Qianqing Palace East Warm Pavilion.

After the first day of October, the palace burned the earth dragon and brazier, this Qianqing Palace East Warm Pavilion is the emperor's living place, naturally no exception. At this time, there were a large number of people kneeling on the ground, although it had been more than an hour, but no one dared to raise their heads, and they didn't even dare to say a word. Kneeling here is just a numbness in the knees and a sore shoulder and back, but at least it's better than kneeling in the frozen place outside. So, even if everyone's brains are shiny, and everyone's vests are gradually wet, they have to hold on to it.

For a long time, Emperor Hongzhi, who had not spoken, sneered: "Everyone in Ping Yue said how dedicated and cautious they were, so it turns out that you are so conscientious. I have handed over the prince to you in a good manner, but what about you, what good things have you done! actually instigated the prince to abolish the lecture and sneak out of the palace, you are so bold! ”

Although the few most powerful eunuchs kneeling in front of them did not dare to raise their heads, they inevitably glanced at each other, and while crying and mourning, they were all secretly scolding Zhang Yonggu Dayong and Ma Yongcheng, who were protecting Zhu Houzhao today. But when they wanted to defend themselves, they didn't dare at all, and the surname Suo kept his head close to the gold bricks on the ground. But this time, after Emperor Hongzhi finished scolding, he shouted loudly: "Come on, take them out, I will be annoyed when I look at them!" ”

"Your Majesty, slave Li Rong asks to see!"

As soon as the words fell, an abrupt voice suddenly came from outside. Emperor Hongzhi glanced at these wine bags and rice bags in disgust, and opened his mouth impatiently. The next moment, I saw Li Rong walking in quickly, glancing at everyone on the ground, and was about to salute. Seeing his trembling appearance, Emperor Hongzhi immediately frowned and said, "Excuse me!" ”

"Emperor Xie!" After all, Li Rong knelt down before getting up, and then lowered his head and said respectfully, "The slave maid has already gone to the palace gate and asked everywhere, the prince took a few people to the West Garden, and Zhang Yong, who accompanied him, also gave the Xi'an Gate guards a piece of silver, and because they were from the East Palace, they didn't dare to check it." ”

"I know!"

Seeing that Emperor Hongzhi was becoming more and more irritable and angry, Li Rong's attitude became more and more deferential, and the word "old slave" that had always been on his lips was also abandoned because he relied on the old and sold the old: "The slave maid has asked Wang Yue to send out all the Dongchang fans just in case, and there will be good news soon." His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is just a young man with an uncertain surname, even if he really escaped the Wenhua Hall to give a lecture, it must have been instigated by someone, not out of his own heart, and asked the emperor to calm his anger. ”

As a result of these words, everyone on the ground turned pale for a while. I thought that this master of ceremonies would come over and ease the emperor's treatment of them a little, but I didn't expect Li Rong to excuse the crown prince Zhu Houzhao, but he swept them all in with his backhand, and everyone was resentful for a while. Li Rong watched coldly, and naturally knew what to expect, but he was not worried about what kind of turmoil these people would make.

Ping said that although Zhu Houzhao secretly went out of the palace, but after all, he didn't study, but this time he skipped the afternoon lecture of Wenyuan Pavilion, and the civil officials were already full of resentment in the past, and now they will not make trouble when they catch the hole?

So, without raising his head, he saw that Emperor Hongzhi only had a calm face and did not speak, so he whispered again: "If you think about it, doesn't His Royal Highness the Crown Prince appreciate Xing'an Bo Xu Shizi?" Maybe people will go there, so the slave has asked Wang Yue to personally bring someone over to take a look, presumably there is a good chance that ** will be there. ”

At this moment, Xiao Jing, who was walking outside the door, happened to hear such a sentence, and his face sank for a while. He turned his head to look at Zhang Yong, who was full of melancholy behind him, and whispered a word, and then reflexively reported as if nothing happened: "Your Majesty, the slave Xiao respectfully asks to see you." ”

With the sound of Xuanjin coming from inside, Xiao Jing took Zhang Yong into the house. He didn't seem to see this person kneeling on the ground, and after going straight forward to salute, he saw that Emperor Hongzhi was really red, and he was obviously angry, so he slowly said: "The emperor doesn't need to be anxious, the slave and maid have already received the letter, and there is news about the whereabouts of His Royal Highness the Prince." ”

Hearing this, not only Emperor Hongzhi's eyes lit up, but even Li Rong and the attendants of the East Palace who were kneeling on the ground secretly raised their heads one by one, and they were relieved. However, Xiao Jing didn't say it directly, but bowed down again and whispered: "The matter is big, and I ask the emperor to retire." ”

Although his heart was full of impatience, Emperor Hongzhi trusted Xiao Jing extremely much after all, and immediately dismissed the cadres on the ground. When there were only a few Qianqing palace attendants in the room, Li Rong, who was standing beside the emperor, said lightly: "Gonggong Xiao brought Zhang Yong next to His Royal Highness the Prince, right?" His Royal Highness the Crown Prince didn't come back, why did he come back alone? ”

Zhang Yong just saluted with Xiao Jing, Emperor Hongzhi didn't see it clearly for a while, and recognized the person at this time, he was just angry because the prince skipped class, and he was suddenly shocked and angry, and wanted to scold, but he couldn't think of more powerful words for a while. At this time, Xiao Jing couldn't care about Li Rong's fanning the flames, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince went out of the palace this time, and it seems that he didn't want to go out of the palace to relax, but he had some unknown plans, so not long after leaving the palace, he found all kinds of reasons to send people away one by one, and finally got rid of them while visiting a gold and silver shop. ”

"What!"

Seeing that Emperor Hongzhi was desperately pressing the handrail, but he couldn't sit still, Xiao Jing hurriedly said softly: "Your Majesty, let the slave and maid finish speaking." According to Zhang Yong, there were some strange rumors in the Heavenly Palace these days, so he wondered if the prince had also heard these messy messages, so he was convinced for a while. ”

"Grandpa Xiao, let's talk about the whereabouts of the crown prince, are you talking too far on this topic?"

Zhang Yong had already knelt down. He told Xiao Jing that he went to Xu Xun's house to wait for the rabbit, and then got Ah Bao back to report that the prince happened to bump into Xu Xun and Liu Jin, and the three of them went to run errands at this time, and he was relieved, so when he saw Li Rong say this, he quickly kowtowed twice, and then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, in the past few days, someone has slandered the Marquis of Shouning and the Marquis of Jianchang in the palace, and unfortunately His Royal Highness the Crown Prince heard it, so ......"

Zhu Houzhao only sent him and Liu Jin Gu Dayong three people to investigate this headless public case, plus Liu Jin, and only four people knew, so Zhang Yong was naturally not stupid enough to expose such a major event by himself, and gently and skillfully put the matter on the two emperors. Sure enough, although Emperor Hongzhi was still frowning, his face looked much better.

"Although the crown prince and the Marquis of Shouning Jianchang are close relatives, even if someone slanders him, he should come and tell me what to do when he sneaks out of the palace!"

"Back to the emperor, the slaves and maids don't know the inside story, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said angrily when he came out of the Wenhua Hall today...... It's just a matter of saying that the two uncles are just going to go, but no one is allowed to splash the queen's dirty water. ”

Although these words were vague, Emperor Hongji's frowning brow stretched a little. Of course, he, who is a father, can see that Zhu Houzhao seems to be a lot closer to Empress Zhang these days, and although he still has few words to the two uncles of Shouning Hou Jianchang Hou, he is no longer cold to each other after all. If Zhu Houzhao really went out of the palace for such a reason today, then this kid is stubborn, but he finally gradually opened up and knew how to protect his family.

Li Rong, who was on the side, saw that Zhang Yong had moved the emperor in a few words, so he naturally scoffed. But he didn't plan to tear his face with Xiao Jing directly, so he didn't add fuel to the fire at the moment, and only coughed lightly: "What about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince right now?" ”

Zhang Yong had been thinking about delaying this issue, and when he saw that the emperor really came back to his senses, he had to bite the bullet and said: "Back to the emperor, after the slave was separated by His Royal Highness the Prince, I thought about whether His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would go to find the prince of Xing'an, so I went straight to the Xu family, and I didn't want Xu Shizi to be there, so I planned to wait there." Who knew that about half an hour later, several other people also came to find them, and when they learned that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had not come, they went around to find someone, but the slave and maid were still waiting there with the expectation of what happened. Later, sure enough, Xu Shizi's little servant rushed back, and it happened that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince bumped into Xu Shizi in the mutton alley, and Xu Shizi was pulled by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to run errands......"

Before he finished speaking, Emperor Hongzhi was angry and interrupted Zhang Yong's words at once: "Just happened to bump into him? How can there be such a coincidence, it must have been colluded a long time ago! Speaking of this, he remembered that Zhu Houzhao actually sent away even the eunuchs, but he had a secret appointment with Xu Xun, and he became more and more suspicious in his heart, but think about it Until today, Zhu Houzhao has been detained by him in Chengqian Palace, and said that he was escorted to Wenhua Hall to listen to the lecture, and Dongchang reported that the Xu family father and son were closed, where was the opportunity to collude?

Just as Xiao Jing was about to open his mouth to ease the atmosphere, another voice suddenly came from outside: "Your Majesty, the eldest princess Renhe asks to see you." ”

"Imperial sister?" If you want to put it on Ping, Emperor Hongzhi will definitely not treat his eldest sister lightly, but he is really not interested at this time, and immediately frowned and said, "Let's just say that I am busy now, let her go to see the queen if she has something!" ”

The eunuch outside the door hesitated for a moment, but finally said the truth: "Back to the emperor, it was the queen mother who accompanied Ren and the eldest princess to come." ”

Worst! That's a big! How did the queen come!

Although Emperor Hongzhi was questioning the servants of the East Palace here, the news had been ordered to be absolutely sealed in advance, and the Kunning Palace was not allowed to know, so when he learned that Empress Zhang was coming in person, even if he was the Son of Heaven, he was a little big for a while. Before he could come up with any countermeasures, he saw that the door curtain was tall, and it was Queen Zhang who personally opened the curtain and rushed in.

"Your Majesty, what's going on, how can those chamberlains in the Chengqian Palace kneel outside, and what's wrong with Houzhao?" Speaking of this, she suddenly saw Zhang Yong kneeling on the ground, her brows frowned even tighter for a while, and then she glared at Xiao Jing and Li Rong and said, "What the hell is going on, you two say!" ”

"Returning to the queen, it's really not a big deal......"

"Yes, yes, nothing serious......"

Almost when Xiao Jing and Li Rong denied it at the same time, another person from outside hurriedly rushed in, and it was Pear Blossom kneeling on the ground with rain: "Brother Huang, Beizhen Fusi deceived people too much, he actually caught the Qin prisoner and caught him in the minister's sister's mansion, and coerced Liang'er!" Brother Huang, you must make the decision for your sister and give her sister justice! ”

(To be continued)