Chapter 56: Palace of Heavenly Purity
When the father and daughter arrived at the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the palace was silent. Even though the eunuchs had announced their arrival, Zhu Gaochi still sat there motionless, holding a memorial in his hand, staring intently. At first glance, he looked like a statue.
Normally, the emperor looked magnanimous and would always smile no matter what anyone said, but he had never looked as serious as he did today.
Seeing water stains and some unidentified debris on the floor, Zhu Yuhuan knew the hall had just been cleaned up after a violent storm. She couldn't help but glance at her father, who remained calm, seemingly oblivious to the strange atmosphere.
Zhu Zhanji handed the bow and arrow he had brought to the eunuch beside him, and then took Zhu Yuhuan to salute Zhu Gaochi.
Zhu Yuhuan pretended to know nothing and continued to greet him politely, "Huanhuan greets the Emperor, Grandpa. May the Emperor be well."
It has been more than a month since the grandfather and grandson last saw each other. Zhu Yuhuan looked at his grandfather who was as fat as ever and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
It would be strange if this person, who obviously has three highs, could live a long life while sitting on the throne.
Zhu Gaochi snorted, threw the memorial in his hand on the table, and asked with a half-smile: "I remember that today is the prince's birthday, why don't you ask the Guanglu Temple to prepare a banquet?"
Zhu Zhanji said respectfully, "Why bother with the Guanglu Temple on my son's birthday? It's nothing more than a family sitting and chatting together. Since father asked me to manage agriculture and sericulture, I understand the difficulties faced by the common people and farmers. As the crown prince, I should set an example and not waste money and promote extravagance."
Zhu Yuhuan noticed that Zhu Gaochi was looking her father up and down, obviously trying to intimidate Zhu Zhanji. She also spoke up, "Ever since Daddy built greenhouses and distributed wheat seedlings outside the palace, he's been teaching Huanhuan and my sisters whenever he has free time. When Grandpa was on his way to Shuntian, he saw the people were starving and poorly clothed. He worked for the people and not only exempted them from autumn taxes, but also opened warehouses to provide disaster relief and distributed relief grain, which earned the people's deep gratitude. Grandpa's governance is profound and his virtue is known far and wide. Although Huanhuan and my sisters may not have the same influence as him, we understand that every meal is hard-earned and that we must be frugal. This is all because Grandpa and Daddy set such an example."
Zhu Zhanji was shocked to hear his daughter's clear and logical arguments and her invisible flattery.
I haven't attended daily lectures for a long time. Could it be that this is how those tutors teach their daughters?
Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaochi did not laugh heartily as usual. Instead, he waved to the eunuch nearby and said, "Bring me the bow and arrow."
The eunuch hurriedly presented Zhu Yuhuan with his composite bow. Zhu Gaochi played with it for a moment, then casually threw it on the ground and said to Zhu Yuhuan, "I heard that the princess specially ordered people to find all kinds of materials. It turns out she is making this."
Don't be fooled by Zhu Gaochi's usual appearance of being a good guy, always smiling when he sees his subjects. However, he is a person who is prone to anger and is not easily angered. Once he gets angry, his anger is more frightening than usual.
If it were any other person, they would have been frightened by the emperor's words and kept silent. However, Zhu Yuhuan remained calm and said obediently, "The teachers in the daily lecture said that reading is more about gaining knowledge, not simply sticking to the words of the sages. So Huanhuan found a way to borrow some other books. I saw many new things in them, things that even the palace had never heard of. Huanhuan wanted to learn to practice what the books said for fun. My uncle also knows this."
Hearing Zhu Yuhuan mention Zhu Zhanzhen, Zhu Gaochi snorted coldly, then picked up the memorial book that had been placed on the table and said, "Since you listen to the daily lectures, the princess should know who Li Shimen is, right?"
Zhu Yuhuan did have some impression of this person, but it mainly came from palace gossip, such as what memorial Li Shimen had submitted that made Zhu Di, who was still alive at the time, so angry. She immediately guessed that the memorial should have been written by Li Shimen, and it was probably not a good thing in it, otherwise it would not have made Zhu Gaochi, whose temper was much better than Zhu Di, so angry.
Although Zhu Yuhuan also listened to daily lectures, the lecturers never mentioned the affairs of the previous dynasty in front of her. Zhu Yuhuan really couldn't figure out what kind of memorial Li Shimen had written to make Zhu Gaochi angry. However, among the things she knew, there was probably only one thing, which was that Tan had secretly served in front of the palace before.
It was still the mourning period. Even if Zhu Gaochi and Tan did nothing, the emperor and his concubine were in the same room. Once others heard it, especially the censors, it would definitely cause a stir.
If Zhu Gaochi was angry because of this matter, Zhu Yuhuan could understand it. After all, her grandfather had been cautious for most of his life. He finally waited until her father passed away and became the emperor himself. As a result, because of a rumor that was accidentally leaked, he was scolded in a memorial and became known to everyone. It would be strange if Zhu Gaochi was not angry.
Zhu Yuhuan was just thinking about how to resolve the current dilemma when Zhu Zhanji spoke up, "Although Li Shimen has a stubborn personality, he has always taken the country's affairs of state as his own, and he is also quite talented. Although the Emperor was annoyed by his inflexibility, he also knew that Li Shimen cared deeply about the country. Even if he didn't like it, he still implemented his suggestions. Why should Father be angry with him?"
It would have been fine if Zhu Zhanji hadn't spoken up for Li Shimen. As soon as he did, Zhu Gaochi flew into a rage and berated him, "Crown Prince, don't play dumb here! You know exactly what Li Shimen wrote in the memorial! How could Li Shimen, a mere Imperial Academy reader, know what's going on in the palace? If Zhanji hadn't mentioned it to the Imperial Concubine, and the Imperial Concubine hadn't accidentally revealed it to me, I wouldn't have known about the copper and iron that the Imperial Household Supervisor sent to the inner court. What were they doing with it? Explain to me what's going on between you and your mother!"
Zhu Yuhuan suddenly realized that two things were intertwined today.
First, the Tan family affair had caused a stir, undermining the emperor's wisdom. Second, Zhu Gaochi, as the emperor, was completely unaware of the inner court's affairs, having only learned about them from Concubine Guo. This was an unforgivable sin in the eyes of any emperor.
However, Zhu Yuhuan really couldn't understand one thing. His grandmother said it in front of him, but turned around and didn't mention it to Zhu Gaochi. It couldn't be that she had forgotten.
Empress Zhang was not the kind of person who would not know the seriousness of a matter once she had power. How could she make such a mistake, unless she deliberately left a loophole to lure Concubine Guo to take action?
——The reason why Concubine Guo was able to compete with Empress Zhang for so many years was simply because she was quite favored by Zhu Gaochi. If she had the scheming and means of Empress Zhang, she would not have been just a concubine for so long. It is impossible that Empress Zhang, who could easily grasp the intelligence in the palace, had no defense at all against the schemes she set up.
But Zhu Yuhuan really couldn't understand why Empress Zhang did this.
However, the most urgent task is to explain the situation as soon as possible. Fortunately, Zhu Yuhuan is not completely ignorant of this. The look he gave Huai En just now was to leave a backup plan. As long as she can explain it clearly and present the results in a timely manner, Zhu Gaochi will calm down even if he is very angry.
Zhu Yuhuan was about to kneel down when the eunuch reported: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine have arrived, and they have brought the Tenth Prince with them."
Zhu Yuhuan was confused.
What is this? What is this? The grand stage of the Qing Dynasty, you come if you are ordered to?
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