Chapter 426

Ye Xiaotian hurried back to the inn. As soon as he entered the inn, he could smell the aroma of roasted meat. Ye Xiaotian was somewhat surprised. This was a place set up by the Ming court to receive officials from all over the country. Logically speaking, there was no reason for it to be in such a state, although the aroma was quite tempting …

Ye Xiaotian casually asked a courier. The courier snorted and said, "Just follow the aroma and you'll be fine. Third Lady is barbecuing in the courtyard. Ai! I really don't know if she will create a 'Naadam' in our inn if she continues to stay … "

The courier shook his head and left. Ye Xiaotian was stunned for a moment. He hurriedly … followed the aroma of roasted meat. Ye Xiaotian rushed to the entrance of Third Lady's residence. The aroma was even stronger now. Four tall and burly Mongolian men were standing on both sides of the door.

Ye Xiaotian knew that he had found the right place and immediately rushed forward. The four burly men saw him hurriedly rushing to the main door, they stopped in front of the door, folded their arms and looked at him coldly, without saying a word.

Ye Xiaotian stopped and cupped his hands in greeting. "May I know if Third Lady is entertaining Miss Xia Yingying?"

One of the men rolled his eyes at him and coldly said, "What does that have to do with you?"

Ye Xiaotian said, "To tell you the truth, Miss Xia and I are … are …"

Four pairs of ox-like eyes stared at Ye Xiaotian. Ye Xiaotian steeled his heart and loudly said, "She is my wife. If Miss Xia is here, please inform them that I want to see her! "

"Oh …"

The four bearded Mongolian men had a 'so that's how it is' expression. One of them softened his expression and said to Ye Xiaotian, "Please wait a moment. I will go and inform the Kedun!"

Third Lady and Yingying were really barbecuing. Originally, Third Lady wanted to follow the customs of the Central Plains and invite them to a banquet in the hall. However, Yingying was very interested in the barbecue in the courtyard. Originally, Third Lady also liked to barbecue herself. However, due to the tradition of 'a gentleman stays away from the kitchen', she had to do as the Romans do. Now that Yingying was interested, she simply moved out of the hall and chased away the cooks so that they could barbecue themselves.

Yingying was holding a skewer and was excitedly barbecuing according to Third Lady's instructions. Seeing that the skewer had a tempting color, she was about to give it to her mother when a Mongolian man quickly walked over. He first bowed to Third Lady and then said to Yingying in a rough voice, "Miss Xia, your man is looking for you!"

"Ah?"

Xia Yingying was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped. "My man?"

Madam Xia immediately looked at her daughter with alarm. She was shocked and angry, "Yingying, you … met a man in the capital?"

Xia Yingying hurriedly explained, "I did not!"

Third Lady frowned and said, "What is his name? Why did he say that he is my little sister's man?"

The man was stunned. He really did not ask for Ye Xiaotian's name. When Ye Xiaotian said that he was Xia Yingying's man, he quickly came to report. Xia Yingying stood up angrily, "I will go and see!"

Xia Yingying grabbed a skewer of fragrant meat and went straight to the gate of the courtyard. Third Lady and Madam Xia looked at each other and hurriedly chased after her.

"Who said that he is my man?" Xia Yingying stood at the gate and angrily pointed the skewer in front of her, "You, you, or you?"

Ye Xiaotian's four bodyguards stood at the gate. Xia Yingying did not know any of them. Someone actually pretended to be her man. Of course she was angry. She did not think twice and pointed at them.

Ye Xiaotian was talking to an official at the side of the gate. The official saw Ye Xiaotian and his four bodyguards standing in front of the gate and confronting the Mongolian warriors. He recognized them as officials from Guiyang. He thought that both sides had a dispute. If a fight were to break out, it would be a big matter. He hurriedly went forward to ask.

Ye Xiaotian was explaining to him when he suddenly heard Yingying's voice. He hurriedly went back to the gate. He saw Yingying with one hand on her waist. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide open. She pointed the skewer in front of her. She had a resentful look on her face. Her cherry lips were glossy and her cheeks were greasy.

"Ah!"

Suddenly seeing Ye Xiaotian, the anger on Yingying's face disappeared. She opened her small mouth in surprise. Her face was full of disbelief. Ye Xiaotian smiled and walked forward. He gently said, "Yingying, are you okay?"

"You … you …" Yingying stuttered. She stretched out her hand and said in a daze, "Do you want to eat skewers?"

…

"Why did you go for the whole night and only come back in the morning court? Tell me! "Emperor Wanli looked at Xu Boyi and flew into a rage!

Most eunuchs had the problem of incontinence. Even some of the eunuchs in the palace who had been castrated successfully were missing an important part. Without a sphincter to restrain them, they would still suffer from incontinence when they were nervous and needed to urinate.

If the castration process wasn't perfect, then it would become a regular stream. Thus, even if many eunuchs bathed frequently and carried fragrant pouches with them, there would still be an unpleasant smell.

Although Xu Boyi had been castrated under very bad conditions, he had recovered well. He would only suffer from incontinence when he was nervous and needed to urinate. At this moment, he was nervous and needed to urinate, so … he peed again.

Because he had been running around all night, he had even brought a fire with him. This time, the smell was not small. Emperor Wanli held his breath and took a few steps back in disgust. Then he continued to roar, "You can't even handle such a small matter. You're truly a piece of trash!"

When Xu Boyi saw that his lower hem was wet, he knelt down in the hall. He begged for mercy and hid his embarrassment, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, it's not that this servant is incompetent, it's just that it's difficult to move an inch in the palace … "

Xu Boyi wept as he recounted his hard work for the night. Emperor Wanli was not in the mood to listen to his complaints. He angrily waved his hand and scolded, "A hundred catties of steamed cakes, what a waste of food! Go and invite Fifth Imperial Uncle here! "

This Imperial Uncle Wanli was talking about was called Zhu Hangshu. In terms of seniority, he was Wanli's uncle. In terms of age, he was similar to Wanli. When Wanli was young, he had accompanied the Crown Prince to study, so the two had a good relationship.

However, this Fifth Imperial Uncle was not an imperial prince or a junwang. Other than the Crown Prince, the princes were all called imperial princes. Other than the eldest son, the other princes were all called junwang. Other than the eldest son, the other princes were all called state generals. This Zhu Hangshu was the state general.

The Ming Dynasty's imperial family was different from the Han, Jin, and Tang and Song. The Han and Jin clans divided the land and ruled over the people, like an independent country. The Tang and Song clans did not dwell on the land. The capable and virtuous all became officials and had their own achievements. The country would also entrust them with heavy responsibilities.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial family was enfeoffed but not granted land. They were nobles but not ruled over the people. They received salaries but did not govern and were not allowed to participate in the affairs of the people. After Yongle removed the vassals, he raised the imperial family like pigs, so the power of the imperial family was extremely weak.

Yongle did this to learn from the lessons of the dynasties in history and to prevent the imperial family from seizing power. But the four pillars of traditional government were the bureaucrats, the imperial family, the relatives, and the eunuchs. He removed the three legs of the imperial family, the relatives, and the eunuchs, and the bureaucrats became the strongest.

No matter how the bureaucrats beautified themselves, the danger of their dominance was even greater than the imperial family, the relatives, and the eunuchs. This was because they directly governed the country and controlled government affairs.

When Emperor Jiajing was still alive, he had wanted to save the country in a roundabout way. He wanted the imperial family to settle in Nanjing and then gradually move to Beijing to strengthen the imperial family's influence and balance the increasingly arrogant bureaucrats.

Unfortunately, there were too many capable people in the bureaucrats and they saw through the Emperor's intentions. So they exercised their 'veto power' and rejected the Emperor's idea to take away their 'veto power'. This caused most of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty to be interdependent with the officials but also like fire and water. When they could not bear it any longer, they would send out a few eunuchs to bite them to vent their anger.

And because Zhu Xingshu was not even a junwang and his nobility was too low, he was also the Emperor's playmate. In any case, he was just one person and could not cause any waves, so he was not chased out of Jing.

Zhu Xingshu was a happy little pig at home — eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating. If he was really bored, he would listen to the opera. In any case, the affairs of the country had nothing to do with him and could not interfere. He did not expect the Emperor to suddenly send a eunuch.

Zhu Xingshu was very puzzled and quickly dismissed the opera troupe and called for the eunuch. When Xu Boyi saw Zhu Xingshu, he passed on the Emperor's order for him to have an audience. Zhu Xingshu did not dare to delay and quickly followed Xu Boyi into the palace. As they walked, he asked Xu Boyi about the reason for the Emperor's summons.

Wan Li had sent Xu Boyi to summon him to the palace so that he could understand the situation first and save himself the trouble of talking. In addition … … the Emperor had his own pride, so there were some things that couldn't be said directly. Zhu Xingshu was not a servant by his side. It was better to let Xu Boyi speak on his behalf.

Zhu Xingshu listened to Xu Boyi's explanation and had a plan in his heart — so the Emperor wanted him to be the matchmaker.

Zhu Xingshu was greatly reassured. In reality, every time the Emperor forbade the commoners from marrying and began to choose concubines, the commoners would rush to marry their daughters after hearing the news. This was because the chances of becoming the Emperor's favored concubine after being selected into the palace were too slim. There was a ninety-nine percent chance that they would be trapped in the palace and never be able to reunite with their loved ones.

However, the Emperor clearly loved that Yingying Miss. Xu Boyi also hinted that as long as she was willing to enter the palace, the Emperor could immediately confer her the title of Imperial Gui Fei. With such conditions, there was no woman who was still unwilling to enter the palace. This task was very easy.

To him, it was not that there were no disadvantages. After the officials heard of this, they would definitely oppose it. Once the rice was cooked, the officials would not be able to stop them and would probably vent their anger on him. However, what did it matter? He was a member of the imperial family and depended on the Emperor to survive. As long as he pleased the Emperor, even if he was chased out, he could be a little pig with more freedom and happiness than in the capital.

When Zhu Xingshu saw the Emperor, Wanli Emperor was slightly shy facing his childhood playmate. After a while, he said, "Imperial Uncle, zhen is the Emperor, the ruler of a dynasty, but the happy moments in my life can be counted on one hand.

Zhen fell in love with this Yingying Miss at first sight. Since then, I have been thinking about her day and night, yearning for her, unable to let her go! Now, I ask Imperial Uncle to ask for her hand in marriage on zhen's behalf. If you can convince Miss Yingying to stay with zhen forever, zhen's regret in this life will be resolved. "

As Wanli Emperor spoke, his eyes became moist. Zhu Xingshu was also moved. His Majesty really … did not have it easy! Sometimes, his situation was even worse than this happy little pig. Zhu Xingshu said with emotion, "Your Majesty, do not worry. This subject will definitely not disappoint you and convince Miss Xia to enter the palace!"