Please call me the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty

Just then, Zhou Ling'er arrived, carrying a package, and gently placed it on the table.

Seeing that they had something to say, Wu Mengming bowed and withdrew.

Zhu Youjian observed Zhou Ling'er under the lamplight and noticed that she was dressed differently than usual today. She was wearing a pink dress with a ribbon tied around her waist, which perfectly showcased her S-shaped curves.

Beneath the hem of her skirt, a pair of jade-like legs were faintly visible.

Zhu Youjian couldn't help but pull her into his arms.

Zhou Ling'er blushed deeply and asked, "Your Majesty, have you been missing me?"

Zhu Youjian put his right arm around her waist: "I've been too busy lately and haven't had time to spend with you."

Zhou Ling'er looked at Zhu Youjian with her beautiful eyes and smiled, "I know you have just ascended the throne and have too many things to do."

"Tonight, I will not leave; I will stay here and serve you in bed."

Zhu Youjian held her shoulders: "Not yet, I still have many things to do."

"Why are you making such a fuss?" Zhou Ling'er pouted as she said this.

Zhu Youjian then recounted what had happened to Wu Mengming within the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After listening, Zhou Ling'er pondered for a moment and said, "Wu Mengming, Gao Wencai and Wang Xue are on the Embroidered Uniform Guard's side, so they can basically control the situation."

However, Xu Xianchun has suffered a loss this time, and he may not let it go so easily.

Zhu Youjian believed that what she said made some sense.

Zhou Ling'er walked to the table, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian took the teacup and took a sip: "We need to take precautions to prevent any unforeseen circumstances."

"Who's been taking care of your diet lately?"

"Currently, it's all being handled by the Empress's sister-in-law, Zhang Yan."

"So, your sister-in-law is really good to you," Zhou Ling'er said deliberately.

Zhu Youjian nodded and said, "Yes, without my sister-in-law's strong support, I would not have been able to ascend the throne smoothly."

Zhou Ling'er gently stroked her hair: "I've noticed that Zhang Yan has feelings for you. Why don't you marry her? I'll serve you alongside her."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian's face flushed: "Ling'er, what are you saying? How could that be?"

"She's a pitiful woman all by herself. Besides, I don't mind. After all, you're the emperor. Which emperor doesn't have three palaces, six courtyards, seventy-two concubines, and three thousand beauties in his harem?"

I've heard that Emperor Qin Shi Huang's palace once housed tens of thousands of beautiful women.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian thought to himself that Zhou Ling'er was really big-hearted and quite open-minded.

"Don't overthink it, that's impossible."

Wei Zhongxian's henchmen were everywhere in and around the court, including the imperial kitchen, where they may have been present as well.

My maid, Bailu, once served me a bowl of bird's nest.

I discovered that the bird's nest was indeed poisonous.

"What! Is that so?" Zhou Ling'er was shocked to hear this.

"Yes, this is something I did not anticipate."

"Since you already know that Bai Lu is Wei Zhongxian's woman, why don't you have that vile maid beaten to death?"

Zhu Youjian shook his head: "I'll have her pass on some messages to Wei Zhongxian."

"So, Wei Zhongxian is incredibly audacious, daring to lay a hand on you!"

"Why don't you bring your mother into the palace? We can take care of her sooner or later," Zhou Ling'er suggested.

"I've already spoken to Mother about this, and she said it's not the right time yet, we should wait a little longer."

"Your mother had a tough life, and your father was a cruel and ungrateful man."

"Back when your father was alive, he was extremely harsh to your mother, frequently beating and scolding her," Zhou Ling'er said angrily. "What I cannot accept most is a man mistreating his own woman. What kind of skill is that?"

Zhu Youjian thought to himself, "That's right. My mother wasn't the empress, so she wasn't well-liked."

"So, we must take good care of your mother from now on."

At this moment, Zhou Ling'er opened the package she had brought, inside which was a set of women's clothing: "This is what I made for your mother, do you think it's alright?"

If you think it's alright, I'll send it to your mother later.

"Did you make this yourself?"

"yes!"

Zhou Ling'er's lips curled up.

"You're really something." Zhu Youjian took the clothes in his hand and looked at them, finding that they were exquisitely made and purely handmade.

"You're so thoughtful."

"Isn't it our duty to be filial to your mother?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian thought to himself that being able to marry such a good woman was a blessing he had earned in his previous life.

Zhou Ling'er rested her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, and said, "Your Majesty, I believe there is something I urgently need to do."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Back then, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, and the other six gentlemen died tragically. We must exonerate them."

This was done, on the one hand, to exonerate those loyal ministers;

On the other hand, it was also a major blow to Wei Zhongxian's eunuch faction.

Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou risked their lives to impeach Wei Zhongxian.

They were all loyal subjects of the Ming Dynasty, what crime had they committed?

However, he was framed and persecuted to death by Wei Zhongxian, Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun, and others.

The claim that the six gentlemen were corrupt and accepted bribes is completely unfounded.

Shouldn't we seek justice for them?

Zhou Ling'er spoke with conviction and righteous indignation.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian recalled that there were many similar unjust cases in history, such as the case of Yue Fei, a famous general who resisted the Jin dynasty.

Yue Fei was a national hero. If he had persisted in resisting the Jin dynasty, the country would have been recovered long ago.

However, Qin Hui was spineless and advocated for peace talks with the Jin people, and had Yue Fei killed on trumped-up charges.

Zhou Ling'er continued, "Your Majesty, if you could exonerate Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Yuan Huazhong, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, and Gu Dazhang, then..."

Then, the whole nation will surely give His Majesty great support.

At the same time, they hated Wei Zhongxian's eunuch faction even more.

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly: "They were wrongfully killed."

"If we want to completely overturn the case of the Six Gentlemen, we need to investigate the first-hand information in the archives."

In this way, we can be reasonable and well-founded.

"Archives?"

"Yes! But the problem is that the archives are controlled by Wei Zhongxian. Isn't it too difficult to retrieve information from there?"

Zhu Youjian crossed his arms and paced back and forth in the room.

He felt this matter was a bit tricky, and it would obviously be inappropriate to directly ask Wei Zhongxian to retrieve the files.

"Your Majesty, you don't need to worry, leave this matter to me."

"What's your plan?"

Zhou Ling'er smiled mysteriously and said, "You don't need to worry about that. I have my own way."

night.

Royal Archives.

Xu Xianchun is on duty here tonight.

Xu Xianchun's right wrist was broken by Wu Mengming's kick.

He was seething with anger, thinking to himself, "You, Wu Mengming, you've just arrived at the Embroidered Uniform Guard and you're already targeting me to establish your authority. We'll see about that!"

I swear I will not rest until I avenge this humiliation!

Just then, someone walked in from outside.

Xu Xianchun looked closely and saw that the person who came was none other than Wei Zhongxian.

Hsu Hsien-chun was also very surprised.

He quickly stood up and bowed: "Your Excellency, what brings you here?"

Wei Zhongxian nodded at him, noticed the bandage wrapped around his right wrist, cleared his throat, and asked in a high-pitched voice, "What happened to your hand?"

"Oh dear, Your Majesty, how could you forget so quickly?"

"Didn't I tell you? When I was sparring with Wu Mengming, I accidentally let him kick my wrist, and it broke."

"Oh, I see. It seems you told me about this before."

"Didn't I hear you were one of the top fighters in the Embroidered Uniform Guard? How come you were no match for Wu Mengming?"

This is a pointed question.

"This—," Xu Xianchun choked, thinking to himself that the Ninth Prince usually didn't speak like this.

That's so hurtful to someone's self-esteem.

He paused, then said, "Your Excellency, it's like this, it was mainly because I was careless."

I didn't take Wu Mengming seriously, and he ended up ambushing me.

"You might have a point, after all, the Embroidered Uniform Guard doesn't accept good-for-nothings."

Although Wei Zhongxian said that, Xu Xianchun felt that Wei Zhongxian was actually saying that he was a good-for-nothing.

Xu Xianchun wiped the sweat from his forehead and wondered why the Ninth Prince was speaking in such a strange tone today.

Wei Zhongxian stood with his hands behind his back, looking at him, and asked, "What do you think of Wu Mengming?"

Xu Xianchun looked around and, seeing that no one was around, lowered his voice and said, "Your Excellency, haven't you noticed the problem yet?"

"What's the problem?"

"Zhu Youjian sent Wu Mengming and Gao Wencai to the Embroidered Uniform Guard because he wanted to seize power."

You may not know this, but Wu Mengming and Zhou Ling'er are related.

It was Zhou Ling'er who recommended Wu Mengming to Zhu Youjian.

Therefore, after Wu Mengming joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he naturally pledged allegiance to Zhu Youjian.

Wei Zhongxian remained expressionless.

Xu Xianchun couldn't tell what he was thinking either.

"It seems you know Wu Mengming quite well."

Xu Xianchun continued, "We must find a way to kick Wu Mengming and Zhu Wencai out of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Otherwise, if they colluded with Wang Liangfei's father, Wang Xue,

In that case, the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard would only obey the Emperor.

"What you said makes some sense. So, what's your opinion?"

What can we do?

"In my humble opinion, we should establish an assassination squad specifically to assassinate those die-hard elements who oppose us."

For example, people like Liang Tianqi, Zhang Guoji, and Zhang Yan and her father, are people we absolutely hate.

Keeping them around will only bring trouble to us in the future.

Didn't the Qin state do the same thing back then?

Qin Shi Huang had a minister named Wei Liao.

He was like Qin Shi Huang offering advice.

Those talents from the six states who could be won over were won over and bribed; those who were truly unwilling to surrender to Qin were assassinated.

It was precisely because of this that the Qin state gained many talented individuals and eliminated many stubborn elements who opposed it.

"We can learn from them," Xu Xianchun suggested.

Wei Zhongxian nodded heavily: "I didn't expect you to have broadened your horizons so much recently."

"Your Excellency, you flatter me. I was merely offering my own thoughts."

"So, if we were to form an assassination team, do you have any specific plans?" Wei Zhongxian asked, his hands behind his back.

"I think we should appoint Sun Yunhe as the group leader, recruit some suicide soldiers, and train them."

Make them absolutely obedient to the Nine Thousand Years Old.

"Alright, you can arrange this!" Wei Zhongxian said, then changed the subject, "Tonight, we're coming here to check a file."

"What file?"

"It's the file about the case of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, and the other six gentlemen from back then."

Xu Xianchun was taken aback and asked, "Your Excellency, wasn't this case already closed?"

At the time, we investigated thoroughly and closed the case.

"I know, but there are some details I don't remember very clearly."

So, our family suddenly thought of this.

Bring out the case files from back then and let us see them.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xianchun's heart stirred.

Why?

Because he was also involved in the persecution of the Six Gentlemen.

He also tortured the Six Gentlemen.

At this moment, he heard Wei Zhongxian speak and dared not disobey.

So he picked up the key, went into the archives, took out a copy of the file on the case of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and the other six gentlemen, and handed it to Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian opened the dungeon and took a look; it was indeed the material he wanted.

"We've taken this document. During this time, you should rest as much as possible and recover from your injury as quickly as possible."

This assassination team can't do without you, and our family can't do without you either.

"Thank you for your care and guidance, Your Excellency."

Wei Zhongxian put the file away, then looked at Xu Xianchun and said, "There's something else we'd like to ask you."

"Oh, what is it?"

If I remember correctly, one of your daughters also participated in the selection of Princess Xin back then.

Later, you were not selected, were you?

Xu Xianchun was somewhat surprised to hear this, because he hadn't expected Wei Zhongxian to ask him this question.

This is a wound that will forever remain in his heart. Generally speaking,

He was unwilling to bring it up.

However, since Wei Zhongxian had already asked, he didn't hide anything: "Your Excellency, you're right."

Actually, when it comes to talent and looks,

My daughter is eligible to be selected.

However, some ministers in the court said something like, "My daughter is entering the palace to become the Princess Consort of Prince Xin."

It was against the laws of the imperial court, which is why it benefited that girl Zhou Ling'er.

Otherwise, my daughter might have been the empress.

"So, you're saying you really hoped your daughter would become Princess Shin?"

"That's for sure. Although Zhu Youjian wasn't the emperor back then, it's clear that he was no ordinary person."

If my daughter could marry Prince Xin, Zhu Youjian,

Then this life will have been worthwhile.

Where is your daughter now?

"So far, she has not married, and many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital have come to propose marriage."

However, she was unwilling to accept any of this, and insisted on marrying Zhu Youjian.

Listen to how stubborn she is, how could she possibly be now?

Zhu Youjian had already become emperor, and the selection of imperial concubines became even more rigorous.