Lady Ke, the wife of the Emperor Tianqi, was his wet nurse.
Wei Zhongxian was able to rise to power because of a relationship with her that went beyond friendship.
After the death of the Tianqi Emperor, Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke were arrested together.
Although Wei Zhongxian was later released, Madam Ke was still imprisoned.
Upon hearing his nephew's words, Wei Zhongxian immediately asked, "How is Madam Ke? How much influence does she have left in the palace?"
He sent someone to contact Madam Ke, not out of any old ties.
Rather, it was to have another channel to learn about Zhu Youjian's situation.
Wei Liangqing shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"Uncle, the Ke family is in the same boat as us; they've all scattered when the tree falls."
"When I went to see her, I found that she didn't even have a maidservant by her side."
“There’s none of the pomp and circumstance of before, and nobody is tipping her off anymore.”
Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian's face darkened even further.
"Oh, is that so?"
He became even more anxious.
Without Madam Ke as an inside agent, if Zhu Youjian wanted to take action against him, he wouldn't even have time to react.
After a moment's thought, Wei Zhongxian's eyes lit up.
"Liangqing, write a memorial for me and submit it to His Majesty."
"After all, Madam Ke was the late emperor's wet nurse, and it was inconvenient for her to be imprisoned in the palace for so long."
"Why not send her out of the palace and banish her back to her hometown?"
Wei Liangqing, not understanding why, remarked with emotion, "Uncle, you really cherish old friendships!"
“Even at a time like this, you’re still thinking about Madam Ke.”
However, Wei Zhongxian was secretly sneering.
He's not some romantic at all.
Even if he was originally one, after entering the palace, he severed the "root of troubles," so he could no longer be a romantic.
He did this simply to test the waters.
“If His Majesty truly no longer holds a grudge against me, he will surely take the opportunity to release Madam Ke.”
"But if he doesn't agree, then... I'll have to make some other preparations."
A glint of light flashed in Wei Zhongxian's eyes.
After giving these instructions, Wei Zhongxian did not forget to deal with important matters.
"Men, come with me to ransack the homes of Zhou Yanru and Bi Ziyan!"
The next day, Zhu Youjian sat on the dragon throne, frowning as he looked at Wei Zhongxian kneeling on the ground.
"What did you say?" Zhu Youjian asked, looking puzzled.
"Zhou Yanru's family has hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, which is fine."
"Since Bi Ziyan is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, how come he doesn't have much silver at home?"
"Could it be that you've embezzled funds?"
Wei Zhongxian quickly shook his head.
"Your Majesty, how could this old servant do such a thing?"
"This old servant was greedy for money before, but that was only because he was ignorant and did not know that our Great Ming Dynasty was short of money."
"I thought the Ming Dynasty had plenty of gold and silver, so it's nothing for this old servant to covet a little bit."
"But now this old servant knows that our Great Ming is also quite short of silver."
"Then this old servant will certainly not embezzle again."
He had thought of these words beforehand, and they easily absolved him of any responsibility.
After Zhu Youjian snorted coldly, he waved his hand to dismiss Wei Zhongxian.
Then his brows gradually furrowed.
"Could this Bi Ziyan really be an honest official?"
"Besides, his younger brother has also done his duty to the country. It wouldn't be good if I were to pursue the matter too harshly."
"But he did slander Master Gao, if I don't punish him..."
At this moment, Luo Yangxing whispered a reminder:
"Your Majesty, what do you think of this?"
"You ordered that Bi Ziyan be brought into the palace so that he could witness firsthand Master Gao's prowess."
"Master Gao will make him completely convinced and regret what he did back then."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian's expression darkened.
"Didn't I say? Master Gao's matter must never be revealed to the outside world!"
How dare you come up with such an idea?
Luo Yangxing was startled and immediately knelt down to beg for mercy.
"Your Majesty, I have spoken out of turn."
After Zhu Youjian snorted a few times, he didn't let him get up, but instead turned and left.
Not long after, he led Wang Chengen to the edge of Taiye Pond.
Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen, "How is Master Gao doing lately?"
Wang Chengen quickly ran over, gestured to the deaf and mute eunuchs, and then replied:
“In the past few days, Master Gao has been busy teaching those students every day.”
"He seemed to be in a good mood, chatting and laughing the whole time."
"Among those students, although the one named Zhang Xianzhong seems to be a bit unruly."
"But Master Gao wasn't very angry; on the contrary, they had a good relationship."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian felt much better.
"Haha, when I was studying in the palace, my teachers would severely reprimand me if I was even slightly naughty."
"If only I had met Master Gao back then, that would have been wonderful."
After making a joke, he strolled to the island in the middle of the lake.
He went outside the classroom and secretly peeked inside.
Gao Qingyun was sitting on the podium, while Gu Hengbo stood behind him.
Gao Qingyun gestured to her, and she turned around and started writing something on the blackboard behind her.
Zhu Youjian saw the blackboard and couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing to the blackboard.
Wang Chengen quickly explained.
"Your Majesty, that thing is called a blackboard, and Master Gao asked us to make it."
"It's simple, just find a piece of wood and paint it black."
"The pens used to write on the blackboard were made by grinding limestone into powder and then pressing it out again."
"Its name is Chalk."
After looking around for a while, Zhu Youjian shook his head and smiled, "Master Gao has so many new things here."
"Since inventing the pencil, it's only been a few days, and now they've invented the blackboard and chalk."
"And it looks pretty good."
Wang Chengen replied with a forced smile, "Of course."
"Master Gao not only came from later generations, but was also a genius in his own right."
"The things he brought out were naturally all of excellent quality."
That's pure flattery.
However, Zhu Youjian was very happy.
“You’re right, Master Gao is indeed a genius.”
"By the way, find some time to let the craftsmen take a look at this..."
Wang Chengen quickly added:
"It's a blackboard and chalk."
"Yes, those are the two things." Zhu Youjian nodded. "Let them see if these can be promoted as soon as possible, just like pencils."
After explaining all this, Zhu Youjian pushed open the door and entered, intending to find a place to sit down and listen to Gao Qingyun's lecture.
However, Gao Qingyun's hearing was extremely sharp.
As soon as Zhu Youjian entered the room, he heard the noise.
"Hmm? Is it Xiao Zhu?"
"What, have you finished dealing with things in your village these past few days?"
He asked with a smile.
The students in the classroom were startled when they heard the name "Xiao Zhu".
He hurriedly got up to bow.
Zhu Youjian laughed heartily and waved his hand to indicate that they did not need to be so polite.
He then got up and went to Gao Qingyun's side.
"Master Gao, how did you know it was me?"
Gao Qingyun didn't hide anything and casually explained:
"The sound of different people's footsteps is subtly different."
“For example, the old Wang next to you, he likes to walk with his legs tucked together, as if there’s something wrong with him, so his footsteps are naturally a bit hurried.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen blushed and quickly dodged to the side.
He was indeed missing something; when he walked, he felt empty, so he had to walk with his legs tucked together.
"But you, Xiao Zhu, walk with a steady, powerful stride, like a dragon with a tiger's gait."
"It seems you're a person of absolute authority in Dahe Village," Gao Qingyun remarked with a smile.
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