The heavens begin with the Dharma of absorbing power.

Chapter 299 Ask Eunuch Cao to help inquire about Zhu Wuwu?

On an early spring night, the chirping of crickets, like an euphemistic and melodious ancient song, penetrated the night sky of the capital.

The seemingly peaceful capital is actually full of undercurrents.

Forbidden City, East Palace.

The twelve-year-old prince Zhu Youtang returned to the East Palace after a day of classes. He sat in front of the desk and played with a rattle, which was a relic left by his biological mother Ji Shufei.

Zhu Youtang was a miserable prince, and his mother was just a palace maid in charge of the internal treasury and accounting. Normally, there was no chance of being on the dragon's bed. But after a drinking session, Emperor Chenghua visited her and she became pregnant with Zhu Youtang.

A few years ago, Concubine Ji Shu was seriously ill. Emperor Chenghua Zhu Jianshen took his eldest son out of Yang'an Hall and made him the prince, allowing Concubine Ji Shu to peacefully go through the last part of her life.

"Honey, you're here! Something interesting happened in the city today!"

Zhu Youtang shook the rattle, and an old eunuch wearing a brocade robe came to him. It was Zhang Min, the eunuch in charge of rituals who Xu Xin and his party had met during the day, and the eunuch Zhu Youtang trusted most.

Although many unofficial rumors are fabricated, many widely circulated news must have a reason, and some things are still based on evidence. For example, Zhu Youtang's life experience, he did not have a good life at the beginning.

Their mother and son stayed in Yang'antang next to the cold palace for six years. During this period, they were often favored by the eunuchs and palace maids headed by Zhang Min. Therefore, after becoming the prince, Zhang Min also jumped from a middle-level eunuch to a eunuch serving as a ceremonial officer, and then to Zhu Min. Youtang respects an elder and calls him his wife.

"Your Highness, we and our family watched a good show today. Cao Shaoqin from the East Factory and Yu Huatian from the West Factory had a fight in the city..."

Zhang Min told Zhu Youtang in detail what happened during the day. As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youtang wanted to prepare for taking over the throne in the future, so he naturally wanted to collect all kinds of information from the capital.

After hearing Zhang Min's story, Zhu Youtang frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "Then Cao Shaoqin is so arrogant and domineering. I don't know what my father likes about him!"

"Your Highness, there are always some secretive things in the world that need people to do. Moreover, Cao Shaoqin has been with Your Majesty for a long time. He is an old friend of Qiandi and has an old friendship with Concubine Wan Guifei. His seniority is much higher than that of Yuhuatian."

Zhang Min explained some things in detail to Zhu Youtang. He was respected by Zhu Youtang not only because he had been kind to the prince, but also because he was the prince's first teacher and taught him many principles.

"Honey, I understand what you are saying. It's not that I hate eunuchs, it's just that Cao Shaoqin's behavior is too presumptuous!"

Zhu Youtang shook his head, and then said: "Honey, did you just say that you met the family members of Mr. Wang, the number one scholar in Jinke, today?"

Zhang Min nodded and said: "Yes, Your Highness, the old slave asked Xiao Cao to lead them some way. Xiao Cao came back to report that the eldest son of the Wang family is two years younger than you, and his name is Wang Shouren. He is a very interesting person.”

"The eldest son of the Wang family? Wang Shouren!"

Zhu Youtang listened to what Zhang Min said and silently wrote down the name in his heart.

……

On the same night, when Wang Hua was sending off Xie Qian and other colleagues, Xu Xin was also sorting out some of the information he had obtained today.

When Wang Hua was having a banquet with his colleagues, Xu Xin, the eldest son of the Wang family, also went to have fun with Mr. Wang, and also mentioned what happened during the day. Wang Hua's colleagues were all officials in the capital. Several of them had some backgrounds and knew many secrets. After a few glasses of wine, and under the influence of Xu Xin's spiritual mysticism, they unknowingly revealed a lot of key information.

The scene during the day, when the east and west factories were fighting, was most likely the current emperor's balancing act. The current emperor succeeded to the throne at a young age and was deposed when he was young. He is accustomed to the harsh world and the secret affairs of the palace, so he uses and guards against eunuchs.

Dongchang has developed too much in recent years, and there are many hills inside. Many things the emperor can't bear to see, but he is nostalgic for old feelings. Those slaves knelt on the ground and cried. He felt soft and couldn't go down. Hand disposal.

Over time, the power of the East Factory became more and more difficult to control, so in the past few years, he specially established a West Factory and chose Yu Huatian, a clever eunuch who only entered the palace after he succeeded to the throne, to serve as the factory supervisor. This was considered a right move. Dongchang's one-step clampdown.

When the West Factory was first established three years ago, its power was seriously insufficient. Facing the East Factory, it could only avoid the edge. There has been some slight improvement in the past three years, just trying to challenge. Recently, the two sides seem to be fighting for their wits.

Wang Hua and others chatted happily about this kind of news, but that was not what Xu Xin wanted to know. It was about whether Grandpa Cao Zhengchun practiced the Tiangang Boy Kung Fu, and whether Emperor Chenghua had an illegitimate son named Zhu Wuwu.

Both of these pieces of information are quite secretive. Naturally, Wang Hua's colleagues don't know the details. Eunuch Cao is not well-known yet, and not many people know him. No information about him has been found.

Regarding the news about the emperor's illegitimate child, several of Wang Hua's colleagues were also chatting lively. As expected, everyone likes to pay attention to these private matters.

According to what they said, Emperor Chenghua did have several illegitimate children, all of whom were not included in the genealogy and were not even considered princes. Their future future was worrying.

The origin of this matter can be traced back to Concubine Wan Gui. It is true that Concubine Wan Gui was jealous. Although it did not reach the level of deliberately murdering the emperor's heirs and causing the emperor to cut off his descendants, she also persecuted the concubines in the harem.

At first, Concubine Wan Gui wanted to have a child to inherit the throne, but she only gave birth to one son, who died a few months later. Although this child who died in infancy only existed for a short time, it also showed that she could still have children, so she never gave up after all these years.

Emperor Chenghua also had feelings for her and wanted to have a child with Concubine Wan Gui to inherit the throne. But as an emperor, he must also consider the inheritance of the Tian family, so he secretly favored many concubines and maids, and gave birth to many imperial heirs.

However, the process of canonizing princes in the Ming Dynasty was very complicated, and the identification was extremely strict. From the time the prince is born, the royal family will have relevant resumes and records.

An unrecorded illegitimate child is unlikely to regain the status of a prince unless his recorded brothers are all dead or he has received the emperor's grace.

This sounds cruel, but it is also helpless. The environment in the harem was like that in the past. Concubine Wan Gui was powerful and always wanted to give birth to a prince by herself.

The identities of those princes were hidden by their respective mothers, waiting to compete for the throne in the future, including the current prince Zhu Youtang, who actually had a similar origin.

These illegitimate princes fought to the end, and in the end, the crown prince Zhu Youtang succeeded and was directly named the crown prince. This made the remaining illegitimate princes lose the possibility of becoming regular princes. After all, they had "competed" for the throne.

If they want to "return to the official position" in the future, they have to look at the thoughts of the person who sits on the throne of the emperor. If the emperor misses the old relationship, it is possible that they can restore their status and be crowned princes.

"I'm afraid I'll have to find someone in the palace to find out the news about Ouchi's illegitimate prince. Then Eunuch Cao's relationship needs to be carefully managed!"

With a thought, Xu Xin came up with the idea of ​​asking Cao Zhengchun to help find out the news about Zhu Rongli, but why did he feel that this was a bit weird.

(End of this chapter)