Time flies quickly, and in a blink of an eye, it is August, and the weather has become extremely hot, and the scene after noon makes people drowsy.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

At this time, the temperature in the Qianqing Palace was still as cool as spring, and Jiajing was sitting cross-legged on the futon, his eyes seemed to be closed.

At this moment, I saw Lu Fang walking quietly and entering the Qianqing Palace.

Because the weather was really hot, Lu Fang's forehead was oozing a lot of fine beads of sweat, and he kept wiping it with his sleeves.

The moment he stepped into the Qianqing Palace, an unimaginable feeling of coolness instantly enveloped his whole body, and at this moment, every pore of his body couldn't help but stretch out.

"Whew, it's so cool!"

After Lu Fang entered the Qianqing Palace, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Lu Fang knew very well in his heart that if he only relied on ice cubes to cool down, he would definitely not be able to achieve such a good effect!

Therefore, His Majesty must have used some immortal means to make the Qianqing Palace be able to maintain this comfortable temperature all the time.

Just as Lu Fang was in reverie, Jiajing's ancient sound sounded in his ears.

"Lu Fang, what's the matter?"

When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, she hurriedly walked to Jiajing's side and reported respectfully.

"Your Majesty, the slave and maid have already completed the matter you ordered earlier, and the people from Dongchang have returned from De'an, the fief of His Royal Highness King Jing!"

After listening to Lu Fang's report, Jiajing nodded, got up from the futon, and said lightly.

"Well, well done Lu Fang!"

"Where, sharing worries for Your Majesty is the duty of slaves and maids!"

When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, a look of modesty suddenly appeared on his face, and he immediately said respectfully.

Then, I saw Jiajing go straight to the door of the Qianqing Palace, looking at the situation outside, at this time, it was the hottest time of the day.

The scorching sunlight passed through the gaps in the leaves, forming dappled light and shadows, projecting on the ground, if you listen carefully, you can also hear some cicadas, because the weather is too hot, Jiajing can not even see half a figure as far as his eyes can see.

After Jiajing stopped to watch for a moment, he retracted his gaze and said with emotion.

"Lu Fang, this year's weather is really abnormal, it is very cold in winter, and it is very hot in summer!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the weather this year is indeed quite abnormal!"

When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, he did not hesitate at all, and hurriedly spoke in response.

After that, I saw Jiajing change his words and ask lightly.

"By the way, Lu Fang, it rained heavily not long ago, have the embankments in various places collapsed?"

When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, she couldn't help but 'chuckle' in her heart, and only after thinking for a moment did she respond.

"Your Majesty, as far as the slave knows, there is no news about this at the Ministry of Industry, and there must have been no collapse of the embankment for the time being!"

"Hmph, if the levee can't withstand the impact of the torrential rain and collapses, causing the people to suffer, I can't spare the two of them!"

After listening to Lu Fang's report, Jiajing snorted coldly and said to himself.

Then, I saw Jiajing turn his gaze to Lu Fang and asked.

"Lu Fang, the weather is so hot that the officials can't concentrate on their work at all, I plan to give them a day off and let them rest, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, the slave maid thinks it is feasible, and in this way, the officials will be grateful to you! ”

Seeing that Jiajing was asking for his opinion, Lu Fang did not hesitate at all, and immediately responded.

Seeing this, Jiajing nodded imperceptibly, and immediately commanded.

"Well, in that case, when it cools down for a while, you can go to the cabinet!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Lu Fang noticed the concern in Jiajing's words, and couldn't help but feel a trace of warmth in his heart, only to see him lean down and respond respectfully.

Jiajing took in the expression on Lu Fang's face, nodded, and followed suit.

"It's been a long time since I've played chess, come, play two games with me!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

In the process of Jiajing and Lu Fang's game, unconsciously, the hottest time of the day has passed quietly.

"Your Majesty, your chess skills are no longer invincible in the Ming Dynasty, and the slave is convinced!"

After Lu Fang finished speaking, he looked at the situation on the chessboard, and in desperation, he chose to vote and admit defeat.

On the chessboard, the black chess held by Jiajing has cut off the "big dragon" that Lu Fang has painstakingly gathered together, and even the last breath of the "big dragon" has been completely blocked, and there is no way out.

Jiajing's compliment to Lu Fang seemed quite useful, and he saw him pick up the teacup on the side and take a sip.

"This is natural, and it's not in vain that I've seen so many chess games!"

Then, I saw Lu Fang look at the sky outside and ask Jiajing.

"Your Majesty, it's almost time, it's time for the slave to go to the cabinet!"

"Hmm."

When Jiajing heard Lu Fang's words, he only responded imperceptibly.

Then, Lu Fang did not hesitate at all, and after bowing to Jiajing, he took steps and marched in the direction where the cabinet was located.

……

In the cabinet, I saw Zhang Juzheng put aside the processed letter in his hand.

Even with the ice cubes cooling down, the cabinet is still very hot.

Right now, the entire cabinet, except for Zhang Juzheng, the rest of the people have fallen into a state of drowsiness, and Gao Gong even snored.

At this moment, there was a slight sound of footsteps from outside the cabinet, and after a while, I saw a servant walking in.

When the official saw the situation in the cabinet, he couldn't help but relax his steps, only to see him cautiously come to Zhang Juzheng and report respectfully.

"Elder Zhang Ge, Lu ...... Grandpa Lu is out asking to see you! ”

"Well, I know, let's invite Grandpa Lu in!"

After Zhang Juzheng learned the news from the mouth of the official, he nodded and commanded softly.

When the official heard this, he bowed his head slightly, and then left the cabinet without looking back.

After the official left, I saw Zhang Juzheng get up from the seat, come to Yan Song and Xu Jie, and said softly.

"Elder Yan Ge, Elder Xu Ge, wake up, Father-in-law Lu is asking to see you outside!"

Zhang Juzheng's words fell, Yan Song and Xu Jie opened their eyes almost at the same time, and then, I saw Yan Song open his cloudy eyes with considerable difficulty, and after looking Zhang Juzheng up and down, he said in confirmation.

"What are you talking about, Grandpa Lu is asking to see you outside?"

"Yes, Elder Yan Ge, just now a Xu official came to report that Gonggong Lu was waiting outside!"

Zhang Juzheng met Yan Song's puzzled gaze and replied unhurriedly.

"yes, I see!"

Yan Song nodded and said slowly after getting the exact news from Zhang Juzheng.

Then, I saw Yan Song looking at Yan Shifan on the side and reminded him.

"Yan Shifan, get up!"

Yan Shifan, who was asleep, suddenly shook his mind after hearing Yan Song's voice, and then the whole person regained consciousness.

At the same time that Yan Song woke up Yan Shifan, Xu Jie also woke up Gao Gong, who was sleeping soundly.

Subsequently, under the guidance of the previous official, Lu Fang stepped into the cabinet.

Seeing Lu Fang coming, everyone got up from their seats and saluted him respectfully.

"I've seen Grandpa Lu!"

At this moment, Lu Fang's face was still the same as usual, with a warm smile, and after looking around, I saw Lu Fang speak unhurriedly.

"You don't have to be so polite, our family came here this time to bring you good news!"

"Your Majesty said that because of the hot weather, he intends to give you a day off!"

As soon as Lu Fang's words fell, an unbelievable expression appeared on everyone's faces, after all, due to Emperor Taizu's childhood experience, he did not have a good impression of the group of officials.

Therefore, the officials' holidays are also very few, in the Hongwu period, there are even only three days off a year, and these three days off are the Spring Festival, the winter solstice, and Zhu Yuanzhang's birthday.

Since then, the official's vacation has also increased, but it has not increased by a few days compared to before.

Until recently, the emperor himself announced that officials, regardless of rank, would have one day off every week to rest, and as soon as this measure was promulgated, the officials were all grateful for this and shouted long live Your Majesty.

And right now, seeing that the weather is hot, His Majesty is actually giving everyone a day off for the first time, what a compassion this is!

Soon, everyone came to their senses from this shocking news.

Subsequently, under the leadership of Yan Song, the first assistant of the cabinet, he solemnly bowed three times in the direction where the Qianqing Palace was located, and said in unison.

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

"Without further ado, let's get this out right away!"

Lu Fang took in the expressions on everyone's faces, nodded, and commanded.

"There's Father-in-law Laolu!"

When Xu Jie heard this, he arched his hand to Lu Fang and expressed his gratitude.

"Where, where, since the words have been brought, it is inconvenient for our family to stay here longer, so we will leave first!"

"Father-in-law Lu walks slowly!"

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly bowed to Lu Fang and saluted.

……

The efficiency of the cabinet was very fast, and soon after Lu Fang left, the news of the holiday was soon announced.

As soon as the news came out, countless officials rushed to tell each other, and their words were full of reverence for the emperor.

The Forbidden City, the Inspectorate, the duty room where Hai Jui is located.

Just as Hai Rui was still concentrating on the official document in front of him, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

When the words fell, the door of the room was pushed open, and I saw a servant, who happily stepped into the duty room, and turned his gaze to Hai Rui, who was sitting behind the bookcase and dealing with official documents, respectfully reported.

"My lord, what a good thing!"

"Oh, what's a good thing?"

Hearing this, Hai Rui put aside the brush in his hand, looked at the official, and asked instead.

Seeing this, the official forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart and reported in a deep voice.

"My lord, just now, news came from the cabinet, saying that His Majesty saw the hot weather and decided to give the officials a day off to rest!"

"Well, the official knows, you go down!"

After listening to the official's report, Hai Rui's expression on his face did not change much, but nodded and commanded.

"Yes, my lord!"

Seeing that he had successfully brought the news, the official did not stay in the room for too long, but left directly.

After the official left, he saw Hai Rui looking at the bookcase, which had been processed for most of the official documents, and muttered to himself.

"Well, these official documents have been dealt with almost well, so let's take this opportunity to take a good rest!"

After Hai Rui finished speaking, he began to sort out the official documents on the bookcase that had not yet been processed, and he planned to take the remaining official documents home to deal with.

Soon, the news that the emperor gave everyone a day off spread throughout the Forbidden City at a viral speed, and the officials, big and small, as well as the officials of the six ministries, were extremely happy about it.

Even some officials have begun to call friends and plan to have a good feast, of course, more officials still want to stay at home honestly.

At this moment, outside the cabinet, I saw Yan Song, Yan Shifan and his son, walking towards the place where the sedan chair was parked one after the other.

"Father, is it really necessary for us to bring so many official documents home to deal with them?"

At this moment, Yan Shifan was holding the official document in his arms and asked Yan Song, who was walking in front.

When Yan Song heard this, he stopped, turned around and glanced at Yan Shifan, and said coldly.

"This is natural, Your Majesty is thinking about the hot weather, so he gave us a day off!"

When Yan Song said this, he looked at Yan Shifan with a gaze that hated iron and steel, and then continued.

"It's not just us, look at Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng, aren't they also each holding a big stack of official documents and going home?"

When Yan Shifan heard this, he had no room to argue, so he had to lower his head and nod yes.

"Yes, father, the child knows!"

Soon, the father and son walked to the place where the sedan chair was parked, and Yan Song turned his gaze to Yan Shifan as if he suddenly remembered something, and asked instead.

"By the way, Yan Shifan, it rained heavily not long ago, has the Ministry of Industry received any reports of the dam collapse?"

"Back to my father's words, the child has not yet received any reports of the dam collapse, and the dam near the Yellow River has also withstood the impact of the torrential rain!"

When Yan Shifan heard this, after recalling it for a long time, he responded categorically.

After learning the news from Yan Shifan's mouth, Yan Song's whole person relaxed, and sighed to himself.

"Well, in this way, I'm relieved!"

In late July, when the rainy season came, there was a torrential rain, and since then, Yan Song has often worried that the reinforced and repaired dikes will collapse because they can't withstand the impact of the torrential rain!

After all, Jiajing allocated a full 9.65 million taels of silver to strengthen and repair the embankment, and handed over this matter to him and Xu Jie.

If the reinforced and repaired embankment collapses because it can't withstand the impact of the torrential rain, then he and Xu Jie won't be able to eat and walk around!

Therefore, after Yan Song learned from Yan Shifan's mouth that the Ministry of Industry had not received the news about the collapse of the embankment, the heart that had been hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground.

Something like the collapse of the embankment, once it happens, it will be reported to the imperial court immediately, and not many people dare to do anything about it!

After such a long time, the Ministry of Industry has not received the news of the collapse of the embankment, which means that the quality of the reinforced and repaired embankment has passed the standard and withstood the impact of the heavy rain, and he Yan Song no longer has to worry about it.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, Yan Song went straight to the sedan chair and marched in the direction where Yan's mansion was located.

……

De'an, King Jing's Mansion.

At this moment, Zhu Zaizhen was pacing in the room, with a panicked look on his face.

Since he came to the fiefdom of De'an to take up the domain, his life has been much more leisurely, and many affairs of the Jingwang Mansion are in charge of the long history of the palace chief Shi Division, and the long history is all from the imperial court.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, Zhu Zaizhen doesn't need to do anything, he just needs to get drunk and dream of death every day!

But Zhu Zaizhen did not do this, on the contrary, he was very motivated, and in addition to his daily life, he often stayed at home and studied hard.

When I was tired of studying, I occasionally went out to fish, and traveled in the fiefdom, and my life was nourishing.

Not long ago, Zhu Zaizhen accidentally went to Xuanguang Temple to worship the Buddha, and under the guidance of a Zen master, he had a deeper understanding of his current situation.

Since then, whenever Zhu Zaizhen has time, he will go to Xuanguang Temple to listen to the Zen master's instructions, and in the process, Zhu Zaizhen's gradually extinguished heart to win the heir has also begun to burn again.

A few days ago, there was a sudden change, and more than 100 monks in Xuanguang Temple, including the men and long-term workers in the temple, were all wiped out overnight!

Not only that, but those who had any dealings with the monks of Xuanguang Temple also died in the process!

This sudden everything made Zhu Zaizhen shudder, and he smelled something unusual from this incident, so he sent a housekeeper to secretly investigate the matter.

Subsequently, Zhu Zaizhen may have felt tired, but he sat back on the main seat, picked up the wine glass on the side, and poured himself a glass of wine.

After Zhu Zaizhen drank all the wine in the cup, his anxiety was also relieved a little.

Subsequently, he admonished himself in his heart: "Zhu Zaizhen, you must not mess with yourself now, calm down and think about it!" ”

Subsequently, Zhu Zaizhen sorted out the ins and outs of the matter in his mind according to the clues he currently had.

"First of all, Xuanguang Temple is quite popular in the local area, and there should be no situation where the enemy comes to the door!"

"In addition, even if there is an enemy in Xuanguang Temple, it is not capable of killing more than 100 people up and down the temple in one night, not only did not leave any living mouth, but also did not leave any evidence at the scene!"

"In addition, those who have intersections with Xuanguang Temple have also been implicated, coupled with the perfunctory attitude of the local government when handling the case!"

Suddenly, an incredible idea slowly emerged in Zhu Zaizhen's mind.

"These people, they can't be sent by my father, right?"

Thinking of this, the expression on Zhu Zaizhen's face became extremely ugly, and his back was slightly cold, and at this moment, there was a knock on the door from outside.

Seeing that the thoughts in his mind were interrupted, Zhu Zaizhen couldn't help frowning, and immediately commanded.

"Come in!"

The voice fell, only to hear a 'squeak', the door of the room was pushed open, and I saw the housekeeper of King Jing's Mansion walking in quickly.

Seeing that the person who came was his housekeeper, Zhu Zaizhen's resentment because his thoughts were disturbed also dissipated.

After all, the butler has followed him for so many years, acting capably and loyally, and following him all the way from the capital to the fiefdom of De'an.

Before this, Zhu Zaizhen had secretly made up his mind that after he inherited the unification in the future, he must reuse this person!

Then, I saw Zhu Zaizhen gather his mind, turn his gaze to the housekeeper, and ask.

"How's it going to do what you were asked to do before?"

When the housekeeper heard Zhu Zaizhen's words, he organized the language in his mind before he cautiously reported it.

"Temple...... Your Highness, I haven't investigated any valuable clues yet, but the government ......"

"What's going on over there at the government?"

When Zhu Zaizhen heard this, an eager look suddenly appeared on his face, and he immediately asked.

"On the government's side, after ordering an autopsy, the case was hastily closed, and no one was allowed to discuss the matter!"

After Zhu Zaizhen learned the news of the government's hasty closure of the case from the housekeeper, his pupils suddenly contracted, and the previous conjecture resurfaced in his mind.

Then, I saw Zhu Zaikun forcibly calm down, withdrew his gaze from the housekeeper's body, and asked closely.

"Then did you hear anything from those fools?"

"Your Highness, the official government is secretive about this case and is reluctant to mention it!"

The butler paused for a moment as he said this, and then added.

"But below, from the mouths of those who are responsible for carrying the corpses for the government, I heard that there are very few injuries on those corpses, and most of them are killed in one hit!"

"What!"

After Zhu Zaizhen learned the news from the housekeeper's mouth, his face couldn't help but change greatly.

Then, as if it had lost all its strength, it slumped back into its chair and muttered to itself.

"Yes, that's right, it's my father, it must be my father, these people are all sent by my father!"

"It must be that my father noticed something, so he sent the Jinyi Guard, the purpose is to teach me a lesson!"

"No, it's not Jinyiwei, the methods of this group of people are even more vicious than Jinyiwei, yes, Dongchang, yes, that's right, it's Dongchang!"

Zhu Zaizhen said this, and his face gradually turned pale, and because he was too frightened, his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Then, I saw Zhu Zaizhen laughing miserably, his face was full of despair, and he muttered to himself silently.

"Father, is everything in your control of the child? Father......

Seeing this, the housekeeper on the side immediately panicked, and hurriedly stepped forward to support Zhu Zaizhen.

"Your Highness, what's wrong with you, Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"

Then, Zhu Zaizhen fell into a fainting, and when the housekeeper saw this, he hurriedly held Zhu Zaizhen's body and yelled hoarsely.

"Come on, come on, Your Highness has fainted!" (End of chapter)