Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 167 If I don’t make Annan a county, I would rather die than return!
Zhu Youtang reached out and helped Liu Rushi up: "Talented Lady Liu, did you write this poem?"

Zhu Youtang's tone was majestic and his face was serious.

This made Liu Rushi feel uneasy: "It was written by this concubine."

"You are so brave. It seems you have some complaints against me."

Zhu Youtang lifted Liu Rushi's chin with his hand, with a hint of smile hidden deep in his eyes.

But when Liu Rushi heard these words, she was shocked and actually thought that she had angered Zhu Youtang, and her face turned a little pale.

"I dare not, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"You've already written it down, and you still say you don't dare?"

Zhu Youtang grabbed Liu Rushi's hand and, with some force, pulled Liu Rushi into his arms.

"I cannot forgive this sin."

"I will punish you. Just sleep with me tonight."

"what?!"

Liu Rushi, who fell into Zhu Youtang's arms, froze all over and widened her eyes in disbelief.

Chen Yuanyuan and Dong Xiaowan beside her burst into laughter, and Liu Rushi realized that Zhu Youtang was deliberately trying to scare her.

"Your Majesty, you are so bad..."

Liu Rushi murmured softly and buried her head in Zhu Youtang's arms.

Zhu Youtang laughed loudly: "Let's go, I will stay in your Yonghe Palace tonight."

Zhu Youtang was about to move to Yonghe Palace but was stopped by Chen Yuanyuan.

"Your Majesty, why bother so much? Just rest in Jingren Palace."

"Tonight, I want to go to Zhongcui Palace to have a chat with Concubine Dong."

Chen Yuanyuan smiled and pulled Dong Xiaowan up, leaving Jingren Palace to Zhu Youtang and Liu Rushi.

Zhu Youtang raised his eyebrows in surprise, then nodded approvingly to Chen Yuanyuan: "That's good, Concubine Ning always thinks of me, and I won't treat you unfairly."

By now, Zhu Youtang knew that all this was specially arranged by Chen Yuanyuan.

Although he was holding Liu Rushi in his arms, he loved Chen Yuanyuan more in his heart.

Everything she did always hit Zhu Youtang's fancy and made him happy.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will take my leave now."

Chen Yuanyuan and Dong Xiaowan said goodbye with a smile and left Jingren Palace.

Sitting in the sedan chair on the way to Zhongcui Palace, Dong Xiaowan asked curiously, "Sister Ning, you took the initiative to help Sister Liu this time, and you took the initiative to help me last time."

"Won't you feel bad, sister?"

Chen Yuanyuan touched Dong Xiaowan's head and smiled: "We are all sisters, how can you feel bad?"

"Oh..." Dong Xiaowan nodded, as if she really believed what Chen Yuanyuan said.

But what Chen Yuanyuan thought in her heart was completely different from what she said.

For Chen Yuanyuan, it didn’t matter who slept with her. What mattered was that Zhu Youtang’s heart was with her. That was enough.

She took the initiative to create opportunities for Dong Xiaowan and Liu Rushi to sleep with Zhu Youtang. It seemed that she was helping the two of them, but in fact she was just trying to please Zhu Youtang.

And they were indebted to her, which not only brought them closer together but also established her dominance.

This is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.

The fact that Zhu Youtang nodded approvingly at her just now proved that her efforts today were not in vain.

Being at the center of power, she has come to understand that all the wealth and glory she can enjoy comes from the emperor.

Being able to gain the emperor's long-term favor is the fundamental way for her to gain a foothold in the harem.

She has no dragon heir yet, her foundation is unstable, and she is still a rootless duckweed.

Before she became pregnant and gave birth to a dragon heir, she could only rely on these little tricks to please Zhu Youtang and consolidate her position in the harem.

Chen Yuanyuan touched the sedan chair beneath her and the jewellery on her body. These things were things she could only enjoy after she became Concubine Ning.

She would never allow these things to pass through her hands!
……

Jingren Palace.

Anhe Hall.

Zhu Youtang picked up Liu Rushi and walked towards the bunk bed where Chen Yuanyuan usually slept.

The maids drew down the bed curtains and extinguished the two lanterns.

"His Majesty……"

Liu Rushi cried out softly, her thin dark eyebrows twisted together, and she grabbed the quilt beneath her with both hands.

Although it is not yet the beginning of spring, the room is already filled with spring colors.

The next day.

Zhu Youtang put on his clothes with the help of Liu Rushi and the palace maids.

Afterwards, Zhu Youtang held Liu Rushi's hand and whispered instructions.

"Rest for the next few days. I will come to see you more often later."

Liu Rushi blushed slightly and lowered her head in response.

When Zhu Youtang pulled Liu Rushi to sit down for dinner, Chen Yuanyuan and Dong Xiaowan also came.

So this breakfast became a breakfast for four people.

It’s funny that the first time Zhu Youtang stayed in the harem, he had sex with Liu Rushi on the bed in Jingren Palace.

After Zhu Youtang finished his breakfast and left Jingren Palace, Liu Rushi suddenly performed a half-boo to Chen Yuanyuan.

"Thank you, Sister Ning, for your help yesterday."

Chen Yuanyuan was surprised and helped Liu Rushi up: "Sister, what are you doing? We sisters don't talk about this."

Liu Rushi's eyes moistened: "If it weren't for my sister's help, I don't know how long I would have to wait before..."

At this point, Liu Rushi glanced at Chen Yuanyuan, then lowered her head, her cheeks slightly red. "Sister Ning, I'm so sorry that I made your bed dirty."

Chen Yuanyuan took Liu Rushi's hand and sat down, chuckling, "It's okay, we all got here this way..."

……

A few days later, a group of people appeared outside the capital. They were Wang Yue, Wang Zhi and others who came from Anlu and were about to go to the capital to meet the emperor.

After Wang Yue brought his family into the city, he arranged for his wife and children to stay in an inn.

With excitement, he immediately followed Wang Zhi to the palace to meet the emperor.

In the Forbidden City, Wang Zhi walked into the Hongde Hall first, saluted Zhu Youtang, and then informed the people outside the hall that Wang Yue wanted to see him.

Zhu Youtang immediately ordered: "Prince Xuan Yue will come to see me, and someone will summon Gao Shun and Liu Jin to come to the palace to see me!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Wang Zhi left Hongde Hall, he first sent someone to the Xishan military camp to invite Gao Shun, and then took Wang Yue into Hongde Hall and came in front of Zhu Youtang.

Wang Yue looked at the young emperor sitting on the dragon throne, his heart filled with excitement, and he bowed deeply to Zhu Youtang.

"I, Wang Yue, pay my respects to His Majesty!"

Wang Yue had been dismissed from office and exiled to Anlu by the previous emperor. Not only was he stripped of his title, but his official status was also completely reduced to the lowest level.

Now he is neither a noble nor a court official, he can only be called a commoner.

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said, "No need to be polite."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After hearing Zhu Youtang's words, Wang Yue stood up.

Zhu Youtang looked at Wang Yue in front of him and felt some emotion in his heart.

Every emperor of the Ming Dynasty fought against the civil officials.

There were winners and losers during this period, and there was an emperor who held great power and could kill or bring death upon civil servants at will.

There were also emperors who became puppets and obeyed the orders of civil officials.

The civil service had the upper hand most of the time, but they paid a heavy price.

That was the powerful official of the Ming Dynasty, who did not have a good end.

From Hu Weiyong, Yang Shiqi, and Yu Qian at the beginning, to Yan Song, Xia Yan, and Zhang Juzheng later... none of them had a good ending.

But the late emperor really did his best to protect his trusted ministers.

Although both Wang Zhi and Wang Yue were deposed and exiled by the previous emperor in the 19th year of Chenghua.

But it was also because of this that they stayed away from the vortex of power and were not liquidated by others after the death of the previous emperor.

Wang Zhi became the only eunuch among the four most powerful eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty who died a natural death.

The other three powerful eunuchs, Wang Zhen was forced to commit suicide, Liu Jin was tortured to death, and Wei Zhongxian was given white silk.

It is precisely because of the late emperor's arrangement that Zhu Youtang still has people available.

Otherwise, Wang Zhi would definitely not have survived until Zhu Youtang came to power and would have been forced to death by those civil servants.

Zhu Youtang looked at Wang Yue and said, "Wang Yue, do you know why I summoned you to the capital?"

Wang Yue answered loudly: "Your Majesty, I have heard it from Lord Wang."

"Annan is in chaos again. Your Majesty wants to reestablish Annan as a county!"

"I am willing to serve Your Majesty and lead the army to conquer Annan, to recapture Annan and make Annan a county!"

"Okay! That's your generosity that I want!"

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "It just so happens that there is a vacancy for the Right Censor-in-Chief in the Censorate, and you have served in the Censorate for many years, so I will promote you to the position of Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate."

"I will appoint you as the Governor-General of the Southwest, in charge of all military affairs in the Southwest, and do your best to conquer Annan for me!"

The vacancy of the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate can be traced back to the murder of the previous emperor last year.

The previous Right Censor-in-Chief, Yang Qiao, was implicated in the murder of the previous emperor and was executed by Zhu Youtang. Since then, the position of Right Censor-in-Chief has remained vacant until now.

Now, Wang Yue just fills this vacancy.

After hearing this, Wang Yue was so excited that he trembled all over, even his voice was shaking, and he quickly knelt down to thank the emperor and accept his orders.

"Your Majesty, I bow to thank you for your grace!"

"If I cannot take Annan, I would rather die than return!"

After seven years of exile, Wang Yue was finally employed by Zhu Youtang and returned to the court.

At this moment, he felt mixed emotions, a sense of sweetness after bitterness.

Zhu Youtang nodded with satisfaction and said, "After you conquer Annan, I will not only restore your title, but also restore the official positions of your three sons who were stripped of their titles."

"real?!"

Wang Yue was moved and his face was full of shock.

I originally thought that being able to restore my official position and title would be enough to make me happy.

But unexpectedly, Zhu Youtang actually wanted to restore the official positions of his three sons.

Wang Yue was really grateful to Zhu Youtang for treating him so well.

"I thank your majesty for his grace!"

"Your Majesty has shown great favor to me. I am deeply grateful for your kindness. I am willing to die for you to repay your kindness!"

In fact, Wang Yue’s eldest son Wang Chun and second son Wang Shi both followed their father in battle and made military achievements.

In addition to Wang Yue's help, they also fought hard for their official positions.

Zhu Youtang allowed them to resume their posts because he wanted to train his own direct military generals.

Wang Yue's third son, Wang Hao, was indeed promoted to a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard because he was only eight years old at the time.

Just at this moment, a young eunuch suddenly came in to report.

"Your Majesty, Gao Shun, the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Commandery, and Liu Jin, the Director of the East Factory, request an audience."

"Inform them to come in."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Soon, Gao Shun with a resolute face and Liu Jin with a fawning face walked into the Hongde Hall and came to Zhu Youtang to pay their respects.

"General Gao Shun pays respect to His Majesty!"

"Your servant Liu Jin pays respect to His Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)