Idle courtiers

Chapter 363 Feng Bao's Political Mind

It is now May of the 41st year of Jiajing, and it gets dark early in the capital.It was already dark at [-]:[-] p.m. Beijing time in later generations. After a brief rainstorm, the sky above was full of stars.

The weather suddenly became cooler, and a curfew was enforced near the imperial city, so quiet that no one could be seen.At this time, it was impossible to hire a sedan chair to go home, so Zhou Nan simply walked.

It was only a few steps away from Ruiqing Palace. Thinking of the emperor's will, he decided to meet Princess Jiashan and persuade her to properly handle the matter of the female official.

After walking for about half an hour, we arrived at the ground.

Ruiqing Palace was still as dark as when he came last time, Ma Wu couldn't see any lights, it seemed very quiet.

Zhou Nan was very strange in his heart, this is the Princess's Mansion, which is so hot now, why it looks so deserted.

As soon as he arrived at the gate, a porter greeted him. Seeing that Zhou Nan was an official, he asked: "This lord came here late at night, I wonder if there is something wrong?"

Zhou Nan returned the gift: "At the right of the Daolu Department, Zhou Nan is on the right, asking to see Princess Jiashan."

The porter froze and was about to speak.Suddenly, a group of people came out carrying a sedan chair and shouted: "Open the middle door, the prince has returned to the mansion."

He hurriedly waved his hand at Zhou Nan, and shouted in a low voice: "My lord, please step aside first."

It turned out that Xiao Wanli was going back to the palace, and speaking of it, it was only an hour since he and I parted.Presumably it was delayed by the heavy rain just now, so he was still staying in Ruiqing Palace.Thinking this way in Zhou Nan's heart, he also knew that Wanli had a great dislike for him, and he really didn't want to show his face in front of the little emperor again, so he hid in the gatehouse next to him.

The team was small, with a few sergeants at the head, and then the old lady, maids, and servants.

Zhou Nan was talking to the concierge at one end, but someone at the other end caught his attention.

A sedan chair stopped, and a head poked out from inside: "Hey, Master Zhou, why are you here?"

This is the face of a young eunuch, whoever it is if it's not Feng Bao.

Previously, if Zhou Nan hadn't been because of him, his surname must have been lost. He was grateful in his heart, and stepped forward to salute: "I have met Mr. Feng, and I have something to ask to see Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Feng Bao's complexion changed drastically, and he waved his hands quickly to signal him not to speak, and he got down from the sedan chair with a BIU sound, and said to everyone: "You guys prepare the schedule first, don't delay it, we have other things at home, go back as soon as you go."

He pulled Zhou Nan into the depths of Ruiqing Palace, and asked in a low voice as he walked, "Master Zhou, why do you want to see Her Royal Highness the Princess?"

Seeing that there was no one around, Zhou Nan smiled and said, "Before in Yuxi Palace, if it wasn't for my father-in-law, I would have suffered unfair injustice. The grace of saving my life is unforgettable. In the future, my father-in-law will be useful to me as an official. This time, Zhou Nan came to see Her Royal Highness with the word of mouth from the sage, because of the sudden death of the female official of the eldest princess's mansion."

When Feng Bao saw Zhou Nan coming here, he thought that this guy came here to be obsessed with seeing Concubine Li's beauty and her taste.Only now did I know that he came here at the emperor's will, and saw that he had placed his position extremely low one by one, so he immediately had a good impression of him.

"So that's how it is. The Royal Concubine Li is about to return home with the eldest son. Her Royal Highness is seeing off the two masters of our family at the moment and cannot get away. Please wait for Mr. Zhou first, and I will report."

Zhou Nan: "I see. Thank you, Mr. Feng. Don't worry."

While talking, Feng Bao led Zhou Nan into a nearby abode.He sent all the servants away, and rushed out of the yard.

He secretly groaned in his heart: This is a mistake, Mr. Zhou seems to be a shrewd person this week, how could he be so blind that the empress is His Highness the Princess.This matter is now the way it is now, although Lord Zhou and the empress are innocent, but if someone with a heart finds out and stirs up wind and rain, I don't know how many people will be killed by then.Especially the little master harbored resentment towards Zhou Nan, and when the time came, he insisted that the situation would be out of hand.Hey, Shizi is a child after all, how can he know the dangers in this world?Moreover, this matter is not what Shizi imagined.But what reason do you have to talk to a child?
No, I have to report this matter to my mother as soon as possible, and ask her to make a decision.

That's right, when Zhou Nan came to Ruiqing Palace at the appointment of Chen Hongzhi the night before yesterday, he said that he had a way to raise military salaries for the Fujian front line, and when he wanted to meet someone who could call the shots, everyone in the palace knew that this matter was of great importance.And now the only one who can make decisions for the prince is Concubine Li.

So, the empress felt anxious and could only go out in person.

But Zhou Nan regarded her as Princess Jiashan.

Concubine Li wanted to explain several times, but couldn't find a chance.

Later, I thought about it, I am a married woman, and my identity is also sensitive, meeting a strange man in the middle of the night, spreading the word would be detrimental to reputation.As a widow in Jiashan, she is not afraid of rumors in the world.

Therefore, Concubine Li pretended to be a princess.

The problem is, what is the status of Concubine Li, when she goes out, she will naturally be followed by her followers.Moreover, the little prince was worried about his mother and followed her.

Although the son is young, under the teaching of the great talent Zhang Juzheng, he was born extremely clever.He is precocious, and at the age of four, his mind is like that of an eleven or twelve-year-old.In addition, King Yu usually messed around with concubines and wives in the mansion and did not avoid others, so he vaguely understood the affairs of men and women.

Seeing his mother and Zhou Nan chatting and laughing over there, and Zhou Nan fanning his mother that day, he felt extremely resentful in his heart.

Also because of this, when he was in Yuxi Palace, the prince suddenly launched an attack and wanted to put Zhou Nan to death in order to vent his hatred.

However, he was a child after all, and he didn't know how serious the consequences would be if he accused Zhou Nan of having an affair with his mother.

If this charge is confirmed, the royal face will be lost.Zhou Nan was going to lose his head, but Concubine Li couldn't escape the guilt.Although the death penalty is acceptable, it is certain to be kicked out of the palace and deposed as a commoner.

Yes, the eldest son is the only prince in the palace, but it doesn't mean that the prince will not have children in the future.Unlike Long Live's son's heir, King Yu doesn't have this problem.

As far as Concubine Li is concerned, she gave birth to two princes before her son.The eldest son Zhu Yiyun and the second son Zhu Yiling.It's a pity that the eldest fell ill and died at the age of five, and the second was not full-term.

As for the princess, there are many more.There have been four of them, and two are still alive.These four princesses were all born to other concubines in the palace.

That is to say, King Yu has had seven children so far, and with his persevering temperament, he will have more in the future, and it is not surprising that he will have a large group of princes.

The harem has always been a place where blood is not seen. Feng Bao grew up in the deep palace and saw too many concubines vying for favor.An example of the winner takes all and the loser is doomed.

A concubine fell out of favor and was cast into the cold palace. Not only did she fall into the abyss, but her children and the maids and eunuchs around her also fell to the ground and were crushed into mud.

If Concubine Li falls, the other concubines of the palace will have their chance, and they will definitely seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the throne.

Once they give birth to a prince, there will be no more children.

The son is still young, so he doesn't know the serious relationship between them, Feng Bao secretly sighed in his heart, my little master, you don't know how vicious people's hearts are in this world.If Concubine Li is pregnant, your status will inevitably be lost, and your servants will also die without a place to bury you.

It turned out that the reason why Feng Bao was able to come to Prince Yu's Mansion to be Xiao Wanli's companion was because he was persecuted in the palace.

The thing is like this, Feng Bao was very intelligent when he was a child, and his grades were very good after he entered the inner school, he was valued by the elders in the palace, and he was willing to support him.

If there is no accident, with his ability, he can hang around for another ten years, and it will be no problem to be a manager.

But Feng Bao is an ambitious person, and he is not willing to go through the qualifications like this.

It just so happened that there was a severe drought in Shaanxi the year before last, with no crops in the fields, and victims everywhere, which almost led to a civil uprising.The imperial court was busy distributing money for relief, and Emperor Jiajing even performed rituals in Xiyuan for ten days, praying for the rain to save the people.

I don't know if it's because of climate change or because the emperor sincerely touched God. After half a year of drought, it finally rained heavily in Shaanxi.

From the governor to the chief envoy in Shaanxi to the magistrates and county magistrates in the disaster-stricken areas, they sent urgent documents eight hundred miles to the capital to announce the good news, praising the emperor's character and moving heaven.The three levels of government all ordered the couriers to hurry up and rush to the front of others to win the first prize.

Among them, the people sent by the county magistrate in the disaster area ran the fastest.

As a seventh-rank official, he naturally didn't know that the emperor was working in Xiyuan, and both the internal and external ministers were there to serve him, and he still asked people to send the good news to the imperial city.

On the day when the good news arrived, Feng Bao was working as an errand in the office of the Li Li Supervisor in the Imperial City. When he received the good news, he immediately knew that his chance to take the top position had come.So I withheld this urgent transmission privately and ran to the emperor to report it.

Sure enough, Jiajing was very happy and rewarded him with things.

This move completely angered the father-in-law of the supervisor of ceremonies, and they joined forces to drive Feng Bao out of the palace.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Huang Jin, the supervisor of ceremonies, softened his heart, saying that Feng Bao was also a rare talent, and he had watched him grow up.He is young, and young people don't know the rules, so he can be forgiven, that's all, let him serve the prince of Prince Yu's mansion!

In this way, Feng Bao got a blessing in disguise and became the great companion of the future Wanli Emperor.Later, because of this close relationship, he became the chief inspector of ceremonies with great power, and grew into a great politician.

For Huang Jin, Feng Bao was very grateful.

In real history, Huang Jin retired to Nanjing to guard the Xiaoling Mausoleum because of his old age, and Feng Bao also took good care of this senior benefactor.

Feng Bao at this stage didn't know what kind of person he would become in the future, but he also realized in his heart that as long as the prince inherits the throne in the future, the eldest son will be the heir apparent of the East Palace.

In the future, what awaits me is a bright future.

But before that, you have to be cautious when doing things yourself.First of all, Concubine Li must be kept. If Concubine Li's status is stable, the status of the son will be stable.

The future is bright, the road is tortuous, and there is no room for accidents.

This is also the reason why he stood up to speak for Zhou Nan, regardless of the danger that his son would blame him in the future.

At this moment, Zhou Nan actually came to see the princess again. Could it be that he didn't know that Her Highness the Princess didn't live in Ruiqing Palace, or did he have other intentions?
Is it really necessary to ask the empress to pretend to be His Highness Jiashan again and send Zhou Nan away?
Feng Bao felt severe pain in his temple.

　The pace of the previous chapters was too fast, take a break and relax for the past two days.Continue to ask for subscription and recommendation ticket support, thank you!
　　


(End of this chapter)