Rule over Ming Dynasty

In Kunning Palace, a ray of sunlight shines through the exquisite window lattice into the warm hall.

The beautiful and dignified Queen Chang is sitting leisurely on a soft couch, with a delicate peony flower handkerchief embroidered in her hand, with fine stitches and smooth lines.

Although there is no shortage of embroidery girls with exquisite craftsmanship in the palace, she, the queen mother, sews the handkerchiefs used by her children herself.

The prince, Zhu Houye, was seven years old. He had delicate features and looked a bit like Chang Yourong. He was standing aside timidly while reciting the lessons he had learned recently.

The content he recited was not the Thousand-Character Classic or the Four Books and Five Classics, but knowledge about world geography, which is now included in enlightenment teaching.

"The world has four oceans: the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Indian Ocean in the west, and the Arctic Ocean in the north. The Atlantic Ocean can be reached east or west, and the Pacific Ocean is the first of the four oceans."

Prince Zhu Houye's little face was full of seriousness, and he recited these basic geographical knowledge points in a formal and formal manner. Although there were delays, I eventually recited it word for word.

In terms of academic talent, this prince is actually quite good, but the main problem is that he is too timid.

Chang Yourong's work did not stop, and he had very high expectations for this son: "Your father is the emperor of the ages, and he is destined to create great achievements for the Ming Dynasty! Mother does not expect you and your father to be like this. As outstanding as you are, you must not be short-sighted. You must have an eye on the world and at least be a steadfast king!”

"Your Majesty, please obey your mother's teachings!" Zhu Houye responded obediently.

Chang Yourong gently raised his hand to signal the prince to go and study.

Since he was six years old last year, Prince Zhu Houye has been studying in the imperial court. It's just different from the past when he worshiped officials from the Imperial Academy as his teachers. Now Emperor Hongzhi deliberately downplayed the teacher-student relationship and arranged lessons for the prince to focus more on scientific education and practice.

Eunuch Li Guanghou was in front of the door. When he saw Zhu Houye coming out, he immediately knelt down and waited for the prince to lie on his back, and then hurried towards the chariot waiting outside.

"Queen!"

"Go and study quickly. When you come back, the emperor will take you to Xiyuan to play!" Princess Haixiao came back from outside and met her brother, looking carefree.

Although they are born from the same mother, unlike her younger brother who is quiet by nature, Princess Haixiao appears to be very lively and cute. Nowadays, her life is obviously more free and exciting than that of the prince.

"Qiqi, where did you run to again?" Chang Yourong asked helplessly when he saw his daughter walking in.

Princess Haixiao had an innocent look on her face. She swayed her skirt and jumped up to Queen Chang: "I have arrived at my father's place! My father held an early morning court ceremony at Qianqing Gate today. I sneaked through the crack in the door. Take a look, all the civil and military officials are there, there are so many people!”

"You damn girl, you know that the queen's ears are ticklish, but you still come so close!" Empress Chang suddenly let go of her sewing and rubbed her ears, dissatisfied.

Princess Haixiao's face changed: "My father's ears are also ticklish, but he never talks about me!"

"No one in the entire palace knows that your father is so scared when he holds you in his hands!" Queen Chang rolled her eyes at her daughter, then changed the subject and asked, "Has your father arrived at the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart?"

Princess Haixiao took a sip of the tea brought by the palace maid, and immediately nodded seriously: "Yes! My father just left after breakfast. He said that Song Heitan would be investigating the case in the palace today, which scared me. Just avoid it!”

"Are you afraid?" Queen Chang picked up her sewing again and looked at her daughter.

Princess Haixiao frowned and thought, and replied very honestly: "I don't know if I will be scared, but I want to know how he investigates cases. I heard that he is very good at investigating cases!"

"That Song Cheng's face is indeed dark, but he has been very honest since he became an official. This is a rare good official. If you are afraid, just avoid it, and others will not cause trouble for him when they investigate the case!" Empress Chang was worried about her daughter, so she He warned seriously.

Princess Haixiao nodded seriously, but with a free and easy temper: "Mother, then I will go to the viewing pavilion in the palace garden. I will take a look from a distance to see if Song Heitan is scary!"

She had her own idea. She first went to the highest place in the harem and watched from a distance to take a look at the official with a face as black as coal. If you are not afraid, then we will see how he investigates the case.

"Be careful!"

Empress Chang originally wanted to tie her daughter to be a quiet princess, but the emperor was actually a daughter slave, and she would love this daughter to the heavens. Moreover, the emperor had different educational concepts.

It's just that she is a mother after all, and seeing this active and innocent daughter living so happily every day makes her heart feel sweet.

Princess Haixiao jumped up happily and flew out of Kunning Palace like a light bird and went straight to the back garden of the palace.

The smile on Queen Chang's face quickly disappeared, and she suddenly asked in a very scary tone: "How are things going at Qingning Palace?"

"Reporting to the queen, I have already settled the matter. Now I am waiting for who among them will speak first!" The female officer next to her also replied solemnly.

Due to the season, although there is no snow on the ground in Gonghouyuan, the flowers and plants here have long since withered, and the centuries-old locust trees also show their vicissitudes of life.

The treasure of the north and the grass of the south, this royal palace garden is destined to be difficult to maintain spring all year round.

"Princess, wait for me!" The little palace maid behind ran with her and shouted anxiously.

Princess Haixiao has strong motor cells and was able to scratch Zhu Youtang's face when she was very young. By this time, she had already reached the viewing pavilion.

Since it offers a bird's-eye view of most of the Forbidden City, it is also her favorite place to stay. At this moment, she just needs to wait quietly for the official with a face like black coal to appear, then she can take a look at whether the official with a face like black coal is not scary.

In fact, she had just hid behind the Qianqing Gate and watched for a long time. Although she saw all kinds of officials going out to perform business, she did not see anyone with a face like black coal.

Forbidden City, Donghua Gate.

Song Cheng, who was wearing a crimson official uniform, entered through the Donghua Gate. After passing through the majestic gate of the imperial palace, he seemed to have traveled through a tunnel of time and space and stepped into this absolute realm of imperial power.

The majesty of the royal palace hits you. The magnificent palace shines dazzlingly in the morning sun, seeming to tell the splendor and majesty of the imperial power.

Even though he is already the high-ranking Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the "Song Qingtian" who is respected by the people, in this realm of imperial power, he is no different from a little ant.

If he is not careful, he may fall into eternal disaster.

Song Cheng saw the Fengtian Palace on the high platform from a distance. The golden glazed tiles shone in the sunset, as if they were a symbol of power, silently declaring the supremacy of imperial power.

"The Qianqing Gate seems to be there, right?"

"Master Song, just go with the Za family!"...

Song Cheng saw that the eunuch in front of him was leading him in the wrong direction. Even if he raised doubts, the answer he got was so tough that he couldn't even resist.

In this palace, not to mention that every move you make may lead to disaster. If you go to the wrong place and break into the harem, it will be a crime of beheading.

Although he is very prestigious as the emperor's official investigating officer, and it is one of his ways to repay the emperor's kindness, only he can understand the pressure involved.

Following the eunuch in front of him, he kept passing through the palace gate, but he found that the eunuch was leading him towards the west. He faintly found that he was getting farther and farther away from Qianqing Gate, and finally he was brought to the front of Renshou Palace.

Song Cheng's original destination was Qianqingmen, where the first scene of the arson case was, but he didn't expect to be arranged by the eunuch to come to see the Queen Mother.

Originally, the Queen Mother had no heirs, and she was ignored by the late emperor, so she had no sense of existence. But in the Hongzhi Dynasty, she became famous for siding with the emperor early.

The current Wang family not only has Wang Xiang, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, although Ruianbo Wang Yuan was marginalized because he was in the wrong team, his younger brother Wang Jun joined Wang Zhi's command early and made many extraordinary achievements.

That's why the Queen Mother is not only respected by the emperor, but also the Wang family behind her cannot be underestimated.

"Master Song, the Queen Mother invites you!" A fair-faced eunuch hurriedly came forward and said respectfully.

Song Cheng frowned slightly, but he couldn't disobey the emperor's order, so he had to follow the eunuch through the winding corridors and arrived at the solemn main hall of Renshou Palace.

The air in the hall was filled with sandalwood, the bead curtains were drooped, and the Queen Mother was sitting dignifiedly on the soft couch.

Due to her pampering, although she is nearly fifty years old, she can only be regarded as a MILF. But she had already taken everything lightly and was looking at Song Cheng who came in.

Song Cheng's eyes did not dare to look at the bead curtain, and he said politely: "Song Cheng, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, pays homage to the Queen Mother!"

"The Ai family heard that you are like a god in solving crimes. When I saw you today, you really have the power of Bao Zheng." The Queen Mother's voice was calm and majestic, and she also praised.

Song Cheng bowed and saluted, but was not complacent because of this compliment: "The Queen Mother is so complimentary! I have a dark face by birth, and I have offended the Queen Mother, yet I still treat her to her original dish!"

The Queen Mother smiled slightly, changed the subject, and asked: "Sir Song, what do you think about the arson cases at Qianqing Gate and Qingning Palace?"

As soon as these words came out, the eunuchs and maids present turned to look at Song Cheng.

This arson case was the most serious incident since the Hongzhi Dynasty. Although it only burned two pillars of Qianqing Palace, its nature was very bad.

Now the case has been handed over to Song Cheng, the Minister of Justice, and Song Cheng will become a key figure in solving the case, and his investigation results will affect the structure of the harem.

"Back to the Queen Mother, Wei Chen always pays attention to evidence when handling cases and will not doubt anyone out of thin air. If you want to make a conclusion, you must rely on solid evidence." Song Cheng has never been a person who talks nonsense, and immediately stated his position seriously.

The corners of the Queen Mother's mouth raised slightly, but she continued to dwell on this question: "Sir Song, have you ever suspected that someone from Qingning Palace is calling for a thief?"

"I dare not make random guesses, but I will not let go of any possibility. Please allow me to investigate first!" Song Cheng's heart moved slightly, but he said very calmly.

In fact, there is no way he wouldn't make guesses, but it was impossible to express this position. Everything had to be slowly investigated through finding clues from the arson scene.

If anyone in the palace dares to murder the emperor and benefit from the emperor's death, then the biggest suspect is naturally the Empress Dowager of Qingning Palace.

Although the Empress Dowager was the emperor's biological grandmother and it was the Empress Dowager who personally raised the Emperor, the relationship between the two had already broken down.

In order to seize military power and promote national reform, the emperor first executed the Empress Dowager's brother Zhou Shou on the charge of rebellion, and then the last brother Zhou Yu was also pushed to the guillotine.

After that, the Empress Dowager Zhou's daughter Princess Chongyang and her son-in-law were also executed by the emperor.

Over the years, the relationship between the emperor and the empress dowager has dropped to a freezing point because of that grudge. The Empress Dowager no longer saw the emperor, and the emperor no longer went to Qingning Palace to say hello. The two people had a tendency to stay away from each other until death.

Now the relationship between the Sixth Palace is very harmonious, and the Queen Mother's status is also due to Emperor Hongzhi, so the Queen Mother Zhou is the first suspect.

Although the Qingning Palace where she lived was burned down, as the Queen Mother guessed, it might be a trick of the Queen Mother Zhou to catch the thief.

That's why even though Song Cheng had other suspicions in his mind before entering the palace, he also had doubts about Empress Dowager Zhou.

The Queen Mother nodded, with a hint of admiration flashing in her eyes: "The Ai family likes your cautious attitude! People in the palace are complicated. I hope you can find out the truth, expose the person who intends to murder the emperor, and bring the emperor to justice. The palace is clean."

"I will fulfill my mission!" Song Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately expressed his stance solemnly.

The Queen Mother did not embarrass Song Cheng too much, so she waved her hand: "The Ai family is tired, go and investigate the case!"

Song Cheng bowed and resigned, already having some calculations in his heart.

Although the Queen Mother pointed out a direction, he could not judge too subjectively. After all, the Queen Mother might also be suspicious. Now everything must be based on the clues at the fire scene, and then the truth of the arson will be revealed.

Coming out of Renshou Palace, Song Cheng followed the eunuch to the east.

Seeing the Qianqing Palace in sight, he suddenly found that the eunuch was heading north: "My father-in-law, it seems that the Qianqing Gate is there, right?"

"Master Song, just go with the Za family!" The father-in-law in front once again gave a familiar answer.

Song Cheng still couldn't reach the Qianqing Palace, but obediently followed the eunuch in front of him heading north. He faintly saw a princess in the viewing pavilion in the back garden of the palace who just turned around and left.

Although the number of princes and princesses in the palace has now become a secret in the palace, he has heard about Princess Haixiao who is held in the palm of the emperor's hand.

Originally, he was also curious about the appearance of Princess Haixiao, but he didn't want her to leave just now, and because of his status, he gave her a gift from a distance.

Song Cheng followed the eunuch to the front of Kunning Palace, but before he stepped into Kunning Gate, he saw his wife Yunniang standing here. At this moment, he realized that the water in the palace was much deeper than he imagined. He wanted to be like that back then. It is impossible to investigate the case in such a straightforward manner. (End of chapter)