Jiajing Chengming

Because it was Laba Festival at that time, Zhu Houcong came to Kunning Palace to celebrate Laba Festival with his queen.

In the Daming Palace, the method of making Laba porridge was to pound red dates and soak them in water a few days in advance, and then add glutinous rice, ginkgo nuts, walnut kernels, chestnuts, and water chestnuts to cook the porridge on the Laba day.

On this day, in the Ming Dynasty court, in addition to cooking Laba porridge, people would also have side dishes such as osmanthus cake, braised pig's head with oil residue, fried lamb tripe, and wine lees clams.

It can be said to be rich.

This is also related to the fact that the New Year is approaching and the capital has an abundant supply of supplies.

Therefore, after entering the palace, Zhu Houcong smelled the strong aroma of porridge and saw that the low table on the kang was filled with sumptuous pastries and meat.

Among these delicacies, the eldest prince and daughter of the emperor, who were brought in by Zhu Houcong, liked the sweet osmanthus cake the most.

After seeing the osmanthus cake, the two children quickly left Zhu Houcong behind, took their short legs and ran over, and then accidentally fell to the ground.

"Slower!"

Zhu Houcong frowned and couldn't help but shout.

Fortunately, the floor was covered with thick Persian carpets, so the two children did not feel any pain from the fall. After being picked up by the palace servants, they pulled the servants, stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks, pointing at the osmanthus cake on the table and asked the servants to take it for them.

Zhu Houcong couldn't help but smile when he saw this, and then after signaling to the empress and others who wanted to salute them not to do so, he sat in a window seat which he usually sat in the Kunning Palace.

After Zhu Houcong sat down, he was looking at the snowflakes that were fluttering outside. He saw the four-year-old eldest daughter Zhu Shouzhen taking the osmanthus cake from the palace maid and putting it in front of her mouth to take a bite. But when she noticed that Zhu Houcong was looking at her, she pursed her lips, took the osmanthus cake and walked to him. She stretched out her little hand, showing the gold bracelet on her chubby wrist, and handed the osmanthus cake to him:

"Daddy, eat cake!"

When Zhu Houcong heard the soft and tender voice, he felt as if he was electrocuted, and he lost his mind for a moment, completely falling into the clear and flawless dark blue eyes of Zhu Shouheng in front of him.

Seeing this, the eldest prince Zhu Zaigui also walked up to Zhu Houcong and followed suit by handing the snow-white osmanthus cake dotted with golden flower grains to Zhu Houcong: "Daddy, eat the cake!"

Zhu Houcong came back to his senses at this time, and said with a smile: "Daddy doesn't want to eat, you eat it!"

Princess Yongning was standing beside Empress Yao at the time. Seeing this, she smiled and said to Empress Yao: "Sister-in-law, Shouxian and Zaixue actually know how to show respect to their brother!"

Yao just smiled and handed Zhu Houcong a bowl of Laba porridge.

"Mother, do you want to eat?"

"Mother won't eat!"

"Auntie, are you eating?"

"My aunt won't eat!"

Nowadays, in ordinary times in the palace, because of the harmonious relationship among people in the harem, Zhu Houcong and his family basically used the same titles as ordinary people, just like in the folks.

The two children started eating on their own after asking their elders.

Zhu Houcong also took the Laba porridge handed over by the empress and asked the empress: "Have the two empress dowagers sent Laba porridge and all kinds of snacks to eat?"

"They were all sent according to the preferences of the two Empress Dowagers."

The Queen smiled back.

Zhu Houcong asked again: "What about the palaces?"

The queen continued, "It has also been arranged, and the Langxia family has also been given a diet according to the rules."

Zhu Houcong said nothing more and just ate the warm Laba porridge with peace of mind.

The Queen and Princess Yongning also started eating. The days are short in the cold winter.

Before I knew it, it was dark.

Because Zhu Houcong had a day off today, he simply did not return to the Qianqing Palace, but slept with the empress in the Kunning Palace.

The next day.

Zhu Houcong had two mutton buns and a bowl of Laba porridge for breakfast, and only after looking at the two little ones who were still sleeping soundly did he return to the Qianqing Palace.

The act of the eldest prince and princess offering food to him yesterday made him feel warm inside, and he also felt that all the things he had done for this world were not in vain.

Even this morning, when he saw these two little guys who looked a bit like him lying quietly in bed, he still felt very satisfied and felt that the world was warm and beautiful.

But after leaving Kunning Palace, the biting cold wind that blew towards him made him suddenly realize that his kingdom could not be said to be completely peaceful.

The storm of reform that I have started for the long-term prosperity of my country is still waiting for me to control it to prevent it from becoming a disaster.

There is no selfish thing in heaven.

The issue of Princess Yongchun's selection of a husband has recently troubled the new Minister of Rites Zhu Xizhou.

Because it was almost the seventh year of Jiajing's reign, but the candidate for the prince consort had not yet been decided. If it was delayed any further, Princess Yongchun would become an "older leftover woman" of this era.

Therefore, Zhu Xizhou did not stay at home to spend Laba Festival with his family yesterday, but came to the Prime Minister Yang Yiqing.

"Prince, what do you think we should do?"

"Your Majesty has made reforms and established regulations. The review of the Yellow Book will be the responsibility of royal relatives such as the Prince Consort Yibin, and the promotion and demotion of officials will be decided based on the results of the review."

"This is naturally a good thing. It allows royal relatives like Prince Consort Yibin to not be supported by the country in vain, but to do something practical for the court."

"But precisely because of this, there were few talented people in the world who wanted to be the imperial consort, and now there are even fewer talented people who want to be the imperial consort. It is clear that they don't want to review the Yellow Book in the future, or they may not want the court to really re-measure the land in the world according to the ancestral system of measuring the land every ten years."

"The princess is increasingly worried about getting married, and our Ministry of Rites is really worried."

After Zhu Xizhou came to Yang Yiqing, he told Yang Yiqing about his troubles.

Yang Yiqing nodded after hearing this, and frowned slightly and said, "Now it seems that we can only ask His Majesty to order that the Prince Consort Yibin no longer review the Yellow Book, or it would be better to continue to let the students of the Imperial Academy review the Yellow Book of Measurement!"

Zhu Xizhou's eyes widened after hearing this, and he immediately bowed to Yang Yiqing and said, "On this matter, we can only ask the Prime Minister to make a petition on our behalf! We in the Ministry of Rites really don't want to select some ugly people for the princess!"

"Don't worry, I will mention this to Your Majesty when I go to the Imperial Study tomorrow."

Yang Yiqing replied with a smile.

On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in the sixth year of the Jiajing reign, when Zhu Houcong came to the imperial study and met Yang Yiqing and Zhang Cong, Yang Yiqing reported to Zhu Houcong the matter of selecting a son-in-law for Princess Yongchun.

"Your Majesty, because the review of the Yellow Book is now led by the prince consort, the talented people in the world are even less willing to participate in the selection of the prince consort, which makes it easier for the royal family to find a good son-in-law. I think it is better to suspend this policy first, so as not to affect the marriage of the princess and the future princess."

This is what Yang Yiqing said to Zhu Houcong at this time.

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "There is no need to do that. I have asked Huang Jin to select twenty young men with good looks and good character from the orphans adopted by Xingming Academy. They will be sent to the Ministry of Rites for selection soon. The wealthy families with ulterior motives in the world want me to hand over the review of the Yellow Book to the Imperial College students who have little influence. This is undoubtedly wishful thinking!"

When Yang Yiqing heard what Zhu Houcong said, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

Zhang Cong also looked up in astonishment, his eyebrows slightly raised. (End of this chapter)