Chapter 71: The Full Story

"Good news!"

Feng Zhu looked at Zhu Xu, his face full of fawning flattery, speaking in a sharp, thin voice. As soon as he finished, he glanced sideways at Wei Liangqing, his gaze tinged with coldness.

Wei Liangqing felt a chill in his heart and hastily said, "This humble one will take his leave."

Zhu Xu studied Feng Zhu with interest. This fellow was quite skilled at borrowing the tiger's might—if he were in the palace, he might well have gone down in history as a notorious eunuch dog.

Feng Zhu turned his head, saw Zhu Xu's half-smiling expression, and his own smile twisted into a bitter gourd face. He said, "Your—Your Highness, it's a message from Eunuch Cao."

Zhu Xu's eyes narrowed slightly, his smile receding. "Speak."

Feng Zhu's heart relaxed. The words he had memorized until they rolled off his tongue came out in a rush: "It should have been started by Wang Shaowei, Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue. He bears an old grudge against the Duke. Originally the Censorate had no intention of implicating the Duke this time—it was he who insisted on adding him in."

"Wang Shaowei?"

Zhu Xu pondered but came up with nothing. There were so many people inside and outside the Great Ming court, and they changed like a revolving lantern. If they weren't famous, he simply couldn't be bothered to remember them.

"Yes," Feng Zhu explained. "According to what Lord Ni said, he was also someone promoted by Eunuch Wei back then."

A look of sudden understanding crossed Zhu Xu's face. Although he wasn't entirely clear on the details of how Madam Ke and Wei Zhongxian had schemed against Zhang Guoji to shake Empress Zhang's position, this man had most likely been one of those charging at the front lines. Now he was probably afraid Zhang Guoji would learn of it and settle accounts afterward, so he struck first.

Zhu Xu tapped his fingers on the table, thought for a moment, then said, "Have someone tell Cao Huachun to notify Ni Wenhuan to go have a talk with this Lord Wang. If they can't reach an agreement, add his name to tonight's memorial and give him some pointed commentary."

Feng Zhu understood and acknowledged the order, then added, "Your Highness, the Duke has entered the palace. Her Ladyship sent people to Jinghuan Palace looking for you several times."

Zhu Xu nodded. His imperial sister-in-law had probably already learned everything. He waved his hand and said, "You go back. For the time being, don't leave the palace casually."

"Yes, Your Highness." Feng Zhu had been thinking the same thing—having seized a Minister, Prince Hui would likely face no small amount of censure.

Only long after Feng Zhu had left did Wei Liangqing push open the door and enter, saying with utmost respect, "Your Highness, everything has been registered and stored in the warehouse."

Zhu Xu calculated the time, then stood up and said, "Good. Oh, and as for when to release that piece of news—use your own judgment."

"Yes, Your Highness. This humble one understands." Wei Liangqing's attitude was extremely deferential, with the look of one who would devote himself wholeheartedly to serving Her Ladyship and His Highness.

Zhu Xu likewise maintained throughout a tacit understanding of "I too am merely acting for Her Majesty the Empress." He stood up and left the Huitong Trading Company, boarding the carriage.

"Back to the palace."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Over thirty imperial guards surrounded Zhu Xu's carriage, cutting an imposing figure as they slowly made their way toward the palace.

At the gate of the Southern Provost Prison, an imperial guard paced back and forth while shouting at the top of his lungs.

"The criminal Zhang Heming, having unlawfully detained a Duke of the realm with intent to frame Her Majesty the Empress—witnesses and evidence are all in hand. Requesting your department to take custody!"

"The criminal Zhang Heming, having unlawfully detained a Duke of the realm with intent to frame Her Majesty the Empress—witnesses and evidence are all in hand. Requesting your department to take custody!"

"The criminal Zhang Heming, having unlawfully detained a Duke of the realm with intent to frame Her Majesty the Empress—witnesses and evidence are all in hand. Requesting your department to take custody!"

Before the gate of the Provost Prison, where strangers were usually kept at bay, there wasn't a single fly besides Cao Wenzhao's group. But the common folk gathering to watch the spectacle grew ever more numerous, their heated discussion rising like a tide.

A full incense stick's time passed, and still no one came out to say a word or give Cao Wenzhao a way to save face. Cao Wenzhao's group stood there, looking rather isolated and awkward.

Zhang Heming was getting on in years after all, and after all this back-and-forth, his face showed signs of strain. He looked at Cao Wenzhao and sneered, "So? Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard doesn't dare take me in. Surely your Prince Hui wouldn't dare privately detain me—a proper Minister of War, a second-rank official?"

Cao Wenzhao looked at Zhang Heming, his attitude remarkably good, and said, "Lord Zhang, are you saying that I now have no choice but to release you?"

Zhang Heming stiffened his neck and scoffed, "What, are you going to kill me right here?"

Cao Wenzhao's expression turned serious. "My lord jests. His Highness constantly instructs us to act strictly according to the law and never overstep our bounds—how could he do such a thing?"

Zhang Heming's expression grew even more smug. He sneered, "Then why don't you hurry up and remove these shackles for me?"

Cao Wenzhao's face changed, taking on an awkward look again. He said with some embarrassment, "My lord jests. Your unlawful detention of a Duke of the realm with intent to frame the Empress is a grave crime. This humble one has no authority to release you on my own. It's still as I said—we must act according to the law."

Zhang Heming watched Cao Wenzhao's shifting expressions and suddenly felt a bad premonition in his heart, yet he still said forcefully, "Then what do you intend to do with me? Parade me through the streets forever?"

Cao Wenzhao smiled slightly, but quickly suppressed it.

He felt he had learned to be wicked.

"Let's go—back to the palace!"

Cao Wenzhao's expression turned serious as he announced loudly.

"Yes!" The group of imperial guards moved in perfect unison, pressing Zhang Heming along as they turned and headed toward the palace.

Zhang Heming's gaze changed. He glared at Cao Wenzhao and roared, "You're taking me into the palace?"

Cao Wenzhao strode ahead at the lead, saying flatly, "The Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard all refuse to take you. Now we can only leave it to His Majesty to decide."

Zhang Heming's eyes shifted rapidly. Outside the palace, he had plenty of ways to muddy the waters—to turn a big matter small and a small matter into nothing. But once inside the palace, with Prince Hui and the Empress both there, isolated and without support, where would he have even a shred of a chance!

Fear rose in his heart, and he suddenly opened his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"Prince Hui is rebelling—unlawfully detaining a minister!"

"Help! Prince Hui is murdering people to silence them!"

Suddenly, Cao Wenzhao turned around. Holding a brush and paper, he looked at him with a stern face and said, "Zhang Heming, you are under arrest. You now have the right to remain silent, but anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand?"

Zhang Heming stared at Cao Wenzhao, stunned for a moment, then roared even louder, struggling, trying to break free.

Cao Wenzhao, appearing earnest, bit the brush between his lips, then began writing on the paper—but in truth, he was silently memorizing it all in his heart.

When the imperial guards handled a matter—and the one detained was even the Minister of War—who would truly dare to attempt a prison break? Cao Wenzhao let him shout, leading him straight toward the palace gate.

Zhu Xu's carriage was already stopped before the palace gate, waiting for Cao Wenzhao.

He stood atop the carriage, gazing into the palace gate, thinking to himself, 'I suspect His Majesty and Her Majesty are already waiting for me, ready to interrogate me, heh heh.'

In fact, that was exactly the case. After Zhu Xu had taken Zhang Heming and sent word, Grand Secretariat ministers and Censorate officials had already rushed to the Imperial Study, concerned for the state and the people, hoping the Emperor would stop and severely punish His Highness Prince Hui's "foolishness."