The palace maid was an honest person. Thinking of the emperor's warning, she was so scared that she not only dared not say a word, but also tried her best to cover it up.

But when it comes to having children, Queen Mother Li is an expert among experts. She soon discovered that the palace maid was pregnant.

But Empress Dowager Li was not furious. She was worried about not having a grandson. Besides, there was only one man in the palace, so it couldn't be that Zhang Xianggong did it, right?

So they quietly took her into the secret room for interrogation.

The palace maid then dared to tell the truth, crying that the emperor came to pay his respects that day, while the queen mother was worshipping in the temple, he raped her outside. It was so painful...

Empress Dowager Li was also a palace maid. When she saw the royal maid crying, she thought of her own sadness and fear back then.

Queen Mother Li developed empathy and instead of blaming the palace maid, she expressed deep understanding for her situation and was happy that she had the chance to have another grandson.

The next day, Wanli came to have dinner with Empress Dowager Li.

During the banquet, the Empress Dowager asked Wanli about this matter. He was terrified at the time, thinking that the unknown woman had betrayed him. At first, he refused to admit that he did it.

When asked urgently, he simply remained silent, as if he would never speak.

His attitude of ignoring people as soon as he pulled up his trousers completely angered Empress Dowager Li.

Don't you think that if the Queen Mother puts this matter on the table, she will definitely be sure that he did it. Otherwise, wouldn't it cause a big scandal?

Of course, she would not believe the one-sided words of the palace maid. Who is the Queen Mother Li? How could she do such a foolish thing?

Empress Dowager Li’s confidence comes from the human recorder - "Qijuzhu"!

"Qijuzhu", as the name suggests, is a book that records the emperor's daily words and deeds.

It is said that "in ancient times, the rulers had the historian on the left to record events and the historian on the right to record words, in order to prevent mistakes and serve as a warning to future kings."

Wanli was not a fool, of course he knew about the existence of "Qijuzhu". But he was not panicked at all, because the Ming Dynasty had long since stopped having a special living court, and the Hanlin Academy was responsible for recording "Qijuzhu". Hanlin, after all, were men, so how could they follow him into the inner palace?

However, what Wanli never expected was that what Empress Dowager Li took out was the "Inner Daily Records" recorded by the eunuchs.

The existence of the Neiqijuzhu seriously affected the emperor's quality of life. With someone following him everywhere and someone writing down everything he did, how could he live like this? Even if the emperor got used to it, he couldn't afford to lose face.

Just imagine, a hundred years later, when the historians were compiling the Veritable Records, they would first open the "External Daily Records" and see that the late emperor was concerned about the country and the people, and worked day and night, and they would feel admiration for him.

Then I opened the eunuch's "Inner Daily Records" and saw that, wow, every night was a revelry, one dragon and three phoenixes! Oh, even the palace maids were not spared, and they had sex in the car, and they had a lot of fun... It turns out that the previous emperor's appearance was just an act, and his heart was still very obscene and violent? The majestic image collapsed, and another absurd and tyrannical emperor stood up.

For Emperor Yongle, who tried hard to create an image of himself as a wise ruler, this was absolutely unacceptable. In fact, he was not afraid of being accused of being pornographic or violent, but he was afraid that a blank record of his visits would confirm the rumors that he had been impotent since he usurped the throne...

Therefore, since the Yongle period, the imperial court has abolished the recording of "Nei Qi Ju Zhu". However, as long as it exists, it must have its value. The main function of "Nei Qi Ju Zhu" is to record when and where the emperor slept with which woman or women, so as to prepare for future reference.

Without the original records, with so many women in the harem, once one becomes pregnant, how can we be sure it is a dragon seed, or just a piece of grassland for the emperor?

So the emperors later replaced it with rewards. If a woman slept with him, he would be rewarded with a headgear. If she got pregnant in the future and could get a headgear, he would be considered a dragon seed. If not, he would be sorry, and regarded as a bastard.

Wanli felt that he had nothing to fear because he had not rewarded the palace ladies with headgear. But he did not expect that there was such a disgusting thing as "Neiqijuzhu"...

His head buzzed and he didn't even realize that he was being followed in the palace.

No need to ask, it must have been done by Feng Bao! Thinking that the dead eunuch actually used the methods of the East Factory on himself, Wanli was furious and fell into deep thought...

This is also the main reason why he hated Feng Bao.

No matter what, Wanli couldn't deny it now, so he had to admit tremblingly that he was confused for a moment and made a mistake that all men in the world would make...

Seeing Wanli's distraught look, Empress Dowager Li was worried that punishing him would make the palace maid even more unable to cope with herself, so she advised him kindly: "I am old and have no grandchildren. If she gives birth to a boy, it will be a blessing for our ancestors and the country."

Wanli grunted for a while and said, "But she is just a palace maid."

Empress Dowager Li said with some displeasure: "What is a palace maid afraid of? Women are honored by their sons. Besides, her status is low, you can give her a higher title!"

Wanli had no choice but to confer the title of Concubine Gong on Wang Gongfei. As expected, Concubine Wang Gongfei lived up to Empress Dowager Li's high expectations. On August 11 of the same year, she successfully gave birth to the eldest son Zhu Changluo.

But Wanli, a narrow-minded and extreme person, always disliked and even discriminated against this illegitimate son. At that time, the palace maids were called "Du Ren", so he always called Zhu Changluo "Du Ren Zi". But he never thought about what kind of son he was...

From this point of view, Wanli doesn't seem to be very smart. How can a normal person scold himself?

~~

But the strange thing is that Wanli, who was so unfaithful and heartless, fell in love with Zheng at first sight and felt very happy and comfortable with her.

It is said that she was not as timid as other concubines, who were obedient but dry, which made the emperor uncomfortable. Only this Beijing girl was carefree and unrestrained. She dared to tease and ridicule the emperor, but at the same time she could listen to his confession and relieve his worries.

At that time, Emperor Wanli was in the most depressed period of his life. Zheng gave him great comfort, or even the only comfort. It is said that she would hug him and touch his head when he was sad. This rebellious behavior made Wanli very happy, so he regarded her as a spiritual partner who shared the same breath and shared the same worries, and they were almost inseparable.

Zheng's belly was also very good. In the 11th year of Wanli, she gave birth to the emperor's second daughter, and was promoted to Defei. She was actually ranked above Wang Gongfei, who gave birth to the emperor's eldest son.

In the 12th year of Wanli's reign, Concubine Zheng De, the only favorite in the harem, became pregnant again and was directly promoted to noble concubine. Her status was only below that of the empress, and the gap between her and Concubine Wang Gong became even greater.

Although the second son born to Concubine Zheng died on the same day, this did not affect her position in Wanli's heart. This was entirely Wanli's fault. When she was pregnant, Wanli played with her and hurt her body, which led to the miscarriage and premature death of the second son.

Concubine Zheng was therefore very resentful of Wanli, and Wanli also felt very sorry for her, so he made a private oath with her that if he had another son, he would make him the Crown Prince!

If Zhu Yijun could realize that his oath would ruin his life and even destroy his ancestors' empire, he would never have made such an oath even if he was beaten to death.

But Emperor Wanli was still young at the time and could be blinded by love. In his opinion, who to appoint as the crown prince was his family affair, just like who he wanted to appoint as a concubine, and no one could interfere. Moreover, he originally despised that "Du Renzi", so he made such a promise to Concubine Zheng.

Of course, Concubine Zheng chose to forgive him, took care of her health and fought again. In the 14th year of Wanli, she successfully gave birth to the third son, Zhu Changxun, who was fat and healthy.

Wanli was very happy and couldn't let go of his third son, which perfectly illustrates what "a mother's love is like a child hugging her".

Concubine Zheng took the opportunity to bring up the old matter. Wanli was immersed in the ecstasy of finally getting a satisfactory son, so he said that his words in the past still counted and he would make Changxun the crown prince in the future.

Concubine Zheng was afraid that he would regret it in the future, so she took Wanli to the Dagaoxuan Hall, built by his most admired grandfather, Emperor Jiajing, to the west of the northwest gate of the Forbidden City.

There are incense sticks dedicated to Zhenwu in the hall, and wishes made there are very effective. People in the palace say that this is the true god who protects the royal family.

Wanli and Concubine Zheng burned incense and swore an oath in front of the statue of Zhenwu. Wanli wrote the oath in his own handwriting: "One day I will make the third son Changxun the crown prince." The oath was sealed in a jade box and given to Concubine Zheng for safekeeping. Only then did Concubine Zheng feel completely relieved.

However, Wanli also knew that deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son would inevitably lead to him being criticized by the censors, especially since Zhang Juzheng was still alive at that time. He did not dare to expose his goal too early and was prepared to wait out his teacher who was already terminally ill.

But Zhang Juzheng was Zhang Juzheng after all. From the fact that Concubine Zheng was the only favorite among the six palaces and the emperor's preference for the third prince far exceeded that for the eldest prince, he realized that his student might be thinking of deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son.

Zhang Juzheng knew that if Wanli did this, the Ming Dynasty would inevitably fall into unprecedented chaos. It was even very likely that it would be used by some people who had long regarded the emperor as a thorn in their side, and the country would eventually be in ruins.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng submitted a memorial while ill, hoping that the emperor would appoint the eldest son as the heir apparent as soon as possible, and give up the idea of ​​deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest as the heir apparent as soon as possible.

"Those who dare will be killed, those who do not dare will live", is the motto he gave to Zhao Shouzheng, and it is also his final warning to the emperor!

"I have three virtues: kindness, frugality, and not daring to be the first in the world!" This is another motto of Lao Tzu, which is hung in the bedroom of Wanli's grandfather. Unfortunately, Wanli never took it to heart...

Wanli did not dare to confront Zhang Juzheng head-on, so he used the queen as a shield. He said that the queen was still young and had given birth to a princess, so it was very likely that she would give birth to a legitimate prince. Would he have to depose the crown prince then?

What he said made a lot of sense and Zhang Juzheng couldn't refute it. He wanted to wait two years before talking about it, but he passed away the next year.

After Zhang Juzheng's death, Wanli had no more scruples. Before the Grand Tutor's coffin left the capital, he issued an order to the Ministry of Rites to prepare a ceremony to enthrone Concubine Zheng as Imperial Noble Concubine.

This obvious signal also made the ministers realize that the situation was not good, so they submitted memorials to oppose it.

First, Jiang Yinglin, the Imperial Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, wrote a memorial saying that the Imperial Concubine Zheng was favored for her pregnancy, but the title was too high, "Wasn't it too much for the Empress?" Would it affect the status of the Empress?

Moreover, Consort Zheng gave birth to only the third son of the Emperor. The title of Imperial Consort is second to the Empress Dowager, next to the legitimate wife. But Consort Wang Gong, the mother of the Emperor's eldest son, is ranked below her. Isn't it a reversal of seniority and unethical? Therefore, please first appoint Consort Wang Gong as Imperial Consort, then Zheng, and make the Emperor's eldest son the Crown Princess.

Wanli was extremely furious after seeing this memorial. It is said that his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't hold the pen and almost broke the sandalwood imperial desk. In his opinion, this was interfering in his family affairs! Raping his will!

I can't have the final say when the Grand Tutor is alive, and I still can't have the final say after he dies. Then isn't it the same as if the Grand Tutor is still alive?

So he issued an order to demote her to the position of prefect of a border area. He also issued an order that anyone who dared to obstruct the appointment of a noble concubine or interfere in the affairs of the palace would be demoted and sent to the border!

ps. Two chapters will be posted in a row, and more will be released soon.