Daming: Brother, there is no future for monks, let's rebel

He thought to himself silently, "The one who was about to make a move has finally shown his skills."

The night was as dark as ink, and Chongzhen Temple stood at the foot of the mountains west of Beijing.

The wind rustled through the pine branches, stirring the hanging bell and producing a low "hum" sound, like some ancient sigh between heaven and earth.

Zhu Han, wearing a black cloak, stepped lightly onto the bluestone steps.

A boy accompanied them, his quiver jingling softly on his back. The clouds in the sky seemed to have been slashed open by a knife, revealing a half-moon tinged with blood.

“Your Highness,” the boy whispered, “the scouts report that the ‘Old Man in the Straw Hat’ is lighting incense in the main hall of the temple tonight. He is accompanied by two people: Yuanfa, the abbot of Chongzhen Temple, and a young man wearing a straw hat.”

Zhu Han nodded slightly, his gaze steady: "Daoist Yuanfa is on good terms with the Prince of Qi. The young man is most likely a messenger."

He raised his hand in a gesture, and the two of them went around to the side door.

Outside the door, the pine trees cast deep shadows, and the air was thick with the smell of dampness and mud.

Zhu Han bent down, his fingers touching the iron texture of the door latch—cold and old, yet with the smooth feel of new oil.

There's oil on the door.

"Someone just drove by."

He pushed open the door and entered. The hall was filled with the smoke of incense, and the candle flames on the offering table flickered.

The Taoist priest Yuanfa, dressed in a gray robe, was burning incense and facing the moon; while the "Old Man in the Straw Raincoat," after taking off his straw raincoat, turned out to be an old man with white hair and beard, deep-set eyes, and a solemn expression.

"The Prince of Jing'an has arrived," Yuanfa smiled slightly and waved his whisk. "This humble Taoist has failed to greet you properly."

Zhu Han did not return the greeting, but simply said, "Daoist, are you burning incense at midnight to pray for peace in the Southern Frontier?"

"It is also for the sake of the world." Yuanfa's eyes were clear. "This place is a temple dedicated to truth, not a place for power struggles. Why does Your Highness need to concern yourself with worldly matters?"

“Since it concerns the world, it also includes the hearts of the people.” Zhu Han’s gaze swept over the old man. “Sir, may I ask your name? On the water tag, you wrote ‘Tuesday’.”

The old man looked up, his eyes flickering slightly. After a moment, he slowly took something from his sleeve—a small, square-shaped bronze token, dark red in color.

“My surname is Zhou, and my given name is Gongde. People call me ‘Old Man in a Raincoat,’ but I dare not accept that title. If Your Highness wants this order, please take it.”

He placed the bronze tablet on the offering table.

Zhu Han stepped forward and saw that the bronze token had two seal characters engraved on the front: "Tianheng".

The boy exclaimed in surprise, "This... is the order to transfer silver from the Qi King's army!"

Zhu Han's heart suddenly tightened.

The Tianheng Order is the seal of authority for supervising silver and military affairs in border towns. Anyone carrying this order can withdraw silver from the imperial treasury and request vehicles, horses, provisions, and weapons from the military government.

The appearance of this item in the capital region carries profound significance.

"What gives you this order?"

"Borrow it." The old man in the straw raincoat smiled faintly. "The King of Qi will lend it to me for one night."

"Lend it to you?" Zhu Han sneered. "When has the Prince of Qi, residing in a regional governorship, ever associated with an old porter?"

"Because I'm delivering the message." The old man in the straw raincoat pointed to the boy beside him. "He'll carry the message. If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you can ask him."

The boy raised his head slightly, revealing a face still bearing the traces of childhood beneath his straw hat.

He seemed to hesitate, yet also as if he had been prepared all along, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, that letter... was sent by the Prince of Qi to you, Prince Jing'an."

Zhu Han was taken aback, his brow twitching. The boy looked at the young man in disbelief.

"Give it to me?"

"Yes." The boy took out a wax-sealed letter and presented it with both hands.

Zhu Han took it; the wax seal was imprinted with a phoenix pattern—but unlike the phoenix seal in the palace, this one was slightly smaller and had finer lines.

Zhu Han tore open the seal; the paper contained only a few short lines:

"The winds of change are blowing in Nanjing, and the Northern Front is about to begin. The case of the Juyi Granary is not about seizing profits, but about setting the stage for the future."

If you wish to stop the chaos, you must first know the 'new master'.

--together."

The brushstrokes were elegant and unrestrained, seemingly without fear. Zhu Han's gaze darkened: "As expected, the Prince of Qi has intervened."

Yuanfa smiled and said, "Your Highness, we have seen what we needed to see. If we ask any more questions, even the moon will hide."

Zhu Han suddenly raised his hand, his sword flashing coldly: "That depends on whether the moon is willing to hide!"

Before he finished speaking, a flying needle shot out from his sleeve and struck Yuanfa directly behind him.

In a flash, a figure leaped from the shadows, a blade flashing with a cold light.

The boy rolled over to meet him, and the short crossbow shot out with a whoosh.

Weapons clashed, sparks flew.

The attacker moved with incredible speed; a thin blade almost grazed Zhu Han's throat before he deflected it with a backhand.

Zhu Han shouted in a low voice: "Leave them alive!"

The old man in the straw raincoat retreated behind the offering table, his eyes darting around.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Yuanfa made a hand seal, and a wisp of white smoke rose from the incense burner.

The boy coughed repeatedly, and the smoke smelled sweet.

Zhu Han knew something was wrong, so he covered his mouth and stepped back, only to see the old man take advantage of the chaos to pick up the "Tianheng Token" and throw it into the incense.

With a loud "bang," the flames burst forth, and the bronze token instantly melted into a red liquid.

"No!" Zhu Han roared, stepping forward and striking out with his palm.

The air exploded, scattering the flames. When they looked again, the old man in the straw raincoat had been engulfed by the flames, his body lying motionless in front of the offering table.

As the smoke dissipated, the circular method was nowhere to be seen.

The boy gasped, "Your Highness, they've escaped!"

Zhu Han's gaze was icy as he stepped forward and brushed away the ashes.

All that remained in the fire was a piece of unmelted copper, on which the character "衡" (heng) was still faintly visible.

"It can't be considered completely destroyed." Zhu Han took out a cloth and carefully wrapped it up.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Several men dressed in black burst through the door. The leader had a long sword at his waist and silver phoenix patterns embroidered on his clothes.

The boy exclaimed in surprise, "They're palace guards!"

“Prince Jing’an,” the leader of the men in black said coldly, “I have come to meet you on the orders of the Crown Prince. Please return to your residence immediately. The matter of Chongzhen Temple should not be publicized.”

Zhu Han squinted: "When did the Crown Prince know I was here?"

"His Highness said that the Prince is investigating 'Old Man in the Raincoat,' and this man must have gone to Chongzhen Temple. His Highness has ordered us to protect the Prince."

His tone was respectful, yet it carried an air of unquestionable authority.

Zhu Han said no more, only calmly: "Leave the body here, you all guard it, and do not move it."

The men in black responded in unison.

Zhu Han and the boy rode down the mountain on horseback. The wind and rain gradually stopped, and the mountain road was so quiet that only the sound of horses' hooves could be heard.

Not long after returning home, it was already dawn.

The boy was tidying up the embers of the fire when he suddenly noticed extremely fine silver lines embedded in a copper piece, resembling some kind of inscription. He washed it in water, and the characters began to appear—

"Deputy Commander of Tianheng, Order No. 3, by Imperial Approval."

"Cheng Yu?" The boy frowned. "Your Highness, isn't that the title of the Crown Prince's close attendant?"

Zhu Han stared at the silver thread, a vague answer forming in his mind: "It seems the Prince of Qi's request was fake; the real document originated from the palace. Someone, under the guise of 'border defense,' has diverted the Prince of Qi's military funds, secretly instigating a power struggle between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Jing'an—the aim is to cause us to lose power simultaneously." "And who is behind this..."

Zhu Han said in a low voice, "I'm afraid it's in the central palace."

"The Empress?" The boy's expression changed.

“No.” Zhu Han shook his head. “There is another possibility—the Empress Dowager.”

A breeze stirred outside, rustling the bamboo leaves. Zhu Han rose and put on his outer robe.

"Boy, prepare the boat. I must see the King of Qi before tonight."

"Your Highness, Jinling is a thousand miles away—"

"I won't go to Nanjing; he will come to Beijing."

How do you know?

Zhu Han smiled coldly: "If I had received that letter, he would naturally know that I had read it. Now that the game has begun, why wouldn't he show himself?"

It was the hour of Xu (7-9 PM). The streets and alleys outside the Jing'an Prince's Mansion were deserted, with a black sedan chair without any markings parked at the end of the alley.

A breeze stirred the sedan curtain, and a hand emerged, its finger adorned with a pale gold phoenix-patterned ring.

The boy looked up alertly in the courtyard. A moment later, Zhu Han slowly stepped out, his expression cold and stern.

"Your Highness," a gentle male voice came from inside the sedan chair, "It's been a long time."

"King Qi is indeed trustworthy." Zhu Han approached, his gaze sharp.

"The prince and I have no enmity. However, the chaos in the capital has implicated my name in Jinling."

The person in the sedan chair sighed, "The case of the Phoenix Seal was originally intended to ease tensions, but unexpectedly it has been used against us."

Do you know who that person is?

"I know." The person in the sedan chair lifted the curtain, revealing a handsome face that was tinged with weariness.

His eyes were extremely bright, as if they were bathed in starlight. "He is one of the 'Three Attendants of Deshou' by the Empress Dowager's side—a person above Han Su."

"Who?"

"'Lady Jingyi'."

Zhu Han's heart skipped a beat.

That person's name was rarely mentioned in court, simply because she had served the late emperor in her early years. Although she was no longer in the inner palace, she still managed the Empress Dowager's medical care and food, and was in charge of the imperial guards.

"Who...is she working for?"

“I’m working for ‘myself’.” Prince Qi smiled bitterly. “Your Highness, the court is already rotten to the core. Someone wants to depose the Crown Prince and install another heir. Once this succeeds, the Phoenix Seal case will become ‘evidence’. You and I are both pawns.”

Zhu Han asked in a deep voice, "Then why have you come to see me?"

"Because only you can still wield a knife." King Qi took out a small box and handed it over.

Zhu Han took it and opened it—inside was a fragment of a seal, semi-circular in shape, with the lower half of the character “衡” engraved on it.

When combined with the copper piece he obtained at Chongzhen Temple, it forms a perfect circle.

“You keep half, I keep half. If these seals are combined, military supplies from three provinces can be allocated.”

The King of Qi smiled and said, “If the situation collapses, I will raise an army in the south; you will protect the court in the north. — If this fails, we will both die.”

He lowered the sedan curtain, his voice fading into the distance: "Your Highness, do you believe in fate?"

Zhu Han watched the sedan chair disappear into the rainy alley, remaining silent for a long time.

As the hour of Wei (1-3 PM) approached, all the gates of the palace opened, leading directly to Deshou.

The dark clouds hung high, the rain had ceased, and only a thin, damp light remained on the roof tiles. A gentle breeze swept in from the end of the imperial road, lifting the crimson curtain and revealing a sliver of cold gold inside the gate.

Prince Jing'an, Zhu Han, tied his hair up and adjusted his crown, wearing a dark blue court robe with python patterns, and walked with a measured pace.

The boy followed behind, carrying a black lacquered wooden box in his arms, proceeding cautiously with each step.

The eunuch led the way, his voice barely audible, occasionally glancing back with barely concealed panic in the corner of his eye.

The Deshou Bureau was not as quiet as usual today; there was a hidden flow of people, and female scribes and eunuchs stood in several corners of the corridor, their faces cold.

"Your Highness, over here." The eunuch leading the way stopped in front of a low screen wall. Behind the screen wall was a flower hall with carved railings and painted beams, covered with crimson carpets, and hundreds of palace lanterns hanging under the eaves. The lanterns were not lit, and in the daytime they looked like a series of still eyes.

Deep within the flower hall, there was a couch, upon which sat a person, dressed in plain clothes, wearing jade pendants without making a sound, with graying temples but not in a state of decline, holding only a string of old sandalwood beads, which he slowly flicked with his thumb.

The moment she raised her gaze, all the noise in the hall subsided spontaneously.

Queen Mother.

Zhu Han bowed deeply and said, "Your subject pays respects to the Empress Dowager."

"Rise." The Empress Dowager's voice was not loud, but clear, like a drop of water falling on a withered branch in winter, its ripples spreading in the air. She glanced at Zhu Han, remaining silent, then her gaze fell on the wooden box in the boy's arms. "You brought something?"

"I brought it." Zhu Han nodded slightly. The boy stepped forward and placed the wooden box on the table in front of the couch with both hands.

Once the lacquered lid was opened, half a fragment of a seal and a piece of molten copper lay peacefully together in the center—perfectly round.

The character "衡" (Heng) on ​​the broken seal is faintly visible in the intaglio, and the silver wire inscription embedded in the copper surface shimmers slightly in the sunlight.

The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Prince Qi is very good at acting."

The conversation shifted abruptly, and the curtain outside the flower hall swayed as the Empress slowly stepped inside.

She wore a dark gold jacket embroidered with phoenix patterns, without heavy makeup, and a dot of vermilion between her eyebrows, just like the rising sun.

Following closely behind was the Grand Princess, her steps were crisp, her eyes cold, like a drawn dagger. After her came the Crown Prince, Gu Qingping, and several senior officials, who stood in order on either side.

Lady Jingyi, the head of the Deshou Bureau, sat to the left of the Empress Dowager, her face calm and her hands tucked into her sleeves, motionless and revealing no emotion.

The Empress Dowager's gaze slowly swept over everyone, as if calling out names: "Let's make things clear today. I approved and signed off on the matter of moving the Phoenix Seal to the south and preparing for the border. I have seen through who used this matter as a pretext to sow discord between the Crown Prince and Jing'an, and who secretly plotted against the Crown Prince through Jing'an."

She paused, then said, "First, ask Han Su if she's still alive?"

Lady Jingyi stepped forward: "Your Majesty, when Deshou was serving Han Sumao, he hanged himself in the storeroom, leaving behind a letter stating that he 'misled the eunuch's words and followed his instructions'—and requested to be executed to atone for the palace law."

“Hanging himself.” The Grand Princess sneered. “How coincidental.”

"Aunt, please calm down," the Empress said softly. "Though the person is dead, clues can still be found. I have ordered the Inner Palace, the Seal Bureau, and the Imperial Treasury to seal the handover records and prohibit all personnel from entering or leaving. I am responsible for the matter of counterfeiting the seal, and I am willing to accept the responsibility first. If the Empress Dowager and Your Highness have any doubts about me, you may immediately suspend my authority in the Imperial Household Department."

The Empress's words were calm and restrained, immediately deflecting the most vulnerable point of attack from everyone.

The crown prince looked up at her, his eyes filled with a weariness that seemed to foreshadow a storm, but he remained silent.

Gu Qingping stepped aside and bowed, her tone indifferent: "Your Majesty, I am willing to assist the Imperial Household Department in settling accounts."

The Empress Dowager glanced at her, a fleeting complexity in her eyes, unlike the look she gave to the woman of the Crown Prince's palace, more like the look she gave to a bamboo shadow bent by the wind but not breaking.

She looked away and turned to Zhu Han: "Jing'an, tell me. What did you see on the way from the Dongcang ferry crossing at night to the Chongzhen Temple raid?"

Zhu Han stepped forward, his voice calm, yet each word sharp and clear: "Your nephew has obtained two pieces of evidence. First, the burnt wax imprint from Dongcang matches the mold but differs from the rubbing of the phoenix seal, proving that last night's seal was a forgery."

The two documents obtained from Chongzhen Temple, bearing the inscription "Imperial Decree," contain the phrase "Imperial Decree," proving that someone in the palace, under the guise of border defense, arbitrarily issued orders to transfer military supplies. Your nephew dares not speculate, but this "Imperial Decree"—does not seem to be a member of the Prince of Qi's faction.”

Lady Jingyi moved her finger almost imperceptibly.

The Crown Prince's gaze fell on her sleeve, then quickly shifted away, his voice low and steady: "Chengyu is the title of a close attendant. According to regulations, orders issued by close attendants require the Empress Dowager or Empress's seal; otherwise, they are invalid. Since the inscription is there, investigate when it was issued and who signed it. Deshou Bureau—will you investigate?"

He looked at the Empress and the Empress Dowager as if he were building a bridge between two mountains.

The Empress Dowager stroked the sandalwood beads and said calmly, "Investigate. It's not in Deshou. If Deshou makes a move, the palace will be in chaos." She raised her hand, "Jingyi, summon someone."

Lady Jingyi responded and turned to leave through the curtain.

A moment later, two elderly eunuchs were brought in, their faces ashen, their legs weak as noodles, and they knelt on the ground.

The Grand Princess's sharp gaze was like a needle: "Ask."

"This old servant...this old servant..." The eunuch on the left trembled, his head hitting the ground repeatedly, his lips shaking like a leaf. (End of this chapter)