Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 43 Slapping the Eunuch

At dawn on October 27, Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty officially returned to the palace.

Before Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao took the throne, the cabinet's chief minister Liu Jian, the second minister Li Dongyang, and the third minister Xie Qiansanri also appeared one after another. Seeing that the three of them looked tired, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile and said, "You three dear ministers have been working hard these past few days!"

Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, didn't know that Zhu Houzhao was mocking him. He just nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am overwhelmed!"

The deputy assistant Li Dongyang only smiled faintly: "Your Majesty has worked hard!"

Sanfu Xie Qian did not speak.

Zhu Houzhao didn't say anything more. When he heard the official from the Ministry of Rites say it was time for him to set off, he let Liu Jin lead the horse and head towards the Meridian Gate.

At this time, the sky had cleared up, and the mild winter sun shone through the thick clouds, leaving behind countless golden rays, which made people feel warm when they saw them.

The whole world suddenly became strangely quiet.

All the civil and military officials have gone home to take a temporary rest and prepare to change from mourning clothes to auspicious clothes tomorrow to pay their respects to Zhu Houzhao.

Therefore, at this time, the only people who followed Zhu Houzhao back to the palace were the eunuchs, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and the imperial guards.

Zhu Houzhao looked at the soldiers standing upright on both sides and smiled slightly. On the surface, he was calm, but in fact, he was not calm inside. He held the reins tightly, ready to stick out half of the blade of the dagger in his sleeve from time to time, and his eyes were vigilant as a hawk, looking around.

At this time, Guo Rong, the guard officer standing outside the Meridian Gate, was also standing aside, watching the appearance of the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao with a trace of reverence.

Like most officers and soldiers, Guo Rong truly had heartfelt respect and expectations for Zhu Houzhao at this moment, because it was Zhu Houzhao who issued them the rice salary, which allowed them to bid farewell to hunger and usher in hope.

However, at this moment, a soldier suddenly took off his cotton armor, holding a wooden stick without a gun tip, and suddenly rushed towards the position where Zhu Houzhao was in the middle of the road!

Zhu Houzhao felt even more nervous and excited. He knew that from now on, he would no longer need to pretend to be innocent and gullible.

Zhu Houzhao was waiting for the soldier to appear at this time, and he quickly gave Liu Jin a wink.

Liu Jin nodded and rushed towards the soldier, shouting, "There's an assassin, help!"

The calm and orderly team suddenly became chaotic.

Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, even asked Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Department, directly: "What happened?"

"Son, go and take a look," the eunuch Zhang Zhao, who was in charge of the Imperial Stables, came running over. He was also very panicked because he was in charge of the defense of the palace. If the emperor was really assassinated, he would be the first one to be implicated!

At this time, Guo Rong happened to see the soldier coming towards him, so he chopped him down with his knife, cutting off the soldier's stick and hand on the spot. The soldier was in so much pain that blood was flowing, but he turned around and smiled at Guo Rong, then took out a pill with his left hand and put it into his mouth. At this time, Liu Jin also ran over and grabbed the soldier's neck.

But the soldier had already died, and he looked very weak, and even died peacefully.

Zhu Houzhao was relieved when he saw this scene. He also got off his horse and said coldly, "Where is Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Administration?"

Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables, also came over at this time and asked loudly, "What happened? How did it happen?!"

As he spoke, Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Administration, came to Zhu Houzhao and patted his clothes: "Your Majesty, are you okay?"

Zhu Houzhao slapped the eunuch Zhang Zhao, who was in charge of the Imperial Stables, in the face and said, "Who gave you the courage to pull my clothes? Kneel down!" The eunuch Zhang Zhao, who was in charge of the Imperial Stables, was startled. He did not expect that the Emperor would suddenly become furious, which was completely different from his usual personality. He could not help but cover his burning face, hesitating whether to kneel down or not.

At this time, Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, also rushed over. He was also surprised at the sudden assassination and was puzzled by the corpse blocking the road. However, when he heard Zhu Houzhao ordering Zhang Zhao to kneel down, he knew that the emperor was the emperor at this time and some majesty could not be challenged, so he also scolded Zhang Zhao: "Kneel down if the emperor wants you to!"

Snapped!
Zhu Houzhao slapped Wang Yue in the face and said, "Do you really think you are our ancestor? I told him to kneel down, but he refused. Does he have to kneel down just because I tell him to?"

Wang Yue was suddenly shocked!
How is this going?

Why is the Emperor so different today than usual?
Why are you so furious and not caring about anything at all!
But the situation was stronger than the person. Zhu Houzhao was the emperor after all, and the cabinet ministers were not there at the moment. Therefore, Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was isolated and helpless at the moment. He did not dare to challenge the majesty of Emperor Zhu Houzhao alone, so he had to kneel down:

"I dare not! I dare not call myself the ancestor! I hope Your Majesty will calm down!"

Zhu Houzhao felt very happy when he saw that Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was hit by him and left with five finger marks on his face and was kneeling on the ground. He thought that he had finally experienced the power of an emperor.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not show any smugness on the surface, nor did he let Wang Yue stand up. He just looked at Zhang Zhao coldly: "Why, you still don't kneel, do you really want me to kill you?!"

Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables, came to his senses at this moment. He endured the pain on his face and the sudden anger, and knelt down in panic: "I dare not!"

"It's good that you don't dare!"

Zhu Houzhao then said to Liu Jin: "Ask him for me how he could be the head of the Imperial Horse Administration and allow assassins to appear in the palace!"

Liu Jin immediately asked Zhang Zhao, "Your Majesty, I want to ask you, how did you manage to be the head of the Imperial Horse Administration and allow assassins to appear in the palace?"

"Eunuch, eunuch!"

Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Administration, didn't know what to say for a moment, and then he said, "Your Majesty, please give me a chance. I will investigate thoroughly!"

"Useless things!"

Zhu Houzhao kicked Zhang Zhao, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Administration, and said:

"Where is Mou Bin, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard?"

Lu He, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, who was standing nearby, was very surprised. He wondered why the emperor went directly to Mou Bin, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and why he didn't go to him, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot. Was he dissatisfied with me too?
However, before Lu He, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the commander of the Eastern Depot, could react, Mou Bin, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, had to appear before Zhu Houzhao: "I am here!"

"Take away Zhang Zhao's crown and throw him into the imperial prison! Interrogate him strictly!"

Zhu Houzhao shouted coldly.

Mou Bin, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had not expected that the emperor would ask him to throw the eunuch Zhang Zhao, who was in charge of the Imperial Stables, into the imperial prison. He was horrified, but at this moment, he could only shout "obey the emperor's order."

The eunuch Zhang Zhao, who was in charge of the Imperial Stables, did not beg for mercy. He was shocked and felt more and more that all this was premeditated by the emperor.

When Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, saw this scene, he understood in his heart that this was not an assassination at all. It was clearly a trap set up by the emperor to control the inner court. At the same time, he was secretly surprised that his emperor turned out to be a shrewd emperor and was not really gullible.

Wang Yue, the eunuch who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department, felt a little scared, but he also knew that since it had come to this, he would definitely become a thorn in Zhu Houzhao's side, and begging for mercy would not work. The only thing he could do was to find an opportunity to tell the cabinet and join forces with foreign officials to suppress Zhu Houzhao, or even get rid of him!
(End of this chapter)