Zhurou

Chapter 229 Can’t

Zhao Mingzhi was startled for a moment, then he reacted and waved away his men.

The side hall was very large, and there were only two people nearby at the moment. Not far away, the imperial guards and the eunuchs were standing by, and the hall door was wide open. Although the situation here could be seen clearly at a glance, as long as one was careful, no one would hear it.

Lu Xianzhang breathed a sigh of relief, seized the opportunity, and immediately stepped forward to pay his respects.

He had been preparing his speech for a long time and was a good orator, but for some reason he stumbled several times before he could give a general account of the whole story. Even so, he was still a little evasive and many things were difficult to explain.

However, after finishing all the explanations, he looked up again and saw that there was no look of surprise on Zhao Mingzhi's face. He just lowered his head slightly, as if in deep thought.

It has been several months since the two of them had an audience with the princess in Caizhou and had a conversation behind the screen.

At that time, not only did Lu Xianzhang fail to persuade her successfully, but he was persuaded by the princess' words and took the initiative to write a letter, allowing her to go northwest to Jingzhao Prefecture. How could it be possible that he did not regret it while waiting for news?

But he was only a newcomer to the two governments, he did not have much power, and his words and actions were rather hesitant, let alone his methods.

At this moment, he was the acting governor of Kyoto Prefecture. When it came to the scheduling of court meetings, he was second only to the prime minister and the three envoys, so he was considered to be in a high position with great power.

Even so, when the person in front of you encounters embarrassing things, there is still nothing you can do.

Lu Xianzhang waited for a long time, but still didn't hear Zhao Mingzhi's reply, so he couldn't help but look up again.

Today, Zhao Mingzhi did not set up a screen and did not wear a veil. She also did not put on any makeup on her face. There was a slight blueness under her eyes and bloodshot was clearly visible in her eyes.

Her face has always been the size of a palm, and now it is even smaller, and it is so charming and pitiful that it is hard to describe.

Thinking back to Zhao Mingzhi's past actions, Lu Xianzhang was horrified and hated himself. He was afraid that what he did today, although well-intentioned, would end up fulfilling the plans of Zhang Yi and others. He hurriedly said, "Your Highness, please weigh the pros and cons and don't be swayed by the words of the Di people. We have just won a great victory on the front line, and it is natural to negotiate peace. Whether there is a marriage or not, and who to marry, is actually not the point at all. It's just that the people in the court and the public are confused, and it is inevitable that someone will take advantage of this troubled water to fish in troubled waters..."

He gritted his teeth and continued, "Yang Zhongting - his eldest son and his family, as well as his two favorite students, are all stranded in Xiazhou..."

"Zhang Shumi was originally selected by the Emperor..."

After mumbling a few words, Lu Xianzhang did not want to continue being the one who complained behind others' backs. He was silent for a few breaths before continuing, "Your Highness is intelligent... To the north... there is still the retired emperor, as well as the former royal family members and court officials..."

Zhao Mingzhi nodded, but suddenly asked: "If peace talks are really held this time, and Xingqing Prefecture sends the emperor back, what will the court do?"

Lu Xianzhang replied, "The Emperor sent a letter back earlier and made many promises. He always said that if he could return to Dajin, he would stay in Yuntai Mountain or Sanqing Temple for a long time and would not return to Beijing, let alone interfere in the government affairs."

However, after these words were spoken, even Lu Xianzhang felt a sudden pang in his heart without thinking about them carefully.

  One is a child of eight or nine years old who can't even recognize a few of the court officials. The other has been the emperor for decades. No matter how lazy he is, he should know how to use his strength after ringing the bell thousands of times a day. Even if the princess does not marry, can he really defeat him?

Moreover, to be frank, if what I said is true, it was not my intention that Emperor Taizu of our dynasty was supported to be emperor on that day, but it was the generals and lower officials around me who "put on the yellow robe".

When the retired emperor returns, if some ministers say that the emperor lacks moral integrity and write to him to advise him but the emperor does not accept it, no one can say whether there will be another incident of the yellow robe being added to the "retired emperor's body"?

Thinking of this, Lu Xianzhang's voice gradually became lower.

Zhao Mingzhi didn't really wait for his answer, he just said: "I already know about this matter, thank you for your advice, the court is busy, I won't stay any longer."

It was hard to tell what the meaning was from this sentence. Lu Xianzhang wanted to express his opinion. He was obviously good at speaking, but he didn't know how to speak. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence: "Your Highness, please take care of yourself."

He paused, and could not help but continue: "When the Di people's envoys arrive, there may be various opinions in the court, but it is because everyone has their own concerns. Your Highness must not pay attention to them - our army has won a great victory on the front line this time. If we still have to consider the enemy's eyes, wouldn't it be ridiculous?"

Zhao Mingzhi was not surprised that Lu Xianzhang would say such a thing. He also knew his good intentions and accepted his kindness. He nodded and said, "Thank you for your advice, Councillor. I know everything now."

Seeing Zhao Mingzhi calm and composed, Lu Xianzhang became even more anxious. He still had many words to persuade and many things to say, and he was even more afraid that his actions today would be misunderstood by her. He was thinking carefully now, fearing that she would not mind in front of him, and would consider the real marriage when she returned. Although this was a noble act, in his heart, it was contrary to his original intention. He hurriedly said, "Your Highness, the reason I am giving you this advice today is just to prepare for the future, not..."

"Of course I know." Zhao Mingzhi smiled slightly, but the tiredness in that smile was very difficult to conceal. "The prices in the city are stabilizing day by day, and other matters are gradually returning to their previous order. Thanks to the hard work of participating in politics, we have achieved what we have today..."

Lu Xianzhang hurriedly said: "This is what I, your humble servant, should do..."

After being seriously praised, he actually walked out of the palace like this. Only after seeing two officials outside the door who were still waiting to enter the palace to report did he withdraw his thoughts, nodded to them, and left the palace.

On the one hand, Zhao Mingzhi sent Lu Xianzhang away and kept the incident in mind. On the other hand, Zhao Hong, who got the news from Wang Shu, was so angry that he gritted his teeth. He felt his teeth roots swollen and could not sit still for a moment, so he walked out immediately.

Wang Shu had been reporting secretly, so he didn't dare to ask Zhao Hong to make such a big fuss. He hurried forward and tried to stop him, saying, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Why are you doing this? Your Highness is busy, dealing with so many memorials and people waiting outside for an audience. Wouldn't it delay him if you ran over?"

He added: "Your Majesty, if you go and say this, it will only cause Your Highness more trouble. It is better to think of a way first. If you can deal with the matter..."

Zhao Hong was already furious at the moment, and he didn't know what words touched him. He had already run far ahead, but he slowly stopped and stood there, not knowing what he was thinking.

He was standing outside the palace at this moment, with guards on both sides. Wang Shu finally ran closer behind him, but he didn't dare to say much, so he could only stand aside, panting.

Zhao Hong stood for a moment, then suddenly turned his head, took a few steps, and turned back to move forward.

This time he did not stop, but his pace was not fast.

Wang Shu, leading a group of eunuchs, came forward several times to persuade Zhao Hong in a low voice, but Zhao Hong could only shake his head and walked west without saying a word.

Seeing the government hall just ahead, Wang Shu suddenly came to his senses. He hurried forward a few steps, knelt on the ground with a plop, and said, "Your Majesty, are you planning to go find some of the gentlemen? This matter can be big or small. If it gets out of hand, others can easily get out of it, but how will Your Highness deal with it?!"

He knelt at Zhao Hong's feet and pressed down the hem of his coat with his knees.

Zhao Hong was small and light, while Wang Shu was tall. He was pressed so hard that he could not move forward or backward. He wanted to kick Wang Shu several times, but he was afraid of hurting him. He could not do such a rough thing. He could only stand still and stared at Wang Shu, saying, "Get up. I'm not stupid!"

Wang Shu was still worried, and said, "It's getting late. Someone from Chuigong Palace might come to ask Your Majesty what he has eaten. If they can't find him and report back to Your Majesty, she will be so anxious..." He was a good singer and composer. As he spoke, he burst into tears. He wiped his tears with his sleeves and secretly peeked at Zhao Hong's expression. He hugged Zhao Hong's legs and said, "Your Majesty, listen to me. We got the news early this time, so we can deal with it in advance. If we run to the government hall and tell others about it, wouldn't we lose the opportunity?"

Zhao Hong said angrily: "Get out of here, I'm not going to the government hall!"

Only then did Wang Shu slowly get up.

The person in front of Zhao Hong was only thinking about himself and didn't even have the temper to lose. He turned a corner in front of him with a muffled voice, and went to a high place to look out. He saw the capital city, with houses rising and falling in the distance, and lined up one after another, but he couldn't see clearly what was inside.

Wang Shu stood there for a long time, not daring to speak, but he heard Zhao Hong suddenly ask: "You said, the capital is so big, and the world is even bigger. I am clearly the emperor, but no one is willing to listen to what I say. What's the point of being the emperor?"

"Your Majesty!" Wang Shu was startled, but this time he didn't dare to kneel again. He had to lower his head and hurriedly tried to explain. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he felt that the words didn't seem to be said about him, so he had to stop talking.

Zhao Hong didn't wait for his reply. He stood there and looked for a while, not knowing what he was looking at, before turning back.

When we were going down the stone steps, we saw that the Xuande Gate was about to be locked. A group of people came hurriedly from outside, each carrying a basket or pushing a cart.

Seeing Zhao Hong looking over there, Wang Shu was interested in selling well, so he explained without Zhao Hong asking, "I think the palace went out to buy things. Originally, each supervisor had familiar merchants to deliver goods to the palace, but now they are in a hurry to come back, and many things have not been sorted out. There are always urgent things to buy, so they took advantage of the fact that prices have slowly dropped in the past few days to go out and find some fresh food and daily necessities."

Then he pointed to one of the carts and said, "That cart seems to be used in the kitchen. Yesterday, His Highness asked someone to look for early peaches for sale in the city. It would be best to pick those that can soften. I wonder if they have found any this time."

Hearing this, Zhao Hong's heart suddenly moved, and he knew that the peach must have been found for him.

At this moment, he was not in the mood to care about the soft or hard peaches, but he really wanted to see the peaches that his elder sister had specially sent someone to find for him. He could not help but trot over, exempting everyone from the formalities, and asked the man pushing the cart, "Is this what the palace is buying today?"

The man nodded his head in agreement.

Zhao Hong asked, "Did you buy any peaches?"

When the emperor asked personally, someone hurriedly untied the ropes on the cart and removed the oil paper covering it, revealing the newly purchased things inside, mostly vegetables and fruits, as well as other daily necessities.

The people on the opposite side looked at each other in bewilderment. After a while, a eunuch stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, we didn't find any early peaches this time, but only a few baskets of fresh cherries. I will try to buy them tomorrow."

Zhao Hong didn't have to eat peaches, but when he heard about cherries, he remembered that when he was a child, there were two trees in the backyard of his home. They began to bear fruit in early summer. He had to pick them as soon as they turned red, otherwise he would lose to the many birds. At that time, he watched and asked someone to pick them and share them with his sister, who ate them all. Although the core was large and the flesh was thin, and the taste was more sour than sweet, it was very delicious. Thinking of this, Zhao Hong's mouth was watering for a while, and he couldn't help asking, "Where are the cherries?"

The eunuch searched hurriedly.

Zhao Hong couldn't wait any longer and followed over. He watched the other party rummage out several baskets from the car. He opened one of them and found a lot of cabbages. He then looked at another basket and found many bottles and jars. He searched through several of them before he found cherries.

Someone nearby had already stepped forward and taken it.

Zhao Hong watched the eunuch rummaging around, and saw a white porcelain bottle smaller than his palm in a basket leaning against the side. It looked very delicate, so he reached out to take it and have a look, then opened the lid and found tea leaves inside.

He had been used to seeing good things since he was a child, and he recognized it as Jianxi Longtuan Fengbing as soon as he smelled it. He immediately said to Wang Shu beside him: "Sister often drinks this tea..."

Wang Shu hurriedly said, "Your Highness has been drinking this old tea from last year for a long time, and this time he finally made up for it!"

As he said this, he was about to go forward to take it.

The yellow gatekeeper opposite suddenly showed a panic on his face.

Wang Shu naturally didn't pay attention to the other party's expression. He took the fruit from Zhao Hong with both hands and hurriedly advised: "Your Majesty, it's getting late. It's better to send the fruit to Chuigong Palace..."

Zhao Hong thought about it and did not refuse this time. After nodding to the eunuch who found cherries for him, he turned around and left.

He walked ahead and soon arrived near the Chuigong Hall. However, he was in no hurry to enter the hall. Instead, he asked the attendants, "Has Sister had dinner yet?"

Then he asked, "Where is the water here?"

In the Chui Gong Hall,

Just ahead, Zhao Hong actually stopped and even knew to turn to a side path, finding a sheltered place in a corner to sit down, and just waited quietly.

After meeting with more than ten people and understanding the progress in various places, Zhao Mingzhi spent half a day reviewing memorials. In fact, there were very few places where he could really have a say, or maybe he could say something, but it would be of no use, and few people would really listen to him. However, things still had to be done, and the memorials had to be read in the end.

When the meal came to an end, she looked up and saw that it was getting dark outside. She looked at the clepsydra and saw that it was close to the evening hour. She was not actually hungry and wanted to have a quick bite in the side hall. She gave a few instructions and asked Zhao Hong about his food out of habit. Unexpectedly, Zhao Hong came in from outside soon after she asked, holding a food box in his hand, and said seriously, "I'll bring food to Sister."

As he spoke, he put the food box on the table beside him, and without asking anyone else for help, he personally laid out the food one by one.

Zhao Mingzhi stood up with a smile, and stopped looking at the memorials on the table. He had a meal with Zhao Hong.

But both of them had no appetite, especially Zhao Hong. He drank a few mouthfuls of the soup, and although he didn't put down the bowl, he didn't pick up his chopsticks for a long time.

Zhao Mingzhi couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with Hong'er? Is he feeling unwell?"

As she asked, she subconsciously reached out to touch her brother's forehead.

Zhao Hong did not dodge and let her touch his head. He endured it for a long time. At this moment, he could not bear it anymore. He put the bowl back on the table and looked up and said, "Sister, I heard some news today... When I was young and ignorant, I always thought that I might as well not be the emperor. But today... I can't think like that!"

"I... I am still the emperor now, and they bully me like this. How will they bully me when I am no longer the emperor?"