Lu Heng smiled and didn't say what Wang Yanqing should do if she didn't become the Miss of the Lu family. He put down the tea cup and said, "It's getting late, you've been tired all night today, go back to sleep."
Lu Heng didn't say anything, and Wang Yanqing also stopped to ask. She got up and wished Lu Heng a blessing, and said softly, "I'll go first, and the second brother will rest early."
After the 15th day of the first lunar month, the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year gradually dissipated and life returned to normal. Wang Yanqing did not go out for a few days, and stayed at home to read and write with peace of mind. When she was leaning on the couch to bask in the sun, she had no idea that someone outside the Lu residence was looking for her.
Fu Tingzhou searched for five days in the city. At first, he searched for women who lived alone in the capital renting a house, and later expanded to teenagers, brothers and sisters, and even young couples, but none of them were Wang Yanqing. Fu Tingzhou was repeatedly thrown into the air, and his heart became more and more irritable. While Chen's family was still in trouble in Hou's mansion, Fu Tingzhou was so upset that he wanted to leave several times.
At this time, he especially misses Wang Yanqing.
Fu Tingzhou grew up in front of the old Houye, and he was not close to his parents, and he didn't like Fu Chang and Chen's behavior in his heart. Several younger sisters followed the Chen family, and one can imagine what it was like to be taught. Fu Tingzhou and the Fu family's brothers and sisters have a normal relationship. The only people who are really close to him are Lao Houye and Wang Yanqing.
Now, the old Marquis passed away, Qingqing left, and he was the only one left in the huge Zhenyuan Marquis mansion. Fu Tingzhou's heart seemed to be empty, and the cold wind kept pouring in from the gap, blowing his whole body cold and barren.
Standing in the Hou Mansion, he suddenly felt at a loss. This was his home, but he felt that he had nowhere to go.
Five short and long days passed, and the imperial court resumed the previous dynasty. Today is the first day of the New Year's office. Even if Fu Tingzhou has no intention of doing errands at all, he must go to Nancheng to serve as a soldier at Siyingmao.
In the official office, everyone congratulated each other when they met, and they were beaming with joy. When the colleague saw Fu Tingzhou, he was stunned and asked in surprise, "Marquis Zhenyuan? What's wrong with you? Why don't you look so good?"
Fu Tingzhou smiled reluctantly and said, "I didn't sleep well last night."
Fu Tingzhou didn't want to talk more, and his colleagues politely said a few words when they saw it, and didn't ask any further questions. Fu Tingzhou walked into the military division and tried to divert his attention by reading the official document, but he couldn't read it after only two lines.
He has already checked all the people who rented and bought and sold houses in December, and there is no Qingqing among them. Could it be that, long before Shangxiang was attacked, Qingqing was thinking of leaving
Fu Tingzhou might have a splitting headache just thinking about this, and the qi in his chest almost drove him crazy.
Fu Tingzhou's face was sullen, with an air of unfamiliar aura, but the others hadn't recovered from their annual leave, and they spoke with joy. The officials had no intention of doing errands. Anyway, the first day of the new year had nothing to do with it. They gathered together, gossiping and passing the time.
"I heard that the first imperial decree issued by the palace this year was two promotion orders?"
"Yeah." The other person snorted, unable to tell whether he was envious or emotional, "The first thing in the new year, of course, be full of joy. Zhang Ge was promoted to the Grand Master of the Temple of the Body, and Lu Hengshi gave the commander of Jinyiwei. ."
At the beginning of the 12th year of Jiajing, the courtroom was cut down unprecedentedly. Zhao Huai, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, accepted bribes from the "Eight Tigers". Many of Zhao Huai's old friends were found to be corrupt, and they were impeached. In the end, Zhao Huai's teacher, Yang Yingning, was to blame Resign.
The first assistant was in office, the cabinet was vacant, and many important positions in the six ministries were also vacated. The ministers had a hunch before the holiday, and sure enough, as soon as the court resumed, a new round of merit and deeds rewards began.
When the political struggle failed, Yang Yingning's party members and officials who had supported Yang Ting were all devolved. Correspondingly, many people who won the battle rose up. In this big reckoning, the two people who deserve the most credit are undoubtedly Lu Heng, the commander of the Nanzhen Fu Division who found the evidence, and Zhang Jinggong, the second assistant who successfully brought down Yang Yingning.
Zhang Jinggong was naturally promoted to the rank of Jinshendian University scholar, concurrently serving as the secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, and became the first assistant of the cabinet. Nowadays, everyone in the court and the opposition must respect Zhang Jinggong and call him "Zhang Ge Lao". At the same time, under the transfer order of Jin Yiwei, Lu Heng officially promoted the official rank of the third grade, and actually granted Jin Yiwei the post of commander to manage the affairs of Jin Yiwei.
In the hall, some people are happy and some people are sad. Although Fu Tingzhou has not seen it, it is not difficult to imagine that the cabinet and Nanzhen Fusi must be very lively now. The newly released first assistant, the young and promising commander of Jin Yiwei, no matter what everyone thinks in their hearts, they must be respectful.
The coming of these two people undoubtedly shows that the era of Hongzhi and Zhengde has completely passed, and a new era of Jiajing has begun.
When everyone in the Nancheng Army and Horse Division heard that Lu Heng was promoted again, their hearts were really complicated. They are also military attachés. They have been in the circle of the capital since they were young, and they know best how difficult it is for military generals to be promoted. Military generals are different from civil ministers. Military generals are more heroes of the times. If they encounter an opportunity, it is common to fly into the sky and split the earth to seal a prince.
Daming had serious border troubles, and they were at war all the year round. Hou Xungui, the lord of the capital, often went to and from the battlefield. Compared with other dynasties, they were considered to be very successful. But compared with Lu Heng, they became dim stars, and they had nowhere to hide under Lu Heng's light.
The courtroom was filled with spies of Jinyiwei, and they didn't dare to speak too deeply, and sighed half-truly: "The first time in the new year, the emperor promoted the two of them, which is really good luck. Zhang Jinggong is the leader. Fu, it has been more than 20 years, so let's not talk about it, Lu Heng is only 23 years old this year, right?"
Zhang Jinggong had few talents, but the road to the imperial examination was not smooth. He took the exam seven times before finally passing the second-class jinshi. He was already forty-seven years old when he entered the office. He went ups and downs in the Zhengde Dynasty for a long time, and has never been reused. Finally, the fate of Zhang Jinggong ushered in a turning point in the Jiajing Dynasty. He became famous in one fell swoop by the great ceremony and won the favor of the emperor. Since then, he has been promoted all the way. Rao is so, he waited for twelve years before finally becoming the first assistant.
As for Lu Heng, at only twenty-three years old, he was already on par with Zhang Jinggong. The children of military officials of the same age as him have just entered the office, and the children of the civilian family are even still taking scientific examinations. When they went to court, those who stood around Lu Heng were all people who were old enough to be his father or even his grandfather. He and the emperor were considered to be very few young people in the early court.
People like Fu Tingzhou who skipped his father's enthronement are a special case, and he is also a rare young man in the court. However, his and Lu Heng's starting points were completely different. Lu Heng was directly responsible to the emperor, and if he had any words, he would go straight to the sky, and he would sue Hei along the way while reporting the errand. On the other hand, Fu Tingzhou still has layers of superiors, and it would be difficult to meet the emperor by leaps and bounds.
In terms of age, Fu Tingzhou and Lu Heng are of the same level, but in officialdom, Lu Heng and Zhang Jinggong are of the same level.
Fu Tingzhou didn't participate in the discussion and sighed in his heart. Among the people in the capital, Fu Tingzhou was the only one who was afraid of Lu Heng.
Fu Tingzhou didn't know whether to sigh that Lu Heng was lucky or strong. Lu Heng had gathered all the people at the right time and place. In the sky, he and the emperor were playmates who grew up together. Lu Heng's father was the guard of Xingwang's mansion, and his mother was the emperor's wet nurse. This childhood friendship was unparalleled; in terms of geographical advantages, their family just happened to catch up with the change of dynasties and the emperor ascended the throne. In urgent need of manpower, the Lu family took advantage of the great ceremony. He was smart and capable, and he was very good at figuring out what he wanted, which just filled the loneliness of the emperor who had few bosom friends.
Although the capital was large, the people the emperor could come into contact with every day were either eunuchs, 50 or 60-year-old cabinet scholars, or the honorable Qi Guoxun and others who were born and raised in the capital. The emperor is almost twenty-six years old this year. What language can he have in common with these people? In the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, I am afraid that only in front of Lu Heng, the emperor can say a few homely words.
The mouth of a treacherous minister, the brain of a capable minister, and the intimacy of an eunuch, it is no wonder that the emperor reused Lu Heng.
This kind of experience cannot be replicated. It may not happen again in a hundred years. Fu Tingzhou just thought about it for a moment and then put it aside. No matter how lucky Lu Heng is, it has nothing to do with Fu Tingzhou. What Fu Tingzhou cares about now is Wang Yanqing.
The other military officers of the military division sighed for a while, and then slowly talked about other things. One of them lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Have you heard that the palace seems to be intending to cut the title."
Fu Tingzhou was planning to go out. Hearing this, he couldn't help but keep an ear. Cutting the title is no trivial matter, their family has a title, what's going on
This is big news, everyone is interested, and hurriedly asked: "Is this true?"
"Seriously. Many people have received the news."
Everyone in the DPRK relies on holy will to eat, and the movements in the palace are especially important. Except for someone like Lu Heng who controls the information channel, the others can only rely on the eunuch to pass on the information. This is especially a test of the family's wealth. The connections in the palace will not be able to operate for a while, and more often, outsiders are rich and can't send them out.
At this time, the difference between the old-fashioned nobles such as Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion and Wuding Marquis Mansion is revealed. Wuding Marquis Mansion has had several princesses and concubines, and they have a wide range of connections in the palace, and they can get first-hand news with a little trouble. However, the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion was excluded, and Fu Tingzhou had to rely on colleagues to chat to find out about the news of the cut.
Fu Tingzhou couldn't help but stop and listen carefully to the words behind.
The person who asked the question was very concerned about this, and immediately asked: "Why? It's so good, how did the palace have such a mind?"
The person who started talking winked his eyes and smiled meaningfully: "It's not for the treasury. We have been investigating corrupt officials since last year, and now, the palace is planning to clean up the moths in the warehouse. This time, the above mainly wants to exterminate foreign relatives. seal up."
The audience all showed a clear look, exchanged glances with each other, and laughed without saying a word. The Ming Dynasty was very wary of foreign relatives, and each dynasty strictly restricted the descendants, except for the Hongzhi Emperor. To say that it is to rectify the relatives is actually to rectify the Zhang family, because other than their family, there is no family in the court that relies on their daughter to seal the marquis.
Even Fu Tingzhou was relieved when he heard it, he stopped paying attention to these trivial matters, and found an excuse to go out. The emperor went to Zhang's family this time, and he could rest assured that he would not burn the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion.
·
At this time in the Ciqing Palace, the brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling were complaining in front of the Empress Dowager Zhang.
"Empress Dowager, you have to decide for us. The title of Marquis of Zhang's family was conferred by Emperor Xiaozong. I took over the position of Marquis of Shouning from my father. There is no reason to remove the title of Zhang family, how can there be such a reason?"
"Yeah." Zhang Yanling took the words of her elder brother and said, "When Emperor Xiaozong was alive, we went in and out of the palace and had a banquet with Xiaozong, my sister, and the crown prince. It was such a joy that we were like a family! Now that Xiaozong and Wuzong are gone, they just If you want to take away the reward of Emperor Xiaozong, don't you think about your sister?"
The more the Empress Dowager Zhang listened, the more angry she became. She was in the harem, and the news was not well-informed. She had to rely on her younger brother to remind her that the emperor intended to get rid of foreign relatives. The Jiang family has also received a lot of rewards. If the emperor really served the country and the people, why didn't the Jiang family's official position be removed, but instead came to embarrass the Zhang family
The Empress Dowager Zhang was trembling with anger. This must have been Jiang's idea. It was not enough for Jiang to target her everywhere in the harem, and she even wanted to persecute her relatives!
These white-eyed wolves, if it wasn't for her, the mother and son would still be suffering in the backcountry. She was the one who brought King Xing to the capital, and she made King Xing the emperor. Without her, the emperor would only be a foreign vassal king in his life, and he probably wouldn't even know what the capital looked like. She has so much kindness to the emperor, and the emperor is not grateful to her, yet dares to avenge her kindness
The brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling cried together. They were all getting old. At this moment, they complained to the Empress Dowager Zhang like a child, and the Empress Dowager Zhang also felt sad.
She has only two younger brothers. When she became the empress dowager, what happened to her family? She just wanted her mother's family to have a title, and some money to spend, who was in the way.
She couldn't help but remember that when Emperor Hongzhi was still alive, the Zhang family went into and out of the forbidden court, as if they were at her own home. At the banquet, Emperor Hongzhi saw that his tableware was gold, while the tableware of his father-in-law and mother-in-law were silver. Zhang Luan used the emperor's gold tableware in his home, and all the expenses were like the emperor's. And now, the son of a vassal king dared to look at the Zhang family.
Empress Dowager Zhang thought that the sadness began here. Her first half of her life was smooth and smooth. When Emperor Hongzhi was alive, she was the only woman, and there were no concubines or concubines in the harem. The Empress Dowager Zhang always thought that she was the most fortunate woman in the world. She was born to enjoy happiness in this world. She did not expect that the hardships she had never experienced in the first half of her life would be left to her in the second half of her life.
The Empress Dowager Zhang was deeply saddened, and burst into tears: "Xiao Zong and Zhao'er left early, leaving me to suffer in this world alone. If I had known today, why would I have asked Xiao Zong to take me there?"
When Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling heard it, they both cried when they thought of the scenery of the Zhang family when Emperor Hongzhi was alive, and compared to today. The three brothers and sisters burst into tears, and Qin Xianger, the female official serving in the Ciqing Palace, quietly went out, guessing that they were almost crying, so she came in with hot water and said, "The Queen Mother, Duke Changguo, Marquis Jianchang, how many are you? They are all decent people, so people don’t see it well, so please wipe away your tears.”
Empress Dowager Zhang is also tired of crying. She is the empress dowager and considers herself the real mistress of the palace. How can she let the people in the West Palace see her weakness? The Empress Dowager Zhang nodded in agreement, and went into the inner room to re-dress. Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling were also taken down by the palace servants, and they arranged their instruments in another palace.
Qin Xianger stood beside Empress Dowager Zhang, wetted the veil herself, and handed it to Empress Dowager Zhang to wipe her face. The water temperature is neither cold nor hot, and the handkerchief is twisted just right, and it is very comfortable to apply on the face. After the Empress Dowager Zhang wiped away the tears, she regained the respect of the Empress Dowager. The palace maid re-applied the powder to Empress Dowager Zhang inside. Qin Xianger went out to pour water. She stopped a palace maid who was passing by and asked, "Where are Duke Chang and Marquis Jianchang?"
The palace maid pointed to the lower main hall and said, "Changguo is just waiting for the queen mother inside, and the Marquis of Jianchang has not returned."
Men don't need to put on makeup. After so long, Jianchang Hou hasn't finished cleaning up yet? Qin Xiang'er frowned slightly, handed the water basin to the little palace maid behind her, and tapped, "You are all smart, hurry up and exchange hot water for tea, don't neglect Duke Chang and Marquis Jianchang."
The palace maid squatted down as she should, and quickly lowered her head and ran away. Qin Xianger walked to the palace where Zhang Yanling was changing clothes. She went to the place and found that the doors and windows were closed. Her face remained motionless, she raised her hand, and knocked on the door crisply and forcefully: "Marquis Jianchang, the Empress Dowager is back, have you sorted it out?"
There seemed to be some noise inside, ping ping ping pong, as if something had fallen to the ground. After a while, the door to the hall opened, revealing Zhang Yanling from behind.
The traces of wiping could be seen on Zhang Yanling's face, and her eyes were slightly red and swollen, with blood streaks in the whites of her eyes, making her eyes more and more cloudy. He will be fifty in a few years, his belly is already fat, his face is sagging, and there are deep ravines around his eyes. He is no longer young. But based on his bones, he can still guess that his skin was pretty good when he was young.
Empress Dowager Zhang was selected as the Crown Princess, and she was only favored for many years after that. In addition to the factors of Emperor Hongzhi's childhood, Empress Zhang's beauty was also a very important reason. The elder sister is good-looking, and the younger brother will not be bad.
Zhang Yanling's face seemed a little unhappy, but when she saw Qin Xianger, she held back and asked, "Is the queen mother back so soon?"
Qin Xianger lowered his eyebrows and replied with a straight face: "The Queen Mother has not seen Jianchang Marquis for a long time, so she sent me to ask."
After all, this is the palace, Zhang Yanling threw up his sleeves in disappointment, adjusted the belt, and strode out. Qin Xianger stepped aside, maintained her etiquette steadily, and kept seeing Zhang Yanling out. After Zhang Yanling walked away, she slowly stood up and looked inside.
A little palace maid knelt on the ground, her body shivering. Not far away, there was a pot of overturned water.
Qin Xianger didn't say anything, and Jiwei said solemnly: "Don't hurry up and do errands."
The little palace maid hurriedly saluted Qin Xianger and ran out tremblingly.
After Zhang Yanling returned to the main hall, she happened to meet the Queen Mother Zhang coming out of the inner room. He was afraid that his sister would investigate further, so he didn't mention what happened just now after sitting down. The Empress Dowager Zhang had another conversation with her two younger brothers. In conclusion, it was nothing more than nostalgia for the past and grief for the present. Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling were soft-hearted, and the Empress Dowager Zhang was soft-hearted, and the matter of agreeing to the title was on her shoulders. With her, no one could move the Zhang family.
Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling returned with satisfaction. After the two brothers left, the Empress Dowager Zhang sat in the inner hall and sighed and said, "Aijia really recruited a pack of wolves, and they didn't think about it. Without Aijia, how could they be now?"
Empress Dowager Zhang did not name her name, but it was not hard to guess that she was complaining about the emperor and Empress Dowager Jiang again. Qin Xianger lowered his face, looked at his nose and heart, and refused to answer easily. Empress Dowager Zhang cursed for a while, but no matter how much she regretted it, she couldn't put the emperor back in Anlu. The matter of the title of Zhang family still had to be resolved. Empress Dowager Zhang held back her anger and said, "Qin Xiang'er, go to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and find the emperor."
Qin Xianger obeyed the order: "Yes."
·
In the Cining Palace, the emperor is greeting the Empress Dowager Jiang. When he heard the message from the palace servant, he didn't take it to heart at all: "No."
The Empress Dowager Jiang leaned on the pillow and coughed. Her voice was weak, and the last tone was long dragged: "Emperor, after all, that is the female official next to Empress Dowager Zhang. Did the female official say what Empress Dowager Zhang is looking for the emperor?"
The emperor snorted, with mockery in his eyes: "Why? The Duke of Chang and the Marquis of Jianchang entered the palace today. I heard that they cried for a long time in the Ciqing Palace. A bunch of idiots without self-knowledge, what I want to do is up to me. Are they pointing fingers?"
Empress Dowager Jiang was silent after hearing this. Empress Dowager Zhang indulged her family for profit and occupied a lot of fields, shops and official camps. That is, starting from Emperor Hongzhi, the treasury was empty.
The treasury had no money, and the emperor could not do anything. While filling his own private treasury, Taicang, the emperor tried to solve the problem of the empty treasury. Taxes are the biggest source of the treasury, but the amount of arable land is less than a year. If the country does not collect taxes, the treasury has no money. If the treasury has no money, the emperor cannot implement the decree, and it gradually becomes a dead end.
Daming has not lost its land so far, so how could there be less arable land? The emperor's heart is clear, because the increasingly large group of bureaucrats and noble relatives annexed land, resulting in no tax to the national treasury. As the emperor planned to re-measure the land, he was raking in the oil and water of the officials. Years ago, he raided the homes of several officials in a row, and finally solved the urgent need of the national treasury, but it was not enough.
The emperor quickly set his sights on the Zhang family. He has endured the Zhang family for a long time, and the Zhang family dared to enter the palace to argue
Courage can be really big.
Empress Dowager Jiang's illness was getting worse day by day. The emperor was in a bad mood and had no intention to deal with Empress Dowager Zhang at all. He was unmoved, and said coldly: "I don't think they are idlers, send them back."
The Empress Dowager Jiang was weak and panting, and persuaded: "After all, she has a kindness for you to be registered. You have done too much, and outsiders want to talk about you. Go and have a look."
Empress Dowager Jiang persuaded that the emperor could not bear to worry his mother, so he had to go to the East Palace. After the emperor left, the palace maid knelt on her feet, carefully taking care of Empress Dowager Jiang: "Empress Dowager, the medicine is here."
Empress Dowager Jiang sat up with the hand of the palace maid and tried her best to drink the medicine. Seeing that Empress Dowager Jiang was seriously ill, the palace maid couldn't help but complain: "Empress Dowager, it is rare for the emperor to come here. Why did you send the emperor to the palace to the east?"
The Empress Dowager Jiang swallowed the dark soup and said weakly: "I know my body, and most of it will be this year. I am old, but the emperor is still young, so I can't let it go."
The palace maid wanted to comfort Empress Dowager Jiang, but she couldn't say what she said, only a long sigh. Empress Dowager Jiang drank the medicine with difficulty, and leaned on the pillow to ease her breath. She looked at the young and bright palace maids who were going back and forth in front of her, and said faintly: "That one, she went so smoothly, she felt that everyone in the world should hold her. She has a longer life than me, and I'm afraid she may not necessarily die when she dies. It's more comfortable than me. It's not that you don't report it, the time has not come, you should look at her. "
The Empress Dowager Zhang and the emperor didn't know what they said, but they broke up in the end anyway. When the emperor came out of the Ciqing Palace, his face was very bad, and there was no follow-up to the matter of removing the foreign relatives.
Everyone in Gong Wei thought this matter was over. After all, Empress Dowager Zhang was the empress dowager of the two dynasties, the benefactor of the emperor, and the emperor could not clearly disobey Empress Dowager Zhang.
The courtiers, brothers Zhang Heling and even the Empress Dowager Zhang all thought so.
At the end of the first month, the weather gradually warmed up. One night, Empress Dowager Zhang felt cold and woke up in the middle of the night. She opened her eyes and found that the room was cold and her throat was dry and sore. Empress Dowager Zhang was displeased. Who was on duty today, why was she so negligent
Empress Dowager Zhang called for water, but after shouting several times, no one came in. Empress Dowager Zhang became more and more angry, but she was so thirsty that she could only get up by herself and go to the ground to pour water to drink.
The teapot on the table had been left in the middle of the night and had already cooled down. Now that Empress Dowager Zhang can no longer care, she groped in the dark to pour out a glass of water and a cup of cold tea into her throat. The dryness in her throat finally eased, and Empress Dowager Zhang felt a little cold. Empress Dowager Zhang looked around and found that the window was open, and cold wind was constantly pouring in. No wonder she felt cold.
Now that there is no palace maid, the Empress Dowager Zhang can only close the window by herself. When Empress Dowager Zhang approached, she vaguely glanced out of the window and flashed a white shadow. The Empress Dowager Zhang was startled, and when she looked closely, she found that a white ribbon was blown from somewhere, hanging on the eaves of the window, and swaying with the wind.
The shadow that Empress Dowager Zhang saw just now was this ribbon.
The Empress Dowager Zhang breathed a long sigh of relief, then she was furious, and had already sentenced the palace maid to the night vigil to death. The palace maid on duty at night was so neglectful that she deserved death. Empress Dowager Zhang closed the window, turned around in anger, and suddenly saw a woman in white standing behind her.
Her hair was disheveled, her body was covered in blood, her tongue stuck out from her mouth, and her bloody eyes were staring at the Queen Mother Zhang motionlessly.
The Empress Dowager Zhang was so frightened that she couldn't even speak. At this time, the white-clothed female ghost approached step by step, and said: "How did I offend you, why did you kill me?"
The female ghost in white said that she stretched out her long fingernails, almost scratching the Queen Mother Zhang's face. Empress Dowager Zhang finally reacted, screamed wow, took two steps back one after another, fell to the ground and fainted.
The Empress Dowager Zhang fainted on the ground in the middle of the night. The next day the maid of the night vigil got up to check, only to find that the Empress Dowager had fallen to the ground. They hurriedly moved the Empress Dowager Zhang back to the bed and hurriedly called the imperial doctor. Unexpectedly, when Empress Dowager Zhang woke up, she said that there was a ghost in the palace, and any palace maid she saw would scold "How dare you hurt me". The maids were very frightened by the Queen Mother Zhang's abnormality, and soon, the news of the haunted Ciqing Palace spread like wildfire.
The emperor laughed disdainfully when he heard that Empress Dowager Zhang hit the ghost and fell ill. It would be too stupid to threaten him by pretending to be sick. However, after ten or so days, the rumors of haunting in the palace not only did not subside, but intensified.
Since Empress Dowager Zhang encountered a ghost, she kept the maids from leaving at night, and asked five or six people to take turns to watch the night. She even asked the eunuchs to carry lamps and patrol outside Ciqing Palace day and night. The maids did not dare to disobey the queen mother, so they had to work during the day and wait in the palace at night to serve the queen mother.
The palace maids were having fun, thinking that they were not bad, but the eunuchs outside couldn't sleep because of the cold all night, so they were miserable.
Unexpectedly, the guards of Ciqing Palace were so strict that they bumped into a ghost again. This time, five or six people hit the ghost together. The Empress Dowager Zhang fainted with fright, and the maids were in a state of panic. Rumors of haunting were rampant in the palace, and even the Empress Dowager Jiang heard it.
After listening to the eunuch's report, the emperor frowned and asked, "Are you sure it's not someone from Ciqing Palace who is doing the trick?"
"No." The eunuch who reported the matter was also very flustered and said tremblingly, "The eunuch of Ciqing Palace is patrolling outside all day long, and even if he wants to play a ghost, he can't escape. Besides, Empress Dowager Zhang and the five palace maids heard the female ghost cry together. You can't be fake."
The emperor believed, and he was a little shaken after hearing what the eunuch said was so true. The emperor thought for a while and said, "Go and call Lu Heng."