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

Chapter 617 Night Visit
Zhou Anmin hosted a welcome party for the two and settled them down after the banquet. As it was late, Zhou Anmin did not go home but stayed at the Jinyiwei Yamen directly. After washing up, when Zhou Anmin was about to rest, someone knocked on the door. When he opened the door, it turned out to be Wu Mengming.

"Master Wu!"

"Brother Zhou!"

"It's so late, why is Lord Wu...?" Zhou Anmin asked with a little surprise.

Didn't Wu Mengming send him to rest just now? How come he came here in the blink of an eye? And he was alone in the middle of the night?

"It's late at night and I can't sleep. I suddenly feel thirsty. If Brother Zhou doesn't mind, how about I ask for a glass of water?" Wu Mengming asked with a smile.

Zhou Anmin also laughed. Coming to his side in the middle of the night to ask for water was a really outrageous reason, but Zhou Anmin did not refuse. Instead, he opened the door and invited him in.

Wu Mengming entered the room, looked around, and then sat up. Zhou Anmin lost his caution and restraint and sat down opposite him. There was a teapot on the table with water in it, but neither of them touched it.

"I never thanked Brother Zhou for what happened back then. This time I came to Shanxi and finally fulfilled my wish. Thank you Brother Zhou for speaking up for me, which helped me escape the disaster."

"Master Wu..." Zhou Anmin just opened his mouth when Wu Mengming interrupted him: "You and I are brothers, why do you have to be so polite? And if it weren't for Brother Zhou's help back then, how could I be where I am today? When we meet in private, there is no need to address each other like that. Just call me Wen Zheng."

Zhou Anmin immediately laughed and nodded, saying, "In that case, I'll beg you to call me Brother Wen Zheng."

"Haha, that's natural. It sounds so familiar." Wu Mengming was very happy. For a moment, the atmosphere in the room became a little more relaxed.

Speaking of Wu Mengming and Zhou Anmin, they knew each other before, although they only met a few times and it was a long time ago. However, Zhou Anmin was indebted to Wu Mengming. If Zhou Anmin had not helped Wu Mengming back then, Wu Mengming might have died long ago.

It was during the reign of Emperor Tianqi, when Wu Mengming was still a captain of the Imperial Guard. He offended Xu Xianchun over a trivial matter. Xu Xianchun was a typical villain and a cruel official who would never give up a grudge. After Wei Zhongxian came to power, Xu Xianchun got in touch with Tian Ergeng, and through Tian Ergeng he won Wei Zhongxian's favor, and became Wei Zhongxian's godson.

With the backing of a powerful backer, Xu Xianchun soon became the second-in-command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, second only to Tian Ergeng.

When he was in power, Xu Xianchun remembered that Wu Mengming had offended him in the past. In revenge, he fabricated a crime of harboring a fugitive and dismissed Wu Mengming from his post and put him in prison. He tortured him severely and intended to kill him. Fortunately, Wu Mengming's family sought help everywhere and found Zhou Anmin through their connections. Although Zhou Anmin and Wu Mengming had only met a few times, he helped him at the time and got Wu Mengming out of prison through Tian Ergeng's connections.

After being released from prison, Wu Mengming, who was beaten all over his body, had to recuperate at home for half a year before he was able to save his life, but he could no longer be an official and had to return to his hometown to avoid trouble. When Emperor Chongzhen came to power and purged the eunuch party and cleaned up the Jinyiwei, Wu Mengming was naturally reinstated because he was a captain of the Jinyiwei and had been persecuted by Xu Xianchun. He returned to the Jinyiwei and was promoted.

After a few years, Wu Mengming became the commander-in-chief, which was equivalent to Xu Xianchun's position in the past, and was the second in command of the Jinyiwei. As the saying goes, saving a life is more important than heaven. Although Wu Mengming was not a good person, he was a person who knew how to repay a favor. This time, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to investigate the affairs of Shanxi. After learning about the situation, Wu Mengming took the initiative to come to Shanxi, thinking that he could take this opportunity to repay Zhou Anmin's plan.

"Brother Zhou, I will never forget your kindness in saving my life..."

"There's no need to say such things anymore." Zhou Anmin waved his hand and said, "I didn't expect any reward when I helped you back then, so you don't have to keep it in mind. Besides, you are a blessed man. As the saying goes, those who survive a disaster will have good fortune in the future. Now, you are highly valued by His Majesty and have been promoted to the position of Commander-in-Chief. You are my superior, so there's no need to say such things anymore."

Wu Mengming was touched and held Zhou Anmin's hand firmly, saying, "Although this is the case, without Brother Zhou, I would not be who I am today. To be honest, Brother Zhou, I came to Shanxi on my own initiative and asked for this job. I was worried that Brother Zhou might make a mistake. If Brother Zhou made any mistake, I would be very sorry."

"My dear brother, you are so thoughtful. I am very grateful." Zhou Anmin was also moved.

The two of them expressed their feelings to each other, and Wu Mengming then told them his purpose. Compared with Zhou Anmin, he came from the capital and knew the importance of this matter better. Moreover, this matter could cause big trouble if he was not careful. Zhou Anmin was the head of the Shanxi Jinyiwei. With the character and temper of Emperor Chongzhen, once the matter got out of hand, Emperor Chongzhen could do anything to calm the consequences. Today during the day, Zhou Anmin said that Kang Youfu was missing, and there was no way to continue investigating from Hengtong. The only feasible way was to investigate from the royal family. Du Xun immediately took out the imperial edict of Emperor Chongzhen. The imperial edict clearly stated that it gave the Shanxi Jinyiwei the right to act at its own convenience. In other words, in order to find out the truth about this matter, Emperor Chongzhen had tacitly allowed the Jinyiwei to use means directly against the royal family.

Because Du Xun was there, Wu Mengming could not say much and could only watch from the side. After the banquet, when everyone went back to rest, Wu Mengming quietly came to find Zhou Anmin for this very purpose.

Wu Mengming was worried that if Zhou Anmin really used means against the royal family according to the wishes of Emperor Chongzhen, there would be unimaginable consequences. Although this matter involved the royal family, after all, that royal family member had no clue at all, especially now that the Prince of Jin and other princes including some generals' offices were under surveillance. Once action was taken, the impact would be too great and the impact would not be small.

Although the Ming imperial family has always been extremely wary of the royal family, after all, the royal family and the imperial family are closely connected. They are all members of the Zhu family. There are some things that even the royal family dare not go too far in, after all, they have to consider the feelings of all the royal family members of the Ming Dynasty.

If the matter is investigated further and it is found that the royal family was attacked, the result will be good. If there is no solid evidence, it will be a big trouble. Moreover, even the real target is not clear now. If Zhou Anmin really follows Chongzhen's wishes and attacks the royal family, the consequences will be disastrous.

The royal family is not a pushover. Even though they have lost their power, their influence is still there. If a big fuss breaks out and the royal family asks the emperor for an explanation, what will Emperor Chongzhen do? Zhou Anmin's situation is extremely dangerous!

"My dear brother, this is the emperor's order. It should be right for us to act according to the order, right?" Zhou Anmin asked doubtfully.

"Brother Zhou, you said it was an imperial decree." Seeing that Zhou Anmin didn't seem to understand, Wu Mengming smiled bitterly and said, "You have been in the province for a long time and not in the capital. It is natural that you don't understand many things. This imperial decree was not issued by the cabinet, but directly from the palace. From a legal point of view, it is flawed."

"If nothing happens, there will be no consequences. But if something happens, the court will not recognize this order. And Brother Zhou, have you heard about the Xue Guoguan incident a few days ago? I am afraid that Brother Zhou will become the second Xue Guoguan and become a scapegoat!"

Zhou Anmin was stunned, and immediately understood the meaning of Wu Mengming's words. He was very moved by Wu Mengming.

He just helped Wu Mengming out that year, but he didn't expect Wu Mengming to speak to him from the bottom of his heart today. As the second in command of the Jinyiwei, Wu Mengming was not only taking a huge risk to speak to him, but also showing an attitude of protecting himself. Even if Wu Mengming was not a real good person, Zhou Anmin had to accept his kindness just based on what he said today.

How could Zhou Anmin not know about Xue Guoguan's affairs? He was the only cabinet minister who was killed by Emperor Chongzhen in recent years, and he was killed by some despicable means.

Speaking of Xue Guoguan, he was unlucky and wronged. It was Emperor Chongzhen who forced him to come up with ideas. In desperation, Xue Guoguan gave Emperor Chongzhen a way to solve the financial problem.

There was actually nothing wrong with this method. The mistake lay in the implementation of it by Emperor Chongzhen himself. First, he chose the wrong target, and then he was too harsh and forced Li Guorui to death. After Li Guorui's death, Emperor Chongzhen took the opportunity to raid his house, making the matter a sensation.

The mysterious death of the fifth prince later made Emperor Chongzhen so frightened that he suddenly changed his mind. It would have been fine if Emperor Chongzhen continued to be tough at that time, but he suddenly softened after the initial toughness, and even threw Xue Guoguan out as a scapegoat in order to quell the incident. In the end, Xue Guoguan was killed in the imperial prison, resulting in the unclear death of a cabinet minister.

Even the cabinet ministers could do this, so what could Zhou Anmin, a mere Jinyiwei official, do? Even though Emperor Chongzhen had sent eunuchs, Jinyiwei, and the army to Shanxi to investigate the case, if the royal family members were implicated in the investigation, and the royal family members were in a state of turmoil, in order to give an explanation to the royal family members, Emperor Chongzhen would have to pass the buck again, and this time the unlucky person would be Zhou Anmin.

In fact, Zhou Anmin knew everything Wu Mengming said. How could he not know the consequences of doing so? But this was exactly his purpose, to make the matter bigger through a series of means, so that Hengtong and Zhu Shenzhu could get away smoothly.

This was a plan that he and Zhu Shenzhu had discussed long ago. Even if Emperor Chongzhen held him responsible afterwards, Zhou Anmin was not afraid. He was not Xue Guoguan, so how could he surrender? At worst, he could run away in advance and take his family to Mongolia. Emperor Chongzhen could not send people to Mongolia to capture him and bring him back to the capital, right?
However, he couldn't tell Wu Mengming these words, and it was even more impossible for Wu Mengming to know them. But today, Wu Mengming could take the risk to remind him privately. No matter what, he would remember this feeling in his heart, and he didn't want to let Wu Mengming down.

Thinking of this, Zhou Anmin suddenly had an idea. Since Wu Mengming had made it so clear, he might as well change the original plan slightly. As long as Wu Mengming could cooperate with him, the change of the plan would not only not cause any problems, but might even be more seamless, which was actually a good thing.

(End of this chapter)