Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 372 Old Fox

In just a few days, Zhu Ciyan, the first prince of Ming Xizong, and Zhu Ciwei, the second prince, were assassinated successively, making the Ming court even more chaotic because of Wei Zhongxian's stroke and hemiplegia. It turns out that behind the reshuffle of the court's power, there may be a more influential change of the throne hidden, and Wei Zhongxian, who was previously unanimously identified by all civil and military officials as the real murderer of the eldest prince, may have been wronged , the real mastermind behind the scenes is someone else!

Zhu Youjian, the abolished letter king who specialized in investigating the assassination of the eldest prince, did not disappoint all the officials. On the afternoon of the day when Wei Zhongxian's granddaughter, the imperial concubine Wei Xiaodie's mother and son were assassinated, Sun Yunhe, the criminal officer of Dongchang, who had been arrested by the abolished letter king for many days , after learning the news that Wei Zhongxian had been paralyzed and lost power, his psychological defense completely collapsed, and he confided the truth in front of Zhu Youjian, the wise, fair and honest brother of the discredited king.It turned out that the mastermind behind the assassination of the eldest prince Zhu Ciyan was not Wei Zhongxian, who was previously agreed by everyone, but Ke Baba, the wet nurse of Xizong, who was trying to make his nephew and grandson Zhu Cikun succeed to the throne. Sun Yunhe himself was instructed by Ke Baba to direct the whole process To assassinate the eldest prince Zhu Ciyan!
Sun Yunhe adjourned this rigorous, credible, and flawless confession, and Zhu Youjian immediately happily sent this confession to the palace, and sent it to his dying brother Zhu Youxiao, Emperor Tianqi, who was immersed in Zhu Youxiao, who was in the pain of losing two words, read the confession, vomited blood in shock and anger, and passed out on the spot.Although Zhang Yan secretly blamed his brother-in-law for not looking at him and unintentionally angering his seriously ill husband, she refused to let go of this golden opportunity, and immediately ordered the arrest of Baba, the nurse of Emperor Tianqi, and her whole family, and sent them to prison for trial and questioning.It was only at this moment that the big-chested and brainless Ke Baba realized that he had been fooled by Zhang Yan. He was so angry that he almost wanted to swallow Zhang Yan alive, and cursed with tears in his eyes: "Bitch! You little bitch! You deliberately framed Zhang Yan. Old lady! How can I feel sorry for you, for helping you bring down Wei old dog, and you just repay my old lady like this?"

"If you want to blame, blame yourself for being stupid. You don't even understand that without Wei Zhongxian, you are no better than a fart!" Zhang Yan replied with a sneer: "As for what you have to do to this Gong? You have the face to say this, Back then, if you hadn't teamed up with Wei Laogou and sent someone to kill Bengong while massaging me, would Bengong's first child have miscarried? Also, apart from you and Wei Laogou, the eldest prince's assassination case , who else would do such a heartless thing?"

"It's not me! It's not me! I didn't send anyone to kill the eldest prince!" It was only at this moment that Kebaba finally realized the feeling of being wronged and wronged that Wei Zhongxian experienced a few days ago, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he struggled to jump up and down again. Jump, shouting for innocence.But it's a pity that Ming Xizong is already in a coma, and Zhang Yan has controlled many eunuchs and eunuchs these days with the help of the royalist party, so no matter how Ke Baba complains, he still cannot escape being arrested and sent to prison Due to her fate, she was arrested by the eunuch Haizhen, the leader of the Kunning Palace, and a group of eunuchs, and was imprisoned in the Royal Laundry Bureau to wait for interrogation.At this point, the Wei Ke Group, which had controlled the inner courtyard of the palace for many years, had completely disappeared. The henchmen of Wei Ke and his party were either arrested or rebelled. As I said, the imperial palace and the brothel are the two most hypocritical places in the world. There is basically no loyalty at all. Whoever has the power and power is the uncle!Or aunt.

Helping his sister-in-law bring down Ke Baba as she wished, Master Zhu Youjian had no choice but to take the opportunity to propose to his sister-in-law who loves him so much that he should also bring down Ke Baba's grandnephew Zhu Cikun, lest the sinful blood of the Ke family stain the noble and pure blood of the royal family.But this time, Zhang Yan refused to listen to his uncle, and told Zhu Youjian directly, "Although the third prince Zhu Cikun is the grandnephew of a guest and witch, he is the blood of the emperor after all, and a child is innocent. It is enough to be in the cold palace, and there is no need to implicate a child who is still breastfeeding." It is also because of Zhang Yan's answer that there are rumors that the third prince Zhu Cikun is not Tianqi's own.But to Zhu Youjian's disappointment again, his sister-in-law, who is not too confused, did not dare to let Ming Xizong know this confession this time, but let Zhu Youjian secretly investigate the matter, first to see if Zhu Cikun is the Ming Xizong's blood Besides.

Ke Baba Tang’s niece Ke Baba’s hometown Baoding Dingxing is not far from the capital, only 180 miles away, so it only took Zhu Youjian three days to get a man named Ximending from Dingxing. Ximen Ding also very cooperatively declared that he had colluded with Ke Shasha long ago, and that the third prince Zhu Cikun born by Ke Shasha was also the seed he left in Ke Shasha's stomach.And within three days, because he couldn't bear Zhu Youjian's torture, Kebaba's idiot son Hou Guoxing also confessed honestly, admitting that his family planned the assassination of the first and second princes behind the scenes, and planned to push the third prince Zhu Cikun away. At the same time, Hou Guoxing also admitted that his cousin Shasha was pregnant before entering the palace, and the son she gave birth to was also a wild species from the people. His family knew this and insisted on pushing this wild species to the throne. It's just a small matter of seeking to usurp the throne. ——In fact, Zhu Youjian may not have wronged Ke Baba. In history, after he became Emperor Chongzhen, he also accused Wei Zhongxian and Ke Baba of doing such a thing. Grabbing his own throne is now just a change of tricks and a few parties.

When Zhu Youjian obtained this testimony and Ximen Ding's personal testimony, it was already the eighth day of December, the tenth year of the Great Ming Dynasty, and it was also the fifth day after Zhang Yan issued an edict announcing the triumphant return of Young Master Zhang.With only about five days left to act, Zhu Youjian rarely took a deep breath, and did not immediately move something to his elder brother and sister-in-law, but first asked Feng Quan to take the newly-reconstructed Xinwang Party around the capital. Spreading the news that the third prince was not his elder brother's own, and laying the foundation of public opinion for his succession to the elder brother's throne, he then brought the confessions of Hou Guoxing and Ximending to the British government, intending to persuade Zhang Weixian and others who are loyal to the Zhu family to win They will take the next step with their support—after all, the hereditary dukes Zhang Weixian and Zhu Chunchen are the real backers and think tanks behind Zhang Yan. Without their nods, Zhang Yan would not have dared to make such an important decision.At the same time, these old things have a huge influence on the court and the emperor. It can be said that they have a promise. If they don't win their support, even if Zhang Yan decides to let his uncle succeed him, Zhu Youjian will not be able to sit on it.

When they arrived at the British government, Zhu Chunchen and Zhang Guoji, the hardcore royalists, happened to be at Zhang Weixian’s home. After the two met, after a little politeness, Zhu Youjian immediately took out two confessions, and said in a heavy tone: “You two, Zhang Guoji Father-in-law, my nephew would like to invite you to take a look at these things. Now that the emperor is so ill, my nephew really dare not present these things to the emperor, so I can only invite two respected princes to take a look first. Give my nephew an idea."

After all, Zhu Youjian bowed and raised the two confessions with both hands above his head.Zhang Weixian took it curiously, and shared a share with Zhu Chunchen. After only a few glances, Zhang Weixian's complexion changed, and Zhu Chunchen's complexion turned livid. After exchanging statements with Zhang Weixian, Zhang Weixian, Zhu Chunchen and Zhang Guoji His face had simply turned dead gray.But after thinking about it for a while, Zhang Weixian became startled and suspicious again, staring into Zhu Youjian's eyes and asked: "My lord, are these two confessions true?"

"Back to Zhang Guogong, my nephew thinks it should be true." Zhu Youjian replied solemnly: "My nephew caught Ximen Ding from Baoding and confessed that he had had sex with the concubine many times before she entered the palace. On the first night before the concubine was about to leave for the palace, he had sex with the concubine several times! During the period, the concubine became pregnant, and Ximen Ding took abortion drugs to fall off. After the concubine entered the palace, the two had sex for a time Lost contact, but after the Lantern Festival this year, Concubine Ke sent someone to bring him into the capital for some reason, then secretly sneaked out of the palace to have a tryst with him, had sex with him many times, and then rewarded him with a lot of gold and silver, and sent him back to his hometown—— Based on the date, the third prince Zhu Cikun is probably his son!"

"In addition, Hou Guoxing, the son of the guest witch, also confessed." Zhu Youjian's voice became lower and lower, as if he was very uncomfortable, but his tone became more and more dignified, "Because the guest concubine has not conceived for a long time after entering the palace, the guest witch's family is in order After completing the conspiracy to usurp the throne, they sent someone to call Ximen Ding, who had impregnated the concubine, into the capital, and helped the concubine sneak out of the palace, and conceived with Ximen Ding, pretending to be the prince! Apart from these confessions, Ximen Ding Ding also showed physical evidence, that is, the gold and silver rewarded to him by the concubine guest, and the silk, satin and scarves presented by the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau.

Zhu Youjian's words are quite reasonable, but there are still a lot of far-fetched ones, such as the fact that the guest concubine sneaked out of the palace, it is not so easy to do, and there are so-called physical evidence, which can be obtained at any time So don't talk about Zhang Weixian, who is old and treacherous, even Zhu Chunchen, who is more irritable, is extremely suspicious.After a little calculation, Zhu Chunchen asked: "Your Majesty, besides these evidences, what evidence does that Ximen Ding have? This matter concerns the foundation of the country, so we can't take the slightest joke."

"Ximen Ding is willing to confront the guest concubine face to face!" Zhu Youjian replied decisively: "Xi Men Ding said, if his words are even slightly false, he is willing to die to apologize!"

"Well, let them confront..." Zhu Chunchen wanted to ask Ximen Ding to confront the concubine Ke, but Zhang Weixian grabbed him, turned around and gave him a wink behind Zhu Youjian's back, and said: " Zhu Guogong, this matter is not a joke. If Concubine Ke is really allowed to confront this Ximen Ding, no matter what the outcome of the confrontation is, it will be a huge blow to the authority and reputation of the royal family and become the laughing stock of the people. Worse, once the The emperor, who is seriously ill, knows about this, he is afraid... So this old man thinks that this matter must not be publicized, and can only be investigated secretly."

"But how do we investigate next? We can't let the third prince and Ximen Ding recognize their relatives with blood, right? I heard that is a deceptive thing." Zhang Guoji asked.Zhang Weixian glanced at Zhu Youjian, who was calm but restless, out of the corner of his eye, and said: "Please trust the prince to continue investigating this matter, and see if you can find other evidence and confession. If the third prince is really not the blood of the emperor, then Let's just say that we can't let the third prince become the prince, we must persuade the emperor to choose another virtuous king." After finishing speaking, Zhang Weixian winked at Zhang Guoji and Zhu Chunchen behind Zhu Youjian's back.

"Okay then, just listen to Zhang Guogong, please trust the prince and continue to investigate." Zhu Chunchen and Zhang Guoji are both Zhang Weixian's old partners, and they immediately agreed with understanding.Only then did Zhang Weixian turn around, and solemnly said to Zhu Youjian, who was ecstatic in his heart: "My lord, you did not submit these confessions to the emperor and queen immediately. I'm being stimulated like this again. How about this, you continue to investigate this matter, come and tell the old man immediately if there is any progress, but you must not tell the emperor and queen directly. Don't worry, if it proves that the third prince is really not the emperor's blood, What to do, the old men know what to do!"

"Yes, my nephew understands." Zhu Youjian was overjoyed to get Zhang Weixian's support hint, and quickly agreed happily, and then left.Zhang Weixian and others personally sent them out of the mansion, seeing Zhu Youjian's appearance of calmness but trembling slightly and excited leaving, the old fox Zhang Weixian had a cold expression, thoughtful...

"Zhang Guogong, what did you wink at us just now, what do you want to do?" As soon as Zhu Youjian left, Zhang Guoji and Zhu Chunchen asked impatiently together.Zhang Weixian replied: "Don't ask too many questions, go to the palace immediately to see the empress, and discuss the countermeasures with the empress." Zhu Chunchen and Zhang Weixian agreed, and quickly asked people to prepare a car to drive, and together with Zhang Weixian went to the palace overnight to ask to see Zhang Yan.

………………

Of course the gate of the palace is locked at this time, but it doesn't matter, Zhang Guoji is the queen's biological father, Zhang Weixian and Zhu Chunchen are the two most powerful dukes in Ming Dynasty, they are characters that even Liu Jin, Wei Zhongxian and others dare not provoke, although for the sake of respecting the royal family Dignity didn't enter the palace directly, and she could also send someone to Zhang Yan to ask for an audience.Soon, Zhang Yan sent someone to open the Xihua Gate, led the three of Zhang Weixian into the Qianqing Palace, and had a secret talk with Zhang Weixian and others in the side hall of the Qianqing Palace.

Several people met each other, performed the necessary etiquette and sat down, Zhang Yan asked Zhang Weixian and others what they wanted to come, but Zhang Weixian did not answer immediately, but first asked the disused letter king Zhu Youjian whether he would enter the palace to kowtow to the emperor today, and was denied After answering, Zhang Weixian heaved a sigh of relief, and then explained in detail what Zhu Youjian went to see us just now.After hearing this, Zhang Yan was taken aback, and her first reaction was, "Impossible? Is it true that Concubine Ke had an affair with an outsider and had a child? I always thought that this was just a rumor. Let Prince Xin check it out so as not to tarnish the royal reputation. Is this true?"

"Empress, how can you think so?" Zhang Weixian asked with a wry smile: "The Forbidden Palace is so heavily guarded, how could it be possible for the Empress Concubine to sneak out of the palace and have children with outsiders? Such a ridiculous thing?"

"I have." Zhang Yan, who is self-conscious, muttered in her heart, her pink face was slightly feverish, and she couldn't help but had the idea of ​​tearing someone apart.Zhu Chunchen over there was surprised and asked: "Mr. Zhang, since you don't believe that the guest concubine had an affair with an outsider to have a child, why did you let Prince Xin continue to investigate?"

"Because the old man doesn't believe in King Xin anymore!" Zhang Weixian said in a deep voice: "Empress, Zhu Guogong, Zhang Guozhang, think about it, if the guest concubine is proved to have had a child with an outsider, the third prince will lose the right to succeed , then the eldest prince and the second prince have been assassinated and died, if the emperor dies of illness, who will be the most qualified to inherit the throne?"

"Believe in the lord!" Zhang Yan, Zhang Guoji and Zhu Chunchen all changed their faces.But Zhu Chunchen thought about it again, and hurriedly said: "That's not right, the eldest prince is still there, still at the old man's house!"

"Does the King of Credible know that the eldest prince has been dropped by us?" Zhang Weixian asked Zhu Chunchen speechlessly, and Zhang Weixian sneered again: "Fortunately, we listened to Zhang Haogu's idea and dropped the eldest prince early. , This time when King Xin came back, I asked you to keep a hand and didn’t tell King Xin about it. Otherwise, what else might happen, do you dare to imagine?”

The faces of Zhu Chunchen and Zhang Guoji changed color, and Zhang Yan's pretty face also turned pale. After a long time, Zhang Yan asked tremblingly: "Zhang Guogong, do you doubt that you believe in the prince...?"

"Although I don't want to use this kind of thinking to kill the descendants of Zhu." Zhang Weixian nodded, and said with difficulty: "But now, the veteran has to doubt, and the veteran even doubts. This is likely to be a bureau from the beginning. Get rid of Wei Zhongxian and Ke Baba, and create opportunities for him to rise to the throne. Think about it, given Wei Zhongxian's situation at the time, how could he attack the eldest prince? Make himself betrayed, and even arouse the emperor's suspicion of him? And Ke Baba, That temptress is purely a half-baked bag, how could she have laid out such an elaborate scheme, how could she have cultivated strength outside the palace, and directly assassinated the second prince?"

"If that's the case, then why did you believe the king and continue the investigation just now? You also hinted to him that we are going to support his succession?" Zhang Guoji asked in fear.Zhang Weixian replied solemnly: "The first is that the old man has no real evidence, and his crimes are only speculations. The second is that the old man must keep him steady. Don't forget, he is still the emperor's younger brother, and he can visit the emperor at any time. In case he takes risks , to the emperor... Even if he can't do this to his brother, he just needs to tell the emperor about the case of the guest concubine. Given the current situation of the emperor, do you think the emperor can withstand such a stimulus? What's more, don't you think Haven't you discovered that the power currently in the hands of Prince Xin has surpassed our control?"

"Apart from the six hundred soldiers he brought into the capital, what power does he have?" Zhang Yan asked disdainfully.Zhang Weixian replied with a wry smile: "Empress, you really underestimate the trust of the prince. To be honest, the old minister has actually sent people to spy on him for the past few days, and found that since the fifth day of December, he and the second assistant to the cabinet Feng Quan We have a very close relationship, and Feng Quan has frequent exchanges with those civil and military officials who were ready to support King Xin's succession and fight against Wei Zhongxian. Empress, we may have a legacy of raising tigers!"

"How dare he?!" Zhang Yan said angrily, "A decree from the palace can send him to prison!"

"Perhaps." Zhang Weixian said with a sigh: "But the old man is worried that if the Empress really promulgates this edict, King Xin may take risks and launch a rebellion! Such a thing is not without precedent in our Ming Dynasty. Back then, the rebel Cao Qin Bringing hundreds of Tatar soldiers, but almost broke into the inner city of the palace and killed the first emperor of Yingzong! None of us know how much power King Xin has now, empress, do you still dare to take this risk?"

Zhang Yan stopped talking. Although she had some talent for tactics, she knew nothing about military affairs.Zhang Weixian said with a wry smile: "What's worse is that now Wei Zhongxian has been brought down by us, the emperor is seriously ill, the imperial court has no leader, and the people in the capital are in panic. Taking risks for the sake of glory and wealth, there is no guarantee that there will not be some Wei Zhongxian's remnants who will help Xin Wang fight to the death for his wealth and life! So there is no way, the old man has to temporarily stabilize him and dispel his thoughts of jumping over the wall, lest the worst situation happen. .”

"Then how long are we going to pamper him?" Zhu Chunchen asked.Zhang Weixian replied solemnly: "It won't take long, as long as he stabilizes him until Zhang Haogu returns triumphantly! I believe Zhang Haogu's prestige in the Ming army goes without saying. Those rebellious ministers and thieves have a hundred guts, and they dare not plot rebellion under his nose! At the same time, Zhang Haogu is shrewd and capable. At that time, we can completely entrust him with the investigation of the assassination of the two princes. Trust him We will definitely find out the real culprit behind the scenes and restore justice to the world."

"That's a good word, Zhang Haogu is here, even if the rebellious officials and thieves have an army of [-], we don't have to worry about it." Zhang Guoji nodded, and asked worriedly: "But the problem is, Zhang Haogu is right Wei Zhongxian respects him like a father, and Wei Zhongxian was harmed like this by us, will he give Wei Zhongxian...?"

"He dares! I'll kill him!" Zhang Yan blurted out. After seeing the surprised expressions of Zhang Weixian and others, Zhang Yan couldn't help but blushed, and quickly added: "Father, don't worry, my daughter knows that Zhang Haogu is right. The imperial court is loyal, as long as it is for the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, he has no second thoughts. Just like the case of the eldest prince, he offered us a civet cat for the prince behind Wei Zhongxian's back. From this point we can It can be seen that his loyalty to the imperial court and the emperor far exceeds his filial piety to Wei Zhongxian."

"That's right, the old man also thinks that Zhang Haogu can be trusted." Zhang Weixian nodded, and said: "The old man speculates that at most Zhang Haogu will only propose a condition for Wei Zhongxian to die peacefully and do his best. Wei Zhongxian is now paralyzed Well, it can be considered that he has suffered retribution, we let him live, and fulfill Zhang Haogu's filial piety, it is not unnegotiable."

"Okay then, let's do it this way." Zhang Yan finally nodded, and finally gave up the plan to cut Wei Zhongxian into pieces.Zhang Weixian cupped his hands to thank him, and said: "Empress, since you agree, then the old minister will presume to give you a few words. From now on, you must not let Prince Xin meet with the emperor again. If Prince Xin offers some medicine and food to the emperor , you must not really eat it for the emperor. In addition, if the prince Xin reports to you the case of the guest concubine's adultery with outsiders, then you can make false claims with him, and you may even promise to persuade the emperor to make him a son-in-law and stabilize him temporarily. We As long as Zhang Haogu's army returns, it will be as stable as Mount Tai."

(End of this chapter)