A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even under confinement, the East Palace still has countless channels to obtain external intelligence.
As long as Zhu Gaochi wanted to, he could lead the princelings in a desperate fight at any time, but he no longer had this belief.
"tired."
Zhu Gaochi lay on the wicker chair, relaxed all over, gently closed his eyes, and murmured, "I'm really tired after so many years, and it's time to rest."
"Dad, you can still rest now because His Majesty is still here!"
Seeing his father's indifferent appearance, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but become a little impatient, "Who is my fourth uncle, King Qi? He is bold in his actions and ruthless in his methods. If he ascends the throne, can our family have a happy ending?"
"Zhanji, if I remember correctly, your fourth uncle saved your life twice, right?"
Zhu Gaochi suddenly said, "One time was when His Majesty was assassinated while hunting, and your fourth uncle helped rescue a life from the swordsmen. The other time was during the northern expedition to Wala, when you led the troops to pursue King Mahamu of Wala Shunning. When you were surrounded and in desperate situation, it was your fourth uncle who led the troops to rescue you and saved you."
"Yes, you are right. My fourth uncle helped me save my life." Zhu Zhanji said solemnly, "But this does not mean that our family will have a good ending if he becomes the emperor. You Don't forget how fiercely we fought with Prince Qi's Mansion before! Since ancient times, the emperor's family has been the most ruthless. Being a prince and being an emperor are two different things. Do you want to use the lives of our family as a bet? Will King Qi be kind?"
Zhu Gaochi closed his eyes and said nothing, leaving the emperor's grandson to be furious here alone.
Seeing his father's "I'll do whatever you want" attitude, Zhu Zhanji knew that he could no longer persuade him, so he let out a long sigh and turned around to leave.
After the emperor's grandson left, Zhu Gaochi slowly opened his eyes with hesitation.
He was really tired.
When it comes to political governance, King Qi is not inferior to him. When it comes to martial arts, Zhu Gaochi knows how big the gap is between him and King Qi. When it comes to the emperor's sacred heart, it is even more incomparable.
Zhu Gaochi laughed to himself and closed his eyes.
Forget it, what if the world is surrendered to King Qi?
…
Zhu Zhanji walked in the corridor of the East Palace with a face as heavy as water. The silence was frightening, and it was obviously extremely cold. However, Zhu Zhanji's anger, which had nowhere to vent, seemed to set the world on fire.
It was as if there were birds flying by, and a sporadic sound could be heard among the grass and trees in the flower pond, as if dead trees and leaves were breaking and passing by in a flash.
"who!"
Zhu Zhanji's hearing was very sensitive. He stopped and shouted loudly, his eyes alert.
In the deep palace, someone can actually sneak in. What kind of madman is this, and he has such courage?
Breaking into the East Palace in the middle of the night, what a bold traitor he must be!
In the shadows, a familiar figure appeared to His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince. He was a masked man in black robes and a black face, whose true identity was difficult to identify.
"How dare you come to me!"
Zhu Zhanji's eyes turned red when he saw the masked man, and he wished he could strangle this idiot to death on the spot, "You deceived me into cutting off the supplies of the Northern Expeditionary Army, causing my East Palace to lose power. You deserve to die!"
It was this damn masked man who deceived Zhu Zhanji into doing such stupid things. How hateful!
The masked man said calmly: "I didn't lie to you. It's just you who are stupid. You can't even understand this. Thanks to you, you are still known as the talented emperor's grandson. Now it seems that your reputation is just in vain. That’s all.”
After saying this, the masked man thought that the young Zhu Zhanji would be unable to control himself and hit him, adding salt to the wound. How could a young man like Zhu Zhanji, who was as ambitious as the sky, control himself?
However, Zhu Zhanji did not, and just glanced at the masked man coldly: "If you came to mock me, then you have already done it. Look, I am in such a mess now because of you. I am satisfied." Alright?"
The masked man said calmly: "I am indeed quite satisfied. I am also satisfied to see His Royal Highness the Emperor in such a state of embarrassment. I can brag about this for the rest of my life."
Zhu Zhanji still looked cold when he heard this.
After going through many hardships, Zhu Zhanji had smoothed away the sharp edges in his heart, and for the first time he felt so clear-headed.
If you lose, you lose. Your skills are not as good as others, and you are played by others with applause.
No matter how angry you are, it is just powerless rage. Anger cannot solve the problem, it can only solve yourself and put yourself in a more stupid situation.
He hates the feeling of being used as a puppet, being guided by others in every move...
What Zhu Zhanji wants is to kill the puppet masters behind the scenes and become the only puppet master!
"Forget it, seeing His Royal Highness the Grandson in such a mess makes me feel more at ease, tsk tsk."
The figure of the masked man gradually disappeared into the shadows, leaving only a taunt, "A good saint can be prosperous for three generations? That's not true!"
Zhu Zhanji stared intently at the disappearing masked figure, clenching his fists, almost bleeding from his palms.
…
In the hidden darkness, a low voice came.
"Thirteen, how about it?"
"The fish is hooked."
"Well done."
"Thank you for the compliment. Thirteen is willing to die for Your Majesty."
Masked Man Thirteen took off the mysterious mask on his face and put on a new mask on his face.
He turned around slowly, his face covered with an iron ghost mask, and his exposed eyes were scarlet and bloodthirsty.
This evil ghost mask was exactly the same as the mask A Qi was wearing, as if it was made by the same blacksmith.
Shadow Attendant Thirteen, your mission has been completed.
…
Zhu Zhanji raised his head and looked directly at the gorgeous Milky Way in the sky.
There are so many beauties in the country... He is so unwilling to accept it...
Are you going to give up the throne?
Put your destiny in the control of King Qi?
When did he, Zhu Zhanji, become as shameful as he is now?
He suddenly remembered whether Li Shimin, the King of Qin back then, was as helpless as he was after knowing that he had no hope of inheriting the throne... and he was unwilling to do so!
"The King of Qin, Li Shimin, was able to launch the Xuanwu Gate Rebellion, mutiny and rebellion, and the King of Yan, Zhu Di, was able to launch the Jingnan Campaign and usurp the throne." Zhu Zhanji's eyes suddenly turned ambitious, "I, the great grandson of the Ming Dynasty Emperor, Why not?"
"How can I not seize the land of the Ming Dynasty?"
When he thought of this, Zhu Zhanji's eyes became more and more fanatical. He walked towards the shadow, step by step, stepping into the edge of darkness until his body completely merged with the shadow.
He glanced back, his eyes cold.
"I won it too!"
"I will definitely win it!"
…
The cabinet was still working overtime late at night. To put it bluntly, their job was a department that was born because the emperor was almost driven crazy by the huge workload after deposing the prime minister, specifically to share the emperor's worries.
There were seven people in the first-generation cabinet: the Ming Dynasty scholar Xie Jin, Hu Guang, who was the number one scholar in the second year of Jianwen's reign, Jin Youzi, who was famous for his poetry, Yang Shiqi, who had the longest experience, Yang Rong, who was good at making decisions, Hu Yan, who was knowledgeable, and Huang Huai, who was familiar with state affairs. .
The cabinet at the beginning was actually very united, because everyone secretly had the same lord - Prince Zhu Gaochi.
Perhaps even Zhu Di himself didn't know that his cabinet had actually become Zhu Gaochi's cabinet.
However, as the situation changed, the huge changes in the party struggle caused some alienation among the cabinet ministers. Among them, Xie Jin, the first chief minister of the cabinet in the Ming Dynasty, was imprisoned by the King of Han in Zhao Prison and has not been released from prison to this day.
After the prince lost power and King Qi's family became the dominant one, the conflicts among the cabinet ministers became more intense. First of all, a group of people headed by Yang Rong directly announced that they would side with King Qi.
Although except for Yang Rong, the rest of the people did not say it clearly, but in fact everyone had already changed in their hearts.
King Qi is the future!
Yang Shiqi, who was also a cabinet minister, had been watching all this happen indifferently. He was siding with the princelings, and it was difficult to change this, so he simply chose to remain silent, not taking sides with anyone, and doing things quietly.
"On October 5, the 12th year of Yongle, the prisoners were examined. On the 11th, King Ji Xi of Jin was deposed and made a commoner. Geng Shen exempted Su, Song, Hang, Jia, and Hu from renting more than 479,000 stones for flood-damaged fields..."
Using an oil lamp, Yang Shiqi immersed himself in checking the countless discounts in front of him. After sorting them out one by one, he checked them again, and then continued to check the small mountain of discounts on his desk.
Even though the future is uncertain, Yang Shiqi is still completing his work seriously.
Yang Shiqi's background was very miserable. He was born in the war-torn era of the late Yuan Dynasty. He was born in poverty and struggled hard for decades with his books. It was only after Zhu Di ascended the throne that he became prominent and was able to enter the cabinet.
Because power is hard-won, Yang Shiqi values this job more than anyone else, but he is not a peaceful person. Not long after he entered the cabinet, he hooked up with the prince.
After going through many hardships, Yang Shiqi became mature in strategy and good at calculation. Despite this, his heart has always been firm. No matter how chaotic the situation is, he will always stand on the side of the prince.
In the face of the disaster, Yang Shiqi felt calm and continued to do his job steadily, staying up late and working overtime.
"In the second month of Guiyou, twelve people including Commander Liu Bin and Zhang Pan were sent to inspect the military drills and garrison operations in Shanxi, Shandong, Datong, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Liaodong to verify and hear..."
"Jiaxu, order...order the cabinet scholar Yang Shiqi to send the seal of Beijing's customs defense to the East Palace?!"
In front of the dim candlelight, Yang Shiqi was stunned for a moment, thinking that his eyes were dim and tired and he had seen it wrong. He rubbed his eyes and checked repeatedly to confirm that what was written on the brochure was correct.
What is this? !
It was as if a paragraph of text had been cut out, and such an inexplicable sentence was suddenly imprinted on the folding book. It was so weird that it was so scary to think about it!
The Great Seal of the Imperial Guard in the capital was sent to the East Palace. What does this mean?
This is to...rebellion!
Yang Shiqi's first reaction after reading this passage was not to exclaim, but to have his heart beat faster. He looked around vigilantly, and after confirming that other cabinet bachelors had not noticed him, he quietly hid this special document in into his sleeves.
His always keen sense of smell told him that this discount would cause a huge turmoil!
(End of chapter)
