The warm winter sun shone on the pavilions and pavilions of the capital division, but the sky above the imperial city seemed to be full of haze.

The news of Xue Lu's defeat has reached the imperial court's general envoys; Of course, the imperial court will not make a big deal about this kind of thing, and from the palace to the thousand-step corridor, it is shrouded in an eerie silence.

In the past two days, Emperor Zhu Gaochi has heard bad news. Only one thing performed by the imperial doctor gave him some comfort. Zhang Fu's more than ten years old eldest daughter Zhang Miaohua and the newly sealed concubine, a few months after entering the palace, were just diagnosed by the imperial doctor as happy!

Zhu Gaochi took the opportunity to put down the military affairs that he was very worried about, and immediately returned to the harem to visit Zhang Miaohua.

There are many people in the palace of the concubine, and the Empress Zhang and Concubine Zhang, who were sealed not long ago, are all there. After everyone saluted the saint, the queen continued to say some auspicious words, telling Zhang Miaohua about things such as food and daily life, and was very concerned about her.

Zhu Gaochi stretched out his hand and gently touched Zhang Miaohua's abdomen in public. Zhang Miaohua's childish face suddenly blushed, and she said softly: "The concubine is happy for a short time, and the saint can't see it now." ”

"Haha...... That's it! Zhu Gaochi laughed out loud.

Queen Zhang looked at Zhu Gaoxu's appearance, pursed her lips and smiled; And Zhang Miaohua's aunt, Tai Guifei, looked at the queen sideways and paid great attention to her face.

Zhu Gaochi said: "It must be a prince!" ”

When the queen heard this, she smiled with a little reproach: "My sister is still young, the saint said so, I'm not afraid of scaring her, if it's a princess, you don't like it?" Zhu Gaochi smiled: "It's okay to be a princess, but when you get married, you have to pay a lot of dowry." At the beginning, my father didn't spend less money on my sisters. ”

The queen said: "The saint is rich all over the world, and the treasury will be relieved in two years." ”

At this moment, the eunuch Haitao came in with the princes Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Zhankai, and the two children bowed together and said, "The sons and daughters meet the father and the queen mother." ”

Zhu Gaochi's face immediately fell, and he said sternly: "Zhanji, don't run around with your brother all day long, you have to study and write hard!" ”

Zhu Zhanji shrank his neck, bowed his head and replied, "Yes, father." ”

His younger brother Zhan Kai was still young, and he stood there chubby and very well-behaved, not crying or making trouble.

Originally, Zhu Gaochi liked Zhan Kai very much, and felt that Zhan Kai was very similar to him and had a gentle temperament; But Guo Yan was involved in a very serious matter, and now she is still locked up in the East Palace, and gradually Zhu Gaochi is becoming more and more cold to her son. Now Zhan Kai has no relatives to take care of him, and he has been handed over to the queen to raise.

Zhu Gaochi asked a few words about the princes' reading, and then waved them away.

At this time, Concubine Zhang got up and said, "I didn't know that the Holy Empress would come to the Imperial Concubine Palace today, and I ask the Holy Empress to forgive me for the rudeness." I take my leave. "She is the imperial concubine of the previous dynasty, and it is rare that she did not live in the cold palace; But in terms of seniority, it belongs to the elders, and if it often appears in front of the emperor and empress, it is really inappropriate.

Zhu Gaochi nodded and said politely: "Taigui Concubine walks slowly." Come and send the concubine back to the palace. ”

Queen Zhang also stood up and said playfully: "The concubine wanted to come to talk to her sister, but the saint suddenly arrived, and the concubine will come and walk around tomorrow." ”

Zhu Gaochi said: "You said your words, I am in the way?" ”

Zhang showed a coquettish expression, glared at Zhu Gaochi, and immediately smiled again: "The concubine is retired." ”

…… As the emperor's wife, the Zhang family almost never interfered with the saint to find other concubines or even palace maids. This incident made many people in the palace call them virtuous.

After the death of the first emperor, the saint looked for all kinds of women, first changing different palace maids every day; Later, it was restored to the original state, and for a while it was mainly close to a woman. However, over the years, one thing has not changed: he will sleep with his wife Zhang.

After Guo Yan was imprisoned, Zhang Miaohua, as the daughter of the Duke of Guo, was born noble and knowledgeable; She was still young, white and tender, and she was immediately favored by the Holy One. In recent months, the Holy Lord has been in the palace of the noble concubine for most of the night.

After Empress Zhang came out, she took the car and went to the Kunning Palace in the south.

A group of people surrounded the imperial chariot and just arrived near the Jiaotai Palace, and the eunuch Haitao chased after him. Zhang turned his head to look, and Haitao immediately bowed down and stood on the brick floor to salute. But Zhang didn't say a word and continued to go to Kunning Palace.

Empress Zhang went straight into the dormitory and said, "The weather is getting colder and colder, Haitao, you go and add more charcoal to me." ”

"Hey!" Haitao looked willing and hurried to work. At this time, Queen Zhang waved her sleeves and told the other slaves and maids to go out. Haitao magically took out a bamboo tube from his arms and gently blew the charcoal fire, as if he had expected to do this.

Zhang sat down on a large soft fur chair and asked, "Xue Lu was defeated in Sichuan?" ”

Haitao removed his mouth from the bamboo tube, turned his head and said, "Back to the queen's mother, yes." When the emperor heard the news yesterday, he was very angry! However, the traitor King Han commanded the officers and soldiers of the Sichuan Guard, and he had many old knowledge; There is also Qu Neng, who has led troops in Sichuan for many years. It is reported that the surrender of all the departments in Sichuan is extremely large! This battle is indeed difficult for the Marquis of Yangwu. ”

He paused, and then said, "Sheng Yong, Ping'an, and Qu Neng are now under the command of King Han. It is reported that when the King of Han fled from Beijing to Yunnan, those former ministers of Jianwen went to vote halfway. However, the Meng brother of the celebrant said that maybe the king of Han harbored them at the beginning of Yongle, with ill intentions! ”

Zhang nodded slightly, frowned and sat in the chair. There was silence in the palace for a while.

Haitao quietly glanced sideways, and seeing that Zhang didn't mean to speak, he spoke again: "Zheng He, Hou Xian, and Wang Jinghong brought back a lot of Western tributes, and the emperor picked out some supplements for self-cultivation and gave them to the Duke of Qi. You say it'......"

Zhang said: "Now the country is in an eventful season, and the military ministers are particularly important. The saint knew in his heart that treating this Qiu Fu, who had once waved the flag and beating the drum for the King of Han, was to pay extra attention to the meaning of honorable military ministers. ”

Haitao had an admiring expression and hurriedly nodded yes.

He then said cautiously: "By the way, Zheng He picked something from the Western treasures, and the slave maid Jin presented it to the queen mother. ”

Zhang smiled lightly, and looked at Haitao's face with small eyelids. The eunuch first mentioned a few people who had gone to the West, and then he suddenly remembered and mentioned it in passing, without a trace; However, Zhang knew in his heart that Haitao was afraid that he had received Zheng He's benefits, and he was already looking for an opportunity to talk about it.

Haitao took out a box from his arms, opened it lightly, lifted the red satin inside, and held it to the front of the chair with both hands.

Zhang looked down and saw that there was a string of Buddhist beads inside.

Haitao said: "Queen Mother, Buddha Shakyamuni is a Tianzhu person, before becoming a Buddha, he often twisted this pearl to understand the Dharma, and then hid in the palace of the king of Tianzhu." The Ming fleet landed on the shore of Tianzhu Sea and exchanged for this treasure by chance. Gong Zheng said that no one in the world dared to have this thing except the queen's mother, so he specially selected it from the countless treasures on the ship and dedicated it to the queen's mother. ”

Zhang picked it up lightly, found it heavy, and put it in front of him to observe it carefully. She couldn't put it down for a while before she looked away from the beads. She suddenly asked, "Did Zheng He have a good relationship with Gao Xu before?" ”

"This ......" Haitao's face turned white, and he said busily, "The slave maid doesn't dare to deceive the mother, but the slave maid has been in the Shizi Mansion and the East Palace before, and she rarely knows about the first emperor." ”

Zhang said: "Didn't you accept a gray-haired godson, named Yun Xiang, that is, Brother Meng you mentioned just now, he was the eunuch of the former Yan Wangfu. You go and ask him. ”

Haitao hurriedly bowed: "The slave and maid obey the decree. ”

At this moment, Zhang asked coldly, "Where is Zhang Fu now?" ”

Haitao said: "Back to the queen's mother, according to the recent report to the palace, the British duke has just entered Yunnan. The British issued an edict and joined forces with the Yuanhou (Gu Cheng) of Guizhou Town to attack Yunnan; However, the British march was very slow, and it was said that the southern part of Yunnan was covered with mountains and forests, and supplies were difficult, and he had to build strongholds and warehouses along the way. ”

Haitao thought for a while, and then said in a deep voice: "The British Duke has also written before, and he is against attacking Yunnan with Gu Cheng. Later, the imperial court ordered him to go north, and he left. ”

"Oh?" Zhang's expression was very concerned.

Haitao said: "After the British learned that the Han Wangjun went to Sichuan, Shanggong put forward some propositions, which were very different from the purpose of attacking Yunnan.

He believed that Xue Lu was by no means an opponent of the Han King. After the fall of Sichuan, the battlefields of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan were one, and the imperial court should first seal a Pinghan general to coordinate the overall situation of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan; Instead of letting Xue Lu, Gu Cheng, and Zhang Fu fight separately. The meaning of the British Duke must be that he wants to be the general of Pinghan; Of the three nobles in the southwest, only he has the highest title of Duke of England.

The British duke also said that the imperial court should not fight in a hurry, and put forward the strategy of 'besieging the southwest, holding on to Guizhou, and dividing Yunchuan'. The slave maid listened to Brother Meng's explanation, roughly the British princess Zhang Qiuwen, who wanted to block the King of Han in the southwest first and win in stability, so she was not very willing to attack Kunming with Gu Cheng. ”

Zhang listened carefully and only asked, "Zhang Fu is a talented person, right?" ”

Haitao said: "The slave and maid listen to the comparison of the military ministers of the foreign dynasty, and among the heroes of the 'Jing Difficulty', Zhang Fu should be the most capable person. ”

Zhang said quietly: "Wuchen is not only a 'Jingnan' hero. ”

Haitao was stunned for a while, and hurriedly said: "In addition to those people under the command of King Han, the people of the Jianwen Dynasty such as Wei Guogong (Xu Huizu), Jiangyin Marquis (Wu Gao), and Ningyuan Marquis (He Fu) in the imperial court gave the first emperor a headache in the 'Battle of Jingjing', so he must have some ability!" However, those people are not as reliable as the British Gong, Yang Wuhou and others. ”

Zhang Zhengse said: "We have all received the favor of the saint, so we have to share the sorrow of the saint." No matter what kind of person they are, as long as they can help the saints, we must think about them! ”

Haitao bowed and said: "Niangniang's lesson is that the slave and maid will obey Yi's will." ”