Ming Dynasty: At the beginning, the house was ransacked and the ancestral temple was burned down.

Chapter 221: Absurd evidence! The emperor and his wife are worried!
"What? An assassin has entered the East Palace? What's going on?"

This time, not only Li Rusong was stunned, but Zhu Yijun, who was about to reprimand Tian Yi for being unruly, was even more stunned!
Zhu Yijun even suspected that he had heard it wrong. After all, that was the Eastern Palace. Who would be so reckless as to assassinate the crown prince?
Don’t you want the bond of the Nine Clans anymore?

"Your Majesty." Tian Yi hurriedly reported the known situation to His Majesty the Emperor:

“According to the eunuchs guarding the East Palace, there was a knock on the north gate of Ciqing Palace shortly after dark.

The eunuch guarding the gate said that he didn't think much about it at the time, and he opened the door to see who was knocking on the door.

But who would have thought that just as the door opened, he was hit by a man holding a jujube wood stick and knocked unconscious!

The man was tall and strong, as strong as an ox. He knocked out the eunuch guarding the gate and broke into the East Palace!
Then he started swinging at everyone he saw, and he even swung it all the way to the Crown Prince!"

"What...what?" Zhu Yijun was completely shocked. He once again wondered if there was something wrong with his ears...

A gangster, just a gangster!
With just a jujube wood stick in hand, he could single-handedly swing it all the way to the crown prince of a country?
Is this reasonable?

Anyway, Zhu Yijun felt that it was unreasonable. Then, the first thing the emperor father cared about was not the current situation of his son, the crown prince, but he said angrily:

"How ridiculous! The Prince's Palace can't even stop a man with a stick! The guards are all dead!"

Zhu Yijun was very angry. After all, this was too absurd and too embarrassing!
This concerns the reputation of the royal family, and even more so the reputation of him as the emperor!

There were rumors outside that the emperor had been harshly treating the crown prince, and now that something like this had happened, it was sure to cause an uproar in the city again!

At the same time, Li Rusong on the side did not even dare to breathe loudly. After all, this was the emperor's family affair, and it was really something that he, a subject, could listen to...

However, Li Rusong's doubts could soon be dispelled because there was another "outsider" involved in this "family affair".

Before the Emperor could ask about the Crown Prince's condition, Tian Yi wiped his tears and continued:
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince was hit by that villain with a stick, and his right arm was broken!

The imperial physician said that he would need to recuperate for a while. He also said that even if he recovered, he would not be able to…"

Tian Yi was sobbing so hard that he dared not say anything more. If someone didn't know, they would think that Zhang Cha broke his hand.

It was not until this time that Zhu Yijun realized that the crown prince, the heir to the throne, was also his biological son.

"Is it so serious..." Zhu Yijun was a little dazed. For a moment, he didn't even know what kind of concern and inquiry he should make to the prince.

His Majesty the Emperor was in a daze for no apparent reason, while Tian Yi was crying.

At the same time, Li Rusong felt like he was about to melt. He really wanted to melt in the gaps between the gold bricks and silently flow out of the Forbidden City.

Li Rusong also realized that the Emperor had now forgotten his existence, and it would not be so easy for him to leave.

Fortunately, 'that person' saved him again!
Zhu Yijun finally came back to his senses and asked with some official concern:

"How is the prince now? Is he injured anywhere else?"

"Your Majesty...that's right..." Tian Yi suddenly hesitated, obviously having something to say but not daring to say it directly.

"What's wrong? Does the prince have other injuries?" Zhu Yijun suddenly became anxious.

"No, Your Majesty, His Royal Highness has no other injuries, because..." Tian Yi hesitated for a long time, and finally told the truth:

Fortunately, Zhang Bandu was beside the Crown Prince at the time, and thanks to him he stopped the villain, and only then…only then the Crown Prince was spared from further harm."

"Zhang Bandu? Who are you talking about?" Zhu Yijun immediately became suspicious.

"Your Majesty, it's... it's Zhang Chonghui..." Tian Yi replied awkwardly.

Hearing this familiar name, Zhu Yijun immediately said with certainty, almost as if by reflex, "This incident must have been caused by Zhang Chonghui!"

"Why is he going to the East Palace so late?" Zhu Yijun asked hurriedly.

Tian Yi replied, "Your Majesty, today is the Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Several of the East Palace tutors have come to accompany the Crown Prince to enjoy the moon and drink. Zhang Chonghui... is here too."

"What a coincidence?" Zhu Yijun wanted to laugh. He asked again: "Where is the criminal? Has he been caught?"

Tian Yi said, "Your Majesty, we have caught him. He was talking incoherently, like a fool. He has been sent to the Imperial Prison for interrogation, but the result is not out yet."

"Why is it another fool..." Zhu Yijun originally thought that it would be easy to catch Zhang Chonghui this time, but when he heard that the criminal was a fool, he couldn't help but think of the previous case of the evil book, in which the first one was also a fool...

Just when Zhu Yijun was getting upset, Li Rusong, who had been silent for a long time, spoke.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for my boldness in speaking." Li Rusong finally dared to speak. He also wanted to use this opportunity to get away from this place of trouble.

Li Rusong's sudden words stunned Zhu Yijun for a moment. He almost forgot that there was an outsider here.

"Li Qing, go ahead."

"Your Majesty," Li Rusong said:

"The murder of the crown prince this time is extremely strange and full of loopholes!
If nothing unexpected happens, there must be someone behind this fool holding the wooden stick!
But fools are the most difficult to judge, and no one will believe what they say.

Besides, the Crown Prince is the heir apparent to the throne, so I think if this matter is only handled by the East Factory...

I am afraid that someone will make a big fuss about this matter, so I think it is best for the Ministry of Justice to handle this matter together!"

Li Rusong's suggestion was exactly what Zhu Yijun had just worried about. After all, Zhu Yijun also realized that the murder of the prince this time was definitely more complicated than it seemed.

It seemed that it was not only aimed at the prince, but more like... it was aimed at him as the emperor!
Moreover, if the Eastern Depot were to investigate such a major event as the assassination of a crown prince, the ministers would definitely have objections!

After all, this is a matter of national importance, and such a big case must be taken seriously, and the Ministry of Justice must be involved!

Otherwise, the emperor of the Zhu family would have no status at all in the future...

Zhu Yijun was almost certain that this matter was definitely related to Zhang Chonghui!
However, this is exactly what he is worried about now.

After all, it was well known that Zhang Chonghui was sent to the Eastern Palace by him, the emperor.

If the Ministry of Justice intervenes in the investigation and finds that Zhang Chonghui is involved, then everyone will probably think that he, the emperor, is the mastermind behind the incident...

By then, I'm afraid everyone will think that it was he, the emperor, who wanted to kill the prince!
The more Zhu Yijun thought about it, the more confused he felt. After saying a few polite words, he sent Li Rusong away.

Li Rusong finally left as he wished, and after some contemplation, the Emperor had a new suspect!
"Chen Ju." Zhu Yijun asked Chen Ju, who had just arrived, "You said... Could it be that the Crown Prince and Zhang Chonghui teamed up to stage the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince?"

Zhu Yijun didn't want to doubt his son. It wasn't that he believed in Zhu Changluo, he just felt that his son Zhu Changluo didn't have the guts. But now, Zhu Yijun still doubted it, because Zhang Chonghui had the guts!
"Your Majesty, I don't think the Crown Prince would do this. Besides, the Crown Prince was seriously injured this time."

Chen Ju thought the same as the emperor and believed that the prince would not dare to do so.

Moreover, whenever such an absurd thing happened, any normal person would suspect the prince.

The prince has always been timid. Even if he had the guts of a bear or a leopard, he wouldn't dare to direct and act in this scene himself, right?

After all, if the truth were to be exposed, the crown prince could be deposed directly!
The more Zhu Yijun thought about it, the more annoyed he became. However, the subsequent interrogation results and other clues were what really made him anxious!
……

Fusi, the northern town, was ordered to prison.

Luo Sigong, who had finally lived in peace for two years, once again received an emergency task in the middle of the night.

At this moment, Luo Sigong was listening to the report from his subordinate Chen Yin:
"Boss, that idiot is talking nonsense, repeating the same few sentences over and over again, saying that his family is poor and his neighbors bully him. He also said that he came to the capital to file a complaint, but he didn't know the way and went to the wrong door and ended up in the Eastern Palace."

Luo Sigong didn't seem to take these words seriously and only asked, "Did you use torture?"

Chen Yin nodded and said, "It was used, but that idiot actually has some backbone and still refuses to confess!"

"Pass the order down, stop torturing." Luo Sigong yawned and said nonchalantly:
"People like this aren't afraid of punishment. Beating them is useless. If they wanted to confess, they would have confessed long ago.

This matter concerns the Crown Prince, and at daybreak, the case will be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for trial, so the criminals must be brought together in full."

After hearing this, Chen Yin couldn't help but feel strange: How could Luo Sigong, who was always perverted and cruel, suddenly become... gentle? Was he worried that the prisoners were not complete?

This... isn't it common for people who come out of the imperial prison to have missing limbs or something like that?
"By the way, was the man who was stabbed six times in the alley saved?" Luo Sigong asked again.

Chen Yin shook his head. "I don't know who that man offended. Not only was he stabbed six times, he was also poisoned. The doctor said he won't survive tonight at the latest."

"See if you can get something out of him. If not, forget it." Luo Sigong didn't seem to care about this and asked another question:
"Among the students who accompanied the Crown Prince to watch the moon in the East Palace tonight, were there any who arrived shortly before the Crown Prince's accident?"

The incident happened suddenly, and even the Jinyiwei could not find so much information in such a short time, so Chen Yin replied "I'll check it right away" and left in a hurry.

Looking at Chen Yin's hasty departure, Luo Sigong suddenly laughed strangely and said to himself:
"I can guess who it is without checking. Who else could it be except that boy?"

……

The news that Crown Prince Zhu Changluo had his hand injured by a fool with a jujube wood stick finally reached Zheng Mengjing's ears at midnight.

The imperial concubine, who was already worried and restless all night, could not sleep at all this time!
It was the middle of the night and Zheng Mengjing could only know limited information from the outside world.

She only knew that the prince's hand was injured, and the man who beat the prince was a fool, not a madman!

In addition, Zheng Mengjing also knew that Zhang Chonghui was not dead!

Not only did Zhang Chonghui not die, he also saved the prince's life!
Such a messy result is completely different from what my brother Zheng Guotai had promised before.

Zheng Mengjing regretted it. If she had known earlier, she should not have believed her brother’s lies, let alone Zhang Chonghui’s lies, and should not have done such a deadly thing!
Zheng Mengjing was so scared that he couldn't sleep.

Her emperor husband Zhu Yijun got even more headache when he saw the results of the overnight interrogation by the East Factory.

Zhu Yijun also didn't expect that this fool named Zhang Cha could be so tough!

He endured the punishment and insisted that he was badly bullied by his neighbors and came to Beijing to file a complaint!
When asked why Zhang Cha used a jujube wood stick to hit people, he insisted on answering:
"I was afraid that they would bully me out of numbers, so I bullied them first."

This testimony is obviously false.

Now we can only continue the interrogation and slowly look for clues.

Zhu Yijun was very troubled, but after experiencing so many strange cases, he had actually become a little numb.

He was so numb that he just hoped that this time, the "attack case" would not involve his beloved Concubine Zheng...

……

At daybreak, the absurd incident of the crown prince being hit by a big man holding a jujube wood stick quickly spread throughout the court and the country.

At the same time, the Ministry of Justice also took over this bizarre case.

Xiao Daheng, the then Minister of Justice and the chief judge of this case, realized the difficulty of this case after learning that Zhang Cha was not only a fool but also a fool who was not afraid of punishment.

In addition, when the Ministry of Justice tried a case, it always only paid attention to the so-called evidence. But now that Zhang Cha was silent, there was no evidence at all.

After some investigation, they discovered that this Zhang Cha was actually an illegal resident. They didn't even know where he was from or whether his real name was Zhang Cha.

Time flies, two days have passed, but there is no progress.

His Majesty the Emperor has been urging the outcome of the trial, anxious to catch the man who directed Zhang Cha behind the scenes.

Xiao Daheng, who is nearly seventy years old, was so stressed out that he had a headache and lost his appetite.

What to do when a leader is under a lot of pressure? Just scold your subordinates.

Who should I scold? Of course, I should scold the one I dislike the most.

As a result, Xiong Tingbi, a newly-minted Jinshi who was just observing government affairs in the Ministry of Justice, was scolded in public by the Shangshu and was labeled as incompetent.

Xiong Tingbi had a bad temper and he was not polite. He refuted the Shangshu on the spot in front of everyone!
After all, he was just an observer who was called a student in the Ministry of Justice, but in fact he was just doing miscellaneous work in the Ministry of Justice.

The person in a high position has no ability, so why do you blame him?

Xiong Tingbi actually knew that the reason why Xiao Daheng, who was from Shandong, targeted him so obviously was mainly because he was targeting Guo Zhengyu, the cabinet minister who had taken a fancy to and supported him and was also Xiong Tingbi's fellow townsman.

Party strife has always existed.

For insulting his superior, Xiong Tingbi was severely reported several times by Xiao Daheng and his party members for this disrespectful reason!
If it weren't for the strong protection of his fellow townsman, Elder Guo Zhengyu, at this critical moment, Xiong Tingbi might have had to go back to his hometown to farm.

Facts have proved that when you are away from home, your fellow villagers are still the best.

Guo Zhengyu saved Xiong Tingbi from being demoted, while another fellow villager, Zhang Yunxiu, who was also from Huguang, gave Xiong Tingbi an idea.

An idea that could pry the truth out of Zhang Cha's mouth!

(End of this chapter)