Chapter 3

Empress Dowager Li looked at Zhang Hong, tilted her head, and whispered a few words to a palace maid before speaking: "Hmm, Zhang Hong's loyalty and courage in capturing the thief without regard for his own safety are commendable."

"In the future, come to the Qianqing Palace to serve as a eunuch. Follow His Majesty, and if any evildoers break into the palace again, you must ensure the Emperor's safety."

"Thank you, Empress Dowager, for your great grace! Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great grace! In the future, this servant will surely be willing to sacrifice everything to protect Your Majesty's safety!" Zhang Hong knew he had bet correctly. He had insisted on coming to see the Emperor without getting his wounds bandaged, delaying his treatment—wasn't it all to secure this immense opportunity?

If not for this, how could he have leaped from being a lowly eunuch living in the palace corridors to becoming a high-ranking eunuch of the Qianqing Palace?

From this day forward, he would no longer need to call himself a 'slave' or a 'lowly one'; when facing the Emperor, he could call himself a 'subject.' A Qianqing Palace eunuch was an inner official with a rank, qualified to call himself a subject!

The reason Empress Dowager Li whispered to the palace maid was simply because Zhang Hong looked somewhat familiar. After asking the maid beside her, it turned out Zhang Hong was indeed an old servant from the Yu Prince's Mansion.

During the Jiajing years, when the Longqing Emperor was still the Prince of Yu, Zhang Hong, then nine years old, was already working in the Prince of Yu's Mansion. After the Prince of Yu ascended the throne, Chen Hong and Feng Bao wielded great power; far from looking after the old staff, they repeatedly suppressed the old servants of the Prince of Yu's Mansion.

As an old servant from the Prince's former residence, Zhang Hong had actually ended up living among the lowly eunuchs in the palace corridors.

Empress Dowager Li made this decision naturally because Zhu Yijun had requested a reward, and also because she had already sensed that the power in Feng Bao's hands was simply too great. What if this assassination attempt on the Emperor was truly a scheme by Feng Bao to eliminate his political rivals?

There was Chen Hong still living in the palace corridors, and outside the palace, there was Gao Gong; both were Feng Bao's mortal enemies.

An adult wielding a lethal weapon to assassinate a ten-year-old child, and yet he failed to kill him? Was it truly a failure, or was there never an intention to kill in the first place?

Using the young Emperor as a pawn in a scheme was something Empress Dowager Li absolutely would not allow to happen!

Zhang Hong was severely injured while capturing the thief, and being an old servant from the Prince of Yu's Mansion and the former residence, he was extremely suitable to be by the Emperor's side to ensure his safety.

Zhang Hong kowtowed to express his gratitude. The wound on his arm needed to be treated as soon as possible, so he followed the imperial physician to a side hall.

"Stitching will be a bit painful. Bite on this cloth; if it hurts, just cry out." Imperial Physician Chen handed Zhang Hong a piece of cloth and instructed him.

Imperial Physician Chen did not have anesthesia; the stitching meant the needle and thread passing through flesh, which was certainly no ordinary pain.

Throughout the entire stitching process, Zhang Hong bit down on the cloth, sweating profusely from the pain, to the point of almost biting through the fabric, yet he did not let out a single cry of agony. He knew this was not the time to play the victim; the Empress Dowager and His Majesty were talking in the inner hall, and he could not disturb them.

Zhang Hong understood clearly when to play the victim and when not to be a nuisance.

Feng Bao had regained consciousness, his expression extremely ugly. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor still had not allowed him to rise, so he could only remain kneeling.

In this palace, the seating order and who was considered the 'ancestor' were not based on seniority, but entirely on one's closeness to the Emperor. The Qianqing Palace eunuchs were the closest to the Emperor.

With Zhang Hong appearing before the Emperor with a bloodied arm and immediately becoming a Qianqing Palace eunuch, how could Feng Bao not be filled with hatred?!

However, Feng Bao could not act out. Zhang Hong was just one person; could he be harder to deal with than Chen Hong? He would wait until the assassination matter was settled before settling scores slowly.

Half of Zhu Yijun's attention was on Feng Bao, while the other half was on Zhang Hong. After all, this man's ruthlessness was no less than Feng Bao's, and that arm dripping with blood was truly chilling.

After waiting for a moment and hearing no screams, Zhu Yijun knew that Zhang Hong was a man of superior character, skill, and patience. The key was that Zhang Hong understood clearly what was primary and what was secondary.

"Commander, what kind of people are these evildoers?" The fragility on Empress Dowager Li's face vanished, her gaze becoming exceptionally sharp.

Empress Dowager Li had originally been an ordinary palace maid in the Prince of Yu's Mansion. Over several years, she had clawed her way up to become the Empress Dowager of the Great Ming, honored with the title 'Cisheng.' When the Longqing Emperor passed away, Empress Dowager Li was exhausted, and with her child being assassinated, she had been panicked.

Now, having regained her composure, she assumed the stature of an Empress Dowager.

At this moment, she was not a mother, but the Empress Dowager of the Great Ming.

Zhu Xixiao deliberated repeatedly before bowing his head and saying: "I came in a hurry and conducted a simple interrogation. This person claims to be from the Qi Family Army, under General Qi Jiguang. I... do not quite believe it."

Zhu Yijun's brows furrowed tightly. People from the Qi Family Army, entering the palace to assassinate?

As a Commander and a member of the nobility, Zhu Xixiao was in an awkward position. The nobility had been declining for years; with the decay of the Beijing Garrison, the power of the Five Chief Military Commissions had shifted to the Ministry of War, and the nobility no longer had much say in the imperial court.

And as the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, because the Eastern Depot had grown powerful, the power of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was constantly shifting to the Eastern Depot.

Zhu Xixiao's status was a double dose of awkwardness.

Originally, Zhu Xixiao did not want to say much. The person had been caught, and he had fulfilled his duty. According to custom, the criminal should naturally be handed over to the Eastern Depot for interrogation; as a Commander, his duty was already fulfilled.

But as a final shred of dignity for the nobility, Zhu Xixiao still slightly expressed his stance: the assassin was not from the Qi Family Army.

Empress Dowager Li asked: "Why does the Commander not believe it?"

Zhu Xixiao bowed his head and said: "The Qi Family Army does not crawl through dog holes. If it had been the Qi Family Army in person, the eunuch Zhang Hong would have been dead long ago."

The Qi Family Army's reputation for being adept at battle spread far and wide; they were the 'stabilizing needle' of the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli years.

The Qi Family Army swept away Japanese pirates in the south and resisted the Hu barbarians in the north. Their strict discipline was famous throughout the world; any soldier who disturbed the people during a campaign would be beheaded as a public example, without exception.

They were an uncompromisingly heroic army of their time!

For such brave men, true men who stood tall, to crawl through dog holes and struggle with a eunuch while holding a lethal weapon—with such spinelessness and such skill, Zhu Xixiao did not believe the evildoer was from the Qi Family Army.

Empress Dowager Li did not believe it either. During the late Jiajing and Longqing years, the Qi Family Army's fierce battle records reached the court, and she clearly remembered that those were the few times her husband would smile with joy.

If the Qi Family Army were of this caliber, how could they have pacified the pirates or resisted the barbarians?

"Then let this case be handed over to the Commander to supervise and interrogate." Empress Dowager Li nodded. The Duke of Cheng's Mansion was one of the five hereditary dukedoms of the Great Ming and had always been loyal. Since Zhu Xixiao had captured the evildoer, this case should naturally be handed to the Embroidered Uniform Guard for interrogation.

"I obey the decree!" Zhu Xixiao looked at Feng Bao, who was still kneeling on the ground, and finally accepted the order to handle the matter.

Feng Bao was always cautious and meticulous, adept at pleasing everyone. It was likely that because something had happened in the palace this time, the Empress Dowager finally no longer trusted Feng Bao as she had in the past.

"Mother, child wants to learn martial arts." Zhu Yijun looked at the burly Zhu Xixiao, his large eyes blinking as he looked expectantly at Empress Dowager Li.

Empress Dowager Li stroked Zhu Yijun's head and said: "Do you know that learning martial arts is extremely arduous? Can you endure that kind of hardship? Better not learn it."

Zhu Yijun said with great conviction: "Mother, child has heard that our Great Ming's founding Emperor, Gao, seized the world from horseback and established the empire with divine martial prowess. The Chengzu Emperor Wen was even more of an emperor on horseback, personally campaigning against the Tatars five times, heroic and extraordinary. Child has inherited the throne and should naturally take our ancestors as models."

"If we encounter such an assassination attempt again, child does not ask to kill the enemy, only to protect myself."

"Child is not afraid of hardship!"

For an emperor to learn martial arts was to neglect his proper duties.

If it were any other time, Zhu Yijun proposing to learn martial arts would inevitably have brought Empress Dowager Li's reprimand.

But today, Zhu Yijun first brought out the laws of the ancestors—the highest political correctness in the Great Ming—and coupled with the assassination attempt where the young Emperor could only wait to be captured, the request to learn martial arts now seemed a natural progression.

Zhu Yijun truly wanted to learn martial arts, of course, hoping to tear a small opening in the heavy fog and information cocoon to get a feel for military power.

Are there really seeds of nobility for the Son of Heaven? Power belongs to those with strong soldiers and sturdy horses.

Empress Dowager Li pondered for a moment, looked at Zhu Xixiao, and said: "Commander, are you willing to teach the Emperor martial arts?"

Zhu Xixiao did not want to—not at all!

Swords and spears have no eyes. Once the Emperor was injured, sprained, bumped, or bruised, even if His Majesty did not blame him and the Empress Dowager understood, the spittle of the court officials could drown Zhu Xixiao, and even the Duke of Cheng's Mansion would be implicated.

The face of the Great Ming nobility had long since fallen into the mud, and anyone could come and step on it.

The Emperor wanted to neglect his proper duties, but Zhu Xixiao did not want to.

"May the Empress Dowager allow me to speak. His Majesty has a decree and the Empress Dowager has an order, but I am the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and official business is cumbersome. There is also the major case of the assassination attempt on the Emperor that needs to be investigated. I fear I may be ineffective and am afraid I cannot fulfill the duty." Zhu Xixiao chose to politely decline.

"Mother, then do not make things difficult for the Commander." Zhu Yijun shook his head upon hearing this, revealing a slightly bitter smile, looking at Empress Dowager Li with as much grievance in his eyes as possible.

Empress Dowager Li looked at Zhu Yijun's innocent eyes, then at the injury on his forehead. How terrified must her son have been when facing that evildoer?

If not for the child's alertness in opening his eyes before the evildoer struck, wouldn't the Great Ming's Emperor, who had been on the throne for less than seven months, have perished?!

Empress Dowager Li looked at Zhu Xixiao and said in an extremely solemn tone: "Commander, the court officials are monopolizing power and acting arbitrarily, seizing the prestige and authority of the court and not allowing the Emperor to govern. We, mother and son, are terrified and restless. Now, even the Emperor has been harassed by an assassin. The nobility has received imperial grace for generations; for such a small matter, is the Commander going to shirk responsibility?"

Zhu Xixiao's expression changed several times. He knelt on one knee and said loudly: "I dare not!"

He dared not refuse, but it was not that he did not want to. Zhu Xixiao expressed it very clearly: the military nobility had long since declined. As the younger brother of the Duke of Cheng, he naturally wanted to participate as little as possible in such major matters. But with the Empress Dowager questioning him to his face, Zhu Xixiao could no longer refuse.

If he refused again, the civil officials would slap him with a label of being disloyal and unfilial, and not caring for the Emperor's heart, making it even harder for the Duke of Cheng's Mansion.

"Then starting tomorrow, the Emperor will follow the Commander to learn martial arts. This matter is settled." Empress Dowager Li thought for a moment and finally issued the order. If her son encountered an evildoer again, he should at least have a chance to escape.

Zhu Xixiao could only accept the order.

Zhu Xixiao left with the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Imperial Physician Chen bandaged Zhang Hong and gave him some instructions before also leaving with the Guard. Except for the palace maids, only Empress Dowager Li, Zhu Yijun, Zhang Hong, and Feng Bao, who was still kneeling on the ground, remained in the Qianqing Palace.

Empress Dowager Li leaned back in her chair, looking at Feng Bao for a long time before saying: "Great Eunuch Feng."

"The assassination attempt on the Emperor is a matter of immense disaster. The imperial palace is heavily guarded, with sentries every five steps and guards every ten steps, and the palace walls are high and deep. How did this evildoer walk step by step into the Qianqing Palace? Naturally, there was an inside accomplice in the palace. Who exactly it is—you are the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot; do not go to the Northern Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to interrogate the case. Rooting out this inside accomplice is the proper course of action."

"When the time comes, by comparing the case of the inside accomplice with that of the evildoer, it will be clear what background this evildoer has."

"What does Great Eunuch Feng think?"

Upon hearing the Empress Dowager mention the case, Feng Bao felt as if he had been granted amnesty. Kneeling on the ground, he gritted his teeth and said: "The Empress Dowager's words are reasonable. I will certainly supervise the matter with all my strength! Even if I have to dig three feet into the ground, I will find these ungrateful dogs and give the Empress Dowager and His Majesty an account!"

"Hmm, go. If you are any later, I fear this inside accomplice will die an unnatural death." Empress Dowager Li nodded and waved her hand, signaling Feng Bao to withdraw and handle the matter.

Zhu Yijun remained silent, savoring Empress Dowager Li's phrase 'die an unnatural death.' The meaning was clear: Feng Bao must bring this inside accomplice in alive. Once the inside accomplice in the palace died an unnatural death, Feng Bao would certainly not be able to escape responsibility.

If he could not handle this matter well, would Feng Bao still have his life?

"The Empress Dowager Rensheng has arrived!" a young eunuch shouted in a high-pitched voice.

Zhu Yijun looked toward the entrance—the Empress Dowager Rensheng.

At this time, the Great Ming had two Empress Dowagers: one was the young Emperor's biological mother, Empress Dowager Cisheng, Lady Li; the other was the young Emperor's legal mother, Empress Dowager Rensheng, Lady Chen.

Lady Chen was the Longqing Emperor's secondary consort. After the Longqing Emperor ascended the throne, she became Empress Chen. After the Longqing Emperor passed away, according to Great Ming custom, she was honored with the title 'Rensheng' and elevated to Empress Dowager.

Lady Chen was harmless because, although beautiful, she was not favored. Instead, because she remonstrated with the Longqing Emperor, she was driven out of the Kunning Palace and moved to live elsewhere.

Most importantly, Empress Dowager Chen had no children, which was the greatest foundation for the two Empress Dowagers to live in peace.

"Greetings to the Empress Dowager." The palace maids and eunuchs hurriedly knelt to pay their respects.

Empress Dowager Rensheng, Lady Chen, lifted her skirt and hurried in. As soon as she entered, she came before the young Emperor, examined him carefully, and then breathed a sigh of relief, saying: "Besides this injury on your forehead, are you injured anywhere else?"

"Sister, has the Emperor been seen by the imperial physician?" Empress Dowager Chen looked at Empress Dowager Li, asking with an anxious expression.

Empress Dowager Li smiled and said: "Sister, he has been seen; it is nothing serious."

Lady Chen then breathed a heavy sigh of relief: "It is good that it is nothing serious, it is good that it is nothing serious. Heaven bless the Emperor, Heaven bless the Great Ming."

"The injury on my forehead is already almost healed; I just bumped it." Zhu Yijun stood up straight and said: "The evildoer has already been captured by the Commander. Mother has already ordered Great Eunuch Feng to find the inside accomplice, and this case will soon be clear. Mother need not worry."

He called his legal mother 'Mother' and his biological mother 'Mother.' This was still the Ming Dynasty; if one went back to the two Song Dynasties, an imperial prince could only call his biological mother 'Sister.'

Zhu Yijun briefly explained the situation, and the two Empress Dowagers began to exchange views, guessing who the mastermind was. They guessed back and forth, but there was no answer.

Gao Gong? Zhang Juzheng? Feng Bao?

Or someone else?