Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 7 The Coldness of Human Relationships and Internal Troubles

As noon approached, the palace gradually filled with the aroma of cooking fires.

The eunuchs and palace maids who had finished their shifts were all hungry and hurried along. Liu Ruoyu, carrying two imperial edicts, also walked briskly toward the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The people in the palace ate in more than one place. Some cooked for themselves when they were on duty, some waited for the food to be delivered by the kitchen, some shared a table to eat, and some entertained guests.

Wei Zhongxian treated his people quite well. He even hired a chef from the Directorate of Ceremonial to cook for his confidants, and the ingredients were always the best he could find, which was considered as him treating them to a meal.

He rarely ate at the Directorate of Ceremonial, because he and Lady Ke, the wife of the Emperor, were a couple who ate separately and cooked their own meals.

However, since Madam Ke had already moved out of the palace, he could only dine at the Directorate of Ceremonial.

At this moment, in the Imperial Household Department's kitchen, Wei Zhongxian, Tu Wenfu, Wang Tiqian, Li Yongzhen, and others were sitting around staring blankly at the table full of food.

No one had much of an appetite.

All because they couldn't figure out what the young emperor was thinking.

If the young emperor continues to use them, that's fine; but if the young emperor wants to get rid of them, then they're finished.

Now that their fate is uncertain, they have no appetite to eat.

"Liu Ruoyu requests an audience."

While everyone was in a daze, a notice suddenly came from outside.

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian jumped up and strode to the kitchen door, his face beaming with joy. "Ruoyu, you finally have time to come back and visit! Have you eaten? Want to join us?"

That guy is a real scoundrel; he'll do anything shameless as long as it benefits him.

He had managed to get into the palace by currying favor with his fellow villager Wei Chao. In order to climb the ranks, he not only stole Wei Chao's concubine, Lady Ke, but also framed Wei Chao, which led to Wei Chao being exiled to Fengyang to guard the imperial tombs.

Immediately afterwards, in order to curry favor with the powerful Xi Li in the palace, he even changed his surname to Li Jinzhong. Then, in order to seize control of the inner palace, he imprisoned Wang An, who had promoted him, in Nanhai Zi and ordered his confidants to beat him to death!

Xu Yingyuan was originally a trusted confidant he sent to Prince Xin's residence. After Prince Xin ascended the throne, he shamelessly fawned over Xu Yingyuan.

Now that Liu Ruoyu has gained the favor of the young emperor, he naturally rushes to him without hesitation, doing everything he can to curry favor!

Liu Ruoyu was originally a lowly servant in the Directorate of Ceremonial, and his status was the lowest among them. Yet he was able to go out to greet them!
Everyone was stunned for a moment before quickly standing up and chattering, "Oh, Ruoyu, you're back! You haven't eaten yet, have you? Come on, come on, let's eat together. We haven't even touched our chopsticks."

Wei Zhongxian then eagerly took his arm and invited him into the kitchen, pulling him to sit down at the head of the table on the left.

Everyone was extremely enthusiastic, as if they were the center of attention.

These shameless scoundrels!
Liu Ruoyu was speechless at the enthusiasm of the crowd.

He knew perfectly well why His Majesty had sent him here, so he decided not to eat yet.

He slowly stood up, took out the imperial edict from his bosom, and solemnly said with both hands, "Convey His Majesty's oral decree, Duke Wei, take these two edicts to the cabinet and have them draft the resolutions."

Your Majesty, are you making me do something that offends people again?

It's unclear when this rule was established, but an imperial edict must be accompanied by a draft from the Grand Secretariat before the court and local government offices will act accordingly. If there is no draft from the Grand Secretariat, it is considered a decree, and the court and local government offices may outwardly comply but inwardly disobey or even refuse to carry it out!
What is the little emperor trying to do?
Wei Zhongxian accepted the imperial edict with both hands and asked cautiously, "Ruoyu, what does Your Majesty mean?"

He couldn't understand the imperial edicts, but in the past, Tu Wenfu, Wang Tiqian, Li Yongzhen and others would read them to him.

Now, however, he directly asked Liu Ruoyu a question.

Liu Ruoyu, still with a solemn expression, said, "His Majesty's intention is to promote Tian Ji to Minister of War and Li Kuilong to Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate!"

Is there such a good thing? !
Upon hearing this, everyone was overjoyed.

Tian Ji and Li Kuilong were Cui Chengxiu's right-hand men.

Cui Chengxiu's decision to employ Tian Ji and Li Kuilong during his period of mourning indicates that the young emperor intends to retain them. Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian's face lit up with delight.

Tian Ji and Li Kuilong were both his godsons, and they were quite obedient. Cui Chengxiu's return to his hometown to observe mourning for his parents had no impact on him at all.

He quickly got up to receive the imperial edict and then greeted the emperor warmly.

Liu Ruoyu sat down with the others and took a few bites, then solemnly said, "Lord Wei, you should know that the cabinet's intention in this matter is to hold a court discussion. The reason His Majesty asked you to take the imperial edict to the cabinet and have them draft the vote is because he was worried that the cabinet would pull some kind of trick again."

What kind of tricks will the cabinet dare to pull?

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian couldn't help but ask curiously, "Court discussion? What exactly does Gu Bingqian mean? He didn't tell me."

You don't even realize it, do you?
They all want to teach you a lesson!
Liu Ruoyu seized the opportunity to repeat in detail what Gu Bingqian and Feng Quan had said.

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian's joyful expression vanished instantly, and his face gradually darkened.

No wonder no one has come to pay their respects these days. When Tianqi was in Japan, his house was always bustling with visitors, with countless children and grandchildren coming to flatter him and give him gifts.

But now he can't see a single person all day long, as if all his godson and godson have died.

He was still wondering what was going on.

It turns out that Gu Bingqian and Feng Quan both betrayed him!

And the six ministers and six vice ministers he promoted—no one dared to utter a word against him on such a major matter as the court deliberations!
Human feelings are warm and cold, and the world is hot and cold.

He had barely shown any signs of falling out of favor when the Qi-Chu-Zhe faction, the Xuan faction, the Kun faction, and even Feng Quan and his cronies began to disregard him, the Ninth Prince.

This wind cannot last long!
With a gloomy face, he accompanied Liu Ruoyu to finish the meal, and then earnestly saw Liu Ruoyu to the door. Immediately afterwards, he turned back through gritted teeth and said, "Wenfu, send someone to tell Geng'er to thoroughly investigate Huo Weihua and Min Hongxue and see how much they have embezzled. Remember, tell Geng'er to investigate openly and blatantly, and it would be best if everyone in the court knew about it."

After saying that, he angrily took the imperial edict and walked towards the cabinet office.

He couldn't touch Gu Bingqian and Feng Quan yet, because these two had too many cronies in the court. Even Cui Chengxiu couldn't defeat them, let alone Tian Jijia and Li Kuilong.

However, it's still not a problem to take action against Huo Weihua and Min Hongxue, as the two of them don't have much real power yet.

He may be a jerk, but he's not a mindless jerk.

He was well aware of the immense power Gu Bingqian and Feng Quan wielded in the court.

He had entrusted the outer court to Feng Quan, and the Qi-Chu-Zhe faction, Xuan faction, and Kun faction behind Gu Bingqian were not to be trifled with. Even when he had absolute power, it would have been difficult for him to touch these two, let alone now that the young emperor did not allow him to have absolute power.

Besides, if the two of them dared to lead the betrayal of him, they must have already discussed it with the officials in the outer court. He simply can't touch them now!

Of course, he didn't intend to let Gu Bingqian and Feng Quan off the hook either. He planned to take advantage of the young emperor's opportunity to let him rob money to slowly deal with the two guys' henchmen before making his move.

He's such a jerk; if you offend him, you'll be lucky to escape with your life.

Wei Zhongxian arrived in a menacing manner, startling both Gu Bingqian and Feng Quan.

They all thought the young emperor had been tricked and was going to deal with Wei Zhongxian.

Who would have thought that even after the young emperor seized the Imperial Horse Administration and the Eastern Depot, and sent Cui Chengxiu back to his hometown to observe mourning for his parents, the Minister of War and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate were still appointed as confidants of Wei Zhongxian!
What does the little emperor mean?
Regardless of what the young emperor means, they all have to find a way to kill Wei Zhongxian as soon as possible.

They knew Wei Zhongxian's temperament very well. He was a truly treacherous and ruthless villain. You couldn't afford to offend him; if you did, he would kill you sooner or later!
They've already made their move, and Wei Zhongxian has already noticed. If they can't kill this guy, he'll definitely do everything he can to kill them!
Historically, this was originally a one-sided crushing defeat. With the secret instigation of the Qi-Chu-Zhe faction and the Donglin faction, Chongzhen directly set the case against the eunuch faction and quickly wiped out Wei Zhongxian's party.

At this point, Zhu Jue not only doesn't deal with Wei Zhongxian, but also wants to use Wei Zhongxian to deal with the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party and the Donglin Party. What can they do?

To be continued...

(End of this chapter)