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

Chapter 217: Meeting Zheng Mengjing outside the palace! The imperial concubine was so angry that she cried!

The usually arrogant imperial concubine felt again and again that she was being teased!
And she was teased by Zhang Chonghui, who was nearly ten years younger than her!

"You're really looking at me... I don't dare to tell the emperor about this, right?"

Zheng Mengjing was so angry that her face turned red. Although she was not very smart, she could see that the letters Zhang Chonghui wrote had become more and more excessive over the past few months!

In the beginning, he used allusions from ancient poems to intimidate her, but gradually he began to use plain words to scare her!
This time it was even more outrageous. He even dared to ask her, a noble concubine, to go out of the palace for a private date...

It’s not an exaggeration to say that it was a private meeting!
Cui Wensheng, who was standing by, saw that the imperial concubine was so angry, and suggested again:

"My queen, this boy is so rude! Why don't you just tell the emperor about this and let him make the decision for you?"

"No!" Zheng Mengjing rejected the proposal without saying a word, almost as if it was a conditioned reflex!

If she wanted to complain, she would have done it long ago. Why did she have to endure it until today?

Zheng Mengjing was also helpless. She was a noble concubine, but she was forced by a traitor like Zhang Chonghui and dared not fight back.

One of the reasons for this is that her relatives are afraid to be too ostentatious for fear of suspicion.

It was also because her brother Zheng Guotai, who was brainless and loved to stir up trouble but really loved her, had been exiled by the emperor to Yingtian to guard the imperial mausoleum...

In other words, Zheng Mengjing now has no one to rely on in her family except her increasingly cold emperor husband.

Zheng Mengjing knew very well that if she really reported this matter to the emperor, Zhu Yijun would definitely feel resentful towards her.

She knew Zhu Yijun too well. This emperor was selfish, cowardly, suspicious and sensitive.

How can a man who can't even take charge of his own life really take charge of her?

"Alas..." Zheng Mengjing sighed as she placed the letter on the candle flame and lit it. After the letter was burned to ashes, she spoke with peace of mind:

"Send someone reliable to warn Zhang Chonghui. If he dares to disturb me again, I will have plenty of ways to kill him!"

……

Zhang Chonghui soon received a threat from Concubine Zheng, but in response to this fatal threat, he picked up his pen and wrote another letter to the other party.

And this time, he dragged the person who came to "bring the message" to deliver the letter to Concubine Zheng.

……

When Zheng Mengjing received the letter again, he was so angry about Zhang Chonghui's excessive behavior that he wanted to kill someone!

This time she didn't even want to read the letter and just wanted to burn it!
However, this time, the blank envelope without any mark on it once again aroused her curiosity!
It’s no wonder that Zheng Mengjing was surprised. After all, there was always a civet cat drawn on the envelopes that Zhang Chonghui sent in the past. But this time there was nothing on the envelope at all!

Zheng Mengjing couldn't help but be curious. She always felt that Zhang Chonghui seemed to be hinting at something...

After much hesitation, she finally opened the letter.

I’ve seen it so many times anyway, it doesn’t matter this time!
If the last letter was straightforward enough, then this time's letter was not only more straightforward, but also made Zheng Mengjing open his eyes wide after reading the letter, and he was unable to recover for a long time!
The content of the letter is just a short paragraph!

——"The grandson of the Eastern Palace is about to give birth. If you still want Prince Fu to be the crown prince, come out of the palace and see me in person!"

Looking at this short paragraph, Zheng Mengjing was stunned for a long time...

It wasn't that she was shocked by Zhang Chonghui's arrogance and rudeness, but that she only found out now that the Eastern Palace already had a grandson!
"What's going on? Didn't the prince just get married? How can there be a royal grandson who is about to be born?"

Zheng Mengjing was confused. Her first reaction was to suspect that Zhang Chonghui was playing a trick on her. However, soon, her woman's intuition made her realize that something was wrong!
"Cui Wensheng!" Zheng Mengjing immediately called his confidant and ordered, "Hurry up and send someone to the East Palace to check! See if anyone is pregnant!"

Cui Wensheng was very fast and returned soon, but the answer he brought back was:

"My Lady, the Eastern Palace has been keeping its mouth shut for some reason lately. I only heard that a maidservant named Wang who was in charge of the Crown Prince was appointed as a concubine on the second day of the Crown Prince's wedding."

Zheng Mengjing suddenly understood and murmured, "No wonder the prince's marriage was arranged so hastily... It turns out that a woman is pregnant..."

Although he has realized the truth, Zheng Mengjing is still more worried and uneasy at the moment!
She also didn't expect that her husband, the emperor, would hide such a big thing as someone being pregnant in the Eastern Palace from her!
All of a sudden, despair, resentment, uneasiness, and many other emotions arose and filled Zheng Mengjing's sensitive heart, which already lacked a sense of security!

Since her husband, the emperor, had hidden such a big thing from her, would he really make her son the crown prince?

……

At the same time, Qianqing Palace.

Perhaps it was a telepathic connection, Zhu Yijun was also worrying about how to tell Zheng Mengjing that he was about to become a grandfather.

In fact, Zhu Yijun didn't want to hide it from Zheng Mengjing, but whenever he thought of the cause of death of the deceased Royal Consort Li, he would keep his mouth shut.

Yes, Zhu Yijun had known about the death of Royal Consort Lee for a long time, and it must have been related to Zheng Mengjing.

Although he said nothing and didn't ask anyone to investigate, he still inevitably began to suspect the woman he loved.

Zhu Yijun still loved Zheng Mengjing. Even though Royal Noble Consort Li had died, he still felt that he favored Zheng Mengjing exclusively.

However, the actual situation is that ever since he learned that Zheng Mengjing had a secret connection with the former cabinet chief Shen Yikuan, he has begun to feel estranged from this beloved woman.

Love has a shelf life, and people like to constantly pursue new excitement, not to mention an emperor who has three thousand beauties.

Zhu Yijun always felt that his heart was still with Zheng Mengjing, and he felt that he was just with another woman.

What a wonderful love, the body is in its secluded place and the heart is in the dream.

While Zhu Yijun was feeling that he was truly a romantic man without parallel in the world, he decided to continue hiding from Zheng Mengjing the fact that a grandson would be born in the East Palace.

People always like to make excuses for themselves, and Zhu Yijun also found a good excuse for himself.

He believed that the reason he concealed the matter was not only for the safety of the unborn grandson, but also for Zheng Mengjing's own good.

His beloved concubine was narrow-minded to begin with. If she knew in advance that something happened in the Eastern Palace before the crown prince was appointed, how upset would she be?

……

Just as Zhu Yijun was sighing, "My beloved, I am doing this for your own good," Zheng Mengjing was staring at his twelve-year-old fat son in a daze.

"Mother, why are you staring at me like this?"

Zhu Changxun felt his scalp tingling when he was stared at by Zheng Mengjing's somewhat sad eyes. He always felt that his mother was sick again.

"Xun'er..." Zheng Mengjing raised his hand and touched his son's hair. He seemed to be about to cry, and said with trembling lips:
"You are already twelve years old this year. In a few years, I'm afraid you will really have to follow the ancestral system and leave your mother to serve as a vassal..."

Zheng Mengjing wanted to cry when he thought about his beloved son who could hardly take care of himself and might not become the crown prince in this lifetime and would have to go to a fiefdom in another place.

Zhu Changxun has heard such words countless times in the past few years.

At first he would be scared and cry, but now that he is at his rebellious age, he just feels annoyed.

"Okay, mother, father hasn't said anything yet, why are you starting to think about so many unnecessary things again!"

Zhu Changxun's tone was not very good. He was really impatient with his old mother who kept crying at the slightest provocation.

Now it was a good thing. Zheng Mengjing was already feeling uncomfortable, and now she was so upset by her only beloved son that she burst into tears.

"Wuwuwu...I am doing this for your own good...I am worried about you..."

The classic "I'm doing this for your own good" quote made Zhu Changxun even more annoyed. He didn't know whether it was because he was just a child or he had been dissatisfied for a long time, he just muttered in dissatisfaction:
"What do you mean by for my own good? It sounds as if you don't want to be the Queen Mother..."

This time, Zheng Mengjing burst into tears!
As she cried, Zheng Mengjing discovered a cruel reality.

The emperor husband is unreliable, and her son may not be reliable either! The only person she can rely on is herself!
……

A few days later, at the flower shop.

Zheng Mengjing thought that as a noble concubine, it would be very difficult for her to leave the palace.

Who would have thought that the palace gate guards were so lax that one could easily leave the palace as long as one paid some silver!

Not to mention the emperor. No one knew what he was busy with recently and he hadn't come to see her for two or three months.

It can't be such a coincidence that I finally get out of the palace and just happen to see her, right?
All in all, Zheng Mengjing's trip out of the palace was so smooth that she couldn't even imagine it. Led by her confidant Cui Wensheng and others, she arrived at the place where she had an appointment with Zhang Chonghui.

However, she soon became embarrassed...

Zheng Mengjing also didn't expect that Zhang Chonghui, who looked like a decent man, could be so indecent, and the place he asked her to meet was actually a brothel!
It would have been fine if the place was not decent, but the key point was that she had to wait for more than half an hour before the other party finally showed up in a glamorous and beautiful manner.

It is not an exaggeration to say that he looks glamorous. It is obvious that Zhang Chonghui put a lot of thought into his outfit today.

"How dare you! How dare you make me wait for you for so long! Do you want to die?"

Zheng Mengjing did not have a good temper. Even though the young man in front of her was really pleasing to the eye, the first thing she said was to scold him.

"I dressed up specially for the purpose of meeting you, the Imperial Concubine, so that you would feel comfortable looking at me."

Zhang Chonghui did not forget to bow and salute politely while speaking. Such informal words coupled with formal actions made people feel that he was suave and not deliberately teasing.

Zheng Mengjing is not stupid. Having read many Jianghu stories, she can see at a glance that this is a way for young men to seduce young girls.

She thought she was already an old hand, so she quickly turned her eyes away from Zhang Chonghui, cleared her throat and said:

"Why do you write to me so many times to scare me?"

"Breaking?" Zhang Chonghui said innocently and puzzledly: "My Lady Imperial Concubine, did you misunderstand? When did I ever scare you? How dare I do that!"

"You still don't admit it!" Zheng Mengjing was so angry that he turned his eyes back:

"Not only did you scare me with the matter of Madam Qi, but you also dared to discuss the issue of appointing a crown prince!"

Looking at the beautiful but impetuous woman, Zhang Chonghui kept smiling and replied in a gentle voice:

"My Lady, I'm not trying to scare you. I'm trying to warn you. I'm doing this for your own good."

"How can this be considered good for me?" Zheng Mengjing stomped his feet in anger.

For some reason, the calmer Zhang Chonghui was, the angrier she became. This made her feel uncomfortable, as if he was watching her collapse quietly.

"My Lady, I won't keep you in suspense any longer." Zhang Chonghui remained calm and said bluntly:
"If I hadn't told you that the emperor was about to give birth to the grandson of the Eastern Palace, you would probably still be kept in the dark by the emperor, right?"

"That's not true!" Zheng Mengjing said stubbornly, "The emperor told me about this a long time ago!"

"Oh? Really?" Zhang Chonghui took a step towards Zheng Mengjing, stared at him and asked, "Then tell me, how many months old is the emperor's grandson?"

This time, Zheng Mengjing couldn't answer. After all, the emperor personally took action to keep the news secret. Who knows how many months the emperor's grandson has been here!
"It's been several months anyway." Zheng Mengjing still pretended to be tough, but his eyes drifted away guiltily.

"Then it seems that the emperor really did not hide anything from you." Zhang Chonghui seemed not to notice that the other party was being stubborn, and he just said:

"I originally thought that the Emperor would have a grudge against you because of the incident with Imperial Concubine Li and would not dare to tell you that he already had a grandson.

I didn't expect that the emperor still loves you so much! My lady, the emperor is so kind to you, it's not an exaggeration to say that they are a loving couple."

Flattery should be pleasing to people, but Zhang Chonghui's "heart-piercing" flattery was like a rusty hammer, which directly struck Zheng Mengjing's internal organs and gave him tetanus!

It was only then that Zheng Mengjing realized that the emperor didn't want to tell her that the East Palace had a grandson because he was afraid that she would do something to the child...

Zheng Mengjing was very sad. She had always believed that no matter how cold her husband, the emperor, was to her, at least he would not think that she was a vicious woman who dared to harm innocent children!

But after being touched by Zhang Chonghui, she realized that in the eyes of her husband, the emperor, she was so unbearable...

"Empress Dowager, what's wrong with you?" Zhang Chonghui raised his hand and waved in front of Zheng Mengjing who was in a trance.

Zheng Mengjing came back to her senses. She didn't know whether she was hurt by her lover, was too sad or what, but she no longer had the energy to be stubborn.

She directly asked about Zhang Chonghui's purpose, which was also the purpose of her trip out of the palace.
"You went to so much trouble to see me, what exactly do you want to do?"

Zhang Chonghui didn't beat around the bush and said bluntly, "Of course I want to help your Prince Fu become the crown prince."

Zheng Mengjing rolled his eyes and said, "I remember that the emperor sent you to the East Palace to accompany him in reading, so that you could find a way to make my son the crown prince, right? Since you are already working for the emperor, you are also working for me!"

"Hahaha." Zhang Chonghui laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Zheng Mengjing always felt something was wrong.

"I laugh at you for being stupid."

"How dare you call me stupid! You are so brave!"

"My Lady, don't you know that I haven't been to the East Palace for a long time?"

"I know it! It's you who are trying to find excuses to shirk responsibility!"

"Then do you know why I refuse?"

"Who knows what evil thoughts you have!"

"Everyone has their own thoughts. Why don't you think about what the emperor is thinking?"

"What do you mean?"

"I have repeatedly made excuses not to go to the East Palace, but the emperor has no objection to this. Can't you see what the emperor is thinking?"

"I..." Although Zheng Mengjing didn't quite understand what Zhang Chonghui meant, she had a very bad premonition.

Seeing that Zheng Mengjing was still confused and stupid, Zhang Chonghui simply said directly:

"My Lady Imperial Concubine, let me be frank with you. I am so lazy that I don't go to the Eastern Palace, and the Emperor doesn't care much about me. This means that the Emperor has actually given up on the issue of changing the crown prince a long time ago!
In addition, the Crown Princess is pregnant now. If Concubine Wang gives birth to a girl, it will be fine. But if she gives birth to a boy, then the Crown Princess will have a royal grandson!

Your Majesty, I'm sure you know what being the emperor's eldest grandson means, right?

As the saying goes, grandparents are closer than their grandchildren. Even if the emperor dislikes the crown prince, the same may not be true for his grandson!
It is said that Emperor Chengzu did not like Emperor Renzong who was still the crown prince at that time, and wanted to make Prince Han the crown prince instead. But in the end, Emperor Chengzu simply abandoned Prince Zhao because he loved his grandson Emperor Xuanzong!
The current emperor is a descendant of Chengzu, and descendants will always look like their ancestors. Moreover, the emperor once restored the reign title of Jianwen. You also know Jianwen, right?
He was just a illegitimate grandson of the emperor, but he was able to bypass his legitimate brother and, relying on his mother's status, was directly named the Crown Prince by Taizu and designated as the heir to the throne!
What if... the grandson in Wang Xuanshi's belly has the same good fortune as Jianwen?

Your Majesty, didn’t you say that I was using the matter of Madam Qi to scare you?

I'm really not trying to scare you. Think about it, if the prince ascends the throne to become emperor in the future, Concubine Wang Gong will be the empress dowager.

And what you did and didn't do to Concubine Wang Gong, only you know it!
By then, if Consort Wang Gong, who has become the Queen Mother, is unhappy, she might...

Hey, Your Majesty, why are you hitting me?
I didn't say that Concubine Wang Gong might poison your Prince Fu like Empress Lu poisoned Liu Ruyi, nor did I say that she would turn you into a human pig like Concubine Qi!
Hey, Madam Concubine, please stop hitting me. I won’t say anything.”

Zhang Chonghui said "I won't say anymore", but he actually said everything he should and shouldn't say.

He also let Zheng Mengjing's soft fists hit him again and again, only using his arms to block them occasionally.

"It's all your fault, it's all your fault!" Zheng Mengjing was almost crying because of Zhang Chonghui. While pounding the hateful man in front of him, he cursed with a red face:

"Damn it! If I had known I wouldn't have come to see you! I'm so mad! I'm so mad!"

(End of this chapter)