Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 180 Bo Jun's Angry

After walking over, Zhu Changluo stood behind a plum tree and saw that the palace maid who was punished by ringing the bell had her outer coat taken off.

She seemed to be walking around the garden between Wanchun Pavilion and Fubiting Pavilion under the north palace wall.

Across the Wanchun Pavilion, one could see that the palace maid's body was trembling, but her voice was still suppressed and steady and long.

"Is there anyone in Yujing Pavilion?" Zhu Changluo asked in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial View Pavilion is higher than the palace wall. If Your Majesty hadn't called someone to accompany you, who would dare to go up there?"

The Yujing Pavilion mentioned by Zhu Changluo is a viewing point in the palace's back garden, on Duixiu Mountain.

If you were appreciating the snow from the Yujing Pavilion, then the emperor would have entered the palace back garden, and he would probably have been able to see it from there.

"Let's go and take a look."

Zhu Changluo saw that the palace maid had gone around to the east side of the garden, walked out from behind the plum tree and continued to head north.

Naturally, there is a set of rules for eunuchs and palace maids in the palace. Zhu Changluo would not abolish any palace rules just because of his "kindness". Rewards and punishments still have to be made.

In any case, the person who ordered the punishment of the palace maid would not use this method to attract the emperor's attention.

Normally, punishment would be carried out in one's own palace, so why would it be in the back garden of the palace where the emperor might suddenly appear? Who wouldn't want the emperor to only see their good side?
But after Zhu Changluo passed Wanchun Pavilion, he saw footprints on the snow, and judging from these footprints, he had walked several times.

"Your Majesty, at the Fubi Pavilion."

Wang An saw that the emperor was frowning, listened to the noise, and pointed to the north.

Zhu Changluo walked straight through the path in the garden, and the sounds from the Fubi Pavilion in front of him gradually became clearer.

"My lady, please don't bother with her. It's not good for your health if you get angry."

"You're so clumsy! I worked so hard to build a snowman, but it's ruined!"

Zhu Changluo couldn't tell who the voice belonged to and looked at Wang An.

"It should be Li Zhaoyi from Chengqian Palace."

Zhu Changluo was selected into the palace together with Guo Lanzhi. In addition to the one queen and two concubines, three Zhaoyi and four Jieyu were appointed first, plus Qi Yuechan, Su Ran, and He Fangfei, the three female officials who accompanied him to "study the Zhougong rituals", so the six palaces in the east and west were filled first.

However, except for Concubine Shu and Concubine Li, these people were not high enough to be called the masters of a palace, and they only lived in side halls.

Although they live in side halls in each palace, they are the actual masters of a palace for the time being.

"Your Majesty, please spare her. It would not be good if someone saw or heard it..." At this time, another female official advised her.

Li Zhaoyi said, "I made this snowman for your majesty and the queen with all my heart. If she breaks it, how can she not be punished? You should be quick and make a new one."

Zhu Changluo walked over, and Wang An pushed aside a treetop, and Zhu Changluo appeared on the southwest side of Fubiting.

"What kind of snowman did you build for me and the Queen?"

Seeing that the emperor really came, Li Zhaoyi was overjoyed and hurried over to greet him. Then she said aggrievedly: "I saw such a nice snowfall, so I came to the palace back garden to enjoy the snow and suddenly I had a good idea. I wanted to build three snowmen, two big and one small, to pray for the queen to give birth to a legitimate son. But that servant was clumsy and kicked the little snowman to pieces..."

After saying this, he looked up at the emperor nervously.

Zhu Changluo looked between the eunuchs and palace maids kneeling beside him, and indeed there were two big snowmen on the left and right. They were just making a small snowman in the middle.

The two big snowmen are embroidered with patterns, and you can vaguely tell that they are dragon robes and phoenix robes, which can be said to be a show of great care.

"You guys get up first."

Zhu Changluo watched the eunuchs and palace maids stand up to express their gratitude, lower their heads, and look at their hands.

Then he looked at Li Zhaoyi.

At that time, she was the first among so many people to be conferred the title of Zhaoyi, a position second only to concubines, so her appearance was naturally excellent.

But Zhu Changluo had never been to Chengqian Palace, and he had a lot of other things to do. Now he thought about it and remembered her name: Li Siqin.

"Put your hand out so I can see it."

Hearing the emperor's calm voice, Li Siqin also thought of something. She stretched out her hand and said, "I was also involved in the pile before, but later I failed, so I..."

Zhu Changluo looked at her white and tender hands and said to her, "You are so smart, don't you know that snowmen will eventually melt? Are you praying for the queen to give birth to a prince?"

Li Siqin's face suddenly turned pale, and she quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "I am stupid! I know my crime! Your Majesty, please have mercy!"

At this time, the palace maid came around the garden from the east, and when she saw the scene here, she quickly knelt down there.

"She might be reminding you that this is not a good idea." Zhu Changluo looked at the other eunuchs and palace maids who knelt down with Li Siqin again, "Didn't you expect it? Didn't you remind her?"

"I am a stupid servant! Your Majesty, please forgive me..."

Seeing the emperor's interpretation, how could they not know that they had committed a huge taboo?

Zhu Changluo simply thought that she had punished the palace maid too severely.

Of course, he was smart enough. When he saw the emperor appear, he immediately did not hide anything. He knew that the emperor must have heard what he said before, so he explained the cause and effect.

But what great wisdom is there? If Zhu Changluo did not point out this interpretation, someone else would have pointed it out and spread it in the harem.

Palace fighting, isn't that what it's all about?

Maybe Li Siqin thought that even if she didn't wait for the emperor right away, there were three snowmen in the back garden of the palace, which was a good omen. After the emperor knew about it and asked about it, he might think of her and go to Chengqian Palace. But now she was really scared.

"They all serve you carefully, why make them suffer so much? Building a snowman is a nice thing to do, but in such a cold weather, why make them carve it so meticulously? Look at their hands, then look at yours." Zhu Changluo frowned and scolded, "You are young after all, and I will give you a chance to correct your mistakes. First demote you to a concubine, as long as you are determined to correct your mistakes and treat others kindly, I will go to Chengqian Palace when I have time, why are you in such a hurry?"

Li Siqin was demoted to a lower level as soon as she did that. Now she could only regret deeply and thank the master with tears in her eyes, saying repeatedly that she would not dare to do it again and would definitely change for the better.

"Take them back, don't let them freeze their hands and feet. I only think that you have no bad intentions, but you should also remember to think more carefully in the future."

"I'll remember this."

Zhu Changluo didn't know what she really thought. Of course, this kind of thing could be exaggerated, but there was really no need to do so.

After all, she was only a girl of sixteen or seventeen, and she was full of bad intentions. Zhu Changluo would rather observe her for a while. Was he really going to fly into a rage over this? Was he really that suspicious and cruel?
As for the eunuchs and palace maids, they were grateful that the emperor cared about them.

"Tell the maid to put on her clothes and shoes and bring her to the Imperial View Pavilion."

Zhu Changluo came to the palace garden with the intention of climbing up to admire the snow and relax his mind. Who could have expected to encounter such an incident?

He walked up to the Yujing Pavilion and looked westwards at the Qianqiu Pavilion from a high vantage point. He could vaguely see quite a few people there, and there were also people in the Qin'an Hall in the middle. He understood again.

As the master of the Forbidden City, as long as he is willing to move around, there will probably always be all kinds of little incidents.

Whether he likes it or not depends purely on his preferences and mood.

If Li Siqin successfully built three snowmen like that, maybe he would think it was a good omen when he saw it when he passed by? Maybe he would visit her today because of it.

The queen was pregnant, and this period was the "golden opportunity" for the other people in the six palaces, because the emperor always had to have someone to sleep with him.

"Your Majesty, she is waiting outside."

"come in."

Although the Yujing Pavilion is called a pavilion, it actually has walls on all four sides.

It was after Zhu Yijun demolished the original Flower Viewing Hall in the 11th year of the Wanli reign that a rockery was built here using Taihu stones, and then a viewing pavilion was built on the rockery.

Now Zhu Changluo is sitting inside. As long as he opens the door and walks out, he can overlook the entire palace garden to the south and Wansui Mountain to the north.

Retracting her gaze, the palace maid came in and knelt down with her head lowered: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace..."

His voice was already a little hoarse, and his body was still shaking slightly, partly because he was still cold, and partly because he was afraid.

"How long has the bell been ringing?"

"Your Majesty, I have no idea."

"Walk barefoot on the snow for a few laps," Zhu Changluo said, "but don't warm yourself up by the fire right away. Why are you being punished?"

"…It was all because of my clumsy hands that I ruined the collar of the little prince's robe."

"Tell the truth."

"I dare not hide anything from your majesty."

"Li Jieyu said that you broke it, but I thought you were just using the unintentional mistake to remind her." Zhu Changluo said, "Is this the punishment for breaking the collar of my robe? Does Li Jieyu usually criticize me so harshly in Chengqian Palace?"

"It's all my fault that I'm clumsy, it's all my fault that I'm clumsy..." She could only kowtow repeatedly.

Zhu Changluo frowned and looked at Wang An.

"I will ask the head of Chengqian Palace later."

"From your voice, you seem young." Zhu Changluo asked again, "Were you selected into the palace together? Did you have a grudge against her during the selection?"

"I dare not... I dare not..." She still kowtowed in fear.

Wang An then moved closer and whispered, "Your Majesty, this is Wang Xun's youngest daughter..."

Zhu Changluo was stunned for a moment and looked at him.

Wang An just nodded.

The talent show was organized by Wang An. Since Wang An nodded, he naturally would not admit his mistake.

Zhu Changluo knew that Wang Xun had sent his youngest daughter into the palace to show his loyalty, and he clearly had the attitude of letting the king use her to show his willingness to work hard.

For such a long time, he never mentioned his daughter in front of Zhu Changluo, as if he would not mind even if she died in the palace.

This is absolute prostration before imperial power.

But now his daughter is in such a difficult situation in the palace, Wang Xun must know about it.

Since Zhu Changluo happened to encounter him, he couldn't let him down.

"…How did you end up like this? Your father worked for me, and I still remember his loyalty and diligence. Today, because she punished you too much, I demoted her to a concubine. You don't have to be scared, get up and come to me, and tell me what happened."

Perhaps because she heard him mention her father, Wang Xun's daughter kowtowed and thanked him and walked closer fearfully. Halfway through, tears began to drip down her face, but she held them back and dared not make a sound.

Highlight a pitiful, weak and helpless person.

(End of this chapter)