Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 437 Sir, I'm afraid you forgot
Hu Yiqing felt very uncomfortable.

Your Majesty has been away for more than half a year. During this period, you have been exposed to wind and rain, and have been in danger several times.

But when he finally defeated the powerful enemy after going through untold hardships and returned victorious, his triumphant return was ruined by those old guys!
Isn’t it just about getting married?
Even though Chengzu married the daughter of a nobleman, the world still belonged to the Ming Dynasty.

If the previous emperor had not married the daughter of a nobleman, the whole world would have almost been ruled by the Aisin-Gioro clan.

Even if we take a step back and marry the girl from the Xu family, the country will be destroyed. Is it necessary to choose today to make Your Majesty unhappy?
"I know what you are worried about. It's just a bunch of old men who refuse to give up. Once I kill them all, your father will no longer be the target of public criticism!"

Yes! We should have a good fight!
If we kill Ajige, won't the Tartars come to ask for peace?

If we defeat the Dutch, won't Spain give us a girl as a gift?

Once the Jingguan is built, won’t Grandpa Dayan be safe and sound?

It’s time to let these old cowards know how powerful we are!

With this in mind, Hu Yiqing placed his hand on the sword, as if he would return to the palace as soon as a military order was issued, and send all those things that made His Majesty unhappy to see Taizu.

just
Why hasn't the military order been issued yet?
Seeing that his Majesty neither moved nor made a sound, Hu Yiqing glanced at his face with a little curiosity, but to his surprise, the Majesty who was just about to begin his war and was full of murderous intent actually had a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty! No!"

First there was a cry, then the sound of hurried footsteps, and after only one or two breaths, Xu Shaoyue's figure appeared at the door of the boudoir.

"Can you give it up?"

The door of the room and the gate of the courtyard were not too far away, and when she came out she saw Zhu Cilang's mouth full of white teeth.

At this point, she understood that the words just now were just to provoke her. How could an emperor who could go to such a lengths call for the killing of ministers at will?

"Your Majesty. Your servant Xu Shaoyue pays respect to Your Majesty."

"Yiqing, please wait at the door. I have something to say to Miss Xu."

"Order!"

Now that the imperial order had been issued, no one dared to stay in the courtyard. After a burst of chaotic footsteps, everyone retreated. However, Zhu Cilang could only utter "Stand up" and then stood there frozen.

He understood the reason behind Xu Shaoyue's transformation, and could also understand Xu Yinjue's reasons for opposing such a marriage.

After all, the Xu family is not ordinary. Even if they don't know the inside story of certain things, they can always make some guesses based on their understanding of the political situation.

Over the past hundreds of years, countless shocking secrets were hidden in Xu Yinjue's mind. How could he push his only daughter into this fire pit?
Honestly speaking, he had already thought of all kinds of excuses on the way here, and was fully confident that he could cut off the source of trouble for Brother Xu Yinjue. But when he saw this young girl, and thought about the pressure he would have to bear after entering the palace, he was ultimately unable to utter those words.

Time passed by bit by bit, but the courtyard remained quiet. Just when Zhu Cilang was extremely hesitant, he didn't know that Xu Shaoyue, who lowered her head and remained silent, was also secretly looking at him.

Don’t you have something to say?
Why chase people away without saying a word?

You came here without even changing your clothes and armor?
Oh! Why is there a hole on the nail?

Could it be that he is personally taking part in the battle again?
Yes, the army was surrounded by the Tartars in Hanzhong earlier, and it must have been difficult to win that battle.

As her thoughts turned, Xu Shaoyue felt an inexplicable pain in her heart. Then she mustered up the courage to raise her head a little, and Zhu Cilang's dusty figure finally fell into her sight.

Darker and thinner.

With so many ministers, why must they endure such hardships?
I can't stay in the palace peacefully.
The Ming Dynasty had thousands of ministers, but the late emperor still hanged himself in Beijing.

Everyone had his own plans, and even his most trusted father opposed the marriage because he was afraid that his family would be at risk.

Looking around the world, the subjects and people are all waiting for him to protect them from the wind and rain, but who can he rely on?

Halfway through her thoughts, Xu Shaoyue suddenly felt gloomy in her heart. When another thought came to her mind, she felt her vision blurry, and then she heard Zhu Cilang's panicked voice.

"What's wrong with you? I don't blame you," Zhu Cilang said as he was about to move forward, but before he took a step, he seemed to have thought of something, and then he stopped and said in a rather confused tone, "I know your father is worried about being involved in the political struggle. After this is over, he can retire if he wants to, and he can get a job if he wants to. I will never force him."

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Cilang had already thought of retreating, but these words touched a sore spot in the girl's heart, and her tears began to fall like broken beads. The Ming emperor, who had fought many battles in the south and the north, was helpless.

After all, he was not the kind-hearted man who grew up in an imperial family. Although he could say "all of them will be cast into palaces" without any burden to his enemies, he was unable to act like an emperor when he met the girl who was engaged to him.

It's probably inherited from the Zhu family.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Zhu Cilang felt confident about the bloodline of this body for the first time.

But if he couldn't stop Xu Shaoyue's tears, such things would inevitably affect her reputation, and he, as the instigator, couldn't just get away with it.

"Don't worry, I will issue an order when I return this time, and I will not let your Xu family get involved in the struggle in the court."

"how about you?"

"what?"

Zhu Cilang stared blankly at Xu Shaoyue who suddenly spoke, but he didn't react to what the words meant. Just when he was a little confused, the crisp voice came again.

"Father has told me that an emperor as talented and wise as Emperor Xianzong also passed away a few months after Concubine Wan Guifei passed away."

Although Xu Shaoyue did not say it completely, the inner meaning was clearly stated in front of Zhu Cilang.

At this moment, all the plans in his mind surfaced again. After pondering for a moment, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty returned to him.

"The emperor is a lonely man. If I really can't find a suitable harem master, do I still fear them?"

Lonely.

As soon as these four words came out, Xu Shaoyue, who had stopped crying, felt her eyes sore again. But before her tears could fall again, she heard a chaotic sound of footsteps coming towards her.

"Your Majesty, I beg you to see me!"

Came so fast!

Although it didn't take Zhu Cilang much effort to enter the Duke of Wei's Mansion, it would still take a lot of time if he took a sedan chair.

He had just said a few words when that group of people came rushing over like ghosts, which showed how much they valued the post-election affairs.

"The door is not closed, just come in."

As Zhu Cilang spoke, he turned toward the courtyard gate. In just half a breath, Xu Yinjue, with a sullen face, appeared in his sight first. Afterwards, whether it was because he saw that the two men were still dressed intact or because they were far away, he visibly let out a long sigh of relief and quickly walked into the courtyard. Soon after, several old ministers followed him. "Your Majesty, I greet you."

Qian Qianyi, Xu Yu, Liu Zongzhou, and Huang Daozhou were both important officials in the court and leaders of the literati. Their joint appearance this time seemed to be
"On horseback?"

"Yes."

"What about the rest?"

"Now that your majesty has returned to the palace, this welcoming ceremony is considered complete, so I will take the initiative and let all the ministers go."

There was no emotion in Zhu Cilang's voice, but Qian Qianyi had no choice but to answer it.

In his heart, he was very reluctant to wade into this muddy water, but as the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, all the situations had to be attributed to him, not to mention.
Alas~~~~~
Qian Qianyi sighed in his heart and bent down a little further to the ground. When he was thinking about how to end today's matter, the voice of His Majesty came again.

"Oh? Why don't you bring all the officials here?"

Damn!
When Mr. Qian heard these words, his heart sank suddenly.

His Majesty's tone was extremely calm, as if he was talking about something unimportant, but the meaning behind his words was truly heartbreaking.

After all, breaking into the residence of a minister was already inappropriate, let alone breaking directly into the courtyard of a lady from a noble family. If something really caught the attention of others, even if Your Majesty could revive the Ming Dynasty, his reputation in history books would be put together with those of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

With this in mind, Mr. Qian was about to explain, but before he could think of a good way to speak, Xu Yu's distressed voice spread: "Your Majesty, how can you be so absurd?!"

As he said this, Xu Yu actually stood up from the ground, took two steps forward, and then pointed at the Ming Emperor with a trembling finger: "Breaking into the inner courtyard of a minister is something that only people like Gao and Liu can do. You are obviously highly regarded by the court and the people, and you are a saintly monarch comparable to Emperor Guangwu. How can you disregard your reputation for an ordinary woman!!!"

"She is not an ordinary woman. She is engaged to me."

Zhu Cilang met Xu Yu as soon as he escaped from prison. Without his help, even with all his cleverness, Zhu Cilang could not have entered the Duke of Wei's mansion, and could not have easily recaptured the Yingtian garrison.

Along the way, Xu Yu saw everything. He felt that it was God's blessing that he sent down such a seed of the Holy King in times of crisis.

But this kind of person not only did such a ridiculous thing, but he still doesn't repent until now. Such behavior made Xu Yu feel like the sky was falling, and he staggered before he could say anything else.

"Governor!"

"Are you OK?"

"Someone, help Governor Xu down to rest!"

After a flurry of activity, Xu Yu was helped to the side yard by the servants of the Duke's Mansion, but Zhu Cilang just stood there without any reaction.

He knew that Xu Yu was truly doing this for his own good, and he also knew that such actions would really piss off the old minister.

But his original plan had already failed. If he could not show enough toughness, he would be at a disadvantage in this confrontation.
Don't be soft-hearted!
Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang put away all the concern on his face, and then he turned his gaze to Liu Zongzhou, as if to say "it's your turn".

"His Majesty!"

Sure enough, as soon as their eyes met, this famous literary figure stood up regardless of anything, and after a loud shout of grief, he was already four or five steps away from the Emperor Ming.

"Marrying a commoner's daughter as your queen is an ancestral rule! Even if you don't trust us and Governor Xu, don't you even trust the laws of our ancestors?!"

"Chengfa? Taizu chose the daughter of a nobleman for Chengzu, but there have been some daughters of common people who have behaved recklessly."

After saying this lightly, Zhu Cilang waited with a sullen face for Liu Zongzhou to make his move.

Honestly speaking, when Zhu Cilang gave this example, Liu Zongzhou's plan to use ancestral rules to suppress others became difficult to achieve.

But even if he had a thousand arguments to refute Liu Zongzhou's reasons, when an emperor was forced to debate with his subjects, he had already lost.

According to his original thought, after this triumphant return, someone would certainly use the issue of the post-election to make trouble, and he could also use this opportunity to show his toughness and let the officials of Yingtian understand one thing.

Today's emperor is no longer about to ascend the throne, nor has he just escaped from the prison of the Ministry of War.

He did not make such plans for those unrealistic things, but his future actions would inevitably touch the foundations of some people. If he still had the easy-going appearance as before, the endless troubles would be secondary, and the delay in governance would be the real disaster.

The development of the situation was indeed not beyond his expectations.

When welcoming the emperor, someone had already put on an appearance of serving the country and the people, and he also came directly to the Duke of Wei's Mansion according to the original plan.

As long as he could convince the girl with the words he had prepared, Xu Yinjue probably wouldn't have the courage to risk angering the emperor.

By then, with the Empress Dowager's decree and the consent of the Xu family's father and daughter, even if everyone in the court opposed it, it would not be able to disrupt the marriage. He could also reduce the resistance behind by being tough.

But who would have thought
"Your Majesty! Even if the ancestral system has changed, you can't be like a tyrant and forcibly seize the women of the people!"

This sentence directly touched Zhu Cilang's soft spot, and he had no strength to fight back in this confrontation.

When it comes down to it, he still can't be as indifferent to other people's feelings as a true emperor.

That's it.

There is ample time.

Even though we are at a disadvantage this time, there will still be other opportunities.

No matter what, I am not the same as before. At worst, I can just enforce the decree. Can't my knife chop off a few heads?

As his mood changed, Zhu Cilang decided to accept this setback.

But then again, even though he accepted it, he had no intention of letting that group of people win so easily. When Liu Zongzhou finished his sorrowful words, his face darkened.

"Mr. Liu, be careful with your words. Miss Xu and I have already met at the Queen Mother's place. This time, I am strictly abiding by the etiquette and have not overstepped the boundaries. If you can't explain it, I would like to ask the sages how to deal with the crime of slandering the emperor."

"Except for those tyrants of the Gao family, I have never heard of an emperor forcing his subjects' families to see him. I cannot bear the crime of slandering the emperor!"

Liu Zongzhou insisted on this point, which made Zhu Cilang so angry that his hands trembled. However, things had come to this point, and he had no other choice but to be unreasonable. After a little hesitation, he was ready to end today's incident with a rage.

But to his surprise, just as he was about to shout, a clear voice suddenly came over.

"Mr. Liu, you may have forgotten that the Queen Mother had promised me to be your Majesty's concubine a while ago. Seeing me today does not count as forcing your way into my backyard."

(End of this chapter)