Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 22 First meeting
The spring day is warm and the breeze is gentle.

Wei Qing and several young eunuchs, leading a young girl, walked slowly towards Emperor Wanli.

The girl was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a face as pretty as a flower, skin as white as snow, and a temperament as elegant as orchid.

Sparkling almond eyes, a small and delicate nose, rose-petal red lips, a white and tender neck, and eggplant-sized breasts.

She was wearing a red palace dress that was tight on her body, which made her waist look as slender as a willow, and looked so natural.

The woman was none other than the future Concubine Zheng.

But five days ago, Zhang Yunxiu found Xu Jue and asked him to talk to Feng Bao, saying that he wanted to find a beautiful girl in the palace.

Although Feng Bao was surprised and suspicious, he still helped.

Soon, Zhang Yunxiu met Zheng Yufeng.

As soon as he saw this woman for the first time, Zhang Yunxiu knew why she was favored.

She is beautiful but not gaudy, charming but not coquettish. Although she has entered the palace, she still has some of the agility and charm of the girls outside.

No wonder she could have bewitched Emperor Wanli so much.

When the two met, Zhang Yunxiu did not hesitate to ask directly: "Are you Zheng Yufeng? You have a brother named Zheng Guotai and a father named Zheng Chengxian. Are you from Yingtianfu?"

Zheng Yufeng became alert, then nodded with difficulty.

Then, Zhang Yunxiu's words shocked her. "If you want to climb up, come to Huangji Gate and wait for me in five days. I will give you a great opportunity."

Zheng Yufeng looked alert and hesitated, "Sir, I don't know how you found me. But I am a concubine and you are an outsider. It is not in accordance with etiquette for us to meet. Huangji Gate is where the emperor holds court."

"I just want to ask you one question, do you want to move up?" Zhang Yunxiu interrupted her.

"miss you!"

Zheng Yufeng nodded in agreement.

Which woman entering the palace doesn't want to be favored by the emperor?
Although Zheng Yufeng was proud of her beauty, her family was not wealthy and she had no money to hire eunuchs and maids. After only a few months in the palace, she realized the cruelty of the deep palace.

Without money and power, I am worse than a dog.

Seeing her move, Zhang Yunxiu continued to tempt her: "If you want, I can give you a chance. Do you dare to gamble? If you continue to shrink here,

Do you want to wait for the emperor to summon you, or do you want to take a chance with me? If you win, you will be very successful, and I will even have to rely on you for support."

"What if you lose the bet?"

"Even if you lose, I can still protect your life and your family's wealth." Zhang Yunxiu smiled at her and added, "As long as I'm still here."

"Well, I will accompany you in this bet." Zheng Yufeng nodded and agreed. Suddenly, she asked with a smile, "I still don't know which family you belong to, how can you enter and leave this palace?"

"You will know when you go there on the 5th." Zhang Yunxiu got up and left.

So, today's meeting took place.

In the time it took to burn an incense stick, Zheng Yufeng arrived in front of the emperor. The warm sun shone from the dome, shining on Zheng Yufeng's body, making her even more beautiful beyond words.

"Who are you?" Emperor Wanli swallowed.

"I am a concubine who entered the palace last year. My name is Zheng Yufeng." Zheng Yufeng replied in a delicate voice.

"So what are you doing here?"

"I have been in the palace for half a year and have not seen the emperor yet, so I secretly came to the place where the emperor holds court to take a look."

Before the emperor could say anything, Wei Qing, who was standing beside him, said with a stern face, "How dare you! You are just a little concubine, but you don't stay in Chuxiu Palace and run to Huangji Palace. Do you have any rules?"

Zheng Yufeng shuddered when she heard this.

"Shut up!" Emperor Wanli looked at the beauty and pointed at Wei Qing and scolded.

"Huh? Yes."

Wei Qing flattered the horse but ended up hitting the horse's hoof, with a bitter face. Zhang Yunxiu smiled and spoke to the rescue, "Your Majesty, Eunuch Wei also meant well. This concubine is indeed a little unruly." "Well, but she also misses me too much." Emperor Wanli said, and took Zheng Yufeng's cold little hand and said with a smile, "This will not happen again, but I can't let you off so easily."

"I will punish you. Come back to the palace with me."

"I accept the punishment!" Zheng Yufeng blushed and responded in a delicate voice.

Afterwards, a group of people escorted the emperor back to the Qianqing Palace.

Zhang Yunxiu felt warmed in his heart and asked for his resignation from the emperor, then went straight to the residence of his fourth brother Zhang Jianxiu.

It just so happened that he was resting today, and Zhang Yunxiu strode in.

The two brothers came to the living room and sat down according to the etiquette of host and guest.

Zhang Yunxiu's face flushed, and he said impatiently: "Fourth brother, it's done!"

"What happened?" Zhang Jianxiu was confused.

"Our family's future wealth has come true."

"Just Zheng Guotai and Zheng Chengxian?"

"That's right," Zhang Yunxiu clapped his hands, stood up and said, "Today, we will lead the emperor to Huangji Gate and let the daughter of that family bump into the emperor."

"You didn't see what the emperor looked like when he saw that woman. Tsk tsk, from then on the emperor stopped attending court early in the morning because of this kind of woman."

Zhang Jianxiu didn't believe it at all and shook his head, saying, "The emperor has three thousand beauties in his harem. It's an honor for a woman to be favored for one or two years. It's too simple to think that the favor will last forever."

She has been favored for more than 30 years.

She was favored and could endure, and even outlasted Emperor Wanli to death.

Zhang Yunxiu curled his lips, not wanting to bother with his fourth brother about this, and said seriously: "Father is in better health now, but if we reform the law, we will offend too many people. If the emperor doesn't support our family, our family will be doomed immediately."

"That's the truth." Zhang Jianxiu nodded.

"That's why I try all kinds of ways to please the emperor, by coaxing and deceiving him. The emperor is a donkey that likes to be plied with his fur, so we have to stroke him in the right direction. Otherwise, he won't say anything but will secretly be displeased, and we will be the ones who suffer."

"What new ideas do you have?" Zhang Jianxiu asked with a smile.

"I heard that Wuqing Earl Li Wei's request for the title of Marquis was rejected by our father."

"Yes, there is such a thing," Zhang Jianxiu nodded slightly, and asked with wide eyes, "You...you are not going to persuade our father to agree to this in order to please the emperor and the empress dowager, right?"

"Are you crazy?"

"I'm not crazy." Zhang Yunxiu shook his head and sighed, "He is a noble anyway. Does the court need his salary? Besides, the salary is not from our family. I don't know what my father is so stubborn about."

"Two words, 'authority'" Zhang Jianxiu held up two fingers and said earnestly, "In order to demonstrate his authority as the Prime Minister, sometimes he has to do things that make the emperor unhappy."

"My father is also a tiger."

"But the emperor is a dragon, a descendant of dragons. Although tigers can suppress young dragons for a while, when the young dragons grow up and the tigers die, we young tigers will suffer."

While the two were talking, Wang Ling walked in.

Zhang Yunxiu stood up and saluted. Wang Ling smiled slightly and returned the salute.

"Madam, why are you here?" Zhang Jianxiu asked.

"It's nothing, our father came and said he wanted to see you." Wang Ling replied.

"Old Taishan?" Zhang Jianxiu stood up and looked at Zhang Yunxiu apologetically, "I'm sorry, how about you wait here and I'll come and greet you after I've arranged for Old Taishan?"

"Why are you telling me all this? Shangshu Wang is both a minister and an elder. Who am I?" Zhang Yunxiu also stood up and waved his hand, "Just go ahead. I also have some things to do."

Having said that, Zhang Yunxiu bowed and left the hall.

(End of this chapter)