Chapter 199

Thinking that all his half-life of toil had ultimately been ruined by his own foolish son left him seething.

Jiajing nearly ascended to immortality right there on the spot.

"Great-Grandfather, this subject must return to handle matters of our own dynasty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was solemn; after pondering for a moment, he finally nodded slightly and said,

"You return first; let your elder brother come back himself to clean up this mess."

Under Jiajing's operation,

the Son of Heaven had already gained the upper hand on the issue of opening the seas.

With Old Zhu and Zhu Di controlling the chat group, there was no risk of any major mishaps.

As for the Jiajing reign, however,

Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Di were truly not necessarily a match for those court officials.

If those cunning men detected anything amiss, they would likely begin to act immediately.

Zhu Yuanzhang then immediately used the "Teleportation Talisman" and terminated Jiajing's "Disguise".

A beam of white light appeared.

Jiajing, clad in a Taoist robe, instantly returned to his own West Garden meditation chamber.

Back in the West Garden, Jiajing prostrated himself on the ground.

Facing Zhu Di, he clasped his hands and shouted,

"This subject, Houcong, respectfully bids farewell to Great Ming's Emperor Chengzu Wen!"

Having spoken, Jiajing then heavily prostrated himself on the ground.

Now, Zhu Di had no choice but to leave.

At this very moment, Xu Jie and others from the Jiajing reign had obviously also detected something amiss.

Taking advantage of the emptiness in the central palace, a tide of memorials to the throne poured in.

Inside the West Garden,

Jiajing reviewed the memorials submitted by various departments at a glance of ten lines.

Finally,

Jiajing found Wang Bengu's "Memorial of Apology" from the Zhejiang Imperial Inspector within the gaps of the paper.

In an instant, Jiajing's face immediately darkened.

"Does this Wang Bengu truly dare to deceive Heaven?!"

With a "Crash!"

Jiajing threw the memorial in his hand violently, and it struck Chen Hong squarely in the face.

Lu Fang, the Keeper of the Seal of the Directorate of Ceremonial standing nearby, turned deathly pale in an instant.

Kneeling beside Jiajing, he whispered,

"Master, please do not lose your temper."

Lu Fang knelt on the ground, picked up Wang Bengu's memorial, glanced at it a few times, and his expression inevitably grew even more grim.

"Master, Wang Bengu executed Wang Zhi without submitting a memorial for approval; this is a grave crime!"

A flash of ferocity also appeared on Chen Hong's face.

Jiajing snorted coldly, tilted his head back, and ordered,

"Summon Xu Jie! Summon Yan Song! I wish to hear what they have to say!"

Lu Fang nodded slightly and immediately hurriedly left the meditation chamber.

Not long after, Yan Song and Xu Jie were summoned to the front.

Jiajing sat upright within the meditation chamber.

He ordered Lu Fang to hand the memorial to Xu Jie and Yan Song for circulation and review.

Outside the meditation chamber, a deathly silence prevailed.

Jiajing sat upon the reed mat, expressionless, and asked in a low voice,

"Two Grand Secretaries, what are your thoughts?"

"Speak."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jie hurriedly bowed and replied,

"Your Majesty, Wang Bengu has betrayed the heavenly grace of the ruler and father by arbitrarily killing Wang Zhi. This subject requests an immediate order for the relevant authorities to convene a joint trial of this man!"

Meanwhile, Yan Song sized up Xu Jie, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke with some difficulty,

"This old subject believes that although Wang Bengu arbitrarily killed Wang Zhi, his situation is pitiable. The southeast region has long suffered harm from this beast, and public resentment has accumulated; perhaps Wang Bengu had his own helplessness..."

Hearing this,

the emperors in the chat group were instantly dumbfounded.

Zhu Youjian stared with wide eyes at Zhu Yuanzhang and said,

"Great-Grandfather, what, what exactly is going on here?"

"According to logic, Xu Jie is the representative of the southeastern scholar-gentry families; why have the situations of these two been reversed?"

Inside the chat group, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression gradually grew gloomy.

He helplessly let out a long sigh and said,

"This young man, in this reign, has actually recruited so many capable men."

If Zhu Yuanzhang had not served as Emperor for so many years,

he too would have been stunned by the scene before his eyes at that moment.

After a long while, Zhu Yuanzhang finally sneered coldly.

"Yan Song, Xu Jie..."

"Only today have I finally understood what it means: the greatest traitor appears loyal, the greatest loyalist appears treacherous."

Zhu Youjian looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, utterly confused.

"Grandfather, are you saying...?"

Zhu Yuanzhang let out a long sigh.

"Wang Bengu is a disposable pawn—no need to think twice. This man is surely a stale Confucian, rigid-minded, easily swayed by a few words of manipulation and charging ahead in a fit of righteous anger."

"He thinks he's upholding justice impartially."

"In truth, he may not even realize how great a disaster he's caused!"

The moment Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking,

a bell tone rang out from the meditation chamber.

Jiajing stepped slowly out of the meditation chamber.

"There are only two kinds of people in this world you can trust: the straightforward, and the foolish. The foolish have no cunning; the straightforward never use cunning."

"Someone like Wang Bengu—straightforward and foolish—I have no patience to quarrel with him."

At this moment,

the air seemed to freeze.

Jiajing stared intently at Xu Jie and whispered,

"Wang Zhi is dead—he died as he should. Over the years, he has killed countless Great Ming subjects. Let this be our reckoning to the people of the Great Ming."

The moment he finished speaking,

Yan Song and Xu Jie both bowed slightly, clasping their hands.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Jiajing strolled through the meditation chamber, and after a long while, smiled.

"Wang Bengu is a straightforward minister, a fool—but the people of the realm may not see it that way."

"They will think Wang Zhi had already surrendered, yet I killed him—this is bad, bad!"

The moment Jiajing spoke these words,

Xu Jie's expression darkened gradually, though it vanished in an instant.

"We cannot let the people believe their sovereign is such a man!"

"If the people believe I am such a man, all will abandon me!"

The moment Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Song could not help but interrupt,

"Your Majesty, this old minister believes that although Wang Bengu is reckless, the root of the problem still lies with Wang Zhi..."

Here, Yan Song's tone paused involuntarily.