Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Chapter 257 Eighteen Beats of the Song, Spring Snow and Lantern Festival

Before Zhu Youtang could prepare what to do with Huichang Hou, the Lantern Festival holiday had already begun.

The Spring Festival holiday is only from the 30th to the 5th day of the Lunar New Year, but according to Zhu Di's edict, the Lantern Festival holiday in the Ming Dynasty is from the 11th to the 20th of the first lunar month.

Zhu Youtang knows that some things don’t need to be rushed, just like something you left at home and searched for to no avail, but it may suddenly appear if you don’t look for it deliberately.

Even as a high-ranking emperor, he actually yearns for holidays, not to mention that this Lantern Festival holiday lasts for ten days.

Since fishing in Taiye Pond was still not allowed and no memorial was sent, Zhu Youtang usually did not go to Xiyuan during holidays, but stayed in the Forbidden City.

Qianqing Palace, a large area of ​​bright lights.

Even though there is only one owner living there in name, this largest courtyard house appears orderly and like a small world.

There are a group of eunuchs and maids busy around the owner of the palace at all times. For example, there are four lights in Dongnuan Pavilion, and each one is guarded by maids.

Zhu Youtang liked this bright environment very much. As usual, he was sitting at his desk reading the latest information.

Although the Marquis of Huichang was responsible for all this, in the first few days, the news that the imperial court was going to build the outer city of Beijing was almost top secret, and it was impossible for the Marquis of Huichang to know it at the first time.

A question arises from this incident: The news about Qian Fu came from the Marquis of Huichang, so who provided the information about the Marquis of Huichang?

From the fact that the Marquis of Huichang was able to quickly plan to hunt down Qian Fu, and that the assassination of Miss Qian failed, and that he was able to immediately frame Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment, it all proves that there is another force involved.

Although the Ming Dynasty has always promoted the Confucian thought of monarch and minister, many people would not believe that the emperor would be harmed by his ministers or slaves, but if it were not for the impact of the outside world, Emperor Guangxu would have simply died of illness.

No?

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but frown slightly when he saw the results of Dongchang and Jinyiwei's investigation into the Huichang Hou Mansion.

Even though Jin Yiwei and Dongchang were described as miraculous by later generations, after being exposed to them for such a long time, I always felt that they were quite satisfactory.

Neither of the two yamen made any major mistakes, but there were no surprises either. Now when they were asked to investigate the Huichang Hou Mansion, they came back disappointed again.

But it's not all without profit. For example, among the several suburban mansions purchased at low prices by Qian Fu, one of the mansions belonged to Ma Wensheng, the former imperial censor of Zuodu, the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

If Qian Fu already knew the news, how could Ma Wensheng not know about it? Therefore, Ma Wensheng's sale of the house may have helped induce Qian Fu to mortgage more land deeds to Changsheng Pawn Shop.

The lights flickered, the Dongnuan Pavilion still maintained floor heating, and the copper stove gave off a faint scent of sandalwood.

The door was gently pushed open, and a beautiful girl stepped across the threshold with her legs raised.

The girl is wearing a red-themed palace dress, already wearing a woman's headdress, her beautiful big eyes are very smart, she has a very delicate face, and her small figure is full of feminine qualities.

At the moment she came in, the four beautiful maids standing under the lamp seemed to fade away, and there seemed to be an extra beautiful scenery here.

The visitor was none other than Lin Qiqi, one of the nine concubines. Ever since the beautiful scene that night, Queen Naihe, she had been truly conquered by the most powerful man in the world.

She got a good lottery today. It was actually her first time to come to Dongnuang Pavilion. Her beautiful big eyes were full of curiosity, and her heart was beating nervously.

Think about it day by day, think about it at night, and finally see it.

Zhu Youtang was not a person who was easily influenced by the outside world. He held a langhao pen in his hand, dipped a little ink on the tip of the pen, and wrote "Mainly rebel against guests and fish in troubled waters."

Just as he finished writing the last word, he suddenly smelled a fragrance like orchid in his nose. He turned around and saw Lin Qiqi, one of the nine concubines, who had just taken a bath.

Perhaps Lin Qiqi was the petite among the concubines, but she still cried in the end when she bullied this girl, which gave her a sense of accomplishment that belonged to a man.

"I have met your Majesty!" Lin Qiqi's pretty face looked very excited. She had become deeply curious about Zhu Youtang. Just now she couldn't help but look at what Zhu Youtang was writing, and now she bowed politely.

Or because of Zhu Youtang's nourishment, now Lin Qiqi not only has a beautiful face, but also has alluring female curves all over her body.

According to the current rules of the palace, the concubines who are drawn must come to Qianqing Palace to sleep, but they can come to Dongnuan Pavilion in advance, or they can lie directly on the dragon bed during bedtime.

Women are sexy animals after all, and Lin Qiqi is a talented woman who has been obsessed with poetry and music since she was a child, so she also wants to truly get into Zhu Youtang's life.

Zhu Youtang found that the red-style palace dress this woman was wearing was very beautiful, so he greeted her directly: "Chongyuan, since it's so early, why don't you do some ink research for me first?"

"Your Majesty, what do you mean by writing about being a guest and fishing in troubled waters?" Lin Qiqi responded, pointing to the few large characters that had just been written on the paper.

Zhu Youtang saw that there were only a few unimportant pieces of information left, and that he would not have a job tomorrow, but he hugged her into his arms.

Lin Qiqi had a petite figure and a submissive temperament. She was suddenly pulled by Zhu Youtang and fell into Zhu Youtang's arms. Her heart suddenly beat strongly.

“It smells so good!”

Zhu Youtang held her in his arms, smelling the scent of this girl, and couldn't help but praise her.

Lin Qiqi's pretty face was slightly red, but she just wanted to please her. Thinking of her previous dress, she felt happy.

"Returning to guests and fishing in troubled waters are naturally strategies in government affairs, but tonight, it will be Fengyue!" Zhu Youtang liked this shy little woman very much, but suddenly he looked at the knot on her chest.

Lin Qiqi didn't wear much clothes, but now she seemed to be seen through, her pretty face and ears were slightly red and she said: "Your Majesty, you are not serious!"

"What I mean by Fengyue is to recite poems and write poems. Where did my beloved concubine go? Chongyuan, the Lantern Festival is coming, how about you compose a poem?" Zhu Youtang is not an impatient person, but he cultivates it slowly. The relationship between the two people.

"I don't dare to show my ugliness, these are all poems that are difficult to express in a refined manner!" Lin Qiqi was not a woman who liked to be in the limelight, so she said modestly.

Zhu Youtang actually didn't have much interest in ordinary works, so he just made a suggestion: "Then I won't embarrass you, just write about Xin Qiji's Sapphire Case!"

Although there are many Yuanxiao poems, he is willing to call this one the best.

"Your Majesty knows about Xin Qiji?" Lin Qiqi was slightly stunned at first, and then said in surprise.

Zhu Youtang looked at the surprised girl and laughed and said, "What you said is so new. I've known him since I was in elementary school... when I was a kid, and I'm even more familiar with the Qingyu case!"

After all, poetry is a cultural treasure of China, so in the nine-year compulsory education of later generations, almost everyone knew how to recite it, and the famous poems were deeply engraved in their minds.

As for Xin Qiji, it is impossible not to know that a true Chinese man with both civil and military skills is not comparable to the Ming civil servants who are praised for their knowledge of military skills.

"I don't believe it!" Lin Qiqi was still skeptical. After all, even many powerful scholars may not know it.

Zhu Youtang reluctantly let go of the woman, pointed to the paper on the table and said, "You write, and I will read it to you!"

"Okay!" Lin Qiqi was originally worried that she would make the emperor unable to step down, but seeing Zhu Youtang's confidence, she also picked up the pen next to her.

Liu Jin was on duty tonight. Liu Jin saw sparks appearing here and silently took a few steps back.

"The east wind blooms thousands of flowers at night, and even blows them down, and the stars are like rain!"

Huh?

When Lin Qiqi heard Zhu Youtang read out the first sentence of "The Sapphire Case", she was slightly stunned for a moment, and then wrote such a word on the white rice paper.

After all, she is a woman who has been devoted to books since she was a child. When she writes, the lines are light and graceful, and the font contains gentleness, and her whole person has a bookish atmosphere.

"The road is filled with the fragrance of BMWs and cars. The phoenix flute is playing, the jade pot is spinning, and fish and dragons are dancing all night!" Zhu Youtang came to Lin Qiqi's side and looked at her nimble pen tip.

While Lin Qiqi was writing, her delicate body trembled slightly when she heard the complete poem. One thing is already very clear in my heart. This emperor and husband possesses extraordinary talents.

The words were so soft that the entire Dong Nuan Pavilion seemed extremely quiet, leaving only the rustling sound of Lin Qiqi's pen tip touching the paper.

"The moth is a golden wisp of snow and willow, and his laughter is full of secret fragrance. People are searching for him thousands of times."

Zhu Youtang looked at the calligraphy written by Lin Qiqi, but he knew that the girl who could write so well must not be too talented. There might be a Lantern Festival poem that he could like.

When Lin Qiqi wrote, "Everyone has searched for him thousands of times," she seemed to be filled with thoughts.

"Looking back suddenly, there was that person, in the dim light." After Zhu Youtang read the last sentence, the person had already arrived behind Lin Qiqi and reached out to grab Lin Qiqi's hand from behind.

Liu Jin saw this scene, but he wisely began to reduce the candlelight and at the same time screen out some irrelevant people.

Lin Qiqi's hand was suddenly grabbed, and her heart was beating loudly. Just looking at this hand writing the last sentence with her own hand, she felt like she had found her destination.

As a girl who has loved reading since she was a child, she has naturally had her moments of hesitation and confusion. Regarding this person, she "searched for him thousands of times".

But tonight, she knew that "that person was in the dim light", or maybe right behind her.

The poem was completed, but after adding a hand, the words at the end became obviously sloppy.

"Chongyuan, your body smells so good!" Zhu Youtang hugged this sweet-smelling girl tightly from behind and seemed to be feeling sincerely.

Lin Qiqi was secretly happy, but she suddenly asked in confusion: "What's so hard behind you!"

cough……

When Liu Jin saw that the war had begun, he immediately coughed and sent all other personnel away.

After all, Lin Qiqi was already someone else's wife, and she had already reacted when she turned around. After some entanglement, he squatted down silently.

Dongnuan Pavilion was originally the place where the emperor handled government affairs, but since the Yangxin Hall was built, he no longer works here, and it was used by Zhu Youtang for other purposes tonight.

In fact, it was not that Zhu Youtang came here randomly, but after all his hard work and failed, he also found a fortune teller, and the place of birth was pointed to Dongnuan Pavilion.

If he wasn't worried about being teased by future generations for being a time traveler and being deceived by charlatans, he would have wanted to turn Dongnuang Pavilion into a dormitory. Now bullying Lin Qiqi here would be a compromise.

Since favoring Lin Qiqi last time, Zhu Youtang suddenly fell in love with singing at night, and those famous songs undoubtedly have a deep charm.

Lin Qiqi catered to him very much and was even more impressed by this man's talent. The song that played tonight was "Eighteen Beats of Hujia".

"When I play the zither and play the harp, I feel resentful and no one knows about it."

"Two beats are stretched, and the string is broken, and the ambition is broken, and the heart is broken, so I feel sad."

"The sad feeling of Jin Xi was made three times, and when will the sorrow and hatred of the beasts be calmed down."

"Thinking and going through many hardships and obstacles, the four shots are all the more miserable."

"My eyebrows are raised towards the moon while I caress the elegant harp, and the five beats are lulling and the meaning is profound."

"Reminiscing about the past, it's hard to carry luggage, and the six beats are sad and I want to give up."

"Your Majesty, are there two more shots left?"

"Change your posture first!"

"Although the music ends in eighteen beats, the sound is lingering and the thoughts are endless."

Dongnuan Pavilion really responded to the occasion, and the snaps continued, but the excitement was not over yet. Zhu Youtang made another decision: "I will give you another poem!"

"Okay, my concubine...wuwu!"

"I'm talking about being a teenager, holding Qingcang on the left, holding Huang on the right..."

It's the Lantern Festival, and a bright moon hangs over the Qianqing Palace.

There was no trace of the tabby cat, and the weather in the first month was freezing cold. Only the Dongnuan Pavilion with lights on could occasionally hear lyrics and music.

On the morning of the Lantern Festival, Beijing received its first spring snow.

The majestic Forbidden City’s red walls, yellow tiles and flying white snow interweave together a beautiful scene in the world.

The eunuchs and maids in the palace were extremely excited when they saw the appearance of the first spring snow, which seemed to indicate that they would have good days ahead. Some even couldn't help but run into the snow to cheer.

Although it is the Lantern Festival holiday, Zhu Youtang is not idle.

In the last investigation of the case of Huichang Hou, there was actually a major discovery, that is, a large number of Beijing debts were copied from Changsheng Pawnshop, which were IOUs for officials who were going to take office in the local area.

Zhu Youtang realized that the biggest crux of corruption among Ming officials might not be in the local area, but in the capital. Some people even forced them to go to the local area to make money when they just joined the job.

The spring snow had just cleared, and a group of eunuchs were sweeping the snow along the palace road. An official wearing a brand-new second-grade coat had already come along the palace road.

"Chendu Chayuan Zuodu Yushi Wangdu greets you!" Wang Yue shook off the snowflakes on his body outside before coming in, and then respectfully saluted Zhu Youtang.

When Wang Yue came in, Zhu Youtang had already put down the book in his hand, and seriously looked at this loyal minister who had made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty.

As luck would have it, this was the first official meeting between Zhu Youtang and Wang Yue, and it was also the true combination of what would later be known as the tyrant and murderer.

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