Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 148: The Emperor in the Capital is a Fake
Fahai Temple.

After offering incense, the Queen Mother rested in the Zen room in the backyard.

The ancient trees in the temple are towering, and a few rays of sunlight sparsely penetrate through the branches and leaves, sprinkling on the bluestone-paved path in a mottled manner. The air is filled with a faint scent of sandalwood, and a few clumps of chrysanthemums in the yard are proudly blooming in the cold wind.

The empress dowager sat in the meditation room. Through the exquisite wooden window lattice, she could see a tree of red leaves outside the window. The leaves were as bright as fire in the early winter sun, yet they also had a kind of lonely beauty.

The room was warm and cozy, with charcoal fire crackling in the stove. The Queen Mother held a cup of hot tea in her hand and gently blew on the floating leaves on the water, and the fragrance of tea rose. There were several ink paintings hanging on the walls around, with simple brushwork and profound artistic conception, adding a sense of transcendence.

"It's really inconvenient, otherwise I would like to stay here for a while." The Queen Mother sighed.

At this time, Shuangxi came in from outside and bowed: "Empress Dowager, the master has arrived."

The Queen Mother put away her expression, sat up straight, and waved her hand. After a while, a man wearing a bamboo hat came in. The hat was pulled down so low that his face could not be seen clearly.

"Greetings, Queen Mother." The man bowed.

"Okay, now that we are here, you can take off your hat." The Queen Mother's eyes were sharp, "I have something to tell you."

The man took off his hat and stood aside respectfully.

The Queen Mother took a sip of tea and said, "Your Majesty is going to take action against Duke Cheng. You should ask Duke Cheng to retreat on his own initiative."

The man hesitated for a moment and said, "With Duke Cheng's personality, I don't think he will voluntarily retreat."

The Queen Mother looked at him coldly, took out a notebook and threw it to the man, saying coldly: "The rubbish he has done is enough to kill him several times. If he doesn't retreat voluntarily, you think this thing will appear in front of the emperor."

The man opened the notebook and was shocked.

The Queen Mother snorted, "The so-called 'Annals of Officials' is in my hands. Humph, that thing is useless to many officials, but it is very useful to someone like Duke Cheng. If it weren't for me...if it were before, I would have killed Duke Cheng first."

"Yes!" the man nodded quickly.

The Queen Mother continued to take a sip of tea, and said in a dignified voice: "You are a chess move left by this palace. Although most officials in the court do not know your existence, His Majesty and the Jinyiwei must have noticed you. It is not time to reveal you yet, you must continue to hide."

The man nodded respectfully: "I understand! No one would have thought that I am your man, Queen Mother."

The Queen Mother waved her hand and the man retreated.

……

The cold wind howled outside the window. The Queen Mother stayed in the Zen room alone for half an hour before leaving the Zen temple and returning to the palace. Shuangxi was still driving the carriage, which moved slowly on the street.

"Hey, isn't that His Majesty?" Shuangxi stopped the carriage.

The Queen Mother lifted the curtain of the carriage, stuck her head out, and looked up. She saw Zhu Qizhen confronting a group of hooligans on the street not far away. It looked like they were going to fight.

"Queen Dowager, what should we do? There are more than a dozen people on the other side, but His Majesty is only one." Shuangxi was anxious.

"Have you forgotten? He almost killed Yesen on the battlefield." The Queen Mother was very calm and watched with interest, "Let's see what this guy is going to do. How can a dignified emperor compete with a scoundrel?"

At this moment, Zhu Qizhen was indeed competing with the ruffians, or more precisely, with the Yulong Gang. Because the dozen ruffians claimed to be from the Yulong Gang, and came to this street stall to collect protection fees, and were run into by Zhu Qizhen, how could he tolerate this?

"Yulong Gang? Who is the leader of your gang?" Zhu Qizhen asked arrogantly.

"I'm Xiaotian, the leader of the Yulong Gang." A young man stepped forward and said, "Stop talking nonsense. You're alone, and you're so arrogant? Brothers, fight!"

A dozen people rushed forward, and in a blink of an eye, a dozen people fell to the ground and howled. Zhu Qizhen stepped on Chao Xiaotian and raised his eyebrows: "Do you accept it?"

"I'm your uncle!" he shouted angrily at Xiaotian, "Let me go if you dare. Come again."

Zhu Qizhen let him go, and then threw him to the ground again. After seven times of letting him go and throwing him to the ground, he became impatient and said, "Zhuge Liang only captured Meng Huo seven times. You should be convinced, right? My patience is limited."

Chao Xiaotian, who was lying on the ground, raised his hands and said, "I am convinced! Hero, can you accept me as your disciple? From now on, you are the leader of the Yulong Gang."

Zhu Qizhen raised his lips slightly and said, "Forget about the gang leader. You can continue to be the gang leader. However, I can teach you a few tricks, but you have to listen to me."

Chao Xiaotian quickly got up and bowed: "Sir, you say!"

Zhu Qizhen looked around. It was too messy. Garbage was thrown everywhere. There was not a single trash can in the entire capital city. It really affected the cityscape.

"So, in the future, you can continue to collect protection fees, but you also have to keep the streets clean and tidy." Zhu Qizhen pointed and taught them how to do it.

Chao Xiaotian looked embarrassed: "Master, we are gangsters, how can we do the job of picking up garbage?"

Zhu Qizhen's momentum rose sharply: "Not willing?"

"I'm willing to do it!" Chao Xiaotian said quickly, "As long as you can give me some advice, I'm willing to do anything."

Zhu Qizhen acted like a master: "How many streets do you cover now?"

Chao Xiaotian looked embarrassed: "With these two nearby, our Yulong Gang is still small. Once I learn your martial arts, I will definitely become stronger..."

"Then start from these two days and do as I say." Zhu Qizhen waved his hand, "I will come to see the results in ten days. If you do well, I will teach you my supreme magic skills."

"Yes!" Chao Xiaotian was overjoyed, "We will start now."

As he said that, he turned around and ordered his younger brothers: "Why don't you go pick up the trash quickly? If anyone dares to litter again, beat him up! Xiaoliu, come with me to prepare the trash...bin."

Zhu Qizhen folded his hands across his chest, very satisfied.

The appearance of the capital city should have been changed long ago. Since the government can't do it well, let this so-called gang do it and see the results.

The Empress Dowager and Shuangxi, who were not far away, were a little confused when they saw that the Emperor actually asked those rascals to pick up garbage.

"With so many government affairs to attend to, how can he have the time to take care of these?" The Queen Mother snorted.

"Empress Dowager, the streets in the capital are actually a bit dirty. It's a good thing that there are people dedicated to maintaining them," Shuangxi said.

The Queen Mother lowered the carriage curtain and snorted, "He is the emperor, and he should be in charge of military and national affairs."

Shuangxi chuckled: "Queen Mother, His Majesty just fought against so many people alone, so charming, like a dashing hero."

The Queen Mother was annoyed: "Little girl, don't be so tempted."

……

The next day, at the morning court, after the court session, Duke Cheng stood up, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I am guilty. Over the years, I have neglected to discipline my family members. Some of them opened businesses without my knowledge and participated in the theft of government grain; some occupied the people's land, and some occupied the merchants' shops. I have investigated all of them, and I cannot escape responsibility. Please strip your majesty of my title and demote me to a commoner. I am willing to return all my gains to the people and merchants. I have already arrested the criminal members of my family and handed them over to the Ministry of Justice for punishment."

The ministers were shocked.

Emperor Zhu Qizhen was also shocked.

What the hell is this? I was going to punish you, and you jumped out? You felt guilty? That's impossible, you don't have that thing.

"Is this... true?" He pretended to be incredulous.

Eunuch Cao Jixiang brought up Duke Cheng's memorial and handed it to him. He opened it and glanced over it. In fact, Shi Biao had already collected evidence of Duke Cheng's crimes, but there was one thing: the evidence was really on his clansmen. Duke Cheng was cunning and never participated in person.

"It's shocking." Zhu Qizhen said coldly after reading it.

He was just thinking about how to take advantage of the situation to put Duke Cheng into jail. At this time, several ministers stood up and said that Duke Cheng had examined himself and was brave enough to admit his mistakes, so he could be given a lighter punishment.

Among them were the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, officials from the six ministries, and even the two Shangshus, Chen Xun and Gao Gu. Zhu Qizhen felt something was wrong, but he still accepted the advice of the ministers.

"Remove your title of Duke Cheng and let him retire in Beijing." Zhu Qizhen sighed, "However, those members of your clan who have committed crimes will be handed over to the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple for trial and punishment according to the law."

Duke Chengguo knelt down and said, "I thank your majesty for your grace!"

……

After the morning court, Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Qizhen summoned three of his trusted ministers, including Li Xian, the Minister of Personnel, Ke Qian, the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace, and Shi Biao, the Commander of Jinyiwei. Shi Biao spoke first: "It's too coincidental, isn't it? I collected evidence of his crime, and he took the initiative to plead guilty."

"I guess some experts have given him some advice." Li Xian frowned. "What I find strange is that so many ministers are speaking up for him, and some of them are..."

What he wanted to say was that some ministers were still on the emperor's side. Ke Qian smiled and said, "This result is also OK. Aren't we just trying to bring down Duke Cheng?"

Zhu Qizhen smiled slightly, "It's interesting. Duke Chengguo can take the initiative to confess his guilt. It seems that the master behind him is not simple. Don't worry, we will take our time. Didn't I grant amnesty to the whole country? Wasn't the former Minister of Justice Yu Shiyue also pardoned? In this case, I will issue an edict to appoint him as the head of the Ministry of Justice to be responsible for trying the cases of Duke Chengguo's family members."

"Great!" Shi Biao said, "Yu Shiyue will absolutely listen to you now. You wanted to save his life, but now you have re-employed him. Shouldn't he be grateful and make amends for his crime? He knows all about Duke Cheng's bad deeds."

Li Xian and Ke Qian looked at each other. This move of His Majesty was very vicious. Let Yu Shiyue interrogate the family of Duke Cheng, he would definitely be able to find out something.

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and asked them to make the arrangements.

The three of them bowed and left. Zhu Qizhen stood by the window, looking at the cold winter frost outside.

Duke Chengguo will never make a comeback, so there is only one remaining cause of chaos in the court, Prince of Qin Zhu Qiyu.

……

Xiangyang City.

The morning was chilly and frost covered the ground. But the Prince of Xiangyang got up early, holding a newspaper in his hand, his face terribly gloomy. The princess came out with a thick cotton coat, put it on him, and said, "Prince, it's so cold, take care of yourself."

"Princess, we really helped the wrong person." said King Xiang.

"What do you mean by helping the wrong person?" the princess asked puzzledly.

Prince Xiangyang took out a letter from the drawer and handed it to the princess. The princess took it in a daze. After reading it, her expression changed drastically: "This... is this a letter from His Majesty?"

"Yes!" King Xiang's eyes were like knives. "This is the real emperor, and the emperor in the capital is a fake one."

The princess couldn't believe it: "No way? We have lived in the capital for nearly a year. His Majesty... He is wise and courageous, and has a kind heart. He is wholeheartedly devoted to the Ming Dynasty."

King Xiang pounded his fist on the table, his eyes blazing with fire: "At that time, I was deceived by him. I didn't have many opportunities to meet the emperor, so I couldn't tell him apart. But seeing that he was devoted to revitalizing the Ming Dynasty, I didn't think about it that way. Hey, who dares to pretend to be the emperor? This is simply unbelievable."

"Then what is written in this letter may not be true." The princess said, "This emperor far away in Dunhuang may be a fake."

King Xiang shook his head and said, "All the princes have received his letter. I have sent people to verify it with the princes in various places. If you look at the contents of his letter and the imperial seal, it should be true. Now that I think about it, the Queen Mother refused to give up power and should have pointed out that the emperor was a fake."

"This... this..." The princess panicked, "What should I do?"

King Xiang smiled bitterly: "What should I do? It's difficult now! The fake emperor has firmly sat on the throne. He has returned the land to the people and implemented new policies. He has won the hearts of the people. Now, even the vassal kings of the Zhu family are afraid of him. This matter needs to be considered carefully!"

He took a deep breath and secretly made up his mind that he would never let the Ming Dynasty fall into the hands of outsiders.

……

Capital city, Prince Qing’s Palace.

Duke Cheng, who was stripped of his title and dismissed from all positions, was so angry that he wanted to smash the cup. He said to Zhu Qiyu, the Prince of Qin, "Your Majesty, His Majesty actually let Yu Shiyue try the case. Isn't this trying to put me to death? I now know why my people were arrested one by one. It turned out that Yu Shiyue betrayed us."

Zhu Qiyu also frowned deeply, looked at Tung Xingdao who was leisurely drinking tea and asked: "Mr. Tung, we took the initiative to retreat a step, and it seems that His Majesty still does not intend to let us go."

Tung Xingdao smiled slightly, "Prince, Duke, don't worry. No matter how much we investigate, we won't find anything about the Duke. Besides, you, the Duke, have been stripped of your title, what else do you want? Your family has been loyal for three generations, His Majesty will consider it, and he will not disappoint the ministers."

After hearing his analysis, Duke Cheng was slightly relieved and said, "Out of sight, out of mind. I plan to go out and travel, just like Elder Wan and Mr. Hu, who enjoy the mountains and rivers and feel very comfortable."

"No!" Tung Xingdao raised his head, "His Majesty asked you to retire in the capital, you cannot leave the capital."

"What do you mean? House arrest?" Duke Cheng was shocked.

Zhu Qiyu interrupted, "Duke, why are you so anxious? Besides, we need you here too. Although you have been stripped of your title, your connections in the army are still there. There are many people in the three generations of the Chengguo Mansion who have benefited from your family, especially in the army."

A barely perceptible smile flashed across Duke Cheng's lips. He just wanted them to understand that he was still of great use.

"As for Yu Shiyue, I will find a chance to warn him." Zhu Qiyu's eyes were filled with murderous intent. "Don't think that I can't deal with this traitor."

"Send someone to assassinate him?" Duke Chengguo asked happily.

Zhu Qiyu was speechless. "How is it possible? He must have Jinyiwei around him. Not to mention that he can't be killed, even if he can be killed, he can't be killed. Aren't you telling people that it was you who did it? Killing an official appointed by the court is a big deal."

Tung Xingdao frowned slightly.

It was very correct to let Duke Chengguo take the initiative to apologize, otherwise, he would be killed by this man sooner or later.

(End of this chapter)