Chapter 91 His Majesty’s Holy Might
For Zhu Yuanzhang, he never expected that this case would have so many twists and turns, but at this moment there was suddenly a glimmer of hope.

But for Zhou Hong, this was like a bolt from the blue.

He refused to believe it in his heart, so he said coldly: "Who is it? Deng Qianqiu, in front of the emperor... please don't talk nonsense, otherwise... it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor."

Zhu Yuanzhang was anxious and asked sternly, "Who is it?"

Deng Qianqiu relaxed instead: "Your Majesty, after a couple of days of investigation, I have already found the thief. Before he was sent to the imperial prison, I had already ordered people to arrest him, so... it should take at most one or two hours for the prisoner to be brought in, so... I beg Your Majesty to be patient. I'm afraid Captain Zhou won't believe anything I say now. Only when the real prisoner is brought in front of him, I'm afraid he will give up."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and looked quite excited.

Not Gao Youcai, not Gao Youcai...

Zhu Yuanzhang was nervous and worried.

In fact, when he knew it was Gao Youcai, thinking of the Concubine Hu behind Gao Youcai, and even the underage King of Chu, it was enough to make Zhu Yuanzhang worried.

He had many sons, and not all of them were valued. But for Zhu Yuanzhang, as an old father, the thing he was most worried about was the discord among his sons. In the countryside, brothers who were not harmonious would at most quarrel, or even die without any contact. But in the palace, once there was discord, someone would die.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Deng Qianqiu and asked, "Why not Gao Youcai?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "Because I have been profiling Jin Si."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned: "Profile?"

"It's to analyze his personality traits."

"What did you analyze?" Zhu Yuanzhang's interest was obviously growing.

Deng Qianqiu patiently said, "He is usually very cautious, which shows that he is a meticulous person. Even when he was serving the prince in the palace, he never forgot to greet and give gifts to the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department and other departments. This also shows that he is very considerate. After the incident was exposed, his first reaction was to attack and hurt people. It can be seen that his heart is as hard as iron, and he is definitely not an ordinary traitor who is coerced..."

"In addition, I also secretly inquired about his living habits in the palace, including his house. His house was spotless, and it was difficult to find any dirt. He kept all the utensils, even the most worthless ones, neatly arranged. It can be seen that he was a person with extremely high standards for himself and would never allow himself to have the slightest flaw."

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows deepened after hearing this. He looked at Deng Qianqiu carefully and felt that this young man was more and more extraordinary.

Zhou Hong's face looked increasingly worse, but he still stood there without saying a word.

Deng Qianqiu continued, "A person like this will definitely have a back-up plan for anything he does. So I firmly believe that even if this person is exposed, he must have already thought of a way to frame someone. Gao Youcai is the person he wants to buy time for to frame someone."

"That's why he was always respectful to every eunuch, except Gao Youcai, which caused Gao Youcai to complain. He has been like this for so many years just to wait for this day."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath. How terrifying must a person be to be so meticulous.

But Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help asking: "What if no one doubts Gao Youcai?"

Deng Qianqiu immediately said: "No one suspects Gao Youcai, so there are more people to frame, for example, we should first..."

The one standing by did the same, and immediately turned his head away as if he had eaten a fly.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and asked, "How did you come to this conclusion?"

Deng Qianqiu said with a relaxed expression, "It's very simple, because I only need to inquire about Gao Youcai's situation, and everything will be clear. As far as I know, Eunuch Gao is famous for his quick temper. When he sees someone doing something bad, he will curse. But this kind of temper comes and goes quickly. Generally, he just curses, and as long as there is no deep hatred, he will not remember it the next day."

Deng Qianqiu paused, and suddenly added to Zhou Hong: "I said there is no deep hatred. If there is a deep hatred, it is hard to say."

Zhou Hong: “…”

Zhou Hong's expression was extremely ugly.

Zhu Yuanzhang naturally didn't care about Zhou Hong's feelings at this time, but said: "That's why he chose Gao Youcai to create this illusion. Even if he occasionally offends Gao Youcai, Gao Youcai will not embarrass him. But once his deeds are exposed, he can use Gao Youcai to mislead the Yiluansi?"

Deng Qianqiu laughed cheerfully and said, "Your Majesty is wise and wise. I am very lucky to have met such a wise master..."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but glare at him and shouted angrily: "Bullshit, keep talking to me."

Deng Qianqiu was ashamed. This guy was really hard to please.

He could only continue angrily: "That's basically what happened. He did this to buy time. He has already put his life and death aside. This is his backup plan. But how can he mislead the wise Majesty and me with such a trick? So I plan to play along with him and make him think that we have been misled. The people behind him also think that they are safe and will not rush to escape."

When Zhou Hong heard this, he flew into a rage and asked, "You wanted to take advantage of my trick, but why didn't you make it clear earlier?"

Deng Qianqiu was stunned, and looked at him innocently and said, "Captain Zhou, what are you talking about? At that time, I clearly gave you a meaningful look, and you even nodded! I thought you understood what I meant. Besides, you are a captain, so of course your level is much higher than mine, how could you not see through such a trick? Now you are confused, but you blame me instead?"

Zhou Hong pursed his lips tightly and took a deep breath. He was still rational and managed to suppress his anger in front of His Majesty.

…………

The Xingyongshou Palace is located next to the Qinhuai water gate.

This is a huge Taoist temple, but with the chaos in the world, the temple has long been in ruins. On weekdays, few people come here, and it can be said that there are few people. But at this time, Niu Shisan and others have been lurking here for a day and a night.

In a teahouse nearby, Niu Shisan was in charge of counting the vehicles and horses entering and leaving the Taoist temple.

On the other side, there was someone accompanying the peddler, observing some of the paths leading in and out of the Taoist temple.

Naturally, there were people who secretly inquired about the whereabouts of the Taoist priests in this Taoist temple.

After a whole day and night, Niu Shisan and others' eyes were red, but they did not dare to rest.

On the one hand, they are young and can endure it.

On the other hand, they were attracted by a bright future that suddenly came to them, and they seemed to be filled with abundant strength all of a sudden.

until……

A fast horse quickly found Niu Shisan and then exchanged the secret signal.

Niu Shisan perked up, and his pair of bloodshot eyes suddenly became bright.

So he immediately led his men and rushed into the Xingyongshou Palace.

This Taoist temple, which was once designated as the Great Yuan Xing Yongshou Palace by the Yuan Dynasty, suddenly became bustling after being silent for several years.

"Capture them all, don't let any one go." Niu Shisan drew his sword, looking energetic. In addition to his companions, before taking action, he also found his old colleagues from the Five Cities Army and asked them to bring some people to guard the periphery.

Not long after, they kicked open the broken door of a side hall of the Taoist temple, and then... they saw several old and young Taoists looking at them in panic.

One of them also looked like an experienced Taoist priest, but he had a white face and no beard. He was sitting cross-legged at this moment, but his expression was much calmer than the others.

Niu Shisan only took a quick glance and walked straight towards the old Taoist priest, waved his knife in front of him, and then sneered: "Come on, follow me, don't refuse a toast and then drink a forfeit."

The old Taoist raised his eyes, glanced at Niu Shisan with a calm look, and said: "The country is destroyed... and the family will also be destroyed."

Niu Shisan, however, did not have such a refined mood. He grabbed his hair and angrily said, "Your mother is dead. Why are you pretending to be so smart in front of me, Niu Shisan?"

"Take him away, take him away, take him away quickly, send him to the Meridian Gate immediately, send him to the Meridian Gate, Captain Deng is waiting."

…………

Zhu Yuanzhang sat upright, squinting his eyes slightly, his expression becoming more and more uncertain. When he roughly understood Deng Qianqiu's thoughts, new doubts lingered in his mind.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

At this moment, an eunuch hurried into the hall, bowed and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin wants to see you, saying that... he has helped Captain Deng and captured the imperial prisoner, who is at the Meridian Gate."

"What?" Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes suddenly opened wide and he stood up.

When Zhou Hong heard this, his face suddenly turned pale. If Deng Qianqiu failed to catch the criminal, it would be fine. But as long as he insisted that it was Gao Youcai, no one could say anything.

But if Deng Qianqiu really caught the criminal...

So……

Deng Qianqiu said proudly: "Your Majesty, please conduct an immediate trial."

Zhu Yuanzhang said without hesitation: "Bring the people up here, bring them up here quickly."

Soon, an old Taoist was taken into the palace by dozens of guards.

This time, the Yiluansi and Gongweisi had learned from previous experiences and were extremely cautious in order to prevent the imperial criminal from committing rebellion.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the old Taoist priest with a clean face and a celestial appearance, he couldn't help but frowned, then looked at Deng Qianqiu and asked, "Deng Qianqiu, who is this?"

Although the old Taoist looked a little embarrassed, he looked calm. When the time came, he did not perform any great salutes to Zhu Yuanzhang. Although his hair was disheveled, he still maintained the last bit of decency.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at this man more and more carefully, with a murderous look on his face.

He asked again: "Deng Qianqiu, is this the wanted criminal?"

Deng Qianqiu glanced at Zhou Hong, whose face was extremely ugly, and then met Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze and said seriously: "Your Majesty, it is this person. I guarantee it with my head."

………………

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(End of this chapter)