After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Li Ruolian's report, he realized that Guang Shiheng must have known about Zhang Jinyan's plan and did not want Zhang Jinyan to succeed independently, so he cooperated with the Red Lady and concocted the food incident.
Zhang Jinyan also resorted to Zhu Chunchen to expose the matter because he did not want Guang Shiheng and others to make meritorious deeds and did not want to bear the blame.
From this point of view, Zhu Chunchen may be just a chess piece being used, rather than an accomplice of Zhang Jinyan and others.
Then he thought of Wei Zaode's performance today and couldn't help but frown.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Wei Zaode was good at understanding people's hearts and was the leader of a small group. It was impossible that even Guang and Zhang knew each other's affairs, but he didn't know anything about it?
This shows that Wei Zaode is pretending not to know, but he just allows the two to fight among themselves. Is he unable to restrain it or does he have other motives?
Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang thought of Wang Quede asking Wei Zaode for help yesterday at Yongdingmen.
Then he thought of Zhang Jinyan's big change in his attitude toward the eunuchs today, and he couldn't help but suspect that Wei and Zhang were colluding with the eunuchs.
It was not that he had not had this idea before, but in Chongzhen's memory, civil servants had always regarded themselves as clean-blooded officials and often attacked eunuchs, so he had not thought deeply about this aspect.
However, Wei Zaode's abnormal behavior today made him suspect that Wei Zaode might have been colluding with the eunuchs all along. He was only worried about the opposition of Guang Shiheng and other Donglin Party members, so he did it secretly without telling them.
Zhang Jinyan's change today may also be due to Guang Shiheng's lack of strength and the guidance of Wei Zaode.
But he had just skinned Du Xun alive this morning and deprived Wang Dehua of the right to guard Zhangyi Gate. The eunuch's power was no longer enough. Why did Zhang Jinyan still collude with the eunuch? Is it because of the hidden forces behind Wang Dehua?
Zhu Yuanzhang recalled the news from Wang Chengen before. He had doubts about it, because based on his understanding of Wang Chengen, it was impossible for Wang Chengen to obtain such important news in such a short period of time.
So he thought it was a smoke screen deliberately put out by the other party, but now that he connected these things together, he couldn't help but doubt that it was true.
If this is true, where did the news about Wang Chengen come from?
Is it a coincidence, or Wang Chengen also has a side that he doesn't know about.
And now that the rebels are besieging the city, even he is in danger. What ability does the force behind Wang Dehua have to ensure their safety?
And why did that force not value Wei Zaode and Zhang Jinyan, but instead cooperated with Wang Dehua?
After all, no matter in terms of connections or reputation, ten Wang Dehua can't keep up with half of Zhang Jinyan, let alone Wei Zaode!
Zhu Yuanzhang thought of this, pressed his eyebrows, and said to Li Ruolian: "Can you find out who sent the Jin Yiwei who appeared at Wei Zaode's mansion last night?"
When Li Ruolian heard this, he said respectfully: "Just as your Majesty expected, those people were sent by Luo Yangxing."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Li Qing, send someone to secretly monitor Zhang Jinyan and Luo Yangxing, and take them directly to Zhao Prison for interrogation after the curfew."
"If they make any changes before this, you will bring them into the palace according to our will. Remember not to alert the snake and let the spies in the city know about this."
"Also, you should pay more attention to Zhu Chunchen. Although he has no soldiers, he is a military commander after all, and his bodyguards are also a force that cannot be ignored."
Li Ruolian nodded solemnly and left in a hurry.
After Li Ruolian left, Zhu Yuanzhang asked someone to call Zhu Cixiang.
When Zhu Cihong saw him, he immediately knelt down to apologize.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry when Zhu Cihong killed Wu Renyi with a stick. Instead, he felt that Zhu Cihong was courageous.
But he was worried that Zhu Cihong would kill someone to vent his anger and ruin his character, so he feigned anger and said, "Why did you kill Wu Renyi without authorization when you knew you shouldn't?"
When Zhu Cihong heard this, he kowtowed again and said, "My son did not intend to offend the power of Heaven. It's just that this matter involves the majesty of the royal family. I was afraid that the matter would be leaked, so I made the decision without authorization. Please forgive me."
Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked when he heard this, helped Zhu Cixiang up, and said softly: "Is it possible that Wu Renyi colluded with people in the royal family to plot evil?"
Seeing that he hit the mark, Zhu Cixiang was surprised and said: "My father, Sheng Ming, and my son were interrogating Wu Renyi. He confessed that he was ordered by Gao Qiqian to let his father and son die at the hands of the rebels, so that the south Zhu Yousong ascended the throne."
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while, shook his head and said: "Impossible. Zhu Yousong is just a prince in trouble. How can he make Gao Qiqian loyal to him?"
"And if he really has such talent, Luoyang will not fall into the hands of the rebels. I'm afraid there is someone else behind this matter."
After that, when he saw Zhu Cixiang's doubts, he patiently stated his judgment.
It turned out that after receiving the news from Wang Chengen, Zhu Yuanzhang had some doubts about the news, but he also felt that in these troubled times, people in the south may not be stable, so he analyzed the situation of the kings in the south.
Therefore, he knew that Zhu Yousong was the eldest son of King Fu Zhu Changxun. Although he had a distinguished status, he was a drunkard and womanizer just like his father.
In addition, the Donglin Party is powerful in the south. In order to maintain the orthodoxy of ethics and religion in their hearts, they had troubles with Concubine Zheng and Prince Fu in the three cases of Jiji, Hongwan and Yigong.
Over the years, both sides have regarded each other as a thorn in the other's side and have criticized each other from time to time.
Now that Zhu Yousong has fled to the south, it would be nice if the Donglin Party members did not beat up the lost dog, but it is impossible to support him.
If Zhu Yousong does not get the support of the Donglin Party members, the so-called ascension to the throne will be a joke.
Although Gao Qiqian was an eunuch, he had some talents and high spirits, and would never do something that had no chance of winning.
Now two impossible things have become possible, which only means that there are other people behind the scenes.
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished his story, he asked again: "Who was present when you interrogated Wu Renyi?"
Zhu Cixiang said: "I guessed that Wu Renyi would have a secret. To prevent the matter from being leaked, I asked the chief guard to guard outside the door while I personally interrogated him."
Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the captain of the bodyguard Zhu Cihong was talking about was Zhou Jing, the elder brother of Empress Zhou. Although this man had no talent, he was distinguished by his loyalty.
It's just that he just killed Zhou Kui today, so I don't know what Zhou Jing thinks.
So he asked again: "How did Zhou Jing react when he found out that I had killed the father-in-law?"
Zhu Cixiang replied: "When I returned to the palace, the chief guard had already learned about the king's abbot from his mother. He thought that my mother had explained to him how powerful he was, so he repeatedly apologized after seeing my son!"
"The son took the opportunity to talk about his father's difficulties, and also asked Wu Renyi to explain to him the collusion with the abbot of the country, and asked him to kill Wu Renyi with his cane. I think there should be no problem with loyalty."
Zhu Yuanzhang originally thought that Queen Zhou was crying in the palace at this moment, but he didn't expect that she had helped him comfort Zhou Jing, and he couldn't help but admire her a little in his heart.
I felt even more relieved when I saw that Zhu Cihong acted cautiously and orderly.
He stretched out his hand to straighten Zhu Cixi's clothes and said kindly: "Okay, we were originally worried that you were humiliated at Chengtianmen and committed suicide. Now it seems that you are doing things in a methodical way, so we are relieved."
"In addition, Wu Renyi's confession is of great importance. You must not mention it to a third person again!"
Zhu Cixiang nodded and said, "My son understands the importance of this. Father, please rest assured."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Cixiang kindly, patted his shoulder, and said approvingly: "Okay, this is the good son of our old Zhu family!"
After a pause, he continued: "Today we killed the father-in-law of the country. I'm afraid your queen mother will be a little sad. You go and accompany her!"
When Zhu Cixi heard this, he hesitated for a while and said, "My son, I'm going to see my mother right now!"
After that, he bowed respectfully before slowly exiting.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zhu Cixiang's hesitant expression before leaving, and knew that Zhu Cixiang wanted to persuade him to visit Empress Zhou, but he still didn't know how to face Empress Zhou, and he also had to deal with Zhang Jinyan's dead soldiers, so he pretended not to know.
When he looked at Zhu Cixi's leaving figure, he suddenly remembered the scene when Queen Ma secretly went to the prison to see him with a big cake in her arms, and he couldn't help but smile.
