In Shengjing, the name Liu Ziqi became known to everyone almost overnight. Zhu Kuang's evil deeds of killing his father and brother and plotting to usurp the throne also became widely known after being vividly reported by storytellers.
The public opinion also changed overnight. Even the farmers who worked in the fields all day long were whispering at home that it would be great if someone else could be the emperor. In recent years, they have been suffocating under the heavy taxes and levies, especially those areas that had been conscripted for labor service, and had suffered from floods, droughts, earthquakes and epidemics. When they heard that Emperor Mingzheng was unconscious, some people even clapped their hands in joy.
Emperor Mingzheng practiced Taoism and sought immortality over the years, and spent a lot of manpower and resources to build Taoist temples. Many men who were conscripted to build the temples were exploited by corrupt officials. They did not have enough food to eat, but had to carry hundreds of kilograms of stones, and their wages were very little. As a result, countless people died. Even those who survived by chance suffered from strain diseases. It was a huge waste of money and manpower. What's worse, some of them were the only male laborer in the family, and the whole family could not even get enough food.
In order to give dominance to Taoism, they sent people to smash temples and kill monks.
Therefore, even the Buddhists recited a few more scriptures in the main hall, watching for the arrival of this great change.
The threshold of Liu's mansion has been almost trampled down these days. All the officials have come to visit, even Shen Tian's disciples are among them. Among them, Xiao Ning has made a great contribution. The public opinion outside is all the result of his secret operation.
In the imperial palace, Jiang Fang led Feng Yuanqi quietly to Qiwu Palace.
"The Queen has been waiting for you in there for a long time. I have sent away all the patrolling guards. I will send you out of the palace in two quarters of an hour." Jiang Fang stopped and said to Feng Yuanqi.
Feng Yuanqi nodded slightly, and a palace servant pushed open the palace door and led Feng to a side hall.
When Feng Ying saw Feng Yuanqi coming in, she wanted to stand up anxiously, but she held herself back and waved her hand to let the palace maids leave.
Feng Yuanqi was about to bow when Feng Ying stood up and said, "We don't have to worry about these empty formalities between you and me. Elder Shen, is there still no news about the Second Prince?"
Feng Yuanqi shook his head: "You have been to Zhaoyu before, do you have any clues?"
Feng Ying had a worried look on her face: "It was because there were no clues that I asked Jiang Fang to find my brother and ask you to help find Hui'er."
Feng Yuanqi: "I asked someone to check. The jailer on duty in Zhaoyu that day was transferred to guard the city. The guarding was very weak. Yu Qizhe must have not lied." His people also found out that Liu Yu's eldest daughter had been to Zhaoyu and was sent back to Liu's house by Yu Qizhe, but this should have nothing to do with Zhu Yu's disappearance.
"The Second Prince is missing. Perhaps he hid himself intentionally after escaping from Zhaoyu, or perhaps he took advantage of the chaos to leave the city. Your Majesty, you don't have to worry too much." Seeing that Feng Ying's face was not well, Feng Yuanqi comforted her.
Feng Ying was extremely disappointed with her son. She had long seen clearly that Zhu Yu was not suitable to be the king of a country. But after all, he was her child after ten months of pregnancy, and she could not ignore his life or death.
Feng Ying sat down on the chaise longue, touched the armrest, and said tiredly, "The capital was in too much chaos those days. When Hui'er was born, you and father advised me not to let him become the crown prince. Now that I think about it, I should have been cruel and not asked for the crown prince position for him."
"Even if Your Majesty didn't want it, the Emperor would still have made the Second Prince the Crown Prince."
Zhu Kuang had just ascended the throne at that time. He was afraid of the military power in the hands of Marquis Dingbei. In order to stabilize the court, he quickly issued an edict to appoint Zhu Yu as the crown prince after Feng Ying gave birth to him.
But a few years later, Zhu Kuang had secured his position and recruited many concubines into his harem. He became increasingly indifferent to Feng Ying and wary of the Dingbei Marquis's Mansion. He tried several times to confiscate the Marquis's military power and even killed many of the powerful officials who had supported him to ascend the throne. Only then did the Feng family see through Zhu Kuang's profit-seeking and suspicious nature.
Feng Zheng immediately asked Feng Ying to ask Emperor Mingzheng to depose Zhu Xun from the position of crown prince, but Feng Ying loved her son so much that she refused.
Feng Zheng did not think highly of Zhu Yu and was unable to persuade his daughter, so he had no choice but to hide in Pingliang Prefecture and be careful in what he said and did. He also ordered the Feng family not to act rashly and told Feng Ying not to be competitive in the palace, so as not to attract attention and end up with her family being confiscated and her family being exterminated.
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