Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 638 Like the Old Story of the Marquis of Huaiyin
It was said that Pei Yuan had caused the trouble, and Zhu Houzhao knew that he had indeed been somewhat blaming Pei Yuan.

It was clearly his loyal eyes and ears who discovered the enormous treasure and then selflessly told the monarch about it.

However, while Zhu Houzhao saw the enormous treasure, he also discovered even more underwater.

It was those things he had inadvertently seen and figured out that suddenly sent chills down his spine.

Unexpectedly, while he was here, the sky fell, and that bastard Pei Yuan actually went back to sleep.

This made Zhu Houzhao feel unbalanced.

No, how could he sleep?
Zhu Houzhao felt as if the person who had been most deeply involved in his life and should have known him best had betrayed him mercilessly.

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao was being unreasonable, Yin Sheng could only cautiously say, "Your Majesty, the palace gates are already closed. According to the old system, how can we let people in at this time?"

"The old system?" Zhu Houzhao reacted quickly and immediately retorted, "The commanders of the Zhenxie Thousand-Household Office can enter the palace at any time to rush to the aid of the emperor. This is a rule established by Emperor Xianzong. Isn't it an old system?"

Yin Sheng really wanted to say that the so-called "thousand-household commander of the evil-suppressing office" referred to Commander Han.

Although Pei Yuan held the title of commander of a thousand households, he was actually only a deputy commander of a thousand households.

Moreover, there are no treacherous figures like Li Zilong causing trouble in the harem right now, so it just doesn't make sense.

But Zhu Houzhao was furious at the moment, so why should these eunuchs bother with this?

It's a bit of a hassle, but so be it.

The Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs would certainly be notified, and the Commander of the Imperial Guards on duty at the palace gates would also have to come before the Emperor to receive the decree in person.

These are all aftereffects of the coup d'état; all work must be documented.

Zhu Houzhao's initial outburst was merely a momentary outburst of anger. However, as the eunuchs and military officials in charge of the gates came one after another to request permission, Zhu Houzhao found opening the palace gates cumbersome and troublesome, and decided he no longer wanted to summon Pei Yuan.

But then I thought, if I change my mind now, wouldn't I have to call them back and give them the same instructions again?

Therefore, he left it to Yin Sheng to arrange.

Pei Yuan had only been away from the palace for a little over an hour, but it was another hour later before a team of imperial guards rushed out of the palace gates to deliver the imperial decree.

After leaving the palace, Pei Yuan thought that since he had already made an appearance at home today, he should go home and sleep.

He then returned to his house in Dengshikou.

After spending some time with Jiao Yan'er, and thinking that Zhu Houzhao might summon him again tomorrow, he didn't linger and went to bed early.

Unexpectedly, not long after he had fallen asleep in the arms of the soft and sweet beauty, he heard a servant reporting that there was an imperial decree summoning Commander Pei Yuan to the palace immediately.

Pei Yuan felt quite tired and unwell, but since the emperor had summoned him, he could only reluctantly get up.

He guessed that the medicine he had given today was a bit strong, but he didn't expect it to make Zhu Houzhao so anxious.

Pei Yuan's original intention was to put pressure on A Zhao, but he didn't expect that it would end up backfiring on him.

Pei Yuan dressed listlessly, and just before leaving, he suddenly had a strange thought and took out the half-written document from last time, stuffing it into his sleeve.

After Pei Yuan received the imperial decree, he and the eunuch who came to deliver it rode fast horses toward the palace.

On the way, Pei Yuan regretted it a little, feeling that the thing he was carrying was too hot to handle, so he quickly stuffed it tightly into the corner of his sleeve pocket.

Upon arriving at the palace, torches were already lit at the palace gates, and many soldiers stood guard there in full battle array.

Pei Yuan already had a guilty conscience, and seeing this scene, for some reason, he suddenly thought of Marquis of Huaiyin, Han Xin.

It seems that Han Xin was tricked into Changle Palace by Empress Lü Zhi of the Han Dynasty when his rebellion was just beginning to show, and was killed in the bell tower.

Thinking about it this way, Pei Yuan felt more and more that what was in his sleeve was a deadly thing.

I think I've gone too far.

Just as Pei Yuan was pondering this, the eunuch leading the way dismounted, and Pei Yuan had no choice but to jump off his horse as well.

Commander Pei was considered a man of some prestige within the Imperial Guard.

Several guards came over, briefly checked whether Pei Yuan was carrying any weapons, glanced at him a few times, and then let him pass.

Because it was extremely rare for the palace gates to be opened at night, several commanders of the Imperial Guards made a token appearance to show their respect.

Pei Yuan wasn't very familiar with these commanders, but considering that they were in charge of key parts of the palace, he greeted them politely.

If it were daytime, Pei Yuan could have entered while wearing the official uniform of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, carrying an ivory waist token, and singing.

After Pei Yuan passed through layers of security and arrived at Qianqing Palace, the eunuch who had brought Pei Yuan went in first to report.

Then, Pei Yuan, who was yawning, suddenly heard a loud shout from inside the Qianqing Palace, "How can he sleep?!"

What the hell!

Pei Yuan suddenly shuddered and was no longer sleepy.

Ah Zhao was really provoked.

It's normal to be stimulated.

It's absurd to say, but North Korea has a lot of copper, Japan has a lot of silver, Southeast Asia has a lot of gold, and the Mongolian grasslands are full of resources.

Although the Ming Dynasty also had abundant mineral resources, firstly, mining them was quite difficult, and secondly, it was far from meeting its own huge demand.

Unexpectedly, as if playing a joke, Heaven placed many resources right outside the Ming Dynasty's borders.

Pei Yuan guessed that the eunuch was probably explaining why he was so late.

So when Zhao Zi heard that he had gone back to sleep, he felt resentful.

I'll have to be careful later, so as not to cause any more trouble.

After a moment, a eunuch came out to summon him.

Pei Yuan then cautiously entered the Qianqing Palace.

Before Pei Yuan could even offer his greetings, Zhu Houzhao preemptively questioned, "Does the safety of the world hold so little weight in your heart, Pei Qing?"

"Good heavens!" Pei Yuan quickly replied, "How dare I?"

Zhu Houzhao then scolded, "Others may not know what's going on here, but don't you know either? At your age, instead of working hard day and night to serve your country, how can you just go back to sleep?"

Pei Yuan had no choice but to apologize.

After all, the person in front of us is the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. If we win the argument, the consequences could be even more serious.

After Zhu Houzhao vented his emotions, he also lost interest.

This kind of thing should have been discussed with the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet; it's really not worth it for me and a mere commander to do it.

The thought of those Grand Secretaries only gave Zhu Houzhao an even bigger headache.

Zhu Houzhao was in a state of turmoil. He looked up at Pei Yuan, who was an eyesore, and snapped angrily, "Get out! Go to sleep!"

Pei Yuanzheng was tired and exhausted, and at this moment he was somewhat oblivious to the danger. He subconsciously thanked the emperor and took his leave.

Zhu Houzhao replied impatiently, "Get out of here, get out of here."

Seeing this, Yin Sheng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please issue an edict so that the soldiers can open the palace gates again."

Zhu Houzhao was speechless. "Are they all coming to ask for imperial decrees again?"

Yin Sheng cautiously said, "Opening the palace gates at night is a major event. Without His Majesty's personal order, who would dare to act recklessly?" Zhu Houzhao immediately backed down.

He thought for a moment, then said to Pei Yuan, "Go to the Hongde Palace next door and spend the night there. You can leave when the palace gates open tomorrow morning."

“This…” Pei Yuan hesitated for a moment.

Hongde Hall is an auxiliary hall of Qianqing Palace. Zhu Houzhao would sometimes rest there or meet with ministers.

But this is already inside the inner palace. Last time, when Pei Yuan stayed overnight in the palace, he only stayed in a side room of Wuying Hall.

That area as a whole still belongs to the outer court.

Pei Yuan was thinking about how to express his awe of imperial power and show that he was extremely apprehensive.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Houzhao added, "Get out of here, I hate seeing you."

Damn it, get out then!

Pei Yuan immediately expressed his gratitude and, led by a young eunuch, went to the nearby Hongde Hall.

Hongde Hall and Qianqing Palace are buildings where the emperor and his ministers complement each other, and they are located next to each other.

The hall was pitch black at the moment, but the little eunuch flicked the lantern to slightly illuminate the scene inside.

Inside was the dragon bed where Zhu Houzhao usually rested, but Pei Yuan dared not overstep his bounds, nor did he dare to sleep there openly. So he could only find a futon and cushion and plan to take a nap.

Seeing that Pei Yuan was sensible, the young eunuch picked up his lantern and went to report back.

The hall was plunged into darkness, which made Pei Yuan even sleepier.

While Pei Yuan was still dazed, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door. He quickly forced his eyes open and looked towards the door.

Then they saw Lu Yin, dressed in simple home clothes, carrying a lantern, looking at Pei Yuan with some surprise.

"Brother, is it really you?"

Pei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lu Yin appear.

This is still an unfamiliar environment, but with Lu Yin, a familiar face, around, I felt a little more at ease.

Lu Yin signaled his men to stand guard outside the door, then, carrying lanterns, entered the Hongde Hall.

"It wasn't my turn to be on duty today, so I rested at the Directorate of Ceremonial. It was only after Yin Sheng sent someone to tell me that I knew my brother had entered the palace."

Pei Yuan yawned and sat cross-legged on the futon. "It's nothing serious."

Seeing that Pei Yuan didn't seem worried at all, Lu Yin breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked around the Hongde Hall and said, "I'll have someone find a mattress for my brother later."

Pei Yuan quickly stopped him, "No need, no need. The Emperor doesn't like me anyway, let's just make do for one night, why make trouble for ourselves?"

Lu Yin asked, "How about we chat for a bit?"

Pei Yuan said, "Forget it, I'm so sleepy right now. Besides, as the head of the Directorate of Ceremonial, you're being watched by countless people with your every move. You're too much of a target."

Lu Yin thought it made sense, and added, "I have a few clever little eunuchs by my side. I'll leave them here so they can be at your beck and call at any time."

Upon hearing Lu Yin's words, Pei Yuan remembered someone. "By the way, is Li Zhang, the head of the Imperial Horse Stable, on patrol tonight? He was the one who helped me when I entered the palace last time. I even asked you for a favor for his nephew."

Lu Yin thought for a moment and remembered this person.

Because of Xiao Ying, Lu Yin already knew that Xiao Jing's remnants had surrendered to Pei Yuan.

Lu Yin didn't have too many thoughts on this.

Firstly, when Lu Yin and Xiao Jing were vying for the position of Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, it was Pei Yuan who helped Lu Yin secure the position.

Between Lu Yin and Xiao Jing, there was no real fighting, let alone any real exchange of blows.

Secondly, it was thanks to Xiao Jing that Lu Yin was able to return safely from the border town.

Lu Yin had worked under Xiao Jing before, and still held some lingering affection for him.

Thirdly, Xiao Jing was known in the palace as the "Immortal Eunuch Phoenix," having served four emperors: Emperor Yingzong, Emperor Xianzong, Emperor Xiaozong, and the current Emperor Zhengde.

At the end of each era, Xiao Jing would return to the very bottom and rise again from scratch. Moreover, with each new emperor, his status would rise higher and higher.

Xiao Jing has a godson, and Lu Yin has a nephew. It would be irrational for them to kill each other's alt accounts with such an old guy with a rather sinister aura.

After Pei Yuan took over Xiao Jing's remaining followers, Lu Yin actually felt a bit safer.

If we're talking about sheer evil, then it has to be Brother Pei, who's in charge of suppressing evil.

Having understood Pei Yuan's meaning, Lu Yin said, "Alright, I'll hand the matter over to Li Zhang later. He's just a mere supervisor, so he won't attract too much attention."

Pei Yuan was feeling sleepy and found the lantern quite dazzling. He said a few more words casually and then ignored Lu Yin.

Lu Yin wisely left, thinking that since he had already arrived at the Qianqing Palace, there was no reason for him not to see the emperor.

So they went to the main hall.

Zhu Houzhao was looking at the files he had brought from the inner study with a sense of irritation when he saw Lu Yin coming in. He asked in surprise, "Isn't it Yin Sheng's turn to be on duty today?"

Lu Yin quickly replied, "This old servant heard about the palace being opened at night, and also heard that His Majesty was handling official business in the Qianqing Palace overnight, so I came to see if there was anything I could do to help him."

The Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs is a high-ranking official, so this statement is not inappropriate.

Zhu Houzhao subconsciously didn't want this secret to be known by others, so he said impatiently, "It's nothing serious."

Seeing Zhu Houzhao's displeasure, Lu Yin quickly bowed and shrank back, not daring to say another word.

After saying that, Zhu Houzhao became alert again and ordered Lu Yin in a deep voice, "By the way, you've come at just the right time. Go and find out which eunuchs were in the palace this afternoon who heard Pei Yuan and I speaking to each other."

Lu Yin's heart skipped a beat. He had genuinely thought it was nothing serious because Pei Yuan had spoken so casually about it.

Judging from the emperor's reaction, it's quite unusual.

He could already sense from the corner of his eye that one of the waiters was swaying.

Lu Yin tentatively asked, "And then..."

Zhu Houzhao's agitated mood instantly calmed down. He then glanced over and said without any mercy, "Leave no survivors."

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, several eunuchs who were serving nearby immediately knelt down with a thud, crying out, "Your Majesty, spare us! We didn't hear anything!"

Lu Yin was originally a eunuch who guarded the border and later became the military eunuch in charge of hundreds of thousands of troops. Naturally, he would not have any womanly compassion.

He casually beckoned, and immediately a group of eunuchs came in and dragged the young eunuchs away.

Lu Yin thought this was an opportunity, so he glanced at the other eunuchs and said, "To ensure there are no oversights, this old servant will replace the servants serving His Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao recalled how he had used the Inner Treasury to speculate on paper money, only to have it all discovered by the money shops. He realized that his inner circle was already riddled with holes.

In the past, Zhu Houzhao knew that such things were difficult to avoid, so he only conducted a small-scale investigation.

But what happened this afternoon was different; Pei Yuan revealed a truly astonishing secret.

Once the vast wealth of the "Beiliu" Islands becomes known to the Jiangnan gentry who have long been secretly organizing fleets for ocean trade, they will inevitably greedily search for the Beiliu Islands with all their might.

Then, using the seashells they dug up, they could exchange them for anything they wanted from Yunnan.

(End of this chapter)