Chapter 553: The Collapse of the Mountain

After Zhu Di arrived in Kaiping, he spread the message that the Chinese and foreign ministers were informed of the execution of the prince, and the important matters of the military aircraft were discussed by the five governments and six ministries, and then reported to the prince to make a decision, and all matters did not have to be played, but who dared to take this seriously? As a result, although the prison country has long been familiar with the business, the crown prince Zhu Gaochi is still very busy.

On the surface, he doesn't have to worry about this northern expedition, but the transportation of military food is too involved, and almost all of the Shangshu servants are also responsible for transporting grain, and there are only a few people left who can be used. Moreover, it seems that God is going to change his way to do it right, and he has hardly had a good time in the past few months.

At the beginning of May, a hurricane in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and other prefectures flooded, drowning more than 360 people, collapsing more than 1,200 houses, and soaking more than 25,000 stones of grain stored in warehouses. In the middle of May, he sent envoys thousands of miles to send vegetables and fruits to his father, but he was reprimanded for a long time; In June, due to the edict of his father, the guilty of the common people were sent to the army for their crimes, and the guilty officials were ordered to supervise the transportation of military rations; Then it is to repair the palace of filial piety and pay homage to the Taimiao, and the death of the princess of Zhou, and the tribute sent by Zhancheng, Xisha and other places, and the great water in the north and south, Shandong, Henan, and the north...... Seeing that his Qianqiu Festival was approaching, he had lost the interest in celebrating his birthday at all, and he was even more annoyed by Lu Zhen's proposal to let hundreds of officials join him.

"You are the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, don't just remember my Qianqiu Festival! Although you don't care about the military rations, but now Zhao Xian, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Li Qing, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and Wang Zhang, the secretary of the Imperial History, are either supervising the transportation or supervising the salary. There is still a shortage of military rations, and some more people's husbands, donkeys and horses have to be deployed, and it is about to enter autumn, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians are all outside the fortress, and countless people will die of cold and starvation if there is a slight delay, so you can rest assured? You don't have to worry about other things, and if you handle the affairs of the household department and the military department well, it will be a great merit. Otherwise, if someone is holding on to what is ahead of you, it will be in vain for me to work hard! ”

The crown prince has always spoken gently, and this time the rare harshness made Lu Zhen very frightened, and after the court responded, when he came out of the Duanjing Palace, he became suspicious in his heart. The previous son-in-law, Zhang Hechao, the head of the household department, lost his honor, but he begged the prince hard, and then he pressed the impeachment of Honglu Temple. Listening to the prince's tone now, could it be that someone is dissatisfied with this matter? He has been an official in the court all these years, and he doesn't know how many people he has offended, so it seems that he will have to be careful in the future.

"Lu Shangshu."

Hearing this call, Lu Zhen, who was contemplating, immediately came back to his senses, and when he saw that it was Liu Guan of the Imperial History who greeted him, he nodded with a smile. He was about to go back to the yamen to take care of his own affairs after a few greetings, but Liu Guan suddenly stepped forward and reminded in a low voice: "Recently, many people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate are planning to impeach Lu Shangshu, and I have temporarily pressed it. Fang Bin is dead, Xia Yuanji and Wu Zhong are all imprisoned, Lu Shangshu has to be careful in everything, don't leave a handle for people. By the way, have you heard about the previous military report? The emperor's victory in this expedition against Wuliangha is estimated to be coming back......"

Liu Guan chattered a lot, but Lu Zhen knew this old man's tricky temper, and understood that there were only one or two important things, and everything had to be understood by himself. When Liu Guan smiled and arched his hand, went up the steps and walked towards the Duanjing Palace, he snorted coldly with disdain. Although Chen Ying was harsh in the past, she was stronger than this shameless guy. As the imperial history of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, ordinary drinking banquets often make a note to summon official prostitutes, the upper beam is not correct and the lower beam is crooked, and there are few imperial histories that the Metropolitan Procuratorate can pick out!

However, it is also convenient to deal with this kind of person, as long as he can share enough benefits, Liu Guan will not talk about any principles. Since people said that they had pressed the impeachment of Yushi for him, then he would repay him with a peach, and he would just take care of his son Liu Hui when he turned around.

Zhu Gaochi was not an energetic person in the first place, but now that Zhu Di is not there, he, the prince, needs to preside over the court meeting before the time is over, and then he has to see someone to give instructions, and even the iron beaten people can't bear it for a few months. And there was only one Yang Shiqi left in the cabinet, and the myriad affairs could not be completed, so in the afternoon, he went to take a nap, but the crown princess Zhang sorted out the notes sent by the cabinet and classified them according to priority. Among them, it doesn't matter that Donggong Fan Hong and several other eunuchs will give instructions according to Yang Shiqi's vote, and the important thing is that Zhang personally read it and then drafted a draft, which he reviewed after taking a nap.

Zhang is an energetic woman, and it only takes two hours to complete these dishes this day. Only then did he order someone to arrange all the folds, and Zhong Huai, who had always handled the housekeeping of the East Palace, hurriedly entered the door, but did not speak after saluting. Knowing that something might happen, she raised the curtain and went to the inner room, and Zhong Huai followed closely behind.

"There was news from the big camp, saying that the first Jingshi had a secret report sent to the emperor, and the emperor was furious when he saw the thunder, and only Zhang Yue was present at that time. Because the water in the imperial tent could not be splashed, only one person heard a few words outside, as if it was the emperor...... The emperor asked the crown prince and grandson who was more worthy of inheriting the throne. ”

"The emperor actually asked this?" Zhang raised her eyebrows and asked Zhang Yue's answer carefully, but Zhong Huai shook her head and said that she didn't inquire, she couldn't help but frown, but she quickly stretched. When Zhang Yue went to Texas to greet her, she had seen Zhang Yue ghostwriting a letter to Zhu Zhanji, and he was clearly a calm young man, and it stands to reason that he would not go wrong on this topic. After pondering for a while, she asked again: "By the way, why is the emperor angry?" ”

"I really can't find out about this." When he said this, Zhong Huai felt strange. Even the emperor could overhear what the emperor asked Zhang Yue, but he didn't know how Zhang Yue answered, let alone why the Son of Heaven was angry? Seeing that Zhang's brows tightened again, he hurriedly said, "But the important thing is another thing, I don't know what's going on, in the past three days, Yang Rongjin and Youzi have never left the imperial tent for half a step. Moreover, it is said that the emperor has sent Zhang Yue back, but no one knows where he has gone. ”

Although Zhong Huai said it vaguely, an irrepressible thought appeared in Zhang's heart - could it be that there was something wrong with the emperor? Although she has won the heart of the emperor and the prince respects her, she has been a little physically and mentally exhausted over the years by reconciling this supreme father and son. However, at the thought that the Son of Heaven might be lost, she still felt an inexplicable tremble. After asking Zhong Huai a few more words, she calculated that Zhu Gaochi should have taken a nap at the same time, and simply took people to the cool hall at the west end of Duanben Palace. However, when she reached the door, a eunuch stopped her with a look of embarrassment.

"Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess forgives her sins, and the Crown Prince is seeing Yang Ge Lao and Master Du."

"Master Du?"

Zhang was slightly stunned, and then took Zhong Huai to the side hall to wait, but he couldn't stop being surprised in his heart. For many years as a husband and wife, Zhu Gaochi has taken a nap every day because it is a habit that cannot be shaken, and now he gets up to see people before the time comes, which is an extremely rare situation. After Du Zhen was released from prison, he returned to Hanlin to give a bachelor's lecture, but he was invited to "recuperate" at home, was he summoned by the prince today, or was he introduced by Yang Shiqi? Her head hurt when she thought about it, and Zhong Huai next to her suddenly interjected a sentence.

"Your Royal Highness the Crown Princess, the little one forgot one thing. Lu Feng hasn't been to Dongchang for more than ten days, even if this is heat stroke, it shouldn't be more than ten days at once, you must know that it is almost autumn now. He was brought out by the royal supervisor Zhang Gonggong, did he let Zhang Gonggong take a look? Although he claimed that his heart was in the East Palace, this kind of thing was not possible after all. ”

Drawing inferences from each other was originally a necessary quality for royal people, so Zhong Huai suggested such a rule, and the crown princess Zhang not only invited Zhang Qian to visit Lu Feng, who was "suffering from heat stroke", but also asked the prince to send an envoy to comfort the officials who had been busy for a summer. If there is a bride, each of them will give twenty ingots, and the two ends of the table and the inside will be doubled. The Wu'an Hou Mansion and the Yangwu Bo Mansion next to each other were also rewarded, but compared to other officials, because the two masters went out of the town and the other accompanied the army to the north, the rewards were more generous. Zhang Qian, who came in person, specially visited the Gu family and met Du Juan in the name of the crown princess.

After the initial difficult time of vomiting in the dark, Du Juan is finally in better spirits now, but his actions are becoming more and more inconvenient. Although Zhang Qian is a eunuch, but at this moment alone, she still feels that this is really abnormal, while carefully dealing with every word, she also has to guess what it means that people deliberately named her.

After talking for a while, Zhang Qian took a sip of the bowl of tea, then raised his head and said, "I had to ask just now, after all, I have to explain when I go back." But I would like to ask Du Yiren, can you follow Xiao Zhang's letter recently, do you know when he will come back? ”

Because this question was really abrupt, Du Juan felt more and more that Zhang Qian was coming at Zhang Yue this time. However, since Zhang Yue rushed to Kaiping, all news has almost been cut off, and the only words are at most only from the Houjun Governor's Mansion, only knowing that people are safe and sound, and nothing else is known. At this moment, she simply answered the truth, and then asked bluntly: "Since Gonggong Zhang asked this, can you tell him what is going on at the moment?" ”

"As far as I know, Lord Xiao Zhang should not be in the Chinese army camp at the moment, most of them are rushing back, as for where they are, no one knows, I heard that it was a holy order." Seeing Du Juan frowning thoughtfully, Zhang Qian said in a low voice, "Du Yiren, I have to remind you, if it is really Lord Xiao Zhang who comes back to see you quietly, you have to tell him." If there is really a change in the north, and the matter is urgent, he must not blindly stick to the big thing. ”

These two words of light and clever change contain an unpredictable crisis, although Du Juan promised on his lips, his heart was inexplicably nervous. This time is different from the northern expedition in the eighth year of Yongle and the twelfth year of Yongle, although the army is invincible, but the emperor is already old. If it is really Zhang Yue who comes back, I am afraid that not only the East Palace behind Zhang Qian, but also countless people want to know what the emperor's situation is. After all, once the mountain collapses, the world will have to change owners!

Sent Zhang Qian away, Du Juan wanted to ask Zhao Hu to ask what was going on, but there was a difference between inside and outside, she had a big belly and no excuse to go out of the second door, in the end, the old lady and so on knew, it was a chicken and a dog jumping, but she was really not at ease if she didn't ask. After hesitating for a while, just when she made up her mind to go outside, she saw the bamboo curtain of Xiangfei shaking violently a few times, and then a tiger-headed little guy stumbled in.

"Mother...... Mother! ”

found out that it was his son, and Du Juan's trace of apprehension was immediately washed away. Amber, who was waiting beside her, hurriedly reached out and picked up the little guy and put it on the kang with a smile. At this time, Lingxi followed closely into the house, and when she saw Jingguan grabbing Du Juan's arm and squeaking and laughing, she was also full of smiles.

"Since the arrest of Zhou, Jingguan seems to have changed as a person, and he has become a lot more active. I didn't want to learn to walk, but now I am walking all over the ground; used to only love to sleep, but now he is tired of taking people out to play when he wakes up. Just now the slave and maid just let him go to the ground, and he ran in himself. The young grandmother doesn't have to worry about it now, this child is really a year older, so it's different. ”

Feeling her son's soft little hands grasping her shoulders, Du Juan couldn't help but gently drag the person over, and saw that the black and bright eyes were staring straight at her, so she pinched the chubby little arms and hands, and as a result, the little guy called his mother again as soon as he opened his mouth. Although it was not the first time she had heard him call someone, she was still full of joy and hugged her son and teased her for a while. At this time, Qiu Zhen, who was holding a small tea tray, also entered the house from outside, and saw Jing Guan crawling on the kang, she also smiled, so she put the tea tray on the side of the tall table, and then held the tea cup to Du Juan, and wiped her hands and took out a letter from her arms.

"Young grandma, this is a letter that I just received from the door, saying that it was opened by Lord Chen Liu."

Du Juan, who was still thinking about Zhang Yue's side, hurriedly reached out and took it when she heard this, but before she opened the seal, she remembered that she had never seen Zhu Ning since she came back from Xuanfu. In May, Ying's mother came once, but after Princess Feng died, although she sent someone to pay tribute, she only had a few words when she brought it back. This time, Zhu Ning only sent one letter, and nothing else, which is very strange.

Unfolded the letterhead and browsed it from beginning to end, only to see that it was full of chattering and trivial matters, she felt more and more confused, and when she saw the word Cuimo at the end, she paid attention. Before she went to Xuanfu for the Chinese New Year, she had followed Zhu Ning to Meng's house, but Zhu Ning seemed to be very kind to Cuimo, and once gave some extra instructions. At that time, it sounded ordinary, but could it be that there was something else important? In this case, even if she can't go, I'm afraid she will have to find a way to bring someone to meet her.