Di Ming

Chapter 289 "How dare you, you coward, bully me!"

Inside the steamy bath, Zhu Yin lay on a stone bed, contentedly resting with his eyes closed. The September air was already cool, but the bath itself was warm as spring.

But upon hearing Ning Caiwei's words, he immediately stood up from the pool, radiant with spring sunshine.

"What? Imprisoned by the Embroidered Uniform Guard?" The boy's voice was filled with shock and anger. He hadn't expected Ning Caiwei to come in so suddenly, and he had forgotten that he was now an innocent child.

Ning Caiwei only saw a muscular, white-clad figure, but she wasn't shy and didn't have time to look any further. She said:

"News just came from the palace: my uncle has been arrested by the Imperial Guards, and my aunt has fainted. The Emperor probably wants the Tian family's money!"

As she spoke, she stepped forward generously to wipe the water droplets off Zhu Yin's body, her gaze sweeping over him imperceptibly before quickly looking away.

The little tiger is my man, we're already married, what's there to be embarrassed about?

The most important thing now is my uncle's matter!

Although Zhu Yin was still a child, he felt no shame in front of Ning Caiwei and acted as if it were perfectly natural.

But Zhu Yin was young and impetuous, and afraid of embarrassing himself on the spot, he quickly put on his clothes and hurriedly returned to his room with Ning Caiwei.

Emperor Kangxi was already waiting there. Upon seeing Zhu Yin return, he quickly began to give a detailed report:

"...It was Consort Zheng's idea. Consort Zheng has always suspected that someone in the palace is secretly helping the eldest prince and his mother, and she has been sending people to investigate. She doesn't suspect the lord, after all, the lord is just an outsider, and she doesn't think the lord can make arrangements in the palace. She suspects Lord Tian and Chen Ju. After all, both of them tend to support the eldest prince."

"It was indeed discovered that Lord Tian secretly instructed palace servants to protect the eldest prince and Consort Wang. Consort Zheng then whispered in the emperor's ear. The emperor was furious, believing that Lord Tian was secretly interfering in palace affairs, and ordered Gao Huai to collect evidence of Lord Tian's crimes."

"Gao Huai fabricated accusations out of thin air, making baseless accusations and immediately filed a secret report accusing Tian Gong of colluding with court officials to install the eldest son of the emperor as crown prince, embezzling and accepting bribes to line his own pockets, claiming that the million taels of gold and silver in Tian's mansion should have originally belonged to the imperial treasury, and that Tian Gong was a treacherous eunuch like Liu Jin and Feng Bao..."

"Consort Zheng also instructed Gao Huai and Gao Cai to secretly report that Tian Gong's evidence of crimes and the embezzled gold and silver from the imperial treasury might be destroyed or transferred by Tian Gong. She said that delaying would only lead to more trouble, and asked the emperor to immediately issue an order to confiscate his property and arrest him. Upon hearing this, the emperor issued the order without any hesitation."

"From the time Consort Zheng launched her attack to the time the Emperor issued his decree, only half a day had passed, which was extremely rushed. Tian Gong was imprisoned in the Imperial Guard prison overnight, and the person in charge of the Imperial Guard prison was none other than Consort Zheng's younger brother, Zheng Guotai!"

"Given the imperial decree, they'll probably torture Tian Gong to extract a confession."

"Damn it!" Zhu Yin's expression darkened. "The Emperor has his eye on the Tian family's money! He wants to frame someone with just three words; he can always find a pretext!"

He was also involved in secretly taking care of Consort Wang and her son. However, he secretly ordered the Tiger Fang agents to direct the people in the palace, which was done very discreetly and made it difficult to find any evidence or clues.

Even if some palace servants are discovered, they will ultimately not be traced back to him.

Tian Yi was different. Although Tian Yi's care for Consort Wang and her son was also clandestine, his methods were nowhere near those of a professional intelligence agency like Tiger Fang.
If Consort Zheng were to investigate specifically, it wouldn't be difficult to uncover Tian Yi's misdeeds.

Consort Zheng would naturally hate him when she learned that he was secretly helping Consort Wang and her son.

Was Tian Yi an honest official? Of course not. As a high-ranking official, how could Tian Yi not have money? The Tian family certainly had a lot of gold and silver.

The problem is, apart from a very few, who is an honest official? With the vast majority being corrupt officials, confiscating their property on charges of corruption is clearly unconvincing.

So they fabricated a charge of colluding with foreign officials to plot the establishment of a crown prince!
If this charge is proven true, Tian Yi will undoubtedly die.

Although Tian Yi was not an honest official, he was a loyal subject of the emperor. He was ordered to confiscate property in the south on the emperor's orders, embezzling a large sum of money for the imperial treasury—a truly meritorious service. Yet the emperor acted without hesitation, showing no mercy whatsoever! It was a classic case of crossing the river and then discarding the bridge, of using someone and then killing them!
More importantly, Tian Yi had been a great help to him, secretly contributing a lot of effort. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't be in his current situation.

Tian Yi was in trouble; his biggest supporter and backer in the palace had also fallen.

Ning Caiwei said bitterly, "My uncle was loyal to the emperor and did so many things for him. He was a rare virtuous official who devoted himself to the court. In the end, he ended up like this! It's truly heartbreaking."

"Husband, how can we save my uncle?"

With her subordinates present, she naturally had to address him as "husband."

"Of course we should save them." Zhu Yin pondered for a moment. "Let me think about it. Kangxi, Yunniang, you two go down first and wait for my arrangements."

"Yes!" Kangxi and Yunniang and the others withdrew together.

Ning Qingchen finally couldn't help but say, "That bastard Zhu Youjian is obsessed with money. For the sake of silver, he made up some excuse to confiscate my uncle's house. What a foolish ruler!"

Zhu Yin couldn't listen any longer and pointed at Ning Qingchen, saying to Ning Caiwei:

"Listen to this! This is the medical prodigy of your Ning family? I bet he's a fish that slipped through the net of compulsory education! What kind of level is this? The current emperor is named Zhu Yijun, not Zhu Youjian!"

Ning Caiwei quickly said, "Few people dare to call the emperor by his name. How many people in the world don't know the emperor's name? I didn't know it before either. Was I a 'missed' in compulsory education? Go back to the future and ask ten scholars. They all know that Wanli's name is Zhu Yijun."

"No matter how bad Qingchen's past is, she's still your sister-in-law. That's all you can do to dislike her!"

Ning Qingchen clenched his fists. "That's not the point! The point is to save people! Little Tiger, I have poison. Can I poison Emperor Baijin and then help the eldest prince ascend the throne?"

Zhu Yin shook his head without even thinking, "How could you even think of that? Poisoning! Don't you know that the emperor needs palace servants to test the food for poison before eating it? There are several checks in place. Even if we could poison it, it would be the eunuchs and palace maids who would die."

"Besides, although we have more and more spies in the palace, they are all just gathering intelligence, stealing power within the inner palace, and at most taking care of Consort Wang and her son. These things don't involve regicide, and they might still do them for profit or because they have leverage over them. But if we asked them to poison the emperor, would they still dare to do it?"

"Let alone assassinating the emperor, they wouldn't even dare to poison Consort Zheng. Even professional spies like us rarely resort to assassination unless absolutely necessary."

"Why? Because those who carry out assassination missions are always pawns. Pawns have no way out and may turn against their masters. Why would anyone risk their own life and the lives of their entire clan for you? Throughout history, the success rate of assassinating important figures is less than one in ten."

"Even if we take a step back and assume that someone is willing to risk their life and do it with righteous indignation, what are the chances of success? If they fail, not only will the entire intelligence network in the palace be exposed, but the court and the palace will also be purged, and many innocent people will die tragically."

Zhu Yin stood up, his cold, stern face half-lit and half-shadowed by the lamplight, giving him a somewhat sinister look. He gritted his teeth and continued:

"The most loyal person to us in the palace is Zong Qin. He will do many things as long as I ask. But when it comes to poisoning the emperor... even he hesitates, let alone the other palace servants?"

"When the palace maids plotted to assassinate the Jiajing Emperor, what happened after the plot failed? Hundreds of innocent palace maids were implicated and executed, many officials in the outer court suffered, and the dozen or so palace maids who participated in the regicide were executed by slow slicing, and their parents and relatives were also exterminated."

"You think Tiger Fang is omnipotent? Would the palace servants under their control dare to poison and murder the emperor? If someone dares to do it, would we dare to gamble?"

"How can we guarantee that the poisoner won't betray Tiger Fang and pledge allegiance to the Emperor? Protecting the Emperor is a great achievement! It could even lead to a noble title!"

"Even if you really poisoned the emperor, how can you guarantee that the eldest prince will be the one to ascend the throne? The Zheng family has the most power in the palace. If the emperor dies, can't they immediately support the third prince to succeed to the throne? If the third prince ascends the throne, we will all be purged!"

"The lives and fortunes of so many people are on my shoulders, as is the fate of the Ming Dynasty. Can I take this risk?"

Ning Caiwei shook her head and said, "Qingchen, don't talk nonsense. Poisoning the emperor is a very risky and difficult-to-control project, and it's not feasible. We should start with politics."

"Little Tiger, your uncle is the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the head of the inner court. The emperor can arrest him and confiscate his property at will, without caring about what the court officials will say? Isn't the imperial system and the Three Judicial Offices just a formality?"

Zhu Yin shook his head. “You guys, being bad at history is a real problem. My uncle is an inner court official, the emperor’s servant! He’s not a civil official who entered the court through the imperial examinations. Even if he is the prime minister and has great power, his life, death, honor, and disgrace are all decided by the emperor’s word.”

“When a eunuch is imprisoned, the emperor does not need to worry about the attitude of the outer court. The palace has its own internal laws and can completely bypass the three judicial departments. There is no need for a court review of the case.”

"Besides, when eunuchs commit crimes, court officials don't want to plead for them, lest they be accused of colluding with eunuchs and currying favor with powerful eunuchs, incurring the emperor's displeasure and ruining their reputations." "The one who tied the knot must untie it. This matter requires fighting fire with fire, using their own strength against them. We can only focus on the palace and Zheng Shi, but we cannot rely on the court officials."

Ning Caiwei frowned, "I'm afraid it's too late. My uncle might not even last two days in the Imperial Guard prison."

Zhu Yin sat down, squinting his eyes. "Saving him isn't urgent, nor can it be rushed. The most important thing right now is to prevent my uncle from suffering in the Imperial Prison. The Imperial Prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is like the Hall of Hell; even if he survives, he'll be severely punished. But the one in charge of the Imperial Prison is Zheng Guotai..."

"Only if we can ensure that my uncle is not tortured and that his personal safety is protected, will we have time to rescue him."

Zhu Yin suddenly said, "Caiwei, grind the ink for me, I need to write a letter!"

“Okay!” Ning Caiwei immediately ground the ink and laid out the paper.

Zhu Yin then said, "Find out the gift list of Empress Dowager Li's younger brother, Marquis Wuqing. I want to copy his handwriting."

Ning Caiwei quickly found the gift list of Li Wenquan, the younger brother of Empress Dowager Li. Li Wenquan was Wanli Emperor's maternal uncle. The Li family was also the only powerful maternal relative who could rival the Zheng family, and they were extremely arrogant.

Before Consort Zheng gained favor, Empress Dowager Li held the most power in the palace.

Moreover, this venerable Empress Dowager also favored the eldest son of the emperor. Although Wanli did not like his mother, he dared not easily disobey her due to his unwavering filial piety.

Zhu Yin was a master of handwriting imitation. Back then, when he framed the Wang and Chen families in Qingqiao, he imitated their handwriting.

Zhu Yin imitated the handwriting of Marquis Li Wenquan of Wuqing, but did not use Li Wenquan's name; instead, he deliberately concealed his identity.

This letter was addressed to Zheng Guowang. It begins: "Throughout history, only Lady Zheng has ever passed the imperial examinations and risen to the position of a court official..."

In the letter, Zheng Guowang said that he knew she had been intersex, and that she had male characteristics when she was young, but became a woman when she grew up.

To keep the secret, they must immediately go to the Imperial Guard prison and persuade his brother Zheng Guotai to stop torturing Tian Yi. Not only should they not torture him, but they should also treat him well and rescue Tian Yi from the prison.

If Tian Yi is not rescued within three days, her secret will be exposed. She will not only lose her official position, but the three Zheng brothers will also be guilty of deceiving the emperor!

Because women were not allowed to take the imperial examinations to enter officialdom, as this violated ancestral rules and defiled traditional etiquette.

Upon seeing the letter written by Zhu Yin, Ning Caiwei couldn't help but praise, "Little Tiger, what a brilliant idea! If you do it this way, the three Zheng brothers will definitely find someone to identify the handwriting as that of Marquis Wuqing, Li Wenquan, and assume that the Empress Dowager has taken action."

"Then they will assume that the uncle is the Empress Dowager's man. So their uncle's secret care for the eldest prince will also be seen as the Empress Dowager's doing. With the Empress Dowager and the Li family as relatives, Zheng will not dare to kill the uncle, and the emperor will also hesitate."

Zhu Yin nodded and said, "That's right, this is fighting fire with fire, using someone else's strength against them. The two powerful maternal relatives already have conflicts, but they've been fighting without breaking down. This time, let them fight it out. This is the best way to save my uncle."

"Unfortunately, I had planned to use Zheng Guowang's secret at a crucial moment, but I used it this time."

Ning Caiwei said, "Isn't this the critical moment? We can't abandon our uncle. He and aunt have helped us a lot before. We can't just stand by and watch them die. Besides, if our uncle falls, we'll lose a powerful ally."

Zhu Yin smiled and said, "You're right. We can't do without Uncle. Don't worry, Uncle is the head of the inner court after all. He won't be tortured immediately. Zheng Guotai will at least have the patience to ask him a few questions. This is enough time."

After Zhu Yin finished writing the letter, he summoned Emperor Kangxi and ordered the Tiger Tooth agents to shoot the letter into the residence of Zheng's brother-in-law overnight.

Zhu Yin continued, "I will send another agent to impersonate a retainer of the Tian family, bring generous gifts to see Marquis Wuqing, Li Wenquan, and promise him great rewards afterward. I will ask Li Wenquan to submit a petition to the Empress Dowager and put in a good word for Lord Tian."

"This is a complex scheme, a web of deception and deception, a hidden plot. Li Wenquan is a greedy and unscrupulous man, and he is perfectly suited to fight fire with fire against the ambitious Zheng family!"

……

It was already past midnight, and the night watchman's drum was beating loudly.

The Zheng family mansion in Chengqingfang was brightly lit. In the west wing of the inner courtyard of the Zheng family, Zheng Guowang was still not resting.

Under the lamplight, she unbuttoned her clothes, took out the sash wrapped around her chest, and breathed a sigh of relief. As the sash untied, the white rabbit leaped out.

Zheng Guowang's face, however, appeared particularly gloomy under the lamplight. Even the bright moonlight outside the window could not soften her eyes.

She wished she could take a knife and cut herself!

How annoying!

But she could only think about it; she didn't want to die.

It feels wonderful to be an official. A great man cannot be without power for even a day.

But she could only secretly conceal her physical secrets and couldn't expose them to outsiders!
Why do I have female reproductive organs? Why?!

In this absurd world, why can't women become officials or take the imperial examinations? If they could, would I need to work so hard?

That damned Ming Dynasty! Go to hell!

If my nephew Chang Xun were to ascend the throne in the future, I would have him issue an imperial edict to lift the ban on women taking the imperial examinations and becoming officials. Even if it were just a small opening, I wouldn't have to live in such fear.

Even when she was angry and cursing, she could only do so in her heart.

Zheng Guowang cursed a few times as usual, then prepared to turn off the lights and go to bed. As for those wives and concubines who wanted to serve him in bed, to hell with them! Get the hell out of my sight!

She was going to see her second brother early tomorrow morning to discuss matters concerning Tian Yi.

Hmph, Tian Yi secretly instructed his cronies to take care of Consort Wang and her son; that makes them enemies of the Zheng family!

Just as Zheng Guowang was about to turn off the light, a voice suddenly came from outside:

"Fourth Master, an arrow has been shot in from outside. It has a note and a wax pellet attached. The note says that Fourth Master should open the wax pellet himself..."

What? Zheng Guowang's eyes sharpened, and he quickly stood up, wrapping the cloth tightly around his chest again.

Then he put on the Jingzhong crown and opened the door with a refined expression.

"Fourth Master!" The subordinate presented the feathered arrow and wax pellet with both hands.

Zheng Guowang entered the room, closed the door, and solemnly opened the wax pill.

Sure enough, there was a letter inside.

After reading just two sentences, Zheng Guowang was so angry that he was shaking uncontrollably.

"How dare you, you scoundrel, bully me!"

P.S.: I know many people dislike Zheng Guowang, but he's a character who appears throughout the entire story. I caught a cold today, took ibuprofen, and have had a fever ever since. I struggled to update one chapter, but I really can't write anymore… Thank you, goodnight!

(End of this chapter)