Chapter 724: Heaven's Will

Kaifeng Zhou Palace.

The white flags that covered the sky and the sun fluttered in the wind, making this huge palace more and more white. There were bursts of wailing and wailing in the mourning hall, and the melodious chanting of monks and Taoists was faintly heard in the outer courtyard, and the footsteps, discussions, and regrets of the servants were intertwined, even in the middle of summer, it made people feel cold.

In the mourning hall, a person kneeling on the ground wearing linen and filial piety. Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou, has many children, a total of fourteen sons and ten daughters under his knees, plus many grandchildren, and there is no room for these many people under the mourning hall. The married daughter only mourns for her father, and there is no fuel-efficient lamp among the sons of King Zhou, so there is no other county lord except Zhu Ning, the county lord of Chenliu, and at this moment, many filial sons and grandsons were frightened by the quarrel just now. Even at this time, Zhu Youjiao and Zhu Youxi, who lost the titles of King Runan and King Xin'an years ago, were still stalking, and their faces were full of cruelty.

"The eldest brother is a serious son canonized by the imperial court, how can you two people who have lost their titles be humiliated? Come on, fork them out, and wait for the imperial envoy to come! ”

"Fourth, don't be too complacent! The boss has no son, do you think you will inherit the title of king in the future? Let me tell you, don't think that others don't know, you have a close relationship with King Zhao! If the emperor knows, don't think it's better than us! ”

"Don't spew blood, the emperor has insight into the embarrassment between the two of you, so he stripped you of your prince. The eldest brother was seriously ill when his father was seriously ill, so he let you out as a filial son, and you are so ignorant! One framed the son of the world, the other preyed on human brains, how did my father raise you two brutes who lost their conscience! ”

Seeing that Zhu Youyi, the king of auspicious charms, and Zhu Youxi, Zhu Youxi, who had been kneeling there silently, finally couldn't help it, Huo Di stood up and shouted: "This is my father's spiritual hall, quarreling in this kind of place, are you not afraid of disturbing the spirit of your ancestors in the sky?" Have you forgotten the words of your father on his deathbed? ”

She shouted, and the mourning hall finally fell silent. However, the next moment, Zhu Youxi sneered: "A-Ning, you don't have to put on such a righteous and awe-inspiring posture of filial piety. Father dotes on you, and you forget that I am your brother and brother, and instead help others wholeheartedly! But don't forget, you're always a woman! When your father was there, you could still protect you, but now that your father is gone, who of these people you defend will really think about you? Just because you and I are raised by a mother, you will never think of having a place in this palace in the future! ”

He was so headed, Zhu Youjiao naturally followed with a sneer, coupled with the angry shouts of the Xiangfu King, and the other brothers' guns and sticks, for a while, the mourning hall was boiling again. Zhu Ning, whose face was pale, looked at these brothers who were completely exposed, and finally turned around and slowly knelt down again, his eyes staring directly at the god lord in front of the mourning hall.

When his father Zhu Hu was there, he could barely suppress them; She begged for the intervention of the Empress Dowager Zhang, and it can be regarded as seeking peace for the palace for a while, but in the future, she ...... What do I do next?

Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou, has always been pitiful to the old and poor, and he has no mercy on the people close to him, and he also has a deep affection for the concubines, etc., so the prince died, and there were many concubines who volunteered to be martyred, and even many of the nameless servants quietly hanged themselves from the ground. For a while, the palace ordered a lot of high-quality boards, and compared with the constant quarrels in the front yard, the back yard was only filled with a sad atmosphere. Within a few days, the imperial court sent the Ministry of Rites to mourn in person, and the martyrs were posthumously gifted, and presided over the matter of the succession of the prince to the throne.

In addition to Zhu Ning, all the other county kings and county lords in the palace have been married, so in the huge Zhou Palace, except for Zhu Youlian, who succeeded the king of Zhou, there is only one person living in the same generation. Although she and Zhu Youlian have a good relationship with the brothers and sisters, they can't match the affection of father and daughter after all, and a large number of servants and slaves in the family have been replaced, she actually feels that this familiar home has become extremely unfamiliar, and she doesn't even want to go out of the yard by keeping filial piety.

"County Lord, County Lord!"

Zhu Ning, who was staring out the window blankly, heard this voice, so she turned her head sideways and saw that it was the nurse Ying's mother holding a letter in her hand, so she showed a faint smile: "What, is it Wan'er in Guangdong, or Minmin in the capital?" ”

"It's Miss Meng Si." Ying's mother handed over the letter with both hands, and when she saw Zhu Ning cutting the envelope with a paper cutter to get the letter, she couldn't help but persuade, "County Lord, people can't be resurrected after death, please mourn and change, you haven't used the things you have sent these days, how can you support it if it goes on like this?" Although this filial piety is twenty-seven months, I heard from the Chitose Lord and the princess that you should get married as soon as possible. ”

"It's been delayed for so many years, and it doesn't matter if it takes another ten or eight years." Zhu Ning didn't care about the major events of his life for a long time, he took out the letterhead, and after scanning it at a glance and ten lines, his face couldn't help but be stunned, and he sighed for a long time, "Min Min is a good blessing, Meng Tao and Meng Fan are all good, after the battle of Daning, they sealed a hundred households, and now they are both promoted to a thousand households!" It is said that the eldest sister is like a mother, and with such two good brothers, it is still comfortable not to marry for life! ”

Hearing Zhu Ning say this again, Ying's mother only felt a tremor in her heart. These days, she has heard the words "never marrying for life" more than once, and she thought it was just angry words under a moment of anger, but now it seems that this golden branch and jade leaf really moved this idea. Thinking that Zhu Ning was smart since Xiaoice Xue, and she was struggling to maintain herself in Beijing before, and in the end she was going to end up in such a situation, she couldn't help but feel sad, she actually forgot what was the humble master and servant, and couldn't help but hold her shoulder.

"Poor boy ......"

In the palace, her biological mother died early, although her father and grandmother treated her well, but after all, her father had many affairs, and her mother did not have much time to take care of housekeeping, Zhu Ning was naturally sensible early, and she had almost no memory of being coquettish when she was a child. On the contrary, after getting older, because the sisters got married one by one, Zhu Hu often brought them with him, and his temperament became cheerful. Now she only feels that there is no more evidence around her, so Ying's mother's sentence suddenly hit her heart.

"Mom!"

Even if she watched her father leave for a long time that day, even if she mourned and worshiped in the mourning hall later, even if it was the smoke of Buddhist and Taoist ceremonies, she had never really cried as much as she did today. She didn't suppress her emotions anymore, she just vented her tears. For a long time, she was tired of crying, leaning on Ying's mother's arms, and was always reluctant to raise her head.

"County Lord, I just overstepped it, and now I want to persuade me again. Before the king of Xin'an...... Although the fifth master's words are biased, you really have to be prepared. Chitose Ye treats you well, but the fifth master and the second master teamed up to frame Chitose Ye at the beginning, and there is always a mustard in this. Chitose Ye still has no son, only one daughter, and his health is not good, to put it bluntly, the throne of the other day is very likely to be inherited by the King of Xiangfu, and at that time, this matter will be even more difficult to say. So take advantage of the present time to quickly set a good family business, and you will have real reliance in the future. Look at the little five girls, aren't they husband and wife and beautiful now? ”

"Mom's thinking is too easy, if a woman loses her mother's support, no matter how good she is when she gets married, it will be a waste in the future. Xiao Wu is lucky, with a father-in-law and a stepmother who really love her, Wan Shijie's character is also one in ten million. I am the lord of the county, this identity is an obstacle, if I lose the help of the king, my husband's family may not know what will happen in the future. The county lord is not as good as a princess, whether people marry or not, the county lord still needs to serve his in-laws to welcome her husband in the end, and the same can be abandoned and divorced, why should I suffer? ”

Without waiting for his mother to speak, Zhu Ning moved slightly, sat up straight again, wiped his face with a silk handkerchief, and took a picture of the bronze mirror on the table. Looking at the red and swollen eyes in the mirror, she pressed her eyes with both palms, and then said: "The second sister is married to the Xu family, which is also considered a top famous family, and the Yibin family is not a group of concubines, and my father said that she used to be the most hearty person, but what I saw when I was a child was always a strong and smiling face, and then passed away in a few years." It is better for a woman not to marry than to entrust a person, and choose a reliable child to take with her in the future, so that she may be able to have a peaceful life. ”

Ying's mother knew that Zhu Ning had always been stubborn, but now she was persuaded and persuaded, so she had to sigh. Seeing that the sackcloth on Zhu Ning's body had a few places that could be worn out, she packed up the needle and thread, helped sew it stitch by stitch, and said some things outside. She was talking about her son and daughter-in-law, and the girl Yi'er hurried in.

"County Lord, there is a messenger from Jingshi, and the Chitose Lord and the princess invite you over."

Although he has lived in Beijing for many years, after Zhu Hu's death, Zhu Ning has never seen anyone from Beijing. Hearing this at this time, she couldn't help frowning: "Who is here?" Why did you want me to come over? ”

"The person who came is a father-in-law in the palace, as for why you are invited over, the slave really doesn't know."

Today's Zhou King Zhu Youlian is erudite and good at books, opera, calligraphy and painting, poetry, etc., and can be regarded as a first-class elegant person, so the guests in the mansion except for the chief historian are all literati and scholars, and they are not separated from the line when they see the guests. This time, even in the face of the envoy, he was in mourning, and his words were also sideways, and what pleased him the most was that this eunuch who was not young was not an idler, and he was able to compete with him in a small way. So, at the end, he couldn't help but open his mouth.

"Forgive this domain for being presumptuous, the prince is so literate, and it is really a bit condescending to the ceremonial supervisor and the supervisor."

"King Zhou Chitose really tormented our family, our family is just a little bit of literature and ink, so now the inner study hall has been opened, and the emperor has been promoted to do something. The emperor is the most concerned about poetry, songs, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and always feels that the eunuchs in the palace are too vulgar if they don't understand literature and ink, so they built an inner study hall. Since King Chitose of Zhou is the lord of the palace, if he likes it, he can also let the people below learn some literature and ink, so although he can't be a companion, isn't it more comfortable to serve than ordinary mediocre people? ”

At first, I heard that the emperor built an inner study hall for eunuchs to teach eunuchs to read and write, Zhu Youlian still felt a little strange, but when he heard the other party say this, he gradually became a little moved. The guests who come and go don't mention it for the time being, but even if the people around you are petty and respectful, they can't even pick up a sentence and it's boring. After carefully considering the difficulty of this matter, he nodded lightly when he thought that the emperor had built an inner study hall, and he was not against the ancestral system.

"Chitose Lord, the county lord is here."

With this whispered sentence, Zhu Youlian saw Zhu Ning, who was dressed in sackcloth, enter the house. He was about to nod, but the middle-aged eunuch next to him hurriedly stood up and saluted, and he couldn't help but explain: "A Ning, this is the palace master of ceremonies, Wang Zhen, the princess, who ordered him to come." The queen mother said, you lost your biological mother when you were young, and now your mother and father have passed away one after another, and you will inevitably be lonely when you live in the palace as Yunying is unmarried. My father mentioned it to the Queen Mother when he was staying in Beijing, so the prince is here to take you into the palace. I know that you have always been filial, but since you are your father's last wish, you must not obey it. ”

Zhu Ning only thought that maybe the queen mother and the emperor would be rewarded, but she didn't expect that she would be summoned to Beijing. There are dozens of vassal kings in the world, and hundreds of county lords, but she is the one who has stayed in the capital for the longest time, and now it is such an unruly summons, if she accepts it easily...... After thinking about it for a long time as before, she saw Wang Zhen, who was wearing a simple green shirt, bowing to her.

"The county lord, the queen mother and the emperor are very concerned about the county lord. Before the small one came to Kaifeng, the Queen Mother had Yin Yin instructed, saying that Emperor Taizong regarded the county lord as a woman, and Emperor Renzong regarded the county lord as a sister. The emperor also mentioned that the county lord can live in the Zhou Wang's Mansion when he goes to Beijing, and he only often goes to the palace as a companion, and others will not have any gossip about small things. ”

Hearing Wang Zhen's persuasion, Zhu Ning couldn't help but think of the noisy scene in the mourning hall. Her father Zhu Hu has passed away, and she stayed in the Zhou Mansion just as a county lord who eats idle meals, so why should she be in the way of people's eyes here? When you arrive in the capital, even if you choose a Taoist temple at random, it is better than being in a place where this is right and wrong. Today's Jingshi has no rebellion to seize the heir, no powerful ministers to cover the sky, only virtuous queens and loyal ministers, and she can live this life. She doesn't want to get married, who else can beat her idea?

"That being the case, I obey the will that there is a reply to the Queen Mother and the Emperor, and now that the seventh and seventh have passed, there is still a burial in the earth, and when everything is finished, I will tidy up my things and set off."

"This matter is small, and naturally someone will report it, and now this time is small, and the county lord will give orders if he has something."

When Wang Zhenbi left Zhu Ning respectfully, Zhu Youlian, who had not spoken much since he first spoke, couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief, and then shook his head regretfully. His sisters all married early, leaving only Zhu Ning, who was very sacred, and he was not allowed to do any marriage proposed by the Lord before. Now many people have tactfully asked to marry, and before he and Princess Gong have discussed a clue, the Son of Heaven has inserted such a lever, which is really providential.