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

Chapter 216: The unfamiliar Zhang father and son! Secret meeting with Concubine Zheng!

The first day of August, the twenty-sixth year of the Wanli reign.

The East Palace was very lively that day because Crown Prince Zhu Changluo, the heir to the throne, got married in a hurry.

Crown Princess Guo was of humble origin. Like Zhu Changluo's biological mother, Queen Wang Xijie, she was born in Daxing County, Shuntian Prefecture in the capital, into an ordinary family with a clean background.

On this great day when the whole country is celebrating, Zhang Yunxiu also received good news in advance!

……

After finishing the ceremony of enthroning the Crown Princess, Zhang Yunxiu hurriedly changed out of his ceremonial clothes and prepared to sneak away to Zhao's mansion to announce the good news to Zhang Chonghui.

However, someone stopped him.

"Wu Lang, are you in such a hurry to go back?" Yu Shenxing looked at Zhang Yunxiu who was about to leave and kindly reminded him:

"After the ceremony, the East Palace will hold a banquet later. Don't you want to stay and join us?"

Zhang Yunxiu replied politely, "Thank you for your reminder, Lord Yu. I have some urgent matters at home, so I won't stay."

Yu Shenxing looked like he knew what was going on and said with a smile, "You don't have any family problems, you obviously have something urgent to do and you want to see that person."

When Zhang Yunxiu heard the three words "that person", he knew that the other party was talking about Zhang Chonghui.

Not sure if it was some strange coincidence, but Zhang Yunxiu suddenly recalled the conversation between him and Zhang Chonghui a few months ago.

——"Huh? How come you can write my father's calligraphy? And it's so similar... Who gave you the calligraphy?"

——"Ah, Yu Keyuan gave it to me."

It was just an ordinary conversation and Zhang Yunxiu didn't take it to heart at the time. After all, Zhang Chonghui had learned calligraphy from many people and did it quite well.

"By the way, Lord Yu, my second brother has been searching for my father's handwritten works over the years. Do you still have my father's handwritten calligraphy or other handwritten works?"

Zhang Yunxiu also wanted to help his second brother. If Yu Shenxing had the ability, it would be much easier.

"Haha..." Yu Shenxing's face was inevitably embarrassed when Zhang Juzheng was mentioned in public. He said tactfully:
"I'm not afraid of making you laugh at me, but I've never liked practicing calligraphy since I was a kid. I've never collected any calligraphy books or anything like that."

Yu Shenxing refused very tactfully, but he was telling the truth. He really didn't like practicing calligraphy or collecting copybooks, and he didn't have any of Zhang Juzheng's handwritten copybooks or other works.

At the same time, Zhang Yunxiu was completely stunned...

He clearly remembered that Zhang Chonghui told him that the copybook he used for practicing calligraphy was given to him by Yu Shenxing!

Could it be that……

Is Yu Shenxing lying to avoid suspicion?

Or... is Zhang Chonghui lying to him?
……

Zhao Mansion.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu sent me a letter saying that Toyotomi Hideyoshi is dying!"

Zhang Yunxiu informed Zhang Chonghui of the results of this plan that had been planned for many years.

At the same time, he, who had been to Zhang Chonghui's study many times, strolled around this time, which was very rare, as if he was very curious about every corner of this place.

Especially, the piles of calligraphy drafts on the table!

Zhang Chonghui didn't pay much attention to Zhang Yunxiu's "curiosity" today. He just thought that the other party was under too much pressure recently and was a little anxious.

"It's time for Toyotomi Hideyoshi to die." Zhang Chonghui, who had learned the 'good news', continued to prepare for the next step and arranged:
"It's time to stop the war in Korea. Next, the imperial court will withdraw its main forces to suppress the rebellion in Bozhou!

Don't worry about who others recommend, just write a petition to strongly oppose Li Rusong's going to Bozhou to quell the rebellion!"

"Oppose Li Rusong?" Zhang Yunxiu was a little confused and asked:

"But didn't you say that the candidate for the chief general to suppress the rebellion in Bozhou must be Li Rusong?"

Zhang Chonghui replied, "The civil officials have disliked Li Rusong for a long time, and you have just joined the Imperial Academy. You just need to follow the crowd when your foundation is not yet stable. Anyway, the emperor only likes Li Rusong, and he will not listen no matter how the censors protest. In the end, the main general to suppress the rebellion in Bozhou can only be Li Rusong."

"I see." Zhang Yunxiu nodded, and then told Zhang Chonghui what was in his heart, saying:

"To be honest, I don't like Li Rusong either. In my opinion, although he is indeed capable, his character... is hard to describe."

In response to this sincere remark, Zhang Chonghui just smiled and said nothing.

After all, it didn’t really matter to Li Rusong whether he went to Bozhou to quell the rebellion or not.

The important thing is that only if Li Rusong goes there, Qin Liangyu can rise with the tide!

Zhang Yunxiu also knew this, but he was not familiar with Qin Liangyu, and whenever he talked about Li Rusong, he would think of Li Chengliang.

Whenever he thought of Li Chengliang, he would inevitably think of another old friend.

"Alas..." Zhang Yunxiu couldn't help but sighed: "If only General Qi was still here..."

Zhang Chonghui seemed not to hear Zhang Yunxiu's sigh. He changed the subject and asked a question:
"How's Yingtian doing?"

"Yingtian?" Zhang Yunxiu didn't react for a moment. After a brief thought, he suddenly realized:
"Oh, you mean Uncle Zheng? Don't worry, everything is going well!"

"As long as it goes smoothly." Zhang Chonghui nodded and said, "Whether I can succeed from now on depends entirely on our uncle-in-law."

At this time, Zhang Yunxiu suddenly laughed inexplicably: "Hahaha, I didn't expect that Zheng Guojiu was so stupid that he actually believed that this so-called 'Red Seal Religion' could bless his sister to sit on the throne."

"It's no wonder that people do stupid things for their own desires." Zhang Chonghui also chuckled and asked:
“Now, how many people have they grown to?”

"There should be thirty people, right? At least no more than forty." Zhang Yunxiu answered with a smile, and then said:
"It's been two or three years since they developed this many people, and they are all mentally unstable. It's really difficult for the brother and sister."

"It's OK." Zhang Chonghui said, "Although there are fewer people, it's OK."

Perhaps it was because the matter was too absurd, or perhaps it was because he had been under too much pressure in the Hanlin Academy recently, Zhang Yunxiu, who was usually serious, actually laughed for a long time before stopping.

Zhang Chonghui did not interrupt Zhang Yunxiu, but just let the other party laugh happily.

"Speaking of which..." Zhang Yunxiu rubbed his eyes after laughing enough, and then he turned serious and asked worriedly:
"Aren't you afraid that Concubine Zheng will get angry and report the fact that you wrote a letter to her to the Emperor?"

"Ha." Zhang Chonghui laughed strangely and said, "If she wanted to stab me, she would have done it long ago. Why did she endure it for so long and not attack?"

Yes, since the "Song of the Swan", in the past few months, Zhang Chonghui used Shi Niang's relationship to send several letters to Concubine Zheng intermittently.

If Concubine Zheng wanted to expose this matter, she would have done so long ago. Why wait until today?

If Concubine Zheng wanted to accumulate "evidence" first and then have a one-time attack on the emperor, that would be even more impossible.

As the emperor's favorite concubine, she received so many letters from men outside her family in private, and it has been several months before she confessed to the emperor?
With Emperor Wanli's sensitive and suspicious nature, even if he took charge of the matter on behalf of Concubine Zheng and dealt with Zhang Chonghui afterwards, he would still have a grudge against Concubine Zheng in his heart!

Zhang Chonghui believed that Concubine Zheng understood Emperor Wanli, and because of that, he believed that even if Concubine Zheng stuffed the letters into her mouth and swallowed them alive, she would never let her sensitive and suspicious husband, the emperor, know that this happened!
"It seems that there has long been a rift between Concubine Zheng and the Emperor." Zhang Yunxiu said, and soon he had a new worry:

"Speaking of which... is it possible that the Emperor has already known about this?"

"That's even more impossible." Zhang Chonghui said firmly: "With the emperor's temper, if he knew that someone wrote letters to his favorite concubine every other day, he would have been furious and severely punished that person. How could he tolerate it and remain indifferent until now?"

Seeing Zhang Chonghui so confident and calm, Zhang Yunxiu felt relieved, but he couldn't help but recall the conversation he had with Yu Shenxing not long ago.

Doubts are spreading in my mind, and it is not easy to dispel them.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Yunxiu finally couldn't help but feel suspicious. So, he said something seemingly casually:

"You seem to... know the emperor very well."

"It's okay, I don't really understand it." Zhang Chonghui replied casually.

"Is that so..." Zhang Yunxiu continued to ask 'not so casually':

"By the way, we've known each other for so many years, and I still don't know where you're from."

Zhang Chonghui simply replied: "Didn't I tell you a long time ago? I forgot."

"How could you forget this?" Zhang Yunxiu narrowed his eyes and continued to ask, "Then what else do you remember?"

The question had already come to this point, and the intention of probing was so obvious, Zhang Chonghui simply looked straight at Zhang Yunxiu:

"What do you want to ask?" "You know what I want to ask." Zhang Yunxiu knew that he couldn't outsmart Zhang Chonghui, so he simply told the doubts that had been lingering in his mind for a long time:

"How do you know the emperor so well? You've only met him a few times! How can you know a person so well after just a few meetings? He's the emperor!"

In response to Zhang Yunxiu's questioning, Zhang Chonghui simply replied calmly: "Emperors are also human beings, and human nature is sometimes interoperable."

"I know that the emperor is also a human being, and I also know that human nature is sometimes interoperable, but not everything can be interoperable, right?"

This time, Zhang Yunxiu simply made his point clear. He continued to question:
"You told me before that the calligraphy you copied from my father's handwriting was given to you by Yu Shenxing.

But not long ago, Yu Shenxing told me in person that he had never liked practicing calligraphy since he was a child, and his family had never collected anyone's calligraphy!

So...how come you were able to imitate my father's calligraphy without having any copybooks?"

"Maybe I remembered the wrong person." Zhang Chonghui still replied calmly: "It may be the calligraphy copy given to me by Shen Shixing, and I mistakenly remembered it as Yu Shenxing."

"Then take out the calligraphy written by my father and show it to me!" Zhang Yunxiu clearly didn't believe it. The calmer and more composed Zhang Chonghui appeared, the more he didn't believe it!
"Okay, wait a moment, I'll look for it." Zhang Chonghui stood up without saying a word, preparing to find the so-called copybook on the bookshelf next to him.

"Wait! Stop looking!" Zhang Yunxiu hurriedly stopped Zhang Chonghui again, as if he was avoiding something, and said unreasonably:
"Even if you take out your own calligraphy and tell me that it is my father's handwriting, I can't tell whether it is real or fake!"

This time, Zhang Chonghui was finally unhappy. "This is not okay, and that is not okay. What do you want?"

Seeing Zhang Chonghui's face change, Zhang Yunxiu realized that he had gone too far, and he hurriedly explained:

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make things difficult for you. You're the person I trust the most in this world. I just...

Believe me! I can even give you my life. I just wonder why you...

Is it possible that... you are..."

"I'm not him."

These four words interrupted Zhang Yunxiu's incoherent speech so lightly.

"Okay." Zhang Chonghui gently stroked Zhang Yunxiu's back and comforted him like he was coaxing a child:

"I know that you have been having a hard time being alone in the Imperial Academy without any help. I also know that you have been under a lot of pressure recently. It is normal to be suspicious and anxious when you are under a lot of pressure. I don't blame you."

Zhang Yunxiu didn't actually feel that much pressure, but after being comforted by Zhang Chonghui, he suddenly felt that the past few months...

It seems really sad...

His colleagues who excluded and mocked him openly or covertly, the Hanlin teachers who watched coldly from the sidelines, and the complicated and boring official work day after day.

Looking at the patient and gentle Zhang Chonghui in front of him, Zhang Yunxiu smiled bitterly:

"Yeah, how could you be him? He has never comforted me like this before..."

……

In Zhang Yunxiu's memory, his father always had a stern old face and did not like to smile. He got up earlier than the chicken every day and came back later than the donkey.

He seldom saw his father, and even when he did, he was extremely nervous and cautious, fearing that he might upset or make him angry.

This situation of "father and son not knowing each other well" is not uncommon in wealthy families with many children.

However, children always want to get attention from adults. Zhang Yunxiu also wants it, but he rarely even sees his old father, let alone act like a spoiled child.

This situation continued until his father became the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and until he, thanks to his father, was granted an official position by the emperor.

In fact, he was just an official appointed by imperial concubine. Zhang Yunxiu, who was less than ten years old that year, did not need to go to the palace in person to express his gratitude.

However, his father, the Prime Minister, whom he was not very familiar with, hugged him and coaxed him, which was very rare.

"Old Fifth, listen to Dad and go to the palace to talk to the Emperor, okay?"

"Dad...I don't want it...I'm afraid..."

"What is there to be afraid of? The emperor is only a few years older than you. You are so well behaved, he will definitely be able to play with you."

"But……"

"It's settled, Old Five, remember this. Although the Emperor is older than you, he is the Son of Heaven. You have to follow his lead and not contradict him. It's best to praise him more. Remember this?"

"But Dad...what if the emperor bullies me?"

"He is the emperor and you are his subject. If he really bullies you... then you should just bear with it for now."

"Dad, if I can't help it, can I cry?"

"Old Fifth, stop making trouble! The Emperor has a lot of schoolwork and he has been feeling uneasy lately. I am afraid that he is under too much pressure, so I asked you to come to the palace and play with him for a few days so that he can relax!"

"So that's it..."

"Old Fifth, Dad knows that you have always been the most sensible and well-behaved child. Please give way to the Emperor a little more, okay?"

Zhang Yunxiu really wanted to say no. He didn’t understand why sensible and well-behaved people should give in to others.

However, he did not dare to speak his mind, fearing that his father would be angry. Moreover, he was finally coaxed by his father himself, so he just nodded obediently and said:

"Dad, I will listen to you."

……

Facts have proved that that entry into the palace left Zhang Yunxiu with a profound psychological trauma.

Although the little emperor did not bully him openly, his endless exaggeration and boasting still made him feel wronged and sad, so much so that he cried out loud in his quilt in the middle of the night.

Zhang Yunxiu didn't understand why his own father cared and loved the little emperor, an outsider, more than he did his own son.

It is obvious that he is both well-behaved and sensible, and it is obvious that the little emperor is both naughty and stingy.

However, those who suffer from drought die of drought, and those who suffer from floods die of floods.

The love that some people dream of but cannot obtain may sometimes be just a burden in the eyes of others.

……

Recalling the sad past, and with Zhang Chonghui's comfort, Zhang Yunxiu, who was already under a lot of pressure, felt like crying.

And on this joyous day of the Crown Prince's wedding, there were still three people who were not happy.

One was the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun, who actually did not want to hold a wedding for his eldest son so soon.

But the pregnant palace maiden was already carrying the dragon grandson in her belly for more than five months!

After more than five months, my belly is showing!

If we don’t hurry up and get married, the child will be born soon!
Apart from Zhu Yijun's unhappiness, the groom Zhu Changluo was not actually that happy on this happy day.

Because, he doesn't seem to like his Crown Princess...

Speaking of which, Crown Princess Guo fully fits the image of a dignified and virtuous Crown Princess in the eyes of the world.

Zhu Changluo knew that he should marry a woman like this, but the sixteen-year-old boy felt that his wedding night with this wife was not very harmonious. She was either crying out in pain here or there.

But she was his Crown Princess, and he couldn't just ignore her feelings like he did to those concubines of humble origins who allowed him to beat and scold them.

This wedding night was really too hard for Zhu Changluo. Not only was he exhausted after tossing and turning for half the night, but he was not very happy at all.

On this happy day, besides Zhu Yijun and Zhu Changluo, the father and son, who were not very happy, the third unhappy person was Concubine Zheng.

Zheng Mengjing actually didn't feel anything at first. After all, it was only a matter of time before the prince got married.

But on such a day, she received another letter from Zhang Chonghui!

The content of this letter was extremely bold, so bold that even Zheng Mengjing was stunned!
"Is this kid crazy..."

"You actually want me to leave the palace in person! To meet him privately...privately?"

"This is outrageous! How shameless!"

(End of this chapter)