Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 727 Prince and Princess
The conversation with Xu Xiancheng took a long time. He was specially invited to have lunch in the palace at noon. After the meal, the two continued to talk for a long time before Xu Xiancheng said goodbye and left.

After Xu Xiancheng left, Zhu Shenzhui stood up and left the Wenhua Hall, heading straight for the Qianqing Palace where Emperor Chongzhen lived.

Nearly a month had passed since he last met Emperor Chongzhen. Although he had not been to the Qianqing Palace during these days, every move in the Qianqing Palace was under Zhu Shenzhu's surveillance.

Compared to when he first entered the palace, Emperor Chongzhen's mentality was much better. You have to know that at the beginning Emperor Chongzhen was looking for death. He cursed Zhu Shenzhui in the palace every day, with tears streaming down his face. He knelt on the ground, kowtowed and shouted, saying words like "I'm sorry to my ancestors."

After more than half a year of house arrest, Emperor Chongzhen gradually realized the truth. Although he still had the title of emperor, he was actually a prisoner. However, he was different from other prisoners. He still lived in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and had no shortage of food, clothing, housing and transportation. Except that he could not leave the Palace of Heavenly Purity and could not meet with outsiders, he had no other restrictions.

Two months ago, when Zhu Shenzhui went to visit, Emperor Chongzhen made a request that he wanted to see his wife and children. Zhu Shenzhui agreed to this request. Although Emperor Chongzhen could not live with his wife and children now, he could see his empress, concubine and several children in the Qianqing Palace every once in a while. Because of this, Emperor Chongzhen's bad temper became much better. After that, when Zhu Shenzhui went to the Qianqing Palace again, he no longer had a bad face when he saw Zhu Shenzhui, and he no longer asked questions in a sarcastic tone as before.

Today, Zhu Shenzhui came to the Qianqing Palace. As soon as he entered the palace, he vaguely heard bursts of laughter coming from inside. The laughter was clearly from Emperor Chongzhen, and there were also the clear voices of several children.

Today is the day when Emperor Chongzhen sees his wife and children. Every few days, his wife and children would be arranged to come to the Qianqing Palace. Although they could not stay overnight, they had to be sent back to the harem before dark. It might be a day for husband and wife, father and son to reunite, which was very rare for the current Emperor Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty is in a good mood!" Zhu Shenzhui walked in with a smile, and in a blink of an eye he saw the warm and cozy family.

Emperor Chongzhen had six sons and two daughters. His second son Zhu Cixuan died young. The fifth son Zhu Cihuan, born to Concubine Tian, ​​died of illness a few years ago. His death also led to the "borrowing case" and the so-called "Nine Lotus Bodhisattva descending to the earth", which eventually led to the killing of Grand Secretary Xue Guoguan.

At present, his eldest son Zhu Cilang, third son Zhu Cihong, fourth son Zhu Cizhao and sixth son Zhu Cican born to Concubine Tian are all alive, plus two daughters, namely the eldest daughter Zhu Mianzhu. This eldest daughter is the famous Princess Changping in history. In later generations, a man named Cha made up a novel based on her and gave her the nickname "One-armed Nun".

The other is the second legitimate daughter, Zhu Huiying. Because she lived in Zhaoren Palace, although she was not given a title, she was called Princess Zhaoren in the palace.

The oldest of the children is the eldest son Zhu Cilang, who is now nine years old, the eldest daughter Zhu Mianzhu is eight years old, Zhu Cihong is six years old, Zhu Huiying is five years old, Zhu Cizhao is five years old, and the youngest is Zhu Cican, who is still a baby less than two years old and still breastfeeding.

Zhu Shenzhu's sudden arrival broke the rare joyful atmosphere in the Qianqing Palace. In particular, Empress Zhou and Concubine Tian looked uneasy when they saw Zhu Shenzhu's arrival. The eldest of the children, Zhu Cilang and Zhu Mianzhu, were also stunned at the same time and stood up subconsciously.

On the contrary, the younger Zhu Cixiong, Zhu Huiying and Zhu Cizhao looked a little confused, not knowing what was going on. As for the youngest Zhu Cican, he stared at Zhu Shenzhui with his big black eyes in Concubine Tian's arms, looking very curious.

"I greet the Regent..." Queen Zhou and Imperial Concubine Tian did not dare to neglect him and quickly stood up and bowed slightly. Although they were the two most honorable women in the world, one was the Queen and the other was the Imperial Concubine, and Zhu Shenzhu was actually a minister, they knew that the life and death of their family was in the hands of Zhu Shenzhu, so how could they dare to put on airs?
Following their mother's salute, Zhu Cilang and Zhu Mianzhu also hurriedly saluted Zhu Shenzhui, not forgetting to bring along their three younger brothers and sisters who were still unaware of the situation. Seeing them like this, Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and said with a smile, "We are all family, why do we have to be like this? This is in the palace, so it's more pleasant to call them uncle and great uncle."

"I'm waiting to see my uncle..."

"Meet great uncle..."

Everyone followed suit and changed their words quickly. Zhu Shenzui nodded with a smile and even walked up to Concubine Tian to tease Zhu Cican. Zhu Cican, who was completely ignorant, danced with joy and giggled when he saw Zhu Shenzui playing with him.

"My family is having a gathering today, why are you here?" Emperor Chongzhen said very displeasedly. When he saw Zhu Shenzhui, he didn't even say hello, let alone greet him. He asked directly and impolitely.

"Your Majesty..." Queen Zhou was startled and quickly gave him a look. She knew her husband's character too well. What if he spoke rudely and annoyed Zhu Shencui, and Zhu Shencui did something in anger, what would happen to their family?
Emperor Chongzhen felt something was wrong as soon as he said this. After being imprisoned for so long, no matter how stubborn he was, he knew that he was no longer the emperor who ruled the world. Now the entire Ming Dynasty was controlled by this traitor in front of him. He was just a puppet imprisoned in the palace, and his entire family was in the hands of the other party.

But even if he knew he had said something wrong, Emperor Chongzhen's bad temper would not allow him to change his words immediately, let alone apologize. While Emperor Chongzhen was silent, thinking about how to ease the situation, Zhu Shenzhui smiled. "I knew your Majesty's family was having a gathering today, and I didn't want to disturb your Majesty. But there is a happy event today, and I decided to come to the Qianqing Palace to inform your Majesty and make him happy."

"Happy event? What kind of happy event can you say? Could it be that the regent intends to return power to me?" Emperor Chongzhen asked angrily. Not only Empress Zhou, but also Concubine Tian and the two older children all changed their expressions. What on earth is wrong with their husband (father)? Is it okay to say such a thing?
"Hahaha, Your Majesty really loves to joke. How is this possible? Even if I am willing and let Your Majesty return the power directly, will the court be willing? Is Your Majesty sure that you can govern the Ming Dynasty well?" Zhu Shenzhui smiled and shook his head repeatedly, and asked in return.

Emperor Chongzhen's face changed, and he was about to get angry, but somehow he didn't burst out in anger, and he managed to hold it in. This surprised Zhu Shenzhui. It seemed that the self-cultivation these days had slightly changed Emperor Chongzhen's character. If he had said something like this half a year ago, it would have been strange if Emperor Chongzhen hadn't fought with him, but now he could hold it in? It was really rare.

"Enough of the small talk. Why are you here? I'm not interested in playing dumb with you." Emperor Chongzhen asked coldly.

Wang Chengen, who was waiting on the side, had sweat all over his forehead. His master was really something. Why did he always scold the regent like this? What was going on now that he didn't understand? Why did he have to do this? Maybe Zhu Shenzhui would not do anything to Emperor Chongzhen, but that didn't mean that Zhu Shenzhui would not start with the people around Emperor Chongzhen! Now in addition to Emperor Chongzhen, there were also Empress Zhou and Concubine Tian, ​​including the princes and princesses. As a eunuch, he had the lowest status and was the most humble. What if Zhu Shenzhui got angry and asked someone to punish him and vent his anger, dragging him out and beating him to death, wouldn't he be wronged to the extreme?
What you fear will come to you. Just when Wang Chengen was thinking about it, Zhu Shenzui suddenly called his name.

"I...I'm here..." Wang Chengen was startled and replied quickly.

Zhu Shenzhu, who was sitting on a chair, asked leisurely, "I've been here for quite a while. What's going on? Is this how the Palace of Heavenly Purity treats guests? Not even tea?"

"Your servant... I'll give it to Your Highness right away..." Wang Chengen said hurriedly, sweating profusely. Just as he was about to make tea for Zhu Shenzhui, Emperor Chongzhen stopped him.

"What kind of tea? Even if Wang Chengen served tea, would you dare to drink it? It's better to save some tea than to waste it."

"Your Majesty!" Queen Zhou couldn't help it at this time. She kept arguing with her husband. What did he want to do?
"Uncle, your Majesty has been in a bad mood these days. Please forgive me. I will make tea for you now." Empress Zhou tried to smooth things over. She bowed to Zhu Shenzhui and was about to leave. Seeing her like this, Zhu Shenzhui sighed in his heart and raised his hand to stop her, saying, "Forget it, forget it. Don't bother. Your husband is right. No matter who made this tea, I will not drink it. It is better not to use it than to waste it."

“Uncle…” Queen Zhou’s face changed and she didn’t know what to do for a moment.

"Nothing, don't worry." Zhu Shenzhui gave her a comforting smile, then looked at Emperor Chongzhen and shook his head, saying, "Although you are incapable of governing a country, and you are not a qualified emperor, you have married a virtuous wife, which is also your blessing."

"Hmph!" Emperor Chongzhen snorted but did not refute.

Zhu Shenzhui ignored him and continued to speak: "Today I came to the Qianqing Palace for a good thing. To tell you the truth, the rebel Gao Yingxiang was defeated in Heishui Valley half a month ago. His 50,000-strong army was annihilated, and Gao Yingxiang and his subordinates were all captured. Two days ago, Gao Yingxiang was escorted to the capital by the Jinyiwei. He is now in prison and will be dealt with according to the law soon."

"What! What did you say?" Emperor Chongzhen didn't care at first, but when he heard Zhu Shenzui say that Gao Yingxiang's troops were defeated in Heishui Valley and their entire army was wiped out, and Gao Yingxiang and his subordinates were all captured alive and escorted to the capital, Emperor Chongzhen's eyes widened instantly.

Emperor Chongzhen knew Gao Yingxiang's name very well. You should know that shortly after Chongzhen ascended the throne, that is, in the third and fourth years of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang was one of the bandits who started an uprising in the northwest. After Wang Ziyi and others were defeated, Gao Yingxiang became the biggest leader of the bandits. Over the years, he roamed around and caused trouble in the local areas. Emperor Chongzhen spent a lot of effort, dispatched troops and spent millions, but he could do nothing about Gao Yingxiang.

Before Zhu Shenzhui entered Beijing, Gao Yingxiang almost reached the capital, and then moved to Shandong, and directly threatened Nanjing. Although he was defeated south of Yangzhou, he still fled to Henan, and then went all the way to Huguang and Sichuan. The government troops encircled and suppressed him many times but could never do anything to him.

But now Gao Yingxiang was actually captured, and even his army was completely wiped out. This news was indeed good news. Emperor Chongzhen instantly became energetic and extremely excited.

(End of this chapter)