Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 301 Rumors surging
"Brother Feng, Old Cui always shows up in front of our adoptive father, and today he stole the limelight again. In comparison, we... do you have any good ideas?" Tian Ergeng felt that he could not let Cui Chengxiu continue like this. How could the other adopted sons, Cui Chengxiu, cope with this situation when he was so introverted?
Having said that, Tian Ergeng joined Wei Zhongxian much earlier than Cui Chengxiu. When Emperor Tianqi just started to use Wei Zhongxian, Tian Ergeng followed Wei Liangqing's path and later became Wei Zhongxian's disciple.

But even so, this old fellow Cui Chengxiu came from behind and soon became one of Wei Zhongxian's adopted sons. Moreover, among these adopted sons, Cui Chengxiu's official position was not high, not to mention compared with him, the Left General and Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. But now he was on equal footing with him and even surpassed him.

This can be seen from the seating arrangement of the adopted sons in front of Wei Zhongxian, which made Tian Ergeng deeply worried. Tian Ergeng also wanted to do more for his adopted father, but unfortunately, Tian Ergeng's brain was not as good as Cui Chengxiu's, and he had to admit that even if he tried to find a way, he could only watch Cui Chengxiu's position in Wei Zhongxian's heart become more and more important.

"This..." Feng Quan thought about it carefully. As a civil servant, he was also jealous of Cui Chengxiu, but he did not show it on the surface. In addition, Feng Quan had not been with Wei Zhongxian for a long time. Although he also worshipped Wei Zhongxian as his adoptive father, his ranking among the adopted sons was only average.

In addition, he and Tian Ergeng were one civil and one military, and there was no conflict between the two in their official careers. Moreover, they both had some friendship with Wei Liangqing, which was why they were close to each other on a daily basis.

Tian Ergeng pulled him aside today to say these things. In fact, what Tian Ergeng said was what he was thinking. We are all adopted sons. We can't just watch you, Cui Chengxiu, always show off in front of your adopted father, right? This made Feng Quan feel unhappy.

"Old Tian, ​​how about this..." Feng Quan came up with an idea and whispered something to Tian Ergeng's ear. After a moment, Tian Ergeng's eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement.

"That's a good idea. Let's go, let's go together?"

"go!"

The two men smiled knowingly and reached an agreement in an instant. Then they got on the sedan chair and left Wei Zhongxian's mansion together.

When Tian Ergeng and Feng Quan left, Wei Zhongxian in the mansion also finished listening to Cui Chengxiu's report. At first, Wei Zhongxian was still smiling when Cui Chengxiu whispered these things in his ear, but his face turned cold as he listened. After Cui Chengxiu finished speaking, Wei Zhongxian's face became so dark that it seemed as if water was about to drip out.

With a "bang", Wei Zhongxian grabbed the teacup beside him and threw it hard to the ground. The exquisite porcelain shattered into pieces in an instant.

Such a noise instantly alerted the people outside. Several Dongchang soldiers who were guarding outside rushed in hurriedly, with vigilant looks on their faces and their knives drawn.

"Get out!" Wei Zhongxian glared and cursed. The East Factory guard was stunned for a moment. He saw Cui Chengxiu standing next to Wei Zhongxian with a normal expression, but Wei Zhongxian was furious. There were also broken pieces of teacup on the ground.

These Dongchang men didn't say anything. They quickly put away their knives, backed away, and when they reached the door, they closed it again.

"Father, don't be angry. This is not the first time that the Donglin Party has been so despicable." Seeing that Wei Zhongxian was really angry, Cui Chengxiu comforted him softly.

"How can this be the same?" Wei Zhongxian glared at Cui Chengxiu and said angrily, "It would be fine if these bastards said anything about our family, but they actually dragged the emperor into this and spread rumors everywhere. Once the emperor finds out, how can we explain it?"

"Father, don't worry too much. Your Majesty is an illustrious ruler. Such rumors can only deceive fools. Anyone with some sense will not believe them. Besides, isn't the Donglin Party doing this to make Father lose his mind? Father, you must not be fooled by the Donglin Party!"

Cui Chengxiu's words immediately reminded Wei Zhongxian. He thought about it and nodded silently, thinking that Cui Chengxiu was right. But his anger did not subside much, and he was more angry with the Donglin Party than before.

These Donglin Party members are really despicable. As the saying goes, those who are loyal are mostly butchers, and those who are unfaithful are mostly scholars.

The Donglin Party were all well-read people. I heard that the Donglin Academy still had a couplet written by Gu Xiancheng hanging in its walls: "The sounds of wind, rain and reading are all pleasant to the ears; I care about the affairs of family, nation and the world." However, these Donglin Party members spoke of being righteous and moral, but were actually thieves and prostitutes. How could they look like scholars at all?
Wei Zhongxian was not angry about how the Donglin Party treated him. Anyway, the contradiction between him and the Donglin Party had been irreconcilable for a long time, and the two sides were fighting each other. If the Donglin Party was only targeting him, Wei Zhongxian would not be so angry, but the Donglin Party not only fabricated rumors about him, but also dragged the Emperor Tianqi and the Empress into it. This was completely different.

Wei Zhongxian never thought that the Donglin Party would be so mean as to fabricate such a rumor. When Cui Chengxiu told him about this, Wei Zhongxian didn't take it seriously at first, but as Cui Chengxiu told him about it, Wei Zhongxian's face suddenly darkened, and his hands shook involuntarily with anger.

He never imagined that the Donglin Party would actually spread such rumors, putting the blame on him for the fact that Empress Zhang had given birth to a stillborn baby some time ago. Not only did they throw dirty water on him, they also spread rumors against the emperor and the empress.

The Donglin Party secretly spread the news that the reason why Empress Zhang Yan gave birth to a stillborn baby was entirely due to Wei Zhongxian and Keshi, because Empress Zhang had always been rude to Wei Zhongxian after entering the palace and had a bad relationship with him. In order to avenge Empress Zhang and prevent her from giving birth to a legitimate son and affecting their status in the palace, Wei Zhongxian and Keshi plotted and murdered her.

The Donglin Party said that Wei Zhongxian took advantage of the opportunity to give Empress Zhang a massage to kill the prince in her belly, which was the real reason why Empress Zhang gave birth to a stillborn baby. They also spread rumors that Wei Zhongxian and Ke Shi celebrated after learning that Empress Zhang gave birth to a stillborn baby, and held a private banquet to show their smugness. Such behavior is simply unimaginable.

This news made Wei Zhongxian very angry. He never thought that the Donglin Party would make up such rumors.

Wei Zhongxian admitted that his relationship with Empress Zhang Yan was indeed not very good. Since entering the palace, Zhang Yan had always disliked Wei Zhongxian and often found fault with him to scold him. In her words, she indirectly called Wei Zhongxian a dog slave who spread evil words to deceive the emperor, causing the emperor to be distant from villains and not be close to gentlemen.

Facing such a queen, Wei Zhongxian complained bitterly, but he could not refute. After all, Zhang Yan was the queen, the master of the six palaces. Although Wei Zhongxian was extremely powerful, he was a slave of the royal family. The power in his hands came entirely from the emperor. The queen and the emperor were both his masters. If the master scolded the slave, the slave could only suffer.

Wei Zhongxian complained to Emperor Tianqi about this privately, and Emperor Tianqi knew that Empress Zhang disliked Wei Zhongxian. Emperor Tianqi could not blame the Empress for her sake, so he could only persuade Wei Zhongxian and ask him to have as little contact with the Empress as possible, so that they would not feel uncomfortable when they met.

In this way, Wei Zhongxian basically avoided the empress in the palace and avoided seeing her if possible. Even if the empress wanted to cause trouble for him, Wei Zhongxian would first report to the emperor and then ask Emperor Tianqi to help him deal with the situation.

If you can't afford to offend, can't you just avoid her? Wei Zhongxian was not stupid, nor did he have the tendency to be abused. He always kept his distance from Empress Zhang.

Since Empress Zhang became pregnant, Wei Zhongxian had never met Empress Zhang privately except for a few times with Emperor Tianqi. But even so, such a rumor was spread? And the blame for Empress Zhang giving birth to a stillborn baby was put on Wei Zhongxian, which shows how vicious the Donglin Party was.

Not to mention that Wei Zhongxian had never done such a thing, and how could Empress Zhang let Wei Zhongxian give her a massage, considering how much she hated him? Wei Zhongxian was not a technician, and he didn't know anything about these things. And if a massage could kill a pregnant woman's baby, could it be that Wei Zhongxian secretly practiced the Sunflower Manual? Or did he know the Bone-Dissolving Palm?

Anyone with some sense would not believe this, but the Donglin Party made these rumors very vivid, as if the Donglin Party members were standing by and watching when Wei Zhongxian was massaging Empress Zhang. They said how Wei Zhongxian massaged and massaged, how Empress Zhang endured Wei Zhongxian's "poisonous hand", how Empress Zhang cried and screamed and gave birth to a stillborn baby, and how Wei Zhongxian hid aside and danced with joy and smugness...

These vivid descriptions are even clearer than those of the people involved. It would be a waste of talent if one does not use such imagination to write a storybook.

The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty were different from the eunuchs of the late Tang Dynasty. They even had the power to depose and enthrone emperors.

No matter how powerful Wei Zhongxian was, he was only a slave of the imperial family. How could he have the guts to do such a treasonous thing? Moreover, the conflict between Wei Zhongxian and Empress Zhang was just because Empress Zhang always disliked Wei Zhongxian, and Wei Zhongxian just hid from her. No normal person would do such a thing.

As for the claim that Wei Zhongxian was worried that Empress Zhang would give birth to a legitimate son who would threaten his position and would therefore plot his revenge, it was sheer nonsense. Wei Zhongxian's master was Emperor Tianqi. As long as Emperor Tianqi trusted Wei Zhongxian, his position would be as stable as a rock.

What's more, the Tianqi Emperor ascended the throne at a young age and was only 19 years old. The emperor was in his prime and in good health. He could sit on the throne for at least a few decades. How could Wei Zhongxian feel threatened by a newborn baby?
Wei Zhongxian was not young anymore, he was already in his fifties. It is said that people rarely live to be seventy. When Emperor Tianqi was thirty years old and in his prime, he would be almost seventy years old. It was still unclear whether he could live to that age by then.

Even so, eleven years later, the prince was only a teenager. Even if he was made the crown prince, what threat could a young crown prince pose? The Donglin Party fabricated such a lie that made Wei Zhongxian so angry that he wanted to skin and rip the Donglin Party members who fabricated the lie to relieve his hatred.

(End of this chapter)