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

Chapter 66 Your mother is a maid, you rascal, were you picked up off the street?
"Your Majesty, the Duke of Cheng refuses to pay ransom! He says, 'My son has offended Your Majesty, and I will not cover it up,' and requests that Your Majesty punish him according to the law!"

"Your mother is a maid, you scoundrel, were you adopted?" Zhu Youjian broke down and angrily cursed at Zhu Lixun.

His extortion attempt failed. He never expected Zhu Chunchen to be so greedy as to abandon his own son. Or was this guy so certain that the emperor wouldn't dare touch his son?
However, Zhu Lixun's face was deathly pale, and he kept repeating the same sentence: "I am his biological son, I am his biological son..."

“Answer me! His Majesty is asking you a question!” Wei Zhongxian slapped Zhu Lixun across the face with his withered hand, leaving a bright red handprint on his fair cheek.

Zhu Lixun finally regained consciousness and collapsed to the ground. With his arms bound behind his back, he could only writhe on the ground like a maggot, repeatedly pleading, "I was wrong, Your Majesty, spare my life! Please, Your Majesty, don't kill me!"

Zhu Youjian's face was grim. He realized he really couldn't kill this fellow: killing someone on the Lantern Festival was too unlucky, and without a sufficient reason to kill the Duke's son, it wouldn't be enough to appease the public. What would those nobles think then? They'd probably all be living in fear.

With a loud "whoosh!", Zhu Lixun's hair stood on end. He felt a warm sensation between his legs and realized he had been so frightened that he had wet himself.

At this moment, Zhu Youjian drew his Emperor's Sword, intending to scare Zhu Lixun. However, before the sword even touched his face, Zhu Lixun was already terrified. Zhu Youjian was speechless.

To be fair, Zhu Lixun was quite tall and imposing; as a descendant of a noble family, his physique was certainly presentable. But his courage...

I wonder if his ancestor Zhu Neng would be so angry that he would jump out of the ancestral temple if he knew that he had such descendants.

In the fourth year of the Yongle reign, Zhu Neng died of illness on his way to conquer Annam. He was posthumously granted the title of Prince of Dongping and his tablet was placed in the ancestral temple of Emperor Chengzu.
"Wei Banban, what crime could he be convicted of?" Zhu Youjian asked.

Fabricating charges was a piece of cake for Wei Zhongxian! He immediately listed a whole host of charges that could be used against the emperor: disrespect, insubordination, treason...

Zhu Youjian sighed and said, "Let him go back to celebrate the Lantern Festival! Ten days later, he will be exiled to Yansui Town to serve as a soldier, starting as an auxiliary soldier. His crime is 'insubordination.' Let Sun Chuanting teach him a lesson and see if he can live a decent life."

Upon hearing that he was spared death, Zhu Lixun began to sob. Zhu Youjian, annoyed by the sight, waved for someone to drag him away.

Zhu Youjian was somewhat frustrated: He had only wanted to extort some pocket money, how did it turn out like this? Zhu Chunchen, you really deserve to die!
At this moment, a full-blown brawl was taking place in the Duke of Cheng's mansion. The Duke of Cheng's second wife, Madam Yang, shrilly, shouted throughout the hall: "You surnamed Zhu! It's just ten thousand taels of silver! Is it not even worth the life of our child?!"
"I married into your family, and my son and I have no ambition for the position of heir apparent, but you won't even give my son a chance to live?! If you won't save him, I'll use my dowry to do so! Get out of my way!"

The servants of the Duke of Cheng's mansion hung their heads, wishing they could cover their ears. Unfortunately, without orders, they couldn't leave and were forced to stay and watch. They couldn't bear to hear such things; if their master didn't want their shameful deeds exposed, they would be finished!
"Stop right there! What do you know? The emperor won't do anything to Li Xun. This rebellious son is always causing trouble. It's good to teach him a lesson!" Zhu Chunchen shouted angrily.

"If you want to discipline someone, you can do it in private, instead of gambling with my son's life!"

“‘Today we cede five cities, tomorrow we cede ten more, and then we can have a peaceful night’. You come from a scholarly family, surely you know this principle? Is this really a matter of ten thousand taels of silver?”

Now that bastard Zhang Weixian is causing trouble in the Beijing garrison, do you still think our family is the same as before? All our income has been robbed! We can't let the emperor take whatever he wants, do you understand?!

"You think you know everything, Zhu Chunchen? You know nothing! There are so many dukes and marquises, do you think it's your turn to stand up? If you offend the emperor, do you think you'll have a good ending? I think you're the one who's lost your mind!" Madam Yang said angrily.

“Father, Mother, I also think we should use the money to ransom my brother,” the heir of the Duke of Cheng suddenly interjected. A look of astonishment flashed across Madam Yang's face, while Zhu Chunchen was furious: “You’re not in charge of the household, don’t you know the cost of firewood and rice! This is ten thousand taels of silver! A position in the Six Ministries only costs two thousand taels, and a provincial governor or viceroy only five thousand taels. If the Emperor had only extorted a few hundred taels, that would be one thing, but this brat is so insatiable!!”

“Father, that was in the past. Now, where can you buy a second or third-rank official position? The world has changed! Father, you can’t underestimate the current emperor, or you’ll suffer!” the prince said earnestly.

“If we delay any longer, my son will lose his life!” Madam Yang glanced gratefully at the young master and began to instruct the servants to move the money.

Zhu Chunchen remained silent, his face dark, which was tantamount to acquiescence. However, he sighed inwardly: this meant he would once again be ridiculed by the other nobles. Just a few days ago, he had secretly met with a group of people to discuss how to deal with this unruly young emperor!

However, before Lady Yang could even leave the house, she saw her precious son walking back on his own. To prevent any accidents from happening to the boy and him getting mud on his pants, Zhu Youjian specially sent a eunuch and two personal guards to escort him back.

"You beast, how dare you come back?!" Zhu Chunchen cursed angrily.

However, Zhu Lixun, who was usually terrified of his father, ignored him. He looked up at Zhu Chunchen with hatred, then lowered his head and walked past him dejectedly.

This was a tremendous insult to Zhu Chunchen, who flew into a rage: "You beast, you've gone too far! You think I can't teach you a lesson?"

Zhu Chunchen drew his white jade belt and was about to strike Zhu Lixun.

"Ahem," Cao Huachun, the eunuch delivering the imperial decree, coughed twice, reminding him, "Duke Cheng, I still have the Emperor's decree with me! How you handle your family affairs is none of my business, but you must first let me read the decree, right? Do you intend to rebel?!"

Zhu Chunchen's expression changed slightly, but he still knelt down reluctantly.

The emperor was sent to heaven to carry the order, and the edict said:
Zhu Lixun, the second son of the Duke of Cheng, committed an act of disrespect and contempt for the emperor's authority, and should be executed. The Duke of Cheng was also guilty of failing to manage his household properly and educate his son.

Out of consideration for the meritorious service of successive dynasties, I have shown special leniency and granted him an exception to the law: he has been spared the death penalty, but will still be severely reprimanded.

The Duke of Chengguo is to be fined three years' salary as a warning to those who have failed in their duty of education; Zhu Lixun is to be granted a ten-day grace period before being sent to Yansui Town to serve in the army. The officials along the way must strictly supervise him and not allow him to be lenient.

All subjects should strictly abide by etiquette and law, and uphold loyalty and filial piety as family traditions. Any repeat offender will be severely punished according to the law, without leniency!

This is it.

"Your subject, Zhu Chunchen, accepts the imperial decree and expresses his gratitude!"

"Duke Cheng, His Majesty is very dissatisfied with you. I hope you will behave yourself," Cao Huachun said coldly.

(End of this chapter)