Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 319 Fan Zhong Requests an Audience!

"Where is the Emperor? Where did he go? Why wasn't my grandson's one-month celebration held yesterday?"

Where is the Empress? Why didn't she come to pay her respects today?
"Where is my grandson? Where is he?" In the palace, early in the morning, Empress Dowager Zhang threw a series of questions at the palace maids and eunuchs in front of her.

At this moment, the palace maids and eunuchs knelt timidly on the ground, not daring to raise their heads. Seeing this, Empress Dowager Zhang's heart sank. She knew that something major must have happened in the palace! And they were all keeping it from her!
"Your Majesty, this servant just went to check, and Her Majesty the Empress has a high fever." Finally, a young eunuch mustered up the courage to speak.

"What? The Empress is ill? Has the imperial physician been summoned? How is my grandson?" Upon hearing that her daughter-in-law was ill, Empress Dowager Zhang was very worried and immediately asked anxiously. However, before she could finish her question, a female official hurriedly entered.

"Your Majesty, the three Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet, along with Yu Qian and three others, have sent invitations requesting an urgent audience!" Although she didn't know what had happened, the lady-in-waiting was a shrewd person. Since the three Grand Secretaries and Yu Qian and the other three had jointly requested an audience, it meant that the matter was not trivial. So she didn't care too much and quickly went inside to report to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.

"Is it urgent?" Empress Dowager Zhang, interrupted, wasn't angry. Instead, she tilted her head in thought, puzzled. Clearly, she was surprised that these officials could have come so early in the morning. But she knew it couldn't be anything good!
"Send someone to check on the Empress and my grandson. They absolutely cannot be harmed!" Empress Dowager Zhang rose from her chair and walked towards the door, intending to meet with the court officials. She also gave a final, worried instruction to the eunuchs and maids inside the room. Then, she led her attendants out.

In the blink of an eye, Empress Dowager Zhang summoned the Three Yangs and Yu Qian to a palace.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager!" Upon seeing Empress Dowager Zhang enter, the three Yangs, Yu Qian, and the others quickly knelt down respectfully to pay their respects.

"Alright, no need for formalities."

"What's all this commotion so early in the morning?" Empress Dowager Zhang asked, sitting upright in a chair in the main hall with the help of palace maids, looking at the four people kneeling in front of her with a puzzled expression.

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager doesn't know?" Yang Shiqi was startled by Empress Dowager Zhang's doubts and asked in astonishment.

"Your Majesty really didn't know?" Yang Fu also looked surprised.

"Doesn't the Empress Dowager know?" Yang Rong was somewhat surprised that Empress Dowager Zhang was unaware of the situation outside.

"Does Your Majesty not know that there's already chaos outside?" Yu Qian looked up at Empress Dowager Zhang in astonishment.

"What, what is it?"

"Tell me one by one, what exactly happened!" Faced with the astonishment of the court officials before her, Empress Dowager Zhang was also completely bewildered, not knowing what they were talking about. But her heart had sunk to the bottom.

"Your Majesty, just last night, His Majesty executed the Prince of Han by burning him alive, imprisoned the Prince of Zhao, and the entire Prince of Han's household in Beijing was wiped out!" Yang Shiqi reported gravely to Empress Dowager Zhang. As for who killed the people in the Prince of Han's household, that was no longer important. Because everyone saw the result: the entire Prince of Han's household was exterminated!

Upon hearing Yang Shiqi's words, Empress Dowager Zhang's eyes widened in shock.

"Your Majesty, not only that, in the three major camps of the capital, His Majesty has killed six generals in one night! The army is in an uproar! This morning, the generals all came to demand an explanation!" Yu Qian added.

Upon hearing Yu Qian's explanation, Empress Dowager Zhang gasped, her face filled with disbelief. How could she not know the importance of the three battalions in the capital! Six generals killed in a single night—had the Emperor gone mad?!

"The Emperor didn't attend the morning court session this day. Everyone is wondering what happened. Civil and military officials have all come to the cabinet demanding an explanation. There's an uproar in the court and among the people! Your Majesty!" Yang Rong added anxiously. "The Emperor has locked himself in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and refuses to see anyone," Yang Fu added immediately after Yang Rong finished speaking.

"What!" Upon hearing the account from the court officials before her, Empress Dowager Zhang realized the gravity of the situation. Overwhelmed with emotion, she stood up abruptly. Her trembling hands, gripping the chair, betrayed her utter panic.

"There must be a reason!" Empress Dowager Zhang suppressed her panic and looked eager to know the reason.

"The Prince of Han plotted a rebellion and was implicated and executed!" Yang Shiqi replied with a sorrowful expression upon hearing Empress Dowager Zhang's question.

Upon hearing Yang Shiqi's reply, "The Prince of Han has been imprisoned," Empress Dowager Zhang felt dizzy. The Prince of Han, already imprisoned, was plotting a rebellion? This excuse was untenable! It would only be seen as a post-event purge! And the current uproar in the court and among the people was clearly due to this reason! Although anxious, Empress Dowager Zhang knew the truth perfectly well!

"Your Majesty, General Fan Zhong of the Imperial Guard requests an audience!" Just as the room fell silent, the female official outside the door quickly entered again and said softly.

"Hiss~~" Hearing that Fan Zhong had also arrived, Yang Shiqi felt a headache coming on. He knew that Fan Zhong had also come to demand an explanation.

But that's not all. At that moment, Yang Shiqi suddenly realized an even more serious problem!

That is, now that the Prince of Han has been killed by the Emperor, how will the Crown Prince of Han explain this to him?
What should be done with the edicts left by Emperor Taizong and Emperor Renzong?

If the Crown Prince of Han were to seize this opportunity to launch a rebellion, how could we possibly stop him?! Upon realizing this, Yang Shiqi couldn't help but gasp! This was a serious matter! Yang Shiqi knew that this time, things were truly in grave danger!
Yang Shiqi's blatant loss of composure was clearly noticed by the others in the room. Although no one knew what Yang Shiqi was thinking, they could guess that something even more troublesome awaited him.
"Come in!" After the lady-in-waiting interrupted her, Empress Dowager Zhang gradually calmed down, sat down again with the help of a chair, and instructed Fan Zhong to come in and speak.

"Your subject Fan Zhong pays his respects to the Empress Dowager." Although Fan Zhong looked melancholy upon entering, he still respectfully kowtowed to Empress Dowager Zhang.

"General Fan, please rise." Seeing Fan Zhong's serious expression, Empress Dowager Zhang had a bad feeling, but she still asked Fan Zhong to get up and speak in a deep voice.

But Fan Zhong remained kneeling motionless, as if he hadn't heard a thing.

"Grand Secretary Yang, how should this matter be resolved!" Fan Zhong, kneeling on the ground, strangely did not speak directly to Empress Dowager Zhang, but instead turned his gaze to Yang Shiqi and asked, his eyes filled with panic and helplessness.

General Fan, Yang Shiqi, naturally understood the meaning behind Fan Zhong's words, but at this moment, the Prince of Han was already dead! For a moment, Yang Shiqi didn't know what to do.

"General Fan, is there anything else related to the Imperial Guard?" Everyone was puzzled by Fan Zhong's arrival. Although so much had happened last night, Fan Zhong, who was in charge of the Imperial Guard, hadn't been involved. Moreover, why was Fan Zhong questioning Yang Shiqi, the Grand Secretary? But what puzzled everyone even more was Yang Shiqi's evasive attitude. So, perplexed, the impatient Yu Qian directly asked Fan Zhong.

"Your Majesty, it's that edict!" Faced with the questioning gazes of the crowd, Yang Shiqi looked up at Empress Dowager Zhang. Meeting her questioning gaze, Yang Shiqi had no choice but to change the subject to the edict.

"Emperor Taizong signed that edict, and Emperor Renzong also signed it personally!" Others might not know the contents of the edict, but Yang Shiqi was certain that Empress Dowager Zhang knew. So, he offered a reminder.

"Hiss~~" Reminded by Yang Shiqi, Empress Dowager Zhang also recalled the contents of the edict. Furthermore, she suddenly remembered her husband's many dying instructions. Hearing that the edict bore the personal signatures of two emperors, Empress Dowager Zhang's pupils dilated in shock; she felt her head spinning! It involved two deceased emperors! This was a serious matter!
(End of this chapter)