Daming prepares the emperor

The emperor's guard of honor gradually approached the Hall of Spring Harmony.

When they arrived outside the front courtyard of the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang told them all to stay outside, and he walked in with Huang Xi alone. When he saw the court ladies kneeling hurriedly inside, he grabbed one of them and asked, "Where is the prince?"

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness is here, feeding the dog in the backyard." The maid knelt on the ground and trembled.

"... Feed the dog?"

This is a little different from Zhu Yuanzhang's wronged, sad son who is waiting to admit his mistake, which makes him feel very uncomfortable.

He knew that Zhu Biao would not give in, but he was lucky and willing to convince himself.

"Tell us, what did the prince do after he came back last night?"

"The maidservant is just a servant who sweeps the water and does miscellaneous work. If your Majesty wants to ask, please ask Eunuch Wei." Although the little maidservant was afraid, she made her words clear, "The maidservant doesn't know anything."

"Then go and call Wei Zhongde to us."

She responded, turned around and walked quickly inside.

After a while, Wei Zhongde came over in a hurry, knelt down with a plop, and said respectfully, "My maidservant kowtows to the Holy One."

"Get up." Zhu Yuanzhang stared at him, "What did the prince do from last night to today, tell us honestly."

"Yes." Wei Zhongde lowered his head, "His Royal Highness fell asleep after coming back last night, got up this morning, had dinner, and did the homework assigned by Mr. Song, then continued to practice calligraphy. Walking the dog, until now."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath: "Is there nothing special about him?"

Last night, Huang Xi issued a death order to keep silent about the incident in the Hall of Martial Arts. No one dared to speak out, and Zhu Biao would not reveal it. Same."

"Not at all?" Zhu Yuanzhang compared a small distance between his thumb and index finger, "For example, he has a bad appetite."

Wei Zhongde said: "Return to the Holy One, there is no such thing."

"Okay, fine." Zhu Yuanzhang laughed back angrily, "Don't tell him that we have been here, no, you just pretend that we have not been here, and let the prince continue to play with the dog. It is best to forget about us."

He walked away angrily, wishing he could stamp out a hole with one step, and while walking, he looked at Huang Xi behind him from the corner of his eye.

Huang Xi kept his head down because of his anger, and didn't even see it.

When he was about to arrive at the Qianqing Palace, Huang Xi understood his meaning like a sudden epiphany, and said, "Your Majesty, this servant thought that His Highness the Crown Prince actually knew that he had repented, but after all, he was young and couldn't save face and apologize to you, so I apologized to you." It is human nature to feed the dog alone in the backyard, you should give His Highness some time."

"Yeah." Zhu Yuanzhang stopped immediately and said, "What you said makes sense."

Huang Xi breathed a sigh of relief, continued to ponder Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions, and said tentatively: "Your Majesty, we have arrived at the Qianqing Palace, why don't we drop by the back to see the empress?"

"Look at her?" Zhu Yuanzhang felt as if his butt was burned, and his pants were about to be destroyed. "Look at what she is doing, why should we go to see her? What's so good about her, there are so many concubines in our palace, which one is not more beautiful and gentle than her."

"This... this is what this servant thinks. Today is the second day after His Majesty returned to the palace. His Majesty was exhausted from traveling on a boat and finally returned home. The Empress must have prepared meals for you. If you don't say anything, your Majesty must be very happy." Those who care about His Majesty don't need to be told by servants, His Majesty knows it best."

"It is said among the people that husband and wife quarrel, quarrel at the head of the bed and close at the end of the bed. Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven with a broad mind. The empress and mother respect the world. She is kind and forgiving. They are a match made in heaven. What can't be done?"

Usually Huang Xi was given eight more courages, and he didn't dare to dissuade him without authorization, try to figure out what he wanted, and say such a thing, and whoever urged him to say it, he must bite him to death to relieve his anger.

But Zhu Yuanzhang obviously couldn't hold back his face at this time. He needed someone to give him a step, so he had to get involved.

On the other hand, Zhu Yuanzhang was very moved, with a look of being scratched, coughed a few times and said, "There is some truth, we are indeed much more generous than the queen."

"Then..." Huang Xi said.

"Then go and see her!" Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I won't save her from crying under the covers and making a scene out of it and making people laugh."

A group of people headed towards Kunning Palace.

Similarly, when he was outside the hall again, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped the eunuchs who were about to report, and ordered everyone not to make noise or kneel down. When I was on my feet, I remembered the puppy's oath, turned my legs, and went to the window.

Huang Xi was still walking along, didn't react to anything, almost rushed in in a daze, but was grabbed by Zhu Yuanzhang, grabbed the clothes on his chest and dragged him behind, and then he squatted down on his shoulders.

The two looked in through the open window.

The house was peaceful, Ma Xiuying and Zhu Jingning were sitting at the table having lunch, and there was no one around to serve them.

There are two meat dishes and two vegetarian dishes on the table, plus a pot of fruit tea. The plate of meat dishes is already empty, but there are still quite a few vegetarian dishes.

"Jing Ning, eat the food too."

Ma Xiuying pointed at the plate on the table and said sternly.

"Mom, I don't want to eat vegetables, I want to go..."

"No, you can't do whatever you want, just eat these." Ma Xiuying reached out and patted the table, causing Zhu Jingning to shrink back in fright, "If I had known this, your brother shouldn't have bought you rabbits and taught you how to eat them." What's wrong with you, she's so delicate, look at Jing Jing, she's never picky about food, you have to learn more from her."

"But the last time I went to play with my eldest sister, I saw her mother and concubine scolding her for not studying hard."

"She has her strengths, and you have yours, understand? You can't just gloat over other people's problems, you have to learn from others' strengths and improve your own weaknesses." Ma Xiuying said, "Only in this way can you become better and better." The better."

Zhu Jingning groaned, and sat down again with her mouth pursed.

Why is it suddenly so quiet outside?

Ma Xiuying frowned, realized something, glanced at the sky calmly, and found a small piece of hair exposed by the window, couldn't help smiling, and decided to continue the topic.

At this time, Zhu Jingning had already eaten those dishes, so she boasted: "Very good, this is the only way my mother likes it. You must know how to listen to other people's advice. Good medicine is good for the disease, and good advice is good for the ear. If you have a problem, you must correct it. Don't be afraid of others. Say, people are willing to say, it is for your own good."

Zhu Jingning didn't understand why Ma Xiuying talked so much about the truth today, so she didn't dare to refute, so she nodded honestly, expressing that she remembered it.

"Mother doesn't like you, doesn't care about you, why would you ask you to correct the problem?"

"You must not dismiss other people's suggestions, and take three points for being unreasonable. Over time, no one will point out your mistakes, and no one will be willing to talk to you. Everyone is afraid of you and flatters you. , to please you, you will be deceived, and you will become more and more arrogant, understand?"

"Mother, I know I'm wrong."

"Good boy, let's eat."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very uncomfortable outside, and his face was about to turn as red as the wall.

He didn't expect that Ma Xiuying not only didn't wait for him to eat, but also didn't feel sad at all. She even took the opportunity of educating Zhu Jingning to educate herself, pointing fingers and scolding Huai without any regrets.

It really makes no sense!

It's the other way around!

He stood up abruptly, kicked the wall hard, and walked towards the Hall of Martial Arts regardless of whether he would be exposed.

Huang Xi didn't dare to say anything anymore, and chased after him like a transparent person, wishing he could disappear.

The prince and queen obviously didn't take yesterday's quarrel to heart, or in other words, they deliberately didn't take it to heart, showing that it had nothing to do with them, what should they do, eat well and sleep soundly.

This makes Zhu Yuanzhang, who is still sulking and secretly trying to reconcile, look very naive, very unlevel, and very... flattering.

"Huang Xi!" He shouted.

"The servant is here."

"Serve us food." Zhu Yuanzhang said, "These two days we will eat and live in the Hall of Martial Arts, you go and bring our thick quilt over here, we will not go anywhere."

At the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't read the words in the playbook at all. Fortunately, he just came back and had to deal with a lot of state affairs. After getting busy, he relieved the psychological pain and could barely think about it.

As for Liu Ji's resignation memorial, although he pressured him again and again, he also agreed that he would not come to court for the time being and rest at home.

Many months passed like this.

The prince didn't come to court, the queen didn't go to bed—nor did she simply sleep, the emperor kept his face dark every day, wailing in and out of the palace, asking around, no one knew what was wrong, everyone could only behave with their tails between their legs.

Li Shanchang and Liu Ji knew better and were not sure. Some people came to ask about Tai Chi and pretended to be confused. They hoped that this storm would end soon.

And just as everyone expects, although things are impermanent, sooner or later, they will eventually pass.

In the blink of an eye, dry goods such as nuts are becoming popular.In order to curry favor with Zhu Yuanzhang, Huang Xi bought a basket from the market outside the palace, including peanuts, chestnuts, melon seeds and hawthorns, and put them on porcelain plates on the table.

There was heavy snow outside the window, and a charcoal fire was burning in the room. Zhu Yuanzhang turned off the last lamp and lay down on the couch wrapped in a quilt.

Between heaven and earth is so quiet.

He closed his eyes wearily, and he seemed to hear the sound of snowflakes falling on the window sill, on the steps, and on the brown wet branches.

After a while, he still couldn't fall asleep, opened his eyes and looked ahead in a daze.

After gradually adapting to the darkness, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to see things slowly. He saw the faint moonlight reflected by the snow color and sprinkled in the room, covering the tables, chairs and walls with a hazy outline.

The newly appeared plate of dried fruit caught his attention, and the peanuts in it were piled high, forming a black shadow.

The cold wind was blowing, whimpering and whimpering.Even though the palace was as warm as spring, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart cooled down a little bit.

He thought that when Zhu Biao was young, it was also such a cold winter, and there was such a strong wind outside. Ma Xiuying hugged Biaoer, sitting cross-legged on the bed, and the family ate roasted peanuts by the fire, talking and laughing, imagining Once the battle is won, they can stay for a longer period of time, and they will have better houses and better food.

But now, we have become the emperor, my sister is the queen, Biaoer is the prince, and the food and food are the best in the world.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help sitting up, dragged the quilt to the table, peeled a few peanuts, put half of them in his mouth, and half raised his hand to pass to someone.

Stretch out your hand, and it will be empty. Such a vast hall can accommodate many people, but at this time, there is no other figure at all, only the emperor and his shadow.

That's right, we quarreled with them, for a subject who is almost no longer a threat.

Could it be that we are too stubborn...

A sigh echoed in the Hall of Martial Heroes.

The night watch eunuch standing at the door was nervous, and listened for a while, but did not hear any more movement, and continued to stand like a sculpture, waiting for the opportunity to be summoned by the emperor.

Snowflakes brushed against his shoulders.

In the quiet and majestic Forbidden City, the temperature in people's hearts in winter is not as good as that of the former palace.

The night passed and the snow stopped.

It was still daylight, and the palace servants of Kunning Palace were sweeping the snow. When someone looked up, they suddenly saw the emperor approaching from far and near. He knelt down first, and soon the palace servants destroyed the ground. No one dared to stand upright again. .

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't see them at all, he wandered around a few times, dawdled into the yard, tried to get out several times, finally crossed the threshold, and said in a low voice, "Cough, cough, sister?"

no respond.

It was white everywhere, and the sound of the palace people walking on the snow, creaking and creaking, mixed with the shrill cries of the jackdaws, hovering over the palace.

There was no Ma Xiuying in the yard, in the kitchen, in the main hall, or in the bedroom.

Zhu Yuanzhang became anxious. He blocked the news about Kunning Palace and Chunhe Palace in the past few months, and he stopped paying attention to the words and deeds of his wife and children in a fit of anger. In addition to routinely asking the imperial physician, knowing Ma Xiuying's physical condition after pregnancy, Nothing else is clear.

"Sister?"

Zhu Yuanzhang supported the pillar, and his voice became louder and louder. In addition to anxiety, he was gradually tainted with regret.

"Sister!" Zhu Yuanzhang shouted again.

"What's wrong?" A voice came from behind him.

Wearing a thick red cloak, Ma Xiuying stood on the pebble path with a gentle expression, holding a food box in her hand.

"Sister." Zhu Yuanzhang quickly turned back and stared at Ma Xiuying. There were countless things to say and many feelings to confide in his mouth, but in the end he only asked, "Why aren't you in the room?"

Ma Xiuying smiled: "I'm afraid you will become a puppy."