Chapter 190: The Imperial Father-in-Law Enters the Palace

Zhu Youxiao did not take the memorial, waving his hand and saying, "Have your people send a token to the Earl of Taikang's residence. Also tell the Earl of Taikang that from now on he need not seek permission to enter the palace—with the token, he may come and go at any time."

Chen Hong was slightly taken aback. The treatment His Majesty was granting could be said to be an extremely, extremely deep mark of favor toward the Earl of Taikang's entire household.

For Zhu Youxiao, this was something he had long planned to do. He needed to give Zhang Guoji enough favor and trust—at the very least, to make those outside believe that His Majesty trusted the Imperial Father-in-Law enough, or rather, that his trust in Empress Zhang had reached the point of blind infatuation.

In this regard, Zhu Youxiao's model was Emperor Hongzhi, Zhu Youcheng. Those two brothers-in-law of Zhu Youcheng's had been spoiled to the heavens by him. The only difference was that Zhu Youcheng genuinely doted on them—it was love for the person extending to all things connected with her.

Because Emperor Hongzhi had only one empress and no other women at all. This was something virtually unprecedented in all of history.

Zhu Youcheng's two brothers-in-law could enter the palace at any time. This time, Zhu Youxiao had given the Imperial Father-in-Law, Zhang Guoji, the same treatment.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will go at once." Chen Hong bowed in acknowledgment, and in his heart he came to regard the Empress and the Earl of Taikang's household with even greater esteem.

The news that the Earl of Taikang had received a token allowing free entry to and exit from the palace quickly spread throughout the palace. Everyone now knew one thing: His Majesty truly doted on the Empress beyond measure—loved her to the very bone.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty the Empress." A crowd of palace attendants bearing good news knelt in unison before Empress Zhang, offering words of congratulations.

When Empress Zhang first received the news, she nearly teared up. His Majesty had been far too good to her natal family.

"To the Qianqing Palace."

Ignoring the young palace maids calling out behind her, Empress Zhang hurried straight toward the Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty!" When Empress Zhang saw Zhu Youxiao, her eyes were red, and she choked up, unable to speak.

"What's wrong, Baozhu? Has someone bullied you?" Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but pinch Baozhu's tender, rosy cheeks.

"No..." Empress Zhang poured out everything in her heart to Zhu Youxiao. The two of them lingered affectionately together in the Qianqing Palace for the whole afternoon and shared dinner.

Empress Zhang did not return to the Kunning Palace. She stayed directly in Zhu Youxiao's Qianqing Palace, and the two of them lingered affectionately together through the night.

And so someone recorded once again: The Empress stayed overnight in the Qianqing Palace.

Early the next morning, after Empress Zhang had breakfast with Zhu Youxiao, she returned to the Kunning Palace.

It wasn't that Empress Zhang didn't want to continue staying here with His Majesty—it was that she truly could not remain here any longer.

On the one hand, because Empress Zhang's father was coming to the palace, she needed to accompany him. On the other hand, if the Empress were to keep living in the Emperor's Qianqing Palace, word spreading would have a bad influence.

There would be gossips in the palace saying that as Empress, she was jealous of the other women of the harem and monopolized the Emperor all by herself.

That would hardly be a good reputation. So Empress Zhang left the Qianqing Palace directly and returned to the Kunning Palace.

Not long after Empress Zhang returned to her palace, her father, Zhang Guoji, entered the palace.

Come to think of it, it had been quite some time since she had seen her father. Empress Zhang truly did miss him.

Seeing her father, Empress Zhang's heart was filled with a welter of emotions, yet she could only sit there without speaking.

Only after the formal greetings were completed did Empress Zhang say to Zhang Guoji, "Father, come sit over here."

Once Zhang Guoji was seated, Empress Zhang asked with a mix of emotions, "Is everything well at home?"

Looking at his daughter, Zhang Guoji smiled and nodded, saying, "All is well."

Only then did Empress Zhang feel at ease. She comforted her father, saying, "Father, don't worry about your daughter. Everything is fine for me in the palace, and His Majesty treats me very well."

At this point, a hint of shyness appeared on Empress Zhang's face, and she was somewhat afraid to look at her father.

Seeing his daughter's bashful expression, Zhang Guoji smiled faintly. This much he could naturally sense.

His Majesty's favor toward his daughter was truly not a small matter—this much could be seen from His Majesty's attitude toward him, the Imperial Father-in-Law. Seeing his daughter's current state, Zhang Guoji felt reassured that she had not suffered any mistreatment in the palace.

After father and daughter chatted about family matters for a while, Zhang Guoji spoke with some hesitation: "Today, your father came to the palace because there are some matters I wish to ask you about."

Empress Zhang smiled and said, "It's about the Imperial Household Department, isn't it?"

Zhang Guoji nodded and said with some helplessness, "There are some things I simply have no way to handle. You know as well, your father has read the books of the sages and harbors ambitions in his heart, but my official career has never gone smoothly. I've never held any real office, and I don't know much about the ways of officialdom. This time, His Majesty has asked your father to take charge of the Imperial Household Department, and I have no confidence in my heart!"

Glancing at her father, Empress Zhang smiled faintly and did not expose him.

In truth, Empress Zhang understood her father well enough.

Her father had wanted to be an official for all these years—he was an old office-seeker. But unfortunately, he had never succeeded in the examinations. Never mind passing the jinshi—he hadn't even managed to pass the xiucai.

Now that he had this opportunity to become a high official, her father had no intention whatsoever of letting it go.

But at this moment, Empress Zhang began to hesitate. She had never been very approving of this matter to begin with, and now seeing her father's state, she became even more doubtful.

This might not be a good thing.

The way her father was now, he really might botch the affairs of the Imperial Household Department. If it came to that, her father and her natal family would be in trouble.

After thinking it over, Empress Zhang steeled herself and said, "If Father has no confidence, perhaps you should resign to His Majesty. Don't worry, Father—I'll speak to His Majesty on your behalf. Given His Majesty's favor toward me, I believe he will surely agree."

Hearing Empress Zhang's words, Zhang Guoji's face showed some embarrassment.

He had only wanted to ask his daughter for some advice—he had no intention of actually giving up the position of Minister of the Imperial Household Department.

If he truly wanted to give it up, Zhang Guoji wouldn't have come to the palace to see his daughter. Hearing his daughter say this now, he felt somewhat displeased, and even more embarrassed.

"Your father simply hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. Once I do, I'm sure I'll become familiar with it quickly." Zhang Guoji said with a smile: "Don't worry."

Hearing her father's words, Empress Zhang became even more worried instead.

But seeing her father's demeanor, Empress Zhang knew she probably couldn't persuade him. It seemed she might consider working on His Majesty's side instead—though thinking of His Majesty's manner, Empress Zhang didn't have much confidence there either.

"Then what did Father come to the palace for this time?" Empress Zhang asked.

Since there was no way to persuade her father to give it up, the only option was to help him handle matters as best she could—so that things wouldn't be ruined before they even began.

So Empress Zhang went straight to the heart of the matter.

Zhang Guoji thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "It's like this..."

And so Zhang Guoji recounted the entire matter to Empress Zhang. His current situation was very awkward.

After finishing, Zhang Guoji said with some helplessness, "You see now—your father doesn't know what to do either."

Hearing these words, Empress Zhang's eyes widened, her small mouth slightly open, and she said in disbelief, "How could they do such a thing?"

In truth, what Empress Zhang was thinking was not that at all—what she was thinking was, how could these people be so shameless?

How dare they do something like this?

Their nerve was far too great. Weren't they afraid His Majesty would punish them for their crimes?

Seeing her father looking at her with expectation, Empress Zhang felt somewhat anxious, because she didn't know what to do either.

In Empress Zhang's mind, the figure of Zhu Youxiao flashed before her eyes at once.

Empress Zhang felt she should go ask His Majesty—even if His Majesty wouldn't give her a solution, she could at least have him rescind the order and not let her father take on this task.

With this thought, Empress Zhang steadied herself and said, "Father, go back for now. I will send word to you shortly."

Zhang Guoji heard Empress Zhang's words, a look of puzzlement crossing his face. But knowing he could not press further, he said, "Then I'll be heading back."

Empress Zhang nodded and instructed, "Next time you come to the palace, bring Mother along as well. I miss her somewhat."

As she said this, Empress Zhang felt a little embarrassed, showing the coy, girlish manner of a young daughter.

Hearing his daughter mention her birth mother, Zhang Guoji felt warmth in his heart. He nodded gently and said with a smile, "Alright."

After Zhang Guoji had left, Empress Zhang thought for a moment and summoned Wang An.

Since the last incident, Wang An had grown fairly close to the Kunning Palace side. Because of this relationship, Empress Zhang trusted Wang An quite a bit, so she decided to ask him first.

After hearing Empress Zhang's account, a contemplative expression appeared on Wang An's face.

Wang An hadn't expected so many people to want to stuff their own men into the Imperial Household Department—but if they were truly allowed in, the department would be breaking the law before it was even established.

Appointing relatives and forming cliques for private gain—who would dare do such a thing?

So this matter absolutely could not be allowed.

But if he refused, then he would offend many people, including court officials, as well as the meritorious nobles and the relatives of the imperial clan.

Under such circumstances, this task became difficult to handle—he could neither offend people nor accept all of them, and that was a real headache.

But Wang An also knew this was simply impossible to accomplish. Because these were two mutually contradictory things—if you didn't want to offend them, you had to use their people; if you didn't use their people, you offended them.

The two sides of a matter—there was simply no choice to be made. Wang An was frantic with worry inside.

Glancing at Empress Zhang, Wang An said, "Empress, this old servant thinks we should go ask His Majesty?"

Empress Zhang nodded. "Very well, then let us go ask His Majesty!"

After saying this, Empress Zhang rose to her feet and walked toward the Qianqing Palace.

Empress Zhang's heart carried no real burden—in her view, this was merely a small matter. Given His Majesty's fondness for her, this didn't count as anything at all.

"Your Majesty, the Empress has arrived." Chen Hong came to Zhu Youxiao's side and said with a bow.

Zhu Youxiao nodded.

In truth, Zhu Youxiao had already guessed as much—Zhang Guoji had naturally come to the palace for a reason, and Zhu Youxiao even knew exactly what that reason was.

This matter was very difficult to handle, so it was hardly strange that Empress Zhang had come to see him.

Setting down the carving knife in his hand, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "Let the Empress come in."

In Zhu Youxiao's other hand was a wooden carving model not yet finished—from its silhouette, it appeared to be a woman.

Zhu Youxiao carefully put away the wooden carving model, placing it into a wooden box lined with red velvet that sat to one side, then gently closed the lid.

By the time Zhu Youxiao had finished all this, Empress Zhang had also walked in from outside.