Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 261 The Second Pillar of the Zhu Family

After looking at Shen Li for a long time, Zhu Changluo just stood up and turned to walk towards the Qianqing Palace.

"Yutai, please go back to the warm room to think about it first, and then we can go to the Yangxin Palace to talk after your shift."

It was almost dusk after the shift ended. Should we just have a chat or give him a meal to keep him here?

The four of them bowed and Shen Li knelt on the ground, watching with them the emperor's healthy back disappear behind the screen beside the throne.

"Brother Zhonghua."

Tian Le went over to help him first, but Ye Xianggao was a step behind.

Shen Li held his official hat in one hand and supported his thigh with the other hand and slowly stood up. He pursed his lips tightly, and his white beard from the temples to the chin trembled slightly.

At this time, Wang Xijue sighed and said, "Brother Zhonghua, you should calm down first."

"...Yuan Yu is seventy-four, Shao Qin is seventy-three." Shen Li nodded slightly to Tian Le, looked at Ye Xianggao again, and then held up his official hat and slowly walked south. "I am seventy-seven. I am old, really old..."

The four people looked at Shen Li's back with complicated expressions.

Not only did he refuse to resign, he also actively planned to arrange these attractive official positions.

Isn’t it precisely because of this that the incident caused such a big fuss in the court?

After looking at each other in bewilderment, Ye Xianggao first bowed to the three elderly ministers, and then quickly chased after them.

"Tian Shumi, you are now outside the situation, what do you think?"

While walking, Wang Xijue suddenly asked.

Zou Yi, the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department, was still behind him, but Wang Xijue's voice was not small.

Tian Le answered in a calm voice, not too small, "The Privy Council is responsible for military affairs."

It’s not quite an answer, but it’s kind of like an answer.

Zou Yi looked at the backs of the three old prime ministers as they slowly walked south through the corridor, with some confusion in his eyes.

He walked over and stopped at the door leading to the Silijian courtyard. He looked south again and saw Ye Xianggao saying something to Shen Li with his head down.

After Shen Li shook his head, he parted ways with Ye Xianggao and walked towards the west.

Zou Yi suddenly remembered that the warm rooms of the Censorate and the Privy Council were on the west side of the Fengtian Hall, while the Jinxian Court and the Shizhi Court were on the east side.

Tian Shumi is the one most trusted by Your Majesty. When he said that, did he mean that Shen Yutai had forgotten his full-time job at the Inspection Office?
……

At this time, Zhu Changluo had already walked out of the back door of the Fengtian Huangji Hall and was walking down the stairs.

After passing the gates on both sides of the Huangji Hall, the concave square in front of the Qianqing Gate is still there. However, the Longzong Gate and the Jingyun Gate have been changed into tower gates on the brick wall, and the original Longdao Pavilion is now like a small corner tower, facing the small corner tower to the north of the Jingyun Gate.

Behind the palace walls on both sides of Qianqing Gate, there was another layer of wall, with a single eaves on the top. Between the two eaves, a space of three feet and three meters high was left.

Now, several guards can be seen standing on duty at that location.

In the west corner tower, the one who commands the Yongwei on duty at Qianqing Gate today is Qin Liangyu's younger brother Qin Minping, a captain of the Yongwei battalion; in the east corner tower, the one who commands the Tianshu guard on duty at Qianqing Gate today is Zhang Shenwu, who holds the title of third-rank commander-in-chief of the Tianshu battalion, is the actual deputy captain of the Tianshu battalion, and is the first martial arts champion to be awarded through the palace examination in the Taichang period.

The Yongwei Camp and the Tianshu Camp each normally dispatched a general flag with a total of 100 people to guard the Qianqing Gate, which also reflected the new strength that Zhu Changluo had accumulated over more than six years.

Under the gaze of Qin Minping and Zhang Shenwu, the emperor's back disappeared inside the Qianqing Gate.

"Go and get ready. I will go to Wansui Mountain after I change into my regular clothes."

"Yes."

After Liu Ruoyu responded, he went to the Imperial Stables first and found Cao Huachun.

Cao Huachun was born in the 17th year of the Wanli reign and entered the palace at the same time as Liu Ruoyu.

Liu Ruoyu is now a popular eunuch with a promising future. Cao Huachun has studied in the inner study for a long time and is also proficient in poetry, calligraphy and painting, which makes Wang An like him.

He had just been promoted to be the keeper of the Imperial Stables. Wang An obviously wanted him to gain some experience in the Imperial Stables and then use him again in the future.

Liu Ruoyu told him that the emperor was going to Wansui Mountain, and the next thing was for Cao Huachun to arrange for the eunuchs from the Imperial Stables to accompany him.

Whenever the emperor went to Wansui Mountain, he would travel light with a small entourage. Five guards from the Yongwei Camp and Tianshu Camp were selected from each camp, plus two from the Silijian and ten strong eunuchs from the Imperial Horse Bureau to carry the imperial sedan chair and other items.

The emperor usually did not ride in the imperial sedan chair.

Not long after, Zhu Changluo set off.

When passing by the back garden of the palace, he saw Concubine Li Liu Yi and Concubine Shu Fan Sirong playing with Zhu Changluo's eldest daughter and second son.

In the past three years, Zhu Changluo had four more children. The eldest daughter was born to Concubine Shu in April of the fourth year of Taichang, and the second son Zhu Youzhu was born to Concubine Li in November of the fourth year of Taichang. The two are now about the same age and can play together. When Zhu Changluo saw them, he waved and said, "Second Zhu, come with Dad to Wansui Mountain to watch them do experiments."

"Yeah."

Erzhuzi, who was not even three years old, ran over happily. Zhu Changluo grinned and sent Liu Ruoyu away, holding him in his arms. He then looked at his eldest daughter Zhu Runling, who was covering her mouth with displeasure and said, "It's dirty and messy over there, go find your brothers and sisters to play with."

"They can't speak, and they can't walk!"

The third son and the second daughter were both born last summer. Zhang Juzheng's granddaughter, Rong Fei Zhang Shuangmei, gave birth to a son, Zhu Youcai, and Xiupin Zhang Fu gave birth to a second daughter, Zhu Runfang. Both were less than one year old, and Zhu Runling was of course not happy to play with them.

The eldest son, Zhu Youjian, has now begun his enlightenment, with Zhang Sixiu first teaching him to recognize words and practice calligraphy at Ciqing Palace.

Seeing that her daughter wanted to talk, Fan Sirong scolded her, "Runling!"

After that, she pulled her and bowed to Zhu Changluo, saying, "Your Majesty, please take my second brother with you. I will take Ling'er to learn painting."

Zhu Changluo nodded, then lifted Erzhuzi and sat on his neck, propped up his two little hands and said, "Let's go!"

Liu Yi took two steps after him and said, "Your Majesty, this is disgraceful..."

"It's okay..." Zhu Changluo had already walked away.

Fan Sirong looked at their backs, then turned around and looked at Liu Yi deeply: "Your Majesty really likes my second brother, my sister is so lucky..."

"..." Liu Yi pursed her lips and said nothing, then sighed, "I would rather Your Majesty not be like this."

Liu Yi, who was the most innocent, simple and lively back then, has now matured a lot, with a hint of sadness between her brows.

The emperor was stricter with his eldest son, but he was always so disrespectful to his own sons. Liu Yi was naturally worried.

Zhu Changluo was asking, "Erzhuzi, are you still going to watch them build the machine?"

"Machine! Machine!" Zhu Youzhu clapped his hands on his shoulders.

Zhu Changluo grinned.

He liked the second child, of course, because the second child had been very good at playing in the mud in the garden behind the palace since he was a child.

Later, Zhu Changluo accidentally discovered that he really liked to tinker with some small devices sent to Concubine Li's palace, such as the table clock that has been researched, improved and mass-produced by the Qianji Factory, which has been established under the Zongminghao relying on the original Imperial Supervisor team.

Zhu Changluo doubted whether he was the real Zhu Youxiao. After all, his body belonged to the old Zhu family. Things like genes...

But anyway, he is the second pillar now.

The emperor took his second son to Wansui Mountain, just as he had done in the past two or three years.

Time passed little by little. After the release, Shen Li still held the official hat in his hand and went to the Qianqing Gate to report.

Zou Yi, who stayed here, took him to the Lu Ren Zhai of the Yang Xin Palace to wait, and Shen Li waited until dark.

Sitting quietly inside, he looked downcast and his eyes were bleak.

The tea on the square table next to him had long gone cold. The emperor asked him to go to the Yangxin Palace for a chat, but he made him wait here for nearly an hour.

This is also a kind of attitude.

He was just about to get up and say goodbye to Zou Yi and go back. After all, the emperor was not there, and it would not be good to stay in the harem area after nightfall.

Even though he was really old, seventy-seven.

At this time, the emperor's voice came: "I've been waiting for a long time."

Shen Li walked out of Lu Ren Zhai and saw the emperor coming towards him. He wiped the sweat off his face and was still breathing heavily.

The air is filled with heat and the vigorous breath of young people.

After a while, Liu Ruoyu ran in from outside.

"Your Majesty, this is..."

"I forgot the time when I went to Wansui Mountain, and hurried back when it was almost dark." Zhu Changluo walked forward, "Serve the meal, and chat while you eat. Please sit on the imperial platform for a while. I will go wash and change clothes first. I have been running all the way."

After hearing these words, Shen Li couldn't help but feel relieved.

It didn't seem like he was being deliberately neglected.

Shu Boqing's words made sense: although the imperial court did not allow the second-rank and above to be recommended, the Censor-in-Chief also participated, but Chen Jian was still selected by His Majesty as the Grand Official. If His Majesty was really afraid of and dissatisfied with the behavior of the Inspection Office, why didn't he select Wang Yingjiao, who was recommended by Wang Xijue?

(End of this chapter)