The commander of the Jinyiwei is an official of the third rank, and is qualified to participate in the morning dynasty as a rule.
However, Lu Zhong, the current commander of the Jinyiwei, was exempted from attending the court due to a special decree.
So basically, you won't see Lu Zhong in the early morning meetings. If you want to see him, you can only go to the regular meetings once every ten days.
Seeing Lu Zhong striding into the palace and saluting the emperor, most of the courtiers in the palace felt the taste.
It turns out that the emperor was behind this court ceremony!
Not everyone has a keen judgment on the political situation.
This is largely due to poor information.
Except for those idle censors who impeach this and that every day.
Most officials are more worried about the government affairs within their own yamen. At most, they are concerned about the trends of related yamen.
Only when you reach the level of Qi Qing can you have the conditions and energy to analyze the court situation and grasp the general trend.
To be honest, if it hadn't been for the request of Tingju from the Sanfa Division today, the courtiers would have almost forgotten that the case has not been concluded yet.
Originally, they thought that the Sanfa Division was just investigating the case normally and found Shi Pu's head. Because important officials were involved, they invited Ting Ju.
But as soon as Lu Zhong came to the palace, no matter how stupid he was, he would have understood.
Besides the emperor, who can instruct the commanders of the royal guards to move?
As a result, the ministers who were still a little interested in watching the excitement all restrained their thoughts.
At the same time, my mind began to spin rapidly, thinking about how I and others should protect themselves in this storm.
You must know that an important minister at the level of Qingqing often represents not himself alone, but a series of people related to him, including his disciples, old friends, and fellow villagers.
Those who are related to Shi Pu naturally think that their thighs can survive this test.
What has nothing to do with him is thinking about who will be the next one and whether he can get some benefits from it.
What these people can think of, Shi Pu can naturally think of.
He was not sure at first that the emperor's order was behind this court ceremony, but when he saw Lu Zhong, there was nothing he didn't understand.
However, he couldn't figure it out no matter what, he had no friendship with the emperor, and had never even met him before.
Even if the emperor wanted to find someone to perform an operation, why would he find his head?
But the situation no longer allowed him to think carefully.
After Lu Zhong entered the palace, Yu Shiyue turned around and asked him again.
"May I ask Master Shi, when will you return to the capital this month?"
This question made all the officials below confused.
I couldn't understand why I was just talking about the case of bribing Wang Zhen last year and suddenly asked when I would return to Beijing.
But while others were confused, Shi Pu had an ominous premonition.
He suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and said calmly.
"Seven days ago, on the 14th of this month, I arrived in the capital."
Yu Shiyue nodded, with a smile on his lips, and asked.
"Okay, so where was Shi Shangshu at night on the 15th?"
From the corner of his eye, Shi Pu caught a glimpse of the woman Lu Zhong had brought with her, her head lowered and dressed in coarse cloth. He always felt that she looked familiar.
When Yu Shiyue asked this question, his pupils suddenly shrank, as if he remembered something, and a burst of cold sweat broke out in his palms.
Taking a deep breath, Shi Pu said with a hint of panic in his voice.
"Of course I'm resting in the mansion. Yu Siqing asked what this was about. Could it be related to Wang Zhen?"
Seeing Shi Pu finally starting to panic, Yu Shiyue felt very happy. The smile on his face flashed away and was quickly replaced by a stern look.
Staring at Shi Pu, Yu Shiyue shouted sharply.
"Shijiao'an, this is the time of the Imperial Court Judgment. Your Majesty is here, how dare you lie to deceive the Emperor? You are so audacious!"
The sudden change surprised the surrounding officials.
All of a sudden, low voices of discussion arose one after another.
Yu Shiyue flicked his sleeves, turned around, and raised his hands to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I have found out that at the time of Xu on the 15th of this month, Shi Pu secretly went to a house in the east city in a light carriage."
"When he left, he carried a hundred taels of gold and stayed in the courtyard for nearly half an hour."
"According to the investigation, the owner of the house here is Jin Ying, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony!"
There was a "buzz" sound.
The ministers, who were already not very calm, suddenly exploded.
Regardless of being rude, countless people's eyes immediately turned to Jin Ying, whose face suddenly turned extremely pale behind the throne.
The current eunuch, Da Hui, looked pale at the moment and looked stunned. The courtiers who were closer could even notice that his body was trembling slightly.
At this time, the emperor, who had been silent for a long time, finally asked.
"Jin Ying, what the minister of Dali Temple told you, is this the truth?"
Jin Ying immediately stepped down from Lord Dan, prostrated himself on the ground, and said.
"Your Majesty, on the night of the 15th, it is true that the minister was not in the palace, but he definitely did not have a private meeting with the foreign ministers, and he never met Mr. Shi who had just returned to the capital. Please check carefully."
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Yu Shiyue said immediately.
"Collusion to deceive the emperor is an unforgivable crime! Since Eunuch Jin doesn't admit it, let's see who this woman is?"
Lu Zhong on the side cooperated and turned sideways, revealing the woman in coarse linen clothes behind him.
The woman looked like she was only in her twenties, and she was just pretty. With so many people paying attention, she couldn't help shrinking behind Lu Zhong.
At this time, Yu Shiyue asked the woman.
"Your Highness, woman, who is your surname and your identity? Come quickly."
The woman knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said.
"My lord, my surname is Xu. She is the maidservant in Eunuch Jin's house. The name given by the steward is Luliu."
As soon as the voice fell, Jin Ying suddenly raised his head and stared at the woman fiercely.
"Presumptuous, our family doesn't recognize you at all, what nonsense are you talking about!"
The woman was so scolded that she lay on the ground and did not dare to speak.
Lu Zhong on the side sneered and said.
"Eunuch Jin, my commander sees that you are really out of your mind. You dare to bully me over and over again. This alone is enough for you to go to Fengyang to guard the mausoleum!"
As he spoke, he took out a notebook from his sleeve and said.
"This is the contract she signed with the steward of your house. It is clearly written on it that she will serve in your house after seven years of orthodoxy. There is also your private seal on this contract. Do you want to deny it?"
Although the Ming Dynasty explicitly prohibited good people from selling themselves into slavery, it was difficult to prohibit such a thing since there were buyers and sellers and it was consensual.
The imperial court did not allow slaves to be kept openly, so the people had their own ways to work around it.
If you can't use the deed of sale, use another name.
But no matter what it is, there is always a contract.
Looking at the contract in front of him, the private seal clearly stated this.
Jin Ying's lips moved, but she didn't speak.
At this point, he is more sober than Shi Pu.
From the moment he saw Green Willow appear, he knew that the situation was over.
Jin Ying did not dare to make a conclusion as to whether Shi Pu, an important official of the Qi Qing Dynasty, could be helped in this court affair.
But what he was sure of was this.
Once what he and Shi Pu talked about that night was revealed in this court.
So as a eunuch, he will never end well.
In fact, Jin Ying felt inexplicable.
It seems that the target of this court battle was not Shi Pu from the beginning.
In other words, Shi Pu was just passing along.
What the emperor really wants to win is Jin Ying!
