[Ming] Wuzong's Chronicle of Rebirth

When Zhu Youtang stepped into Gong Zhengsi, Zhou Huiwo stood there motionless.People who were like flowers yesterday will wither today.Her left and right hands were tortured, her fingers were swollen and she could no longer move, her skirt was stained with blood, and her shiny black hair was messy.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, she shivered and crawled towards the corner, whimpering softly.She turned her back to Zhu Youtang, as if as long as she was like this, she could avoid her fate of about to wither.

Gong Zhengsi is different from ordinary prisons, all the servants and concubines who have made mistakes are detained in it, so it is naturally more decent than other places.But after all, it is a prison, with its own kind of eerie atmosphere, and the dull and cold air is filled with a bad smell.Zhu Youtang felt a little cold.Accompanying him was Liu Qiongju who was still sick in Chang Hong's mouth just now.

"Old rules, respectable people around the emperor don't show face." Although Liu Qiongju belongs to the Zhang family, it does not prevent her from being loyal to Zhu Youtang.

Zhou Hui, who was only trying to dodge, realized that it was Zhu Youtang who came, and hurriedly dragged her hands and feet over.Crying and crying, "Your Majesty, you are wronged, you are wronged." Her throat was already hoarse from crying yesterday, but now she shouted at the top of her voice, her voice was rough and terrifying like a ghost.

Only then did Zhu Youtang see clearly that Zhou Huizhou, who used to be dignified, virtuous, and talented, was in charge of the book.The once single phoenix eye was red and swollen from crying, her lips were horribly bruised from biting, and yesterday's unfaded makeup mixed with dust was washed away into black spots by tears and sweat.Where is the noble and beautiful appearance of the past.

"You know better than me whether you have been wronged or not. I just want to ask you, are you doing things for the Empress Dowager or for me?" Zhu Youtang never thought that Zhou Hui would do this. He has always trusted Zhou Hui.The court ladies and officials of the Ming Dynasty would not be released from the palace. He planned to let Mrs. Zhang point out a marriage to Zhou Hui, and then she would do such a thing.

"The servant girl has never done anything to the Empress Dowager. The servant girl did such a foolish thing only because of a momentary fascination." Do you regret it?She didn't know it herself.I wish to win the heart of one person, and the white head will not be separated.Which daughter would not want such a husband.She was just envious of Mrs. Zhang, a daughter of a small family could not get on the stage, how could she be worthy of such an excellent Zhu Youtang. "The servant girl just wants to please the emperor, and doesn't want to harm the emperor."

Zhu Youtang felt uncomfortable.Zhou Hui waited on the documents and pens and inks. From the time he was just a boy who had just ascended the throne to the present, people who met by chance had a kind of love. What's more, they were facing each other day and night. He had always treated Zhou Hui well. How could Zhou Hui treat him well? Such thoughts.

"My servant knows that I am not worthy of the emperor, but my servant has never had the heart to betray the emperor." Zhou Hui only had hatred in her heart, hating that Zhang family and that jealous woman.If there is no Zhang family, even if Zhu Youtang has no affection for him, based on the relationship between the two of them and his relationship with the empress dowager, why can't I be Zhu Youtang's woman.

"It's a mistake, it's a mistake." Zhu Youtang sighed.

"No, there is nothing wrong with the servant girl. The one who is wrong is the jealous woman. It is she who cannot tolerate other concubines, she is the one who condones the Zhang family's domineering, and it is she who dotes on His Royal Highness, the Second Highness..." Liu Qiongju heard her start talking nonsense, and immediately asked people She was gagged.Unexpectedly, after being severely tortured, she actually had the strength to break away from the crowd, and shouted while supporting the wooden pillar of the cell, "With this wicked woman, Your Majesty will die." Especially the last sentence made everyone's hair stand on end.

Seeing her uttering such disrespectful words, the nanny who tied her up didn't care about her face, so she pushed her away and stuffed a smelly cloth into her mouth.

This is actually how people close to me evaluate the person they love the most.Zhu Youtang felt that his authority was being challenged, but also felt inexplicably sad, so he said "I don't know how to repent" and let the struggling voice behind him, without looking at Zhou Hui, waved his sleeves away.

Unlike the gloom in the prison, the sun is shining outside.Zhu Youtang looked back at the building in the corner of the Forbidden City, feeling empty in his heart.

"Your Majesty, Zhou Hui, a sinful slave, has made disrespectful remarks. He should be divided into five horses." Liu Qiongju did not dare to look at the emperor in front of him. Liu Qiongju had been in the palace for 30 years and had seen the debauchery of the Chenghua Emperor and his loyalty to Concubine Wan Gui. It is completely incomprehensible for Zhu Youtang to favor the middle palace alone. Of course, as a slave, it is a good thing for his master to be favored by the emperor alone.

"Give her a cup of poisoned wine, and give her a dead body." Zhou Hui's painful groaning voice seemed to be still echoing in Zhu Youtang's ears. "Bury her quietly. You should think about returning to the queen's place." After saying that, she no longer wanted to stay in the gloomy place, and left.

Later, the female history in charge of the prison asked Zhou Hui how to deal with it.

"If anyone asks, they will say that she died violently due to indifference to punishment, and her body was thrown into a mass grave. Today, everyone in prison has their mouths under control. If it leaks out, everyone will die together. Go."

Zhu Youtang left Gong Zhengsi to go to Qingning Palace, and before he reached the gate, he saw Madam Yu next to the Empress Dowager Zhou kneeling in the aisle, holding the Empress Dowager Jinbao Panlongniu.Nanny Yu also personally took care of Zhu Youtang back then, so Zhu Youtang naturally didn't dare to neglect her.Let everyone stop the sedan chair, get up and help her.

Nanny Yu stood up, took a meaningful look at Zhu Youtang, straightened the tray covered with yellow satin and placed the coiled dragon button, and said in a serious voice: "The Emperor is the Ninth Five-Year Supreme, with a distinguished status, above ten thousand people. It’s just that now the emperor governs the country with filial piety, the empress dowager asked the old slave to ask the emperor if he still has the empress dowager as a grandmother in his heart?”

"Grandmother sheltered me in times of crisis, and raised me for several years, with deep kindness. Crows have the meaning of feeding back, and lambs have the kindness of kneeling and breastfeeding. Naturally, I will never forget the kindness of my grandmother." Although the Empress Dowager Zhou also had her own little tricks , but Zhu Youtang knew that most of the time the Empress Dowager Zhou was doing it for her own good.After he ascended the throne, he searched in many ways, but there was no news of his mother's natal family, so all his admiration was returned to the empress dowager Zhou's family and the empress Zhang's family.Now that the two families are having trouble, it is hard for him to be caught in the middle as an emperor.

"The emperor is virtuous. The empress dowager said that since the emperor still recognizes her as a grandmother, please ask the emperor to meet her on foot." After speaking, he held up the tray, "This is the order of the empress dowager."

Zhu Youtang was restless, one after another, Mrs. Zhang just ignored him and let him handle it by himself. Now the Empress Dowager is using her status to pressure him, and he is already busy with state affairs. He has nothing wrong with this matter, and he still has to deal with it. kind of thing.The two women turned the harem upside down, and no one was willing to give in. Could it be that my pampering them was really wrong?

Seeing that Zhu Youtang was about to wipe the sweat off his head, Zhu Youtang impatiently told him to back down.Various thoughts flashed through Zhu Youtang's mind as he watched Qingning Palace step by step.

Entering the main hall of Qingning Palace, I saw that Mrs. Zhou was not wearing the green robes to worship the Buddha as usual, but was sitting in the main hall wearing Zhai robes.

Zhu Youtang bowed his hands and greeted her and asked, "How is grandma doing recently?"

"Your Majesty still knows that there is a grandmother called Bengong?" Zhou said with a smile, "Don't you want to coax your daughter-in-law?"

"I don't know what grandma means?"

Seeing Zhu Youtang defending Zhang so much, Mrs. Zhou glanced at Zhu Youtang, and smiled more steadily: "There is a saying among the folks that there are three unfilial acts, and having no descendants is the greatest. I don't understand, since the emperor governs the country with filial piety, how did he become the emperor? Here, what a three-year-old child knows, but the emperor doesn't understand."

"I already have two sons, and I have no regrets facing the ancestors of the Zhu family."

Mrs. Zhou watched Zhu Youtang grow from a skinny monkey to what he is now. The former child has grown up, and he is also old.People are the most forgetful. Now that she is still there, others will give her some face, but what if she is dead?Her son, the brunette she sent in vain, has gone.Her grandson is now a prince and emperor, so she naturally doesn't have to worry about it.But what about her brothers, nephews, and nieces, what will happen to them when she is gone.

"Emperor Wan's family was deeply hurt by it back then, and now the emperor wants to add another Wan's family to my Zhu family."

"Although the Wan family is not kind, I have to be filial. I dare not talk about my concubine." Zhu Youtang naturally knew that she was comparing the Zhang family to the Wan family.The Wan family harmed the harem. Although the Zhang family has a little temper, she is virtuous and kind, and her mother respects the world. How do the two compare.Zhu Youtang couldn't say it directly, but dismissed it vaguely.

After hearing Zhu Youtang's words, Mrs. Zhou smiled even deeper, and asked the maid behind her to hand him her Buddhist beads, and she began to pinch and play with the beads carefully, without saying a word.

Mrs. Zhou didn't speak, and Zhu Youtang was not in a hurry, and followed her.There was silence in the hall for a while, except for the sound of Mrs. Zhou picking up the rosary.

I don't know how many moments later, Madam Yu broke into the hall with chaotic footsteps. Seeing that no one in the hall spoke, she hurriedly knelt down and said: "The Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, Mrs. Zhou... She is unbearable to be sentenced to prison, and she just went to the palace." .”

When Mrs. Zhou heard this, the sound of dialing the rosary also stopped, and said with a smile: "What a queen Zhang, she is really virtuous and virtuous, she can't even tolerate a small concubine." As she said, her voice became more and more excited, "You are really virtuous, She is really virtuous, I don't know who in this world can compare with her, she is a good daughter-in-law of my Zhu family, and a good mother of my Ming Dynasty." In the end, she patted the table and said, bead of beeswax slapped on the table , and finally cracked.

"Zhou Hui is a sinful slave, with evil intentions, trying to harm me. I think she has served me for many years, and she will be punished lightly. I will not pursue her family." Zhu Youtang didn't care about Zhou's fury, "Grandmother is probably old. How can Zhou Hui be considered a concubine if she has only been in charge of the sixth rank? How could grandma not allow it?"

Zhou put half of the bead chain in his hand on the table, and said with a blank expression: "Zhou Hui has served the emperor for 12 years, is it true that the emperor doesn't miss any old love?"

Zhou Hui was an old man when the prince retired to his residence. She was sent by the Queen Mother Zhou to serve Zhu Youtang since she was a little girl. The 12 years of getting along naturally has some friendship, but this friendship has not been deep enough for Zhu Youtang to endure a time bomb by his side.

Seeing that Zhu Youtang was silent, Mrs. Zhou sighed: "The emperor has grown up too. It seems that I am really old and disgusting." After speaking, she stood up, "Zhou Hui is a good girl, this matter is my grandmother's responsibility. Wishful thinking, I also ask the emperor to reward her with a thin coffin. The emperor is busy with government affairs, and I am also tired, the emperor please go back."