Zhu Xu learned that Zhu Heng went to see Ouyang Si and also met Zeng Rong's family, and he was a little unhappy.

Although Zeng Rong said that she did not reveal Zhu Heng's identity, she only said that she was a child of the clan, but she was on duty in the palace, who else could she know besides the prince?

Fortunately, he also knew that Zeng Rong had borrowed Chang Dezi's token to leave the palace first, and Zhu Heng had gone out with the Qian family after noon, so he couldn't complain about Zeng Rong about this matter, and his son was willing.

But it is precisely because of this that he will be in a dilemma, on the one hand, he rejects this girl, if it weren't for her, his son might not be so fascinated, he would not be in vain about his status as a prince, and he would not give him problems.

But then again, Zhu Heng has closed himself off for many years, he rarely had contact with people before he met Zeng Rong, and he has a simple heart, where can he understand these worldly twists and turns, but he can't meet Zeng Rong, who treats him better, and pounces on her.

But on the other hand, he is quite grateful to Zeng Rong, it was Zeng Rong who let Zhu Heng come to the world, let him see the true side of his son, and also gave him a relatively healthy son, and it was Zeng Rong who repaired the estrangement between their father and son.

Therefore, despite being unhappy, Zhu Xu didn't say anything, only waved his hand and let Zeng Rong retreat.

Early the next morning, before dawn, Zeng Rong, who got up for the third time, stared at the hourglass in the corner of the wall, and saw that the time difference was a moment, so he simply got dressed and got up, there was no hot water, so he had to use the cold water left over from yesterday to wash it briefly.

When he was about to arrive at Qianning Palace, Zeng Rong saw Liang Guixiang carrying a lantern in front of him, and remembered the scene when Zeng Rong returned to the Inner Court Bureau before going to the Huanyi Bureau, Zeng Rong slowed down, not wanting to come forward to alarm the other party.

After Liang Guixiang entered the house, Zeng Rong entered the courtyard and walked to the porch in front of the main hall, this time she did not sit on the threshold, but chose a railing to sit down, and the little eunuchs who came and went saw it, and went in to call Xiao Quanzi out.

Xiao Quanzi was afraid that she would catch a cold, so he had to invite her in, Zeng Rong was not good at brushing her mind, and it was indeed cold, the cold was penetrating the bones, and the soles of her feet were cold.

After entering the house, Zeng Rong didn't dare to go to the emperor's bedroom to disturb him, only stood in the main hall, about a quarter of an hour, Zeng Rong heard the emperor ask about her, didn't wait for her to go in, only to see someone reply that she was sitting on the railing under the porch waiting.

"Nonsense, what season is this?" Zhu Xu reprimanded. 、

As soon as the words fell, I saw Chang Dezi come out in a hurry, and Zeng Rong hurriedly stepped forward and said that he had come in early.

followed Chang Dezi into the emperor's bedroom, and after a while, the eunuch brought her a cup of hot goat milk and a plate of snacks, Zeng Rong was not polite, and drank this cup of goat milk and ate half a plate of dim sum under Liang Guixiang's surprised gaze.

Zhu Xu had already run out of goat's milk at this time, seeing that Zeng Rong put down the cup and wiped his hands, he didn't speak, got up and left, Zeng Rong hurriedly picked up his things and followed, ignoring Liang Guixiang's puzzled gaze behind him.

This is the first time Zeng Rong has followed the court, and it is also the first time she has entered the Wuying Palace.

However, they did not enter the door from the main hall in front, but entered from the apse, the apse is not big, not much bigger than the apse of Qianning Palace, but it is obviously much higher, the first feeling of entering the door is empty, empty, the second feeling is shocking, the eye is not gold or red, even the roof is also golden, the patterns of various carvings can not be seen and can not be distinguished, only feel dazzled.

There is a door on each side of the apse leading to the front hall, you need to go up nine steps, Zeng Rong did not follow, she was left behind, two eunuchs from a side room carried out a desk and a square stool, placed next to the steps, people sit here, can clearly hear the voice of the front hall.

Zeng Rong sat down with peace of mind, and soon, another eunuch brought her a hand stove, Zeng Rong looked at the dragon pattern on the hand stove, guessed that it was used by the emperor, and wanted to refuse, but was afraid that his kindness would make him unhappy, so he had to take it.

Fortunately, there is this hand stove, otherwise Zeng Rong's hands are afraid that he will not be able to write, this place is so empty, he only feels the cold air attacking people.

Soon, the court meeting began, and Zeng Rong didn't have the heart to think about it, so he was busy concentrating on getting down to business.

The first to speak was a cabinet man surnamed Tang, who said that he had received a letter from Quanzhou yesterday, saying that a merchant ship from Luzon had been robbed in the waters near Quanzhou, and that the other party believed that it was the pirates of the Great Zhou Dynasty and asked for compensation and sanctions to ensure their rights and interests.

This issue caused heated discussions, first the military department Shangshu came out, saying that this matter is still controversial, why did the other party think that this pirate is the people of the Great Zhou? Besides, how can these pirates be punished?

Hubu Shangshu also stood up, saying that the other party was obviously an extortion, and that it was impossible to judge whether the robbery of the other party's merchant ship was true, second, it was impossible to determine that the pirates were the people of the Great Zhou, and third, it was impossible to rule whether the value of the goods quoted by the other party was true.

The official department Shangshu also did not approve of compensation, saying that the people of the Great Zhou had also suffered this kind of loss before, and the goods were robbed when they were close to the sea area of the other country, and their reply at that time was that the goods did not go ashore and they were not responsible.

From this question was quickly extended to whether it was necessary to open the sea ban, the court was quickly divided into three factions, the opposition headed by the military department Shangshu, he was afraid that because of this kind of thing, the two countries would cause hostility, although it was unlikely to cause a big war, but the small coastal countries in the east and south would definitely take advantage of the chaos to make trouble, and wanted to make profits, but there were not enough sailors in the big Zhou, and it was the coastal people who would suffer at that time.

Xu Fushan is in favor, saying that food cannot be wasted because of choking, saying that the results of opening the two sea bans in Quanzhou and Yuecheng this year are remarkable, not only prospering the two cities but also enriching the local taxes, and the most important thing is that they can also exchange what they have, and send out the porcelain and tea of the Great Zhou Dynasty in exchange for the spices, lacquerware, medicinal materials, jewelry, cotton, and new crop seeds needed by the Great Zhou.

As for the piracy problem mentioned by the other party, the caravan on the side of Da Zhou has also encountered it, so Xu Fushan's suggestion is to secretly set up a sailor, which can come in handy at a critical time.

There is also a radical faction led by Wang Yong, a member of the cabinet, who said that the Great Zhou could not bear this kind of arrogance, so it was better to simply take these small surrounding countries in one fell swoop, learn from the prosperous Tang Dynasty, recover them, let them pay tribute, and become a vassal state of the Great Zhou.

Wang Yong's statement was opposed by most of the courtiers, and the Great Zhou had been entangled with the Tatars, Warats and other northern nomads for many years, and had not yet recovered, so it was really not appropriate to take the initiative to provoke a war.