Chapter 18: Praying to God and Buddha
Princess Shunde's memorial was sent to the capital, and Empress Dowager Cihui's health gradually improved. It could be considered a good thing, but the turmoil caused by this incident did not subside easily.
After all, Princess Shunde herself did not mention the cause of her coma in the letter, and the report from the imperial doctors who arrived in Yunnan had not yet been reported back to the capital. Even if Zhu Qizhen was reluctant, he had to face the officials' questions.
But what he wanted to do was not anything else but to "whitewash" Wang Zhen.
The reason is simple. Wang Zhen is indeed the one who knows how to understand the emperor's thoughts best. Compared with other eunuchs who always act in a way that is inappropriate, Wang Zhen is still able to clearly understand his position.
Not to mention that Wang Zhen himself promoted relatively few relatives, and often recruited officials in the court who were loyal to him into his account. In this way, the adverse effects of "collusion" among relatives could be reduced.
Of course, the most important point is that this matter has now been thrown on Zhu Qizhen's head, and Zhu Qizhen has only two choices.
Either he had to compromise with the officials and cut ties with Wang Zhen, bringing him to justice and showing that he was a fool who was deceived by a villain, or he had to stand up and confront these officials who dared to challenge him, demote them or even hold them accountable, in order to demonstrate his authority.
After weighing the two options, it is obvious which one Zhu Qizhen should choose.
It's better to be known as a bad guy than a stupid guy, right?
Wang Zhen saw that the matter had become so serious and involved the royal princess of Yanzhen. Even though he was very arrogant at the beginning, he couldn't help but feel a little scared when he saw these officials attacking him together.
The eldest princess was in a coma, and she happened to run into Liu Qiu's incident. Liu Qiu's death was particularly tragic. No wonder these officials were so indignant.
Wang Zhen was originally a little skeptical about why it was such a coincidence, but it was almost impossible for such a coincidence to happen, not to mention that doing so would not benefit Zhu Yuhuan at all.
Even he couldn't help but doubt Princess Shunde, let alone the emperor.
But Princess Shunde's move had no loopholes and was considered impeccable. Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen could not see any problems.
The two people were confused here, but Zhu Youtong knew everything clearly.
When Zhu Qizhen mentioned her sister's matter to her, Zhu Youtong guessed that the matter was not simple, at least not as simple as it seemed on the surface.
She was only sick for a few days at the time, and her sister's health was better than hers, so she should have recovered faster. Logically, her sister's recovery should have been faster, so even if they were not delivered on the same day, the difference would not be too big.
My sister might have recovered a long time ago, and she deliberately spread the news of her illness to the capital in order to make a fuss about it.
Zhu Youtong didn't understand these political intrigues, so it would be better to just hand it over to someone else.
Anyway, she has always had a simple-minded image, so it would be better to spread the news invisibly.
How does the saying go, "There is a sequence in learning, and everyone has their own specialization." Zhu Youtong will of course leave things to professionals.
Besides, his mother's illness was strange, and neither the female doctors nor the imperial doctors in the palace could make a diagnosis. Zhu Youtong could only hope in the gods and Buddhas.
"Your Highness is thoughtful."
Zhu Youtong handed the last copied scripture to the Taoist priest next to him, and watched the other party take it away to worship, then he breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhu Qiyu, who had accompanied her, saw this and comforted her, "Don't worry, Second Sister. I heard from His Majesty that the memorial was written by the eldest sister. It was indeed written by her. The eldest sister is safe and sound. Even the Queen Mother is in much better health after hearing the news."
Zhu Youtong snorted and laughed, saying, "Sister was afraid we'd worry, so she must have written a memorial and had it sent back as soon as she woke up. How could she be in good health? His Majesty was just teasing us."
Zhu Qiyu also understood this in his heart, but the fact that he was able to pick up a pen and write proved that Zhu Yuhuan was safe and sound.
"But as long as mother and sister are safe, I'll be relieved." Zhu Youtong glanced back at the plaque in the main hall and bowed again obediently. Then he said to Zhu Qiyu with a smile, "After a while, when mother is well again, we can go out of the palace to the temple fair and buy some small things to bring back. That way, when Concubine Zhou's child is born, we can give them as a token of our appreciation. It's much more economical than giving calligraphy and antiques."
Zhu Qiyu was a bit amused when he heard this and said, "Second sister, how can we save this money? Giving it to future nephews and nieces is one thing, but the gift for Concubine Zhou can't be too little, right?"
Zhu Youtong scratched his head in annoyance and muttered, "Okay, okay, then I'll paint her a picture myself. If that doesn't work, I'll also give her the late emperor's painting of orchids. That one is bound to be worth a lot of money."
Zhu Qiyu exclaimed, "Orchid? Did your father also paint this?"
"I did draw it, but it was when I was teaching me. It's not very big." Seeing his eyes widen, Zhu Youtong immediately said righteously, "This is a painting by the late emperor. Do you understand the...what's it called...its value? Do you understand the value of the late emperor's paintings? Besides, I kept it and framed it. It's not a crumpled up draft."
At the beginning, Zhu Zhanji would occasionally give Zhu Youtong some pointers when he had some free time, so Zhu Youtong did have quite a few of Zhu Zhanji's paintings, and there were also some discarded drafts. Zhu Youtong originally wanted to get rid of them, but Zhu Zhanji was the emperor after all, and it would be bad if someone later said that she was disrespectful to the imperial calligraphy, so Zhu Youtong had to keep all these paintings.
Now it can be considered useful.
Zhu Qiyu was always unable to argue with his second sister, so he just said honestly: "We have to give her some gold and silver. I heard from my mother that Concubine Zhou is very opinionated and likes to wear gold and jade. We have to give her something that can show her face."
Zhu Youtong sighed and said, "I know, I know. Let's make a deal. The four of us will give each other pure gold ornaments. Is that okay now? Qilin, Pixiu, lion, elephant... one for each of us. It's settled."
As they walked out of the temple, they chatted and saw Han Guilan talking to someone else. Zhu Youtong asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Han Guilan walked over to the two of them and whispered, "It seems that a military report has just arrived in Beijing."
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