The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 469

At the same time, it also served as a warning to Zhang Ji, since it was clear to everyone that Chen Wanyan had ended up in such a miserable state because he had offended Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Or to be more precise, Chen Wanyan was simply a pawn in the hands of the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Emperor, to be used and then discarded.

Zhang Ji understood this point, so although he was greedy for small amounts of money, he didn't go too far.

"There are no outsiders here today, so please don't be shy. Just treat this as a family dinner."

Mr. Jiang smiled.

"Mother is right. There are no outsiders, only family."

As Jiajing spoke, he picked up his wine cup and stood up.

"I would like to offer a toast to my wet nurse. She raised me as her own child. After she passed away, I dreamed of her every day."

After saying this, Jiajing raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

Yang hurriedly stood up, picked up her wine glass, and drank a toast with him.

"Sister, there's no need for that, just sit down."

Jiang said with a hint of reproach.

After finishing her drink, Lady Yang sat down. She knew very well that the Empress Dowager could be polite to her, but if she actually sat down and accepted the Emperor's drink, the Empress Dowager would definitely feel uncomfortable.

No matter what, she was just the emperor's wet nurse, or in other words, a servant in the Prince of Xing's mansion. She must not take advantage of his favor.

"Wenfu, Hengqi, have a drink with me."

As Jiajing spoke, he poured himself another cup of wine and raised the cup.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu and Lu Bing raised their wine cups, clinked them together with Jiajing from afar, and drank them down in one gulp.

"That's wonderful. People say that once you ascend the throne, you become all alone. I am so lucky to have Wenfu by my side and Hengqi serving me wholeheartedly."

Emperor Jiajing spoke out in response to his feelings.

"I am fortunate that, given what I have done, only Your Majesty can tolerate me and only Your Majesty can give me such strong support."

Zhou Chu echoed.

"Hengqi, you have done so much for my Great Ming. Without you, I might not be able to gain a foothold in this capital. If I don't support you, who will I support?"

As Jiajing spoke, he drank another cup.

Zhou Chu and Lu Bing then drank a cup with him.

As for Zhou Chu, Jiajing didn't actually see things very clearly; it was like looking at flowers through a fog.

Jiajing felt that Zhou Chu knew too much and understood too thoroughly about many things and issues.

For example, long before he ascended the throne, Zhou Hengqi was able to accurately predict that his elder brother, Zhu Houzhao, would be killed by Yang Tinghe and others.

Although his argument was reasonable and based on precedent, Zhu Houcong still felt there was a problem.

Zhou Chu's prediction was too accurate, as if he knew this would definitely happen.

Besides this incident, there were many other aspects of Zhou Hengqi that Jiajing could not understand.

Overall, Zhou Hengqi was too perfect, as if he was born with knowledge.

However, Jiajing did not care about these issues. The only thing Jiajing was certain of was that Zhou Hengqi had been sincerely working for him from the beginning. Later, Zhou Hengqi's various actions, including asking him for the eunuch who raised horses and being able to hand over the military power of the Tiger Guard to Lin Lu at any time, all showed that this commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who was about the same age as him, did not have much ambition.

According to Jiajing's understanding, this commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was very contradictory, yet his contradictions were also very unified.

Zhou Hengqi was ruthless and merciless towards the gentry and officials, never holding back; confiscating their property and exterminating their families were commonplace for him.

He treated ordinary people, such as the workers in Zhou Chu's cloth shop, with unexpected kindness.

Besides the workers in these cloth shops, Jiajing also knew about many things Zhou Chu had done. For example, when Zhou Chu was in Suzhou Prefecture, he paid high wages to the displaced people who built the dikes, and he paid special attention to their food.

This commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was ruthless on one hand, and kind-hearted on the other.

This made Zhu Houcong see the shadow of another person in Zhou Chu: his ancestor, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, in the outer courtyard of the Lu family, the guests were all whispering among themselves.

"Why is the Lu family so powerful? Even the Emperor and Empress Dowager have come."

Qin Wan's mother looked puzzled.

"Mom, keep your voice down."

Qin Wan was startled when she heard this and quickly said something.

"The matriarch of the Lu family was the emperor's wet nurse, and the eldest son of the Lu family is now a close minister of the emperor. When the emperor first ascended the throne, it is said that Lord Lu protected the emperor day and night. As for Lord Zhou, there is no need to say more. Lord Zhou has done so much for His Majesty and for the Ming Dynasty. Lord Zhou can be said to be half a member of the Lu family."

Qin Wan was extremely knowledgeable about Zhou Chu's affairs, and by extension, she also had a deep understanding of the Lu family's affairs, which she could readily discuss.

"Alright, stop talking and eat more vegetables."

Qin's father said with a serious expression, afraid that others would overhear these words. Although it wouldn't matter if others heard them, and he had never heard of anyone being punished for discussing royal matters, it was still not a pleasant thing to say.

In fact, apart from their family, the other guests were also secretly discussing it, their eyes filled with excitement. For many, being able to attend this wedding and meet so many important people would be a topic of conversation for the rest of their lives.

Sun Jiaojiao's father-in-law was also greatly surprised at this moment.

"It seems His Majesty values ​​Lord Zhou very highly."

Upon hearing this, Sun Jiaojiao couldn't help but roll her eyes inwardly, thinking, "Isn't that obvious? If the Emperor is to say who he values ​​most in the court right now, it is undoubtedly Lord Zhou."

"Lord Zhou deserves His Majesty's high regard."

Sun Hong, who was standing to the side, said.

"The things Lord Zhou has done, let alone all of them, even if we take any one of them out of context, who among you, me, and all the civil and military officials would dare to do the same?"

Sun Hong countered with a question.

Upon hearing this, Sun Jiaojiao's father-in-law was immediately speechless.

"Eat your food, you talk too much."

Sun Jiaojiao's parents-in-law served some food to her father-in-law, saying irritably.

She realized that her husband was unreliable, and neither Lord Sun nor Jiaojiao liked him much.

In her heart, Sun Jiaojiao was the ancestor of their family, and she had to serve her well. Her son's and even her grandson's future career depended entirely on Sun Jiaojiao.

Yang Lian, who had been observing for a while, left the Lu residence early and returned home to await news.

If the Embroidered Uniform Guard makes no move by today, he can proceed with the next step of his plan.

They joined forces with all the civil and military officials to impeach Grand Secretary Yang Yiqing.