Chapter 139 Complaint before the Emperor
Not everyone was blind. Faced with the Jinyiwei who had already drawn their embroidered spring swords, the guards from the Ministry of Works instantly became intimidated and dropped their weapons in surrender one after another. The Jinyiwei captured everyone in the yard without a single bloodshed.
"Sir, it's all a misunderstanding. I was deceived. Please show mercy and let me off. I am a disciple of Prime Minister Hu. You see..." Among the arrested officials, someone introduced himself and asked the Jinyiwei to spare him.
"You are a disciple of Prime Minister Hu, no wonder you are so arrogant and domineering." Zhu Chong walked out of the house leisurely at this time. The official who had just begged for mercy from the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard suddenly felt unwell when he saw Zhu Chong.
Even though Zhu Chong was only wearing the uniform of the Director of the Treasury and Banknote Administration, many people in the Ming Dynasty's upper echelons still remembered Zhu Chong's face.
Coincidentally, the official from the Ministry of Works in front of him was one of them. The moment he saw Zhu Chong, he felt like his soul was about to leave his body. He looked back in disbelief at Qiu Chuyang, who was also restrained by the Jinyiwei like him, and roared angrily.
"Qiu Chuyang, you hurt me..."
"Alright, don't say you're trying to harm me, I'm trying to harm you. No one can escape today." Zhu Chong carefully examined the official in front of him, but he had no impression of him at all. He pouted in boredom, "So there are two assistant ministers in the Ministry of Works. They're all ready. Take them away!"
"Your Highness, Prince of Qin, this is a misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding!" Wang Yao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, whose identity was recognized by Zhu Chong, was terrified upon hearing this and quickly begged for mercy: "This matter has nothing to do with me!"
"It's all irrelevant. You don't have the final say, and neither does I. Let's go before His Majesty and have it sorted out. He will make the final decision!"
Zhu Chong sneered and waved to the captain of the Jinyiwei. The captain understood his intention and immediately ordered the Jinyiwei to tie all the prisoners together with ropes and then escort them out.
Seeing Zhu Chong's behavior, Wang Yao and Qiu Chuyang panicked and immediately shouted, "It's unfair, sir, save me..."
Hearing the two idiots shouting for help so loudly, Zhu Chong looked around playfully, but saw no one coming out. He suddenly felt a little regretful. He was planning to wipe out the Ministry of Works, but he didn't expect that they were all cowards.
But when Zhu Chong led a large group of people out of the Ministry of Works, Qin Kui finally appeared. He bowed to Zhu Chong with a wry smile on his face.
"Your Highness, Prince Qin, please show some mercy. This is my fault for not exercising strict discipline..."
"Master Qin, I don't know whether this matter has anything to do with you, nor do I want to know. I only know that my people were beaten by yours, and it was for no reason. Not only that, they even dared to shout at me to kill. Everyone here is a witness!"
When Qin Kui heard Zhu Chong say this, he looked at Wang Yao and others with disbelief, but saw that they had dejected faces. Qin Kui immediately closed his eyes in pain.
"So, Lord Qin, either you come with me to the Imperial Court and have a proper discussion, or you can turn a blind eye and I will be clearing up the mess for you. You don't need to thank me."
As he spoke, Zhu Chong raised his hand and gently pushed Qin Kui aside. Upon seeing this, the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately shouted and continued to escort the men towards the palace.
Such a long line of people were escorted by the Embroidered Uniform Guards towards the Imperial City. When people from the government offices along the way heard the news, they all came out to watch the excitement.
But when they saw who was being escorted, and saw that it was Zhu Chong and the Embroidered Uniform Guards, their faces changed color.
At this time, in the imperial palace of Yingtian Prefecture, Old Zhu was reviewing memorials. A eunuch rushed in hurriedly, looking panicked, and knelt down in front of Old Zhu's dragon desk.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin and the Embroidered Uniform Guards, escorting officials from the Ministry of Works, have already entered the palace and are heading this way..."
"Hmm?" Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows and looked in the direction of Mao Xiang. At this time, someone came over to Mao Xiang and whispered something to him. After hearing the news, Mao Xiang hurried to Zhu and said a few brief words.
"Wow, interesting! Our second son is really becoming more and more successful." Old Zhu's words were full of meaning. "Then let them all come in!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The palace eunuch hurried out again, and soon led Zhu Chong and his party in. Then he knelt on the ground and saluted Zhu.
Before the Minister of Works could say anything, Zhu Chong jumped in first, stiffening his neck and shouting to the old Zhu, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report this. I recently sent craftsmen from the Imperial Banknote Administration to the Ministry of Works to teach them the art of cement making, in accordance with your Majesty's will."
"But the officials of the Ministry of Works have been making things difficult for my craftsmen without any reason. They have also been indiscriminate and wrongly accused them, even trying to force them to confess. Please, Father, please help me!"
When Old Zhu heard this, his brows immediately furrowed, and then he subconsciously looked behind Zhu Chong.
Behind Zhu Chong, the craftsmen who had been brutally beaten in the Baochao Tizhusi were all shirtless, revealing the shocking marks of the beating.
This was all instructed by Zhu Chong, and was deliberately shown to Zhu Chong so that he could add fuel to the fire.
"Your Majesty, I was not aware of this beforehand. It was only today that the Treasury and Banknote Administration urgently needed craftsmen for work, so I remembered and asked someone to take my badge and go to the Ministry of Works to ask for them. However, when the people from the Ministry of Works saw my badge, they actually asked me to go there in person."
"I went there myself, but the people from the Ministry of Works made things difficult for me. I was so angry that I started a conflict with them. They suffered a loss, but they actually wanted to attack me in a group."
"Fortunately, a passing Jinyiwei captain rescued me and saved me from falling into the devil's clutches. I beg Your Majesty to help me..."
On the way here, Zhu Chong had already made up his mind to beat those people from the Ministry of Works to death. He had already offended them enough, so he had to kill them. Zhu Chong never showed any mercy to his enemies, especially to people like Qiu Chuyang who dealt with him for no apparent reason!
"Your Majesty, you are being wronged!" Qiu Chuyang panicked upon hearing Zhu Chong's words, knowing he was about to torture him to death. "This matter is clearly a hidden crime committed by the craftsmen of the Baochao Tizhusi. I was merely interrogating them, and I have no ill intentions."
"It was His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin who, without any reason, led the Imperial Guards into the Ministry of Works. We, the ministers, have never done anything presumptuous to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin..."
"So you mean that I have wronged you?" Zhu Chong sneered at Wang Yao standing beside him. "Lord Wang, is that what you mean?"
Wang Yao was so frightened at this time that he was scared out of his wits. When he heard Zhu Chong's double entendre, his mind raced.
No matter what, the Ministry of Works cannot escape responsibility for what happened today, and he and Qiu Chuyang, as the main instigators, are even more guilty. Especially now that the matter has been brought to Zhu Yuanzhang and they have been wronged by Zhu Chong, I'm afraid they will be skinned alive in the end.
But Wang Yao knew that he definitely only wanted to be the one who lost a layer of skin, not the one who died.
I would rather die than have my friend die. Wang Yao has always remembered what Qiu Chuyang did to me today. Since you are so unkind, don't blame me for being unrighteous!
Thinking of this, Wang Yao shouted loudly, "Your Majesty, I was deceived by Qiu Chuyang in this matter. What His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin said is true..."
Hearing his companions' words of betrayal, Qiu Chuyang immediately collapsed...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
