At the fourth watch, there was movement in Chunhe Palace. The palace people began to prepare for the prince to go to court.
The prince also woke up on time, yawned and got up. He only slept for two hours. Not only because he had a lot of things last night, but also because he had been doing this every day for these years, and he had never slept in for a while.
When he got out of bed, he tried his best to move as gently as possible so as not to wake up Mrs. Chang who was sleeping soundly next to her. When he went out to the outside, he washed and dressed under the attendants of the palace maids. When he left Chunhe Palace in a jade gown, the sky was still full of stars outside.
It was early enough for him to go out, but he didn't expect anyone to come earlier than him.
"Prince..." Song Lian's voice sounded from the side of the road.
"Teacher?" The prince opened the sedan curtain and greeted in surprise: "Come up and talk."
"Hey." Song Lian sniffed and got on the prince's jade gown.
"Why don't you go in, teacher?" Seeing that his nose was red from the cold, the prince quickly handed him his soup to warm his hands.
"Old minister, I just arrived not long ago." Song Lian held Granny Tang in his hands and said with a smile, "His Highness was about to come out, so he was waiting outside the palace gate."
"That's it." Zhu Biao looked at him with red eyes, but he was in good spirits.
"Teacher, didn't you sleep all night?"
"Yes, how can I sleep when I think of those juniors still kneeling there?" Song Lian sighed and said: "To be honest, I met so many people this night and spent so much time talking before I managed to reach a consensus.
.”
"Oh?" The prince said with a delighted smile: "Did we discuss it so quickly?"
"Human life is at stake, we can't delay it." Song Lian smiled bitterly and said: "As soon as we have discussed this, I will report it to His Highness."
"Okay, let's talk about it." The prince nodded.
"We decided to listen to the crown prince and save the two saints first, and then save the officials who were kneeling at the door." Song Lian said with a solemn expression:
"As for those three reforms, we can reserve our opinions for now, but there is no guarantee that we will remain deaf and dumb in the future. If there is a problem, we will still be able to speak up."
"Yes." The prince did not blame him for perfection, but praised: "Teacher is really a gentleman who knows what to say. No one can predict what will happen in the future. It is useless to promise now."
As he spoke, he smiled and said: "If my sixth brother and the others do something inappropriate in the future, I will criticize them mercilessly, let alone you."
"Hey, good." Song Lian nodded gratefully and said, "With these words from the Crown Prince, I feel completely relieved."
"You understand the righteousness so well, and I will have more confidence to fight with my father." The prince also said seriously: "Don't worry, if you don't fight for the title of the two saints, I will no longer be the prince."
"You can't do it, you can't do it." Song Lian hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Your Highness is the hope of the world, and you must protect yourself at all times."
"I understand." The prince nodded.
~~
Qianqing Palace.
When the prince came in, Boss Zhu had already been up for an hour. He listened to the lecturer speak a long section of "Tongjian" and approved a large pile of urgent official duties.
This is why Boss Zhu is not afraid of the civil servants making trouble. He alone can do the work of a hundred of them. Together with the prince, the father and son can barely keep the court running, so if the civil servants make trouble, the court will not be able to make trouble in a short time.
will be affected.
"Boss is here, let's start dinner. I'm starving." Seeing Zhu Biao come in, Boss Zhu happily dropped the memorial and went to the dining table without washing his hands to prepare for the meal.
Eunuch Wu hurriedly led people to pass on the meal, and soon they put out stir-fried mutton, stir-fried pork with yellow vegetables, steamed pig's trotters, and two-cooked pan-fried fresh fish, a total of four dishes, served with fragrant rice, bean soup, and tea. This is Hongwu
The emperor has breakfast today.
Thanks to Lao Liu, the palace has become more affluent in the past two years, and Boss Zhu is no longer willing to eat meat for breakfast. He no longer has vegetables and tofu to ensure safety.
Although he was indeed a bit tired, given the intensity of the emperor's work, he only ate two meals a day, which was quite manageable.
Boss Zhu cooked two-thirds of a table of dishes, and after finishing three bowls of rice, he burped and asked:
"How was the talk?"
"It's settled." The prince's appearance became more gentle.
"So fast?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in surprise.
"Master Song is here." The prince said softly.
"That's it." Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said: "That old man is indeed easy to handle."
"..." The prince couldn't agree with this, so he coughed lightly and said: "In short, they finally agreed that as long as the title of Second Saint is restored, they will no longer oppose the three reforms."
"Yes." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction and said, "Since all three windows are open, we won't lift their roofs."
"I will send a message later and ask them to persuade the civil servants to go home." The prince breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, the weather was kind and it didn't rain last night."
"It's a pity..." Zhu Yuanzhang smacked his lips and said regretfully: "Go home? Why go home? You won't go to court anymore?"
"Ah?" The prince said in surprise: "Father, you want them to go to court today?"
"They didn't ask for leave from us either." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile: "Besides, they are kneeling in Fengtianmen Square, let alone moving, they don't even have to change their posture."
"..." Zhu Biao was speechless. What kind of bad taste is this?
~~
After breakfast, Zhu Biao ordered Eunuch Cui to send a message to Song Lian and others, telling them to rush to Fengtianmen Square to do work for the civil servants.
At this time, it was not long before the morning meeting. Song Lian and a group of great scholars hurried over, panting, and saw more than two hundred "big rice dumplings" kneeling on Fengtianmen Square.
The civil servants were tightly wrapped in colorful quilts, staggering around due to sleepiness, and many of them were snoring. The image was far different from what the great Confucians had imagined.
But it doesn’t matter, when they write about this incident in the future, they can use beauty and filters without restraint.
Having the right to speak is the confidence you have.
"Zheng Butang, wake up..." Song Lian came to Zheng Jiuzheng, the Minister of Rites, and disturbed his dream.
"Ah? Ah?" Zheng Jiuzheng opened his eyes suddenly and quickly explained: "I didn't sleep, I was just closing my eyes and meditating..."
After saying this, he saw the person coming clearly and said: "Tai Shigong, are you here?"
"Yes." Song Lian nodded, adjusted his somewhat messy expression, and said to the civil servants who woke up one after another: "Thank you for your hard work."
"As long as we can make a contribution to the survival of the Holy Religion, we are not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice!" The civil servants sang a high-pitched tone before their minds were clear.
"What a blessing it is for our holy religion to have disciples like you!" Song Lian and others also hurriedly praised him. If not for time constraints and such meaningless mutual compliments, they could have been here for two hours.
"Your efforts have not been in vain, nor have the efforts of us and the Crown Prince." Song Lian then got to the point and said: "Finally, I persuaded the emperor to change his mind and allow Mencius's tablet to return to the Confucian Temple to accompany Confucius!"
"That's great..." Zheng Jiuzheng and others shed tears with excitement, and suddenly felt that they had knelt down all day and night in vain.
