The sound of the brass bell made everyone in the palace nervous for a while, but fortunately, it stopped ringing quickly for a while.

Zhu Cihong left 500 people to guard the noon gate to watch Wang Dehua and other clean troops, and after entering the palace, he left 100 personal guards, and the remaining more than 1,000 brave guards went out of Donghua Gate and went to the Xuanwu Gate at the north gate of the palace along the Tube River to camp outside.

The palace is divided into the former dynasty and the harem, the former dynasty is the place where the court meeting and the cabinet office are held, the back of the Qianqing gate belongs to the harem range, the Qianqing Palace where Chongzhen lives and the Zhongcui Palace where Zhu Cihong lives are only 100 meters away, if you take thousands to the harem, it will really become a forced palace.

Forcing the palace is harmful but not beneficial, Li Shimin still has a prince and a big brother above him, and he fights to the death, so he has a reason to force the palace, but in the end he was criticized by later generations, and the scholars were shameless.

Zhu Cihong is the crown prince, the eldest of the four younger brothers, Zhu Cijiong is only seven or eight years old, he doesn't even have a decent opponent, Chongzhen is not arrogant and lascivious, and his reputation for virtue is good, what reason do you use to force the palace?

The princes or princes of the past dynasties, worried that they would be scolded by the emperor and leave a bad impression, most of them walked on thin ice, only promised, and were terrified all day long, lest they would commit crimes and have no chance to win the throne.

Zhu Cihong doesn't care about this, he wants to live like a crown prince, there are no things forbidden by the ancestral law, why can't he do it?

I don't force the palace, it doesn't mean that I don't protect myself, whoever wants to deduct shit basin from me, I don't mind letting him shut up forever! I have what I have today, why can't I swell?

The Jinyi guards guarding the Huangji Gate and the Qianqing Gate saw that the crown prince was leading a few people and horses, and they did not show panic, they seemed very calm, they all knew Fang Zhenghua, and looking at the expression of this eunuch, they didn't want to be threatened.

Outside the Qianqing Gate, Fang Zhenghua hurriedly went to the Qianqing Palace to report to Emperor Chongzhen, and the prince met him.

After a while, Fang Zhenghua smiled and said: "Your Highness, the emperor is resting, you can go back first, and come back another day to see you." ”

Zhu Cihong sighed, and without saying a word, he led the guards to Zhongcui Palace.

The area of Zhongcui Palace is not large, at most it can accommodate a hundred soldiers, Zhu Cihong has been accustomed to living in the large palace of Zhongdu in recent years, and he is still a little uncomfortable for a while.

The Qing army has not been defeated, Zhu Cihong decided to leave in the palace in a few days, during which he wanted to talk to the emperor's father, after this battle, it is an opportunity for the Ming Dynasty, and the court should take advantage of the opportunity.

After taking a comfortable bath and changing his clothes, Zhu Cihong went to the Qianqing Palace again to meet him.

This time it was Wang Chengen who came out to pass the word, and said a lot with a smile, Zhu Cihong heard it, the emperor's father didn't want to see him, and he didn't bother to blow the wind in front of the Qianqing door, so he patted his ass and left.

After Zhu Cihong came out of the Qianqing Palace, he hurriedly walked towards the Kunning Palace.

Queen Zhou has been paying attention to Zhu Cihong's itinerary, she hasn't seen each other for more than two years, she misses it very much, and she sent someone to inform Zhu Cihong early, and let people report every half an hour.

She also got the news of what happened before the noon gate for the first time, she was very dissatisfied with the practices of Wang Dehua and these eunuchs, no matter how Zhu Cihong was also the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, and she was also very worried about Zhu Cihong, after all, Wang Dehua was an old man who believed in the palace, and I don't know if this would anger King Xin.

According to the character of King Xin, I am afraid that this matter will not be settled, the more Queen Zhou thinks about it, the more she can't sit still, and she just wants to prepare to come forward in person, only to hear the news that the slave maid has sent back the news that the prince has taken Wang Dehua and controlled the noon gate.

Empress Zhou's heart became even more uneasy, controlling the noon gate? What is the emperor doing here? How can you trust the king without being angry?

Therefore, Queen Zhou has been worried in Kunning Palace, restless, I heard that Zhu Cihong went directly to the Qianqing Palace after returning to the palace, although she had some loss in her heart, but she still supported Zhu Cihong to do this, everything should be focused on state affairs, and the father and son should have something to talk about.

After Zhu Cihong entered Kunning Palace, he gave Queen Zhou a big gift in a proper manner, and in Zhu Cihong's heart, he still respected Queen Zhou very much.

Empress Zhou stepped forward to help Zhu Cihong up, looked at Zhu Cihong kindly for a while, and then said lovingly: "The emperor has grown taller again, and he is more magnificent!" ”

Zhu Cihong said: "The queen mother is emaciated, it is the emperor's unfilial piety, which always worries the queen mother. ”

Empress Zhou listened to Zhu Cihong's words, her eyes were slightly red, but she still didn't forget her business, and asked, "Emperor, what's going on outside the noon gate?" Did your father punish you? ”

Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "Don't worry about the queen mother, a few minions are arrogant, and they dare to bully their sons, it's really daring, the sons have already let them be punished in the snow, as for the father, he refuses to see his sons." ”

Although Zhu Cihong was young, the maturity and stability he showed made Queen Zhou very pleased.

She said: "Your father and queen mother will persuade you, you also have to be more disciplined, and you can't do things that are out of line, especially bringing troops into the palace, this is a royal taboo, and the emperor must not do anything rebellious." ”

Zhu Cihong touched his nose and said: "Erchen was assassinated no less than five times when he was in Jiangnan, and Erchen had to strengthen the defense around him, and he took a group of people with him everywhere, and if no one around him would be insecure after returning to the palace." ”

When Empress Zhou heard this, she was also shocked and said, "So many times? The emperor is not injured, these thieves dare to do such a rebellious thing, it is really appalling! ”

Zhu Cihong smiled lightly and said: "Don't worry about the queen mother, the sons are fine, the sons have already made arrangements, leaving only a hundred guards, and the rest are stationed outside the Xuanwu Gate, and the people guarding outside the noon gate will also evacuate after punishing these house slaves." ”

Empress Zhou listened to Zhu Cihong's words, her complexion improved again, and she said with a smile: "Xuanwu Gate is less than two hundred steps away from Zhongcui Palace, and you can rest assured that you arrange the queen mother like this, but you also have to remember to be careful in everything, don't be caught, rumors are worse than knives, and if you don't do it, it will ruin you!" ”

Zhu Cihong said with his forehead: "Let the queen mother bother, the sons are incompetent, and they can't let the queen mother enjoy the blessings." ”

Empress Zhou smiled and said, "Do the emperor and the queen mother still need to be so polite?" ”

Zhu Cihong said: "When the queen mother and son-in-law were in Jiangnan, they saw a few good things and brought them back to the queen mother. ”

After speaking, Zhu Cihong took a very delicate sandalwood box from the hand of the palace maid Moqin, and after opening it, there was a golden pocket watch inside.

This is when Zhu Cihong was in Fengyang Mansion, personally participated in the design, specially let people build, named "Fu Man Qiankun", made of gold and jade, engraved with engraved dragon and phoenix Chengxiang, Han Yin and Yang five elements, can pray for blessing Naji, very ingenious, beautiful, and at the same time without losing the nobility.

Queen Zhou liked it very much after seeing it, with a bright smile on her face, and her two beautiful eyes were about to squint together, showing the posture of a little woman, and there was no interest in the queen's shelf.

Queen Zhou is not yet thirty years old, and there is still a trace of a girl's heart, and it is rare to see something she loves to have such a posture.

Zhu Cihong couldn't bear to disturb Queen Zhou's good mood, and admired the furnishings of Kunning Palace on the side.

Queen Zhou couldn't put it down for a while, and suddenly felt a little gaffe, and her pretty face was slightly red.

Zhu Cixi smiled slightly, and continued: "It's rare to please the queen mother, the son also brought some gifts for the imperial sister and the third brother here, just ask the queen mother to give them, the son also brought back a self-striking bell for Concubine Liu and the imperial aunt, because it is relatively large, the child minister came back in a hurry, and after a few days of arrival, he sent it to the queen mother and handed it to them, and the son minister retired first, and came to accompany the mother on Chinese New Year's Eve and Zhengdan." ”

After Zhu Cihong said goodbye to Empress Zhou, he went to the Qianqing Palace for a walk, but Chongzhen still refused to see him.

"Isn't it just killing an old eunuch? Is it necessary? ”

Zhu Cihong muttered a word and returned to Zhong Cui Palace.

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Some people will wonder, did there be pocket watches in the Ming Dynasty? I think there should be, and the fact that it is not widely circulated in society does not mean that there is none, and it seems that pocket watches only became popular in the 19th century.

But this "Fuman Qiankun" pocket watch exists in history, the prototype was Kangxi participated in the design, when the birthday gift was given to his mother Xiaohui Empress Dowager, the pocket watch is very cool and fine, and was snatched away by the gringos in the late Qing Dynasty.

According to the years in the book, the little brother of Shunzhi has been born, and there are still fifteen years before the birth of Kangxi's nephew.