The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 504 Eventful Autumn
"Judging from the pulse condition, your body is recovering well. If you continue to recuperate for two months, you will be able to get better."

In the Hou Mansion, Feng Qingchan got up to pack the medical box after taking Zhu Xiu's pulse.

"There is no need for me to come to check your pulse from now on. Just take the medicine according to the prescription and keep taking it every day." Feng Qingchan warned.

Zhu Xiu picked up the prescription and looked at it, and found that they were all nourishing and health-preserving herbs. Some of them were used to strengthen the body and strengthen the body. No nosebleeds!"

Feng Qingchan glanced at him and said seriously: "Don't worry, I have carefully verified the prescription. As long as you strictly follow the dosage and drink it, and add a certain amount of exercise to activate the qi and blood, the situation you mentioned will not occur."

Zhu Xiu smiled, he just said it casually, deliberately to make fun of it, but he didn't expect this girl to take it seriously.

Feng Qingchan hesitated for a moment and whispered: "The old lady is eager to hold her grandson, but she is worried that this injury will affect her fertility. She asked me to make adjustments in this aspect in private."

Feng Qingchan's face turned red. As an unmarried girl, she felt a little embarrassed to discuss such a thing with a man face to face.

Zhu Xiu said with a smile: "No wonder I see that the prescription contains many medicinal materials that nourish the kidneys and replenish essence and blood. If my mother asks you again in the future, just say that I am good at that. There is no problem at all. Let her see Lao Zhu next year The third grandson of the family!"

Feng Qingchan's face turned red and she glared at him fiercely: "You have to say it yourself! What does it have to do with me! Besides, how could I know?"

Zhu Xiu laughed and grabbed her small hands, covered them in her palms, and pressed them close to her chest: "Anyway, you will be my Zhu family's wife sooner or later, and you will have to have children in the future. It doesn't matter if you say it early or not later? Does your mother think of you as a daughter-in-law?" Only someone from my own family would say something like this to you, so don’t think it’s because she is vulgar and ignorant of etiquette!”

Feng Qingchan struggled for a while, but did not break away. She lowered her head and whispered: "Old Madam treats me well, of course I know!"

Zhu Xiuxi leaned closer with her face down, and put her other hand around her slender waist: "I'm going to propose marriage to the old master tomorrow!"

Feng Qingchan's face was flushed, her eyes were like water, she was ashamed and happy, and she hurriedly said: "No!"

"When does Chan'er want to come over?"

Feng Qingchan bit her lip and whispered: "Mrs. Lingyan has just passed away, and you are marrying a new bride. People will gossip about you. Besides, we have Mrs. Zhou to wait for some time!"

"Then at the end of the year, you guys go through the door together!" Zhu Xiu laughed happily.

Feng Qingchan muttered, because of her daughter's reservedness, she wanted to refuse, but she couldn't say it.

First of all, her love has already been tied to the person in front of her, and she will never be able to break it off in this life.

It's a pity that the man she likes is really a rare figure in this world, destined not to belong to anyone alone, and she can only occupy a small part of it.

Secondly, after getting along with each other for this period of time, she found that she and the Zhu family were getting along harmoniously. Mrs. Fu had the demeanor of a big woman and managed the house well, Mrs. Lingyan was lively, smart, innocent and romantic, and Mrs. Zhou had a cold temperament and had no fight with the world.

They are all the most beautiful flowers in the world, and they all have their love for the same man. Perhaps this is fate, and they are destined to be sisters in this life.

Feng Qingchan sighed in her heart, feeling a bit resentful, and couldn't help but punch Zhu Xiu in the chest.

"Oops! Chan'er healed this injury with her own hands. Could it be that she has to tear it open with her own hands?" Zhu Xiu covered his chest with both hands, making a face of pain and disbelief.

Feng Qingchan grinned with bright teeth, knowing that he was joking.

With the beautiful woman in front, and alone in the inner room again, Zhu Xiu wanted to further connect with each other, but was about to make a move when he suddenly heard bursts of rapid bells.

"Can Chan'er hear the bell?"

"Well, I heard you."

"It's the bronze bell on the tower of Xuande Gate! Something happened in the palace!"

Zhu Xiu's complexion changed slightly, and she didn't care about other thoughts. She hurried to the courtyard and listened carefully to the deep bell echoing in the air.

It's not yet noon, and the court meeting hosted by Feng Dao has ended. There should be nothing important in the palace. Why did the bell suddenly ring?

This was a warning sound that would only sound when there was an emergency in the palace. Zhu Xiusi thought about it, but he couldn't think of anything that would be so urgent.

After a meeting, Fu Jinhuan hurried over with a solemn expression: "There is news from the palace that the Queen Mother suddenly died of illness. Someone has been sent to notify officials above the fifth rank in Beijing. Old Xianggong Feng summoned the ministers to discuss the funeral of the Queen Mother."

Glancing at Feng Qingchan, Fu Jinhuan said: "The news reached the Huaiyang Prince's Mansion first. My father is not here, so Uncle Yantu asked you to come to the palace with him."

Zhu Xiu was stunned for a long time before she came to her senses and murmured: "Although the Queen Mother's phoenix body is not healthy, she has always been well maintained. In recent years, she has lived in seclusion and devoted herself to worshiping Buddha. How could she suddenly die of illness?"

Fu Jinhuan lowered his voice and said, "The news from the Fu family is that there are other hidden reasons for the Queen Mother's death, so Mr. Feng summoned the important ministers in Beijing to discuss it."

Zhu Xiu nodded, "I will change my clothes and enter the palace now! Where is my mother, comfort her!"

The two women agreed in unison.

Less than half an hour later, Zhu Xiu appeared in the Zhongshu Provincial Government Office inside the Yimo Gate of the palace city. Feng Dao, as the left-behind, Zhongshu Ling, and prime minister in Kaifeng, placed the place in charge of government affairs in the Zhongshu Provincial Government Office.

Officials also used to call this place the political hall.

Feng Dao, Wei Renpu, Fan Zhi, Zhang Yongde and other important civil and military officials who stayed in the capital were all present. Zhu Xiu also saw Tao Gu, a regular servant of Yousanqi, but he was only qualified to appear and not express his opinion.

On the contrary, as soon as Zhu Xiu, a member of the fifth rank of Zhongshushe, showed up, he was surrounded by many officials, asking for help and lamenting the misfortune of the Queen Mother. Zhu Xiu dealt with it for a while.

Feng Dao motioned to Zhu Xiu to sit under Zhang Yongde. He also served as the commander of the Tiger Wing Army, so there was nothing wrong with sitting in the general class train.

Feng Dao coughed a few times. When the Yamen Hall became quiet, he twisted his beard and said in a deep voice: "The Queen Mother passed away due to illness, which is a great misfortune for the country. The Prime Minister has sent people to Xiangzhou as soon as possible to report the matter to the officials.

The Ministry of Rites will start preparing for the national funeral. It will list out all the necessary matters and report them to the officials for approval after seeing the truth. "

Zhao Shangshou, the Minister of Rites, hesitated and said: "Excuse me, Prime Minister Feng, how should I write the obituaries for the counties and counties?"

Everyone looked at Feng Dao. The old man twirled his beard and thought for a moment: "We are not busy with the obituary for now. We will prepare the funeral arrangements first and wait for a reply from the officials."

Zhao handed over his hand and said yes.

Zhu Xiu felt strange that the ministers seemed to have different views on the Queen Mother's obituary.

Zhang Yongde turned sideways and said softly: "The queen mother did not die of natural illness, but an accident."

Zhu Xiu was taken aback: "What's going on?"

Zhang Yongde said: "It is said that this morning, the Queen Mother was walking outside the Taiping Palace and accidentally fell into a ditch. She died after being treated in time. Zhang Gui, the eunuch who served the Queen Mother, knew that he could not escape the blame for his crime and hanged himself!"

"Zhang Gui!" Zhu Xiu couldn't help yelling, causing all the courtiers to look at him, Zhu Xiu hurriedly bowed his hands apologetically.

"How could it be Zhang Gui?" Zhu Xiu looked at Zhang Yongde in shock, "He is an old servant of the Queen Mother. He is always attentive and careful. The Queen Mother also trusts him the most. With Zhang Gui taking care of him, how could the Queen Mother fall into the water for no reason? ?”

Zhang Yongde shrugged and said with a wry smile: "This is the conclusion reached by the inquest sent by the Ministry of Punishment, and the eunuch in the Taiping Palace testified. From the current point of view, it is indeed Zhang Gui's negligence that caused the Queen Mother to unfortunately die of illness."

Zhu Xiu suppressed the panic in his heart and murmured: "It can't be Zhang Gui! Absolutely impossible! When the Queen Mother moved to the Taiping Palace, the officials knew that Zhang Gui was loyal and thoughtful, and specially asked him to serve the Queen Mother well."

Zhang Yongde knew that Zhu Xiu had a lot of contacts with the Taiping Palace, so he must have felt uncomfortable when something happened, so he patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Old Prime Minister Feng advocated writing an obituary truthfully and informing the world about the true cause of the Queen Mother's death. However, some courtiers were worried about the anger of the official family and blamed the negligence of the left-behind officials. They believed that the cause of the Queen Mother's death should not be announced. Both sides held different opinions, so this obituary was published. If we don't go down, we have to wait for the official decision." Zhang Yongde shook his head and sighed.

After discussing for a while, Feng Dao asked the officials of various ministries to step down first.

Zhu Xiu stepped forward and bowed his head and said: "Old husband, I want to see Zhang Gui's body."

Feng Dao was very tired and asked Fan Zhi beside him: "Where is the body of the suspect Zhang Gui?"

Fan Zhi bowed slightly and said, "Stop inside the right door, ready to be transported back to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment."

Fan Zhi smiled at Zhu Xiu: "Fan brought Zhu Sheren there."

"It's time for Mr. Fan." Zhu Xiu hurriedly saluted.

Feng Dao reminded again: "Zhu Xiu, I know that you have a relationship with Zhang Gui, but he is now a suspect. Don't abandon your official position for personal reasons." "Don't worry, old husband, I have my own sense of discretion."

After bidding farewell to Feng Dao, Zhu Xiu and Fan Zhi left Yimo Gate and headed to Youye Gate.

On the way, Fan Zhi suddenly sighed: "After all, Queen Mother Li is the Queen Mother of the previous dynasty. No matter how polite the officials treat her, she will not have much status in the eyes of the courtiers.

When Fan wrote an article in the Hanlin Academy, Empress Dowager Li sent someone to reward him after reading it. Thanks to those rewards, Fan passed the most difficult period of time.
I have heard about the situation in the Taiping Palace before, but after all, it is a forbidden palace, and I want to help but it is out of reach~"

Zhu Xiu sighed: "The people's hearts in this palace are the most unpredictable. There are many people who want to flatter others but not others. There are many things that cannot be solved by you and me. Don't worry about it, Mr. Fan."

Fan Zhi looked sad: "Perhaps the fate of the Queen Mother has been determined since she moved to the Taiping Palace. Her existence is like a scar that is difficult to heal for the Zhou Dynasty and the official family."

Zhu Xiu was silent, he understood what Fan Zhi said.

Empress Dowager Li was the empress dowager of the previous dynasty, and her son Liu Chengyou was the culprit who caused the murder of Guo Wei's family. It is impossible to say that Guo Wei had no resentment towards her in his heart.

Perhaps it was because of past affection that she was able to keep her alive.

Nowadays, there is not much love left. Except for the old people in the court, who will remember that there was a former empress dowager living in the Taiping Palace?
The palace's attitude towards Empress Dowager Li was actually more or less influenced by Guo Wei. As the emperor, even if Guo Wei had asked, the Taiping Palace would not have fallen to what it is today.

During the Liu Zipo war, Zhu Xiu killed Liu Chengyou in Zhaojiacun, killing him with great pleasure, but he always felt guilty towards Empress Dowager Li.

To this day, Queen Mother Li does not know that her youngest son died at the hands of Zhu Xiu.

Whenever Empress Dowager Li talked about Liu Chengyou in front of him, the feeling of self-blame and sadness could not be overcome, and the guilt in his heart only increased.

Empress Dowager Li blamed herself for not disciplining her son well, so she ended up dying.

This is just the simple emotion of a mother and has nothing to do with the general trend of the world.

Empress Dowager Li is undoubtedly a simple and kind person. Zhu Xiu hopes that she can live a long life and spend her old age in the Taiping Palace.

But he didn't expect that Zhang Gui would be notorious for committing suicide in fear of committing such a misfortune.

When you came to the right gate, there were guards from the Ministry of Punishment guarding the cart where the corpses were parked. The cart was covered with a thin quilt.

Zhu Xiu lifted off the thin quilt, revealing Zhang Gui's bruised and blackened face.

Zhu Xiu closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and carefully inspected the body.

There were deep scars around his neck, and at first glance it looked like he had hanged himself, but Zhu Xiu had a faint feeling that something was wrong.

It's a pity that he is not a widower and has no experience in examining corpses. Judging by intuition, the cause of Zhang Gui's death is not simple.

"Where is the Queen Mother's body?" Zhu Xiu asked Fan Zhi.

Fan Zhi was stunned for a moment, "Of course the coffin will be placed and placed in the Taiping Palace as ordered."

Fan Zhi said in shock: "You wouldn't want to go to the Taiping Palace to inspect the Queen Mother's body, would you?"

Zhu Xiu smiled bitterly. He did think so. Unfortunately, it was already buried in the coffin. How could he see it?

He can't open the coffin for an autopsy. Firstly, he doesn't have the ability, and secondly, he doesn't have the guts. The civil and military courts will scold him to death.

"Forget it, let's take it away." Zhu Xiu bowed deeply to Zhang Gui's corpse.

Fan Zhi said: "Fan still has to go back to the yamen hall to be a director, so Zhu Sheren can do as he pleases. On behalf of the old minister, from tomorrow onwards, Zhu Sheren will be invited to join the Ministry of Education."

"I have Lao Fan to tell you, goodbye!"

After leaving Youye Gate, Zhu Xiu was worried and came to Youque Tower. Bi Zhenhai retrieved the carriage, and Zhu Xiu took the carriage back to the Marquis Mansion.

"who?"

Suddenly, Bi Zhenhai shouted harshly outside the car, and six guards drew their swords to protect him on both sides.

The carriage stopped suddenly. Zhu Xiu woke up from her thoughts, opened the curtain and asked, "What's the matter?"

Bi Zhenhai pressed the knife with one hand and pointed his riding whip at the street corner ahead: "I don't know who is sneaking around, secretly watching!"

Zhu Xiu looked around and saw that this place was not far from the Hou Mansion. The slightest movement would alert the manor, but he was not afraid of another assassin attack.

A figure walked out of the shadow in the corner. Zhu Xiu stared at it and said in surprise: "Zhang Dejun!?"

"Master Hou!~" Zhang Dejun whimpered and fell to his knees crying.

When Zhu Xiu saw that he was covered in filth and looked miserable, her heart sank: "Come up here and talk to me back home!"

Back at the Hou Mansion, Fu Jinhuan and the other girls gathered around to inquire. Zhu Xiu sent them away with a few perfunctory words and took Zhang Dejun straight back to the inner study.

"Tell me, what happened in the Taiping Palace?" Zhu Xiu said in a deep voice.

Zhang Dejun wiped away tears, suppressed his grief, and told everything he saw with his own eyes this morning.

Even though Zhu Xiu knew that the matter was not simple, she was still so shocked that she couldn't speak for a while.

Old eunuch Li in Yongxiang?He had never seen it and didn't know who it was.

Why did the death of Empress Dowager Li and Zhang Gui have anything to do with the Zhao family?
Old Eunuch Li killed the Queen Mother, but he went out of the palace to meet with the Zhao brothers the night before?

There must be a connection, but what exactly?
Zhu Xiu couldn't figure it out, could it be that the Zhao family brothers wanted to kill the Queen Mother?
As far as he knew, there had never been any enmity between them!

Zhang Dejun cried so hard that his eyes were red and swollen, and he said sadly: "Master Hou, the old dog slave Li killed the Queen Mother and my adoptive father. His dearest person in the world was killed by him!

The servant wanted revenge, so he killed Old Dog Li with his own hands!I beg Lord Hou to help the slaves! "

Zhang Dejun spoke with gritted teeth, a ferocious look on his face, and kowtowed heavily as his forehead touched the ground.

"Get up!" Zhu Xiu helped him up, "The Queen Mother and Chamberlain Zhang have helped me many times and are also my benefactors. You don't need to tell me about this, I will find a way to figure it out!"

Zhang Dejun wiped away tears: "My foster father is my dearest person in the world. If the Marquis can help me take revenge, I will be my great benefactor. I am willing to swear allegiance to the Marquis to the death!"

Zhu Xiu sighed: "Don't worry, as long as I, Zhu Xiu, don't fall, I will find a way to save your life at any time. This can be considered as a way to repay the care and kindness of Chamberlain Zhang over the years!"

Zhang Dejun said bitterly: "Please teach me, Mr. Hou, what should I do next?"

Zhu Xiu took two steps and said: "The palace can only rely on you to find a way to find out as soon as possible what is the connection between the old eunuch Li, the Zhao brothers, and the Taiping Palace. Leave it to me to find out the relationship between them." If there is any grievances and entanglements between them, we can find the real culprit who killed the Queen Mother and Chamberlain Zhang!"

Zhang Dejun nodded vigorously: "I understand, slave!"

After a few more instructions, Zhu Xiu called Ma Qing and asked him to take Zhang Dejun to cleanse his body of dirt. After giving him a sum of money and agreeing on a place and time for future contact, Zhang Dejun quietly left through the back door of the Hou Mansion.

In the courtyard, Zhu Xiu stood under the paulownia tree, looking up at the old tree with new branches. Her thoughts were confused and she was lost in thought.

Fu Jinhuan walked over gently, put a cloak on him, and snuggled next to him.

Her husband looked very worried when he came back from the palace. She didn't know what happened. She just felt that she should be by her side when he was in troubled moods.

Zhu Xiu hugged his wife and said softly: "I have a hunch that the next few years will be troubled!~"

Fu Jinhuan said softly: "When has Kaifeng City truly been at peace? You just need to know that no matter what situation you are in, you will never be alone! You have me, this family, and loyal subordinates who are like-minded." Friends, we share weal and woe with you!”

Zhu Xiu smiled, her eyes were slightly moist, and she hugged the beauty in her arms tightly.

The damp and cold spring breeze in the courtyard is also a little warmer at this moment.
(End of this chapter)