Chapter four hundred and ninety-five concubines buried?
Another night passed. Li Jie woke up from the simple bed, rubbed his eyes and then stood up. Then he put on his shoes and turned the screen, but found that Huang Hua was already busy on the desk, and all kinds of information were piled up again.
"How is it? Are there any new progress?" Li Jie yawned and asked.
The blockade of the capital has been released for three days, but there is still no movement on Huang Zicheng. Although the Jinyiwei has made arrangements, Li Jie is still worried that Zhu Yunwen will escape from the city quietly. So in the past few days, he and Huang Hua are also trying their best to find Zhu Yunwen's whereabouts. After all, if he could find him earlier, everything would be over.
"Your Majesty, everything is no different from the previous few days. It seems that these people are really patient. They still refuse to move lightly after the lockdown in the capital is released!" Huang Hua also immediately raised his head and replied.
"Is it possible that the other party has quietly sneaked out of the city?" Li Jie frowned and asked again. If Huang Zicheng and the others had quietly transported the people outside the city, but they stayed in the capital to confuse themselves, this situation would not be completely impossible.
"It is absolutely impossible. I had already set up a net of heaven and earth at various city gates before the blockade was lifted. As long as I found that any suspicious person left the city, my people would chase after him to investigate after leaving the city. I would never let anyone go. If that person dared to leave the city, he would definitely not be able to escape the eyes of our Jinyiwei!" Huang Hua said confidently.
The Jinyiwei specializes in this kind of work, not to mention that this place is still the capital, which is considered the home of the Jinyiwei, so Huang Hua may not be able to find Zhu Yunwen's position in a short period of time, but it is still okay to guard several city gates. After all, the investigation of entering and leaving the capital is very strict now, and not many people can arouse their suspicion, so there are even less likely to be mistakes.
"Where are any discoveries about the manpower arranged in the city?" Li Jie asked again.
Of course, the Jinyiwei not only had the ability to guard the city gate, but Huang Hua was also full of spies in the city, not only for monitoring Huang Zicheng, but also for monitoring various abnormal movements in the capital. It would be fine if Zhu Yunwen just stayed in a secret place and didn't come out. As long as he dared to come out, he might be hit by the spies of the Jinyiwei. After all, Zhu Yunwen's portrait had long been distributed.
"No, either, this is why I'm sure that the man hasn't left the city. After all, as long as he dares to come out, so many eyeliners arranged in the city will definitely be discovered in advance!" Huang Hua replied again.
"It seems that he is really calm!" Li Jie also touched his chin and said to himself after hearing this.
Speaking of which, it is also a big blame for Li Jie, because in the original history, Zhu Yunwen was definitely not a patient person. Not long after he ascended the throne, he couldn't wait to cut off the vassal states, and he cut off five vassal kings in a year. At this speed, he could get all the vassal kings in less than three years. But he was too anxious to rebel. In fact, with Zhu Di's strength at that time, if Zhu Yunwen was a little patient, Zhu Di would not be able to rebel.
However, Zhu Yunwen is now different from that in history. Huang Zicheng and others have been hit by Li Jie many times. Although this blow cannot make them reborn, it can teach them some lessons and cultivate a certain degree of patience. For example, Zhu Yunwen was demoted to Fengyang for a year, which allowed him to learn a lot during that period.
"Actually, this is normal. Huang Zicheng and others are not stupid either. They must know that we are sending people to monitor them, especially in the few days after the lockdown was lifted, they will definitely be more careful and dare not show any flaws. I guess they are waiting for us to slack off first. Only in this way can they have greater confidence to escape from the capital." Huang Hua analyzed again.
After hearing this, Li Jie nodded in agreement. If he were Huang Zicheng or Zhu Yunwen, he would probably not have been in such a hurry to leave the city. After all, now is the most risky time. However, as the saying goes, only a thousand days of being a thief, but there is no reason to defend against thieves for a thousand days. After a long time, Li Jie and the others will definitely relax, and then it will be the time for the other party to leave the city.
Just as Li Jie was in deep thought, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside. Then an eunuch rushed over and immediately saluted when he saw Li Jie, "Report to the prince consort, Your Majesty summon him!"
When Li Jie heard that Zhu Yunyu wanted to see him, he could only say goodbye to Huang Hua, and then leave the tutoring department and enter the palace by car. Speaking of which, Zhu Yunyu has also been under great pressure these days. After all, Zhu Biao's death was too sudden. He had to bear the pain of losing his father, and he was busy dealing with the rotten paralyzed man after Zhu Biao's death.
Especially Zhu Yunwen was still making trouble with him at this time, which made Li Jie have to stay in the tutoring department and he had no way to come back to help him, which also doubled the pressure on Zhu Yunxi.
Influenced by Lao Zhu, Zhu Yunxiu also chose the place where he handled government affairs in the warm pavilion, and even the layout inside was not changed. When Li Jie entered here, he saw the young Zhu Yunxiu sitting in Lao Zhu's original position at first sight, which made him feel a sense of dazedness, as if he had seen the young Lao Zhu sitting there.
"Brother-in-law, you're here. How about it? Have you found his trace?" Zhu Yunxiu had already asked everyone around him to retreat. When he saw Li Jie, he immediately stood up and asked. What he cares most about now is Zhu Yunwen's whereabouts. After all, the other party is a person who can threaten his throne. If he doesn't catch the other party for a day, he will be uneasy to sit on the throne for a day.
"Not yet, but we can be sure that he should still be hiding somewhere in the city. After all, the blockade has just been released. As long as he has a little brain, he will not escape at this time." Li Jie also answered immediately.
"He hid so deeply that even the Jinyiwei could not find him, but Huang Zicheng and others deserved to be damned. Without their assistance, I would probably not even be able to go out of the palace gate. Thinking of this, I would have wished to arrest Huang Zicheng and others and pieces of corpses!" Zhu Yunxiu said at the end, and he showed a gritting expression. Compared to Zhu Yunwen, he hated Huang Zicheng and others more.
"Huang Zicheng and the others just know that we don't dare to make a statement. After all, this is related to the reputation of the royal family. Not to mention that we have no evidence now, even if there is evidence in the future, we may not be able to sue them openly!" Li Jie said helplessly at this time.
"This is too passive. If it really doesn't work, just tear it apart. Anyway, I don't care about anything that is not famous!" Zhu Yunxiu said in an upset at this time.
"The things have not reached that point. As long as Zhu Yunwen doesn't leave the city, he will not be able to make any storms. So things are still within controllable range. The one who is most anxious now is not us, but Zhu Yunwen. After all, it is not easy to hide in fear, so I believe he can't hide for long." Li Jie persuaded again.
"That's true, so I'll ask you brother-in-law for everything!" Zhu Yunxiu finally nodded after hearing this, and his expression slowly calmed down. After all, he is no longer a young boy, but an emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He has to consider the consequences when doing things. Even if he doesn't care about his reputation, he still has to care about the reputation of the entire royal family.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, if I'm here, Zhu Yunwen will definitely not be able to escape!" Li Jie promised again. After saying that, he also looked at Zhu Yunhe, because he knew that the other party called him back, not just to ask about Zhu Yunwen's news. After all, if there was really news, he would definitely tell him on his own initiative.
Sure enough, Zhu Yunxiu pondered for a while before speaking again: "Brother-in-law, I still have a very difficult thing here. I don't know what to do now, so I want you to help me with an idea."
"What's the matter?" Li Jie saw Zhu Yunxi's face of embarrassment, and immediately asked curiously.
"This... I'd better ask him to explain to you brother-in-law in person!" Zhu Yunxiu seemed to be uncomfortable and asked someone to come in again after saying that, and then asked someone to notify the person who had been waiting outside.
After a while, Li Jie saw an acquaintance coming in. This person was Mei Yin, the second son-in-law of Lao Zhu. Before Lao Zhu passed away, he had specially summoned him to give him some advice. Afterwards, Zhu Biao even handed over Lao Zhu's funeral to Mei Yin for handling.
"Mei Mei Yin, please see Your Majesty!" Mei Yin immediately saluted Zhu Yunsheng after coming in, and then signaled to Li Ji. Li Jie bowed to the other party. Although they were all son-in-laws, the other party was a generation higher than Li Jie. In fact, Li Jie had to call him uncle.
"Duke Rong Guo doesn't have to be too polite. You can tell the story to Marquis Jinghai!" Zhu Yunxiu immediately spoke. Duke Rong Guo was named Mei Yin and he was deeply loved by Lao Zhu, so after marrying Lao Zhu's daughter, he was directly awarded Duke Rong Guo, which is much stronger than Li Jie. After all, he earned his Jinghai Marquis from Li Jie through military merits.
"Yes!" Mei Yin agreed, then turned to Li Jie, and said with a embarrassed look on his face, "Marty Jinghai was also someone that Emperor Taizu had met before his death. I wonder if Your Majesty had any advice to you at that time?"
Lao Zhu's funeral has begun. Just before Zhu Biao's death, both the posthumous title and the temple name had been decided. Unfortunately, the funeral has not started yet, and Zhu Biao himself has disappeared. So now the royal family has two funerals to prepare. Among them, Zhu Biao's funeral was taken over by Li Jie, but he has no time to deal with the funeral recently.
"This... I wonder what kind of advice the Duke of the State said?" Li Jie was stunned for a moment before asking. Lao Zhu said a lot to him before his death, so he didn't know which sentence Mei Yin was asking?
"It's...it's what Your Majesty has arranged for the harem!" Mei Yin hesitated again and replied.
"Harde?" Li Jie was stunned at first, and then suddenly thought of something. This matter was not very glorious. It could even be said to be one of the stains of Lao Zhu's life, that is, after he died, he asked the concubines in the harem to be buried for him.
The custom of burying with one's life has existed in ancient times, but it was abolished during the Han Dynasty. Of course, there may be some powerful people doing it secretly, but at least it is no longer supported by the law on the surface. It can be said that burying with one's life has disappeared from the Central Plains for thousands of years.
But Lao Zhu issued an order before his death, asking the concubines in the palace to bury him for his life. In the end, a total of forty-six people were buried for him. Of course, these women are not dead yet, but now it seems that Lao Zhu had already ordered Mei Yin to do this before his death. It was only because Zhu Biao died that the matter was delayed. Now that Zhu Yunyu ascended the throne, Mei Yin brought it up again.
Thinking of this, Li Jie also cleared his throat and said, "I remember, Duke Rong is talking about Emperor Taizu's ordering the concubines in the harem to be buried with him?"
"Your Majesty has told you, it's great!" Mei Yin immediately felt relieved when he heard Li Jie telling the secret.
This matter has always been in the heart of Mei Yin. Originally, it was Lao Zhu's arrangement, and he should have done it according to Lao Zhu's will. However, burial of a sacrificial matter was too bad and had been abolished in the Han Dynasty. If it was restored now, it would probably affect Lao Zhu's reputation. Therefore, Mei Yin was also very entangled during this period, and finally he simply exposed the matter to Zhu Yunxi, which made Zhu Yunxi stump, so today's events happened.
"Brother-in-law, since you know this, why haven't you mentioned it before?" Zhu Yunxiu couldn't help asking. When he first heard about it, he was frightened and immediately fell into a dilemma. So he summoned Li Jie to help him make an idea, but he didn't expect that he had known it a long time ago.
"I originally wanted to report this to the late emperor, but I was sick all the time after the late emperor ascended the throne, so I didn't dare to stimulate him, so I kept holding back and didn't say it. Unexpectedly, the late emperor suddenly passed away. During this period, I was busy with other things and almost forgot about this matter. Fortunately, Duke Rong reminded me that I remembered it." Li Jie smiled again and said.
Of course, Li Jie was lying. He had never heard Lao Zhu mention this matter at all, but now he had to lie. Although this might go against Lao Zhu's last wish, it could fulfill his reputation.
"Marty Jinghai, since you know this, I don't know what you think you should do, do you want..." Mei Yin said at the end and looked at Li Jie again, with a confused look on his face. It seemed that he wanted Li Jie to help him make the decision. If Li Jie said he would do it, then they could only kill the concubines and let them go on the road with Emperor Taizu.
"This..." Li Jie also deliberately showed a meditative look at this time. There were many statements about why Lao Zhu had to restore the system of burial that had disappeared for more than a thousand years in the future, such as in order to prevent concubines from interfering in politics, or inheriting the system of the Yuan Dynasty.
However, after Li Jie came to the Ming Dynasty, through his contact with Lao Zhu, he discovered that only one reason why Lao Zhu let the concubines in the harem be buried with him was that Lao Zhu was not good at women.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, it may be a bit nonsense that Lao Zhu is not good at female sex. After all, Lao Zhu has taken many concubines, and there are more than 20 sons alone. Such people cannot be marked by the bad female sex, but Li Jie thinks that Lao Zhu is really not lustful at all.
Chapter completed!