Chapter 16: A Sticky Mess

More than thirty people at once—Supervising Secretaries from the Six Offices of Scrutiny, Censors from the Censorate, Vice Ministers from the Six Ministries, Junior Vice Ministers from the Office of Transmission—nearly every office among the Six Ministries and Nine Chief Ministers was implicated. Court heavyweights who were ordinarily the most exalted of all became prisoners in a single afternoon.

This incident was unprecedented in the Tianqi reign. It immediately stirred criticism throughout the court, then memorials flew into the palace like snowflakes. As word spread, every official with the right to submit memorials—regardless of which side they stood on, even the neutrals—sent up one after another.

Though "punishments do not reach the high officials" was hardly apt for Ming dynasty courtiers, seizing so many officials and casting them into prison at one stroke could fairly be called shaking the very foundations of the state. Whether implicated or not, out of responsibility to the court and loyalty to the emperor, memorials could not be spared!

Zhu Youxiao had no experience with such matters. Facing opposition that roared like a mountain avalanche and crashed like a tidal wave, he panicked. He could find no one to consult—Wei Zhongxian and the others were themselves parties to the affair—and in his helplessness, he finally followed the example of his forebears.

If you can't afford to provoke them, you can afford to avoid them!

And so Zhu Youxiao stopped holding court, then stopped receiving any ministers at all. He hid himself in the inner palace, like an ostrich, pretending to hear nothing of what went on outside.

The Emperor might not hear, but Zhu Xu did. Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat, Ministers of the Six Ministries, the Censorate, the Nine Chief Ministers, Supervising Secretaries of the Six Offices of Scrutiny—every official in the capital ranked sixth grade or above gathered in clusters, each pursuing his own interest, all but ready to storm the palace, drag the Emperor out, and have the matter settled clearly on the spot.

"Tsk tsk, quite a show." Zhu Xu lay in his rocking chair, creaking back and forth, a teacup cradled in his hands, taking an occasional sip. For this drama he had half-directed, he was growing more and more expectant.

Cao Wenzhao sat beside him, clumsily brewing tea, with various pastries laid out nearby. He poured Zhu Xu a fresh cup, and after a moment's hesitation asked, "Your Highness, the one in the most difficult position now is His Majesty. Will the Emperor truly comply with the courtiers' demands and dismiss Wei Zhongxian and the others, driving them from the palace?"

Zhu Xu chuckled and said, "You're overthinking it. Ever since Emperor Xianzong smashed that pillar stone inscribed 'Eunuchs shall not interfere in governance; those who do shall be beheaded,' the importance of the inner court has been thoroughly brought to light. Now the outer court wants to wipe out the inner court entirely—in effect, that's attacking the Emperor himself, trying to make him a true sovereign alone and unadvised, ruling by doing nothing."

Cold sweat broke out on Cao Wenzhao's head, for Zhu Xu's words were already blunt enough. Put any more bluntly, they would mean: the outer court seeks to sideline the Emperor, to let the scholar-officials rule the realm!

What emperor could tolerate such a thing—let alone the fact that the founding emperor of the Zhu house abolished even the office of Chancellor precisely to concentrate power!

Cao Wenzhao's mouth went dry. He hastily drank some tea as well, then said, "So that means Lord Zhou and the others are doomed to lose?"

Zhu Xu nodded, then shook his head.

If one followed history, the Tianqi Emperor used Wei Zhongxian to seize power and battered the Donglin faction into scattered ruin, pitiful and broken. But that was only relative. The Donglin faction had deep roots and broad branches—even later, when the Chongzhen Emperor eradicated the eunuch faction, he found that the entire court, civil and military, was still Donglin's world, and was forced to rehabilitate remnants of the eunuch faction to check them.

Cao Wenzhao was confused by Zhu Xu's nod-then-shake. He cautiously pressed further: "Your Highness, how will the Emperor actually handle this matter?"

Zhu Xu sipped his tea, his face full of ease, and said unhurriedly: "The initiative now lies in the hands of the inner court. After all, they've arrested a pack of ministers, but they have no right to interrogate them, because the prisoners are currently held in the Provost's prison. The most crucial point is what kind of interrogation results the Embroidered Uniform Guard produces."

The Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Cao Wenzhao's expression turned strange. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was now leaderless—Luo Yangxing had gone to GX on business, Wei Zhongxian's lackeys had either been dispatched to the provinces or purged, and Zhou Jianzong and the others were held in the Guard's custody. Wouldn't it be easy for him to get a hand in?

Cao Wenzhao hesitated for a long while before voicing the doubt in his heart: "Your Highness, what if Wei Zhongxian obtains a confession unfavorable to Lord Zhou and the others?"

Zhu Xu narrowed his eyes, basking in the sunlight, and smiled: "You've forgotten that old Lord Luo."

Cao Wenzhao was immediately enlightened. Of course—the new Guard Commander Luo Yangxing was away in the provinces, and Wei Zhongxian's men had all been cleaned out. It looked leaderless, but in truth everything in the Embroidered Uniform Guard remained under Luo Sigong's control!

Thinking of Luo Sigong, that veteran minister of three reigns, Cao Wenzhao finally breathed easier. With Luo Sigong's temperament and disposition, he would absolutely never permit Wei Zhongxian to conduct torture and forced confessions in the Provost's prison.

But soon Cao Wenzhao was stunned again, and said, "Your Highness, then are they evenly matched?"

Zhu Xu tilted back his fair, clean-shaven face, as if about to fall asleep.

Cao Wenzhao tactfully asked no more, but his mind kept turning. Still, he felt this whole affair was a sticky mess of paste—no matter how he tried to sort it out, he couldn't find the thread.

Zhu Xu's rocking chair swayed gently. He seemed drowsy, but in truth his mind was perfectly clear.

The crux of this matter lay with his imperial elder brother. And how far the affair would go depended on the pressure exerted by those courtiers outside.

"Old Cao, have Wu Tian keep watch, and report back immediately if anything happens." Zhu Xu suddenly turned his head and said to Cao Wenzhao.

Cao Wenzhao understood at once and said, "I'll send someone to notify him right away."

The Emperor might play the ostrich, but that didn't mean the ministers would let the matter rest. The Six Ministries, the Nine Chief Ministers, the Grand Secretaries—all were embroiled in this affair. Even without the court in session, they could still argue the heavens into chaos.

The Northern Provost Prison.

"Let us through—we want to see Lord Zhou, why won't you let us see him!" These were petty clerks from the Censorate. Nowadays daring to shout and make a scene was a mark of capability, but coming to a place like the Provost Prison, they would never dare go even slightly too far.

"Don't block us—we want to see Lord Zhou! You running dogs of the Eastern Depot, don't think we'll give up so easily!" These were scholars bearing official degrees who had come to the capital, faces flushed with indignation, trying to force their way into the prison.

"Move aside—I am here on orders to conduct interrogation. On what grounds do you refuse me entry? Are you defying the imperial decree!" Liu Chao led a group of Eastern Depot torture experts. Blocked at the gate, he spoke in a sinister tone.

"Get lost—if you don't want to die, clear out now!" This was the reply of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion guarding the gate to the Censorate clerks, his blade gleaming openly.

"You want to come in? Fine—but getting back out won't be so easy!" This was said to the degree-holding scholars.

"Nonsense. The prisoners are in our Provost Prison. The Emperor has issued no clear decree for the Eastern Depot to interrogate them—that means it's for us, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to do it. Even if this goes before the Emperor, the Guard will gladly see it through!" This was said to Liu Chao. The Embroidered Uniform Guard had never been on good terms with the Eastern Depot since the latter's founding—if they could put obstacles in the Depot's way, they would; if no obstacle existed, they'd create one!

The Censorate clerks, weak and pitiful, soon slunk away in dejection.

The scholars dared not push further either. They wanted to make a name known throughout the realm in one stroke—but if going in meant never coming out, that was another matter entirely.

The Eastern Depot men trembled with rage, yet could do nothing about it. They were indeed in the wrong on this matter. For one thing, the Emperor might not actually want them to conduct the interrogation; for another, conducting it within the Embroidered Uniform Guard's premises would be highly inconvenient for them.

And so Zhou Jianzong and the other thirty-some courtiers were all locked in the Provost Prison, with no one knowing the true situation inside.