The heavy rain was pouring outside the window, and there was no sign of the clouds dissipating and the sun rising, but the sky was already slightly bright.
While Zhu Qiyu was stunned, there was a burst of noise outside.
The sound sounded like a large group of people running wildly in the rain.
Without waiting for his instructions, the palace manager Cheng Jing who was waiting at the side withdrew.
After a while, Cheng Jing walked in and said.
"Your Majesty, Prince Consort Jiao is outside with three battalions of officers and soldiers. He said that in compliance with the palace's decree, the nine gates of the capital are temporarily under martial law."
Although Cheng Jing didn't have much time when he went out, Zhu Qiyu had already calmed down the emotions of Wang and Hang in such a short time, and they slowly stopped crying.
Especially Wang, seeing Zhu Qiyu slowly regaining his energy, he suddenly felt relieved before losing his composure. At this moment, he slowly came back to his senses and regained his dignity as a princess.
Hearing this, Mrs. Wang frowned: "Martial law is in effect?"
Now the Holy Emperor is marching in person, nominally allowing their prince to stay in the capital, but in fact, their prince is nothing more than a clay statue of a Bodhisattva.
The government affairs are managed by senior officials from the six ministries, and the army is led by Prince Consort Jiao Jing. During these days when their prince has been ill, the government affairs have not been delayed at all.
Therefore, although Mrs. Wang felt that something had happened, she did not think much about it and gave the order.
"I think something happened. I asked the guards in the mansion to guard the entrances."
"You can continue to inquire. If there is nothing serious, I will take the greeting card to Shuntian Mansion and ask the officers and soldiers to stay away. The prince is not well yet and cannot bear the noise."
Cheng Jing received the order and was about to retreat when he saw his prince waving his hand, so he turned back and waited.
Zhu Qiyu glanced at the slightly bright sky and asked, "What time is it now?"
After he woke up just now, although Mrs. Wang was in a state of excitement, she did not forget to instruct the maids to bring over the warm meal that had been prepared.
He made a little progress, and now he felt much better, had strength in his body, and his voice returned to normal.
"Yin hour three quarters."
Zhu Qiyu nodded and ordered: "Martial law in the capital is not a trivial matter. There must be a big change. In a quarter of an hour, the palace gate will open and the ministers will come in. Go and wait outside the palace.
If you have any news, report it immediately."
Cheng Jing cupped his hands and said yes, then quickly led the people out of the house.
After struggling for a long time, the sky gradually became clearer and the rain gradually became lighter.
After Cheng Jing went out, Wang sent Hang away and ordered others to help Zhu Qiyu wash up while speaking.
"Your Majesty, you are in good health, why are you worrying about these things so much? Now that the Holy Emperor is out of the capital, Jiao Jing said that he has accepted the decree of the palace. It must be the intention of the Queen Mother. She usually doesn't like you to interfere in political affairs. You are doing this
If you do something like this, I'm afraid you will be reprimanded again."
Unlike the Hang family, who was born among the common people, the Wang family, as the royal concubine, came from a hairpin family.
Although he did not have a title, his grandfather Wang Quan was the commander of Jinwu's left guard, and he was a third-rank military minister, which could be regarded as a high-ranking military officer.
Therefore, the Wang family has been exposed to the influence since childhood, and is not completely ignorant of the political affairs of the DPRK.
"Brother Huang is not in the capital, so he asked me to stay behind and do my best." Zhu Qiyu thought for a while, but did not tell the truth. He only said: "There must be a big change in the capital's martial law. If you know it earlier, you can think about how to avoid the disaster.
"
So Wang said no more.
When the late emperor was still alive, he favored the current empress dowager, who was also the then concubine Sun Guifei, which made it difficult for his children to have heirs. There were only two surviving princes, one of whom was the current emperor, and the other was his own prince.
The current Holy One is the eldest son of the late emperor, and although his biological mother is the successor, she is also the mother of the royal palace with all the treasures and gold seals.
When the late emperor was alive, the Holy Emperor took the throne in the East Palace as the eldest son. When the late emperor passed away, he would naturally inherit the great treasure.
Therefore, the two brothers never had any trouble with the throne.
Although the Queen Mother does not like her prince, the relationship between the prince and Jin Shang is still very good.
Therefore, since Zhu Qiyu said this, Wang stopped trying to persuade him and started talking about the affairs of the house during the days when he was in coma.
On the other side, Zhu Qiyu was washing and changing clothes while sorting out his chaotic thoughts.
When he first woke up, his mind was confused, with all kinds of fragments crowded in his mind, making it confusing and unclear.
Now that his mind is clearer, he has gradually figured out a lot of things.
Let’s call it this past life.
In his previous life, he would ascend the throne as emperor one month later, and then be overthrown by his brother who was imprisoned in Nangong after seven years in power.
The Ming Dynasty also turned from prosperity to decline from that time, and was overthrown by rebels one hundred and ninety-seven years later.
These scenes seemed to be engraved in his mind, and he remembered even every detail very clearly.
But he also clearly remembered that in his previous life, he had been in good health over the past few years and had never been seriously ill, nor had he been in coma for several days due to wind and cold.
Looking at the overly young face in the mirror, Zhu Qiyu was a little confused.
Which one is true?
Or maybe, the so-called past life was just a big dream, a wild thought he had when he was ill and confused?
All this was too unbelievable. Even though he could vividly remember every scene and every detail, he still couldn't believe it, let alone tell it to Mr. Wang.
After all, if he said now that he would become emperor in a month, Wang would probably think he was crazy.
Whether it was his big dream or the rebirth of a lonely soul, he would know the difference in just a few moments.
If everything was not his dream, then the military report should have arrived in the palace by now. Presumably, the martial law at the nine gates of the capital is also related to this matter.
Mrs. Wang didn't know what he was thinking, so she talked about what happened in the house these days and continued.
"The prince has been very ill these past few days, and the mother and concubine are very worried. However, it is not convenient for her to leave the palace, so she can only send people to visit her every day. It is said that she has lost a lot of weight."
"Now that the prince is awake, I have sent my maid into the palace to report the news. After a few days, when the prince is well, I will go to the palace to pay my respects to my mother and concubine."
Zhu Qiyu nodded.
His biological mother, Mrs. Wu, is now titled Xian Fei and lives in the palace.
When the late emperor was still alive, he favored the current Queen Mother Sun. As the only concubine besides Sun who had given birth to a prince, Wu was the only concubine to have a prince. Although Sun was not jealous, she did not have a good face.
Later, when the Sun family was in the middle palace, mother and son could only rely on each other for survival.
After the death of the previous emperor, the emperor now ascended the throne. He also left the palace and opened a mansion, and his titles were determined.
The life of the mother and concubine was now relatively easy, but she often complained that she and her son were separated from each other by the palace wall and could not see each other all the time.
So every time he visited the palace, his mother-in-law would keep him for a long time, and would not let him go until the palace gate was sealed.
Thinking about it, this time he was seriously ill and in a coma, and his mother-in-law was alone in the palace. Due to the rules, she couldn't even leave the palace to visit him. She must have been very anxious.
As he said this, Xing'an came back with Cheng Jing.
"Your Majesty, I was just outside the palace gate and saw several elders from the Sixth Department hurriedly entering the palace, saying that they were summoned by the Queen Mother."
"I also looked for the guards who were on duty last night and inquired about it. They said that around the ugly time last night, a military report was sent directly to the palace. Not long after, Eunuch Li from Cining Palace left the palace, and immediately the capital was under martial law.
"
Cheng Jing is nearly fifty years old, but he is different from ordinary eunuchs.
He was a Jinshi in the 22nd year of Yongle. Later, he was implicated in the rebellion of the Han Dynasty, was sentenced to corruption, and was put into the inner palace to serve.
After Zhu Qiyu opened his palace, he was sent to Prince Yin's Palace to be responsible for all the affairs of the palace.
Because he had been an official before, Cheng Jing was much more organized than ordinary eunuchs in handling matters, which was evident when he inquired about information this time.
If Xing'an goes there, he can probably only reply that several elders from the Sixth Department have entered the palace.
However, Zhu Qiyu has no time to think about this at the moment. Although these messages cannot explain the specific situation, they can at least explain that something big has happened, and it is likely to be related to military reports!
Zhu Qiyu closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then continued to ask: "Who can you see?"
"Master Wang from the Ministry of Personnel, Master Hu from the Ministry of Rites, Master Chen from the Imperial Academy, Master Yu from the Ministry of War, Master Jiao from the Prince Consort, and some ministers who are not familiar with them and look like their relatives."
Sure enough, something big happened!
The Ming Dynasty was only a few decades old, and Emperors Taizong and Xuanzong had personally led military expeditions, so the system of staying behind to monitor the country had long been mature.
The emperor personally went to war, leaving the clan and royal relatives behind.
In response to government affairs, if there are urgent and important matters, people will be sent to see them off immediately. The regular memorials will be stored temporarily until the emperor returns to Beijing to deal with them.
Some other daily affairs, such as the congratulations to each prince's palace, daily sacrificial matters, and the approval of criminal names for non-capital crimes, are handled by the prison state.
Before leaving the capital today, I ordered King Yin to stay behind and be assisted by the Prince Consort Jiao Jing.
In other words, in this set of government affairs procedures, there is no matter that requires the Queen Mother to intervene.
What's more, this time, the Queen Mother summoned almost all the senior officials staying in the capital.
Combined with the sudden and unprovoked martial law in Beijing, anyone can guess that something big has happened!
The top priority right now is to figure out what happened.
However, the Queen Mother summoned so many people, but she did not summon him, the Prince of the Supervisor. She was obviously on guard against him.
If you act rashly at this time, it may lead to uncontrollable consequences.
You must know that even though he is the prince of the country, the power in the court is now in the hands of the Empress Dowager Sun. If she is alerted, there will definitely be another setback.
Zhu Qiyu thought about it for a while, and finally laid his eyes on Mrs. Wang.
"The princess just said that my mother and concubine were very worried during these days when the king was in coma. Now that I have recovered well, Cheng Jing, please go and deliver a message. The king wants to enter the palace to pay his respects to my mother and concubine."
