Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 209 The Emperor Visits Zhang's Mansion
After his father punished Empress Li Xi, Zhu Youxiao often wondered if he had summoned the courage to ask his father to visit his mother, perhaps she wouldn't have died of depression. This sentiment reached a peak after his father brought Empress Li Dong, once the least favored, from Jingyang Palace to Qianqing Palace, almost turning into self-doubt and even self-blame.

Therefore, upon partially understanding Zhang Shirui's current situation, he immediately thought of his own mother. He believed his father, angered by Zhang Tianshi's disobedience, was venting his anger on Zhang Shirui, intending to quietly force this poor woman, who had done nothing wrong, to death through house arrest, cold treatment, and external pressure. He projected his guilt towards his mother onto Zhang Shirui, whose situation was strikingly similar, and took decisive action.

Upon learning that his father had no clear intention to kill Zhang Shirui, he breathed a sigh of relief and immediately suggested that his father release Zhang Shirui from Beijing. He believed that by leaving Beijing, Zhang Shirui would understand his father's intentions and avoid any undue speculation, and would be free from the high-pressure environment where she was constantly exposed to negative news. In this way, Zhang Shirui would not die.

In other words, Zhu Youxiao had always been thinking from his own perspective or speculating on Zhang Shirui's emotions. As for what Zhang Shirui really wanted, he didn't know and had never thought about it.

"When the Tianshi Mansion was under siege, Zhang Shirui submitted a request for an audience with the emperor to the palace through the eunuch who delivered food to the Zhang family. How much silver was this request for?" Zhu Changluo looked at Wang An.

"Two hundred taels." Wang An thought for a moment and replied.

"I ignored her and didn't return the two hundred taels to her. This was for her own good. The reason I ignored her was because she came to see me just to ask me to spare her father. I wouldn't agree to her, so there was no reason for me to see her. Rejecting her in person or returning the money to her would be pushing her to death." Zhu Changluo felt that he was still very gentle.

"After the Zhang residence was rescued, she submitted that petition. It was Wei Chao who brought it directly to the palace." Zhu Changluo figured out a point he had never considered before, and chuckled softly, "Ha. It's a good thing it was Wei Chao who brought it to the palace, otherwise this simple-minded woman wouldn't have had any room for maneuver."

Zhu Youxiao's expression changed a little. He began to realize that Zhang Shirui's situation was different from her mother's, but it just looked like that.

"Zhang Shirui first went to the Ministry of Rites, but they ignored her. Then she went to the Ministry of Rites, but of course they didn't respond either. She finally stumbled upon Wei Chao, who was there to summon Xu Guangqi to the palace. Out of kindness, Wei Chao brought the memorial to the palace," Zhu Changluo had asked, thus gaining a general understanding of Zhang Shirui's process. "Whatever the reason, both the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Civil Affairs were effectively helping Zhang Shirui. If the memorial had gone to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it would have gone through the cabinet process and then to the Ministry of Rites. I'm afraid Beijing would have already taken action before Nanjing even started."

"Does Beijing also have any relationship with the Zhang family?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"Maybe there is, maybe not. Even if there is, it shouldn't be much. After Longqing, the influence of Taoism in Beijing has not improved much, and the Taoist priests who were once very popular were killed. Alas! This is not the point of the matter. The point is whether Zhang Xianyong is sick or not. It is generally unknown in Beijing. Do you think everyone is as well-informed as the palace?" Zhu Changluo patted Zhu Youxiao's head gently.

"For the palace, whether Zhang Xianyong was sick or not was unimportant. The palace could assume he was sick or not. From the beginning to the end, the palace's attitude was to delay, delaying Zhang Yingjing's marriage and Zhang Yingjing's succession to the throne. The North and South Jinyiwei and even the Western Depot surrounded Zhang's mansion and Tianfei Palace in the name of protection, not confinement. Maintaining this state of confusion could drag on. But for the censors in Beijing, whether Zhang Xianyong was sick or not was very important."

"Hasn't Lu Xian'an and Duke Wei already made things clear?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"What right do they have to bring this up? Do they have the right to investigate? Were the Nanjing garrison troops surrounding the Tianfei Palace? Officially, those two impeachment letters are just speculation. The Nanjing Jinyiwei could bring this up, but the Western Depot has already warned them, so they don't dare."

If the Nanjing Jinyiwei dared to disobey even the imperial order, Zhu Changluo would have to change his agenda and strike hard at the Nanjing Jinyiwei as soon as possible. If the factory guards disobeyed the emperor's orders, this was far more serious than the issue of official brokers.

"I don't want Zhang Xianyong to die, but officials led by Lu Xian'an and Xu Hongji do. ​​But their speculations are not conclusive." Zhu Changluo paused and asked, "But who is Zhang Shirui?"

"Zhang Xianyong's daughter." Zhu Youxiao murmured.

"That's right. If Zhang Shirui's memorial were made public, it would be tantamount to confirming that Zhang Xianyong feigned illness and did not attend court, deceiving the emperor. The censors in Beijing would surely jump up and launch a large-scale impeachment against Zhang Xianyong. Her words of 'taking the blame for her father and dying to fulfill her filial duty' were well written, but no one would listen." Zhu Changluo shook his head regretfully.

Wang An interjected at the right moment, adding, "It was a common practice in the Ming Dynasty to implicate her in the crimes committed by Zhang Xianyong. Sparing her is a mercy from His Majesty. Let me be frank, Zhang Shirui was never qualified to die in Zhang Xianyong's place. Zhang Yingjing could, but Zhang Xianyong probably wouldn't agree."

Zhu Changluo nodded slightly at Wang An. He then continued, "If the Western Depot hadn't surrounded the Tianfei Palace, and the Beijing censors had impeached Zhang Xianyong, the southern authorities would still have spoken up for him. But now, the southern officials, who are so closely associated with the Zhang family, are anxious to see if they can't cleanly dissociate themselves from him. They simply want Zhang Xianyong to die with the secret. Far from offering any help, they're actually adding insult to injury."

"In that case, father is protecting Zhang Shirui?" Zhu Youxiao no longer knew what expression to use to deal with such a situation.

Zhu Changluo neither nodded nor shook his head. He just said calmly: "To be honest, I have never thought about it. I neither protect her nor vent my anger on her. I suppressed the matter, not for her, nor for the Zhang family, but for the overall situation. You think Zhang Shirui is a good person, so you pity her and want her to ask me to give her a way out. Of course I can agree to you. Besides, I have never thought of killing her. But what she really wants is forgiveness from her father and brother. It is for the Zhang Xianyong branch to be preserved." Zhu Changluo remembered it wrongly here. Zhang Yingjing was not Zhang Shirui's elder brother, but Zhang Shirui's younger brother.

"But Zhu Youxiao, do you think I should give it to her?" Zhu Changluo could have avoided telling Zhu Youxiao about this. He felt that simply letting Zhang Shirui go would satisfy Zhu Youxiao's psychological needs. But what Zhu Changluo wanted was not just a compassionate heir.

"Your Majesty, I understand." Zhu Youxiao suddenly felt exhausted and longed for a deep sleep. "The Zhang family is now caught between a rock and a hard place. Zhang Xianyong's vacillating, hypocritical behavior has cost him his moral integrity. Furthermore, the actions of the Western Depot have dismantled the Zhang family's network of connections in the south. Unless the palace protects him, Zhang Xianyong's branch is doomed. But protecting him would mean ignoring both the facts of Zhang Xianyong's disobedience and the Zhang family's involvement in the south. It would also mean destroying a valuable card the Zhang family could play at any time. Your Majesty, do I understand correctly?"

"That's the question, but what's your answer?" Zhu Changluo nodded heavily and said, "I promise you, no matter what your answer is, I will satisfy you."

Even though he knew Zhang Shirui's situation was different from his mother's, Zhu Youxiao still felt she was very likely to commit suicide. Her state of pent-up resentment, of enduring it all alone, was all too similar to his mother's near death. But in the end, he said, "Father, you're right. Let's do it."

------

The next day. The fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the last day before the government made copies.

Liu Yirong was up just after the morning hour. He had risen so early because he, along with Han Yu, Xu Guangqi, and Zhou Jiamo, wanted to see Sun Ruyou one last time. The next day, the Ministry of Personnel would make a copy and deliver the official document transferring Sun Ruyou to Nanjing as a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

After washing up, Liu Yirong left home. Just as he was about to get into his sedan chair, he saw a large sedan chair coming in his direction. Since there were no other mansions nearby except his own and the Zhang family across the street, Liu Yirong subconsciously assumed that the sedan chair was coming to visit him. He waited a moment, and then saw the sedan chair heading towards the next intersection without looking back. Liu Yirong scratched his forehead in embarrassment, bowed, and got into the sedan chair, saying to the bearer, "Let's go to Lord Han's residence first."

"Okay!" The sedan bearers responded in unison and worked together to lift Liu Yirong up.

The sedan chair circled Zhang's house twice, and only stopped at the door of Zhang's house when Liu Yirong's sedan chair completely disappeared from sight.

"Didn't we just arrive? Why are we going around in circles again?" The sedan stopped and Zhu Changluo walked out.

"If I hadn't circled around, I would have bumped into Lord Liu if I had gotten out of the sedan chair directly," Wang An answered honestly. "And I circled around twice."

"Liu Yirong, where is he going?" Zhu Changluo stretched and said casually.

"We don't know yet. But we'll know tonight." Wang An added, "How about sending someone to follow him now?"

Before the disbanding of the old East Depot, the Imperial Guard would compile a daily log of the whereabouts of civil officials of the third rank and above, as well as military officers, and report it to the East Depot. After the disbanding of the old East Depot and the reestablishment of the West Depot, this information was transferred to the West Depot. However, both the West Depot and the East Depot remained under the control of the Imperial Household Department.

Generally speaking, these records were useless and were merely archived. If someone was found to be plotting treason, the Imperial Guard would simply request an imperial decree to arrest them. Only during investigations would the records be dug up, either to confirm something or to frame someone.

"Forget it. He can go wherever he wants." Zhu Changluo walked to the door, put on a smile, then grabbed the door knocker and knocked hard.

Not long after, a doorman, about ten years old, came to open the door and asked, "Who are you? What brings you to the Zhang Mansion?"

"My last name is Zhu, and I've come to the Zhang residence to pay my respects to your master," Zhu Changluo said. Zhu Changluo received a satisfactory answer from Zhu Youxiao, but he felt that Zhu Youxiao's emotional state was not right. After all, Zhu Changluo was not Zhu Youxiao's master, and after careful consideration, he could not come up with any answer. So, he decided to go to the Zhang residence to see what was wrong with Zhang Shirui, a woman who wanted to understand what Zhu Youxiao wanted.

"Okay, please wait." This was the first time the doorman had seen someone visit since he was hired by Zhang Shirui. Therefore, he didn't even take the visiting card and immediately turned around and rushed back to report the news.

"Miss!" The doorman called out in a neither loud nor soft voice at the door of Zhang Shirui's room.

"What's wrong?" The person who answered was Ding Baiying.

Zhang Shirui ultimately couldn't escape Ding Baiying's clutches. Her martial arts skills were completely different from Ding Baiying's. At the Lantern Festival yesterday, she'd pushed and shoved her, driving Ding Baiying mad. With a single backhand, Ding Baiying locked Zhang Shirui's wrist and carried her back, giving her no chance to resist.

The doorman was not surprised, because he knew that Miss Ding did not return to her own room yesterday, but spent the night in the young lady's room.

"A Mr. Zhu said he wants to visit the master of this mansion. Do you want to see him?" asked the doorman.

"Mr. Zhu?" Although Zhang Shirui didn't think she had ever met a Mr. Zhu in Beijing, she said, "Please wait in the living room for a moment. I'll go change into my Taoist robes. Don't forget to serve tea."

"Okay." The doorman responded.

"Why did you change into a Taoist robe? Doesn't this outfit look good?" Ding Baiying asked.

Zhang Shirui turned her head away. "Humph!"

Ding Baiying was not provoked, but still said: "How can you be so ungrateful?"

"I'm a Taoist nun, so of course I have to wear a Taoist robe when meeting guests." Zhang Shirui took off her green outer garment, then picked up a wide, gray-black Taoist robe and put it on. "If you can't stand it, leave now. I won't keep you."

"Girl, I like people like you who say one thing and mean another." Ding Baiying said as he tied the belt of Zhang Shirui's Taoist robe.

Soon the two of them came to the reception room together.

Zhu Changluo never stood up to greet anyone in his work or reception environment. Even the former masters of Ciqing Palace, everyone's first reaction upon seeing him was to kneel and kowtow. Over time, he'd grown accustomed to it. Therefore, even when Zhang Shirui and Ding Baiying approached, he simply sat there and drank his tea.

Zhang Shirui thought the visitor was a bit rude, but she still bowed politely and asked, "Who is Mr. Zhu?" Zhu Changluo's appearance had changed drastically, and he no longer had the affluence he had a few months ago, so the two of them didn't recognize him at all. Instead, they felt that the old man standing next to Zhu Changluo looked familiar.

(End of this chapter)