Chapter 22 Chapter 22

Because of Chang Luo's lecture, which aroused the displeasure of Concubine Zheng, Emperor Wanli spent countless energy and financial resources, and accompanied all smiles, and finally coaxed Concubine Zheng to change her mind and continue to cuddle up to him like a lark. in the arms. Therefore, Concubine Zheng became the biggest beneficiary of this incident—her "private house" alone doubled—in order to please her, Emperor Wanli rewarded her with a large number of Jewelry, antiques, and even silver for her to count for entertainment were carried to her in several large boxes; and she was born in a merchant, and she would unconsciously send out a heartwarming and satisfied smile when she saw "money" It came, but this time she forcibly forced herself to hold back; when these valuable "rewards" from Emperor Wanli came to her, she just stopped crying as if she was extremely reluctant, but she didn't. Laughing as usual.

She is a smart person, and she knows that this is an opportunity that should be seized and made good use of. As long as the method is used correctly, what she wants will be achieved. Therefore, she controlled her eyes that had just stopped crying to reveal heartbroken and aggrieved eyes, sighed a long and faint breath, and said to Emperor Wanli in a low voice: "These, please Take it back, Lord Long Live, don’t concubines—” Such a trick of "playing hard to get" really made Emperor Wandi anxious, and said repeatedly: "This—what's the matter? I will pay you, okay? Take it, keep it for fun, don't Get angry, okay?"

However, even though he spoke so humblely as the son of heaven, Concubine Zheng refused to let go—she lowered her head, her eyes turned red again, and wept softly and said: "These are not worthy of being a concubine—Long live The Lord doesn't know where to put the concubine, mother and child, what do the concubine want these rewards for? Why don't you just give them all to the eldest son of the emperor!" Emperor Wanli sighed "Oops": "I really can't help the group of ministers in the court who think they are loyal and loyal about the matter of the emperor's eldest son. At least I have to perfuse them and gag their mouths. It's not right to go out to study. What’s the point of formally setting up the reserve? Besides, haven’t I already dismissed a few who have been promoted to establish a reserve, dismissed from their posts, and dismissed from the court? This is all to make you feel at ease—”

Concubine Zheng cried: "What else can I worry about? Anyway, life is hard——" She used "crying skills" anyway, and made Emperor Wanli say nothing wrong, neither right nor left, and she burst into tears with a pair of extremely aggrieved and pitiful eyes, which made Emperor Wanli cry. Worried and confused, he didn't know what to do. Finally, he finally made up his mind and raised a white flag to Concubine Zheng and said: "Okay, okay, okay, I promise you, when it's time to establish a crown prince, I will give you the crown prince." Definitely establish Chang Xun—you are not joking, I will definitely do it, please stop crying, okay?"

He capitulated, compromised, and uttered a specific promise. However, Concubine Zheng still refused to change her appearance, she pouted her lips slightly and said: "There is no basis for what you say, you have to write an oath written by the Lord Long Live and let the concubines keep it!" Emperor Wanli finally managed to coax her to this point, and finally a turning point has begun, so of course he agreed: "Okay, okay, okay, I'll write to you——I'll write right away!" As he said, he really "no joke" and immediately put it into practice; he hurriedly asked the eunuchs to wait for the Four Treasures of the Study to come up, and also raised his ink-stained pen to write his name on a fragrant lacquer paper. The oath of the emperor's third son, Chang Xun, as the crown prince - in order to make Zheng Guifei happy, he also wrote the three words "Zhu Changxun" with special care, writing these three words big and full of momentum, as if there was something real It looks like the king is in the world; after writing, he ordered the eunuchs to dry the ink quickly, so that Concubine Zheng could hold it in her hands and play with it, and put it in her private box to hide it...

Of course, with this affidavit in hand, Concubine Zheng burst into tears with satisfaction; the maids have been with her for a long time, and the ability to observe words and emotions is no longer a problem. Seeing that the atmosphere has changed, they immediately catch up to replace her After cleansing her face and redressing her makeup, in an instant, a tearful man transformed into a reincarnated Xi Shi, snuggling into the arms of Emperor Wanli as delicate as a spring flower. The savvy ladies of the court immediately took the next step—an order was passed, and the food and drink were passed up together with the female singers, and the atmosphere in the bedroom immediately changed again; Romantic and beautiful scenery; Concubine Zheng is happy because her wish has been fulfilled, of course she frequently persuades her to drink, so that before the sky is dark, Emperor Wanli is already drunk, and he is lying on Concubine Zheng's lap Fell asleep.

Fortunately, there are many people - the eunuchs who served him carefully carried him to the dragon bed, removed his clothes and hats, and let him enjoy the sweet dream alone. On the other hand, Concubine Zheng Gui couldn't fall asleep anyway, not because of Emperor Wanli's thunderous sound mixed with the smell of alcohol - she had been used to this kind of sound for many years, and it didn't hinder her sleep at all - it was because of her heart When something happens, you can't help but think about it, and you can't sleep... The affidavit written by Emperor Wanli to her had obviously been locked in a box for safekeeping, but she ordered the maid to open the box, take it out and read it again, and then put it back into the box—overnight. After unlocking and locking the box several times, she still couldn't calm down and fall asleep.

Thousands of thoughts are entangled in my heart, so I can't tell what it feels like; what I understand in my heart is that this is really a big deal. I have been tossing back and forth for ten years, and I just got it today. Such an affidavit written by Emperor Wanli himself; she was indeed filled with emotions, and it was inevitable that a slight sadness rose from the bottom of her heart. For ten years, she did not hesitate to fight against the ministers of the court and the public opinion of the whole country. She seemed to be fighting on an invisible battlefield day and night; An invisible traditional concept and system—for ten years, she has fought tirelessly, but there is a faint feeling of fatigue hidden in her heart.

It's just that, with her strong nature, she refuses to give up easily—she wants to fight for the best status, status, and interests for herself and her son. There is only one queen, and there is only one future emperor. I have already suffered a disadvantage and fell behind at the start. If I don't actively fight for it, I will not even have my turn in eight lifetimes! "Until today, the matter finally has such a clue—" She sighed in her heart, turned over and sat up, she couldn't help but stare straight at the sleeping face of Emperor Wanli; that familiar face looked like a baby after falling asleep, its body was hidden under the quilt, and it was like a puppet , but this is everything to her——looking back on the hard work of the past ten years, she feels lost; a weak woman with bare hands stepped into the palace as big as the ocean, and won a little by virtue of her beauty and scheming. Love is the sky, and everything depends on it!

"In the Ming Dynasty, there were so many people who secretly called me 'beautiful beauty', but there are too many to count!" But, who can understand her sadness? The children are still young and ignorant; but the people of my own mother's family, after enjoying the glory, wealth and all the privileges by relying on her favor, turn their heads to persuade her to let go—perhaps because of the pressure of public opinion, Her biological father, Zheng Chengxian, has hinted at her repeatedly. The most recent one was to find an excuse to give gifts during festivals, and gave her several paintings, calligraphy and antiques, one of which was written by a famous contemporary artist. When she opened it, she found that it was written in "Little Star". She read a few sentences casually, and she felt sullen in her heart: "Holding a quilt and a bag, the real life is not worth it—"

So, she took advantage of the topic and sneered at Zheng Guotai, who came to the palace as a gift, and said, "Thank daddy for me—thank him for giving me a 'little star' life, and I have to trouble you at this juncture." He came to remind me!" After all, Zheng Guotai has been used to laughing and laughing with her since he was a child. Not only is he not afraid when he sees her angry, but he also knows how to resolve it—he first lowered his voice and said kindly: "Daddy definitely didn't mean that." !" As he spoke, he winked his eyes and said, "When you become the Empress Dowager, the first benefit will fall on the old man. How could he not wish for it?" Then, he intentionally put on a cautious look, and whispered in her ear: "It's true that the wind outside is getting tighter and tighter, and the old man is afraid that you'll be hard to beat with two fists, so I advise you First stop; secondly, he also told me, why are you clinging on like this? In fact, just wait patiently——the Kunning Palace will call Yu in a few days. Doctor, there will be a day; won't it be justified by that time, won't you have nothing to say?" Of course, what she said was not unreasonable, but she was unwilling to listen to it and "wait for the rabbit"; because, in her heart, she believed that it was unreliable--the queen was sick, but she was sick and prolonging her life. She had occupied the empress's throne for more than ten years, and was deeply loved by the benevolent empress dowager; although Chang Luo was thin and thin, with a stunted appearance, she did not die as she expected... Moreover, her personality is aggressive, and she doesn't listen to passive and waiting opinions. She would rather lose her father's spiritual support and fight alone - for the future of herself and her son, she believes that this is worth it; , now that the Emperor Wanli's oath is in hand, he has more than 90% chance of winning. So, she stretched out her hand and gently stroked Emperor Wanli's face, feeling the warmth from his skin, her fingers trembling lightly. "Even if you want to be the enemy of the whole world, as long as you can grasp the heart of Long Live Lord, you can hold the chance of victory—" As she thought about it, she had a sudden impulse to lift the curtains and got out of bed; although the eunuchs and maids had already gone to sleep, there were still people watching the night outside the curtains, doors, and halls, but she didn't want to let them in. Even, she didn't want the eunuchs and maids to find out that she couldn't fall asleep and got out of bed, so she didn't even change her shoes, and a pair of small three-inch golden lotuses fell to the ground with only soft sleeping shoes. Stepping silently, she went behind the screen; holding her breath as much as possible and keeping her voice down, she opened the cabinet and took out the affidavit hidden in the cabinet. After nightfall, most of the lamps and candles were extinguished, and the main source of light in the bedroom was the moonlight coming in through the window lattice, which was weak and dim; she didn't want to light up the lamp to make people notice, so she couldn't see the writing on the affidavit ;Of course, she didn't really care - opening the box to get the affidavit was just a subconscious action for her. Under the faint moonlight, she stroked the entire affidavit with her fingers over and over again until dawn.