Chapter 9: Awkward

"Yes, Your Highness," Cao Wenzhao said. "Should we inform your maternal uncle?"

Zhu Xu stroked his chin and shook his head. "Don't contact Uncle's side. Our movements must stay as hidden as possible—no one should notice." Tianlai Novel

Cao Wenzhao bowed slightly, indicating he understood.

"Your Highness! Your Highness..." Suddenly, a young eunuch came running from afar, shouting as he ran.

Zhu Xu was startled and muttered, "Could Sister-in-law have urgent business with me?"

The young eunuch ran over and threw himself directly at Zhu Xu.

"What's going on? Which directorate are you from, and who's your superior?" Cao Wenzhao lifted the young eunuch up with one hand, barking coldly.

The young eunuch's face went pale, and he hastily said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, I'm a disciple of Eunuch Cao—he sent me to inform you."

Zhu Xu's expression shifted. "Has Zhou Jianzong submitted his memorial?"

"Yes, yes." Held up by Cao Wenzhao, the young eunuch nodded repeatedly.

And so, early the next morning, Zhu Xu hurried over to Kunning Palace to mooch a meal.

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

Zhu Xu sat at the table, tapping it with his chopsticks like a mischievous child, urging on Huan'er, who was busy working away on the other side.

Empress Zhang shot Zhu Xu an exasperated glare. "Enough—can't you see Huan'er is busy? And you—why did you come running over so early this morning?"

Zhu Xu watched Huan'er's fair little hands dividing up the delicacies, mixing sauces, soaking, steaming slowly... too busy to rest her feet, yet he widened his eyes and clamored, "I want pastries! I want pastries..."

Huan'er straightened her waist, wiped the fine sweat from her brow, turned around, and also shot Zhu Xu a glare.

Zhu Xu giggled, hopped down from his stool, and rushed to ingratiate himself: "Here, Sister Huan'er, let me wipe it for you... ouch..."

"You sit still and behave." Before Zhu Xu could touch Huan'er's pretty face, Empress Zhang grabbed his ear and pressed him back onto the stool.

Zhu Xu chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his ear. "I'm just anxious, that's all—whose fault is it that Sister Huan'er's cooking is so delicious?"

"You always have an excuse." Empress Zhang said with feigned anger.

Huan'er also pursed her lips in a smile. "Alright, you can have this one first."

Before she even finished speaking, Zhu Xu snatched it up and swallowed it whole in one gulp.

Empress Zhang quickly poured a cup of tea. "Eat slowly—I'm not going to fight you for it."

Zhu Xu drank some water while speaking thickly, "Sister-in-law, why don't you just let me have Huan'er too..."

Empress Zhang didn't catch what he said, looking at him. "Eat slowly—finish first, then talk."

Meanwhile, Huan'er's pretty face stiffened, and she glared at Zhu Xu. "I'm not going to Jinghuan Palace—I want to serve my mistress."

Empress Zhang also caught on, and smiled slightly. "I can give you anything else, but don't even think about Huan'er."

Zhu Xu swallowed his food down, smacked his lips, and said with a look of regret, "Why is it that everything good belongs to Sister-in-law?"

Empress Zhang burst out laughing, and said with exasperation, "You little rascal—before you were coveting the valuables in my palace, and now you're coveting the people too."

Zhu Xu felt a bit embarrassed too, and looked at Empress Zhang. "Sister-in-law, how about just lending her to me for a few days?"

"Enough, eat quickly," Empress Zhang said, not giving him a chance to pester. "Finish eating and go back to wait. The Emperor hasn't woken up yet—I need to go check on him."

Zhu Xu's eyes rolled around. "Alright then."

Huan'er shoved the freshly made pastries at him with exasperation. Zhu Xu ate some and took some, as usual, carrying nearly half the pastries back to Jinghuan Palace.

"Try it—Sister Huan'er made them." Zhu Xu handed the box to Cao Wenzhao.

Cao Wenzhao's face lit up with joy. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhu Xu lay back in his chair, sipping tea, and said slowly, "Brother was at Sister-in-law's place all day yesterday—he probably hasn't seen Zhou Jianzong's memorial yet. The Directorate of Ceremonial... Wei Zhongxian has probably gotten wind of it by now. Tell Little Cao to keep an eye out—if Brother goes to the Imperial Study, come report to me."

"Yes, Your Highness." Cao Wenzhao was a big, burly man with terrible table manners. He wiped his mouth and looked at Zhu Xu, puzzled. "Your Highness, is this really that important? I've never seen you this serious."

Zhu Xu smiled faintly without explaining further. He had studied archaeology and didn't know much about history. But he remembered clearly that once, his advisor had pointed at the tomb of the Ming Prince of Tang and told them, "The moment Wei Zhongxian truly believed he could defeat the invincible pure-stream faction began with his handling of Zhou Jianzong."

That sentence had left a deep impression on him. So he absolutely could not give Wei Zhongxian the feeling that he could overcome the entire court's pure-stream faction—otherwise, knowing the Tianqi Emperor's temperament as he did, combined with Madam Ke, no one would be able to restrain him in the future.

"I'll doze off for a bit—wake me when it's time." Zhu Xu had gone out early specifically to scout the situation, and now that he was full and satisfied, he felt sleepy.

"Yes, Your Highness." Cao Wenzhao quickly acknowledged, then carried the box and walked out.

Zhu Xu slept until noon. Bleary-eyed, he stood at the door, looking at the sun at its hottest, listening to Cao Huachun's explanation, and stared at Cao Huachun beside him with a strange expression. "What happened? Say that again!"

Cao Huachun's expression was also somewhat awkward. "Several people in the Directorate of Ceremonial are illiterate, just like Eunuch Wei. Eunuch Wei gave orders that all Censors' memorials must be personally reviewed by them before being sent before the Emperor. Today Liu Shimin happens to be off duty, no one else can do the red endorsement, and Eunuch Wei hasn't returned yet—so Censor Zhou's memorial is still sitting in the Directorate of Ceremonial."

Zhu Xu looked up at the sky with a sigh. Since after Emperor Yingzong, the Directorate of Ceremonial had established schools specifically to teach eunuchs to read and write. But Wei Zhongxian and those around him had come up through unorthodox paths—not knowing a single character. Without the red endorsement of a Directorate of Ceremonial eunuch, even memorials from the Grand Secretariat couldn't reach the Emperor.

This was the current predicament.

Yet the Directorate of Ceremonial was known as the "Little Grand Secretariat," and its brush-holding eunuchs were called the "Inner Prime Ministers"—their power was sometimes more terrifying than the Grand Secretaries themselves. So whether it was the once-glorious Zhang Juzheng, or later Yan Song, Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and other successive Grand Secretaries, anyone who wanted to accomplish anything first had to win over the brush-holding eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

And most importantly, the brush-holding eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial often concurrently served as Superintendent of the Eastern Depot!

Why could Wei Zhongxian's power suppress the Six Ministries and make the Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat bow to his will? Because both the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were in his hands—anyone who disobeyed could be sent to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Provost Prison on some pretext. Guilty or innocent, once you entered the Provost Prison, it was a death sentence!

Wei Zhongxian had held power for barely four years, yet the destruction he wrought had no equal in the entire Ming dynasty!

Zhu Xu sighed inwardly, but his mind quickly began to turn. The corner of his mouth curled up slightly as he muttered to himself, "Very well then—I'll give you a little eye drop ahead of schedule."

"Let's go—to the Imperial Study." Zhu Xu said.

"Your Highness, Prince Hui, you've come at just the right time—the Emperor is angry." Just as Zhu Xu walked in, a eunuch outside the door hurried over and said in a low voice.

Zhu Xu was startled. "Who made Brother angry?"

The eunuch glanced at the Imperial Study's gate and said quietly, "The Emperor is studying the writings of the ancient sages and can't understand many parts—he's been pondering them. Just now a Censor requested an audience and was scolded away by the Emperor."

A Censor? Could Zhou Jianzong be so impatient that he's come to press for an answer already?