Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 215 Answers and Farewell
In stark contrast to the generally lively atmosphere in Beijing, the prominent eunuchs and junior eunuchs of the various inner court offices collectively experienced a deeply uneasy New Year. Needless to say, those palace eunuchs captured by the bandits spent the New Year in cold prison cells and even bloody torture chambers, replacing their warm little homes. Those who survived the capture also lived in constant fear, terrified of being targeted.

Cui Wensheng deliberately spread reports of torture at the Dongchang. After repeated, exaggerated reports, the Dongchang's criminal department had become a living hell, and Cui Wensheng was branded a despotic villain, willing to rip off the skin and bones at will. While most of those arrested were eunuchs involved in mining taxation during the previous emperor's reign, everyone still had connections these days. Although people were being taken away for investigation and released daily, the overall scope of the inner court's crackdown and the number of detainees involved were expanding and increasing.

Therefore, when Wang Zhixin, the eunuch in charge of the Ciqing Palace, was called away under the pretext of "assisting in the investigation," he was immediately frightened to the point of his legs weakening and his steps becoming unsteady. However, after the eunuchs led him out of Donghua Gate, they did not cross the moat to the Inner East Factory. Instead, they walked directly south along the wall, circling towards the Meridian Gate.

After wandering around for the better part of a day, the group returned to the Forbidden City, their final destination surprisingly being the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Wang Zhixin then realized that it wasn't the East Depot who wanted him there to "assist in the investigation," but rather that the Emperor wanted to question him. Having entered the palace at the age of just over ten, Wang Zhixin was considered an old hand, so he still had some basic sensitivity.

There was no need for the emperor to be so mysterious when summoning the eunuch. He could just order his attendants to call him over.

If he had made things so complicated, it was obvious he was trying to hide something from someone. Relating this to his own responsibilities, Wang Zhixin immediately guessed the basic situation: the Emperor was asking about something his Highness didn't want him to know.

This made Wang Zhixin even more nervous. Going to the East Depot to "assist in the investigation" offered some wiggle room. After all, his godfather, Zou Yi, and the Imperial Seal Wang were close friends. As long as nothing serious happened to his godfather, the old man from the Imperial Household Department would certainly speak up for him in front of the Emperor. His life would be saved, and at worst, he would have to hand over all the money he had saved over the years. But if it got involved in matters concerning the national capital, he'd be damned.

Wang Zhixin entered the Southern Study trembling with fear and was quite surprised to find that the emperor was the only one in the hall, even Wang An was not there.

"Your servant Wang Zhixin pays homage to the master, may he live long." Wang Zhixin lifted his robe and kowtowed, then maintained this posture and knelt on the spot.

"Do you know why you were called here today?" Zhu Changluo asked.

"In reply to His Majesty, they asked me to 'assist in the investigation'." Wang Zhixin answered with full concentration.

"Very good." Zhu Changluo nodded and continued, "The next thing I'm going to ask you, once you've answered it, keep it to yourself. Don't spread it around."

"I obey your command." Wang Zhixin's heartbeat was as fast and loud as a drum.

"Has Your Highness ever visited the maids in Ciqing Palace?" Zhu Changluo asked.

"No. Absolutely not. I have the diary to prove it." Wang Zhixin just found this question baffling. If he wanted to investigate something like this, he could just check the diary. Why make it so mysterious?

This is what Zhu Changluo didn’t understand.

According to palace custom, maids in the Forbidden City who were favored by the emperor, or maids in the palaces of the crown prince or princes, would receive rewards. Furthermore, the eunuchs in the secretarial office would record the date of the intercourse and the gifts given, for future inspection. This became known as the palace's "Inner Daily Records." Even if the emperor or prince himself forgot these rules, the eunuchs who were responsible for them would remember them.

In the past, the Wanli Emperor had sex with a concubine named Wang in the Empress Dowager Cisi's palace, and the woman became pregnant. When the Empress Dowager brought up the matter, the young emperor remained silent, even denying it outright. The Empress Dowager then ordered the eunuchs to fetch the emperor's diary and confronted him in court. This left the shameless emperor speechless and blushing, and she finally decided to prevent the current emperor from becoming a bastard.

"The daily records." Zhu Changluo raised an eyebrow, then immediately returned to his usual demeanor. "Has His Highness behaved in any unusual way recently?"

"No! I swear on the lamp." Wang Zhixin remained kneeling, but her voice rose twice. As the saying goes, when a person dies, the lamp goes out. Swearing on the lamp is a very serious oath.

Wang Zhixin was excited because he thought the emperor suspected that the prince was having an affair with another man.

"Has anything unusual happened in Ciqing Palace?" If the answer to this question was still negative, he would completely give up trying to find the reason behind the incident and just follow the ancestral rules.

The so-called ancestral system was actually Zhu Yuanzhang's stipulation that "the legitimate son of the emperor, the heir apparent, and all other sons granted the title of prince, must marry at the age of fifteen." This meant marrying at around sixteen. However, county officials were historically less competent than the current emperor, and ancestral systems often failed to override the will of the incumbent emperor. For example, Zhu Changluo himself married at the age of twenty. His half-brother, Zhu Changying, the Prince of Gui, who remained in Beijing, was already twenty-two when he married in the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign.

"Nothing unusual has happened. His Highness's daily routine has always been like that." Wang Zhixin felt it would be inappropriate to keep giving negative answers, so he forced himself to answer. "If you must say something, there is a small matter."

"Speak." Zhu Changluo nodded.

"His Highness hung a painting in his bedroom." Wang Zhixin said.

"Hanging paintings?" Zhu Changluo supported his forehead and suddenly felt that he was extremely bored.

"It's a painting I brought back from outside the palace. It depicts the silhouette of a mother and three running children." Wang Zhixin didn't go to the Lantern Festival, but Zhu Youxiao explained the painting to his close eunuchs after returning, emphasizing the absence of the figure of "father." Wang Zhixin didn't understand the "bystander" perspective; he only knew there was no father in the painting.

Zhu Changluo sat up straight. "No way!" Wang Zhixin's description of the painting unlocked Zhu Changluo's mind like a key. "No wonder," Zhu Changluo muttered meaningfully. He understood that Zhu Youxiao had misunderstood that he was going to use cold violence to force Zhang Shirui to death.

"Huh." Zhu Changluo chuckled to himself after figuring it out. His voice was a mixture of relief and guilt. He had given the correct answer despite completely mistaking the approach to the problem. But at the same time, he felt relieved that he hadn't asked a random question.

Wang Zhixin listened to the mumbling and inexplicable laughter echoing in the hall, and a cold sweat broke out. He lay on the ground, not daring to move, until he heard the emperor say, "This is none of your business. You can leave now. Go to the Qianqing Gate and call Wang An in."

"I obey your order." Wang Zhixin breathed a sigh of relief and retreated.

Sun Ruyou was a classic late bloomer. Born in the 28th year of the Jiajing reign, he didn't pass the imperial examination until the 23rd year of the Wanli reign, at the age of 46. Sun Ruyou and Liu Yirong were born in the same year, but at that time, Liu Yirong was only 28, a far younger man.

After passing the imperial examination, Sun Ruyou remained in Beijing for a long time, rarely being transferred outside the capital. His residence, located in Mingshifang near Chongwenmenli Street, was purchased upon his arrival in office. Over the past twenty years, the Sun residence has undergone numerous renovations, yet remains largely unchanged.

Despite having lived in the capital for a long time and coming from a prominent family, Sun Ruyou retained a very down-to-earth habit. He cultivated a garden in the courtyard of his mansion, planting seasonal vegetables. In his spare time, he would personally water the vegetables. Currently, the vegetable plots were piled high with packed luggage.

The Sun Mansion had been put up for sale, but since no one had bought it, the Sun family had continued to use it. In the reception room, Cabinet Grand Secretaries Liu Yirong and Han Yu, Minister of Personnel Zhou Jiamo, and Minister of Rites Xu Guangqi were sitting around a round table, bidding their final farewells to Sun Ruyou, who was seated at the head of the table.

"This is the official appointment certificate and the travel permit. It has been stamped." Zhou Jiamo handed the documents that had been prepared long ago to Sun Ruyou.

Sun Ruyou took the document, opened it, and discovered that it was dated the 21st day of the 12th lunar month of the 48th year of the Wanli reign, the day he was released. "Why did you give it to me today?" Sun Ruyou asked suspiciously.

"The emperor didn't give a clear order about when you can leave, so I thought of letting you go after the New Year." Zhou Jiamo sighed.

Sun Ruyou not only celebrated the Lunar New Year in Beijing, but also went to the palace to observe the Emperor's worship of heaven on the first day of the Lunar New Year. However, he did not join Xu Guangqi in the front row, but instead joined the ranks of lower-ranking officials from the Ministry of Revenue. Sun Ruyou was genuinely pleased that the Emperor had taken the initiative to reinstate the Lunar New Year's worship of heaven. Since his appointment as Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in the 43rd year of the Wanli reign, he and his superior, He Zongyan, had annually petitioned Emperor Shenzong to reinstate the various rituals. However, by then, the Emperor was so inactive that he never responded to their trivial requests.

"Haha. It seems that I only need to go to the Ministry of Revenue to collect travel expenses tomorrow." Sun Ruyou joked.

"You don't have to go to the Ministry of Revenue." Xu Guangqi untied two bags of cash from his waist and produced a document from the Ministry of Revenue. "This is what Minister Li asked me to bring you. One bag is fifteen taels, and the other is twenty taels, for a total of thirty-five taels."

Without special imperial decree, travel expenses were granted to officials individually. Travel expenses were calculated based on rank, not distance. A prefect received 50 taels, a prefectural governor 35 taels, a county magistrate 30 taels, and a county magistrate and chief clerk each received 15 taels. Since Sun Rujiejiang was serving as a deputy minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, a rank of fifth rank, the same as a prefectural governor, he was granted 35 taels as usual.

"He just doesn't want to see me." Sun Ru said jokingly.

"No. Li Hubu wanted to come. But he was not feeling well and couldn't come." Xu Guangqi shook his head and explained.

"Have you called a doctor?" Sun Ruyou asked with concern. There had been some minor disagreements between Sun Ruyou and Li Ruhua, but it didn't matter now.

"The emperor sent Liu Yuanshi from the Imperial Hospital to treat Li Hubu." Xu Guangqi glanced at Liu Yirong subconsciously.

"I've disturbed the emperor! Is it serious?" Sun Ruyou was shocked.

"Don't worry, Li Hubu looks pretty healthy. The emperor only found out about this because he took a few days off," Xu Guangqi replied.

"Okay. Say hello to him for me." Sun Ruyou accepted the silver and documents and placed them together with the official appointment certificate and travel permit that Zhou Jiamo had handed over earlier.

"I will." Xu Guangqi took out a jade pendant from his arms and handed it to Sun Ruyou, saying, "And this, I'll give it back to you too."

"This is Jiaji's jade pendant! How did it get into your hand?" Sun Ruyou recognized at a glance that this was the jade pendant of his precious grandson.

Xu Guangqi remained expressionless and delivered his prepared excuse: "This was given to me by a captain of the Imperial Guard named Lu. He also told me to tell you not to worry, everything is fine."

"What does this mean?" Zhou Jiamo felt something was amiss. "Why would the Jinyiwei have Sun Jiaji's jade pendant?"

As soon as Liu Yirong and Han Yu saw the jade pendant, they guessed how it worked. But they still agreed and asked, "Yes, what does this mean?"

"I don't know either." Xu Guangqi lied without changing his expression or heartbeat. Not only that, he even cast a questioning look at Sun Ruyou.

Sun Ruyou was unaware of the secret negotiations between Xu, Liu, and Han, but he could guess that the emperor was shielding the situation, his motive being to stabilize the court. A hundred people were beaten in court, and aside from a single, already frail censor who couldn't survive the harsh winter, no one died. This in itself speaks volumes. Furthermore, the Imperial Guards had explicitly instructed him not to make false accusations and instead pin the blame on himself, Zou, and Zhao.

"Don't ask, don't ask. Let this matter be over." Sun Ruyou said bitterly. He changed the subject and said, "Thanks to Xu Zixian for speaking up for the emperor. Otherwise, he would have been stripped of his honor and exiled to the frontier. It would have been a disgrace to the ancestors of the Sun family."

Sun Ruyou was a descendant of Gongsun Sui, a loyal and heroic official who died for his country during the Chenhao Rebellion. In October of the tenth year of the Zhengde reign, Sun Sui was promoted to Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief and appointed Governor of Jiangxi. While Sun Sui was in charge of Jiangxi, Prince Ning Zhu Chenhao had the intention of rebelling and establishing himself as the emperor, and was secretly preparing for it, but was discovered by Sun Sui. While Sun Sui strengthened the local military preparations in Jiangxi, he also expounded on the righteousness of the cause to Zhu Chenhao and openly opposed Zhu Chenhao on many occasions, earning Zhu Chenhao's jealousy. In the fourteenth year of the Zhengde reign, Zhu Chenhao announced at his birthday celebration that the Zhengde Emperor was a bastard adopted from the people and that he would "raise an army to fight the rebels." Zhu Chenhao was fiercely opposed by Sun Sui. While Sun Sui was shouting "There is no two suns in the sky," he cursed Zhu Chenhao as a traitor. He would rather die than surrender and died a heroic death for his country.

After Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty succeeded to the throne, he posthumously awarded Sun Sui the title of Minister of Rites and gave him the posthumous title of Zhonglie.

"It's all thanks to the Emperor's grace. I didn't do anything." Xu Guangqi had fought for Sun Ruyou's lighter sentence, but he refused to accept it. Officials inside and outside the court all felt that Zhao Nanxing's death was suspicious. But only Xu Guangqi knew the true answer.

(End of this chapter)