Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Waidong Road, Qingning Palace.

Empress Dowager Zhou had lived a pampered life for decades. Since she had too much free time, she spent her time on food and drink.

The imperial dining room delivers exquisite breakfasts on time, and each dish is extremely particular.

Empress Dowager Zhou was slowly tasting a dish of Spring Mountain Snow Lotus sent from the imperial dining room. It looked very tempting when she looked at it, and when she put it in her mouth, it was even more delicious.

But before she could swallow it, she saw her confidant, He Shanggong, hurried in from outside.

After getting along for a long time, I naturally knew that something important must have happened if He Shangguan was so anxious. It's just this morning. Now that I have control over the harem, what else can happen?

As for the outer court, although his younger brother was indeed a little greedy, the Baodi land had already been allocated, and he must have been embarrassed to come over to ask for rewards from him for a long time.

"The Empress Dowager, Hua En was just arrested and sent to Beizhen Fusi Prison for violating the imperial edict!" He Shanggong endured the panic in his heart, came to him and tried to lower his voice.

Empress Dowager Zhou suddenly felt that the food in her mouth was no longer fragrant. Her face looked unhappy and she said: "Is this true? Why does Hua En dare to act like an imperial edict?"

"Yesterday, His Majesty sent Hua En to Wenyuan Pavilion to blame Mr. Wan Ge. Unexpectedly, Hua En actually took away Wan An's tooth plaque and kicked Wan An out of the palace. His Majesty was furious at Long Yan just this morning because of this matter. He also had a quarrel with the ministers!" He Shanggong reported the news he had heard.

Although the Empress Dowager Zhou knew that Huaien was getting more and more aggressive as he got older, she didn't expect that it had reached this level. She couldn't help but said angrily: "It's not a pity to die for this bitch!"

"Huaien has been in the palace for such a long time. He knows too much. Could it be that he said something he shouldn't have said in Beizhen Fusi?" He Shanggong naturally didn't care about Huaien's life and death, and looked very worried.

Empress Dowager Zhou took a sip of the soup and said very confidently: "Wynn may be arrogant, but he definitely knows what can and cannot be said, so you can rest assured!"

"The Empress Dowager, there is one more thing! I don't know why Your Majesty had such a fierce quarrel with the ministers, but Your Majesty just issued a decree in the morning to send twelve eunuchs to the 12th Battalion to prime military affairs!" He Shanggong Seeing that Wynn's matter didn't seem to require too much attention, he revealed another piece of news.

Emperor Zhou was about to take a sip of fresh soup when he suddenly raised his head in shock and said, "If His Majesty wants to be the Prime Minister of Military Affairs and sends twelve eunuchs to directly take over the Twelve Battalions, how can the civil and military officials not stop him?"

After all, after three dynasties, we know that the Twelve Battalions are actually managed by three parties.

If Zhu Youtang was directly managed by the eunuch, not to mention that Zhu Youtang was not a person who favored the eunuch, this move would definitely be blocked by civil and military officials, and Zhu Youtang simply did not have the courage to do this.

Although the emperor seems to be aloof, many things are actually beyond his control. Not to mention, for example, his son Zhu Jianshen loved the demon concubine extremely much, but he could not get the position of queen at all.

"I don't know what happened, but it has indeed happened. The twelve imperial edicts have been sent out!" He Shanggong didn't understand why Empress Dowager Zhou was so nervous, so he reported it truthfully.

The spoon in Empress Dowager Zhou's hand fell back into the soup bowl. As if she thought of something terrible, the corners of her mouth trembled and she said, "Quick, send someone to intercept Marquis Qingyun in the early morning!"

"I'm afraid that Marquis Qingyun won't come to the morning court, so I will send someone over now!" He Shanggong knew that Marquis Qingyun had not attended the morning court for many days since his salary was withheld, but he still obeyed the order and sent people to look for Tao.

Empress Dowager Zhou realized that it was indeed unlikely that her younger brother would come to attend the morning court, and immediately murmured: "It's over, something is going to happen!"

Inside the palace, the palace here is certainly magnificent, but the Outer West Road and the Outer East Road obviously lack the light of life.

Since Yingzong abolished the burial system, the harem concubines of Yingzong and Xianzong have been arranged to live here, and many young and beautiful concubines have entered retirement mode in advance.

A concubine like Princess Shao who gave birth to three princes would be in a much better situation, but if a concubine didn't even have a princess, her life would indeed be hopeless.

The Queen Mother was fortunate and unfortunate. Unfortunately, she was not favored by Emperor Chenghua, and she did not give birth to a son or a daughter. Fortunately, she was the Queen Mother.

Renshou Palace, main hall room.

When Zhu Youtang came here, he saw the Queen Mother looking like a virtuous queen who cared about the world, but she couldn't help but be slightly startled when she saw Wang Lan standing next to the Queen Mother.

Wang Lan is no longer the high-spirited young man he used to be. His right arm is obviously injured and he is blind in one eye. He looks like he has narrowly escaped death.

After everyone greeted each other, Zhu Youtang sat down on the left side of the Queen Mother and asked Wang Lan curiously: "Wang Lan, what is going on?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I went to Baodi to perform official duties a few days ago and was ambushed by thieves on my way back!" Wang Lan said with erratic eyes, appearing to be frightened.

"How can there be such rampant thieves in the capital? Zhu Ji must have sent someone to do it!" The young man standing aside immediately interjected, and then saluted Zhu Youtang and said: "Your Majesty, you happened to be here to see me because of your humble duty. My brother ran into that group of assassins, but it was a pity that no one was left alive, but Zhu Ji must have wanted to get rid of my second brother or warn him!"

"Prince Prime Minister, don't talk nonsense here if there is no evidence!" The Queen Mother reprimanded the young man, and then explained to Zhu Youtang: "Your Majesty, this is my youngest nephew, and he is the Prime Minister! Wang Xiang has been very naughty since he was a child, and he doesn't know how to speak. Please forgive me!"

Wang Xiang and Wang Lan are about the same age, and their facial features are somewhat similar. They just have a mole on the tip of their eyebrows, but there is a touch of heroism between their eyebrows, their figure appears taller, and their temperament appears to be very straightforward and resolute.

"Queen Mother, what are you talking about? How can I be angry because of this! It's just something without evidence. Even if we are members of our own family, it is difficult to deal with Zhu Ji!" Zhu Youtang could see that Wang Lan was more powerful than Wang Lan. Vigorous, but still intends to stay out of trouble.

Although she didn't understand why the Queen Mother called her to Renshou Palace again, her attitude from the beginning to the end was very clear. She needed Zhu Ji's criminal evidence, and naturally it was impossible to deal with Zhu Ji for such a shady matter.

Seeing Zhu Youtang's attitude, the Queen Mother couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief, especially "my family" made her feel warmer.

Wang Xiang had just learned about Zhu Youtang's order to arrest Hua En, and he also knew that the wardrobe prince in front of him was not always harsh on his servants, so he said seriously: "Your Majesty, there is a plan for this humble position, and you can use Hua En's incident to do something." This article may be able to get rid of Zhu Ji for His Majesty!"

"Get rid of it?" Zhu Youtang raised his eyebrows and said with interest.

Wang Xiang met Zhu Youtang's eyes and said very firmly: "When the late emperor was in power, some civil servants who came to Fusi in Beizhen were bound to receive favorable treatment. However, this gave the late emperor a bad reputation, and he, Zhu Ji, became a good person. It's like eating the inside out. Now Zhu Ji has close contacts with ministers. Even if he is dismissed, it will be an advantage for him, so naturally he must be eliminated!"

"What's the plan?" Zhu Youtang asked with interest while holding the tea lid and pouring the tea.

The Queen Mother turned to look at her most naughty nephew curiously, but she didn't think he could come up with a good plan. Sometimes Wang Xiang did things too impulsively.

Wang Xiang realized that his words had touched the emperor's heart, and he said boldly: "Your Majesty, please promote me to the rank of Jinyiwei Qianhu now. I will definitely get this matter done!"

"Prime Minister, don't be so presumptuous, how can you negotiate terms with His Majesty!" Queen Wang was suddenly startled and scolded sternly.

Wang Xiang hesitated for a moment, and then explained seriously: "Beizhi is only a small hundred households now. He is under the constraints of Fusi in Beizhen, so he needs to be promoted to Qianhu to be able to do things! Besides, Beizhi works so hard for Your Majesty. When doing things, Your Majesty will make rewards and punishments clear!"

"Queen Mother, after I came to the throne, I have not given any rewards to the Ruianbo family. Today, let Wang Lan and Wang Tongtong be promoted to Jinyiwei Qianhu!" Zhu Youtang took a sip of tea, turned to look at the Queen Mother and said with a smile. .

The so-called loyalty is nothing more than wanting to benefit from oneself.

The civil servants of the dynasty wanted power, Wu Xun wanted military power, and the relatives wanted rewards, even if the eunuchs around them just wanted to use their favor to ride on others.

But I don't care about this. What I want is people who can do things for me, and I want people who can be controlled by me and help me completely manage the great cause.

Whether it is Wan An or Xu Pu, if they are willing to be their own chess pieces and get rewards, but if they want to take something they shouldn't take, or plot something they shouldn't plot, then everything will be out.

The Queen Mother knew that Zhu Youtang agreed to the conditions of the Prime Minister and even gave him an extra gift, so she turned to look at Wang Lan and the Prime Minister and said, "I haven't thanked Your Majesty yet!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!" The Prime Minister's eyes flashed brightly, and he said with great ambition.

Zhu Youtang took a deep look at Wang Xiang and found that this kind of person was more in line with his appetite, and could even be a knife for him to clean up the Jinyi Guards.

But things never go smoothly. An accompanying young eunuch returned from the military camp on horseback. Then he ran into the Meridian Gate in a panic and shouted: "Rebellion, rebellion!"