"Your Highness, please go to the left. This is the Jingsi Pavilion." The dean of the college smiled shyly. "The yard next to it is planted with fruits and vegetables. When the students come to school, it will not only help them improve their meals, but also save some money."
Prince Chen glanced at the yard and nodded: "Radish is a good thing, it nourishes the body, and if you can't finish it, you can make dried radish."
"Your Highness has good eyesight, this is indeed a carrot." The dean praised in an almost exaggerated tone: "Your Highness really knows the way of life of ordinary people very well. He even knows these things. He really loves the people like his own children!"
Li En smiled awkwardly. The dean of the college was his classmate. He was pedantic and obsessed with academics, and had not been given a high position in recent years. It is precisely because of this character that His Majesty chose him from a bunch of names to be the first president of Hongwen College.
But it's really not suitable for him to flatter someone, as it's easy to flatter the horse's leg.
"Your Highness, the dean meant that although you live a life of luxury, you still care about the people's basic needs." Li En whispered to make amends for his classmate: "There is no other meaning."
Prince Chen waved his hand: "I understand. Let's go and have a look somewhere else."
After observing the entire academy, Prince Chen praised: "It's well built. Since this is the academy that my father has spent a lot of effort to build, I should also show my appreciation. I will ask my long-time attendant to send three thousand taels of silver over later, so that the academy can purchase what it needs."
"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness." The dean was overjoyed. It seemed that he had a talent for flattery, otherwise how could he have gotten the huge sum of three thousand taels.
He couldn't remember a single word of what people said about the Prince of Chen in the past, and all he could think of was: The Prince of Chen is magnanimous! light and spacious! Be generous!
As soon as Li En and Prince Chen left, he happily pulled out a few large radishes and called the students who had not yet left the door to come in for dinner: "Add meat to the dishes tonight!"
"His Royal Highness Prince Chen is so kind. He not only gave you free paper and ink for copying books, but also donated three thousand taels of silver for the construction of the academy." The dean was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes: "His Royal Highness is a good man."
These poor students were already salivating at the thought of meat. When they heard the dean say that His Highness had privately paid for the paper and ink for them, they all stood up and bowed towards the direction of the imperial palace.
Your Majesty is a good man, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Chen is also a good man.
One student blushed and said, "In the past, I was ignorant and believed others. I thought that Your Highness had...something wrong. I was ignorant."
"People's rumors are scary. You are all scholars. Regardless of whether you can be admitted to Hongwen College in the future, I hope you will remember one thing." The dean looked at these poor students: "Listen to the rumors of the people and think about them. Don't listen to them and believe them."
"Thank you for your teachings, Dean." The students bowed to express their gratitude.
"You are still young. I hope that in the near future, you can become the backbone of Dacheng. Be loyal to the emperor, be worthy of the people, and protect the bright sky above your head." The dean smiled and shook off the mud on the radish: "We scholars must remember one thing until we die, and we must be worthy of our conscience."
The news that Prince Chen donated money to Hongwen College spread quickly. There were fewer scholars scolding the Prince of Chen, and more people praising him. Even in teahouses, among the series of stories about the Overbearing Prince, the most popular one is "The Overbearing Prince Passes the Imperial Examination".
The common people thought that the overbearing prince must have passed the imperial examination himself and knew how difficult it was to be a scholar, so he spent so much money to build a college.
The story is outrageous, but people still like it. Therefore, in teahouses or under overpasses, as long as the storyteller told the story of a tyrannical prince who passed the imperial examination, he would always be surrounded by listeners.
"A fool like Yun Duqing also knows how to please scholars." King Huai listened to the rumors outside and walked back and forth in the study room angrily: "You said that the Ming family would not help him. If the Ming family had not given him advice, with his brain, could he have come up with such a way to win people's hearts?"
The counselor had never expected that the Prince of Chen would dare to use the academy built by His Majesty to build momentum for himself: "Your Highness, Hongwen Academy was built by His Majesty. If the Prince of Chen uses the academy to gain fame for himself, he might end up shooting himself in the foot."
"Shoot yourself in the foot?" King Huai laughed: "Do you think that father will be resentful of him because of such a small matter?"
The counselors were puzzled, isn’t this matter enough to worry His Majesty?
"You can say such things because you have never seen how much the emperor favors Yun Duqing." King Huai snorted and laughed in an ambiguous way: "You don't know him well enough."
On the day when his father ascended the throne, before the coronation ceremony began, he stood outside the Taiyang Palace and saw his father bend down and carry Yun Duqing, who was about to turn eight, on his back, not caring at all that Yun Duqing might wrinkle his dragon robe.
From then on, he was very clear that in his father's heart, Yun Duqing was different from them.
Over the years, he never had a conflict with Yun Duqing, because he knew better than anyone that his father would definitely stand on Yun Duqing's side.
"Then...why don't we follow the example of the King and donate some money to Hongwen College?" The counselor said, "This way we can also gain a reputation for being kind."
King Huai: “…”
That is three thousand taels of silver, not a stone.
There are countless places in the entire palace that need money. How can he spend thousands of taels of silver like Yun Duqing?
"Forget it." King Huai rejected the proposal: "With Yun Duqing in front, even if I follow him to donate money, it won't be of much benefit. Let's forget about it."
When the counselors saw that the prince was unwilling to pay the money, they looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
Just as the advisers of Prince Huai's palace had expected, the news reached the ears of Emperor Longfeng.
"Du Qing has made great progress following Ming Jingzhou, and now he knows how to care for poor students." Emperor Longfeng smiled with satisfaction: "If I had known that he would make such great progress, I should have let Ming Jingzhou be his teacher."
Liu Zhongbao smiled and continued, "Your Highness is about to get married, so things will naturally be different from before."
"The Ming family." Emperor Longfeng sighed. He felt guilty towards the Ming family.
The three brothers of the Ming family were so glorious when they were paraded through the streets on horseback. But in the end, they were thrown into prison because of him, and their entire family was exiled to the frontier.
Not long after the three brothers of the Ming family were exiled to the frontier, the late emperor ordered them to be imprisoned in the palace due to the slander of treacherous ministers.
He himself did not expect that the two years of confinement tortured him but also saved his life. The other princes rebelled and forced the emperor to abdicate, and some died or became disabled. The best outcome for them was to guard the imperial mausoleum.
I wonder what his father was thinking when he passed the throne to him before he died?
"If it weren't for me, Ming Jingzhou wouldn't have been separated from his daughter for sixteen years." Emperor Longfeng regained his composure and glanced at the night outside the window: "Tomorrow is the wedding day of the fourth son and Miss Sun?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Zhongbao replied in a low voice.
He thought that His Majesty would show mercy to the Sun family or the King of Qi, but he waited for a long time and His Majesty did not speak.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Ning requests an audience."
"It's late at night." Emperor Longfeng said without turning his head: "Let Concubine Ning go back and rest early."
"Yes." The young eunuch bowed and exited the palace gate, and walked to Concubine Ning who was waiting outside: "Your Majesty, it is windy today, you should go back and rest early."
Concubine Ning looked at the brightly lit Taiyang Palace and smiled gently, "I understand. Thank you, eunuch, for the message."
She turned around and walked along the long palace road, with the fiery red lanterns swaying in the night wind.
"My queen." Hongmei supported her arm and said, "It's cold at night. Please sit on the sedan chair and let the palace servants carry you back."
"I want to go for a walk by myself." Concubine Ning pushed Hongmei away. She looked up at the lanterns under the eaves and laughed at herself: "My son is getting married tomorrow, but His Majesty doesn't want to see me. He is really heartless."
Su has deceived His Majesty to such an extent that the entire harem is useless because of her.
She hated His Majesty's ruthlessness, and even more so, she hated Su for seducing His Majesty's heart. I wonder all the time when Su and her idiot son will die.
"Your Highness." Bai Shao glanced at Hong Mei who was pushed aside by Concubine Ning, and stepped forward to support Concubine Ning: "Among all the princesses, Miss Sun has the most noble status. If Your Majesty continues to lavishly reward her, the other princes will be jealous of Your Highness."
"You're right." Concubine Ning tightly grasped Bai Shao's hand: "The Wu family girl, the Liu family girl, the Ming family girl, none of them can compare to my son's princess."
Looking at the palm pierced by Concubine Ning's nails, Bai Shao smiled despite the pain: "If His Majesty really disliked Your Highness, why would he arrange for him to work in the Ministry of Revenue. In my humble opinion, His Majesty might be protecting Your Highness by doing this."
The blood on Bai Shao's palm flowed out along Concubine Ning's nails.
The moment Concubine Ning let go of her hand, the cold wind blew across the wound, and Bai Shao curled up her five fingers in pain.
When the Prince of Qi got married, all the princes, princesses and officials in the court went to the Prince of Qi's palace to pay their congratulations. The Prince of Qi's palace was decorated with lights and even the treetops were hung with bright red lanterns. The road outside the palace was crowded with carriages from various mansions, and it was very lively.
When the Ming family's carriage arrived, the traffic was already blocked outside the alley. The visitor who stopped in front of them recognized the Ming family's identity, got out of the car and confessed his crime, and even planned to give up his own carriage.
"Absolutely not." Ming Jingzhou hurriedly stopped the other party from doing so, and bowed with a smile, saying, "This place is not far from the Prince Qi's Palace. In my humble opinion, it would be better to ask the coachman to drive the carriage back, and we will go on foot."
"Mr. Ming is right." The other party glanced at the other carriage of the Ming family and asked, "Are your wife and daughter in the back?"
"That's right." Ming Jingzhou and the other party bowed to each other and said, "Brother, please feel free to do as you please. I will go down and ask my wife and my daughter to get off the carriage."
"Master Ming, please take care." The other party bowed again.
When Madam Ming and Miss Ming got off the carriage, he couldn't help but take a few more glances at them. I saw a girl in a goose yellow dress jump out of the carriage, turn around and reach her hand into the carriage with a smile.
The little girl has a lovely face. When she smiles, she is very attractive and pretty.
It was not until he saw the wife of Minister Ming holding the hand of a little girl as they stepped down from the carriage, and then affectionately helped the little girl adjust the golden hairpin on her temples, that he was sure that this was the future Princess Chen.
No wonder officials from the six ministries were saying that Ming Jingzhou didn't want his daughter to marry into Prince Chen's mansion. Which father would be willing to let such a well-behaved and lovely daughter marry a domineering prince?
"There are so many people." Jiuzhu looked at the carriages that blocked the intersection and said, "With so many carriages, how are we going to carry the bride's sedan chair in later?"
"The Jinwu Guards will come to maintain order soon." Shen was not in a very good mood. She looked at the red silks hanging in the streets and alleys, and her expression looked a little lonely.
"Mother, are you feeling unwell?" Jiuzhu looked at Shen worriedly.
"No." Shen looked at her still ignorant daughter. Does this child really know the meaning of getting married?
"Your uncle wrote to me a few days ago, saying that he will be back in Beijing in about six or seven days." Shen changed the subject: "When your sixth brother Fu asks you to go out and play, don't agree to him."
"Why?"
Shen smiled and said, "Your uncle wants to test him on his studies. I'm afraid he will use you as an excuse to escape punishment."
"Oh." Jiuzhu nodded slowly, secretly planning in her heart that when her uncle came back and wanted to beat Brother Fu Liu, she would go to rescue him.
She is a girl and this is the first time they met, so there is no way that the uncle would embarrass Brother Fu Liu in front of her.
Shen saw through Jiuzhu's plan at a glance, smiled and didn't expose her.
"Mr. Ming, the Minister of Rites, and his wife and daughter congratulate His Highness on his wedding."
When everyone heard the announcement, they turned their heads and looked towards the gate. Officials who were familiar with Ming Jingzhou came forward to pay their respects. After Jiuzhu called a few uncles and aunts, she followed her mother to the inner courtyard where the female members of the family were received.
"Sister Ming." Miss Chen saw Jiuzhu, stepped forward and knelt down to greet Shen, and took Jiuzhu's arm affectionately: "Sisters have been waiting for you for a long time, come and sit with us."
Shen smiled gently as she watched Jiuzhu being pulled away by her sisters, then turned around and sat with the ladies.
"Mingyue Palace Concubine Su sent an envoy to congratulate His Royal Highness Prince Qi on his wedding."
"Concubine Xu of Zhaoxiang Palace sent an envoy to congratulate His Royal Highness Prince Qi on his wedding."
"Yunlai Palace Consort Lü sent an envoy to congratulate His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi on his wedding."
"Sister Chen." Jiuzhu asked Miss Chen in a low voice: "Who is the noble lady Xu Fei of Zhaoxiang Palace?"
Whether it was the Imperial Concubine's birthday banquet or the last time she copied the sutras, she had never heard anyone mention Concubine Xu.
"Concubine Xu is the biological mother of Prince Huai. After His Majesty ascended the throne, she has been fasting and chanting in the palace, rarely appearing in public." Miss Chen whispered, "No one knows what happened. Some people speculate that Concubine Xu did something wrong to His Majesty, but I don't think so."
Jiuzhu looked at Miss Chen in surprise.
"Hush." Miss Chen pulled Jiuzhu to a corner and whispered, "I know you are not a talkative person, and you will marry into the royal family in the future. Some things will not hurt you to listen to them. I will tell you, and you will be more careful in the future."
"Your Majesty's biological mother was not valued by the late emperor and had a hard life in the harem. It is said that she died of a long-term illness without good medicine. So after Your Majesty ascended the throne, he had pity on the women in the harem and specially set up the Palace Department in the harem to prohibit anyone from deducting the food, clothing and expenses of the concubines." Miss Chen sighed, "It's a pity that the Holy Mother Empress Dowager passed away early and did not enjoy the blessing of Your Majesty."
"Then..." Jiuzhu asked cautiously: "What does this have to do with Concubine Xu?"
Miss Chen tapped Jiuzhu's cheek and said, "Because your majesty is the emperor, even if he feels pity for the women in the harem, he cannot tolerate the mistakes of his bedmates. That's why I said that the rumors about Concubine Xu are not true."
"Perhaps Your Majesty doesn't care about many things because she gave birth to Prince Huai?"
"You." Miss Chen smiled and shook her head: "You don't understand men."
Jiuzhu was confused. How could such a simple matter involve men and women?
Master once said that if there are things that you just can’t figure out, maybe the truth is as simple as it seems. It’s just that people always complicate simple things and end up being deceived by their own brains.
As night fell, the bride got out of the sedan chair, and Jiuzhu and the other ladies crowded in the corridor to watch the bride and groom.
Miss Sun wore a phoenix crown on her head, held a fan in her white hands to cover her face, and walked into the inner door gently holding a red hydrangea. The groom, Prince Qi, was holding the other end of the red hydrangea. His bright red groom's suit made his face look a little pale.
"The bride is coming in!"
There were children cheering behind her. Someone pushed her hard, but Jiuzhu, who was holding the railing, didn't move at all.
She turned around suddenly and made eye contact with a little kid.
"You...I didn't mean it." The second young master of the Zheng family squeezed out of the crowd, turned around and ran.
Just after he ran a few steps, he felt his clothes tighten and he flew into the air.
"ah……"
"Shut up." Prince Chen stared at him impatiently: "If you dare to shout, I will make your family's title fall completely!"
The naughty child of the Zheng family looked at Prince Chen with tears in his eyes, not daring to shout again: "You, you can't bully children."
"What's wrong with bullying a kid?" The King put the kid on the ground and sneered, "Ten years ago, I could have kicked away twenty brats like you."
Jiuzhu looked at Prince Chen with admiration, his highness was even more powerful than her.
The naughty child was trembling with fear. He had heard from his family that the prince was very evil and that children who did not sleep well would be eaten by him.
“Your Highness.” Jiuzhu squeezed out of the crowd with difficulty, stretched out her hand, and picked up the naughty child again: “Why did you push me?”
"Let me go, you bad woman!" The naughty child kicked his legs, "I'm going to tell my cousin that you bullied me."
"Who are you going to sue?!" The Prince of Chen knocked the kid hard on the forehead: "With this Prince here, who do you dare to sue?"
The naughty kid finally couldn't bear it anymore and opened his mouth to cry loudly.
"You dare to cry?" Prince Chen crossed his arms and said, "Come here, call the adults of the Zheng family. I like to hear the old and the young cry together."
"Burp." The naughty kid burped and forced the crying sound back into his stomach.
"Don't you understand what people say?" Prince Chen sneered. How dare this naughty child who pretends to be innocent and does bad things show off in front of him? You know, he was the eldest among the naughty kids back then.
"Alright, put him down. I don't believe he dares to run away." Pretending not to notice that Jiuzhu's hand was strong, the King of Chen noticed the cunning in the eyes of the naughty child and continued, "If he dares to run, I will arrest all the Zheng family members and put them in jail."
Jiuzhu put the naughty child down, tiptoed and whispered in the ear of the King of Chen: "Are you really going to put all the members of the Zheng family in jail?"
Prince Chen: “…”
She actually believed what was said to comfort a child?
"You want to put them in jail?"
If Ming Xiaozhu really has this idea, he can try hard and there is hope.
"Then forget it." Jiuzhu looked down at the naughty child of the Zheng family: "You pushed me on purpose just now, I saw it."
"I didn't mean to do that."
"It was intentional." Jiuzhu stood side by side with King Chen: "With such great strength, how could it not be intentional?"
The naughty kid knew he couldn't deny it, so he threw in the towel and said, "I did it on purpose, so what?"
"Who made you a lackey of the evil concubine? Who made you marry a prince who eats children? If it weren't for you, our family wouldn't have lowered our title. People like you are... are..." The naughty child thought of the words he had heard a few days ago: "A jinx!"
When Jiuzhu heard this, he started to roll up his sleeves.
"What are you doing?" When Prince Chen saw that she was angry and wanted to hit someone, he quickly pulled down her sleeves.
"Beat the child!" Jiuzhu rolled up the sleeves that King Chen had pulled down.
"Forget it, forget it." Prince Chen grabbed her wrist and said, "The child is ignorant. It's all because the adults didn't teach him well. I'll take you to bully their parents later."
Jiuzhu struggled twice, and suddenly stopped. She looked at Prince Chen aggrievedly: "But he scolded you and the Imperial Concubine."
Prince Chen was slightly startled, and stretched out his hand to straighten the crooked pearl flower on her temples: "Are you stupid? If you beat a child here, others will say that he is still a child and ask you to let him go."
"What should we do then?"
"Let's find a deserted place and bury him." Prince Chen said lightly, sneering, "Such an annoying child, there is no hope for him."
The naughty child, who had been holding back for a long time, was finally scared and burst into tears.
The King of Qi had just sent his bride into the bridal chamber and was about to receive the guests outside when he saw the eunuch hurriedly run up to him and said, "Your Majesty, something has happened."
"What's the matter?" King Qi frowned.
"The young master of the Zheng family tried to push down the young lady of the Ming family. When he was running away, he was discovered by the Prince of Chen. He then verbally insulted the imperial concubine, the Prince of Chen, and the young lady of the Ming family." The eunuch's shoulders were shaking violently. It was not known whether it was because of fear or because the wind outside was too cold.
The King of Qi sighed and said, "I'll go and take a look."
In the bridal chamber, Sun Caiyao heard what the King of Qi and the eunuch said, and she became even more disgusted with the Zheng family. What else can this family do except cause trouble for the prince?
In the side hall, Prince Chen looked at the Zheng family members who were cowering and not daring to look up: "I thought your family was bold enough to allow servants to make irresponsible comments on the royal family, but I didn't expect that I underestimated you."
"Your Highness, I didn't teach my son well. I beg you to forgive me." Mrs. Pingyuanbo knelt on the ground and begged the prince: "Please have mercy, Ming'er is just a child..."
"Children are ignorant and like to follow what adults say." Jiuzhu interrupted her: "So his words and actions are influenced by you adults."
"That's not what I meant." Lady Pingyuan was panicked: "Even if I had the courage of heaven, I would not dare to say anything bad about the royal family."
After saying that, she pulled her son over and hit him hard twice: "Hurry up and apologize to the prince and Miss Ming!"
"You don't have to put on a show by beating the child in front of me." Prince Chen stood up and said impatiently, "As my fourth brother's relatives, everything you did was to make me unhappy. I don't care whether you acted on your own initiative or were instructed by someone else, I will never let you off lightly for what happened today."
"Fifth brother!" King Qi opened the door and looked at the Zheng family members kneeling on the ground: "Today is my big day, fifth brother, please give me some face and don't let outsiders laugh at me."
"When the Zheng family was plotting against my future princess, they didn't think of saving your face." Prince Chen sneered, "Don't worry, Fourth Brother, I will never misunderstand that you ordered the Zheng family to do this."
The Zheng family's expressions changed.
The King of Qi turned around and looked at Jiuzhu who was sitting next to him without saying anything. He bowed to her and said, "Miss Ming, my fifth brother has always been straightforward. Please persuade him to give up the idea and not make things out of hand. In the end, both of us will be embarrassed."
He could see that Yun Duqing had some special feelings for the girl from the Ming family, and perhaps the girl from the Ming family could persuade him.
"Your Majesty." Jiuzhu stood up and bowed deeply, returning the courtesy to King Qi: "Today's incident was caused by your cousin's plot against a weak woman like me, right?"
King Qi glanced at the Zheng family and nodded slightly.
"Your Highness helped me to seek justice, but was insulted by your cousin." Jiuzhu frowned, as if she couldn't understand the King of Qi's behavior: "So, Your Highness vented your anger for me, but you want me to help you and stop Your Highness?"
"Your Highness, are you kidding me?"
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