Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 225 Fearless of Heaven and Earth

In front of the gate of the Northern Garrison Command.

Sun Weixian looked at Haiyue with a sudden change in expression.

where is this place?
how dare you?
How could you?
He said those words so easily!

"Commander Sun~"

Haiyue greeted him as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, stepping slightly away and giving Sun Weixian a genuinely curious look before extending her hand and saying, "Please!"

Sun Weixian's heart pounded wildly, and he slowly followed, but then he suddenly realized something.

wrong……

I'm a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

He took two quick steps forward, leaned close, and said coldly in a low voice, "I am from Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, and a hereditary member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. I have absolutely no connection with what you are saying. If you dare to spout nonsense and make false accusations again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

“When you speak, you may speak louder; there is no need to lower your voice.”

Haiyue smiled, her voice not loud, but clear enough to carry: "If we're talking about a clean family background, who isn't?"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard (Jinyiwei) largely operated on a hereditary system, with verifiable ancestral records. Sun Weixian was from Shaoxing, Zhejiang, which should be correct.

However, the Hai family of Qiongshan was also a scholarly family, and their lineage can be traced back several generations. Because their ancestor was named Haidaer, some people in later generations suspected that he was originally a Hui person who later became Sinicized. However, a single piece of evidence is not enough, and many speculations are based solely on a name, which is not accepted by most historians.

In any case, compared to Nanjing, Hainan was much more remote. It was an island where officials who had been demoted were not necessarily willing to go, let alone the Imperial Guards.

If we really need to investigate, which one would be more convenient?
"please!"

Seeing the other party's confident and fearless expression, Sun Weixian's face finally turned ugly.

He originally thought that even if Haiyue was young and accomplished in her studies, and passed the imperial examination with flying colors, her parents would not tell her about such a major event that involved the entire clan. At that time, he could use this as leverage to control the terrified boy, which would not only greatly help his career in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but also become his trump card to control that couple in the future.

After all, your son is the second-highest scorer in the imperial examination, has entered the Hanlin Academy as a potential prime minister, and will become a high-ranking official in the future. You probably don't want the court to know the secret of his background, do you?

If things really develop that way, being transferred from Nanjing to the capital would truly be a blessing in disguise!
To everyone's surprise, the newly appointed second-place scholar and compiler of the Hanlin Academy dared to mention the name Jianwen in front of the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard), which was even more outrageous than his parents, and they directly pinned the blame on him.

Admittedly, they can attack and accuse each other. You say I am a descendant of Jianwen, and I say you are a remnant of Jianwen, but what is the result?

This newly appointed second-place scholar will certainly lose the emperor's favor, and his career will inevitably be greatly affected. However, it is not appropriate to talk about such things openly. Since he has achieved the highest rank of Jinshi and is among the top three scholars, the worst outcome will be to find an excuse to punish him and exile him to Lingnan.

Hey, that happens to be Haiyue's hometown.

Compared to him, Sun Weixian's fate will be much worse.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was ultimately a kind of domestic servant. When they were in power, they could arrest powerful and high-ranking officials and imprison them in the imperial prison, subjecting them to all kinds of humiliation and torture. They could also confiscate the property of nobles and make a fortune. However, with a word from the emperor, they could be brought down from their high positions and executed quietly, just like their predecessor, Xiao Zhen.

So at this moment, when Sun Weixian and Haiyue looked at each other again, he could clearly see one sentence in each other's eyes—

Take my future...

I'll bet your life!

Do you dare?
Sun Weixian took a deep breath and followed.

Tan Jing, a trusted confidant at the rear, was utterly shocked. He had witnessed how, in just a few words, the young Hanlin compiler had turned the tables and was now obediently following his superior. Tan Jing felt his head buzzing and was momentarily at a loss for how to react.

After passing through the wide passage paved with blue bricks and arriving at the main courtyard, Sun Weixian said in front of the house, "Serve tea!"

"Yes!"

Tan Jing withdrew as if granted a pardon.

The two entered the house. Sun Weixian glanced around, then twitched his ears to make sure no one else was around. He then asked in a deep voice, "What do you want?"

Haiyue sat down gracefully, observed the other person's office style, and then said slowly and deliberately, "Vice Commissioner Sun, that's a strange question. You came to the Hanlin Academy to see me, what important matter do you have to discuss?"

Sun Weixian had no time to think about the important matters at the moment; the entanglement between the two families was the important matter. His tone softened: "Hai Hanlin, although I don't know how your father and mother taught you, our two families should not have come to this! Even if we were of the same lineage a hundred years ago, we later went our separate ways and are now separated by the ends of the earth, there is absolutely no reason for us to be enemies, but..."

He paused slightly, then forced a friendly expression onto his face: "Life is unpredictable, and now that we've met again, some disagreements and misunderstandings are inevitable!"

Haiyue looked at him and said noncommittally, "Is that so?"

"Of course!"

After careful consideration, Sun Weixian slowly said, "Did your mother tell you about that past event? Would you like to hear my account?"

"Appreciate further details!"

Next, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, using a series of terms that they could all understand, told a story.

The focus here is not on Emperor Jianwen (Zhu Yunwen), but on Zhu Yunwen's eldest son, Zhu Wenkui.

Zhu Yunwen did not die in the fire. After escaping Nanjing through a secret passage, he was disheartened, shaved his head, became a monk, and went overseas. This is basically consistent with later speculations. For example, Zhang Juzheng even told Wanli, "The national history does not record this event, but the elders say that (Emperor Jianwen) shaved his head and became a monk before leaving."

However, many people have overlooked the fact that Emperor Jianwen also left with his son.

His son, Zhu Wenku, was six years old at the time.

Zhu Wenkui, the great-grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, was made crown prince in the first year of the Jianwen reign.

Zhu Yunwen was an adult, and his target was obvious, but it was much easier for Zhu Wenkui, a six-year-old child, to hide. Under the protection of secrecy, he changed his appearance, grew up, married, and had children.

Whether it was because he lived in constant fear or it was fate, Zhu Wenkui did not have many children. He had a wife and concubines, but none of his children survived to adulthood. In the end, he only had three daughters.

Zhu Wenkui had no choice but to recruit his son-in-law to live with him. He had many plans, but ultimately failed to implement them. His life was not long, but he lived a long life, living to be over eighty years old, and passed away in the sixteenth year of the Chenghua era.

Yan Song was born that year.

In fact, Zhu Yunwen's second son, Zhu Wengui, lived quite long. He was only two years old when he was imprisoned by Zhu Di and kept in Guang'an Palace in Fengyang. He was called "Jian Shuren". Later, Emperor Mingbao launched the coup and restored the throne. Recalling his own experience, he pitied Zhu Wengui for being imprisoned for a long time and released him.

So while a hundred years is a long time, an elderly person with a long lifespan can actually connect many people and events.

Sun Weixian didn't elaborate on the details, but from what he said, although Zhu Wenkui's three daughters each married men and continued the Zhu family name, a son-in-law who married into the family is ultimately not as good as a biological son. After two or three generations, as the family line spread, many things gradually faded away.

Even now, many families actually associated with it are completely unaware of their ancestors' secrets.

After all, not all surnames of Zhu are imperial surnames. There are many Zhu families in various prefectures and counties across the country, so who would associate them with that?

One sign that one knows the secrets of their ancestors is that they have inherited the ancient court's unique skills.

This was his true intention in testing Hai Hao and Zhu Lin.

Haiyue listened silently.

Zhu Lin, the mother, admitted that her ancestors were one of the three great guards in the thirty-fifth year of the Hongwu reign, and were granted the surname Zhu, which is how they passed down these martial arts skills.

Sun Weixian's account is different; even if Zhu Wenkui's three daughters are from different branches, their ancestors all come from the same lineage.

What the other party has now obtained comes from their grandmother. Although they have different surnames, this blood connection is even closer than that of some people with the same surname but who are not within five degrees of kinship.

Throughout the recounting of these events, Sun Weixian kept observing Haiyue's expressions.

However, Haiyue listened with great interest, occasionally asking a question or two about the details, as if she were listening to a story.

"This kid is either extremely cunning or has the habits of a江湖客 (jianghu kè kè, a martial arts world) fugitive; deep down, he's fearless and doesn't care about anyone!"

This reaction made Sun Weixian's heart sink.

When he first heard his grandmother tell these secrets, he was so frightened that his legs went weak. For a long time, he would often wake up in the middle of the night, paranoid and worried that one day his amazing background would be revealed and the court would confiscate his property and exterminate his clan.

As he grew older, he discovered that the past events of the Jianwen era were long forgotten. As his position in the Embroidered Uniform Guard rose higher and higher, and he eventually became the leader of the Southern Garrison, he became calm and even began to plot some things.

But as it turns out, deep down, Sun Weixian was still afraid, which is why he reacted the way he did before.

Now, someone much younger than himself has heard so many secrets and remains completely calm.

Sun Weixian thought it over and over and felt that the other party was unlikely to be extremely cunning. He was probably born in a barbarian land like Qionghai, and had no sense of awe, which had shaped his fearless nature.

This is troublesome...

It's actually not that complicated.

Haiyue really just listened to it as a story.

He could understand the ancients' obsession with family background, but for him, anything beyond three generations was not worth worrying about.

No matter how glorious or how poor one's ancestors were, as long as there is no restriction of being of low social status, it has little to do with oneself.

The room quieted down, and then a soft knock came from outside.

Tan Jing prepared the tea and stood outside the door, unsure whether he should come in.

Sun Weixian was completely focused, and Haiyue said, "Go in!"

Tan Jing entered, served tea, and then Hai Yue said, "Go out! I have something to say to Vice Commissioner Sun!"

Tan Jing didn't dare to answer, and looked straight at Sun Weixian, only to see that the man actually waved his hand.

"This pre-rain Longjing tea is truly refreshing. In this life, we should cherish the taste of the present moment."

Haiyue gently picked up her teacup, took a leisurely sip, and a meaningful smile appeared on her lips: "I suppose the invitation from Vice Minister Sun today is not just to reminisce about the past. Now that we have tasted the new tea, it is time to share His Majesty's burdens!"

(End of this chapter)