King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 813: Long live His Majesty, and a thousand years of life for the Queen!
As time passed into September, the heat had completely subsided and there was even a hint of coolness.

The ninth day of the ninth month is the Double Ninth Festival, which is a big event for the royal family and requires various celebratory ceremonies.

But now that he was in the temporary palace, there was no need to go through as much trouble as in the palace. Zhu Jinghong only offered sacrifices to his deceased parents.

It was done in an hour in the morning, and then it was vacation time.

The Double Ninth Festival is also a festival for climbing mountains, and Jiufeng Mountain is naturally a must-see. There are not only roads but also several roads from the foot of the mountain to the top.

There was naturally a palace on the top of the mountain. A banquet had been set up on the stands outside the palace. Queen Xue Baochai, along with a group of concubines and ladies of the royal family, came to the top of the mountain in sedan chairs.

After everyone got off the sedan, Baochai looked at the situation outside and then said to Daiyu who was walking over, "I thought they were faster than me, but I didn't expect that we would get there first."

Daiyu replied: "They were talking and laughing on the road, it would be strange if they could walk fast. The purpose of climbing high is to see far... Only we can enjoy this boundless beauty first."

While the two of them were chatting, other people also got out of the sedan chair one after another, including Yuanchun, Chen Zhi, and several other princesses.

The most embarrassed person here is Chen Zhi. After all, as the princess of the royal family, she seems redundant here, so she can only wander among the crowd in loneliness, and she also has to worry about being found by her enemies.

Yuanchun's condition was much better. She was talking to Yingchun and Tanchun. Xichun, who was on vacation today, also followed them. The four sisters were together.

"You must take care of yourself. Our family depends on you now!" Yuanchun warned.

Our family depends on ourselves...

After hearing this, Yingchun felt confused. What did her having a child have to do with "our family"? And who was the so-called "our family"?

"Third sister, you have to hurry up too. Being a woman requires having children, otherwise..."

Yuanchun did not have any children. Although she has no shortage of sons now, there is always a difference between her and her biological children. She feels the pain too deeply.

Of course Tanchun also wants to have a baby, but this is not something she can decide. Whether she can get pregnant depends on fate, but overall it depends on grace.

The more the emperor travels, the greater the chance of getting pregnant. Thinking of the current severe situation in the harem, and the fact that a new beauty will soon enter the palace, Tanchun feels overwhelmed.

Xichun didn't feel anything about these things. After all, her current job was very simple. She just had to serve the emperor well. Now she was already adept at it.

"Let me tell you, the Kunning Palace incident is not over yet. Who is it..."

The person who was speaking was Zhen Qin. Seeing her mysterious look, Yinglian actually reached out and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Sister Qin, don't mention those things, or we'd better not talk anymore!" Yinglian reminded with a cold face.

Through constant attempts to get closer to Yinglian over this period of time, Zhen Qin had finally become closer to her. But now she was panicking when she saw her good friend showing signs of becoming distant again.

At this moment, she no longer had the energy to pretend to be deep, and quickly promised Yinglian that she would never mention it again. Then the two continued walking together.

Zhu Yunsheng also came today. At this moment, he was talking to Xiangyun hand in hand, and there was no longer any trace of sadness in his expression.

Here, everyone sat down and chatted and laughed, while on the other side of the mountain road, several princes and their wives accompanied Zhu Jinghong to the top of the mountain.

Following closely behind Zhu Jinghong are Zhu Jingchun and Zhu Jinghao, who are now in charge of the affairs of the clan affairs office.

The reason why they walked slowly was that they spent a lot of time talking on the way. Zhu Jinghong was asking about the aftermath of the Shu vassal state.

Although the Shu vassal state had lost its royal title long ago, there were still descendants who inherited the clan title. A lean camel is still bigger than a horse, so there was still some family wealth left.

What Zhu Jinghong was asking at this moment was about the disposal of these family assets, such as real estate such as land and houses.

So it was only Zhu Jingchun and the other two who responded. No wonder they followed Zhu Jinghong closely.

The rest of the people could only follow behind, occasionally playing the role of supporting actor, which was quite relaxing and leisurely.

"Your Majesty, it's just a dozen steps ahead!"

"Hearing the noise, I'm afraid they got here first!"

Hearing the reminders from his two brothers, Zhu Jinghong smiled and said nothing more. He walked to the end of the stairs with his hands behind his back.

A few breaths later, Zhu Jinghong and his party reached the top of the mountain and saw the palace not far away, as well as the female relatives who were already seated.

"Sure enough, they're already here, let's not keep them waiting for too long!"

After saying this, Zhu Jinghong went straight towards the banquet, and the group behind him followed closely.

When the emperor arrived, the eunuchs and palace maids knelt all the way, and when Zhu Jinghong approached, Baochai also led a group of female relatives to greet him.

"I bow to your majesty. Long live your majesty!"

"Stand up, stand up!"

After everyone stood up, Baochai led Zhu Jinghong to his seat, and everyone he met along the way still bowed to him one by one.

When he came close to Yuanchun and Chen Zhi, Zhu Jinghong stopped and asked, "Sisters-in-law, how are you these days?"

Yuanchun looked terrified: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, the ruler and father of all people...How dare a lowly and ignorant person like me call you sister-in-law!"

"Today is a family dinner, so we are only talking about family matters, not national affairs. Fourth brother and I are born of the same mother, and blood is thicker than water, and that won't change!"

Since the emperor said so, Yuanchun no longer argued, but just bent down to show her respect.

"Sixth sister-in-law, don't you think so?"

Zhu Jingyuan died of illness, but Zhu Jingyuan's death was unusual. The emperor's question made Chen Zhi nervous instantly.

Seeing her blushing face, Zhu Jinghong smiled warmly and then left with Baochai.

Zhu Jinghong's seat was naturally the main seat on the north side. After he and Baochai sat down, the Double Ninth Festival family dinner began.

After a simple opening and drinking with everyone, Zhu Jinghong put down his glass.

Everyone below was already expressing themselves freely. Zhu Jinghong had already leaned back in his chair, sighed, and then recited: "As a stranger in a foreign land, I miss my family all the more during festivals. I know my brothers are climbing high places, but there is one less person wearing dogwood branches!"

Baochai was sitting nearby, and after hearing this she asked, "Who is your Majesty missing?"

Looking up at the distant sky, countless figures were passing by, and no one could stay in front of Zhu Jinghong, so much so that he himself didn't know who he was missing.

But when he just recited the poem, Zhu Jinghong was sure that he had thought of something, but he could no longer remember it...

"I don't know either. Maybe it's the fourth or sixth child, or maybe he's missing his parents, or maybe he's missing his past self!"

Baochai understood Zhu Jinghong's state of mind and said solemnly, "No matter how the world changes, I will always be with Your Majesty!"

Reaching out and holding his wife's hand, Zhu Jinghong smiled and said, "It's lonely up there, thank you for staying with me!"

Baochai smiled and said, "It's not just me, my sisters will accompany Your Majesty!"

Just as she finished speaking, Tanchun came before the emperor, holding up a wine glass and saying, "I wish your majesty a long life, and your majesty a thousand years!"…………

While Zhu Jinghong was drinking and chatting happily, a tense confrontation was taking place in the Annan Xingdusi thousands of miles away.

Since the breakdown of negotiations with Britain and France, the imperial court accelerated the deployment of the Xingdusi troops, so the 10,000-strong army was in place in August.

But it was impossible for all these 10,000 troops to be stationed in Tuncheng, so two more cities were requisitioned to station garrisons thirty miles west and forty miles south of Tuncheng respectively.

At the same time, troops drawn from the three provinces of Guangxi, Yunnan and Annan have been deployed on the border between Ayutthaya and Vietnam to ensure rapid reinforcement in the event of any incident.

According to intelligence, the navies of Britain, France and other four countries have indeed had unusual movements recently, and there is no guarantee that these people will not stir up trouble.

Let's get back to the point. The place where the confrontation is taking place is in Gala City, west of the Xingdusi headquarters. The army and civilians of the Ayutthaya Kingdom are all surrounded outside the city.

The people were resentful of losing their land, and the army of the Dacheng Kingdom had become what is now known as a rebel army due to excessive exploitation.

There were about four or five thousand civilians, and the rebels were about two thousand, while the Ming army in Gala City had two thousand five hundred people.

But at this moment, the commander-in-chief was not panicked at all, because in his opinion, the so-called rebellion before him could be easily eliminated.

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The reason why it has been delayed until now is all because of Li Ziheng. In order to investigate the mess in the Southwestern Army, this censor actually came to the front line.

The commander-in-chief wanted to suppress the riot by force, but Li Ziheng firmly opposed it, believing that the rioters were instigated and that forceful suppression would only deepen misunderstandings, damage the credibility of the Ming court, and make future tasks more difficult.

What Li Ziheng said was very correct, but unfortunately no one understood it. However, he was still very resourceful. He used the general situation and the court situation to stabilize the Qin commander, and then wrote a letter to persuade the Xingdusi.

Now, Commander Qin and Li Ziheng were sitting in the hall, waiting for a reply from the Annan Xingdusi. Normally, the distance of thirty miles could be reached in one hour.

And now, it was almost an hour.

"Master Li, you scholars all say that the barbarians fear power but not virtue. We must draw our swords against these people. Otherwise, if we take a step back today, they will take three steps forward tomorrow!"

Hearing this, Li Ziheng responded coldly: "They are not barbarians, they are vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, and they are also the people blessed by Your Majesty!"

Just this one sentence left Commander Qin speechless, which shows that Li Ziheng is quite good at talking.

"General, those people outside are cursing again, and their cursing is very ugly. What do you think we should do?"

A captain came outside the house to ask for instructions, but before he could finish his words, Li Ziheng stared at him, making him feel uncomfortable, so he had to swallow the rest of his words.

About half an hour later, the noise of commotion outside became louder and louder, and Commander Qin felt very uncomfortable.

Li Ziheng couldn't sit still. He was not upset, but worried that the situation would get out of control, and it would be hard to recover if blood was seen.

Just when they both felt uncomfortable, they suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside, and then they both looked outside.

A few breaths later, a centurion walked into the house and saluted to the two superiors.

Commander Qin recognized this man. He was a captain in the Xingdusi. He must have come with a reply.

"Captain Xu, what did the higher-ups say?"

Captain Xu replied, "Commander Qin, I brought you an official letter from the Inspectorate to Lord Li!"

"Oh?"

This sudden situation left Commander Qin confused. He didn't understand why this happened, and he didn't know how it was related to today's events.

While he was thinking, Captain Xu had already handed the official letter to Li Ziheng. After the latter took it and read it, he suddenly lost a lot of his energy.

The official letter was issued on July 28th. After more than 40 days of travel, it finally arrived in Annan and was handed over to Li Ziheng.

The content of the official letter was very simple, informing Li Ziheng that the case had been closed and asking him to return to Beijing immediately to report on his work.

The key point is on the word "immediately", which means that Li Ziheng must leave immediately, and after losing the aura of the imperial envoy, others will no longer care about him.

"Sir Li, the carriage and the escort have all come with me. Please move!" Captain Xu reminded.

"How can I leave now that the city is surrounded by rioters? I'd better wait until this matter is settled, then I can set off!"

Now that he is no longer an imperial envoy, his external deterrent power has been greatly reduced. He knows that he can no longer influence the decision-making of the Xingdusi, so now he can only rely on himself.

But this was his wishful thinking. Since the people of the Xingdusi didn't care about his attitude, he could not stop these generals at all.

Commander Qin understood the situation, and at this moment he stood up and said, "Well, let's do it for Lord Li and find a way for him to return to Beijing!"

After that, he gave the order: "Notify the artillery to fire, and notify the cavalry to prepare to clear the area!"

"No!" Li Ziheng still wanted to stop it.

"Master Li, I am still good at fighting, so I won't bother you to worry about it!"

Li Ziheng was indeed helpless and felt very sad at the moment, because the soldiers and civilians outside, who had surrounded but not attacked just to seek an explanation, were now being suppressed as a rebellion.

These people have already suffered a lot and now they are being treated like this. It is really unfair.

Soon the sound of artillery fire was heard, followed by even louder commotion. Li Ziheng rushed out to check the situation. When he reached the city wall, he found that many of the so-called rioters had died, and the cavalry were now chasing after the survivors.

As for the casualties, there were at least a hundred dead bodies within Li Ziheng's field of vision alone.

"Alas, if you continue to do this, the people will probably abandon the Ming Dynasty!"

What makes Li Ziheng even more worried is that Britain and France are now also encroaching on countries like Dacheng, and he is afraid that the people will follow the Western barbarians.

But he was really worrying too much. Britain and France were even more rude in their colonies. In comparison, the Ming Dynasty was still quite polite.

"Master Li, you should go back. The front line is dangerous and it's not the place for you to be!"

Commander Qin came behind Li Ziheng. In fact, he admired this Censor Li very much. After all, he could indeed be called a saint.

It's a pity that they are all ordinary people. He and his subordinates need money. Even the soldiers come to this wild land with guns and fight in order to make money so that their families can live a good life.

When Li Ziheng came, he wanted everyone to take only what they should take and prevented everyone from living a better life, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among everyone.

He has been wandering around various military camps on the front line, and has not been shot by anyone until now, which is considered to be a sign of everyone's tolerance.

Of course, this was also due to his status as an imperial envoy, and everyone was even more afraid of the emperor behind him.

"Yeah, it's time for me to go!" Li Ziheng sighed.

This matter could not be handled, so he planned to ask for an imperial decree to investigate the case after returning to Beijing. Then he would have the chance to clear the name of the case.

(End of this chapter)