Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 126 This Day Has Finally Come (Second Update)

"Thirteenth Lang! Thirteenth Lang!"

Haiyue opened her eyes and immediately saw Yan Shifan's large face right in front of her. She said helplessly, "Donglou, can't you let me get a good night's sleep?"

Yan Shifan said helplessly, "Brother, look at the sunshine outside. Did you sleep for too long?"

"I couldn't help it, I was really tired the past few days!"

Haiyue got up and stretched.

Compared to the previous cases, the Princess's Mansion case was actually the fastest-paced, lasting only two days. Even Li Yuying didn't stay at the Princess's Mansion for more than three days.

However, these three short days were truly turbulent. In the end, due to the arrival of the two empress dowagers, the matter could not be brought to a normal conclusion, and they had to take risks. Fortunately, the mission was successfully completed.

Of course, Haiyue knew that although the main process of this case seemed to be over, there were still many details to be found.

For example, who actually bought that sandalwood bed?

For example, why would the Cloud Hidden Society be valued by the Princess's Mansion and be able to carry out this long-planned major case?

For example, in Hong Niangzi's final confession, did they really kill the wrong person?

There are so many things worth investigating in detail!

Moreover, no matter how much investigation is carried out, the already turbulent court will likely become even more turbulent.

Yan Shifan's visit was clearly also because of this matter. The incident at the Princess's residence had caused such a big commotion that even though Empress Dowager Jiang ordered the news to be suppressed, Empress Dowager Zhang fled back to the palace in a panic, and the matter was still widely publicized.

Within a single day, the entire court and the inner palace knew about this earth-shattering case.

This also includes Yan Song and his son.

While others were only focused on the fate of Princess Yongchun and the two empress dowagers, Yan Shifan was even more aware that his classmate had been involved in the entire major case at the princess's residence and had ultimately helped save the emperor. He was incredibly envious.

If he could save Empress Dowager Jiang, why would he need to curry favor with the new elites of the Great Rites Controversy?

They, father and son, are newly rich!

The Emperor's Favorite!

Looking at the person in front of him, he felt a strange sense of envy and said sourly, "Thirteenth Brother, don't you know what a great thing you've done?"

Haiyue said, "Donglou is trying to remind me that a traitor who dared to assassinate the Empress Dowager has escaped and is now somewhere sharpening his knife, thinking about how to kill me and avenge himself?"

Yan Shifan's expression changed. He had been worried about his brother's poverty and feared his brother's rise to power, but now, upon hearing this, he immediately became anxious: "Then you must be careful! These thieves are vicious and ruthless; they've truly gone mad!"

Haiyue smiled and said, "Since we've already done it, there's nothing to worry about. We just need to conserve our energy and be on guard."

"Then you can go back to sleep!"

"Come back! Come back!"

Yan Shifan was about to slip away when Haiyue grabbed him: "Let's go! Let's go to class!"

The two arrived at the classroom.

The best students, Hai Rui and Lin Daqin, always occupied the best seats for listening to the lectures, while Hai Yue and Yan Shifan were in the back row as usual.

But after taking their seats, they found everyone talking amongst themselves, and even the teaching assistant in front seemed a little distracted.

"Have you heard? The thief confessed that he attempted the assassination because the Zhang brothers were wicked and hated the Empress Dowager!"

"Do you believe it?"

"I don't believe it... It's clearly a ruse... With two empress dowagers on equal footing, the Zhang family must have been suffering for a long time before daring to defy the world!"

"But I just learned that the Zhang brothers are utterly wicked, even more hateful than Marquis Wuding!"

"So what? With the indulgence of two previous emperors, he dared to wear a crown in the palace and humiliate palace maids. Humph! Where is the dignity of my Great Ming Dynasty!"

"What a pity for the loyal eunuch He Wending! The traitor Zhang has committed countless blood debts that he has yet to repay!"

During Emperor Xiaozong's reign, he had only one wife, Empress Zhang. As the emperor's brothers-in-law, the Zhang brothers were truly unrestrained. One night, while drunk in the palace, they even took Emperor Xiaozong's crown and put it on their heads, laughing and joking. When the eunuch He Wending saw this, he stepped forward to stop them. After the incident was exposed, Empress Zhang reported it to Emperor Xiaozong. Emperor Xiaozong not only did not punish the Zhang brothers, but also imprisoned and tortured He Wending, asking him who was behind it.

He Wending confessed to the presiding judge that there were two people instigating it, but unfortunately they couldn't catch them. When the presiding judge asked who they were, He Wending said they were Confucius and Mencius.

These words caused an uproar in the court and among the people. Ministers submitted memorials to plead for He Wending.

It was rare for an official from the previous dynasty to plead for a eunuch from the next dynasty, but Empress Zhang still refused to let go of this eunuch who dared to expose her family's scandals. She ordered him to be beaten to death, and He Wending continued to curse until his death.

There were too many such incidents. The grudges had long been brewing, but they were gradually forgotten. After all, whether she was the Empress or the Empress Dowager, Zhang was truly not someone to be trifled with.

But it is precisely at this moment that the assassination attempt on the Empress Dowager has brought these old stories back to the forefront.

The elderly recalled the injustices of the past with deep emotion, while the younger generation, upon hearing such a shocking event, found it even more unbelievable. Combined with the previous case of Marquis Guo Xun of Wuding, they realized that there were even more arrogant relatives of the emperor than this guy!
No matter what, the nobles' ancestors helped the founding emperor conquer the country. What are maternal relatives anyway?
Yan Shifan listened carefully to the murmurs of the crowd, and finally leaned over and whispered, "The Zhang brothers are finished this time. They could have lived as wealthy men, but now that the court and the public are indignant, His Majesty will not show them any leniency!" Hai Yue said calmly, "This day should have come long ago!"

……

Dusk.

The Shouning Marquis's residence was brightly lit, and the sounds of music continued unabated.

The hall was filled with delicacies from land and sea, and fine wines and dishes piled up on the mahogany round tables.

Zhang Heling, his face flushed from drinking, slumped in a brocade-covered armchair, clutching a golden cup, and drunkenly rambled, "That little emperor is truly despicable! He's long forgotten the contributions of our Zhang family! If it weren't for me welcoming him to the capital back then, where would he be today's figurehead?"

This sounds absurd, but it is true that after the death of Emperor Zhengde, the court sent Minister of Rites Mao Cheng, eunuch Gu Dayong, Grand Secretary Liang Chu, Duke of Dingguo Xu Guangzuo, Marquis of Shouning Zhang Heling, and others to Anlu to welcome Zhu Houcong to the capital to ascend the throne.

So if we're talking about the merit of being welcomed and flattered, there was a tiny bit of it. In the early years of the Jiajing reign, when Zhu Houcong's position was weak, this man was promoted to "Duke of Changguo". At that time, his swaggering and arrogance was no less than when his brother-in-law and nephew were in power in the previous two reigns. He was extremely proud.

After Zhu Houcong secured his throne, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Last year, he was stripped of his title without any regard for dignity, and "Zhang Heling, Duke of Changguo, was stripped of his title and allowed to live in retirement with his salary."

Zhang Heling was indignant about this and often cursed in his residence. Zhang Yanling, who was standing next to him, sneered repeatedly: "That's right! The court has been treating us more and more harshly over the years. They even dare to deduct our salaries. Now there are rumors outside that someone wants to kill us. Do they really think our Zhang family is easy to bully?"

He grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, and grabbed the jade pot on the table, smashing it hard on the ground with a loud crack, shattering the jade into pieces.

The servants were used to it and numbly stepped forward to sweep.

Just as they were getting into a heated argument, a series of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the mansion, followed by heavy footsteps.

Before anyone in the main hall could react, the gate was kicked open with a bang, and dozens of Imperial Guards rushed in. The leader shouted sternly, "Imperial Guards, search the Zhang residence! No one is to move!"

Zhang Heling sobered up instantly, his face turning deathly pale. The golden cup in his hand clattered to the ground. Zhang Yanling burst out of the main hall, roaring, "Insolence! Do you know where you are? How dare you trespass into the Marquis's residence? Are you tired of living?"

"A Marquis's residence? What Marquis's residence? Good heavens! A commoner's house, daring to overstep its bounds!"

Commander Wang Zuo, under the pretext of interrogating a wanted criminal, did not participate in this operation, but took Lu Bing with him. The operation was carried out by Xiao Zhen, the Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who loved to confiscate property. He waved his hand and ordered, "Search!"

The Imperial Guards immediately scattered, ransacking the mansion, smashing open the storerooms, and taking out all the gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, and paintings.

Zhang Heling watched helplessly as boxes of his treasured jewelry were carried out, his whole body trembling, but he dared not stop them.

Just as Zhang Yanling was about to struggle, he was horrified to find that, accompanied by the sound of armor clashing, the Imperial Guards carried out one suit of armor after another.

"This...this isn't right...this isn't ours!"

Zhang Yanling's expression changed completely.

Throughout history, possessing armor was a serious crime. Armor was considered irrefutable evidence of treason and posed a real threat of armed rebellion. The Ming Dynasty Code stipulated that possessing a full set of armor was punishable by death, and crossbows, muskets, and other military weapons were subject to the same punishment.

However, nobles were allowed to maintain private armies, so the rules were much more lenient in this regard. "The mansions of dukes, marquises, and earls were permitted to keep ten sets of iron armor and twenty sets of leather armor; exceeding this number would be considered treason." Even so, this was still extremely taboo.

Throughout history, many powerful officials who were charged with treason were inextricably linked to armor. For example, Ji Gang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard during the Yongle reign, was convicted of plotting treason for secretly possessing a hundred sets of armor and crossbows and was executed by slow slicing. The cases of Liu Jin and Qian Ning during the Zhengde reign also involved armor hidden in cellars. And in the recent case of Li Fuda, a court official impeached Guo Xun for protecting the White Lotus rebels and for secretly possessing armor in his residence, which also led to his execution.

Now, it's their turn.

The problem is, they don't have any armor in their household!

There are countless gold and silver treasures, but this thing really doesn't exist!
"You...you...you're so...filthy..."

"You audacious traitor! How dare you plot rebellion!!"

Commander Xiao Zhen stepped forward, his eyes flashing with wild joy as he looked at the treasure. He shouted, his voice truly shaking the heavens: "Search again!"

As expected, with the "deepening" of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a jade belt, a dragon robe, a ceremonial robe, and a fake imperial seal were all found.

This is exactly the treatment Liu Jin received.

"Definitely!"

Zhang Heling's legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground, while Zhang Yanling's face turned ashen and his teeth began to chatter.

Even the dumbest person, seeing this trend, would know what this raid was for.

The key point is that even the Embroidered Uniform Guard wouldn't dare to frame someone of this level.

Who gave the orders behind the scenes?
The answer is self-evident.

Take them all away!

Xiao Zhen looked at the two puddles of mud on the ground, waved his hand with satisfaction, and in just one hour, the once bustling Hou Mansion was in complete disarray.

This day should have come long ago...

The day has finally come!
(End of this chapter)