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

Chapter 831: Enriching the Harem
When couples and fathers and sons met, Zhu Shencui had a lot to say to them, but they had traveled all the way to the capital, and were tired even though they were sitting in a car. So on the first day of the meeting, Zhu Shencui suppressed his excitement and chatted with his wife, children and Zhang for the whole afternoon. After dinner in the evening, he let them settle down first and rest for a night, and talk about other things tomorrow.

It was too late for the originally scheduled palaces to move in today, so everyone rested in the Qianqing Palace for the time being. Anyway, the Qianqing Palace was big enough with several halls. Besides, Zhu Shenzhui hadn't seen Xu Jingqiu for many years. He had already thought about sleeping in the same bed with his wife at night and whispering to her.

After Zhang left and Xu Jingqiu took the children to make arrangements, sister Zhu Xiu'er secretly winked at Zhu Shenzhui with a look of wanting to say something but stopping herself. Zhu Shenzhui sent all the servants away, and after there were no outsiders around, he asked Zhu Xiu'er if she had anything to say to him.

"Little brother, you and Zhang...?" Zhu Xiuer couldn't help but ask Zhu Shenzhui softly.

"What are you talking about, elder sister? What could possibly happen between me and Zhang..." Zhu Shenzhui denied it without waiting for Zhu Xiuer to finish her words. It would be a lie to say that Zhu Shenzhui had no thoughts in his mind. Zhang became a widow at a young age and lived with Zhu Shenzhui for so many years. Zhu Shenzhui was young and full of vigor back then. It was impossible for him not to have any thoughts in his mind when facing such a beautiful woman every day.

However, Zhu Shenzhui only had these thoughts at most, but never put them into practice. He always treated Zhang as his elder sister-in-law. Not to mention after Zhu Shenzhui got married. He and his wife always respected Zhang, so how could anything happen?

Zhu Xiuer nodded, and said hesitantly, "Logically speaking, there are some things I shouldn't say, but I have to say them. It's really inappropriate for you to arrange for Zhang to enter the palace and live in the Cining Palace today. Although Zhang has made great contributions to my Zhu family, she is an outsider after all. If you really have something, it's fine, but your brother has been gone for a long time, and Zhang lost her husband at a young age. It's really not easy for her to have lived through all these years. If you had quietly taken Zhang in before, no one would have gossiped about it, but now your status is different, remember that you must never do this."

"What are you talking about, elder sister? My sister-in-law has done great things for my Zhu family. I only respect her and have no other thoughts. Elder sister, you are not an outsider. You should know the character of my sister-in-law and me. Why do you suddenly think of saying this today?"

Zhu Xiuer sighed and said, "Although I know you think this way, I can understand your arrangement. Jingqiu will naturally not think about other places, but some things cannot be tolerated by others. In this world, people's words are scary. Although Zhang is from my Zhu family, she is just your sister-in-law after all. If she is placed in another place in Beijing, there will be no problem. But now that she is arranged in the Cining Palace, there will inevitably be some rumors inside and outside the palace. Sometimes some groundless rumors will spread, and we really have to be on guard!"

Zhu Shenzhu frowned slightly. Zhu Xiuer's words reminded him that this was indeed possible. Although Zhu Shenzhu was about to become the emperor, there were people in the court who secretly opposed him. Moreover, those civil servants and those who only knew how to talk were all dirty-minded people. They might make up some rumors to attack him. Although he was not afraid of these, once they spread, it would be very bad for his and Zhang's reputation.

There is a precedent for this. This happened to Keshi, the wet nurse of Emperor Tianqi. Because Emperor Tianqi used Wei Zhongxian to suppress the Donglin Party, there were rumors that Keshi was taking advantage of the young and had monopolized Emperor Tianqi's bedroom. Even Empress Zhang Yan was helpless.

These rumors about the inner palace were spread with details, as if they were watched from the sidelines, but in fact, there was no such thing. How could Zhu Shenzhu not know about it if others did not know about it? Don't forget that Zhang Xijun was in the capital at that time. He and Wei Zhongxian had a good relationship as uncle and nephew. If this was true, how could he not know about it?
But even though Wei Zhongxian was in control of everything back then, such rumors still emerged. Even Wei Zhongxian couldn't do anything about it, let alone others?
So it makes sense that my sister would have concerns in this regard, let alone others with ulterior motives?

It seems that this matter does require some precautions. I should find time to talk to my brother-in-law Zhou Anmin about it carefully and have the Royal Guards keep a close eye on the matter to avoid having dirty water thrown at me for no reason.

Zhu Xiuer's suggestion to place Zhang outside the palace was certainly a good arrangement. But Zhu Shenzhu thought about this problem. Zhang was a weak woman who had not seen much of the world and had few people around her. If Zhu Shenzhu placed her outside the palace, he would not be able to rest assured. Once someone with ulterior motives wanted to do something with Zhang, or someone with ulterior motives approached Zhang, based on his understanding of Zhang, Zhang was no match for those people and might be used by them.

In addition, Zhang had made great contributions to the Zhu family. His brother died early, and the family was managed by Zhang alone. After becoming the emperor, he could not just arrange and dismiss Zhang at will. If so, Zhu Shenzhu would not be able to get over it.

So after much deliberation, Zhu Shenzhui finally decided to arrange Zhang to live in the palace and have her live in the Cining Palace. This way, not only would he be there to take care of her, but Xu Jingqiu would also be there, so Zhang could also avoid many troubles.

But now Zhu Xiuer's reminder made Zhu Shenzhui realize that there was something wrong with his arrangement. However, after a slight hesitation, Zhu Shenzhui decided not to change his arrangement. He still arranged Zhang in the same way, and at most he would pay more attention to this aspect.

He was about to become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the most noble person in the world. If he couldn't even protect the people around him, what was the point of being an emperor? Zhu Shenzhui was a tough person who faced challenges head-on. How could he be afraid of these things? Few people could change what he decided.

As an elder sister, Zhu Xiu'er naturally understood her younger brother better than outsiders. When she saw the change in Zhu Shenzhui's expression, she realized that Zhang's residence in the Cining Palace could not be changed. She had no choice but to let the matter go. She also knew that at most she could just give one or two reminders, and the final decision would still be made by Zhu Shenzhui.

"Besides Zhang, there is one more thing." "What is it?"

"Of course it's a matter of the harem." Zhu Xiu'er said seriously, "Jingqiu has come to Beijing. After the ceremony, she will naturally be the queen. But as the head of the six palaces, you can't have only one queen, right? And you will be the emperor soon, so you can't be without concubines. Do you really want to learn from Emperor Xiaozong and only favor the queen?"

"This..." Zhu Shenzhui didn't expect Zhu Xiu'er to mention this matter. When he was the regent, some people asked him to find some women, saying that it was a bit inappropriate for him to be the regent without women by his side, and he must have women to take care of him, and with women he could have more children. Isn't this common sense?
However, Zhu Shencui directly refused at that time. On the one hand, he did not want some women whose backgrounds he did not know to get close to him. God knew the true origins of these women and whether there were any unknown situations behind them. There had always been troubles in the Ming Dynasty harem, and Zhu Shencui really did not want to do this to avoid trouble.

On the other hand, he also took Xu Jingqiu into consideration. His wife was not around, so he went to the capital to find a group of women. What kind of talk was that? Zhu Shenzhui was not the kind of guy who couldn't move his legs when he saw a woman.

But now it’s different. Zhu Shenzhui didn’t have to consider this matter when he was a prince or a duke, but it’s different now that he is the emperor.

As an emperor, besides ruling the world, what is more important is the continuation of the throne. Although Zhu Shenzhui actually has four sons now, the two from Mongolia are impossible to enter the family tree. Although the two sons born to Xu Jingqiu are already teenagers, the medical level of this era is not high, and the ability of the imperial doctors in the palace is even more unreliable. Countless sons of emperors in history died young or prematurely. Two sons are far from enough. The more sons the emperor has, the more stable the world will be, and the more at ease the court and the people will be.

Once he ascended the throne, there would naturally be people who would persuade him to take concubines to enrich his harem without Zhu Shenzhui's arrangement. If Zhu Shenzhui refused at this time, it would not only be his personal matter, but would also directly affect the continuation of the country. Moreover, if Zhu Shenzhui did not take concubines, there might be rumors that Xu Jingqiu was jealous and intended to dominate the harem, which would not be a good thing for Xu Jingqiu and the two princes.

But today Zhu Xiu'er's sudden words caught Zhu Shenzhu's attention. According to his understanding of his sister, Zhu Xiu'er should not think so deeply. Could it be that someone has already spread the word to Zhu Xiu'er? Intending to use Zhu Xiu'er to put someone into his harem?
"Sister, why do you suddenly think of talking about this today?"

"Even if you become emperor, you are still my brother. So? It's my fault for caring about you?" Zhu Xiuer rolled her eyes at him and asked back.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and shook his head: "Of course not, it's just that Big Sister never cared about these things before, but today she analyzed them very clearly, which made me look at her in a new light."

"Do you think I, your elder sister, am so useless? Don't forget that during those years when your father and your elder brother were gone, it was you who helped to support this family."

"Yes, yes, you are right, big sister." When it came to this, Zhu Shenzhui dared not refute and nodded repeatedly with a smile.

Zhu Xiuer was a little proud, and then continued, "In fact, I hadn't thought of this matter at first, but two days ago, the wife of the Marquis of Funing, the wife of the Marquis of Dingxi, the wife of the Earl of Xinning, and the wife of the Earl of Taikang came to our house to chat. During the chat, they mentioned this matter. They intended to let the girls in our family enter the palace as concubines. They knew that we were siblings and had a deep relationship, so they just wanted to use my connections to find out your opinion. I evaded the question at the time, but after thinking about it carefully afterwards, I felt that what they said made some sense. As an emperor, you can't have only one queen in the six palaces, right? This is really inappropriate, not to mention that you are the only one left in our family. It is only right to have more concubines and more children to expand our family."

"That's right..." Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly in his heart. No wonder Zhu Xiuer mentioned this matter today. This was the reason for all the fuss.

Zhu Shenzhui immediately smiled and said to Zhu Xiuer that he would consider the matter and that they would wait until the ceremony was over before discussing it. He would pay attention to the concubines in the harem and would not let his sister down.

After hearing Zhu Shenzui's answer, Zhu Xiu'er was satisfied. Then the two siblings chatted for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, Zhu Xiu'er left before the palace gate closed. After seeing Zhu Xiu'er off, Zhu Shenzui's face, which had been smiling a moment ago, turned solemn the next moment.

(End of this chapter)