Chapter 131: Water Drainage and Land Flowing North and South

August 17th is Jiazi.

On the day of the birthday.

When he ascended the Huangji Gate, all officials dressed in formal attire and performed the ceremony of five bows and three kowtows. As it was not yet the time for great auspiciousness, all other ceremonies were discontinued.

According to the decree, Grand Secretary Lü Diaoyang was sent to offer sacrifices to the ancient teacher Confucius, and Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi and others were sent to offer sacrifices to the nine tombs and various mausoleums.

In celebration of the emperor's birthday, the emperor gave the assistant ministers Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi sixty taels of silver and a suit of silk robes in the pattern of bull and python respectively; the assistant ministers Lü Diaoyang and Wang Chonggu forty taels of silver and a suit of silk robes in the pattern of crane respectively; the lecturers Shen Shixing and Chen Dong each twenty taels of silver and a suit of silk robes of the second rank on the chest and back; and four officials including Chen Jingbang each received fifteen taels of silver and a suit of silk robes of the fifth rank respectively.

The Kingdom of Korea sent ministers to express congratulations on the Emperor's birthday, and the Emperor ordered the Minister of Rites Ma Ziqiang to host a banquet for him.

The emperor's birthday was very simple - sacrifices, kowtow, and giving out red envelopes.

The ceremony took less than an hour before all the officials were sent back to their posts to deal with their own affairs.

There's nothing I can do, I'm busy.

Since the settlement of the self-examination results began at the beginning of the month, the officials have been extremely busy.

Well, it has nothing to do with how many officials resigned. These people didn’t work much in the first place.

The main reason is the huge workload.

In the past, Beijing inspections were conducted once every three years. Even if they were mostly for show, they would take a long time, starting from half a year.

Now that things have really started, we have to pay the officials their performance bonuses before winter, and also make an example of them by removing a group of people. The time is tight and the task is heavy, so naturally we are very busy.

The thresholds of the six departments and the Ministry of Personnel were all trampled down.

If the people below are busy, there is no reason for the people above to be idle.

After accepting congratulations from all officials at Huangji Gate, Zhu Yijun politely declined Empress Dowager Li's proposal for a family banquet to celebrate his birthday. He simply ate a bowl of longevity noodles sent by the two palaces, then went straight into Chengguang Hall to begin today's meeting with court officials and making memorials.

……

Inside Chengguang Hall.

Zheng Zongxue, the secretary of the Central Secretariat, simply wrote in his diary: "On that day, the Grand Secretary Gao Yi reported to the emperor in Chengguang Hall. He listened attentively, his eyes were not turned away, his voice was clear and his manner was graceful."

Then he put away his pen and ink and pretended to be deaf and blind along with the eunuchs.

No one even looked at the emperor and the deputy prime minister, who looked unhappy.

The second assistant stood at the foot of the imperial steps with his hands behind his back, looking rather embarrassed.

The emperor had a blank expression on his face. He sat on the throne and glanced at Gao Yi.

"The teacher is indeed a good teacher, and he teaches good students." Zhu Yijun said in a bad tone.

This was certainly not self-praise, but was directed at Li Zaiting.

Gao Yi could naturally hear that the emperor was a little annoyed, and couldn't help but think that this was a tricky situation.

He had just opened the memorial handed over by Zhang Hong, and had not thought of what to say yet, so he could only say respectfully: "Your Majesty is a wise and intelligent person, and a natural talent. I dare not take credit for it."

Gao Yi pretended not to hear the emperor's dissatisfaction and praised the emperor for being a good disciple.

In fact, he was making time to consider his response and plead for Li in court.

Zhu Yijun glanced at Gao Yi speechlessly.

He simply forgot to be sarcastic and got straight to the point: "What do you think of Li Zaiting's request for a transfer?"

Yes, this fellow Li Zaiting, instead of serving as Yan Song at the central government, actually requested to be transferred to another place!

But give him the ability!

When Zhu Yijun saw this memorial, his first reaction was that this fellow had gone on a mission to Huguang and had lost his ideals and beliefs and was preparing to run away.

Fortunately, after reading further, I realized that this was not the case.

Li Zaiting first sorted out the case in Huguang, and then pointed out that there might be something fishy between Feng Shiyu and King Wugang.

Then he said that there were omissions in the previous work, which misled His Majesty, and might cause the culprit to go unpunished and unable to commemorate Zhang Chucheng's spirit in heaven.

We will have to get to the bottom of it in the future, even if it affects the situation in Huguang.

He was afraid that it would be inconvenient to communicate between the two places, and there would be no time to correct the omissions in the previous memorial, which led the central government to make a wrong judgment and reward the King of Wugang.

For this reason, when the situation becomes unavoidable, he might reject the imperial edict and act on his own.

In addition to asking for the emperor's forgiveness, he was also willing to take responsibility for this and requested to be relieved of his post as Li Ke Du Shi Zhong and transferred to a local area to gain more experience.

Gao Yi did not answer the emperor's question immediately, but quickly glanced over Li Zaiting's memorial.

"I have failed in my duties and have been mistakenly punished by the Holy Spirit. I am afraid that the culprit may have escaped the net and Zhang Chucheng will not be able to be avenged in his grave."

"We must trace the source of this case... In an emergency, we must make an exception, or we should seal the imperial decree and make arbitrary decisions... I beg you to dismiss the position of the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, demote him to a local place, so that he can be tempered, and then resume his position in the prefectures and departments. I respectfully petition."

When Gao Yi saw the end, he felt a pain in his back teeth.

He understood his disciple well. If it were anything else, it would be fine, but the sentence "or seal it as a decree" showed that he was probably prepared to do so!

Considering the time, I’m afraid it has already happened!
Fortunately, he did not lose his mind and knew to inform in advance, otherwise, if we received the news that the imperial edict was rejected for no reason, it would be a big taboo!
Now that we have lowered our posture, we can turn things around.

The emperor was not too angry.

Otherwise, the emperor would not have directly mentioned the imperial edict, but instead asked what he thought of Li Zaiting's request for transfer to another place.

Since the emperor’s favor has not been reduced, it is easier to plead for mercy.

Gao Yi pondered for a while, and finally bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, since Li Zaiting has admitted that he failed in his duties, the law will not show mercy!"

"He should be demoted two levels and transferred to another post."

The Li Ke Du Shi Zhong was a seventh-rank official.

If he is really demoted two levels and transferred out, he won't even be able to become a county magistrate, but just a county magistrate, which is a real demotion.

Zhu Yijun curled his lips.

It would be fine if you just beg for mercy, wouldn't it be enough to just talk to him nicely? Why are you trying to be cunning and give him advice?

When Feng Shiyu was demoted, he was promoted in name only and demoted in reality, from the seventh rank to the fourth rank and sent out to a remote place.

Now, as a teacher, you want to promote Li Zaiting to the eighth rank right from the start. Who can be as ruthless as you?

When Zhu Yijun thought of this, he suddenly became angry and said in a pretentious manner, "Sir, this is a mature and prudent statement."

"Then I will be demoted to the Litang Xuanfu Division."

Gao Yi choked.

He immediately realized that the emperor was being irritable.

He quickly knelt down to apologize, with a bitter smile on his old face: "Your Majesty..."

Zhu Yijun snorted, waved his hands, and said helplessly: "Alright, alright, I know Li Zaiting wrote a letter to you, sir. Now, where will you be transferred to?"

He could more or less understand Li Zaiting's thoughts.

In fact, as for Li Zaiting's so-called negligence in his duties, or if he really wanted to refute the imperial edict, as long as the matter of the Huguang clan was handled well, there would be no need to be charged with any crime.

The former was caused by the inconvenience in communication between the two places, and the latter was the responsibility of the Jieshizhong. Although it was not in compliance with the regulations, at least there was an explanation.

Who made him promise to do things in a favorable manner?
At that time, Li Zaiting was shameless and would just stand in the hall when he was reporting to the emperor, and then follow Hai Rui to receive the reward. There would be no crime in it.

On the contrary, now he not only took the initiative to request a transfer to another post, but also wrote a letter to Gao Yi, asking him to mediate.

I'm afraid this is a unique way to share your worries.

Firstly, rejecting the imperial edict would ultimately undermine the dignity of the central government. In order to avoid setting a bad example and causing others to follow suit, Li Zaiting took the initiative to accept punishment and asked to be demoted.

This in itself is a way to reduce the pressure on the emperor, and the attitude cannot be said to be bad.

Secondly, it was a response to the emperor's cultivation.

Other apologies and requests for demotion were just empty words, but the phrase "to be tempered and rebuild the state" was the heartfelt words.

It is said that a prime minister must come from the prefecture-level cities, and a brave general must come from the ranks of soldiers.

Li Zaiting is setting his goals.

Re-establishing the prefectures and departments was a clear expression of his ambition to join the cabinet! It was also a response to the emperor's high hopes!
You have to know that if you are not a Hanlin editor or a Shujishi, it is almost impossible to enter the cabinet - seniority is the basis for promotion, and this is inevitable everywhere.

Xia Yan was one of them back then, and Wang Chonggu is one of them today. Both of them entered the cabinet as “ordinary Jinshi”.

The former relied on the emperor's favor - Xia Yan, a seventh-rank official in the Ministry of Personnel, was promoted to the position of minister of six ministries in just one year, and his colleagues all called him a favored minister.

The latter relied on his outstanding merits - reporting to the emperor for meritorious service and honoring the descendants of the deceased were not just talk, and when Wang Chonggu entered the cabinet, all his colleagues were convinced.

Now Li Zaiting is the same as Xia Yan. He surrendered before the emperor ascended the throne, and now he even holds the position of Dushizhong in the Ministry of Personnel.

Everyone in the court tacitly agreed that this man was planning to follow Xia Yan's path, and they had already called him the second most favored minister of Yan Song.

However, even Zhu Yijun did not expect that this guy would actually request to be sent to another place and vowed to rebuild the province.

This self-awareness of self-improvement is rare.

In response, Zhu Yijun said he was also angry.

The subordinates act on their own and are ready to offend their leader. Everyone would feel uncomfortable if they encountered such a thing.

What's more, he is the so-called second Yan Song. If he suddenly becomes disobedient, the superiors will instinctively feel uncomfortable.

But there is also appreciation in it.

Be it Li Zaiting, Shen Shixing, Zhang Juzheng, or Gao Yi, these people are not puppets after all. They cannot be manipulated by him in everything just by labeling them as loyal to the emperor and patriotic.

Now that we have not lost our ideals and beliefs, it is certainly better to seek self-improvement than to stay at the center.

At least it conforms to Zhu Yijun's values ​​in cadre training.

He was still young, and Zhang Juzheng was of high character but had a limited life span. He would certainly be happy to see the growth of a core generation of officials.

We can't just sit back and wait for these people who have withstood the test of history to slowly die out, and then there will be a lack of successors, right?
So Zhu Yijun didn't bother with Gao Yi. He just made a joke to vent his anger and then immediately let it go.

Upon seeing this, Gao Yi couldn't help but secretly praise the Holy King.

If the late emperor had a non-confrontational personality, he would have been angry for days before he would give up on the matter of refuting the imperial edict.

The emperor, on the other hand, had no temper at all and immediately relaxed.

Tolerating each other for the sake of the country is not just talk.

Gao Yi couldn't help but reveal a kind smile when he thought of this. He looked at the emperor and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, in January, the central government issued an edict to Fujian to rebuild the Quanzhou Maritime Customs Office."

“In March, there was still no action.”

"In April, another imperial edict was issued to urge the matter, and Wan Siqian, the right governor of Guangxi, was promoted to the left governor of Fujian to oversee the reconstruction."

"Reconstruction will begin in June."

"In July, the Fujian Provincial Censor made another report, saying that the Sikong had a government office, but it was completely empty."

"Immediately afterwards, Fujian Left Governor Wan Siqian requested to be transferred due to acclimatization problems."

"The Prime Minister has already approved it and sent it to the two palaces."

Zhu Yijun never asked about the memorials sent by the cabinet to the two palaces.

I just heard about this today.

He couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

Gao Yi was talking about Quanzhou, Fujian, but he thought it was Xi'an, Shaanxi.

Emperor Shizong abolished the Fujian Maritime Customs Office with a single word, but now he wants to rebuild it, and it has been dragging on for half a year.

Still having trouble adapting to the local climate?
Wan Siqian knows how to speak.

Well, Zhu Yijun could also understand Wan Siqian. When his colleague named Lu was parachuted into the local area, he was framed by everyone and even lost his qualifications to go fishing in Xiyuan.

But since Wan Siqian was going to be transferred, someone had to fill the vacancy, and someone had to continue building the Maritime Customs.

Gao Yi's meaning was very clear, that is, Li Zaiting intended to share the emperor's worries and challenge the gentry and fellow villagers in Fujian.

It seems that Li Zaiting still has some insight.

Naturally, there was no reason for Zhu Yijun to disagree with this.

He nodded with satisfaction and looked at Gao Yi: "Then let's promote Li Zaiting, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, to be the Councillor of Fujian, and then promote him to the Governor before the end of the year."

This meant directly erasing the merits of the Huguang group and no longer offering any rewards.

The Du Jishizhong was usually promoted to the position of Shaoqing of Taifu Temple or Taichang Temple in the inner court, and transferred to the position of Canzheng in the outer court. The latter was generally regarded as exile.

Gao Yi quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise and wise."

Zhu Yijun snorted unhappily: "I have already said that the Quanzhou Maritime Customs is of great importance. If he cannot control Fujian, he should not apologize and should retire on his own."

The ship that Minister of Works Zhu Heng has been building for a year has been completed. It will probably be ready in another year or so.

Now that we have the hardware, the supporting software certainly cannot be delayed too long.

Gao Yi bowed again without saying anything.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, indicating that he had nothing else to do and could leave - after getting busy, the young emperor had no time to see the minister off in person, as Shen Shixing was still waiting to report on the performance evaluation system.

Gao Yi stood up and was about to say goodbye, but then he seemed to remember something and stopped talking.

"Sir, if you have any difficulties, please feel free to tell me."

The emperor had already advised him, so Gao Yi naturally had to speak out. He slowly said, "Your Majesty, the summer and autumn floods have come one after another. The dikes and ditches of the Yellow River, Huai River, and Grand Canal have all suffered damage."

"Especially after Governor Yin took office as the Jining Salt Administration, he wrote to the government all day long, mentioning the flood situation of the river and begging for a river survey and dredging for the canal."

"Your Majesty, what I mean is, can you reinstate the position of Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works as the Director of the Hecao Project?"

Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Yi in confusion.

In short, this series of positions are responsible for inland rivers.

At the same time, it is not a permanent presence and is usually only used to fill gaps when the river needs to be rectified.

For example, in the autumn of the fourth year of Longqing, after the Yellow River broke its dike, temporary reinforcements were sent in, but they were withdrawn as soon as the dike was repaired.

So there is no such thing as "restoring".

Gao Yi's reinstatement certainly did not refer to the official position, but was a covert attempt to reinstate the former Prime Minister of Hecao.

He remembered that he seemed to be Pan Jixun?
Zhu Yijun frowned and asked curiously, "This is a serious matter. Why did you come here alone? Why not just submit the bill to the two palaces?"

The so-called serious business refers to the daily operation of the central government, which Zhu Yijun always entrusted to the cabinet with confidence.

He usually doesn't ask about anything that is not difficult.

Gao Yi looked a little embarrassed after hearing this. After a while, he stammered, "Your Majesty, in the 44th year of Jiajing, the Yellow River burst its banks. Pan Hecao was in charge of restoring the old course, and Minister Zhu was in charge of opening a new river."

"In the fifth year of Longqing, Minister Zhu impeached Pan Hecao..."

Zhu Yijun said "Oh" and suddenly understood.

Gao Yi wanted to employ Pan Jixun, but he was concerned about Zhu Heng's opposition and asked about his attitude - after all, Zhu Heng was favored by the emperor. Zhu Yijun hesitated for a moment and could not make up his mind for a while.

This kind of direct-minded technocrats are difficult to reconcile because of the differences and conflicts in the concept of the plan.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Yijun finally made up his mind: "Then let's reinstate Pan Jixun. You may as well try to appease Minister Zhu a little."

Who made Zhu Heng so busy? He had to build ships, get salt tickets, and also take care of the firearms.

For tasks like river management that require on-site presence, only Pan Jixun can be appointed.

Gao Yi got the confirmation and immediately knew what to do. He quickly expressed his opinion: "Mr. Zhu, the Minister of State, should consider the state affairs."

This time, the emperor didn't say anything.

Gao Yi then retreated respectfully.

After a long while, Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Yi's departing back and sighed: "We all tolerate each other for the sake of the country."

Zhu Yijun shook his head.

Then he waved his hand and asked someone to invite Shen Shixing in, and also called Zhang Hong to come closer.

Zhu Yijun leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes to rest. "Let's talk about the results of the examinations of the several departments of the Needlework Bureau."

Zhang Hong lowered his head and walked behind the emperor.

She placed her hands on the emperor's temples and massaged them gently.

He reported softly: "Your Majesty, this year..."

Zhu Yijun was listening carefully at first, but then he felt that the sound was gradually becoming blurred and less and less clear.

When Shen Shixing was invited into Chengguang Hall.

Then he saw Zhang Hong put his finger to his lips. Shen Shixing looked carefully and found that the emperor had fallen asleep.

He quickly lowered his head, followed Zhang Hong, and slowly retreated to the side hall to wait.

In the entire Chengguang Hall, the only sound left was Zhu Yijun's faint breathing.

……

September 6th is White Dew.

In the golden autumn of September, the climate gradually becomes cooler.

Because of Li Zaiting's interference, the issue of Huguang remained unresolved, and the officials and the royal family were extremely anxious.

The various feudal lords and officials submitted memorials one after another.

Some said, "When I entered Chu and visited the mausoleum, I heard that all the ancestors were killed. At that time, the mausoleum was shaken for days and nights. On the same day, there were also several earthquakes in Wuchang, Hanyang, Jingzhou, and De'an."

Some say, "After the massacre, seal characters appeared on the stoves and pots of every household, and the old and young were horrified."

Some say, "If I lead the troops to capture them personally, I am afraid that I will not be able to kill them all; if I tell them that they are plotting treason, I am afraid that they will not be killed."

They cried out in agony, "I only hope that the emperor will have mercy on the dead and think of the living, open a way for the living and make up for the injustice of the dead."

In short, just don't get involved anymore.

In this tense situation, the second imperial edict from the central government was finally delivered to Huguang as scheduled, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief after the imperial envoy's seal was taken back.

It's a pity that Li Zaiting's defiance did not cause any waves in the central government. It was reasonable to say that Zheng Zongxue, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, accidentally made a typo when drafting the edict, which was rejected by the Imperial Censor.

Fortunately, they finally showed some mercy and exiled him to the remote place of Fujian.

It can be considered as a relief.

Outside the governor's office, Liang Menglong listened to the angel reciting the imperial edict in a rhythmic manner and glanced at Li Zaiting inconspicuously.

Seeing his calm demeanor, I couldn't help but admire him.

When a noble censor is sent to a distant place, his rank is not the only consideration.

Today, Li Zaiting has been exiled, but he looks calm. It is hard not to admire his demeanor.

Of course, he looked at Li Zaiting frequently, but more importantly, he was afraid that he would cause trouble again or something unexpected would happen.

The angel continued to praise the imperial envoys for their hard work and for fully implementing Wu Jinghe's plan to deal with the royal family.

Everyone was not surprised after hearing this.

When they saw the eunuchs and officials from the Ministry of Clan Affairs and the Ministry of Revenue accompanying him, everyone knew that they were here to take over the clan property.

Then the angel said again.

The emperor listened to the opinions of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Punishments, the Supreme Court and other departments, and reduced the punishments on the various vassal states as appropriate.

Only the relatives of the King of Min, the King of Wugang, the King of Dong'an and others were sent to Fengyang and imprisoned behind high walls.

As for the King of Wugang and the King of Dong'an, they were sent to the capital in prison, and their execution would be carried out according to the law after the ancestral temple was paid homage.

As for the several posthumous sons of Emperor Chu.

The central government was furious and ordered a thorough investigation to ensure that there was no possibility of tainting the royal bloodline.

Until there is definitive evidence, the Tongshan Palace and the Zongren Palace will temporarily take charge of the Chu vassal state.

As for how to investigate and what counts as conclusive evidence, that is unknown.

Anyway, before this, the throne of King of Chu will remain vacant - after all, there may be someone of King of Chu's bloodline, and the throne can't be transferred casually.

Anyone with a discerning eye can tell what this means.

This case of the fake King of Chu will never be concluded before the Chu vassal state is abolished, and there will probably be no King of Chu in the future.

At this point, King Min was expelled from his throne for treason, his family was sent to the high walls of Fengyang, and his clan property was confiscated.

The Jing and Ji vassals were convicted of crimes, their inherited titles were demoted, and their clan properties were confiscated.

The King of Wugang and the King of Dong'an of the Chu vassal state were sent to the capital in prison, their families were sent to Fengyang behind high walls, and their clan property was confiscated.

This round of reducing the power of the feudal lords finally came to an end when Liang Menglong respectfully accepted the imperial edict.

From now on, it depends on how to reform.

Seeing the officials from the inner court, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue rubbing their hands and salivating with anticipation, everyone could not help but shake their heads.

……

The ninth day of the ninth month is the Double Ninth Festival, when a great feast is offered to the emperor and sacrifices are offered.

There were many pedestrians coming and going on the pier road, and many of them were greeting and saying goodbye to each other.

The four imperial envoys came to Huguang in an orderly manner, but when they returned to the ship, they each took their own way.

Zhu Xizhong died on the way and was buried early.

Wu Jinghe had to stay in Huguang, look after the clan house, and take inventory of the properties of each vassal state before leaving after a few days.

Li Zaiting was going to Fujian to take up his post, and he had already set out several days in advance by land.

Hai Rui was on the deck, leaning against the railing and looking at the Yangtze River. Without even turning his head, he asked, "Why didn't Councillor Feng go by land with Governor Li?"

Feng Shiyu requested to retire last month, and the emperor approved his request.

Logically speaking, this time when we get to Suzhou Prefecture, we can either follow the boat or take the official road, as it’s not too far anyway.

Besides, Feng Shiyu is seasick, so logically he should travel by land with his classmates.

Feng Shiyu was silent for a moment, then said with a complicated expression: "Your Majesty has granted me the permission to retire, but he has also granted me a residence in Babaoshan to recuperate. It is convenient for me to return to Beijing with Censor Hai."

Although Li Zaiting covered up a little for him and preserved his official reputation, he would certainly not hide it from the emperor.

The emperor didn't grant him a mansion, he clearly wanted him to keep vigil for Zhang Chucheng.

Thinking of this, Feng Shiyu sighed: "So, Li Fantai and I are no longer on the same path."

Hai Rui looked at Feng Shiyu deeply, nodded, said nothing more, and turned and left.

……

During the holidays, it is easiest to think of relatives and friends.

Wu Jinghe stood by the window, lost in thought.

After a while, a gust of wind blew by and he coughed lightly.

When the old servant heard this, he quickly took a piece of clothing and put it on Wu Jinghe.

"My Lord, it's getting cold in late autumn, so you should take good care of yourself."

Wu Jinghe wrapped the clothes around his neck and said in bewilderment, "Yin, you and I have been master and servant for many years. It has been difficult for you all these years."

The old servant was slightly moved, turned his head away and whispered: "My Lord, I am sorry for embarrassing this old servant."

Wu Jinghe looked up at the sky and said with sorrow: "My brother died young, and my wife died early."

"Since I turned thirty, I haven't made any new friends, nor do I have any younger brothers or nephews."

“Only my parents who care about me and my friends who know me well are getting older and dying.”

"For most of my life, all I can remember are farewells and regrets."

"Yin, now it's finally your turn to say goodbye to me."

The old servant turned around, tears already streaming down his face.

He supported Wu Jinghe and choked up, "My dear Prince Consort..."

Wu Jinghe interrupted the old servant.

With a look of longing and smile on his face, he said, "This is a good thing. There's nothing to cry about."

"Since your majesty said that I can enter my wife's tomb at any time, I don't want to wait any longer."

"Otherwise, I will definitely not be able to help but take a look at her white bones."

"I'm definitely not used to seeing her when she's 18 or 19."

After saying this, he swallowed the pill in his hand, closed his eyes quietly, and said no more.

The old servant looked at Wu Jinghe with tears in his eyes. His face, which was plump a few days ago, was now full of wrinkles.

The prince consort who had served for many years disappeared without a trace.

He gently helped Wu Jinghe to the chair.

He took several steps back, kowtowed repeatedly, and fell to the ground, unable to get up.

After a while, the old servant wiped his tears and opened the door.

He shouted outside, "The Prince Consort has passed away! The Prince Consort has passed away!"

……

There are many ways to miss one's relatives. In addition to Wu Jinghe's passionate emotions, there is also Zhu Shitai's carefree attitude.

Zhu Shitai was stroking a dice in his hand, trying to do two things at the same time: one was listening to the storytelling in the restaurant, and the other was paying attention to the movement at the table behind him.

He used chopsticks to pick up food from time to time, occasionally uttering a sentence or two of exclamation: "It's ok to make up Taizu, but to write it so badly?"

“Why should we preserve the history of Emperor Taizu being a beggar?”

"Begging on the streets and asking for food in temples is really not beautiful at all!"

The temporary drinking buddy at the same table said disdainfully: "Do you know what heroic spirit is!?"

"Still beautifying it? This is the kind of opening that can show the extraordinary destiny of Emperor Taizu!"

Zhu Shitai curled his lips and nodded reluctantly.

He was too lazy to argue and just focused on eavesdropping on the table behind him.

But then again, although he didn't quite understand any of this, the more miserable Emperor Taizu's experience sounded, the more he looked forward to the sequel.

One of the drinking buddies couldn't help but mutter: "I don't know who wrote this book "Heroes of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties". The update is so slow, it's simply inhumane!"

Several drinking buddies at the table nodded in agreement.

Zhu Shitai suddenly grinned: "I heard that it was written by the guy who wrote Jin Ping Mei. This guy must have been more excited when writing pornographic books."

Several drinking buddies tutted in unison.

"You're bragging about what you heard again. You're just a ranger, what do you know?"

"That's right, do you know which great man wrote Jin Ping Mei?"

Zhu Shitai smiled but said nothing.

He spun the dice in his hand and it turned out to be a two. Then he drank a glass of wine and reached out to pour more wine.

Immediately, a fellow drinker scolded him: "You bastard, you secretly drank one more glass! You'll have to pay for the next round of wine!"

Zhu Shitai held his head high and said, "My father gave me this trick. Even if the king of heaven comes today, I will have a drink."

After that, he forcibly snatched the wine jug and poured himself another glass of wine.

But he just took a sip and poured it all on the ground.

Everyone angrily scolded him for wasting resources.

Another round of boasting and joking.

After three rounds of drinks, Zhu Shitai was already a little tipsy. The people at the table behind him had heard enough, so he stood up and said goodbye.

My drinking buddy tried to persuade him to stay: "It's still early, where are you going?"

Zhu Shitai laughed: "No more drinking, I have to go to the palace to see the emperor tomorrow!"

There was another round of booing.

Zhu Shitai staggered out of the restaurant, and in an instant, his servants came to greet him.

Zhu Shitai's expression immediately returned to clarity.

His eyes were grim, and he muttered to himself, "It's really lawless. Someone is making up a story about your majesty's mother in broad daylight. I'm really tired of living like this."

"The table behind me was all quietly tied up by me."

After saying that, he got into the sedan chair.

He frowned, wondering who was so bold as to arrange such a thing.

Does Your Majesty know?
Zhu Shitai was a little upset. He threw the dice made by Zhu Xizhong's finger bones into the air again and muttered, "Old man, give me some tricks."

(Volume 2, end)

　This chapter has a lot of words and took a long time to write.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)