Now that the prince's party is destroyed, Queen Qian has been banished to the cold palace.
His daughter, Concubine Xi, was in charge of the six palaces, and his grandson, the second prince, became the eldest son of Emperor Mingde. Next, the emperor only needed to make his daughter, Concubine Xi, the new queen. The second prince would be the legitimate eldest son.
The commander of the imperial guards is Gu Tai's man. Gu Tai is the emperor's man on the surface, and the emperor trusts him the most.
However, the Left Prime Minister knew that Gu Tai had a close relationship with Concubine Li in the harem and had been secretly supporting the Third Prince.
The crown prince has passed away, and the battle for the throne among the princes is imminent.
He must not give Gu Taihe and the Third Prince even the slightest chance to become powerful and rival to his grandson.
"What the Left Prime Minister said is absolutely true. My imperial guards are really useless. If the enemy had not robbed the treasuries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs yesterday, and if they had intended to steal my head, I am afraid I would not be able to see you today."
What does the emperor mean by this? All the ministers bowed their heads, not daring to step forward to answer.
After all, the court was shaken, and officials related to the crown prince were imprisoned and exiled, leaving so many positions vacant.
The Duke of Zhenguo was the chief military officer, and Wang Taifu was the chief civil official. These two positions were vacated overnight.
Will the Grand Marshal Gu and the Prime Minister Zuo take those two positions as they wish? And how should they stand in the future to benefit themselves? Or will it be more beneficial for them to not stand in the same line? The ministers were terrified for a moment! "I am guilty! I didn't catch the thief, nor did I find any suspicious traces. It's just-"
The commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guards, Ji Wei, strode into the hall, knelt down and bowed to the emperor. There was something on the wooden tray in his hands, and he looked embarrassed.
If he reported this thing, he felt that it looked familiar and felt a little uneasy. If he didn't report it, he would be guilty of deceiving the emperor, and he couldn't bear the consequences.
"Didn't find any suspicious traces?"
Qian Yin Ge, who always kept silent, raised his eyes and glanced at the emperor, then looked at Ji Wei with dissatisfaction.
"What are you talking about, Commander-in-Chief? Not to mention that the tens of thousands of sets of top-grade armor and exquisite weapons in the Wubeiyuan are all gone. Just look at the basins, pots, chopping boards and stoves in our imperial kitchen. They are all gone. There is really not even a trace left?"
Basin? Pot? Chopping board or stove?
All the ministers were shocked.
What kind of thief is this?
"This is?"
Qianyin Pavilion is the best at observing people's expressions and can understand Emperor Mingde's thoughts. Seeing Emperor Mingde's eyes fall on the things in Ji Wei's hands, his expression is different. He hurriedly stepped forward, took the tray from Ji Wei's hand, and held it in front of Emperor Mingde.
"Your Majesty, look at this——Hey——"
My god, this is clearly a pair of large flowered shorts! "How dare you, Ji Wei! You defy the emperor's authority and present such a filthy thing to pollute the emperor's eyes."
Qianyin Ge's face darkened, he swung his whisk and shouted loudly.
Overnight, under the eyes of so many palace masters, everything in the treasury of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was quietly stolen. The 100,000 imperial guards did not find any useful clues. What kind of dirty things would they dare to leave behind? The ministers were all very curious and secretly took a look at the contents of the tray.
The minister who was closer to the Danchi recognized at a glance that the object was actually a pair of large flowered shorts.
Immediately, their pupils trembled, and they couldn't believe it. They looked at each other and exchanged glances, and they saw in each other's eyes that they were as shocked as themselves.
That thing turned out to be a pair of shorts with big flowers.
It looks like a pair of men's flowery shorts.
Unexpectedly, the emperor actually likes this.
(No wonder the ministers thought it belonged to the emperor. You have to know that in this inner palace, there is no real man except the emperor. The underwear of the eunuchs is all custom-made. Apart from the emperor, which other man dares to wear such big flowered shorts in the palace?) You dog eunuch, didn’t you show this to the emperor with your own hands? Then you turned around and said that I had polluted the emperor’s eyes.
Ji Wei cursed Qianyin Pavilion in his heart, but he dared not say it openly. As the commander-in-chief, he led 100,000 imperial guards to guard the imperial city, but overnight, all the warehouses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were robbed. He didn't even find the shadow of the thief. The emperor was so angry that he would chop off his head.
Ji Wei paused for a moment. He knew that what he was going to say next would cause the emperor to be even more furious. But he had to say it, but he didn't dare to say it. He could only bow his head to the ground again.
"I am guilty, I am guilty!"
“Is this thing hanging high in the palace?”
Even Qianyin Pavilion changed its expression.
A pair of large flowered shorts of a foreign man was actually hung in the palace? Throughout the dynasties, there has never been such a scandal.
Qianyinge is the chief eunuch of the inner palace. He is the personal eunuch of Emperor Mingde. Others may mistakenly think that the big flowered shorts belong to the emperor. But Qianyinge will not make a mistake. After all, every thread worn by the emperor must pass through his hands.
"Where is it hanging?"
Emperor Mingde also figured out what it was at this time.
There was a dark light in his eyes.
"On the plaque of Zhengde Hall!"
Ah! The ministers' faces turned pale with different expressions, and they quickly lowered their heads even lower.
That thief was too cunning. It would be fine if he stole so many treasures. But why did he even steal the emperor's flowery shorts? He stole them, but he hung them up for everyone to see. Tsk tsk, the emperor must be so angry that he would vomit blood.
The emperor was furious and millions of people died.
All the ministers fell to the ground, not daring to breathe.
"Call Gu Tai quickly!"
It seemed as if Emperor Mingde pronounced these four words word by word.
Others may not know, but Emperor Mingde recognized it at a glance.
There was only one person in the entire Great Qi Dynasty who had this pair of large flowered shorts, and that person was his childhood friend and trusted minister Gu Tai.
Gu Tai came to the palace last night, but why did his big flowered shorts appear in the palace? It was impossible for the thief to take off such a close-fitting item directly from him.
Unless he took it off himself and the thief stole it.
Emperor Mingde did not consider at this time why the thief was so bored as to steal such a useless thing.
Emperor Mingde was thinking, under what circumstances did Gu Tai take it off, and where did he take it off? (Our Emperor Mingde's paranoia is back)
"Call Lord Gu, call Lord Gu quickly!"
Qianyin Pavilion saw that the emperor's face changed again and again, so he quickly asked the eunuch to convey the emperor's instructions.
"Your Majesty, we are going to the northwest to provide disaster relief, and then transport military rations and military pay to Yancheng to show the power of the Great Qi. The journey is long and arduous."
The left prime minister took another step forward and said, "Besides, this time, I will represent the Great Qi Dynasty and serve as an imperial envoy to discuss the trade with the envoys from the northern border. It will take more than half a year. The third prince's wedding is approaching, so it is difficult to make the trip."
"What the Left Prime Minister said, I second."
An old civil official stepped forward and said, "The disaster relief in the northwest, the defense of Yancheng, and the trade negotiations are not accomplished in a day. The Third Prince is a noble man, and the long journey will be extremely risky. If something goes wrong, the foundation of the country will be shaken. I suggest sending two officials, one civil and one military, to go together to deliver military rations to show the emperor's power and to establish trade to reassure the people."
(End of this chapter)