The fifteenth day of the first month of the first year of orthodoxy.

Summoned by the Empress Dowager and escorted by Jinyiwei, Zhu Qiyue entered the palace with his father.

After a year of studying literature and martial arts behind closed doors, he grew taller, and his body gradually became bookish.

It was a happy thing to be able to walk out of the Yue Wang's Mansion and look at the outside world, but when he stepped on the Danqi in front of the Fengtian Palace, everything seemed so uninteresting.

The cloudy sky and the gray Forbidden City give people a heavy sense of oppression.

In the Fengtian Palace, all the attendants were retired, and only the Empress Dowager and the Emperor sat on the throne. Both of them looked very solemn.

After Zhu Qiyue finished saluting with his father, Emperor Zhu Qizhen reluctantly gave his cousin a fleeting smile, while the Empress Dowager cast a gentle glance, wanting to greet her grandson, but in the end, her eyes were stunned and she slowly lowered her head.

Everything shows that no one is in the mood to talk to parents at this moment, and the road is short. The atmosphere in the hall was almost suffocating.

A moment later, King Wei hurried inside, his face stained with frost. Seeing Zhu Qiyue at a glance, when the color was slightly softened below, when he passed by his nephew's side, he couldn't help but touch him with his hand, and then faced the royal platform and bowed.

"The Empress Dowager and His Majesty the Emperor, warning messages of the Warat Column crossing the border and plundering came frequently, and the hundred officials only blindly accused the border generals of slacking off and dereliction of duty, but they were silent about the matter of responding to the Warat provocation. The minister thinks that this wind cannot last! Wei Wang said loudly.

Zhu Qizhen pursed his lips, and his eyes inadvertently showed a little abruptness. "My Ming Dynasty suffered greatly from the raids of the Tatars, and now Warat is attacking the Tatars on a large scale, and the officials think that the Ming Dynasty should be happy to see it succeed, as for the fact that Warat is not effective in restraining his subordinates, this is the last section."

"The minister dared to ask Your Majesty, the hundred officials are not in the Warat camp, and they have not been at the border, how do they know that Warat is not effective in restraining his subordinates, and not intended to disturb and tempt?" King Wei's posture was submissive, but his eyes were resolute.

Zhu Qizhen was shocked. The Empress Dowager raised her head and looked out of the door, thoughtful.

The hall fell into a deathly silence, and Zhu Qiyue felt that his snort was clearly audible.

The beacon fire and wolf smoke at the border pass seemed to be reflected in front of him, and at this moment, he had a brief illusion: the comfortable days in the palace had gradually faded away.

The Empress Dowager looked at Zhu Qizhen who was in a trance with kind eyes, shook her head gently, and then turned her head to look at Zhu Qiyue, her eyes lit up, but she wanted to stop talking.

After pondering for a long time, the Empress Dowager said quietly: "This time, that time." Now it is Warat who has asked for the Ming Dynasty, not the Ming Dynasty who has asked for the Warat, is it possible that the Warat has decided that the Ming Dynasty will only fall into the ground for the Tatars out of old grudges, but he is not worried at all that my Ming and the Tatars will turn enemies into friends? The Warat envoys are in Beijing, and the Tatar envoys are also in Beijing, aren't the Tatar envoys lobbying around for my Ming to send troops to help? Then he immediately ordered the king of Wei to meet the Tatar envoys in a high-profile manner, and the louder the momentum, the better, so that the Warat envoys could sit still! ”

"Then he ordered the king of Yue to secretly see the envoys of Wara and force them to make a promise to restrain their subordinates and never violate the law!"

The complexion on Zhu Qizhen's face gradually relaxed, and he glanced at Zhu Qiyue, as if he suddenly thought of something. "Qi Yue, go down, the Empress Dowager is waiting for you in Xianxi Palace."

・・・・・・

The first time I listened to the discussion of the main hall, I was clearly fascinated by such a situation, but the imperial grandmother didn't seem to want to give him such an opportunity.

With a trace of reluctance, he hurriedly walked out of the Fengtian Palace, only to see Mao Gui and Wang Qing smiling and greeting them.

"Your Highness Wan An!" When he got closer, Mao Gui said: "The queen mother ordered the little one to come to greet Her Highness, does Your Highness remember the little one?" ”

Zhu Qiyue only felt that the two of them were kind-faced, and after thinking about it, he thought that a year ago, the two of them had gone to the Yue Wangfu with Hongli.

"I met the two fathers-in-law a year ago, how are you doing?" With a quick step, he left the two behind.

Mao Gui and Wang Qing chased after each other, and Mao Gui preemptively said: "Your Highness still remembers the little one!" How dare the little one bear the title of 'father-in-law'? If Your Highness doesn't think it's stupid, call it a little 'little noble'. ”

It's almost twenty people, what's not a child, cut!

Thinking so in his heart, he quietly changed his title, "You work in Xianxi Palace, as long as you are diligent, within three years, it should not be difficult to return to the master of ceremonies to be a long-term attendant and a bookkeeper." ”

One sentence made the hearts of the two of them bloom. "Your Highness's auspicious words! I also ask Your Highness to say a lot of kind words in front of the Queen Mother in the future. ”

Zhu Qiyue said secretly: I have to be familiar with the Queen Mother, how can I say anything?

But he said, "It's easy to say." ”

When he came to the gate of Xianxi Palace, Zhu Qiyue tidied up his clothes, and he felt a little worried in his heart.

Not long ago, his mother went to Fu'an Palace on his behalf to thank him, and he had to thank him for his kindness in Xianxi Palace. Interestingly, the Queen Mother came out this morning: "I want to see Qi Yue." ”

In the Xianxi Palace, the Queen Mother got up slowly, her soft gaze was fixed on Zhu Qiyue's face, and her friendly smile contained a little expectation, and kindness came to her face like a spring breeze.

"Qi Yue is exempt."

The "free courtesy" here refers to the exemption of the big gift, and the extraordinary courtesy, but before the Queen Mother's voice fell, Zhu Qiyue had already knelt on the ground, "The ministers and nephews respectfully invite the Queen Mother Sheng'an!" After several generous rewards from the Queen Mother, Qi Yue thanked her late and asked the Queen Mother to forgive her sins. ”

The Queen Mother's first impression of her nephew was excellent: clean, really clean!

She stepped forward to help him up with her own hand, took his hand to the seat, and sat down close to him.

"Family, thank you and see you outside. They weren't valuable, they were just gadgets. ”

Zhu Qiyue got up and arched his hand and said: "Qi Yue is still young, I don't know how expensive things are, but the love in this is heavier than the mountain, every time I see them, Qi Yue knows that in this world, in addition to his parents, there are also the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother always remembers Qi Yue." ”

The Queen Mother felt an inexplicable feeling in her heart, and she only felt that her nephew was a thousand times stronger than the son of the!

I have to find an opportunity to blow the wind in the emperor's ears and make Qi Yue the prince. Since Zhu Qiyu became a prince at a young age, why can't Qi Yue be the prince of the king?

"Sit, sit down." After Zhu Qiyue sat down, she said gently: "In addition to your study, you also have to practice qin, chess, calligraphy and painting. Turning to Mei Zi on the side, he said, "Go and get it, let Qi Yue take a look." ”

The Queen Mother seemed to want to reward Zhu Qiyue with all the best things in the Xianxi Palace, which made the latter gradually dissipate some uneasiness in his heart.

Meizi said with a bitter face: "Zhonghe Qin was borrowed by the royal superintendent, saying that it was to prepare for the dance music at the festival banquet. ”

The Queen Mother's face sank, and she said sharply: "Nonsense! The filial piety of the first emperor has not passed, how can he have a feast! ”

As soon as these words came out, he felt that it was inappropriate, and he was worried about scaring his nephew on the side, so he quickly smiled at him. Said slowly: "Go and get it." ”

Meizi answered, hurried out of Xianxi Palace, and went straight to the imperial prison.

The palm print eunuch Xining did not dare to slack off, and personally came forward to receive Meizi.

"This piano is still placed in the Fengtian Palace, and the Sprinkle family is not sure whether the Empress Dowager and His Majesty the Emperor are still in the palace, but in another half an hour, the Sprinkler family will have a count, and Miss Lao will stay for a while."

Xining is in her early thirties, and her speech and deeds have always been tepid, delicate and mellow.

Listening to Xining's words, Meizi was unhappy, "The queen mother is urging tightly, I can't be the master." The piano was borrowed by the imperial supervisor, and there were many royal prisoners, so he asked his father-in-law to return it to Xianxi Palace. ”

"Girl, don't be impatient." Xi Ning said with a smile: "This piano is worth a lot of money, the girl is not inspected, the sprinkle family does not dare to send it blindly, in case it is mistaken, the royal prison must not be punished, and the girl is invited to run more, and she will have the benefits of the girl in the future." ”

Meizi pursed her lips and smiled, and left abruptly.

After wandering around, Meizi came to the side gate of Fengtian Hall on time, Xining was smiling and chanting there, he asked a group of small chamberlains to stay outside, and personally led Meizi into the side hall.

The side hall was full of various musical instruments, and Meizi saw the "waterfall beads" at a glance.

Just as she was about to step forward to take the piano, the voice of the Empress Dowager suddenly came from the direction of the main hall, and she was so frightened that she almost collapsed on the ground.

"The people in the palace have rented a colorful building in the light market, and you and the envoy of Wara will enter it at the right time, and come back to your life as soon as possible after negotiating."

"The retainers obeyed." This voice sounded like the king of Yue's.

"Take Qi Yue with you, let him go to the lamp market to breathe. Alas, in the past year, Qi Yue has not left the Yue Wangfu an inch, but he has been suffocated. ”

・・・・・・

Meizi turned her head to look at Xining in panic, Xining made a gesture, and the two took the piano and cautiously walked out of the side hall.

Xining smiled: "The girl has checked it well, it's no wonder that she made a mistake." ”

Meizi calmed down, looked at the qin carefully, and after confirming that it was correct, Chong Xining nodded.

Back in Xianxi Palace, Meizi sent Qin Gong to Zhu Qiyue, hurriedly came to the Queen Mother's side, and whispered: "The Queen Mother ・・・・・・・" and then stopped talking.

Zhu Qiyue glanced at the plums, put the piano away, got up and said: "I heard that the inner garden of Xianxi Palace is very elegant, Qi Yue wants to open his eyes, and he hopes that the queen mother will approve it." ”

The Queen Mother nodded with a smile and instructed the two palace maids: "You serve carefully." ”

After Zhu Qiyue walked away, Meizi attached to the Queen Mother's ear and said: "The Queen Mother ordered King Yue to go to the Lamp Market tonight・・・・・・"

"Shut up!" The Queen Mother shouted: "You little hoof, you dare to spy on the secrets of the Queen Mother, be careful about your skin!" ”

Meizi failed to please the Queen Mother, but was reprimanded, and was shocked and frightened at the moment, so she quickly changed her words: "Please let the Queen Mother calm her anger, the slave maid also listens to others." ”

The Queen Mother was slightly angry, and said in a deep voice: "In the future, you are not allowed to listen, watch, or pass on the secrets of the Queen Mother, otherwise, if there is a mistake, even if others spare you, the mourning family will not let you go!" ”

"Yes, the slave doesn't dare anymore."

"Lamp Market?" Suddenly, the Queen Mother's face turned pale, as if she had an understanding, "You girl is so forgetful, what about the inventory made last year?" If you don't go to find it quickly, tell Mao Gui and Wang Qing to go to the lamp market to procure it quickly! ”

It's really a trick! The Queen Mother had already forgotten all about replacing the furnishings of Xianxi Palace, if it weren't for the mouthy plums, the Queen Mother would have saved a lot of trouble later, and Mao Gui and Wang Qing, the two little people, would not have become the focus of attention like tonight even if they were ten years later.