Chapter 128: The Emperor: I Am Currently Infuriated!

Zhu Yuanzhang, with a cheerful expression, led a group of emperors and crown princes on a tour of the Western Depot prison with Zhu Jianshen.

The cases of Xiang Zhong, Huang Ci, and Liu Wentai were officially still under investigation, but in truth, the three men had already departed this world some time ago. In reality, Zhu Jianshen had not intended to kill them so quickly; he had merely instructed Liu Wentai to concoct a medicinal mixture for the three to consume. Unexpectedly, Liu Wentai’s technique was far too eccentric; after much agonizing deliberation, the mixture he produced resulted in the immediate death of all three upon ingestion.

When the group returned to the inner palace, a collective silence fell upon them.

At Renshou Palace, the young Zhu Jianshen stood quietly outside, covering his ears and saying nothing. Upon seeing the group arrive, he trotted over to them. The vermilion gates of Renshou Palace creaked open. From the gloomy depths of the palace, a figure emerged. Zhu Qizhen, wiping blood from his face and hands with a handkerchief, stepped out with a somber expression. He looked at Zhu Jianshen and said, word for word:

"I want the entire Zhou clan exterminated!"

Emperor Chenghua, Zhu Jianshen, was momentarily stunned, not having expected such intense murderous intent from his father. After a moment, he nodded and said, "I obey the Imperial decree. Wang Zhi, go handle it. See that you find a plausible pretext."

Wang Zhi bowed respectfully. "Your Majesty, rest assured. The Zhou family has never been honest." There was no need to fabricate charges or concoct false facts; none of these imperial in-laws were clean.

The other emperors turned their gazes toward Zhu Qizhen, their eyes filled with inquiry. After a brief silence, he collapsed to his knees.

"My Empress Qian was tortured to death by that poisonous woman! How dared she? How could she have dared!"

Zhu Qizhen slumped onto the ground, covering his face with his hands, weeping uncontrollably as sobs wracked his body. Suddenly, he found it difficult to breathe, gasping for air as his heart pounded violently. A medicinal pill was thrust into his mouth. It dissolved instantly, allowing him to recover his breath.

Emperor Xuande, Zhu Zhanji, chided him, "Why didn't you take the pills Youjian gave you!?"

Zhu Qizhen let out a long breath, his eyes flickering as he muttered, "I am perfectly fine, why would I need pills? My Empress still suffers from ailments in her legs and eyes..."

The bond between the Zhengtong Emperor and Empress Qian was truly a genuine love. Zhu Youjian raised an eyebrow.

"There are plenty of pills; surely our Zhu family can afford a few? If you run out, just ask your father," Emperor Xuande, Zhu Zhanji, said, giving him a pat while secretly slipping a few more into his hand, his teeth gritted.

This foolish son was roasting his own father! The great-grandfather and grandfather behind them were already eyeing him with displeasure; snatching pills from his son and forcing a display of filial piety was indeed hard to justify.

"Thank you, Imperial Father!" Zhu Qizhen gathered them up with great solemnity, his grumpy face suddenly appearing earnest.

Emperor Xuande, Zhu Zhanji, was taken aback and gave him an unnatural kick. "What nonsense are you spouting? Just speak up; which of these elders wouldn't provide for you?"

Were these two fools plotting something? Old Zhu Di silently hid half his body, while the two "Great Fatties" clutched their hands with bitter faces, knowing without asking that they had no money.

Zhu Qizhen wiped the blood and tears from his face, smiling as he stubbornly declared, "I know you all look down on me; I simply couldn't bring myself to ask."

"This child," Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, "makes it hard for us to even bring ourselves to hit him. Learn well from your father; master this shameless spirit of his, and go expand the borders of our Great Ming."

Zhu Qizhen pursed his lips. He knew he had been too reckless in the past and had no hope of being seen as a restorationist monarch by his ancestors, so he had to settle for the next best thing: becoming a king of the barbarians.

A Western Depot guard hurried over, paused, and bowed to report, "Your Majesty, a secret report from the front lines."

"Speak."

"The Huligai and Haixi Jurchen tribes are repeatedly raiding the borders."

Zhu Jianshen was surprised; these people chose to raid at a very inopportune time. The Jurchens? The very savages who would one day bring about the collapse of the Great Ming?

Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes, his tone murderous. "Jianshen, boy, dispatch the army to the front. We shall begin by carving up the Jianzhou Jurchens of your Chenghua era."

"Great-grandson, will there be any problem leading the troops?"

"No problem at all," Zhu Youjian nodded.

"I will go prepare at once." Upon hearing this, Zhu Jianshen immediately summoned the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, ordering the twelve regiments of the Capital Army to mobilize fifty thousand men and prepare ten days' worth of supplies.

Zhu Qizhen followed quietly behind Zhu Jianshen. Once the younger emperor finished his tasks, he issued his own command: "I am not going. You are to place the Jinyiwei and the Western Depot under my command."

Those people were also accomplices in the death of Aunt Wan! To leave them be would only invite disaster.

Zhu Jianshen remained silent for a moment before finally nodding. "Very well. Order the Commander of the Jinyiwei to enter the palace, and send a verbal decree to the Western Depot Superintendent Wang Zhi: all operations are now under the command of... the Former Emperor."

"By your command!" Two imperial messengers immediately took the order and withdrew to convey the Emperor’s decree. Soon after, the Commander of the Jinyiwei arrived with his men to await instructions.

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty; may your health be preserved!"

Zhu Qizhen stretched his limbs, drew a Xiuchun blade, inspected it repeatedly, and laughed with satisfaction. "Little Zhu Youtang is a good child; keep him by your side and train him well."

"Yes!" Zhu Jianshen nodded, watching him depart.

Zhu Qizhen strode away, the Son of Heaven brandishing his blade, followed by a group of Jinyiwei, disappearing around the corner of the palace hall. From a distance, his roar could be heard:

"Those dogs! Not a single one must be allowed to escape! Retiring to their hometowns? If I send them to the Terrace of Looking Home in the Underworld, I am being merciful!"

In the capital, there stood an old-fashioned residence with water pavilions. A gilded plaque inscribed with the characters "Shang Residence" hung above the vermilion gates.

"How could the ancestors possibly manifest?" Shang Lu grew more agitated the more he thought about it. He had expected Peng Shi to step down and the position of Senior Grand Secretary to fall to him, yet suddenly, a group of emperors had appeared out of nowhere. What kind of situation was this!

Shang Lu let out a long sigh and ordered, "Pack everything; we are returning to Jiangnan."

"Yes, Master." Several servants immediately went to summon the others to pack the supplies.

As a Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Hall, Shang Lu’s annual salary was worth about five hundred taels of silver. As the Minister of Personnel, a second-rank position, he earned nearly four hundred taels, plus another hundred as a Hanlin academician. His annual government salary amounted to a thousand taels, not even counting the major "ice gifts" and "charcoal gifts"—as the Minister of Personnel, the bribes were endless. The Ministry of Personnel governed not just mosquitoes and flies, but great tigers; a local magistrate, even if "clean" for three years, would still amass one hundred thousand taels of silver. Simply taking a fraction of these bribes was enough to make a man burst.

This residence was filled with more silver than dirt. Although he had moved much back to his hometown over the years and spent plenty on acquiring assets, the income simply kept pouring in. It would take two or three months just to pack it all up.

"With the Founding Emperor in the capital, my heart is simply not at ease."

The penalty for corruption of sixty taels was skinning and stuffing with straw; any one of these gray-income sources, if exposed, would be enough to have his skin peeled off for every cell in his body.

Shang Lu thought for a moment and ordered, "Prepare the carriage; I shall depart first."

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the front courtyard.

Zhu Qizhen’s furious, murderous roar drifted in: "Shang Lu, come out here and die!"