Tiantang

Chapter 423 The Loyal Servant
Chapter 432 The Loyal Servant

morning meeting.

Zhang Xuan saw that all the ministers had finished reporting the state affairs, so he looked at Guo Ziyi and Qinghe County King Zhang Jiuming with a smile.

It was only recently that he came up with the idea of ​​marrying Zhang Jiuming's youngest daughter, Zhang Mei, just to appease Zhang Jiuming, the emperor's uncle, slightly.

A few days ago, because of Zhang Changguo's affairs, Zhang Xuan was stern and selfless, and the face and prestige of Qinghe County Prince's Mansion were suppressed to a certain extent.However, this kind of suppression is what Zhang Xuan is happy to see.He didn't want his family members to be as arrogant and domineering as Li Tang's royal family, and he didn't want to see a dude among the clan's children who would ruin his reputation.

Zhang Jiuming went to the palace to find Empress Dowager Liu, but he didn't ask for mercy.Zhang Changguo was punished and exiled. Although his life was safe, he was far away from the south of the Yangtze River, and the palace of Qinghe County was very depressed because of this.

Zhang Xuan considered for a long time before choosing Guo Yao, the eldest son of Guo Ziyi.Although Guo Yao is over 23 years old, he has never been married.Because his fiancée died of illness last year, and Guo Ziyi was away with Zhang Xuan, it was delayed.

Guo Yao was an official of the young and strong faction in the court that Zhang Xuan admired more.And Zhang Jiuming's daughter, Zhang Mei, is also Zhang Xuan's favorite cousin, with a gentle, dignified and virtuous temperament. In Zhang Xuan's view, she and Guo Yao are just a couple.

Of course, his marriage arrangement also has political considerations.

It has been common sense for ministers to marry the royal family since ancient times.The subjects rely on this to gain power and status, and the emperor relies on this to win over the subjects.

Zhang Xuan has now begun to make arrangements for the court many years later.

Chen Xilie is old and will retire sooner or later.As soon as Chen Xilie left, Zhang Xuan still hoped that Guo Ziyi and Zhang Xun could stand up and suppress Yang Guozhong and others.

But to be honest, although Guo Ziyi and Zhang Xun were the founding fathers of Zhang Xuan and were also famous generals in the army, compared with ministers such as Yang Guozhong, Pei Mian, Gongsun Liang, and Yang Kai, their qualifications and background are slightly insufficient.And the background of the family is even more incomparable.People like Yang Guozhong have occupied the pinnacle of power in the court for many years, and their power is intricate. Guo Ziyi's family power is very weak and cannot be compared.

If Zhang Xuan does not work hard to cultivate and support, it will be difficult for Guo Ziyi to hold back the situation in the future.

This is the key to Zhang Xuan's plan to marry the Guo family and Qinghe County Prince's Mansion.

But Zhang Xuan is a time traveler from modern society after all, he will not forcefully use the emperor's authority to grant a marriage, but wants to ask for the wishes of the two families first.At the same time, we also need to look at what Guo Yao and Zhang Mei themselves mean.

"Ziyi." Zhang Xuan said suddenly.

Guo Ziyi was taken aback, and immediately went out to pay homage, "Your Majesty, I'm here!"

"Ziyi, I heard that your patriarch's son, Guo Yao, is not yet married?" Zhang Xuan laughed.

Guo Ziyi was startled, nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Ziyi, I want to be a matchmaker for Guo Yao, what do you think?" Zhang Xuan smiled, raised his finger and pointed to Zhang Jiuming, the king of Qinghe County, and said, "Zhimei, the little county of my uncle's family, is gentle and gentle, and she is worthy of being a good matchmaker." Good match, I intend to be a matchmaker for the two of you, what do you think?"

Guo Ziyi was very surprised, but soon became a little happy.It is naturally good to be married to the royal family, and the other party is the emperor's cousin.With the daughter as a concubine and the son marrying the emperor's uncle's daughter, the power and position of the Guo family will definitely be more stable.

And Zhang Jiuming was equally delighted, Guo Ziyi was a new nobleman in the court, and was favored by the emperor, he would definitely succeed Chen Xilie in the future, his daughter Zhang Mei was able to marry Guo Ziyi's son, it was considered a very good match.

But in this kind of matter, after all, the man still needs to express his position first.Zhang Jiuming was reserved and kept silent.

Guo Ziyi glanced at Zhang Jiuming, and bowed down, "Thank you, Your Majesty, Long En, the little princess has such a noble status, and the dog can marry the princess, I am so sincere and terrified!"

"So, do you agree? Uncle Huang, what do you think?" Zhang Xuan looked at Zhang Jiuming with a smile.

"But with the marriage granted by His Majesty, I am very happy." Zhang Jiuming nodded in agreement.

Zhang Xuan laughed, "Okay, that's it. However, the marriage of a man and a woman requires both parties to nod, even I can't force it. Well, after the dynasty is over, I will hold a banquet in the palace and invite Guo Yao and Zhang See you later, Mei."

……

……

Zhang Xuan held a banquet in the palace, and not many people attended the banquet, including Guo Ziyi, Zhang Jiuming, Zhang Mei, Zhang Jiuming's daughter, and Guo Yao, Guo Ziyi's son.Zhang Xuan brought Guo Fu to attend. This was a blind date banquet arranged by the emperor himself.

While the banquet was in progress, a well-dressed young man came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs' cleansing workshop on Nanchang Street in the imperial city.The head eunuch of the cleansing workshop and relevant officials found out that the person who accompanied the man was actually a fifth-rank master book from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and they couldn't help being surprised.

The people who come to the cleansing workshop are all those who want to enter the palace to be eunuchs, and no one comes to this place usually, who is full and has nothing to do, so why go to such a place where eunuchs are castrated?
But this kind of person who wants to be a eunuch is accompanied by officials, which seems to be a bit different.

Li Er, the eunuch in charge, hurried over and laughed, "Lord Xue, this is..."

Xue An, the chief secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, looked back at the young people beside him with complicated eyes, cupped his fists and said with a wry smile, "Boss Zhang, have you thought about it? Please forgive me for speaking bluntly, if this is..."

Xue An hesitated to speak.

Although the person next to him was a servant, he was Zhang Li, the chief executive of the emperor's former residence.The people around the emperor, even if they were servants, were no lower than the lower officials.

Zhang Li smiled indifferently, gritted his teeth and said, "Master Xue, Zhang has made up his mind, please help Zhang to accommodate."

Xue An sighed, he couldn't figure out why Zhang Li insisted on going to the palace to be a eunuch instead of enjoying a good life.The emperor has given him a house, and apart from his slave status, he is now a moderately wealthy man in the capital, and ordinary officials dare not offend him.But he was determined to enter the palace. Although he was the emperor's former confidant, if he wanted to enter the palace to serve the emperor, he had to be castrated as a eunuch, otherwise he would not be able to enter the palace.

This is an iron rule.The men in the palace must be eunuchs, otherwise the inner court will be in chaos.

People who want to be eunuchs are all poor and helpless, and people like Zhang Li who have a good life but enter the palace from the palace are really rare in thousands of years.

Xue An shouted to the eunuch in charge, "Li Er, this Director Zhang, was the Chief Manager of the palace before Your Majesty, and now Director Zhang is going to the palace to purify himself, you can help arrange one or two."

Li Er was shocked, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help twitching.

"Yes, our family will arrange it now."

In the afternoon of the second day.

Zhang Li came to the body shop again.Li Er, the eunuch in charge, accompanied him into the palace room, and the knife maker who was in charge of the punishment had already been instructed to perform "surgery" on Zhang Li carefully, because Zhang Li's status was unusual.And a person like him, once he enters the palace, must be a big celebrity around the emperor, and they can't afford to offend them.

Entering this airtight silkworm room, two fierce knife makers stood on one side holding sterilized sharp daggers. The lights were bright and swaying, emitting a dark and cold atmosphere.Zhang Li's heart sank, but he gritted his teeth suddenly and said decisively, "Let's start!"

"Please, everyone." Zhang Li lay down and let the eunuch in charge tie him up tightly.

The eunuch in charge, Li Er, looked at Zhang Li and sighed, "Mr. Zhang, let's ask again, do we really want to come from the palace? This castration is no different. If you really want to use the knife, it's too late to regret it. Moreover, the pain in the process, Manager Zhang also needs to be prepared."

Zhang Li closed his eyes slowly, and said decisively, "I have made up my mind, please trouble everyone!"

Li Er didn't hesitate anymore, he had done this kind of thing a lot, so naturally he wouldn't be merciful.

Li Er waved his hand, and the two knifesmiths began to bend down, doing the final preparations before the castration.And with the sharp shout of the knife maker, the light of the knife flashed, the blood burst out, and Zhang Li let out a heart-piercing cry!

……

……

Xiao Shisanlang was the first to get the news from Zhang Li's palace. Xiao Shisanlang was shocked and immediately informed Cui Huan's wife, the eldest princess Zhang Xiuxiu, through his wife.Zhang Xiuxiu was also very surprised, because Zhang Li was a loyal servant of the Zhang family, and they were all familiar with the former head of the Yongning Palace.

Zhang Xiuxiu immediately went to the palace to tell Queen Cui Ying, and Cui Ying got the news and asked Ruyu to go straight to Zhang Xuan's imperial study.

Zhang Xuan was flipping through the memorial when he suddenly saw Cui Ying coming in a hurry, and couldn't help laughing, "Ruyu, why did you come here when you have time?"

Ruyu's complexion was incomparably complicated, she bowed Yingying down, and said quietly, "Your Majesty, Zhang Li went to the palace to purify himself ten days ago, and he has entered the palace for record."

Zhang Xuan's hands trembled, and the ink brush fell on the desk. He suddenly raised his head and said in a deep voice, "Is this true?!"

Ruyu nodded silently.

Zhang Xuan suddenly slapped the table and let out a long sigh.

He got up abruptly, ran out of the imperial study, got up in his car, and rushed to the cleansing workshop in the imperial city.Generally speaking, eunuchs who are going to enter the palace after cleansing are first filed with the relevant government office of the Ministry of the Interior, and then the Ministry of the Interior will uniformly allocate them according to the needs of the inner court.And because Zhang Li's status is somewhat different, Yan Zhenqing, a high-ranking official of internal affairs, had already ordered him to arrange Zhang Zhang by the emperor's side.

Zhang Li had just survived the hellish torment. This inhuman operation cannot be described in words.

Zhang Xuan stood outside the cleansing room, and two young eunuchs walked over slowly supporting Zhang Li.

Zhang Liqiang bowed down on his knees, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, little Zhang Li has bowed to His Majesty."

Zhang Xuan stretched out his hand, then retracted it feebly, he let out a long breath, and said in a low voice, "Zhang Zhang, why are you doing this?"

"The little one wants to serve by His Majesty's side. The little one has been His Majesty's servant since childhood. His Majesty's kindness to the little one is as great as a mountain. The little one has nothing to repay, so he can only enter the palace to serve His Majesty." Zhang Li burst into tears , "Please Your Majesty!"

Zhang Xuan looked up to the sky and sighed.

(End of this chapter)