"I pay my respects to Your Majesty." Empress Zhang came before Zhu Youxiao and bowed gracefully.

Zhu Youxiao stood up directly, walked to Empress Zhang with a smile, reached out and helped her up, and said gently: "Hurry up, there is no need for this between us."

Empress Zhang smiled sweetly, stood up and said softly, "The proper rules must be followed."

"You!" Zhu Youxiao reached out and touched Empress Zhang's small nose, then took her little hand and walked to the side to sit down.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Empress Zhang with a questioning and smiling look in his eyes. "Baozhu, why are you here today? Is there something going on? We seem to have just separated this morning. Could it be that you missed me?"

Hearing this, Empress Zhang glanced at Zhu Youxiao and said shyly, "I would love to be with Your Majesty every moment, but Your Majesty is the emperor and is busy taking care of the people of the world. I dare not delay Your Majesty's work. As long as Your Majesty does not forget me, that's all."

"How could that be? I will come to see you often." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Now tell me, what are you here for today?" Zhu Youxiao actually knew what Empress Zhang came for, but he just didn't want to say it. Some things you know but you can only pretend not to know.

Empress Zhang glanced at Zhu Youxiao, a pleading look on her face as she said, "Your Majesty, my father came to the palace today and wanted to resign from his position in the Imperial Household Department. There are simply too many things to do there, and they are too big. He simply cannot handle it."

"He hasn't done much these years. He's just been studying at home all day. He's never held any official position, and he hasn't even run a business. Now that His Majesty has asked him to take charge of such a big thing, how can he handle it?"

Although Earl Taikang did not ask Empress Zhang to say these words, Empress Zhang still felt that it was more appropriate for her to do so.

Let my father quit his job, so that even if something happens, he will not be implicated.

With the Empress of the Ming Dynasty like herself, her family would definitely have no worries about food and clothing and would be extremely wealthy. There was no need for her father to get involved in the muddy waters of the court.

So Empress Zhang decided to push the matter off on behalf of her father.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Empress Zhang with a strange expression on his face.

Zhu Youxiao didn't expect Empress Zhang to say this. Hadn't she already promised her father? Why did she change her mind when it came to me? How could this be possible?

Reaching out and holding Empress Zhang in his arms, Zhu Youxiao looked at the lovely girl in front of him with a hint of inquiry and asked, "This is a good thing, why are you talking about it as if it's a bad thing? Did you encounter something? Talk to me. Is there anything that can't be solved? Don't you still have me here?"

Empress Zhang sighed helplessly. She didn't know why His Majesty was so insistent.

Although she didn't know why His Majesty was so insistent, Empress Zhang always felt that something was wrong this time, which was why she had to help her father turn down the job in the Imperial Household Department.

However, looking at His Majesty's current condition, I'm afraid it won't be possible, so we can only settle for the next best thing.

So Empress Zhang recounted the entire story from beginning to end about how the civil officials and nobles had threatened her father.

After hearing Empress Zhang's words and sensing the slight grievance in her voice, Zhu Youxiao flew into a rage. He stood up and shouted, "These people are truly lawless. They actually dare to lay hands on such places! That's my Imperial Household Department!"

Zhu Youxiao turned to look at Empress Zhang and said softly, "Go back and tell the emperor's father-in-law not to be afraid. I will take charge of this matter for him."

He seemed to remember something and pulled Empress Zhang to comfort her, saying, "Don't worry too much. Nothing will happen."

Looking at her Majesty, whose brows were filled with tenderness, Empress Zhang nodded gently, smiled softly and said, "I thank your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand disapprovingly, raised his eyebrows and said, "This is for my sake. If anything goes wrong, it will naturally be my responsibility to resolve it. You don't have to think too much about it. Just go back and wait with peace of mind. There will be good news soon."

After hearing what Zhu Youxiao said, Empress Zhang nodded and said, "Then I will go back first."

As she said that, she stood up and walked outside.

Watching Empress Zhang leave, the gentleness on Zhu Youxiao's face turned cold the moment he turned around. He said expressionlessly, "Tell me, what happened?"

Chen Hong, who was standing behind Zhu Youxiao, took a step forward and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, this is what happened..."

Then Chen Hong told Zhu Youxiao what had happened, emphasizing the matter of Empress Zhang and Wang An.

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao laughed first.

Is this like someone giving you a pillow just when you're dozing off?

The Queen did a good thing.

Zhu Youxiao then said to Chen Hong, "You should handle this matter. Don't make any mistakes. Go to a few families and reprimand them. Then have the cabinet draft an imperial edict and circulate it to all officials, explaining this matter and telling them that anyone who dares to do this will be severely punished."

"When selecting families, select a few from the civil service, and a few from the nobles and relatives of the nobles. As for the punishment... let's just fine them a year's salary."

This is not a matter of money, but a matter of shame.

The families that Chen Hong approached were all prominent figures. Especially with the civil servants, there were things everyone could do, and this kind of intermediary work wasn't uncommon in the officialdom. It was quite common.

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