Chapter 9 Why Be So Persistent

At dawn the next day, Huang Zicheng and a group of officials had already entered the Meridian Gate of the Imperial City. It was not bad now, because if they went to court in winter, they would have to carry lanterns.

Huang Zicheng soon saw the eunuch Wu Zhong beside the imperial road. This plain-looking, old and fat eunuch had served the emperor for many years.

"Good morning, Eunuch Wu." Huang Zicheng greeted him first.

Wu Zhong grabbed Huang Zicheng's sleeve, pulled him aside, and said with a sad face, "Your Majesty didn't sleep well all night. He looked haggard when he woke up this morning. Seeing this, this old servant's heart is broken. Alas..."

Huang Zicheng quickly echoed, "The court is in a time of trouble, and His Majesty is overwhelmed. It's all the fault of the ministers for not doing their best to share His Majesty's worries."

Wu Zhong said, "The emperor is not worried about the affairs of the court, but the prince of Yan!"

Huang Zicheng was not surprised at all, and thought: Isn't the affairs of the Prince of Yan the affairs of the imperial court?

Wu Zhong leaned over and whispered, "Not long ago, the Prince of Xiang burned himself to death. Rumor has it that he was forced to die by the Emperor. Now the Prince of Yan is imprisoned in the capital. If something happens to him again, who knows what public opinion will be like."

Huang Zicheng nodded and frowned, "Your Majesty is right. It will be difficult to explain to Prince Yan."

"Isn't it?" Wu Zhong said, "Some people are already whispering that the Prince of Yan has been poisoned!"

Huang Zicheng's brows were tightly furrowed and never relaxed.

Wu Zhong glanced at him and said, "As soon as the emperor got up and hadn't even put on his clothes, he called me and told me to go find Master Huang. The imperial physician sent over is under the supervision of the Imperial Household Department. Master Huang will call me to the Imperial Gate to question me in a while."

"I will certainly do as you say." Huang Zicheng asked carefully again, "Did His Majesty assign the imperial physician to the Prince's Mansion?"

"Of course, there could be something else?" Wu Zhong said.

"Okay, okay." Huang Zicheng nodded immediately.

Huang Zicheng said goodbye to the eunuch, arranged for his subordinates to call the imperial physician, and then went to court first.

After the morning court session, the imperial doctors came to Fengtian Gate. No one said it was poisoning, and they didn't even have much of their own judgment. They were very cautious in their words... They only talked about the specific symptoms, without any lies or concealment.

In the afternoon, someone came to the palace to report that after the prince drank the medicine prepared by the imperial physician several times, his condition became worse and his pulse became weaker!

Emperor Zhu Yunwen's pace, tone, and expression as he paced back and forth showed that he was extremely anxious.

At this moment, Zhu Yunwen suddenly turned around with his hands behind his back and asked, "Besides the imperial physician, who else visited the Prince of Yan?"

Huang Zicheng bowed hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, the people who visited included Duke Wei, Sichuan Commander Qu Neng, Left Commander Xu Zengshou, a monk, the consort Wang Ning, and the eldest son Wang Zhenliang."

Zhu Yunwen took two steps in front of the throne, quickly dismissed the two Xu brothers, and said, "Send Wang Ning to see me."

"As you wish!"

After a long time, Wang Ning knelt outside the door and came to see the emperor. Zhu Yunwen could not wait to call him in and asked directly, "How is the condition of the Prince of Yan?"

Wang Ning replied, "Your Majesty, the prince has been vomiting non-stop and his pulse is weak. I'm afraid he will die soon. With such a sudden illness, I think he was poisoned! The imperial physician also said so on the spot..."

There was a sudden silence inside the imperial gate. You could hear a pin drop! Even Huang Zicheng was stunned by these words. How dare this prince consort say that!

Zhu Yunwen was anxious and angry, "Who is so bold?! The Jinyiwei has been closely guarding the prince's residence. How did the poison get into the mansion?"

Wang Ning said, "It happened so suddenly that it's hard to find out in a moment. We don't even know what the poison is. If we wait to find out who poisoned us and find the antidote, it will definitely be too late."

At this time, Huang Zicheng and others lowered their heads and could not see the emperor's expression. They only heard the emperor ask, "Tell me, how should we deal with this matter ?"

No one responded from the empty imperial gate. After a while, Wang Ning's voice came again, "I have a few words to say, but I don't know if I should say them..."

Zhu Yunwen said, "Speak!"

Wang Ning said, "Whether the prince can survive or not is up to fate, not man. But I think he must not die in the capital."

"Oh?" Zhu Yunwen made a sound, obviously finding this statement interesting.

Wang Ning then said, "The prince was imprisoned in the capital's mansion. If he died there, it would be difficult to tell the truth, regardless of whether the truth could be found out...

Previously, the Prince of Yan wrote to the emperor saying that he was ill and wanted to see his sons. Your Majesty, why don't you approve this request and let the prince go back? The prince is the eldest son of the Prince of Yan, and the Prince of Yan will surely do his best to treat the prince.

Your Majesty is kind and loving to the royal family, and you value your relatives above all else. Your subjects praise you for your kindness. "

After Wang Ning finished speaking, he bowed and clasped his fists and stood in the middle. Zhu Yunwen had just sat down, but now he stood up from the throne and paced back and forth.

When Huang Zicheng heard that the sons of Prince of Yan were going to be released, he felt very uncomfortable and secretly depressed... After going through so much trouble, in the end, Zhu Gaoxu was just allowed to get away as if nothing had happened?

At this time Huang Zicheng was thinking: The prince is seriously ill, why let these three people go together?

But he changed his mind and thought: Was the prince really poisoned? If the person who poisoned him could not be found for a while, and Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui became "ill" again, and the emperor asked him for a solution, what should he do?

Huang Zicheng glanced at Qi Tai who was standing next to him. Qi Tai had no intention of saying anything... Wang Ning said something about how the emperor loves the royal family and that relatives are the most important thing. Qi Tai must not want to be criticized as "mean to the royal family" because that would only make him make more personal enemies!

Thinking of this, Huang Zicheng swallowed the words on his lips and said nothing. Thinking about it, he and Zhu Gaoxu didn't seem to have much hatred, and he didn't care much about the dead man in the Xu family.

Why should people be so persistent?

At this time, Zhu Yunwen waved his sleeves fiercely, his tone full of anger and irritability, "Go! Send them away!"

When Huang Zicheng heard this, he felt mixed emotions and sighed secretly.

...Wang Ning and his son Wang Zhenliang left the imperial city and immediately rushed to the Prince of Yan's residence to convey the emperor's will.

At the prince's bedside, Wang Ning calmly reminded him, "You'd better get ready and set off tomorrow. The emperor has already agreed, and Huang Siqing will be present at the time."

"What I am most worried about is not Huang Zicheng..." Zhu Gaoxu pondered.

Wang Ning immediately looked sideways along with Wang Zhenliang and Gao Sui.

Zhu Gaoxu thought about the house arrest. He had gotten away with it, but a second imperial edict came, causing them to be locked up for more than half a month. Later, he heard from his fourth uncle that it was the idea of his eldest uncle Xu Huizu...

"There is no time to lose. Besides, my brother's illness cannot be delayed. I think we should set off immediately!" Zhu Gaoxu observed the sun outside the door and said decisively.

Wang Ning asked, "Is it too late?"

Zhu Gaoxu did not answer this question, but bowed to Wang Ning and said, "Please, uncle, escort us brothers out of the city and confirm the emperor's will to the garrison commander."

Wang Ning nodded and said, "Since you are leaving, it is my duty as your uncle to see you off."

Zhu Gaoxu clenched his fist and tapped his forehead lightly, then said, "Brother is seriously ill and the situation is urgent. We should do something improvisational. We don't need to tell anyone else, and we don't need to pack anything. We should leave immediately... Cousin, please help us arrange a boat to cross the river when we leave Jinchuan Gate. Is there any way?"

Wang Zhenliang immediately responded, "This is a small matter."

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment and said, "We also need a sturdy carriage, four horses, a pair of double saddles and stirrups, and some dry food, and send them to the west bank of the river."

Wang Zhenliang said , "Okay."

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him and said, "The things I left with you..."

Wang Zhenliang showed an understanding look and said calmly, "It can also be sent across the river."

Zhu Gaoxu once again clasped his fists and bowed to the Wang family father and son, "Gaoxu will never forget the kindness of my uncle and cousin today."

Wang Ning waved his hands and said, "We are all relatives, why are you still talking about this?"

"When we meet again, let's have a drink and reminisce about the old times," said Zhu Gaoxu.

The prince was lying in bed and could not speak clearly, so Zhu Gaoxu arranged everything in less than an incense stick of time. He immediately found a carriage from the mansion, lifted the prince into the carriage, and left immediately.

There were matters concerning the rear army governor's office and the imperial edict from the son-in-law Wang Ning, and the royal guards did not stop them. Forging an imperial edict was a serious crime, and it was unlikely that a royal relative would forge an imperial edict.

The carriage was traveling on the main road of the capital. Zhu Gaoxu looked outside with his heart hanging in the air. He always had an illusion that a group of horsemen would suddenly appear and cause chaos in the streets!

But that didn't happen. Pedestrians walked on their own paths, vendors shouted their wares... The bustling and noisy streets were another kind of tranquility.

The journey was uneventful, and the majestic tower of Waijinchuan had already appeared in sight. As long as you go out of this gate, you will really be out of the capital. The capital of the Ming Dynasty is the center of the country, and from here, there are countless roads leading to countless places.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the city wall and saw that it seemed to be slowly getting bigger and closer. Although it was slow, he could feel it carefully; it was like the sun in the west, moving slowly.

...

Xu Huizu was in the Central Military Governor's Office. He had just finished discussing Sichuan border defense with Qu Neng and was about to wait for the drum to beat at the hour of You to leave his post. At this time, he heard a report from his subordinates that the princes of the King of Yan had left the capital in accordance with the imperial edict!

"According to the imperial edict? Who came up with this idea?" Xu Huizu was shocked. He knew that the emperor would easily listen to other people's suggestions, especially those that sounded reasonable.

The subordinate replied, "I don't know. I just heard what the brothers of the Jinyiwei who withdrew said."

His hands tapped the table unconsciously. After a while, he looked up and saw his subordinates still standing in the lobby, so he asked again, "When did they leave?"

"About... almost an hour."

Xu Huizu raised his finger and pointed at him, "You immediately take a group of people and follow my orders to intercept the Prince of Gaoyang!"

The subordinate asked, "I dare to say that I heard that the princes of Yan were following the imperial edict. What reason do I have to stop it? The Prince of Gaoyang has a reputation for being violent. What should I do if he refuses to obey?"

Xu Huizu said, "Just use the troops to capture them! Let the Crown Prince and the Third Prince go, and only capture the Prince of Gaoyang. If anything happens, just say it was my order!"

The subordinate had no choice but to kneel down on one knee and said, "I obey your command!"

At this time, Xu Huizu turned his head and looked at Qu Neng who was sitting next to him. "We still have to persuade His Majesty about this matter. His Majesty may just be biased at the moment... But the audience can only wait until tomorrow morning."