Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 262: Your Majesty, the Western Factory has identified the culprit of the arson!
Mou Bin wiped the blood off the Xiuchun Knife on the corpse and put the knife back into its sheath.

He glanced at the remaining Jiangnan civil servants and said in a cold tone: "If you have any clues, please tell us quickly. You still have a quarter of an hour."

"When the time comes, even I don't know who will be the next to die."

Mou Bin's words brought supreme fear to these civil servants in Jiangnan.

The Embroidered Spring Sword hanging above the Jinyiwei's head could fall at any time and take a random life.

Such a callous order and such random killings made every official from Jiangnan feel a strong fear from the bottom of their hearts.

Even Tu Yu and Bai Ang, who were usually very calm, couldn't help but tremble with fear.

Because they don’t know whether they will be the next person to be beheaded.

"Who did it?! Who on earth did it?!"

"If you have the ability to do it, you have the ability to take responsibility for it yourself! Are you going to stop until you kill us?!"

"Stand up and die, you bastard! If you kill us, we won't let you go even if we become ghosts!"

"..."

Under such strong psychological pressure, many civil servants in Jiangnan have turned their guns on their fellow countrymen and colleagues.

There are so many officials coming from Jiangnan, but not all of them are members of the Jiangnan smuggling group.

They had their own ways of making a living, so they would not do such a cruel thing as burning the harem just for the sake of going to the West.

For example, Tu Yu and Bai Ang, they really didn't know about this matter. They suffered an unexpected disaster purely because of their hometown.

Firing off the target directly like Zhu Youtang did is a very dangerous and reckless thing to do, and will definitely lead to a large number of false and wrongful convictions.

But the fire in the harem was too much of a shock to Zhu Youtang.

As the saying goes, severe punishments are needed in troubled times. For the sake of his own life safety, Zhu Youtang did not hesitate to go to extremes to deter the rebels, so as to achieve the purpose of ensuring his own safety and maintaining the majesty of the imperial power.

The performance of Jiangnan officials now proves that although Zhu Youtang's move was cruel, it was indeed effective, and it could even be said to be immediate.

The Jiangnan civil servants, who had originally been united, began to split internally.

Those innocent Jiangnan civil servants hated the Jiangnan smuggling group to their core at this time.

Ma Chen, a seventh-rank military official, was like a madman, constantly questioning the Jiangnan officials around him.

"You! Did you murder His Majesty? Did you set the fire in the palace?"

"It's you again! You set the fire, didn't you?!"

"I know! You must have set the fire! Go and die before His Majesty, quickly!"

"..."

Ma Chen caught an official and said that he was the one who set the fire. He even grabbed the collar of a fourth-rank official of the Yuanma Temple and wanted to take him to the Jinyiwei to be executed.

"Get out of my way!"

The Shaoqing of Yuanma Temple kicked Ma Chen away and said angrily: "You are saying that someone else set the fire, but I think you are the one who set the fire!"

"You're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense!"

Ma Chen, who was so frightened by everything, was deeply stimulated after hearing this. He rushed towards the Shaoqing of Yuanma Temple like a madman and a fight started between them.

An official of the seventh rank fought with an official of the fourth rank who was seven levels higher than him.

Such a scene of the collapse of rituals and music vividly demonstrates the psychological pressure that the civil servants in Jiangnan were under.

The fight between Ma Chen and the Shaoqing of Yuanma Temple was like a fire signal, which immediately ignited the group of civil servants in the south of the Yangtze River, which was like a powder keg.

Immediately afterwards, this group of Jiangnan civil servants started cursing and fighting, and the situation became a mess in the Fengtian Gate Square, revealing their ugly appearance.

The Jinyiwei led by Mou Bin stood beside them, holding embroidered spring swords, and watched this farce coldly.

Neither interfere nor stop.

Mou Bin just watched coldly and counted the hours. When the time was up, he would draw his sword and kill again.

The plight of the civil servants in Jiangnan was seen by other officials in the court.

They all shuddered involuntarily, and suddenly felt a little relieved and happy in their hearts.

Sure enough, happiness comes from comparison.

Compared with these civil servants in Jiangnan, they are still happy.

Cheng Minzheng breathed a sigh of relief, quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead, shrank his neck, and quietly and quickly left the palace.

After walking out of the palace alive, Cheng Minzheng looked at the blue sky and white clouds above his head. He felt happy, refreshed and incomparable.

Cheng Minzheng really didn't expect that he could walk out of the palace in person. After taking a deep breath of fresh air, Cheng Minzheng quickened his pace and quickly returned to his residence.

After returning home, Cheng Minzheng was shocked. The mansion was filled with white silk and wreaths. The mourning hall in the front yard was already decorated, with a tablet belonging to him standing on it.

Cheng Minzheng was so angry that he jumped up and down, and immediately shouted to the servants and maids around him: "What is this?! Take it away! Take it away quickly!"

"Dad? How come you're still alive?"

Cheng Jin, dressed in mourning, walked out from behind the mourning hall and was surprised to see Cheng Minzheng, who was full of life.

As if he realized that what he just said was not auspicious, Cheng Jin immediately changed his words and said, "No, I mean, why aren't you dead yet?"

This didn't seem right, so Cheng Jin immediately changed his words: "Uh... I mean, how did you come back alive?"

Cheng Minzheng's face turned from red to blue, and then from blue to black. Finally, he said fiercely: "If you can't speak, shut up!"

"Burn all these things. Put the coffin...put it in the warehouse first."

"Oh, ok dad."

Cheng Jin nodded quickly and was about to do it, but suddenly turned around and asked curiously: "Dad, since you are fine, why did you write a suicide note and buy a coffin last night?"

"We were almost scared to death!" Cheng Minzheng's face turned red, and he said after a long while: "Why are you asking so many questions? Why don't you just get back to work!"

"Oh……"

Cheng Jin scratched his head and walked quickly to burn the white silk.

In fact, Cheng Minzheng did have problems, but the problem arose during the Chenghua period when Cheng Minzheng, as the examiner of the palace examination, had accepted bribes from examinees.

He was the second runner-up in the imperial examination in the second year of Chenghua. After being appointed as an editor in the Hanlin Academy, he worked in the academy throughout the Chenghua period.

And since the eleventh year of Chenghua, he has been in charge of matters related to the Spring Examination and the Palace Examination.

It was not until Zhu Youtang ascended the throne that Cheng Minzheng was first transferred to the Zhanshi Palace as Junior Zhanshi and concurrently served as a Lecturer in the Hanlin Academy.

Later, when the murder of the previous emperor happened, Zhang Min and his nine clans were executed. The former Minister of Taichang Temple Zhang Miao was implicated and his entire family was executed by Zhu Youtang.

Cheng Minzheng then filled Zhang Miao's vacancy and was promoted to the position of Minister of Taichang Temple and Lecturer, in charge of the academy affairs.

Cheng Minzheng, who escaped the disaster, hummed a little tune happily and went to the backyard to flirt with his newly married concubine.

……

Forbidden City.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

When Zhu Youtang returned to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, he received good news from Luo Xiang.

"Your Majesty, great news! Concubine Shu has woken up!"

Zhu Youtang's face lit up with joy, and he secretly quickened his pace and quickly came to the west side hall.

"His Majesty……"

When she saw Zhu Youtang, a blush appeared on Zhang Wan'er's pale face, and even her eyes were red, with tears of grievance still hanging in her eyes.

Zhang Wan'er wanted to stand up and salute Zhu Youtang, but was held down by Zhu Youtang.

"Don't move, you need to rest now."

"How do you feel? Are you feeling unwell?"

Zhang Wan'er shook her head and said, "Your Majesty, apart from feeling a little dizzy and nauseous, everything else is fine."

Suddenly, Zhang Wan'er grabbed Zhu Youtang's hand and asked nervously, "Your Majesty, our child..."

"The child is fine, don't worry."

Zhu Youtang patted Zhang Wan'er's hand, and Zhang Wan'er felt relieved.

Zhang Wan'er asked again, "By the way, Your Majesty, where are my personal maids, Weihong and Yicui?"

"I only remember that the fire burned very quickly and became very large. Weihong was on duty in the palace last night, and the door could not be opened, so I could only hide in the water tank in the palace with Weihong."

"Are they okay?"

Zhu Youtang thought for a moment and said, "I remember that in addition to you, the West Factory also rescued an unconscious palace maid..."

"Luo Xiang, where is the maid now? What's the situation?"

Luo Xiang hurried forward and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, Miss Weihong is now resting in West No. 5."

"He's staying in a separate room. He's taken the medicine, but he hasn't woken up yet."

"Only Weihong?"

Zhang Wan'er looked worried and asked anxiously, "What about Yicui? How is Yicui?"

"This……"

Luo Xiang looked embarrassed. The Western Factory guards only brought out one palace maid. How would he know where Yicui had gone?

At this moment, Xiao Jing suddenly walked into the west side hall and reported in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the West Factory Supervisor Wang Zhi wants to see you."

Zhu Youtang was startled and a little confused: "Wang Zhi?"

"Let him in."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xiao Jing quickly left the west side hall, and soon Wang Zhi walked in.

"I am here to see you, Your Majesty."

"Get up quickly."

"Didn't I tell you to take a good rest for a while? Why are you here again?"

Zhu Youtang frowned and said with some blame.

Wang stood up straight, lowered his head and dared not look Zhu Youtang in the eye.
"My humble servant is no longer in serious condition, so I want to investigate the case as soon as possible and put an end to my worries."

Zhang Wan'er also learned from the palace maids around her that it was Wang Zhi who rescued her from the sea of ​​fire.

Seeing her lifesaver, Zhang Wan'er, who was sitting on the bed, smiled and bowed slightly to Wang Zhi: "Thank you, Eunuch Wang, for saving me."

Wang Zhi quickly stepped aside and bowed his head: "This is what I should do. I dare not accept such a gift from your majesty."

Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said to Wang Zhi, "Alright, alright, forget about these empty formalities. Just tell me directly, why did you come to see me?"

Wang Zhi straightened his expression and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, the West Factory has found out the real culprit of last night's arson!"

"Um?!"

Zhu Youtang's eyes suddenly became sharp, and a hint of murderous aura appeared around him.

"Say it!"

(End of this chapter)