It was Hu Wei, the slave of the Hu family, who came, leading an anxious young man, who was Zhu Yu, the concubine of Zhu Liangzu, the Marquis of Yongjia.
"Hu Xiang! The old lady at home sent me down to report that Yan's father is far away in Peiping, and my brother is not in the house for some reason. Now we are suddenly hit by a military disaster, and the house is so empty that we really don't know how to resist it."
"I beg you, Prime Minister, please send me a note and come forward to save me!" Zhu Yu said while kneeling outside the study.
"Who is surrounding you?" Hu Weiyong pushed away the study room, but his face showed confusion.
"If there is any movement in the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Inspectorate, they will definitely be reported to the truth as soon as possible. Apart from these three magistrates, who else dares to rashly surround the residence of a dignified prince?"
"I...I don't know. All of those people are wearing Feiyu suits and carrying embroidered spring knives on their waists. They are like wolves and tigers, but they have no fear at all." Zhu Yu had a look of panic on his face, as if he had lingering fears.
"The old lady came out to scold her, but they even detained her. They said she was ordered to arrest criminals, and then they dug three feet into the house..."
"Under orders? Apprehend criminals?" Hu Weiyong's frown deepened. "Only the Sanfa Division has the power to arrest lawbreakers. When did such a group of people come to the capital?"
"Feiyu suit, embroidered spring knife...could it be Jin Yiwei?"
Hu Weiyong's eyes widened.
No wonder he was surprised. The predecessor of Jinyiwei was the Guards Division, whose duty was to guard the emperor's immediate side, but they were just palace guards. Later, the name was changed to Jinyiwei. Everyone in the court thought that this was just an attack of Lao Zhu's quirk of liking names, so he changed the name of his imperial guard for fun.
After all, Lao Zhu likes to give names, which is almost universally known in Ming Dynasty.
The names of the descendants of the Zhu family had been planned by him for dozens of generations in advance, and they were enough for nearly a thousand years. It's just a matter of changing the name of the imperial guard. What's the big deal?
But no one has ever noticed that Jin Yiwei didn't just change his name.
Rather, even the entire system structure has been changed.
"Enxiang!" Tu Cheng beside him instinctively felt that something was wrong. It should be noted that according to the system, all imperial laws and regulations should be in the hands of the "three law departments" of Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Supervisory Office.
After Ru Taisu's incident, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang left Wu Wang's party alone and seemed to intend to make it stronger. Due to a debt, the prince restricted his subordinate officials from intervening in the affairs of King Wu's party. Hu Weiyong used the name of Wu King Zhu Su to gradually reach out to the Three Fa Division. Now nearly half of the officials in the San Fa Division are from the sect of his left prime minister Hu Weiyong.
It was precisely because he had the control of the three judicial departments and the judicial institutions of these three courts that Hu Weiyong felt confident and believed that he could dominate the government and no one could control him.
But at this time, a Jin Yiwei who can "be ordered to arrest lawless" suddenly appears?
Being able to act suddenly and quietly beforehand, this Jin Yiwei must not have been temporarily appointed. Otherwise, he would have been in a hurry and full of loopholes at this time. It was impossible to wait for someone from the Yongjia Hou Mansion to ask for help before he learned the information.
This Jin Yiwei must have been prepared for a long time.
So who is it most likely that His Majesty is secretly developing this organization for? Who are you planning to use it against?
Hu Weiyong was already breaking out in cold sweat.
"Tu Cheng, please go back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate as soon as possible to find out what mistake the Yongjia Marquis Mansion made, and why you asked His Majesty's troops to take him personally."
"Hu Wei, take my note and go to the Yongjia Marquis Mansion to see if you can slow down one or two of the imperial guards."
"Don't go!" said a voice outside. Immediately afterwards, a pale figure hurried in with his skirt in hand. It was Hu Weiyong's other best friend, Chen Ning, who was the imperial censor at the time.
"Hu Xiang! Your Majesty has asked the Jin Yiwei people to summon the people from the Sanfa Division to the palace. It is called a summons, but it is actually an escort!"
"Those wolf-like and tiger-like guards in royal robes are guarding us very tightly, and it's really hard to get a chance to report the news!"
"At that time, I happened to be in a hut in a hurry, so I had the opportunity to get news from outside the city and came to repay my kindness."
"What a disaster, what a disaster!" As he said this, Chen Ning beat his chest and stamped his feet.
"That's how it is." Only then did Hu Weiyong realize why he hadn't received any news at all. "Tell me, what happened?"
"Early this morning, His Highness the Fifth Prince of Wu was assassinated by Zhu Xian, the Crown Prince of Yongjia Marquis, at Qixiadu."
"King Wu was so anxious that he stabbed the prince Yongjiahou to death with his backhand!"
"Now the Yongjia Marquis Mansion has been surrounded by the Jinyi Guards!"
"Wha...what!"
Hu Weiyong had just managed to maintain a calm appearance as a prime minister. After hearing Chen Ning's words, his short body swayed and he almost fell to the ground.
Zhu Yu from the Yongjia Marquis Mansion fainted to death.
No one paid attention to a lowly concubine, but facing the shaky Hu Weiyong, Tu Cheng beside him even forgot to reach out to help him.
Hu Weiyong, who almost fell to the ground, had no choice but to steady himself. As soon as he stood still, he hurriedly grabbed Chen Ning's shoulders and shook him desperately. "How is it possible? How could the Yongjia Hou Crown Prince do something like this, assassinate the king and kill the driver?"
"That's what the person who came to report the news said!" Chen Ning was in pain when Hu Weiyong caught him, but he didn't dare to avoid it. "It is said that Prince Yongjia coveted King Wu's cement business, and together with the Koreans, they failed to seize it, and became angry from shame..."
"That's nonsense!" Before Hu Weiyong could react, Tu Chengcheng shouted loudly. "Zhu Xian is not a fool. He collaborated with the Koreans to assassinate the king for a mere business? Who can believe it?"
"But the Yongjia Hou Crown Prince must be really dead!" Chen Ning said. "Otherwise, why did Your Majesty strike first and let people raid the Yongjia Marquis Mansion?"
"..." Hu Weiyong was stunned for a while, and Fang punched the pillar in anger.
"Shu Zi! Ruin my big job!"
He just felt a little restless. Zhu Su had a falling out with the noble Yongjia Marquis Mansion, which would inevitably lead to the alienation of the nobles who were attached to him and Zhu Su. The military power in Hu Weiyong's hands will naturally be greatly reduced.
He never imagined that Zhu Su would destroy the Great Wall and break up with the Yongjia Marquis Mansion directly!
"...Eun Xiang, this is the time for a strong man to free himself. We should give up King Wu and preserve our noble heart!" Chen Ning advised.
"You are right." Hu Weiyong composed himself.
The incident happened suddenly, and I couldn't help but lose my sense of proportion. Chen Ning's words made him clarify his thoughts again.
"This matter is not small at all, but it is not big at all." He took a deep breath and tried his best to show a smile that was under control. But the look on his face was so forced.
"We are already full-fledged. It doesn't matter whether we have this King of Wu or not. The important thing is to preserve our military power so that we can compete with Xu Da and other generals in the army."
"It doesn't matter, as long as the truth remains, your Yongjia Marquis Mansion will have a chance to rise again sooner or later."
"Thank you, Prime Minister Hu!" Zhu Yudu bowed his head.
Hu Weiyong, however, regained his composure. Yes, most of the three provinces and six ministries are now under control. Although the Jinyiwei was surprised, but now that something happened suddenly, His Majesty asked him to search the Yongjia Marquis Mansion and his whereabouts have been missed. There will be ways to prevent it in the future. It is easy to keep the Yongjia Marquis Mansion, all you need to do is attack Wu King Zhu Su. His excuse for killing Zhu Xian was full of loopholes. Even if His Majesty intended to protect his parents and children, he could not risk the disapproval of the world.
The prince of the Tian family is good at killing the noble prince, which will inevitably make those nobles with heavy troops panic.
And by taking action to protect him, he could also make the Yongjia Marquis Mansion and other nobles who were alienated from the Zhu family feel closer to him, Hu Weiyong.
"That Jin Yiwei should be a hidden chess piece left by His Majesty."
"His Majesty the Fifth has acted so recklessly that it might be a good thing for His Majesty's secret chess to be exposed early."
"If Jin Yiwei's sharp knife comes out of its sheath and cuts at me, it won't be easy to guard against it."
"Now let Marquis Yongjia take this blow first, so that I can be prepared in the future. With preparation, I will naturally be able to take precautions."
"Unless this sharp knife can find some reason today and chop me, Hu Weiyong, together."
"Oh, but how is this possible, unless the person on the dragon throne can predict the future, and planted spies to take precautions as early as when I was still obedient..."
I was secretly rejoicing in my heart, but unexpectedly another house slave ran in from outside, running over and over while shouting loudly:
"Master! Master! It's not good!"
"There is a group of people outside who say they are handling the case under orders, and the leader claims to be the commander of the Imperial Guard."
"With a group of soldiers, we are surrounding our Prime Minister's Mansion!"
(End of chapter)
