Chapter 13 The Twelfth Chapter

Zhu Yijun followed Sun Hai and slipped out from the back door of the Palace of Compassion and Ning. He made many twists and turns and came to the imperial garden behind the Chengguang Gate. He ran excitedly to the old cypress tree, looked up but was dumbfounded.I saw the bird's nest hanging on the treetop yesterday, but it's gone now. Looking back at the ground, there are traces of being cleaned.Sun Hai said dejectedly, "It's still too late."   "Who is so bold, I'll ask someone." Zhu Yijun stomped his feet, ready to find someone.   Sun Hai called him to stop, and said: "Prince, I don't need to ask, maybe someone knew that the prince was going to dig out the bird's nest, and asked someone to do it first."

  "It's rare to find something fun once a year, and it's never going to happen." As he spoke, Zhu Yijun looked wistfully at the top of the cypress tree, with an unhappy expression on his face.  At this time, in the Royal Garden, there are colorful flowers, a hundred flowers blooming, clear water, emerald green leaves, singing birds and fragrant flowers.The warm sun shines directly down, and even the rockery, which usually looks gloomy and cold, now becomes lively, bright and lovely.But Zhu Yijun no longer had the interest to play, and he and Sun Hai left the Imperial Garden disconsolately.Along the way, from time to time, passing eunuchs avoided the side of the road and respectfully greeted the prince, but Zhu Yijun didn't bother to answer.In order to avoid people, he turned to the West Fifth Office of Qianqing Palace, and decided to go back to the Palace of Compassion and Ning from Yongxiang, which is rarely visited by people.

  "Sun Hai, come up."  As soon as he turned into the corridor of the West Fifth Institute of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yijun turned his head and shouted.As a slave, Sun Hai dared not walk side by side with the crown prince.Although he took two quick steps and shortened the distance between the two, he still dragged his feet and refused to move forward.Seeing that Sun Hai was still falling behind, Zhu Yijun simply stopped, turned his head and asked angrily, "Why don't you come up?"  "The servant dare not." Sun Hai whispered.   "I want to ask you something, but you are behind, how can I ask?"

 Seeing that the prince was angry, Sun Hai had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward, walking side by side with the prince.   "How old are you this year?" Zhu Yijun asked.  "Fifteen years old."   "You are five years older than me."  "Yes, the prince."  "What year did you enter the palace?"   "Longqing three years, three years already."  Zhu Yijun suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky with white clouds.Asked: "Is there anything fun outside the palace?"

 Speaking of "playing", Sun Hai's eyes lit up, and the formality from his usual training disappeared all of a sudden.The voice of speaking also raised: "Back to the crown prince, there are indeed too many fun things outside the palace, too many!"   "Ah, is that so?" Zhu Yijun gave Sun Hai an envious look, "Tell me, what's interesting."   "Watching temple fairs, watching social dramas, playing with lions, walking on stilts, playing firecrackers, setting off river lanterns, fighting crickets, playing house..." 

Sun Hai was so familiar, he spoke clearly and clearly, and then he talked about every method and fun of "playing".Hearing this, Zhu Yijun was elated and amazed.After Sun Hai finished talking, Zhu Yijun asked again: "At this time, what are you playing outside?"   "Fly a kite." Sun Hai opened his mouth and answered, "When I was only five years old, my grandfather taught me to sing a song." After speaking, Sun Hai sang in a low voice:  April day from warm to cold  Dongfeng is like a whip  Draw the earth and flowers spit

 Yoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy  I got my centipede babbling hey hey  The centipede bit my dragonfly's tail and flew into the sky  Sun Hai sang very deeply. After singing, afraid that Zhu Yijun would not understand, he explained: "Centipedes and dragonflies are the names of kites. My grandfather is very handy, and all insects and beasts can be made into kites. to heaven."  Zhu Yijun said excitedly: "Come on, let's go back and make a kite and fly it."  Sun Hai shook his head and said: "Kites need a large open space, where can they be released in the palace? The square in the Huangji Gate can be used, but the Huangji Palace is the place where the Long Live Lord opened his court. Very good, how can you let people fly kites?"

 As soon as Zhu Yijun was discouraged, he said sadly: "Sun Hai, there are so many interesting things outside the palace, I really don't understand why you want to come into the palace."  Sun Hai sighed and said: "My lord, the servant's family is poor, and it is predestined to enter the palace."  "Don't worry, I won't treat you badly."  The two master and servant stopped and talked like this, and they didn't realize that they had walked half of Yongxiang.Suddenly, they heard the sound of weeping coming from a row of small tile-roofed houses behind Xianfu Palace, and they stopped in their tracks.After listening for a while, Zhu Yijun said, "Let's go and have a look." The two pushed open the door of a small tile-roofed house after hearing the sound of crying.

 In the room, an old eunuch with gray eyebrows was sitting on a chair, and a young eunuch who was about eleven or twelve years old was kneeling on the ground, sobbing and crying.Seeing Zhu Yijun push the door in, the old eunuch panicked and rolled off the bed, knelt down to pay his respects.   "What do you do?" Zhu Yijun asked domineeringly.  "Back to the prince, the slave is the drummer in the Jiaofang Division." The old eunuch replied tremblingly.   "Ah, from the theater in the palace, I have seen your play." Zhu Yijun pointed to the little eunuch kneeling on the ground, and asked the old eunuch, "Why did you bully him?"

 The old eunuch did not dare to raise his head, and explained in a low voice: "The slave dare not bully him, because he made a mistake, and the slave punished him according to the rules."   "What mistake did he make?"   "This little bastard ate the gall of a leopard, and went to the imperial garden to dig out a bird's nest."   "Ah, so you dig out the bird's nest," Zhu Yijun became angry when he heard that, kicked the kneeling little eunuch on the buttocks, and said bitterly, "It's time to hit!" 

The little eunuch didn't pay attention to this kick, and immediately fell forward and gnawed at the mud.I wanted to howl loudly, but when I saw that the prince had a bad background, I held back the pain, got up and knelt down again.    The room is empty, only that one.Sun Hai drew over and asked Zhu Yijun to sit down.   "What's in the bird's nest?" Zhu Yijun asked the kneeling little eunuch with his face closer.   "There are bird eggs." The little eunuch replied shyly.   "How many?"   "Four."   "Where are the eggs?"  The little eunuch reached into his shirt, took out four bird eggs the size of broad beans, and held them in front of Zhu Yijun with his hands.  Zhu Yijun picked up one, it was still warm, he held the egg up to the sun to shine a light on it, and asked: "What are you doing with the eggs?"  "Hey Toad."  "Hello what?" Zhu Yijun didn't hear clearly.  "Hey toad." The little eunuch answered word by word.  This inexplicable answer made Zhu Yijun stunned: "Hey toad, hello toad..." He muttered, feeling incomprehensible.  Sun Hai stood up and shouted: "Bold little slave, dare to lie to the crown prince, the crime is not lightly forgiven."  The old eunuch knelt aside and said: "Please calm the prince. This little bastard did not deceive the prince. He really raised two toads."   "Why do you raise toads?"  "Fun."  The little eunuch replied, still holding the bird's egg with both hands.It seems that he has only entered the palace not long ago, and he doesn't know any etiquette yet.   "How to play, you play for me to see."  Zhu Yijun immediately became interested. Seeing that the little eunuch was still kneeling, he couldn't help stretching out his hand to pull him.   "Get up quickly," Sun Hai shouted, "You're so rude, you still need the prince to hold you back."  The little eunuch then got up, put the four eggs back into his bosom, ran into the back room, and brought out a cloth bag and two bamboo tubes.He first poured two toads out of the cloth bag.I saw the two toads as big as teacup trays, one with red paint on the back, and the other with white paint on the back.As soon as the two toads landed on the ground, they jumped at each other, then turned their heads towards the little eunuch, and stood side by side in a row.The little eunuch poked the heads of the two toads with his fingers, pointed at Zhu Yijun with the other finger, and said, "Greetings to the crown prince!" The two toads drove past, turned towards Zhu Yijun, and put the two toads on the ground. With only its front paw stretched out straight, it poked its head forward twice.This seemingly clumsy but extremely spiritual movement caused the whole room to burst into laughter, and after laughing, they were amazed.When he first saw the toad rolling to the ground, Zhu Yijun was still a little scared, but after this performance, he suddenly became overjoyed.He pointed to the toad that was still lying on his stomach and asked Sun Hai: "Are they toad spirits?"  Sun Hai didn't understand either, so he pouted at the little eunuch and said, "You answer the prince."  "Back to the prince, they are not toad spirits, their movements are trained by slaves." The little eunuch replied.  "Toads can still be trained?" Zhu Yijun's black as lacquer eyes widened, full of confusion, "What else can they perform?"  "The prince please look down."  The little eunuch said, and moved the bamboo tube over again.Place the toad separately and upside down, with the mouths of the bamboo tubes facing each other, with an open space more than two feet wide in the middle.As soon as the little eunuch clapped his hands, the red-backed toad crawled to the opening of the bamboo tube on the left, and the white-backed toad crawled to the opening of the bamboo tube on the right.The little eunuch clapped his hands again, and the two toads puffed their cheeks towards the mouth of the bamboo tube and jumped up, three times in a row.Then he slowly moved his body and lay down against the bamboo tube, with his head facing the open space in front of the bamboo tube.At this time, I saw two teams of ants crawling out of the bamboo tube.The red-backed toad crawled out of the red ants, and the white-backed toad crawled out of the white ants.The two teams of ants crawled straight into two lines, one red and one white, straighter than ink fountain lines.The little eunuch clapped his hands again, and the two toads puffed their cheeks and jumped again beside the bamboo tube, and the two groups of ants also seemed to have received the order, and hurriedly climbed up the opposing line, and the formation suddenly became chaotic.I saw the red and white ants each catching a pair and fighting each other, with their heads raised and their legs raised, and they summed up their horns.After fighting for a while, the ants of the white team obviously couldn't resist and began to rout.The red team ants became more and more courageous as they fought, taking advantage of the victory to pursue.At this moment, the little eunuch clapped his hands again, and the two toads began to crawl up the open space.And the two teams of ants that were fighting also hurriedly retreated, each returned to the team, and slipped back into the two bamboo tubes. The two toads were still the same as before, with their heads facing the prince, lying there obediently.  Not to mention the ten-year-old prince, that old eunuch in his sixties playing drums, has never seen such a strange thing.I was so surprised that I couldn't speak for a moment.  "Prince, is it fun?" the little eunuch asked naively.  "Fun, fun," Zhu Yijun asked, as if waking up from a dream, "What kind of game is this?"   "The toad commanded the ant soldiers." said the little eunuch.   "Who taught you?"  "My grandfather."  Zhu Yijun looked at the little eunuch, then at Sun Hai, and said in bewilderment: "Why are your grandfathers so capable? One can make kites, and the other can train toads and ants."  The little eunuch got excited after receiving the praise, clapped his hands and said, "My grandfather is really capable, just because he knows how to play this game, and he will never beg for food with empty hands."  "What nonsense are you talking about?" The old eunuch stopped the young eunuch, and then said with a smile to Zhu Yijun, "This little bastard just entered the palace, and he doesn't understand any rules. Please be more considerate, Prince."  Zhu Yijun already liked this little eunuch very much, so he asked him, "What's your name?"   "For guest use." The little eunuch replied.   "What are you doing in the palace?"   "The minute is in the bell and drum division." The old eunuch rushed to answer.   "What bell and drum division?" asked the guest in confusion.  Sun Haiyile, hehe said: "You can't even understand your own errands, how did you become a eunuch?"   "I'm not a eunuch."  When the guest used these words, everyone in the room turned pale with fright.It should be known that in the deep forbidden palace, except for the emperor and the underage prince, any man who trespasses inside will be killed with a stick.   "You're not a eunuch, how did you get in?" Zhu Yijun asked.   "A few nights ago, they put this suit on me, stuffed it into a small sedan chair, and carried it in."   "They? Who are they?"   "I don't know," Ke Yong blinked, pointed at the old eunuch, and said, "Ask him."   "Tell me, who are they?" Zhu Yijun asked the old eunuch again.  The old eunuch's face was pale with fright, and now he knelt on the ground as if sifting chaff, and replied: "Eunuch Meng just confessed, let the slaves take good care of these boys, and the other slaves don't know anything about it."   "Ah, not just one?" Zhu Yijun looked around the room and asked, "Are there any others?"   "In the next room."   "Go, go and have a look."  The prince spoke, but the old eunuch did not dare to neglect, led Zhu Yijun out, took out the key and opened the door lock of the next room, Zhu Yijun looked in, and saw three little boys who were about the same age as the guest, huddled in a corner of the room, He looked at the luxurious prince in front of him with horrified eyes.  The crown prince is young, but he still knows the rules in the palace: who brought these boys in? He was about to ask for clarification, but Sun Hai preemptively said, "I'm going to report to the imperial concubine."  After a while, an apricot-yellow female sedan chair stopped in front of the small tile-roofed house in Xianfu Palace. Concubine Li Gui stepped down from the sedan chair and asked the prince who followed the sedan chair, "Jun'er, but here?"  "Exactly." Zhu Yijun replied.  A row of small tile-roofed houses are locked and closed.The accompanying eunuchs knocked on every door, but no one answered. Concubine Li Gui ordered the doors to be kicked open, but there was no one there.   "Escaped so soon?"   Li Guifei raised her eyebrows and said.It turned out that after Zhu Yijun returned to the Compassionate Ning Palace, he immediately reported to her what happened in the small tile-roofed house behind the Xianfu Palace.She suddenly realized that these little boys were very likely to be "boy molestes" secretly recruited by Meng Chong for the emperor, so she decided to take advantage of it and punish Meng Chong severely.Unexpectedly, the old eunuch moved quickly, and within a short time, he transferred the person without a trace.At this time, Feng Bao, who received the message from Concubine Li Gui, also brought a group of eunuchs to come quickly. Seeing Concubine Li Gui's anger, he quickly said: "Please return to the palace to rest. I will leave this matter to the servants. They just got into the ground." The slit, the slave also picked him out."  Concubine Li Gui thought for a while, and said, "Alright, you, the admiral of the East Factory, will come in handy this time."  Click Concubine Li Gui took Zhu Yijun back to the Palace of Compassion and Ning in a sedan chair, but Feng Bao immediately gave an order to a eunuch in charge of the East Factory who accompanied him: "Quickly mobilize personnel to seal all exits in Da Nei. The eunuchs who go out, no matter how big or small, whether they are with ebony or tooth tags, will be strictly checked by me. Don’t miss a single suspicious person.” The eunuch in charge took the order and left.Feng Bao also called an eunuch Yapai, and asked him to go to the head of the teaching workshop to find out the whereabouts of the old eunuch who played drums.The tooth card master hesitated a little, showing a look of embarrassment.Feng Bao saw it, his face turned cold, and he scolded sharply: "What are you dawdling for? Let me tell you, this is the order of the imperial concubine and the prince. If you make a mistake, be careful that I will peel your skin!" Yapai Dayu didn't dare to delay any longer, and ran away.  Feng Bao's affairs were properly assigned, and he just sat down and drank a cup of tea when he returned to the supervisor's office, when he saw Li Houyi, who was appointed as the eunuch in charge of the Jiaofang, rushed in by the toothpai master.As soon as the two knelt down to salute, Feng Bao couldn't wait to ask, "Where's the person?"   "Back to Eunuch Feng, the old eunuch playing drums you are looking for is Wang Fengchi. For some reason, he hanged himself in the spare room behind the Bell and Drum Division."  It was Li Houyi who answered, Feng Bao was not surprised when he heard that, he just smiled coldly and said: "He died at the right time, let's go and see."   After speaking, they got up, and the group of people came to the courtyard of the Bell and Drum Division on the side of the imperial garden, and walked into the idle room in the back corner where broken drums, rotten bells and other sundries were piled up. The bell rope hangs straight on the roof beam.Feng Bao ordered people to untie Wang Fengchi, squatted down and rolled over his eyelids and lips, got up and circled the corpse twice, and suddenly ordered to the two Dongchang black boots who were traveling with him: "Tie up Li Houyi for me!" !"  Li Houyi knelt down on the ground in a panic, and begged: "Eunuch Feng, you really did nothing wrong, why do you want to tie me up?"  Feng Bao pointed at the corpse and said murderously: "Everyone who hanged has his tongue stretched out, why is this Wang Fengchi clenching his teeth? There are blood marks on his neck, it was pinched, it seems Someone intends to kill people to silence them, and you are the head of the Jiaofang, so the first one can't get away with it."   "Eunuch Feng, I am wronged."   "It's not wrong to be wronged, you'll know it when you enter Dongchang, and you're bound!"  With a wave of Feng Bao's hand, the two schoolboys threw Li Houyi to the ground and tied his hands behind his back.  Just at this time, another group of eunuchs rushed in, the first one was wearing a black tunic with a small python facing the sky, he was short and fat, with a protruding chest and a fat face, and a Rosacea nose is very eye-catching.  This person is the supervisor of Ouchi——Meng Chong, the eunuch in charge of the chief inspector of ceremonies.  Meng Chong is also in his fifties. In terms of the age of entering the palace, he is about the same as Feng Bao.But the promotion was not as fast as Feng Bao's. When Feng Baodong was in charge of the factory, he was only mixed into the position of the prime minister's eunuch in the Xihuamen Neili under Shangshan Supervisor.In the last years of Jiajing, Feng Bao had been the eunuch of Bingbi for several years before Meng Chong became the supervisor of Shangshan.This Shangshan supervisor is responsible for the food of the emperor and the harem.In the inner prison yamen, although it is not prominent, it is extremely important.Meng Chong was born with a naive face, and when he was studying in the inner school, his grades were not good.But as soon as he talked about eating, drinking and having fun, he was beaming and articulate.Especially eating, he seems to be particularly researched.Give him a sheep, and he can make you twenty or thirty dishes with different colors, flavors and styles, such as cold sliced ​​sheep tail, stir-fried sheep tripe, oily kidney, sheep lips and long whiskers, sheep intestines... eat Those who have experienced it once will never forget it.Therefore, it is most appropriate for him to be in charge of Shangshan Supervisor.Meng Chong is a simple person, but he still has narrow eyes.After Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, Meng Chong served him very carefully.Every time he had a meal, he would deliver it himself, and stand by his side to see what dishes the emperor ate and what dishes he would not eat;He memorized it in his heart, and within a month, he found out the taste of the emperor, and every time the meal was delivered, the emperor ate it with great appetite.Sweet, sour, salty, all just right.The emperor will inevitably have to praise a few words, and Meng Chong is even more attentive.Once, the emperor asked Meng Chong to go to the market outside the palace to buy some fruit cakes.Meng Chong didn't dare to be negligent, he ran to the food store on Qipan Street, bought more than a dozen boxes of pine, hazel, , etc., and sent them to the Qing Palace.The emperor asked while eating: "How much are these worth?" Meng Chong replied: "Fifty taels of silver." The emperor laughed and said: "These are only five taels of silver at most. If you don't believe me, go to Goulan Hutong on East Chang'an Avenue to buy them. "It turned out that the emperor lived in Yuwang Mansion before he became the throne. When he had nothing to do, he occasionally went to Goulan Hutong to buy sweets, so he knew the price.Meng Chong originally wanted to report more money and embezzle a little bit of silver, but he didn't expect the emperor to be so familiar with the price, his face turned pale with fright, and he prostrated himself to plead guilty.Fortunately, the emperor didn't care about it, and still smiled and said: "There are not many profiteers in the capital, but you, an idiot, just ran into it. Just pay attention in the future." With this experience, Meng Chong never dared to be in front of the emperor again. Playing a narrow mind, he used all his 18 skills in the kitchen to please the emperor's appetite.After two years like this, the big chef suddenly had a fortune and turned into the palm seal of the supervisor of ceremonies.It should be said that his promotion this time was entirely due to Gao Gong. Chen Hong, the former supervisor of ceremonies, resigned because he offended the emperor. According to the usual practice, he should be succeeded by Feng Bao, the eunuch who had been a pen-holding eunuch for many years, but Gao Gong looked down on Feng Bao. Feeling uncomfortable everywhere, he insisted on recommending Meng Chong to push Feng Bao down.Although the emperor knew that Meng Chong was greedy for petty gains, but he was "as simple as a big horse bear, and still cute", so he agreed to Gao Gong's recommendation.After Meng Chong took office, he won the trust of the emperor because he was good at understanding the emperor's psychology and doing what he liked. Starting from paying tribute to the slave Huahua, he specially selected handsome women and men for the emperor's enjoyment.Recommending Wang Jiusi to the emperor this time was originally another extremely lucrative matter, but unexpectedly, Zhang Juzheng shot out, and the matter suddenly became difficult to deal with.However, after the emperor met with Gao Gong in the Wenhua Palace in the morning, he ordered him to go to the prison of the Ministry of punishment to release Wang Jiusi immediately.He had just settled Wang Jiusi so that he could make alchemy quickly and not miss the emperor taking medicine, but he didn't want such a big event to happen again in the palace, so he hurried over.Although he is the chief executive and the powerful "inner minister", he is not easy to offend Feng Bao.Although his current position is higher than Feng Bao's, Feng Bao is ahead of him in terms of qualifications and scheming.Therefore, as long as no matter big or small, as long as it does not involve his own interests, he will never stop Feng Bao from doing whatever he wants.  Li Houyi was about to go out after being pushed and shoved by two small schools, when he caught sight of Meng Chong, Li Houyi suddenly seemed to have met a savior, and shouted loudly: "Meng Gonggong, please save me."  According to the rules, it is absolutely not allowed to arrest eunuchs in the middle of the palace, not to mention Li Houyi, a tooth card master, or a small fireman with an ebony card. Without him, Meng Chong nodded.Seeing Li Houyi being tied up, Meng Chong immediately felt that his power was being challenged, and his face suddenly became long. He asked angrily, "Eunuch Feng, what kind of Dafa has Li Houyi committed that deserves to be tied up like this?"  Feng Bao also knew that he was acting beyond his authority, but he was confident that he had the backing of Concubine Li Gui, so he spoke in a firm tone: "He has the suspicion of killing someone to silence him."   "What kills people to kill people, that's all?" Meng Chong pointed at Wang Fengchi's corpse on the ground, and said with a "chi" smile, "Eunuch Feng, when we entered the palace, this Wang Fengchi was playing drums in Jiaofangsi. He is timid and afraid of getting into trouble. The last time he rehearsed "Jade Phoenix Tower" for the emperor, he kept hitting the drums wrongly, and the emperor was so angry that he wanted to beat him 30 times. Li Houyi quickly knelt down to intercede for him, and this disaster was avoided. You were also in front of me at the time, and you could see clearly. Wang Fengchi was over seventy years old, let alone thirty big boards, even three boards down, and he would blow out the lights. If Li Houyi wanted his life, why did he want to kill him at that time? save him?"   "At this time, at that time," Feng Bao stood with his hands crossed, not frightened by Meng Chong's aura, but replied with a half-smile and half-smile, "Meng Gonggong, you probably know that Wang Fengchi Bringing four wild boys into the palace without authorization is a violation of the ban on beheading. He, Wang Fengchi, is just like what your father-in-law Meng said. How can he have such courage if a tree leaf falls and is afraid of smashing his head? Unfortunately, this incident The matter was inadvertently bumped into by the crown prince, and the truth was revealed. Now the imperial concubine and empress have ordered a strict investigation. In a short time, Wang Fengchi died, and the four wild boys were also hidden without a trace. Eunuch Meng, tell me, this Is someone trying to kill someone?"  No matter how naive Meng Chong was, he could hear Feng Bao's tone of voice was not kind, so he endured it and asked, "Even if someone wants to kill someone to silence him, how do you conclude that this person must be Li Houyi?"   "He is the director of Jiaofang, and Wang Fengchi is in charge of him. The first person who is suspicious is of course him."  As soon as Feng Bao finished speaking, Li Houyi yelled again: "Eunuch Meng, I have been wronged!"  Meng Chong scanned the room with his eyes, and there were about 20 eunuchs of all sizes.If Feng Bao were to take Li Houyi away in front of them, who would listen to what he, the supervisor of ceremonies, and the eunuch in charge of seals, would say in the future?What's more, those four "boy moles" were brought into the palace by him and handed over to Wang Fengchi to take care of them.He has always been unwilling to turn his face against Feng Bao, but now it seems that he can't care about it anymore, and his heart is overwhelmed, and he speaks in an orderly tone:  "Eunuch Feng, you must let Li Houyi go!"  Meng Chong was always loose, but suddenly his attitude hardened. Feng Bao was unexpected, he was slightly taken aback, and replied: "I have obeyed the imperial concubine's order."   "I have the emperor's will!"   Meng Chong rode a tiger and was not afraid of a donkey, so he yelled at Feng Bao with his stomach full.The atmosphere in the room was already very tense, and this time it was even more like an enemy. The eunuchs present saw the two most powerful figures in the twenty-four prisons in Ouchi standing on top of the bull, and they were all frightened and kept silent. .  Feng Bao could hear the weight of Meng Chong's words. Compared with the emperor's imperial decree, the imperial concubine's decree is nothing short of mustard.I can't bear it and I have to bear it.Feng Bao rolled his eyes, changed his murderous look into a smirk, and said, "Since Eunuch Meng has obeyed the imperial edict, I will leave Li Houyi to you." tied up.  Meng Chong gained the upper hand, and shouted at the eunuchs present: "What are you doing in a daze, why don't you clean up Wang Fengchi and carry him to the incarnation field."  All the eunuchs got the order, and they were busy all of a sudden. Meng Chong was afraid to stay where he was and get entangled with Feng Bao, so he stepped out the door, but Feng Bao was reluctant, so he chased him out and asked:   "Please tell Mr. Meng, are those four wild boys looking for it or not?"   "No..." Meng Chong originally wanted to say that he would not look for it, but when he thought about it, he changed his mind and said, "I will ask the emperor for an order on this matter."  Emperor Longqing had seen Gao Gong from the Wenhua Palace and returned to Qianqing Palace. He was bored, lying on the couch in Xinuang Pavilion, and while letting the little eunuch who was waiting around him knead his legs, he had a relationship with Zhang Gui Gossip.  "Zhang Gui, look at my complexion, isn't it much better than before?"  Zhang Gui had already been granted a seat, but when he heard the emperor's question, he rolled down the stool and knelt down again, glanced at the emperor, and replied: "My slave looks much better than before."  "Oh, you follow me every day, you know the details best, you should take a closer look." Emperor Longqing bowed his body, and his face really showed a little gleam due to excitement.   Zhang Gui just said casual compliments, but in fact his eyes were bright: the emperor's complexion is as withered and yellow as fallen leaves in late autumn - this is the sign of serious illness.The reason why he was hyperactive in the past few days was because he took Wang Jiusi's "Yin Yang Great Tonic Pill".Zhang Gui also knew that what Wang Jiusi prepared for the emperor was "aphrodisiac", although he was worried in his heart, but he dared not reveal it lightly, Zhang Juzheng took Wang Jiusi in the street, Zhang Gui was secretly happy.Thinking that in this way, the emperor would have no chance of "hitting the evil", so he still came back to take the medicine from the imperial physician, so that his condition could really improve.   "Why are you looking at me like this?"  Zhang Gui stared blankly at the emperor, but he was actually thinking about his own thoughts.When Emperor Longqing asked such a question, Zhang Gui woke up with a start, and replied against his will: "Go back to Lord Longevity. This servant just watched carefully. Lord Longevity's complexion really improved a lot."   "Well," Emperor Longqing nodded in satisfaction, then leaned his head back on the pillow, and said comfortably, "Wang Jiusi's medicine has miraculous effects, and you are a witness."  Zhang Gui knelt silently.  At this moment, the eunuch on duty at Xinuange came in and reported to Meng Chong for a visit. "Let him in quickly." As soon as Emperor Longqing stood up and sat up, his spirit immediately cheered up a lot.  Immediately, I heard hurried footsteps passing through the veranda. As soon as Meng Chong entered the door, he knelt down and said out of breath, "Slave Meng Chong kowtows to the emperor."   "How did you make the donkey neigh and the horse pant like this?" Emperor Longqing reprimanded him gently, and then asked, "Wang Jiusi picked it up?"  "Back to Lord Long Live, the servant has already sent Wang Jiusi back to the alchemy place, and Wang Jiusi asked the servant to play the role of the emperor. Before the time is too late, he will refine today's elixir."   "It's so good."  Emperor Longqing glanced at Meng Chong appreciatively, and ordered him to sit down. Meng Chong thanked him, shrank and sat on the stool, and glanced at Zhang Gui.Zhang Gui understood that Meng Chong had something to report to the emperor alone, and it was difficult for him to speak up because of his presence, so he knelt down and left Xinuang Pavilion wisely.  When the sound of Zhang Gui's footsteps disappeared, Meng Chong whispered: "Long Live Lord, something happened in the palace."  "What's the matter?"   "For some reason, the prince wandered to the back of the Xianfu Palace and met those four little molesters."   "What's the big deal?"  Emperor Longqing smiled disapprovingly. After hearing Meng Chong tell the whole story, Emperor Longqing felt that the problem was serious.Although he is flirtatious and lustful, he is cowardly by nature, now he reproaches and says, "You too, why did you want to get four at a time, it's better now, you have made such a big mistake."   "The slave is not careful, and he deserves death," Meng Chong shrank his head and neck, looking trivial, and muttered, "The slave originally wanted to get more, one is for the emperor to choose, and the other is in case of need.”   "Where are these four children now?"  "Still in the palace, Feng Bao ordered the gates of the palaces to be closed. If an ant goes out, it must be seen clearly whether it is male or female."   "How did that old eunuch die?"   "The staff was afraid that revealing his secrets would be bad for the emperor, so he boldly dealt with him. This Feng Bao is so aggressive that he must kidnap Li Houyi. It is the servant who saved him."   "The cabinet has Zhang Juzheng, and the Ouchi has Feng Bao. They are deliberately opposing me!"  When Emperor Longqing said this, his tone was more sad than angry.With that dejected look, it seems that he is not the Ninth Five-Year Supreme, and he does not hold the power of life and death in his hands.Meng Chong felt desolate after hearing this, and begged:   "The emperor please decree to remove all the palace bans arranged by Feng Bao."   "Okay, you go and deal with it quickly." Emperor Longqing waved his hand, Meng Chong knelt down to thank him and was about to withdraw, Emperor Longqing added, "You should also urge the elixir on the other side of Wang Jiusi, I will wait where to eat."  "Yes, slave remember."  Meng Chong obediently withdrew, Emperor Longqing was a little hungry, and ordered to pass on the meal.There were twenty or thirty dishes on the table, looking at these delicacies, Emperor Longqing lost his appetite.The eunuch serving food added a small bowl of fragrant parrot rice to him, he took a bite, but it was tasteless like chewing sawdust, put down the bowl again, picked a piece of sesame pancake and ate it.Let's take care of this lunch.  The dinner table was removed, and Emperor Longqing was rinsing his mouth in the water bowl held by the little eunuch, and another eunuch came outside to report: "Empress Chen and Concubine Li are begging to see you." Upon hearing this, Emperor Longqing drank all the water in his mouth. It sprayed on the little eunuch's face.The matter of Meng Chong's kneeling performance made him uneasy. He knew that it was not a good thing for the two concubines to come to see him. He wanted to send an order to keep them out, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while.While hesitating, Empress Chen and Concubine Li walked lightly with lotus steps, and both walked into Xinuang Pavilion.   "The concubine pays respects to the emperor!"  Empress Chen and Concubine Li Gui said together, then knelt down together.Emperor Longqing stepped forward to help them up himself, and ordered the eunuchs to move up cushioned embroidered chairs to sit on.Emperor Longqing looked at the two concubines who had not been summoned for many days, and saw that Empress Chen was wearing a lotus leaf-colored gauze skirt woven with gold and phoenix patterns, and because of the cold, she was wearing a cloud-shaped shawl with a red silk border. A thin layer of pearl powder made from steamed jasmine seeds was also applied on the face, making it look more graceful and luxurious.Concubine Li Gui was still dressed in the same attire she wore when she met Feng Bao in the morning, but she took off the soft silk boots under her feet and changed into a pair of "cat shoes" embroidered with animal heads.The upper is made of red satin, lined with a white dress, very novel and unique.Emperor Longqing stared intently at Concubine Li Gui. Although he had been with her for more than ten years, he had never found her as beautiful and charming as she is today. He immediately wanted to make out with her, but it was difficult for Empress Chen to reveal it because of the presence of her. , pointed to the shoes on Li Guifei's feet and said: "Your pair of shoes are very beautiful, I have never seen you wear them before."   "Praised by the emperor," Li Guifei got up and gave a blessing, and replied, "these shoes are called 'cat shoes', they are like Su, and there is a sleeping lady in my concubine's palace, who is from Suzhou and has very good hands. Coincidentally, the style of this pair of shoes was passed on by her."   "I don't think the embroidery on the toe cap looks like a cat's head."   "This is a tiger head. Since ancient times, cats and tigers have been inseparable. The purpose of women wearing this kind of shoes in Suzhou is to ward off evil spirits."   "Avoid evil?" Emperor Longqing subconsciously asked, "Avoid what evil?"   Concubine Li Gui did not answer, but just glanced at Empress Chen.Empress Chen was also looking at her at this time, her eyes met, and the emotions that stirred up each other were silent.It turned out that after returning from Xianfu Palace, Concubine Li Gui came to Ciqing Palace and told Empress Chen what happened.Empress Chen was angry with Concubine Li Gui.Feng Bao rushed over to report Wang Fengchi's death and Meng Chong's arbitrarily obstructing the search, which made Concubine Li very angry. If something goes wrong, the empress and I will be responsible." Concubine Li knew that the reason why Meng Chong acted so boldly was because of the support of the emperor.Now that this matter has already exploded, it must be seen that the mountains are high and the waters are low, so I decided to bring in Empress Chen to take care of it.But it was said that Feng Bao had been gone for less than an hour, and then he turned back to Kunning Palace and said, "I report to the queen and the imperial concubine, those four little bastards are hiding in the warehouse of the Huanyi Bureau, and were searched out by the slaves." "People What about it?" Li Guifei asked. “关在内厂，请娘娘放心，蚂蚁都衔不走。”东厂设在大内的分衙，称作内厂，这是专门监督和惩处内宦太监的机构。李贵妃一听放了心，对陈皇后说道：“皇后姐姐，我们现在一块去见皇上吧。”陈皇后虽然怕事，但一想到“娈童”，心里头的一股子怒气也是消释不下，于是颔首答道：“也好，咱姐妹两个一块，去皇上那里讨个说法。”于是乘舆来到西暖阁。  隆庆皇帝见后妃两人对眼神，心里头便开始打鼓。他毕竟做贼心虚，连忙转移话题问李贵妃：“钧儿呢，他怎么没有一起来？”  “他在温书。”李贵妃欠身回答，接着又望了一眼陈皇后，说道，“再说臣妾和皇后想向皇上启禀一件事情，太子在场不好说话。”  “有什么话改日再谈吧，朕今日有些累了。”  隆庆皇帝支吾一句，就想打发她们走。李贵妃赶紧跪下，奏道：“臣妾所言之事，只是几句话。”陈皇后跟着也跪了下去。  隆庆皇帝本想回避，见后妃刻意纠缠，心里头便不高兴。他本可以强行逐客，怎奈他又缺乏这种魄力，无奈之下，只好哭丧着脸，又坐回到绣榻上。  李贵妃知道皇上不高兴，但事情到了这一步，也顾不得许多了，她劈头问道：“孟冲弄了四个小孽种藏在大内，不知皇上可曾知晓？”  “有这等事？不会！”隆庆皇帝矢口否认，想一想如此武断恐为不妥，又道，“这件事可把孟冲叫来一问。或许是新来的小太监，大家不认识也未可知。”  “绝对不可能是新来的小太监。”李贵妃断然说道。  “你怎么就敢断定？”  “那四个小孽种已在浣衣局库房里搜出，如今关在内厂。”  “哦！”隆庆皇帝这一惊非同小可，心里头埋怨孟冲办事不力，脱口问道，“谁抓的他们？”  “冯保。”  “那四个……嗯，那四个孩子说了什么？”  “暂时尚未审问。”  隆庆皇帝大大松了一口气，遮掩说道：“你们暂且回去，待冯保审问明白，再让他前来奏朕。”  隆庆皇帝再次暗示逐客，李贵妃直欲弄个水落石出，故意问道：“臣妾实不明白，这孟冲弄几个小孽种进宫作甚。何况宫里头暗中传着的一些闲言闲语，也不利皇上。”  “有何闲言闲语？”  “有人说，孟冲弄来的这几个小孽种，都是为皇上准备的。”  “为我？为我准备做甚？”  隆庆皇帝装糊涂，陈皇后没有李贵妃那样玲珑心机，说话不知婉转，这时忽然插进来冒冒失失说道：  “前些时就有传言，说孟冲偷偷领着皇上去了帘子胡同，皇上的疮，就是从那里惹回来的。”  “胡说！”  隆庆皇帝一声厉喝，忍耐了半日的怒气终于歇斯底里爆发了。他气得浑身打颤，伸出手指头，指点着跪在面前的陈皇后和李贵妃，哆嗦着说道：  “你们……你们给、给……”  他本想说“给朕滚出去”，但一句话竟未说完，就因怒火攻心、血涌头顶而双脚站立不住，顿时只觉天旋地转，身子一歪，直挺挺地倒在绣榻之上。  这突如其来的变故，把陈皇后与李贵妃吓坏了，她们赶紧起身奔到绣榻旁，只见隆庆皇帝两眼翻白，口吐白沫，两手握拳，身子抽搐，已是人事不省。  “快来人！”李贵妃喊道。  门外守值太监抢步入内，见此情状，慌忙去喊日夜在皇极门外值房里当值的太医。  太医匆促赶来，一看隆庆皇帝的状况，便知已深度中风。但他还是装样子拿了拿脉，然后对陈皇后与李贵妃跪下哽咽奏道：“皇上要大行了。”  一听此言，皇后与贵妃一起大放悲声。这时张贵也三步并作两步跑了进来，伏在绣榻之前失声痛哭起来。  “张贵，你不能在这里哭了，”李贵妃强忍悲痛，擦着眼泪说道，“你快去通知内阁成员来乾清宫，不要忘了通知张阁老。”