Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"Gao Mingqian actually sent his youngest son to work as Lu Chen's subordinate!"

Sun Dexiu's expression changed.

"Besides Gao Ruopu and Shen Zhui, who else did Gao Mingqian transfer to serve under Lu Chen?"

"Lord Sun, I have already sent people to inquire. The other three junior officers under Lu Chen are also sons of military officers who are related to Commander Gao by marriage."

The madam quickly replied,

"The fifty captains and strongmen below are all sons and nephews of the centurions and captains of the Linqing Thousand Household Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Sure enough, the thing I least wanted to see has happened!

Gao Mingqian must have recognized Lu Chen's face!

After the Ministry of War found out that Lu Chen was employed by the Linqing Thousand-Household Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Sun Dexiu naturally also reviewed Gao Mingqian's file.

This fifth-rank commander was transferred to Linqing in the thirteenth year of the Jiajing reign (1544). Before that, he had served in the capital for more than two years.

Although the possibility of a Jinyiwei commander seeing the Emperor up close is very small, it is not entirely impossible.

Lu Chen's face couldn't be hidden from people after all. It was only a matter of time before he was recognized as looking exactly like the Emperor when he was young.

Huang Gonggong originally thought that this day would not come so soon, and that he would have enough time to build a deep friendship with this prince who had fallen into exile.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes!

Who would have thought that Lu Chen would be recognized by Gao Mingqian on his very first day in Linqing!

This old fox wasn't trying to curry favor with Lu Chen to flatter Lu Bing, who was far away in the capital; he was trying to curry favor with Lu Chen himself!

Gao Mingqian has figured out Lu Chen's royal identity. Could Lu Bing have found out as well?

If Lu Bing already knows, then Eunuch Huang's plan must be completely adjusted immediately!

Sun Dexiu tried to calm himself down and carefully reviewed the information he currently knew in his mind.

Lu Chen had been in Linqing Prefecture for twenty-five days. Gao Mingqian had known that Lu Chen was a member of the royal family for almost half a month when he left the capital.

If he wanted to tell Lu Bing about this, Lu Bing should have known long ago before he left the capital!

Lu Bingke had always believed that Lu Chen was Lu Song's illegitimate son. If he received Gao Mingqian's report that Lu Chen looked exactly like the emperor from ten years ago, would he still be able to sit still?

Sun Dexiu thought for a moment, and realized that if he and Lu Bing were in each other's shoes, he would definitely rush to Linqing Prefecture as soon as possible to confirm the matter with his own eyes.

However, Lu Bing made no move at all until I left the capital.

This is absolutely illogical.

The only possibility is that Lu Bing was completely unaware of this matter, and Gao Mingqian did not report it to him at all!

But does Gao Mingqian have that much courage?

Lu Bing was a third-rank commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Among the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard, only Commander Wang Zuo held a higher position than him.

Moreover, judging from the Emperor's intentions, it won't be long before Lu Bing replaces Wang Zuo as the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Even if Gao Mingqian had the guts of a bear and the courage of a leopard, he wouldn't dare to deceive Lu Bing about this matter!

But Gao Mingqian did exactly that!

What could be the reason?

Gao Mingqian certainly wouldn't dare to blatantly deceive Lu Bing, but what if he thought Lu Bing already knew?

Well, Gao Mingqian is different from me; he didn't go to Chengtian Prefecture to investigate Lu Chen.

The only information he had came from Lu Bing's handwritten letter of appointment.

If I were Gao Mingqian, what would I think if I saw that the illegitimate son of Lu Kun, the Chief of Staff, had the exact same face as the Emperor when he was young?

Would anyone believe that Lu Chen is really Lu Kun's illegitimate son?

Of course, I can't believe it!

However, from that appointment letter, Gao Mingqian could only guess that Lu Kun was a member of the Lu family. He might even have known Lu Kun when he was working in the capital and knew that Lu Kun was originally the steward of the Lu family.

But he could never know that Lu Chen's birth mother, Wang, was once a maid of "Lady Yousheng".

It was even more unimaginable that this lowly maid would be so audacious as to tell Lu Song such a colossal lie!

In Gao Mingqian's eyes, what reason could Lu Bing possibly have not to know that Lu Chen was a member of the royal family?

Since Lu Bing already knows, what is the need to report this matter specifically?

In Gao Mingqian's eyes, it wasn't that there was no need to report to Lu Bing, but that there was absolutely no way to report, not even to ask!

Asking even a single extra word about matters involving the secrets of the imperial family could lead to one's death.

For Gao Mingqian, the best course of action was to pretend that he hadn't noticed anything at all, and just serve Lu Chen well and ensure his safety.

Very good!

Lu Bing is still unaware of Lu Chen's true identity!

Sun Dexiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that things haven't reached the worst point yet; those who know Lu Chen's true identity are currently limited to the Linqing Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Office.

Only Gao Mingqian himself, and perhaps a few of his close confidants, knew about it, and they dared not spread this information.

However, even if Gao Mingqian realized that Lu Chen was the son of the late Emperor Xian and the younger brother of the current emperor, he still went a bit too far!

To curry favor with a prince, it is perfectly reasonable to offer him a mansion, beautiful women, maids, and precious objects.

But there's no need to replace Lu Chen's subordinates with his own and his trusted nephews and nieces.

This is clearly an attempt to turn these young people into Lu Chen's trusted inner circle!

In a way, his plan was quite similar to that of Eunuch Huang and himself.

But that's precisely why this matter seems so illogical!

Eunuch Huang instructed him to befriend Lu Chen before he returned to the royal family, as he was hedging his bets on both sides.

After Lu Chen was recognized as a prince and granted the title of Prince, it was only natural that I, as the only eunuch friend he had made when he was living among the common people, would be invited to serve as the head eunuch in his princely palace.

What will Gao Mingqian gain from these fifty-five men he has assigned to Lu Chen's command?

That's right, Lu Chen will most likely invite them to work in the Prince's Palace Guard!

However, the ceremonial guard of the princes was not a good place for the sons of the Jinyiwei officers.

The feudal lords of today are not the same as those of the early days of the dynasty.

The princes personally appointed by Emperor Taizu each had three guards and nearly 17,000 soldiers under their command.

The vast majority of princes' three guards have now been abolished, with only a few princes retaining one guard each, totaling a full complement of only 5,600 men.

Of course, these lucky guards who survived are also severely understaffed; it would be remarkable if they could gather three thousand men.

After the Xuande reign, newly enfeoffed princes were accompanied by a guard of 600 men and a herdsman of 100 men, totaling 700 soldiers.

These soldiers were more like a ceremonial guard than the military force of the princely residence.

The head of the royal guards, the chief of the imperial guards, was only a fifth-rank official, equivalent to a commander of a thousand households.

Although both are fifth-rank officials, the power and influence of the Prince's Palace Guard Commander is far less than that of Gao Mingqian, a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The lower and middle-ranking military officers of the Prince's Palace Ceremonial Guard were far inferior to the centurions, captains, and captains of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

His scheme to seize the position of Prince Lu Chen's chief steward was a way to hedge his bets with Eunuch Huang, with whom he was like a father to son.

If the emperor were to die without an heir like Emperor Xiaozong and Emperor Wuzong, Lu Chen, like the emperor of that time, could enter the capital as a prince to inherit the throne, and he himself could rise to prominence and become the only candidate to become the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

But that's just a possibility. The Emperor already has three sons, so the chances of a smooth succession to the throne are still very high.

If the throne is successfully passed down in the Emperor's lineage, then I can work as a steward in the Prince's mansion for the rest of my life. With the Prince's trust and the support of Eunuch Huang in the Directorate of Ceremonial, I can enjoy a lifetime of wealth and honor.

Both Huang Gonggong and himself were hedging their bets, prepared to handle either outcome calmly.

If Gao Mingqian sent as many as 55 of his trusted subordinates to serve under Lu Chen, then the situation would be completely different!

Doing this is a complete gamble!