Chapter 125 Entering the Palace to See You
After reading the memorial, Zhu Yuanzhang put it aside and called the general to his presence first.

"For the past half month, Zhu Gang and his men have been studying at the Hundred Households Office. How is the result?"

He stared at it first.

He should have been a little embarrassed at first: "The Yiluansi did not report anything like this."

"Ok?"

Zhu Yuanzhang understood it in his mind. Under normal circumstances, the Yiluansi did not dare to spy on the prince. After all, his identity was too sensitive. If you pry into the prince's privacy today, the emperor may praise you for your ability today, but tomorrow the prince may get wind of it and bury you.

It would be a waste of life.

This was the Hongwu Dynasty. Although Emperor Hongwu often beat the princes, he was still tolerant of his sons.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not care about this matter, but just said: "There are many rumors outside now, I didn't expect that Liu Qing's family would report it..."

As Zhu Yuanzhang spoke, a hint of vigilance flashed across his eyes.

Liu Ji was not an ordinary person, or Zhu Yuanzhang could not treat him as an ordinary person. In a sense, Liu Ji represented the public opinion of the entire literati.

This Shilin not only represents many court officials, but also includes many scholars in the world.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was not necessarily afraid. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang did not care at all about his reputation in the eyes of scholars.

But he cares about his son.

Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor and he didn’t care about the world’s praise or criticism, right or wrong, merits or demerits. But what about his sons?

What made Zhu Yuanzhang most wary was not only this, but also the person Liu Ji.

Liu Ji was an extremely intelligent man, and he knew Zhu Yuanzhang very well. It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Ji were a model of mutual understanding between a monarch and his minister.

It is precisely because he understood and knew his intentions, and Liu Ji was extremely good at protecting himself and was a person who knew how to keep himself out of trouble.

However, in his capacity as Chief Censor, he joined forces with other ministers to submit an impeachment memorial, and the target of the impeachment was Deng Qianqiu.

This only shows one thing, Liu Ji... was under great pressure. This pressure forced Liu Ji to take the risk of offending the emperor and choose to stand on the opposite side of the emperor.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and paced thoughtfully, asking, "What are the recent moves of the officials?"

I should tell the truth first: "I haven't heard anything... The Yiluansi... did record some gatherings of officials."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a half-smile: "It seems that I still underestimated the consequences. I didn't expect...they would react so violently, as if I had killed their parents."

I should also laugh first: "Your Majesty is kind and lenient to others, so they..."

"Enough, enough." Zhu Yuanzhang shouted impatiently, "I am not here to listen to your nonsense. Summon all the ministers to the main hall tomorrow, and call the princes and Deng Qianqiu as well. Deng Qianqiu has a good tongue, let him go and confront Liu Ji."

I should also say first: "Last time, wasn't Mr. Liu already inferior to Deng Qianqiu?"

Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a meaningful look and said, "Do you really think Deng Qianqiu won? Haha... The original intention of letting Liu Ji and Deng Qianqiu debate was actually to give Liu Ji a way out. Well... What can a slave like you understand? Go and convey the order quickly."

……

Zhongshu Province.

"Mr. Li."

Hu Weiyong hurried into Li Shanchang's public housing.

Li Shanchang sat upright with his eyes closed, resting. Although he was the left prime minister, he requested to retire and return home again and again, but Zhu Yuanzhang refused. As a result, Li Shanchang had to stay in the Secretariat, and all matters, big and small, were left to people like Wang Guangyang and Hu Weiyong to handle.

Li Shanchang opened his eyelids slightly and asked, "You are so excited, is there any good news?"

"Mr. Li, Deng Qianqiu's case is just as you expected. Liu Bowen and other scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have begun to attack him. These people are really intolerable. After His Majesty issued the decree, they still dared to oppose so boldly. Even the cautious Liu Bowen has submitted an impeachment memorial. It seems... this time... they really don't intend to give up."

Li Shanchang raised his eyelids and glanced at Hu Weiyong calmly: "Just these things?"

Hu Weiyong said: "Your Majesty will be furious. Isn't this a good thing?"

Li Shanchang smiled and said, "Your Majesty knows Liu Bowen well. They get along well with each other. You will not blame him for this."

Hu Weiyong was surprised and frowned, saying, "Mr. Li means..."

Li Shanchang said slowly: "Liu Bowen dared to make a memorial because, on the one hand, he was under too much pressure and had no choice but to do so. On the other hand, it was also because he knew the limits and knew the bottom line of your majesty."

Hu Weiyong couldn't help but feel disappointed, and said with some regret: "What a pity."

Li Shanchang said, "Zi Zhong, you are the Vice Minister of State Affairs, why do you have to fight for power and profit with others every day? You are the youngest among the Zhongshu Province and have a bright future. You should forgive others when you can... It is better to be prepared for danger in times of peace."

Hu Weiyong said awkwardly, "Yes."

Li Shanchang took a sip of tea slowly, and said nonchalantly: "If I were you, I would not want to sit on the sidelines and watch the fire. Instead of watching the fire, it is better to add fuel to the fire."

Hu Weiyong's body trembled, his eyes slightly widened, and he said: "Mr. Li means..."

"When many hands gather, the flames rise high. Why not make the fire burn a little more vigorously? It will embarrass both Your Majesty and Liu Bowen." After hearing this, Hu Weiyong's eyes suddenly lit up, and he was overjoyed and said, "I understand. Lord Li means that the bigger the incident, the better. We must teach the entire court to oppose this matter. In this way, Your Majesty will surely be furious, and Liu Bowen will be caught in the fire, unable to advance or retreat."

Li Shanchang continued to hold the teacup, and said calmly: "That's not what I meant. Please don't misunderstand me. Ahem... I am old, half of my body is buried in the ground, rotten and decayed. I am a dying man, and my words are kind. How could I have any bad intentions?"

Hu Weiyong said excitedly: "Mr. Li, I will take my leave first."

Having said that, he hurried away.

……

Outside the Hundred Households Office.

A man in cloth but with a well-maintained beard was squatting on one side of the street. He squatted there for a long time, staring straight at the Hundred Households Office opposite, looking extremely serious.

Deng Qianqiu had just come back from supervising the dock project. Seeing that this man was a little strange, he quietly came to his side, squatted down, and looked at the Hundred Households Office with his eyes, and asked, "What are you looking at?"

This man was very serious and said subconsciously: "Catching wind and shadows, recording the movements of treacherous officials, and correcting the evildoers' court rituals."

Deng Qianqiu took a breath, wow!

So Deng Qianqiu looked at him and said, "Brother, are there traitors here too?"

The man still stared blankly across the street, perhaps because he had been squatting for too long and had become numb, he said, "Of course, the traitor Deng Qianqiu, who spread lies to confuse the people, corrupted people's minds, and was a traitor and a traitor, should be killed by everyone."

Deng Qianqiu was so scared that his face turned green.

Seeing Deng Qianqiu remained silent, the man suddenly realized and came to his senses. He glanced at Deng Qianqiu and said, "Brother, which department are you from? Are you here to make assumptions? May I ask your name?"

Deng Qianqiu blinked and said, "Excuse me, my last name is Deng, Deng Qianqiu."

The man was suddenly petrified and looked at Deng Qianqiu with great embarrassment.

Deng Qianqiu asked: "Did you catch any wind?"

The man said no more, stood up, and glared at Deng Qianqiu with a righteous look, as if he was ready to yell at Deng Qianqiu at any time.

Deng Qianqiu naturally became fully alert and silently took a step back, fearing that this guy would do something bad to him.

But who would have known that the next moment, this man suddenly jumped up, and then, like a rabbit, hopping and jumping, he disappeared in just a few steps.

This reaction was so sudden that Deng Qianqiu's eyes widened. Then he reacted, gnashing his teeth and cursing, "Grandson, why are you running?"

So he went back shouting and cursing, and when he saw Niu Shisan, he told him briefly what had just happened, and then started to curse him, "We are the only ones who are trying to catch people spreading rumors and misleading the public, and arresting lawbreakers. Our 100-household unit is almost surrounded by the censors, the imperial scholars, and those damn scholars. We are catching thieves, but our homes have been robbed by the thieves. How can we face people in the future?"

Niu Shisan was so ashamed after being scolded that he nodded and said, "Yes, yes, I'll go and chase them away right away."

The next day, Deng Qianqiu was ordered to enter the palace for an audience.

I heard that there is a big commotion outside right now and the public is very upset.

Not only in the Censorate, but also in the Hanlin Academy and other ministries, people were making noise.

It seemed that all of a sudden, when something unusual happened, everyone suddenly paid attention to it.

Deng Qianqiu soon realized that something was wrong. At first he just thought that it was just a prince studying and it shouldn't be that serious.

But now he realized that the seriousness of the matter was far beyond his imagination.

Haha...but so what? People can learn from whoever they want to learn from. It’s none of your business.

After entering the palace, I went straight to the main hall.

Here in the main hall, all the officials from the Secretariat, the Censorate, the Hanlin Academy and the Chancellery gathered together.

Deng Qianqiu, who was still indignant just now, was so scared when he saw this scene that he wanted to go home quickly.

It was so scary. There were crowds of people everywhere. All of them were silent, as if they were doing nothing. But when they saw Deng Qianqiu appear, they were like hungry wolves seeing lambs.

"Captain Deng." Someone called him enthusiastically.

Now, His Majesty has not arrived yet, but Hu Weiyong greeted him.

Deng Qianqiu was embarrassed and had to go up to pay his respects.

Hu Weiyong looked at him with a half-smile. This guy... is still so unfamiliar, as if he didn't accept my gift. At such a young age, he has done a good job in acting. No wonder he is so important now.

Deng Qianqiu and Hu Weiyong exchanged greetings, and then hurried to Liu Ji and said, "Greetings, Liu Zhongcheng."

Liu Ji was very embarrassed, but he did not show it on his face. He said with a smile: "Hello, Captain Deng. No need to be polite."

…………

I had a bit of trouble writing the plot the past two days, so I’ll try to send you the last two chapters as early as possible today.

(End of this chapter)