Bright Spring

Jurchen eunuch Wang An came in with tea, bowed and placed it lightly on the imperial case.Without raising his head, Zhu Di was reviewing the memorial with a Zhu pen in hand.Naturally, Wang An didn't say a word, for fear of disturbing the emperor.

Wang An silently put down his teacup, and stepped back, walking lightly, not even making a sound of footsteps.

At this moment, Zhu Di suddenly raised his head, "By the way, Wang An..."

The eunuch hurriedly stopped, bent down and said, "Your servant is here."

Zhu Di said: "The queen has been sick for the past few years, so many imperial doctors have seen it and can't find a solution. It happens that there is a female Taoist priest Chi Yuezhen in the palace. You go to the palace to choose a piece of land and build a Taoist temple. Tell Master Chi Yue to live in it and pray for the queen every day."

Wang An bowed and said, "Your servant obeys the order!"

...Wang An walked out of Dongnuang Pavilion, and saw two eunuchs still on the corridor.They hurriedly came over with the birdcage and said: "I pay my respects to the prince."

"What are you doing?" Wang An pointed to the birdcage.

An eunuch replied: "The bird is dead, and the servants are looking for a place to throw it away."

Wang An frowned and said, "Who told you to throw it? Hang it up, and the bird will stay in the cage even if it dies."

The eunuch answered "yes" first, then carefully said: "If it smells bad, what should the emperor say if he smells it?"

Wang An snorted: "Let's talk about it if it stinks. Wait a few days for the emperor's anger to subside, and then throw it away without anyone noticing it. But don't do anything right now, let the dead bird stay in the cage and hang there .”

The two hurriedly said: "Obey."

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Chapter 2 New Play

/p>The season has come to summer, and the morning in Yunnan Fucheng is still a bit cool.

Zhu Gaoxu got up early in the morning, and took more than 300 soldiers who were guards and guards, each carrying a weight of [-] catties, and ran twice in the spacious area of ​​the three main halls of the palace.

When he came to the study room on the east side of Chengyun Hall, it was already daylight.

As the prince of the Ming Dynasty, there is really nothing serious to do, but Zhu Gaoxu maintains a positive fighting spirit after getting up every day!

Although the population of Han Chinese registered in the entire Yunnan Chief Envoy is only over 70, Zhu Gaoxu also believes that this is his new place; at least in terms of strength, he is a hundred times stronger than when he was in the capital with only 4000 to [-] horses and was watched by a large group of people.

There are two invitations on the table in the study.One was given by the Mu family. The old lady of the Mu family, Mrs. Geng's birthday in June, invited Zhu Gaoxu to a banquet.The other one was actually sent by Shen's family. Shen Xu wrote that Liyuan had rehearsed a new play, and the first performance was sung this afternoon, and Zhu Gaoxu was invited to watch the play.

Last time she played tricks with Zhu Gaoxu, she seemed to think he didn't know!

What made Zhu Gaoxu even more angry was that according to the investigative reports from the Imperial Guard, Mu Sheng hadn't been to Liyuan since he "recovered" and it had been almost a month.Shen Xu's trick seems to have played a role.

However, Shen Xu is not useless, at least she knows Yunnan very well.Zhu Gaoxu knew the approximate number of the Han Chinese population when he talked with her last time.

... The chief envoy of Yunnan should know a lot of things, but Zhu Gaoxu was very self-conscious and did not ask the officials in Yunnan; because according to the rules, he, a prince, cannot control the chief secretary and the capital.

On the contrary, Hou Musheng of Xiping can manage Yunnan's military affairs.

From the time of Hongwu, the emperor ordered that civil and military officials at all levels make decisions on military and political affairs, and they must first report to Mufu before they can be implemented!The three emperors Hongwu, Jianwen, and Yongle did not take back their orders.

Mu Sheng is not only a marquis, but his actual power is equivalent to that of the governor of Yunnan. He is superior to the three divisions of the capital commander, the Yunnan governor, and the procurator, and controls the military, political, and judicial powers.

So Zhu Gaoxu, the prince, just has a high status; he would not think that the fief is in Yunnan Mansion, and the whole Yunnan Province really belongs to him.In Yunnan, Zhu Gaoxu's power is not as great as Mu Sheng's now, and his soldiers are not as many as Mu Sheng's.

Fortunately, Mu Sheng expressed goodwill from the first meeting.Otherwise, Zhu Gaoxu would fight Mu Sheng directly, so it's really hard to say who will take advantage... King Min was in Yunnan, fighting from the Hongwu period to the early years of Yongle, and never saw Mu Sheng fall down.

Zhu Gaoxu decided to accept Shen Xu's invitation and go to Liyuan to watch a play in the afternoon.

Being in contact with a widow of a businessman, Zhu Gaoxu still decided to keep a low profile and go lightly.But this time he found the Quanyong Team of the Defense Office, and deployed more than a dozen eyes and ears inside and outside the Liyuan.

Zhu Gaoxu got into an ordinary carriage, brought a few entourages, and went out from the west gate of the palace.

When the carriage is walking on the street, you may occasionally see some chieftains in strange clothes, but most of them are Han Chinese.The chieftain population in Yunnan is larger than that of the Han people, but most of the Yunnan prefectures are still Han people.

... Liyuan is in a new play today, and the Huadan is Li Louxian.Mu Zhen hadn't seen her cousin Geng Hao for quite a while, so she asked the Yi clan servants around her to make an appointment with Geng Hao just like she did in "The Story of the West Chamber".

The servants of the Yi people are skilled in martial arts, such as using knives and archery.Originally, Muzhen gave her the name "Yaoer", but the people in the house called her "Amei" when they saw her, thinking that the Yi people would call Xiaoniang by that; so Yaoer's name became Amei for no reason. .

A-mei told Mu Zhen that even their clan members didn't call her Xiaoniang that way, but "Liza"; so A-mei didn't like her name very much.

There is a small gate on the west side of Mu's mansion, and there is a street when going out; but this street does not allow people from outside the mansion to enter or leave, there are gates and soldiers guarding the street, and Mu Zhen can't walk there to get out.

This street is also full of servants of the Mu family.However, there is a family of Yi people who are from Amei's hometown; moreover, the Yi people's servants are very fond of drinking.Once, Mu Zhen asked Amei to bring good wine to her; she also promised that even if they were caught sneaking out, they would not confess to the Yi slaves, so they sneaked out of Mu's residence from the yard.

Mu Zhen knew that even if her parents found out about going out secretly, nothing would happen.She felt that as long as she went to see Geng Hao privately without being discovered, everything would be fine.

Today, after Mu Zhen dressed up in disguise, she took Amei and slipped out of Mu's mansion from the west in the same way.Yesterday I sent a jug of good wine to Amei's fellow countrymen, so it went very well.

... When Zhu Gaoxu arrived at the Liyuan, he was led directly to the elegant seat upstairs.Looking down at the lobby from here, you can see the scene in the theater lobby clearly. Today there is a new play, and the lobby is full again.

He sat down in his seat, and the two accompanying sergeants stood behind him.After a while, Mrs. Shen Xu came in person.

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head to look at the door, and saw that Shen Xu was wearing a light-colored cotton skirt today, and he still didn't wear a few jewelry.The Ming court forbade merchants to wear silk, but few decrees were actually implemented. Mrs. Shen Xu went out to wear cotton cloth. Could it be because of that decree?

"My concubine has met the young master." Shen Xu gently bent his knees, lowered his eyes, and made a blessing in a graceful and gentle manner.

Zhu Gaoxu sat without moving, and only said: "Mrs. Meng's hospitality, please."

Shen Xu walked to the opposite chair, reached out and brushed the back of the skirt lightly, and sat on the chair.

When the slaves brought the teapot and teacups up, Mrs. Shen Xu personally picked up the purple sand pot and poured a cup of tea, and handed it over with both hands: "If there is something wrong, please don't blame me, sir."

Zhu Gaoxu took it, but didn't drink, suddenly smiled and said: "I heard that Marquis Xiping often comes to Liyuan. In the past month, why haven't I heard that he is coming again?"

Shen Xu didn't change his face, and said softly: "I heard that Marquis Xiping was ill before, or I just recovered from a serious illness, so I don't want to listen to the show?"

Zhu Gaoxu thought in his heart: Still pretending in front of me!This girl is very calm.

At this moment, suddenly a military general in blue cloth came to the door.Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and glanced at him, the general then bowed in and bowed his head to Zhu Gaoxu's ear.

Shen Xu, who was sitting opposite, still had a faint smile, took a sip from the small cup, and turned to look at the stage as if nothing had happened.

The general covered his mouth with his palm, and whispered in Zhu Gaoxu's ear in a very low voice: "The brothers from Mu's house just reported to the gold shop branch, and the young lady from the Mu family and the two of them have gone out. It should be the one that the prince said. Miss."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, and the general retreated with his fists clasped.

Only then did Shen Xu turn her head around, and said with a slight smile, "I heard that Mrs. Mu's birthday is next month, and she will have a banquet for guests. The old lady loves to listen to operas."

"Oh..." Zhu Gaoxu nodded.

At this moment, he found that the young lady of the Mu family was looking at the entrance of the lobby, and seemed to have seen Zhu Gaoxu.

Shen Xu also looked sideways slightly, and continued: "Mu's house has a family theater troupe, but the troupe in Liyuan sings better than the family theater troupe."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the young lady of the Mu family who was walking upstairs, and at the same time talked to Shen Xu: "Madam, are you going to the banquet?"