At night, in the study of Zhang Juzheng's mansion.
Zhang Juzheng put down the writing brush in his hand and took a deep breath. He looked up at You Chi, who was standing not far away, and said, "Put it away when it's dry. You have to hand it in tomorrow morning."
"Yes, master!" You Chi quickly agreed and said respectfully.
This was another request. Zhang Juzheng's attitude was very obvious. Anyway, he had to resign. He was very serious.
In fact, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that Zhang Juzheng would definitely not leave at this time. If he were to be splashed with dirty water by his own student and then go home with it, he might as well find a piece of tofu and kill himself.
With Zhang Juzheng's strength and character, how could he suffer such a loss?
It was necessary to make a gesture for outsiders to see, but not many people could see the deep meaning. In addition to being an outsider, there were two purposes, or two sides of the same coin. One was to test the emperor and the Empress Dowager.
In recent years, everyone knew that the emperor and the Empress Dowager listened to Minister Zhang's words. Minister Zhang's note could be regarded as an imperial edict.
However, a few days ago, Fu Yingzhen had just impeached Minister Zhang. Later, Zhang Jing, the factory manager of Dongchang, came to trouble them. It seemed that they were in a precarious situation.
Zhang Juzheng naturally wanted to test them. He wanted to test whether the emperor and the Empress Dowager still relied on him as before.
If it was still like before, they would definitely comfort him and not let him go home.
Since they wanted to comfort him, he naturally couldn't be slandered. If there was no slandering, it proved that he was not in the wrong. If he was not in the wrong, it would be the fault of impeaching others.
The Empress Dowager and the emperor wanted to deal with Liu Tai. Dealing with Liu Tai and comforting him were two sides of the same coin.
If he punished Liu Tai severely, it would be enough for him to establish his prestige.
The next day, Zhang Juzheng still didn't go to the cabinet to work. He just submitted another request.
As for Zhang Juzheng's second act of begging for kindness, there were those who disdained it, those who were angry, and those who wanted to avoid it.
In any case, no smart person would be willing to get involved in this matter. This was the first time since the founding of the Daming Empire that a student had impeached a teacher. No one was sure that this would be a small matter.
Inside the palace, Zhu Yijun was playing with his bird.
"Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor!"
The parrot had said it best. This bird had been brought back by the Dongchang scouts he had sent to Haojing a few years ago.
After recuperating in the palace for several years, his body was very healthy. Usually, the eunuchs and palace maids taught him how to say "Long live the Emperor" the best.
Zhu Yijun smiled as he fed the bird. Seeing that Zhang Jing wanted to say something, Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "What's the matter?"
"Imperial Majesty, Minister Zhang has entered the palace!" Zhang Jing said carefully, "The Empress Dowager has summoned Minister Zhang to the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful!"
Standing up, Zhu Yijun moved his shoulders and said with a smile, "Prepare some clothes for me. The Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful should send someone soon!" After saying that, Zhu Yijun handed the parrot to the palace maid next to him.
In the morning, Zhang Juzheng's request for kindness was naturally seen by Zhu Yijun, and the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful naturally saw it too.
Queen Dowager Li had been very concerned about this matter these days. Now that she had summoned Zhang Juzheng, it was reasonable.
The second memorial from Zhang Juzheng was obviously meant to test the waters. Next, it was his turn to play the bad cop.
Not long after, the people from the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful came, and they looked quite anxious.
Zhu Yijun had already finished packing. When he saw the people coming, he directly followed them to the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful.
As soon as he walked to the door, Zhu Yijun heard the sound of crying coming from inside. The sound was not small, "Hey, hey, hey."
Hearing this sound, Zhu Yijun raised his eyebrows. Fortunately, it was not "Hey, hey, hey!"
However, just "Hey, hey, hey" was enough to make Zhu Yijun's head hurt. Besides Queen Dowager Li, there was no one else who dared to cry so loudly in the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful.
Women had three magic weapons: First, cry, second, and third, hang themselves. Queen Dowager Li was crying for her son to see!
Sure enough, as soon as Zhu Yijun entered, he saw Queen Dowager Li sitting there crying, holding a handkerchief in her hand, crying sadly.
Zhu Yijun really wanted to go over and see if there were any tears, but he still did not dare. Instead, he quickly walked to Queen Dowager Li's side and said, "Mother, why are you crying?
Did they not take good care of you? I'll have someone deal with them. "
Zhu Yijun felt that his acting skills were not bad. He had to go all the way to the end if he wanted to act.
Zhang Juzheng sat next to him and looked at the emperor's student who had just walked in. Seeing that he was worried about Queen Dowager Li, he nodded gently. This filial piety was not bad. It was not in vain that he had tried his best to teach.
"You're still talking?"
Queen Dowager Li raised her head and looked at Zhu Yijun with her almond-shaped eyes. "Master Zhang is about to be forced to go home. Why don't you do anything?"
"When your Imperial Father passed away, who was the one who turned the tide? It was you, Master Zhang.
In the past few years, who has done his best for the Daming and ensured the stability of the Daming's empire? It was still Master Zhang.
“
"Now Master Zhang is being slandered. As the emperor, are you just going to watch it happen?"
Queen Dowager Li cried and scolded Zhu Yijun. Her words were sad and her true feelings were revealed.
At this time, Zhang Juzheng did not dare to sit still. He quickly lifted his official robe and knelt down. Then he said loudly, "I am guilty. I did not act properly and made Your Majesty and Empress Dowager worried. Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, please allow me to return to my hometown!"
Seeing this, Zhu Yijun quickly came to Zhang Juzheng's side and stretched out his hands to help Zhang Juzheng up. He said sincerely, "Master Zhang, the Daming needs you. I need you. How can you abandon me at this time?"
Speaking of this, Zhu Yijun showed an angry expression on his face. "Master Zhang, I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter."
After a few twists and turns, Zhang Juzheng left the palace. Queen Dowager Li also went to the harem, while Zhu Yijun returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Rubbing his slightly swollen forehead, Zhu Yijun sighed helplessly. "Acting is also tiring."
Although the words of the three of them were sincere and tears flowed down, Zhu Yijun knew that not much of it was true.
To put it bluntly, Queen Dowager Li cried for him to see Zhang Juzheng stay. However, whether she was crying sincerely or not was definitely up for debate.
As for Zhang Juzheng's determination to resign, it would be strange if Zhu Yijun believed it.
As for himself, he did not reveal any true feelings from the beginning to the end.
Through the incident in the Palace of Benevolence and Peace, Queen Dowager Li expressed her support for Zhang Juzheng and would not let him go home like this. Zhu Yijun also expressed that he would severely punish Liu Tai and the others to give Zhang Juzheng an explanation. This wave of probing and comforting was temporarily completed.
The next step was the actual action. Zhu Yijun decided to drag it out for two days and let it ferment.