Rule over Ming Dynasty

Kunning Palace, main hall.

The sunlight coming in through the window lattice shrank into a small piece, and there was a sense of weirdness in the air. The middle-aged official in the crimson official uniform had a shocked expression on his face.

Before entering the palace, he had thought that the palace was full of ulterior motives and that it would be difficult to solve the fire case. However, he never expected that the case would be solved by the Queen before his men even arrived at the crime scene.

If it were a cunning official, he would certainly follow the advice and act according to the script given by the queen, but he, Song Cheng, could not become a puppet.

However, he vaguely felt that this was not a frame-up, but that the queen in front of him, who was famous for her virtue, was not simple. At least she could indeed control everything in the harem.

After the maid in charge of the Ministry of Discipline finished her report, she harshly accused the kneeling woman, "He Shang Gong, the emperor is an outstanding ruler, and the queen has been very kind to you. You have no intention of thanking God for his grace, but instead set fire to the Qianqing Palace. You are worse than pigs and dogs!"

He Shang Gong was a female official in her fifties and she did not react at all to the accusations.

For so many years, she has been following the Empress Dowager Zhou. Since the Empress Dowager Zhou took power in the harem, she has become the spokesperson for the Empress Dowager Zhou, especially in the Chenghua Dynasty, where she can call the shots.

It's just that a new emperor has new ministers. Although Emperor Hongzhi never directly suppressed her, her personal honor and disgrace were actually tied to the Empress Dowager Zhou.

As the Empress Dowager Zhou lost power, the female official who had always been by her side also lost her power. Only she knew the psychological gap she felt.

Although she confessed her crime under torture in the Shenjiesi, she still had no remorse at this moment, especially since she had never been loyal and trustworthy to the emperor and the empress.

Empress Chang glanced at the wounded Consort He calmly, then looked at Song Cheng through the beaded curtain and explained, "Sir Song, there are so many women in the palace, it's really inconvenient for you to walk around! I've been in charge of the harem for many years, and I know roughly where the problem lies. Now that Consort He has confessed, are you satisfied?"

The implication of these words was very clear. This was to let Song Cheng close the case and identify the Concubine He as the culprit of the arson.

Yunniang knew very well that the waters in the palace were treacherous. Seeing that Empress Chang had rarely taken the initiative to speak, she hoped through her eyes that Song Cheng would stand on the Empress' side and immediately settle the case.

Song Cheng had his own principles as an official, but he looked at Minister He seriously and said, "Did you really plan the burning of the Qianqing Palace?"

This……

As soon as these words were spoken, the palace maids present exchanged glances silently, knowing that things might change.

Yunniang's heart tightened involuntarily, and she immediately looked at the queen inside with worry.

Queen Chang reached out and picked up the teacup beside her. She looked very calm and elegant, as if nothing had happened.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall seemed very depressing, and most people's eyes fell on He Shanggong, the protagonist of the arson incident.

"Is it any use if I say now that it has nothing to do with me?" Seeing an opportunity to change her testimony, Concubine He looked at the famous Song Qingtian with a half-smile.

The head of the Palace Girl of the Diligence Department was afraid that the other party would change his confession, so she immediately explained the facts: "Not to mention that you have already signed and sealed your confession! If you hand it over to the East Factory or the Northern Pacification Department, their methods will only be more ruthless. Do you think you can still quibble?"

He Shanggong, who had just felt hopeful, couldn't help but frown and had to consider the possibility of such a bad situation.

If the Empress Dowager Zhou was still in power, he would have no scruples. But now that the Empress Dowager had lost power, and the Emperor was in the dark while the Empress was in the light, who could stand up and protect him?
"Concubine He, why did you burn down the Qianqing Palace this time?" Song Cheng quickly caught the subtle changes in Concubine He's expression and asked the question seriously.

He Shangguan knew that quibbling would only bring him more severe torture, so he immediately spat out four words with a blank expression: "No comment!"

The palace maids present couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that she did not change her confession, but they also couldn't help but think that the matter might involve the person in Qingning Palace.

cough! cough!
Queen Chang was drinking tea and also coughed violently twice.

In fact, it’s not that she doesn’t want to get to the bottom of it, but if she really digs up the person from Qingning Palace, not only will she have no say in the matter, even the emperor will be in a very difficult position.

Yunniang did not have such a deep political awareness and just thought that Queen Chang was not feeling well.

Song Cheng had his own judgment, and immediately said tentatively: "If I am not mistaken, you are not going to burn down the Qianqing Palace to assassinate the emperor this time, and you also know that you can't burn down the Qianqing Palace. Your real purpose is to cause chaos in the harem, right?"

Although we only had a glimpse of the morning court from a distance today, a fire of this magnitude would not pose any threat to the Qianqing Palace at all.

Not to mention that the harem is now controlled by the Queen, and there are dozens of palace maids living in the Qianqing Palace. It is impossible for the fire set at the door to spread.

The fire damage to the Qianqing Gate can be seen from the fact that the two pillars were not burned, and many places were just smoky and looked scary, but the damage to the gate was not serious.

From this we can see that this fire does not seem to burn the emperor, but more like burning the harem, which is now a harmonious family.

"What good will it do me if there's chaos in the harem?" After all, Lady He was an old hand in the palace, but she said this without revealing a single flaw.

Song Cheng looked at the reaction of He Shanggong and became more certain of his judgment: "The current queen is virtuous, and the eldest son of the emperor has the appearance of Your Majesty. If there is no more chaos in the harem, Empress Dowager Zhou will be trapped in Qingning Palace forever, and it will be difficult for you to regain power!"

Whether it was Taizu or Taizong, they actually implemented the hereditary principle of establishing the eldest son or the youngest son as the heir, and the eldest son was almost certain to be the next emperor.

Now the emperor and the empress are very much in love, and although the crown prince Zhu Houye is not as evil as Zhu Youtang, he is also a well-behaved crown prince, so no concubine dares to have unrealistic fantasies about the throne.

If things continue to develop in this way, the entire harem will be dominated by the Queen, the Imperial Concubine and the Nine Concubines. The Empress Dowager who is close to the Emperor will also get the due status. Only the position of Empress Dowager Zhou will become increasingly marginal, and the lives of the palace servants following her will naturally become worse and worse.

That's right. The people who most want chaos in the harem now are not the Empress Dowager and concubines, but the increasingly losing power Grand Empress Dowager and the female officials and eunuchs in Qingning Palace. This is also their real motive for setting fire to Qianqing Gate.

"You guessed it all!" He Shang Gong closed her eyes slightly, and said without any emotion. Song Cheng pursued justice as an official these years, and his eyes became more and more mature: "If that's the case, then I'll make another guess! The fire started at Qianqing Gate first, and then at Qingning Palace, is that true?"

"Who told you this?" He Shanggong opened her eyes, obviously a little flustered at this moment.

Huh?
Yunniang had been listening nearby, her eyes filled with confusion.

But she was not curious about how her husband knew about it. After all, one of Qianqing Gate and Qingning Palace must have burned first, but was there any inevitable connection between the two?
Empress Chang knew the mystery, so she said calmly: "Lord Song was intercepted here by the Empress Dowager and me, and he has not yet arrived at Qianqing Gate and Qingning Palace. Naturally, he deduced it!"

"I should have thought that the emperor would arrange you to investigate. Song Qingtian's reputation is really well-deserved!" He Shanggong wiped the wound at the corner of her eye and said bitterly.

Although she knew that the Ming Dynasty was now full of talented people and that Song Qingtian was known as the Ming Dynasty's number one judge, she always thought that her plan was flawless.

But the development of the matter surprised her. Not to mention that her crimes could not escape Song Cheng's sharp eyes, even her inner thoughts had already been seen clearly by others.

Song Cheng looked at the other party's reaction and became more certain of his conclusion: "Are you confessing?"

"She was the one who planned this whole thing. How could she not confess?" The maid in charge of the Ministry of Discipline and Excuse who was standing nearby said sarcastically.

Due to the sufficient funds in the imperial treasury and the continuous increase in their monthly wages, their lives were better than ever before. Although they could not contact people outside the palace casually, they also had a complete system for going out.

Now it's not just the Queen and the concubines who don't want to cause trouble, the palace maids also actually want to live this kind of peaceful and stable life, without having to worry about food and clothing every day, and receiving a considerable monthly salary at the end of each month.

Now that they dared to burn down the Qianqing Palace, it was not only an act of regicide that they could not tolerate, but it was also a serious infringement of their interests.

"After the fire at Qianqing Gate, I was worried that the emperor would become suspicious of Qingning Palace, so I decided to set fire to Qingning Palace as well to divert the emperor's attention." He Shanggong knew that there was no way to argue anymore, and her face was filled with bitterness.

As Concubine He confessed in front of Song Cheng, everyone felt relieved.

Seeing that the other party had confessed in disguise, Song Cheng shook his head and said, "In fact, you are more likely to attract attention by doing this! If I am right, it was you who burned down Qingning Palace that aroused the Queen's suspicion!"

"That's right! If Qingning Palace hadn't been burned down, I would have had to rely on Lord Song to investigate. However, the fire in Qingning Palace made me realize that Qingning Palace was closely related to the arson case!" The Queen took a sip of tea and nodded in acknowledgment.

"It seems that it was indeed my mistake! I thought I could clear myself of suspicion of Qingning Palace by burning it down, but I didn't expect that my cleverness would backfire." He Shanggong said with regret in her eyes.

Her original plan did not include burning down the Qingning Palace herself, but in the actual execution process, she learned that the goddaughter she sent to burn down the gate of the Qianqing Palace. In panic, she made the foolish decision to burn down the Qingning Gate herself.

In fact, there were two accidents here. One was that her act of self-burning not only failed to successfully clear Qingning Palace, but also aroused the suspicion of the Queen; the other was that she overestimated the fire-fighting ability of Qingning Palace, thus turning the entire Qingning Palace into ruins.

It was these two accidents that led to her defeat this time.

Song Cheng's eyes were very sharp, as if he could see through people's hearts: "Burn down the gate of Qingning Palace, was this your decision, or was it the order of the Empress Dowager?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire Kunning Palace fell silent, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

The truth behind the so-called arson may be very important to Song Cheng, who pursues justice, but everyone knows that the Empress Dowager has an extraordinary status, which actually poses a problem for the emperor.

Queen Chang was just about to put down the teacup when she was also startled.

Originally, she had no old grudges with the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou, nor did they have any substantial conflicts of interest. It was just that the Grand Empress Dowager Zhou wanted to sideline the emperor and even wanted to support Prince Xing, so she was hostile to this old woman.

Although the arson of Qianqing Gate was unlikely to truly endanger the emperor, it had already touched her weak spot.

If she were not the emperor, how could she, as a descendant of a declining family, aspire to be the empress? If she were not the emperor, how could she be honored by her son? If she were not the emperor, how could she enjoy the happiness of a woman...

It's just that the emperor arranged Song Cheng to investigate the arson case, and Song Cheng actually dared to point the finger directly at the Empress Dowager, which would make things develop in an uncontrollable direction.

"All this was done by me! The Grand Empress Dowager knew nothing about it, and it has nothing to do with her!" He Shanggong closed her eyes slightly, looking ready to die.

When the palace servants around heard the answer from Concubine He, they felt a little disappointed, but also secretly relieved.

Song Cheng does not have so many complicated emotions, and what he always wants to pursue in his heart is the truth.

Although the arsonist He Shanggong has been found, the case involving the mastermind is the most difficult to investigate. After all, the two people usually give verbal orders, not to mention that He Shanggong is unwilling to testify against the Empress Dowager, even if He Shanggong testifies against the Empress Dowager in person, it is empty talk.

Although he was very good at judging people, this could not be used as evidence, and now he could not tell the truth from Concubine He's face.

Although it is very likely that Empress Dowager Zhou was the mastermind behind the incident, it cannot be ruled out that it was indeed Concubine He's solo action. After all, Concubine He's honor was indeed tied to the Empress Dowager.

That's right, the case is now at a stalemate, and he is not a person who likes to use severe punishment.

"Sir Song, the Grand Empress Dowager is the grandmother of me and His Majesty. This time His Majesty has only asked you to be responsible for investigating the fire case. Please be careful with your words!" Queen Chang put down the teacup and warned solemnly.

Although Yunniang also guessed that the mastermind behind the scenes was the Empress Dowager, it was one thing to guess in her heart and another to ask directly. At this moment, she also understood why the Empress called her into the palace, so she tugged hard at her husband's official uniform.

Song Cheng felt the imperial power and explained, "Your Majesty, I have no other intentions! Since Your Majesty has asked me to thoroughly investigate this case, I should trace the source and give Your Majesty the complete truth!"

"Sir Song, the truth is certainly very important, but look at what you just asked. Do you want His Majesty to bear the stigma of being unfilial?" Empress Chang always protected Zhu Youtang in her heart and immediately pointed out the danger. (End of this chapter)