Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 837: Breaking News
Ji Jiu told Zhu Er and Zhang Dakuai that they were the three heroes who broke into Huitong. However, for the head of the Ministry of Rites, who had hurried back after hearing the news from his subordinates, this was definitely a three-ugly incident that made him angry! Three dandies were so bold as to break into the Huitong South Pavilion. When had such a thing ever happened in the Ming Dynasty?
Moreover, unlike the Huitong North Hall located in Chengqingfang, the Huitong South Hall is located on Dongjiangmi Lane in the Qianbu Gallery area, close to many government offices. But after such a big incident, Zhu Er and the other two could still walk away, which was simply unbelievable! Therefore, the furious chief went to the Ministry of Rites to report , and then he was determined to impeach the three ugly men.
However, no matter how angry this official was, even if he sent his indignant impeachment memorial to the Ministry of Internal Affairs before it closed, he did not know that during the transfer process, the impeachment was suppressed as soon as it reached the cabinet.
The three ministers who had just been summoned by the emperor knew that the three daring guys who broke into the Huitong South Pavilion to cause trouble were instructed by the emperor. Even though they were sure that the emperor would never leave any written evidence, and it was not necessarily an oral order, Academician Kong originally felt that the emperor's random selection of troops was simply nonsense, and now facing this huge storm, he was even more speechless.
Isn't this a low-key solution? How many people will notice this matter if Zhu Er and his three men make a fuss? How can it be low-key? If people question the so-called tribute girl from Goryeo, Goryeo will definitely take the opportunity to make a fuss. What about the face of the court? The person who did this is dead, and no matter how much we investigate, we can't make this matter go away!
Even though this was a sequelae left by Jiang Ge Lao when he was the Prime Minister, no matter how he fought with others internally, Kong Daxueshi did not want to leave a stain on foreign affairs. Therefore, he naturally hated those three guys who did not understand the emperor's intentions and actually caused trouble. Of course, he hated Zhang Shou even more.
Therefore, after leaving the cabinet late at night and returning to his palace, Grand Secretary Kong told the driver to go directly to Zhang Garden, which was not on the way. Grand Secretary Kong had rarely been to the former Prince Lu's villa, which the emperor "sold" to Zhang Shou at a very low price. After all, he had just been an official when Prince Lu was in power, and after Prince Lu died, the mansion was vacant, so he only passed by it a few times.
As for what would happen after this place was "sold" to Zhang Shou, that's needless to say. Therefore, when he arrived at the gate of Zhang Garden, he opened the curtains and told his attendants to knock on the door, but he also specifically instructed: "Don't say anything else, just say I came to see you and will leave in a moment."
The attendant naturally responded respectfully, but when he knocked on the door and said a few words to the concierge, he turned back in a subtle manner and said with a bitter face when he came to the window of the carriage, "Master, it says on the door that their young master...is not at home today."
Seeing that Grand Secretary Kong's face froze immediately, he was afraid that his master would suspect that he was not doing things properly, so he hurriedly and carefully explained: "Master, the doorman said that not only is their young master not here, the young lady is not here, but even Old An is not here. They all went to the Duke of Zhao's mansion, and I heard that they might not come back tonight, and they may have to stay there."
Knowing that Master Kong disliked Master Zhang very much and would get annoyed when hearing these three words in the past, he naturally omitted this title and simply referred to him as "Young Master". Sure enough, his caution brought him great benefits, because the next moment Master Kong was furious.
"Ridiculous! Go back home!"
Resisting the urge to lose his temper at the door, Academician Kong immediately ordered his men to return home, and then slammed down the curtains. He didn't understand. Even if he became the son-in-law of the Duke of Zhao's mansion, Zhang Shou still had his own mansion, an official position, and a well-established family business. Why did he indulge Zhu Ying so much, and let her go to the Duke of Zhao's mansion whenever she had nothing to do, and even stay overnight?
It would be fine if the couple went alone, but why did they bring along the old woman, Wu? There has to be a limit to how much you can do to please your father-in-law!
In the eyes of Confucius, even though Wu, the former maid, had raised the young master Zhang Shou and even received an imperial decree and title from the emperor, and Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were willing to call her mother, she was still just an old nanny. It was because of this ignorant old nanny that she fawned on the Duke of Zhao's mansion and did not act like a mother-in-law at all.
Of course, the attendant outside the car would not ask why Master Kong did not go to the Duke of Zhao's mansion - based on the current hot discussions on the streets, his master used to hide behind Elder Jiang to plot against the Duke of Zhao and his son, and he would never enter the gate of the Duke of Zhao's mansion in his lifetime. Otherwise, Zhu Jing and Zhu Tingfang were so grudge-bearing, and if they attacked him in person, wouldn't the master be humiliating himself?
Zhang Shou didn't know that he had accidentally avoided the visit of Confucius. It was not that Zhu Ying suddenly wanted to live in Zhaoguo Mansion, nor that he needed to please his father-in-law's family. It was that Zhu Er sent someone to ask for help urgently after returning home. He knew what was going on, and after thinking about it, he simply brought Wu and Zhu Ying together.
Anyway, Wu was familiar with Jiu Niang, and the lady was also very kind to her. Besides, they were relatives, so at a critical moment, she might be able to say a few words for Zhu Er, the reckless boy.
However, he did not expect that Zhu Er's vague request for help was not because he was worried that he could not handle the situation because he was acting according to the emperor's order, but because of another reason. When he, Zhu Ying and Wu arrived at the gate of Zhaoguogong Mansion, they were taken to Qing'an Hall by Jiang Mama who was waiting there. He learned a piece of extraordinary news.
The lady suddenly fainted after dinner!
Although the Duke Zhao's mansion sent out many people and almost forced two imperial physicians and a famous medical expert from the capital to come back, the lady had already regained consciousness, but the three doctors had almost the same diagnosis except for considering the prescription.
Madam Tai had a chronic dizziness before, but she had always rested and taken a bland diet, so the attacks were rare and relatively mild. This time, the attack was sudden and severe, so the symptoms were quite dangerous. Although she is awake now, it is easy to have sequelae, which may cause difficulty in speaking and twitching of hands and feet, or even make it difficult for her to get out of bed.
No matter how tough and decisive Zhu Ying was, she was stunned by this sudden shock and had no idea what to do. Even though Zhang Shou had no particular knowledge of Chinese medicine, he knew the word "dizziness" because Emperor Gaozong of Tang's dizziness was so famous.
If the disease continues to develop, it will lead to serious consequences such as brain tumors and stroke. And according to the doctor's diagnosis, those so-called sequelae are indeed symptoms of stroke.
Even in a later society with advanced medical science, there is no guarantee that such a disease can be cured, let alone now? After all, the lady is over 70 years old and not young anymore!
The two imperial physicians and the doctor knew that the Zhao family was not one to hide illness or avoid medical treatment, so they told them the symptoms truthfully. However, when they saw that these family members, who were once famous in the capital, had gloomy faces, they wanted to say nice words to comfort them, but were worried about what might happen next. So when the lady woke up, the doctor without an official title stayed, but the two imperial physicians left in a hurry.
After all, they worked in the Imperial Hospital and although they treated dignitaries, their main job was to be the imperial physicians around the emperor. Of course, what they feared most was that Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing would say coldly, "If you can't cure me, you'll pay with your life!"
The doctor who stayed behind was helpless. Although the attitude of the Duke of Zhao's family was quite polite, he was still trembling. Until a maid politely took him out of the main room to the side room to rest for a while, although her face was sad, she did not ask for any more guarantees from him, nor did she use her power to pressure him to warn him. When he watched them leave, his heart was heavy.
Today, Zhu Jing is in charge of the Ministry of War, and Zhu Tingfang is in charge of the Five Cities Military Department. With the addition of Zhang Shou, the popular son-in-law, it can be said that they are more powerful than before.
However, if something happened to the lady, one of them would have to die first - because Zhu Jing, as a son, would have to observe mourning, and the duration of mourning would be twenty-seven months!
As for Zhu Tingfang, although his father was still alive and he was not the heir apparent, he only had to wear mourning clothes for one year and did not have to observe mourning. But generally speaking, he could not act as vigorously as before during the mourning period and had to be more cautious about many things.
Moreover, the Grand Madam was the current Empress Dowager's biological sister. With her around, there was a natural connection, and the Emperor and Zhu Jing, their cousin, would naturally become closer. If the Grand Madam passed away, who knew what the future would be like?
Others were thinking about the turmoil in the Zhu family if something happened to the Madam, but none of the people gathered in Qing'an Hall thought about that possibility. Even Wu, thinking of the Madam's past pleasant words and deeds, could not help but secretly pray to God for mercy.
Fortunately, when the old lady swallowed the water and medicine Zhu Ying fed her with some difficulty, Zhang Shou saw clearly that she did not have any signs of crooked mouth. He was at least slightly relieved and immediately hinted to Zhu Ying to hold the old lady's hand. When the person drank the water and fell asleep again, everyone went to the upper room of Jiu Niang to talk, and Zhang Shou deliberately pulled Zhu Ying to the end.
After the people ahead had left for a long distance, he asked in a low voice, "Yingying, let me ask you, when you went to hold your grandmother's hand just now, did she still have the strength?"
Zhu Ying hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Grandma seemed to want to grab my hand, but she didn't seem to have much strength. However, she could still move her fingers, but it was very difficult."
"It's good to be able to move. At least that's not the worst situation."
Zhang Shou breathed a sigh of relief, then whispered, "Grandma is old, and since she had this disease before, we can only treat her slowly, and don't rush. It's a great blessing that she can wake up today. What you should do is not to be nervous or scared, but to pretend that nothing has happened and accompany her often. She is a very strong person, and nothing will happen to her easily."
"Also, don't treat her too much like a patient. With her personality, she has been strong all her life, but in the end, her most beloved granddaughter treats her as a patient who can't do anything on her own, or even a disabled person. That would be the biggest blow. When she recovers, remember to treat her with a normal attitude."
Zhu Ying's eyes sparkled when she heard this, but she knew that Zhang Shou was right and that the lady was indeed like that.
Zhu Tingfang, who had been waiting at the Moon Gate, had just heard Zhang Shou's words of comfort to Zhu Ying after he realized that Zhu Ying had not come along. He found that every word hit the nail on the head and was not just empty consolation. Most importantly, he was filled with mixed feelings when he heard Zhang Shou's suggestion that Zhu Ying should come to accompany the lady more often.
If Zhu Ying had married into another family and become a daughter-in-law, would her parents-in-law or husband be so magnanimous as to let her come back to accompany her grandmother?
He did not disturb the couple and quietly turned around to leave. When he arrived at the main door of the upper house, he saw his wife Zhang Ruyu standing there waiting for him. Seeing him coming, Zhang Ruyu came forward and then lowered her voice and said, "Dad and mom are discussing in the house. They said they want to resign and go home to take care of grandma, but mom firmly disagrees. They almost had a fight just now."
Zhu Tingfang certainly knew his father best. Zhu Jing was flexible, able to hold back and let go. At critical moments, he could be so cruel that he even treated his son as a pawn, and allowed his wife to live in a Buddhist temple without taking her in. It can be said that the overall situation is the weight on the scale in people's minds, and other things are far less important than it.
And now, he finally knew what could be more important than the overall situation.
He nodded to his wife who had been standing by the door, and then pulled her in. Zhang Ruyu was stunned for a moment, and then her face flushed with joy. But before she entered the house, she saw Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou walking hand in hand from the corner of her eye, and the scene was exactly the same as hers at this moment.
She didn't know whether Zhu Tingfang, who always seemed cold, had seen the action of her sister and brother-in-law behind her and pulled her hand just now, but no matter what, she still felt warm in her heart. Therefore, after entering the house, she did not let go of Zhu Tingfang's hand because of shyness, and just pretended not to see the strange look of her brother-in-law Zhu Er.
Zhu Jing waited calmly until the two young couples came in, then he said, "I plan to resign from my post to take care of my illness."
Zhu Tingfang had Zhang Ruyu to tip him off, but Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying didn't. At this moment, Zhu Ying was naturally shocked, but Zhang Shou came to his senses the first time. After looking at Jiu Niang who looked calm, he said calmly: "Father-in-law is certainly filial, but I think if grandmother knew, her first reaction would definitely be to kick you out."
Hearing this, Zhu Er couldn't help but admire him. Just now, he saw his father and stepmother arguing. He wanted to persuade them but didn't dare to, because it might be wrong to support either side, and he might even get beaten. But Zhang Shou, on the other hand, choked back his father, whom he was always the most afraid of, after hearing this. Listen, grandma will beat you out, how domineering this is!
"I don't want to talk about loyalty or filial piety, because if grandma were here, she wouldn't like to hear such a big truth. Given her personality, what she hates most is being treated as a dying person just because she's sick!"
