At nightfall, while Zhu Yuanzhang was busy writing, Brother Li walked into Dongnuan Pavilion and said with a worried look on his face: "Your Majesty, the remaining two thousand cavalry have left the city and are now waiting for orders in the valley more than 20 miles away from the capital!"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked while writing, "No one discovered it, right?"
Brother Li Wu shook his head and said: "The general sent them out in batches for the purpose of patrolling the defense outside the city, so they shouldn't attract any attention!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. After finishing writing, he picked it up and blew it, then folded it, put it in an envelope, handed it to Brother Li Wu, and said: "This is the secret order we give you. If you encounter someone who harms the Ming Dynasty, and When the prince is in trouble again, you can act according to this order!"
Hearing this, Brother Li Wu said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, the general's talent is mediocre, so he may not be able to take on such an important task!"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "You don't need to worry, as long as you act with loyalty, even if you are wrong, we will not punish you!"
As he spoke, he glanced at Brother Li Wu again, and then continued: "Besides, there are still Jiang Dejing and others in the capital, so nothing big can go wrong!"
Brother Li Wu understood the meaning of the words and knew that the other party always kept his word, so he respectfully accepted the secret letter.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and asked again: "I heard that when you arrested Zhi Rengan and others today, you found the rebel female cadres, but were they all captured?"
Brother Li Wu shook his head and said, "Although the general has captured more than twenty female agents, and one of them is Li Guo's confidant, the general feels that he is not the mastermind, but seems to be taking the blame for others!"
As he spoke, he glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang. When he saw the other person frowning slightly, he hurriedly added: "But the general has sent additional manpower, and the person behind the scenes may be found out in a few days!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while and said: "There are hundreds of thousands of people in the capital, and the other party is deliberately hiding them. I am afraid that there are also officials who are protecting them. It will be useless for you to continue to investigate. It will only make people panic."
"In this way, you gather your manpower and examine all the palace maids and eunuchs in the imperial city. Anyone who has anything to do with the rebels will be killed with a cane. Those with unknown origins will be driven out of the palace!"
Brother Li Wu said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, the last general does not know what is going on in the palace..."
"It doesn't matter, I'll let Concubine Shu (Tian Shuying) assist you!"
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said resolutely: "No matter what methods and means you use, there is only one request. After we return to Beijing, we never want to hear about anyone in the palace interacting with the rebels again!"
Brother Li Wu saw the murderous intent in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes and hurriedly bowed and responded.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction, and then warned: "You must handle this matter quickly and strictly, but you must not let the people criticize it and affect the dignity of the royal family. Do you understand?"
Although Brother Li Wu was distressed, he still nodded hurriedly and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the general will definitely cooperate with Concubine Shu to handle this matter!"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Brother Li Wu, we ask Concubine Shu to help you, not to restrict you!"
After he finished speaking, he asked the young eunuch to bring Tian Shuying.
After a while, the heroic Tian Shuying appeared in Dongnuan Pavilion.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment, and then told him about the investigation of the palace.
He saw that although Tian Shuying agreed readily, she seemed a little disappointed in her words and brows.
Only then did he realize that it was not Brother Li who was overly concerned before, but he himself had underestimated Tian Shuying.
He then thought that his sister Tian Xiuying had wanted to compete with Empress Zhou in the past. Now that Empress Zhou was no longer here, she was afraid that Tian Shuying would also be interested in taking the throne, and he couldn't help feeling a little regretful.
It turned out that after the death of Empress Zhou, because there was no one in charge of the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang followed the routine and asked Concubine Yuan Guifei to temporarily take over the affairs of the palace.
I never thought that Concubine Yuan Gui was cautious by nature and procrastinated in doing things, and even some trivial matters still needed him to deal with.
Zhu Yuanzhang had no time to deal with the affairs of such women, so he asked Tian Shuying to help.
And Tian Shuying did have some talents. Not only did she handle everything in an orderly manner, she also found out several spies lurking in the palace and found many clues, so Zhu Yuanzhang had what he said before.
It's just that he hasn't
Thinking of her previous unintentional actions, Tian Shuying suddenly had an extra thought out of thin air.
In fact, with Tian Shuying's talents, if she was in charge of the harem affairs, she could save Zhu Yuanzhang a lot of trouble.
Especially under the current circumstances, Tian Shuying, who is brave and resourceful, is the first choice.
However, he thought that Tian Shuying was still young and was the first concubine he had made. If he gave birth to another prince in the future, he might be more worried and would definitely cause trouble for Zhu Cihong.
Moreover, even though Tian Shuying has no children, she still has Zhu Cizheng under her knees. If she is allowed to control the harem, it will not be a blessing for the Ming Dynasty.
After a moment of reflection, he realized that the only way to avoid disaster was to push Concubine Yuan Guifei out.
Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang dismissed Brother Li Wu, he expressed his concerns to Tian Shuying about the chaos in the harem and asked for her opinions.
Although Tian Shuying felt vaguely uneasy, she did not dare to recommend herself, so she had no choice but to push Concubine Yuan out.
Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to point out some of Yuan Guifei's shortcomings, and after Tian Shuying explained it to her, he accepted the request.
Then he summoned Concubine Yuan, and in front of Tian Shuying, he named Concubine Yuan the imperial concubine, and ordered her to use the title of imperial concubine to temporarily take care of the affairs of the family.
Mrs. Yuan received this unexpected joy and thanked her repeatedly.
When she learned from Zhu Yuanzhang that it was Tian Shuying who recommended him, she affectionately held Tian Shuying's hand and chatted.
Although Tian Shuying was unhappy in her heart, she still smiled at her.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he made an exception and named Tian Shuying a noble concubine. Only then did she really smile.
Although Tian and Yuan behaved very affectionately in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, like biological sisters, who was Zhu Yuanzhang, so how could he not see through their little thoughts.
But he had no time to deal with these women's intrigues. After sending the two of them away, he originally wanted to call Zhang Yan over to help.
But he thought that the other party was Chongzhen's imperial sister-in-law, and it would be inappropriate to summon her, so she had to go to Ciqing Palace in person.
When Zhang Yan saw Zhu Yuanzhang coming on the moon, she was also surprised.
After Zhu Yuanzhang told her about Yuan and Tian and asked her to mediate, Zhang Yan felt relieved and said that she would definitely help so that Zhu Yuanzhang did not have to worry.
Zhu Yuanzhang received Zhang Yan's promise, and after a few polite words, he left Ciqing Palace.
Then he summoned Zhu Cixiang, gave instructions on the relevant matters, and left the capital at night with more than a hundred personal guards.
Zhu Yuanzhang and his party galloped for more than 20 miles, and after reuniting with two thousand cavalry in the valley, they pursued Cen Hangui along his marching route.
When it was only more than ten miles away, he hid his whereabouts.
Zhu Yuanzhang then sent two teams of sentries to pass through Cen Hangui's soldiers and horses to check at the front. When the sentries came back to report that no wolf soldiers were found, he relaxed a little and immediately asked the soldiers to dismount and rest.
At the same time, Liu Fangliang, Gu Kecheng and others in Bazhou also disagreed on whether to return to defense.
