A sage among women

"Are you... Empress Renxiao Xu?"

Qin Fei couldn't help but look Xu Miaoyun up and down; the other woman appeared to be about the same age as her.

"Empress?"

Hearing how Qin Fei addressed her, Xu Miaoyun's expression drastically changed.

Although she had followed Empress Ma here and knew this was the future, she was completely unaware of the Jingnan Campaign and the events that would subsequently unfold in the Great Ming Dynasty.

What did it mean for this person to call her an empress right now?

Didn't that mean the Prince of Yan had rebelled and become the Emperor?

"Miaoyun."

At this moment, Empress Ma and Empress Zhangsun walked over. Seeing the tension on Xu Miaoyun's face, Empress Ma smiled and said, "Don't worry, those are things that happen much later, and they are impossible to happen now. Chongba won't blame you and the fourth son."

It was said that Xu Miaoyun had been summoned into the palace by Empress Ma when she was eight or nine years old. She had won Empress Ma's deep affection and was raised as if she were her own biological daughter.

Empress Ma had also let her study alongside the princes, which ultimately led to the union between Xu Miaoyun and Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan.

"Mother, His Highness the Prince of Yan could not possibly rebel." Despite Empress Ma's comforting words, Xu Miaoyun still couldn't understand how things could have developed to such a point.

As Zhu Di's legal wife, if he truly harbored rebellious intentions, Xu Miaoyun believed it was impossible for her not to know.

And in reality, this was indeed the case.

The reason she didn't know was that, at this time, Zhu Di truly hadn't entertained such thoughts.

He only truly developed the ambition to seize the throne after meeting Monk Daoyan.

Zhu Di and Monk Daoyan first met in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, when Empress Ma passed away. Zhu Di had returned to the capital for the funeral and went to a temple to pray for blessings, which was when they first crossed paths.

"On our side, that is all history. The Prince of Yan not only rebelled, but he also successfully took the throne," Qin Fei said with a smile.

As she spoke, they walked over to the sofa and sat down. Qin Fei continued, "Three of the most famous and virtuous empresses in history are sitting right next to me."

"It seems Miaoyun did a very good job as an empress," Empress Ma said with gratification.

"Indeed."

Qin Fei nodded, "Sister Miaoyun's abilities have been widely recognized by later generations. During the Jingnan Campaign, she and the heir apparent, Zhu Gaochi, stayed behind to guard Beiping. Not only did she stabilize the rear, but when Zhu Di led the army to war, she personally commanded the defense of Beiping, repelling Li Jinglong's army of hundreds of thousands."

"During the Yongle era, she recommended the virtuous and capable, pushing Zhu Di to break the restrictions of powerful clans and select talented individuals for the court, laying the talent foundation for the 'Yongle Golden Age'."

"She also advocated for benevolent governance. In the fifth year of Yongle, Empress Renxiao Xu's dying words were 'cherish the common people, do not indulge maternal relatives'. Zhu Di followed her final wishes, implementing policies of recuperation and easing the social contradictions that followed the Jingnan Campaign."

"The fifth year of Yongle... Little Xu passed away in the fifth year of Yongle?" Hearing this, Empress Ma's expression changed.

Qin Fei sighed softly, "Yes, Sister Miaoyun died of illness in the fifth year of Yongle. Zhu Di never established a new empress. Until his death in the twenty-second year of Yongle, the position of empress remained vacant for seventeen long years. His inner court was always managed with the help of Empress Chengxiao, who was the Crown Princess at the time, Lady Zhang."

"Speaking of Lady Zhang, she is also one of the three great virtuous empresses of the Ming Dynasty. She was the first wife of Emperor Renzong, Zhu Gaochi, the mother of Emperor Xuanzong, Zhu Zhanji, and the grandmother of Emperor Yingzong, Zhu Qizhen. She assisted three reigns, refused to rule from behind the curtain, and heavily relied on capable ministers like The Three Yangs. She was praised by later generations as a 'female Yao and Shun'."

Hearing this, Empress Ma and the others all looked surprised.

Just the phrase 'female Yao and Shun' was enough to illustrate Lady Zhang's capability.

Empress Ma spoke again, "Renzong... is that Gaochi's temple name?"

Qin Fei nodded, "During the Yongle era, the Crown Prince frequently governed on his father's behalf, implementing policies to reduce taxes and provide disaster relief. Facing his younger brother Zhu Gaoxu's repeated attempts to usurp his position, he still pleaded for mercy on his behalf, preventing him from being reduced to a commoner. After taking the throne, he pardoned the former officials of the Jianwen era and their families, halted labor-intensive public works, abolished castration as a punishment, and mandated that death penalty cases be jointly reviewed by the Three Judicial Offices to prevent unjust convictions."

"What a pity..."

Empress Ma already adored her chubby grandson, and now learning that he would be known as Renzong made her even happier. Seeing Qin Fei furrow her brows, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she quickly asked, "What's a pity?"

"Renzong was only on the throne for ten months before he passed away."

"What?"

Hearing this, Xu Miaoyun's expression shifted drastically. "Gaochi... Gaochi, he..."

"Zhu Gaochi's death had a lot to do with him being overly obese. You must remember to strictly control his diet in the future. He can't keep eating like that," Qin Fei reminded them.

Xu Miaoyun called over Zhu Gaochi, who was playing with Zhu Xiongying and the others not far away.

He was seen holding a fried chicken leg that was already half-eaten. Xu Miaoyun said, "Gaochi, you've already had three chicken legs today. Remember from now on, before meals every day, you can only eat a maximum of one chicken leg, understood?"

A growing child couldn't be completely forbidden from eating; one a day shouldn't be a problem.

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi's little face looked completely innocent. Everything was fine, so why wasn't he allowed to eat all of a sudden?

He nodded aggrievedly, "I understand, Mother. Only one chicken leg before meals, but what about after meals?"

"..."

At this time, Molan and Zisu finished their work in the kitchen and came out, having prepared dinner.

Qin Ning did not leave but stayed to eat with this large group of women and children.

Meanwhile, back in the Great Ming Dynasty.

Night fell.

In the outskirts, the rain had stopped for quite a while. Under a temporarily erected canopy, Young Master Xia, Zhu Yuanzhang, and the others were still drinking and boasting.

Because it had rained all day, the solar lights couldn't be installed. At this moment, they could only use battery-powered desk lamps for illumination.

Not to mention, compared to ancient oil lamps, the brightness of these desk lamps was far superior, leaving Lan Yu and the others in another fit of amazement.

"Young Master Xia."

At this moment, a group of people walked over. Half of them were criminal investigation experts from the future, and the other half were Mao Xiang and other close guards of Zhu Yuanzhang.

The leading expert spoke, "The matter has been investigated clearly. As expected, unofficial history is just unofficial history. Lady Lü is clean. At least for now, she has shown no intentions or actions to frame Zhu Xiongying."

"Of course, it is currently only the eleventh year of Hongwu, and there are still four years until Zhu Xiongying's death. It's also possible that Lady Lü will only start having such thoughts in the next four years, which wouldn't be something we can uncover right now."

Hearing this, Young Master Xia nodded, "It's fine. Thanks for your hard work. You guys go rest first. Later, I'll just have Young Master Qin take a look."

Young Master Xia was very clear about Qin Ning's abilities and methods.

Whether a person had a problem or not, the other party only needed one glance at their facial features to get the result.