Ming Dynasty: At the beginning, the house was ransacked and the ancestral temple was burned down.

Chapter 103 Queen Mother Li’s anger: Zhang Juzheng! I think you just dislike me for being old!

"Ahhhhh!!!"

"Third Highness? What are you doing... ah! What happened to your teeth!? Zhang Zhangzhang...Zhang Chonghui! You are so brave! You actually dared to break the teeth of His Highness the Third!"

"Why are you staring at me blankly? Why don't you call the doctor?"

"Wow! My teeth! My teeth! My teeth are my favorite among my father and mother! They are gone! Zhang Chonghui! You deserve to die! I will cut you into pieces!!"

"..."

Not long after, the news that two of the "good teeth" that the third prince Zhu Changxun was proud of were broken by Zhang Chonghui's "bare hands" reached the ears of Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun.

Even the noble concubine Zheng Mengjing, who was imprisoned in Cining Palace for "eating fast and chanting Buddha's name", also heard the news.

As soon as she heard that her baby son's tooth had been chipped, Zheng Mengjing was so frightened that she turned pale! She didn't want her precious son to have rotten teeth at a young age like her own man!
  Not only did it not taste good to eat, but I was also tortured day and night by the life-threatening toothache!

Zheng Mengjing was imprisoned for several days. She was already upset when she could not see her son. Now that her son had lost all his teeth, she loved her son so much that she wanted to escape!
  "Mother, please let your son go out to see Xun'er! He must be in a lot of pain right now... I'm worried about him..."

Zheng Mengjing knelt in front of Empress Dowager Li, her eyes filled with tears and sincere. They were full of mother's care and concern for her child, without a trace of trivial thoughts.

Empress Dowager Li is also a mother. As a mother, she was inevitably stung by Zheng Mengjing's eyes.

While feeling compassion, Queen Mother Li suddenly remembered that her emperor's son had not come to pay her respects to her mother for a long time...

"Xun'er is only six years old. Even if the teeth are lost, they are still being replaced and they will grow back in the future. There is no need to worry." Queen Mother Li said calmly, twisting the beads.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Mengjing cried "Wow". Although she has been a mother for many years, she is only twenty-three or four years old after all.

She felt so uncomfortable that she wanted to cry when she thought that her son, who had lost his teeth, would most likely have toothache all day long like her emperor husband.

After all, in Zheng Mengjing's heart, her son Zhu Changxun will inherit the Ming Dynasty and become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
  She must not let her precious son be as indecisive as his emperor father! Let alone be plagued by illness and disability like his emperor father!

"Mother! Just let your son go out and see Xun'er! Just look at him! Just one look! Please!"

Zheng Mengjing cried and begged. To show her sincerity, she even kowtowed to the ground without fear of being disfigured, which was much more "risky" than her uncle and brother.

Queen Mother Li was also shocked by Zheng Mengjing's move. She was also a woman and knew the importance of appearance in the harem.

It is true that her emperor's son likes Zheng Mengjing, but if Zheng Mengjing loses her beautiful face, her love will eventually be reduced. This is the reality.

Empress Dowager Li actually didn't like Zheng Mengjing's daughter-in-law, because her character was not virtuous and gentle enough, because she had a troubled mother-in-law, and because this daughter-in-law was not the woman she had 'personally' chosen for the emperor's son.

Ever since the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun was born, he has been "closely watched" by his biological mother, Queen Mother Li.

Most of the time, mother and son slept in the same room on opposite sides of the bed. Every day before dawn, Queen Mother Li would get up in person to wake her son up to study, and she would get up in the middle of the night to cover her son with a quilt.

It wasn't until the year when Zhu Yijun ascended the throne as emperor at the age of ten that mother and son began to sleep in separate rooms.

But after the "division", Empress Dowager Li only moved to a side hall of Qianqing Palace, only a few steps away from the emperor's son's bed.

In other words, during those few years, the mother and son still looked up and never looked down.

It wasn't until Zhu Yijun got married that Queen Mother Li was finally willing to leave her son and move to Cining Palace.

Although Queen Mother Li didn't want to admit it, she actually knew that her "control" over her son was a bit too strong.

Although she has found a good excuse to 'strictly discipline' her son to publicize it.

But this still cannot hide her strong desire for control and her desire to 'control' her son's future.

Empress Dowager Li wished that every step the emperor's son would take in the future would be done in a "behaved" manner according to her thoughts and plans.

But after all, she is just a weak woman with no political means. What she can do and manage is actually only the 'one-third of an acre' of the harem.

Empress Dowager Li does not have the "lofty ideals" of Wu Zetian, Lu Pheasant, and Dou Yifang. She just wants to be a good empress dowager, and does not want to do the "female chicken Si Chen" thing. She just wants to "control" her son. .

In other words, she knew that she could not reach the level of Wu Zetian and others, so she only wanted to take care of her son and take good care of her son.

It is difficult for a queen mother who wants to 'control' the emperor's son but has no political means.

Often at this time, a mature politician, a 'reliable' former minister is needed.

It just so happened that at this time, Zhang Juzheng appeared.

At the beginning, when the orphaned Empress Dowager Li and her son were reunited in the harem, trembling at Gao Gong's words "How can a ten-year-old become an emperor?" Zhang Juzheng appeared like a divine soldier descending from heaven!

Zhang Juzheng not only told the orphans and widowers, Gao Gong's "true face". He also had a heroic background and helped the orphans and widowers drive away Gao Gong, an arrogant man who "disregarded the young emperor".

Although it was later revealed that Gao Gong was innocent, these are things for the future.

After all, Gao Gong is dead, and Zhang Juzheng is also dead.

Empress Dowager Li was born into a poor family and had been very good at judging people since she was a child. She was not an innocent girl without any scheming.

She knew early on that there was something "not simple" behind Zhang Juzheng's modest and gentlemanly nature. But she had to admit that she was indeed fascinated by this mature and elegant man.

We are all adults. What fascinates Queen Mother Li is not only Zhang Juzheng's appearance, temperament and status, but also his 'interests'!
  Queen Mother Li knew very well that only by catching Zhang Juzheng could she secure her position as Queen Mother and firmly 'control' her emperor's son!

It can be said that Queen Mother Li divided Zhu Yijun into 'three parts'.

In daily life, Zhu Yijun is monitored by Feng Bao, a 'nanny'-level 'big companion'.

As for the political affairs of the previous dynasty, Zhu Yijun was taught by Zhang Juzheng, a "teacher" who was equivalent to a "strict father".

And Queen Mother Li, the Queen Mother, only 'controlled' the 'last share' silently from behind.

Queen Mother Li seemed to have done nothing, but in fact she had 'everything' firmly in her hands!
  She is a very 'smart' woman, and she knows very well that as long as she 'catch' the 'man' Zhang Juzheng, she will have everything under control!
  What a pity... Zhang Juzheng got old and eventually died of illness.

Empress Dowager Li was without Zhang Juzheng, and soon Feng Bao was also without her. Now, she almost has no son...

Her emperor's son was becoming more and more ruthless and would just stop visiting her. He even limited the number of times her other son Zhu Yili could visit her.

Looking at Concubine Zheng with tears in her eyes, kowtowing desperately to beg her, Empress Dowager Li was a little dazed...

She doesn't like Zheng Mengjing, her son's 'self-chosen' daughter-in-law, and she even dislikes the increasingly estranged relationship between her son and her.

But in the end, Queen Mother Li had no choice but to compromise because her emperor's son had grown up.

In the end, Queen Mother Li could only softly hug Zheng Mengjing, who had been kowtowing, and said softly and helplessly to the daughter-in-law she didn't like:

"Since I miss your child, go and see him...while he is still young, before he grows up, while he still can't leave you...don't control him too much, he is also a human being A living person..."

Queen Mother Li patted Zheng Mengjing's back gently, as if she was talking to Zheng Mengjing, more like she was talking to her former self.

As she thought and sighed, her eyes were filled with tears.

How could Empress Dowager Li not think about her once obedient and well-behaved son, that sensible 'little Wanli'?

Unfortunately, it was already too late. Zhang Juzheng was dead and she was old.

……

Qianqing Palace.

Zheng Mengjing almost flew here. After entering the palace, she didn't have time to salute her emperor husband before she ran to Zhu Changxun who was looking in the mirror.

"Xun'er! How are you, Xun'er? Does your tooth still hurt? Ah! Open your mouth quickly and let me see!"

Zheng Mengjing rubbed her son's fat face with distress. She had completely forgotten the 'distinction between wives and concubines' that she had adhered to in the past, and she dared to call herself Zhu Changxun's 'mother'.

You know, in the past, Zheng Mengjing only dared to let Zhu Changxun call her 'mother concubine', whether in front of others or behind others.

Because according to etiquette and law, Zheng Mengjing was only a concubine, her biological son Zhu Changxun could only call the queen "mother queen", and her biological mother could only be called "mother concubine".

In fact, Zheng Mengjing doesn't need to care about this at all. After all, she has the emperor's favor, and she can be 'arrogant' and ignore the 'so-called' etiquette.

But Zheng Mengjing has always claimed to "observe etiquette and law". Even her brother Zheng Guotai was forced by her to submit more than ten memorials in these years "asking for the establishment of the eldest son of the emperor as the crown prince."

This shows how eager Zheng Mengjing is to "establish a character".

However, Zheng Mengjing, who had tried every means to establish a good character, had no time to care about this at the moment. All she could think about now was opening her son's mouth to check his teeth.

It was okay not to look at it, but when she looked at it, she almost fainted...

"Oh my god! Xun'er! Where are your two front teeth!?"

Zheng Mengjing was about to collapse. She had heard that her son had lost two teeth, but she didn't expect that they were both front teeth!
  Big front teeth! This is a symbol of 'facade'!

Zheng Mengjing refused to accept that her son would be an 'emperor' without front teeth in the future!
  "Ah! My Xun'er!" Zheng Mengjing was so anxious that she seemed to be about to explode if she looked at her son's teeth one more time! She quickly turned to look at the emperor's husband and asked anxiously:

"Your Majesty! What should we do! Our son's teeth are gone! What should we do!"

Seeing Zheng Mengjing's worried look, Zhu Yijun held his forehead speechlessly and patiently explained: "Xun'er is only six years old. Children have lost their teeth. They will grow back in the future."

"Ah? Ah...it turns out it's a tooth replacement..." Zheng Mengjing rubbed her nose awkwardly, and in a flash she said excitedly:

"But Your Majesty! Our Xun'er is a prince, and he lost two teeth! It must be in great pain!

You must severely punish the villain who caused Xun'er to lose his teeth and vent his anger on our son! " "that is! that is! "Zhu Changxun, who had leaky teeth on the side, also hurriedly followed suit and said fiercely:
  "Father! You must punish Zhang Chonghui properly! It is best to execute him in Ling Chi! His body will be broken into thousands of pieces! His bones will be shattered and ashes will be spread!"

Seeing the funny look of his precious son with two big holes in his front teeth and leaky speech, Zhu Yijun felt both distressed and inexplicably wanted to laugh.

But Zhu Yijun still held back. After all, as Zhu Changxun's father, it was somewhat inappropriate to laugh. He turned around and asked seriously:
  "Where is Zhang Chonghui!"

Zhu Yijun was quite resentful and disgusted with the 'culprit' who chipped two of his precious son's front teeth with his bare hands.

At the same time, Zhu Yijun was also wondering about one thing: Is this kid's skin made of iron? Why is it so hard?
  "Reporting to the Emperor." Zhang Cheng came over and reported in a low voice: "Zhang Chonghui was originally detained at the Meridian Gate, but someone just came to report that the Queen Mother had sent Zhang Chonghui to Cining Palace for questioning."

"What!?"

Hearing this answer, Zhu Yijun was not yet excited, but Zheng Mengjing on the side exclaimed first and said excitedly:

"Your Majesty! Zhang Chonghui is a foreigner! How can he enter the harem!"

Compared to Zheng Mengjing's excitement, Zhu Yijun was calm and unusual. He just frowned and remained silent.

……

After going around in circles, Zhang Chonghui was brought into the legendary 'harem'.

Along the way, the palace people who saw him asked the eunuch who was leading him a question - "How can a foreigner come to the harem?"

The eunuch who led the way always had only one answer - "He is only thirteen years old, still just a child."

And those talkative palace ladies would also mutter: "You are only thirteen years old? You are at least eighteen, right?"

The eunuch who led the way replied - "He really has just turned thirteen."

……

Cining Palace.

At first, Zhang Chonghui didn't know who in the harem would want to see him. He knew it until he saw the three-character plaque of 'Cining Palace' hanging high.

As soon as he stepped into the gate of Cining Palace, Zhang Chonghui smelled a faint scent of sandalwood. This scent continued. After he was brought into a large hall, the scent of sandalwood reached its peak.

Looking around, a woman with elegant manners, bright eyes and white teeth was sitting upright on the main seat.

The woman looked to be in her early thirties. The light yellow jacket and skirt she wore was not gorgeous and dazzling. She only had a few elegant lotus flowers embroidered on the hem and cuffs.

The graceful eyebrows and eyes with a hint of sadness make her look simple and elegant yet charming, graceful yet graceful.

"Are you Zhang Chonghui?"

Looking at the young man with a handsome appearance and a posture as tall as a pine tree in front of her, Queen Mother Li, who had never liked to squint, now saw the fine lines at the corners of her eyes wrinkle slightly.

She looked very carefully, as if she wanted to see something through this young body.

"Go back to the Queen Mother." Zhang Chonghui's eyes were calm. While meeting the beautiful woman's probing gaze, he nodded and said, "I am Zhang Chonghui."

Zhang Chonghui looked directly at Empress Dowager Li like this, which was considered disrespectful.

However, Empress Dowager Li did not reprimand the other party. Instead, she very rarely stopped twirling the beads. As her eyes moved, she smiled meaningfully and said:

"I heard that you convinced Yu Shangshu, Mr. Shen Ge and others to believe you with just a few words. You are... your grandfather?"

Queen Mother Li's question was obviously to test whether Zhang Chonghui was actually Zhang Juzheng.

Although she didn't believe that the person in front of her was Zhang Juzheng, after years of worshiping Buddha, she couldn't guarantee whether things in this world were absolute.

"The Queen Mother is still as charming as ever, and I feel especially pity for her as time goes by."

Zhang Chonghui did not directly answer Empress Dowager Li's probing, but this unclear reply, coupled with his somewhat complicated eyes, actually gave the answer.

Think he's pretending again? No! In fact, he was telling the other party that he was not Zhang Juzheng!

At the same time, Queen Mother Li had stopped smiling. When her pupils trembled slightly, the surprise in her eyes suddenly disappeared.

"My child, I know you are not him." Empress Dowager Li smiled softly, seemingly not blaming Zhang Chonghui for his "pretense" at all.

Just like the Guanyin on the Guanyin statue hanging behind her, she is kind and tolerant. After all, she is called the 'Ci Sheng Empress Dowager'.

Although the 'exposed' Zhang Chonghui did not speak, he still calmly looked directly into the eyes of Queen Mother Li.

Such a bold and direct gaze made Queen Mother Li unable to stop looking away.

As if she realized that she shouldn't have stage fright at her age, Queen Mother Li took courage and looked at the other party.

"Every year the green silk is dyed with autumn frost, and every year the pace becomes more and more like a dragon. A house full of gold and jade will eventually be different. Once you wake up from a dream, everything will be in vain."

This inexplicable recitation of a poem, Queen Mother Li did not continue reciting, but looked at Zhang Chonghui, as if waiting for him to continue reciting.

This time, Zhang Chonghui, who was still 'bold', suddenly became 'cowardly'! He began to avoid the other party's eyes in a hurry, as if he was running away from something!

This "shy" move made Queen Mother Li's heart freeze for a moment "again" after so many years!
  For a moment, the atmosphere was extremely weird.

As if she had 'understood' something, Queen Mother Li did not 'wait' for the other party to continue speaking. While turning her gaze to the Guanyin statue behind her, she said the second half of the 'answer' with melancholy:
  "Even though there are thousands of joys in the mortal world, gatherings and separations are all driven by the wind. Only the lotus light is always with you, and the joys and sorrows of the world can be tolerated."

The words fell, and there was another long silence.

Queen Mother Li looked at the Guanyin statue melancholy, as if she was remembering something.

Zhang Chonghui, on the other hand, just lowered his head and said nothing. Looking at his expression that was hesitant to speak, he seemed to be 'guilty' and 'confused'.

In fact, Zhang Chonghui was just flustered, thinking: "Oh no! I'm so obvious! Doesn't she think I'm Zhang Juzheng?"

In the end, it was Queen Mother Li who spoke first.

"It seems I'm getting old..."

After saying that, she lowered her head in shame and disappointment. She was already over forty years old, but at this moment she was like a 28-year-old girl who was worried about her "childhood troubles", with hints of sadness and no words to express.

"Last year in this gate today, the peach blossoms on the faces of the people were red. The faces of the people don't know where to go, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze."

After Empress Dowager Li finished reading, she turned to look at Zhang Chonghui. Although her eyes were still full of inquiry, her words were serious and implied with expectation:
  "If the peach blossoms are not there, how can the spring breeze smile at people's faces?"

Zhang Chonghui was speechless for a moment. While feeling in his heart, "No matter what age a woman is, she has to be coaxed," he replied directly:

"Your Majesty, the common people are not very knowledgeable and don't understand what you are talking about."

"Oh? Is that so?" Queen Mother Li looked unbelieving, as if she was eager to verify something. She even walked up to Zhang Chonghui and asked a strange question:

"Do you dislike me for being old?"

"Uh... Madam, you..." Zhang Chonghui seemed to be 'scared' by the other party and took several steps back.

Seeing Zhang Chonghui retreating like this, Queen Mother Li seemed to 'recall' some 'familiar' scene, her eyes became more and more surging, and her hand holding the beads trembled a little.

"Don't be afraid, I won't eat you." Empress Dowager Li tried her best to comfort Zhang Chonghui, and at the same time, she took a step forward.

Zhang Chonghui looked "confined" as if he wanted to retreat but had "no way to retreat".

However, although his movements were cramped, his eyes were very calm and 'different from ordinary people'.

It is worth mentioning that this time, Zhang Chonghui was not pretending.

Zhang Chonghui's 'action' seemed to make Empress Dowager Li even more 'eager', because she was so familiar with his 'action'!

"You...do you still remember what your grandfather looked like?" Queen Mother Li took another step forward as she asked.

Zhang Chonghui shook his head and took a step back: "No... I don't remember."

"No wonder 'they' all believe it! You really look like him!" Queen Mother Li took another step forward, the emotions in her eyes becoming more complicated, but also getting hotter.

"But..." Zhang Chonghui really had no choice but to retreat. With his back against the wall, he had a premonition that it was very likely that he would lose his virginity...

Looking at the "somewhat excited" beautiful woman, Zhang Chonghui's eyes became firm almost instantly! He said seriously: "Queen Mother, I am not him, he is already dead."

I thought that this answer would settle the matter, but something unexpected happened to Zhang Chonghui. Empress Dowager Li suddenly asked him:
  "why?"

"Ah...ah?" Zhang Chonghui was a little confused: "Why?"

"Why do you try your best to prove that you are 'him' in front of Shen Shixing and the others? But in front of me, you try every means to prove that you are not 'him'?"

Queen Mother Li seemed to be really angry. Her soft brows furrowed, and she actually stretched out her hand and gently pinched Zhang Chonghui's arm, and said angrily:

"Zhang Juzheng! I think you just dislike me for being old!"

Zhang Chonghui: "..."

　God! I originally wanted to code 10,000 words in anger this afternoon, but the news just came that there was another pig to be killed in the afternoon!

　　what!what!what!
  　　Why didn’t any rich woman see through my fragility? ah! ah!
  　　When you watch the Spring Festival Gala tonight, I burst into tears as I coded words, woo woo woo...

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)