Chapter 124: The Donglin Faction Sets Its Sights on the Emperor

Zhu Youxiao had not been deeply involved in the arrangements for his own grand wedding, but everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion—those below him had handled their duties well, leaving him with little to worry about.

After several purges within the palace, quite a few people had died, and things could now be considered settled.

For the time being, there was no Empress or Noble Consort in the harem, so the drama of palace intrigue could not yet unfold. The entire palace was thus fairly stable, and Zhu Youxiao had no need to trouble himself over it—what he needed to worry about were matters outside the palace.

Over this recent period, the groundwork he had laid was nearly complete, and the time to lift the lid was fast approaching.

The Donglin Faction had been beaten back step by step, and the other matters were mostly arranged. The Embroidered Uniform Guard had already handled their part, and Wei Zhongxian of the Eastern Depot was prepared as well.

Although the Grand Secretariat's actions had been somewhat unexpected, their intervention had indeed lightened a considerable burden on his shoulders.

However, there was one thing he had to guard against: these men of the Grand Secretariat were not acting now to follow the Emperor's lead, but rather to seize power and profit for themselves.

They had seen that the Donglin Faction was about to fall, and only then had they prepared to make their move. Their purpose in acting was to claim the vacuum of power left behind once the Donglin Faction was toppled.

They wanted to take over that power, but there was one condition involved—namely, whether he himself was willing to let them receive it.

But then again, wasn't all this that he was doing precisely for the sake of power at court?

Sometimes things were just that helpless, and Zhu Youxiao had no way around it. Right now he was concentrating all his attention on dealing with the Donglin Faction and truly had neither the mind nor the energy to spare for dealing with these people as well.

If he tried to fight both groups at once, in the end it would only drive them to unite.

Fighting one group alone was manageable, but if they all joined forces and he had to fight them together, then his strength would prove insufficient.

Originally he had intended to employ these men anyway—after all, once the Donglin Faction fell, they would be the best candidates to take over.

The reason was very simple: they were familiar with the court's governance and had served for so many years. Letting them handle things would not produce mistakes for the time being, and he needed a smooth transition.

The troublesome part, however, was that these men now seemed unwilling to merely serve as a transition for him—they wanted to seize the opportunity to rise to power themselves.

It seemed there was no shortage of such people at court. He would need to plan this carefully.

Still, there was one piece of good news: this way, the groundwork he had planted within the Embroidered Uniform Guard could be put to use.

Aside from the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Liaodong was temporarily stable and required nothing of him. Apart from Liaodong, the Great Ming had no other pressing matters for now, so he could spend a few years tinkering in peace.

Just as Zhu Youxiao was beginning to feel a sense of relief, Chen Hong from outside suddenly hurried in with rapid steps.

Chen Hong's expression was somewhat tense, and he clutched a stack of routine memorials in his hands. His pace was quick—clearly something major had happened.

This was not the first time Zhu Youxiao had seen such a scene, so he had some experience with it. He knew he would not be getting any rest. If a man does not seek trouble, trouble seeks the man.

"Your Majesty!" Chen Hong walked up to Zhu Youxiao's side, his face carrying a hint of terror, as if he had thought of something dreadful.

Under such circumstances, it naturally had to do with the routine memorials clutched in his hands.

"Whatever it is, speak slowly—we have not yet reached a moment of life or death." Zhu Youxiao was in a rare good mood and said with a smile.

Seeing Zhu Youxiao's expression, Chen Hong gradually calmed down, though his face still bore signs of anxiety.

After setting down the memorials in his hands, Chen Hong finally spoke: "Your Majesty, these are routine memorials just delivered by the Grand Secretariat."

"For you to rush over with such urgency, this must be no small matter." Zhu Youxiao sat up straight and reached out to pick up the memorials before him.

Glancing at the signature on the memorial, it was actually from Zhang Chunping, a Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Justice.

Seeing that the memorial's author was a Supervising Secretary, Zhu Youxiao roughly understood who had orchestrated this.

It should be the Donglin Faction stirring up trouble. But this was within expectations—they naturally could not admit defeat so easily.

The Donglin Faction, having been pushed to this point, would certainly strike back.

Previously, the Donglin Faction had not counterattacked because they had failed to reach a unified opinion—after all, deciding who would take the lead was no easy matter.

And there was no single Donglin member at court who could suppress everyone else, since Ye Xianggao was not present.

But with the Donglin Faction suffering consecutive losses, under such immense external pressure, they would inevitably complete their internal consolidation quickly.

There was nothing surprising about this, and Zhu Youxiao could understand it.

Judging from these memorials now, they must have already completed their internal integration and selected a temporary leader.

Yet no matter how he thought about it, Zhu Youxiao had never imagined that these people would attack from this angle—it truly caught him off guard.

Zhu Youxiao sighed softly in his heart. Sure enough, none of these old foxes of this era were easy to deal with.

He could say that he had surrounded the Donglin Faction from every angle, imagined every possibility of their turning the tables, and suppressed them along several direct lines.

Unfortunately, they had still found the place where he had been negligent.

Previously, he had arranged that move with Fang Congzhe, which was actually meant to leave himself an escape route.

If things ever got out of hand, he could bring Fang Congzhe out.

If the Donglin Faction at court delayed state affairs because of their struggle with him, he could have Fang Congzhe come out to hold the line.

So on the surface, he had not summoned Fang Congzhe back to the capital; instead, he had the Embroidered Uniform Guard secretly escort him to the capital under guard.

As for his crimes, they could be investigated later—if there were any, there were; if not, there weren't. When he needed him to have crimes, he could make them exist; when he didn't need him to have them, they could cease to exist.

Once some disorder arose at court, he could immediately deploy Fang Congzhe to take over this mess.

After all, he was a man who had served as Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat for so many years—whether at court or in the provinces, Fang Congzhe had his people everywhere.

Once he took office, he could take over quickly, and even adjusting personnel could be accomplished swiftly.

This was why he had brought Fang Congzhe back.

On the one hand, he hoped to use him to convict the Donglin Faction; on the other, he wanted him available at critical moments to cover for him.

Originally, he had been quite pleased with this arrangement, but judging by the current situation, it seemed it would no longer be usable.

He had not expected the Donglin Faction to set their sights on him and dig this matter back up—now it looked like they intended to make a big issue of it.

Was this not a case of lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet? Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao wore a wry smile.

Glancing at Chen Hong, who stood trembling at the side, Zhu Youxiao chuckled softly.

He knew what his Companion was worried about.