Reincarnation of the powerful minister

Zhu Helin's flying horse drove into the Meridian Gate, and ran amok all the way, even when he reached the forbidden gate, he never got off his horse, relying on his identity as the prince to force his way in.

The Kunning Palace is to the north of the Qianqing Palace. At this moment, the flames are raging, and the red clouds illuminate half of the night sky.On the square in front of the hall, the guards were shouting for water to put out the fire, and the servants and maids were in a mess.

Zhu Helin rolled off his horse and was about to rush into the fire.

The servant next to him held him tightly and wailed: "Master! You can't go in, the inside is burnt down!"

"Let go! Let me go!" Zhu Helin's eyes were red, his eyes were about to split open, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth were twisted. "The mother's relics are all in the main hall! The clothes she wore, the jewelry she wore, and the clothes she gave herself. The tiger-toed shoes I sewed, the lamp I made with my own hands... I have to save one, and the same is fine!"

The palace man choked up and persuaded: "The main hall has been burnt to such a state that everything has been turned into ashes. Even if I rush in, I won't be able to snatch it out... The body of a thousand pieces of gold is the most important thing, my lord!"

Zhu Helin struggled desperately, and was hugged tightly by more and more palace people, crying and begging for dissuasion.

In grief, he roared like a wild beast, snatched the empty barrel from the guards, and rushed to the big gold-plated iron vat in front of the hall.

The iron vat is four feet high, more than five feet in diameter, and has a huge capacity. It is filled with clean water to suppress fires and disasters, so it is also called "Menhai".In the cold winter season, the iron tank needs to be covered with a cotton cover and a cylinder head, and a charcoal fire is placed in the white marble base below, and special personnel are assigned to ensure that it burns day and night to prevent the water stored in the tank from freezing.

The fire prevention of the palace is of great importance, and the warming of the door and the sea will not end until the waking of insects.

Zhu Helin swung the bucket into the tank, and it hit the solid ice.He turned his head in disbelief and asked, "Where's the water?" When he touched the base, the charcoal fire had already been extinguished, and the bottom of the tank was cold.

A court lady muttered: "I just heard that the two young father-in-laws who were in charge of guarding the charcoal fire fell asleep for some reason, and were only shaken awake when the fire started. Knowing that they had made a big mistake, they went to fetch water from the big vat in front of the Qianqing Palace. gone."

Zhu Helin's face was livid, and he asked again: "Who is on duty at night! How did the fire start?"

The palace people looked at each other, one said it was that one, the other one said it was not him or the other, they tried to evade each other.Seeing that they couldn't evade it, the last few fell to the ground to plead guilty, saying that they didn't pay attention, the lamp hanging on the wall was blown off by the wind, and they lit the doors and windows, and then the fire started.

Zhu Helin was furious: "Don't tell the truth! If you just don't pay attention, you will find out when there is a fire, and it is too late to fight the fire. How can you start fighting the fire when the whole temple collapses?!"

Seven or eight palace people were panic-stricken, still looking for excuses to get rid of the crime, some said they were sick, some said they were fainted by the fire, all of them were powerless and begged the prince for forgiveness.

Zhu Helin gritted his teeth, waiting for the guards of the Eastern Palace to report back.After a while, the guards came back to reply and said that they had made a clear inquiry, because the Holy Lantern Festival is outside the Meridian Gate, the palace gate does not have a key, and only the imperial guards are patrolling and guarding. Go out and enjoy the lights.

These few palace servants who were supposed to be on night duty at Kunning Palace were also sneaking out.

Seeing that the matter was exposed, the palace people had to cry and admit that there was no empress to serve anyway, and it would be so boring to spend the Lantern Festival in an empty palace, so they became playful and slipped out to go to the lantern festival together, even if the palace caught fire. I don't know, let alone put out the fire in time.

With a bang, another main beam collapsed, and flying sparks rushed into the night sky, sending heat waves to the face.

The fire shone on Zhu Helin's face.At this moment, he seemed to be engulfed by violent hatred, and a ferocious cold light radiated from his eyes.

Just because they left their posts without authorization, the mother's relics were gone, and the only palace that could be remembered was burned to ashes!These dog slaves, disrespecting the former queen, disloyal to their duties, and full of lies in front of the prince, shirk their responsibilities in all kinds of ways, trying to escape punishment...Damn it, damn it all!

He pulled out the saber from the guard's waist with his backhand, and without a word, he rowed towards the most cunning servant on duty at night.

Blood spattered, and the servant clutched his gurgling throat and fell to the side.

The other palace people were frightened and screamed everywhere. They completely forgot the rules in the face of death, got up and fled in all directions.

If they pleaded guilty and begged for mercy, they might be able to appease the anger of Donggong a little bit, and fleeing in fear of crime would completely anger the prince.

Zhu Helin caught up with him in two or three steps, and killed another one.One of the servants turned around in a daze, bumped into the still angry prince, and was also chopped off with a knife.The rest were caught by the guards and fell to the ground, crying loudly.

This is what Emperor Jing Long saw when he arrived at the Kunning Palace, surrounded by the guard of honor, all the internal officials and the imperial guards.

All the guards and palace people present hurriedly knelt down to receive him, but Zhu Helin held a blood-dripping waist knife and looked back in the raging fire, with a stern expression on his face, showing a bit of an eagle watching a wolf.

Emperor Jinglong patted the armrest of the dragon chariot, and shouted in a deep voice: "—Prince!"

Zhu Helin's body trembled, as if waking up from a dream, the waist knife fell to the ground.

There was a sea of ​​fire in front of him and a pool of blood on the ground. The emperor closed his eyes in pain, and ordered: "Put out the fire with all your strength, and don't let other palaces be burned. Take down all the people involved, and hand them over to the eunuch who is in charge of ceremonies. , be punished according to the law."

After a pause, he said again: "Prince, follow me to the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

The Kunning Palace was on fire, and the fire was extinguished all night. The noise continued, and the adjacent Qianqing Palace was not clean, so the emperor moved to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to live temporarily.

Zhu Helin bowed his head and stood outside the palace door, smelling of fireworks all over his body, garnet red trailing his hem, splashed with blood.

The emperor took a deep breath and said, "Go take a shower and change clothes, clean yourself up, and then come in and answer."

The servant led the prince to the side hall.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Helin changed into his normal clothes and entered the hall.

Emperor Jinglong was sitting on the Arhat couch, resting his elbows on the Kang table, kneading the center of his eyebrows with his fingertips.Zhu Helin knelt in front of him, with red eyes, choked up and said: "Father..."

The emperor closed his eyes and ignored him.

Zhu Helin called again sadly: "Royal father." He walked forward on his knees, clutched the hem of the dragon robe tightly in his hands, and burst into tears: "Royal father, the queen mother is gone, everything is gone..."

The emperor sighed for a long time, his voice was exhausted: "Get up."

Zhu Helin refused to get up, still feeling sad, "I didn't even leave a piece of paper or a hairpin, how should I deal with myself when I miss my mother in the future..."

The emperor said: "You still think about it, after this night, the reputation of the cruelty of the Eastern Palace has spread inside and outside the court hall, how should you deal with yourself!"

Zhu Helin killed someone for the first time, but he had no fear in his heart. He looked at the emperor with tears in his eyes and asked, "They don't respect their mother and neglect their duties. Shouldn't they be killed?"

"Even if it should be killed, it must be done according to the law. It is true that internal servants are no better than foreign ministers, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are domestic slaves, but since ancient times, apart from tyrants, how often have you seen the emperor or the prince personally kill the palace people? Killing three people, is there any dignity for a king? Even if you call the guards and kill them on the spot, it's better than doing it yourself."

Emperor Jing Long shook his head, "Killing a few servants who made mistakes is a small matter, but a bad mood is a big problem. What's more troublesome is that if someone makes a big fuss by using the phrase 'God has the virtue of good life, the prince is cruel and immoral'" When the hats come to press you down, one hat won’t hold you down, ten or twenty hats, hundreds of people, thousands of people can make a lot of money, how do you deal with yourself?

"Tonight, you are too impulsive!"

Only then did Zhu Helin realize that something was wrong, but the grief still spread in his heart, as if he had lost his mother again, so he obediently listened to the training and did not speak.

Emperor Jinglong leaned forward and patted his head, "Your mother was known for being kind and kind to the palace people, but now you let blood stain the white stone ground in front of her palace. She has a spirit in the sky, Seeing this scene, will I praise you?"

After asking such a question, Zhu Helin was so ashamed that he burst into tears: "Mother, my son has let you down..."

Emperor Jinglong waited for the crown prince to cry for a while, and said calmly: "Tomorrow, you go to the Taimiao and kneel in front of your mother's spirit tablet. Think about it carefully, what is the way of a king."

He waved his hand, signaling the prince to go back.

Sobbing, Zhu Helin took his leave and left the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

There is only one emperor left in the palace.After a while, Lan Xi walked in lightly, and asked in a low voice, "My lord, the pool is ready, do you want to take a bath and change?"

Emperor Jinglong closed his eyes and leaned on the cushion, and said in a low voice: "I have a headache..."

Lan Xi's heart shuddered.

The emperor was known to suffer from headaches, and he had several attacks a year, but this time was less than a month after the last big attack, which was unprecedentedly intensive.Moreover, the emperor looked Qingya and peaceful, but in fact his heart was firm and resolute, even when the pain was severe, he hardly showed weakness.Seeing what the prince did tonight shocked him a lot.

Lan Xi stepped forward, took off the crown lightly, and massaged the emperor's acupuncture points while softly persuading him: "The young master was angry because the Kunning Palace was burned down. It is really a filial piety. They are the ones who killed a few palace people who made mistakes. Deserved punishment, my lord, don't take this matter too seriously... Didn't you say that my young master has the demeanor of the late emperor when he was young, and the late emperor killed robbers with his own hands when he was ten years old, even His Royal Highness King Yu, He also went into battle to kill the enemy at the age of 12. The young master is fifteen years old, he is full of blood, killing people without changing his face, he is really brave..."

"—Stop talking." The emperor stopped.

Lan Xi hurriedly confessed: "It's the slave who talks too much."

The emperor was silent for a moment, and said: "It's because I have spoiled him too much in the past ten years, and I haven't tempered his character properly."

Lan Xi didn't dare to respond.

The emperor said again: "The sharp edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold."

Lan Xi rolled her eyes and said, "Plum blossoms are fragrant, but they cannot be used as medicine. Su Shaoqing once presented a prescription, saying that using white chrysanthemum decoction to fumigate the head can greatly relieve headaches. Do you want to try it?"

"Su..." The emperor held the name in his mouth and played it back and forth, as if the fragrance still lingered on his lips and teeth, "Give it a try."

Zhu Helin walked to the gate of Duanben Palace, stopped suddenly, thought for a moment, and suddenly turned towards the Meridian Gate.

Fu Bao chased after him out of breath, and asked, "Where is the young master going?"

Zhu Helin's eyes were red and swollen, and he said, "There's something wrong with this...I'm going to find Su Yan."

"But now it's four o'clock. The holy car has returned to the palace, and the key to the palace gate has been released. Or, wait until dawn before leaving the palace?"

"I'm going to kneel at the Taimiao at dawn. I don't know that my father will punish me to kneel for a few days. No, I have to see him now!"

Fu Bao knew that once the crown prince made up his mind, no one would be able to persuade him, so he had to compromise, "The key to the palace gate is in the hands of the chief secretary, and it is difficult to open the palace gate without the holy order. Otherwise, the servants will stand guard by the gate until dawn As soon as the door was opened, the servants immediately went to Lord Su and asked him to go to the Taimiao to meet the young master?"

Zhu Helin thought for a while, and there was no better way, so he nodded and said, "Okay."

In Yongning Palace, Concubine Wei stood on the steps outside the corridor, looking towards the direction of Kunning Palace, smiling brightly at the long-lasting fire.

"This is really... the most beautiful fireworks in the Lantern Festival." She smiled coquettishly.