Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 325 I have to wait for my lawyer

Chen Toudet understood and immediately stood up and left.

Pei Yuan washed his face with cold water and hurried to see Zhu Houzhao.

This time, Zhu Houzhao was in the Buddhist hall in the center of Zhihua Temple, with a military officer standing beside him, who had a dignified appearance.

Pei Yuan hurried forward to greet him.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "Pei Yuan, you are here."

Then he gestured to the side, "This is Channing."

Pei Yuan had guessed this in his mind, and he quickly bowed and said, "I am honored to meet you, Commander."

Strictly speaking, as a member of the Nanjing Jinyiwei, Pei Yuan was under the jurisdiction of the Nanjing Jinyiwei Commander, and Qian Ning had no control over him.

As both are of the third rank, Qian Ning, the commander of the Beijing Embroidered Uniform Guard, is not as intimidating to Pei Yuan as Zhang Rong, the deputy commander.

However, Qian Ning is in power now. By next year, Qian Ning will be adopted as Zhu Houzhao's godson and given the surname Zhu. He can call himself "the emperor's illegitimate son" to the outside world.

Faced with this person who was obviously on the rise, Pei Yuan didn't mind being polite.

In front of Zhu Houzhao, Qian Ning had no right to speak and just nodded slightly.

Zhu Houzhao still gestured to Pei Yuan to sit on the cushion nearby.

When Pei Yuan heard this, he immediately put his worries to rest.

The fact that Zhu Houzhao allowed himself to sit so close to him and talk to him proved that he did not have any major grudges against me for the time being.

Pei Yuan naturally would not be shy, and took the opportunity to sit in front of Zhu Houzhao with a well-behaved look on his face.

The two were very close to each other, and Zhu Houzhao smiled and patted Pei Yuan on the knee.

Pei Yuan was about to stand up to ask for advice, but Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "No need, just sit down."

Pei Yuan continued to sit there obediently.

Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment and praised Pei Yuan, "I finally understand why 'the reason why the Ming emperor likes the Jinyiwei is because the Jinyiwei does not follow the rules'."

"You trespassed into the residence of the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and beat up his son twice. You can be said to have disregarded the rules of the court."

"These days, many people have written to me, asking me to investigate you."

"Then do you know why I didn't touch you?"

Pei Yuan replied respectfully, "I don't know."

Because as long as you answer, this guy will inevitably ask, "How did you know?"

If it weren't for the limitations of the times, Pei Yuan would have called his lawyer before answering.

Seeing that Pei Yuan did not respond, Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "That's because your words in front of the Da Ci'en Temple saved you."

Pei Yuan showed a look of confusion at the right time.

Zhu Houzhao said, "You said that the Jinyiwei are the emperor's eyes and ears. If someone dares to talk nonsense to the emperor, you have to listen and see for the emperor."

"After listening to this, I feel that the emperor's ears and eyes should not be bound by these rules. Otherwise, how could he see those petty schemes?"

Pei Yuan listened without saying anything.

In fact, Pei Yuan said this deliberately because he had figured out Zhu Houzhao's psychology. Zhu Houzhao was troubled politically and could not get the military power he wanted, just like a bird in a cage.

Pei Yuan's words sounded meaningless when heard individually, but they were very powerful when put together.

The court officials demanded that Pei Yuan be severely punished. For Zhu Houzhao, it was like covering the ears and eyes of a person who was already trapped in a cage. How could he not be angry and rebellious?

Moreover, in this way, Zhang Rong's actions were obviously exaggerated.

Zhang Yong and Zhang Rong's inquiries into the emperor's affairs were a common attempt to gain favor with the emperor. If the investigation had continued, it might not have been considered a serious crime.

But just as Pei Yuan reported the secret, the case of Pei Yuan beating and killing Liang Ciwu occurred.

This matter seemed to have nothing to do with Zhang Rong, but when Pei Yuan directly pulled Liang Ci'an out of the Liang family, the tacit understanding between Zhang Rong and Liang Chu in the court became obvious.

Combined with Pei Yuan’s words, the commander of the Jinyiwei can join forces with the cabinet for retaliation. Doesn’t this mean that the emperor’s ears and eyes are also deceiving him?
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao, who had originally planned to deal with the matter calmly, immediately let Qian Ning enter the Jinyiwei, and directly take charge of the Southern Pacification Office to purge Zhang Rong's followers in the Northern Town.

Even Zhang Yong could not appear before the emperor for the time being.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Pei Yuan and judged his behavior of trespassing into Liang Mansion.

"Liang Chu and Zhang Rong deceived the emperor, and you were able to see through it and make it known to the world. This is your credit, not your fault."

Pei Yuan then gave the emotional value that Zhu Houzhao wanted, "I dare not, it is only the emperor's wisdom that can understand the right and wrong here."

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "But I still have one thing I don't understand."

Pei Yuan bowed on the cushion to show that he was listening.

Zhu Houzhao was puzzled and asked, "Why don't you respond?"

Pei Yuan looked up, looking confused, "Ah?"

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand in disappointment, "Forget it."

Zhu Houzhao asked calmly, "I want to ask you, you have only been in Beijing for more than ten days, but you were able to know the content of the court meeting in the first place and fight back against Zhang Rong and Liang Chu. How did you do it?"

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Qian Ning, who had been standing beside him with a knife in his hand, immediately stared at Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan said decisively, "It has nothing to do with me. I am also surprised."

"Early that morning, the Left Commander of the Central Military Commandery suddenly sent someone to deliver a message, informing me that Zhang Rong and Liang Chu had teamed up to slander me."

"Don't you know whether I killed Liang Ci'an or not?"

"When I saw these two openly deceiving the emperor, I remembered my duty as a member of the Imperial Guard and decided to go and take a look on behalf of the emperor. As a result, I really found Liang Ci'an alive in Liang's mansion."

"I know these two people are powerful. One is deeply rooted in the court, and the other controls the inner and outer palaces. Only by making a big fuss can the emperor be prevented from being deceived. So I temporarily gathered some Taoist priests from various temples and Taoist temples to escort me to the Da Ci'en Temple to expose this matter."

Pei Yuan's explanation made Zhu Houzhao swallow his thoughts, "Why didn't you tell me directly, but acted on your own?"

Zhang Rong and Liang Chu, together with Zhang Yong who might be implicated, could indeed prevent him from hearing any of this.

Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment and asked, "Why did you choose to go to Da Ci'en Temple?"

Pei Yuan answered honestly, "I am a Jinyiwei, I am afraid I cannot win the trust of the world. Only by letting those scholars witness can we avoid hiding the truth. Moreover, I have met Your Majesty in the Da Ci'en Temple, and I know that only in this way can we hope to avoid being deceived by the close ministers and spreading the matter to Your Majesty's ears."

Zhu Houzhao listened and said nothing.

After thinking for a moment, he glanced at Qian Ning.

Qian Ning was puzzled and bent forward.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and asked Qian Ning to leave.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Pei Yuan again and asked, "Where did you get so many people? I heard that your troops have confronted the Wucheng Bingma Division and Beizhen, and they are not inferior to the Jinyiwei Commander and the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet in terms of momentum."

Pei Yuan thought to himself, fortunately he had laid the foreshadowing in advance. So he said, "Your Majesty, I have already reported this matter to Your Majesty when I first met Your Majesty."

"The evil-suppressing Thousand Households has noticed that the north is not peaceful, and has also found some clues. In order to prevent evil spirits from causing chaos, Thousand Households Han plans to strengthen the control over the temples and palaces in the north, and let me be in charge of the affairs north of Huai'an."

"But the temples and Taoist temples in the capital are connected with nobles. Most of them are out of control and are completely out of the control of the Thousand Households Office for Suppressing Evil."

"In order to effectively promote this matter, I have transferred some Jinyiwei from the south."

Zhu Houzhao had a very good memory. As Pei Yuan continued to talk, he also remembered it and nodded, "That's right."

Then he asked, "How many people do you have here?"

Pei Yuan made a quick calculation in his mind. Now, the only ones who could be put on the table were the two hundred men led by Sikong Sui and Tan Tai Fangtu, in addition to some Xuzhou soldiers who had been hidden and digested.

Some of the Xuzhou soldiers were taken to Xuzhou Zuowei, and some were taken to Tianjinwei.

Two hundred vacancies in the Zhenxie Qianhu Suo were used to fill the vacancies, and one hundred vacancies in the Xuzhou Zuowei and Tianjin Wei were used to fill the vacancies respectively.

The former two hundred men were the real strength of the Qianhu Division and were already under the command of Chen Toutie, while the latter two hundred were nominal secondments and had now been urgently sent out of the city and hidden in Tianjin.

In addition, there were more than a hundred Taoist priests who had stayed behind before, such as Yun Weilin and Cheng Zhihu.

All together, there are more than 500 people who can be made public.

But saying this would arouse suspicion.

Pei Yuan then replied, "In order to strengthen the defense of the capital, I have set up a hundred households in Daxing and Wanping, and released a hundred people in each county. In addition, in order to prevent evil cults from jumping over the wall and to suppress them at any time, I have also left two hundred people in the Zhihua Temple government office. In addition, there are some scattered Taoist priests in a few temples."

Zhu Houzhao felt slightly relieved after hearing this.

It seems like nothing really.

It was not a big deal to have a 100-household unit in each county. As an official office, it was common for Zhihua Temple to have some garrison troops stationed there.

Just when Pei Yuan thought that he could get through this hurdle today, Zhu Houzhao suddenly asked, "Xiao Yan said that he lost his mind for a moment and passed on the contents of the court meeting."

"What is the relationship between the two of you, and why would he risk doing something like this for you?"

Pei Yuan felt a tightness in his heart when he heard this.

It turned out that Zhu Houzhao asked Xiao Yan first and then came to find himself.

In other words, the idiot Xiao Yan has been discovered, and Zhu Houzhao has completed the interrogation?

With Zhu Houzhao's thorough questioning, how could he possibly retain his doubts and come to ask himself again?

So how much did Xiao Yan reveal?

Is Zhu Houzhao fishing when he asks himself about his relationship with Xiao Yan?
Pei Yuan was at a loss for a moment and didn't know what to say.

Zhu Houzhao laughed and bent a finger.

Pei Yuan stalled for time, deliberately looking at Zhu Houzhao's finger and asked, "What does your majesty mean?"

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "I didn't use up all the exemptions from death I gave you last time. You hesitated and tried to deceive me just now, so I will deduct one from you."

What the hell!

Pei Yuan's mind became even more confused.

Pei Yuan decisively decided to sell out Xiao Yan to save himself first, so he said, "Because Xiao Yan owed me a favor, I contributed a lot in the battle of Yanggu, but because of Han Qianhu's matter, I didn't want to be promoted, so I gave the credit to Xiao Yan."

"But I didn't expect that Xiao Yan would suddenly reveal such news to me to repay the favor."

Pei Yuan basically told harmless facts, and concealed the fact that the two men had sneaked 600 soldiers from the garrison into the capital, and were planning to cause trouble in the river project in order to rob the river governor Zhang Feng.

The latter two are both felonies...

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "What you said is not right."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but hold his breath.

Oh shit.

Xiao Yan, what did you say?

Zhu Houzhao did not hide it, "He told me that he did it out of loyalty. I will ask him about it later."

Pei Yuan was suddenly confused.

He did have a grudge against Xiao Yan before, and was also very angry that Xiao Jing wanted to use his own blood to pave the way for Xiao Yan and Xiao Tong.

But with Xiao Yan's tip-off, Pei Yuan escaped the disaster.

Pei Yuan had already made peace with this guy in his heart.

Now that he's here, he's in trouble.

What if Xiao Yan was tricked by Zhu Houzhao and said something else...

Pei Yuan looked at Zhu Houzhao with pain in his balls.

You guy, you deserve to die!

Zhu Houzhao's mind was very active, and he asked again, "You said that Qianhu had noticed some clues. What was it? The White Lotus Sect?"

He added, "The White Lotus Rebellion in Henan has been quelled by Lu Ting. That Song Prince Zhao Jinglong has been beheaded."

Zhao Jinglong's White Lotus Sect was forced to rebel in advance and was dealt with without causing any trouble.

As a result, the old evil cult like the White Lotus has lost its deterrent power.

Pei Yuan thought to himself that it was fortunate that he had already found a replacement, and could also help build momentum for Gu Dayong.

So he said respectfully, "I am talking about Luo Sect."

"Luo Sect?" Zhu Houzhao asked curiously, "Why have I never heard of it?"

Pei Yuan thought to himself, otherwise how could they be called clues?

However, in order to facilitate subsequent operations, Pei Yuan still exaggerated the Luo Sect.

"Reporting to your Majesty, the Nara sect is a newly rising religion in the territory of our Great Ming. They believe in Luo Zu and are widely spread in the Shandong area. They have not only bewitched many ignorant men and women in the local area, but also spread to the canal workers and soldiers along both sides of the canal."

Zhu Houzhao just listened calmly at first, but when he heard about the canal workers transporting soldiers, he immediately became furious, his whole body tensed up, and his eyes widened.

This Grand Canal is the lifeline of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Houzhao asked in a deep voice, "Has this matter been verified?"

"Uh." Pei Yuan said, "Not yet."

As if he was worried about Zhu Houzhao's questioning, Pei Yuan took the initiative to explain, "Those evil people deceived the people with the 'empty hometown and no parents', and they are already showing signs of power. There are not enough people in the Qianhu Office, and I am afraid they are not enough to control them."

"And Shandong has just experienced the scourge of the Bazhou rebels. The people are living in poverty. If the situation is not handled properly, it may cause civil unrest. I dare not take the initiative, so I plan to continue to gather detailed intelligence on the one hand, and go to Beijing to integrate forces on the other hand, and strive to defeat Luojiao in one fell swoop to prevent it from spreading and causing harm to the Ming Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)