"Your Majesty, please allow us to conduct a thorough inquiry," Ma Shiying said, his attitude extremely gentle.
Gao Hongtu said with a cold face, "Since Your Majesty has summoned the Crown Prince for questioning, how can you simply arrest him without cause?"
Zhu Yousong's face twitched. At this moment, he had already realized that after deposing two crown princes, the court officials no longer had the patience to play his game of deposing crown princes.
He could only wave his hand. "Then ask."
An Imperial Censor immediately took the hint from his superior, stepped out from the ranks, asked, "May I ask what kind of game the Crown Prince is playing? Why would it require maps? And where did those maps come from?"
Zhu Ci spoke with a cowardly expression, "It is a board game. The game board requires the names of cities. This son.. this son does not know much about it, which is why I had Nong companion find the map for me to look through. The map was already in the study, Nong companion said it was bestowed by Imperial Father."
He spoke while lowering his head, as if he were afraid of being blamed by his father for being unlearned.
Nonsense, how could Zhu Yousong send something so important to the Eastern Palace? Was he worried the Crown Prince would harbor ambitions?
“Your Majesty,” Ma Shiying said. “His Highness is merely acting on youthful impulse; he cannot be subject to such serious accusations. It is likely that some petty person is stirring up trouble.”
As soon as he spoke, the other members of the Grand Secretary's faction naturally chimed in one after another. Even Gao Hongtu, who had always been at odds with Ma Shiying, could not help but hold his nose and say at this moment, "The Crown Prince is still young and simply has a playful nature; he has always been very filial to Your Majesty. As a vassal prince, he also lives in seclusion. I ask Your Majesty to judge fairly."
When the Crown Prince was first being established, he was investigated thoroughly, only after it was confirmed that he was an honest child did you reluctantly agree. Now, only seven days have passed and you already want to depose the Crown Prince? Do you think this is a game of house?
Zhu Ci lowered his head and knelt below, feeling much more at ease.
At a time like this, if only some people spoke up for him, the Emperor's suspicions would only grow deeper; however, if the entire court of civil and military officials stood in opposition, the old man would instead waver.
However, Zhu Yousong might have been unable to bear seeing the residents of the Eastern Palace, so he asked, "You say it was just a game; what evidence is there?"
Zhu Ci said, "There are still some unfinished game rules on my desk in the Eastern Palace study; if no one has touched them, they should still be on the desk."
Hmm, the key point was that no one had touched it; I wonder if this dog emperor's IQ is high enough to understand that.
The Emperor immediately waved his hand. "Have someone fetch it."
The items were personally delivered by Sun Hongji. After Zhu Ci followed Chen Cangong, Sun Hongji realized that some variable he was unaware of might have occurred in the imperial court.
At this moment, with no other imperial decrees being issued, he simply ordered the Eastern Palace to be sealed off, prohibiting entry and exit, forbade anyone from touching any items within the Eastern Palace.
Sun Hongji brought over a stack of unbound sheets of paper, which indeed had maps drawn on them and text written upon them.
By the time Zhu Yousong looked at them, Zhu Ci had already prepared himself to respond.
His handwriting was certainly different from the original Zhu Ci's; setting aside everything else, the characters he wrote were nothing more than the scribbles of a complete beginner.
He could only be grateful that the interest groups organized by his school back when he was a student had allowed him to at least touch upon calligraphy, so that his writing wasn't nothing more than meaningless scribbles.
To his great surprise, Zhu Yousong merely expressed his disdain with a single sentence: "A man of no talent or skill."
Hmm? That's it? Don't you think the handwriting is wrong?
So you don't know anything about your son at all, do you?
Zhu Ci was instantly relieved, while Zhu Yousong, after glancing at the map filled with various sized grids and place names, felt a flicker of interest and casually asked Sun Hongji, "Is there anything unusual in the Eastern Palace?"
Sun Hongji bowed and said, "Some precious items are missing from the Eastern Palace, they do not match the records."
Sun Hongji placed special emphasis on the words "precious items."
Zhu Yousong had already been captivated by the rules of the game and asked casually, "Crown Prince, tell me, what is going on?"
Zhu Ci glanced at Sun Hongji, knowing that the man was currently desperate to pin the charge of treason on him.
He said hesitantly, "This.. part of the missing items was smashed, part of them is with the Prince of Qi."
“Hmm? Prince of Ping?” Zhu Yousong asked, “How did items from the Eastern Palace end up in the hands of the Prince of Qi?”
Zhu Ci said, "Previously, when the Prince of Qi went to the Eastern Palace to offer his congratulations to this humble servant, he saw several items he liked very much and took them away."
Zhu Yousong frowned. Although his intelligence was not high, he knew what was going on as soon as he heard.
However, he had always been too lazy to care about such things and was instead more interested in this game; it was just that there were too many words, he found reading them a bit tedious, so he asked directly, "What is the deal with this game? Explain it to me in detail."
Zhu Ci was not surprised that Zhu Yousong would take an interest in this; even without this incident, he would have found a way to bring this game to the Emperor's attention.
Zhu Yousong was an emperor who naturally loved pleasure; he lacked the ability to govern the country, but he was first-rate at eating, drinking, having fun.
However, if one were to speak truly, the forms of entertainment encountered by ordinary people in later generations could not compare to those of the ancient royalty and nobility; they truly knew how to live.
But the later generations also had things that did not exist in ancient times, such as the endless variety of card-drawing games.
To put it bluntly, card games are just another form of gambling, but because they incorporate more mechanics—such as collection and growth—they are more subtle and much more interesting than the gambling methods existing in this era.
There are many mobile card-drawing games, but Zhu Ci has also played this type of tabletop game, so he could simply modify the rules to make it playable.
However, he had not designed the rules too perfectly; if they were too perfect, it wouldn't seem like they were still under design.
Therefore, the existing game rules could be described as riddled with loopholes, Zhu Yousong was indeed an experienced player; as he asked questions, he also said, "No, this won't work. You need to make some changes."
Zhu Ci immediately responded, "Yes, your son's thinking was not thorough enough."
He spoke while glancing at the assembled civil and military officials out of the corner of his eye, feeling that the situation was utterly ridiculous.
The Emperor and the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, the current leader and the next leader, were discussing how to play a game during the grand court assembly.
The most absurd part was that none of the civil or military officials thought anything of it; occasionally, a few of them showed slight expressions of helplessness, but most remained indifferent.
Zhu Ci knew that his head was safe for the time being; not only was his head safe, but even his position as the Crown Prince was secure.
The Emperor was pleased to see that the heir lacked both ability and ambition and would not pose a threat to him, while the powerful officials were pleased to see that the next emperor would remain a useless fool, allowing the emperor to serve as a mere puppet while they handled everything else.
When the grand assembly concluded, Zhu Yousong said with lingering interest, "Return to the Eastern Palace and write down the rules of this game clearly as I have instructed; I want to see it in three days."
Zhu Ci gave an affirmative response, as he was still contemplating whether to let the matter rest or to set a trap for Nong Liangping.
Before he could weigh his options, Zhu Yousong spoke, "Sun Hongji, escort the Crown Prince back to the Eastern Palace, while you're at it, arrest the Eastern Palace Head Eunuch and interrogate him thoroughly regarding the origin of the maps."
Oh, the Emperor hasn't forgotten this matter yet, so that will suffice.
However, on the surface, he still said somewhat anxiously, "Imperial Father, I fear that even Nong Liangping is unaware of this matter.. I beg Imperial Father to show mercy."
Unaware? Humph." Zhu Yousong rose and waved his sleeve. "For a Chief Eunuch to be unaware of this is a crime in itself.
Having finished speaking, he gave Zhu Ci no chance to respond and left immediately.
Li Fuguo gave Zhu Ci a long, deep look before shouting, "Dismiss the court!"
Zhu Ci returned to the Eastern Palace, his face etched with three parts anxiety and seven parts worry.
The moment Nong Liangping saw him, a flash of bewilderment crossed his eyes.
Zhu Ci turned to Sun Hongji and said, "Commander Sun, please give me a moment to speak with Nong Liangping. He.. after all, he has looked after me for many years.."
Sun Hongji hesitated for a moment. Theoretically, he shouldn't have agreed, but he nodded anyway, trying to make a good impression in the hope that the Crown Prince wouldn't hold a grudge over previous matters.
He looked at the Imperial Grandson's expression of sadness, helplessness, disappointment, thinking to himself that this Imperial Grandson was a man of true character.
After everyone had withdrawn, all emotion vanished from Zhu Ci's face. He looked at the teeth-gritting Nong Liangping, walked up to him, said softly, "Tell me, is it not good to be alive? Why must you insist on seeking death?"
Nong Liangping said with hatred, "What kind of monster are you, anyway? To think you can even bewitch His Majesty."
Zhu Ci let out a cold snort. Wasn't it easy to fool this Emperor? After all, Zhu Yousong truly had no brains; as long as one confirmed he had no real ability and then catered to his whims, it wouldn't be difficult to preserve one's life.
Of course, all of this was predicated on the condition that the court officials would also speak up for him.
Although it was a bit hellish, he still had to thank the contributions made by the two former Crown Princes.
However, Zhu Ci did not intend to say it aloud; who knew if the people outside could see.
Zhu Ci shook his head, lowered his voice, leaned close to Nong Liangping's ear, saying, "Actually, I didn't intend to move against you so soon, but you just couldn't sit still. You.. you really didn't think about it. From beginning to end, your 'Highness' has never left your sight. Now that I've come here, he might just go to my place. If you are so eager to get rid of me now, then one day, if we are able to be swapped back, I might be able to return, but he might not be."
He stepped back two steps after speaking, meeting Nong Liangping's gloomy gaze, said, "Are you thinking right now that since you're going to die anyway, you might as well strike directly?"
Nong Liangping was startled. He thought he had restrained himself significantly, but he hadn't expected the other man to have guessed everything.
Zhu Ci patted his shoulder. "See, I know exactly what you're thinking, yet I still dare to stand this close to you. Do you think you can actually kill me?"
After speaking, Zhu Ci heard the sound of Sun Hongji knocking on the door.
He immediately grabbed Nong Liangping's hand and raised his voice, his expression filled with grief. "Nong Liangping, rest assured, I will find a way to get you out. I.. I absolutely do not believe you harbor any rebellious intentions."
Nong Liangping felt increasingly alarmed the more he watched; the man before him possessed both cunning and ruthless methods. If his young master were to return, he would certainly not be his match, no matter what.
He let out a cold laugh. "Do you think I'm the only one who knows?"
After saying this, he shook off Zhu Ci's hand and walked away.
He wanted to plant a seed in this monster's heart, to make him doubt, to make him unable to eat or sleep, until he could no longer bear it and took action; when that time came, it would be his own undoing.
Zhu Ci raised his hand and rubbed his eyes. When he stepped back outside, Sun Hongji and his Jinyi Guards all saw the slight redness in the Crown Prince's eyes.
Zhu Ci looked at Sun Hongji with a forced smile, reached into his sleeve to pull out two gold pearls, pressed them toward him, saying, "I appreciate your trouble, Commander."
Sun Hongji felt much more at ease immediately. He took the two gold beads and said, "Rest assured, Your Highness. If Nong Dianxi is indeed innocent, this official will certainly report it promptly."
Zhu Ci raised his hand to wipe the corners of his eyes and said, "Nong Banban would never act against me. Commander, you must uncover the person behind this."
Sun Hongji gave a response and left with his men.
Watching the expression and gaze of Nong Liangping as he was being led away, Zhu Ci suddenly felt as if he were a villain.
He hadn't really been talking nonsense just now; if it were possible, he indeed had no intention of replacing Nong Liangping. After all, since the man knew everything about him, he could simply ask him directly.
Now.. the Eastern Palace's Imperial Seal Eunuch is going to be replaced again; I just don't know who it will be.
Author's Note:
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Zhu Ci: I knew he was looking for death, but I didn't know he'd be in such a hurry to die. *Cat licks its claws with extended nails. jpg*
Chapter 7
The position of the Eastern Palace Imperial Seal Eunuch would certainly not remain vacant, but this newcomer appeared to be quite a formidable man. Standing over 1.8 meters tall, he was burly and powerful, with a voice as loud as a bell.
“Your name is Ge Xudong?” Zhu Ci sat in the seat of honor, sizing the man up.
He looked like another martial artist; judging by his appearance, he should be even more formidable than Nong Liangping.
Luckily, the person I faced when I first transmigrated wasn't Ge Xudong, otherwise I might have met my end right at the very beginning.
Ge Xudong crossed his hands in front of him, bowed slightly, replied, "Yes."
Mhm, do your work well from now on. There are no strict rules in the Eastern Palace, just make sure you manage the people below you well and don't let what happened before occur again, do you understand?
Ge Xudong immediately replied, "This servant understands."