Chapter 44 Tengxiangwei
Amidst the chaos, Yu Qian reacted quickly, returned to the Fengtian Hall, and bowed, saying, "Wang Zhen has harmed the country. Ma Shun and his accomplices deserve death, and this has caused public outrage. I hope Your Highness will forgive us and pardon the officials."
Zhu Yuhuan looked at his torn sleeves, reached out and helped Yu Qian up, and said, "Minister Yu is absolutely right, but a country has its own laws, and a family has its own rules. Even if it's justified, there should be a reason for beating and killing an official. Jinyiwei Commander Xu Gong has evidence that Wang Zhen murdered Liu Qiu, so he should be investigated accordingly..."
As soon as she said this, the ministers who gradually calmed down after seeing the officers and soldiers and wanted to return to the palace to apologize for their impoliteness couldn't help but hold their breath. Then they saw the eunuch Fan Hong from the Imperial Stables leading the troops to control the situation. Everyone shivered unconsciously in the autumn wind and realized what a crime they had just committed.
Although Ma Shun and others are guilty, they should also go through the trial process. How could they step out of line and deal with Wang Zhen's followers on behalf of the princess?
In this case, aren't they doing the same thing as Wang Zhen who murdered Liu Qiu?
Fan Hong had long known about the princess's return to the capital. It was he who had secretly colluded with Zhu Yuhuan to facilitate her midnight entry into the palace. Now that he had the opportunity to make a contribution, he certainly would not let it go. He immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, I have led the four soldiers of the Tengxiang Guard to ensure your safety."
When the officials saw Fan Hong being so respectful, they immediately realized that this old man Fan Hong was taking this opportunity to curry favor with Princess Shunde.
Zhu Yuhuan smiled and nodded, looking around, and said, "Our Great Ming governs the country by law, from the emperor to the common people, without exception."
Yu Qian knew that the princess couldn't easily get away with this, but he didn't show any hesitation. He simply said, "As long as Your Highness is determined to investigate this matter, you will definitely be able to find evidence of Wang Zhen's accomplices' illegal activities."
After being enlightened by Yu Qian's words, everyone immediately understood that whether or not to pursue the matter and how to pursue it all depended on the decision of the eldest princess in front of them, and they all began to apologize.
Seeing their sincere attitude, Zhu Yuhuan smiled slightly and said, "That's absolutely right. There's irrefutable evidence that Wang Zhen murdered Liu Qiu, so we can't delay the investigation. But what's most important right now is the defense of the capital and the entire northern border. What do you think?"
Everyone understood what the princess meant. It was okay to search and confiscate Wang Zhen's property, but there had to be sufficient evidence. It was not something that could be done hastily like the ministers had done when they beat Ma Shun and others to death. If everyone handled the case like they did, the princess could deal with them in the same way now.
The princess does not have the habit of hiding when possible like the Prince of Xiang, nor does she have the cowardly and inactive personality of the Prince of Qing. In short, she is definitely not someone who can be fooled by a few words.
Otherwise, Zhu Yuhuan would not have asked people to bring Mao Gui and Wang Changsui over at this critical moment. The eldest princess was waiting for them to make a mistake!
But if we really want to trace it back, it was the officials who wanted the people, and it was Jin Ying who led them. Zhu Yuhuan can be said to have "passed through a field of flowers without getting a single leaf on him."
After all, they were the ones who took the initiative to commit the crime, and with the elite soldiers of the Tengxiang Four Guards watching them covetously, they could only be controlled by Zhu Yuhuan.
"Your Highness is absolutely right."
Zhu Yuhuan then looked at Xu Gong standing beside him and said, "Xu Gong, you will be reinstated as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Investigate in detail how many officials are implicated in the Wang Zhen case and verify the various charges reported by the Imperial Censor Wang Hong and others. There's no need to rush this matter. There's plenty of time, and I'll handle it."
Xu Gong responded and left.
Zhu Yuhuan looked around and then said to the officials who were still covered in blood: "Dismiss the court."
Everyone was nervous as she looked at them from head to toe. Fortunately, they heard the words "withdraw from the court". Then they breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly withdrew from the court.
Zhu Yuhuan didn't take it seriously and simply said to Fan Hong lightly, "Tell the four Tengxiang guards to keep an eye on it and make sure there's no stampede. The court needs more people for a while."
Fan Hong responded quickly and went out to command the soldiers to collect the bodies of Ma Shun, Mao Gui and Wang Changsui, and at the same time to evacuate the officials who were rushing to leave the court.
As a result, only Jin Ying and a few eunuchs were left in the hall. Jin Ying, in particular, looked at Zhu Yuhuan with a nervous expression.
He was also involved in the incident just now. If Princess Shunde is also to be investigated...
Zhu Yuhuan seemed unaware of Jin Ying's gaze and simply asked, "I heard someone say you have a residence outside the palace?"
Jin Ying was slightly stunned, and for a moment she didn't know whether to nod or shake her head.
Zhu Yuhuan nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's even better. If you can't make it back to the palace in time, you'll have a place to stay."
Only then did Jin Ying understand what Zhu Yuhuan meant. The eldest princess had just said that any urgent reports should be sent directly to the princess's mansion so that she could deal with them as quickly as possible. Naturally, Jin Ying, the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, had to be available at any time.
Seeing that Zhu Yuhuan was not going to continue the topic, Jin Ying nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. Even if I have no place to stay outside the palace, I will definitely be there whenever you call, even if I have to sleep on the streets!"
Zhu Yuhuan's face was filled with relief. He said, "That's great! Let's go and have the people from the Seal and Ribbon Supervisor go to Empress Dowager Cihui's palace so we can familiarize ourselves with the situation quickly, lest these memorials and petitions pile up too much."
"yes."
On the other hand, the ministers who had just left the court were not so relaxed, especially Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu, who had already sensed a subtle abnormality in Zhu Yuhuan's actions.
The Imperial Stables were the emperor's army and ordinary people could not mobilize them at will. Although the excuse of emergency was reasonable, when Zhang Fu saw how respectful Fan Hong was to Princess Shunde, he felt that things might not be that simple.
Zhang Zhong had been running errands for his father yesterday to handle requests from the ministers. Knowing that the princess would be attending court today, he had come to the palace gate to take his father home. Seeing Zhang Fu come out, Zhang Zhong immediately stepped forward and asked, "Dad, how's everything going? Did His Highness successfully take over as regent?"
Zhang Fu just waved his hand and said, "Go home... and talk in the car later."
Zhang Zhong didn't quite understand, but he still helped his father into the carriage.
Zhang Fu sat in the carriage and drank a cup of tea to calm himself down. Then he said to his son earnestly, "You must be careful with your words and actions in the future. If the princess has any instructions, just follow them."
Zhang Zhong was slightly stunned, but did not ask any more questions, just nodded.
Zhang Fu sighed.
The sky in the capital... or rather, the sky of the Ming Dynasty, is probably about to change.
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