Chapter 10: A Twist in the Tale

Zhang Zhang Juzheng stood before the Northern Southern Yamen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, with Second Grand Secretary Lu Lu Diaoyang beside him. Behind them stood the officials of the Three Judicial Offices.

Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Ge Ge Shouli, Minister of Justice Wang Wang Zhigao, and the Left and Right Vice Ministers of the Court of Judicial Review, Li Li Youzi and Luo Dai Fengxiang, had all gathered with the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Provincial Military Commander Zhu Zhu Xixiao and the Eastern Depot's Superintendent Feng Bao to form the tribunal for this joint trial.

The Ministry of Justice oversaw all criminal cases in the empire, the Censorate was responsible for oversight, and the Court of Judicial Review was responsible for corrections; the Three Judicial Offices had gathered as one.

To specifically welcome the Emperor's arrival, the Northern Southern Yamen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had undergone an unprecedented deep clean. The windows were bright and the tables clean, and they had even scrubbed the corners with pig-hair brushes before lighting sandalwood incense. This place, which should have been gloomy and terrifying, had finally become a bit more sunlit.

Zhu Zhu Yijun sat in the rear hall of the Southern Yamen. As the Emperor, if he sat in the center of the front hall, who would dare to preside over the trial?

The suspect, Wang Wang Zhanglong, was brought out from the Heavenly Prison. Two Company Commanders in crimson flying-fish robes were responsible for escorting him. Even after being brought into the public hall, the two Company Commanders pressed down on the suspect, who was in shackles and chains, not daring to show the slightest negligence.

Provincial Military Commander Zhu Zhu Xixiao had only one requirement: absolutely nothing must go wrong at the Northern Southern Yamen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Clack! Suspect Wang Wang Zhanglong, speak the truth immediately! Who ordered you to go to the Qianqing Palace to assassinate the Emperor?!" Zhu Zhu Xixiao was the presiding official. Here, in the Northern Southern Yamen, he was naturally responsible for the main interrogation. He struck the gavel against the table, his voice booming with authority.

Wang Wang Zhanglong knelt on the ground, seemingly frightened by the gavel, and stammered, "Commander, this commoner only went into the palace to steal some things. How could it be an assassination? I beg the Commander to investigate clearly."

"Bring up the physical evidence!" Zhu Zhu Xixiao shouted.

The two blades Wang Wang Zhanglong used for the assassination were presented. The short one was the dagger used to stab the Emperor, and the long one was the ring-pommel saber used to wound Zhang Hong; both were extremely sharp.

A section of the Emperor's dragon bed had been replaced, and the hole left by the dagger was still visible on the board. After the Emperor rose, Zhang Hong had Zhang Jing and the others dismantle the bed board and replace it with a new one, sending the original to the Southern Yamen of the Three Judicial Offices as evidence.

Zhu Zhu Xixiao sneered and said, "You entered the palace with weapons and headed straight for the Qianqing Palace. When the eunuch Zhang Hong caught you, I was there myself. Where is the property you stole? Don't tell me you looked down on everything in the Qianqing Palace! The ironclad evidence is right here; how dare you quibble!"

Wang Wang Zhanglong's eyes darted around. He knelt on the ground and cried out, "This commoner is a soldier of the Qi Family Army!

This commoner was momentarily muddled and listened to the words of a villain. It was a eunuch in the palace who ordered this commoner to enter the palace and assassinate the Emperor, saying it was to frighten the young Emperor and let him know who was truly powerful."

"Nonsense!" Zhu Zhu Xixiao sneered and shouted, "Bring in the witnesses!"

Several witnesses were brought before the hall one by one to identify Wang Wang Zhanglong, perfectly outlining the life of Wang Wang Zhanglong, who had been a hired servant in the capital.

Wang Wang Zhanglong was a gambler who had lost money and owed a great deal of debt to gambling dens. When the owners and managers of these dens were brought to testify, they were so frightened they couldn't even stand steadily. They wondered how they had ended up in the Heavenly Prison just for running a gambling den.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had lost much of its power, but that was only in the imperial court. In the eyes of gambling den owners, the Guard were the Emperor's personal guards. Entering the Northern Southern Yamen meant entering the Heavenly Prison, which was a crime punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan.

Wang Wang Zhanglong had to pay his gambling debts, or the debt collectors would have given him no way out. He had originally intended to castrate himself to enter the palace and sell himself to win back his losses. After inquiring everywhere, he found a way into the palace, and upon hearing there was a big job to be done, he took it.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng sat steadily. He had read the case files; the Guard's handling of the case was as swift and decisive as ever, with clear evidence. Every word the Commander spoke was like a nail driven into wood.

During the Emperor Jiajing era, when Lu Bing was the Commander, the Guard's influence was at its peak, even overshadowing the Eastern Depot, and they were deeply trusted by the Emperor Jiajing Emperor.

Very few people dared to impeach Lu Bing for overstepping his authority or framing others. Even the censorate officials, who loved to nitpick, could only say that Lu Bing was good at catering to the Emperor's wishes.

As a secret service department specifically for the Emperor to handle dirty work, Lu Bing being criticized only for "catering to the Emperor's wishes" was already the highest praise.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had seventeen offices, each with a full quota of 1,120 men, totaling 19,040 personnel. Only those in the Northern Southern Yamen with investigative authority were called "Tied Riders."

There were never more than six hundred Tied Riders, but they were always professional, acting like the sharp claws and teeth of the Emperor.

The "Yellow Tied" were for the Emperor's exclusive use.

The Guard's investigative capabilities remained, but after Lu Bing's death, their status had declined day by day over the past decade. After all, eunuchs were closer to the Emperor.

Zhu Zhu Yijun's butterfly effect was already showing results.

Originally, the Wang Wang Zhanglong case was to be handed over to the Eastern Depot for interrogation, but because of Zhu Zhu Yijun's words, the Empress Dowager had handed it to the Guard.

According to regulations, the Eastern Depot had to wait until the palace gates opened at dawn to leave the palace to handle cases. Thus, during this morning's lecture, the true identity of Wang Wang Zhanglong could not be confirmed.

The Guard had the Northern Southern Yamen outside the He Chengtian Gate. A message sent out would allow several criminal investigation Company Commanders to thoroughly investigate Wang Wang Zhanglong's family history back eighteen generations.

At the very least, they had confirmed that this villain was not from the Qi Family Army, but a hired servant in the capital.

The identity of the assassin was truly, truly important.

The Guard's power might not be obvious, but they were still capable of getting things done.

Feng Bao, with a bandage wrapped around his forehead and both cheeks swollen, sat in the position of the Superintendent of the Ceremonial Secretariat and said in a shrill voice, "This servant has a life-and-death feud with Chen Hong. Yesterday, I already had Chen Hong arrested. Chen Hong has already confessed that he provided the eunuch robes and the vegetable garden camp waist plates, and had Teng Xiang, Meng Chong, and others leave the palace to conspire with the villain, allowing this Wang Wang Zhanglong to sneak into the palace and cause this evil deed."

"Fortunately, the Emperor is unharmed."

"Is the Emperor unharmed?" Minister of Personnel Yang Bo flicked his sleeves, stared at Feng Bao, and shouted, "The villain missed his strike, but what if he hadn't? The Emperor is still young; what if he had been frightened? You are the Inner Minister, and all matters in the palace are your responsibility. How can you still sit there after letting a villain into the palace!"

Yang Bo, who had passed the imperial examination in the eighth year of Emperor Jiajing, had served in local government. In the eighteenth year of Emperor Jiajing, he accompanied Grand Secretary Zhai Luan to inspect the nine frontiers. In the nineteenth year of Emperor Jiajing, the Emperor Jiajing Emperor summoned Yang Bo to the palace at night for a consultation, deeply appreciating his talents. From the twenty-fifth year of Emperor Jiajing, he began inspecting the border regions.

In the thirty-third year of Emperor Jiajing, when the Altan Khan and his forces raided the Jizhou garrison with over a hundred thousand cavalry, Yang Bo fought alongside Regional Commander Zhou Yichang, refusing to remove his armor. At night, he recruited daredevils to penetrate the enemy camp and repel them. In the thirty-fourth year of Emperor Jiajing, Yang Bo again repelled the Altan Khan.

Yang Bo inspected the border regions until the forty-second year of Emperor Jiajing, when, due to the defeat of the Jizhou-Liaodong Viceroy Yang Xuan,

he returned to the imperial court to serve as Minister of Personnel.

As a Junior Preceptor of the Crown Prince and a first-rank official with local experience and military achievements, he truly did not fear Feng Bao, this eunuch, because he was the leader of the Jin Party.

The Jin Party was a political faction deeply entrenched in the imperial court.

Another unbreakable political alliance.

Left Censor-in-Chief Ge Ge Shouli immediately echoed, "Feng Bao! You hold great power in the inner palace, and the Empress Dowager and the Emperor have entrusted you with heavy responsibilities. Is this how you act as a Great Eunuch? Besides abusing your power, demanding endless wealth, and hoarding silver, what else can you do! The state is in chaos and in imminent danger!"

Zhu Zhu Yijun flipped through the *Analects*, occasionally taking notes. He was studying very seriously; the noise in the hall below seemed not to affect him at all.

Although Emperor Jiajing did not attend court, it did not mean he did not participate in court consultations. The old Daoist always hid behind heavy curtains, striking a copper bell with a copper hammer. How many times he struck, and the rhythm of the strikes, was all left for the officials to guess.

Emperor Jiajing practiced Daoism in the Zhao Wenhua Hall, while the young Emperor studied in the Zhao Wenhua Hall.

The young Emperor studying while the officials argued in the hall below was a bizarre scene, but it was the result of many struggles.

In the sixth month of the sixth year of Emperor Longqing, less than a month after the Emperor Longqing Emperor passed away, Gao Gong, as the Senior Grand Secretary, submitted a memorial. This memorial was long, but it contained one sentence: 【If there are matters not yet drafted by the Cabinet, and the Emperor issues internal decrees directly, we officials must be allowed to remonstrate clearly before they can be implemented.】

This meant: If there were memorials not drafted by the Cabinet, and the Emperor issued decrees directly, the officials had to be allowed to see the Emperor and ask for clarification before they could be implemented.

Gao Gong not only said that a ten-year-old ruler could not govern the world, but also set specific restrictions: the Emperor could not bypass the Zhang Wenyuan Pavilion to issue decrees.

The Emperor issuing internal decrees without Cabinet drafting.

That single sentence completely touched the Empress Dowager's taboo.

So, in order to allow the Emperor to govern exclusively, the young Emperor, who should have been studying in the rear of the Zhao Wenhua Hall, was moved to the front hall, sitting on the moon platform, studying while listening to the officials argue.

These twenty-seven court officials eventually got used to this way of holding court consultations.

Feng Bao was not afraid at all at this moment. He sneered, looked at Yang Bo, and said, "Hmph! This servant sits here naturally because the Empress Dowager and the Emperor trust me to watch over you all! Matters in the palace are not for you to interfere with!"

"You want to manage matters outside the palace! And you want to manage matters inside the palace too!"

"Do you want to manage what the Emperor eats as well?"

This morning, while waiting outside the Qianqing Palace, a young eunuch from the Empress Dowager's side had passed a message to Feng Bao, saying the Empress Dowager did not want him to attend the lecture. In the end, it was the Emperor who decided to let him follow.

Even though Feng Bao had a bandage on his head, the Emperor had let him stand up.

The Emperor's words had made Feng Bao feel a lingering fear. It turned out that all his little tricks were in the Emperor's eyes. The Emperor wasn't unaware; he just couldn't be bothered to care, or perhaps he even intended to let him establish his authority. He was in charge of everything in the palace, but he had bungled the job. He had slapped his own face, knocked his head, and yielded power, yet the Emperor had let him stand up.

That meant the Emperor still trusted him, still let him work, and still found him useful. He was full of confidence. He represented imperial power, tearing at the civil officials in this Zhao Wenhua Hall court consultation.

"Chen Hong confessed that it was the former Senior Grand Secretary Gao Gong who instructed him to do this." Feng Bao threw out a single sentence, not too heavy, not too light.

This statement had immense offensive power. The officials immediately fell silent. The Zhao Wenhua Hall was extremely quiet, with only the sound of the young Emperor flipping pages and the wind blowing the large yellow curtains.

Gao Gong, the former Senior Grand Secretary. When Gao Gong was in power, he promoted many members of the Jin Party. If Gao Gong were to be charged with the heinous crime of assassinating the Emperor, those members of the Jin Party he had promoted would all be in trouble.

Everyone turned their eyes to the Senior Grand Secretary, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, who was standing in the first position on the left. Before the Emperor Longqing Emperor passed away, he had appointed three Grand Secretaries as regents.

Gao Yi was dead, Gao Gong had fallen, and now, only Zhang Zhang Juzheng remained.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng's attitude was extremely important.

At this moment, the Senior Grand Secretary was flipping through the case files, verifying the written evidence, physical evidence, and witness testimony provided by the Northern Southern Yamen.

The Guard handled this case with lightning speed.

Qi General Qi Jiguang Jiguang was Zhang Zhang Juzheng's protégé, and the two had a very close relationship. If this villain Wang Wang Zhanglong were truly from the Qi Family Army, Qi General Qi Jiguang Jiguang would be in trouble, and Zhang Zhang Juzheng would also be implicated.

However, Commander Zhu Zhu Xixiao had found sufficient evidence. The life trajectory of this hired servant in the capital was extremely clear. The Embroidered Uniform Guard had been declining, and having finally obtained a case, they naturally could not afford to bungle it.

The Qi Family Army and Qi General Qi Jiguang Jiguang were cleared of suspicion, allowing Zhang Zhang Juzheng to handle the case from a position of detachment.

For a Senior Grand Secretary, how important was it to be able to remain detached? This provided more room for maneuvering.

From the very beginning, Zhang Zhang Juzheng did not believe that an assassin from the Qi Family Army could fail to kill a ten-year-old child, or even fail to deal with a eunuch like Zhang Hong. The Qi Family Army had fewer than six thousand men, each one brave and fierce.

As for the written, physical, and witness evidence brought by the Eastern Depot, Zhang Zhang Juzheng simply flipped through them briefly and closed the file, not looking again.

By now, Zhang Zhang Juzheng actually understood the context of the entire case.

Chen Hong had been the Great Eunuch in the palace during the Emperor Longqing Emperor's reign, the Superintendent of the Ceremonial Secretariat, the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot, and the Superintendent of the Imperial Horse Bureau—his power had been immense and unbridled. When the Emperor Longqing Emperor passed away, Chen Hong immediately lost all his power, and because Chen Hong and Gao Gong were on very good terms, Gao Gong fell along with Chen Hong.