Commander of the Jinyi Guards is an official of the third rank, and as a rule, he is qualified to participate in the early dynasty.
However, the current commander of the Jinyi Guards, Lu Zhong, has received a special order and is exempted from attending the court.
So basically, you can hardly see Lu Zhong in the early morning meetings. If you want to see him, you can only see him in the regular morning meetings once every ten days.
Watching Lu Zhong strode into the palace and saluted the emperor, most of the courtiers in the palace felt uncomfortable.
It turns out that the emperor was behind this court ceremony!
Not everyone has a keen judgment on the political situation.
This is largely due to poor information.
Except for those idle censors who impeach this and that every day.
Most officials are more worried about the government affairs within their own yamen. At most, they are concerned about the trends of related yamen.
Only when you reach the level of Qi Qing can you have the conditions and energy to analyze the political situation and grasp the general trend.
To be honest, if it hadn't been for the request from the Third Law Division today, the courtiers would have almost forgotten that the case has not yet been concluded.
Originally they thought that the Sanfa Division was just investigating the case normally and found Shi Pu's head. Because important officials were involved, they invited Ting Ju.
But as soon as Lu Zhong went to the palace, no matter how stupid he was, he would have understood.
Besides the emperor, who can instruct the commanders of the royal guards?
As a result, the ministers who were still a little bit interested in watching the excitement all restrained their thoughts.
At the same time, my mind began to spin rapidly, thinking about how I and others should protect themselves in this storm.
You must know that an important minister at the level of Qingqing often represents not himself alone, but a series of people related to him, including his disciples, old friends, and fellow villagers.
Those who are related to Shi Pu naturally think that their legs can survive this test.
What has nothing to do with him is thinking about who will be next in the top position and whether he can get some benefits from it.
What these people can think of, Shi Pu can naturally think of.
At first he was not sure that the emperor's order was behind this court ceremony, but when he saw Lu Zhong, there was nothing he could not understand.
However, he could not figure it out no matter what, he had no friendship with the emperor, and had never even met him before.
Even if the emperor wanted to find someone to kill him, why would he find someone on his head?
But the situation no longer allowed him to think carefully.
After Lu Zhong went to the temple, Yu Shiyue turned around and asked him again.
“May I ask Master Shi, when will you return to the capital this month?”
This question caused the officials below to be confused.
I don’t understand why I was just talking about the case of bribing Wang Zhen last year and suddenly asked when I was going to return to Beijing.
While others were confused, Shi Pu had an ominous premonition.
Suppressing the uneasiness in his heart, he said calmly.
“Seven days ago, on the 14th of this month, I arrived in the capital.”
Yu Shiyue nodded, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and asked.
“Okay, so where was Shi Shangshu at night on the 15th?”
From the corner of his eye, Shi Pu caught a glimpse of the woman Lu Zhong had brought with her, her head lowered and dressed in coarse cloth. He always felt that she looked familiar.
When Yu Shiyue asked this question, his pupils suddenly shrank, as if he remembered something, and a burst of cold sweat broke out in his palms.
Taking a deep breath, Shi Pu said with a hint of panic in his voice.
"Of course I was resting in the mansion. Yu Siqing asked what this was for. Could it be related to Wang Zhen?"
Seeing that Shi Pu finally started to panic, Yu Shiyue felt very happy. The smile on his face flashed away and was soon replaced by a stern look.
Staring at Shi Pu, Yu Shiyue shouted sharply.
"Shijiao'an, this is the time of the imperial court ceremony. Your Majesty is here. How dare you lie to deceive the emperor? You are so audacious!"
The sudden change surprised the surrounding officials.
All of a sudden, low voices of discussion arose one after another.
Yu Shiyue waved his sleeves, turned around, and raised his hands to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, I have found out that at Xu time on the 15th of this month, Shi Pu secretly went to a house in Dongcheng in a light vehicle.”
“When he left, he carried a hundred taels of gold and stayed in the courtyard for nearly half an hour.”
"According to the investigation, the owner of the house here is Jin Ying, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony!"
A "buzzing" sound.
The ministers, who were not very calm in the first place, suddenly exploded.
Regardless of being rude, countless people's eyes immediately turned to Jin Ying, whose face suddenly turned extremely pale behind the throne.
The current eunuch, Da Hui, was pale and stunned at the moment. The courtiers who were closer could even notice that his body was shaking slightly.
At this time, the emperor, who had been silent for a long time, finally asked.
“Jin Ying, what the minister of Dali Temple wrote, is this the truth?”
Jin Ying immediately stepped down from the throne, prostrated himself on the ground, and said.
"Your Majesty, on the night of the 15th, it is true that the minister was not in the palace, but he definitely did not have a private meeting with the foreign ministers, and he never met Mr. Shi who had just returned to Beijing. Your Majesty, please take a closer look."
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Yu Shiyue said immediately.
“Collusion to deceive the emperor is an unforgivable crime! Since Eunuch Jin doesn’t admit it, let’s see who this woman is?”
Lu Zhong on the side cooperated and turned sideways, revealing the woman in coarse linen clothes behind him.
The woman looked to be in her early twenties, and she was just pretty. With so many people paying attention, she couldn't help but shrink back behind Lu Zhong.
At this time, Yu Shiyue asked the woman.
“Your Highness, my lady, what is your surname and your identity? Come quickly.”
The woman knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said.
“My lord, my surname is Xu. She is the maidservant in Eunuch Jin’s mansion. The name given by the steward is Luliu.”
As soon as the voice fell, Jin Ying suddenly raised her head and stared at the woman fiercely.
“You are so presumptuous, our family doesn’t recognize you at all, what nonsense are you talking about!”
The woman was scolded in this way and fell to the ground without daring to speak.
Lu Zhong on the side sneered and said.
“Eunuch Jin, my commander sees that you are really out of your mind and dare to deceive me over and over again. This alone is enough for you to go to Fengyang to guard the mausoleum!”
As he spoke, he took out a notebook from his sleeve and said.
"This is the contract she signed with the steward of your house. It is clearly written on it that she will serve in your house after seven years of orthodoxy. There is also your private seal on this contract. Do you want to deny it?"
Although the Ming Dynasty explicitly prohibited the good family members from selling themselves into slavery, this kind of thing has buyers and sellers, and it is mutually consensual, so it is difficult to prohibit it.
The imperial court did not allow slaves to be kept openly, so the people had their own ways to work around it.
You cannot use the deed of sale, so use another name.
But no matter what it is, there is always a contract.
Looking at the contract placed in front of him, the private seal clearly stated this.
Jin Ying’s lips moved but she didn’t speak.
At this point, he is more sober than Shi Pu.
From the moment he saw the green willows appear, he knew that the situation was over.
Jin Ying did not dare to make a conclusion as to whether Shi Pu, an important official of the Seven Ministers, could do anything about this court battle.
But what he was sure of was.
Once the things that I and Shi Pu talked about that night were revealed in this court.
As a eunuch, he will never end well.
Even, Jin Ying felt inexplicable.
It seems that the target of this court battle was not Shi Pu from the beginning.
In other words, Shi Pu was just passing along.
The one the emperor really wants to win is Jin Ying!
