Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 5 Going against the grain
Chen Ju did not listen to him immediately, but just looked at Wang An.

"It's all my fault! I'm guilty!"

Wang An saw Chen Ju's eyes and felt despair. He looked at Zhu Changluo again, and said this with a look of determination and pleading in his eyes, and then stood up and ran towards the sharp corner of the main hall's pedestal.

Zhu Changluo walked over quickly and grabbed the corner of his clothes.

"You are my study partner. You have done nothing wrong and have done a lot! I want to protect you. You are not allowed to kill yourself!"

Something unexpected happened. Zhu Changluo was only 19 years old and knew something was wrong when he saw Chen Ju's actions.

Now, Wang An, who was nearly middle-aged, was being dragged by Zhu Changluo. He only heard the eldest prince's voice as loud as a bell: "Eunuch Chen, don't you understand? With my current temper, can I let him commit suicide and report back to the emperor, so that this matter can be resolved?"

After seeing this, Chen Ju had to admit that it was true.

He sighed and said, "Your Highness, why do you have to do this?"

"I told you not to commit suicide!" Zhu Changluo first made a request to Wang An again, and then stared at Chen Ju: "If it weren't for my grandmother, my father wouldn't have acknowledged me as his son. In this case, how dare I add trouble to my father? I will kneel here and wait for my father to punish me and demote me to a commoner, so that I can live a free and easy life!"

The eldest prince, who was closest to the throne, requested to be demoted to a commoner, but Chen Ju only paid attention to the three words "imperial grandmother" and confirmed the message in Zhu Changluo's eyes.

What do you want to do?
Your actions today are enough to anger the emperor, and he will accuse you of disobeying his order and being rebellious and unfilial!

Chen Ju also made the same judgment on this nature.

If, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has hinted, the Emperor gets enraged and Empress Dowager Li takes action, it will be hard to predict how things will turn out.

Why are you making such a fuss? What belongs to you will be yours sooner or later.

Zhu Changluo saw that Wang An had given up the thought of suicide and was just crying and kowtowing, so he let go of his hand.

He said to Chen Ju seriously, "I have no intention of making things difficult for you. Even if it was in front of the emperor, I would say and do the same. What can you do? The emperor should know that this is his son, and no one instigated him. Isn't it a loyal and filial act of the son to have a final decision on the national foundation earlier? Isn't it beneficial to the country?"

Zhu Changluo, who had always been cowardly, knelt down facing north like a nail, with his back to Chen Ju.

The situation was at a standstill. Chen Ju looked at Zhu Changluo's back and could only say, "You guys stay here first. Your Highness has just recovered from a serious illness and cannot be exposed to the rain again!"

He is indeed different now, very different from what I knew in the past.

Faced with the eldest prince who was obviously determined, Chen Ju could only try to prevent the situation from getting worse.

What if the people below can’t speak?
After looking around, I found that the emperor was drinking and listening to music in the garden behind the palace.

When we arrived, it was Wanchun Pavilion again.

The one accompanying him was naturally Concubine Zheng.

Chen Ju just knelt aside so as not to disturb Zhu Yijun's mood.

It had started to rain, but it seemed to add to the emperor's mood.

He didn't say anything. Zhu Yijun glanced at him and saw that he was kneeling obediently, so he thought he just came back to report.

So making Chen Ju kneel like that was considered a punishment.

Zhu Yijun continued to drink, shaking his head slightly. The actors' movements and tunes in the drizzle seemed more graceful.

Under the effect of the wine, the toothache was relieved a lot.

Today, the eunuchs and maids in the palace are trembling with fear, and the Imperial Household Department is taking action. They all know that the emperor wants to clean up the inner palace.

Chen Ju, the eunuch, knelt motionless beside the emperor, which further demonstrated that the emperor had the final say.

After a few bursts of thunder, the drizzle turned into heavy rain.

Qingming and Guyu have passed, and summer is coming.

Seeing that the rainfall seems to be good this year, Zhu Yijun feels better: at least there won't be another severe drought this year, otherwise the memorials from all over the country would make him upset.

Looking at Chen Ju again, and seeing that his temples and sleeves were getting wet, Zhu Yijun felt a little bit reluctant again.

After all, she is an old servant who has worked diligently for so many years.

Zhu Yijun raised his hand and waved, "The rain is getting heavy, let's all go down and rest."

The musicians and actors all stopped, chanted praises to His Majesty, the benevolent and wise king, and then left.

Zhu Yijun felt more and more relieved, as this was the truth.

The Bozhou Rebellion will be quelled. In the past 28 years, he has made great achievements in enriching the country through the new policies and governing the country with culture, and has also made great military achievements in shocking the people both inside and outside the country. He is not like his grandfather who has provoked the palace people to plot rebellion and regicide. Of course, he is a benevolent and holy king. Looking at Chen Ju, Zhu Yijun spoke casually, "I heard that Ma Tang has seized a gift that a Western barbarian wanted to present to me?"

Chen Ju thought for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, even if Ma Tang had ten thousand guts, how could he dare to withhold the gifts presented to Your Majesty by the foreign barbarians? The truth is this..."

Matteo Ricci had already visited the capital last winter.

What happened at that time had nothing to do with Ma Tang. Instead, Wang Honghui, as the person who helped Matteo Ricci enter Beijing, introduced a eunuch he knew to help Matteo Ricci contact the emperor.

The eunuch was not very interested in the gifts. Instead, he wanted to learn the alchemy technique from the Western barbarian.

Then Wang Honghui submitted a memorial, and the eunuch knew that the emperor was furious, so he dared not speak.

When Matteo Ricci returned, he was indeed trapped in Linqing, Shandong because the canal was frozen.

There was the world-famous Linqing Banknote Customs, and Ma Tang, the Tianjin tax supervisor, was there to collect money for Zhu Yijun.

After the spring, Matteo Ricci only brought two people back to Nanjing, and his gifts are indeed still in Linqing.

"Wang Honghui?"

Zhu Yijun felt unhappy and looked at Zheng Mengjing beside him. She looked confused and clueless.

"That's right." Chen Ju immediately kowtowed in the rain. "Now I see that this servant is also unruly and secretly made friends with foreign officials. I will take care of him when I return."

"What a courage, what a courage..."

Although Chen Ju immediately gave his advice on how to deal with the matter, Zhu Yijun's anger was aroused again by this name, and he remembered the memorial submitted by Wang Honghui.

Over the years, countless important officials and minor officials have scolded Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun endured the "Complaint about Wine, Sex, Money and Anger" until the end of the twelfth lunar month, and only on the first day of the first lunar month did he call Shen Shixing and others to complain.

Wang Honghui, the Nanjing Minister of Rites, took the trouble to come to the capital at the end of last year, saying that he had come to resign in person, but his main purpose was to deliver his memorial.

Why bother resigning due to illness? Why use illness to illustrate government affairs?

Wang Honghui had eunuchs he was familiar with, who colluded with both internal and external forces and helped foreign barbarians to present gifts and curry favor with the emperor. How could he pretend to be a loyal minister to the emperor and the country?

What about "The land of abundance is as vast as a mountain, while the country is crying out for chaos", and "Although I do not know medicine, what I said is all about healing the country and the people. It tastes bitter but works well. I hope Your Majesty will try it often"!
The problem with the world is these ministers who have no respect for the emperor, are strict with the emperor but lenient with themselves!
"Then kill him!" Zhu Yijun said coldly, deciding whether he would die or not. Then he asked, "Where is Wang An? Has he completed his mission?"

Chen Ju groaned in his heart, who would have thought that the emperor would suddenly mention that Western barbarian again, and be so angry about Wang Honghui?

Even though he immediately said that he would go back and deal with the eunuch that Wang Honghui was familiar with, the emperor was obviously no longer in a good mood.

The arrow was on the string, Chen Ju gritted his teeth and kowtowed again: "I am incompetent. The eldest prince has protected me with his body, I dare not act rashly, please let your majesty decide..."

Zhu Yijun thought he had misheard, and then suddenly became furious, picked up the wine pot and threw it at Chen Ju: "This is outrageous! What are you doing?"

Chen Ju did not dodge or evade, but Zhu Yijun's aim was also very poor.

The exquisite wine jug simply shattered onto the ground, and the aroma of wine filled the air.

"Your Highness asked me to report the truth..." Chen Ju lowered his head even lower, "I said that this was the order of His Majesty. Your Highness said frankly that if this is the case, he will disobey the order..."

He spoke faster and revealed all of Zhu Changluo's words, except for the words "If it weren't for the Empress Dowager, my father wouldn't have wanted to acknowledge me as his son."

"This is outrageous... This is outrageous..." Zhu Yijun seemed to be stripped naked. What was this about relieving his worries, what was this about being loyal and filial, what was this about being a prisoner...

Although he really didn't want to make him the crown prince, how could he dare to deliberately do such a rebellious, unfilial and disobedient thing, as if he was asking to be demoted to a commoner or even to die as a way to be freed?
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The dragon's health is the most important..." Zheng Mengjing quickly took action and stroked Zhu Yijun's back.

Zhu Yijun was indeed trembling with anger.

Even the most outrageous censors could only imply him through their words. Who could have thought that the one who would burst the window paper so directly was the eldest son at the center of the vortex of interests?
Now, there is an additional prince who is forcing him to make a decision!

It is true to say that he is a rebellious son!
"You can't get anything done by offering your body to protect me, right? I'll come in person!"

The dignified Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was so angry that he walked out of Wanchun Pavilion, pulled out the knife from the hands of the guard of the chief of the imperial stables, and rushed into the rain.

The eunuchs didn't even have time to hold up the canopy for him. Concubine Zheng was so scared that she hurriedly chased after them, but her steps seemed full of surprise and excitement.

Chen Ju was still kneeling in the rain, struggling in his heart.

We really need to ask the Queen Mother for help, otherwise it will lead to a great disaster in human relations in the blink of an eye.

Do we want to let future generations remember that the current emperor is a tyrant who kills his own children?
(End of this chapter)