Zhu Wenkui returned to Beijing on the twenty-ninth day of the year, and almost not too many people in Nanjing City knew, and perhaps everyone knew, but they all pretended not to see it.

A person was a light car, with only a few guards, and even Yu Qian did not follow, and the latter returned to Hangzhou for the New Year.

The first thing he did when he returned to Nanjing, Zhu Wenkui did not go directly to the palace to find Ma Enhui to ask for peace, but first went to the General Administration Department, and only after completing an official errand did he come out of the General Administration Department and headed towards the palace.

Chengtianmen has begun to implement the palace ban, and even Zhu Wenkui, the eldest prince, can only enter through the side gate.

The palace is very deserted, and there is no so-called liveliness during the New Year, because it is too big.

Only when Zhu Wenkui walked all the way through the three major halls and entered the harem area through the Qianqing Gate, it was as if he had entered another world.

Countless palace ladies and eunuchs are busy putting up lanterns, and the embroidery girls of the Shangyi Bureau are holding silk of different colors and patterns into the Kunning Palace, which is to let the concubines choose fabric styles and make new clothes for the New Year.

Many people saw Zhu Wenkui, but they didn't come up to salute, only when Zhu Wenkui was about to pass by them, these people would stop what they were doing, stand up and say hello respectfully.

"Your Highness."

Walking outside the gate of Kunning Palace, Zhu Wenkui was stopped, and the person who stopped him was a female official next to Ma Enhui.

"The queen mother and a few other ladies are trying on clothes, you wait outside here, and the slave maid will go and ask for instructions."

"No, you don't."

Zhu Wenkui opened his mouth and shouted, and said with a smile: "Let a few ladies be busy first, and the palace will be completed here." ”

After that, he looked left and right, and then leaned over to the female official's head and whispered: "The palace hasn't been back for a year, how is the queen mother doing this year, and there is no conflict between her father and the emperor." ”

This sudden closeness startled the female official, and she subconsciously took two steps back: "Your Highness, don't be like this, the queen mother and Your Majesty are as affectionate as ever, and they often miss Your Highness." ”

Zhu Wenkui sniffed lightly and praised: "It's very fragrant, what brand of fragrance." ”

The pretty face of the female officer burned red as soon as it soared.

"Wen Kui."

This call suddenly startled Zhu Wenkui, and when he looked back, he saw Ma Enhui staring at him with a cold face, and immediately knelt down: "Erchen has seen the queen mother." ”

Ma Enhui stepped forward, stretched out her hand and pinched Zhu Wenkui's ear, and stood up with the latter screaming in pain.

"Okay, you bastard boy, after going out for a year, you dare to behave so lightly and casually, what kind of decency is this."

In the end, it was the prince, Ma Enhui couldn't pinch Zhu Wenkui's ears and walked into Kunning Palace, after a reprimand, he let go of his hand, turned around and walked into the hall, Zhu Wenkui came to his side and smirked.

"It's not that the queen mother is trying clothes with a few mothers, the son didn't expect the queen mother to come out."

"I can't see you like this?"

Ma Enhui glared at Zhu Wenkui angrily: "The sage admonishes, the gentleman is cautious, even in private, he can't be like this, what does it look like to be a prince and flirt with the palace maid." ”

"It's a joke."

Zhu Wenkui muttered a little angrily: "Erchen is just a boast, the sages also said that everyone has a love for beauty, incense is fragrant, beautiful is beautiful, a gentleman is honest, tell the truth, just like the queen mother has not seen for a year, and the appearance of the country is much more beautiful." ”

Ma Enhui's sycophant from her son naturally made Ma Enhui happy, her face was a little cold, but she didn't spare it: "You, not only have you not been stable in the past year, but you have learned this kind of rhetoric, you really shouldn't let your father send you out." ”

The mother and son walked into Kunning Palace, and also saw several other concubines of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Wenkui respectfully greeted one by one, but he didn't even dare to raise his head at this time.

"His Royal Highness the Great Prince is back, and a few of us will not delay the reunion of your mother and son here, so we will leave first."

Gu Jing and the others also chose the new clothes that closed their eyes, and they all said goodbye with a smile and left, leaving Kunning Palace to Ma Enhui and his wife.

At this time, Ma Enhui began to look at Zhu Wenkui seriously with concern, and his hand was gesturing on the latter's head and shoulder.

"I've grown taller, but I've lost so much weight, and my skin has darkened a lot."

Regarding his mother's concern, Zhu Wenkui scratched his head a little: "No way, Fengyang is an ancestral land, you also know that the relationship is quite complicated, thanks to Yu Qian's help, otherwise it is estimated that you should lose your hair."

In addition, Fengyang is poor, and the life of the old white surname is very difficult, so Erchen has to run from county to county to township, and go to see and give ideas on the spot. ”

How difficult it is to be a magistrate, Zhu Wenkui now understands first-hand.

In the past, when he was the master of the Ying Tianfu Torture Room in Nanjing, he only worried about matters within the jurisdiction of his duties, but when Zhu Wenkui became the prefect himself, the major and small affairs of hundreds of thousands of people in Fengyang were all resisted on their shoulders, how heavy it was.

Fengyang wants to develop and the people want to eat, which is the top priority.

Development needs to go deep into Fengyang's society, which has intertwined interests, and dealing with complex interpersonal relationships is also part of the work.

"A corner of Fengyang has not been sorted out for a year, not to mention the entire Nanzhili, the entire Ming Dynasty, and even the Ming Union created by his father."

Zhu Wenkui said with heartfelt emotion: "My son still needs to work hard to look forward to one day helping his father solve problems." ”

"If only you could have that."

Ma Enhui pulled Zhu Wenkui to sit on his phoenix chair, and held his son's hand very relieved: "But you don't have the ability to deal with national affairs at the moment, but don't be in a hurry, study slowly."

The so-called starting a family, you are eighteen years old, you should still worry about starting a family first. ”

Zhu Wenkui's face suddenly became bitter.

"Queen Mother, how can you urge marriage as soon as your sons come back for the New Year."

"That's what I said."

Ma Enhui said with disgust: "A manly man, what does it look like to be married at eighteen, let the court see it, and you will think that you are still a child, and if you become a family and raise children, you will have a responsibility, and people will feel that you are mature and stable when you look at it."

Look at the Zhan Ji of your fourth uncle's family, he is only fourteen or fifteen years old, and your Uncle Gao Chi has given a good parent, and he will be hired in two years. ”

"Junji is looking for a daughter-in-law?"

As soon as he talked about other people's parents, Zhu Wenkui became interested: "Whose girl?" ”

"The one selected by the Imperial Division, the daughter of Hu Rong of Nanjing Jinyi Wei Qianhu, is called Shanxiang, I also saw it, she is handsome, and she is knowledgeable."

"yes, that's good."

Zhu Wenkui silently continued, and there was a bit of longing in his eyes.

Eighteen-year-old boy, how can there be anyone who doesn't think about spring and doesn't covet girls. It's just that Zhu Wenkui doesn't like the big package very much, after all, he hasn't even met before the marriage, who knows what it looks like.

The way the world's mothers choose their daughters-in-law Zhu Wenkui has been the prefect of Fengyang for a year, which is what he has seen.

The selection of talents is the first, followed by the selection of the butt is easy to give birth to, and then the selection of housework is outstanding, the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting and other talents, and the second is the color.

And Fengyang is poor, so the fields are all husband and wife busy with farm work, how beautiful can a peasant woman look like?

After seeing a lot, Zhu Wenkui didn't have a shadow in his heart, for fear that Ma Enhui would choose such a daughter-in-law for him.

Knowing her son Mo Ruo's mother, Ma Enhui naturally captured the small changes in her son's mood, but at this time, Ma Enhui started to play tricks, and did not continue to talk about this topic, but asked when Zhu Wenkui could stay when he came back from vacation this time.

"The sixth day of junior high school."

"So urgent?"

Ma Enhui was taken aback, and the strength in his hand increased by two points: "Why have you only been back for so many days, stay a few more days." ”

Zhu Wenkui shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said truthfully: "The leave that the son ministers report to the General Administration Department is the day when the General Administration Department approves it is until the sixth day of the new year, and the annual leave is until the sixth day of the new year in other places, and the sons are no exception." ”

"It's against him, and the secretary of the government is back."

As soon as she heard this, Ma Enhui immediately became anxious: "When the prince asks for leave to return to Beijing, he needs to be approved by the General Administration Department, what's the matter, now that His Majesty is not in Beijing, the cabinet has planned to support even our family." ”

As he spoke, he looked left and right: "Go, summon Yang Shiqi to the palace, the palace wants to ask if the future family affairs of the palace must be ventilated to the cabinet first." ”

Seeing that this matter was about to make a big fuss in Ma Enhui's mouth, Zhu Wenkui hurriedly stopped it, and then told his plan.

"Erchen takes annual leave in the name of the Fengyang prefect, the purpose is to participate in the New Year's banquet organized by the cabinet this year, if Erchen returns to Beijing as a prince, his father is not there, how dare he casually go to contact the outer court."

This answer stunned Ma Enhui for a moment, after all, she is a woman, Zhu Yunwen's harem is clean, and the concubines are only five women together, so naturally there is no palace drama, and there is no opportunity to exercise in politics, where can I know how many flowers there are.

"Although Erchen doesn't really want to participate in this New Year's banquet, Yu Qian is right, it's better to participate than not to participate."

"My son has really grown up."

After understanding the reason, Ma Enhui immediately smiled and expressed her support: "Okay, you should participate, you must participate, you must participate, such a good opportunity can't be cheap to others." ”

After a pause, Ma Enhui became proud again: "It's not cheap for outsiders, except for my son, who is qualified to go." ”

Ma Enhui is very optimistic, and Zhu Wenkui is also relaxed.

This matter is a dignified conspiracy, Zhu Wenqi does not have any position, and he can't participate in it anyway, and he seems to have won this game.

It was also because of this good mood that when Zhu Wenkui saw Zhu Wenqi in the afternoon, he was still a little unbearable.

"Second brother, look at what the eldest brother brought you."

Zhu Wenkui took out a lot of things: "These are all Fengyang's specialties, you can taste them when you come back." ”

"Thank you, big brother."

Zhu Wenqi made a thank you gift, and after greeting Zhu Wenkui for a while, he got up and left with a smile on his face.

It's just that as soon as this smile left Kunning Palace, he ran away.

"My eldest brother is a good method."

After eating the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in the Chinese New Year's Eve of the 30th year in the dormitory of the mother concubine Gu Jing, as soon as he returned to his own bedroom in the East Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Wenxi leaned on the bed and hummed to his close attendant.

"Needless to say, the trick of asking for leave to return to Beijing in the name of the Fengyang prefect must have been the idea given by Yu Qian's unknown thing, in order to participate in the New Year's banquet held by the Cabinet on the National Day."

"Ah, that's good."

There is a close person next to Zhu Wenqi, named Wang Xu, who grew up with Zhu Wenqi when he was a child, smart and clever, and one of the many righteous sons of Double Happiness, who was assigned to Zhu Wenqi as a companion, and he was also a little worried when he heard the words.

"Your Highness, the slave maid heard that the specifications of the cabinet's New Year's banquet this year are not small, and the movement is also very large, if the eldest prince participates, I am afraid that he will take the opportunity to attract a lot of people."

"yes."

Zhu Wenqi was a little upset, and said angrily: "If the eldest brother goes and I don't go, how the officials of the outer court will think of me at that time, they will think that I am not as good as the eldest brother, which is not good." ”

Wang Xu stayed at the head of the bed and fed Zhu Wenqi the cut bananas, which were not grown in the Ming Dynasty, but the red bananas brought back by Nanyang, which were exclusively supplied by the palace.

While feeding, he said: "The slave maid heard that this year's cabinet will also organize a group meeting to pay New Year's greetings to the veterans who participated in the founding of the Northern Expedition and have made contributions to the Ming Dynasty. ”

Condolences to veterans is a good opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the army.

Zhu Wenqi looked up at the roof, his small brows tightly locked.

How to break this game?

"On the night of the New Year's banquet, the cabinet and hundreds of officials will also attend the so-called Spring Festival Gala, when representatives from all walks of life inside and outside Nanjing will participate, the political arena, the military, the people, the Federation of Industry and Commerce, craftsmen, plus the envoys of the Ming Union countries in Nanjing, such a good stage, I can't let my eldest brother sing a one-man show alone."

Zhu Wenqi rolled over and got out of bed, and walked around irritable with his hands: "This palace must participate, this palace must participate." ”

It's easy to say, but I really want to get involved, where is it so simple.

"Your Royal Highness is the prince, if you open your mouth, the cabinet still dares to stop you?"

Wang Xu directly said his thoughts: "The slave maid thinks that this matter is easy to solve." ”

"Childish."

Zhu Wenqi sneered: "My father is not in Beijing, and even my eldest brother doesn't dare to go to the New Year's banquet privately and contact the outer court, you let me do this?" Everything in the world must have rules, except for the father, everyone in the world is within the rules, and they must talk about the rules when they speak and do things.

This palace is not qualified to break the rules at will, and it is not my turn to play as much as I want, if this palace is a scoundrel who has to participate, no one in the cabinet and the outer court will look down on me. ”

There is no such thing as brute force, you have to outwit it.

So where does wisdom come from?

Zhu Wenqi sat down, his fingers tapping on the table of purple wood, and the rhythmic sound was slow.

After a long time, even Wang Xu, who was guarding on the side, was about to fall asleep, and Zhu Wenqi suddenly slapped the table and jumped up excitedly.

"Hongu has an idea!"

This almost frightened Wang Xu, and he cheered up and asked, "What is Your Highness's opinion?" ”

"So so."

As soon as Zhu Wenqi said the plan in his heart, even Wang Xu's eyes lit up when he heard it, and he raised his thumb.

"Your Highness, this is a clever move."

After solving the trouble in his heart, Zhu Wenqi laughed happily, and then turned over and got on the bed.

"Sleep, tomorrow morning, this palace will surprise the eldest brother."

Want to attend the New Year's feast alone?

Think beautifully!