King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 648 Sons

"Sir, I don't understand what you mean... What do you mean by overcoming difficulties?"

Zhu Jinghong smiled and looked calm, as if the so-called difficulties did not exist.

Wang Pei'an also laughed and replied, "Your Highness's difficulty lies in the Four Books and Five Classics. You have made some progress in studying them these days. You only need to practice diligently in the future and you will be able to learn them!"

"But without your guidance, how could I enter this school? So this is all thanks to you!"

Here, Zhu Jinghong expressed his gratitude for Wang Pei'an's contribution instead of trying to retain him with words, which actually made his attitude clear.

Wang Pei'an staying in the mansion did make him feel very uncomfortable, so it was better for everyone to be well.

Of course, speaking more objectively, it is a huge waste for someone like Wang Pei'an to stay in the palace to teach.

While Zhu Jinghong was talking to Wang Pei'an, Prince Rui was being summoned to the palace and was strolling with the emperor in the square outside the Fengtian Hall.

This was a secret conversation between father and son, so the eunuchs and maids who were accompanying them were all about five or six feet away.

"Old Thirteen is a good-for-nothing except for fighting. Look how much trouble he has caused in the past two years!"

"When it comes to being down-to-earth and taking steady steps, you're the one to do it!"

Even for Prince Rui, it was rare for him to be praised directly by the emperor like this. At this moment, this guy was so happy from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. If he had not been cunning enough, he would have jumped up at this moment.

"Old Thirteen has caused trouble again this time. He is a shameless man...but I have to consider the face of the Tian family!"

Zhu Xianming stopped and looked at his son beside him, and said solemnly: "You have to think of a way to suppress this turmoil as soon as possible, don't let me down!"

The Crown Prince and Prince Rui stepped in to suppress this turmoil, but these two guys did not put in any effort, so they were summoned today.

The emperor could certainly step in personally to put pressure on them, but that would be both embarrassing and unnecessary, as there were, after all, two free laborers.

The most crucial thing is to let the Crown Prince and Prince Rui to suppress the conflict. The conflict will be concentrated on these two people, while the emperor will still be in a transcendent position.

After hearing what the old man said, Zhu Jingyuan was immediately excited and quickly assured: "Dad, don't worry... I will do everything I can to calm the anger of the ministers!"

"Among all the sons, you are the only one who makes me worry the least!"

Hearing this, Zhu Jingyuan almost couldn't help jumping up. He had received too many surprises today.

The Thirteenth Brother is reckless and a troublemaker, the Fourth Brother is weak and useless, and I am the only candidate for the throne. I think the old man has figured it out... The Sixth Brother is getting more and more delighted.

At this moment, Cheng Ying came running over and reported, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince wants to see you!"

Prince Rui was summoned, and the Crown Prince was worried when he heard the news, so he also hurried over.

"Call him over!" Zhu Xianming replied.

"Yes!"

After Cheng Ying left, Zhu Xianming said to Zhu Jingyuan: "Old Four...he has never accomplished anything!"

Looking at the humble and modest Lao Liu in front of him, Zhu Xianming sighed and said, "Lao Liu, you have to work harder!"

Zhu Jingyuan had heard similar words many years ago when he had just begun to aspire to become the emperor. It was these words that inspired him to fight hard.

"My son obeys your command and will live up to your expectations!"

After receiving a positive answer, Zhu Xianming said in a deep voice: "It's nothing, just go back!"

Zhu Jingyuan could clearly feel that the old man's mood had become very bad since he learned that the fourth brother was coming to meet him.

"Dad, take care. I'm leaving now!"

Zhu Jingyuan retreated, and on his way to Fengtian Gate, he met the prince who came to meet him.

"Fourth brother, are you feeling better now?" Zhu Jingyuan asked with a smile.

The more cheerful he looked, the more unhappy the prince became, and at this moment he had no intention of paying any attention to him.

After a cold snort, Zhu Jingyuan walked away, which made Zhu Jingyuan smile even more.

When Zhu Jingyuan came to the emperor, he paid his respects obediently, but the emperor did not call him to get up.

"I asked you to find a way to suppress public opinion and maintain the reputation of the royal family. Look at what you have done."

"The Thirteenth is useless, the Sixth is cunning... Are you going to pretend to please me too?"

Seeing that both the Sixth and Thirteenth sons were scolded, Zhu Jingyuan immediately felt much more balanced, so he replied: "My son's incompetence is indeed a serious crime... Please punish me, father!"

"Punishment? You are the crown prince, the heir to the throne. You should have done your best to resolve any problem you encounter. But now you are saying these words... You really disappoint me!"

Hearing these words, Zhu Jingyuan felt terrified, and this also exposed his kind and weak nature, which would be difficult to change no matter how he improved his methods.

Just when he felt as if he had been struck by lightning, he heard the emperor continue to say: "You are the most dedicated among all the princes. Now is your chance to display your talents. Don't let me down again!"

The turn came too quickly, Zhu Jingyuan kowtowed in response, and his fighting spirit was reborn in his heart.

At the Fengtian Gate, Zhu Jingyuan only saw from afar that the prince was kneeling and answering questions. His treatment was much worse than his.

Zhu Jingyuan then left happily, and the prince was given some instructions for a while before bidding farewell to the emperor with a heavy heart.

I have to say that when these two really took the initiative to do things, the situation gradually changed.

The backbone of the public opinion were basically their respective followers. After the two of them suppressed it strongly, the heat of public opinion subsided.

In addition, the emperor secretly ordered the cabinet to put pressure on them, and public opinion cooled further. In the end, only the kitten and the puppy were left, and they were directly dismissed from office and sent back to their hometown.

The matter of Zhu Jingting's death has been settled. He died of a serious illness, not of shame as rumored, nor was he beaten to death by Zhu Jingchun.

On March 27th of the 14th year of the Zhengtong reign, Wang Peian, the chief historian of the Prince of Xiang's Palace, was sent by the emperor to the northwest to continue supervising the army.

On March 28, as the Queen's health gradually recovered, the Emperor took the initiative to convene a family banquet in the palace and invited all the royal family members to come and congratulate the Queen.

Previously, news about Kunning Palace was blocked, but now that the queen's health has improved, there is of course no need to block it anymore.

Therefore, what happened in the past few days gradually reached the ears of the queen, and she realized that the capital city had experienced earth-shaking changes.

Inside the Kunning Palace, the emperor and the empress sat opposite each other, and the emperor was pouring tea for the empress.

"So, who is behind this?" the queen asked the most crucial question.

The two of them were talking at this time, and there was no one else present, so the content could be guaranteed not to be leaked.

After putting down the teapot, Zhu Xianming said, "I suspected the fourth or sixth one before!"

"What about now?" Yang Qingyin asked.

"It's hard to say!" Zhu Xianming replied. He was also very helpless at this time. The emperor was not omnipotent.

"Forget it, let the people below continue investigating. Now that the situation has calmed down, let's not bring up these old things anymore!"

Yang Qingyin nodded. She also guessed that it was the fourth or sixth son. It didn’t matter to her whether to investigate or not. After all, the truth was sometimes cruel.

Then Yang Qingyin changed the subject and said, "Has the selection of the Prince Consort been decided?"

Zhu Yunsheng was getting married, and the candidate for the prince consort had been basically decided. It was the boy that Zhu Yunsheng fell in love with at first sight. The queen wanted the emperor to check again so as not to delay her daughter's lifelong happiness.

"That kid from the Liang family has a decent character and looks, and he also has a heroic spirit, so he's a good match..."

"A good match?" Yang Qingyin asked with a questioning look on her face.

Zhu Xianming then explained: "Sheng'er likes it, so let's do it!"

Having said that, Yang Qingyin did not ask any more questions. Since the boy from the Liang family was pretty good and her daughter liked him, that was all that could be done.

"When will the wedding be completed?" Yang Qingyin asked.

"The decree will be announced in early April, and then the three letters and six ceremonies will take at least two or three months. I'm afraid it will take July or August to complete the wedding!" Zhu Xianming estimated.

Yang Qingyin nodded and said, "Now that it's settled, let's get started and pick a good day to get it done!"

Yang Qingyin seemed quite positive about marrying her daughter off, which made Zhu Xianming feel very strange.

"Your Majesty, Chonghua Palace is ready!" Cheng Ying came to report.

"Has Old Thirteen arrived?" Zhu Jinghong asked, turning around.

"This... has not arrived yet. I have sent someone to urge it!"

Turning back to look at his wife, Zhu Xianming said with dissatisfaction: "Look... this guy is a bastard!"

"Didn't you punish him by grounding him to house arrest for half a year?" Yang Qingyin asked back.

"I think he should be punished for another five to ten years, so that he can learn the principles in the mansion and learn the rules before he is released!"

"Then why don't you demote him to a commoner? Just drive him to a remote and desolate place, and you'll have peace and quiet there!" Yang Qingyin stood up and said angrily.

"Okay...I said the wrong thing, okay!" Zhu Xianming also stood up.

Afterwards, the couple, one comforting the other and the other scolding, went to Chonghua Palace chattering on and on.

Back in Chonghua Palace, the emperor's concubines had already arrived and were talking to their sons and grandchildren. This was a rare opportunity for them to meet.

These princes and princesses cannot be compared with the three legitimate princes who can enter the palace to meet their parents at any time.

The Crown Prince and Prince Rui were each sitting in their own seats. Their respective eldest sons were debating with each other, and their faces were red with anger.

Of course, what they were arguing about was academic matters and did not involve political issues.

Compared with the crown prince, his eldest son Zhu Muchun is more aggressive, especially after being trained by Miaoyu.

Zhu Muyu, the eldest son of Prince Rui, is two years younger but is also quite powerful. He is particularly shrewd and can always find loopholes in Zhu Muchun's words.

The two boys were arguing fiercely, while their parents were watching coldly, until Zhu Yunsheng reminded them that Zhu Jinghong was coming.

At Chonghua Gate, Zhu Jinghong, who had disappeared for a long time, appeared in front of everyone with his princess.

He was nearly two quarters late than the scheduled time, and everyone was used to it.

In the past, his half brothers would have come to greet him warmly, but at this moment they were quite deserted.

But it wasn't really that there was no one there. For example, Prince Qingyang Zhu Jingchun and Prince Jinghai Zhu Jinghao took the initiative to come forward.

"Brother Thirteen, you are finally here, please take a seat!"

"Yes, the emperor will be here soon. I'm afraid he will be angry again when he sees you coming at this moment!"

The two of them analyzed the situation for Zhu Jinghong one by one, like a crouching dragon and a phoenix chick.

Walking down the stairs, Zhu Jinghong looked at Zhu Jingchun who was following him and said slowly, "You should stay calm when encountering things in the future, and don't talk about fighting at every turn!"

At this time, Zhu Jinghao interrupted and said, "Brother Thirteen is right. I ran around so hard when you got into trouble. Tell me how you're going to thank me!"

Zhu Jingchun nodded and replied, "Thirteenth brother is right. I won't dare to do it casually again!"

Don't dare to act rashly, the subtext is that you can act after careful consideration.

This was not Zhu Jingchun's fault for being reckless, but rather as a prince of the royal family, he was invincible outside the imperial city. He was too lazy to think about anything when he could just use his fists and feet to deal with him.

While the three brothers were talking, Baochai had taken the initiative to walk among the concubines present and greeted these elders one by one.

Among the queen's three daughters-in-law, Baochai was the most popular in the harem, so even though Zhu Jinghong's reputation became famous, it did not affect Baochai much.

After chatting and laughing with everyone, when Baochai came to her seat, Princess Xu of Qingyang and Princess Zhao of Jinghai came over, and the three of them started talking and laughing.

Of course, there are also people who flatter and fawn on the Crown Prince and his wife and the Prince Rui and his wife, and their number is much greater than that of Baochai.

At this time, Zhu Jinghong walked to the center of the field and looked at his two nephews who were about to fight. He said, "My two nephews, if you have any reason to quarrel like this, please don't hurt the harmony!"

"Uncle Thirteen, we are talking about the Three Families Dividing Jin. Do you know what the Three Families Dividing Jin means?" Zhu Muchun turned his head and asked, with a hint of contempt in his expression.

Zhu Jinghong did not give a direct answer, but reminded: "My nephew, today is a family dinner. It is inappropriate to talk about the division of Jin among the three families!"

At this time, Zhu Muyu interrupted and said, "Uncle Thirteen, we are just joking around. We can't compare to you in doing big things!"

Compared to Zhu Muchun, this guy is more insidious. When he talks about “doing big things”, it’s hard not to think of the recent bad things.

Although he wanted to show these two guys his fists and feet so that they could learn some rules and etiquette, Zhu Jinghong finally held back.

Smiling, Zhu Jinghong patted his two nephews and said with a smile: "Don't make fun of me, it's not me who likes to stir up trouble, it's all because of some bastard who wants to harm me!"

After being slapped twice by him, Zhu Muchun and the other man grimaced in pain and each took two steps back. They wanted to get angry but didn't dare to.

At this time, Zhu Jingyuan stood up, came to Zhu Jinghong and said, "Thirteenth brother, today is a family dinner, it's a good day, why are you saying these things!"

"Hurry up and take your seats, our parents will be here soon!"

Inviting everyone to take their seats is what the eldest son should do. Zhu Jingyuan has obviously occupied the "ecological niche" of the crown prince, but the latter has not yet realized the problem.

"Yeah, take your seats now and stop causing trouble!"

Looking at Zhu Jinghong who had already taken his seat, the prince continued, "Your sixth brother and I have been taking great care of you these days!"

Hearing these words, Zhu Jinghong sneered in his heart. In his opinion, these two were the ones who caused the trouble, but now they are talking such high-sounding words here.

At this time, Baochai said, "Fourth and Sixth Brothers are right. He is always willful. I don't know how much trouble he will suffer in the future!"

"Baochai, Thirteenth Brother needs to change his temper. You should persuade him more!" Yuanchun said with concern.

Baochai was about to reply when she heard Chen Zhi say, "Fourth sister-in-law is right. As the saying goes, a virtuous wife brings less trouble to her husband. You should pay more attention to my advice, Thirteenth brother!"

Her words were even more sinister. If you understand it the other way around, it means that Baochai cannot be considered a virtuous wife, which is why Zhu Jinghong encountered so many troubles.

This made Baochai angry. When she was about to retort, she heard the eunuchs shouting outside.

"Your Majesty has arrived!"

(End of this chapter)