Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 766 Wan Zhen'er's Future
In the Palace of Compassion and Ning, the sky is getting dark, and the hall has already lit up the lamps.

Empress Dowager Sun had her dinner and was reclined on the couch, holding a string of emerald beads in her hand, but her eyes fell on a few pieces of paper with immature handwriting on her right hand.

"The writing is not bad, and it has grown a lot compared to before. It seems that Brother Shen has put his heart into it during this period of time."

These few pages were filled with the most common surnames and thousands of characters, but Empress Dowager Sun read them very carefully.

Ever since the turmoil of morning and night Dingsang last time, Empress Dowager Sun realized that the prince will not be staying in the Palace of Compassion and Ning for a long time.

Therefore, these days, she lived in the palace, ignored everything, and put all her thoughts on Zhu Jianshen, hoping that when he really came out of the cabinet and stood in front of the court officials, she could be a qualified prince.

Seeing Empress Dowager Sun in a good mood, Niu Yu on the side also flattered Dao carefully.

"Holy Mother Mingjian, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been very sensible and diligent during this period. Although he has to go to Nangong every day for morning and evening meditation and get up early to study, he still never complains of suffering or tiredness. He is calm and resolute at a young age, which shows His Royal Highness's mind. His firmness is worthy of being the eldest grandson of the late emperor."

Hearing this, Empress Dowager Sun also sighed, put down the paper in her hand, and said.

"The Ai family knows that brother Shen has been working very hard these days, but there is nothing to do. As a descendant of the Tian family, he is the descendant of the family and shoulders a heavy responsibility. Naturally, he cannot be carefree like an ordinary child."

"The former emperor taught the Supreme Emperor in the same way. Fortunately, the ancestors blessed him, and Brother Shen was sensible and uplifting, and he did what he should do very well."

"But these alone are not enough..."

As she spoke, Empress Dowager Sun frowned slightly, a stern look flashed across her face, and said.

"The crown prince is about to leave the cabinet in a few days. Brother Shen will have to move to the East Palace after the ceremony. At that time, the Ai family and the emperor will not be around. The only thing the crown prince can rely on is you who are serving by your side."

"As for the officials of the East Palace, after all, they are appointed by the emperor. They may not be willing to protect the crown prince with all their strength. Even if they are willing, they are court ministers after all. Many times, they will be involved by all parties, and it is difficult to do anything. Therefore, the crown prince You need to be cautious about big and small things in the East Palace, understand?"

Niu Yu immediately knelt down and said.

"Holy Mother, don't worry, the slaves will do their best to assist the prince."

Empress Dowager Sun nodded, but a trace of worry could not help flashing in her eyes.

In all fairness, she actually didn't want the prince and the eunuch to get so close, at least not now.

After all, Wang Zhen's Yin Jian is the first, and the harm caused by the eunuch's monopoly is really incalculable.

But it's one thing to think about it, but it's another thing to do it. Some things can't be done just by yourself.

According to Empress Dowager Sun's original idea, the reserve position will be determined first, and then the prince will be enlightened in the Compassionate Ning Palace, and she will take care of the teaching in person, so as not to get too close to the eunuch.

After a little longer, the prince has the ability to make independent judgments, understands the reason why relatives and virtuous officials are far away from eunuchs, and can also grasp the complex relationship between the heavenly family, and then perform the ceremony of the court, send it to the East Palace, and gradually emerge in the court.

Although it takes a long time to do so, it is better than safety.

But who would have expected that the plan would not be able to keep up with the changes. First, his willful son stayed in the Xuan Mansion and refused to return to Beijing because of the offense of an eunuch and the top bullying of the court.

But now the emperor on the throne has a deep scheming mind, how could he be so easily manipulated, he backhandedly pushed the proposal of the East Palace to leave the pavilion, and pushed it to the court, forcing the Empress Dowager Sun to personally issue an order for Zhu Qizhen to return quickly Beijing.

I thought that Zhu Qizhen returned to the capital, and he could delay the prince's stepping out of the cabinet through some concessions in matters.

But who would have expected that when Zhu Qizhen really returned to the capital, he had no intention of stopping this matter at all. On the contrary, he even added fuel to the fire, asking Zhu Jian and others to facilitate this matter as soon as possible.

After all, it is a matter of the court. Although the Empress Dowager Sun thinks it is inappropriate, she is not easy to stop. What's more, what Zhu Qizhen said is also reasonable. The prince's departure from the cabinet is not only the idea of ​​all civil servants, but also the idea of ​​all noble families. wish.

Of those people who are still willing to be loyal to Nangong, some of them are indeed loyal, but there are also some who are interested in the future of Donggong.

They would also be dissatisfied if they forced the East Palace to leave the pavilion, so the Empress Dowager Sun could only let this matter go.

Even later, when she learned that the emperor had been procrastinating on this matter, she was quietly relieved, but unexpectedly, Zhu Jian's gang really couldn't hold back their temper, and started to make trouble in the court again Come.

Up to now, Empress Dowager Sun can no longer understand the game in the court.

However, no matter what, the prince's departure from the cabinet is a foregone conclusion, even the date has been set, there is absolutely no reason for it to be easier.

Therefore, even if Queen Mother Sun is unwilling, she can only try her best to arrange it.

The East Palace where the prince lives, also known as the Qingning Palace, is on the side of the Wenhua Hall, and it is set up for the convenience of the Prince's lectures and pre-government, but it is not close to the Palace of Compassion, which is on the west side of the imperial city. However, Qingning Palace is on the east side.

In other words, when it comes to Qingning Palace, the Empress Dowager Sun is really out of reach for the prince's affairs.

Now she is sure that the only ones she can trust are Niu Yu, Liang Fang, Wan Zhen'er and others.

However, their loyalty is certainly credible, but still that sentence, Wang Zhen's loyalty back then was also impeccable.

Empress Dowager Sun is a member of the palace, and she knows best how many faults Wang Zhen has committed, all of which are borne by her hapless son.

Let’s not talk about big things like sending troops to the north, but just talk about small things in peacetime.

When the Empress Dowager Zhang was still there, Zhu Qizhen once sneaked out to play and missed his studies. In order not to let him be punished by the Empress Dowager Zhang, Wang Zhen said that he had lost Zhu Qizhen's studies, but was punished Empress Dowager Zhang was beaten with thirty sticks and lay on the bed for half a month.

These kinds of things, big or small, finally built up Zhu Qizhen's unbreakable trust in Wang Zhen, so that disasters like civil wars happened in the end.

Although I know this is a special case, but Yin Jian is in front, it is impossible for Empress Dowager Sun not to worry.

In particular, the person she chose herself knew that Niu Yu was better. This Liang Fang was young, loyal, flexible, and flattering, very similar to Wang Zhen back then.

When he arrived at Qingning Palace, he might be the same as Wang Zhen who indulged Zhu Qizhen without principle back then, and would indulge the prince like this.

Thinking that Zhu Jianshen might be led astray at such a young age, Empress Dowager Sun wanted to replace Liang Fang, but after the past two years, with the emperor's acquiescence, Jingyang Palace had lost too many of her staff.

Now in this palace, it is not easy to find such a loyal, reliable, clever and capable eunuch again.

Therefore, this matter really caused the Empress Dowager Sun a lot of headaches.

Seeing that the crown prince was about to leave the cabinet in a few days, and seeing Niu Yu's happy expression, although he concealed it very well, the worry in Empress Dowager Sun's heart became more and more serious.

Sending Niu Yu away with a wave of her hand, Empress Dowager Sun frowned and flicked the beads in her hand. After a while, she said to Wang Jin beside her.

"Go, call Wan Zhen'er!"

The Compassionate Ning Palace is not particularly big, and the Empress Dowager Sun is very concerned about Zhu Jianshen on weekdays, so Zhu Jianshen's sleeping hall is next to the Compassionate Ning Palace. Of course, Wan Zhen'er, who is in close service, is not far away. After a while, Wan Zhen'er arrived in the hall, bowed her knees, and said.

"Slaves send greetings to the Holy Mother."

"Where's Brother Shen?"

Empress Dowager Sun flicked the emerald bead in her hand, but first asked about the prince's condition.

When Zhu Jianshen was mentioned, Wan Zhen'er's eyes flashed with distress, and she said carefully.

"Back to the Holy Mother, Your Highness has a lot of homework today, and finally finished it. The slaves played with me for half an hour, and then rushed to let His Highness rest. After all, tomorrow I have to get up early to pay my respects to the Supreme Emperor."

Although His Royal Highness is just enlightened, his daily schedule is full.

Every day when it was less than Mao hour, I had to wash up and get up. First, I paid my respects to the Holy Mother, the Empress Dowager, and then rushed to Nangong to pay my respects to the Supreme Emperor. After returning, I had breakfast and hurriedly started my morning class.

First lectures and reading, then calligraphy practice and memorization, until noon.

After lunch, take a short nap, check the morning homework after waking up, and spot-check the recitation.

If you do well, you can play for a while, and then review tomorrow's morning class. If you don't do well, you have to redo or copy.

Today is pretty good, the prince's homework is done well, so he can play for a while, most of the time, his schoolwork is not good, at this time, Zhu Jianshen should still be writing big characters bitterly.

As Zhu Jianshen's personal maid, Wan Zhen'er really felt distressed seeing him working so hard every day, but, after all, he was just a small maid, so how could she have any room for her to talk about the prince's schedule?

Therefore, every time Wan Zhen'er saw the Empress Dowager Sun, she could only mention a few words tactfully, but she didn't dare to say it too clearly.

However, Queen Mother Sun has been in the harem for so many years, how can she not understand what Wan Zhen'er means?
"The Ai family knows that the prince has worked hard, but as a prince, this hard work is unavoidable. You should put more effort in your daily life and take good care of the prince."

Rubbing her forehead, Empress Dowager Sun sighed again.

Among the few people she selected for Zhu Jianshen, Niu Yu was stable but not courageous enough, Liang Fang was flexible but too flattering, and as for Wan Zhen'er, she was thoughtful and considerate, but for the prince, perhaps because she had served him since she was a child, she always favored him too much drowned.

Shaking her head slightly, temporarily putting this thought behind her, Empress Dowager Sun brought up the business and said.

"Zhen'er, you are personally selected by the Ai family to serve the prince's personal maid. In terms of loyalty, no one can compare with you. In terms of accompanying the prince, I'm afraid you are more than the Zhou family. Now the prince is about to leave the cabinet. The Ai family is going to the Qingning Palace, and the only one who can safely entrust the prince to the Ai family is you!"

These words are sincere, but the weight is also very heavy.

Wan Zhen'er immediately knelt down and said.

"Holy Mother, don't worry, the slaves will do their best to serve His Highness the Crown Prince in peace."

Empress Dowager Sun nodded and continued.

"Not only is it safe, but the reason why Ai's family called you here is that they hope that you will be by the prince's side and can always take care of them. Although Niu Yu and Liang Fang are loyal, they are eunuchs after all. Eunuchs of this generation are the easiest to please. , to bully his subordinates, the Crown Prince is still young, if he relies too much on his generation, he will repeat the same mistakes as the Supreme Emperor."

"So, you need to be more careful about this matter on weekdays. If you find any signs of this, report it to Ai's family in time. If necessary, you can also mention something to the prince. After all, you have served since childhood, and the prince regards you as an extraordinary palace. people."

While talking, Empress Dowager Sun reached out from the small box beside her, took out a token and a jade bracelet, ordered someone to hand them to Wan Zhen'er, and said.

"This token allows you to pass through the palace unimpeded. If there is any emergency, with this token, you can go directly to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to find Aijia. No one dares to stop you."

"As for the jade bracelet, it was given to you by the late emperor when the Ai family was not a concubine a few years ago, and I will give it to you today."

The gold medal was okay, but Wan Zhener dared not take it when she saw the crystal clear jade bracelet in front of her, kowtowed and said.

"The Holy Mother's reward is too heavy, how dare the servants accept it, being able to serve the prince is already a blessing for the servants, and I dare not ask for the reward from the Holy Mother."

Logically speaking, as a slave, no matter what, she was not worthy of the bracelet bestowed by the former emperor.

However, for one thing, the Empress Dowager Sun has too many rewards from the previous emperor, and this bracelet is not bad; for two, she did this to elevate Wan Zhen'er's status, otherwise, with her mere court lady, in How can Donggong speak with weight?
Therefore, seeing Wan Zhen'er like this, Empress Dowager Sun thought about it, stood up directly, walked in front of Wan Zhen'er, picked up the jade bracelet, put it on her white and tender arm, and said.

"Since you work for the Ai family, you will naturally not treat you badly. The crown prince is still young and needs to be taken care of in the past few years. When the prince is a little older, the Ai family will be the master and choose a good marriage for you among the nobles of the clan. , to protect your prosperity and wealth for the rest of your life."

These words can be regarded as a real grace, you must know that Wan Zhen'er is just a mere court lady, in fact her future future is not bright.

Normally, there is still a one-ten-thousand chance that the emperor will be blessed, and then he will have a position and ascend to the sky in one step. However, today the emperor has re-established the draft system, and the queens and concubines in the palace are strictly controlled over the harem. It's almost like a dead end.

What's more, since she is from the Palace of Compassion and Ning, this path is even more impossible. Therefore, for Wan Zhen'er, the best outcome in the future is to be released from the palace when she reaches the age, and then use the money saved over the years to find someone The family is married.

However, when she left the palace, she must be not young, and the family she could find was no more than an ordinary household, and if she was better, she could find a scholar.

How can it compare to the honorable children of the clan promised by the Queen Mother?

Looking at the crystal clear jade bracelet on her wrist, Wan Zhen'er knew that the Queen Mother Sun's reward was sincere, so naturally she didn't dare to refuse any more, and bowed respectfully and kowtowed.

"Slaves bow to the Holy Mother."

"Well, then you..."

"Our Lady..."

Just when the Empress Dowager Sun was satisfied and wanted Wan Zhen'er to retreat, Wang Jin, who was guarding outside, hurried in and said.

"Wynn, the chief eunuch of Qianqing Palace, claimed that he came to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to seek an audience with the emperor's orders!"

"What is he doing?"

Empress Dowager Sun frowned and asked involuntarily.

Wang Jin's expression was a little strange, he hesitated for a moment, and was about to speak when another servant walked in from the outside to report.

"To the Holy Mother, Ruan Lang, the eunuch in charge of the Nangong Palace, claimed that he was ordered by the Supreme Emperor to come to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to seek an audience!"

(End of this chapter)