Chapter 15: Skipping Class
After the birthday banquet for Empress Dowager Zhang, Jin Ying was demoted from the Imperial Household Department and transferred to the Imperial Household Supervision Department. This immediately vacated the position of the Imperial Household Department's Chief Eunuch. Wang Zhen was eager to take on the role and immediately spoke well of Zhu Qizhen, hoping that Zhu Qizhen would quickly appoint him as the Chief Eunuch.
Zhu Qizhen naturally had no choice but to agree. Although Jin Ying could be said to be loyal in his work, he also often gave words of advice. How could he compare to Wang Zhen who was obedient in everything?
Wang Zhen was finally able to hold his head high and feel proud. He threw away his original cautiousness and acted even more domineeringly towards the palace servants below him, and in his heart he was sharpening his knife against Jin Ying.
When the palace people saw that Wang Zhen had actually squeezed out Jin Ying, who had served several emperors, they all began to flatter Wang Zhen. There were countless eunuchs who came to him and wanted to be his godsons, and Wang Zhen accepted them all, experiencing what it meant to have a house full of children and grandchildren.
While excited, Wang Zhen did not forget his top priority. In addition to quickly building up his own power in the palace, he also had to find a way to get rid of Jin Ying as soon as possible.
He understood better than anyone that not removing the root of the problem would only bring future trouble. Jin Ying was capable, but not close enough to the emperor. Who knew if he would return one day? Therefore, he had to find a way to kill Jin Ying, lest "the fire burns wildly, only to spring up again."
Everyone was aware of his little thoughts, but Empress Dowager Zhang did not want to argue with Wang Zhen because Wang Zhen was loyal to Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Qizhen was somewhat dependent on him. As long as Wang Zhen was in the position of the Imperial Household Department, the emperor would be able to handle government affairs normally and would not be lazy.
Moreover, Zhu Qizhen has now officially left the palace to study. According to the previous wishes of Zhu Zhanji when he was alive, and after consultation with Empress Dowager Zhang and the cabinet, five people, Yang Pu, Miao Zhong, Gao Gu, Ma Yu and Cao Nai, were selected as Zhu Qizhen's lecturers to teach him various principles every day. Empress Dowager Zhang also often checked Zhu Qizhen's homework, believing that her grandson would not be easily fooled by Wang Zhen under the proper imperial teaching.
At worst, there is Princess Shunde Zhu Yuhuan by his side, and with the imperial edict of Empress Dowager Zhang, she will surely be able to restrain Wang Zhen.
"How's it going? Can you ride it now?"
Zhu Qiyu sat on the horse and said obediently: "I should be able to do it a little bit. I will try it myself. Don't worry, big sister."
Zhu Yuhuan nodded to the eunuch in charge of the imperial stables next to him. The young eunuch who was originally in charge of leading the horse stepped aside. Zhu Qiyu held the reins tightly and rode the horse forward carefully. The eunuchs stayed beside him to prevent anything from happening to the Prince of Qing.
Although Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Qiyu were brothers, one was an emperor and the other a vassal king, so the content of their studies was naturally different. Not to mention that the two brothers had a good relationship. If they studied together, I am afraid they would only play together and delay their studies.
Not only were the lecture times staggered, but even the courses for practicing horse riding and archery were separated. Zhu Qizhen was taught by Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu, while Zhu Qiyu was completely taught by Zhu Yuhuan.
It just so happened that Zhu Youtong and Zhu Hanjia had to stay in the palace on weekdays, so Zhu Yuhuan took this opportunity to take Zhu Youtong and Zhu Hanjia out for a walk.
Zhu Yuhuan was not worried about his sister, but was a little worried about Zhu Hanjia.
Previously, Zhu Hanjia borrowed Taoist scriptures from Zhu Yuhuan to read. Later, it was reported that the Sun family was searching everywhere for a daughter of the same age as Zhu Qizhen to enter the palace. Zhu Yuhuan could vaguely guess that Zhu Hanjia probably had a conflict of ideas with her mother, so she suddenly borrowed the scriptures from her.
Although Zhu Yuhuan himself was a Taoist priest in name, he was not very interested in Taoism. He usually read scriptures mixed with Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Dao.
Going to Shao Yizhen to discuss Taoism is nothing more than learning some fortune-telling skills, or discussing alchemy and pharmacology, or at the very least practicing a few sets of boxing to exercise the body.
Zhu Hanjia was completely different. She looked so serious when she was discussing things with Zhu Yuhuan that Zhu Yuhuan was a little afraid that his sister was really planning to cultivate and become an immortal.
In fact, there is nothing wrong with loving to cultivate immortality. What Zhu Yuhuan is worried about is that Sun Tai will cause trouble for him later.
"Jia Jia isn't going to go horseback riding?"
Seeing Zhu Yuhuan approaching him, Zhu Hanjia shook his head and said, "No, my second sister brought me here today."
Zhu Youtong was combing the hair of his mount not far away, and he did not forget to collect the horse's mane. I don't know what he was going to do with it.
Zhu Yuhuan heard a hint of alienation in her words, but did not take it to heart. After all, there was a certain age gap between them. When Zhu Yuhuan was in school, Zhu Hanjia was still a babbling child, and they had almost no common topics.
Zhu Yuhuan thought for a moment and then asked, "How are you reading those scriptures I borrowed from you? What are your thoughts?"
Zhu Hanjia lowered his head and whispered, "I'm stupid. I've been looking at it for so long but haven't gained anything..."
Zhu Yuhuan looked at his half-sister for a long time, and finally asked, "Jia Jia, I don't want to pry into your thoughts, I just don't want you to get stuck in your own trouble."
Zhu Hanjia lowered her head for a long moment. Then, gazing into Zhu Yuhuan's eyes, which always sparkled, she whispered, "I've heard mother tell me many things about Big Sister. She's been incredibly intelligent since she was young, and she was my great-grandfather's favorite. She's a master of both civil and military skills... There's no princess like Big Sister in the royal family. How did Big Sister dream of becoming one?"
In this era, whether princesses or common women, most of them lived the same kind of life, a life whose end could be seen at a glance. There might be some bumps in the process, but the results were almost the same.
Zhu Yuhuan looked at her sincere and pious expression, like a student asking questions to a teacher he trusted.
As Hu Shanxiang said, if you know too much, you will feel despair about the world.
It’s like a person who has been running for a long time, but finally finds that only his own world is round and flat. He can only watch others do what they want, while he will never be able to break the veil above his head in his entire life, and can only indulge in or be forced to indulge in this world.
Zhu Yuhuan couldn't tell her about his past. She thought for a long time, and finally said sincerely: "Jia Jia, I was born earlier than you, and I have seen more people and things. If you were born in such an environment, you would also force yourself to move forward."
Zhu Hanjia actually knew very well that although her mother and herself always only talked about her elder sister's achievements, she also knew very well that serving the king was like serving a tiger. The difficulties her elder sister had gone through were all overshadowed by the glory and honor, but she had vaguely caught a glimpse of it.
Because of this, Zhu Hanjia didn't have the courage to do so. She knew she didn't have that kind of determination, and she would never be able to match her in her lifetime, standing in the shadow of her elder sister, but there was another voice in her heart.
Is it only possible to be praised like the elder sister or other princesses?
Zhu Yuhuan met her misty eyes, and after a long time he said, "Jia Jia, there may be standards in this world that determine what is good, bad, and excellent, but we have no standards." She thought for a moment, reached out and picked up Zhu Hanjia. Zhu Hanjia was a little panicked for a moment, but she also knew that Zhu Yuhuan would not hurt herself, so she had to keep her body stiff.
Zhu Yuhuan had her horse brought over and had Zhu Hanjia sit on it. She held the reins and paced around the field with Zhu Hanjia. She said, "You feel constrained by the scale because you've placed yourself within it, but the scale can change depending on the situation. Just like now, do you still think I'm tall?"
Zhu Hanjia looked at Zhu Yuhuan. This time, she only saw the bun on Zhu Yuhuan's head. She shook her head, then realized that Zhu Yuhuan couldn't see her movements, so she said, "No..."
"That's it." Zhu Yuhuan smiled slightly and said, "Standing in my standards, you will feel panic, but why do you want to come into my standards?"
Zhu Hanjia's heart trembled, and he finally understood what it meant to "awaken a person from a dream with a single word."
She looked at Zhu Yuhuan's back, and then she understood why Zhu Yuhuan could still understand those Taoist scriptures so clearly even though he had only flipped through them a few times.
The elder sister’s “Tao” is not in the books, but in her heart. It is a Tao that others do not have.
Zhu Yuhuan didn't know what she was thinking, so he just said, "Tongtong never feels inferior to me. She always thinks she is the most powerful person in the world."
Thinking of how Zhu Youtong usually showed off himself happily, Zhu Hanjia finally couldn't help laughing.
Zhu Yuhuan heard her laughter and then continued, "So don't put yourself in the same standard as Empress Sun."
Zhu Hanjia was slightly stunned when her secret was exposed, and couldn't help but ask in a lost voice: "Big sister, do you think you know?"
Without turning around, Zhu Yuhuan could already imagine Zhu Hanjia's surprise. She couldn't help but smile and said, "The time I've spent with Empress Sun is almost as much as the time you've spent with her." She tilted her head slightly, glancing at Zhu Hanjia with her peripheral vision, and said, "You can only measure yourself by your own standards. Why put yourself into someone else's shoes?"
Zhu Hanjia felt that the world before her eyes seemed a little mottled. She lowered her head, watching the water droplets fall into her mane, and whispered softly, "Thank you, big sister..."
Before Zhu Yuhuan could say anything, Zhu Youtong came running over with a comb in his hand and said, "I told you, I haven't combed your sister's quenched hair yet."
Zhu Yuhuan quickly reached out to Zhu Hanjia and lifted her off the horse, saying helplessly, "Why are you collecting so much horsehair?"
Zhu Youtong rolled her eyes, a sly look on her face as she said, "Well, you'll know later." She seemed oblivious to the remaining tear marks on Zhu Hanjia's face. She glanced around and asked, "Why did you only bring Jiajia? Where's Xiaoyu?"
Zhu Yuhuan then remembered Zhu Qiyu. She turned around and saw two pairs of rabbit ears with wings on the platform not far away. She felt helpless and said, "Let's go, the emperor is coming." She informed the eunuchs not far away and asked them to quickly inform Liu Yongcheng and Fan Hong.
Zhu Youtong uttered a cry of surprise, stood on tiptoe and looked around, saying, "Why didn't I see it?"
The three sisters walked to the edge of the stage. This time, Zhu Youtong saw everything clearly and couldn't help but ask, "Shouldn't Your Majesty be attending a lecture in Wenhua Hall at this time? Why are you here in the Imperial Stables?"
Zhu Qizhen finally stuck his head out, leaning on the railing with one hand, and said with a grin, "Of course he ran away secretly."
Zhu Qiyu was accompanying him. When he heard Zhu Qizhen say this, he looked at him in surprise and asked, "Run away? Is it still possible to run away?"
Zhu Qizhen was very proud and puffed out his chest and said, "Of course I can." After saying that, he was still eager to try, obviously intending to pass on his "experience" to Zhu Qiyu.
Seeing that Zhu Qiyu seemed to have listened, Zhu Youtong hurriedly said, "Xiaoyu, if you skip class, both Mother and Empress Wu will be very sad."
She couldn't just stand by and watch Zhu Qiyu being led astray by Zhu Qizhen!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Qiyu quickly said, "I...I just want to listen!"
Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but hold his forehead and said, "No wonder grandma doesn't let you two brothers study together."
Zhu Qizhen is too opinionated and self-centered, while Zhu Qiyu is easily influenced by others. If the two of them were to hang out together, it would most likely be Zhu Qizhen who would take Zhu Qiyu out for fun.
The five brothers and sisters sat under the eaves. Zhu Yuhuan glanced at the young eunuch beside Zhu Qizhen and said to him, "Your Majesty should also send a message to the lecturers, otherwise they will be extremely worried and search the whole palace for you."
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "What is there to worry about in the palace? If thieves were allowed in so easily, the people in the Imperial Stables should apologize to me."
Zhu Yuhuan then asked, "Your Majesty, have you informed Wang Dayong of your hasty arrival?"
Zhu Qizhen said as a matter of course, "Mr. Wang is busy reviewing documents in the Imperial Household Department, so of course he didn't know I was coming." He felt a little itchy and said, "Sister, the lecturers have been teaching late these days, and I haven't ridden a horse for several days. Let me rest for a while."
Zhu Yuhuan said helplessly: "I'm afraid it's too late."
Liu Yongcheng and Fan Hong hurried over and saluted Zhu Qizhen. Seeing that the two men were still breathing hard, it was known that neither of them had expected that Emperor Zhu Qizhen would come secretly.
"Get up." When Zhu Qizhen saw Liu Yongcheng coming, he knew that others would probably arrive soon. He curled his lips in disappointment and said to Liu Yongcheng and Fan Hong: "Didn't I tell those little eunuchs not to inform you? Who disobeyed my orders and even dared to disclose the whereabouts of the emperor?" The implication was that he wanted to punish the so-called "leakers".
Both of them looked embarrassed, except Zhu Yuhuan who coughed.
Zhu Qizhen finally understood and added, "Forget it this time. There won't be a next time."
Zhu Yuhuan then said, "If Your Majesty feels that the workload is too heavy, you can just summon Mr. Dan'an to discuss it. Why bother coming out here yourself?"
Zhu Qizhen said seriously: "When my father was alive, he also went to Yang Shiqi's house in disguise. Why can't I do the same?"
Zhu Yuhuan felt unusually tired. At this moment, she resented Zhu Zhanji even more than when he was alive.
Dad, take a look at what you have taught us through words and deeds.
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