Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
At this moment, Jiajing was sitting cross-legged on the futon, meditating peacefully, while Lu Fang was waiting beside Jiajing as usual, without making any sound.
Time passed by slowly. I don’t know how long it had passed. I saw Jiajing opening his eyes and getting up from the futon.
Seeing this situation, Lu Fang hurriedly came forward, leaned down, and said tremblingly: "Your Majesty!"
Jiajing heard the words and responded in a subtle way. Then he turned his eyes away and asked: "Lu Fang, how did you go about investigating the case in the Weaving Bureau that I asked you to investigate?"
When Lu Fang saw Jiajing mentioning this matter, she didn't dare to be negligent. She quickly took out the list previously written by Feng Bao from her sleeve and handed it to Jiajing. She said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, this slave has already found out. The people on this list are all involved in the Weaving Bureau's case, you see..."
Hearing this, Jiajing took the list from Lu Fang's hand. After browsing through the names, he looked back and ordered: "Since these people are involved in the Weaving Bureau's case, they will be dealt with." Bar!"
When Lu Fang heard this, she couldn't help but feel startled. Soon she came back to her senses and responded respectfully: "As you command, Your Majesty!"
Lu Fang knew very well that everyone involved with Pang Qian, the eunuch in charge of the Weaving Bureau, would die!
As we all know, the position of the eunuch in charge of the Weaving Bureau is a lucrative one. As long as he works for three to five years, he will have nothing to worry about for the rest of his life.
As the eunuch in charge of the Weaving Bureau, Pang Qian, as long as he can maintain the daily operation of the Weaving Bureau and bring enough revenue to the palace, even if there are some small tricks behind his back, His Majesty will pretend that he has not seen it.
But now Zhao Zhenji brought to the table the issue of an open account and a secret account at the Weaving Bureau.
And this also revealed that Pang Qian, as the eunuch in charge of the Weaving Bureau, was not thinking about His Majesty, but only thinking about himself.
No emperor can tolerate the existence of a minister who is disloyal to him. Therefore, the emperor will kill these people even if it is to scare the monkeys.
Just as Lu Fang's thoughts were racing, Jiajing was seen sitting on the dragon chair again. After pondering for a moment, he said to himself: "Well, Zhao Zhenji did a good job this time, I want to reward him!"
When the words fell, Jiajing looked in the direction of Lu Fang and asked, "By the way, Lu Fang, are all Zhao Zhenji's family members and relatives still in the capital?"
After hearing this, Lu Fang responded after pondering for a moment: "Your Majesty, Zhao Zhenji's family members are still in the capital. His first wife is Chen, and his stepmothers are Guo and Li. They have three sons in total, including The second son unfortunately died in infancy, the eldest son is named Zhao Dingzhu, and the third son is named Zhao Jingzhu!"
After Jiajing heard this, he pondered for a moment and then ordered: "I will reward Zhao Zhenji's family with eight thousand taels of silver. In addition, when I come down later, I will pick two gifts from my own money and send them over together!"
When Jiajing finished speaking, Lu Fang suppressed the shock in her heart, lowered her head, and said in a deep voice: "As you command, Your Majesty!"
Lu Fang understood that this was Jiajing's reward for showing his loyalty to Zhao Zhenji. This was not only reciprocating love, but also showing it to others.
After all, thunder, rain and dew are all your kindness!
…
On the other side, the Forbidden City, the Cabinet.
Although Jiajing had decided a few days ago that the cabinet would be responsible for investigating Yan Maoqing's case.
However, because the candidate to go to Nanzhili to investigate the case has not been determined for a long time, it has been postponed until now.
"Mr. Xu Ge, we have been delaying it for several days. We can't delay it any longer. What do you think about letting these people go to Nanzhili to investigate Yan Maoqing's case?"
After Yan Song finished speaking, he stood up from his seat tremblingly and handed the prepared list into Xu Jie's hands.
When the words fell, Xu Jie took the list from Yan Song's hand and began to browse it carefully.
After Xu Jie browsed through all the names on the list, he looked in the direction of Yan Song, nodded slightly, and said slowly.
"Since Mr. Yan Ge has decided, let's send these people on the list!"
Seeing that Xu Jie agreed to his proposal, Yan Song couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. Then he called his subordinates and gave instructions: "Send this list to the Chief of Ceremonies immediately!"
Faced with Yan Song's instructions, the subordinate officials did not dare to show any neglect. He took the list solemnly and responded respectfully: "Yes, Mr. Yan Ge!"
Soon after the subordinate official left, Xu Jie turned his gaze away and began to deal with the memorial in front of him in an orderly manner.
For Xu Jie, the people sent out to investigate Yan Maoqing's case this time were not like before, and most of them were members of the Yan Party.
It is precisely because of this that Xu Jiefang agreed to the list drawn up by Yan Song.
At this moment, a rush of footsteps was heard outside the cabinet, and not long after, a subordinate was seen hurriedly entering the cabinet.
After the subordinate official entered the cabinet, he subconsciously looked in the direction of Yan Song and Xu Jie, leaned down, and reported respectfully: "Mr. Ge, this is Mr. Wang. Ma Ningyuan, the prefect of Hangzhou, was specially sent here. Confession!"
After the subordinate official finished speaking, he carefully took out the confession.
When the subordinate official finished speaking, Yan Song was seen on the side, with a look of interest on his face. He looked at the subordinate official and ordered: "Oh, Ma Ningyuan's confession? Bring it here!"
"Yes, Mr. Yan Ge!"
When the words fell, the subordinate official stepped forward and respectfully handed the confession into Yan Song's hands.
At this time, everyone in the room was subconsciously attracted to the confession in Yan Song's hand.
Zhang Juzheng, on the other hand, glanced at Hu Zongxian calmly, with a trace of worry flashing across his face. After all, after all, Ma Ningyuan was also his student of Hu Zongxian!
Seeing that Hu Zongxian's expression remained normal, Zhang Juzheng relaxed.
Facing everyone's curious gazes, Yan Song unhurriedly opened Ma Ningyuan's confession and read the contents word for word.
Time passed slowly like this. After a long time, Yan Song put down Ma Ningyuan's confession and he had read through all the contents.
The development of the matter did not exceed his expectations. Ma Ningyuan fulfilled his promise. His confession, from beginning to end, only involved him alone. All of this was his own initiative and had nothing to do with anyone else!
"In this way, we can report to His Majesty. Ma Ningyuan, you can go with peace of mind. I will let Yan Shifan and others take care of your family and relatives for you!"
After secretly making a promise in his heart, Yan Song looked at Xu Jie aside with cloudy eyes and asked, "Mr. Xu Ge, do you want to take a look at Ma Ningyuan's confession?"
"It's natural!"
After Xu Jie responded, he took Ma Ningyuan's confession from Yan Song expectantly.
But when he saw the content recorded above, he looked in disbelief, because Ma Ningyuan admitted in his confession that everything was his own decision and had nothing to do with anyone else!
At this moment, although Xu Jieming appeared very calm on the surface, there was already a storm in his heart.
From the moment he saw the contents recorded in the confession, he knew that all the previous plans had come to nothing.
"Wang Ting and Yan Maoqing, these two losers, can't even handle such a small thing!"
When Xu Jie thought of this, he couldn't help but grit his teeth and secretly resented it.
Soon, Hu Zongxian also obtained Ma Ningyuan's confession. After he finished browsing the above content, he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion.
"As the teacher said, Ma Ningyuan did bear all the blame alone, alas!"
After everyone in the cabinet browsed Ma Ningyuan's confession, it was sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies according to the established procedure, and then handed over to the emperor for review.
…
Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
"Your Majesty, this is drawn up by the cabinet. The officials sent to Nanzhili to investigate Yan Maoqing's case, as well as the confession of Ma Ningyuan, the prefect of Hangzhou."
After listening to Lu Fang's report, Jiajing couldn't help but have a look of confusion on his face, and then asked: "Why has this matter been delayed for so long?"
When Lu Fang heard this, after hesitating for a moment, he respectfully said: "Your Majesty, according to the information obtained by this servant, it is said that Mr. Yan Ge and Mr. Xu Ge have many differences in the candidates sent to Nanzhili to investigate Yan Maoqing's case. , and it’s only been delayed until now!”
Jiajing heard this and did not comment. He just nodded, picked up the prepared list of officials, and browsed it carefully.
After a while, Jiajing put down the list in his hand and said with emotion: "Well, it seems that these two have made some concessions!"
Then, Jiajing put down the list in his hand and picked up Ma Ningyuan's confession.
Regarding Ma Ningyuan's confession, Jiajing just glanced at it briefly and then withdrew his gaze. What happened was as he expected, and Ma Ningyuan took all the charges on his own.
Next, as long as this confession exists, no one will be able to make an issue of Ma Ningyuan's case.
This case will no longer implicate Hu Zongxian.
After that, Jiajing put aside the confession in his hand, picked up the tea cup on the table, took a sip, and commented: "This Yan Song is pretty good at doing things. No wonder King Jing was able to suppress everything in the past." King Yu!"
Lu Fang, who was on the side, was horrified when she heard this. She quickly looked at her eyes, nose and heart, trying to reduce her sense of existence as much as possible.
After all, Jiajing's words involve seizing the direct descendant!
Lu Fang has always tried his best to avoid being involved in this kind of thing.
Even when King Jing Zhu Zaizhen, who was at the height of his power in the court and had the support of Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, took the initiative to condescend to befriend him, he refused.
After all, the road to seizing the heir is extremely dangerous. If you accidentally miss the mark, you will lose everything.
Lu Fang didn't want to get involved in these troubles. He just wanted to retire peacefully as the eunuch and eunuch after choosing a suitable successor.
The subsequent development of the matter also made Lu Fang breathe a sigh of relief unconsciously, secretly congratulating herself on her original decision.
King Jing failed to seize the throne, and was sent to the fiefdom of De'an by His Majesty to join the feudal vassal. He completely lost the chance to fight for the throne!
After this, the only remaining King Yu became the popular candidate for the next crown prince.
After all, he is His Majesty's eldest son, and he is the only prince in the capital at the moment. Once Jiajing dies, Prince Yu can logically inherit the throne.
Faced with the overt and covert wooing of King Yu Zhu Zaicheng, Lu Fang finally chose to refuse after long consideration.
He had stayed in the palace all his life, from an unknown little eunuch to the position of eunuch in charge of rituals. He had seen too many things.
None of the conditions offered by King Yu Zhu Zaijing were very attractive to him.
On the contrary, if you are not careful, you can easily get yourself involved!
Jiajing saw that Lu Fang had not responded for a long time and looked thoughtful. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Lu Fang, what do you think?"
When Lu Fang heard the words, she suddenly came back to her senses, lowered her head, laughed twice, and said in agreement: "Yes, yes, your Majesty is right!"
Jiajing took in the expression on Lu Fang's face, shook his head imperceptibly, and then ordered: "The weather is not bad now, come and go out with me!"
When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, she immediately looked stern and responded in a deep voice: "As you command, Your Majesty!"
After that, Lu Fang followed Jiajing step by step and left Qianqing Palace.
…
Night falls, in the capital, Yan Mansion.
In the room, Yan Song raised his head from the desk, looked Yan Shifan up and down with cloudy eyes, and then asked, "How did you do with the things I was asked to do?"
Faced with Yan Song's inquiry, Yan Shifan did not dare to hide anything. He immediately bowed his hand to Yan Song and responded respectfully: "In reply to my father, those people are very good. As soon as the people sent by Boyer got up, those people I pat my chest and say that I will definitely make this case a solid case!"
When Yan Shifan said this, he couldn't help but sigh: "Many of them have friendship with Yan Maoqing. Now Yan Maoqing's bones are not cold, tsk tsk..."
Yan Song took in the expression on Yan Shifan's face, raised his eyebrows, and said unhurriedly: "What's so strange about this? When the momentum intersects, when the momentum goes away, it will fall; when it intersects with benefits, it will scatter when the benefits are exhausted!" "
"Birds of a feather flock together, so what kind of virtue is Yan Maoqing? Those friends he makes are what kind of virtue he is!"
Yan Song seemed to be quite emotional about this, and then he looked directly into Yan Shifan's eyes and said word by word: "Listen carefully, if one day my Yan family loses power, we will also end up like this!"
When Yan Shifan heard this, he immediately lowered his head and responded respectfully: "Thank you father for your teaching, my child understands!"
Then, as if Yan Shifan suddenly remembered something, he added: "By the way, father, I got the news that your Majesty sent someone to Zhao Zhenji's home with many rewards. You Could it be related to things in Zhejiang?"
Hearing this, Yan Song pondered for a moment before giving a response: "Didn't your subordinate Zheng Michang say earlier that Zhao Zhenji had the authority granted by His Majesty to kill first and report later, and personally led troops to surround the Weaving Bureau?"
"It should be Zhao Zhenji who found out something fishy in the Weaving Bureau and reported it to His Majesty truthfully. That's why he got this reward!"
When Yan Song said this, he paused for a moment and then continued to add: "Therefore, all we need to do next is to see if there is any big movement in the court, and everything will be clear!"
After hearing Yan Song's conjecture, Yan Shifan's eyes flashed with an inexplicable look, and he immediately leaned down and said in a deep voice: "Thank you, father, for clarifying the child's doubts!" (End of this chapter)
