Chapter 124: Pressure

Sure enough, within a few days the Emperor's decree came down, and Empress Zhang and Zhu Xu both went to "offer their congratulations."

The weather was still sweltering, and Zhu Xu was not one to sit still. After making a circuit of the palace, he turned to Cao Wenzhao and said, "Come on, let's go out of the palace for a stroll."

Cao Wenzhao hurried over and said, "Your Highness, Prince Xin has been quite suspicious of you lately. You can't just leave the palace at will anymore."

Zhu Xu smiled slightly and said, "No need to worry. We'll give him the old 'cicada sheds its shell' trick. Come on, let's head back first."

After a while, a group of eunuchs entered Jinghuan Palace, and soon came back out.

Cao Huachun, bringing up the rear, noticed the person in front was walking a bit crookedly. He leaned in and said, "Your Highness, you're listing to the side."

Zhu Xu quickly clamped his legs around the young eunuch beneath him and said in a low voice, "Walk more steadily."

That young eunuch was drenched in sweat, nodding in agreement repeatedly, walking with ever greater care and caution.

Having made it out of the palace smoothly, Zhu Xu sat in the carriage and let out a deep sigh.

Outsiders couldn't see clearly what was going on with the grain transport matter, but Prince Xin, Zhu Youjian, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines with his eyes fixed on Zhu Xu, had seen through the game. He had even deduced that the other merchant houses bearing the character "Hui" were also connected to Zhu Xu, and had secretly sent people to keep watch.

"Your Highness, this can't go on. We need to find a way to dispel Prince Xin's suspicions." Cao Wenzhao, sitting at the front of the carriage, said as he turned his head back while slowly driving the horses.

Zhu Xu furrowed his brow as well, thinking to himself, it's not that simple. Once this imperial elder brother of his became suspicious, given his temperament, he wouldn't let his doubts go until Zhu Xu was dead.

Still, Zhu Xu truly had no way to deal with this imperial elder brother of his. Most importantly, Zhu Youjian was the future Chongzhen Emperor. Using any means against him could well backfire — the gain wouldn't be worth the loss.

Zhu Xu let out a deep sigh and forced himself to sound spirited: "It's fine. If he wants to watch, let him watch. As long as he can't catch me red-handed, there's nothing he can do to me."

Cao Wenzhao sat up front, his expression hesitant. He could understand why His Highness Prince Hui was wary of Luo Sigong, and he could understand His Highness Prince Hui's dislike of and suppression of Wei Zhongxian, but he had never been able to figure out why Zhu Xu was so wary of Prince Xin, who was also a single-character prince.

Both were sons of the late Emperor and younger brothers of the current Emperor. Zhu Xu's favor from the throne far exceeded Prince Xin's — what was there to fear from him? Was it just that he was a few years older?

If Zhu Xu could have known what Cao Wenzhao was thinking, he probably would have told him — it really was precisely because of those few extra years of age!

Zhu Xu and his companion braved the summer heat to go out, while at ** Xing's residence, they too were bearing the scorching heat, worrying about the state and the people.

** Xing sat in the seat of honor, with Wang Ji seated beside him. This time even more people had come, mainly concerning the grain transport.

"My lord," a fourth-rank official from Huai'an Prefecture said, standing with a bow and a grave expression, "the Ministry of Works is far too slow. Three days have already passed, and fewer than a hundred ships have left port in total. What's more, they've detained over a hundred ships heading north. At this rate, something major is bound to go wrong with the grain transport!"

The others chimed in agreement. At this point they had no way to fault the Ministry of Works; they just wanted the Ministry of Works to finish quickly so they could figure out how to wrap things up and get back to making money as usual.

** Xing having personally gone to see Zhong Yuzheng had already made him feel humiliated; there was no way he would go looking for him again now. Hearing this, he furrowed his brow slightly, looked at the fourth-rank official, and said, "Does your Grain Transport Office truly have no way at all?"

That official gave a bitter laugh and said, "My lord, the Grain Transport Office is now leaderless and scattered like loose sand. On top of that, the Ministry of Works holds the imperial decree in hand and is being far too strict. We truly have no way at all."

** Xing's expression darkened a shade. He could see perfectly well that these people merely wanted him to stick his neck out. But the waters of the grain transport were far too deep. Recently, although he had forced Guan Yingzhen and others to resign, it had been a case of wounding the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of his own. Now the memorials impeaching him at court were growing ever more numerous — some Grand Secretaries had even hinted to him that only by retiring to his fields could he preserve himself.

** Xing pondered for a long moment, then said, "I will enter the palace to see His Majesty tomorrow and find a way to handle this. You may all return now."

The group looked at ** Xing, knowing they couldn't press him too hard. After another round of flattery and veiled pressure, they finally left the Zhao residence.

In the main hall, only ** Xing and Wang Ji remained. Both took a sip of tea and fell into a brief silence to ease the atmosphere.

"That shipping firm — have you found out anything about it?" After a moment, ** Xing looked at Wang Ji and asked.

Wang Ji shook his head slightly, then leaned in and said in a low voice, "I haven't found out anything definite, but I did hear that someone from the palace was seen there."

** Xing's brow furrowed and his expression turned grave as he said, "Have you verified this? Specifically, who from where?"

Wang Ji looked thoughtful, and finally said uncertainly, "I can't confirm it, but someone vaguely remembers that it seemed to be someone from the Empress's palace."

A sinister look crossed ** Xing's aged face. What he opposed most was people from the palace meddling in affairs outside the palace. Whether it was the Emperor or the Empress, in his view they should act according to the rules. The slightest transgression was unforgivable and required stern remonstrance.

He thought for a long while, then said, "I will raise this matter with His Majesty when I enter the palace. I'll also need to make a trip to the Ministry of Revenue — for the grain transport to be truly settled, the Ministry of Revenue has to be willing."

Wang Ji nodded as well. The grain transport was currently managed by the Ministry of Revenue; the Ministry of Works was only responsible for reviewing and building the ships. Even if the Ministry of Works finished its work, it would still fall to the Ministry of Revenue to wrap things up.

After ** Xing finished speaking, Wang Ji remained silent for a long time. ** Xing's brow twitched and he said, "What's wrong with you?"

Wang Ji said hesitantly, "My lord, there have been quite a few memorials impeaching me lately. If I don't resign soon, I'm afraid..."

A fierce light flashed in ** Xing's eyes — a fierceness born of hatred, hatred for the factional strife at court, hatred for their enemies. These people stopped at nothing, were shameless beyond measure, and would not rest until they had driven every upright official out of the court!

But he too was caught in the whirlpool now. Keeping his expression unchanged, he comforted him: "Don't worry, and don't panic. The more critical the moment, the more you must keep your composure."

Wang Ji nodded with a forced expression, but his heart remained uneasy. According to court convention, either he left on his own initiative or he would be driven out. If he left voluntarily, he could preserve his clean reputation and could return to office in the future — not only would it not be shameful, it would even be capital for a comeback. But if he were driven out, not only would his reputation be ruined, he would have no chance of returning to office in the future, and would even implicate his family and go down in the history books as a disgraced figure.

As usual, Zhu Xu changed carriages several times before cautiously appearing at the back gate of the Fu residence.

Fu Changzong received him. Once the two were in the secret chamber, Fu Changzong took a deep breath and said, "Why have you come out of the palace at this hour?"

Zhu Xu looked at him with a strange expression and said, "Uncle, your complexion doesn't look right. Have you been very busy lately?"

Fu Changzong shook his head slightly and said, "You probably don't know yet — from the Six Ministries and Nine Chief Ministers to the Grand Secretariat, the infighting has been fierce lately. Members of the Chu faction have been forced by Donglin to resign or be dismissed from office. Donglin is under enormous pressure too, and I expect quite a few of them will have their names struck from the rolls and be sent back to their hometowns."

Zhu Xu truly felt helpless when it came to court affairs, so he just listened as Fu Changzong spoke slowly.

Fu Changzong glanced at Zhu Xu and continued, "This time, besides the Donglin Faction and the Chu faction, Wei Guangwei and Gu Bingqian have also formed a clique, using the opportunity to purge those who disagree with them and expand their own power. The court is thick with factions and rival camps — even those not at court wield enormous influence. The turmoil shows no sign of ending."

Zhu Xu vaguely sensed something from Fu Changzong's words and quickly interrupted: "Let's talk about the grain transport matter."

Fu Changzong's expression did not change as he said, "If we want to protect the grain transport, relying on just the two of us — Zhou Yingqiu and myself — at court won't be enough."

Zhu Xu's head ached terribly. The court and Prince Xin were the two things he least wanted to deal with, yet they were precisely what he couldn't avoid or dodge.

After thinking it over, Zhu Xu still said, "Mm, I understand. I'll think about it. Now tell me about the grain transport matter."