I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 58: People from Nanjing
The Hall of Cunxin.

"Your Highness, this is all the conversation I had with Shi Lu." Zhan Bin said as he sat on a chair.

Zhu Houxuan was sitting opposite him, clenching his chin and digesting this information.

"Is that so? Then many of Shi Lu's behaviors can be explained." Zhu Houxuan sat up straight.

"Yes, there hasn't been a Jinshi serving as an official in the palace in recent decades. Shi Lu is the first Jinshi. No wonder he holds resentment." Zhan Bin said slowly.

"Shi Lu was not a Jinshi, he was a Tong Jinshi." Zhu Houxuan corrected.

There is a huge difference between being a second-class Jinshi and being a third-class Jinshi.

"How did Your Highness know this?" Zhan Bin asked in surprise.

“I sent someone to investigate him.”

"He used to be a fifth-rank prefect, and he had a backer, so he had a promising future. But later, because his backer fell, he was subjected to political oppression and was forced to move to the position of chief official of the royal palace to avoid disaster. Recently, there was news that his former backer was going to be reinstated, so he became like this."

"I see. No wonder he didn't react so strongly when he saw the prince forging iron a few months ago. It seems that he hadn't received the news that his backer was going to be reinstated at that time." Johnson said with sudden realization.

"Then Your Highness, how should we deal with this matter?" Yu Chun said from the side.

"Let's just stay the same in the face of change. After all, Shi Lu is the head of the officials in the palace. If he goes against me, I won't be able to do much. If I go against him, he won't be able to do anything either. So let's just handle it this way for now."

"Even a mild-mannered man like Zhan Changshi has fallen out with him. He doesn't have any good friends in the mansion. Why don't we just isolate him directly!" Yu Chunlai suggested.

"Okay, let's do it!" Zhu Houxuan nodded.

He was actually also considering whether to get rid of Shi Changshi through some unsavory means, such as chronic lead poisoning.

But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was not necessary. Shi Changshi had not caused him any substantial harm, and it would be a bit too much to kill him directly.

Moreover, he was somewhat disdainful of using those unpresentable means. He thought that he had not done anything shameful, and Shi Changshi could not find any handle on him.

Zhan Changshi, Yu Chunlai and Zhao Zhihuishi were the team that Concubine Liu gave to Zhu Houxuan to control the palace. They had served in the palace for many years, and the various rewards over the years had bought them over.

Zhu Houxuan was able to use the three of them very easily.

Commander Zhao was not present today because he was too shallow-minded to be suitable for this kind of thing.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

"What's the matter?" Yu Chunlai walked to the door and asked.

"Reporting to Eunuch Yu, a young eunuch suddenly came to the outside of the mansion and asked to see the prince. He also had a business card of the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing, saying that he came to visit the prince on the orders of Eunuch Liu Bo, the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing." Qin Ming said quickly.

The three people in the hall exchanged glances with each other, and for a moment they couldn't understand why the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing would send someone here.

"Let Qin Ming in." Zhu Houxuan ordered.

The palace door opened, and Qin Ming walked quickly to Zhu Houxuan holding a business card in both hands. Zhu Houxuan took it and looked at it, but couldn't see anything special about it, so he handed it to Yu Chunlai.

Yu Chunlai examined it carefully for a long time before saying, "Everything matches. It's real."

"There shouldn't be any connection between the Prince of Jing's Mansion and the eunuch who is in charge of the Nanjing garrison, right?" Zhu Houxuan frowned.

"The royal palace has never had any intersection with the eunuchs guarding Nanjing." Zhan Bin said with certainty.

The three of them fell silent again.

"Since you have come here in public, let's meet him properly." Zhu Houxuan was the first to break the silence, "Follow the rules, meet him openly, and summon the three officials in charge of the palace."

"Yes!" Yu Chunlai immediately called two young eunuchs and asked them to find Shi Lu and Commander Zhao.

"Wait a minute!" Zhan Bin twisted his beard, his eyes flashing with cunning, "When I came just now, I heard Shi Lu sleeping in his room."

Yu Chunlai immediately understood and said to one of the eunuchs, "Go and see if Shi Changshi is still asleep. If he is awake, call him over. If he is still asleep, come back directly."

After Yu Chunlai gave the order, he immediately looked at Zhu Houxuan.

Zhu Houxuan nodded slightly.

After a while, the two young eunuchs came back, bringing back Commander Zhao only.

Zhu Houxuan directly asked Yu Chunlai to go and welcome the envoy from the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing.

The meeting took place in the Cunxin Hall. Although the actual power of the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing was much greater than that of the King of Chu, his status was far lower than that of the King of Chu, so the meeting in the Cunxin Hall was already a high enough standard.

"Liu Zhou from the Nanjing Garrison Office pays his respects to His Royal Highness the Prince of Jing and wishes you good health. I hope you will forgive me for my intrusive visit." After Liu Zhou entered the hall, he paid his respects with great ceremony.

"Please stand up, your Excellency. The Jing Mansion has never had any contact with Eunuch Liu. I wonder why Eunuch Liu sent you here?"

"Your Highness, please allow me to report that Eunuch Liu heard some new songs a while ago and was amazed at them. Later, he learned that these songs were from Your Highness's new play. Eunuch Liu was delighted and sent me to borrow the troupe from Your Highness for a while."

Zhu Houxuan was speechless. His opera troupe had now become like Tang Monk's flesh, and was loved by everyone.

"Since Eunuch Liu has spoken, I will definitely give him face. The opera troupe that went to the Prince of Chu's Palace will be back soon. Please wait for a few days. After they come back, I will let them go to Nanjing with you." Zhu Houxuan said very happily.

"Your Highness, please forgive my rudeness. Eunuch Liu knows that the opera troupe of Prince Jing's Mansion is divided into two classes, A and B. Class A is the best, and Class B is the substitute. Eunuch Liu means that he wants to borrow Class A, and there are also Class B substitutes for important roles," Liu Zhou said softly.

Zhu Houxuan felt a little offended. This eunuch Liu had gone too far. He seemed to be asking for whatever he wanted. This was a bit too overbearing. After all, he was a prince of the Ming Dynasty, the highest-ranking noble in the Ming Dynasty. He also had to save face!
Liu Zhou sensed Zhu Houxuan's displeasure and quickly said, "I know this request is very abrupt, but Eunuch Liu borrowed the troupe not for his own enjoyment, but to present it to Your Majesty so that Your Majesty can see the prince's new play."

"Presented to His Majesty?" Zhu Houxuan almost suspected that he had heard it wrong.

"That's right. Eunuch Liu plans to send the troupe to Beijing to perform for Your Majesty in the palace, so he wants to borrow the best actors," Liu Zhou looked at Zhu Houxuan and said sincerely.

Zhu Houxuan was in shock. He hadn't even started working on his Damascus play yet, but his new play was going to be presented to Emperor Zhengde first.

This is truly a path that has never been imagined!
(End of this chapter)