Sword Xia of the Shu Mountains Chapter 10: Haining investigation

Hai Rui was a famous and honest official during the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty. He was also the promoter of Zhang Juzheng's reform and implementation of the one-whip law during his lifetime. He won the trust of Zhang Juzheng, the capital of the cabinet. The emperor of the dynasty was called "Hai Qingtian" by the people at that time. He has a grandson named Hai Ning. He was influenced by his grandfather and developed an upright and upright attitude since childhood. He also determined to become an honest official who fights against corrupt officials and won the hearts of the people like his grandfather. In the tenth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng died suddenly and inexplicably. Hai Rui also passed away with Zhang Juzheng in the fifteenth year of Wanli because he was too sad for Zhang Juzheng's death. And his grandson Haining was serving as the commander of Jinyiweidu in the Ming court at that time, in charge of managing part of the imperial army in the imperial palace.

One day, Haining was ordered by a minister in the DPRK to go out to the palace to do business. After finishing the work, on the way back to the palace, he suddenly encountered a heavy rain. It looks like it was soaked in water, and there is no pavilion on the roadside to shelter from the rain, so I don't know what to do for a while. When he was worried that there was no place to shelter from the rain, he was lucky to find an abandoned Taoist temple not far from the right side of the mountain road. Haining quickly ran to the Taoist temple and decided to take shelter there; the rain stopped. Afterwards, Haining lit a fire with some wood he picked up in the Taoist temple, and hung his rain-drenched clothes next to the fire to dry. After the clothes were all dry, he put on his clothes again; However, when he was about to leave the Taoist temple and return to the palace, he found that it was getting late. In desperation, he had no choice but to decide to spend the night in this ruined Taoist temple. Center fell asleep.

At this time, a person suddenly walked in from the door on the right side of the back of the main hall. Taking a closer look by the firelight, it turned out to be a man dressed in black and white clothes, with black and white hair, and a long black beard. The middle-aged man, he took advantage of Haining to fall asleep and walked slowly towards the direction where Haining was lying, when he squatted next to Haining's body, he smiled and said to Haining who was sleeping

"Young man, you are about to complete a major mission, I will tell you this mission in your dream, hahaha"

After speaking, he turned into a puff of green smoke and got into Haining's nostrils. In the dream, Hai Ning dreamed that he was lying in the hall of the broken Taoist temple with his eyes open, when suddenly a familiar voice echoed in his ears, and he recognized it as his grandfather Hai Rui's voice

"Haining, Haining, Haining..."

Haining immediately stood up from the ground and walked quickly in the direction of the sound, shouting continuously while walking

"Grandpa, are you calling me? Grandpa, where are you, Grandpa"

Looking for the direction of the sound, Haining unknowingly walked out of the gate of the Taoist Temple. When he walked out of the gate, he found a person standing outside the gate. With the white hair facing him, Hai Ning immediately recognized this person as his grandfather Hai Rui

"Grandpa, are you looking for me in my dream? Your grandson will help you fulfill any unfulfilled wishes"

Hai Rui turned around and smiled and said to his grandson Haining

"Haha, I know my grandson is the most filial, but grandpa really has something he wants to ask you to do when he comes to find you this time"

"What's the matter, Grandpa"

So Hai Rui said to his grandson

"Do you know how Mr. Zhang Juzheng, the former chief assistant of the cabinet, died? He did not die of illness, but was killed by others"

After listening to Grandpa's words, Haining was surprised

"Grandpa, what are you talking about? Master Zhang obviously died of illness. How do you say he was killed by someone? Who would kill Master Zhang?"

“She is Ziyan, the demon girl from the demon world. Now she has disguised herself as Empress Dowager Li, and she is in charge of the state affairs, and she is doing nonsense. Today’s emperor’s mind has been controlled by Ziyan, the demon girl. You have been a Jinyiwei in the palace for so many years. Don't you notice it?"

Haining thought about it carefully in her heart, and then said

"The grandson also thinks it's a bit suspicious. Ever since Master Zhang's death, the emperor has inexplicably copied Master Zhang's house, and then abolished some of the reforms made by Master Zhang before his death. Later, the emperor almost completely ignored it. In the administration of the imperial court, all matters large and small in the imperial court were managed by Mrs. Li later, and even the eunuchs intervened in the administration, bringing disaster to the country and the people.”

"This is exactly the purpose of the demon girl Ziyan who wants to subvert my Ming Dynasty"

After Hai Rui finished speaking, he explained to his grandson the plans and conspiracies of Potokin and Ziyan to destroy the Ming Dynasty's rule in the human world; when Haining fully knew the truth, he said angrily

"This Potokin is so sinister and vicious, I will not let him succeed"

But when I think that I am a mortal after all, and I am too weak to fight against the demon world, I feel that I have more than enough power

"But the grandson is a mortal after all, and his abilities are limited, so I'm afraid he won't be able to compete head-on with Potokin"

"You don't have to worry about this, there will be someone to help you"

When Haining heard that someone would come to help him, the worry in his heart finally let go, so he asked his grandfather

"Grandpa, who are you talking about?"

"He is Xu Changqing, the eldest disciple of the Shushan faction in the Immortal Realm. Besides him, his junior brother Chang Lingyun will also come to help you"

After Hai Rui finished speaking, he stroked the beard on his chin with a smile and continued

"Ning'er, grandpa's dream this time is that you can help grandpa to fulfill a wish. This wish is to investigate the cause of Mr. Zhang's death and expose the conspiracy of the demon girl Ziyan; your grandfather and Mrs. Zhang were very good friends before life. It's a pity that my grandfather has passed away and can't plead for Master Zhang, expose Ziyan's conspiracy, and let the emperor recover his mind to save Daming from trouble, so I can only count on you, my grandson; Ning'er, you must remember that grandfather is here What you said in your dream, when you wake up, go back to the palace to help grandpa find out the case, so as to comfort grandpa's spirit in heaven, the fate of the Ming Dynasty is in your hands"

After Hai Rui finished speaking, he disappeared in front of his grandson Hai Ning; at this time Hai Ning suddenly woke up from his sleep and kept shouting

"Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa"

When he woke up completely, he stood up; he found himself still in the hall of the Taoist temple, and he didn't walk out of the gate of the Taoist temple, but he always remembered his grandfather Hai Rui in his dream and his relationship with him. The conversation between; at this time, the sky has begun to gradually brighten, and after Haining packed everything, he rushed towards the direction of the palace.

At this time, in the Myriad Demon Kingdom, the middle-aged man with black and white hair who turned into a puff of green smoke and got into Haining's nostrils has returned to Myriad Demon Kingdom. Zhu Yunwen talked; at this time Zhu Yunwen was already 215 years old, but he still maintained the youthful appearance when he first entered the Wan Yao Kingdom. After taking the Wan Yao Jindan, he had already practiced immortality. In the past one hundred and seventy years, in addition to meticulously governing the kingdom of ten thousand demons, he has been inseparable with his wife, the queen of ten thousand demons, Nightshade, all day and night. In order to experience the joy of having children in this world, the two of them recently adopted a sixteen-year-old fox demon in the kingdom of ten thousand demons as their righteous daughter. It's Chen Xiangyue, the female No. 2 in our story

"Meng Yao, how are you doing what I asked you to do?"

Zhu Yunwen asked the middle-aged man with long black and white hair that the middle-aged man was the dream demon in the demon world, who was in charge of everything related to dreams in the human world and the demon world.

"Reporting to the king, the subordinates have followed the king's instructions and entered Hai Ning's dream and changed into Hai Rui's appearance and instructed Hai Ning to find out the cause of Zhang Juzheng's death and expose the conspiracy of the demon world to subvert Daming"

After listening to Meng Yao's words, Zhu Yunwen said

"Well done Meng Yao, I hope he can save the Ming Dynasty from danger to avoid this catastrophe"

At this time, Meng Yao said to Zhu Yunwen

"The king, there is something unknown about his subordinates"

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and said to Meng Yao

"But it doesn't matter"

So, Meng Yao told Zhu Yunwen what he wanted to say in his heart

"The king is no longer the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, why is he still concerned about the Ming Dynasty"

So, Zhu Yunwen said

"After all, Daming was created by my grandfather. Although I have nothing to do with Daming anymore, I can't just watch my grandfather's foundation be destroyed by the hands of the devil"

After finishing speaking, Zhu Yunwen sighed deeply, then turned his back to Meng Yao and continued to say

"Our demon world can never interfere with the affairs of the human world. Whether the Ming Dynasty can escape this catastrophe depends on the three young and promising men, Chang Lingyun, Xu Changqing and Haining"

At this time, the Ming Dynasty in the Human World was still under the control of the Demon World led by Potokin and Ziyan. On this day, the messenger in the palace who was in charge of sending urgent letters had already delivered information in the harem to Ziyan, who was disguised as Empress Dowager Li

"Reporting to the Queen Mother, 100,000 urgent, Japanese Guan Bai Fengchen Hideyoshi led a 400,000-strong army to invade my vassal Korea, trying to invade my Daming. The king of Korea has asked my Daming for help. I hope the Queen Mother can quickly make a decision to send troops to assist Korea"

After listening to the messenger's words, Ziyan imitated the Queen Mother's tone and said to the **** beside her

"Bring the letter up"

"Yes, Queen Mother"

When the **** presented the urgent letter, Ziyan took out the envelope and looked at it and said to the messenger

"The Japanese pirates are so rampant that they dare to invade our kingdom, and they bully us. It's really daring; you go down now, and I will discuss with the emperor about sending troops to Korea later"

"Yes, the queen mother, the servants retire"

When the messenger withdrew, Zi Yanyou said to the maids standing around her

"You go down too"

"Yes, the slaves retire"

After saying that, the ladies in the palace all retreated; after he was the only one left in the palace, Potokin, who had been hiding behind the screen, stood up at this time. Ziyan took the urgent letter and asked Potokin

"You must have heard just now that Japan is attacking Korea now, and will attack the Ming Dynasty after they occupy Korea. Do you think you should promise those ministers to send troops to Korea, or leave Korea alone and allow Japan It's better to invade the Ming Dynasty and finally destroy the Ming Dynasty"

Potokin looked at the letter and replied

"I think you should promise your minister to send troops to North Korea. This will weaken the Ming army so that the Ming army can no longer compete with the White Lotus Sect and the army of Zheng Wang Zhu Houan. We would rather destroy the Ming Dynasty ourselves. The DPRK can't leave the Ming Dynasty to the Japanese; you will let Wanli go to the DPRK tomorrow, and in front of the civil and military officials, order the army to send troops to Korea to quell the Japanese pirates"

"Yes, God"

After a while, Ziyan and Bo Duojin came to Emperor Wanli's palace and opened the secret passage in the palace, where they saw Emperor Wanli who had been imprisoned in the secret passage by the two of them. At this time, the Wanli Emperor has been tricked by the two of them. He is not like a ghost or a ghost. He wears a hair. Although he wears a yellow robe, he does not look like an emperor at all. Since he was controlled by Ziyan, he It has been more than ten years since he went to court. He was imprisoned by Ziyan and Bo Duojin in a secret room in the palace all day and all night. When delivering food to him, he lost the emperor's self-esteem like a dog, and then picked up the bowl and chopsticks like a beggar who had been hungry for three days, and devoured it. When you need him to come forward, let him come out of the secret passage temporarily, put on makeup, and go to meet those ministers. When you don't need him to come forward, keep him in this secret room, and wait until Zhu Houtan's army kills the capital from Luoyang. Then kill him; then kill Zhu Houlan, and then replace him himself and restore Yuan Dynasty rule.

At this time, Emperor Wanli was pitifully looking at the meals and vegetables that Potokin and Ziyan had brought to him. He had not eaten for two days; what was even more pitiful was that his mind was manipulated by others. You don't even know what you're doing, and you may even forget who you are

"Because I want to ask you for something tomorrow, I have to give you a good meal today"

After Potokin finished speaking, he conjured a basket of good wine and good food and held it in his hand, then rudely threw it in front of Emperor Wanli. Emperor Wanli opened the basket blankly and in a trance, without even needing chopsticks, grabbed the food and devoured it; after eating, he looked at Potokin with a blank expression and thanked him

"Thank you for the kindness of the Emperor"

Then he fell to his knees

"Well, get up"

"Yes, God"

After Emperor Wanli got up, he stared blankly into Potokin's eyes and then slowly spit out a few words from his mouth

"What does God want from me?"

"Japan is now attacking Korea, my vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. I need you tomorrow in front of civil and military officials to order troops to assist Korea and deal with Japanese pirates; you will go back to your bedroom tonight to rest, these few God, you can stay in the palace all the time, you don't have to live in a secret room anymore"

"Yes, God"

When Emperor Wanli finished speaking, Potokin used magic to undo the iron chains on his hands and feet, and restored Emperor Wanli to his former image, and then rudely dragged his hand until he kept him Drag it to the bedroom above the secret room.

On the second day, Emperor Wanli made an exception to the court under the arrangement of Potuojin and Ziyan. On the court, he said to the civil and military officials

"Yesterday I just received an urgent letter from North Korea. The Japanese pirates have now invaded North Korea, and then tried to use North Korea as a springboard to invade my Daming. After negotiating with the Queen Mother yesterday, I decided to take all my elite soldiers from Daming. All were deployed to Liaodong and then entered North Korea in batches by sea and land to assist North Korea in fighting against Japanese pirates.”

At this time, a minister, Yang Hao, objected to Emperor Wanli's opinion

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. If the Ming army was sent to North Korea, then the court would have no army to suppress the rebels of the White Lotus Sect. Now King Zheng now dominates Luoyang and employs millions of troops. , if all the troops were deployed to North Korea, what would happen if King Zheng took the opportunity to lead his troops to the capital?"

At this time, another minister, Wang Fu, raised the same objection to Emperor Wanli

"Your Majesty, I think Yang Hao is right. Now King Zheng and the White Lotus Sect are watching the movement of my troops. If all the troops are deployed to North Korea, my military will be empty. I hope you think twice."

At this time, Emperor Wanli couldn't listen to any minister's advice because he was controlled by his mind. He slapped the dragon chair with his right hand and said angrily

"You two treacherous officials, now the Japanese pirates are about to invade Liaodong, you two are still thinking about dealing with the rabble of King Zheng and the White Lotus Sect; now the Japanese pirates are our main enemy at present, if we don't mobilize How can all the troops of my Daming defeat the Japanese pirates, I think you two are deliberately trying to shake the military aircraft.”

After speaking, Emperor Wanli ordered

"I'm here, let's drag these two traitors out of the five gates and behead them"

In a short while, four guards took Yang Hao and Wang Fu out of the palace respectively; outside the palace, the two ministers were still shouting non-stop, expressing their desire to Wanli Emperor can take back the last glimmer of hope

"Your Majesty, you can't do this, Your Majesty"

After an hour passed, the heads of Yang Hao and Wang Fu were hung outside the palace gate, attracting all the people who lived in the capital outside the palace gate to come and watch; There is Haining; he never imagined that he had just returned to the palace from Po Taoist Temple and encountered such a thing; the emperor actually killed two important ministers around him who were loyal to the court for a word against him. It seems that grandpa was there last night. Everything that was said in the dream might be true, so he decided to go back to the palace to find out.

At night, Haining was patrolling back and forth in the palace, and suddenly heard two guards talking, one of the guards said

"The emperor didn't know what happened today, but he told those two ministers to kill them"

Another guard also said

"That's right, the emperor has not been in court for more than ten years, and he never thought that he would kill people indiscriminately when he just started the court today; Yang Hao and Wang Fu are also the two elders of our Ming Dynasty, but the emperor didn't even think about it. For the sake of the two of them who once served for the Ming Dynasty, they will kill them at will, and if they do so, who will be willing to serve the Ming Dynasty again in the future?"

However, the next conversation between the two guards caught Haining's attention

"I heard that the emperor did not go to court for so many years because he was placed under house arrest by Empress Dowager Li, and the current state affairs are completely in Empress Dowager Li's hands. I think Empress Dowager Li must be trying to usurp the throne and follow the example of Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian”

"That's right, and I think that the reason why the emperor resolutely mobilized all troops to send troops to Korea to fight Japanese pirates should also be the meaning of Empress Dowager Li. Think about it, the emperor has been under house arrest by Empress Dowager Li in the palace for so many years. , if he doesn't do as Empress Dowager Li said, won't he lose his head?"

"Well, yes, I also heard that Zhang Juzheng didn't die of illness, but was beaten to death"

"What did you say? Who did you hear that?"

"I heard from people outside the palace"

"Then, who is the one spreading the rumor?"

"It is said to be a lunatic"

"A lunatic?"

"That's right, that madman used to be a servant at Zhang Juzheng's mansion. He said that when he passed by Zhang Juzheng's bedroom, he found a man in purple clothes sneaking into Zhang Juzheng's bedroom. After a while, he found Zhang Juzheng Lying in bed motionless and dying like this"

After hearing this, Haining stood up and immediately walked over to the two guards. When the two guards saw Haining walking towards them, they quickly cupped their hands and said hello

"See Your Excellency the Commander of the Capital"

"Yes, the two of you are free of gifts"

Haining stretched out his right hand and said to them, then retracted his hand and continued to speak

"I heard what you said just now, don't worry, I won't tell anyone what you said"

After listening to this, the two guards finally let go of the dangling hearts in their hearts, and one of the guards said to Haining

"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, Sir"

"However, I have a question in my heart. You just said that the emperor was placed under house arrest by Empress Dowager Li, and Empress Dowager Li wanted to usurp the throne. Who did you hear that?"

"The commander of Huidu, this is a random guess by the two of us, and we didn't listen to anyone"

So Haining threatened them

"If you don't tell the truth, I'll tell the Queen Mother tomorrow all the conversations you two had today, and then you won't have enough heads to chop off ten heads"

After hearing this, the two guards panicked

"No, my lord, we'll just tell the truth, but don't tell him it's us"

"Okay, I promise you, just tell me who it is?"

So, one of the guards told Haining a more familiar name

"It's Mr. Lu Hongchun"

This name provided Haining with a clue for future investigations, so he decided to appease the two guards when he saw it, so that Queen Mother Li would not find out his motive for investigating the case

"Okay, I got it. I don't want the fourth person to know about today's incident. It won't do you any good if it is leaked. You can keep the money."

After speaking, Haining took out two gold ingots from his sleeves and handed them to the two guards; the two guards really saw the money, and immediately said after receiving the money

"Don't worry my lord, we will keep this secret forever"

At midnight, Haining decided to go to Zhang Juzheng's tomb to see how Zhang Juzheng died. When he came to Zhang Juzheng's tombstone, he knelt down and said with his head lowered to Zhang Juzheng's tombstone.

"Sir Zhang, I'm offended. My grandfather Hai Rui was your friend before he died. He told me in a dream last night that you were killed by Zi Yan, a man from the devil world, so Hai Ning decided to open your tomb for an autopsy, okay? Apologize for you"

After speaking, Haining picked up the shovel he had prepared to dig the tomb and dug up Zhang Juzheng's tomb. When he dug the coffin, he put down the shovel and opened the coffin; when the coffin was opened, Haining saw a It had been more than ten years from the moment Zhang Juzheng was beaten to death by Ziyan with his palm, and his body had been so corrupted that even his bones were exposed; Haining resisted the stench and nausea. , cut the rotting clothes with scissors, and then took out a rib with pliers. After drying the oil with yellow paper, he took a closer look at the light from the lantern and found that there were many cracks on the bone. , in the gaps between these cracks, he found that the bone marrow had already turned completely black; "Lord Zhang died of poisoning," Haining thought in his heart, because he was a thousand households of Jinyiwei in the Ming Dynasty, and was handling the case. When I was a student, I often came into contact with things like corpses, so I knew a little about autopsy and other aspects of work. In order to grasp the evidence that Zhang Juzheng was killed by the poisonous palm, Haining stored the rib, and then covered Zhang Juzheng's coffin with a lid and buried it to restore Zhang Juzheng's tomb to its original state. At noon the next day, Haining took advantage of the rest time to walk out of the palace to find Lu Hongchun. Lu Hongchun was a jinshi during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. He served as the chief priest of the ancestral temple of the Ministry of Rites. The emperor was dismissed from his post with 60 sticks, and he was expelled from the palace and never hired. After leaving the palace, he changed his name to Wang Cong and became an ordinary citizen in the capital, earning a living by selling calligraphy and painting. After many inquiries, Haining finally found Lu Hongchun's residence in the capital; at this time, Lu Hongchun was buying his calligraphy and paintings, and when he saw Haining dressed like a businessman, he said to him

"Guest officer, you are here to buy calligraphy and painting, I have a lot of famous calligraphy and painting, come and have a look"

Haining opened a wooden box he was carrying and showed the box of silver worth 3,000 taels in front of Lu Hongchun

"I want to buy the original work of Tang Bohu, do you have it? If so, all the three thousand taels of silver will belong to you"

When Lu Hongchun saw the 3,000 taels of silver, he was moved, and he quickly and politely said to Haining

"There are guests, please come with me"

After he finished speaking, he took Haining into the house. When he was about to pick up a few volumes of Tang Bohu's original works, Haining stood behind him and said

"Master Lu, stay safe"

After hearing this, the expression on Lu Hongchun's face immediately became gloomy. He put down the scroll in his hand, turned around, stretched his face and said to Haining

"Guest officer, I think you have identified the wrong person, my name is Wang Cong, my surname is Wang not Lu"

Haining then said to him

"Lord Lu, don't pretend anymore, I know it's you, you used to be the priest of the imperial court's ancestral hall. Not hired; in the end, you changed your name to Wang Cong and made a living by selling calligraphy and painting in the capital, I'm not wrong."

After listening to Haining's words, Lu Hongchun quickly realized the seriousness of the matter, so he pointed his finger at Haining's nose and asked loudly

"Are you sent by Empress Dowager Li, who are you?"

Hai Ning said slowly

"Don't be afraid, Mr. Lu, I was not sent by the Queen Mother"

He then introduced himself

"My name is Hai Ning, I am the grandson of Hai Rui, the minister of households during the Jiajing period of the previous dynasty, and now I am the commander of Jin Yiwei in the imperial court; this time I came to you because of a case, which is about the house arrest of Empress Dowager Li. The case of the present emperor"

After hearing this, Lu Hongchun hurriedly closed the door, then stared into Haining's eyes and asked tentatively

"You...really not sent by Queen Mother Li?"

"If I were sent by Empress Dowager Li, I'm afraid you would have died a long time ago. You already know that Empress Dowager Li put the emperor under house arrest, do you think Empress Dowager Li would let you go?"

Lu Hongchun thought about it in his mind and felt that what Haining said was very reasonable. If he was really sent by the Queen Mother Li to kill him, he would not stand here and talk to him like this

"Master Lu, I want to know how you learned that the current emperor has been placed under house arrest by the Empress Dowager Li, and what you saw when you were an official in the palace. I want to find out about this matter, because it is related to The fate of my Ming Dynasty"

"Then... do you know if anyone else knows about this case?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Lu, no one knows that this case is under investigation. To be honest, my grandfather Hei Ruitu dream told me the day before that the current queen mother Li was transformed by the demon girl Ziyan, and she enshrined the demon leader Bo Duo. Jin's order sneaked into the palace to kill Zhang Juzheng and controlled the emperor's mind, which made the current emperor become so stupid, I don't know if this dream I had is true, so I want to find out the ins and outs of the whole thing"

After finishing speaking, he took out a rib from Zhang Juzheng's body wrapped in yellow paper from his long sleeve and said to Lu Hongchun

"This is the rib that was cut off from Master Zhang's body last night, please take a look"

Lu Hongchun opened the yellow paper, carefully observed the rib, and then put down the rib and said with certainty

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Mr. Zhang didn't die of illness, he must have been beaten to death by someone with a poisonous palm. It seems that the lunatic was right"

"Does your lord mean the lunatic who once served as a servant in the mansion of Lord Zhang Juzheng and spread rumors outside the palace gate?"

"Well, yes"

After hearing such an answer from Mr. Lu Hongchun, Haining was very excited. He felt that he had finally found a clue, so he asked Lu Hongchun

"Then may I ask your lord, where is that lunatic now?"

Lu Hongchun shook his head and sighed

"Unfortunately he died a few days ago"

"What did you say? Dead?"

Such an answer made the glimmer of hope in Haining's heart quickly fall to the bottom, but Haining still refused to give up the opportunity to find clues from the madman

"So do you know how he died?"

"I don't know about this. Eighty percent of it is because his rumors reached the ears of the Queen Mother, and then she was killed by the Queen Mother."

"So do you know where that lunatic died?"

"His body was found near a Qiushuang Pavilion outside the capital, where it is estimated that the murderer had buried it"

"It's a pity that such a good thread was cut off like this"

After speaking, he decided to look for clues from Lu Hongchun's body

"Master Lu, then tell me everything you saw in the palace, I'll see if I can find a clue"

"Ok, no problem"

After Lu Hongchun finished speaking, he told Haining everything he saw in the palace.

"Since the emperor's inexplicable copy of Zhang Juzheng's house, I have felt that things are a bit strange. Zhang Juzheng is the emperor's mentor, how could the emperor do such ungrateful things; later I have been observing the emperor in the palace. I found that the emperor had been living in his bedroom since the inexplicable order to search Zhang Juzheng's house, and the emperor was rarely seen, and some small and large matters in the court were naturally handed over to Empress Dowager Li. RBI; and since Empress Dowager Li took power in place of the emperor, she has completely dismissed the emperor's cronies and replaced them with some new officials, and these new officials are almost obedient to Empress Dowager Li's words, so I suspect that the emperor has Maybe she was under house arrest by Empress Dowager Li, and Empress Dowager Li must have the ambition to usurp the throne"

After Lu Hongchun finished speaking, he took a sip of the tea on the table and continued to speak

"That's all I know; of course, this is just my personal suspicion. If you want to find evidence, you should go back to the palace and find some evidence"

"Master Lu, do you know who usually takes care of the emperor's bedroom?"

"The emperor's bedroom is guarded by a **** named Ma Shitou. He is the person next to Empress Dowager Li, an ordinary **** who is responsible for guarding the bedroom. This person is very powerful and only recognizes money and nothing else Do not recognize"

After hearing this, Haining became a little excited, and he happily said to Lu Hongchun

"This is easy to handle, I will make good use of this person, thank you for your advice"

After speaking, he gave Lu Hongchun a deep bow.

"Hahaha, don't be too polite, be careful when you return to the palace"

After a while, Haining was escorted by Lu Hongchun and walked out of the door with a scroll of Tang Bohu's authentic paintings. In order to hide his eyes and eyes and not expose his target, he folded his hands and said to Lu Hongchun

"Wang Cong, it's so generous of you to show me so many precious paintings and calligraphy, I will visit you next time"

"Hahaha, where, where, is the son who knows how to appreciate my calligraphy and painting"

"If you have a better calligraphy and painting in the future, keep it for me, and I will come back to you to buy it"

"Certainly, definitely"

At this time, Haining raised his hand and said to Lu Hongchun

"Then I'll say goodbye"

"Guest officer, walk slowly"

After returning to the palace, Haining, who had obtained clues, decided to go to the **** named Ma Shitou tonight to find out what happened in the emperor's bedroom. After many inquiries from his subordinates, he quickly found the residence of the **** Ma Shitou in the palace. In the evening, he ordered his subordinates to bring a box of gold worth 3,000 taels to Ma Shitou's house with him. Residence; Ma Shitou was drinking tea in the house at this time, and when he saw Haining and his men come in with a wooden box, he hurriedly walked forward politely to meet him

"Kai Qianhu, what is it that you came to look for this old man so late?"

Haining ordered his men to open the box, only to see a pile of glittering gold ingots and other jewelry all presented in front of Ma Shitou. Seeing so many gold and silver treasures, Ma Shitou quickly knelt down beside the box and hugged the wooden box immediately, showing a greedy attitude in front of Haining's eyes

"Oops, there are so many jewels that I can't spend my whole life"

Haining glanced contemptuously at the horse stone, who was kneeling on the ground holding a treasure chest with his back to him

"The money was collected from the people by the order of Empress Dowager Li. For us Jinyiwei who are loyal to the court, it is a trivial matter. As long as Eunuch Ma is willing to do Benqianhu a favor, this box will be worth it. All the gold and silver jewelry is yours"

"Ah, really?"

After Ma Shitou covered the treasure chest, he turned around and asked Haining

"Dare to ask Lord Qianhu, what do you need a servant to do for you?"

Haining said to him

"There are rumors in the palace today that the empress dowager has placed the current emperor under house arrest and imprisoned the emperor in the bedroom. So Ben Qianhu wants Eunuch Ma to do me a favor and let me go to the emperor's bedroom to find out. Let's see if those rumors are true, so that Queen Mother Li is innocent"

"Lord Qianhu, these are all spread by the villain who opposes Empress Dowager Li's participation in politics, adults don't have to worry about it"

"It's true and false, and I'll tell the truth. It's the Queen Mother Li who ordered me to come and check the truth, so as not to let those villains who spread rumors get the hang of it. These jewels are also entrusted to me by the Queen Mother Li. for you"

After hearing this, Ma Shitou's worries were completely dispelled

"Since it was the queen mother who asked you to come to me, then I'm going to help you, Lord Qianhu. You first put on your little eunuch's clothes and come with me to take care of the emperor's bedroom, and then I will secretly put you go in"

When the night came, Ma Shitou took Haining, who had already dressed up as a little eunuch, to the outside of the emperor's bedroom and guarded the emperor's bedroom; Haining stood in the team of the little eunuchs and found that the emperor's bedroom was still lit. There were no lights, and there were no troops guarding the palace, so it didn't look like he was under house arrest. "Are the troops under house arrest in this palace?" Hai Ning thought to himself. At this time, Ma Shitou handed a lunch box to Haining's hands and instructed

"You will carry this in a while and bring this to the emperor for tonight's supper"

"Yeah, got it"

After speaking, Haining picked up the lunch box that Ma Shitou had handed over to him, and walked lightly outside the emperor's bedroom. Seeing that there were no maids and guards passing by, he knocked on the door and kept asking

"Is the emperor inside?"

Haining asked three times in total, and after seeing that there was no one in the palace, he sneaked into the palace with a lunch box. After he closed the door, he quickly put down the lunch box, and looked around to see if there was anyone in the palace; after confirming that there was no one in the palace, Haining was a little puzzled: "Since there is no one in the palace, why is it? The lamp in the bedroom is on." Just as he was thinking, he suddenly found that his feet had stepped on a movable floor; at this time, a strange thing happened, and he suddenly found that the floor in front of the emperor's bed was automatically opened

"It turns out that there is an organ here, and there must be a secret room under the organ"

So, he walked into the secret room and found a cell under the secret room. Haining looked in from the cell door and found a man with disheveled hair wearing a dragon robe who was shackled and handcuffed; needless to say, This man must be the king. At this time, Emperor Wanli was sitting on the ground with his eyes dazed, his eyes fixed in one direction like a fool, and he didn't move, so Haining shouted excitedly to Emperor Wanli

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty"

As if the Emperor Wanli didn't hear it, he kept his eyes fixed in one direction and didn't move, and didn't say a word. It is the sadness of the entire Ming Dynasty that a generation of emperors should be treated in such inhumane manner; seeing the emperor like this, Haining felt an indescribable sadness in his heart. At this time, he had fully believed that his grandfather was dreaming. He wiped away the tears of anger at the actions of the demon witch Ziyan and the demon leader Potokin, and said to Emperor Wanli who was locked in the cell

"Your Majesty, don't worry, Wei Chen will definitely save this life and wait for Chang Lingyun and Xu Changqing to rescue you and expose the conspiracy of Ziyan and Boduojin"

After a while, he picked up the lunch box and walked out of the emperor's bedroom with a blank expression, and said to the **** Ma Shitou who had been waiting outside the bedroom for a long time

"The emperor is living a good life in the palace. It seems that some villains with ulterior motives really made up the rumor that the empress dowager put the emperor under house arrest"

Ma Shitou said to Haining after taking the lunch box

"Lord Qianhu, when you return to the Queen Mother, be sure to say a few words of kindness in front of the Queen Mother for me"

"That's for sure. After the civil and military officials dispel the rumors and prove my innocence for the Queen Mother, I will definitely ask for Eunuch Ma in front of the Queen Mother"

After hearing this, Ma Shitou immediately bent down and bowed to Haining

"Thank you, Mr. Qianhu"

After knowing the truth, Hai Ning already felt that the palace was no longer a place to stay for a long time. If he continued to stay in the palace as a messenger, he would sooner or later be suspected by the Queen Mother; so he decided to take his men out of the palace tonight, and since then Leaving the capital, he kept his own life and waited with Xu Changqing and Chang Lingyun to find an opportunity to expose the conspiracy of the demons Bo Duojin and Ziyan. They left the palace at night on the grounds of Empress Dowager Li's secret order. After leaving the palace, Haining once again found Lu Hongchun's residence in the capital and saw Lu Hongchun again. After meeting Lu Hongchun, Haining told Lu Hongchun all the facts about the investigation of the emperor's palace tonight, and told him

"Lord Lu, now I know the truth about the empress dowager's imprisoning the emperor in the secret room; therefore, I believe even more what grandfather Hai Rui told me in the dream. With the magic and methods of the demons from the demon world, they will sooner or later suspect that I also suspect you sooner or later; Master Lu, I suggest you leave the capital now, the farther you go, the better, the capital is no longer a place for you to stay for a long time, so it’s better to leave quickly”

However, Lu Hongchun was not worried at all about his situation at this moment. He arched his arms and his face did not show the slightest nervousness and fear, but said to Haining very calmly

"Lord Hai, thank you for your kindness. Now the old man has a lifeless life. Even if Queen Mother Li wants to kill the old man, the old man will not feel a pity. Be sure to find Xu Changqing and Chang Lingyun, if the old man really encounters an accident, you must expose Ziyan's conspiracy and get rid of her, save Daming from water and fire, and comfort the old man's spirit in the sky"

Seeing that Lu Hongchun insisted on staying in the capital, Haining decided not to advise him any more. He also arched his arms and said to Lu Hongchun

"Since Mr. Lu really doesn't want to leave, the lower official has decided not to advise Mr. Lu, so please take care of Mr. Lu"

After speaking, Haining left Lu Hongchun's residence with his men, and then left the capital overnight. At noon the next day, Ziyan and Bo Duojin secretly came to Emperor Wanli's bedroom together. The furnishings in the bedroom became a little unusual, as if someone had come in to patronize it. So, Potokin asked Ziyan

"Ziyan, have you noticed that there seems to be someone in this palace"

At this time, Ziyan does feel a little suspicious

"Yes, although this secret room is closed, I can smell a human scent, but this smell is definitely not Zhu Yijun's"

At this moment, on the dining table in front of the bed in the bedroom, she saw two plates of uneaten leftovers. The two plates of leftovers had turned cold and had obviously been left for a day and a night. As a result, she is even more convinced that someone has really come here

"How can there suddenly be two more plates of leftovers on the table that no one has eaten? There must be a ghost in the middle"

After hearing this, Potokin said

"Let me see with my eagle eye"

Therefore, Potokin closed his eyes, put the index and middle fingers of his left and right hands on the left and right sides of his forehead, and then moved away, opening the eagle eye that existed in his forehead; After opening his eyes, he found footprints on the floor that were difficult to see with the naked eye. The footprints extended from the door to the bedside and then from the bedside to the switch in the secret room; at this time, Potokin said to Ziyan

"Someone did come here, and this person once opened the Chamber of Secrets"

After hearing this, Ziyan became flustered in her heart, and she said to Potokin very anxiously

"Then let's go down and have a look to see if Zhu Yijun is still there"

Immediately after, the two of them opened the secret room and walked down, outside the gate of the cell; they both saw that Emperor Wanli was still sitting on the spot with his eyes dazed, his eyes staring straight ahead without saying a word , just like a person who was given Dingshan hair to live.

"It seems that person did not save Zhu Yijun"

When talking about this, Ziyan's mind suddenly thought of a person, this person is the **** Ma Shitou who is in charge of guarding the Wanli Emperor's palace; an hour later, Ziyan grabbed Ma Shitou and returned He was locked in the interrogation room and tortured. The poor Ma Shitou had already been ripped apart by the leather whip in the jailer's hand, but he still didn't know why Empress Dowager Li did this; so he screamed loudly and screamed at Zi. smoke said

"Empress dowager spare your life, I really have never been to the emperor's bedroom"

When Ziyan stopped the jailer from being tortured, she walked to Ma Shitou and asked him

"Then why are there footprints of people in the palace? You are the one who takes care of the emperor's palace. Didn't I tell you before that you are not allowed to enter the emperor's palace? You take this palace's words as a deaf ear, right?"

"The queen mother was wronged, I really did not enter the emperor's bedroom"

"How can there be footprints in that bedroom"

"Back to the Empress Dowager's words, last night Haiqianhu had looked for the old slave, and he said that he went to the emperor's palace to investigate on your order, so as to get rid of the suspicion that some people in the palace suspected that you had placed the emperor under house arrest. Rumors, so the old slave let him in"

After hearing this, Ziyan's lungs were about to explode with anger. She angrily took the whip from the jailer's hand. while scolding

"You **** dog slave, success is more than failure. Ben Gong has already told you that no one of Ben Gong's subordinates is allowed to enter the bedroom. Do you take Ben Gong's words as fart?"

After Ziyan was tired, she threw off the whip in her hand, then grabbed Ma Shitou's throat with her hand, and asked

"Come on, that dog slave spread the rumor that the emperor was under house arrest"

Ma Shitou, who was dying by the whip in Ziyan's hand, said Lu Hongchun's name when he was dying. At this time, Ziyan let go of Ma Shitou's neck, widened his eyes and said without the slightest pity

"You son of a bitch, so unbeatable"

After she finished speaking, she ordered the jailer again

"Here comes, throw this dog slave's body into the wilderness, not allowed to bury"

Several jailers folded their hands and replied

"Yes, Queen Mother"

Soon, Ziyan ordered Lu Hongchun and Haining to be wanted, and the two quickly became wanted criminals by the court. In the afternoon, the soldiers under Ziyan surrounded the painting workshop opened by Lu Hongchun in the capital. When the soldiers broke into the painting workshop, they found that Lu Hongchun had already hanged himself in the painting workshop he opened. In the palace, Ziyan used Potokin's magic power to find all the guards, eunuchs and ministers in the palace who spread the rumor of the empress dowager under house arrest, including the two guards who told the rumor in Haining Palace the night before. Ziyan escorted them all to the outside of the imperial palace and ordered them all to kneel in front of Emperor Wanli. After they all knelt down, Ziyan said

"Bengong worked hard for the Ming Dynasty, for the country and the people, but you listened to Lu Hongchun's rumors that Igong had the emperor under house arrest and plotted to usurp the throne. What should be the crime? Government affairs work day and night, so you say that this palace interferes with the government and attempts to usurp the throne? My emperor, because of his weakness, has been training in the palace for so many years, you say that this palace has put the emperor under house arrest. Therefore, this palace will invite the emperor today. Come out, come face to face"

At this time, the Wanli Emperor, who had long lost his nature and was controlled by Ziyan's mind, said from his mouth in a daze, under the control of Ziyan's brain, his eyes were dull and expressionless

"I asked my mother to handle government affairs for me because my body was weak, and you actually accused my mother of putting me under house arrest in the palace and trying to usurp the throne. What's the crime?"

After speaking, Emperor Wanli again ordered under the control of Ziyan

"Here, let's kill all the thieves who spread rumors, not a single one"

At this time, the executioners holding big swords all rushed up. After a scream and a cry of injustice, those who spread the rumors all fell into a pool of blood, dyeing the steps outside the Forbidden City hall red. At this time, Ziyan imitated Empress Dowager Li's tone and said to Emperor Wanli

"Your Majesty, well done"

Then, there was a ruthless, bloodthirsty laugh like a demon

"Hahahahaha"

The rule of the Ming Dynasty has also become darker with Ziyan's long laugh.