As night fell, the rebels outside the city had been hiding in the camp all day without any movement. Those who didn't know better thought they were confinement.
Taiyuan City is also much quieter. Most of the people who have been chatting and watching the excitement in the sun all day have gone home to eat and warm themselves up. The only people who are left wandering the streets are either patrolling officers and soldiers or groups of refugees.
The palace of the Prince of Jin was still decorated with lights and decorations, and the housekeepers were busy organizing the evening banquet. There was a reception banquet at noon and the main banquet in the evening. Moreover, I heard that two big names, the Commander of the Jin Yiwei and the Admiral of the East Factory, were coming, so we had to get up to speed.
In a side courtyard of the palace, the atmosphere was a bit depressing. Zhu Shenxuan was sitting in the main hall, having awkward conversations with several middle-aged men in their forties or fifties next to them.
The oldest man was about fifty years old, fair and fat, but his complexion was a bit bad, his brows were furrowed, he was distracted when he spoke, and he looked dejected. This man was Zhu Huihong (note below), the eldest son of Prince Shen's palace, and several of the uncles next to him. They are his brothers, both of whom are Zhu Shenxuan's grandfathers.
Zhu Xiaoyong's escape this time was the initiative of his whole family, including Wang Shizi's several brothers and his wives and concubines, with nearly a hundred people, including many great-grandchildren who were about the same age as Zhu Shenxuan.
There is a saying that until this palace dies, all of you will be concubines. Unless the old King Shen dies, Zhu Huihong will always be just a prince, even if he is already very old.
Now he is living here as a guest. My father is old, frightened and tired from traveling. He fell ill after arriving at the Jin Palace, so he took charge of the situation.
After Zhu Shenxuan heard the news, he dared to come to visit him immediately. The doctor told him that he was just overworked and nothing serious, so he breathed a sigh of relief. After a few words of comfort, he returned to the lobby and started chatting awkwardly with the prince's brothers.
There is no need to elaborate on how awkward it is to chat with several grandparents. Anyway, even though Zhu Shenxuan is sitting in the hall, his thoughts have already wandered hundreds of miles away.
As for the brothers of Prince Shen, they also feel the same way. Their families are already homeless and they have to deal with the nonsense of a vassal king who is a grandson. How can they think about it.
"I heard that Commander Wu and the Factory Superintendent came back to the house tonight?" Zhu Huihong finally found a topic that interested Zhu Shenxuan.
"Yes"
"May I ask Prince Jin, what kind of person is the factory supervisor?" In Zhu Huihong's impression, there are no good people in the factory in the Middle East, and the factory supervisors are even more vicious, such as Wei Zhongxian.
What kind of person is Chang Yu? Zhu Shenxuan raised his chin, frowned, and said after a long time: "Weird"
Weird? Several brothers in Prince Shen’s Mansion were startled.
"You will know when you see me tonight."
The Prince of Jin's Mansion held a grand banquet to welcome the family's relatives. The food and wine were rich and high-quality, but it was extremely low-key. After all, being too public in this context would have a negative impact.
Prince Shen Zhu Xiaoyong was unwell and did not attend. Several brothers of Prince Zhu Huiyuan attended the banquet on behalf of their father to express their gratitude.
As for the accompanying guests, the standard was not lowered due to the absence of King Shen. All the first and second civil and military leaders in Taiyuan City came, and Wu Mengming, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, also attended.
But only Chang Yu, the admiral of the East Factory!
This made Zhu Shenxuan a little annoyed. He disappeared even after the three of us had warned him. After the banquet started, his servants couldn't find any news about Chang Yu, and they didn't even say a word about the busy business situation.
Angry, Zhu Shenxuan felt humiliated. Even Zhu Huiyuan felt sad, living under someone else's roof and being looked down upon by others!
Of course Chang Yu would not attend such a banquet. There were only two possibilities: Chongzhen issued an order or he had a purpose. Otherwise, he would rather drink porridge with soldiers on the ground at the top of the city than have an embarrassing conversation among a group of sour old men.
Of course, he is not at the top of the city now, but at the secret stronghold of Jin Yiwei in the west of the city.
The assassination of Tian Yuzao the previous day shocked him to the fact that the rebels were actually ambushing a force in Taiyuan City, so he ordered the people of Dongchang and Jinyiwei to dig deeper, especially to find out how they communicated with outside the city.
After being slapped in the face, Qin Xing, Zheng Xingguo and others, holding back their anger, together with Jin Yiwei, Dongchang, the city's Yamen patrol, and local ruffians, overtly and covertly dug out the traitors and spies.
Although closing the door is like catching a turtle in a urn, there are tens of thousands of refugees in Taiyuan City, so it is very difficult to identify them all at once.
However, several units teamed up and after a day and night of digging, they still made some gains and captured six suspects, one of whom was the person who escaped from the assassination that night.
Under severe torture, the identities of all six people were determined, but unfortunately, because the leader was killed, how to contact the outside world remains a mystery.
Chang Yu couldn't find out if he couldn't find it. Standing at the door of the small courtyard, looking at the dark night, Chang Yu couldn't help but shuddered. Suddenly, a sharp arrow shot from who knows where.
It can cost him his life.
Of course, this fear only lasted for a moment. For example, at this time, it seemed that there were only three or five people guarding him, but in fact, there were no less than a hundred people guarding him within a radius of 50 meters, including Kuang Ren and other archery masters.
Chang Yu looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and went to Prince Jin's Mansion.
The royal banquet was coming to an end when suddenly they heard Chang Yu's arrival and everyone hurried out of the palace to greet him.
This is the majesty of Admiral Dongchang!
Even Zhu Shenxuan, who has the closest relationship with Chang Yu, has to pretend to be respectful. After all, this is a public and formal occasion.
"I'm busy with official duties, so I hope that Prince Shen and everyone will forgive me for being late." Chang Yu looked at the fat, white old man and said impolitely.
"Don't dare, don't dare." Zhu Huihong returned the greeting hurriedly.
Next to him, Zhu Shenxuan quickly corrected him: "Prince Shen is not feeling well. This is the crown prince of Prince Shen's palace."
"It turns out it's Prince Wang. I'm so rude!" Chang Yu said again.
"The factory governor is very busy with his official duties, so I would like to thank my father for this." Zhu Huihong was shocked at how the admiral of the Dongchang Factory was so young. It was really unbelievable, but he did not dare to neglect at all in his words and deeds.
After all, he is just a prince.
"Prince Shen is not feeling well?" Chang Yu raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "I think he is tired from traveling, so I have to go and say hello. Please excuse me." He said and gave Zhu Shenxuan a look.
"Everyone, please take a seat. I will accompany the factory supervisor to visit Prince Shen first." Zhu Shenxuan greeted everyone at the table and led the way.
Admiral Dongchang went to visit his father, and Zhu Huihong wanted to accompany him. He said goodbye and stood up. The remaining princes were about to get up when they were stopped by his eyes. After all, this was a banquet specially set for Prince Shen's Mansion. Prince Shen's Mansion
All the people have gone naked. What a shame.
But what Zhu Huihong didn't expect was that when he first returned to that other courtyard, he found that the courtyard was under martial law, and the Jinyi Guards were manning the control, prohibiting anyone from entering or exiting, including him.
Just when he was about to report the missing person, he saw Zhu Shenxuan walking out of the yard and shrugged at him: "Your Majesty, let's go back and have a drink."
"Prince Jin, inside..."
"The factory supervisor may have to discuss some matters with Prince Shen. No one else is allowed to enter without permission, including me!" Zhu Shenxuan smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Dozens of rooms in the other courtyard were occupied by the whole family of Prince Shen's Mansion. However, at this time, more than ten guards in golden robes were on duty in front of each room, informing them that martial law was temporarily enforced and no one was allowed to leave the room.
In front of the main hall, Tie Zhu and Fan Jia Qian stood with five eunuchs holding swords.
The bedroom in the hall is as warm as spring.
On the couch, Zhu Xiaoyong was half leaning on the bedside, staring closely at the young man sitting in front of the window drinking tea with a smile.
This man is actually the feared Admiral of Dongchang?
This can't be a dream!
After the fall of Wei Zhongxian, Dongchang disappeared for a time. There was a vacancy of factory supervisor, and there were even rumors that it was about to close down. How come it suddenly came back to life and even got a young admiral to come out.
"Prince Shen, please pay more attention to your health after a long journey." Chang Yu put down his tea cup and looked at Zhu Xiaoyong with a smile. This old man must be almost eighty, with a thin body and a decadent look, but his eyes... well, he is not a good person!
"Thank you, Mr. Factory Supervisor, for your concern. The old man is too weak to be polite," Zhu Xiaoyong said feebly.
"Prince Shen, you're welcome." Chang Yu was still smiling. He didn't know what the old man was thinking. He was so old that even Chongzhen wanted to call him grandpa. How could he be polite to a young man like him? He couldn't keep his face off.
Although Chang Yu kept smiling, Zhu Xiaoyong always felt that it was not that simple: "The factory supervisor should be here to ask the old man something."
"Prince Shen is serious, our family is just doing a routine thing to understand the situation," Chang Yu said seriously.
"What do you want to know, sir?"
Zhu Xiaoyong coughed lightly.
"Why did you lose it in Lu'an Mansion?" Chang Yu picked up the tea cup and blew slowly.
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Note: There are records that the last Shen king was Zhu Huihong, and he was a young boy when he was captured alive by the bandits. After checking the data, it was found that there were discrepancies. The last recorded Shen king Zhu Xiaoyong was still alive and reigning until the 17th year of Chongzhen. , so it was impossible for Zhu Huihong to seize the throne at that time. Moreover, Zhu Xiaoyong was at least seventy years old at that time, so the prince could not be a young child! The novel only uses his name.