Queen Mother Gu looked at her crying daughter, feeling angry and funny: "Get up, stop pretending!"
Zhu Xuanzhen lay on the Queen Mother's knees and raised her head with tears in her eyes: "Mother, don't you believe your daughter's words either?"
Queen Mother Gu said: "If it were an ordinary prince-in-law, these things might happen. Wang Su is the son of the chief minister of the dynasty. He borrowed a hundred courages from the servants of the ten princes, but they did not dare to beat the prince-son-in-law. The people I sent out may have bad intentions.
, but the brain cannot become so stupid!"
Zhu Zaiyu was eating melon seeds next to him, and suddenly said: "Let me just say, you and Wang Su are both people who have more ideas than words. How could you be bullied by a group of female officials and eunuchs? Little sister, do you know?
What is the crime of deceiving the emperor?"
"Don't you want to live in the Tenth Prince's Mansion?" Zhu Xuanzhen pouted and pretended to be pitiful. "It's like being in prison. When you go out, you have to send someone to the palace to ask for permission. You can't live with the consort even if you are married. On your wedding night,
I wanted to go out to feed the alpacas, but I was stopped by a group of female officials."
Queen Mother Gu asked: "To be honest, what other grievances have you suffered?"
Zhu Xuanzhen had no choice but to tell the truth: "On the wedding night, I was stopped and not allowed to leave the bridal chamber."
"That's it?" Zhu Zaiyi was speechless. "Those female officials did the right thing. How can they run around in the wedding night?"
Zhu Xuanzhen said coquettishly: "Brother Emperor, you don't know that those female officials talk so irritatingly that they treat me like a prisoner. It's just that I can't go out of the Tenth Prince's Palace, and I'm bullied by a group of slaves in the palace. My life is worse than this."
Forget it if you die!" Suddenly, Zhu Xuanzhen said to his mother, "Mother, after many days of marriage, my daughter has not seen Grandma Zheng."
Queen Mother Gu's face turned cold instantly: "Xuan Shi Wangfu's steward Zheng E has entered the palace!"
The female official of the fifth rank, Si Yan, immediately sent a palace maid to the Tenth Prince's Palace. After a long time, she finally came back and reported: "The Queen Mother, Aunt Zheng is ill and bedridden, and cannot enter the palace."
Queen Mother Gu was furious: "Let the clan government conduct a thorough investigation to find out how Zheng E fell ill!"
…
The Ten Palaces are the ten palaces built in the capital by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty to avoid waste.
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Untitled princes and married princesses must live in the ten princes' palaces. Princes and princesses are not allowed to go out without permission. Even if they want to go to the streets to breathe, they have to attack and report, and eunuchs or female officials are sent in.
Palace report.
The establishment of these eunuchs and female officials was affiliated to the clan mansion and had nothing to do with the harem. The emperor, empress and queen mother could not directly intervene in the management. If anything happened, they had to be investigated by the clan mansion.
In the Zongren Mansion, there are five first-class officials, all of whom are served by the clan and nobles, but none of them have any real power.
The person who is really in charge of things is the person who is in charge of the clan's government. This position is held by a civil servant. There is only one civil servant in charge, and he is also responsible for managing the clan across the country. Specific affairs can only be left to the civil servants' office.
Therefore, no one actually supervises the female officials and eunuchs of the Tenth Prince's Palace. They can do whatever they want. If the prince-in-law wants to see the princess, or the princess wants to enter the palace, they have to give their permission.
In order to prevent these guys from messing around, when the princess goes to live in the Tenth Prince's Palace, the queen mother or empress will send a confidant female official to follow her as a steward. This female official is the housekeeper, responsible for protecting and taking care of the princess, and her staff will also be transferred to the clan.
Mansion.
Whether the princess lives well or not depends entirely on whether the housekeeper is loyal, and while being loyal, she must also be capable, otherwise she will be deceived by a group of subordinates.
Due to the sparse number of people in the royal family, among the current ten palaces, except Zhu Xuanzhen, only one Princess Yongkang (the young emperor's aunt) lives there, and the other eight palaces are all vacant.
Since it is vacant, there are not many people there. Usually there are only a few eunuchs and maids responsible for cleaning.
Empress Dowager Gu doted on her daughter very much. Half a year before her daughter got married, she selected eunuchs and palace maids to be responsible for repairing and managing the ten princes' palaces. She did not let the clan palace be responsible for recruiting people. When the princess got married, she would send an absolute confidant to serve as the palace manager.
housekeeper.
In other words, the other princesses only have one housekeeper to protect them, while Zhu Xuanzhen's house is full of people from the Queen Mother.
The problem lies in this!
…
The prince-in-law, Zuo Zongzheng and Cui Yuan, looked at the group of slaves with cold eyes: "You are so brave! Aunt Zheng, don't be afraid, tell me anything, I will make the decision for you myself!"
Aunt Zheng was lying on the recliner and said in a weak tone: "Two days before the princess got married, I came to the princess's house to work as a steward on the order of the queen mother. The princess's wedding also had to be organized in the house, so the money couldn't be spent.
Young Master got the account books, and the more he looked at them, the more something was wrong, so he found an abacus to check the accounts quietly. He thought that he would wait until the princess got married before dealing with the accounting errors. But on the night of the princess's visit, I was put under house arrest by a group of evil slaves.
When he shouted for help, he was beaten by the evil slaves."
Cui Yuan asked the female officer kneeling on the ground again: "Mother Li, what else do you want to argue with?"
Grandma Li shouted: "Here you are, my consort, this old slave has really done no evil. When Aunt Zheng was in the palace, she had a problem with the old slave. After she came to the princess's house, she even raised her nose and raised her eyebrows. What?
Everything is caused by the old slave’s fault. She threw it by herself, but she insists that I sent someone to beat her. How can the old slave dare to beat the female steward sent by the Queen Mother? "
Cui Yuan is in his forties, a handsome old man, and his father is just a prison student from Shanxi Province. He has been a consort for nearly thirty years. Although he and the princess are very affectionate, and although the female steward in the house is easy to talk to, the evil slaves below are always making things difficult.
Every time I see the princess, I have to spend money to bribe her.
Today, the Queen Mother asked him to take charge of investigating the case, so he could finally have a good time.
Although these are not from the eldest princess's house, they are all from the same family, and it will naturally make me feel good to take revenge.
"Hit me, beat me hard," Cui Yuan said with a ferocious expression, "If you don't fight me, I'll beat you to death!"
Cui Yuan brought Jin Yiwei!
Under normal circumstances, Jinyiwei would not intervene in the clan's case, but the emperor and the queen mother personally spoke otherwise.
There was a crackling of the boards, and after only a few boards, a female official shouted: "I call, I call, please spare my life, Prince Consort!"
Cui Yuan sneered: "Say it quickly!"
The female officer cried: "Slave, I went out to the palace with Grandma Li six months ago to do work. At that time, the princess's mansion had been abandoned for decades, and the grass in the yard grew taller than people. Grandma Li took the money to clean and repair it, slave.
I heard that... Granny Li and the eunuch Liang Feng were old friends. They embezzled money together, but... But the slave really didn't take the money. It was only for the purchase of decorations later that the slave got two taels of silver as a reward. Before the princess' wedding, another
Suddenly I got ten taels of silver. The day before the wedding, Grandma Li rewarded me with another twenty taels. On the night of the princess's wedding, Grandma Li asked her slaves to lead the people and blocked Grandma Zheng in the room. "
Cui Yuan asked: "You are sent to the palace by the Queen Mother, and Aunt Zheng is in charge of the Princess's mansion. Why do you obey Aunt Li's orders?"
The female official replied: "Mama Zheng said that we all have been greedy for money, and Aunt Li wants to check the accounts, and no one can escape. Aunt Li has been out of the palace for half a year, and all the people in the house are hers. If you don't obey, you will be beaten."
The slave was afraid of being beaten and punished by the Queen Mother, so she could only listen to Nanny Li."
Cui Yuan walked to Nanny Li: "You are a mere sixth-grade female official who is not even in charge of the princess's palace, but you are so bold. Tell me why you bully the princess and the consort!"
Grandma Li looked ashen and mournful: "Big Prince Consort, I really didn't bully the Princess Prince Consort, I just wanted to give them a blow... They, they were going to feed the alpacas on their wedding night. How is this possible? He must have sensed something was wrong.
, went together to find Aunt Zheng. The old slave was afraid that the matter would be exposed, so he would not let them go out. Apart from that, he never did anything to contradict the princess."
Wang Su was sitting next to him listening to the case. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this time: "The princess and I are really going to feed the alpacas and check the accounts on the wedding night after we are full!"
"Ah?" Grandma Li was stunned, and she was completely dumbfounded.
Cui Yuan asked the eunuch Liang Feng again: "Are you and Grandma Li an old friend?"
Liang Feng replied: "I have been eating for fifteen years."
Cui Yuan asked: "You are under house arrest and beating the female steward of the princess's house, aren't you afraid that the matter will be exposed?"
Liang Feng was silent and dared not speak.
Cui Yuan scolded: "Beat me. If you don't tell the truth, I will be beaten to death on the spot!"
As soon as Jin Yiwei picked up the board, Liang Feng cried: "I said, I said!"
Cui Yuan smiled and said: "Tell me."
Liang Feng said: "First put her under house arrest and say that Aunt Zheng is sick. After two or three months, she will be killed. It is presumed that she died of illness. By then, the person in charge of the house will automatically become Li Cuiling.
Grandma Li), I can also benefit from it. As for the princess and the consort, I really don’t dare to offend him. The consort is the son of the prime minister, so he has the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard, so no one dares to offend him.”
Cui Yuan said to a guard in royal robes: "Zhou Baihu, please put all these evil slaves in prison and interrogate them slowly... There may be some accomplices in the eldest princess's house, and they will be brought for interrogation as well!"
How pitiful it is that all the female officials and eunuchs in the eldest princess's residence, who only asked Cui Yuan for money every time, were all thrown into the Jinyiwei Prison this time.
Cui Yuan then said to Wang Su and Zhu Xuanzhen: "Don't let these evil slaves put you in a bad mood. The eldest princess is hosting a banquet. Let's all get close together."
Zhu Xuanzhen said: "But it's up to my uncle to make the decision."
There are only two princesses in the entire imperial clan, and the princesses are not allowed to go out at will.
Cui Yuan, the consort, must be aggrieved. On the surface, he is Zuo Zongzheng, a member of the first-class clan, but he has to be bullied by a group of slaves who are nominally under his control. He does not dare to tell anyone, because it will be embarrassing if it is spread, and no one will do it.
He makes the decision, and he can't even see the emperor except when he goes to court. As for saying such things when he goes to court? Haha, just wait for social death.
It's great now that the son of the chief minister has actually become a prince-in-law. Naturally, the two remaining princes-in-law in the world should move around more.
At the family dinner.
Wang Su said to Cui Yuan: "Uncle, I will go to court tomorrow on crutches. Please ask the Jin Yiwei who is in charge of the case to help you. Just say that I was beaten by an evil slave. I came to ask your majesty to allow the princess to live in the palace."
How about Prince Consort?"
Cui Yuan was surprised and said: "Tai Su (Wang Su), this matter is not very honorable, are you not afraid of losing face in the court?"
Wang Su suddenly laughed and said: "What do I want to do if I want face? I don't want to be a prince-in-law if I want face."
Zhu Xuanzhen glanced sideways: "Is it embarrassing for you to marry me?"
"Hehe." Wang Su smiled.
"The consort and the princess are really in love." Princess Yongkang was quite envious. Her aunt was only forty-three years old.
Cui Yuan said: "Then I will sacrifice my life to accompany the gentleman, otherwise I will have to suffer for the rest of my life."
Not only is it inconvenient for the princess to live in the Tenth Prince's Mansion, but it is also inconvenient for the consort to live in the consort's palace. There are also eunuchs and female officials in the consort's palace, and the consort is under surveillance every day. This life is really not what people live.
There was no way, who knew that when the Ming Dynasty was founded, those princes-in-law were so powerful that the civil servants had to strictly guard against the prince-son-in-law.