save the bachelors

Chapter 4224 [Behead first and report later]

Haitang then sent a letter via carrier pigeon to recall Duan Tianya who was far away on Snake Island.

During this period, Cao Zhengchun also received news that after Su Xin took Tianxiang Cardamom, she not only did not wake up, but vomited blood continuously. She was suspected of being poisoned by a strange poison from the Western Regions, which made Tiedan Shenhou very dissatisfied with her and wanted to eat her flesh raw and skin her alive.

Cao Zhengchun was naturally full of grievances about this.

Yes, he did intend to use Su Xin to control Shen Hou, but he would not be stupid enough to poison Su Xin.

Because Shen Hou only has Su Xin as his weak spot, once Su Xin dies, he will be completely invincible. Therefore, Cao Zhengchun is too late to save Su Xin, so how could he kill her?

No matter how stupid he is, he won't be this stupid.

But Shen Hou would never listen to his explanation. In fact, he had no way to explain it at all. So, whether Cao Zhengchun wanted to take the blame or not, he was destined to take it on himself.

"What went wrong? I stole that cardamom from the Empress Dowager's bedroom, there is absolutely no way it could be wrong. Why did Su Xin get poisoned after taking it?" Cao Zhengchun couldn't figure it out.

He knew very well that he had definitely not poisoned the fragrant cardamom.

Because only the awakened Su Xin is the most valuable to Shen Hou, and he can best control Shen Hou.

"Could it be that Zhu Tiedan himself poisoned Su Xin in order to have an excuse to attack our family?" Cao Zhengchun couldn't help but wonder, "Or is there someone else instigating this?"

Perhaps, Shen Hou might not want to be controlled by him, or he might deliberately look for an opportunity to start a war with him and fight him to the death, so he would not hesitate to kill his beloved woman.

This did not surprise Cao Zhengchun. Since ancient times, the royal family had no family affection. In order to fight for power and profit, parents, brothers, and biological children could be sacrificed, let alone a woman.

It is also possible that someone is deliberately instigating them to fight so that they can sit on the sidelines and watch the fight, and then destroy them all when both sides are injured.

In Cao Zhengchun's opinion, both possibilities are possible. However, he is not sure which one it is. He feels as if he is in a fog, surrounded by dangers.

One wrong step could lead to eternal damnation, so one must be careful and tread carefully.

……

After Duan Tianya received Haitang's carrier pigeon letter, he was a little surprised, but he immediately took Piaoxu and the child Zhu Lang back to Hulong Villa.

After returning to the villa, the first thing he did was to see Shen Hou.

"I wonder what's the important matter that my adoptive father called me back so urgently?" Duan Tianya asked with a bow.

Shen Hou then narrated the whole story.

After hearing this, Duan Tianya was surprised. He realized that so many things had happened during the time he was away.

"Then what does godfather plan to do?" he asked respectfully again.

"I want to completely eradicate this eunuch Cao Zhengchun." Shen Hou said gritting his teeth.

He had previously wanted to take every step carefully and look for opportunities to defeat the enemy, but now he no longer thinks so.

Because before that he still wanted to achieve great things, and wanted to ascend the throne legitimately and be remembered forever.

Therefore, he had to carefully maintain his glorious and majestic image, making all civil and military officials, the court and the people believe that he, Zhu Wusi, was wise, brave, loyal and courageous.

We should make everyone feel that "it would be a pity for such a wise, brave, loyal and righteous person not to be the emperor. The Emperor Zhengde was incompetent if he did not abdicate the throne to him."

Just like Liu Chan, his ability was obviously above average among all the kings of all dynasties. But because his prime minister was Zhuge Liang, Liu Chan became a well-known incompetent king in history, known as "the useless Adou". In the eyes of the world, if Liu Chan had abdicated the throne to Zhuge Liang earlier, Shu Han would have unified the Three Kingdoms long ago.

Shen Hou wanted to achieve this effect. But now he no longer thinks so.

……

Because he has two major dreams in his life.

One is to ascend the throne as emperor in a grand manner, and the other is to take Su Xin as his concubine with full legitimacy.

These two dreams complement each other.

Because only after he ascended the throne could he legitimately take Su Xin as his concubine without being blocked by imperial power.

If the late emperor hadn't stopped him last time, he would have succeeded. And because the late emperor had stopped him, the current Emperor Zhengde would never dare to disobey the late emperor's will and grant him and Suxin a marriage.

Therefore, he could only become the emperor himself, and at that time, he would not care about the will of the previous emperor.

The reason why Shen Hou wanted to ascend the throne in a grand manner was that he did not want to disappoint Su Xin and let her see that he was actually a conspirator.

But now it is impossible for Su Xin to wake up. Even if he finds the third cardamom, and that cardamom is not poisoned, Su Xin can only stay with him for another year.

So his dream has been shattered. In this case, why should he still consider "being admired by the government and the people", "being famous for generations", "being justified"...

He now had only one thought in mind, which was to take revenge on Cao Zhengchun and take back the throne after completely defeating him.

"Then what are you going to do?" Duan Tianya asked.

"To catch a thief, we must first catch the leader." Shen Hou said firmly, "First, kill the chief culprit Cao Zhengchun, then clip his wings, and restore eternal peace to our Ming Dynasty."

"Godfather, Cao Zhengchun is the chief of the East Factory after all," Haitang reminded.

Cao Zhengchun was the supervisor of the East Factory, a fourth-rank official, and also served as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a third-rank official.

Therefore, Cao Zhengchun was also a third-rank official, and a close confidant of the emperor. Without an imperial decree, it would be difficult to move him.

"I have collected enough evidence to incriminate Cao Zhengchun for his lawlessness, his misconduct, his plot to usurp the throne, and his corruption. I am worried that he will become desperate and harm His Majesty, so I decided to execute him first and report to His Majesty later."

"Act first and report later?!" Haitang and Duan Tianya were both shocked when they heard him say that.

Although the Hulong Villa has the imperial sword and red-lettered iron certificate bestowed by the previous emperor, it has the power to assist the country, supervise officials, execute first and report later, and act at one's own discretion.

However, in order to avoid causing controversy, Shen Hou has always acted conservatively and has never exercised the power of "acting first and reporting later" or "acting at his own convenience".

On the contrary, Cao Zhengchun relied on the emperor's favor, took the initiative, fabricated charges, persecuted loyal people, and harmed the people. He was extremely arrogant.

Just like the last time Cao Zhengchun slandered the Minister of War Yang Yuxuan for treason, not only did he dismiss him from office and behead him at the Meridian Gate, he also sent his family members into exile and sent people to surround and kill them on the way.

All Shen Hou could do was send Duan Tianya and Gui Hai Yidao to rescue his family.

Therefore, when they heard Shen Hou say that he would "execute first and report later", they were all a little surprised.

"Yes, the late emperor bestowed upon me the imperial sword and the imperial seal, which gave me the power to supervise all officials and act at my own discretion. But in order to avoid arousing the emperor's suspicion over the years, I have been trembling with fear, treading on thin ice, and dared not take the initiative.

But this will cause all the officials in the court and the people of the world to be humiliated and harmed by Cao thieves. I can no longer sit idly by and watch. I am ready to take the initiative to attack. Are you willing to join me?"