King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

"After you go home, practice slowly according to what I said. Remember the word 'slow'. As the ancients said, think three times. You should think three times. Just say it once. Don't say more. Slowly, three words, four words."

At this moment, Zhu Tan was like an attending physician patrolling the ward, reminding Wang Shilin to be careful.

Wang Shilin's stuttering can usually be corrected through practice.

If it is not a genetic or organ disease, then there is no way.

The meal was not boring. Zhu Tan asked someone to send Wang Shilin away, while he went over the day's experiences in his mind.

He was ambushed by someone, and the person who attacked him seemed to have done something wrong and killed a lot of people.

From Wang Min's every move, he can discover some clues, and then find out who the murderer really wants to kill, and then investigate bit by bit, there will always be results.

Once he finds this person, that person, or that person, Zhu Tan will definitely teach him a lesson and let him fight with the King of Hell to see whether the King of Hell is really reasonable.

It took a lot of effort to investigate, investigate, and investigate, but on the next day, two imperial edicts were issued from the palace.

First, Luo Yin was appointed as the governor of the East Factory and became the new official of the factory.

Secondly, a new commander of the imperial guards was appointed. His surname was Zhu Guang and he was the second son of the late Duke Baoguo.

"Second brother, what on earth is going on?"

Guo Ning did not expect to become the leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but he found it difficult to control Zhu Dan, who appeared out of nowhere.

Zhu Tan learned from Guo Ning's explanation that Duke Baoguo Zhu Yong died in the ninth year of Hongzhi and was a very famous general with outstanding military achievements.

His son Zhu Hui inherited the title of Marquis of Baoguo, and his mother was the sister of Zhang Mao, Duke of Ying.

This made Zhu Tan even more suspicious of Zhang Maolai. Frame by frame, he felt his nerves becoming more and more tense, as if something terrible was approaching.

"Then, let's follow what we agreed on before. Our people will replace all the middle and lower-level officials in the Pacification Office and try their best to control Zhu Guang's position. In addition, Xu Tai will be transferred to the Grand Commandery to expand the forces that can be mobilized."

Guo Ning frowned, "Second brother, I always feel like something is wrong! Logically speaking, the emperor wants second brother to handle Yang Peng's case, and he also wants to give it to the governor of the East Factory and the new commander of the Protectorate Army. Doesn't that mean that second brother's power will be weakened?!"

Zhu Tan's heart trembled. He guessed that something must have happened in the palace, and it was not someone deliberately driving the situation.

Wang Yan said that for the sake of Zhu Youtang, Concubine Shao changed her mind towards the emperor and his brother-in-law. Being soft-hearted was a very bad thing!
"In this case, we can close the case of Yang Peng and his nephew within one day, and then let Ding Zhe and others cooperate to settle the case. Luo Yin and Zhu Guang can only worry about it. I will go to the palace tonight and explain to the emperor."

One day later, one case after another made the entire Zhenfu Division boil over.

In order to obtain the necessary testimony, Zhu Tan even allowed the Jinyiwei guards who were proficient in torture to take action. In a short while, the entire Zhenfusi turned into a hell.

Zhu Tan had long forgotten about the reputation he was worried about.

In the evening, Zhu Tan finally received a case file from Ding Zhe and several other officials from the Ministry of Justice. He took a look at it and nodded slightly.

In addition to the people who were poisoned by Wang Min, Yang Peng and his nephew were involved in more than 20 cases.

Apart from witchcraft, most of them were involved in collusion, corruption and bribery, and even among the dead, there were several convicted criminals.

Ding Zhe proposed a punishment plan, in which four of them were to be hanged, and the rest were to be either demoted or exiled, or at least be beaten with a hundred lashes.

Ding Zhe thanked Zhu Tan for saving his life and even investigated Wang Min's death.

Zhu Tan checked out all the Jinyiwei members and his own servants. The reason why Wang Min committed suicide was most likely because of Concubine Wang Shun.

Zhu Tan thought about it and realized that Concubine Wang Shun was also a concubine of Emperor Xianzong and was now also named a dowager concubine, on an equal footing with Concubine Shao.

This made Concubine Shao the focus of everyone's attention. He suddenly realized that he had underestimated Jiajing's grandmother before.

Also, does Yang Peng’s witchcraft incident have nothing to do with Concubine Shao?

Let’s not talk about what will happen in the future for now. As of now, the relationship between Concubine Shao and her sister Empress Zhang does not seem to be as harmonious as it seems!
Could it be that both Yang Peng and Wang Min’s cases started in the harem?
It’s no wonder that Zhu Tan would have such an idea, but other than that, he couldn’t think of any other reason.

For example, his speculation about Zhang Mao felt like several ropes were slowly winding around him, some of whom were descendants of the previous emperor and princess, all of whom were people related to the court struggle.

It seems that he is completely opposed to those royal relatives and concubines!

Doesn't this destroy his foundation?

Zhu Tan was anxious, but since things had come to this point, she had no choice but to step forward, take the case file into the palace, and report the matter to Zhu Youming.

Zhu Youtang treated Zhu Tan very well. Before he had dinner, he asked Zhu Tan to bring the food to him.

While Zhu Tan was having a meal, Zhu Youtang picked up the case file and looked through it carefully.

A sighing voice was heard, causing Zhu Tan to stop working on the dishes and chopsticks in his hands.

"Brother-in-law, I have already investigated everything about Yang Peng and Wang Min. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this matter."

Zhu Youtang put down the memorial in his hand and his eyes turned red.

"The Concubine Wang hanged herself this morning. She left a letter that matched Wang Min's letter. Yang Peng was bewitched and harmed by Concubine Wang. Wang Min gave Yang Peng 15,000 taels of silver for this matter."

It turned out that it was not Concubine Shao, but Concubine Wang Shun, which made Zhu Tan hard to accept for a while.

"Princess Wang Shun, why are you doing this? What is your purpose?"

"Over the years, perhaps because Concubine Wang's family fell out of favor, they had unpleasant experiences with the Marquis of Shouning, Yang Wei and other relatives. The consort Ma Cheng took away half of Wang Min's family's land, the Marquis of Shouning's mansion took away more than ten of Wang Min's shops, and Yang Wei even abolished Wang Min's son. The Queen Mother doted on the Marquis of Shouning, and the eunuchs in the palace acted on their own and abused Concubine Wang Shun, which made Concubine Wang Shun feel resentful. Alas! Once when I was young, I didn't eat for a few days and felt dizzy. I even stole the steamed buns that Concubine Wang Shun sent me!"

Zhu Tan looked at Zhu Youtang, who looked like he was about to cry, and wondered whether he should tell him who Concubine Shao was thinking about.

Unless you are an idiot, you won't say it in this situation.

This might be the reason why his damn brother and those distant relatives did so much to Concubine Wang Shun's family.

However, Zhu Tan still suspected that Concubine Shao played an extremely bad role in this matter and was probably the mastermind behind the Yang Peng case. Dai Yi looked serious, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, because the eunuchs and palace maids who persecuted Concubine Wang Shun, a total of 36 people, were beaten to death. They all said that they only attacked Concubine Wang Shun to please the queen. This matter has nothing to do with you."

Zhu Youtang wiped his eyes, wiping away tears.

"Forget it! Yang Peng and his nephew have been beheaded and thrown into the streets, and the entire family has been executed. All relevant personnel have been dealt with according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty. I am tired too, so let's all go!"

Since Concubine Wang Shun and Wang Min committed suicide one after another, the whole thing seemed a bit anticlimactic.

Zhu Tan felt that there were still many things worth exploring, but since Zhu Youtang said so, it meant that he would not delve into it any further.

Zhu Tan was 100% sure that someone had caught the softest bone in his brother-in-law's heart.

And it also involves Empress Zhang's concubine, so it makes sense to stop there.

Zhu Tan nodded to Dai Yi and walked directly to Queen Zhang's bedroom.

Such a thing happening in the palace would inevitably implicate Empress Zhang, so he had to go visit Empress Zhang and comfort her at the same time.

As Empress Zhang and Zhu Tan expected, the situation was not very good, and Jin had been comforting her.

As soon as Empress Zhang saw Zhu Tan, she told him her difficulties and completely shirked the responsibility for the matters concerning Wang Min and Concubine Wang Shun.

Zhu Tan also knows a lot about this sister.

In fact, he believed that Concubine Wang Shun's death was instigated by Empress Zhang, or that she just brought it up casually.

But the servants believed it to be true and tried every means to make things difficult for Concubine Wang Shun, and Zhang Heling and others even bullied Wang Min, which led to what happened later.

Empress Zhang treated her family very well, which Mu Tianqin could not deny, but Empress Zhang herself had an obvious shortcoming, which was that she did not know how to win over others.

As a result, both the Empress Dowager and the other concubines were just pretending. Otherwise, they would not have had a bad relationship with Concubine Shao and were finally ignored by Emperor Jiajing.

Zhu Tan's voice was exactly the same as Jin's, and it took much persuasion to finally coax Empress Zhang to stop.

Instead, he anxiously asked Zhu Tan about Zhu Youtang's situation, obviously worried that Zhu Youtang would have something against him.

Zhu Tan tried his best to appease Empress Zhang. As Zhu Youtang's confidant, Zhu Youtang forcibly stopped the development of the matter. It can be seen that he still loved Empress Zhang very much and would never choose another person.

Soon, Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Xiurong also arrived, both of them looked confused.

Zhu Xiurong was still young and knew nothing, but Zhu Houzhao was a mature teenager who knew what to do. As soon as Zhu Tan appeared, he hurriedly chased after him.

"Uncle, I got information from Qiu Ju that there is another hidden reason behind Concubine Shun's death. Could it really be because of my mother?"

Zhu Tan shook her head. She absolutely could not let Empress Zhang take the blame now. Even if she had a relationship with Empress Zhang, she had to clear herself of the blame. But how could she do so?

Naturally, the target was those who bullied Concubine Wang and her siblings, even including the dead Zhang Heling.

Zhu Houzhao was obviously relieved. He didn't know much about the ways of the world, so when he heard that it had nothing to do with his mother, a bright smile immediately broke out on his face and he said, "Second uncle, let's go and try it out together. There are some things I don't know, and you can give me some pointers."

Under Zhu Houzhao's urging, Zhu Tan finally got away and went to Wang Yan's room.

Wang Yan had her previous experience, so all the maids and eunuchs around her were dismissed, so she was able to sneak in here without anyone noticing.

The flame of the candle that had just been cut was only the size of a bean, and the light in the room was very dim.

Wang Yan heard the noise and got up from the bed, and saw Tang Zheng walking towards her stealthily. She immediately realized that this was the thief who had been stealing chickens and dogs!

Zhu Tan didn't waste any words and went straight to the point. He rehearsed it first, and after the two of them had made love, Zhu Tan put his hands on Wang Yan's body.

Wang Yan was in love for the first time and enjoyed Zhu Tan's actions very much. With half-closed eyes, she told Chu Xian about the situation in the palace.

"Okay, okay, now you understand why I'm worried about Wang Yuan and the others! Concubine Shun and Wang Min are both members of the royal family. They were bullied like this and they still wanted to take revenge on others. It's really sad and lamentable."

Zhu Tan deeply agreed with this. Both of them were brothers-in-law of Emperor Xianzong, and now with Emperor Hongzhi in power, the distance between them was even greater.

If this was the case, after Emperor Jiajing ascended the throne, wouldn't he have followed in Wang Min's footsteps and been dealt with by Jiajing's relatives, and then wiped out by Emperor Jiajing's entire family!
"The matter of Shao Xi should have been reported to the palace. I wonder how Concubine Shao will respond?"

"Why do you care so much about her? Do you have other intentions towards her?"

Wang Yan was somewhat displeased. She was not much older than Concubine Shao, and Concubine Shao was also extremely beautiful. She was really worried about what Zhu Tan would do.

"I know, you don't have to worry. How can I compare to Emperor Xianzong who fell in love with Aunt Wan who is more than 20 years older than me? I am just worried that Shao Xi's death will bring me more trouble."

Hearing Zhu Tan's words, Wang Yan smiled and she also agreed with this title.

When she entered the palace, Wan Zhen'er was over 30 years old. Although she was not young, she was still deeply loved by Emperor Xianzong. The call of "aunt" made her feel vent.

"Shao Taifei was naturally very upset and fainted several times! Because of this matter, he complained to the emperor twice, and the emperor was merciful because the Earl of Changhua was poisoned to death by Wang Min, so Shao Xi's descendants could continue to be granted the title of marquis."

"That's all? Is there anything else? Didn't you come to see if Concubine Shao was sad?"

Wang Yan was stunned. "How can sadness be pretended? Anyway, I don't understand what you mean."

Zhu Tan thought that no matter what, Wang Yan was hers, and especially the relationship between the two must not be exposed, so she expressed her guess about Concubine Shao.

As for Zhu Youlang's son, there was no trace of him and no one would believe it if he were to tell others about him. However, he told everyone everything about Shao Xi's involvement in the Spring Examination Case and Lu Song's whereabouts in the capital.

Wang Yan thought Zhu Tan was worrying too much. Concubine Shao was just a concubine in the You Palace. How much power did she have? There were only a few people around her. It was not easy for her to even leave the palace!
So Zhu Tan put aside his worries and took the initiative to suggest that he should pay more attention in the future.

Zhu Tan was very happy with Wang Yan's attitude and was also satisfied with her mature body. That was the most beautiful time in a woman's life.

It was easy to be imprisoned for the second time, and she lived a comfortable life. (End of this chapter)