Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"My dear husband, I am of humble origin, how dare I touch the royal holy land?

How dare we cause trouble for our husband?" Liu Rushi was startled and immediately spoke out the other women's thoughts.

The eight girls were either born as singing girls or were just maids in the mansion. It was okay for them to be looked down upon, but they did not want their husbands to be looked down upon as a result.

Zhang Shikang shook the imperial sword at his waist and said nonchalantly:

"Do you see what this is? If anyone dares to look down on you, I will kill him with my sword!"

Everyone in the court, including the eunuchs who have a say in the palace, knows his temper. Anyone who dares to say anything about him, who doesn't eat their rice, would be disrespecting the Grand Marshal of the Army and the hereditary Duke of the State.

Phew—Kou Baimen covered his mouth and laughed out loud when he heard that.

The women naturally knew that Zhang Shikang favored them. For those who had never seen the emperor or been to the palace, they naturally wanted to go.

But if the price of going is to cause trouble for your husband, then it is better not to go.

"But my husband, what if the one who looks down on us sisters is the emperor today?" Kou Baimen said playfully, sticking out her tongue.

Zhang Shikang scratched his head.

He really couldn't handle this.

"How could His Majesty look down on you? That's impossible. My husband has a very good relationship with His Majesty. He is not interested in anything other than reviewing memorials and farming."

In the end, no matter how the women persuaded him, Zhang Shikang still decided to bring them into the palace to have some fun.

After all, he had already gone to the palace to celebrate New Year's Eve twice, and each time, Brother Chongzhen brought the empress, several concubines, and five, six, seven or eight children.

Since it's a family dinner, brother, since you can bring your family, there's no reason why I can't bring my family, right?

You have five, six, seven or eight children and a bunch of wives. I have them too!

Moreover, this brother is lazy and doesn't farm the land, so he hasn't had a child in the past two years. But Zhang Shikang has four daughters this year alone.

He has always been hardworking. Whenever he is at home, he works hard and his business is booming. According to the current situation, the number of cubs he has will surpass his brother in a few years.

The next two days were uneventful. After writing a reply to Zheng Zhilong, Zhang Shikang gave himself a holiday. He enjoyed life at home every day and played with his children when he was free.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. In the morning, people came to the palace as expected, but this time the invited guests had changed from the Duke of England's family to the Duke of Zhenguo's family.

Although Zhang Shikang did not separate from his brother Zhang Shize, since Zhang Shikang had his own child, he could no longer be regarded as an unmarried young man.

After hearing the news, Zhang Zhiji actually felt relieved. In his opinion, the food in the palace was not delicious and not comfortable at all.

After all, the emperor was right next to him, and Zhang Zhiji also knew that the emperor had invited him to the family dinner because of his son.

Now it is much more convenient not to go there, I can just hold a banquet at home and enjoy the comfort.

Sun was a little worried. When she learned that her son was going to take eight concubines and four granddaughters with him, she repeatedly reminded her daughters-in-law of the things to pay attention to after entering the palace.

Zhang Shikang didn't take it seriously. Going to the palace was like going home, and he didn't know what to pay attention to.

Towards evening, four or five carriages were prepared outside the Duke of England's mansion and headed towards the palace gate.

When they arrived outside the Meridian Gate, Wang Chengen had been waiting for a long time with a team of eunuchs.

The winter in Beijing is still quite cold, and today there is a strong wind. Zhang Shikang originally wanted to get off the carriage, but considering that his four daughters are only a few months old and afraid that they will get cold, he said to Wang Chengen:

"Eunuch Wang, I have been awarded the Nine Gifts and can wear a sword and shoes to the palace. It's not too much to drive a carriage in the palace, right?"

Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment.

"This... shouldn't be excessive, but sir, we have to check this carriage briefly. This is the palace rule."

Wang Chengen could agree to other more excessive requests, but if it involved the emperor's safety, Wang Chengen would be very serious.

"There's nothing wrong, just check it out." Zhang Shikang didn't hesitate.

Wang Chengen waved to the palace maid and eunuch behind him. The eunuch immediately lay on the ground to check the bottom of the carriage, while the palace maid respectfully lifted the curtain of the carriage.

Although the inspection was thorough, it did not take much time. After a short while, Wang Chengen apologized and ordered the guard at the Meridian Gate to let the carriage in.

"My husband is so awesome!" Kou Baimen praised in a low voice in the carriage.

Although he had never been to the imperial palace, Kou Baimen knew that no matter how high the official rank, one had to dismount from the horse or carriage to enter the Meridian Gate, and was not allowed to bring any sharp weapons into the palace.

And her husband could take them in in a carriage with just a few words.

Zhang Shikang was extremely happy when his wife praised him with admiration.

The carriage finally stopped outside the Qianqing Palace. After being summoned, Zhang Shikang entered the Qianqing Palace first, followed by the women holding their babies.

In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen and his family had already arrived. Seeing Zhang Shikang coming, Emperor Chongzhen immediately asked Wang Chengen to notify the people in the Shangshenjian to start cooking.

After being awarded the Nine Gifts, Zhang Shikang stopped pretending and simply bowed to Emperor Chongzhen, the Empress, Empress Yi'an, and several favored concubines such as Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan one by one.

After the ceremony, Zhang Shikang took Zhang Qiling from Kou Baimen, held him in front of Emperor Chongzhen and said:

"Your Majesty, look, this is my youngest daughter!"

Since becoming the Grand Marshal of the Army, Zhang Shikang has rarely shown off in front of other people.

After all, when you become the richest man in the world, you will not show off your wealth to a beggar to gain a sense of superiority.

If I have to find one, it would naturally be Brother Chongzhen.

When he first learned that he was going to be a father, Zhang Shikang was so excited that he hugged Sun Weifan. But in fact, there was only Uncle Sun by his side at that time. If Brother Chongzhen was there, it is estimated that the person being hugged would definitely not be Sun Weifan.

"That is my eldest daughter, Zhang Qiuyue." Zhang Shikang pointed at the child in Chen Yuanyuan's arms.

"Those are our second daughter Qixue and third daughter Qiwen. Hurry, bring them here for His Majesty to see!" Zhang Shikang said to Li Xiangjun and his other three wives.

That kind of boasting was as if she was saying to Emperor Chongzhen, see, I was so busy fighting outside, but I didn’t forget to have children and I gave birth to four children in one year!

Bro, you can't do this!

Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have sensed Zhang Shikang's boasting, and said directly:

“They are all daughters.”

This made Zhang Shikang feel like he had hit cotton with his fist, and he felt very unhappy.

He was just about to refute this brother's preference for boys over girls, but fortunately, Queen Zhou and Queen Yi'an immediately walked over with a smile on their faces, nodded to Chen Yuanyuan and the other girls in a friendly manner, and picked up the cub to play with it.

Zhang Shikang had to give up his temper temporarily.

In view of Zhang Shikang's status in the emperor's mind, after some greetings, concubines such as Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan also went over to get close to Liu Rushi and other women.

Zhang Shikang quietly approached Emperor Chongzhen and continued to act like a bastard:

"Your Majesty, if I'm not telling you, you're only thirty-one years old after the New Year, right?

I gave birth to four children in one year, you should also work harder!"

Emperor Chongzhen still didn't care and replied softly:

"I have four sons."

……