Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 112 Coming
Regardless of what Da Pang did behind the scenes, Zhu Gaoxu was arrogant and haughty on the surface. The two brothers had been at odds for nearly twenty years and knew each other better than anyone else. Zhu Gaoxu knew his elder brother's concerns, believed that his elder brother couldn't do anything to him, and was very afraid that he would rebel in a moment of impulse.

Da Pang would occasionally write a letter to keep in touch with the two brothers, reminiscing about the difficulties of being an emperor and the importance of maintaining the stability of the Zhu family's empire.

The more Da Pang acted this way, the more arrogant Zhu Gaoxu became. In Gao Yuntian's words, "Does he even understand what you're saying?"

The fat man may have underestimated his second brother's obsession with the throne.

Zhu Gaoxu was a lifelong problem for the overweight Zhu Gaochi, and he never solved it until his death.

Zhu Gaoxu also faced a problem: he owned several blacksmith shops in Nanjing, which were quite well hidden, but who was the garrison commander of Nanjing?

In the nineteenth year of the Yongle reign, Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, and Nanjing became the secondary capital. The position of Nanjing garrison commander held great power, including administrative supervision and military defense. This person was Zheng He, the eunuch who was respected even by Zhu Gaochi!
Regardless of how others viewed Eunuch Sanbao, in Zhu Gaochi's eyes, Eunuch Sanbao had been around since childhood, and his father trusted him greatly. Not only did he take him along during the Jingnan Campaign, but after ascending the throne, he also sent him on six voyages to the Western Ocean, bringing back countless rare treasures. After moving the capital to Beijing, he even handed Nanjing over to him. Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but give him face.

When Zhu Di was alive, Zhu Gaoxu did not dare to be too arrogant and kept a low profile. However, after the emperor succeeded to the throne, he became less cautious, as if he was afraid that the emperor would not know what he wanted. It was at that time that the blacksmith shop in Nanjing was exposed.

Zheng He didn't give the Prince of Han much face and directly seized the property without even informing Zhu Gaochi beforehand. Zhu Gaochi didn't say anything, and neither did the emperor.

The decision to open a blacksmith shop on Le'an Street was made under these circumstances.

This was originally Zhu Gaoxu's fault, but his thought process was different from that of ordinary people. He was holding a grudge. Mei Qing thought there was no need to get angry about it. He could just open a few more shops in Le'an. How could Zheng He possibly reach out here?
Zhu Gaoxu's competitive spirit was ignited. He not only wanted to open a blacksmith shop, but he also wanted the whole of Le'an to know that it was opened by the Prince of Han. At the time, Zhu Heng and Wang Bin disagreed with this. Mei Qing then proposed to buy the entire street. There were all kinds of shops on the street. What law says that a prince cannot open a blacksmith shop? The people cannot live without blacksmith shops.

Wang Bin and Zhu Heng didn't object anymore. In particular, there weren't many places where the Prince of Han could forge weapons, so having this extra place was still good. However, transporting raw materials and finished products was a problem. Mei Qing then suggested building a secret passage, which excited Zhu Gaoxu even more. He had been thinking of making good use of his territory and indulging in doing whatever he wanted. As for whether building a passage for three blacksmith shops was worthwhile, Zhu Gaoxu didn't consider it.

They all knew the situation would change sooner or later, but they didn't expect it to change so quickly. As soon as the street was finished, Fatty left in a hurry.

Zhu Zhantan's questioning of Mei Qing clearly indicates that he knows what happened in the past. Zhu Zhantan disapproves of some of his father's actions, but he also has several younger brothers...

Mei Qing couldn't answer Zhu Zhantan's question, so she had no choice but to let him pass.

Zhu Heng sighed and said with utter helplessness, "Let's wait for the Prince of Han to wake up."

……

The people in the house waited all night, but no one came. At dawn, Wu Bing ordered his men to disguise themselves and go out to inquire.

Jia Chuan took a nap on the bed. When he woke up, it was already lunchtime, and the people who went out had not yet returned.

After everyone had lunch, Wu Bing became restless and wanted to go out and take a look himself, but Jia Chuan stopped him. The people who had gone out before were all unfamiliar faces and could not have been targeted by the people of the Prince's Mansion. The fact that they had not returned must be because they had not been able to get information.

It was indeed a rare opportunity. The Prince's residence was now off-limits to all, but some of the guards still saw the Prince's appearance when he entered the city. After making inquiries from various sources and considering the Prince's residence's behavior, it was not difficult to deduce the result.

……

Zhu Gaoxu finally woke up at noon. Although his fever had not completely subsided, he was at least conscious.

The royal physicians finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had woken up and his fever had subsided, so he would be easier to treat.

Zhu Gaoxu was very weak, but he still asked Jia Chuan, "Is he still alive?"

Zhu Zhantan subconsciously took a few steps back, letting Zhu Heng and Mei Qing go to the front. Just then, Wang Bin and Wei Da heard that the prince had woken up and hurriedly entered the room. Before the two of them could even stand properly, they heard this weak question. Wei Da subconsciously retreated, and Wang Bin could no longer retreat. The room was very quiet for a moment.

The serving maids and eunuchs dared not move. Zhu Heng wanted to lie down next to the Prince of Han to keep him company. Mei Qing's mind was racing. Before Zhu Gaoxu could ask again, Mei Qing choked out, "The Prince is unconscious. We've lost our leader. Although we have the heart to tear Jia Chuan apart, seeing that the Prince still won't wake up..."

Mei Qing covered her face and started sobbing.

Zhu Zhan frankly said: I have learned something.

Perhaps because he was weak and lacked strength, or perhaps because he felt that Mei Qing's words made sense, Zhu Gaoxu did not lose his temper. He closed his eyes and asked again, "The blacksmith shop..."

Mei Qing immediately advised, "Your Highness has just woken up, you should rest first, wait..."

"answer!"

Mei Qing looked at Zhu Heng, then turned back to look at Zhu Zhantan.

Zhu Gaoxu opened his eyes and saw the expressions on their faces, which fueled his anger. A physician immediately stepped forward and advised, "Your Highness, please remember not to get angry! Your health is the most important thing."

Zhu Gaoxu took a deep breath. He was a little scared after this illness. The doctor said the cause was anger. He waved his hand and said, "Get out."

The group breathed a sigh of relief and left one by one.

Zhu Gaoxu chose to save his own life first. He knew that after hearing about the blacksmith shop, he would inevitably be furious... As long as he was alive, there was nothing that couldn't be resolved.

……

Qian Xun had also arrived, and when he saw Wei Da at the door, he chose to wait there as well.

The group went to Zhu Heng's study in the courtyard. Zhu Zhantan would not come, no matter how much Zhu Heng tried to persuade him. Zhu Zhantan insisted on staying outside his father's sickroom and would not leave for a moment.

Upon entering the study, before even sitting down, Qian Xun anxiously said, "We can discuss how to deal with Jia Chuan after the Prince is better, but I need to write a memorial. Whether it's the blacksmith shop or the Prince's serious illness, we need to explain it to the capital. It must be sent out today. Give me an explanation so I can write it quickly."

Zhu Heng said, "I've thought about it. As for the blacksmith shop... just say it's just a regular business for the prince. The whole street belongs to the prince, there's nothing special about it. As for the blacksmiths he took away... just say you don't know where Jia Chuan got them from. The blacksmiths in the prince's mansion are still there. As for the secret passage, just say you've never heard of it. Besides, say that the prince was so angered by Jia Chuan that he fell ill, and that Jia Chuan has been frequently framing the prince since he took office..."

Zhu Heng paused for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Just write it like this, and hurry up and send it out."

Mei Qing nodded and said, "Let's just gloss over it for now. It's only natural that the Prince's Mansion would deliberately keep some things from you."

Qian Xun had wanted to write this for a long time, but they had to say it themselves. Last night, the group was arguing so loudly that no one had time to pay attention to him. Fortunately, they had all calmed down by now.

Qian Xun hurried back to write a memorial.

Veda asked, "Are we... just going to wait like this?"

Wang Bin asked, "What else can we do? If we really kill Jia Chuan now, it will only cause trouble. Whether it's the blacksmith we took to the capital or the secret passage that was flooded, it will confirm that it was the Prince's doing. The Prince's illness... is not entirely a bad thing." Everyone understood what Wang Bin meant. If the Prince of Han were well, Jia Chuan's house would probably have been a bloodbath last night.

No matter how flustered they were last night, they calmed down and their minds cleared up at this moment.

Zhu Heng said, "Since Jia Chuan knew that the prince had been tricked into going to the manor, he must already know what was going on there. But how did he find out about what was going on there?"

Wang Bin said, "You've forgotten who's in his hands."

Wei Da hurriedly said, "Zhu Zhanqi is in his hands!"

Zhu Heng frowned and said, "Logically speaking, he shouldn't know anything other than that Zhuangzi raised some young girls."

Mei Qing said nervously, "That's hard to say. Last year, when we sent people to the capital, the people from the estate stayed at his residence for a while. Even if they didn't say anything, he overheard their gossip..."

Zhu Heng spread his hands and said, "We still have to kill Jia Chuan!"

Mei Qing asked, "What if we force him to leave? My idea is to have Qian Xun and Lin Wei submit a memorial..."

“Zhang Zheng just came by with his men. It’s useless to submit a memorial now. Even if Zhang Zheng hadn’t come, Jia Chuan was sent by the one in the capital. Would he not protect him?” Zhu Heng asked.

"If you ask me," Wei Da said, "we should start with the people around him."

"How do you think they'd go out alone?" Wang Bin asked irritably.

“So…” Zhu Heng tapped his fingers on the table: “We need to keep our composure and wait until they feel everything is alright and lower their guard. Jia Chuan’s men are all skilled in martial arts, and they are all very arrogant. As long as they relax a little and think it’s okay to travel alone, that will be our opportunity.”

“What if he doesn’t care about the lives of others?” Vida asked.

Zhu Heng thought for a moment and said, "The message I received is that he... cares a lot."

Wang Bin stood up and said, "That's all for later. Let's first try to persuade the prince and deal with the questioning from the capital."

……

The following day, in the morning.

Jia Chuan was puzzled and quietly spent another day. Of course he knew that Zhu Gaoxu was sick, but he woke up at noon yesterday. Logically, he should have come in the evening. Could it be that this illness has changed his personality?

He disliked the process of waiting for the other shoe to drop. He considered leaving as he saw it, as his current achievements were worthy of Zhu Zhanji's trust. However, Chen Mo advised him, "If you are transferred or evacuated in a critical situation, the Emperor will surely reward you handsomely. If you leave, wouldn't all your previous efforts have been in vain?"

Jia Chuan thought it made sense, but he didn't want to stay there. Gao Yuntian said, "Then go to the state office to continue the case. The Prince of Han is still in bed and can't come to see you in person for a while."

Jia Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's forget about it. This time, I didn't just slap the tiger; I stabbed it in the back. Everyone has their temper, right? If I just go out and gloat like nothing happened, even if they didn't intend to do anything so soon, they'll still have to..."

“We’re not afraid of him,” Gao Yuntian added.

“You’re being a bit arrogant. The reason I survived those times in Le’an, besides your skill, is mainly because they didn’t know us. That time on the street, they didn’t know that Brother Wu’s men were nearby, and they thought it was just the three of us…”

Chen Mo interjected, "He means that the more battles we fight, the more the King of Han's people will know about us..."

"So what? By the time they understand, our job will be done!" Gao Yuntian said.

Jia Chuan thought about it and realized that this made sense. It would be a good deed to be able to handle a few more backlog cases before leaving. It wouldn't be so easy to ambush him in the streets and alleys of the city.

So, Judge Jia went to work.

……

Lin Wei and Hao Wen were both very surprised to see Jia Chuan.

The commotion the other day was quite significant; Lin Wei even considered digging a hole to hide, fearing he might be implicated.

Hao Wen's mood had been on a rollercoaster these past two days. He'd been thrilled to hear the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner had arrived, but when the Commissioner went directly to Jia Chuan's residence instead of the prefectural office, Hao Wen was considering feigning illness to avoid the meeting. Then he heard the Prince of Han had personally gone to see Jia Chuan, and he was immediately excited again. He knew the Prince was definitely going to take Jia Chuan's life. He'd already sent his servants to buy some wine and food to celebrate that evening, but then…

Right now, in the courtyard of the former government office, under the clear blue sky, Hao Wen saw Jia Chuan with a rosy complexion, and a mix of emotions welled up in his heart, causing his eyes to redden.

Gao Yuntian asked Jia Chuan, puzzled, "When did you two become so close?"

Jia Chuan walked straight to the second hall, saying as he went, "He was very sad to see that I was still alive."

Hao Wen heard this, snorted, and walked towards the gate of the yamen.

"Hey, when we get to the Prince's residence, tell the Prince of Han that I'm waiting for him to come see me," Jia Chuan called out as he turned his head and continued on his way.

Upon hearing this, Hao Wen stumbled. He had indeed been thinking of immediately going to the Prince's mansion to report Jia Chuan, but he had just taken a step when Jia Chuan's words came true. Filled with panic, he grabbed his robe and stepped over the threshold of the yamen, thinking to himself: Jia Chuan is a demon, how can I fight him?!

……

Lin Wei struggled to get from the back courtyard to the second hall. As soon as he entered the room, he complained, "Why don't you just stay in the house? You caused such a scene the other day, and the Prince of Han almost lost his life. Once he's better, who knows what he'll do to you? And you still dare to run around everywhere."

"Ignore him, let's continue the trial."

Lin Wei became even more anxious: "You still have the leisure to do this at a time like this?"

“You think I’m facing an insurmountable problem right now, but have you thought about those people in prison, their families? The sky has fallen!” Jia Chuan was also anxious.

Just as Lin Wei was about to offer some explanation, he heard a yamen runner outside panting and saying, "Reporting to the prefect, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Shandong Provincial Governor, and the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate have arrived outside the city."

(End of this chapter)