A news circulated in the capital that Shengjia and his party had arrived in Zhigu, also known as Tianjin Sanwei, on the sixth day of October. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Tianjin had developed into a gateway, a north-south trade hub, and a gathering of passengers and goods.
After the emperor entered the Tianjin Acropolis, there was no movement.
Logically speaking, even if you just walk from Tianjin to the capital, you can come back in three or four days, but the emperor's delay in returning made people think that the emperor wanted to have a good time in Tianjin.
Until the end of October, the capital was still calm and no movement could be seen.
On October 27th, Su Xigui came to see Zhu Hao anxiously and informed the emperor that Luan Jia had arrived in Tongzhou and it seemed that he would arrive in the capital in a day or two.
"Not so fast."
In front of Su Xigui, Zhu Hao spoke frankly.
Su Xigui asked in confusion: "Tongzhou is only a few dozen miles away from the capital. Why didn't your majesty return to the capital after arriving in Tongzhou City?"
Zhu Hao said: "The matter of Prince Ning's rebellion has not yet been completely resolved."
"oh?"
Su Xigui looked puzzled.
In the capital, he had been keeping an eye on the Prince Ning case, and was concerned about who among the civil and military officials in the court would be implicated. At least at this moment, the court showed no signs of completely liquidating the guilty officials.
…
…
After Zhu Hao learned the news, he went to see Lou Suzhen.
Lou Suzhen asked with concern: "Are Prince Ning and his family members also in the army?"
Zhu Hao nodded.
Historically, on the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month in the fifteenth year of Zhengde, Zhu Houzhao ordered King Ning to commit suicide in Tongzhou and burn his body to raise ashes. This shows that the emperor was still kind and did not cut him into pieces. He was arrested for rebelling for a year and a half.
Later, he died and his country was destroyed. Before that, some people thought that King Ning had a chance to survive.
Lou Suzhen said anxiously: "But I don't know how the court will deal with people related to Prince Ning's case, such as my Lou family..."
Lou Suzhen was very wise, knowing that her husband and several children would definitely not be saved, so she could only try her best to avoid the Lou family being involved. However, because the interests of the Lou family and Prince Ning's palace were deeply tied, it was difficult not to be implicated.
"My husband wrote to me before. The car has passed through Ruzhou. Counting the days, they should return to Anlu."
Zhu Hao found that Lou Suzhen didn't mention Tang Yin at all, so he took the initiative to guide the topic.
It is said that Lou Suzhen found her next goal in life and encouraged Tang Yin to serve the country and the people well, but the relationship between the two was still too distant, and it was not easy to bring them together.
"Um."
Regarding Tang Yin's news, Lou Suzhen just nodded, her thoughts probably already flew to Tongzhou.
Zhu Hao said: "If what I predict is correct, all the ministers in the capital who used to communicate with King Ning will be imprisoned. Even Lu Shangshu, the Ministry of Personnel, will not escape the disaster."
Lou Suzhen shook her head repeatedly: "As far as I know, Lu Shangshu did not have much contact with King Ning. If he only helped King Ning restore his guard and eliminated a capable minister in the court, it would be a real loss for the Ming Dynasty."
"Yeah?"
Zhu Hao smiled.
Let’s not talk about how much Lou Suzhen knew about Prince Ning’s rebellion. Even if she did know, would she honestly confess to herself?
However, Lou Suzhen still has respect for top civil servants like Lu Wan who have made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps she does not want her husband's rebellion to implicate too many people. After all, the more people are implicated, the more unstable the Ming Dynasty will be. In Lou Suzhen's heart
The feeling of guilt will also be stronger.
…
…
The first day of November.
The "messenger" sent by the Zhu family, namely Zhu Hao's fourth uncle Zhu Wanquan, went round and round and finally met his nephew who had been missing in Shenlong in the capital.
The place where the two met was very special. It was a villa newly purchased by Su Xigui. There were many nursing homes inside and outside. It was originally used as a place for Su Xigui to hide his darlings, but now that her darlings were gone, Zhu Hao used them first.
Su Xigui followed, but did not enter the courtyard where guests were entertained.
Zhu Wanquan was very curious about the layout of the other courtyard and asked: "Is this where you usually live?"
Zhu Hao shook his head and said: "No, this is a friend's residence. Come over temporarily to enjoy the scenery."
Whether Zhu Wanquan believed it or not was another matter. He didn't care much about it. He said directly: "We are planning your marriage at home. Now Lu Shangshu, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the DPRK, has a granddaughter who is one year older than you. She is knowledgeable, courteous and gentle.
You are virtuous. Grandma You was full of praise after seeing the portrait and thought it was the foundation to help you achieve great things."
"hehe……"
When Zhu Hao heard this, he laughed without any scruples.
Zhu Wanquan originally wanted to wait until Zhu Hao finished laughing before talking. He thought it was a happy smile, but later he realized something was wrong.
"Zhu Hao, why are you laughing?"
Zhu Wanquan frowned slightly.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Fourth uncle, the marriage has not been settled yet, right?"
"not yet."
Zhu Wanquan said, "If you are getting married to a minister, you still have to meet each other."
Zhu Hao smiled and waved his hand: "Don't worry about it at home. I think you will be embarrassed to tell me about this in a few days..."
"Why is this?"
Zhu Wanquan looked puzzled.
Zhu Haodao: "The Holy Master and his entourage have now arrived in Tongzhou. The Zhu family will not know about it, right? Your Majesty stayed in Tongzhou and did not return because he wanted to find out the guilty officials in the court who had communicated with King Ning. Lu Shangshu was rumored to be involved half a year ago.
, it is estimated that the results will be available in the next few days..."
Zhu Wanquan shook his head and said: "Zhu Hao, now that the matter of Prince Ning's rebellion has passed, and it has not been investigated in the past few months, why are you turning over old scores now? You don't have to worry..."
Zhu Hao stood up and said, "Then if I say I don't agree, will the Zhu family stop discussing this marriage?"
"you……"
Zhu Wanquan did not expect Zhu Hao's attitude to be so tough.
But now Zhu Hao's face is extremely serious. He is a tribute himself and has a higher social status than Zhu Wanquan. In addition, the relationship between uncle and nephew is more on paper and their relationship is not very deep. Zhu Wanquan is embarrassed to be in front of Zhu Hao.
Consider yourself an elder.
"Zhu Hao, even if you don't agree, you know your grandmother's character. You will discuss it directly with your mother and force her to agree," Zhu Wanquan said.
Zhu Hao spread his hands: "Whatever."
It took more than a month to write a letter from the capital to force Zhu Niang to agree. It was relatively fast. By then, Lu Wan would have been captured and imprisoned. Even if Zhu Jia wanted to trick his grandson, he would not have a chance.
Already.
Could it be that the Zhu family went to the cell to discuss with Lu Wan whether to marry your granddaughter to my grandson?
You see, my grandson was born in Huiyuan, and you were a minister before you were imprisoned. Although your daughter will be assigned to the Jiaofang Secretary as a Leshi in the future, she was once a good match...
…
…
Zhu Wanquan felt defeated by Zhu Hao and left in disgrace.
Zhu Hao did not go out to see off the guests, but came to the inner courtyard.
Su Xigui is directing the repair of the yard.
Zhu Hao asked: "Dr. Su, you don't really plan to raise a few women here, do you? I think this place is quite elegant. I wonder if you will live here permanently in the future?"
Su Xigui said with a smile: "The young master laughed. Hiding beauties in a golden house was my ambition when I didn't have much money. What I thought at that time was that when I became wealthy, why would I have to hide a bunch of pretty beauties? I'll wait until today.
, but found that I no longer had the interest."
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "This is about forcing yourself to make money with unrealistic ideals. But when you really have money, you find that you are more comfortable living a leisurely life, right?"
"Busy, too busy."
Su Xigui shook his head and sighed, "Because I am too busy to care about anything else. Who would think that I make too much money?"
The two of them went to the pavilion and sat down.
Su Xigui introduced the layout of the courtyard to Zhu Hao, and finally concluded: "...you also know that I am Yangzhou Yi Zhenren, and I like the layout of Jiangnan gardens. This place is being renovated according to the Jiangnan garden style."
Zhu Hao said: "The pavilions and waterside pavilions in the south of the Yangtze River are full of green lotus flowers, which are caused by abundant water sources. But in the north, the sky is dry and the ground is dry. Is it difficult to get running water?"
"Yeah, it's hard to retain water here. You see, in winter, the springs are all dry!" Su Xigui pointed to the dry pool on the side, turned around and asked, "I wonder what the Zhu family wants to do with you?"
Zhu Hao told him about the arrangements made by the Zhu family for his marriage with Lu Wan.
Su Xigui said with a smile: "The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is married to a family of thousands of Jinyiwei, and the young head of the family is a tribute scholar, so he is considered a good match."
Zhu Hao said: "That was before... In a few days, Lu Shangshu will be imprisoned."
"So fast?"
Su Xigui said in surprise, "I haven't received any news from my side!"
Zhu Hao pursed his lips: "It's just what happened in the past two days. If you don't believe me, let's wait and see."
Su Xigui nodded and didn't take it seriously, but he still kept the matter in mind.
…
…
Three days later, Su Xigui hurriedly met with Zhu Hao and informed him that Lu Wan was taken to Tongzhou by the Jinyi Guards, that the Shangshu's residence was raided, and that his wife, daughter, and children were all imprisoned in cells.
"...His mother, Mrs. Lu, is ninety years old, but she is still in prison." Su Xigui said this, sighing.
Zhu Hao asked: "The turmoil in the DPRK should be quite big this time, right?"
Su Xigui nodded and looked at Zhu Hao with admiration: "The young master is really good at predicting things. How did you guess all this?"
Zhu Hao thought to himself, am I going to tell you that I actually know this from history?
"The Holy Emperor stayed in Tongzhou and did not return to Beijing. Apparently someone did not want the Holy Emperor to return to Beijing and wanted to let His Majesty Xixun..." Zhu Hao analyzed.
Su Xigui suddenly said: "Ping Lupp."
Zhu Hao said: "As for the civil servants in the court, they hope that His Majesty can return to the capital as soon as possible. Now the game is going on. The two sides are confronting each other. Let's start with the case of King Ning. King Ning is still alive and is obviously used as a bargaining chip by some people. I want to
Completely muddy the waters within the Capital Civil Service Group."
Su Xigui was extremely shocked: "Is it possible that the case will become more and more involved, and more and more officials will be involved in it?"
According to Zhu Hao's analysis, Jiang Bin wanted to use the crime of communicating with Prince Ning to punish civil servants in the court, so it was not just about dealing with Lu Wan.
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Then it depends on how many people Lu Shangshu will get involved in after the attack, and how the civil servants will fight back."
"oh……"
Su Xigui fell into deep thought.
Under normal circumstances, if Jiang Bin fights with the civil servants over the crime of transporting King Ning, the civil servants will be very passive, because many people in the court have made great efforts to restore King Ning's bodyguard, and even Yang Tinghe and his party members cannot guarantee it.
I am innocent.
But now the situation is completely different.
The emperor was ill, so Yang Tinghe must use his illness to try his best to scare Zhu Houzhao into returning to the capital to rest early. Once the emperor was tempted, Jiang Bin found that he had to follow the emperor to the capital controlled by civil servants, so he would not dare to bring him back to the capital.
The expansion of the case may limit the crimes of King Jiao Ning to a few "first offenders".