Chapter 70: The Treacherous Officials Have Already Jumped Out. Seeking Monthly Tickets
The frenzy in the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square gradually subsided due to the departure of Zhang Biao and others.
But it was only on the surface.
More madness, greater madness, was still brewing.
Whether it was Zhang Biao’s ‘make the world his enemy,’ forcing Old Zhu to take sides and kill himself.
Or Old Zhu’s ‘mad slaughter,’ which temporarily pulled his Great Ming out of a dead end.
Both would stir up enormous waves in the future.
And at this very moment, the Eastern Palace finally received news from the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square.
“Empress! Your Highness!”
Huang Zicheng’s voice was hoarse, with a choked cry, he accused: “Monster! Zhang Biao is a true monster! He dared to openly rebuke his sovereign in public! His words are treasonous, deserving of death! Deserving of death!”
Speaking, he threw himself to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, as if he had suffered a great wrong.
Consort Lü looked coldly at his disheveled state, feeling no sympathy, only greater contempt.
“How is the Emperor?”
Consort Lü’s voice was unreadable.
Huang Zicheng’s sobbing stopped abruptly, the color drained from his face, and he trembled, saying:
“The Emperor, the Emperor, he spat blood and fainted.”
“And then?”
Consort Lü’s voice remained steady, as if asking about something unimportant.
Huang Zicheng swallowed and tried to calm his fear, beginning to describe the details of the square with embellishments.
For instance, Zhang Biao’s frenzied insults to the nobles, his heart-piercing words of ‘let the Great Ming perish,’ Shen Lang and the others’ absurd lying on the ground with chamber pot lamps, and Zhang Biao pointing at Old Zhu and yelling ‘you deserve to die,’ causing the Emperor to faint.
He even deliberately emphasized Zhang Biao’s deception of the masses with demonic words and the rebellion of lower-level officials, completely portraying Zhang Biao as an unforgivable devil who intended to subvert the state.
“Finally, Zhang Biao dared to disregard heavenly might and leave with that group of rebellious officials and traitors, swaggering away! He even said… pig’s head meat group purchase is 20% off, and you get a discount if you mention his name!”
At this point, Huang Zicheng’s tone was filled with absurdity and extreme resentment.
“Pig’s head meat group purchase is 20% off?”
Zhu Yunwen murmured the phrase repeatedly, his face still showing shock and anger, but now a kind of incomprehensible confusion emerged.
His Imperial Grandfather was so angered he fainted, and the threat of being skinned alive and having lamps made from his skin was imminent, yet he was still thinking about pig’s head meat?
Was this ignorance that breeds fearlessness, or complete madness?
He couldn’t understand, only feeling that Zhang Biao himself was a huge, unsettling shadow.
If this person could not be used by him, he would become a grave threat.
Just as Zhu Yunwen made up his mind, Consort Lü’s round fan began to sway gently again.
The agarwood in the censer seemed unable to dispel her machinations at this moment.
Zhang Biao’s madness and destructive power far exceeded expectations.
He was not just a knife, but more like a giant stone thrown into still water, instantly stirring up all the silt and hidden reefs at the bottom.
The Emperor fainted, the nobles’ prestige was in tatters, and lower-level officials became estranged from the court, creating a chaotic mess like a boiling pot of porridge.
But chaos often concealed opportunities.
Her gaze swept over the still shaken Huang Zicheng, over her son Zhu Yunwen, whose face was pale and whose expression was uncertain, and finally, as if piercing the palace walls, it fell upon Zhang Biao.
“Heh.”
Consort Lü suddenly let out a very soft cold laugh, like ice pearls falling on a jade plate.
“Scholar Huang, get up.”
Her voice returned to its usual gentleness:
“You were frightened. Your loyalty, along with Scholar Zhou’s, is evident today, and this consort has noted it.”
Huang Zicheng felt as if he had received a great pardon, and scrambled to his feet, full of gratitude.
Soon, he left the Eastern Palace.
When only Consort Lü and her son were left in the room, Consort Lü, as if nothing had happened, looked at Zhu Yunwen, her voice carrying a deliberate tone of comfort and guidance:
“Wen’er, do you see? The treacherous officials have revealed themselves. This is the Imperial Court. There are those with loyal hearts, and those with wolfish ambitions. And there are those who are like weeds, changing with the wind.”
Zhu Yunwen blinked at her words, then nodded, as if he understood but didn’t quite.
The timidity in his eyes was replaced by an effort to imitate his mother’s composure, but the hidden malice in his depths did not dissipate.
“Zhang Biao, that scoundrel, has become the target of everyone’s criticism!”
Consort Lü said calmly and indifferently:
“The more harshly he scolds, the more people he offends, and the faster he will die. When the Emperor wakes up, he will be the first to be held accountable.”
“Then we…”
Zhu Yunwen asked in a low voice, with a hint of urgency.
“We?”
A faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of Consort Lü’s lips. She elegantly closed her round fan, and the jade handle tapped lightly on her palm: “We only need to add a little fuel to the fire and watch the situation unfold.”
“Isn’t he revered as a ‘divine figure’ by those lower-level capital officials? Then let him rise even higher!”
Her voice dropped extremely low, yet every word was like a knife: “The higher they are praised, the more completely they will shatter when they fall, dying without a burial place!”
“Let all the civil and military officials, let everyone in the world, clearly see how the so-called ‘light’ will burn him and his followers to ashes together!”
“Empress! Your Highness!”
Just as Consort Lü finished speaking, the report of a trusted eunuch came from outside the door.
“What is it?”
Consort Lü still appeared very calm.
But she heard the trusted eunuch outside cautiously report: “Reporting to the Empress, His Highness Yunteng, and the two Princesses, have returned.”
“Oh?”
Consort Lü raised an eyebrow, then said indifferently:
“It’s good that they’re back. Are they alright? Have someone send some medicinal soup over to calm Yunteng’s nerves. And for Mingyue and Mingyu, also send them some delicious food; they’ve returned so late, they must be hungry.”
“Yes, Empress. The Empress is benevolent.”
The trusted little eunuch responded, then bowed and reported: “Reporting to the Empress, there is one more thing, this servant does not know if it should be said or not.”
Consort Lü frowned, her tone suddenly turning cold: “Sun Ren, are you also trying to play games with this consort like Huang Zicheng?”
“Thump!”
Suddenly, the sound of knees hitting the ground was heard from outside the door, followed by a trembling voice: “This servant dares not… Please forgive me, Empress!”
“Hmph!”
Consort Lü snorted coldly.
Then Sun Ren quickly reported in a low voice:
“Empress, this servant heard from the guards escorting the two Princesses Mingyue and Mingyu that they seemed to have encountered that Zhang Biao, Censor Zhang, and even sent five pig’s head meats to his home.
“In addition, it is said that His Highness the Third Imperial Grandson was the first to have contact with that Zhang Biao, Censor Zhang, and even called him ‘Good Brother,’ I wonder if this matter will affect our Eastern Palace…”
“Clatter!”
Before he could finish speaking, the sound of a round fan falling to the ground was heard from inside the door.
Immediately after, the room fell into a deathly silence.
Consort Lü, who had been earnestly instructing her son, now had a face like frost.
Because all that had happened before, whether it was Old Zhu’s fainting or Zhang Biao’s insolence, had not touched her most core interests.
After all, nothing was insignificant compared to the successor position.
And Zhu Yunteng, this waste in her eyes, was the key factor affecting her son’s successor position.
So, how did Zhu Yunteng come into contact with that lunatic Zhang Biao?
Or was all this, a push and pull from someone behind the scenes? And Zhang Biao, merely a pawn dancing most enthusiastically?
Thinking of this, an unprecedented chill finally surged in Consort Lü’s heart.
Was it Chang Clan’s people? she thought.
It must be, otherwise who else?
