strictlysupreme Chapter 1321
Chapter 1321
After a moment, he said, "Your Majesty knows that this case involves me and the Marquis of Zhulu! But Your Majesty still wants to investigate these two cases!!"
"Do you think... His Majesty would dare to attack us?"
These thoughts and words had been swirling in Zhang Yi's mind since the morning court session. Now that the imperial edict to thoroughly investigate these cases had already been issued, he and Zhu Shou, as those involved, were naturally eager to pull everyone to their side and jointly respond to the young emperor, Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Shou understood these principles as well, so he immediately chimed in, "Today they've only investigated me and Marquis Heqing, but what about tomorrow? The day after? He dares to investigate everyone standing here, every single one of them!"
After saying that, he spat on the ground in anger.
While his and Zhang Yi's alternating instigation might have had the intention of bringing everyone together, it wasn't entirely without merit.
Therefore, everyone naturally listened to what was said.
When Zhang Yi and Zhu Shou stopped, the entire hall fell silent, and everyone's expressions became noticeably more serious.
Seeing this situation.
Chang Sheng, sitting next to Lan Yu, felt his heart sink: "We're doomed. Everything Zhang Wen predicted came true... He started by targeting the two marquises. How could the others not be wary?"
Chang Sheng's hands clenched tightly under his sleeves in anxiety. After thinking for a while, he slammed his hand on the table next to him with a loud "smack," feigning anger, and said, "How could this be?! His Majesty... didn't he agree with us from the beginning?!"
After saying this, he took a deep breath as if he were thinking: "Hiss... Could it be that His Majesty is unaware that this matter involves Marquis Zhulu and Marquis Heqing? Although Yuan Tai and Zhuo Jing have spent more than a month in Sichuan and Guangdong respectively, it's hard to say exactly how far they've come up with the information!"
"And to say something I shouldn't, without us, he wouldn't even be able to sit securely on his throne."
"If he knows that this matter involves you but still wants to investigate, wouldn't he be just making trouble for himself?"
Chang Sheng could only try his best to take the perspective of nobles and military officials and try to salvage the situation, already putting on his best acting skills. And his argument did have some merit, which softened the expressions of some people.
however……
However, not everyone buys his explanation.
Someone immediately retorted, "Although His Majesty did agree with us beforehand,... agreements aren't set in stone! Who knows if His Majesty has become too powerful and changed his mind? Has the Duke forgotten what happened at the morning court session today? Has he forgotten why this imperial edict was issued so smoothly?"
"The heads of the six ministries in the court are now all people he can order around! Perhaps His Majesty feels... that he no longer needs us?"
These words were clearly particularly awe-inspiring—something they all witnessed at the morning court session!
And after what happened this morning.
They did have a vague feeling in their hearts—Zhu Yuntong, the former third prince, now the young emperor who founded the new Qianlong Dynasty, had unknowingly gained enormous power that they had not anticipated! Even though they remained silent at the morning court session, this young emperor, whom they had personally helped to the throne, was already fully capable of issuing orders!
And at this moment, this feeling was bluntly pointed out.
Everyone nodded in agreement, echoing, "That's right! Although we don't know what methods His Majesty used, the facts are clear! He feels he no longer needs you and me, so changing his mind is perfectly reasonable!"
"How many lessons can be learned from the mistakes of the previous Hongwu reign?"
"He is the direct grandson of the Hongwu Emperor! He can not only inherit the ruthlessness of the Taizu Emperor, but he might even surpass it!"
Hmm... it's genetic.
They knew all too well what Zhu Yuanzhang had done and how he treated them—no matter how great your achievements were, once the Ming Dynasty was established, all the power in the world was in his hands, and everyone could only follow his whims and whims... otherwise, they would be courting death.
These words made everyone's expressions even more unpleasant.
They gradually came to believe that this young emperor, the Kaiqian Emperor, would turn his back on them just like the previous Hongwu Emperor!
Chang Sheng pursed his lips but couldn't utter another word.
Damn it, my good nephew, who's always causing trouble, created way too many bugs this morning! Just like the list Zhang Wen and I had compiled, patching this one caused another leak, patching that one caused yet another leak…
The collapse of trust was simply unstoppable!
He looked at Marquis Zhang Wen of Huining in the crowd as if he were asking for help, but who could Zhang Wen ask for help from?
Like a giant sieve, even the most eloquent tongue is useless against it.
Left with no other choice, Zhang Wen could only lower his head silently, burying his head in the sand like an ostrich – it wasn't that he didn't want to do something, he just had no other options.
Chang Sheng felt like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind.
Meanwhile, the others in the main room were already getting excited amidst their chatter. Some were banging on the table, some were glaring angrily, and some were spewing profanities...
"Hmph! This is simply outrageous! Just because a few feathers have grown on its wings, it thinks it can fly right now?"
"Hmph! Just a few ministers from the Six Ministries! Does he think that just because he's got these people under control, he can sit securely on the throne even without our support?"
"How can we allow the new emperor to humiliate us like this?!"
"Can you swallow this? You can, but I can't! If this continues, he'll think we're all made of mud!"