Huangming

Chapter 12 Eunuch Power Granted by the Emperor, A Way to Die

"Then who is this?"

Wang An looked at the newly appointed Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen and felt that he was somewhat unfamiliar with him, but it was as if he had seen him somewhere before.

"Your Majesty is truly forgetful. This servant was personally chosen by Your Majesty to be the Crown Prince's study companion."

At this point, Wang An finally remembered something.

"Are you Huang Hua?"

The chief eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen nodded.

"It's the servant girl."

A strange expression appeared on Wang An's face, mixed with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Why didn't you inform him of your promotion to Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen?

They don't even respect him, their ancestor.

Just then, three more eunuchs entered the main hall of Cining Palace.

The leader was the Wei Dynasty.

"This servant greets Your Highness."

Wei Chao's fat face was full of flattery, and behind him, Wang Tiqian and Li Jinzhong immediately bowed deeply in worship.

"Get up."

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, and the three of them rose gracefully.

Wang An frowned upon seeing this.

Looking at Li Jinzhong's obsequious old face, he was even more furious.

"Li Jinzhong, you are a eunuch from the Firewood Supply Department. It's one thing to deliver firewood to the palace last night, but why haven't you returned yet today?"

Xixinsi is located in the southeast corner of the Imperial City, not within the Forbidden City.

Eunuchs routinely transported firewood and charcoal into the palace through the Donghua Gate, then through the East Corridor to the Inner Palace Supply Storehouse for temporary storage, and finally distributed them to the charcoal rooms of various palaces and courtyards via the East Corridor of the Qianqing Palace.

He had already sent Li Jinzhong out of the palace last night, but he didn't expect that Li Jinzhong would ignore his ancestor's words.

How could he not be angry?

"Slave, slave"

Li Jinzhong looked fearful and pleaded with Wei Chao for help.

Wei Chao chuckled, straightened his back, and said to Wang An, "Yesterday, there was some trouble in the Imperial Horse Administration and the Imperial Seal Administration. The palace was short-handed, so we borrowed the Jinzhong brothers. Now that the rebellion has been quelled, Jinzhong is the one who has made a contribution."

Are there any disturbances within the Imperial Horse Administration and the Imperial Seal Administration?
Wang An's eyes widened in utter shock.

"Impossible. The people of the Imperial Horse Administration and the Imperial Seal Administration are all loyal and devoted. How could they possibly cause trouble?"

Wei Chao calmly produced the 'ironclad evidence'.

"These are their signed and sealed testimonies. Your Highness, please review them."

Zhu Youxiao casually took the testimony, didn't even look at it, and put it aside.

"Wang An, it seems that you recommended the chief eunuchs of the Imperial Horse Stable and the Imperial Seal Office?"

Faced with the successor's questioning, Wang An felt flustered.

All of this was different from what he had expected.

They are even worlds apart.

He couldn't help but recall Han Kuang's words from the previous night.

嗣君
It seems that he is truly not the heir apparent he remembered.

It's like he's become a completely different person.

Wang An knelt down and explained, "Your Highness, do not be misled by the wicked people in the palace. Torture and forced confessions are commonplace. I hope Your Highness will see the truth."

Wei Chao took advantage of the situation and kicked them while they were down.

"The eunuchs of the Imperial Horse Administration and the Imperial Seal Administration, relying on their power, run rampant in the palace. Their illegal acts are too numerous to count. The so-called torture and forced confessions are completely fabricated. I hope Your Highness will see this clearly."

Seeing that Wei Chao, whom he had personally mentored, was now acting like a mad dog, barking and relentlessly attacking him, Wang An was so angry that his eyes turned red as he stared intently at Wei Chao.

"Wei Chao, you have no right to speak here!" In the past, Wei Chao would have been trembling with fear.

However, at this moment, he stood up straight.

"With the Crown Prince above, right and wrong can be judged on their own. Why can't the Wei Dynasty speak out?"

Without a doubt, the Wei Dynasty had someone backing it up, and that person was the successor.

Wang An looked up at Zhu Youxiao with a pitiful expression and began to play the emotional card.

“Your Highness, for more than ten years in the Prince’s residence, I have been respectful and loyal, and have never had a disloyal heart. I was able to serve the late Emperor with loyalty, so naturally I can serve Your Highness with loyalty. His Majesty has passed away suddenly, and now there are many complicated matters. Only I can help Your Highness contact the outer court and stabilize the situation.”

However, Zhu Youxiao's gaze remained calm.

Even cold-blooded.

Wang An continued to pour out his heart:
"In the palace, there is Consort Zheng and Consort Li; among the officials of the outer court, not one is easy to get along with. The national treasury is empty, and wars are constant. This servant can assist Your Highness."

Wei Chao sneered from the side, thinking to himself that this old dog still hadn't figured out the situation.

"The Crown Prince is so wise and powerful, does he really need your help? Does he mean that if we don't listen to you, our Great Ming Dynasty will perish?"

"you!"

Interrupted by Wei Chao, a look of resentment flashed in Wang An's eyes.

"Wang An".

Zhu Youxiao looked down at the kneeling eunuch, his eyes showing no mercy.

"You misjudged people, colluded with the outer court, and deceived the emperor. What is your crime?"

Wang An is a capable person.

And, without a doubt, he was loyal.

His good relationship with the Donglin Party was essentially a strategic alliance based on shared political interests: Wang An used the Donglin Party to consolidate imperial power and implement new policies, while the Donglin Party used Wang An to influence the inner court's decision-making.

Perhaps there isn't much personal motive involved.

In the eyes of those foreign officials, he was a virtuous eunuch.

But in Zhu Youxiao's eyes, Wang An was a traitorous beast.

The things he did after taking control of the Directorate of Ceremonial were something Zhu Youxiao could not tolerate.

He allocated funds to aid the border regions, abolished mining taxes, and reinstated upright officials.

They used the emperor's private treasury to fill the gaps in the border troops' coffers.

Cut off the emperor's source of wealth and enrich private individuals.

The extensive use of Donglin Party members led to the so-called "righteous people filling the court".

But is this "righteousness" truly for the sake of the Ming Dynasty?

Furthermore, Wang An has begun to become arrogant and is starting to disregard the emperor's authority.

As the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, he formed a decision-making chain of "inner court approvals and outer court remonstrances" with key Donglin officials such as Liu Yijing, Vice Premier of the Cabinet, Han Kuang, Grand Secretary, and Yang Lian, Censor-in-Chief, to jointly suppress the remnants of the Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions and the power of the harem.

They even wanted to suppress him, the emperor.

What is this if not a righteous death?
"Your Highness, I'm innocent! I'm wronged!"

When Wei Chao saw that the successor had begun to settle scores with Wang An, he immediately jumped out and added fuel to the fire.

"What injustice? Since yesterday, you have been communicating privately with officials of the outer court. The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs has submitted memorials, but instead of reporting them to His Highness for review, you have approved them privately. This is clearly an act of contempt for the Emperor and collusion with the outer court."

Wang Tiqian, who was behind Wei Chao, knew that if he did not leave a good impression on the successor, his future would not be so bright. So he jumped out and angrily rebuked Wang An: "You old bastard, yesterday you asked me to send Your Highness fish and meat during the mourning period. This violates the etiquette and filial piety. It is clear that you want to put His Majesty in a position of being unfilial. You have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor."

Li Jinzhong was an opportunist. He knew that if he didn't show his abilities now, when would he?
He also jumped out and berated Wang An.

"You old scoundrel, you have long harbored rebellious intentions, you have monopolized power and abused your authority, you have disregarded the Emperor, you have colluded with the outer court, and you are plotting treason. Do you intend to follow in the footsteps of Wang Zhen by colluding with the Donglin faction?"

After saying this, Li Jinzhong snorted coldly and said obsequiously to Zhu Youxiao, "With the divine ruler above, how can such petty villains be allowed to cause trouble? These corrupt scholars and puppets, how can they know the majesty of Heaven!"

He was abandoned by everyone and hated by all.

Wang An felt a chill in his heart, knowing that all was lost.

(End of this chapter)