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Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Chapter 39 Each Planning Their Own
Outside the Shangyang Palace.
The eunuch on duty stopped Zhang Zhengyang and stood on the steps.
“Lord Zhang, His Majesty is already asleep. If there’s anything, you can submit a memorial in the
imperial court tomorrow.”
“I have something important to report. Please report it, Eunuch Xu.”
Zhang Zhengyang looked at the brightly lit palace and heard the sounds of singing and dancing. From
time to time, there were women chasing and laughing.
Eunuch Xu said, “We don’t dare to disturb His Majesty’s rest. Lord Zhang, please leave.”
“I request an audience with Your Majesty!”
Zhang Zhengyang knelt outside the palace gate with tears streaming down his face. He kept begging to
see His Majesty. He kept knocking his head against the ground. Blood oozed from his forehead.
A long while passed.
There was no response from the palace. Zhang Zhengyang’s expression changed from firm to
miserable. After kowtowing three times, he got up and left with difficulty.
“I’ll take my leave!”
In the palace.
Forty to fifty beautiful palace maids were dancing and playing in the hall. Emperor Yongxing was not on
the throne in front of them.
After Zhao Yuan ascended the throne, his dynasty was called Yongxing. This year was still the 18th
year of Hongchang, and next year would be the year of Yongxing.
Eunuch Xu quickly arrived at the small pavilion in the rear hall. He entered and knelt down. “Your
Majesty, Minister Zhang has left the palace.”
Emperor Yongxing leaned against the soft couch. More than twenty people stood on his left and right
like stars surrounding the moon. They were all high officials. On his left was the Minister of War, Liang
Dong. On his right was the Minister of Personnel, Xie Wei.
The two of them were originally Zhang Zhengyang’s trusted aides, but at this moment, they had already
submitted to Emperor Yongxing. As the dynasty changed, the civil and military officials could clearly
see that the powerful Minister Zhang would definitely fall. They had to make preparations early.
Emperor Yongxing asked, “Was there any disobedience when Minister Zhang retreated just like that?”
Eunuch Xu said truthfully, “Your Majesty, Minister Zhang looks desperate and has no complaints.”
“Minister Zhang is quite tactful.”
Emperor Yongxing waved his hand and dismissed Eunuch Xu. He asked the eunuch serving at the
side, “Defu, have you found out who is spreading rumors?”
Li Defu was originally an inner eunuch in Prince Qin’s Mansion. He had been serving Emperor
Yongxing since he was young. Now, he has become the Director of Ceremonies and the commander of
the Uniform Guards.
“Your Majesty, too many people were seen in the palace that night. It will take some time to
investigate.”
Emperor Yongxing said coldly, “What’s wrong with entering the palace to quell the rebellion? I’m asking
who’s spreading rumors about me killing Sixth Brother?”
Ever since the imperial edict was issued, all kinds of rumors spread throughout the Divine Capital, such
as usurping the throne, being unfilial, and so on, faintly destabilizing Emperor Yongxing’s throne.
Li Defu knelt down. “Your Majesty, I deserve to die. I have yet to completely control the Uniform
Guards.”
Emperor Yongxing frowned slightly. He wanted to call for someone to drag this piece of trash out and
beat him to death, but he was in a hurry to ascend the throne and there were too few people he could
use.
The commander of the Uniform Guards was too important. He would rather have loyal trash than let
outsiders take the position.
“Your Majesty, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is a lie. Those people don’t care about the
truth at all. They just want to tarnish Your Majesty’s reputation.”
Xie Wei said, “Instead of tracking down the traces of the rumormongers and letting people lead us by
the nose, it’s better to point to the source. There are only those three who benefited from this rumor!”
Among the six princes of the late emperor, the eldest prince was banished to the Cold Palace, the sixth
prince was dead. Only three people were qualified to replace Emperor Yongxing
Emperor Yongxing nodded slightly, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. He was still soft-hearted when
he killed his first brother, but it would be much easier to kill again. If not for his reputation, he would
have killed his three younger brothers’ entire families now. The rumors in the capital would have
collapsed.
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“A bunch of cowards. After I make peace with Great Yong, I’ll transfer the army of the various
prefectures back to the capital and kill them all!”
Emperor Yongxing looked at the Minister of War. “Is the imperial camp stable?”
“Your Majesty, don’t worry! I entered the capital camp alone and scolded the Sun family for only
drinking the blood of the soldiers and disregarding the grace of the emperor. I took away their authority
on the spot. A few troublemakers were beheaded, and no one dared to object. The capital camp’s
military power was all in my hands.” Liang Dong said proudly, “In order to prevent the Sun family from
rising from the ashes, we have already messed up the capital’s army and transferred them to other
government offices in the Divine Capital.”
Emperor Yongxing praised, “Lord Liang is indeed a pillar of the Imperial Court.”
The capital camp was the only thing that worried Emperor Yongxing. Even if the other demons rebelled,
they would not be able to break through the imperial palace that the imperial guards were guarding.
Now that Emperor Yongxing had already announced to the world that he had obtained the approval of
the various prefectures of the Fengyang Kingdom, the rebels could not quickly break into the palace.
When the imperial army arrived, they would definitely be annihilated.
Just then, a voice drifted into the pavilion. “An assassin has been captured, Your Majesty.”
Emperor Yongxing snorted. “Bring him in.”
The man who entered was a white-robed monk, old-faced and thin.
The old monk held a man in night clothes in his hand and threw him to the ground with a wave of his
hand. He did not kneel to Emperor Yongxing and directly reported, “This person is famous in the martial
world and is very good at acrobatic jumping. I heard that he was recruited by Prince Chu’s Mansion a
few days
ago.”
Emperor Yongxing said, “A mere country bumpkin dares to call himself a god? Send him to the imperial
prison for interrogation. Investigate his family and send him to the northern border to be sent to the
army!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The monk broke the man’s limbs and disappeared like a ghost.
Emperor Yongxing looked at the kneeling Li Defu and praised, “This is well done. Although the people
of the martial world are not presentable, they can prevent thieves from spying on the palace.” Li Defu
heaved a sigh of relief and flattered him. “Your Majesty, I dare not take credit. When those righteous
experts heard that they were working for Your Majesty, they all rushed to join the Uniform Guards.”
Emperor Yongxing said happily, “It seems that the people have submitted to me!”
The two ministers twisted their beards and smiled. The high officials on both sides clapped their hands
and praised them.
“His Majesty is ordered by the heavens to live forever!”
Emperor Yongxing was relieved. “Then let’s follow the plan. I’ll be a fatuous ruler for a few days. When
those clowns jump out, I’ll capture them all.”
At the northwest corner of the palace. In a remote and cold nameless palace.
When the servant on duty saw Zhang Zhengyang coming over, not only did he not stop him, he even
bowed. “His Highness has been waiting, Prime Minister.”
There was only one candle lit in the hall. It was dim. The disinherited prince, Zhao Xian, paced back
and forth with an anxious expression.
Zhang Zhengyang entered and said, “Your Highness, you have to calm down!” “There’s something
Father-in-law doesn’t know.” Zhao Xian’s expression was slightly bitter. “I heard from the palace
servants that my younger brother has accepted two ministers from the Ministry of War and the Ministry
of Official Personnel. He has control over the military power of the capital and the appointment of
officials. His throne is becoming more and more stable.”
Zhang Zhengyang said, “Liang Dong is an armchair strategist, and Xie Wei is a fence sitter. There’s no
need to care about these two pieces of trash.”
Zhao Xian asked in confusion, “Aren’t these two ministers that Father-in-law promoted?”
Zhang Zhengyang was old and weak. Not long ago, he had cried and kowtowed in Shangyang Palace.
He had exhausted most of his strength and found a round stool to sit down on.
“If I really promoted an official, I’m afraid the previous emperor would have replaced me. In the future,
when you ascend the throne and become the emperor, remember not to let there be only one voice in
the court. Even if there are mistakes, there must be two!”
Zhao Xian bowed and said, “I will follow Father-in-law’s instructions.”
“You really listened to me. You shouldn’t have interacted with the Li family in the first place. Why did
you end up like this?”
Zhang Zhengyang knew that his son-in-law’s talent was average and that he did not have much
intelligence to begin with. However, he wanted to make use of this opportunity to turn the situation
around.
If not for his daughter’s request and the fact that he had a grandson, Zhang Zhengyang would definitely
follow the previous emperor’s will.
Having been in charge of the Grand Council for twenty years, Zhang Zhengyang was confident that he
could send the other three ministers to prison.
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