Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 34: Shocking the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was shaking. The lights in the palace were bright. Eunuchs and maids from the harem could be seen everywhere, anxiously calling out to their sleeping master.

Fortunately, the buildings deep in the Forbidden City have strong shock-absorbing effects, but even so, many people still panic.

East Palace.

Liu Jin's sharp cries came one after another: "Prince, Prince, please stop sleeping, the earth dragon is turning over, turning over!"

Zhu Houzhao was drowsy and was awakened instantly by Liu Jin's words. When he got up, he felt the ground shaking and almost fell. Fortunately, Liu Jin and Gu Dayong were tall and supported Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao looked delighted and said to Liu Jin, "Liu Daban, look, look, is it that the earth dragon has turned over? Am I wrong?"

Liu Jin: "..."

My Lord, this is a natural disaster! You must not have this expression, what will happen if Jiao Fang and the others see it?
Yes, your nervous expression now is appropriate.

Zhu Houzhao's expression began to become nervous, but it was not because of how many people would be hurt by the natural disaster. He was not yet so aware of it. He pulled Liu Jin with a trembling voice and said, "Liu Daban, I, I want to leave the palace."

what?
Liu Jin was confused and said, "My Lord, the materials used in the palace are very solid. We don't need to leave the palace to hide. Look, the ground is shaking so much, but our palace has not collapsed at all."

"It's different outside. I'm afraid most of it has collapsed now. It will be more dangerous to go out."

Zhu Houzhao's body trembled slightly, and he stammered, "But, but Brother Chen is still outside."

Liu Jin: "..."

Are you still thinking about that tuberculosis patient at this time?
"Master, the palace is under martial law now. We can't leave. Let's wait until this disaster is over before leaving the palace. Master Chen is a lucky man with good fortune, and we will be safe and sound."

Having said that, Zhu Houzhao's expression still looked a little worried.

"Besides, this sign of the earth dragon turning over was given to you by Master Chen, and he will definitely be able to deal with it himself."

After Liu Jin said this, Zhu Houzhao breathed a sigh of relief. It was indeed true. He was frightened just now and didn't think it through carefully.

Qin Tianjian.

Li Zhong did not go home tonight. He stayed in the Imperial Observatory and observed the celestial phenomena with the Chief Astronomical Judge. He had hardly been home in the past few days. Emperor Hongzhi instructed him to observe the celestial phenomena carefully.

After being tense for several days, and seeing no signs of any sudden change, he went to bed early today.

In his sleep, Li Jianzheng felt as if someone was shaking him. He hated being disturbed when sleeping. With an impatient look on his face, he scolded someone and then turned over and continued to sleep. He was really too sleepy.

But the shaking did not stop, which inevitably made Li Jianzheng even more unhappy. He suddenly opened his eyes and yelled, "How dare you! Why are you shaking me all the time?"

I looked around, but didn't see anyone next to me. No one was shaking me, so why did I feel like the earth was shaking?

Swish!
Li Zhong jumped up from the couch, instantly waking up, and cursing in his heart, "When the earth dragon turned over, no one called me?"

He quickly ran out of the Imperial Observatory's main hall. The outside was already full of people. The judge of the Astronomy Department looked as if he had lost his parents, with an expression of extreme fear.

Li Zhong just remembered something at this time, and his face changed drastically. He swallowed in shock and couldn't say a word.

After a long while, he said with a livid face, "I, I want to go to the palace. I, I want to go to the emperor!"

It was only at this moment that he suddenly came to his senses. The prince had already received a warning about the natural disaster, and Emperor Hongzhi had even instructed him to inform him immediately of any unusual phenomena.

But he suddenly realized that he seemed to be the last one to know about the earth dragon's reversal. Not to mention informing the emperor in advance, he was afraid that the eunuchs in the palace knew it faster than him.

Oh no!

He didn't know if it was the ground shaking or his legs trembling, but he couldn't stand steadily. He was sure that he would lose his position. He just hoped that he would not be implicated and sent to prison. Trembling, he asked Wu Hao, the deputy director of the Imperial Observatory, "Has there been any strange phenomena in the sky before?"

Wu Hao glanced at him and replied, "Yes."

How could that be?

Li Zhong shouted angrily, "Why didn't you notify me in advance?!"

Wu Hao clasped his fists and said, "Sir, I sent someone to notify you once, but you drove me out. Didn't you say that I'm not allowed to disturb your rest?"

"You!!!" Li Zhong pointed at the other person, shaking, "You want to get promoted? Are you slandering me?"

……

The residence of Xu Qiong, Minister of Rites.

It was late at night, and Xu Butang was still reading books in his study. He had always been so hardworking. Although he was promoted to the Minister of Rites, he still did not forget to study hard. There was an unwritten rule in the Ming Dynasty that only Hanlin scholars could enter the Ministry of Rites, and only those who were from the Ministry of Rites could not enter the cabinet.

In other words, Xu Qiong is absolutely capable of making further progress.

After enduring for so many years, it doesn't matter if I endure a little longer to enter the cabinet.

Now his reputation in the Ministry of Rites has also risen thanks to the Crown Prince. A few days ago, the Crown Prince even shamelessly said in a joking manner that Shuntian Prefecture was going to make a comeback.

After that, Xu Qiong refused to give in and openly refuted the Crown Prince in the Yangxin Palace, maintaining the support of his subordinates, the Imperial Observatory officials.

This act of protecting subordinates was beautified and then passed to the Ministry of Rites. Now, among the subordinates in the Ministry of Rites, who is disrespectful to him, Xu Bu Tang?

With the added fame and some experience, this would lay a solid foundation for him to enter the cabinet. He didn't dare to think about it before, but now he would occasionally fantasize about it when reading books, and his face would be flushed. People who didn't know him would think that he was still strong and had not forgotten his craft at his old age.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble, and then the tea cups, Hui porcelain and other items in the house all collapsed. Bursts of cracking sounds of porcelain rang out one after another. Soon, there was chaos outside, and screams of surprise, and the sound of "the earth dragon turning over" was heard continuously.

Xu Qiong's expression changed slightly, but reason told him not to be nervous and to deal with it calmly... But now he seemed to have lost his mind.

How, how did you turn over?

Then, doesn't his heroic act of defending his subordinates seem like a complete joke now?

It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a sinner for all time!

No wonder his teacher told him that the first priority in being an official is to be steady and not to try to be too aggressive. If you don't have the ability to hold this double-edged sword, don't try to be aggressive.

He didn't understand what the teacher meant at the time. Why should officials be stable? Wouldn't it be more profitable to stand out?
Now he understood, if, if he hadn't stood up for the Imperial Observatory...

Finished!

At that time, the more he promoted his reputation in the Ministry of Rites, the greater his crime would be. He wanted to step on the Crown Prince to ascend to the throne, and he refuted the Crown Prince in public. Now that he thinks about it carefully, isn't this a sharp weapon for his colleagues to impeach him?

My future career...I'm afraid it's over!

"Master, Master! Get out!"

A servant risked his life to walk into the study. Although the Xu family mansion was not as easy to collapse as a private house, it was still dangerous to stay in it.

The servant admired Xu Butang very much. His master was a calm and steady person. Even in such a situation, he could remain as steady as a rock. He really admired him!
What he didn't know was that Xu Butang's legs were now numb as if they were filled with lead.

"You beast! Come and save me!" Xu Butang shouted loudly.

(End of this chapter)