Chapter 48: Ode to the Son of Heaven
When the ministers in the court heard what Zhi Ning said, they began to whisper again.
"Oh, you little girl is interesting, this prince has been in politics for many years, but I have never seen such a bold girl as you. Do you know why this prince asked Zheng Hou first when he entered the palace, but put your matter aside? The prince glanced at her with some surprise when he heard what Zhi Ning said, and seemed to be familiar with this girl with firm eyes in his heart, and asked tactfully around the disrespectful topic at the moment.
"Back to Your Highness, although the Japanese people on that island are evil, but the little girl knows that one of the things she has done is the little girl's family feud, how can it be compared to the Marquis of Zheng Haihang, which is related to the feat of the Ming Dynasty to be famous overseas for thousands of years, and now the envoy of the ten thousand states is naturally how to receive it at the moment." Zhi Ning replied without hesitation.
"It's a smart girl with a good mouth, but what you mean is that this prince only cares about the face of the country but cares about the life and death of the people in vain, huh?" When the prince heard this, his tone changed, and his voice raised for a while, and he asked.
The ministers who were whispering below just now stopped their voices again, and looked down at the ground in unison, and the prince, who had always been gentle, seemed to be a little angry.
"Please also ask Your Highness to calm your anger, the little girl really has no such intention."
"And what do you mean?" An older purple-robed man in the court asked.
Zhi Ning glanced at the purple-robed man sideways, and slowly replied: "Your Highness, the little girl is now my Ming people, and the people should take the glory of the country as their own responsibility, the prosperity of the country will make the people self-reliant, and the people will be humiliated if the country is weak. If it weren't for me, how could I have been so supported by the people at this moment. Even among the people, there are many poems and texts praising Hong Wuye to this day, and even the prince for your diligence and love for the people. Therefore, although the little girl is still young, she also understands these important truths. ”
"It's a knowledgeable girl, Zheng Houchu mentioned in the book that you are a loyal daughter, and the palace is still not puzzled, but it seems that it is indeed different from ordinary women at this moment. That is to say, the temple will make an exception for you to give you a reward, and the court meeting will end here as a minister. Let the people go away. ”
After the prince finished speaking, all the ministers under the order were in an uproar, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, almost no person with a white body could enter the palace, not to mention that all the ministers had to be avoided by what he did. Could it be that what he said was more appalling than that of the terrifying brocade guard? All of a sudden, the minister who had a ghost in his heart sweated on his forehead.
"His Royal Highness the Prince, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a woman who has been in the temple like this, if we retreat, she has the act of assassinating the king, and the ministers will die hard."
"Brother Chen's words are reasonable, please think twice, Your Highness......"
"Your Highness......"
Most of the ministers who usually greet the upwards knelt for a while.
"Are the ministers going to persecute the temple today?"
"Wechen doesn't dare."
Among the ministers, the purple-robed man who asked just now said: "Your Highness forgives the minister's bluntness, according to Weichen, how can a little woman say these magnificent words, Weichen has already heard that this woman was rescued by Zheng Houye, and he got along very close to Zheng Houye, and heard that Zheng Houye accepted a nominal daughter today, but I am afraid that it is also this girl." Therefore, Wei Chen suspects that what this woman said just now was given by Marquis Zheng, and later I will wait for the imperial study to leave only His Royal Highness and his father and daughter in the imperial study, and then I don't know when they will offend His Highness? ”
"Well, since all the ministers are so worried, then little girl, you stand up, and the main hall will come to ask you again if you are confused, if you can answer, you will come to the main hall according to your request, and then anyone can stop the intention of the main hall." This reaction surprised the crown prince a little, he raised his eyebrows and thought for a moment before saying.
"Yes, Your Highness, excuse me."
At this moment, except for the few imperial relatives such as Sanyang who did not need to kneel, Zhining made the prince feel a little closer than those kneeling ministers.
"As you just said, there are also a lot of poems praising my father and ancestors, I wonder if you can sing a few words in front of the court, and it can also solve the doubts about your father and daughter just now."
Poetry? Damn, I shouldn't have mentioned the last few sentences just now, I just know that Tang poetry needs to be plain and clear, this Ming Dynasty, it seems that history has only said Yuan and Ming lyrics and songs, but never said poetry, which I want to make on the spot but do not rhyme when the time is going to have the opposite effect. Zhi Ning was suddenly anxious when she heard this, but fortunately, most of the courtiers were still kneeling on the ground, and they couldn't see her expression.
"Your Highness really has a question, this woman can't answer anymore." The minister who had a ghost in his heart on the ground suddenly coaxed.
"Why can't you remember?" The prince, who had just had a good impression of Zhi Ning after the Long Shu case, suddenly had a feeling of being deceived, and his face, which had always been gentle, was already flushed with red tide at this moment.
"Your Royal Highness, it's not that the little girl can't remember, it's just that the folk words are quite unruly, and the little girl may have offended His Highness."
"It doesn't matter, the law of what you say will be forgiven by this temple for your innocence." The law of the words, the prince said in his heart: I have hinted that you must not compose a poem, even the name of the song is not indispensable.
"Your Royal Highness Xie, the little girl once passed by a storyteller shop on the side of the street and heard a storyteller say: Since the founding of Hong Wuye, I have been different from the Xia Shang and even the Tang and Song dynasties, and I am the son of the great tomorrow. Emperor Hongwu, the second emperor of Yongle Emperor guarded the country, and the king died diligently. ”
When he said this, it was like a boulder thrown into the water to stir up a thousand waves, and there was silence above the court, and a piece of chestnuts seemed to be suddenly blown up on the backs of the ministers. Even Sanyang, who was silent at first, cast a few glances in the direction of Zhining.
"Okay, a good son of heaven guarding the country, the king is dead, the little girl has such insight, just this one word will tell me the eternal merits of the two generations of kings of the Ming Dynasty, all the ministers don't know what else you have to say?"
There was a deathly silence above the courtroom.
After waiting for a long time, I saw one of the ministers walk out first: "His Royal Highness the Prince, Weichen has nothing to say, and I would like to second." ”
For a while, even the disgruntled ministers did not know what to say. The Ming Dynasty used eight strands of literature to take the office, and the literary Confucian, who has always paid attention to the rhyme between words, also stopped his argument at this moment. Yes, even a little woman has such insight, how can they not feel the sincerity of this woman's words between the lines after reading so many years of historical scriptures. If even those who respect the kingdom and the king cannot be trusted, then who should they believe? As if they had been discussed, the ministers said in unison:
"Seconded by the ministers".
The pace began to move out, and the pilgrimage gradually began to disperse. This is the first time that His Royal Highness did not go first, and the courtiers took the lead in getting up.
After a burst of footsteps, the ministers retreated, and there were only a few eunuch guards left in the palace except for the prince, Zheng Dajian and Zhi Ning. Hearing the prince say with a smile on his face: "Little girl, these eunuch guards are the confidants of the palace for many years, and there is no need to support them, I wonder if your stepfather, Marquis Zheng, needs to retreat?" ”
"Thank you Your Highness for your trust, my father-in-law already knows most of the things on the island, and I don't need to leave, but what the little girl is going to say next, I didn't even know everything about my father-in-law at the beginning, all because the little girl suddenly felt close to her heart after seeing His Highness's demeanor today, and that's why she wanted to tell it."
"Oh? According to your words, if what you see today is a dumb king, maybe you won't tell everything about the island? The prince frowned, but there was surprise in his tone.
Zhi Ning was silent for a moment when he heard this, and arched his hand: "Your Highness atonements." The little girl didn't want to lie. ”
"Hahaha, you're a funny girl, so go ahead." Zhu Gaochi, who has rarely laughed since he came to power, agreed with a smile. As this laughter came out, even the eunuch beside him couldn't help but look sideways for a long time. Strange how a little girl had begun to guide my joys, sorrows, and sorrows, and he was shocked when he caught a glimpse of the attendant's eyes out of the corner of his eye.
"Yes, Your Highness. The little girl started from the night she left, when the little girl had a fever for several nights, and she couldn't even remember who she was......"
"Your Highness, the... Drink the medicine. Zhi Ning was going to continue, and the eunuch outside the palace gate replied with a bowl of steaming hot medicine.
"Damn minion, I didn't see that the main hall was busy with business, who asked you to come up." The crown prince Zhu Gaochi, who was interrupted, suppressed his anger and asked in a deep voice.
"Return, return, return to Your Highness, it was you who ordered the servants to present the decoction after the hundred officials dispersed."
"Oh, the main hall has forgotten about this, you can present it."
The prince is usually mild-mannered, and he rarely gets angry with his subordinates. Speaking in a deep voice today is a very irritating practice. I saw the eunuch trembling and slowly walking up the steps with the decoction. The guard next to him took the decoction from the eunuch's hand and was about to present it to the prince.
"Wait a minute, you come a few steps forward, and the main hall suddenly remembered that something was left to you to do." The eunuch was just about to turn around, when the prince seemed to suddenly remember something, and lowered his voice and commanded the eunuch.
Zhining only saw the prince whispering a few words in the man's ear, but he couldn't hear what he said. Seeing the details of what was happening in front of her eyes at the moment of revenge, she no longer thought about anything else.
After a few words, the eunuch turned to leave, and the prince drank a few sips of the decoction and motioned for Zhi Ning to continue.
After this interruption, Ning paused for a moment before continuing: "The little girl was transported to the ship in a feverish confusion, and the ship did not dock until the next morning......" She carefully recounted all the details in her heart, which naturally ignored the killing of Shen Shiyi by the King of Han and still put it on the heads of Li Yunlan and others, among all these details, even the cyan butterfly tattoo that had never been mentioned to Zheng Dajian before, Shilu was detained by the people on the island and was stabbed to death by Qiao'er with a sword, and even the correspondence of Li Guogong that I heard about in Mushan Pass.
There was a banging on the table. "Li Guogong? How can it be that since Taizu, this Chongming Island has been inseparable from this Li Yi. The eyebrows on the prince's rather handsome face were almost twisted together.
The attendants around him were all moved. This is the second time the prince has been angry today.
"A-Ning, don't talk nonsense, do you know who this Li Guogong is." Eunuch Zheng, who was sitting on the imperial wooden chair on the side, hurriedly drank to Ning Dao.