Xiao Yuanzi took in Zhang Zhennan's complicated and painful expression and couldn't help but laugh.
He said, "Master Zhang, why haven't you thanked me yet? You look so dull and stupid now, not at all like the sharp-tongued you were when you tried to persuade the Empress not to monopolize the Emperor."
Zhang Zhennan's scalp tingled. "Eunuch Yuan, has the Emperor been enraged?"
Xiao Yuanzi said, "Don't be nervous, Master Zhang. Although the Emperor saw you trying to persuade the Empress clearly from a distance, he didn't get angry."
He said this on behalf of the Queen, but the Queen did not go to complain. The Emperor saw it himself.
He then continued.
"Because the Emperor thinks you are right, Master Zhang. Since he has three wives and four concubines, how can he favor only one person?"
"This is not good. It's really not good."
"So, seeing that you, Lord Zhang, are so aware of this, the Emperor has ordered that you be the first to be punished. From now on, no civil or military official in our Daning Dynasty can favor one person over another!"
"From now on, if anyone feels that it is inappropriate for the Emperor to favor the Empress alone, please follow the methods of Lord Zhang's residence."
"Those who, like Lord Zhang, favor a concubine and neglect their wife, should return to their wives' rooms until they give birth to legitimate children. As for those who favor their wives and do not want concubines, the Emperor will reward them with a few more beauties so that they can also experience the joy of being equally blessed."
Xiao Yuanzi said this slowly, looking at Zhang Zhennan who was already sweating profusely.
"Master Zhang, please tell the other lords what I just said. This is also the emperor's intention. If you feel that the backyard is empty and boring, you can go to the emperor and the empress. Our emperor and empress are compassionate and will definitely make your lives more colorful."
Zhang Zhennan rested his forehead on the ground. He had just showered, and his underwear was soaked with sweat again!
The emperor is even more insidious than when he intimidated his ministers in previous years!
But none of them dared to protest.
Are they allowed to worry about the emperor's harem all day long, and the emperor is not allowed to sympathize with his ministers and care about their affairs in the backyard?
Today the emperor is using him as an example to scare the monkeys, and the court will probably be quiet for another six months.
No one dared to bring bad luck to the emperor and empress anymore.
"Your Majesty, I will obey your Majesty's orders."
Zhang Zhennan closed his eyes and accepted his fate.
Compared to Zhang Zhennan's desperate mood of living a life worse than death, Mrs. Zhang was almost fainted by the pie that fell from the sky!
She looked at Xiao Yuanzi in surprise, then kowtowed to express her gratitude very quickly!
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, I bow to thank you for your grace!"
As she knelt with her forehead against the ground, hot tears welled up in her eyes and wet the ground.
Ever since Concubine Zhu gave birth to a bastard's son, she relied on the support of her son and the love of her husband to not take her, the wife of the main wife, seriously at all, and always found fault with her and went against her.
Unfortunately, she only had the status of the principal wife and no real power, so she could not suppress Concubine Zhu.
The power to manage the Zhang family is in the hands of her mother-in-law, who values Concubine Zhu, who gave birth to a bastard, even more than she does. She has no way of asking her mother-in-law for justice.
And the only husband she could rely on was also partial to Concubine Zhu and the illegitimate son. Even if she complained to him, he would just lightly reprimand Concubine Zhu and then turn around and advise her, as the principal wife, to be more magnanimous...
The situation of her and her daughter became increasingly difficult, and they were almost isolated and helpless in the mansion.
The legitimate wife and daughter of a wife live a life not as comfortable as that of a concubine and a concubine's son.
Other families still have their natal families to rely on, but her natal family, her father, who was once a fourth-rank official, has passed away, and her brother is a good-for-nothing. Now, at the age of forty, she is still addicted to alcohol and women, and has only reached the level of a scholar. She has no one to rely on.
She had thought that perhaps within three or two years, she would be killed by the increasingly rampant Aunt Zhu, and her daughter, without her protection, would also die tragically in the mansion. The mother and daughter would only be able to reunite in the underworld and cry bitterly.
Unexpectedly, the emperor would suddenly ask Eunuch Yuan to deliver this oral order!
With the emperor's words, no one in the Zhang Mansion dares to harm her anymore!
After all, the emperor said that if she unfortunately passed away, Zhang Zhennan would have to resign from his official position and go home to guard the body for ten years!
No matter whether it was the biased mother-in-law or Zhang Zhennan himself, no one dared to let anything happen to her!
From now on, they have to pamper her well. Even if she has a minor illness, they will be scared and rush to call a doctor for her. They are more afraid of her death than she is!
At this moment, her gratitude to the Emperor and the Empress reached its peak.
Although the emperor taught Zhang Zhennan a lesson to vent his anger for the empress, this time he actually protected her and her daughter.
She will always remember this kindness!
My daughter will remember it forever!
...Tai Chi Hall.
Zhu Wuhuan was holding a chess manual in his hand, reading it until he was drowsy.
I'm so bored. I really want to read a novel.
What's so good about this chess game? I feel dizzy...
She glanced at Feng Changye who was reviewing memorials at his desk. Seeing that he didn't notice her, she rested her chin on her hand and looked at him secretly.
Oh, how stupid.
As an emperor, you should enjoy life. Why do you live like a hard-working worker?
If she became an empress in the future, she would delegate power to several important ministers and assign them the hard work of reviewing memorials every day.
After they have finished reviewing it, she will just have to go through it again.
Tsk tsk, as an emperor, one should be open-minded and let smart and capable ministers work hard for the world, and she just needs to be responsible for keeping those smart people in check.
"..." Feng Changye listened to her inner voice and became more determined not to let her become the queen.
With her lazy personality, how can she be a queen?
She will hand over the country to those ministers!
When it was getting dark, Xiao Yuanzi came back from outside the palace.
After paying his respects to the two masters, he described to them the matter of going to Zhang's mansion to convey the oral order.
Especially how ugly and desperate Zhang Zhennan's face was. After his vivid description, Zhu Wuhuan and Feng Changye were very happy!
Should!
Those bastards who can't even hold their own morals upright but keep an eye on other people's affairs all day long deserve to be beaten like this!
Let’s see if he will meddle in other people’s business again in the future!
Seeing that his two masters were happy to hear what he heard, Xiao Yuanzi was happy too.
He added, "I find Madam Zhang quite pitiful. She's clearly the principal wife, but her clothes are all old patterns from two years ago, and the hairpins on her head have lost their luster. The old lady of the Zhang family treats the principal wife like this, and she's not afraid of being called mean and petty by outsiders."
He boasted, "The Emperor's oral order today is simply saving Madam Zhang and her daughter from suffering!"
Feng Changye stretched his sore wrist and asked him, "How can a wife like you live such a miserable life? Doesn't she have any family to rely on?"
Xiao Yuanzi said, "Your Majesty, Madam Zhang's father, Lord Luo, passed away seven years ago. Madam Zhang's brother, Luo Zhiyuan, is a good-for-nothing. Now he's over forty years old, still just a mere scholar, indulging in alcohol and women all day, ruining Lord Luo's good reputation..."
Zhu Wuhuan originally listened to the master and servant talking about Madam Zhang as if it were gossip.
But when she heard the name Luo Zhiyuan, she was stunned.
Luo Zhiyuan?
An acquaintance!
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