Chapter 87 Newly Appointed
As expected, not long after Zhu Yuhuan submitted the letter he prepared, his subjects requested the throne three times and the prince declined it three times. After that, Empress Dowager Zhang personally led her grandson to court and pointed to the Fengtian Hall to indicate that the throne belonged to Zhu Qizhen. The final result was naturally that Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne smoothly.
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, the new emperor Zhu Qizhen issued an edict of amnesty for the whole country, and the reign would be changed to Zhengtong starting from the first lunar month of the next year.
Before the end of the first month of the year, Prince Xiang's letter had already arrived in the capital. It was full of apologies and fully expressed his commitment to fulfilling his duties. At the same time, he emphasized that as a vassal, Zhu Zhanji did not dare to have any improper thoughts about the throne of the emperor, and only hoped to stay in his position in the vassal's mansion.
In this way, Zhu Qizhen's throne became more stable and no one dared to interfere.
After that, it was Zhu Qizhen's solo stage. Every few days, there were various ceremonies that required the young emperor Zhu Qizhen to personally perform. The Qianqing Palace had also been cleaned, and Zhu Qizhen moved there quickly. Therefore, Zhu Yuhuan did not know the specific circumstances of Zhu Qizhen's delivery of the letter that day.
However, Empress Dowager Zhang's attitude had obviously softened, and Zhu Yuhuan understood that Zhu Qizhen had probably revealed that the article was written by her that day.
On the 22nd day of the first lunar month, the court finally decided on Zhu Zhanji's temple name and posthumous title, which was abbreviated as Emperor Xuanzong Zhang.
At the same time, rewards for Zhu Yuhuan also arrived, including three hundred taels of platinum, fifteen pieces of silk and gauze, fifteen pieces of gauze, three pieces of brocade, and twenty thousand strings of banknotes.
This reward was given together with the princesses of the vassal states. The only special thing about Zhu Yuhuan was that she was an unmarried princess, yet the amount of reward she received was clearly comparable to that of a county prince, not to mention other princesses of the imperial clan. Furthermore, Zhu Yuhuan had already publicly entered the Tao, yet she still received such a reward, which made her even more outstanding.
However, this time, no one raised any questions. After all, neither Empress Dowager Zhang nor the new emperor said anything, and the five ministers of state remained silent. It was obviously intentional. Now that the dynasty has just changed, no one knows the new emperor's temper. It's just a reward, and there's no need to rush into it over such a trivial matter.
Han Guilan had the rewards counted and stored one by one. Zhu Youtong sighed beside her, saying, "When you give me a gift, I hope you can use high-quality rice paper. The paper used in the painting of the cat slave by the emperor is very good. You can tell it's a treasure at first glance..."
After Zhu Zhanji's death, Zhu Yuhuan had the Cat Slave Painting taken back and kept it in the palace for worship. Zhu Youtong often looked at it and had a thorough understanding of it.
Wang Zhen, who came to deliver the gift in person, said repeatedly, "If Your Highness needs it, I will report it to the Emperor right away."
Zhu Youtong looked at the fine fabrics and said, "Forget it. I don't have my sister's achievements. Wouldn't it be embarrassing for the emperor to ask for these things? I don't need paper. It's just a talk."
She could tell Wang Zhen was asking her this out of respect for Zhu Yuhuan. Zhu Youtong didn't know what her sister had done, but Zhu Qizhen had been close to her since childhood. In comparison, she and Zhu Qizhen were no better than ordinary siblings, so naturally, she didn't want to try to trick him into giving her anything.
Besides, if she wanted something, her sister could ask Shen Guangci and Huang Jinfeng to send it to her from all over the world. Since she had a sister, why would she care about Zhu Qizhen's reward?
Seeing Wang Zhen's attentiveness, Zhu Yuhuan smiled and said, "With the new emperor on the throne, such a reward is already beyond the norm. I am already terrified, so how can I dare to ask Your Majesty for more rewards?"
Wang Zhen quickly agreed, knowing that only Zhu Yuhuan and his close associates were in the palace. Then he said, "The Emperor is currently busy negotiating with the Ministry of Rites regarding the title of Empress Hu and has no time to visit Her Majesty and the two Highnesses. When the Emperor has some free time, I will come to pay my respects to Her Majesty. I would like to enjoy a few of the small dishes that the kitchen has prepared."
Zhu Qizhen had previously lived in Kunning Palace for nearly half a month, his food, clothing, and daily expenses all provided by Kunning Palace. Although the small kitchen prepared vegetarian meals, they were all prepared according to the nutritional recommendations of Xu Wangzhi and Zhu Yuhuan's improved methods. The taste was far superior to that of the Guanglu Temple and even comparable to that of the Shangshenjian. Therefore, Zhu Qizhen ate most of his meals there.
Zhu Yuhuan raised an eyebrow slightly when he heard this, knowing that Wang Zhen's claim that the emperor wanted to come to Kunning Palace was false and that he was just spreading the news to show goodwill. He smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty has been very hardworking. If Your Majesty is free to come here in the future, Eunuch Wang must inform the palace servants as soon as possible and have the kitchen prepare them early."
Wang Zhen saw that the princess had understood and responded.
After Wang Zhen left, Zhu Youtong asked, "What's your honorific title?"
Zhu Yuhuan flipped through the account book in his hand and said, "I think they must distinguish their identities. Empress Sun is your majesty's biological mother. How can she be relegated to the position of concubine?"
Zhu Youtong uttered an "oh" and said, "What about Empress Wu? And Empress He and Empress Cao..."
Zhu Yuhuan thought for a moment and said, "I think she should be called 'Xuan Miao Xian Fei' or 'Xuan Miao Hui Fei'."
After all, the titles of legal mother and biological mother alone are enough to make these officials toss around. How could the officials have the leisure to think about the identities of these concubines one by one?
Zhu Yuhuan naturally had no intention of interfering in this matter. Empress Dowager Zhang was in charge of state affairs, and Zhu Yuhuan still wanted to get the imperial edict back, so he would not cause trouble at this time.
Moreover, the ancient feudal dynasties emphasized "governing the country with filial piety". Even if Zhu Qizhen had an ordinary relationship with Concubine Sun, there was no reason for him to disrespect his biological mother. The ministers were the first to disagree.
This was the first time in Zhu Qizhen's generation that both his stepmother and biological mother were alive at the same time, so the Ministry of Rites needed to discuss it before reaching a conclusion.
In terms of closeness, Zhu Qizhen was of course closer to Empress Dowager Zhang, who raised him. Hu Shanxiang and Sun Mengqiu, who were of his mother's generation, had an average relationship with Zhu Qizhen. If they had to compare who was better, Zhu Qizhen would rather be closer to Hu Shanxiang.
Hu Shanxiang was calm and gentle in nature, and everyone praised the queen's benevolence. Of course, the most important thing was that Hu Shanxiang never restricted Zhu Qizhen. When they met on weekdays, she mostly asked about Zhu Qizhen's well-being, cared about his health and academic performance, and never tested his knowledge.
His biological mother, Sun Mengqiu, often asked his elder sister, Princess Changde, to urge him to study hard and perform well in front of his grandmother and father. Especially when he was scolded by his biological mother in person when he was a child, Zhu Qizhen always kept it in mind and felt resentful.
If it were not for the need to distinguish between the legal mother and the biological mother, Zhu Qizhen would not have had any interest in this matter and would have directly handed it over to the Ministry of Rites for his own review.
According to the Ministry of Rites, the title of Empress Dowager was given to the mother, while the title of Empress Dowager was simply "Empress Dowager" to distinguish them. After these two were honored as Empress Dowagers, they were to be evacuated from their respective palaces and moved, along with Emperor Xuanzong's other concubines, to the renovated Qingning Palace near Renshou Palace. The six palaces were left vacant, ready for Zhu Qizhen to appoint a concubine in the future.
Except for Hu Shanxiang and Sun Mengqiu who have their own palaces, everyone else can only squeeze in.
Zhu Qizhen naturally had no doubts about this. He still had a lot of etiquette waiting to be completed, and he also had to learn how to read memorials and petitions from the ministers of state. He had no time to care about these things.
However, Zhu Qizhen was still very concerned about the specific title to be chosen. His mother was not only his mother, but also the mother of his sister who stood on his side. Therefore, Zhu Qizhen looked at the characters drafted by the Ministry of Rites sent by Jin Ying and carefully selected them one by one.
Seeing Zhu Qizhen's hesitation, Wang Zhen took the initiative to suggest, "Why don't you ask the Empress to review it yourself?"
Zhu Qizhen hadn't yet fully adapted to living alone in the Qianqing Palace, and he had to start learning all over again, so he was very tired. Upon hearing Wang Zhen's suggestion, he immediately stood up and said, "Have someone prepare the carriage. I'm going to my mother's palace to have dinner."
Upon hearing this, Jin Ying hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this title is a matter of state. Your Majesty needs to choose it personally and cannot reveal it to the harem."
Although Empress Dowager Zhang politely declined the request of the ministers to rule the country from behind the scenes, all matters would still be reviewed in front of her. If Empress Dowager Zhang knew that the title was brought by the Emperor to be chosen by Empress Hu, all the palace maids would be in trouble.
Zhu Qizhen waved his hands impatiently and said, "I...I understand. If you have nothing else to do, please leave immediately."
Jin Ying was unsure of the new emperor's temper and could only say yes. Watching the emperor gradually leave and then looking at Wang Zhen following the little emperor closely, Jin Ying felt furious.
He just read two books. He was also a eunuch who entered the palace after being castrated. Wang Zhen's qualifications were not as good as his. What was there to be proud of?
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