Although it was the dead of winter, Prince Fu was covered in sweat, and when Zhu Youjian approached, he could even see the smoke rising from his head.
Prince Fu was pinned to the ground. Hearing Zhu Youjian's question, he forced himself to raise half of his face.
"Nephew, I am truly innocent!"
"I came to Beijing this time because I was concerned about your health, so I traveled a long way to get here."
"Moreover, when I reached outside Zhili, I deliberately did not continue forward because I was worried about the ancestral precepts."
"I only dared to continue my journey north after receiving your imperial edict!"
As he spoke, he struggled to pull the forged imperial edict from Wei Zhongxian's chest.
Wang Chengen stepped forward, picked up the imperial edict, read it through, and then returned to Zhu Youjian's side with a frown.
He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, there is no problem with the imperial edict and the seal, but the palace has certainly not issued this edict."
Wang Chengen also served as the Grand Eunuch.
If he were to affix his seal to such an edict, it would be a capital offense.
Zhu Youjian waved his hand dismissively.
"I know this matter has nothing to do with you."
“When the late emperor was still alive, Wei Zhongxian almost took the imperial seal home. As for blank imperial edicts, he had as many as he wanted.”
"So his forging of a fake imperial edict is nothing special."
Wang Chengen breathed a sigh of relief and quickly flattered, "Your Majesty is wise!"
However, Zhu Youjian was clearly not in a good mood.
He whispered to Wang Chengen:
"Since Prince Fu was tricked into coming to the capital, how should I deal with him?"
At first, Zhu Youjian did not actually want to take action against Prince Fu.
Because the two were, after all, the closest uncle and nephew, he genuinely felt a sense of kinship.
In fact, Zhu Youjian thought that when Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, he rashly took action against his uncle, and ended up with his fate unknown.
Although more than two hundred years had passed since the Prince of Yan's rebellion, and the situation in the Ming Dynasty was different from that time.
However, Zhu Youjian was still somewhat uneasy.
However, it was clear that Prince Fu had brought this upon himself, so Zhu Youjian stopped worrying about it.
When he thought of the Prince of Fu's estate, his heart burned even brighter.
"I heard that the Emperor granted this Prince Fu more than two million acres of fertile land, as well as countless gold and silver treasures."
"Although I have just confiscated a lot of the property of the Donglin Party members, I will never think that this amount of silver is too little."
In hindsight, it turns out that Prince Fu was tricked by Wei Zhongxian.
Then Zhu Youjian hesitated again.
Although Prince Fu was not very clever, he was quite good at reading people's expressions and moods.
Seeing Zhu Youjian's hesitation, he quickly added, "Nephew, we are family."
"Have you forgotten that the founding emperor's imperial edicts said that we, his descendants, should value kinship and affection?"
"Good nephew, please release me at once."
However, at that moment, a voice came from the side.
"Prince Fu, you keep spouting ancestral precepts, but this old servant would like to ask: did you realize that you just violated those precepts?"
It turned out that Cao Huachun had also arrived at the scene at some point.
Prince Fu, his neck stiff, turned around and angrily said, "Where did this eunuch come from, daring to interrupt here?"
"I am the emperor's uncle, how could I possibly disobey ancestral precepts?"
After being scolded, Cao Huachun showed no anger whatsoever, and with a smile on his face, he said to Prince Fu:
"The ancestral precepts state that any prince of the Great Ming Dynasty, regardless of his seniority, must address the emperor as 'Your Majesty'."
“But you, Prince Fu, keep referring to yourself as the Emperor’s nephew. Isn’t that overstepping your bounds?”
Prince Fu was stunned and speechless, while Zhu Youjian was quite excited.
"Cao Daban, you're absolutely right!"
Overstepping one's bounds is a trivial matter if it's not taken seriously, but if it's blown out of proportion, it becomes a fatal mistake.
Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said, "The Prince of Fu was deceived when he came to the capital this time, which is indeed understandable."
"But their crime of usurpation should not be lightly forgiven."
"Guards, throw Prince Fu into the imperial prison."
Prince Fu cried and begged for his parents again, but no one paid him any attention.
Luo Yangxing had originally called four or five strong men to carry him out.
Who knew this person was so incredibly fat that it was impossible to lift him.
So he had to call in several more people, and it took a lot of effort to get him out.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Youjian shook his head and muttered, "The Prince of Fu is as fat as a pig. No wonder he was later made into the Fortune and Prosperity Feast."
Upon hearing this, everyone else kept their eyes down and pretended not to hear.
The emperor could say such a thing, but if they were to casually add a comment, they would be courting death.
Fortunately, Zhu Youjian continued the topic.
He asked Cao Huachun, "Cao Daban, what brings you here?"
Cao Huachun smiled.
"This old servant came here because Master Gao asked me to."
He said that the heavy snow had just stopped, and it was actually colder than when it was snowing. Your Majesty, you were seriously ill not long ago, so you must take care to keep warm.
Zhu Youjian was deeply moved upon hearing this.
"Master Gao is so concerned about me."
But then he suddenly remembered something else.
"I'm afraid Master Gao's actions aren't simply out of concern for me, are they?"
"It's probably because he's good at divination and knew that I wouldn't be able to get help from Prince Fu, so he specially sent Cao Daban to help me."
"Master Gao is truly a genius!"
Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian suddenly had an idea.
He instructed Wang Chengen:
"Now that the Donglin Party is finished, Wei Zhongxian doesn't have many days left to live."
"The security in the palace can be relaxed a bit."
"Take your men to the Taiye Pond and build more pavilions and towers for Master Gao to live in."
Wang Chengen nodded quickly:
"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will take care of it immediately."
Zhu Youjian nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, I'll go see Master Gao after the pavilions and towers are repaired."
The next morning, high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty gathered outside the palace.
However, the number of people was significantly less.
Moreover, even those who came had faces full of fear and worry.
"What exactly happened in the palace last night?"
"I heard there was a big fight going on in the street..."
"Some people also say that Li Ruolian's sudden return to the capital with troops seems to indicate a rebellion."
"That old dog Wei Zhongxian has also disappeared without a trace. Has something happened to him, or has he already led his men into the palace and seized control of the government?"
"It is said that Prince Fu has already entered the capital, and some people even saw him being escorted into the palace."
"When we go to court later, will we see Prince Fu on the dragon throne?"
Their thoughts were very complicated.
But most people don't have a high opinion of Zhu Youjian.
"The young emperor is still too young. He was just lucky last time. He was able to defeat Wei Zhongxian because he was caught off guard by Wei Zhongxian's intentions."
"Who knew he would be so bold as to release Wei Zhongxian?"
"Now look what's happened, he's got himself caught in his own trap!"
Bi Ziyan also frowned.
"If Prince Fu and Wei Zhongxian really dare to usurp the throne, then I will absolutely not kneel!"
Before long, the palace gates slowly opened.
After exchanging glances, the ministers took a deep breath and entered the palace.
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