Jiajing Chengming

It turned out that in order to prevent anyone from making trouble for royal personnel, Zhu Houcong also strengthened confidentiality measures for key information of the newly selected son-in-law.

Just like he asked Lu Bing and other core members of the Jinyiwei to address others as Taibao in public, and only use the names Zhu San, Zhu Wu and Zhu Qi.

When the prospective son-in-law Chen Zhao registered with the Ministry of Rites, Zhu Houcong also asked Huang Jin to deliberately register him as "Cheng Zhao". He only used his real name when registering the name of the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the imperial edict and the Ministry of War.

However, Zhu Houcong was not completely sure that these troublemakers only knew "Cheng Zhao" but not "Chen Zhao", so he did not do anything to You before that.

But now, Zhu Houcong finally understood everything.

These people who are stirring up trouble don't even know the real name of the prince consort.

Soon.

You was dragged before the emperor by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Zhu Houcong only saw a trace of panic on her thin, pointed face, but her eyes were looking around at the ministers in the court.

Zhu Houcong did not ask any more questions. After she knelt down and paid her respects, he asked, "Are you going to sue Chen Zhao, who was just appointed as the commander of the Jinyiwei by me?"

"Yes!"

You replied.

Du Wenming and the others' faces were gradually turning pale.

Zhu Houcong only raised his lips slightly at this time and ordered, "Bring her petition here."

So, You passed the petition to Zhu Houcong through the eunuch.

Zhu Houcong took a look at the petition and asked You: "Do you have any physical evidence?"

You replied, "Someone gave me a jade pendant with his name on it."

"Send it up!"

Zhu Houcong said at this time.

You then took off a jade pendant from her waist.

After Zhu Houcong got the jade pendant, he asked You: "Can you write?"

You said, “Yes!”

Zhu Houcong said: "That's good!"

"Give her the four treasures of the study and ask her to write down the words of Chen Zhao, the commander of the Jinyiwei."

Zhu Houcong said.

"Yes!"

Soon, You wrote two words on the paper spread on the ground.

Snapped!
After picking up the paper, Zhu Houcong suddenly slapped the table, stood up and looked at You.

"Bastard!"

"I asked you to write 'Chen Zhao', not Cheng Zhao!"

"Since you have had an affair with the current emperor's chosen consort, how come you don't know his real name is Chen Zhao, which was given by the previous king, and didn't ask you to write Cheng Zhao?"

Zhu Houcong deliberately roared in such a stern voice that You was frightened on the spot.

But You really only knew Chen Zhao's pseudonym.

You have to know that even Chen Zhao himself didn't know that he registered a false name with the Ministry of Rites.

Therefore, if Chen Zhao really had an affair with You and told You his real name, then You could only know Chen Zhao's real name and could not know Chen Zhao's fake name.

But now You doesn’t know Chen Zhao’s real name, he only knows his pseudonym.

This naturally shows that Chen Zhao had no contact with You, and You was slandering Chen Zhao and knew Chen Zhao's pseudonym in the Ministry of Rites.

At this time.

The ministers in the court were surprised and confused.

"Da Sima."

Zhu Houcong called out at this time.

At this time, Minister of War Li Chengxun stood up.

"Chen is here!"

Zhu Houcong then had someone hand the two characters written by You to Li Chengxun, and asked, "Take a look, is this the name of the consort?"

Li Chengxun took the paper and took a look at it, then replied: "No!"

"Not only is the name written by You Shi not correct, but even the name on the jade plaque is not correct."

When Zhu Houcong said this, he looked at You, who was already trembling all over, and said, "You, who gave you the courage to slander my son-in-law? Don't you know that I asked my son-in-law to use a fake name when he applied for the selection in the Ministry of Rites? His real name is on the list of military officers in the Ministry of War and in the imperial edict?"

"It's people like you that I'm on guard against!"

"You are such treacherous people with such despicable intentions. If you are not careful and do not assume the worst, you will inevitably be tricked by me."

Zhu Houcong continued speaking with a sneer.

You was so panicked that he didn't know what to do.

She didn't expect things to turn out like this.

"Tell me!"

"Otherwise, I will skin you alive!"

Zhu Houcong said in a deep voice.

You kowtowed hurriedly:

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! I only know that the Prince Consort is called Cheng Zhao!"

"And it is true that this Prince Consort has been getting close to me recently and has cheated me of my money!"

"I didn't dare to file a complaint in the first place. If Master Du hadn't said that someone in his family was an official in the court and was willing to help me get justice, I would never have dared to file a complaint against the Prince Consort at the Metropolitan Procuratorate!"

As You spoke, she burst into tears.

She herself felt very aggrieved and had never imagined that the prince consort she met was a fake one.

At this time, the court officials such as Du Wenming who had spoken for You at the beginning also looked more solemn.

They also didn't expect that the emperor would have such a trick.

Zhu Houcong also looked at Du Wenming, the censor Lu Fu and Su Baoling who had just spoken out to say that the prince consort was not virtuous:
"Are you convinced now?"

Du Wenming did not answer.

The whole person seemed to have lost his soul. However, the imperial censors Lu Fu and Su Baoling kowtowed and replied: "We are indeed not careful, please punish us, Your Majesty!"

"Since you two have understood, I will not let you go to the Imperial Prison."

"Immediately announce that the Imperial Censors Lu Fu and Su Baoling have been disrespectful, disrupted the government, and have no sense of the general situation. They are dismissed from their posts and put on leave!"

Zhu Houcong gave an order at this time.

"Yes!"

Yang Yiqing responded quickly.

then.

Zhu Houcong then looked at the court officials and said, "Which court official is the one behind Mr. Du that You said? It would be best if you come forward yourself. Don't force me to find out this Mr. Du and punish his fellow villagers!"

At this time, Du Wenming, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, fell to the ground with a thud, then got up again, knelt down again and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The Master Du that You mentioned is my brother! I have been getting along very closely with her recently."

"very good!"

"Just confess willingly."

Zhu Houcong nodded, and then returned to the imperial desk, then looked at Du Wenming: "So it seems that you would rather believe that You was deceived by the prince consort than believe that my Grand Master, Huang Daban and the future prince consort are upright people!"

"I am ashamed!"

Du Wenming bowed his head and closed his eyes involuntarily, his face full of disappointment.

Zhu Houcong then looked at the Minister of Justice Hu Shining and asked, "What do you think of this?"

Hu Shi Ning said: "Your Majesty, it seems that someone must have pretended to be the Grand Guardian, and only knew the Grand Guardian's fake name from the Ministry of Rites, and then deceived You. When Du Honglu's brother found out, he instigated him to go to the Censorate to sue the Grand Guardian, the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, and Huang Gonggong of the Imperial Household Department. You knew that the other party claimed to be the son-in-law, but she still committed adultery with him, she should be executed!"

"Du Honglu's brother knew about this, but instead of reporting it to the authorities himself, he encouraged You to report it. He has evil intentions and should be exiled!"

"Du Honglu, as a court official, failed to discipline and handle affairs with carelessness, he should be removed from office and become a commoner!"

"Where's Dali Temple?"

Zhu Houcong asked.

Fang Xianfu, the chief judge of the Dali Temple, replied: "I have no objection!"

Zhu Houcong then asked: "Does the Censorate think that their verdict is fair?"

"Your Majesty, it is fair."

Gui E replied at this time.

At this time, Du Wenming's mouth corners slightly tilted.

He knew that even if he failed, he would not be sentenced to death.

Because You would not know that the person pretending to be the son-in-law and living with him was arranged by her own Du family. In this way, the emperor would never know who was pretending to be the son-in-law.

But just at this moment.

Gui E spoke again: "But Your Majesty, as far as I know, the Minister of Honglu Temple Du Wenming seems to have secretly communicated with the rebels in Jiangxi, so Your Majesty please do not send him back to his hometown for the time being, but keep him under strict supervision to prevent him from surrendering to the enemy after being demoted back to his hometown."

"Don't slander the ministers at will."

Zhu Houcong said in a serious tone.

At this time, Du Wenming was already terrified, and fear gradually appeared in his eyes.

But Gui E replied calmly without changing his expression: "How dare I slander the ministers of the court? Even if I dare, I would not dare to slander such a serious crime. After all, according to the Great Ming Law, those who make false accusations will be sentenced according to the original crime."

"I have received anonymous reports of this, but I have not been able to verify them, so I dare not file a complaint. I can only report it to Your Majesty!"

Gui E replied.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong glanced at Du Wenming and saw that Du Wenming's hands on the ground were trembling.

And then.

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "Since it is just a rumor, don't detain him. Send two Jinyiwei to supervise him at home first!"

Shi Bao from the Pacification Office stepped out and bowed in agreement.

then.

After the court was dismissed, Du Wenming was escorted back to his mansion by two Jinyiwei.

The Jinyiwei did not enter his house, but just watched outside the door.

Du Wenming walked towards the inner courtyard alone, dejected.

When his younger brother Du Wenqian saw him coming back, he hurried over and asked excitedly, "Brother, has the matter of selecting a consort changed?"

Du Wenming shook his head: "No, you and I should prepare to drink poison and die."

"what!"

Du Wenqian was very surprised after hearing this.

Only then did he notice that his brother looked very unhappy.

"Gui E, the treacherous minister, guessed that we had broken the rules to frame the prince consort and embarrass His Majesty and his treacherous party, so he broke the rules to frame us, forcing us to say that we were suspected of secretly communicating with the traitors and wanted to surrender to the enemy."

"It's obvious that if we don't die to prove our innocence, they will imitate what we did and accuse us of collaborating with the traitors! Then it won't just be death, but disaster for the entire clan!"

"So, we must die!"

Du Wenming said.

Du Wenqian took a few steps back after hearing this, looking distraught, and then asked his brother: "Your Majesty, how do you know that the prince consort is slanderous?"

"The Ministry of Rites used a fake name to prevent us from doing this!"

Du Wenming suddenly spoke excitedly.

Du Wenqian fell to the ground after hearing this, muttering, "What a shrewd emperor! Why can't we, the gentry, always defeat him?"

"Because he always treats us as the worst."

Du Wenming replied with a wry smile.

At this time.

Du Wenqian asked his brother in a somewhat mournful tone: "Can you not die?"

"cannot!"

"You must die to prove your innocence! Otherwise, you will die a more miserable death!"

"Because His Majesty wants us to die in order to vent his anger! And now he doesn't need to overturn the table himself to kill us, there are plenty of people to serve as his butchers, such as Wang Ao before, Gui E now, and Yan Song in Henan!"

Du Wenming collapsed on his chair after saying this, and sighed: "One careless move, and the whole game is lost!" (End of this chapter)