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

Chapter 441 Queen Mother Zhang
Pei Yuan waited for a long time before he saw Zhang Rui coming leisurely.

Pei Yuan was a little impatient and a little angry. Although he tried to restrain himself, he couldn't help but asked a little stiffly, "How is it?"

Zhang Rui frowned slightly, then said calmly, "The Queen Mother wants to see you, let's take you there, so that you can rest assured and do a good job for the Queen Mother."

Pei Yuan was greatly surprised. He did not expect that the Queen Mother would directly inquire about this matter.

It is not known whether the relationship between Empress Dowager Zhang and Queen Xia was really so bad, or whether Xia Ru, the Earl of Qingyang, completely angered Zhang Heling.

However, the Queen Mother's intention to use her status to put pressure on Pei Yuan and overthrow Queen Xia in one fell swoop was clearly revealed.

Pei Yuan could only show an appropriate expression of joy, "I never thought that I would have such a blessing."

Zhang Rui looked at him with disdain and said calmly, "Let's go."

As he said this, he led the way and took Pei Yuan to Renshou Palace.

Speaking of which, if it weren't for the evil man Li Zilong who came and went from the palace at will and even teamed up with the eunuchs and palace maids to plot evil, shocking Emperor Chenghua, it would have been difficult for Pei Yuan to enter the harem with his identity.

Since the late Yongle Dynasty, the commander of the Zhenxie Qianhu Suo has always been a woman.

Therefore, Emperor Chenghua subconsciously did not consider the issue of gender differences, nor did he realize the possibility of a deputy centurion appearing in a centurion's office.

After all, the position of deputy captain is not permanent.

Moreover, this title had only appeared twice before, once when he was encircling and suppressing the Five Elements Flag of the Ming Cult, and once when he was suppressing the rebellion of the White Lotus Buddha Mother in Shandong.

The most recent one was about the Yongle Dynasty.

If Emperor Chenghua knew...

Perhaps he felt that it was more important to provide timely assistance and save his life at the critical moment.

After all, his sister Wan was "masculine in appearance and loud in voice, like a man."

Well, I'm not really worried about being coveted by others.

Pei Yuan followed Zhang Rui and arrived in front of Renshou Palace surrounded by a group of eunuchs.

Zhang Rui looked back at Pei Yuan and said calmly, "Wait."

Then he climbed the imperial steps and entered Renshou Palace.

After a while, the palace maids and eunuchs lined up, and a woman in gorgeous clothes walked out of the hall surrounded by the crowd.

Pei Yuan guessed that the empress dowager was probably a widow living in the palace and didn't want to be gossiped about, so she chose to wait for him to see her on the steps outside the palace.

Pei Yuan was quite curious, and in his panic, he did not forget to quickly glance at the empress dowager who was the only one favored by Zhu Youtang.

However, after years of sculpting, the empress dowager's face is still delicate, calm and dignified. She has lost her former beauty, leaving only a bit of mature charm.

Her eyes were like stagnant, deep water, carrying a dangerous aura. Her hair was tied up high, adorned with a few phoenix hairpins inlaid with gemstones.

Pei Yuan didn't dare to look any longer and quickly lowered his head.

When he lowered his head, Pei Yuan silently made a rough calculation. Zhu Houzhao was born when Emperor Hongzhi was 22 years old. In the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, this was basically considered a child born in old age.

You have to know how old was Zhu Houzhao's grandfather, Emperor Chenghua, when he was combing his hair in the mirror and lamented that he was getting old but had no son?

Twenty-four years old!

Although, when Emperor Chenghua was very panicked, Zhu Houzhao's father Zhu Youtang was able to escape, which resolved the succession crisis.

But this trouble happened again when Zhu Youtang came to power.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao, who was born when Zhu Youtang was 22 years old...

Pei Yuan thought about those historical rumors and felt slightly moved.

It is said that because Zhu Youtang had no son and favored Empress Zhang just like Emperor Chenghua favored Concubine Wan, Empress Dowager Zhou was worried and ordered Zhu Youtang to have sex with two palace maids. This led to the birth of Zhu Houzhao.

But soon, Pei Yuan focused his attention on Empress Dowager Zhang in front of him.

By this calculation, the current Empress Dowager Zhang should be just over 40 years old.

Because she has been pampered and willful all along, she no longer has the bright and beautiful appearance she once had, but because she has taken good care of herself, she still has some charm.

Pei Yuan did not dare to underestimate this woman.

As the culprit behind Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling's evil deeds and arrogance, Empress Dowager Zhang is not easy to deal with.

Pei Yuan quickly bowed and said in a deep voice, "I am Pei Yuan, the captain of the Imperial Guard, and I am honored to see the Queen Mother."

Pei Yuan lay on the ground for a while before he heard Zhang Rui's hoarse voice saying, "The Queen Mother grants you liberty."

Pei Yuan stood up slowly, but did not dare to look up.

Then Zhang Rui shouted again, "The Queen Mother asked you, why did you dare not do what she told you to do?"

Pei Yuan was mentally prepared to accept the Queen Mother's face-to-face pressure.

He was silent for a moment, organizing his speech.

Zhang Rui said impatiently, "These are all the Queen Mother's trusted confidants, just speak up."

Pei Yuan did not dare to delay, nor did he intend to compromise on this life-threatening matter, so he still insisted on his original statement.

"I'm not shirking my responsibility, but this matter is of great importance. If it can't be finalized on the spot, I'm afraid it will cause trouble."

"If it involves witchcraft, it is not something that a deputy commander like me can decide on my own. The court will certainly urgently summon Han Qianhu to the capital to confirm the matter. By the time the news reaches Nanjing and Han Qianhu arrives on horseback, I'm afraid it will have already caused a big uproar."

"By then, the emperor will be on guard, and the government and the public will be watching. Under the watchful eyes of the public, it will probably be even more difficult to do anything."

"So I dare to suggest to Admiral Zhang Gonggong that as long as we say that we have found something unclean, we can ask the Queen Mother to issue an order not to allow the Emperor to go to the Queen's bedroom, or to move the Queen out of the bedroom and have her live in another palace."

"This way we can achieve our goal without causing an uproar in the government or the public."

After Pei Yuan finished speaking, he heard no movement for a long time, so he couldn't help but glance up at the altar.

But he saw the eunuch Zhang Rui from the East Factory explaining something to the Empress Dowager.

Pei Yuan thought to himself, could it be that Zhang Rui was trying to trick him by not telling the Queen Mother what he had said?

If that's the case, maybe Zhang Rui wants to take this opportunity to get rid of me.

It just so happened that when the tale was told, the Queen Mother suddenly had an idea and wanted to ask in person, which led to this exchange of answers.

Thinking that his life and death were completely dependent on someone else's decision, Pei Yuan couldn't help but feel horrified.

After a while, Zhang Rui said in a low voice to the people below the stairs, "Let's try it as you said. If it doesn't work, you can go to the East Factory and confess your crime."

Pei Yuan felt more and more that Zhang Rui was trying to trick him.

It was obvious that Zhang Rui would get such instructions as long as he relayed what he just said to the empress dowager. Why did the empress dowager call him here for no reason?
It can only be said that Zhang Rui deliberately omitted a lot of things when he reported to the Queen Mother just now.

Pei Yuan subconsciously turned his gaze to Zhang Rui.

But Zhang Rui stared back at him and shouted, "How dare you! You actually looked directly at the Queen Mother!"

Pei Yuan cursed Zhang Rui in his heart, but he didn't dare to let him distort and frame him, so he could only hurriedly say, "I am an official from outside the country, a soldier, and I don't know etiquette. I just subconsciously looked at the eunuch Zhang who was speaking. I would never dare to look directly at the Queen Mother."

This time Pei Yuan heard the voice of Empress Dowager Zhang. She said in a very cold voice, "Go back and do your work."

After he had finished speaking, he could hear footsteps on the steps and the jingling of jewelry.

Pei Yuan didn't dare to look up, for fear that Zhang Rui would catch him again.

After a long time, the sound faded away, and then I heard footsteps coming down the steps.

Pei Yuan raised his head slightly and saw that the person walking down from the steps was Zhang Rui, the governor of the East Depot.

Pei Yuan looked around again and found that the empress dowager and the palace maids and eunuchs were no longer on the steps.

Zhang Rui's expression was gentle, as if nothing had happened just now. He patted Pei Yuan's arm and said earnestly, "To be with the emperor is like being with a tiger. How can Captain Pei be so inconsiderate? Do you think you can look down on the empress dowager?"

Pei Yuan cursed in his heart.

This bastard pretends to be loyal at one moment and treacherous at another, and he manages to do it so smoothly.

Fortunately, Pei Yuan was also smooth and sighed, "If it weren't for Eunuch Zhang's deliberate rebuke and protection, I'm afraid I would have been questioned by the eunuchs serving beside the Queen Mother."

Zhang Rui laughed.

Then, without saying much, he waved his hand to signal Pei Yuan to follow him to the queen's bedroom.

When they arrived in front of the queen's bedroom, Zhang Rui still asked Pei Yuan to wait.

Pei Yuan quickly stopped him and said, "There's no need to disturb the Queen. Just check the warm rooms in the side halls on both sides."

Pei Yuan just wanted to deal with it, and of course didn't want to make enemies with Queen Xia directly.

Zhang Rui scolded, "What do you know? Even if you want to investigate the consort palaces and warm rooms, you have to inform the queen. Matters are matters, and rules are rules."

After saying this, he went outside the hall to report.

After a while, Queen Xia came out surrounded by eunuchs and palace maids.

Pei Yuangang had witnessed the majesty of Empress Dowager Zhang, and subconsciously looked down on Queen Xia, who was about to be suppressed by the Empress Dowager.

He took a bold look.

But Queen Xia was only eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a palace dress embroidered with golden phoenix patterns. Perhaps because of her undisguised anger, her beautiful nose wrinkled, her thin lips pursed slightly, and her delicate and beautiful facial features also had a bit of fierceness.

Seeing Queen Xia's aura, Pei Yuan no longer dared to underestimate this woman and redefined her position in his heart.

This time, Zhang Rui was not on the Danchi with him. He also stepped down and greeted Pei Yuan together.

After Pei Yuan finished his greeting, Zhang Rui smiled and said to Queen Xia, "I heard that this place is not very peaceful, so I am here to take Captain Pei to investigate the palace on the Queen Mother's orders. Queen, you can go to the palace to rest first, while Captain Pei will slowly investigate the surrounding area and report the results back to the Queen and the Queen Mother."

Queen Xia pursed her lips and looked at Zhang Rui with disgust, but Zhang Rui, who was wearing a bright red dragon robe, smiled indifferently.

She turned her gaze to Pei Yuan again.

Pei Yuan deliberately sighed in front of her and lowered his head pretending to feel guilty.

Pei Yuan's behavior was normal for an ordinary minister, so Zhang Rui didn't think much of it.

But Queen Xia, who was deliberately guided by Pei Yuan, hesitated slightly.

Pei Yuan’s idea is simple, if he is not a weakness.

No one wants to break through from here.

If Pei Yuan wants to completely eliminate the two Zhangs, in addition to his own meticulous planning, he also needs the help of Qingyang Bo Xia Ru at the critical moment.

It is not easy for Pei Yuan to take the initiative to form a partnership with the Queen or the Earl of Qingyang. It would be best if the other party could come to him.

Queen Xia seemed to be thinking about something and continued to stare at Pei Yuan.

Zhang Rui urged Pei Yuan, "Captain Pei, what are you still hesitating about?"

Pei Yuan could only pretend to walk towards the side hall, followed by several eunuchs.

Since the result was already determined, Pei Yuan was in no mood to perform like a clown.

He drove away the eunuchs who followed him and stayed alone in the side hall in silence.

After a while, Zhang Rui came in. He glanced at Pei Yuan, smiled knowingly, and said, "That's good enough. Do you have any suitable words?"

Pei Yuan replied, "Just say that we have found something unclean, and we don't know which dynasty it is from."

Zhang Rui smacked his lips for a while and said indifferently, "You just said there was something unclean."

Pei Yuan was shocked when he heard this. This was indeed a thief's bite that went deep into the bone.

After such a deliberate deletion, the current queen is associated with the word "unclean", which will trigger countless speculations.

Maybe this is even more serious than the witchcraft disaster.

Pei Yuan immediately refused, "This is not good."

Seeing that Pei Yuan didn't dare to wade into this muddy water, Zhang Rui said meaningfully, "Let the Queen Mother issue the imperial decree first. If the emperor asks, we will explain the details to him. We won't accuse the Queen for no reason. We will just explain what should happen when the time comes."

"The emperor will not blame us if he finds out what the little devil is causing the trouble."

"Besides, this is a life-threatening matter, and it was the Queen Mother who issued the imperial decree herself. Who would dare to speak to His Majesty openly? We at the East Factory will definitely not interfere, will you?"

Pei Yuan remained silent.

In this case, isn't it easy to spread rumors but difficult to refute them?

What's more, there may not even be a rumor-refuting service.

When it comes to other things, the ministers may be brave, but when it comes to such private and ambiguous wording, what do you want them to say?
Those ministers couldn't ask Zhu Houzhao if he was cheated on, right?
How suicidal is this?
But... these things in the inner palace have nothing to do with Pei Yuan.

He couldn't pay for the goose out of his own pocket.

When Pei Yuan walked out of the side hall, he unexpectedly found that Queen Xia was still looking at him.

Seeing Pei Yuan coming out, she seemed to have been certain of it for a long time and asked, "What did you find out?"

Queen Xia's voice was very clear. Although she tried hard to appear calm, her impatience and uneasiness still made her voice sound somewhat aggressive.

Pei Yuan hesitated for a moment and replied, "There are a few unclean things. I don't know which dynasty they are from."

As for the vague words and tricks afterwards, that was Empress Dowager Zhang's business, and Pei Yuan didn't dare to get involved.

Queen Xia had no idea of ​​the power of the abridged version of the report. She said nothing and went straight back to her own palace.

Although Pei Yuan still felt very sympathetic towards Queen Xia, he didn't plan to do much.

According to the original history, Queen Xia lived peacefully and tenaciously for another fourteen years after Zhengde's death.

Compared with the indomitable Empress Dowager Zhang who always jumped out to seek death, Empress Xia finally lived out the rest of her life in peace and stability.

Pei Yuan had no intention of participating in or changing this.

It is a good thing for an unfortunate life to have a peaceful ending.

(End of this chapter)