Chapter 67: This Ming Emperor—It Is I!

"By imperial decree, the Li family is to be executed to the ninth degree of kinship, and the Zheng family to the tenth!"

"Consort Li Kang secretly plotted to poison the Son of Heaven and has now been deposed. Former Minister of Personnel Zheng Sanjun conspired with her. Both families are to be executed on the spot. Any who resist or harbor them will be punished as accomplices!"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Inner Investigation Depot, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Ministry of Justice are to investigate jointly!"

The Eastern Depot slaughtered openly at Chengtian Gate, but this was clearly not the end of it. Before long, the sound of chaotic footsteps came from within the city. Depot agents and Embroidered Uniform Guard officers ran out from two separate gates, paying no heed to the bloody scene before them, cutting straight across the square toward their destinations.

Fang Zhenghua guarded the Emperor within the palace. The Western Depot runners, led by the Chiliarch of Punishments, emerged without a word of waste, saluted Feng Quan and Wang Cheng'en respectively, and hurried away.

Li Ruolian understood the gravity of this affair—the capital might run with rivers of blood because of it—so he personally led his men. Upon seeing Wang Cheng'en, he clasped his fists and smiled:

"Eunuch Wang!"

Wang Cheng'en did not yet know that the Chongzhen Emperor had issued this decree. Feng Quan, seeing such a massive mobilization, was likewise stunned, but dared not speak directly. In the end, it was Wang Cheng'en who spoke first:

"Director Li, what is the meaning of this?"

"Eunuch Wang hasn't heard yet? Barely a few moments after you left, His Majesty issued the decree. This time he truly means business." As he spoke, Li Ruolian recalled the Emperor's expression at that moment and still spoke with lingering fear:

"His Majesty said nothing openly this time, but that face of his—dark and heavy as water—you should have seen it, Eunuch Wang. Ah! Enough said. Our Embroidered Uniform Guard has too many places to raid today. We'll be busy. My apologies, my apologies!"

"Centurion Deng, you take West Street. Old Han, you take men to the Provost's Office to draw personnel. East Street is yours. Remember: anyone who resists—kill without mercy!"

"Understood!"

At the same time, runners from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review also mobilized. Though the men of these two offices were not the Son of Heaven's personal troops, and the Chongzhen Emperor had no confidants among them, they were nonetheless the highest judicial organs of the Great Ming on the public face of things—one of the Three Judicial Offices.

Now that the Emperor had issued a decree, how could the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review dare to defy him and stay put? Helpless, they all symbolically dispatched some personnel to follow along.

Of course, there was no shortage of behind-the-scenes maneuvering in this.

The Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review were both members of the Donglin Faction. Such tasks were generally assigned to runners who were marginalized internally or who had no connections whatsoever, so that afterward they could be disposed of on some pretext, leaving no trace.

But for the Chongzhen Emperor, the runners dispatched by the Three Judicial Offices this time were the best targets for winning over. Because unless one was a fool, after this affair one should understand: other than following him, they had nothing left to rely on.

All over the capital, depot agents and runners were arresting imperial criminals. Chaos reigned everywhere. Yet at this very moment, the inner palace was far from peaceful either.

"What—is what you say truly real!"

"His Majesty has deposed Consort Kang and will exterminate the Li family to the ninth degree?"

The capital had suddenly been thrown into upheaval. Empress Zhou, who had been embroidering in Kunning Palace, heard the news and her face changed color as well. She set down her needlework and rose abruptly, her face written with anxiety.

Hearing the Empress's question, Xiumei naturally dared not be negligent. She quickly knelt on the ground and said:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Eunuch Wang of the Eastern Depot discovered that Minister Zheng of the Ministry of Personnel was colluding with Consort Kang. His Majesty flew into a rage and will exterminate the Zheng family to the tenth degree. Every word your servant just spoke is true. You should go see for yourself."

"How could His Majesty do such a foolish thing!"

The previous cases of extermination to the ninth and tenth degrees—so horrifying they made one's blood run cold—had already cost Empress Zhou several sleepless nights. Now another great upheaval had suddenly arisen. She could no longer sit still. Descending from her phoenix seat, she hurried straight toward Consort Kang's cold palace.

On the way, she encountered Fang Zhenghua leading a group of inner depot agents who were dragging and pulling Consort Kang with no restraint whatsoever. In her desperation, Xiumei shouted loudly:

"Her Majesty the Empress arrives!"

Knowing that the matter had been exposed, the agents around her were about to escort her to that sunless, pitch-dark prison. Western Li struggled in vain, her face twisted with terror. Hearing the shout, it was as if she had grasped a final straw. Wailing, she threw herself to the ground and shrieked:

"Empress, save me! Empress, save me—I am wronged!!"

"Release her!"

Seeing Western Li lunging toward Empress Zhou, Fang Zhenghua's eyes went wide. This would never do—if Western Li so much as harmed a single hair on the Empress, how could the Chongzhen Emperor forgive his dereliction of duty?

At that thought, Fang Zhenghua raised a wooden board to strike Western Li. But before the board could touch her, Empress Zhou blocked it with her hand. Then, in the next instant, Empress Zhou swung her arm fiercely.

"Slap!"

The slap landed on Fang Zhenghua's face. Fang Zhenghua stood there dumbfounded. No one around had expected things to develop this way.

Fang Zhenghua least of all. Clutching his reddened cheek, he stood stunned for a long moment before, in abject terror, he led the agents in kneeling and crying out:

"Your Majesty, calm your anger! Your Majesty, calm your anger! Your servant deserves ten thousand deaths! Ten thousand deaths!!"

Empress Zhou's face was flushed with anger. Looking at the agents prostrate around her, she first helped the disheveled Western Li to her feet, then waved her hand and rebuked:

"Fang Zhenghua, you have grown utterly beyond all bounds!"

"Do you have any regard for His Majesty at all? Any regard for me, the Empress? His Majesty's decree has only just been issued—it has not yet passed through the Grand Secretariat's draft rescript. Consort Kang is still the Noble Consort of the Great Ming. How dare you act so recklessly!"

Though Fang Zhenghua was now seal-holder of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, Director of the Eastern Depot, and a favorite in the Chongzhen Emperor's eyes, Empress Zhou governed the inner palace and was the mother of the nation. Before her, he was nothing but a dog of a servant.

At this moment, Fang Zhenghua was trembling all over, not even daring to breathe deeply.

If even Depot Director Fang Zhenghua was like this, the other agents were beyond description. Each one stuck his rear up high, not daring to lift his head at all.

"His Majesty arrives!"

Just then, Li Chun's shout came. The Chongzhen Emperor, dressed in a swallow-wing robe, walked over with a group of stalwart guards and young eunuchs from the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, drawing everyone's gaze.

"Your subject-wife greets His Majesty!"

Empress Zhou hastily led her people forward to pay respects. Fang Zhenghua, still prostrate, felt disaster looming over his head.

The Empress now enjoyed sole favor in the palace—their bond must surely be extraordinary. If she casually whispered a word or two, he would die without a place to bury his bones.

"Empress, rise."

The Chongzhen Emperor smiled broadly. He first helped the Empress up, then—to everyone's shock—helped the trembling Fang Zhenghua to his feet, brushed the dust from his clothes, and said:

"Your clothes are soiled to such a state. How could my heart bear it? Someone—bring a python robe and bestow it upon Eunuch Fang to wear."

Fang Zhenghua stared at the Chongzhen Emperor, never expecting this outcome. Prostrate on the ground, he sobbed so hard he could not even speak, only knocking his head against the floor with all his might. The thudding sounds were clearly audible to many.

"Your Majesty, you—" Empress Zhou did not understand. She was about to speak, but seeing the Chongzhen Emperor going about his own business, she fell into deep thought.

The Chongzhen Emperor proceeded to help up each of the surrounding Western Depot agents one by one, then clapped his hands and said:

"I know what the Empress wishes to say. This decree was issued by my own hand. Fang Zhenghua and these men were merely following orders. The fault is not theirs—the fault is mine!"

"If the Empress must blame someone, blame me."

A trace of blood had already appeared where Fang Zhenghua had been knocking his head. Hearing these words, he wept even harder:

"Your Majesty, what virtue or ability does your servant possess... to receive such holy grace? Even if I ground my liver and brains into the earth, I could never repay it."

The Chongzhen Emperor paid Fang Zhenghua no heed. His tiger eyes swept the surroundings, and he shouted in a loud voice:

"I am the Son of Heaven! I am the Emperor of this Great Ming—not those Donglin partisans!"

"From this day forward, my decrees need no damned draft rescript from the Grand Secretariat, no permission from those literati! The moment a word leaves my mouth, it is an imperial edict, and all must obey it at once. Understood?!"