Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 76 Getting stronger with age

Forbidden City.

Qingning Palace.

This is the residence of Empress Dowager Zhou, the mother of Emperor Chenghua.

In recent years, the old lady has not liked to take care of affairs and has been devoted to worshipping Buddha. Usually, both her son Zhu Jianshen and her grandson Zhu Youtang are very filial to her. However, she does not like the current atmosphere in the imperial palace, especially since there is Wan Zhen'er, who is the same age as her, in the palace. It would be strange for her to feel comfortable if her son found a concubine who is as old as her and who is the most favored concubine in the six palaces.

That day, just as she came out of worshipping Buddha, Chen Gui, the eunuch serving in Qingning Palace, came forward, bowed, and indicated that he had something to say to Empress Dowager Zhou.

Queen Mother Zhou waved her hand, and the surrounding palace maids retreated respectfully.

Then Queen Mother Zhou asked, "Is that woman causing trouble again?"

Chen Gui was the eunuch in charge of the imperial household, and was usually in charge of the daily management of Qingning Palace, but his main task was to serve as the eyes and ears of Empress Dowager Zhou in the palace.

"Grandfather, you misunderstood. The Anxi Palace has been relatively peaceful recently. The only unusual thing is that people from the Imperial Hospital have been coming in and out more frequently." Chen Gui said.

Queen Mother Zhou sneered: "Do you really think I don't know she's ill? It's all a disease of the rich and powerful. Anger hurts the body. She hasn't realized it yet... If it's not Anxi Palace, then what else is it?"

"Eastern Palace." Chen Gui said.

Queen Mother Zhou put away her contemptuous look and frowned: "The little grandson has indeed not come to pay his respects recently... What's going on?"

Chen Gui said: "Your Majesty does not allow the prince to come to Qingning Palace."

Queen Mother Zhou looked unhappy, and then asked, "What happened in the Eastern Palace? Is there anyone gossiping that Your Majesty wants to change the crown prince?"

"No."

Chen Gui shook his head and said, "It was a letter between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and someone outside the palace, secretly transmitted by the people of the Imperial Observatory. Some of the previous letters were unclear. This time, I had someone transcribe a letter from outside the palace. Please read it yourself, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."

"Nonsense!"

Queen Mother Zhou scolded: "Doesn't the Crown Prince know that his position as Crown Prince is in jeopardy? Why is he still communicating with people outside the palace at this critical moment?

"Who is it? Those lecturers in the East Palace?"

Chen Gui was almost suffocated by Empress Dowager Zhou's aura, and hurriedly handed over the letter he had copied.

Queen Mother Zhou opened it and glanced at it briefly, then waved her hand and said, "I am old, my eyes are blurry, and I can't see clearly... Alas, when you get older, you have to accept your fate. The more you struggle, the more problems you are likely to have... You come and read it..."

Chen Gui could hear that Empress Dowager Zhou was "pointing a finger at someone else" or was cursing Concubine Wan, pointing her finger at him.

Because the two are the same age, the one who is now refusing to accept her old age is obviously Concubine Wan, not the Empress Dowager Zhou who claims to be pure and unselfish.

Then Chen Gui read the contents of the letter to Queen Mother Zhou in a low voice, and handed the letter over after he finished reading.

Queen Mother Zhou took the letter and threw it into the charcoal brazier beside her without even looking at it. The copied letter soon burned to ashes.

"I was afraid something might happen, so I copied it down and reported it to the ancestor." Chen Gui said.

Queen Mother Zhou said, "You're the one who's causing trouble for the Eastern Palace if you copy it... The matter wasn't serious to begin with, and no one was paying attention to it. But you sent it directly to me... Isn't it easy for someone to find fault with you like this?"

"what……"

Chen Gui looked as if he had just woken up from a dream, and quickly bowed his head to apologize, "It is my fault for not thinking carefully, please forgive me, ancestor!"

"It won't happen again."

Queen Mother Zhou smiled faintly, "But it doesn't matter, the letter is just childish talk after all... Who did the little grandson of the emperor know?

"Look at this letter, we've known each other for a long time. Haha... Is this considered a letter sent by a carrier pigeon? How interesting!"

Chen Gui covered his mouth and smiled, "I don't know, but it seems that this person is quite talented. He even wrote poems with the prince."

"Where did that poem come from?"

Queen Mother Zhou said, "Read it again for me."

"This……"

Chen Gui thought to himself, you are really good at making difficult problems.

Are the words so easy to memorize?

The corners of Empress Dowager Zhou's mouth curled up: "You don't know, but the little grandson of the emperor must know. It's okay for him to flirt with others. Even if the emperor knows about it, so what?" However, if the situation continues to develop in this way, I'm afraid that the subsequent letters will contain something like persuading him to ascend the throne, which would harm the little grandson of the emperor.

"The prince doesn't have much experience in dealing with people. He is just a good kid with a pure character. What he can't stand the most is people with malicious hearts taking advantage of the situation."

Chen Gui said: "Then should we... remind the prince?"

Queen Mother Zhou said, "Just keep an eye on it. If there are any letters in the future, just write down the general content and tell me. You don't need to copy it every time.

"As long as the writer's conscience is not eaten by dogs, we will not interfere and just watch it for fun. Hiss..."

At this point, the old lady pondered over it carefully, as if she had suddenly discovered some great secret. "Why is it that the mood expressed in the previous letter is like a little girl's sadness over autumn and spring? It's a bit too sentimental!"

Chen Gui said: "It is said that it was written by a woman."

"This is strange...I wonder if the woman who wrote the letter is married? Any woman can exchange letters with the prince. What are the people in the Imperial Observatory doing?"

Queen Mother Zhou frowned.

Chen Gui said: "I don't know yet."

"The Imperial Observatory is the territory of Lizi Province, right? Could it be that he caused the trouble? What's going on in Lizi Province recently?" asked Empress Dowager Zhou.

Chen Gui continued, "That Lord Li first told His Majesty that there was an earthquake in Ningxia, and it really happened..."

Queen Mother Zhou interrupted: "I have also heard about this, it is truly miraculous."

"Later, Lord Li said that there would be an earthquake in Mount Tai, and the news quickly spread in the capital. The specific date is the day after tomorrow. After hearing about this, Your Majesty has been arranging the fasting and prayer activities in the past two days." Chen Gui said.

"Oh? Then he indirectly helped the Eastern Palace." Queen Mother Zhou was a shrewd person. She discovered Li Zisheng's different intentions from the complicated information.

Chen Gui said, "Could it be that Lord Li asked someone to send a letter to the East Palace to secretly contact the Crown Prince?"

Queen Mother Zhou smiled coldly: "If that's the case, Li Zisheng is really daring. He not only wants to seek favor from the emperor, but also wants to curry favor with the emperor. It seems that he has taken all the good things in the world!"

Chen Guixin said, you old man must be very dissatisfied with Li Zisheng.

Unexpectedly, Empress Dowager Zhou changed the subject: "But being loyal to Your Majesty and the Crown Prince is the same as being loyal to the Ming Dynasty, which is much better than those people with ulterior motives.

"Everyone in the court says that Li Zisheng controls the government, but I have never seen him do anything wrong. I will tell His Majesty to call people to Qingning Palace and hold a fasting and prayer ceremony here as well."

"Empress Dowager, you..."

Chen Gui really wanted to say, you always worship Buddha, but you actually do Taoist magic tricks?
Queen Mother Zhou smiled and said, "It is better to believe it than not to believe it... I have been feeling uneasy lately. Is there something big happening in the palace? Why haven't the magpies been chirping recently?"

As she spoke, Queen Mother Zhou stood up and walked towards the palace gate, as if she was going to leave the palace to see the magpie.

Chen Gui followed behind with a helpless look on his face: "Grandfather, it's already the coldest time of the year. The magpies have all migrated to the warm south. We can't see them anymore."

"Haha, no wonder you don't shout... But it doesn't matter where you shout. The sky in this palace should finally change. Look how gloomy it is every day... Oh! Leave. Don't disturb the East Palace rashly in the future. The little grandson is a good boy. Don't let anyone bully him!"

……

……

Zhu Youtang, who was in Duanjing Hall, had no idea that his affairs had been discovered by his grandmother.

He was still thinking about how to write a reply.

He didn't dare to be distracted when reading during the day, but at night, when he should have been reviewing his lessons, he would hold a pen and support his head, as if he was about to write a magnificent article.

Tan Ji walked into the hall and first bowed and greeted Zhu Youtang.

Seeing Zhu Youtang's hesitation, he couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, have you asked the gentlemen in the East Palace about the origin of the poem?"

Zhu Youtang showed a bit of youthful innocence on his face, and was in high spirits: "My dear, I asked several lecturers, guess what? They all said they had never heard of this poem. They commented on it on the spot, saying that it was written very well, and it was written by someone with experience and great ambitions. They even thought it was written by me."

"There is no source, then..."

Tan Ji was also a little confused.

What kind of talented person can write such poetry?

Is this person specially sent to seduce the prince?

It takes a lot of investment!
(End of this chapter)