In Yao Guangxiao's opinion, if Lan Yu would be used by Zhu Ying, then he would be destroyed.

Lan Yu is a arrogant and domineering person.

There are even many disrespectful remarks made in private.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang knew all these remarks, but he was more tolerant of them when Zhu Biao was in power.

After all, Lan Yu's elder sister was Chang Yuchun's wife, and Chang Yuchun's eldest daughter was Zhu Biao's crown princess.

From this level of relationship, he can be considered as a royal relative.

Therefore, Lan Yu was more unscrupulous in many things. He drank a few mouthfuls of horse urine and even dared to talk back to the emperor at a banquet.

Yao Guangxiao had been plotting and planning for many years.

It was no longer a question of whether Zhu Di wanted to be emperor or not. Even if Zhu Di didn't want to, he would try every possible way and all means to push Zhu Di forward.

As for whether this process will cause unrest in the Ming Empire and how much damage it will cause.

What does it have to do with him?

What's the point of his life if he learns all these skills but doesn't put them to use?

After coming out of Prince Yan's mansion, Yao Guangxiao looked around and started heading towards his next target.

He was well aware of the Jinyiwei's power, but he was also aware of their blind spots.

The Jinyiwei serves as His Majesty's eyes and ears, and their main surveillance targets are generally civil and military ministers, and nobles of various families.

How many people are there in the entire capital?

But the circumference of Nanjing's outer city alone is 60 kilometers, and the entire capital is about 230 square kilometers.

The present Ming Dynasty is the most powerful country in the world, and its capital is the largest among the ten famous cities in ancient times.

The scale, layout and design concept of Nanjing City are unique among other ancient cities in the world.

There are mountains, lakes, rivers, densely populated areas, and even farmlands.

It connects the east and the west along the Yangtze River, and has Jiangpu City across the river to connect the north and the south. The land route leads to all directions, and the water route reaches as far as the ocean.

The two men rode towards each other from opposite sides of the city and it took them a whole day to meet each other.

As the capital of the Ming Dynasty, its current resident population has exceeded one million.

The Jinyiwei had a total of 14 thousand households, and even if we counted a little more, there were only 15,000 people.

Among the 15,000 Jinyiwei, some of them served as Zhu Yuanzhang's personal guards to guard the imperial palace, or served as the ceremonial guard when accompanying Zhu Yuanzhang on his travels.

At most, 10,000 people can be left to monitor a city with a population of one million.

Zhu Yuanzhang once spoke out the private conversations between some ministers and their spouses during a morning court session, and even took out a portrait that was a private scene of a certain minister.

The use of these methods is more for deterrence.

After all, unlike the Skynet and surveillance systems of later generations, the Jinyiwei had limited personnel and energy.

Although their duties were very broad and included the power to punish ordinary people, in reality the Jinyiwei rarely interacted with the common people.

The reputation basically comes from rumors.

For example, while chatting in a teahouse, a third-rank minister was discussing Your Majesty at home, and everything he said was recorded, and then he was killed by Your Majesty.

A more interesting story is that a certain minister married a concubine, but he turned out to be incompetent and was ridiculed by the emperor.

It was these rumors that made the Jinyiwei extremely mysterious and terrifying.

Of course, this is also what Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to see.

As Yao Guangxiao was intent on planning great undertakings, he would peel off the surface to see the core, and never touch the key surveillance targets of the Jinyiwei.

For example, Huang Zicheng, as a companion to the Eastern Palace and the Crown Prince's confidant, would not be monitored by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Many royal descendants don't know how to do that either.

The person Yao Guangxiao was going to find today was Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, Li Jinglong.

As a monk who followed Zhu Di, Yao Guangxiao was never on the Jinyiwei's supervision list, which gave him a lot of room to play.

Li Jinglong inherited the title of Duke of Cao. He had graceful manners and, as he was Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, he was deeply trusted and valued by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Li Jinglong and Zhu Di were childhood friends. When Zhu Di was born in the military camp, he was very close to his cousin Li Wenzhong.

Li Jinglong was slightly younger than Zhu Di, and had a very good relationship with Zhu Di since childhood.

Since Zhu Di showed extremely high military talent since he was a child, Li Jinglong had a kind of admiration for Zhu Di since he was a child.

This kind of mentality is like the feeling that a poor student has towards a good student, especially when the good student is of a higher generation.

Although Li Jinglong was much more knowledgeable than Zhu Di, since they all grew up in military camps, military achievements and the ability to fight were the focus of their recognition.

When Zhu Di was a child, he was not liked by Zhu Yuanzhang. When he was seven years old, he didn't even have his own name.

Even if he was fighting outside for many years, he would not have no time to come up with a name casually. This shows that Zhu Di was directly ignored by Zhu Yuanzhang at that time.

There are some small stories here that I will not go into here.

As Zhu Di grew up, especially from the age of seven, his appearance became more and more like Zhu Yuanzhang.

Among his many sons, only Zhu Di looked most like Zhu Yuanzhang.

It was for this reason that Zhu Yuanzhang began to value Zhu Di.

After this contact, Zhu Yuanzhang discovered that his seven-year-old son actually knew about military affairs.

This was the turning point in Zhu Di's life.

Xu Da's eldest daughter, Xu Yihua, had been serving the Empress in the palace for a long time. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang communicated with Empress Ma and intended to let the two of them have more contact.

Until the marriage was arranged later.

In terms of marriage, Zhu Di was happy. He and Xu Yihua were childhood sweethearts, and Xu Yihua knew very early that this was her future husband.

Empress Ma also often spoke well of Zhu Di.

Because of this, Zhu Di was able to marry the eldest daughter of the famous general Xu Da, and even conferred the former Yuan capital, now Beiping, as a vassal state.

Li Jinglong was crushed by this uncle who grew up with him in terms of identity, background, and ability.

In terms of appearance, Li Jinglong can indeed beat Zhu Di, but Zhu Di looks like Your Majesty.

Compared with the current emperor in terms of appearance, no matter how handsome he is, he is still a younger brother.

It is precisely because of these many reasons that Li Jinglong admires Zhu Di very much.

And this news was keenly felt by Yao Guangxiao.

After the remaining guards of the Xiaoling Mausoleum came back to report the situation, Yao Guangxiao's thoughts turned to Li Jinglong.

Of course, his target in mind was far more than just Li Jinglong.

What he needs to do now is to create a greater chance of success for Zhu Di in the future.

…

Chunhe Hall, East Palace.

Huang Zicheng has been living in fear these past few days, unable to sleep at night and losing his appetite.

Ever since his confidant was arrested and imprisoned in the Jinyiwei prison, staying at home has been a torment for him.

We arrived at Chunhe Hall before dawn and returned after dark.

Only here does Huang Zicheng feel a little at ease.

No matter how bold the Jinyiwei are, they can't possibly capture him here from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Huang Zicheng also told Zhu Yunwen about this matter.

But what could Zhu Yunwen, a 15-year-old child, do?

Let him talk to the Emperor?

I'm afraid he doesn't have the courage.

Seeing Huang Zicheng pacing anxiously in the hall, Zhu Yunwen could only comfort him, "Mr. Huang, don't worry too much. In my opinion, even the Jinyiwei should give me some respect."

"Besides, there is no real evidence from the Jinyiwei, but the testimony of a few servants is not credible. Mr. Huang, you don't have to be so anxious."

Hearing this, Huang Zicheng said with a frown: "Your Highness, you don't know that those Jinyiwei people can make up a crime even if they are innocent."

"Now that I've been caught by them, they will surely interrogate me severely and force me to confess. I guess one day they will take advantage of my unpreparedness and throw me into the Imperial Prison."

Hearing this, a look of hesitation flashed across Zhu Yunwen's face.

Zhu Yunwen still cared a lot about Huang Zicheng. After all, Huang Zicheng was not only his teacher and confidant to some extent, but also his friend with whom he was getting along day by day.

Over the past three days, seeing Huang Zicheng becoming increasingly thinner, Zhu Yunwen felt a little guilty.

It was his idea to arrange people to investigate the whereabouts of the Emperor.

After some hesitation, Zhu Yunwen gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Huang, although the Jinyiwei is under the control of Grandpa Huang, you should at least give me some face."

"I'm going to the Jinyiwei Yamen today to see what tricks they are playing."

"If not, I'll ask them to release him directly."

Zhu Yunwen had never been afraid of the Jinyiwei. To him, the Jinyiwei were his own domestic servants.

Unlike the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the current Jinyiwei, under the command of Zhu Yuanzhang, has always been respectful to the royal descendants.

The biggest reason why Zhu Yunwen did not go for the past three days and only decided to go today was that he was worried about being implicated.

Huang Zicheng was so excited when he heard this that he bowed tremblingly:

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Zhu Yunwen quickly helped Huang Zicheng up and said, "I know what you think of me, sir. Please don't worry too much."

If you treat me as a national hero, I will repay you as a national hero.

At this moment, Huang Zicheng kept repeating these words in his mind.

Even if he made up his mind, Zhu Yunwen was not vague. Given Huang Zicheng's current condition, Zhu Yunwen had no intention of studying.

He then took Huang Zicheng and went straight to the Jinyiwei Yamen.

Half an hour later, in front of the Jinyiwei Yamen.

"His Royal Highness the Grandson has arrived!"

The eunuch's voice rang out in the Jinyiwei Yamen.

Of course everyone knew which imperial grandson could have such a grand ceremony. Song Zhong, who was in charge of the government office, hurried out to greet him.

"Your Highness, Song Zhong, the pacification envoy of the Imperial Guard, greets His Royal Highness the Grandson!"

"Meet His Royal Highness the Grandson"

As Song Zhong paid his respects, many Jinyiwei bowed their heads and clasped their fists.

Zhu Yunwen glanced at Song Zhong and said, "Song Zhenfu, go in and talk."

"I obey your command, Your Highness."

Song Zhong bent forward and led the way. His eyes swept over Huang Zicheng who was behind Zhu Yunwen, and he immediately understood why Zhu Yunwen came.

After arriving at the government hall, Song Zhong invited Zhu Yunwen to take the seat. No matter what, Zhu Yunwen was now the nominal grandson.

Even if he had not been canonized, the emperor's grandson was not someone that the Embroidered Uniform Guards could easily deal with.

"I wonder what instructions Your Highness has for coming to the Jinyiwei Yamen." Song Zhong asked with a bow.

This was obviously Zhu Yunwen's first time at the Jinyiwei Yamen. Seeing these Jinyiwei being so respectful to him, he felt relieved and said directly:

"I heard from Huang Hanlin that you, the Jinyiwei, have arrested his servant and put him in jail?"

Song Zhong was stunned when he heard this and said, "This is absolutely impossible. How could we, the Jinyiwei, arrest Huang Hanlin's servants? There must be a misunderstanding."

Huang Zicheng couldn't help but interrupt when he heard this, "It was the afternoon three days ago when two of my servants went out. Not long after, I heard that they were captured by you Jinyiwei."

"Three days ago in the afternoon?" Song Zhong asked doubtfully, "Does Huang Hanlin know what he did wrong to be captured by us?"

After he finished speaking, he added: "Huang Hanlin, please don't misunderstand me. It's really because we, the Jinyiwei, arrest too many prisoners every day. I really don't have any impression of such things."

Hearing Song Zhong say this, Huang Zicheng actually believed it to be true and quickly gave the names of his two servants.

After hearing this, Song Zhong called the captain and ordered, "Check these two names immediately to find out why they were arrested and thrown into jail three days ago."

"As you command."

After Song Zhong finished making the arrangements, he smiled and said to Huang Zicheng, "Huang Hanlin, maybe we were negligent. There have been many thefts in the capital these days."

"Originally this was the job of the Five Cities Military Department, but now we have to wait for the Jinyiwei to assist us."

Seeing Song Zhong so enthusiastic, Huang Zicheng gradually felt relieved.

Soon, a captain came to report: "Sir, there are indeed two people with the same name as you mentioned, and they were also captured three days ago."

"What's the reason?" Song Zhong asked casually.

"It's not a big deal. A brother saw these two people sneaking around on the street. There have been a lot of thefts in recent days, so he went over to ask them."

"But they were guilty and wanted to escape, so we arrested them directly."

The captain told the details one by one.

Song Zhong nodded, turned around and said to Huang Zicheng: "It seems to be a misunderstanding. I didn't expect these two people to be Mr. Huang's servants. I'm really sorry. I didn't expect my subordinates to be so crude in their work."

"They didn't even ask around, and they even dared to arrest Huang Hanlin's servants. These little bastards seem to deserve to be punished."

"When I get back, I will definitely scold them severely."

Huang Zicheng heard this and explained awkwardly:

"Maybe they were afraid of the Royal Guards, which led to this misunderstanding. It's good to clarify the matter."

At the same time, Huang Zicheng finally felt relieved and asked again, "I wonder when they can be released."

Song Zhong smiled and said, "Since it is a misunderstanding, then of course he should be released immediately. Huang Hanlin, wait a moment, I will issue a document and release him immediately."

Seeing this, Zhu Yunwen frowned and said, "You should be more careful in your actions in the future. Arresting people indiscriminately like this will ruin the reputation of the Jinyiwei."

"Your Highness is right. I will strictly discipline him in the future and never do such a thing again." Song Zhong's mouth twitched. What reputation did the Jinyiwei have?

Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly, not wanting to wait any longer.

Huang Zicheng saw that the matter was settled and it was not convenient for him to meet with the servants. After getting Song Zhong's approval, he followed Zhu Yunwen back to the palace.

After Song Zhong sent them to the gate, he watched Zhu Yunwen, Huang Zicheng, and many eunuchs and attendants leave.

There was a sly glint in his eyes.

…

"Sister, do you think Grandpa Huang has forgotten about us? It's been several days."

In the Imperial Palace Academy, Zhu Yunxun quietly asked Zhu Mingyue.

Zhu Mingyue looked at the teacher in front of her and replied, "Grandpa Emperor is very busy, so it's normal for him to forget. We just need to wait patiently. There will always be a day when he will remember."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded and asked, "Sister, what's the matter with the elder brother that Grandpa Huang mentioned?"

Zhu Mingyue frowned and said, "If Grandpa Huang doesn't want to tell you, don't ask any more questions."

"oh."

Not long after the two siblings talked, a eunuch came in and said:

"Your Majesty has ordered that the Emperor's grandsons Zhu Yunhuan and Zhu Mingyue be summoned to the throne."