When Zhu Zhanji hurried to the gate of Qianqing Palace, he was stopped by Yang Qing who was on duty. Yang Qing said to Zhu Zhanji with a strange face: "Your Highness, please wait, the Emperor is summoning His Highness the Crown Prince..."
"Too...when did my father go in?" Zhu Zhanji asked in a low voice.
"Almost half an hour." Yang Qing thought about it.
Zhu Zhanji's heart sank and his face became increasingly ugly. Yang Qing invited him to go to the side hall to warm himself and have tea, but Zhu Zhanji ignored him and just stood upright at the entrance of the palace, motionless.
After waiting for about a cup of tea, Zhu Gaochi's broad figure came out. The father and son had not seen each other for more than a month. When they met here, their expressions were extremely dull.
"Father." Zhu Zhanji bowed to the prince and saluted.
"Yes." The prince nodded, glanced at his great-grandson, and said calmly: "Hurry in, your majesty is waiting."
"Yes." Zhu Zhanji responded. Just as he was about to go in, he thought about it, then stopped and said, "It's cold, father should take care of himself."
"I know, I'll let you worry about it." The prince nodded slightly.
"Father," Zhu Zhanji had never heard the prince speak to him in this tone. Even though he had thousands of thoughts in his heart, he still felt very disappointed: "You are too polite."
"You are a third-class guest, so there is no harm in being polite." After the prince finished speaking, he nodded slightly to him again and staggered away with the support of two eunuchs.
Zhu Zhanji stood at the gate of Qianqing Palace, looking at the retreating figure. He knew that he and his father would never be able to return to their original state... He also missed the last chance to make amends.
'It's nothing. Since we have chosen this path, we are destined to part ways!' His Highness Taisun took a deep breath of the cold air, secretly cheered himself up, and then resolutely turned around and entered the palace.
As soon as he turned around, Zhu Gaochi turned around and saw his son's decisive back, with deep disappointment in his eyes. With a sigh, His Royal Highness also turned around and left...
Entering the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Zhanji hurriedly knelt down to say hello to the emperor. Zhu Di's body had recovered a lot and he no longer needed support when walking underground, so his mood was naturally not so gloomy. Looking at his grandson, he smiled and said: "Get up quickly. Well, why are you late today?"
"My grandson had a few extra glasses of wine yesterday, so he came late," Zhu Zhanji said shyly, "Please punish me, Grandpa Huang."
"Oh, you look like a young man now..." Zhu Di waved his hand, smiled indifferently, and asked casually: "By the way, did you meet your father just now?"
"I touched it..." Zhu Zhanji's heart skipped a few beats and he lowered his head and whispered.
"Haha..." Zhu Di looked at his depressed look, smiled, and said happily: "Don't worry, I let him out, but because all the nations came to court this time, many Tibetan kings have seen him. The prince's." As he spoke, his expression turned indifferent and he said: "I can live without this son, but the country cannot live without the prince..."
"Yes." Zhu Zhanji secretly sighed in his heart. Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi, these great scholars, are indeed old foxes who are well versed in the Holy Heart. They know the emperor's thoughts clearly. In fact, it's not that he doesn't believe them, but he really understands them from the bottom of his heart. He didn't want to see his father come back, and the emperor didn't give him time to think clearly and speak for his father.
"But don't worry too much," Zhu Di said as if to reassure his grandson: "Your father will only be responsible for etiquette and reception of foreign guests when he comes out. He will not hear anything else."
"Yes..." Zhu Zhanji nodded helplessly. It seemed that Grandpa Huang had made up his mind to let his father and son confront each other to the end. But wasn't the current situation exactly what he wanted to see?
"I came to him for one more thing, which is your marriage." Zhu Di looked at his grandson with a smile and said: "After the New Year, you will be twenty-two, and the marriage can no longer be postponed. I have already prepared for you
A marriage has been decided, and the six etiquette matters cannot be separated from him as the father."
"Ah?!" Zhu Zhanji's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he stuttered and asked: "Marriage, marriage? Whose family?"
"The third daughter of Hu Rong, a member of the Yulin Guard family, is virtuous and has noble moral character." Zhu Di looked at him with a half-smile but said, "I think she is a good match for my great grandson."
"This..." Zhu Zhanji was confused for a moment. He didn't know who Hu Rong was, and what Hu Rong's daughter was. Finally, he couldn't help but said loudly: "Grandpa Huang, my grandson likes other people!"
"
"I know it. Your father also knows it." Zhu Di said seriously without any surprise: "But Uncle Zhongyong, the sister of Wang Xian, the governor of Jin Yiwei?"
"That's right!" Zhu Zhanji hurriedly said with a smile: "Grandpa Huang loves his grandson the most, and he must do good things for his grandson..."
"Do you really want to marry that guy named Yin?" Zhu Di asked.
"Silver bell." Zhu Zhanji said hurriedly.
"Oh Yin Ling." Zhu Di said calmly: "Your father also mentioned her. I said you can marry her if you want, but once you marry her, Uncle Zhongyong will become a relative and can no longer hold important positions. He will have to change to an idle one.
It’s time to run errands and spend your days at leisure.”
"Why?!" Zhu Zhanji's face suddenly changed. Wang Xian was his most capable assistant, and the Jin Yiwei in Wang Xian's hands was his biggest support in both the government and the public. The avant-garde of the government army had fallen apart. If there were no more Wang Xian and Jin Yiwei,
, what power do I still have? Even though I am now acting as an agent of the state, I am almost a half-king, but without these iron team members, the emperor's decree can bring me back to my original form, and there will be no room for maneuver.
"Is there any need to ask?" Zhu Di said expressionlessly: "It is an iron rule that relatives are not allowed to interfere in politics."
In Houhai, Wang Xian, who was getting dressed and ready to go out, suddenly sneezed several times, rubbed his nose and said: "******, who is talking about me?".
"It is an iron rule that relatives are not allowed to get involved in politics." Zhu Di looked at his grandson with a tangled face and said earnestly: "The most important thing in being a king is to make choices. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You want to have the best of everything.
impossible."
"Yes..." Zhu Zhanji was in a state of confusion and asked with vacant eyes, "What did my father say?"
"Your father..." Zhu Di said calmly: "Let me ask you what you mean. I said that my son is older and has his own ideas, so you can make up your own mind."
"Let me go back and think carefully..." Zhu Zhanji wanted to delay it first.
"No." Unexpectedly, Zhu Di didn't agree at all: "How to choose, we must make an immediate decision." He looked at the gold box on the table and said: "After a while, I will send the decree to the Ministry of Rites. Once the decree is made, it will be broken."
There is no reason to change it.”
"Yes..." Zhu Zhanji knew that it was impossible to change the emperor's resolute tone. He knelt there, his eyes dark and gloomy, and his forehead was covered with sweat. Zhu Di did not rush him, and sat back behind the imperial desk.
Enjoy a cup of tea and read the memorial.
After reading a pile of memorials and Yang Qing came in to add tea, the emperor looked up at Zhu Zhanji and said: "Okay, you must have the answer. Go ahead..."
"Yes..." Zhu Zhanji struggled to squeeze out a word from his throat, kowtowed to Grandpa Huang, then got up with great difficulty, and staggered out. When he retreated to the door, he almost tripped on the threshold.
, the legs and feet seem to be worse than the prince...
"No future." Zhu Di snorted coldly. Zhu Zhanji was shocked, and he quickly puffed up his chest and walked out.
After he left, the emperor glanced at the gold box and told Yang Qing: "Send this decree to the Ministry of Rites so that they can plan it first and go to Hu Rong's house to accept it after the New Year."
"Yes." Yang Qing quickly picked up the gold box and went to the Ministry of Rites to announce the decree...
Zhu Zhanji walked in the palace with one foot deep and one foot shallow. The solid bluestone road was like mud at the moment, making it impossible for him to pull out his feet or lift his legs. Finally at the corner, he held on to the red palace wall.
, bending over and gasping for air, his eyes wide open and bloodshot, looking very scary.
He had never looked down on himself as much as he did now. He thought that he would not marry anyone other than Yin Ling, but he was so easily shaken by the threat of losing power. It turned out that he had unknowingly turned into the most despised person before...
'Nothing!' The emperor's voice exploded in his heart again, making him gnash his teeth with hatred. He finally felt the pain that his father had endured for many years... Imperial power will naturally inflict harm on those closest to it, and it has nothing to do with feelings.
It has nothing to do with grudges! We just need to be on guard against the majority of the countries whose chances are ridiculously slim!
'It turns out that Grandpa Huang has to guard against everyone and will not be special to me at all...' Zhu Zhanji finally figured it out. He felt that all the strength in his body was drained. He leaned against the red wall and sat slowly on the cold and biting floor.
On the ground, he laughed self-deprecatingly: "Why do you have to let me understand it when I can't look back?!"
He really can't look back. If he admits his mistake to his father, then the power he has paid so much to gain and keep will definitely come to nothing... Only by continuing to confront his father can he keep everything and get more!
But! But, does this really make sense? After all, he is also his father! Everything should belong to him, sooner or later...
Zhu Zhanji fully understood what it was like to ride a tiger and be unable to get off. He knew very well that it was not his grandfather who helped him get on the tiger's back. It was himself, his own greed, anger and ignorance that brought him to this point...
At this time, a group of eunuchs passed by and saw His Highness Taisun slumped here. They hurried over to help him and said diligently: "Oh, Your Highness, how did this happen?!"
"Get out!" Zhu Zhanji roared, frightening several eunuchs to the point of being dumbfounded. Some of them sat down on the ground. "Get out of here! Get away as far away as possible!"
Amidst His Highness Taisun's roar, the young eunuchs hurriedly rolled and crawled forward, almost hitting Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong.
Er Yang held the memorial and was probably going to meet the saint. Seeing Zhu Zhanji in such a state, he couldn't help but frown. Yang Rong whispered: "Your Highness, be careful with your words and deeds!"
"You don't need to worry about it!" Zhu Zhanji got up in embarrassment and stumbled away.
Looking at his back, Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi shook their heads secretly, with disappointment in their eyes.