Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 116 Zitong, I ransacked your house, you won't blame me, will you?!

"What are you doing? Get out! How dare you cause trouble here? I am the Emperor's father-in-law, and the current Empress is my daughter!" Zhou Kui roared.

Early in the morning, the Imperial Guards and eunuchs broke down the door. He thought he would be greeted with a title and reward, but instead, his house was surrounded. The Imperial Guards were ransacking his house, moving all the valuables from inside to the courtyard.

"Father, something terrible has happened! Could it be that His Majesty has really deposed my sister?" Zhou Jian exclaimed in alarm.

"Wh-what?! No, that's impossible! Yu Feng said the Emperor dotes on her, and she's pregnant with the Emperor's child. How could the Emperor possibly harm her?!" Zhou Kui retorted incredulously.

"My daughter! Someone must have harmed her! Damn you, Zhou Kui! I told you long ago not to send our daughter to be chosen as some kind of princess. You should have married her to the wealthy Wang from the neighboring county instead of spending money to make our daughter suffer!" Zhou's mother cried out in despair.

"Huh?!" Tang Yu, the commander of the Northern Garrison, was stunned upon hearing this. He and the eunuch delivering the decree exchanged a glance but did not speak to each other.

"Father-in-law, father-in-law, please forgive me! What have we done wrong? Father-in-law, please accept this small token of my appreciation, and these too..." Zhou Kui trembled as he pulled out gold and silver from his sleeve to bribe the eunuch who was delivering the imperial decree.

Tang Yu's sharp gaze swept over the eunuch, whose face twitched involuntarily, and he took a half step back. Tang Yu smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Guards, search their bodies for all their money!"

"General, General! We are innocent! Please spare us! I'll kneel down before you!" Zhou Kui knelt down with a thud, startling Tang Yu. He quickly stepped aside and ordered his men to hold the Zhou family members down by their arms, preventing them from kneeling.

No matter how much the Zhou family cried and wailed, the Imperial Guards ignored them completely, focusing solely on searching their belongings. The Zhou family remained in this state of extreme fear for a long time, and Zhou Jian's trouser legs even seemed to be a little wet.

The Zhou family's servants knelt obediently to the side, showing little fear. After all, they had never witnessed or heard of powerful figures having their homes raided, and they knew it wouldn't affect them, the servants. At worst, they'd be sold off—who did they work for anyway?

The Zhou family were nouveau riche, but they had no loyal servants or servants born into the family. In addition, they were stingy and picky about their servants, so the servants did not pity their masters.

An hour later, the Imperial Guards had finished searching the Zhou family's three-courtyard residence. While it wasn't a top-tier residence, this was Beijing, where the average person's annual income was ten taels of silver; this courtyard alone was worth two thousand taels—even emptying six purses wouldn't be enough to buy it. Had Zhu Youjian not treated his father-in-law unfairly? But people are insatiable; they hadn't contributed anything, yet they felt they deserved more.

The Imperial Guards ordered the Zhou family's servants to be taken away, along with all the deeds to the houses and lands except for this one, and moved boxes of gold, silver, jewels, and silks out.

Watching his hard-earned money, obtained through deception, bribery, and extortion, being taken away, Zhou Kui felt a bitter pang in his heart, and became even more certain that his daughter had been deposed by the emperor. He suddenly felt that his life had turned bleak.

Tang Yu flipped through the ledger, planning where to go next. These people were pitiful; some had come to offer money on their own, while others were low-ranking officials and thugs who had been fooled by Zhou Kui.

Zhou Kui promised to have his daughter whisper in the emperor's ear to promote officials; once he gained power, he could arrange jobs for those local ruffians. Moreover, Zhou Kui already held the official position of Commander of the Southern City Garrison, although he had no soldiers, he still had official robes and a salary, and could intimidate people with his official attire.

Finally, after most of the items had been moved, the eunuch delivering the imperial edict began to read it aloud. The other Imperial Guards had all left, with Commander Tang Yu guarding the entrance. The Zhou family members lay limp on the ground, their faces ashen, awaiting their judgment. "Emperor's Oral Edict:"
Zhou Kui, you scoundrel! Your whole family has lost their minds! You offered the Empress an abortifacient, plotted to harm the Emperor's son, and nearly caused a catastrophe. You deserve to die a thousand deaths.

The crimes you committed are so heinous that even a thousand cuts wouldn't be enough to atone for them. I shouldn't have spared you, but out of respect for the Empress, I'll spare your life for now.

Your family property is hereby confiscated, and you are hereby confined to your quarters for three months. In consideration of your future obedience and to prevent you from causing further trouble and tarnishing the Empress's reputation, know that what I give you is truly yours!
Admire this! "

After the eunuch finished reading the imperial decree, he threw a packet of medicinal herbs and the old Taoist priest's confession in front of Zhou Kui, then turned and left. Tang Yu threw one hundred taels of silver on the ground and said, "This is a reward from His Majesty."

After speaking, Tang Yu closed and locked the Zhou family's gate. Only Zhou Kui, Zhou Jian, and Zhou's mother remained in the vast Zhou mansion. The immense psychological contrast overwhelmed them with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow, and they embraced and wept. After crying for a while, Zhou Kui pushed his wife and children away, climbed to the center of the courtyard, opened his money pouch, and bit into it with his back teeth. It was indeed fine silver.

Zhou Jian leaned in and said with a fawning smile, "Dad, can you give me half? Uh, ten taels will do! Five taels, five taels should be fine! I'm your son, your own son!"

"Go away, you good-for-nothing! You're such a coward! Go back and change your pants!" Zhou Kui said disdainfully.

"I think you two are obsessed with money. Can you buy anything with money these days?" Zhou's mother grumbled, opening the grain sack left in the middle of the yard, along with a small bag of salt. The grain was enough to keep them alive, but they would have to endure a few months of hardship.

Soldiers were stationed both in front of and behind the Zhou residence. The Emperor's father-in-law's house had been ransacked—this was big news, and the entire city of Beijing was abuzz with excitement. Although the officials had heard that the Emperor's father-in-law was somewhat unreliable, the Emperor's father-in-law in the Ming Dynasty had always been unreliable. Since Zhou Kui hadn't yet gained power, he hadn't yet committed any truly shocking scandals.

The emperor's actions are rather inhumane, and is the emperor's father-in-law the main issue? The empress behind him is the real focus! What does the emperor mean by this? Is he perhaps planning to depose the empress?!
The ministers began to have a headache. What was wrong with the Ming emperor? Why did he have to torment his empress? The ministers did not want to play out another drama of fighting for the succession, so some ministers began to draft memorials to offer their advice.

While the outer court was in a state of panic, Empress Zhou in the inner court watched in bewilderment as the eunuchs from the Imperial Guard carried boxes of things into her courtyard.

Zhu Youjian appeared just in time and answered her questions: "Zitong, I ransacked your house, and all the valuables are here. You won't blame me, will you?"

Empress Zhou was somewhat amused and exasperated, feeling both touched and uneasy. She hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, what have you done to my parents?!"

"I only punished them by confining them to their quarters for a period of time; I did not harm them. You may reward your family members with money and goods in the future, but you need to use both kindness and severity. You cannot indulge them blindly, nor can you allow them to run wild in front of you. This is something a qualified empress must learn."

"Besides, you've already married me. Your maternal home is your maternal home, but this is your home. You and I are one family, understand?" Zhu Youjian said, touching Empress Zhou's small face.

"Your Majesty, I understand." Zhou buried her head in Zhu Youjian's arms and said softly, "It is Your Majesty who has been put in a difficult position and troubled Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)