Chapter 1187: It’s your own fault and you won’t survive

Su Mingzhe's determination to rebel is firm and resolute.

He would never give up easily just because of such trivial matters as the 'Magic Jade' being taken away and Jia Yuanchun's pregnancy.

As September approaches, the weather is getting colder.

Su Mingzhe went to Hanlin Bachelor Zhang Yu to ask for marriage leave.

Zhang Yu agreed immediately and approved it for half a month.

Su Mingzhe left an invitation and said goodbye to get off work.

Of course, before leaving get off work.

As usual, Su Mingzhe absorbed a bit of Emperor Longqing's luck before leaving the palace.

After returning to Rongning Street, Su Mingzhe first went back to his own No. 1 Scholar's Mansion to change into casual clothes, then walked through the newly opened moon gate and entered Rongguo Mansion, where he paid his respects to Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang, and Jia Zheng in turn.

After the greetings, Su Mingzhe was about to go back to the Zhuangyuan Mansion to rest, but Jia Zheng stopped him:
"Ying'er, have you applied for your wedding leave?"

Su Mingzhe answered honestly:

"Father, I have already requested it. Lord Zhang has approved half a month of marriage leave!"

"That's good."

Jia Zheng considered his tone and said:

"It's only a few days away from the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Some distant relatives have already arrived. You should stay at home to entertain the guests and don't go out to play."

Recently, Jia Zheng heard some rumors about his son, saying that his son often went out drinking and partying with his colleagues, which was not acceptable.

The Daqing Law stipulates that court officials are not allowed to go to brothels. If caught, they will be punished with 60 strokes of the cane.

Of course, such regulations are almost the same as not having them at all.

There is no official who doesn’t visit prostitutes.

The civil and military officials in the court would at most give a little face to Daqing Lu and not go to the official brothels like the Jiaofangsi. However, there were five or six hundred brothels in the entire Chang'an city, and there were countless private prostitutes in small families. So, if there were really officials who went there to seek pleasure, as long as they were not wearing official robes, who would know?

Again.

Even if the officials themselves don't go, it won't stop some people from sending the courtesans to their doorsteps.

Therefore, this Daqing Law is almost meaningless.

It even reached the point where the emperor didn't care about such matters.

After Su Mingzhe entered the Hanlin Academy, in order to maintain relationships, he often went out to play with his colleagues and stayed out all night.

Now, with Jia Zheng's instructions, Su Mingzhe could only nod to indicate that he understood.

As for correction, it is definitely impossible.

When we returned to Zhuangyuan Mansion, the whole house was already decorated with red and colorful decorations, with big red lanterns hung high.

The decoration of the Rong and Ning mansions will not begin until the next day or the day after tomorrow.

As the newly appointed housekeeper, Li Gui, upon seeing Su Mingzhe coming back, immediately reported all the day's affairs.

Su Mingzhe pointed out some of his shortcomings in management, gave him some praise, and finally put forward several requirements.

After Li Gui left, Xiren led the maids to serve the dishes.

After dinner, Su Mingzhe returned to the bedroom and saw two slender and graceful beauties in red dresses sitting at the head of his bed. He was stunned:
"Who are they?"

Xiren explained with a smile:

"These are the ones Miss Lin sent to sleep with. The one with the oval face is Huang Ying, and the one with the oval face is Jin Ling."

It took Su Mingzhe a long time to realize that this was the tradition of the Zhongding Mingshi family.

Some women will arrange for a maid to test whether the son-in-law is capable a few days before getting married.

"Yu'er shouldn't be able to come up with this idea. It must have been sent by Nanny Wang!"

"No matter whose idea it was, we can't serve the Second Master tonight."

Xiren chatted and laughed for a few words, then pulled Qingwen and several maids out of the bedroom.

Su Mingzhe hesitated for a moment, but still came and sat down between the two women. He put his arms around their slender waists, which were so thin that they could be held in one hand, and gently asked about their origins.

The two girls did not dare to hide anything and told everything immediately.

It turned out that both girls were sold to matchmakers by their parents when they were young. After being trained for seven or eight years, they learned all kinds of skills to serve men, such as playing musical instruments, singing, playing chess, poetry, and painting.

In June, Aunt Liu from the Lin residence bought them back to serve as Lin's maids as a dowry. When Su Mingzhe heard this, he asked the two girls to stand up and looked at them carefully.

These two girls quite meet the seven standards of Yangzhou skinny horses: thin, small, pointed, curvy, fragrant, soft and straight.

In that case, Su Mingzhe won't be polite.

After a night of clouds and rain.

Two sedan chairs took Huang Ying and Jin Ling back to Lin Daiyu's residence.

The eighth day of September.

The wedding is getting closer.

Su Mingzhe was so excited at the thought of marrying Lin Daiyu soon that he couldn't help but call some brothers of the same generation in the Jia family to a banquet.

Everyone was drinking happily when a bell rang, breaking everyone's mood.

Xue Pan, who was already drunk, could not help but frown and shouted:
"It's neither early nor late. What kind of bell are you ringing?"

Jia Lian was shocked by the words of this stupid bully:
"Brother Pan, don't speak—this is the royal death knell!"

Jia Rong next to him began to count silently:
"One, two, three... seven, eight, nine!"

Jia Qiang looked at Su Mingzhe, his eyes full of disbelief:

"Nine represents the emperor. Could it be that the emperor has passed away?"

No one answered his question because the answer was visible to the naked eye.

The current Emperor Longqing is in his prime and has not been reported to have any acute illness, so it is natural that he would not die for no reason.

On the contrary, the emperor had often fainted in recent months, which was expected by the nobles.

Su Mingzhe suddenly remembered a Daqing law, and his expression suddenly changed:
"During the period of national mourning, ordinary people are forbidden to marry within one month, civil and military officials are forbidden to marry within one hundred days, nobles are forbidden to marry within one year, and royal family members are forbidden to marry within twenty-seven months!"

He is the direct descendant of the Rongguo Mansion, so his wedding with Lin Daiyu has to be postponed for a year?
Not only Su Mingzhe thought of this, but many people in the Rong and Ning mansions also thought of this.

Tomorrow was supposed to be a big wedding day, but the emperor just passed away.

Su Mingzhe was so angry that he gritted his teeth, but he had nowhere to vent.

This was because the retired emperor died two or three years earlier, or because he kept devouring the luck of Emperor Longqing, and Emperor Longqing in turn absorbed the retired emperor's luck, which eventually led to this result.

"This is just self-inflicted trouble, you deserve to die!"

Everyone was not in the mood to continue drinking, nor did they dare to continue, so they said goodbye and left.

Su Mingzhe picked up the chopsticks, took a bite of beef, chewed it vigorously twice, then called the butler Li Gui and asked him to quickly put away all the red decorations in the house and send someone to the street to buy linen white clothes.

From now on, for the next hundred days, everyone in the mansion must eat vegetarian food and wear plain clothes.

Not to mention the impact of the death of the retired emperor on Su Mingzhe and the Rong and Ning mansions.

When Emperor Longqing in the Daming Palace heard the news of the death of the retired emperor, he was so excited that he almost jumped up.

After being suppressed for six years, he can finally become the true supreme ruler!

In the imperial study, Xia Shouzhong saw that the emperor was happy, and quickly coughed twice to remind him.

Dai Quan, the eunuch in charge of the Daming Palace, who had come to announce the death, was still kneeling outside the imperial study.

"Let him come in!"

Emperor Longqing gave Xia Shouzhong a look, then restrained his expression, began to write an edict, and prepared to order people to take over the Beijing camp.

Since ancient times, when power is transferred, only those who control the army can be invincible.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

Because Emperor Longqing had already been emperor for six years, the transfer of power went very smoothly.

Dai Quan was very perceptive. When the death was announced, he requested to resign from his position as the eunuch in Daming Palace, saying that he wanted to guard the tomb of the retired emperor and asked for the emperor's permission.

Emperor Longqing refused to agree to Dai Quan's concession.

Dai Quan was afraid of being liquidated, so he had to plead again and again. Finally, he offered two properties worth 500,000 yuan and 50,000 acres of fertile land, and only then did the emperor agree to his request to guard the tomb.

People like Dai Quan are knowledgeable and have good taste.

There are still many people who have no eyesight at all.

Emperor Longqing took out his little notebook, ready to search for the person by name and carry out the revenge action he had been planning for a long time.

(End of this chapter)