Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 179

Chapter 179 Mian Jun (2)
“This lowly official, Daxing County Magistrate Lu Zhen, pays his respects to His Majesty. Long live our Emperor!” After getting permission to enter Mandarin Palace, Lu Zhen paid his respects to Zhu Qi Town, the current son of heaven, with a long face and sitting high behind the imperial desk, just like at the previous great court meeting.

Seeing this familiar scene and hearing this flattering remark, Zhu Qizhen quickly recalled the scene a few months ago: “Are you the county magistrate from the Northern Lands who spoke at the court meeting that day?” If Lu Zhen hadn’t left a deep impression on him that day, the Emperor wouldn’t have remembered him. However, if Wang Zhen was at the side, he would be glad that he hadn’t gone to find trouble with Lu Zhen. After all, he was someone that the Son of Heaven had left an impression on.

Lu Zhen still knelt on the ground, but he said, “It’s this lowly official. Your Majesty still remembers what happened that day. This official is truly flattered.”

“Forget it. Stand up and answer.” His first impression of Lu Zhen was not bad, so the orthodoxy did not break out on the spot. Instead, it told him to stand up. Then, his gaze landed firmly on him and asked, “Lu Zhen, was that the Dengwen drum that you knocked outside the palace just now?”

“I was the one who dared to knock on it.” Lu Zhen nodded without the slightest hesitation.

“How dare you! Is this drum something you can beat at will?” The Emperor immediately snorted, “I ask you, what is the matter with you? You actually need to go through so much trouble?”

Being enveloped by the Son of Heaven’s gaze and feeling the legendary King’s Qi, Lu Zhen did not feel the slightest bit nervous. He only bent down again and said, “Back to Your Majesty, this official is beating the drum because there is a huge case that needs to be reported directly to the Son of Heaven. I have no other choice but to make this decision. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!”

“Case? Is there a grievance?” The orthodox subconsciously asked, and then he remembered something and said, “Since there is an unjust case, you should report it to the Imperial Court’s Yamen! Whether it is the Shuntian Prefecture, the Ministry of Justice, or even the Dali Temple’s Capital Examination Academy, they can accept it. Why did you report to me instead?”

“Because this case is of great importance, I’m worried that the adults in the yamen might be harboring criminals, so I can only play direct with the Son of Heaven and let the Saint Son of Heaven shine brightly!” Lu Zhen said without the slightest bit of concealment, flattering the orthodox emperor.

Orthodox wanted to say that he was messing around, so how could these yamens cover up the murderers? However, the latter sentence made him secretly happy. How could he not like to be flattered like this? So he turned his mouth to reprimand and said, “What kind of case is it that can make you take this risk? If you can’t tell me what it is, I will punish you severely.”

“Your Majesty, this case concerns dozens of innocent victims, and the one who killed them is the Imperial Court’s Uncle Guang Ning, Liu Xun! Because the matter involves the Zhongxungui Empire, the Shuntian Manor, and the Ministry of Justice, I can only play the role of Son of Heaven.”

“What are you talking about?” When the orthodox heard him say this, he was dumbfounded. He subconsciously shouted, “Is this true?”

“I don’t dare to bully you!” After Lu Zhen said this, he said, “To be honest, this matter must start with the Ministry of Justice handing over an outstanding case that happened in the capital in March this year to our Daxing County Government for trial …” Seeing that he had aroused the Emperor’s curiosity, Lu Zhen told the truth.

From the moment he accepted the murder of Feng Changchun, he went on to say that he had taken Tang Qianchuan to interrogate him. After that, he encountered an attack and obtained clues from Tang Qianchuan’s mouth that he was pointing at Guang Ning Bo Manor. Finally, he said that he had just dug out a large number of corpses from Guang Ning Bo Manor to form a knot.

Upon hearing these words, the orthodoxy and the surrounding waiters were dumbfounded. If they didn’t know that Lu Zhen didn’t dare to spout nonsense in front of Emperor, they would have thought that this was something he had made up.

In Beijing City, such a mad slaughter actually happened under the Emperor’s carriage? Someone actually dared to attack the government at night and assassinate the officials of the Imperial Court! All of this was enough to shake the world. In addition, he had actually pointed all the spearheads at the Earl of the Imperial Court. This series of events was too shocking, and it was extremely difficult for people to accept.

However, Lu Zhen was able to prove it. Moreover, those corpses dug out from Uncle Guang Ning’s mansion could not be faked. Even if someone wanted to defend them, they probably wouldn’t be able to give any reason.

After being stunned for a long time, the Son of Heaven’s expression changed drastically. First, he turned slightly ashen, then a flush appeared, and his body trembled for a while. Only then did he slap the Imperial Court heavily and say, “This is outrageous!”

Emperor Longyan was enraged. The waiters below were so frightened that they turned into quails. They all knelt on the ground, not even daring to breathe a single mouthful of air. On the other hand, Lu Zhen, the originator, was still standing there with his back bent. He did not have the slightest bit of fear and felt like he stood out from the rest of the chickens.

This was the biggest difference between a civil servant and a eunuch. The former was not completely dependent on the Son of Heaven, so there was no need to care too much about the Son of Heaven’s likes and dislikes. The latter, on the other hand, relied on imperial power to exist, so when the Son of Heaven was happy or angry, their reactions were often the greatest.

After gasping for breath, Zhengtong gave Lu Zhen a deep look and then said, “Pass on my orders and let Supervisor Wang Zhen, a few cabinet ministers, Duke Zhang Fu, and six ministers enter the palace to discuss matters!”

The eunuch beside him glanced at the sun, which was already slanting to the west. Originally, he wanted to say that it was getting late, but it seemed inappropriate to invite these adults into the palace. However, after looking at the emperor whose expression was so gloomy that he could drip water, he immediately said, “Follow the decree!” He hurriedly left.

“Lu Zhen, you … stay here for now. You can tell them the details when the other ministers arrive!” After a moment of hesitation, Orthodox said.

Lu Zhen naturally had no choice but to agree, and then he bowed and retreated to the side.

@ @ @ @

The Great Ming Dynasty had long established a rule that the palace gates would be locked after dark. No one was allowed to enter or leave unless there was something big happening. Generally speaking, it was impossible for officials to enter the palace after Shenshi, because that would make it impossible for him to leave the palace in the end, so he could only spend the night in front of the palace.

But today, this rule had been broken. Although it was already the time of the unitary card, there were still many officials rushing into the palace with serious expressions. Moreover, they were all from the most respected positions in the court. This peculiarity shocked countless people once again. Everyone began to guess whether this matter was related to the sudden ringing of the Dengwen drum.

This duel between the monarchs and subjects lasted for more than two hours, but no one felt that it would take long. Because they were completely shocked by Lu Zhen’s story.

If what the Great Xing County Magistrate said was true, this case might be so vile and involve so many people, but it was rare in these years. If Emperor had to investigate it clearly, it would probably lead to a big case like the Hu Lan case in the Hong Wu Dynasty back then!

Once you realize this, Even righteous officials like Hu Ying and Yang Pu felt a little panicked, not to mention Minister of Justice Wang Zhi, who was involved in this case-the murder of Feng Changchun, who had pulled out such a big case, was almost sealed by the Ministry of Justice as a death case. If it was said that no one in the Ministry of Justice had done anything, no one would believe it.

Right now, the most serious question before the officials was, what kind of attitude was the Son of Heaven? Would he rise to the Great Prison because of a moment of anger? If that was the case, they would definitely try their best to stop it!

A few pairs of dissatisfied eyes stared at Lu Zhen. A small county magistrate actually caused such a big trouble, what did he want to do? Was it just to flaunt his integrity, or was it for some other reason? These people couldn’t help but have dark thoughts.

Finally, after letting off steam in front of the officials, the orthodox expression recovered a little. Only then did he ask, “What do you think you should do with this case?” After a pause, his gaze fell on Zhang Fu, Duke of England. “Duke of England, you are the head of the Martial Officials. Tell me about it.”

His words caused everyone’s gazes to fall on this respected old general, causing Zhang Fu’s body to unconsciously stoop. After sighing slightly, Zhang Fu said slowly, “If this case really does happen, it is truly shocking. I think we should thoroughly investigate it. No matter who is involved, whether he is an official of the Central Government, a general of the army, or a relative of your country, we cannot tolerate him!”

His statement made the orthodox face look a little better. The Emperor was obviously a little afraid of being opposed by other lords because Xun Gui was involved. Now that Zhang Fu, the oldest British Duke, had declared his stance, the pressure on the Imperial Court was much lesser.

Thinking of this, he felt that his attitude towards Zhang Fu had gone too far, so he said slowly, “Then in the opinion of the Duke of England, who should be the judge of this case?”

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat when they asked this question.

The reason for this was very simple. If the Son of Heaven handed this case over to the factory guards, the people involved would be hard to control. Furthermore, it was very likely that they would follow the same path that Yongle had followed when he was heading towards the Chronicle of Calamity and Chaotic Chaotic Chaotic Chaotic Chaotic Chaotic Chronicle. However, it would probably be unrealistic for them to suggest that the Ministry of Justice’s yamen handle this matter. After all, the Ministry of Justice itself was not clean right now.

Zhang Fu frowned as well. However, since Emperor had asked, he could not avoid it. After pondering for a while, he gave a reply that he thought was more appropriate, “Your Majesty, I thought that it was impossible for such a big case to be tried by only one government office. Therefore, the Imperial Court could only send three magistrates to try it together, so that the truth of the case could be unbiased and trusted by the people of the world!”

“Will the three divisions be interrogated?” Lu Zhen immediately understood what he meant and unconsciously nodded in his heart. This was indeed the best choice now.

“Your Majesty, this official thinks that the Duke of England’s words are very kind, and that he is an old conspirator of the country!” The other officials also understood. They heaved a sigh of relief and echoed, “Your Majesty, this official thinks that the Duke of England’s words are very kind!” Indeed, there was nothing more convincing and reassuring than the Tripartite Trials.