Chapter 91

"Who are your accomplices?!"

"Who are your accomplices?! Do not tell the Emperor that just you few dare to harm my Zhu family so grievously!"

83, The Great Purge!

On Xingshan, the officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works turned ashen.

Is there anyone else behind this matter?

According to the unwritten rules beneath the Great Ming.

None.

Even if handed over to the Sanfasi Society for joint trial, at most it would be just these few scoundrels.

But what about according to the Great Ming Code?

Whatever you do, you must grease the palms up and down!

In the Great Ming's official circles, such matters have long become the norm.

The officials they bribed might not even know themselves which specific matter the silver they received was for!

At this moment, Zhu Youjian seemed like a different person; with a grotesque expression, he leaned close to their ears and whispered.

"Name your accomplices."

"The Emperor will leave you a whole corpse."

Liu Zunxian, the Minister of Works, gritted his teeth with an ashen face, looking down at Zhu Youjian.

"Your subject has failed the Imperial grace. This matter was indeed done by us alone; there are no accomplices!"

Hearing Liu Zunxian's words.

The expression on Zhu Youjian's face twisted even more.

"Good, good!"

"Wang Chengen, Luo Yangxing!"

The moment the words fell.

Wang Chengen and Luo Yangxing, who had been prepared, stepped forward.

"Your servant is here."

"Your subject is here."

Zhu Youjian pointed at the few people behind him and said.

"Did they not say your Factory and Guard are ruthless and cruel?!"

"Interrogate them for the Emperor!"

"Interrogate them right here!"

"In front of my Zhu family members, interrogate them for the Emperor!"

Wang Chengen and Luo Yangxing's bodies trembled.

Immediately, they clasped their hands and said.

"Your servant receives the decree!"

"Your subject receives the decree!"

Having spoken, Zhu Youjian sat down on the dragon throne nearby.

His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Liu Zunxian and the others kneeling before him.

Wang Chengen and Luo Yangxing exchanged a smile.

When the two looked at the hundred officials again.

All the civil and military officials in court involuntarily shivered.

They knew.

Since Wei Zhongxian's fall, all their methods of suppressing the Factory and Guard had vanished into thin air at this very moment.

Wang Chengen glanced at the few Eastern Depot agents behind him.

Immediately, someone familiar with the routine fetched several wooden stakes from the side.

On the spot, they hand-crafted large torture instruments like the tiger bench.

Wang Chengen looked at Liu Zunxian, who was slumped on the snow, and smiled.

"Minister Liu, trouble you to wait a moment; we will be ready in a bit."

Liu Zunxian sat slumped on the snow.

Panic-stricken and at a loss, he looked at Wang Chengen before him, then at the various "colleagues" behind him.

At this time, the crowd of colleagues behind him also involuntarily closed their eyes.

Seeing the expressions of these "colleagues," Liu Zunxian finally recognized the reality before his eyes.

Just as Liu Zunxian, with a face full of despair, prepared to bite his tongue to commit suicide.

An old Eunuch from the Eastern Depot behind him darted forward in one stride to Liu Zunxian's front.

Before Liu Zunxian could react.

A crisp "Crack!" sound rang out.

Liu Zunxian's jaw was forcibly dislocated by the old Eunuch.

Seeing Liu Zunxian, who could no longer move his mouth, the old Eunuch, whose figure was withered like a dried tree, finally smiled.

"Minister Liu, do not be so hasty with your mouth."

"This old slave has done nothing but this in his life; spare yourself these tricks and save yourself from suffering."

"If you bite your tongue to commit suicide again, this old slave will have no choice but to remove your teeth first."

Looking at the state of his old superior, Liu Zunxian.

Several Vice Ministers from the Ministry of Works were first terrified into collapsing onto the ground.

Kneeling on the ground, they repeatedly begged for mercy, saying

"Eunuch Wang, we confess, we confess!"

The moment these words were spoken,

all the civil and military officials behind them instantly turned deathly pale with fear.

Wang Chengen stared fiercely at that Vice Minister and demanded in a harsh voice,

"Who issued the transfer orders from the Five Military Commissions to you?!"

"It was Duke Cheng! Duke Cheng issued them!"

The moment the words fell,

Zhu Chunchen in the crowd instantly turned deathly pale with fear.

He pointed excitedly at the several Vice Ministers kneeling on the ground and roared,

"How can you so groundlessly slander an innocent person?!"

"Your Grace, on the eighth night of last month, this humble official brought ten thousand taels of silver to seek your approval for the order; how could you have forgotten?!"

Zhu Chunchen looked at that person excitedly and roared,

"Nonsense! When did I ever accept ten thousand taels of silver from you?!"

Wang Chengen let his hands hang helplessly before him, gazing quietly at Zhu Chunchen and smiling,

"Your Grace..."

Zhu Chunchen ran excitedly before Zhu Youjian and wailed,

"Your Majesty, I am a descendant of the Prince of Dongping and the Prince of Pingyin; I bear the surname Zhu, and Your Majesty also bears the surname Zhu; one brushstroke cannot write two Zhu characters!"

Throughout the entire Ming dynasty, among the noble families, only the lineage of Duke Cheng was enfeoffed with three princely titles in succession.

Moreover, apart from Zhu Neng's "Commandery Prince" title, which he won through his own battles, the merits for the other two princely titles were all granted for no clear reason.

Prince of Pingyin, Zhu Yong, personally sent Zhu Qizhen to study among the Oirat; after the Restoration of the Gate, he was posthumously titled Prince of Pingyin.

Prince of Dingxiang, Zhu Xizhong, was even more absurd; for twenty years of the Jiajing reign he did not attend court, yet Zhu Xizhong substituted for Jiajing in sacrificing to Heaven more than twenty times, and emerged from the ancestral tombs with the title of Prince of Dingxiang.

Zhu Youjian stared fiercely at Zhu Chunchen and sneered,

"Do you even deserve to bear the surname Zhu?!"

"Drag him away; continue the interrogation!"

"Yes!"

And just at that moment,

the tigers' benches and other torture instruments of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were gradually brought out.