Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 121 Yongning, you don’t want your mother to know, right?

Chapter 121 Yongning, you don’t want your mother to know, right?

In March in Beijing, willows are swaying in the wind.

The air was filled with a faint fragrance. A breeze blew, and the petals danced in the wind, making the city of Beijing, which had just awakened from winter, look even more beautiful and charming.

The ice and snow melt, all things come back to life, and it is the season for animals to reproduce.

The Forbidden City is also peaceful.

In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Wanli sat in the west warm pavilion. With Feng Bao's waiting on him, he happily completed the red-letter comments on the independence of Songjiang Prefecture and Tianjin Wei.

"After reviewing your report, I am very pleased. I will allow Songjiang Prefecture and Tianjin Wei to be directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court."

Feng Bao wrote his comments, then smiled and put away the memorial. He asked, "Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions? If not, I will send this memorial to the Ministry of Public Administration first, and then issue an order to all prefectures and cities."

"Go." Emperor Wanli waved his hand.

Feng Bao received the order, smiled as brightly as a chrysanthemum, turned around and left.

After he left, Emperor Wanli felt much more at ease. He tilted his head to look at Wei Qing and said boredly, "Wei Qing, it's March again. Should I go find Zhang Yunxiu and ask him to take me out for a walk?"

"Oh, Your Majesty, didn't you just go out seven days ago? If you walk by the river often, it's inevitable that your shoes will get wet." Wei Qing's face turned bitter, and his face turned purple to the color of liver, and then he shook his head repeatedly to persuade him.

"It's been seven days. It's been so long."

Emperor Wanli supported his head with one hand, muttered to himself, and stared at the lively spring scene outside the window.

A heart is like having a caterpillar crawling over it.

His beloved concubine was pregnant, so he couldn't act crazy like before, and much of the fun was gone.

When I think of my beloved concubine's fiery almond eyes, her white and tender neck, her eggplant-sized breasts, and her round, well-proportioned and elastic buttocks.

Emperor Wanli only felt a heat in his lower abdomen, and his exhalation turned into gasping.

After taking two deep breaths, Emperor Wanli pouted and told Wei Qing, "Go, call Zhang Yunxiu to me. I have something to discuss with him."

"Ah, this is not a good idea." Wei Qing looked embarrassed and hesitated.

"What? If I tell you to go, go now. If you keep talking nonsense, I will send you to guard the imperial mausoleum."

Emperor Wanli's face turned pale with anger, he frowned and shouted angrily. Wei Qing dared not disobey him. He kept saying "yes, yes, yes" and ran out with his trousers tucked up.

After about half an hour, Zhang Yunxiu followed Wei Qing and hurriedly walked into the hall.

Seeing the emperor, Zhang Yunxiu bent his body, clasped his hands together, and a respectful voice came out of his throat: "Your Highness, I, Zhang Yunxiu, pay my respects to His Majesty."

"No gift."

Emperor Wanli waved his hands randomly, leaned forward, and said with a smile, "Zhang Yunxiu, I am a little bored in this palace. Please take me out for a walk."

"Your Majesty, there is nothing fun outside right now. It's not as interesting as your Imperial Garden. How about I accompany you to stroll around the Imperial Garden?" Zhang Yunxiu glanced at Wei Qing and saw him waving his hands repeatedly, so he persuaded him, "This thing is precious because it is rare. If you go to the common people too often, you will feel that there is nothing fun outside."

"That's right. Well, accompany me to the Imperial Garden for a walk."

Emperor Wanli thought so too, so he gave up the idea of ​​leaving the palace, called Zhang Yunxiu and walked towards the Imperial Garden.

This imperial garden covers an extremely large area, covering several hundred acres, and is planted with all kinds of rare and exotic plants. Now it is spring, and all kinds of flowers are in full bloom, competing with each other for splendor, and the beauty is indescribable.

As soon as Zhang Yunxiu stepped into the imperial garden, a refreshing floral fragrance carried into his nostrils along with the breeze.

Looking around, there are rows of pavilions and terraces, and the trees are green and the water is clear. The warm sunlight falls from the dome and sprinkles on it, forming a series of scattered light spots.

If viewed from the sky, the entire imperial garden looks like a paradise on earth.

Zhang Yunxiu was mesmerized by what he saw.

Emperor Wanli became bored because he had seen so many of them, and just walked along the path in the flower garden to get by.

The group followed Emperor Wanli and walked for about twenty minutes.

Suddenly, I saw that under a two-meter-high jujube tree in the garden, there were many frightened palace maids gathered.

On the jujube tree, a young girl in a lotus-colored pleated skirt with a golden phoenix pattern on it, with a smile on her face, stretched out her green onion-like fingers and gently hooked a bird's nest on the branch.

"Princess, Princess, please come down quickly. Don't scare me."

"Yes, Princess, please spare us. If the nanny knew about this, she would beat us to death. Please have pity on us and spare us, these poor people."

Under the tree, several palace maidens looked panicked, opened their arms, and moved in line with the girl's movements.

"Yongning, what are you doing?!" Emperor Wanli was anxious. He squeezed into the crowd and shouted at the girl above, "Come down quickly. If my mother finds out, you will be in trouble."

Several palace maids were startled and hurriedly bowed to the emperor.

Princess Yongning, who was on the tree, was almost shaken by the roar and fell down. She frowned and complained to the emperor under the tree: "Bad brother, you almost scared me to death."

"You almost frightened my brother to death!" Emperor Wanli said with a red face, and waved his hand, "Come down quickly, it's dangerous up there."

"Royal brother, there are three birds in the bird's nest above. Yongning will give you one when the time comes." Yongning smiled playfully and made a face at Emperor Wanli under the tree.

"real?!"

Emperor Wanli became interested and clamored to climb the tree to take a look.

Zhang Yunxiu and Wei Qing on the side hurriedly hugged him. While they were pulling, Princess Yongning put away the bird's nest and slid down from the tree branch.

As soon as she landed, she clapped her hands gently, tilted her neck back, and took out the bird's nest from her arms like a winner: "Brother, look, these three birds are so beautiful." Emperor Wanli squeezed forward and looked inside.

Three little birds whose feathers had not yet fully grown opened their mouths and chirped loudly.

"Are they shouting like that because they are hungry?" Emperor Wanli asked tentatively.

"Eighty percent, right?" Princess Yongning nodded slightly.

"Then ask the imperial kitchen to prepare some food for them."

"Let's bring some rice balls ourselves, we don't need the imperial kitchen."

The brother and sister squatted on the ground, feeding the baby birds incoherently. Their serious look made people feel that they were just children of seven or eight years old.

While the two were talking, Zhang Yunxiu asked Wei Qing: "Is that Princess Yongning? The one Liang Bangrui had arranged to marry?"

"Yes." Wei Qing replied.

"Fortunately, otherwise it would be like a fresh flower stuck in cow dung." Zhang Yunxiu breathed a sigh of relief.

This girl is innocent and lively, with a baby face. She is not affected by the palace rules at all, which is truly rare.

It seems that Emperor Wanli and Empress Dowager Li protected this girl very well, allowing her to live a life away from worldly concerns and be as pure as a blank sheet of paper.

Wei Qing nodded and echoed, "Yes, Empress Dowager Li and the Emperor both treat Princess Yongning as their dearest child. They hold her in their hands for fear of dropping her, and hold her in their mouths for fear of her melting."

"In the past, even if Princess Yongning made minor mistakes, the Emperor would not scold her."

"It's Zhang Jing's bad luck." Zhang Yunxiu chuckled.

Just as Wei Qing was about to reply, Emperor Wanli suddenly drove past them and shouted at them, "What are you two guys mumbling about? Come over and help me choose a bird."

"Ah, oh. I'll be right there." The two men nodded, took two or three quick steps forward, and squatted beside the emperor.

It was the first time that Zhang Yunxiu saw Princess Yongning, and he couldn't help but take a sneak peek.

Princess Yongning happened to turn her big starry eyes and look at the young man whom she had met once before.

The two looked at each other and looked away as if they had been electrocuted.

"Zhang Yunxiu, what do you think of that bird? " Emperor Wanli did not notice any change in the two people. He was still immersed in the novelty and shouted with a beaming face.

Zhang Yunxiu restrained his expression, lowered his head and glanced at the three birds, pointed at the one that was chirping the loudest and said, "Your Majesty, I think the one in the middle is chirping the loudest, so I think it's the easiest to raise. You should choose the one in the middle."

"Okay, I'll choose the one in the middle." Emperor Wanli said, and reached out to pick up the bird in the middle.

"Okay, now that my royal brother has made his choice, the rest are mine." Princess Yongning giggled and snatched the bird's nest back.

"Hey, it's not fair for you to take two." Emperor Wanli was anxious and threatened evilly, "Yongning, you don't want your mother to know that you climbed a tree to rob a bird's nest."

"Brother Emperor, what do you want to do?!" Princess Yongning hugged the bird's nest, looked at the emperor vigilantly, and stepped back unconsciously.

Emperor Wanli raised his eyebrows, rubbed his palms, and chuckled, "If you let me pick a bird again, I will promise to keep it a secret for you. Otherwise, hehe, don't blame me for being cruel."

"Royal brother." Yongning called out softly, with a wisp of mist brewing in his big black eyes.

"It's no use calling for anything, just give it to me or not."

"No!"

The brother and sister acted as if no one was around and bickered like any other normal siblings.

This made things difficult for Zhang Yunxiu and others.

They didn't know whether to retreat or advance. They just stood there, not knowing what to say.

Why should outsiders interfere in matters between siblings?
Wei Qing raised his head and slowly looked in the direction of Zhang Yunxiu. Zhang Yunxiu happened to look over as well, and the two exchanged glances.

Wei Qing nodded, then turned to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, the weather is getting hotter, and we are crowded here, making a lot of noise. If the Queen Mother sees it, it will be bad for you and the princess.

Let's go back to the palace first and talk about it later."

Emperor Wanli was afraid of Empress Dowager Li, but he still said stubbornly: "Yongning, I advise you to send the bird to my bedroom, otherwise I will definitely talk to my mother."

"Brother Luelulu is afraid of our mother, but I am not. The worst that can happen is that I will be scolded." Yongning made a face at Emperor Wanli, took out the bird's nest, handed it to Zhang Yunxiu, blinked his big eyes, and said, "It is not convenient to raise birds in our inner palace. Please help me take it out and raise it well."

Yes.

Emperor Wanli then remembered that his palace was not suitable for raising such birds.

"You take mine as well. I will go out of the palace to see it when I have time." Emperor Wanli then put the bird into the nest.

"I obey your order." Zhang Yunxiu had no choice but to take the toys from the brother and sister.

Wanli originally thought that there was not enough fun in the palace, but he did not expect to be able to rob bird nests. He turned around and glanced at Wei Qing, and ordered: "Wei Qing, I really order you to look at all the treetops in the palace. If you find a bird nest, report to me immediately."

"Oh, and be secretive about this. Don't let Otomo and the Queen Mother know."

"Old minister, I obey."

Wei Qingyi bent down and stuck his butt high, then called out respectfully.

(End of this chapter)

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