Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 66: I will find my queen myself!
Qianqing Palace.

After the court session, Zhu Qizhen returned to the palace and immediately summoned Xu Youzhen, Li Xian and Shi Biao.

"Your Majesty, although the Queen Mother's plan was cruel, it did turn the situation around in an instant." Xu Youzhen spoke first, "We originally planned to use Sun Xianzhong to check the Queen Mother, but we didn't expect him to take the initiative to plead guilty and shoulder all the blame, thus saving Duke Cheng. More importantly, this move allowed the ministers to see the Queen Mother's selflessness."

Zhu Qizhen nodded slowly and said thoughtfully: "This is a breakthrough. It will be more difficult to deal with her in the future."

He had already made up his mind that among the people around the Queen Mother, the easiest to use was Sun Xianzhong, who had many problems and was easy to deal with. In contrast, Sun Jizhong was self-disciplined and strict, and almost impeccable.

"Take your time." He waved his hand and continued to instruct, "Next, we have to take advantage of the situation to solve the stubborn problem of land annexation. Xu Youzhen, you will coordinate and strictly regulate everything from the court to the local areas. Li Xian and Shi Biao will assist you, especially Shi Biao. As the commander of the Jinyiwei, you must act boldly and take down those ministers who don't know how to live or die."

"Your Majesty, I have conducted a secret investigation. If we take action this time, it is estimated that hundreds of people will be involved." Shi Biao reported.

"Catch those who need to be arrested, kill those who need to be killed!" Zhu Qizhen's eyes were sharp and his tone was firm. "The Fengtian Palace can be a river of blood as long as the Ming Dynasty prospers."

The three of them responded in unison: "As you wish!"

Zhu Qizhen frowned and ordered: "Xu Youzhen, if you are short of manpower, you can go to Yu Qian to call on Yang Guifang, Li Bing, Liu Dingzhi and others. They are all young and promising talents, and it is a good opportunity to train them."

Xu Youzhen nodded in acceptance of the order, knowing clearly that His Majesty was gradually employing his own trusted followers.

With the turmoil in the government and the opposition, I don’t know how many lives will be lost, and a large number of new people will be needed to fill the vacancies.

……

British government.

Hearing that Duke Ying Zhang Fu was ill, Zhu Qizhen came to visit him with great fanfare. Zhang Fu's son Zhang Mao led the whole family to kneel at the door to greet him. Zhang Jingshu, who was wearing a plain long dress, raised her head slightly and saw Zhu Qizhen striding in. She quickly lowered her head with a slightly red face.

"Welcome, Your Majesty." Zhang Mao brought his family to pay homage.

"Everyone, get up and take me to see the old Duke." Zhu Qizhen waved his hand.

Zhang Mao stood up and led the way. Zhu Qizhen turned his head and glanced at Zhang Jingshu behind him, and raised his eyebrows. Zhang Jingshu's bright and lively eyes were slightly angry.

When he came to the room, he saw Zhang Fu lying on the bed, looking sick. When he saw Zhu Qizhen coming in, he wanted to get up and pay his respects. Zhu Qizhen hurried over to help him up and said, "Old Duke, there's no need."

The two looked at each other with complicated expressions. Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said, "All of you go down. I have something important to discuss with the Duke."

Zhang Mao led everyone out of the room and closed the door. Zhu Qizhen gently patted Zhang Fu on the shoulder and asked, "Are you really sick? I thought you were pretending to be sick to avoid the turmoil in the court."

"You call yourself "I" now, just open your mouth and say it." Zhang Fu snorted coldly.

"Didn't you say it? You have to believe it. Otherwise, what will you do if the truth is revealed? Will your whole family die with me?" Zhu Qizhen spread his hands.

Zhang Fu gritted his teeth in anger. He watched this fake emperor gradually gain power, and he felt remorseful. He stared at Zhu Qizhen and said in a low voice: "You promised me that you would abdicate voluntarily."

"You promised me that you would keep me safe and wealthy?" Zhu Qizhen said speechlessly, "If I withdraw now, do you think the Queen Mother will let me go?"

Zhang Fu was in torment.

On the one hand, he wanted the fake emperor to abdicate, and on the other hand, he was worried that the entire Zhang family would be implicated. As he grew older, he doted on the younger generation in his family, so how could he bear to let them die with him?

"Why did you come to see me today?" he asked coldly.

"Well, I'll give your Zhang family great wealth." Zhu Qizhen smiled. Zhang Fu looked alert: "What wealth? My Zhang family is already rich enough."

Zhu Qizhen pointed outside the door and said, "I want to take your granddaughter as my concubine, and then as my queen in the future..."

"Get lost!" Zhang Fu was furious. "Don't I understand what you are thinking? I am warning you, if you try to implicate my granddaughter, I will do whatever it takes."

Zhu Qizhen was very upset: "Old Duke, don't be so impatient."

He thought to himself, it will be a done deal between me and your granddaughter sooner or later.

……

Zhang Fu spat out a mouthful of blood, and after calming down for a while, he asked, "Why did you come to see me?"

Zhu Qizhen frowned, thought for a while and said, "Don't you want me to abdicate? For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, you must first help me completely suppress the power of the Queen Mother's party. Don't stare at me. Think about it, if I abdicate now and let Prince Qing take the throne, will Prince Qing be able to sit firmly? Will the Queen Mother tolerate him?"

Zhang Fu hesitated to speak, because he knew what Zhu Qizhen said was true. However, he snorted, "Don't think I don't know your purpose. You just want to turn the fake into the real. You want me to help you deal with the Queen Mother."

"Old Duke, you still don't understand me." Zhu Qizhen spread his hands, "I just want to do a few things that are beneficial to the people and the Ming Dynasty while I am in power. You have seen this, right?"

Zhang Fu picked up the teacup and took a gulp of tea.

He did see that the fake emperors were doing practical things, especially the stubborn problem of land annexation. Without the courage of the fake emperor, this thing could not be done at all. Of course, it was precisely because he was a fake emperor and had no feelings for the Zhu family that he was so decisive in killing the vassal kings.

"Old Duke, please think about it. I am not in a hurry." Zhu Qizhen stood up and said, "Take good care of her. I am going to look for your granddaughter."

"You...you..." Zhang Fu glared angrily.

"Call the imperial physician to take a good look at the Duke." Zhu Qizhen shouted.

The imperial physician, Zhang Mao and others came in, and Zhang Fu could only hide his expression to avoid showing disrespect to the emperor. Zhu Qizhen walked and shrugged proudly, and came to Zhang Jingshu: "Jingshu, I see that your garden has some of the feeling of Jiangnan gardens, with winding paths leading to secluded places. Can you show me?"

"Ah? Okay." Zhang Jingshu opened her bright peach blossom eyes wide.

She led Zhu Qizhen to the garden, where phoenix tails were dense, dragons were roaring, and there was a field of green bamboo all around. Zhu Qizhen felt refreshed: "What a great place! It's much more elegant than my imperial garden."

Zhang Jingshu blushed slightly, with a smile on her lips: "I moved that piece of green bamboo here specially."

A breeze blew, lifting her skirt, and a blush appeared on her fair and delicate face, full of the beauty and purity of a young girl.

"Jingshu, I miss you so much." Zhu Qizhen started to play straight.

Zhang Jingshu was obviously startled, her face turned even redder, and her eyes were flustered: "Your Majesty, don't talk nonsense."

Zhu Qizhen, however, looked calm and sighed quietly, "One life, one generation, one pair, why do we have to be separated by two souls? Longing for each other but unable to be together, for whom is the spring?"

He stood facing the wind, his clothes fluttering.

……

Ps: It’s the end of the month, and those who still have monthly tickets are welcome to throw them in my face.

(End of this chapter)