At the beginning of May 16, the prince Zhu Changluo took the eunuch Wang An, Zhong Benhua, and Li Jian to walk four miles to the gate of the Qixiang Palace of the West Sixth Palace, the original name of the Qixiang Palace was Weiyang Palace, and the Jiajing period was changed to the Qixiang Palace, twenty-five years after Wanli, the Wanli Emperor took the Qixiang Palace as a dormitory, the Qixiang Palace is two courtyards, the main hall is five rooms wide, the top of the Yellow Glazed Tile Mountain, the east and west side halls are connected by corner verandahs, the Wanli Emperor generally lives in the apse, Zhu Changluo four people came early, the gate of the Qixiang Palace has not been opened, but the side door is open, Zhu Changluo was indignant in his heart, pacing back and forth under the cypress tree at the palace gate, Wang An followed behind him and whispered comfort, while pressing his stomach, his face was in pain, and Wang An's stomach pain was committed again.

At the first day, the eunuch Li En, the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, hurried over with two chamberlains, saluted the crown prince Zhu Changluo, saw Zhong Benhua with hanging arms and Li Jian with crooked necks, and asked: "Both fathers-in-law were injured last night?" ”

Zhong Benhua said: "I was injured by the assassin who broke into the East Palace last night." ”

Wang An had a good personal relationship with Li En, and asked: "Is Grandpa Li here to hear the results of the trial of the Imperial History of the City Patrol to Long Live Lord?" ”

Li En asked the attendants around him to report, and replied: "Yes, the results of the preliminary examination of Liu Tingyuan of the imperial history have come out——"

"How did the Assassin confess, and what did the confession say?" Prince Zhu Changluo's voice was dry and his eyes were red.

Li En glanced at Wang An with some embarrassment, and Wang An said: "Don't worry, Master Chitose, I will be able to see Grandpa Banzai soon, and everything will fall into place." ”

The eunuch of Qixiang Palace came out, Zhu Changluo, the crown prince of Xuanhuang, came to see him, Zhu Changluo followed the eunuch to the Xinuan Pavilion in the apse of Qixiang Palace to bow down to his father, and Emperor Wanli sat on the embroidered dragon chair and asked: "What is the urgency of my son coming here early in the morning?" ”

Before coming to Qixiang Palace, Zhu Changluo was furious, and he was extremely resentful of his dangerous situation and the injustice he had received over the years, but at this time, when he saw his father Zhu Yijun, his anger and resentment were gone in an instant, only the diaphragm and fear remained, and he replied: "Father, last night, when the emperor was unitary, a thief broke into Ciqing Palace with a rod and injured a number of attendants, and then the thief was captured and handed over to Zhu Xiong, the commander of the Yanshan avant-garde on duty, and the son was frightened all night, so he came to see his father early in the morning, and asked his father to strictly investigate the case and make decisions for his son. ”

Emperor Wanli was taken aback when he heard that someone had broken into the East Palace with a rod, and asked: "Where do the exterminators dare to be so rebellious, and Zhu Xiong can have the results of the trial?" ”

Zhu Changluo said: "When the sons and daughters were waiting outside the palace, Li En, the master of ceremonies, came later, and it was to report to his father the results of the trial of the attack case last night. ”

Emperor Wanli immediately summoned Li En to see him, Li En entered the Xinuan Pavilion, presented the chapter, knelt down and said: "Long live the lord, this is the preliminary trial record of the attack case submitted by Liu Tingyuan, the imperial history of the imperial city, please take a look at it." ”

Emperor Wanli originally wanted to let people read it and listen to it, but after thinking about it, he still looked at it himself, and looked at the transcript of Liu Tingyuan's preliminary trial of the palace breaker overnight, but he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and said to Zhu Changluo: "Brother Don't be surprised, the case has been ascertained, the prisoner's name is Zhang Cha, a native of Jing'eryu in Jizhou, who has a crazy disease, and his words are reversed. ”

Zhu Changluo saw that such a big case of breaking into the palace was going to be named a madman, and he was sad and tearful, and kowtowed again and again: "Please be the master of the father." ”

Emperor Wanli also felt that this was too child's play, and said: "This is just a preliminary trial, whether the prisoner is called Zhang Cha or not, whether he is from Jizhou still needs to be verified, brother, don't worry, get up and speak." "Let the eunuchs around him help the prince up and give him a seat.

Zhu Changluo said: "Father, this imperial city and palace city are heavily guarded, and a crazy person can actually break through the heavy wall and go straight to the Cining Palace to pass through the hall. This was suggested by Wang An on the way to Qixiang Palace.

Emperor Wanli didn't want to make this case bigger, and said: "Liu Tingyuan, the superintendent of the case, has gone to Jing'eryu in Jizhou in person, and whether the criminal Zhang Cha is crazy can be found out soon, and the palace case should not be handed over to the Three Law Divisions for disposal for the time being, so as not to make waves for those officials to take advantage of this matter." ”

Since Emperor Wanli said this, Zhu Changluo didn't dare to argue anymore, sat down for a while, and then said goodbye and returned to the palace, but Emperor Wanli stopped him and said: "A few years ago, the Like gave the matter to the poet to teach your mother to complain, saying that the crown prince's mother has been buried for a year and the food field is not given, the incense is not offered, and the cemetery is deserted - you look at these officials, everything has to be managed, it is nothing more than an invitation, how can I not take your mother's future affairs to heart, and after two days, I will send a message to the Ministry of Rites, giving 30 graves and 25 acres of garden land for incense. ”

Zhu Changluo hurriedly knelt down to thank him, then resigned, and walked in the direction of Ciqing Palace with his head down, Wang An, Zhong Benhua, and Li Jian hurriedly followed.

Wang An asked: "Master Chitose, what is the result of Liu Tingyuan's trial?" ”

Zhu Changluo didn't answer, looked left and right at Zhong Benhua and Li Jian, both of them were not lightly injured, and said, "You two have sunk to the bottom of the sea unjustly and have been beaten by madmen." ”

Zhong Benhua and Li Jian looked at each other.

Wang An asked in a low voice: "Liu Tingyuan thinks the criminal is a madman?" ”

Zhu Changluo said "um" hatefully, left Qixiang Palace, and filled his chest with indignation.

Wang An asked, "What does the Long Live Lord say?" ”

Zhu Changluo suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and said: "My father refuses to hand over the case to the Three Law Divisions for trial, thinking that the big thing will be turned into a small one, so as not to be disputed by the foreign ministers-oh, I said in the end that I will send a message to the Ministry of Rites to give my mother thirty graves and twenty-five graves." ”

Wang An and Zhong Benhua glanced at each other, nodded imperceptibly, Wang Anxin said: "The cemetery of Wang Guifei, the mother of the master, was cold, and officials such as Wang Shichang of Dali Temple had also admonished him two years ago.

Wang An was also frightened and uneasy about the storm that was about to be set off, but for the sake of the prince's safety, why did he pity this remnant body, the attack case must be big, and he wanted to use this case to completely reverse the disadvantage of the young master to Zheng Guifei——...... After Liu Tingyuan, the imperial historian of Shaanxi Province, submitted the confession of Zhang Cha, the prisoner in the attack case, to the celebrant of the ceremony, he immediately returned to Huijimen, and waited for Fang Congzhe to arrive in front of the cabinet, and explained the attack case that occurred in Ciqing Palace last night, Fang Congzhe was shocked and asked: "What is the decree of the Holy Lord?" ”

Liu Tingyuan said: "The results of the preliminary trial have just been submitted, the emperor should not have seen it yet, and the lower officials will rush to Jing'eryu in Jizhou to investigate the origin of Zhang Cha's life. ”

Before leaving the city, Liu Tingyuan asked his confidants and family members to send the two letters written overnight to Zheng Guotai, the governor of the Left Military Governor's Mansion, and Hu Shixiang, the Langzhong of the Criminal Department, asking them to pay close attention to the case and discuss with the courtiers, and to avoid burning themselves——...... When Zhang Yuan walked to the Hanlin Courtyard at two o'clock in the morning, he saw that the Hanlin attendants, attendants, editors, editors and scholars who arrived first were gathered in front of the gate, looking at the high imperial wall on the opposite side of Chang'an Street and discussing, with a serious expression and a tense atmosphere, Zhang Yuan's heart was hanging, and he stepped forward and asked: "Ladies and gentlemen, what happened?" ”

Wen Zhenmeng frowned and said: "There is news in the Imperial City that last night there were annihilators who broke into the East Palace and injured several people, and now I don't know if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is safe." ”

Zhang Yuanxin said: "The attack case finally happened. On the surface, he exclaimed: "Such a thing can happen in the palace, what about the murderer, have you ever been caught?" ”

Scholar Guo Shu said: "It is said that it has been captured, and the imperial history of the city patrol has been interrogated overnight. ”

Zhang Yuan said: "How can such a big case be tried by a city patrol imperial history!" ”

Guo Shu said: "According to the law, it will be handed over to the Criminal Department, and officials from Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will participate in the trial, but the situation is still unclear. ”

Zhang Yuan looked at the Chengtianmen not far away, and thought: "The officials should also know about this, there is an uproar, Gonggong Zhong and they plan and then move, very good, the status of the prince in this case should be difficult to shake, the three major cases of the late Ming Dynasty, this attack case is very necessary, otherwise it will be difficult to ensure that there will be no chaos in the future when King Fu seizes the heir." ”

Wen Zhenmeng said in a low voice: "Jiezi, Wu Ge Lao is at home again, this is yesterday's matter, and there is another impeachment of Wu Ge Lao, how about we go to visit Mr. Wu with Qian Zhizhi in the evening?" ”

Zhang Yuan knew that this was very likely to be a continuation of the Yuhe North Bridge incident, and Wu Ge was always affected by him, and said: "There has been a big attack case, Wu Ge Lao can't still stay in the apartment, Fang Ge Lao also has to urge him to enter the cabinet to see things, we don't seem to have to visit for the time being." ”

…… Zhang Yuan's matter is extremely accurate, Fang Congzhe of the cabinet room waited for Liu Tingyuan to leave, thought about it, the stake in the attack case is very important, he will be criticized by the foreign ministers to deal with this matter alone in the cabinet, and Wu Daonan has to take responsibility together, immediately wrote a letter of letters, ordered people to immediately send to the old residence of Wu Pavilion on Taifusi Street - Wu Daonan received Fang Congzhe's handwritten letter, and was shocked to see it, and at this time he didn't care about waiting for the emperor to give an edict to comfort him, and immediately took a sedan chair to Chengtianmen, walked into the imperial city, and when he entered the noon gate and passed the six branch corridors, the six branch officials were discussing fiercely, Yang Lian was on duty today, and when he saw Wu Daonan walking by, he hurriedly chased him out, and said loudly: "Wu Ge Lao, Wu Ge Lao-"

Wu Daonan stopped, and Yang Lian caught up and said, "Does Elder Wu know that there was a big case in the East Palace last night?" ”

Wu Daonan nodded and said: "The old man was already at home, but he heard that there was a murder case in the East Palace, and the old man of the Fang Pavilion wanted the old man to enter the cabinet to look at things, and the old man had to come with shame. Asked, "Is the prince okay?" ”

Yang Lian said: "The prince is fine, but several attendants in the East Palace are not lightly injured, and it is inevitable that the prince will be frightened. ”

(To be continued)