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

Chapter 234 Sorry, this is another price!
Qianqing Palace.

The name prepared by the cabinet for the emperor's eldest grandson was presented to Emperor Wanli.

"By book, by result, by grade, by school?"

After looking at these four names and scanning them back and forth several times, Zhu Yijun finally only focused on the last name.

Zhu Yijun didn't know why, but regardless of the meanings of these names, he always felt that the name "Youxiao" was particularly pleasing to the eye.

It happened that Concubine Zheng was nearby at this time. Perhaps because she felt guilty for hiding the fact that her beloved concubine, the Crown Princess, was pregnant, Zhu Yijun asked Zheng Mengjing in a flattering manner:

"My dear, which name do you think is good?"

Zheng Mengjing was already resentful when the emperor's grandson was born. Now the emperor asked her to choose a name for the annoying grandson born to the annoying prince. This was like adding fuel to the fire and a double blow to her.

However, no matter how unhappy he was, Zheng Mengjing could only be unhappy in his heart. He still had to answer the emperor respectfully with a stiff smile:

"Your Majesty, I think everything is fine."

Seeing that Zheng Mengjing's face was stiff from laughing, Zhu Yijun also realized that this time he was flattering the wrong person.

Perhaps because he was too embarrassed to say anything, Zhu Yijun turned around and asked Chen Ju:

"How is Zhang Chonghui doing in the Honglu Temple?"

This sudden question didn't faze Chen Ju, but it frightened Zheng Mengjing who was standing next to him and made him tremble.

She glanced at her husband, the emperor, cautiously, and only felt relieved when she saw that he was not looking at her. Otherwise, she would have thought that the emperor was deliberately testing her by mentioning Zhang Chonghui in front of her every now and then.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Chonghui has taken sick leave," Chen Ju replied.

Zhu Yijun said unhappily, "It's only been a short time since he took office and he's already pretending to be sick and asking for leave. He can come and go as he pleases!"

Chen Ju replied truthfully: "Your Majesty, Zhang Chonghui seems to be really ill. It is said that when it snowed heavily two days ago, Li Kezhuo insisted that he personally deliver the memorial to the cabinet and even refused to let him use an umbrella. Zhang Chonghui was caught in the snow and wind all the way and caught a cold when he returned."

Hearing the words "blowing snow all the way", Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment before asking, "Is there such a thing?"

Chen Ju said, "Yes, I don't know how this happened, but it became known to everyone. Li Kezhuo was impeached by the Imperial Secretary for being harsh to his subordinates but disrespectful to the Crown Prince. He submitted a petition and resigned."

"Even the Imperial Censor is involved?" Zhu Yijun suddenly realized something was wrong and asked suspiciously, "When did he get in touch with the Imperial Censor of the Six Departments?"

Chen Ju replied, "Maybe they are not related. I heard that Zhang Chonghui lost his way when he was delivering a memorial to the cabinet that day, and went to the wrong place, Langfang, where the six ministries were located. The censors must have seen him covered in snow and his hesitant manner, which made them feel very pitiful. They couldn't stand it and submitted a memorial to impeach Li Kezhuo."

"Ha." Zhu Yijun laughed sarcastically, "It's not that they are disgusted. Those old foxes can see that Zhang Chonghui is pretending to be pitiful. It's obvious that someone wants to use this incident to drag the crown prince into it, and then use this incident to drag the people behind Li Kezhuo into the water."

Chen Ju, who knew what the emperor meant, did not respond, but Zheng Mengjing, who was standing beside him, looked confused.

The only thing that felt strange to her at this moment was that Zhang Chonghui would actually pretend to be pitiful?
"Forget it." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "Let the Ministry of Rites quickly pick an auspicious day. I want to go to the ancestral tablets and name the grandson."

……

His Majesty the Emperor was in a hurry to decide on a name for his grandson. Zheng Mengjing knew that she was somewhat redundant here, so she wisely took her leave.

After returning to her own bedroom, Zheng Mengjing became more and more uneasy. She thought that the name of the emperor's grandson had already been decided. The emperor's promise to make her an imperial concubine as compensation, which he had made to her not long ago, was like a fart. After being opposed several times by the ministers of the previous dynasty, it disappeared without a trace.

Zheng Mengjing wanted to discuss something with his elder brother Zheng Guotai, but Zheng Guotai, who had been restless, was now under the custody of people sent by his emperor brother-in-law, which was no different from being in prison.

Moreover, the emperor repeatedly warned Zheng Mengjing not to see Zheng Guotai again on the grounds that he was afraid that Zheng Guotai would lead his sister astray.

The more Zheng Mengjing thought about it, the more annoyed she became. When she thought that in a few years, her son would be old enough to go to the fiefdom, she became even more panicked.

"Cui Wensheng, that guy...hasn't written to you recently?"

"Replying to the Imperial Concubine, she is not here."

"He has no conscience. It seems that he has forgotten me now that he has become an official!"

Zheng Mengjing didn't know where her anger came from. When she thought about the fact that Zhang Chonghui hadn't written to her since the attack, she felt inexplicably angry.

This made her feel frustrated, as if she had been used and ruthlessly abandoned.

"He is so lucky that he became the prince's savior and even became an official!" Zheng Mengjing said angrily:

"My brother and I were deeply implicated. We had to kneel down, go to jail, and..."

Zheng Mengjing suddenly choked up, his eyes widened wider and wider, and a terrible guess only emerged in his mind at this moment.

"Could it be... that I was really used by him?"

The more Zheng Mengjing thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. She discovered that this series of events were planned by Zhang Chonghui from the beginning, and in the end, only Zhang Chonghui was picked out, and cleanly!

"Good boy! How dare you play tricks on me!"

Zheng Mengjing was almost mad with anger. The imperial concubine finally realized that she was being used as a gun. At this moment, she just wanted to slap Zhang Chonghui hard in the face!
……

Donglin Bookstore.

When Zhang Chonghui received Zheng Mengjing's invitation to meet, he guessed that this not-so-bright imperial concubine had finally realized that she had been fooled.

As expected, as soon as they met, Zheng Mengjing raised her hand like a street shrew and was about to slap him without any image.

The result is predictable. The imperial concubine failed to fan the man, but a lot of tofu was taken away from her.

"Zhang Chonghui, you are so brave! You were actually playing tricks on me from the beginning to the end!"

"My Lady, I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Are you still pretending? I have finally come to my senses. Last time we cooperated, nothing happened to you and you even got a job! I, on the other hand, had to kowtow to the prince in disgrace, and even my brother is being kept under guard like he is in prison!"

Facing Zheng Mengjing's accusations, Zhang Chonghui did not panic at all. Instead, he frowned slightly and said in confusion:

"My Lady, are you so angry that you have nowhere to vent? Are you picking on me on purpose? Even if you want to frame someone, you shouldn't do it like this."

Zheng Mengjing said angrily: "How did I falsely accuse you?"

"You haven't falsely accused me yet?" Zhang Chonghui said angrily:
"You kowtowed to the Crown Prince, and the King's uncle was under guard. Use your brain and think about it. The reason why these things have developed to that extent is because you betrayed me from the beginning. That's why things went wrong!
I meant well and helped you solve the problem without holding any grudges. But now you are putting all the blame on me. Isn't this a false accusation?
It's a pity that I am now in the court and still planning for His Royal Highness Prince Fu. If I had known this, I shouldn't have been so kind to give you a solution. I should have let you be hated by the emperor, and let your entire Zheng family be buried with me!
This way, I can be considered to have died innocently, and I have a companion on my way to the underworld. Why would I be falsely accused by you like today? You really broke my heart!"

Zhang Chonghui's disappointing and "well-reasoned" rebuttal directly stunned Zheng Mengjing.

Especially the sentence "It's a pity that I am still planning for His Royal Highness Prince Fu now that I have entered the court" made Zheng Mengjing even more surprised:

"You...are still planning for my son?"

Zhang Chonghui did not answer, but said angrily: "From today on, I will wholeheartedly join the prince!"

"Eh..." Zheng Mengjing was anxious. However, even though she knew that she had been a little unreasonable, she still couldn't let go of the concubine's face and apologize to Zhang Chonghui.

"I don't believe you!" Zheng Mengjing turned to pick other faults and said unhappily, "I don't believe you are still planning for my son. Since the last incident, you haven't even sent a letter to me. It's obvious that you want to use me and then turn your back on me."

"Oh, yes, if I don't write to you, it means I'm turning my back on you, okay? I'm turning my back on you and I'm still rushing to see you." Zhang Chonghui said, and suddenly raised his finger to his face, leaning closer and saying:
"Come on, don't you want to slap me? Go ahead, I'll slap you as much as you want! After this, we'll go our separate ways!"

Zheng Mengjing saw Zhang Chonghui's face getting closer and closer, and he even wanted to grab her hand to fan her. This relentless pressure frightened the imperial concubine, and she hurriedly backed away, hiding her hands helplessly.

When they all retreated to the wall and had nowhere to retreat, Zheng Mengjing, who had no other choice, cried out in a sobbing voice:
"Okay, I was wrong, isn't that enough?"

Facts have proved that women's tears are indeed useful. Zheng Mengjing only held back a few tears, and Zhang Chonghui stopped forcing her.

Zheng Mengjing sighed in her heart, "Men are so easy to please," while trying hard to suppress her impatience, she cried with tears in her eyes, "Now that the name of the emperor's grandson has been decided, what should I do with my Xun'er... I just don't want him to leave me and go to a fiefdom thousands of miles away... Woo woo..."

Zhang Chonghui did not respond to the question, but showed an expression as if he wanted to say something but didn't know whether he should say it or not.

After Zheng Mengjing keenly noticed this, he concluded in his heart that Zhang Chonghui must have a way!

"Brother." Zheng Mengjing's voice suddenly softened, and she cried with tears in her eyes, "It was my fault before. I was too impatient and was mean to you. You won't blame me, will you? I was forced to do that..."

Zhang Chonghui's scalp tingled when he was called "brother", but he showed an extremely pleased expression on his face and said with a smile:

"How could that be? My Lady Concubine, you have already admitted your mistake to me, how can I bear to blame you?"

"Then... can you help me?"

"Of course, but..."

"Just what?"

“But this is a different price.”

……

This was not the first time that Cui Wensheng worked as a gatekeeper. Before he came, he heard the imperial concubine say that she wanted to slap Zhang Chonghui hard a few times to vent her anger.

However, when he saw Zhang Chonghui coming out, he couldn't help but feel strange when he saw that there was not only no palm print but not even any red mark on his fair and handsome face.

"This is weird... I clearly heard the sound of a slap..."

Cui Wensheng muttered to himself, and soon he saw Concubine Zheng walking out in a daze.

Cui Wensheng knew very well that if his master didn't tell him, he shouldn't ask. Even when he was helping Zheng Mengjing fix his crooked fur collar and saw a circle of red marks on his slender white neck, which were obviously caused by being pinched, he still said nothing and didn't ask any questions.

……

Ciqing Palace.

Zhang Chonghui hadn't come to the Eastern Palace for some time, and Zhu Changluo seemed to miss him very much. He asked him how his cold was, and was so enthusiastic that he put his newborn son into his arms.

Even though Zhang Chonghui lied and said that he had not fully recovered from the cold he feigned, Zhu Changluo was still very enthusiastic and insisted that he hug his grandson.

"Minghe, do you know? My father likes this grandson very much. Just now, Eunuch Chen sent someone to say that the name of the grandson has been decided!

In a few days, my father will go before the ancestors to officially name him!

By the way, do you know what the emperor's grandson is called? It's Youxiao, which was chosen by my father himself from among many possible names!"

Zhu Changluo was extremely happy, as if he could also feel the same love his father had for his son.

There was a hint of boasting in his words, as if he was showing off that he had a good son, and even more so that his emperor father finally paid attention to him.

"I see. That's good."

Zhang Chonghui was holding the little grandson who was babbling and laughing at him and stretching out his little hands to him. He felt that the child looked familiar, so he asked:

"The emperor's grandson seems to look very much like the emperor?"

"Yes!" Zhu Changluo was even more excited: "My royal grandmother said the same thing. She said Xiao'er looks exactly like my father when he was a child!"

"Is that so?" Zhang Chonghui just smiled politely. Even though the child in his arms always smiled at him, he seemed to be hiding something on his mind.

Zhu Changluo also noticed that Zhang Chonghui was absent-minded. After all, others would have been so happy that they wanted to kiss his son after being shown such active kindness.

But Zhang Chonghui did not show any surprise. Instead, he was a little cold, as if he was used to such a well-behaved and proactive baby in swaddling clothes.

"Minghe, what's wrong with you?" Zhu Changluo asked, "Did something happen?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince." Zhang Chonghui put the emperor's grandson back into the wet nurse's arms and signaled Zhu Changluo with his eyes to send the others away.

Zhu Changluo knew it well, and with a wave of his hand, only two people and Wang An were left in the huge bedroom.

However, Zhang Chonghui still didn't say anything. It was obvious that Wang An had to leave too.

Wang An had no choice but to leave, but this made him even more wary of Zhang Chonghui.

"Minghe, what's the matter that even Wang An can't listen?" Zhu Changluo was puzzled and even more suspicious. After all, no matter what they talked about in the past, Wang An was basically always by their side.

Zhang Chonghui said, "Your Highness, I just think that if one less person knows about it, it will be a little safer."

Zhu Changluo became even more curious: "What happened? Did something happen?"

Zhang Chonghui first looked around, then asked in a low voice: "I heard that some time ago, Your Highness the Crown Prince went to the Donglin Bookstore I opened?"

Zhu Changluo thought it was something else, and answered straightforwardly: "Ah, yes, since you went to the Honglu Temple, you haven't come to the East Palace for a long time. I missed you very much. It happened that I heard from Yang Chunyuan that you opened a bookstore, so I took the opportunity to take a look when I was free, but I didn't meet you."

"Is that so..." Zhang Chonghui nodded thoughtfully.

Zhu Changluo had actually noticed something at this time, but he still pretended to be stupid and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

Zhang Chonghui hesitated for a while before finally asking, "Your Highness, did you go anywhere else after leaving the bookstore?"

This time, it was Zhu Changluo who hesitated to speak.

"Your Highness, did you go to the flower shop next door?"

"I...I just took a few glances outside, I didn't go in."

"really?"

"I...I just went in and sat for a while, and did nothing!"

"really?"

"Really!" Zhu Changluo was so anxious that he raised his hand and swore: "I really didn't do anything! That girl is a poor person, I...can't bear to touch her..."

"How many times did you go there?" Zhang Chonghui asked again.

Zhu Changluo thought about it and said uncertainly: "Not many times, it seems like only... two times? Three times?"

Zhang Chonghui looked unconvinced: "Are you sure?"

Zhu Changluo blushed with embarrassment and said anxiously, "No, Minghe, why are you asking this? I really didn't do anything. I just went to chat with the girl and talk to her!"

Seeing that the little prince's face turned red with anxiety, Zhang Chonghui didn't dare to ask him any more questions and just nodded.

Zhu Changluo did not want to discuss this topic. Just when he wanted to let it go, he heard Zhang Chonghui's voice again:

"Your Highness, to be honest, I know that you went to the Flower House eight times in just one month. I also know that the girl you talked to was called Du Yanyun, and she is the top girl in the Flower House."

Zhang Chonghui spoke so bluntly and clearly that Zhu Changluo broke out in a cold sweat after hearing it.

Just at this moment of unrest, Zhu Changluo heard a sentence from Zhang Chonghui that made him tremble all over!
"Do you know how I know this?"

"The Emperor sent someone to tell me everything."

(End of this chapter)