu Yunsheng's reasons were very convincing, but Zhu Jinghong didn't listen to them at all. She kept calling him "Your Majesty" and "Your Majesty", which stunned Zhu Jinghong.

Baochai, Daiyu and Xiangyun, who were standing by, were all feeling uneasy and surprised. The situation was worse than they had imagined.

"Your Majesty, please take back your order, otherwise I will die of shame!"

Looking at his sister kneeling in front of him with her head pressed tightly to the ground, Zhu Jinghong wanted to get up and help her up, but in the end he did not act.

After a few moments of silence, Zhu Jinghong said helplessly: "Okay... let's put this matter aside for now!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I am not feeling well, so I will take my leave for now. I wish Your Majesty a long life and the Queen a long life!"

After saying these words, Zhu Yunsheng kowtowed several times, and each kowtow brought a heavy blow to Zhu Jinghong.

After that, Zhu Yunsheng stood up, looked at his brother sitting in the main seat again, then took a few steps back and turned away.

Seeing this, Baochai, Daiyu and the other two were shocked. They all wanted to do something to make amends, but for a moment they didn't know what to do.

It's really a pity that they were a good pair of siblings, but ended up like this.

At this moment, Baochai and the other two looked at Zhu Jinghong at the same time. This powerful emperor actually looked pitiful at this moment.

Zhu Jinghong just watched Zhu Yunsheng leave. His heart was truly hurt. Only his closest relatives could hurt him.

When Zhu Yunsheng walked out of the palace gate and disappeared completely, Zhu Jinghong said sadly: "My sister... also abandoned me!"

(End of this chapter)