Zhu Hui blamed the Feng family for not helping him, but he forgot that Emperor Mingzheng was not the kind of emperor who would allow his external relatives to take power and be constrained by others. Otherwise, he would not have supported the Silijian, which had already declined in the previous dynasty, and trained Cheng Ying, this invincible and ruthless knife.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, there were at least dozens of ministers framed and killed by the Imperial Household Department. All the old ministers who were loyal to Crown Prince Zhu Chen met a bad end.
The daughter of their Feng family became the empress, and they were also the prince's in-laws. They seemed to be a royal family with a large number of troops under their control, and they were at the peak of their power.
But beneath the gorgeous surface, it is a situation of scorching heat and treading on thin ice.
If Feng Zheng had not been vigilant and had not held the military power and garrisoned in Pingliang Prefecture for more than ten years without returning to the capital, and if the Feng family had not been cautious and never made any mistakes over the years, the Feng family would probably have ceased to exist long ago.
"It's too late to say these now. Does Your Majesty know the situation outside? Liu Ziqi must be the orphan of Crown Prince Zhu Chen." Feng Yuanqi's main purpose of entering the palace was to discuss the situation outside with Feng Ying. The whereabouts of the second prince Zhu Xun was secondary.
Feng Ying nodded, holding the Buddhist beads and sighing softly: "The palace is now a sieve with leaks everywhere. What happened outside has long been spread all over the place. How could I not know that Liu Ziqi is really the child of Brother Chen...Prince Chen and Feng Xue? I remember his original name was Ah Si, right?"
Feng Yuanqi nodded and said worriedly, "Now the generals have all expressed their opinions under Xiao Ning's instigation. The only one left is our Feng family. My father is far away in Liangzhou and we are cut off from the news. I'm afraid we won't have time to wait for a reply from my father. Little sister, you should make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise when Liu Ziqi takes over the throne and becomes emperor, our position will be very embarrassing."
Feng Ying also thought of this, so today she asked Jiang Fang to invite her brother to the palace for a chat.
"But Your Majesty..." Feng Ying was very unsure. She naturally had no feelings for Emperor Mingzheng, but she was the queen after all, and her son had been the crown prince. Feng Ying always felt that it was impossible for Emperor Mingzheng to go to Xianyang to take the elixir without any preparation and abandon the imperial power that he valued most. She guessed, "Who knows, Your Majesty, what other tricks do you have?"
Feng Yuanqi was very clear-headed. He said, "Even if His Majesty has a backup plan, the current situation is definitely not something His Majesty could have predicted before he went to Xianyang. He is doomed this time. The orphan of the Crown Prince is the legitimate heir in the eyes of the civil and military officials and the people's favorite. The hometown of Lord Liu is in Pingliang Prefecture. His father has been in Liangzhou for many years. He may not have been unaware that Liu Ci Fu rescued the orphan of the Crown Prince."
Feng Ying didn't expect this. If her father had known that Liu Ci Fu had rescued the orphan of Crown Prince Chen and had concealed it for all these years, then her father would most likely have supported Brother Chen's Asi to ascend the throne.
In the past, her father had admired Crown Prince Chen very much. He once said that if Crown Prince Chen succeeded to the throne, Taiyan would be able to prosper for a hundred years. Knowing that she loved Zhu Chen, he also agreed very much.
Unexpectedly, she was later framed by Zhu Kuang and lost her virginity, so she had to marry him. Her father disliked Zhu Kuang very much, saying that he was a hypocrite and good at scheming, and might have the ambition to compete for the throne in the future. Her father saw through that he schemed against Feng Ying just for the military power of the Feng family.
As a result, his words came true. Zhu Kuang killed his father and brother and actually sat on the throne.
Feng Ying's practice of fasting and chanting Buddhist scriptures over the years may be an atonement for her sins. As his wife, she knew about Zhu Kuang's intention to seize power. She had also tried to persuade him, but how could he give up the idea just because of her words?
When she was waiting to be married, she loved Crown Prince Chen and was also very good friends with Princess Huaiyang. Zhu Kuang killed Crown Prince Chen and wiped out the entire family of Princess Huaiyang. If she had revealed a little bit of information in advance, such a tragedy would have been avoided.
But people's hearts are biased. She loved Zhu Chen when she was young. After she married Zhu Kuang, Zhu Kuang's sweet words made her heart gradually lean towards her husband.
"So what should we do next?" Feng Ying had no idea. She looked at her brother and even asked, "What's going on with the Xue family?"
Feng Yuanqi secretly sighed that his sister had locked herself up in the small Buddhist temple in Qiwu Palace for so many years, eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures, and she had become less and less independent. She was not like when she was waiting to be married, because she had learned martial arts from her father since childhood, and on the contrary, she was heroic and carefree. The deep palace was really a waste of time.
"I heard that Yu Qizhe will bring the Book of All People and all the civil and military officials to Liu's mansion tomorrow, saying that the country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and will make every effort to beg Liu Ziqi to become emperor." Feng Yuanqi said, "My Feng family doesn't have to do anything. I will just go there and express my stance tomorrow. But you..."
"I'm in an awkward situation. After all, I'm still Zhu Kuang's queen." Feng Ying took over the conversation.
"That's fine. I've thought about it for you. After Liu Ziqi becomes emperor, you will at most be deposed. I will take you out of the palace and back to the Feng family." Feng Yuanqi said, "Liu Yu is a scholar with a literary character. Liu Ziqi was brought up by him. I've seen that Liu Ziqi acts like the Crown Prince. Although he is more decisive, he is not a ruthless person. Otherwise, Liu Yu would not support such a person to ascend the throne to harm the people."
When Feng Ying heard that she could leave the palace and return to the Feng family, her heart moved. She really hated the life in this palace. If she could still be Feng Ying of the Feng family, she would be more than happy.
"Just do as you say, brother." Feng Ying made the decision, but she was still worried about Zhu Yu, so she told her brother, "Please send people to find Yu'er. I'm really afraid that he is hanging out with Ji Wudao and will end up with his body torn to pieces. I didn't educate my son well, and he became such a good-for-nothing, stubborn, and smart-assed person..."
Even if you feel heartbroken and disappointed, they are your own children after all. No matter how useless they are, no one is willing to watch their own child die.
"Empress..." Feng Yuanqi wanted to say something but stopped. He had heard Jiang Fang talk about the day when Zhu Yu put a knife to Feng Ying's neck, but Feng Ying didn't want to mention it and kept it in her heart. As a brother, no matter how angry he was or how much he felt sorry for his sister, he couldn't say it out loud.
"Okay, I'll ask someone to look for him again." Feng Yuanqi asked someone to check. When Ji Wudao retreated and fled, Zhu Yu did not show up, but it was possible that he was wearing the armor of an ordinary soldier and mixed in with them. But he had a hunch that his stupid nephew might have died.
If he fell into Ji Wudao's hands, Ji Wudao would spare his life so that he could make a comeback and support him to become a puppet emperor.
If he had not fallen into Ji Wudao's hands, he would not have had a good ending, and Liu Ziqi would not have left such a trouble after he became emperor.
Feng Yuanqi had no feelings for his nephew Zhu Yu. Emperor Ming Zheng had planned to have this child because of Feng Ying, so the Feng family also had a bad impression of Zhu Yu. In particular, Zhu Yu was very much like Emperor Ming Zheng. He was narrow-minded, idle, greedy for pleasure, stupid, arrogant, and cruel. He did not inherit any of the bloodiness of the Feng family, nor even the dormant intelligence of Emperor Ming Zheng.
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