The Yangfang Passage is located outside Xuanwu Gate and inside Bei'an Gate.
In fact, it is the corridor between the imperial city and the palace city. Because there are high palace walls on both sides, and because this is where the royal sheep are raised, it is called the ‘sheep house corridor’.
On the west wall of the sheep room, there is an inconspicuous doorway. It is the cold palace that the palace people talk about, and it is known as the Inner Hall with no entrance and no exit.
Zhu Di carried Zhu Zhen on his back and ran through the palace gates. He didn't put him down until he was here, and then knocked on the closed palace door.
"Open the door, open the door quickly!"
Zhu Zhen was stunned for a moment by his familiar appearance. If he hadn't known that there were only women in Anletang, he would have doubted whether his fourth brother had also been relegated to the cold palace.
There was no one on duty outside the door, and the entire corridor of the sheep house was empty. Only Zhu Di's urgent knock on the door echoed.
"Open the door, open the door, open the door!"
After a while, there was movement inside.
"Who are you? Do you know where this place is?" A rude female voice responded.
"I am the King of Yan. I am here with the King of Chu to convey the order to pick up someone. Why don't you open the door quickly!"
"Your Highness, is it true?" A woman's voice murmured.
"Are you stupid? Who dares to pretend to be His Highness in the Forbidden City?"
After waiting for a long time, the door finally opened a crack, and a middle-aged female officer wearing a blue coat and skirt and a blue armor came out.
Seeing the two highnesses wearing Gun dragon robes, the female officer quickly knelt down and proclaimed herself to be the Si Zhengniu family of Nei'an Le Hall.
The two highnesses were too lazy to pay attention to her and were about to walk in.
"Your Highness, please wait." However, Niu Si was getting up and stopped him, saying, "Please read the edict before entering."
"Xuan, Xuan..." Zhu Di touched his cuffs impatiently, his expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly touched his body with both hands. "Where is the edict? Why can't I find it?"
"Did you fall on the road?" Zhu Zhen was also anxious.
"The two daredevils are here." The two of them hurriedly turned back to look for them, but they saw the eldest brother following behind, holding the copy of the edict in his hand.
"Ah, brother, did you pick it up?" Zhu Di blushed, but he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I guess I just dropped it halfway."
As he said this, he reached out to take it, but the prince didn't give it to him. Instead, he handed it to Zhu Zhen.
"Lao Liu, come and announce it."
"Yes, brother." Zhu Zhen quickly took it with both hands, took a deep breath, and opened it.
Fortunately, the whole article is written in easy-to-understand vernacular, and there are no unfamiliar words.
Niu Sizheng also quickly opened the main door and knelt down with a few of his subordinates to listen to the order.
"I ordered the steward of Nei'an Le Hall to serve as concubine Hu Shisi and she can return to the palace after her expiration date. She will be sent back to her respectfully immediately, as per the edict."
"I would like to present this edict!" Niu Sizheng responded loudly, took the edict with both hands, and after checking that it was correct, he stood up and said respectfully: "Your Highness, please come in."
Zhu Zhen quickly walked in.
Zhu Di also wanted to follow, but was held back by his elder brother.
"I know you are in a hurry, but don't be in a hurry yet." Zhu Biao straightened his collar and said warmly: "My mother-in-law are reunited, so let's not join in the fun."
"Yes, fourth brother, Xiaoliu is the protagonist today." Zhu Ru also said softly.
"Yes, it was me who stole the show." Zhu Di nodded suddenly and said with a smile: "It's great that the sixth man can see his mother again and rescue her from the cold palace, it's great..."
Thinking of the scene of Lao Liu and his son holding each other's arms and crying, his nose felt sore and he quickly turned his head to the corner.
~~
Zhu Zhen, led by Niu Sizheng, walked quickly inside.
The inner Anletang is unexpectedly large, with courtyards connected to each other as you enter, and there are cross-courtyards connected to the left and right.
Because the Forbidden City was only completed a few years ago, the cold palace is also new. With its red walls, yellow tiles, brackets and cornices, it looks the same as the inner palace.
It was just the strong smell of medicine that permeated the courtyard and the coughing and moaning sounds that came from the palace from time to time, which made Zhu Zhen very uneasy.
"Is my mother-in-law okay?" His Royal Highness the King of Chu asked in a pensive voice.
"Of course your Majesty is fine, but she..." Niu Shanggong pointed to the small courtyard at the end and hesitated to say: "Oh, your Majesty is inside, your Highness should go in and take a look by yourself."
Zhu Zhen's heart suddenly felt like it was being clenched. He wondered what had happened to his mother and concubine?
Is she crazy? Is she stupid? Or is she being bullied by the servants? She won't be forced to clean the toilet again, right?
In those palace fighting dramas, the tragic experience of the heroine after being thrown into the cold palace flashed before Zhu Zhen's eyes like a revolving lantern, leaving him breathless.
He took three steps at a time and rushed to the small courtyard, where he heard the noisy voice of a woman inside.
"How are you, sisters!"
"Eight horses..."
It seems to be a drinking order.
Zhu Zhen couldn't help but feel angry, these people were so presumptuous! The mother-in-law was just thrown into the cold palace, not deposed, she was still a thousand-year-old empress! How dare they be so arrogant, drinking and getting drunk in front of her before dark? Sure enough, a tiger is bullied by a dog, and a phoenix that has lost its feathers is not as good as a chicken...
We must deal with them severely and let the mother and concubine vent their anger!
He opened the door violently, ready to angrily scold these unruly slaves!
Then his mouth felt like an egg had been stuffed into it, and he couldn't make a sound but still opened his mouth.
His Royal Highness the King of Chu was completely stunned...
He has thought about many kinds of scenes when mother and son meet, some hugging each other and crying, some heartbroken... He has even imagined how he would get angry when his mother and concubine are bullied.
But I never expected that it would be such a scene——
In the clean courtyard, a red-hot charcoal stove was lit, on which food was grilled and rice wine was scalded.
Several women in palace attire were sitting around the fire, drinking and doing boxing.
This is nothing, he had imagined this scene just after hearing the noise.
But the problem is that the beautiful woman sitting on the throne is his mother-in-law who "suffered a lot in the cold palace".
I saw Concubine Chong's skirt lifted up so high, with one leg on a stool. She was holding a wine bowl in her left hand, and her right thumb and index finger were stretched forward, as if making an eight.
"Fifth leader..." Concubine Chong shouted the drinking order and followed the call, and immediately froze.
The female officer's movements are similar to hers, except that her right hand has an extra middle finger.
"Six six six! Haha, I won, my dear, drink..."
But I saw that the empress seemed to have been cast into a body, with a drunken face, full of embarrassment in capital letters.
"Son, son..." But immediately, the concubine became excited again.
"Concubine, I'm here to pick you up." Zhu Zhen forced himself to ignore the chicken and duck bones, melon peels and cores all over the floor, and regain the excitement of reunion.
Several female officials who were drinking with Concubine Chong also woke up from their dreams. They quickly kowtowed to His Royal Highness the King of Chu, then left in dejection and closed the courtyard door.
"Zhen'er, why are you running here?" Concubine Hu Chong stood up excitedly and stepped forward, but her body staggered.
"Concubine, are you drunk?" Zhu Zhen quickly stepped forward and helped her.
"No, my feet are numb after squatting for too long." Concubine Hu Chong smiled, but her lines were very thick. She immediately put the embarrassment behind her, hugged her son tightly, and kissed him again and again on his chubby little face.
.
"My precious son, I miss my mother so much. Oh, my mother misses you so much that she can't sleep..."
She smelled of alcohol, and Zhu Zhen couldn't avoid it, and almost choked.
As a result, perhaps because she was too excited, Concubine Chong tilted her head and choked first.
While Zhu Zhen patted her back, he looked up to the sky and sighed.
Yaoshou, why did you end up with such an unreliable girl!
