Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 63 Pen Pal
Duanjing Hall.

Crown Prince Zhu Youtang finished his lessons for the day, and as the Eastern Palace teacher left, he continued to study hard, and even when it was dark he did not allow the eunuchs who served him to light candles.

"Your Highness, it's time to eat."

The eunuch Jiang Cong walked over to persuade them.

Zhu Youtang didn't even raise his head, but waved his hand and said softly, "Don't worry, wait until it's completely dark and you can't see the words before eating, this way you can save some candlelight."

Jiang Cong felt a pang in his heart, and he forced a smile and said, "Your Highness, recently, the Imperial Household Department has been supplying more candles to the East Palace. There is no need to be so frugal."

"It's always good to be frugal." Zhu Youtang said calmly, and continued to read with his head down, "Give me a little more time... I'm almost done with this paragraph. It's really benefiting me a lot."

After Jiang Cong paid his respects, he retreated to the outer hall.

Not long after, it was almost completely dark. Just as Jiang Cong was about to go in again to call Zhu Youtang for dinner, another eunuch, Qin Ji, came in holding a letter. He was stunned when he saw Jiang Cong.

Jiang Cong tactfully moved aside.

Everyone in the Eastern Palace knew that Zhu Youtang had a special relationship with Tan Ji, and that Tan Ji was a humble person with great popularity.

When Qin Ji entered the inner hall, Zhu Youtang had just finished reading a book and closed it with a feeling of being unsatisfied.

He looked up and saw the slightly blurry figure of Qin Ji. He smiled and said, "Is your spouse here?"

Tan Ji served Zhu Youtang for a long time, involving all aspects of the life and study of the Crown Prince. Tan Ji dictated the "Four Books" to the Crown Prince, and often described the situation of the people, even the historical events of eunuchs' monopoly of power and the harm to the country were never avoided.

Qin Ji said to Zhu Youtang, "I am old and don't want to be rich. I just hope there is a sage king in the world and I will be satisfied." He was loyal to his duties and could give his own opinions on many things, which greatly inspired Zhu Youtang. It is not an exaggeration to describe their relationship as both a teacher and a friend.

Because Qin Ji was older, the prince often called him "old partner", and gradually it became a habit.

Because of the deep affection between master and servant, the name between the two later spread outside the palace. The word "old partner" was gradually adopted by the people, and over time became the way elderly couples address each other.

Qin Ji walked over and bowed respectfully: "Prince, here is a letter, someone sent it specially, you may want to take a look."

"A letter? I live alone here, and I'm not familiar with people outside. At most, I have some friendship with the lecturers in the East Palace, but they can just mention anything during the lecture. Why do they have to do this? I wonder who wrote to me?"

Zhu Youtang raised his chin, extremely curious.

Although I am the crown prince of the Eastern Palace and have a noble status, I lost my mother at a young age and was trapped in this small space. It is worse than having no father to provide me with emotional support. I don’t have any friends. Even when the lecturer of the Eastern Palace taught me to read, it was all routine work and did not involve any personal relationship.

Someone actually wrote to me?

Seeing Qin Ji's embarrassment, Zhu Youtang lowered his voice and asked, "Did the Empress Dowager ask you to deliver it?"

After thinking about it, he could only think that it might be a letter sent by Empress Dowager Zhou, who was kind to him.

Tan Ji said: "Your Highness, you will know after you have seen it."

Zhu Youtang took the letter. It was so dark that he could not make out the words on it. Qin Ji quickly found a candle and lit it. Zhu Youtang leaned over to the candlelight, read the contents of the letter carefully, and then became lost in thought.

"Your Highness, what's written in the letter?" Qin Ji asked curiously.

Zhu Youtang replied: "My dear, you can read, but why didn't you read it first? If you don't know the content, how would you answer if my father or grandmother asked you?"

Qin Ji said: "No one will know about this letter... It was sent by the people of the Imperial Observatory, and they also said that if Your Highness wants to communicate with this person, you can give them the reply at any time. "I don't know if they have bad intentions, so it's better for Your Highness not to reply."

Zhu Youtang nodded: "I also think their intentions are unclear. Look at what is said here. The earthquake in Ningxia is a warning from heaven...

"My understanding is that God is reminding Father not to easily depose me from the position of Crown Prince. But how could Father's mind change just because of an earthquake?"

Qin Ji sighed softly: "The power of heaven is unpredictable. I hope Your Majesty will follow the will of heaven and don't change the crown prince lightly."

Zhu Youtang was a little frustrated, and then he asked curiously, "Does my wife know why the people from the Imperial Observatory sent the letter?"

"Yes."

Qin Ji nodded. "The people of the Imperial Observatory are very close to Li Zisheng, the Minister of Rites and the Minister of Public Administration. Although Li Zisheng is no longer working in the Imperial Observatory, he still has a great influence in the Imperial Observatory. Some time ago, he warned Your Majesty that an earthquake would occur in Ningxia, and...it really happened."

Zhu Youtang frowned and shook his head slightly: "The words of the Taoist priest cannot be trusted. Look at this, he mentioned that there will be an earthquake in Mount Tai, and told me to just rest assured... He told me clearly that if an earthquake really happens in Mount Tai, the warning from heaven will be obvious, and then I can rest assured...

"As long as I can relieve my father's worries, it doesn't matter to me whether I am the crown prince or not. I just need to keep a normal mind."

Tan Ji said: "Prince, please don't think like that. Only by keeping your position as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty can you have a better chance to work for the court and the people of the world."

Zhu Youtang looked at the contents of the letter again and suddenly laughed: "You said that this letter was sent by Li Zisheng, but why do I feel that the handwriting on this letter is so beautiful and does not look like that written by Li Zisheng?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Ji leaned over and carefully studied the contents of the letter with Zhu Youtang.

The two of them looked at each other for a while, and Tan Ji said, "Prince, please forgive me for my impolite words."

"You said."

Zhu Youtang said.

"This person said a lot of comforting words to the Crown Prince, perhaps he wanted to tell the Crown Prince that Li Zisheng was willing to help the Crown Prince secure his position as the heir, so this letter was sent by Li Zisheng." Tan Ji said, "But in fact, this person is not a direct descendant of Li Zisheng, or even a disciple of Li Zisheng, because Li Zisheng himself needs to avoid suspicion."

Zhu Youtang frowned: "My wife's words are incomprehensible. Since she is not Li Zisheng's man, would Li Zisheng risk having an affair with the Eastern Palace to send me a letter?"

Qin Ji said: "That's why he used a woman to write the letter... If the letter was intercepted halfway, and the court traced it and found that the owner of the letter was a woman, it would naturally not be linked to Li Zisheng... No matter what, Li Zisheng would never admit that this letter had anything to do with him..."

Zhu Youtang said: "In that case, I really want to ask Li Zisheng himself, will there really be an earthquake in Mount Tai? If it happens, it may be a good thing for me."

It was like in the boundless darkness, someone lit a lamp in the distance, which suddenly gave the people in trouble a direction. Although Zhu Youtang knew that he could not touch the light, his heart was still filled with excitement.

"Then...Does the prince want to reply?"

Tan Ji asked.

"No."

Zhu Youtang shook his head. "As the crown prince, I should abide by my duties. I will pretend that I have never seen this letter."

Having said that, Zhu Youtang did not discard the letter, but put it away carefully.

(End of this chapter)