Sword Xia of the Shu Mountains Chapter 35: Chang Lingyun put Emperor Wanli under house arrest

Although the Wanli Emperor, with the help of Wei Zhongxian, successfully seized control of the imperial court from the Donglin party members, he was always worried about one person. This person is Chang Lingyun, who has organized disaster relief in Shanxi and has not yet returned to the capital. Because of his high martial arts skills, he is very difficult to deal with. Emperor Wanli is worried that when he returns, he will regain control of the court in his own hands. hands. So, he secretly summoned Wei Zhongxian, the **** who was already in charge of the East Factory, in his bedroom.

"Wei Zhongxian, although I have regained the real power of Daming now, I have always worried about one person in my heart. Do you know who it is?"

After listening to Emperor Wanli's words, Wei Zhongxian immediately guessed who was the person that Emperor Wanli was worried about

"Back to the emperor, you must be worried that Chang Lingyun, the leader of the rebels who has not returned to the capital, is far away in Shanxi"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Emperor Wanli sighed deeply, because he knew very well that Chang Lingyun was a difficult person to deal with. If he found such a political situation after returning to the capital, it would definitely be detrimental to him.

"Hey, yes. You are the only one who understands my heart the most. Chang Lingyun, the traitor, is a disciple of the Shushan faction and possesses extraordinary skills. If he returns to the palace, he will use his skills to let Dong Lin If the party members regain control of the government and restore the constitutional monarchy, and let me be a puppet again, what should I do?”

After listening to Emperor Wanli's words, Wei Zhongxian quickly came up with an idea

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, as long as the rebels of the Donglin Party are forced to give up the constitutional monarchy and support the autocratic monarchy, Chang Lingyun will be disheartened, return to the fairyland, and have no intention of taking control of the imperial government"

"Okay, I'll leave this to you"

"Minions, take orders"

After Wei Zhongxian finished speaking, Emperor Wanli remembered the construction of Ding Mausoleum

"In addition, I passed on my will, ordering the workers who built the Dingling to continue to work, expropriate the people's money, and make sure to complete the final process within seven days"

"Minions follow the order"

After Emperor Wanli's imperial decree was issued, the workers who built Dingling continued to work under the supervision of the person in charge, Yang Wenhao, to complete the final process inside Dingling; on the other hand, Wei Zhongxian was ordered by Emperor Wanli to go to the people Scrape the gold and silver jewelry from the common people to meet the materials needed for the internal construction process of Dingling

In the capital, officers and soldiers broke into private houses and swindled the people's finances everywhere, making the people in the capital resounded again with their dissatisfaction and complaints against the imperial court. An ordinary couple in the capital was rumored to have a pair of emerald phoenixes that have been passed down from the Northern Song Dynasty to the present day. When he led him to the door of the ordinary couple, he found that the house that the couple lived in was ordinary and shabby, and did not look like a rich family at all; so he asked the informant

"Are you sure this is the one?"

"That's right, it's this one"

The whistleblower is a hunchback. He bent over and pointed to the door, and answered with great certainty

"But my father-in-law sees that the house this family lives in is so shabby, it doesn't look like a rich family at all"

"Father-in-law, what Xiaomin said is absolutely true, and their family does have an emerald phoenix that is priceless"

"Okay"

After Wei Zhongxian finished speaking, he took out a gold ingot from his sleeve, put it in the whistleblower's hand, looked at the whistleblower with contempt and said

"This gold ingot is your reward for whistleblowing, take this money and go"

"Thank you Eunuch Wei, thank Eunuch Wei"

After saying thank you twice, the whistleblower quickly left Wei Zhongxian's sight. When the informer left, Wei Zhongxian ordered the Guards beside him

"Break the door open"

"Yes"

There was only a thud, and the door was slammed open. When Wei Zhongxian walked into the yard with the Guards beside him, there was a couple in brown clothes standing in the yard, looking at Wei Zhongxian among the Guards with fear. After getting married, Wei Zhongxian asked hypocritically with a smile on his face.

"Don't be afraid, we will not hurt you, as long as you hand over the emerald phoenix, we will leave here immediately"

The husband of the couple hugged his wife tightly and looked at Wei Zhongxian in fear and replied with a trembling voice

"Okay...Okay...I'll go get it"

In order to protect his wife, Xiang Gong stood up and cleared out the pair of ancestral jade phoenixes in the room according to Wei Zhongxian's instructions, with shame and helplessness on his face. But compared with his wife and his own life, precious treasures are nothing in his eyes, and the other party already knows that they have this pair of treasures in their home. If they retort that there are no treasures, they will only anger the other party and invite people to kill them. woe

"Father, give"

When Mr. Xiang handed the pair of emerald phoenixes to Wei Zhongxian, tears of pain and helplessness immediately flowed from his eyes. After taking over the treasure, Wei Zhongxian decided to let them go when he saw that the treasure had already been obtained, and the husband was very acquainted. Before leaving, he still held the pair of emerald phoenixes in his hands and said

"You know each other, and you didn't oppose Ben Gong. Ben Gong was ordered by the emperor to go to the people to collect the funeral objects of Dingling, but it was also out of frustration. You two should live a good life"

After he finished speaking, he walked out of the gate without looking back; after Wei Zhongxian and the Guards had left, Xiang Gong finally couldn't bear it anymore, he knelt on the ground and cried

"My God, how will I live in the future"

After obtaining the pair of jade phoenixes, Wei Zhongxian did not hand them over to the imperial court as funeral objects in Dingling as he said to the couple just now, but took them as his own. On the other hand, the Imperial Guard was ordered by Emperor Wanli to scrape the people's fat and plaster everywhere in the capital, making the people in the capital's enthusiasm and love for the imperial court since the implementation of the constitutional monarchy instantly vanished.

A few days later, the supply of gold, diamonds, pearls and agate treasures needed in Dingling has been sufficient, and the workers began to accelerate the construction of the final process inside Dingling in order to receive double the amount within the stipulated completion time. wages. While the workers were busy renovating the interior of Dingling, the supervisor Yang Wenhao stood aside and said loudly

"Hurry up and work hard, be sure to complete the last process in seven days. After the mausoleum is completed, you can receive double the wages"

In the dungeon in the palace, a locked door was opened from behind the door by the jailer, and a man dressed in a brocade dragon robe walked in from behind the door. He was Emperor Wanli. Emperor Wanli was walking down the stairs step by step. When he was led by the jailer to the aisle of the prison where the Donglin Dang people were being held, he sorted out his appearance and greeted the Donglin Dang party headed by Gu Xian. people say

"You gang of rebels, plotting my Daming Jiangshan to treat me as a puppet in the palace. Fortunately, I found out in time and was able to expose your conspiracy and tricks. You gang of rebels, I didn't punish you for the death penalty. It would be merciful to put you to death one by one."

After listening to the words of Emperor Wanli, Gu Xiancheng spoke. He knew in his heart that Emperor Wanli became like this because he was instigated by some traitors in the court, so he imagined that he could use his own words to make Emperor Wanli timely. wake up

"Your Majesty, don't misunderstand the words of those treacherous officials. We Donglin Party members are dedicated to the country and have no intention of conspiracy. This is just the side of those treacherous officials. In order to seek to usurp the throne, ask the emperor to investigate"

However, Gu Xiancheng's words did not shake the feudal kingship idea that Wei Zhongxian instilled in Emperor Wanli. He sneered and said to Gu Xiancheng

"You Donglin party members have held the government for a long time and made me a puppet. It is nothing more than trying to prepare for the future usurpation of the dynasty. What kind of constitutional monarchy does not allow me to hold any real power, then I am too boring to be the emperor. ”

When Gu Xiancheng was about to give his pale explanation for Emperor Wanli, Zuo Guangdou, who was locked in the aisle of the cell, spoke, he said to Gu Xiancheng

"Master Gu, don't explain anything to this stupid lord. This ignorant lord is loyal and treacherous. He has long been numb to his mind by the traitor, and no matter how much you talk to him, it will be nonsense"

After hearing this, Emperor Wanli's lungs were about to explode. He turned around angrily and glared at Zuo Guangdou, who was locked in the cell, and roared

"You are so bold, since you dare to call me a fool, aren't you afraid that I will punish you for the Nine Clan?"

After listening to Emperor Wanli's words, Zuo Guangdou closed his eyes dismissively and sneered

"If you wanted to kill us, you should have ordered us to hand us over to the Ministry of Justice for capital punishment, but you just didn't do it. I guess you must have some purpose. Someone to help you with one thing, right, Your Majesty"

After listening to Zuo Guangdou's words, Emperor Wanli smiled and praised

"Hahaha, Zuo Guangdou, you are so smart, you know what I want you to do?"

After speaking, Emperor Wanli gently slapped Zuo Guangdou twice, and then continued

"Yes, I really want to ask you to do something for me. If this is done successfully, I can guarantee your safety, otherwise, I will kill you immediately"

After listening to the words of Emperor Wanli, Gu Xiancheng asked

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, what's the matter?"

At this time, Emperor Wanli glanced at Gu Xiancheng, who was imprisoned behind him, and said lightly

"I want you to give up the constitutional monarchy and support my autocratic monarchy when the traitor Chang Lingyun returns, so that the traitor Chang Lingyun will be disheartened and go back to the fairyland. You've added officials and nobility for you"

After listening to Emperor Wanli's words, Zuo Guangdou immediately understood, he sneered at Emperor Wanli and asked

"Haha, so the emperor is afraid of our Prime Minister"

After listening to Zuo Guangdou's words, Emperor Wanli said nervously and guilty

"I...I am the Supreme Being of Ninety-five, how could I be afraid of him"

"If you're not afraid of him, then why do you stammer your words? Could it be that the emperor has a guilty conscience"

Zuo Guangdou's words made Emperor Wanli speechless. In order to achieve his goals, Emperor Wanli decided to use torture to force them to submit

"I don't want to argue with you, there's no good end for you to go against me. If you don't do what I say, I will order the Ministry of Punishment to punish you, so you can do it yourself"

After leaving this sentence, Emperor Wanli quickly left the dungeon as if he was fleeing in a hurry. Seven days have passed, and almost all the Donglin party members who were detained in the dungeon were severely tortured by the jailers. They still would rather die than give in, refuse to bow their heads in front of Emperor Wanli, succumb to Emperor Wanli’s lewd power, and refuse to interrupt their good wishes to revitalize Daming through a constitutional monarchy; soon, the prison officer in charge of the dungeons greeted Emperor Wanli in the main hall. reported this

"Report to the emperor, the rebels of the Donglin Party still refuse to cooperate with the emperor"

After listening to the prison officer's report, Emperor Wanli was so angry that his teeth were itchy, and in a hurry, he burst into anger

"Send my will and put all these rebels to death"

However, at this time, Wei Zhongxian, who was standing next to the throne of Emperor Wanli, hurriedly stopped the road

"Your Majesty, this must be done"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Emperor Wanli asked with a puzzled face

"Why?"

Wei Zhongxian replied

"If these rebels are executed, it will only anger Chang Lingyun, the leader of the thieves, and force Chang Lingyun to rebel in advance, but it will be detrimental to us"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's advice, Emperor Wanli said anxiously and helplessly

"Then what do you think I should do?"

"Don't worry, the emperor, the minions have their own way to make these rebels obey the emperor's orders"

At this moment, Yang Wenhao, the person in charge of the construction of Dingling, had rushed to the main hall to announce the completion of the construction to Emperor Wanli. He hurriedly knelt down in front of Emperor Wanli's throne in the hall, arched his arms and smiled. said

"Your Majesty is overjoyed, Your Majesty"

"Where does the joy come from?"

"The construction of Dingling has been completed, and it can be completed as long as the emperor issues an edict"

After hearing the news, Wanli Emperor Longyan Dayue, he was very happy to say to Yang Wenhao

"Haha, okay, okay, pass on my will, double the wages for the workers involved in the construction of the mausoleum, fulfill the promise of the court, as a reward for the hard work of this group of workers"

But Wei Zhongxian's words made Emperor Wanli's face immediately show a look of embarrassment

"Your Majesty, half of the money in the treasury has been allocated to Supervisor Yang to build the Dingling Tomb. If the rest of the money is given to those workers, then the officials of the court will lose money in living expenses. Yeah"

"Ah, what did you say? Then, what should I do? I have promised those workers to pay them double the wages. Wei Zhongxian, please think of a solution for me."

Wei Zhongxian thought and thought in his mind at this time, and finally came up with a more vicious and self-serving way; his eyes were fierce, and he said to Emperor Wanli in a low tone

"Your Majesty, I have come up with a good way to keep the secrets of the imperial mausoleum without paying the workers"

"What is the solution? Tell me about it"

As a result, Wei Zhongxian leaned down, leaned close to Emperor Wanli's ear, and whispered to Emperor Wanli.

The day of the completion of the Dingling Tomb has come. Wei Zhongxian and Yang Wenhao were ordered by Emperor Wanli to come to the inspection and hold a grand completion banquet for all the workers who participated in the construction of Dingling. Playing drums and waving flags and shouting, the workers sat and ate and drank in the middle of the banquet surrounded by officers and soldiers, not knowing that a life-threatening disaster was coming. At this time, Wei Zhongxian is standing on the podium hypocritically commending the performance of the workers

"Folks, you are fortunate. You work day and night to build the mausoleum for the emperor. The emperor is very moved. You are so dedicated to repaying the emperor's kindness. Sixteen thousand taels of silver"

After Wei Zhongxian finished speaking, he symbolically opened one of the boxes, only to see that there was indeed a box full of silver. After he finished speaking, he picked up a jar of royal wine bestowed by the emperor and sat down at the banquet under the stage. All the workers said

"This is the royal wine that was personally gifted by the emperor. After drinking this royal wine, let's collect your wages one by one"

After speaking, he ordered some officers and soldiers around the banquet to pour a bowl of imperial wine for each of these workers. After pouring the imperial wine, Wei Zhongxian stood on the podium symbolically again, holding a bowl of imperial wine and saying to the workers

"The villagers, the success of the construction of the imperial mausoleum, made this bowl of wine"

Some unsuspecting workers said gratefully

"This is a gift from the court"

"Yes, the imperial court is really kind to us, we must be loyal to the imperial court in the future"

"Yes, to serve the court"

Then, all the workers stood up from their seats and drank the royal wine from their bowls without hesitation. But who knows, just after a cup of belly, those workers suddenly foamed at the mouth and bleeds from seven holes. After they realized the poisoning, they fell to the ground before they could wake up. But Wei Zhongxian, who had just symbolically drank a bowl of "Royal Wine", did nothing at all, because what he drank was not poisoned imperial wine at all, but an ordinary bowl of water. When the officers and soldiers confirmed that all the poor workers were dead and none were spared, Wei Zhongxian ordered:

"Throw all their bodies in the big pit and sprinkle with corpse powder, so as not to show any traces"

"Yes, father-in-law"

After replying to Wei Zhongxian's order, one of the leading officers and soldiers organized other officers and soldiers to deal with the corpses of the workers together; Yang Wenhao, who was standing beside Wei Zhongxian, saw that the pile of corpses had been sprinkled with corpse powder. When the scene gradually turned into a pool of pus, Yang Wenhao suddenly felt his scalp tingle, and he was so frightened that he was trembling with fear.

"Wei... Wei... Eunuch Wei, this... do this... do... not quite... not quite... well, after all, they are workers who worked hard to build the imperial mausoleum, you... how... how can you... how can you treat them like this "

Wei Zhongxian glanced at Yang Wenhao without changing his face, and said

"What's wrong with doing this? They all know the secrets of Dingling's treasures. If they don't kill them all, destroy a trace, and let Chang Lingyun find out the truth; if they don't kill these untouchables, then the emperor will Wouldn’t the treasures in Dingling be robbed by tomb robbers? Besides, the imperial court simply couldn’t give them 16,000 taels of silver, so instead of asking them to ask the imperial court for debts, it would be better to kill them a hundred times.”

After the officers and soldiers had finished disposing of the bodies of the workers, Wei Zhongxian simply spit out two words from his mouth

"Back to the Palace"

Two days later, Chang Lingyun and Wu Ruoyun's accompanying group of central officials finally returned to the capital. When they returned to the capital, they found that some people in the capital were staring at him with angry eyes, and then they didn't look back. Hiding in the house and closing the door, there is no love and enthusiasm of the past. Seeing that the attitudes of these people have changed so quickly, Chang Lingyun became a little doubtful in his heart

"What's wrong with these people, why do they run away when they see me?"

The Northwest Counselor Wang Guozhou, standing beside Chang Lingyun, said

"In my opinion, there must be a major event in the capital recently"

At this time, Wu Ruoyun said to Chang Lingyun

"Brother Lingyun, why don't you go to a commoner and ask what's going on?"

Therefore, Chang Lingyun, Wu Ruoyun and the accompanying officials found an ordinary family in the capital. After knocking on the door, they saw a middle-aged man who opened the door. When the man saw Chang Lingyun and his side After some accompanying officials, they immediately prepared to close the door without hesitation. Chang Lingyun immediately blocked one of the doors from the outside with his right arm and asked

"This fellow, why did you close the door as soon as you saw me, what happened?"

The middle-aged man reluctantly opened the door, then arched his arms and replied

"Sir, my family really has no money. I beg the lord to hold your hand high and let us go. You sent a **** a few days ago to collect the wealth. The only pair of precious jade phoenixes in my family were taken away. He took it."

After listening to the middle-aged man, Chang Lingyun was slightly startled and asked in surprise

"What did you say?"

Afterwards, he turned his face to Wang Guozhou and the others who were standing beside him and asked in confusion

"How could this happen? Who did this? How could anyone do such a thing?"

Wang Guozhou guessed at this time

"I think some **** may have issued such an order in your name after you left"

"Mr. Gu will definitely not order such a thing. If it wasn't for Mr. Gu, who would it be?"

Just when Chang Lingyun was constantly suspicious in his mind, Senate President An Tiande gave him an idea

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, you may wish to go back to the palace to find the emperor and ask the emperor, and the problem will naturally come to the fore"

"Okay, let's go"

When Chang Lingyun was about to leave, he suddenly thought of the emerald phoenix mentioned by the middle-aged man, so he returned to the door of the middle-aged man's house and confronted the middle-aged man who had not yet had time to close the door. ask

"Fellow, who stole your emerald phoenix"

The middle-aged man told Chang Lingyun the details based on his memory

"He is a eunuch, and his subordinates call him Eunuch Wei"

After hearing the description of the middle-aged man, Chang Lingyun already knew who that person was

"Hometown, don't worry, I will definitely get your pair of jade phoenixes back, what's your name?"

The middle-aged man replied

"Master Hui, my name is Zhang Shuang"

"Okay, Zhang Shuang. After I get your pair of emerald phoenixes back, I will send someone back to you"

At this time, Wei Zhongxian was playing with the emerald phoenix that he forcibly took away from Zhang Shuang's house in his dormitory. At this time, a little **** hurriedly opened the door of Wei Zhongxian's bedroom and came in to report

"Eunuch Wei is bad, Chang Lingyun has returned to the palace"

After listening to the little eunuch's report, Wei Zhongxian didn't panic, he continued to play with the emerald phoenix and said lightly

"Understood, don't panic, then I will put all the blame on the emperor, he will definitely not suspect me"

"But what if the emperor's confession was your idea?"

Wei Zhongxian put down the pair of emerald phoenixes in his hands at this time, then turned around and faced the little eunuch, posing as if he didn't take it to heart and said it didn't matter

"Relax, even if the emperor's confession in front of Chang Lingyun was the idea I gave him, it's also the fault of the emperor, and nothing will happen"

After a period of time, Chang Lingyun and others had reached the gate of the palace wall and entered the Forbidden City. After entering the Forbidden City, Chang Lingyun found that there was no one in the Forbidden City. Just when they were feeling very confused, a row of black figures suddenly appeared on the wall of the Forbidden City. A group of well-armed archers were standing on the city wall and opening their bows and arrows at them; then, the most elite cavalry, infantry and musketeers in the Shenji Battalion of the Ming Empire, trained by Chang Lingyun himself, passed from the gate of the Forbidden City. They rushed up from all directions, and in a short while they surrounded Chang Lingyun and others in the middle; at this time, Chang Lingyun immediately realized that something was wrong, so he asked one of the leading cavalry captains

"Whose will do you want to act like this and send troops to surround this Prime Minister, do you want to rebel?"

The cavalry captain didn't speak. He turned his face to the man behind him who was riding a white horse and wearing a red dragon robe. This man was the Emperor Wanli. After seeing this scene, Chang Lingyun felt a burst of surprise in his heart. I understand why Emperor Wanli did this, thinking that he has worked hard for Daming Jiangshan over the years and made so many contributions, but Emperor Wanli treats him like this today, which makes him feel very chilled

"Your Majesty, why are you doing this?"

Emperor Wanli looked at Chang Lingyun with angry eyes and said angrily

"Why? You should understand in your heart that you are implementing a constitutional monarchy and arrogating my power, but you are actually trying to conspire against me. Fortunately, I discovered it in time, otherwise I would have been fooled by you, you traitorous minister, in vain I trusted you so much in the past, but I didn't expect you to actually want to rebel, and today I have to kill you, the rebel, with my own hands"

After hearing the roar of Emperor Wanli, Chang Lingyun was still very puzzled

"Your Majesty, when did I ever think of taking over Daming's country? I have served Daming with all my heart for so many years. Don't Your Majesty still understand my loyalty? Your Majesty, who did you listen to and actually acted on? Such a ridiculous thing?"

"Hey, if you say I'm absurd, then I'll let you fully understand why I'm doing this"

After Wanli finished speaking, he ordered the Donglin party members led by Gu Xian to be brought to Chang Lingyun from behind the cavalry and infantry. When Chang Lingyun was about to ask Gu Xiancheng what was going on , Gu Xiancheng scolded Chang Lingyun face to face in front of Emperor Wanli

"Chang Lingyun, you disloyal and disobedient dog thief, in the name of the constitutional monarchy, use up the emperor's power and plot against my country, you should be punished"

After listening to this, Chang Lingyun felt a bit of confusion in his heart, and his mind was almost confused; he was the one who took the initiative to advocate the implementation of the constitutional monarchy, why the attitude towards the constitutional monarchy has changed so much now Quick, not to mention that he has worked with Gu Xiancheng for so many years, and he has a very good understanding of Gu Xiancheng's character and person, so he does not believe that what he heard just now was said by Gu Xiancheng; and Zuo Guangdou said this at this time. After hearing this sentence, Chang Lingyun felt even more incredible

"Chang Lingyun, we believed you wrongly and didn't realize your true intention of proposing a constitutional monarchy, so we let you take advantage of your conspiracy and tricks, and now we have abandoned the dark to the light, I advise you You'd better capture your hands and apologize to the emperor face to face, or you will die here"

After listening to this, Chang Lingyun began to realize that Gu Xiancheng and Zuo Guangdou might be evil; in order to prove his guess was right, he asked with a smile

"Hahaha, since both of you said that I implemented a constitutional monarchy to evade the power of the emperor in order to rebel, then I ask you? Who came up with the idea of ​​a constitutional monarchy?"

After listening to this, Gu Xiancheng answered with great certainty

"Of course it was you"

At this time, Emperor Wanli spoke

"Chang Lingyun, what else do you have to say? I want you to serve Daming for so many years and save my life. I won't hold you accountable. You should return to the immortal world and not the human world."

After hearing this, Chang Lingyun laughed, and laughed very freely; this laughter confused some of the Donglin party members, the emperor, and the imperial guards around him, and he was confused. But the laughter that came from Chang Lingyun's mouth still continued; finally, Emperor Wanli couldn't bear it anymore, he asked sharply

"Chang Lingyun, what are you laughing at?"

Chang Lingyun stopped laughing and said sadly in his heart

"Your Majesty, I have always served Da Ming for so many years, yet you treat me like this"

After he finished speaking, he waved his right palm to make the palm wind blow on the faces of Gu Xiancheng and other Donglin Party members; as he blew, the human skin masks on their faces fell off under the action of the palm wind. It turned out that Chang Lingyun had long expected that they were pretending, and after the palm wind stopped, he went straight to the horse that Emperor Wanli was riding and stared at Emperor Wanli who was riding on the horse, clenching his teeth, and questioning

"Your Majesty, you have recruited these people to pretend to be members of the Donglin Party to slander me as a rebel. What do you mean by doing this? I, Chang Lingyun, are loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and I just want to consolidate the Ming Dynasty through the constitutional monarchy. Haven't thought about getting your hands on your throne, but you call me a rebel?"

After finishing speaking, Chang Lingyun looked up at the sky in despair and smiled coldly. At this time, Emperor Wanli, who was conscious of his wrongdoing, took the reins of his horse and took a few steps back, and then pretended to be righteous and said.

"Chang Lingyun, you don't need to argue any more. Since you refuse to return to the Immortal Realm, don't blame me for being ruthless"

Then, Emperor Wanli ordered the cavalry, infantry, musketeers of the Shenji Battalion, and archers on the city wall to destroy Chang Lingyun and others in one fell swoop, but ordered Wu Ruoyun not to be hurt. Chang Lingyun glanced dismissively at all the troops commanded by Emperor Wanli and sneered

"Hehe, you want to take my life, Chang Lingyun, just because of you pustules"

At this time, Wu Ruoyun had been pushed away by Chang Lingyun and pushed him to Emperor Wanli's side. Emperor Wanli immediately ordered the two infantrymen beside him to be responsible for protecting Wu Ruoyun. When the bullets shot by the musketeers of the Shenji Battalion were about to approach Chang Lingyun and others, Chang Lingyun used his inner strength to turn it into a protective shield, and bounced back the bows, arrows and projectiles that had been shot; He rushed forward and wanted to kill Chang Lingyun, but Chang Lingyun turned his inner strength into a ball of oval-shaped sparkling white balls, and then shot it out effortlessly. When the horse was standing, the horse fell to the ground disobediently under the action of the ball of light, making a hissing sound; when all the cavalry of Emperor Wanli fell down, Chang Lingyun made a thunderous stride and lightning-fast charge. He went to the side of Emperor Wanli's horse, dragged Emperor Wanli from the horse's back forcibly, and then grabbed Emperor Wanli's neck with his hands and threatened him

"Your Majesty, let your subordinates retreat for me, or I will strangle you"

And the two infantrymen who were previously responsible for protecting Wu Ruoyun threatened Chang Lingyun with a knife at Wu Ruoyun's neck at this time

"If you dare to touch the emperor's hair, I will kill this girl"

But at this time, Emperor Wanli ordered them

"Don't hurt Miss Wu, let her go quickly"

Then the two infantrymen released Wu Ruoyun; at this time, Wu Ruoyun angrily watched Emperor Wanli and cursed

"God emperor, quickly order your subordinates to withdraw from the Forbidden City quickly. We are dedicated to your life for the sake of your Daming Jiangshan society. You treat us like this.

After listening to Wu Ruoyun's words, Emperor Wanli did not feel angry, he ordered very decisively

"According to my will, all my troops of the Ming Dynasty quickly withdraw from the Forbidden City"

After hearing this decree, the leaders of the cavalry and infantry became a little at a loss for a while. They didn't believe that the emperor would give up the overall plan to kill Chang Lingyun so quickly because of a woman's words; Two of the leaders hesitated for a while and asked

"Your Majesty, do you really want to let them go?"

Emperor Wanli gasped loudly and anxiously under the coercion of Chang Lingyun, and roared at the same time

"What are you still doing? Hurry up and order a retreat"

After receiving the order, they had to lead their subordinates to withdraw from the Forbidden City. After all the troops had withdrawn, Chang Lingyun let go of Emperor Wanli and questioned

"Where do you keep Gu Xiancheng and the others, tell me quickly"

At this time, Wei Zhongxian rushed over from the gate of the Forbidden City alone, and he hurriedly shouted to Chang Lingyun while running

"Don't hurt the emperor, don't hurt the emperor, I know where Gu Xiancheng and the others are"

After a while, under the leadership of Wei Zhongxian and Emperor Wanli, Chang Lingyun found in the dungeon the dying Donglin party members who had been tortured by Emperor Wanli. At the gate of this dimly lit cell, Chang Lingyun found Gu Xiancheng, who was in a coma after being tortured by the jailer at a glance, and immediately ran into the cell like galloping, and quickly supported Gu Xiancheng's body with concern shouted anxiously

"How are you, Mr. Gu? Mr. Gu"

At this time, Gu Xiancheng was still in a coma. No matter how loudly Chang Lingyun shouted in his ear, he was like a dead corpse. scolded

"You stupid prince, Mr. Gu has been loyal to the country all his life, but you treat him like this. If he has any shortcomings, I will abolish you and support the prince to be the emperor of Ming Dynasty"

However, the words he said inadvertently have long been remembered by Emperor Wanli forever, and also let the villain Wei Zhongxian seize the handle of slandering him

Chang Lingyun saw that Gu Xiancheng, who was in a coma, couldn't wake up, so he treated Gu Xiancheng's wound with the Dafa of Healing. Gu Xiancheng. After taking Da Huan Dan, Gu Xiancheng opened his eyes slightly. When he saw Chang Lingyun, he was instantly excited

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, you are finally back"

"Yes, I'm back"

After finishing speaking, he glanced sideways at Emperor Wanli, and then said to Gu Xiancheng

"Mr. Gu, tell me the reasons why you are locked here, and I can make the decision for you"

Gu Xiancheng grabbed Chang Lingyun's sleeve and said excitedly

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, don't worry, you can talk about it after all the other detainees have been treated"

As a result, Chang Lingyun used healing Dafa to heal Zuo Guangdou and others from their wounds, just as Caring for Xiancheng had just said. He then told Chang Lingyun in detail the fact that they were being held here; after listening to Gu Xiancheng's account, Chang Lingyun stood up and looked at Emperor Wanli angrily and asked

"Your Majesty, is what he said true?"

"Yes"

Emperor Wanli nodded and replied weakly

"Okay, if that's the case, follow me to the Council Chamber and stand trial"

After hearing that Chang Lingyun said he wanted to judge the Wanli Emperor, Wei Zhongxian felt a little anxious in his heart, he hurriedly knelt down and said to Chang Lingyun

"Lord Prime Minister, this has nothing to do with the emperor. In fact, these matters are all my ideas for the emperor, and have nothing to do with the emperor. If the Prime Minister wants to judge, just judge the slaves"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Chang Lingyun said angrily

"Shut up, I know in my heart who I want to judge, you don't need to tell me here; I still have an account that I haven't figured out with you, and I will judge you before I judge the emperor"

After a while, Wei Zhongxian was ordered by Chang Lingyun to be taken to the interrogation room in the cell; facing Chang Lingyun's interrogation, the cunning Wei Zhongxian saw that he could not escape the suspicion of the whole thing, so he decided to put all the blame on Emperor Wanli

"Wei Zhongxian, you just said that the reason why the emperor made mistakes is because he heard the rumor of a dream interpretation master. Is it true?"

Chang Lingyun asked coldly, Wei Zhongxian lowered his head and replied softly

"Yes, it's all the fault of the slaves. I hired a master of dream interpretation for the emperor, so that the emperor believed it to be true and made a big mistake"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Chang Lingyun asked very suspiciously

"What kind of dream did that dream master interpret?"

"In the past few days when the Prime Minister was away, the emperor had a nightmare. He dreamed that an evil spirit in a dragon robe was chasing him, and while chasing, he threatened the emperor to hand over the Ming Dynasty. The folks found a master of dream interpretation named Qiu Kun. Who knew that he actually called Donglin Party and the Prime Minister you the evil ghost in the dream. Later, the emperor believed it to be true and imprisoned Mr. Gu and the others in the dungeon. And I plan to get rid of you when you come back, Prime Minister"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Chang Lingyun analyzed it in his mind for a while, and felt that the master of dream interpretation named Qiu Kun was very suspicious; he took out the universal mirror from his arms and wanted to find out this The whereabouts of the person; however, no matter how he called out Qiu Kun's name in the mirror, the mirror could not reveal the whereabouts of the person. So, he took back the mirror and asked Wei Zhongxian who was sitting opposite the interrogation table with suspicious eyes

"Are you lying, why did I just use the Universal Mirror to find out Qiu Kun's whereabouts, but I couldn't find out?"

After listening to Chang Lingyun's words, Wei Zhongxian said nervously and anxiously

"Every sentence the slave said was true. Later, the slave also felt that Qiu Kun's demonic words were confusing, so he sent someone to kill him on the road, and then abandoned the corpse in the wilderness"

After hearing Wei Zhongxian's explanation, Chang Lingyun quickly understood why the whereabouts of Chou Kun could not be found out

"Presumably Qiu Kun's brain must have been eaten up by tigers, leopards and wolves. No wonder he couldn't find out his whereabouts"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Wei Zhongxian again and sternly blamed

"Why are you acting so recklessly, do you think it's okay to kill him? Do you know how important this person is to our whole thing, in case he is a spy sent by the chaotic party What should I do, if you do it like this, it will really be dead without proof."

After listening to Chang Lingyun's words, Wei Zhongxian took a deep breath. He was very fortunate that Chang Lingyun had never suspected him from beginning to end; so he thought in his heart: Anyway, Qiu Kun's body is already dead. Turned into a pool of pus by me, no matter how much you look for it, you can't find it, so it's just right to be dead; in order to show that he doesn't know the whole thing, he continues to pretend like a clown

"The slave is convicted, the slave is convicted, the slave really doesn't know that this person is so important to the whole case"

"Alright, alright, those who don't know are innocent, I don't blame you for the truth, after the death of that dream interpreter named Qiu Kun, I didn't hear about any major movement of his remaining party in the capital, he should not be anything Rebel"

After speaking, he thought about Zhang Shuang's pair of jade phoenixes

"But I have something I want to ask you about"

"Excuse me, Mr. Prime Minister, what's the matter?"

"Is there a pair of emerald phoenixes hidden in your home? I heard that you snatched it from the home of a commoner named Zhang Shuang in the capital. You'd better recruit it from the truth. Your head is on the ground"

After hearing this, Wei Zhongxian immediately broke out in cold sweat. Compared with his most beloved pair of emerald phoenixes, the head on his neck was the most precious, so he immediately knelt down Telling the truth to Chang Lingyun

"The slave knows his mistake, the slave should die for the crime. The slave was ordered by the emperor a few days ago to collect gold and silver jewelry from the people to complete the final process of building Dingling. Zhang Shuang’s family took it and finally took it as his own”

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Chang Lingyun turned his face to one side and sighed in disappointment

"I can't think of this stupid dog emperor doing some robbery of people's property while I'm not here. Have I really run out of energy in the Ming Dynasty?"

After finishing speaking, he turned to Wei Zhongxian and said

"Get up, don't be so afraid, since you have told the truth of the matter, the truth will not blame you; it's just that the pair of jade phoenixes please hand them over, and I will send someone to return it to the owner"

Wei Zhongxian stood up at this time, arched his arms and said to Chang Lingyun

"The slaves must obey"

A few days later, in the solemn and solemn Council Chamber, Chang Lingyun sat on the judge's seat and tried the Wanli Emperor together with the senators in charge of constitutional monarchy laws and the House of Representatives jury. At this time, Emperor Wanli was sitting in the seat of the accused, and he had long lost his dignity, glory and prestige as an emperor. If it wasn't for wearing a yellow dragon robe, almost no one would recognize him as the current emperor. In the face of the sacred and solemn law, no matter whether it is the emperor, the minister or the commoner, all should be treated equally; the gentleman who breaks the law and the common people are guilty of the same crime. This rule has existed since ancient times, and the Wanli Emperor was naturally no exception.

At this time, Chang Lingyun was looking at Emperor Wanli who was sitting in the seat of the accused with a serious face and asked

"Zhu Yijun, do you know the crime?"

Emperor Wanli bowed his head and gave a weak and simple answer

"Convicted"

"Then do you know what crime you committed?"

"I privately embezzled the government's public funds, plundered the people's fat, built the imperial mausoleum for my own sake, and hurt innocent people in the capital; I also listened to the dream interpretation master's slander, and framed the judge as a traitor who was trying to usurp my Ming Dynasty. Sin deserves death"

"Just feel guilty"

After speaking, Chang Lingyun asked the presiding judge who executed the trial, Gu Xiancheng, the leader of the Donglin Party

"The presiding judge, what should be done according to the "Daming Regulations"?"

Gu Xiancheng flipped through the "Da Ming Regulations" on the table and said

"According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor embezzled public funds without authorization, framed important officials of the court, restored the autocratic monarchy, and abolished the constitutional monarchy, which has committed a crime of endangering the country. /

After speaking, Gu Xiancheng closed the book with a solemn expression; while the defendant, Emperor Wanli, who was listening to the trial, was frightened by a cold sweat.

At this moment, Chang Lingyun stood up and conjured a precious sword inlaid with gems and pearls and put a layer of gold on the scabbard from his hand, and said to Emperor Wanli

"Zhu Yijun, this sword is the sword of Shangfang that you personally gave me when you appointed me as the minister of the cabinet. You said that I could use it to slay a monarch and a traitor. Now you have broken the law. , I will use this Shangfang sword to execute you"

Just when Emperor Wanli was so nervous that he was almost speechless by what Chang Lingyun had just said, and he felt hopeless. Chang Lingyun's next sentence made him completely relax his tense nerves

"I'm here, take out the dragon robe on Zhu Yijun's body"

After hearing the order, the two guards in charge of law and order in the courtroom rudely pulled off the yellow dragon robe on Emperor Wanli's body, then tore off the left and right sleeves of the dragon robe and hung the whole dragon robe in the air. It was placed in front of Chang Lingyun; Chang Lingyun said nothing at this time, took out the sword of Shangfang and chopped Emperor Wanli's dragon robe into two pieces, then retracted the sword into the scabbard and said

"Although the emperor who breaks the law should be severely punished by the law, but the country cannot be without a king for a day; today I use a dragon robe instead of the emperor to be punished. May I ask the presiding judge and the jury, what do you think?"

At this time, presiding judge Gu Xiancheng, House jury representative Zuo Guangdou and Senate jury representative Ye Xianggao said in unison

"No opinion, your Lord's opinion is our opinion"

"Well, if that's the case, then this judge will continue the trial"

After speaking, he returned to the judge's seat and sentenced the Wanli Emperor sitting on the defendant's seat

"Zhu Yijun, the dragon robe has been cut off just now, so this judge will treat you as having already been sentenced. Although the death penalty is exempted, the living crime is unavoidable. The judge will now order you to move to the Taimiao Temple. Facing the tablets of the emperors and ancestors of the Ming Dynasty, slowly Thinking"

The Wanli Emperor arched his arms and replied

"Thanks to the judge, Lord Zhu Yijun, for pardoning my death penalty. Zhu Yijun is willing to meditate in the Taimiao Temple and reform his past wrongs."

When Chang Lingyun saw the sincerity and sincerity of Emperor Wanli's confession, he couldn't bear to treat Emperor Wanli as a judge, because he was the emperor after all, and even if he made a big mistake, he should respect the emperor's Status

"Your Majesty, as long as you can recognize your own mistakes, correct your past mistakes, and abandon evil for good, I will definitely let you out on that day"

The Wanli Emperor's face was still pale at this time. He still regarded Chang Lingyun as a judge in his heart.

"Thank you, Your Honor"

After the trial, Chang Lingyun personally sent Emperor Wanli into the Taimiao; in the Taimiao, he also prepared a bed, toiletries and some daily necessities for Emperor Wanli; after entering the Taimiao, Chang Lingyun said to Emperor Wanli /

"Your Majesty, I am sorry that you have to live in this temple for a while. I will let Wei Zhongxian take care of your food and daily life. You can reflect here for a while, and Wei Chen will retire first"

After speaking, Chang Lingyun arched his arms and exited the Taimiao Temple, and then ordered the Imperial Guard, who was in charge of guarding the Taimiao Temple, not allowing Emperor Wanli to enter or leave at will, to close the gate of the Taimiao Temple. The door was quietly closed from the outside to the inside. Emperor Wanli looked up at the spiritual positions of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty alone, then lowered his head and remained silent, kneeling on the ground very pious, his heart full of hostility to Chang Lingyun and Hatred, I think of the emperors of all dynasties since Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of Taizu, who established the Ming Dynasty, who did not sit in the country and let the ministers obey him, but when he became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he was bullied by the important officials of the court, and not only lost the power that the emperor should have. , status and dignity, and being placed under house arrest in this imperial temple by important officials of the court is really detrimental to the emperor's face; when thinking of this, Emperor Wanli feels more and more that he is too useless to be an emperor, and he is really shameless. To the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty. Since the idea of ​​the supremacy of imperial power instilled in him by Wei Zhongxian has long been deeply rooted at this time, Emperor Wanli has no remorse for the mistakes he has committed. The power, status, and dignity of being an emperor express hatred and humiliation, because he does not want to be a puppet emperor who has no real power and is slaughtered by others. So he clenched his teeth, then clenched his fist and slammed it on the ground, enduring the severe pain caused by the reaction force when hitting the ground, and said coldly in a tone full of anger and hatred

"Chang Lingyun, I will get rid of you sooner or later, please remember it"

And outside the palace, in the mansion where Chang Lingyun lived, Wu Ruoyun was sulking with Chang Lingyun in the mansion. At this time, Wu Ruoyun ran from the living room to the front yard in good spirits, while Chang Lingyun was chasing after her, shouting while chasing

"Xiao Qi, what's wrong with you, Xiao Qi, why are you so angry? If you have something to say, don't run away, okay?"

Wu Ruoyun stopped when she ran to a pine tree in the front yard, and then looked back at Chang Lingyun, who had already chased after him.

"Why did you push me to the emperor's side and then ignore me, why?"

"Because the situation was very dangerous at the time, I was afraid that you would be hurt when you were with me"

"Did you push me to the emperor and I'd be safe?"

"Because you once taught the prince to read, I could see at the time that the emperor still had some friendship with you, and it would be safe to push you to his side"

After he finished speaking, he pulled Wu Ruoyun to the front, then supported her arms with both hands, looked her eyes seriously and said

"Xiao Qi, because the situation was very critical at the time, I had to do this for your safety. I don't want to see you suffer any harm because of me. As long as you can stay unscathed, no matter how big the risk is, I'm willing to take it. "

And Wu Ruoyun pushed away Chang Lingyun's arms, stood aside and said with his back to him indifferently

"But did you ever take into account my feelings at the time? Didn't we agree to live and die together? You just threw me to the emperor so cruelly, while you were alone in the face of those who don't have long eyes. Arrows and projectiles, did you know that if you were dead, I wouldn't want to live"

Wu Ruoyun's words made Chang Lingyun feel very sweet, he hugged her from behind Wu Ruoyun with a smile and said

"Silly girl, how could Brother Lingyun die so easily. Don't worry, no matter what happens in the future, Brother Lingyun will always stay by your side to protect you, because you are my woman"

At this time, Wu Ruoyun fell into Chang Lingyun's arms and asked in a whisper

"Then, since you said I'm your woman, when can we get married?"

"Xiaoqi, you don't have to be so anxious, the day of our marriage is coming soon; I believe that after the emperor has experienced this, he will definitely wake up; when he wakes up, I will let him out and go there. Then I will take you to get the emperor's decree to allow us to marry, and finally we will be happy fairy companions, return to the fairyland and be together forever"

However, the truth is far from being as simple as Chang Lingyun imagined. With Wei Zhongxian, a dog **** who would only sow discord and gossip in the ears of Emperor Wanli, Emperor Wanli would never wake up; On the order of Chang Lingyun, he entered the Taimiao Temple to deliver meals to Emperor Wanli. After seeing the meal, Emperor Wanli, who was already starving, picked up the meal and devoured it. Seeing how embarrassed the Emperor Wanli was at this moment, Wei Zhongxian felt a little unspeakable sadness in his heart, and he couldn't help it. While crying; Emperor Wanli put down the tableware and asked at this time

"Wei Zhongxian, I have a good meal here, why are you crying?"

Wei Zhongxian wiped away his tears and said

"Your Majesty, the servants feel heartache for you. Your Majesty, you are the king of a country. Not only did you not enjoy everything that the emperor should have enjoyed, but you were placed under house arrest, eating simple food, and losing your freedom in life, servants. I feel so sorry for you"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Emperor Wanli lamented

"It's only my fault that I'm useless. I don't have the ability to govern a country well, and I rely on a traitor like Chang Lingyun to allow these Donglin party members to take advantage of the situation and dominate the government"

After finishing speaking, Emperor Wanli stood up, turned his back to Wei Zhongxian, looked up at the tablets of the ancestors in the Taimiao and continued to say

"I really have no face to face my ancestors. I think which of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty is so useless as I am, I have lost all the face of my ancestors"

After listening to Emperor Wanli's words, Wei Zhongxian continued to pretend to cry, provocatively said

"That's right, Your Majesty, the servant also thinks that you are a useless emperor, and the servant is to tell the truth, the Majesty, don't take it to heart!"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Emperor Wanli didn't get angry but shook his head and sighed. He didn't say anything, and a feeling of inferiority suddenly flooded into his heart; at this time, Wei Zhongxian continued to stimulate him

“Your Majesty, when Chang Lingyun was in the dungeon, he said that he wanted to abolish you and make the crown prince the emperor; the servants thought that you should pass the throne to the crown prince according to Chang Lingyun’s wishes, so that the emperor would not have to suffer any more Chang Lingyun and the others are useless, they can save their own lives, and they want to spend the rest of their lives with glory and wealth; the servants think that you are just a decoration now, and without real power, you are just like Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty in history"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Emperor Wanli said firmly

"No, I will always be the emperor of Ming Dynasty. As long as I am alive, I will be the emperor forever"

Emperor Wanli still can't give up the identity of the emperor in his heart. Although he has no dignity, power and reputation, when he still wants to be the emperor, if he is asked to give up the throne, he would rather die

"In the hearts of the slaves, you will always be the master of the slaves, but in the eyes of Chang Lingyun and the Donglin party members, you are just a puppet. Are you willing to be played by Chang Lingyun and the Donglin party members with applause forever? ?"

When Wei Zhongxian asked this question, the Wanli Emperor was speechless, but Wei Zhongxian's next sentence gave him another glimmer of hope

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, do you still trust the servants? As long as you trust the servants, the servants will definitely find a way to kill Chang Lingyun and his Donglin party members"

After listening to Wei Zhongxian's words, Emperor Wanli hesitated for a while and asked suspiciously

"Is it true?"

Wei Zhongxian nodded solemnly, his attitude affirmed, and he said very decisively

"Of course it's true. The eunuchs cultivated by the servants will surely enable the emperor to achieve his wish to get rid of Chang Lingyun's control, but the emperor must trust the servants"

After seeing hope, Emperor Wanli decided to go all out and use Wei Zhongxian's **** to help him regain his power and get rid of the control of Donglin party members

"Believe, believe, I must believe you"

"Okay, since the emperor believes in the servants, the servants will not disappoint you; from now on, the emperor must always obey the servants' instructions, so that the servants can help the emperor"

"Okay, I will listen to you from now on. If you can let me regain power, I will reward you well"

"A promise?"

"Agreed"