Chapter 86 The Great Loyal Minister
As Zhu Yuhuan expected, after learning the news, Empress Dowager Zhang sent someone to deliver a letter to Prince Xiang Zhu Zhanji, asking him to write a letter in person to express his loyalty as soon as possible.
Empress Dowager Zhang naturally understood that sons were closer to her than grandsons, but she knew her youngest son's personality better than anyone else.
The most taboo thing for those in power is to show their emotions on their face, so that people can easily see what they are thinking. Prince Xiang was not suitable to be an emperor, and he himself had no intention of becoming an emperor.
If the Crown Prince wasn't so young, there wouldn't be such rumors out there.
Moreover, this matter is now very embarrassing. Empress Dowager Zhang does not want the future emperor to have a rift with her only two remaining sons, but if she takes the initiative to intervene, who knows what rumors will spread.
After the funeral ceremony was over, Empress Dowager Zhang kept the ministers and originally planned to ask what should be done with these five people, but she saw Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen also arrived at the door, followed by Wang Zhen.
Empress Dowager Zhang's face was serious. She said to Wang Zhen, "Why is the Crown Prince here? The funeral is very demanding. If he collapses from exhaustion, what will be your punishment?"
Although the prince has not yet ascended the throne, it is only a matter of time. If he is scolded in front of the ministers, it will not only embarrass the emperor, but also be detrimental to the stability of the relationship between grandfather and grandson.
What's more, the palace servants serving below have the responsibility to take good care of the prince, so if they are to reprimand someone, they would of course reprimand Wang Zhen first.
Wang Zhen hurriedly pleaded guilty, but Zhu Qizhen had already said swiftly, "Grandma, I have something to give you."
Seeing that he looked determined and seemed confident about something, Empress Dowager Zhang personally took the papers from Zhu Qizhen, which were a little wrinkled because they were placed in her sleeves.
Zhu Yuhuan had copied scriptures for Empress Dowager Zhang before, so she recognized her handwriting immediately. After reading the contents, Empress Dowager Zhang's brows relaxed slightly. She looked up at the ministers and said, "Take a look at this article. Is there anything that needs to be revised?"
The five people looked at each other in bewilderment. When the female official handed the article from Empress Dowager Zhang to the five people, the chief minister of the cabinet, Yang Shiqi, took it personally.
They knew that the best outcome was for the crown prince to succeed the throne, but they were unsure of Empress Dowager Zhang's intentions. Furthermore, Zhu Qizhen was still a child. If he died prematurely, wouldn't it be a waste of time for the people of the country to have to train another emperor?
However, Empress Dowager Zhang was highly respected in the royal family. If she did not speak, it would be difficult for the outside ministers to say anything, especially since the five of them were in the position of regents, who were deeply trusted by the late emperor but were also thorns in the eyes of their colleagues.
The five of them are no longer young and have reached high positions in the government. A smooth landing is the best outcome.
After reading it, the five people were stunned. It was Yang Shiqi who spoke first: "Your Highness the Crown Prince truly has the wisdom of King Wu. In this way, Your Highness's accession to the throne will be even more legitimate." Although he felt that the characters were somewhat familiar, he couldn't tell who wrote them for a moment. In short, he just praised them.
Yang Pu was the first to realize that it was Princess Shunde's handwriting. He was probably aware of the rumors outside from Queen Hu, so she gave advice to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince also trusted Princess Shunde quite a bit. Judging from his study progress before he left home to study, the Crown Prince probably had not yet fully understood the meaning of the article, so he was the first to send it to Empress Dowager Zhang.
But since he could recognize the handwriting above, Empress Dowager Zhang should be able to recognize it as well.
But Empress Dowager Zhang remained silent throughout the whole process, which showed that she had no intention of revealing the source of the article and wanted to help the Crown Prince establish his image in front of them.
Yang Pu pondered for a moment before praising him, saying, "This article is perfectly composed. Using the words of the subjects to persuade His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to ascend the throne will be of great help in quelling the rumors!"
The others naturally complimented him upon hearing this. Although Yang Rong and Zhang Fu guessed that the article was probably not written by the Crown Prince, since it was the Crown Prince who wrote it, they should of course praise it. Hu Yi, the only one who was unaware of the article, was genuinely happy for the Crown Prince's brilliant writing, as it at least proved that the Crown Prince was not completely ignorant of government affairs.
Zhu Qizhen was naturally overjoyed when he heard this, and said proudly: "This article was written by my sister specially for me, and it really is useful!"
The four people who were originally praising the crown prince fell silent, not knowing how to start for a moment.
Yang Shiqi broke out in a cold sweat, wishing he could slap himself in the face. After enduring all these years, he actually made such a mistake...
In this case, wouldn't the compliment just now be directed at Princess Shunde? Thanks to the Crown Prince's young age, he probably wouldn't take it to heart.
Empress Dowager Zhang had never expected Zhu Qizhen to be so frank. She could only sigh inwardly and said, "Princess Shunde has always been loyal to the imperial family and the country, and has a sharp mind. Please take a look at this article to see if it needs any further polishing."
She also knew that Zhu Yuhuan wrote these so that the crown prince could ascend the throne smoothly, which showed that she understood that her own interests were always with the crown prince. Seeing that she did not sign her name, Empress Dowager Zhang knew that this was also Zhu Yuhuan's humble act of goodwill. If anyone was to blame, it was only Zhu Qizhen who was too young and did not know how to take credit for himself.
Yang Shiqi nodded repeatedly and retreated with the other four colleagues. He still couldn't help sweating profusely because of his previous speech.
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