Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 13: The treacherous villains everywhere
When he returned to Jingyang Palace, he found that the eunuch on duty had a new face.

"Who are you? Where is Zhao Jinjiao?"

"Your Highness, Zhao Jinjiao was supposed to be on duty yesterday, but he secretly left the palace to go to the gambling den. I reported it to the higher-ups, and he was expelled from the palace. His name is Li Jinzhong, born in the second year of the Longqing reign, from Suining, and entered the palace in the seventeenth year of the Wanli reign. He is a smart man."

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you!" Li Jinzhong immediately bowed down.

Zhu Changluo's eyes narrowed slightly. Concubine Zheng was making moves on the people in Jingyang Palace again.

This month, three people have come to Jingyang Palace, and this is the fourth one.

He walked forward nonchalantly, and after taking a few steps he stopped again.

Li Jinzhong?
This name actually sounds familiar.

After a while, Zhu Changluo vaguely matched the number from his still familiar memories of later generations.

If I remember correctly... Wei Zhongxian's original name seemed to be Jinzhong?

Having said that, the only person who could make Zhu Changluo feel familiar was the eunuch. Who else could it be except him?

Zhu Changluo slowly turned around and looked at Li Jinzhong, who had just stood up and was a bit burly.

"What are your orders, Your Highness?"

Seeing Zhu Changluo stop and turn around, Wei Gang asked carefully.

He was the "eyes and ears", but the eldest prince did not take any action afterwards.

However, after what had happened before, Wei Gang was afraid that Zhu Changluo would risk his life, so he insisted on sweeping the courtyard.

If he can protect Wang An, he might be able to get rid of Wei Gang.

Do you really think that the Imperial Concubine will be willing to protect him at all costs?

Zhu Changluo looked at Li Jinzhong strangely, then shook his head: "Nothing."

This fellow naturally didn't know that he would be renamed Wei Zhongxian in the future, and would go down in history as the infamous Wei Zhongxian.

It can only be said that he must have had a "great reputation" to be able to be arranged to the Jingyang Palace by Zheng Mengjing.

What good intentions can you have?
Zhu Changluo remained calm, having made up his mind to wait for changes to occur and then take advantage of the situation.

After Zhu Changluo walked away, Wei Gang whispered, "Do your job well first!"

Li Jinzhong smiled and said, "Don't worry, sir. I won't have to worry about it!"

Zhao Jinjiao was originally his rare good card-playing and whore-making buddy in the palace. Now, after hanging around in Jingyang Palace for a few years, he got a good job working for the Liaodong Tax Inspector. Li Jinzhong was very envious.

As for the fact that His Majesty got angry about some things not long ago and reorganized the eunuchs, how much could a low-level person like Li Jinzhong know about it?
Being transferred to Jingyang Palace to work, although there is not much benefit, it is free and you can get close to the imperial concubine's confidant, Da Eunuch. Isn't this a good thing?
Wei Gang nodded slightly, turned around and walked towards his duty room, but he was a little worried in his heart.

I don’t know what the Imperial Concubine is planning, but she always feels that the Crown Prince is not an easy person to deal with.

How come being the head of Jingyang Palace suddenly became such a difficult and awkward job?

He dared not disobey either side!

It was late at night and Zheng Guotai had not yet fallen asleep.

A month later, when Zhu Changluo went to the Cining Palace to pay his respects, he was no longer just greeted with an "I see", but was kept for a long time.

Naturally, this news was updated to Zheng Guotai by Zheng Mengjing at the same time.

In the study, he explained the situation. The aide who had always been giving him advice twirled his beard and frowned.

"Old Mo, what do you say?"

This staff member's surname was Mo Ming Zong Mian, and he was from the same hometown as the Zheng family. He was originally just a failed scholar who mixed in the circle of local gentry by relying on others to donate land, but after the Zheng family became prosperous, he joined the Zheng family and began to rely on him more and more since Zheng Guotai's father.

Mo Zongmian bowed when he heard this and said, "Master Dong, this is really not good."

Zheng Guotai's heart tightened: "Tell me in detail!"

Mo Zongmian sighed, "In the past, the ministers were agitated, and Jiang Yinglin and others petitioned to establish a crown prince. Your Majesty was angry for a while, and clearly stated in the decree that 'the crown prince will have his own seniority', which gave him an excuse. After that, the ministers repeatedly submitted memorials, all insisting on this statement. Although Jiang Yinglin was demoted, he was extremely happy. It was really a plan of the ministers."

Zheng Guotai nodded. At that time, his father was still alive and his sister had just been canonized as Imperial Noble Consort.

On the day Jiang Yinglin was banished from the capital, it was heard that countless officials and gentry saw him off, and Jiang Yinglin himself seemed like a hero. He used his own demotion to exchange for the emperor's words "The successor has his own seniority, Jiang Yinglin suspects that you are selling your integrity", which seemed to force the emperor to make a clear promise first.

From then on, the emperor became passive.

After all, you said it yourself that if you want to appoint a crown prince, there will be an elder and a younger one. Now if you abolish the elder and appoint the younger one, it would be inappropriate, right?

Mo Zongmian said sternly, "Last month, the eldest prince made a scene, which seemed to have given him cause for criticism. However, all the outsiders know exactly how the eldest prince has been through these years. If such a thing were to be known to the outsiders, they would think that the eldest prince is in a desperate situation. It is understandable that he vented his anger for many years, and it also aroused the sympathy of the outsiders. I am afraid that many people who claim to be loyal and righteous will criticize Your Majesty for his mistakes."

"Isn't that just right? Here comes another foreign minister who is blaspheming."

"No! We still have to argue. Last time, we only let them request additional cabinet members, just to give Your Majesty an excuse. The ministers blasphemed Your Majesty in the name of the country's foundation, but in fact they were engaging in factional strife."

"By then, if someone tells you about the eldest prince's rebellious and unfilial behavior towards Your Majesty, it will be like adding fuel to the fire. Once the emperor is angry, all the imperial guards will be dispatched, and then we can deal with them in large numbers, and keep things quiet for a few years, or even make it happen."

After analyzing it, Mo Zongmian twisted his beard and looked unhappy: "But if we had started to say that the eldest prince was rebellious and unfilial before... the Empress Dowager would have dealt with him. The more details are revealed, how can we know that the Zhejiang Party will not take advantage of the fact that Your Majesty is feeling guilty after receiving the Empress Dowager's admonition, work together to coerce the censors and other officials to die in protest, and then alarm the Empress Dowager to make the final decision?"

"Lord Zhao is unwilling to take the lead, while Lord Shen is in charge of the cabinet alone. If he can make the final decision, it will be a great achievement that has not been seen in more than ten years. Not only will his name be recorded in history, but he will also be able to support the crown prince. And when the officials of the Eastern Palace are promoted, I don't know how many people will turn to Shen Yikuan. The stronger the prince's party is, the more difficult it will be in the future!"

Zheng Guotai's heart sank when he heard this, because he felt that what Lao Mo said made sense.

"You haven't even told me why today's events are so bad!"

"It's still the Empress Dowager, Master!" Mo Zongmian was a little helpless about his IQ. "The Empress Dowager has always been devoted to worshipping Buddha, not involved in government affairs, and unwilling to criticize Your Majesty on matters of national foundation. But now, she has met the eldest prince again. Although it seems nothing at the moment, there will be two more. This is for Your Majesty to see!"

"What should we do?"

Zheng Guotai also believed what his sister said: the emperor was actually indecisive and might make a decision at any time due to some new changes.

Mo Zongmian was also very worried.

His current wealth and future prospects are all tied to the Zheng family's car.

If the Zheng family falls, the court officials will not be polite to them.

As a trusted aide, Mo Zongmian knew very well that the Empress Dowager had always favored her eldest grandson.

It won't break the rules and cause unrest in the country, and Concubine Wang Gong is also an old employee of the Cining Palace.

The dispute over the national foundation dragged on for so long, firstly because the eldest prince was indeed still very young, and secondly because the empress dowager was truly devoted to worshipping Buddha and was unwilling to get involved in state affairs.

But now that the eldest prince has personally caused trouble, and the empress dowager has paid attention to the matter, given her personality, she might just cut the Gordian knot and pay attention to it.

After all, the eldest prince will be twenty years old next year. He can't delay getting married at this age, right?

The ceremonies for the Crown Prince’s wedding and the Prince’s wedding are different, and both will only be performed after the status is determined.

"Lao Mo, give me some advice quickly!" Zheng Guotai was anxious.

Mo Zongmian walked back and forth for a long time before he stopped and said, "This is an emergency. Let's move forward together."

Zheng Guotai perked up: "What do you mean?"

"First, according to the Ministry of Revenue's memorial, the host will submit another memorial. He will say that the ceremony of enthroning is complicated and cumbersome, and the eldest prince is nearly twenty years old, so it is better to marry him first and then enthronize him. As for the ceremony, it can be based on the ceremony for the crown prince."

"Wouldn't that confirm it? No!" Zheng Guotai shook his head repeatedly.

"Don't worry, Master. Once this memorial is submitted, there will be an uproar in the court and the public. I have inquired about it. The Ministry of Revenue is in financial difficulties, and the cost of a wedding is the heaviest, so the memorial puts the wedding before all other ceremonies. But once this memorial is submitted, the Ministry of Revenue will be attacked by the censors, who will think that they agree to dethrone the eldest and enthroning the youngest."

Mo Zongmian was beaming with joy: "Besides, the host can say that someone else submitted a memorial in the host's name. Then someone is deliberately framing the royal family with evil intentions, which makes the situation even more complicated."

Zheng Guotai's eyes gradually brightened as he listened and he nodded repeatedly.

Just find a scapegoat, this is indeed easy to do: "What's the second step?"

Mo Zongmian became serious: "That means your majesty also suspected that the eldest prince was possessed by an evil spirit, which is why his temperament changed so drastically! We must be extremely cautious about this matter. If something goes wrong, not only will it not work, but the imperial concubine will also be charged with practicing witchcraft to murder the eldest prince! With his temperament, how can she not report it to the empress dowager? It will only work if the empress dowager also has doubts! The difficult thing is that the eldest prince has been very polite this month and there is nothing unusual..."

"You mean, to provoke him to go crazy again? To make the Queen Mother displeased and suspicious?"

"But it can't be the Imperial Concubine who comes forward." Mo Zongmian nodded, "Besides, we have to make some preparations in advance. It would be best if there is some evidence when the eldest prince goes crazy, so that the Empress Dowager and His Majesty can see that something is wrong on the spot..."

……

(End of this chapter)