Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 74: Empress Dowager Li Shows Her Power Again

In a moment, Zhang Siwei changed into a set of casual clothes for meeting guests and walked into the side hall.

In the side hall, a man wrapped in a black bamboo hat, whose face could not be seen, was seen sitting in a chair with his back to him.

"Are you my relative?" Zhang Siwei asked coldly, frowning.

Hearing the noise, the man slowly turned around. With the help of the candlelight, Zhang Siwei finally saw the man's face clearly.

The man was about 47 or 48 years old, with fair skin, regular features, and a pair of peach blossom eyes that were slightly upturned. It seemed that he always had a smile on his face, making people feel like they were in the spring breeze.

"You are Eunuch Zhang Cheng?!" Zhang Siwei exclaimed.

Zhang Cheng smiled coldly, nodded in agreement, and then said with emotion: "Zhang Jing is ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. He actually dared to challenge Feng Bao directly. Now he has this disaster, and he deserves it!"

"You mean, it was Feng Bao who got him imprisoned?" Zhang Siwei asked, then shook his head and said, "No, that's not right. The emperor has always trusted Zhang Jing and is quite afraid of Feng Bao. How could he listen to Feng Bao and put Zhang Jing in prison?"

"It wasn't Feng Bao who did it, it was those two bastards Wei Qing and Zhang Yunxiu." Zhang Cheng said with a cold gleam in his eyes.

Then he gave a general account of the whole story.

"Our little fireman in the Qianqing Palace told us that the emperor locked himself in the East Warm Pavilion this afternoon. First, Concubine De went in, followed by Zhang Yunxiu and Wei Qing. Then Zhang Jing was detained by imperial decree."

After hearing this, Zhang Siwei's brows furrowed into a big lump.

He didn't expect that Zhang Jing, who was still in the emperor's favor a few months ago, became a prisoner in less than half a year.

A thought suddenly popped into his mind: The king is ungrateful.

"Don't worry, Lord Zhang. We can survive without Zhang Jing!" Seeing that the time was almost up, Zhang Cheng directly stated his purpose. "We think Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng don't have many years left to live. Once they die, the inner and outer courts will be ours."

Smiling and stroking his beard, Zhang Siwei nodded slightly.

"Hold on, it won't be long." Zhang Cheng said with a chuckle, stood up, clasped his hands behind his back and walked out of the side hall.

After a night of turmoil, the entire Beijing officialdom was in a state of shock early the next morning.

First, the emperor's favorite minister Zhang Jing was thrown into prison, and the above charges could be said to be charges not really charges.

To food?

Embezzling the palace treasury?

If people were arrested according to this standard, many of the officials in the palace would be thrown into prison.

Some clever people had already secretly guessed what Zhang Jing had done, which made the emperor furious.

But it's just speculation. After all, the emperor is unwilling to make it public. If you reveal it, you will only get yourself into trouble.

In addition, Zhang Jing was used to abusing his power, so when the civil servants saw his downfall, they all applauded.

The second thing was that Princess Yongning’s wedding banquet was cancelled.

The reason is very sufficient. Zhang Jing manipulated the prince consort to bribe for election.

The emperor decided to cancel the election, which made some censors unhappy. They believed that since there was fraud, they should choose one of the other two.

Otherwise, the money is wasted.

If the princess' wedding is not held, will the royal family still have integrity in the future?

Emperor Wanli hated being threatened the most. Originally, he wanted to marry his sister off as soon as possible.

Now, as soon as these censors submitted their reports, Emperor Wanli became angry.

Once a donkey gets angry, no one can stop him!

In the Western Warm Pavilion, Emperor Wanli overturned the memorial on the table and cursed: "A bunch of traitors, my sister is a princess and will never have trouble finding a husband, how can you marry her off so hastily!"

Wei Qing, who was standing by, bent down and picked up the memorial, put it back on the table, and said with a flattering smile: "Your Majesty, why are you angry with these poor scholars? What else can they do except engage in verbal battles?" "Humph, a bunch of sparrows chirping in your ears all day long, don't you get annoyed?" Wanli glared at Wei Qing unhappily, gritted his teeth and said, "A bunch of thieves who have no loyalty to their king or father, they only know how to threaten me."

Wei Qing was about to reply when a shrill voice suddenly rang out from outside the palace gate: "The Queen Mother has arrived."

Emperor Wanli was startled and hurriedly stepped down from the dragon throne, standing under the steps with his hands hanging down.

Empress Dowager Li walked into the hall gracefully, wearing a slim-fitting pea green silk pleated long skirt.

"My son has met his mother."

Emperor Wanli bowed respectfully. Empress Dowager Li waved her hand coldly and ordered someone to take out a yellow satin cushion and throw it on the ground. She said, "You can go down. I have something to talk to the emperor about."

"Yes," the eunuchs answered respectfully and then moved away.

In a moment, only the emperor and Empress Dowager Li and her son were left in the West Warm Pavilion.

Queen Mother Li looked at her son who was tilting his head, and thought of the dirty things in the selection process. She was immediately furious. She frowned and pointed at the cushion and shouted, "Kneel down!"

Emperor Wanli hesitated for a few seconds, walked to the cushion, bent his knees, straightened his back and knelt on it.

Glancing at her son, Empress Dowager Li walked up to the embroidered couch and sat down, then asked in a cold voice, "Emperor, is Yongning still your biological sister?"

"Yes." Emperor Wanli shrugged his head and answered timidly.

"Then why did you let Zhang Jing choose for him? Now, our princess has become a commodity with a clear price tag. Fifty thousand taels of silver, fifty thousand taels of silver can buy our princess home."

As Empress Dowager Li spoke, her eyes turned red and her beautiful pupils were sparkling.

"Your father died early. As the elder brother, is this how you treat your brothers and sisters?!"

"Mother!" Emperor Wanli screamed. Facing his mother's questioning, he could not find any excuses.

Empress Dowager Li showed no mercy and continued, "You are the emperor, the whole world belongs to you. I only ask you to treat these brothers and sisters well and not just care about yourself."

"I don't dare."

"You still don't dare? What are you afraid of?" Empress Dowager Li wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and asked coldly.

Could it be that my mother also knew about my leaving the palace?

It shouldn't be.

He didn't even know that Liang Bangrui had tuberculosis, so how could he know such a secret?

Emperor Wanli didn't know how to respond to this rhetorical question.

At this time, Empress Dowager Li also regained her usual arrogant demeanor. She glared and shouted again: "Tell me, did you fly a kite in front of the square of Huangji Palace?"

"Is it Yongning?" Emperor Wanli asked in surprise.

"Don't worry about who it is, just tell me if you have one or not."

"Have."

Empress Dowager Li covered her chest with her left hand and pointed at the emperor with her right hand, saying angrily, "The Imperial Palace is where ministers and the emperor hold court and discuss matters. You played such low-class tricks there. Where do you put the country and the country?"

"My son, I know my mistake."

Emperor Wanli kept nodding his head to admit his mistake. Before Empress Dowager Li could say more, two figures suddenly rushed in.

Empress Dowager Li looked back and saw that it was Queen Wang and Concubine Zheng De.

When the two saw the emperor kneeling on the ground, they also knelt beside him and begged for mercy, saying, "Mother, this is all because Zhang Jing deceived your majesty, and this is the cause of this disaster. Please calm down, mother."

"Alright, everyone, get up." Empress Dowager Li had also calmed down. Seeing someone pleading for mercy, she just went along with it. She waved her hand, motioning the three to get up, then looked at the emperor and warned, "After Yongning, if something like this happens again in the selection, Jun'er, you go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple in person and tell your father."

(End of this chapter)