King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 655: Meeting His Highness
"The slave is here!"

"Order the Princess of Pingkang County and Zhu Jingting's wife to commit suicide!"

"Yes!"

"Also send an order to the Imperial Clan House. Zhu Jingting has been stirring up trouble and disrupting the imperial court. He is to be stripped of his title of General Guarding the Nation. His concubines, children, and children are to be demoted to commoners and exiled to Fengyang!"

After hearing the emperor say these words, Zhu Jingrun was on the verge of stress, and he seemed to have seen his own end.

Taking away his title and exiling him to Fengyang was tantamount to sentencing him to death.

But compared to his two royal brothers who died early, he could at least live safely within the high walls of Fengyang, which was objectively better.

But now that his punishment has not yet been determined, Zhu Jingrun is already feeling deeply frightened.

After giving these instructions, Zhu Xianming looked at Zhu Jingrun again and asked, "Did you silence that evil son Zhu Jingting?"

"I haven't found the person yet, so I have been sending people to search for him, and that's why he was discovered by the Royal Guards!"

He originally wanted to say that he was discovered by Zhu Jinghong, but he didn't have the courage to say that at the moment.

At this time, Cheng Ying had not left yet. She only heard Zhu Xianming's order: "If the person is found, let the East Factory arrest him!"

"Yes!" Cheng Ying responded calmly.

Asking the East Factory to arrest someone is obviously also announcing his death sentence.

At this time, Zhu Xianming stood up from the throne and finally came in front of Zhu Jingrun.

"As a county prince, you should be law-abiding, but you relied on your status to cause trouble in the South City Thousand Households Office. Your crime is serious and has a very bad impact..."

Hearing that he was about to be "sentenced", Zhu Jingrun became more and more nervous. He had already prepared himself mentally to be "given the death penalty".

"You are demoted to the rank of General Guarding the Nation. You must stay at home for three years to reflect on your mistakes and study hard to cultivate your character!"

Because he had low expectations, Zhu Jingrun felt extremely fortunate when he learned that his title was only demoted one level.

As for confining himself to reflect on his mistakes for three years, it was no big deal for him. After all, he had basically stayed at home these years, so it didn't matter whether he was confined or not.

Among all the emperor's illegitimate sons, he, the de facto eldest son, is now the lowest-ranking general, which is tantamount to declaring that he has lost the right of inheritance, although he never had such a right in the first place.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your forgiveness!" Zhu Jingrun kowtowed repeatedly.

He actually knew that the emperor did not really love his son, but just wanted to maintain the reputation of the royal family and did not want the quarrel between the brothers to be exposed, so he punished him for causing trouble in the Jinyiwei.

"Go back!" Zhu Xianming said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

Zhu Jingrun walked out of the hall carefully with a nervous heart, while Zhu Xianming sighed.

He was very melancholy at this time. Even a sickly man like Zhu Jingrun coveted the throne. Did his other sons have the same idea?

Are those usually well-behaved illegitimate sons also secretly plotting something? Are they also thinking of letting the queen's three sons kill each other and then reaping the benefits?
The more Zhu Xianming thought about it, the more he felt it was possible, so he ordered, "Ask Dai Quan to come over!"

"Yes!"

Surveillance on the various royal palaces needs to be strengthened, and the previously arranged personnel need to be replaced. This is what Zhu Xianming will do immediately.

Inside the East Palace, the Sixth Prince was still staying there, chatting with the Crown Prince.

This guy went to the East Palace at noon just to instigate the prince to send Miaoyu to Zhu Jinghong's house. Logically speaking, he should leave after this was done.

But just as he was about to leave, he learned the news that the third brother was causing trouble, and that the emperor had summoned him to the palace for an audience.

After learning about these circumstances, Lao Liu knew that things were not simple, so he stayed in the East Palace and waited for news. After all, it was very close to the Imperial Palace.

Although the prince disliked the sixth brother, he still had to show his brother's magnanimity and could only spend time with Zhu Jingyuan.

Of course, during this period they did not just sit there and wait, but sent people to find out the situation, mainly to the Guangyang Palace and the Nancheng Thousand Households Office.

As more and more news came in, the truth of the matter gradually emerged, which surprised the two brothers.

"Fourth brother, wasn't it you who instigated the incident with Old Thirteen last time?" Zhu Jingyuan asked directly.

"I thought you were the one who instigated it. My Thirteenth Brother and I are so close, how could I harm him like this?"

After hearing the second half of the prince's sentence, Zhu Jingyuan just chuckled and didn't say anything else.

"So...it was the third brother who was behind this?" Zhu Jingyuan still didn't quite believe it.

"I say, Fourth Brother, isn't it obvious? It's not you, it's not me, it's not him, the Third Brother, who else could it be?"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became. Zhu Jingyuan stood up and angrily cursed, "This bastard usually pretends to be harmless, but who would have thought he has such a vicious heart!"

"Damn it, he has conspired against the three of us brothers, hoping to catch us all in one fell swoop so that he can reap the benefits... He is so vicious, we must not let him off easily!"

Zhu Jingyuan was also very angry at this time. He always thought that he was very good to the third brother and showed concern and condolences during the New Year holidays. However, he didn't know that his sincerity was misplaced.

Zhu Jingyuan is an honest man. When an honest man is hurt, his mentality will be more unbalanced than that of an ordinary person.

"I believe that the emperor is wise and will punish severely!" Zhu Jingyuan said in a deep voice.

At this moment, two young eunuchs entered the hall. They belonged to the Eastern Palace and Prince Rui's Mansion respectively.

It's funny that these two brothers had to send their own people to the same place to inquire about the same thing.

"Your Highness... I just received news that Princess Pingkang was sentenced to death, Zhu Jingting was stripped of his title, and his family members were all demoted to commoners and exiled to Fengyang!"

Zhu Jingyuan was not interested in these and asked, "How did the third brother deal with it?"

"His Royal Highness Prince Guangyang was stripped of his title by one level and sentenced to three years of confinement for disturbing the court!" replied the young eunuch.

Hearing this, Zhu Jingyuan was stunned, and then asked: "No more?"

"No...no more!"

"This is too easy for him!" Zhu Jingyuan expressed his dissatisfaction directly.

As if realizing that he could not do anything alone, Zhu Jingyuan turned around and said, "Fourth brother, what do you think?"

On this point, Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Jingyuan agreed that the emperor's punishment was indeed difficult to satisfy him.

"Since this guy has improper intentions, he must have done a lot of shameful things in secret. I think we should investigate it thoroughly!"

As for how to conduct a thorough investigation, it was very easy for Zhu Jingyuan, after all, he also served as the chief of clan affairs.

Investigating Zhu Jingrun through the Ministry of Clan Affairs is not only legitimate but also professionally appropriate.

"Such a vicious person must not be let off easily!"

The prince said this, and then continued: "Father is merciful and let him off lightly, but the law of the country is ruthless. If he has other dirty deeds, it is our duty to punish him according to the law!"

So, the two of them exchanged opinions openly, and then discussed how to deal with Zhu Jingrun.

Neither of them would be able to feel relieved unless they beat this guy to death.

You are a bastard, you should just live an honest life and wait for death. How dare you have the idea of ​​coveting the throne? How can these two forgive you easily?

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, another five days had passed. Several major events occurred in the court one after another.

The punishment of Zhu Jingting's family and the stripping of Prince Guangyang's title became the most hotly discussed topics inside and outside the capital.

There are many idle people in the capital, and those with quick minds can easily think of the previous turmoil, but few dare to discuss it openly. After all, the Jinyiwei have been patrolling closely recently.

These two events were so popular that they overshadowed the breakdown of negotiations with the Spanish. The imperial court and the Spaniards completely broke off relations.

Therefore, military preparation became the top priority. Fortunately, the strengthening of the navy had been implemented a few years ago, and at least on paper the Ming Dynasty had become much stronger.

Of course, something more important is going to happen in April. In a small garden in the inner courtyard of the Prince Xiang's mansion outside the city.

Zhu Jinghong was sitting in the pavilion. In front of him, Zhang Xiaoyue was singing, and Li Huizhen and Park Jinying were dancing to the song.

He brought back more than a dozen people from Yanshan, and it was obvious that these three had stood out from the crowd of women.

Leaning on the couch, Zhu Jinghong closed his eyes slightly and swayed his head to the music, obviously enjoying it very much.

After the song was over, Zhu Jinghong opened his eyes, and Zhang Xiaoyue came up to him.

"My Lord, I told you not to sing, but you insisted... It's so bad, please don't blame me!"

To be honest, Zhang Xiaoyue's words sounded like a spoiled child, but Zhu Jinghong liked it that way.

As soon as he came to Zhu Jinghong, Li Huizhen followed him. After squeezing to the other side of Zhu Jinghong and squatting, she said, "Your Highness, I think Sister Xiaoyue sings very well..."

"It is because we two servants are stupid that we are unable to show the beauty of this dance. We need your guidance!"

By the end of her speech, Li Huizhen had become a little coquettish, and almost made Zhu Jinghong's bones soften.

Only Park Jin-young stood still as usual. She really had no intention of getting close to anyone.

"You guys...you should practice hard, you must know..."

In fact, Zhu Jinghong knew nothing, but that did not affect his ability to guide professionals. Zhang and Li listened very carefully at this moment, and they almost took out a small notebook to write down Zhu Jinghong's words.

At this moment, a group of people appeared from a distance. It was Princess Xue Baochai.

Seeing this person coming, Zhang and Li quickly stood up and obediently stepped aside.

After a few breaths, Baochai came into the pavilion.

Sitting down casually beside Zhu Jinghong, Baochai glanced at the people waiting around and ordered, "All of you go down!"

"Yes!"

So, these people left the pavilion.

Then, Baochai glanced at Zhu Jinghong and said, "I said... we have lived outside the city for more than half a month, and now it is time to go back!"

"Are you not used to living here?" Zhu Jinghong asked back.

Baochai replied, "My third sister is getting married at the end of the month. You didn't show up for the early part of the wedding, but you must go to the wedding at the end!"

That’s right, Zhu Yunsheng’s marriage was arranged very tightly. All the procedures would only take about forty days to complete, and most of it had been completed now.

"That's true!" Zhu Jinghong replied.

So Baochai asked, "When do you plan to return to Beijing?"

"Just... tomorrow!" Zhu Jinghong replied.

"You all go down too!" Baochai looked around.

Upon hearing this, the maids and eunuchs serving on the scene all stepped back to allow the couple to talk in private.

"There's going to be a war on the sea in the south, don't you have any ideas?" Baochai couldn't help asking.

Picking up the teacup, Zhu Jinghong said slowly: "I am keeping a low profile now. I wish the old man would forget about me. How dare I mention leading troops again!"

"Besides, this time, the Western Barbarians have a strong army and our navy is newly built, so it will be too difficult to win. If we lose, it will damage our reputation. So we should hide if we can!"

These two reasons were very sufficient. After Baochai nodded, she continued to ask: "Since you can't win, why don't you agree to make peace with the Western Barbarians instead of fighting this unwinnable war?"

"The Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, and this title has lasted for more than two thousand years. I just want to use the powerful ships and cannons of the Western barbarians to wake up the Ming Dynasty, which is still dreaming of becoming a superior country!"

Hearing this reason, Baochai was extremely puzzled and said, "But... the Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, so how can we wake up from the dream of being a superior country?"

Although there are wars in the southeast, northwest, and northeast of the Ming Dynasty today, the overall external policy is still in a state of suppression. It is no exaggeration to say that all the barbarians are submissive.

Such a powerful dynasty, according to Zhu Jinghong, was actually weak inside, which was of course hard for Baochai to accept.

"You must know that there are always people better than you!" Zhu Jinghong sighed.

Only after experiencing a major defeat would the court realize how powerful the enemies at sea were and would it really have the motivation to build a navy.

Next, the couple chatted for a while and then planned their trip back to Beijing.

In a blink of an eye, another two days passed and the Xiangwang Mansion returned to the capital. Miaoyu was sent back to the East Palace that same day.

Baochai personally sent her off and took the opportunity to thank Yuanchun.

Although Yuanchun greeted Baochai warmly, she also noticed that something was wrong with Miaoyu. She seemed to be much rounder and more beautiful, which was very different from her usual solemn and beautiful appearance.

This girl is actually a great beauty, I never noticed it before... Yuanchun thought.

But at the moment, Miaoyu is not the focus, greeting Baochai is the top priority.

In the end, the two sisters-in-law chose to go to the palace together to meet the queen.

When they entered the palace, a pair of uninvited guests also came to Prince Xiang's mansion.

Normally, Zhu Jinghong does not meet outsiders, except for those who he takes the initiative to meet.

The visitor was dressed simply and entered the house through the side door, so he did not attract much attention.

"Sir, should I greet you first or kowtow first?"

"Should I stand on the left or the right, or should I kneel down and answer your questions?"

"If the prince asks about the investigation, I will..."

Ren Fucai was very nervous. As a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had actually seen many big scenes and had experienced many life-and-death crises.

It stands to reason that he has excellent psychological qualities, but now that he has to meet Zhu Jinghong in person, he is still extremely nervous.

"The Thirteenth Master is easy-going, you don't have to be too nervous!" Li Wenzhao said calmly.

He looked calm, but he was actually very excited because this summons was very unusual and it was obviously time for him, Old Li, to be reckoned with for his merits.

Thinking of his subordinates, Chen Yuntai had been promoted one after another in the past two years and was now the deputy captain of North City. This made Li Wenzhao very embarrassed.

Because by comparison, he was just standing still.

Led by the eunuchs, the two of them passed through seven or eight doors and were taken to the side hall on the east side of the Cunxin Hall.

It is obvious that the two of them will meet Zhu Jinghong here.

Entering the hall, there was no one else inside except the eunuchs on duty.

Standing there, Li Wenzhao was thinking about his future and how to respond later.

Ren Fucai looked around. He had never thought before that he would be able to enter the Prince Xiang's Mansion and be summoned personally by Zhu Jinghong.

This shows how great the benefits of having a strong personal charm are. Just by choosing to meet Ren Fucai, the latter was so excited that he regarded it as a great honor.

The two of them stood there waiting, not knowing how long, when finally they heard footsteps.

The two men guessed that it was Zhu Jinghong who came, so even though they hadn't seen Zhu Jinghong yet, they knelt down consciously.

The next moment, Zhu Jinghong walked out from behind the screen. Today he was wearing a moon-white round-necked robe with cloud patterns. He looked very relaxed and elegant.

"Your Highness, I, Li Wenzhao (Ren Fucai), kowtow to you!"

(End of this chapter)