One month ago.

Yancheng, Japan, and the Palace of the King of Yan.

"Who! How dare you ..."

Under the dark moon, a large number of men in black armed with sharp blades raided the Palace of Prince Yan.

This raid was obviously so secretive that the palace guards had no time to react and could only rely on the most basic warnings.

These men in black are well-trained and extremely skilled in killing. The cooperation between three or five of them is extremely tacit.

Some guards had their necks slit so quickly that they didn't even have time to react.

While wiping his neck, the man in black also covered his mouth and nose to prevent him from making any sound.

At this point, it was time for the palace guards to change shifts. It was not until the outer perimeter of the palace was completely breached that the lucky guards began to shout.

"enemy!!!"

A long cry came to an abrupt end, but it was enough.

The bright voice spread in the silent palace, and soon there were loud shouts.

All the guards began to move, and the sound of soldiers putting on armor could be heard everywhere.

Looking from above the palace, the guards around began to gather towards the Yanwang Palace.

When encountering an attack, this is the place they need to protect the most, and they must ensure the safety of Prince Yan.

Logically speaking, the operation had failed, but these men in black had no intention of retreating. Instead, they began to advance towards the Yanwang Palace even more boldly, not caring about the threat to their own death.

This is a fight for a time difference.

If the man in black broke into the Prince of Yan's Palace first, Zhu Gaochi would have been killed.

If they are delayed and a large number of palace guards arrive, they will be dead.

However, although there were quite a few men in black, there were only a few dozen of them.

Even if one is highly skilled in martial arts and agile, it is obviously extremely difficult to ignore the armored guards.

The situation suddenly came to a standstill.

The defense formed by more than a dozen guards made it impossible for the dozens of men in black to break through the siege.

There were sounds of footsteps coming from behind and shouts coming from behind. Once the guards arrived, the actions of the men in black would be a complete failure.

Seeing this, the leading man in black let out a strange growl.

Then the other men in black suddenly went crazy, completely disregarding themselves, and rushed straight towards the guards in front of the palace.

The spear pierced through the chest of the man in black very easily. In order to be more agile, they had no other defense under their black clothes. The shining samurai sword could not cause any damage unless it hit the weak point of the armor.

However, the dozen or so guards were unable to withstand such a fearless attack and could only retreat.

The palace door was very wide, and soon a man in black broke in.

The guards nearby wanted to stop it, but it was too late.

But as the palace door opened, the scene behind made the man in black feel a little chilly.

On the throne in the hall, Zhu Gaochi sat in casual clothes, with four guards holding long swords below him.

Judging from their body shapes, these four guards are obviously experts among experts. It is impossible for a man in black to rush over them.

Not to mention that there were more than a dozen eunuchs and palace maids surrounding Zhu Gaochi, making it extremely difficult to get forward.

At this time, several more men in black rushed in. Seeing this scene, they looked at each other and charged forward directly.

But with four guards around, they simply couldn't put up much resistance.

Armor is the best protection, and coupled with superb swordsmanship, it only took a few rounds to kill several men in black.

At this time, the sound of fighting outside the door had stopped, and it was obvious that reinforcements had arrived.

Zhu Gaochi sat on the throne, seemingly calm, but only he knew that his calves were shaking constantly.

Some eunuchs had previously advised him to leave first, but Zhu Gaochi did not agree.

The situation outside is unclear at the moment. Moving rashly will only make things more dangerous. It would be safer to stay in the hall.

Only after all the men in black were killed did Zhu Gaochi breathe a sigh of relief.

This was the first time he encountered such a problem after being in Japan for so long.

"Take the face towel and find out who they are. Check them thoroughly."

Zhu Gaochi waved his hand, and the eunuchs and palace maids in front of him dispersed. The palace was already full of guards, so there was no need to worry too much about safety.

However, from then on, Zhu Gaochi had made up his mind that he must double the number of guards in the Yanwang Palace.

No, it has to be doubled.

The leading guard leader stepped forward and casually opened the bodies. After taking the lantern and taking a closer look, he reported, "Your Highness, these are all Japanese."

Zhu Gaochi nodded to show that he understood, but it was late at night and he had no intention of going to sleep.

He then summoned his ministers to discuss the matter.

Just at this moment, when the guards were about to carry away the body, a man in black who had fallen to the ground suddenly moved, raised his right hand towards Zhu Gaochi's direction, and immediately the sound of a hidden weapon was heard.

Several poisonous needles shot through the air.

"Prince, be careful!"

The guard leader shouted.

One of the eunuchs nearby rushed directly towards Zhu Gaochi, trying to block the poisonous needle.

The leader of the guards immediately drew his sword and beheaded the man in black on the ground. The surrounding guards did not hesitate at all and launched a new round of finishing blows on the man in black on the ground.

But several poison needles flew towards him, and the eunuch groaned and blocked one.

But one of them hit Zhu Gaochi's arm.

A slight stinging sensation came, and the eunuch who was pierced by the needle did not care about himself and immediately shouted: "Your Highness has been pierced by a needle, quickly call the imperial physician!!!"

Zhu Gaochi looked at the poison needle inserted in his arm, a little dazed.

The eunuch next to him immediately pulled it off and lifted up Zhu Gaochi's sleeves.

I saw that the dark blue mark had spread to the skin where the needle had pierced.

Zhu Gaochi himself did not feel much.

Don’t think that the poisons in ancient times were very toxic.

Generally speaking, even if it is a strong poison, it is difficult to say that one will die from the needle if the dosage is insufficient.

This will be a relatively long process.

Even some poisons can be recovered by relying on one's own immunity.

In later film and television dramas, the scenes of people falling to the ground and dying instantly after being hit by a needle are mostly extremely exaggerated.

…

Ming Dynasty, Palace of Heavenly Purity.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw his eldest grandson coming, his angry expression improved a little.

When Zhu Ying saw the old man's expression, he asked, "Grandpa, what made you so angry?"

Zhu Yuanzhang signaled Liu He beside him to pass the information to his eldest grandson.

Zhu Ying took it and started reading it.

It turned out that Zhu Gaochi, who was far away in Japan, had been assassinated.

But although the words are simple, the situation seems somewhat complicated.

Zhu Ying immediately understood why the old man was angry, but he did not speak immediately.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and then waved his hand.

Then, under the leadership of Liu He, all the eunuchs and palace maids around him withdrew. It was obvious that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to talk about some more private matters.

After everyone had left and the door was closed, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke: "Grandson, tell me, what exactly happened that made them attack their own nephew?"

"In front of us, they all appear to be filial sons, but once they leave the capital, their true natures are completely exposed."

"They have already gone overseas to Japan, and they still caused such a thing as uncle and nephew killing each other. They have brought shame overseas."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately began to complain.

Now, I can only talk about this matter with my eldest grandson.

That's right. Although the intelligence said that all the assassins were Japanese, Zhu Yuanzhang was so smart that he immediately understood that the person behind it was most likely either Prince of Jin Zhu Gang or Prince of Qi Zhu Gui.

This clumsy act of killing someone with a borrowed knife was simply too childish in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Ying was silent for a moment, then said, "Grandpa, the intelligence says they are all Japanese."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted again and said, "Don't speak for them. We don't know the twists and turns here."

"If it was the King of Wa who did it, why didn't he kill both of them, but chose Gao Chi instead?"

"We also know some of Gao Chi's situations in Japan. Although he was only away for a few months, he was able to quickly restore the production in the vassal state."

"They didn't treat the Japanese people differently than they did the two of them. They didn't set up any checkpoints for trade, and their relationship with the Japanese nobles was relatively peaceful and friendly."

"Look at the good things they said. Do you really think we don't know anything?"

"They are completely outrageous, especially the third brother. I used to think he was bewitched, but now I didn't expect him to be even worse. He doesn't do anything productive, and he even kills innocent people in the vassal state. He has no intention of governing at all."

"We thought about the possibility of him inheriting the Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, his true nature was exposed early. He is such a complete bastard."

"I don't even want to talk about the Seventh Brother's affairs. He is even worse than the Third Brother. He is a completely cruel king. I can't imagine how he could have produced such a bunch of bastards."

Zhu Ying could only smile bitterly as he listened to the old man cursing.

In fact, Zhu Ying was not completely ignorant of some of the affairs concerning Prince of Jin Zhu Gang and Prince of Qi Zhu Gui.

After all, the Qunying Chamber of Commerce has close relations with Zhu Gang and is relatively familiar with the situations in some vassal states.

Judging from current moral concepts, killing for fun is indeed a bit excessive.

It would be too simplistic to describe the Japanese people living in Jincheng and Qicheng in Japan as suffering a lot and their lives were in dire straits.

However, after Zhu Ying pondered for a while, he said to the old man: "It may not be so."

"Although the performance of the two uncles in Japan is somewhat poor, from more perspectives, the Japanese nobles and royal family are more confident in them."

"On the contrary, Brother Gao Chi has the aura of a wise ruler. In comparison, he is even more loved by the people of Japan."

"It is said that some Japanese people are living happier in Yancheng than they did during the Japanese rule."

"This situation is even more worrying for Japan."

"They can naturally tell the pros and cons of this. This involves the struggle for the hearts and minds of the people. If this continues, Yancheng will definitely gain more support from the Japanese people. It will be a nail that the Ming Dynasty has driven into Japan."

"As for my two uncles, even though their army is strong, it is much easier to deal with them."

"Maybe things here are not as complicated as we think."

Zhu Ying's voice of defense made Zhu Yuanzhang's expression ease a little again.

But he still said in a cold voice, "I have certainly thought about what you said, Grandson."

"However, it is not that easy to raid the palace so quickly."

"The guards guarding the Yan Palace were all subordinates who once followed the Fourth Master. They are well-disciplined and have strong combat effectiveness."

"Although the fourth brother doesn't like the eldest son, it is his own vassal state after all, so of course he won't deliberately leave any loopholes."

"If you want to raid the palace so quickly, you not only need to be extremely familiar with the palace guards and the terrain, but you also need someone to pick you up."

"Now that this situation has occurred, even if the third and seventh brothers are not the masterminds, they must know something about the situation, and may even be trying to help secretly."

Indirect participation is also participation in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind.

As uncle and nephew, when they first learned about the situation, of course they should help each other instead of turning against each other.

This is the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was angry.

Zhu Ying thought for a moment and said, "Japan is far away, and the intelligence is simple. We can't just rely on speculation to conclude that this matter is related to the two uncles."

"My grandson still trusts my two uncles and they won't do such a thing. If I disappoint them, it will be more trouble than gain."

"The most important thing right now is to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that there are no injustices."

"Grandpa's attitude is extremely important. No matter if it's Third Uncle or Seventh Uncle, even if they really participated, if Grandpa blames them, then those who didn't participate will definitely have some thoughts in their minds."

"There may even be some possibility of throwing the jar into the ground."

Zhu Ying's words calmed Zhu Yuanzhang down.

I was previously focused on my own guesses, but didn't think about what the consequences would be if I just blamed others.

First of all, the possibility of both of them being involved is not very high. After all, such close affairs between uncle and nephew would be extremely secretive and would not be easily revealed to another person.

And now for the Ming Dynasty, there is no way to define who is really involved.

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's character, he would definitely issue an imperial edict to punish both of them equally.

In this case, those who did not participate would definitely feel very unwilling and aggrieved.

Besides, the two of them are suspects now, but there is also a certain possibility that the Japanese side framed them and did it on purpose.

This may seem a little small at the moment, but it is possible after all.

After thinking calmly for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "I am a little anxious. It seems that we really need to investigate this matter first."

"But at the moment, these two evildoers are still highly suspicious, so let them find a way to prove themselves."

"The assassin is Japanese, and the Japanese royal family cannot escape responsibility. Let's take our time with our family affairs. This time, we must make the Japanese royal family give a clear explanation."

Zhu Ying nodded in agreement.

On the surface, since the assassin is Japanese, no matter what the blame is, the Japanese royal family will be the first to bear it.

It just so happens that there is no excuse now, which means that the Ming Dynasty has one more handle in hand and can use it to launch an attack again.

If the response given by the Japanese royal family is unsatisfactory, it is not impossible that they will launch another expedition to invade Japan.

It would be much easier to conquer again now than before.

As for Zhu Gaochi being poisoned by the needle, there is nothing to worry about.

Comparing the current medical levels of Japan and the Ming Dynasty, there is a world of difference.

What seems to be a highly poisonous thing in Japan is not a very difficult thing to deal with according to the imperial physician of the Ming Dynasty.

Even the eunuch who was poisoned by the needle was basically fine after taking a few doses of medicine.