At the hour of Yin, palace maids entered the hall and lit the candles. As soon as the lights came on, Zhu Yu woke up. He sat up and the palace maid brought him a cup of tea to rinse his mouth. He got up from the bed and stretched out his arms to let people dress him.
"Are all the ministers waiting outside the Meridian Gate?" Zhu Yu asked a young eunuch.
The young eunuch whispered guiltily, "Xiao Yunzi just came back to deliver a message. Maybe it's still early, and we haven't seen any ministers coming yet."
Zhu Yu's face was filled with anger, and he said in a hateful voice: "Well, they all neglected me! After today, I will settle old scores with them one by one!"
The young eunuch shrank back in fear, but when he saw that Zhu Yu had no intention of taking his anger out on the palace maids, he continued to help Zhu Yu tidy up his robe with trembling fingers.
But he was too early to be relieved. Zhu Yu waved his hand away and kicked him, venting: "Why are you still wearing clothes? None of them have come. Do you want to sit alone in the Fengtian Hall and wait for them?"
After kicking him, Zhu Yu still felt unsatisfied, so he grabbed the gilt and jade waist belt at hand and hit the young eunuch hard.
The young eunuch was sweating profusely from the pain, but he dared not cry out. Having served Zhu Yu for a long time, he knew that if he cried out, he would be beaten even more severely.
The eunuchs standing by did not dare to say a word. Ever since Zhu Yu was deposed, his temper became more and more unpredictable. The old man who had followed him when he was in the Eastern Palace had also been severely beaten.
Zhu Yu stopped beating until he was tired and spat, "You weakling!"
Asking someone to carry the young eunuch who was lying on the ground away, Zhu Yu suddenly said, "Go and call the commander of the Imperial Guard, Jiang Fang, over here!"
The eunuch took the order and left, but soon returned empty-handed. He knelt down and said, "Commander Jiang said he had to inspect the palace defenses, so I dare not leave my post without permission."
Zhu Yu was furious after hearing this and laughed angrily, "Okay, okay, you all don't take me seriously. Go and tell him that if I have to ask my mother to come to you, can you order him around?"
The eunuch left again, and after a while, he finally invited Jiang Fang over.
Zhu Yu looked down at him and said sarcastically, "Commander Jiang is hard to invite."
Jiang Fang cupped his hands and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Although the emperor is not in the palace, I still shoulder the responsibility of guarding the safety of the palace. I dare not neglect my duty. I wonder what the second prince wants to do?"
Zhu Xun put on the airs of a former crown prince and said, "Take your men to knock on the doors of Prime Minister Shen and Second Minister Liu's residences and invite them into the palace to attend the court."
Jiang Fang frowned and said bluntly: "My duty is to guard the imperial city. I'm sorry I can't obey your order."
Zhu Yu narrowed his eyes and threatened, "Do you really need me to invite the Queen Mother to come and have her personally give the order before you are willing to do it?"
There was a look of displeasure in Jiang Fang's eyes.
Zhu Yu immediately said, "I know that you were planted in the palace by Marquis Dingbei to protect my mother. Since you are a member of the Feng family, you should obey my orders!"
Jiang Fang suppressed his discomfort and said coldly, "General Feng only told me to protect the queen when necessary, and did not tell me anything else. I am powerless to deal with matters outside the palace. Second Prince, please seek help from someone else."
Zhu Yu sneered and told the eunuch, "Go and ask the queen mother to come over."
The eunuch glanced at Jiang Fang in embarrassment, but Zhu Yu had already kicked him and said sternly, "What? I can't order you around anymore?"
The eunuch had no choice but to follow the order and invite Empress Feng.
Zhu Yu walked up to Jiang Fang, raised his hand and slapped him on the face in a very humiliating way, and said harshly: "Since Feng Zheng asked you to protect my mother's life, then if I put a knife on my mother's neck, will you be obedient?"
Jiang Fang clenched his hands at his side into fists: "Second Prince, are you crazy? That's your mother!"
Zhu Yu shouted, "Mother? She is indeed my mother, but she is not worthy of the title! Where was she when I was imprisoned and punished by my father? Where was she when I was looked down upon and stepped on by others? Where was she when I was suppressed by that bitch Xue Rong and could not turn over?"
He approached Jiang Fang and laughed crazily, "Let me tell you, she will always stay in her cold palace that looks like a graveyard, eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures, beating her wooden fish and chanting Amitabha, and she will not care about her own son!"
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