Emperor Ming: Your Majesty, you have caused me so much suffering.

Chen Yi stood up angrily and said coldly, "Empress Dowager, according to the Ninth Imperial Decree of the Ming Dynasty: The Empress is only permitted to govern the women of the palace. She shall not interfere in any affairs outside the palace gates."

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Sun nearly fainted from anger again.

Unlike Consort Wu's tearful and sarcastic remarks, this time she was directly reminded by a high-ranking official that the empress dowager should not interfere in politics, clearly implying that her previous actions were improper.

Chen Yi expressed his dissatisfaction with her actions in preventing Zhu Qiyu from issuing orders, which made her even more embarrassed.

Since she became Empress Dowager, when has she ever suffered such humiliation?

"Chen Yi, how dare you!" Empress Dowager Sun said sternly.

Chen Yi looked towards where Empress Dowager Sun was, showing no fear whatsoever, and gave a perfunctory bow, saying, "Your Majesty, I dare not. As the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, I have the responsibility to correct the errors and shortcomings of the court. If Your Majesty finds my words incorrect, I await Your Majesty to remove my official hat!"

Having said that, he showed no mercy and turned to leave.

Empress Dowager Sun's panting was audible even to Zhu Qiyu through the curtain.

By having Empress Dowager Sun remove Chen Yi's official hat, wouldn't that confirm the fact that the Empress Dowager was interfering in politics?

Zhu Qiyu was taken aback. "So brave! Whose general is this?"

"Imperial Censor Chen!"

Upon hearing Zhu Qiyu speak, Chen Yi hesitated for a moment before stopping and turning around.

He could angrily confront Empress Dowager Sun, but he already felt a strange sense of respect for the Prince of Cheng before him.

Chen Yi's expression softened slightly as he said, "Your Highness, the court is in disarray today. As the head of the Censorate, I have failed in my duty. At this moment, it is imperative to appease the people and order the Censorate to monitor the capital to prevent rumors from spreading and causing chaos in the capital."

"Very well, Imperial Censor Chen may depart," Zhu Qiyu rose and glanced at the assembled officials. "Gentlemen, the previous edict should be drafted and sent to the border immediately. Each of you should perform your duties and go together!"

Seeing that there were established procedures for handling the border situation, Wang Zhi and the others no longer wanted to stay in the Wenhua Hall. Who knew what outrageous things the person behind the curtain was planning?

Human patience has its limits; if one acts out of passion and commits a heinous act, one will be infamous for eternity.

"We take our leave!"

Zhu Qiyu watched Wang Zhi and the others leave Wenhua Hall, and an unprecedented sense of oppression settled over the hall.

Xing'an was quite sensible and quietly retreated outside the palace.

Jin Ying and Li Yongchang realized what was happening, hurriedly bowed, and quickly disappeared into the Wenhua Hall, leaving the three of them guarding the hall's entrance.

Zhu Qiyu, however, showed little anger at this moment. He asked calmly, "Holy Mother, do you think we will still have the face to meet Father Emperor and our ancestors after we pass away?"

Empress Dowager Sun was filled with shame and wished she could disappear into the ground. The only ones who had no face to see the late emperor were herself and Zhu Qizhen.

At this moment, Empress Dowager Sun seemed deflated, losing her usual domineering demeanor, and said, "Yu'er, I only ask two things of you: preserve this Ming Dynasty and ensure your imperial brother's safe return!"

Zhu Qiyu was slightly taken aback, but did not answer immediately.

These words were quite profound. Empress Dowager Sun already understood that Zhu Qizhen could no longer continue as emperor.

After all, bringing enemies to the gates was an outrageous act that was beyond people's comprehension.

It is ironic for the world that someone with no moral bottom line, who would even sell out his country, sits in the highest position.

How could someone like that possibly have anyone who would be loyal to him wholeheartedly? He could even sell out the country; why would he care about the lives of his ministers and the common people?

In the eyes of later generations, Zhu Qizhen's credit at this time was so poor that he couldn't even borrow a single penny.

However, Zhu Qiyu could not agree to Empress Dowager Sun's request. He could preserve the Ming Dynasty, but he could not guarantee the latter.

"Your Majesty, I have done my best!" Zhu Qiyu gave an ambiguous answer.

Without giving Empress Dowager Sun a chance to bargain, he took his leave, leaving her sitting there blankly.

I don't know what he was thinking, perhaps he was thinking more about the late emperor's heroic figure and Zhu Qizhen's gradually fading figure.

Upon exiting the Wenhua Hall, Xing'an and the other two bowed respectfully.

Having lived in the inner palace for decades, the three now understood that the Ming Dynasty might be about to change.

A good is expensive because people need it; when people no longer need it, the good becomes worthless.

This cargo is none other than the current emperor, Zhu Qizhen. The best way to break the deadlock in the face of this challenge is to replace him with a new emperor.

Empress Dowager Sun understood this principle, the officials understood it, the eunuchs understood it, and Zhu Qiyu understood it even more.

Zhu Qiyu glanced into the hall and said, "Eunuch Li, if anything happens to the Empress Dowager, you will bring your head upon yourself!"

"This servant obeys!"

Li Yongchang felt Zhu Qiyu's sharp gaze and, for the first time, felt extremely afraid in front of Zhu Qiyu.

"Eunuch Jin then remained in the Directorate of Ceremonial to maintain the daily operations of the palace."

"Here you go!"

Zhu Qiyu looked at Xing'an and said, "Eunuch Xing, you are the supervisor of the Eastern Depot. I have something I need you to oversee. Come with me to the Prince's Mansion to discuss matters."

"This servant obeys!"

Xing'an bowed, his heart filled with joy.

Zhu Qiyu's unreserved summons to the Prince's residence suggests that he had a secret discussion with the Empress Dowager earlier, and that step might not be far off. In that case, he had made the right bet!

In the Prince of Cheng's mansion, Xing'an stood obediently to one side.

"How did things go?"

Xing'an reported back, "Your Highness, it's not difficult to imprison Guo Jing; eunuchs always have their moments of dishonesty. But if we want to put Guo Jing to death, we need to expose his secret manufacture of firearms and arrowheads for the Oirats. I'm worried..."

Zhu Qiyu simply spoke up for Xing'an: "It will implicate His Majesty!"

"Your Highness is wise. That is indeed the case. Guo Jing mostly worked for Wang Zhen. To satisfy his greed, Wang Zhen ordered Guo Jing to privately manufacture dozens of jars of arrowheads every year and send them to the Oirat Mongols. The Oirat Mongols would repay him with fine horses and then exchange them for money. This money ended up in Wang Zhen's hands, and most of it went to Your Majesty."

Zhu Qiyu had already considered these matters, and to this day he still doesn't understand how Zhu Qizhen's thought process works.

Several years earlier, Zhu Qizhen had discovered problems with border trade. While ordering officials to investigate and deal with the matter thoroughly, he also condoned Wang Zhen's cover-up of criminals.

In fact, the biggest illicit trade boss was Wang Zhen, who served Zhu Qizhen. Naturally, Wang Zhen had to pay tribute to Zhu Qizhen, and Zhu Qizhen became the ultimate beneficiary of these illicit trades.

With Zhu Qizhen's shrewdness, how could he not see through the inside story? In the end, border trade became chaotic, and he could no longer sit still, which ultimately led to a disaster.

In Zhu Qiyu's view, this is more like a bizarre tactic of the thief crying "stop thief!"

Zhu Qiyu considered it carefully; now was not the time to create a major case.

"Give the evidence to the censor, and have him arrested immediately on charges of corruption and brought back to the capital!"

If Zhu Qizhen were to rush to Datong and knock on the gates, and one of his henchmen were in Datong, and the city gates were accidentally opened, then everything would be irreversible.

"Here you go!"

Zhu Qiyu asked, "Has the Eastern Depot been properly taken over?"

Xing'an looked troubled and apologized, saying, "This servant is incompetent and will need some more time. However, after today's matter, perhaps this servant can accomplish the task as soon as possible."

Zhu Qiyu nodded. He urgently needed the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Otherwise, relying solely on Cheng Jing and those useless idiots from the Prince's Mansion would be like being blind in the capital.

However, both of these places belong to Wang Zhen's men, who can be considered Zhu Qizhen's lackeys. Even Xing'an, Zhu Qizhen's "favorite minister," cannot be easily subdued. Now that the news of Zhu Qizhen knocking on the door has spread, it is estimated that these people have wavered.

To put it bluntly, these people were the emperor's servants; they would serve whoever was the emperor.

"Be ruthless, but restrain yourself quickly; I don't have that much time to wait!"

Xing'an's expression immediately changed: "This servant obeys!"

"By the way, have someone keep a close eye on Chen Yi. If anything seems amiss, report it immediately," Zhu Qiyu instructed, sensing that Chen Yi had been acting strangely lately.

"Here you go!"