In the early autumn night, the heat has not dissipated, the lights and shadows on the thousand-step corridor are sparse, and there are few pedestrians, compared with the busy scene of bright lights and people coming and going a few months ago, the changes here are great, like a world away. The government offices everywhere regained the habit of sleeping day and night, and the life of the scholar unconsciously returned to the leisurely past.

Last year, the internal and external situation was urgent at the same time, and the monarchs and ministers of the DPRK and China were really nervous for a while. Now the situation of the Ming Dynasty is still deteriorating, but the progress of the deterioration is quite slow, so the mentality of the monarch and the minister has stabilized, thinking that the general trend of the world is predictable and controllable, and even has some kind of illusion: the situation seems to be developing in a good direction.

For those who like to calm and steady, the slowly changing situation can easily paralyze them, like boiling a frog in warm water.

The two new little chamberlains in the Xianxi Palace traveled to the outside of the Daming Gate to greet Zhu Qiming, and then followed him into the Forbidden City through the noon gate. Compared with the beginning of the year, the atmosphere in the Forbidden City has also returned to normal, but the lights are not put on and the music is not open, exposing the empty family background of the inner treasury.

The two little chamberlains were on an errand for a short time, and they looked very restrained, unlike Mao Gui and Wang Qing back then, who had nothing to say, but fortunately, when Zhu Qiming was only thinking about asking the queen mother for peace, he had nothing to say at the moment, otherwise looking at the two of them nervously, if Zhu Qiming asked this and that on a whim, they would have to be at a loss.

"Your Highness, please, Xianxi Palace has arrived." A little chamberlain finally had the courage to open his mouth, and his tone was smooth, but to Zhu Qiming, this was simply nonsense!

"Qi Ming, the king of Chenyue, respectfully invites the Empress Dowager Sheng'an."

"Get up. Sit. ”

After entering the house to salute, Zhu Qiming raised his eyes and glanced at it, and saw that the queen mother's complexion was not bad, and the palace maid on the side was a new face, and she should be over twenty years old.

After taking a seat, the palace maid came over to serve tea, and secretly glanced at Zhu Qiming from time to time.

"Back then, I wasn't sad and ruthless, and I had nothing to do but find trouble with the Lu family. The Empress Dowager entrusted you to the mourning family before her death, and the mourning family had to think about your life. The Queen Mother rested her head on the back of the chair and leaned slightly to Zhu Qiming's side, "Now that the mourning family finally understands, how can the fate of your life be changed by a woman?" It's all up to you. ”

Zhu Qiming hurriedly left his seat and bowed, "Thank you to the Queen Mother." ”

The Empress Dowager waved her hand to signal Zhu Qiming to take a seat, "When the weather is cooler, the mourning family will let the Lu family enter the palace to meet her." ”

Why wait until autumn is cool? Long nights and dreams! Zhu Qiming wished that the Empress Dowager would let Lu Xiyao enter the palace early tomorrow morning, but in view of the fact that the Empress Dowager had made a compromise, she was only afraid that she would still be unwilling, and if she urged her at this time, it would probably backfire.

"The queen mother has good intentions, and the ministers are at the mercy of the queen mother."

The Empress Dowager nodded with satisfaction, "Concubine Zhou said good things about the Lu family vigorously, don't worry, the Zhou family itself is still like this, what else does the mourning family have to say?" Alas, the money is exhausted, and I don't know what your marriage can look like after some preparations. ”

"The Queen Mother, a prince has its own rules to follow when getting married, and there is no need to spend internal money."

"That's what I said, but you're different, you were taken care of by the mourning family many years ago, and it's reasonable to be reasonable, the mourning family will treat you favorably, and follow the rules!"

Hearing this, Zhu Qiming's heart moved, and he suddenly felt that he owed too much debt to the Queen Mother.

"The mourning family still has some silver here, and the society is troubled, so I planned to keep this silver for emergencies, but seeing that no amount of silver in the inner treasury is enough to spend, why should the mourning family donate it to the water? It's better to reward you, whether you live in Beijing in the future, or go to the domain, there will always be some foundation there, you will not suffer in your life, if you can do so, it can be regarded as a mourning family to live up to the trust of the empress dowager during her lifetime. ”

For some reason, Zhu Qiming's nose was sore, he had to cheer up, hold back his tears, get up and bow, "Thank you to the Queen Mother for her kindness!" The Empress Dowager just said that there are many things going on in the society at the moment, and this money from Xianxi Palace may come in handy in the future! ”

"Isn't it the same when it is placed with you? The mourning family knows that you have never had any days of fine clothes and food over the years, and you have taken your own money to relieve the worries of the society, so the silver is placed there for you, and the mourning family can rest assured. ”

Put it there with me? God knows what the future holds for me! Thinking of this, Zhu Qiming bowed down and said: "The queen mother, the ministers are used to being casual, and they can't save floating money. ”

The Empress Dowager beckoned Zhu Qiming to take her seat again, "Eh, King Yue, it's inconvenient for the mourning family to ask about the government, you say, seeing that Sheji is here, the emperor and the ministers don't know how to accumulate some money?" ”

From thrift to luxury, from luxury to thrift, comfortable and accustomed, who can stand the hard days! Besides, the monarchs and ministers of the court are in danger at the beginning of the calendar, and they inevitably love to think about the good in their hearts, thinking that most of the worst days will not come, how can you do this to prepare for the worst!

Zhu Qiming hid such thoughts in his stomach, and said indifferently: "It's inconvenient for the minister to talk about the government. ”

The Empress Dowager sighed, and her thoughts returned to the previous topic, "Although the emperor did not say it explicitly, the mourning family knew that the emperor would like to move the silver from Xianxi Palace to the inner treasury, but the silver entered the inner treasury tonight, and I am afraid that I will not be able to see a copper plate when I wake up tomorrow morning!" ”

"Isn't there still a Neku on the female officer's side? You say how much money you have in the female officer's treasury. ”

The silver in Xianxi Palace is actually the same as being placed in the female official treasury, both of which are decided by the queen mother, so Zhu Qiming is equivalent to saying nonsense, but taking the opportunity to pull out the female official treasury is exactly what Zhu Qiming wants to achieve by talking nonsense.

The Queen Mother frowned, "Female Treasury? Queen, Concubine Zhou, Concubine Wan······" He paused after only a start.

Seeing this, Zhu Qiming remembered his thoughts. It seems that the queen mother wants to completely fade out of the harem affairs and hand over everything to the queen and a few of the emperor's favorite concubines to take care of, but the queen and the emperor are in deep love, and they definitely can't bear to make the emperor unhappy, and those favorite concubines are competing to please the emperor, so the silver in the female official treasury is not hot! This may be the reason why the Queen Mother hesitated.

A faceless chamberlain hurriedly entered, whispered in the ear of the queen mother, and occasionally words such as "Fu'an Palace" drifted into the ears of others. The Queen Mother's face immediately became gloomy, and her eyes were a little scary.

Why are there so many new faces in Xianxi Palace? A trace of doubt flashed in Zhu Qiming's heart, and he raised his eyes to meet the Queen Mother's slightly scrutinizing gaze.

"King Yue, what has King Yu been doing lately?"

Zhu Qiming was secretly taken aback, "Back to the Queen Mother, the minister doesn't know." I heard that King Yu doesn't ask about the world, and he doesn't go out all day long, most of which is looking for fun. ”

"Merry?" The Queen Mother pondered for a long time, and said quietly: "Hmph, that's an illusion to fool the world!" ”

Another chamberlain trotted in, "Queen Mother, Concubine Hui Niangniang is screaming for stomach pain, look at the situation is a little not ······"

"Don't pass on the doctor's wife yet!" The Empress Dowager stood up suddenly, realizing that there was another prince here, so she slowed down her tone: "King Yue, you go back." ”

Walking on the lonely palace road, his mind was churning with the grievances and grievances of the two generations in the palace, Zhu Qiming suddenly felt that the huge Forbidden City was dim, only the city tower in the distance was lit up, and at a glance, it was like a ray of dawn in the boundless darkness.