Chapter 299 Ask Eunuch Cao to Help Find Out About Zhu Wusi?

On an early spring night, the chirping of crickets, like an euphemistic and melodious ancient song, penetrated the night sky of the capital.

The seemingly peaceful capital is actually undercurrent.

Forbidden City, East Palace.

The twelve-year-old prince Zhu Youtang returned to the East Palace after a day of classes. He sat in front of the desk and played with a rattle, which was a relic left by his biological mother Ji Shufei.

Zhu Youtang was a poor prince, and his mother was just a palace maid in charge of the internal treasury and accounting. Normally, there was no chance of getting on the dragon bed. But after a drinking session, Emperor Chenghua visited her and she became pregnant with Zhu Youtang.

A few years ago, Concubine Ji Shu was seriously ill. Emperor Chenghua Zhu Jianshen took his eldest son out of Yang'an Hall and made him the prince, allowing Concubine Ji Shu to peacefully go through the last part of her life.

"Honey, you're here! Something interesting happened in the city today!"

Zhu Youtang shook the rattle, and an old eunuch wearing a brocade robe came to him. It was Zhang Min, the eunuch in charge of rituals who Xu Xin and his party had met during the day, and the eunuch Zhu Youtang trusted most.

Although many unofficial rumors are fabricated, many widely circulated news must have a reason, and some things are still based on evidence. For example, Zhu Youtang's life experience, he did not have a good life at the beginning.

Their mother and son stayed in Yang'antang next to the cold palace for six years. During this period, they were often favored by the eunuchs and palace maids headed by Zhang Min. Therefore, after becoming the prince, Zhang Min also jumped from a middle-level eunuch to a eunuch serving as a ceremonial officer, and then to Zhu Min. Youtang respects an elder and calls him his wife.

"Your Highness, we and our family watched a good show today. Cao Shaoqin from the East Factory and Yu Huatian from the West Factory had a fight in the city..."

Zhang Min told Zhu Youtang in detail what happened during the day. As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youtang wanted to prepare for taking over the throne in the future, so he naturally wanted to collect all kinds of information from the capital.

After hearing Zhang Min's story, Zhu Youtang frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "Then Cao Shaoqin is so arrogant and domineering. I don't know what my father likes about him!"

"Your Highness, there are always some secretive things in the world that need people to do. Moreover, Cao Shaoqin has been with Your Majesty for a long time. He is an old friend of Qiandi and has an old friendship with Concubine Wan Guifei. His seniority is much higher than that of Yuhuatian."

Zhang Min explained some things in detail to Zhu Youtang. He was respected by Zhu Youtang not only because he had been kind to the prince, but also because he was the prince's first teacher and taught him many principles.

"Honey, I understand what you are saying. It's not that I hate eunuchs, it's just that Cao Shaoqin's behavior is too presumptuous!"

Zhu Youtang shook his head, and then said: "Honey, did you just say that you met the family members of Mr. Wang, the number one scholar in Jinke, today?"

Zhang Min nodded and said: "Yes, Your Highness, the old slave asked Xiao Cao to lead them some way. Xiao Cao came back to report that the eldest son of the Wang family is two years younger than you, and his name is Wang Shouren. He’s a very interesting person.”

"The eldest son of the Wang family? Wang Shouren!"

Zhu Youtang listened to what Zhang Min said and silently wrote down the name in his heart.

…

On the same night, when Wang Hua was sending off Xie Qian and other colleagues, Xu Xin was also sorting out some of the information he had obtained today.

When Wang Hua was having a banquet with his colleagues, Xu Xin, the eldest son of the Wang family, also went to have fun with Mr. Wang, and also mentioned what happened during the day.

Wang Hua's colleagues were all officials in Beijing, and several of them had some backgrounds and knew many secrets. After a few drinks, and under the influence of Xu Xin's spiritual magic, they unknowingly revealed a lot of key information.

The scene during the day, when the east and west factories were fighting, was most likely the current emperor's balancing act. The current emperor succeeded to the throne at a young age and was deposed when he was young. He is accustomed to the harsh world and the secret affairs of the palace, so he uses and guards against eunuchs.

Dongchang has developed too much in recent years, and there are many hills inside. Many things the emperor can't bear to see, but he is nostalgic for old feelings. Those slaves knelt on the ground and cried. He felt soft and couldn't go down. Hand disposal.

Over time, the power of the East Factory became more and more difficult to control, so in the past few years, he specially established a West Factory and chose Yu Huatian, a clever eunuch who only entered the palace after he succeeded to the throne, to serve as the factory supervisor. This was considered a right move. Dongchang's one-step clampdown.

When the West Factory was first established three years ago, it had a serious lack of power. Facing the East Factory, it had no choice but to give in. There has been a slight improvement in the past three years, just trying to challenge. Recently, the two sides seem to be fighting for their wits.

Wang Hua and others chatted happily about this kind of news, but that was not what Xu Xin wanted to know. It was about whether Grandpa Cao Zhengchun practiced the Tiangang Boy Kung Fu, and whether Emperor Cheng Hua had an illegitimate son named Zhu Wuwu.

Both of these pieces of information are quite secretive. Naturally, Wang Hua's colleagues don't know the details. Eunuch Cao is not well-known yet, and not many people know him. No information about him has been found.

Regarding the news of the emperor's illegitimate child, several of Wang Hua's colleagues were also chatting lively. As expected, everyone likes to pay attention to these private matters.

According to what they said, Emperor Chenghua did have several illegitimate children, all of whom were not included in the genealogy and were not even considered princes. Their future future was worrying.

The origin of this matter can be traced back to Concubine Wan Gui. It is true that Concubine Wan Gui was jealous. Although it did not reach the level of deliberately murdering the emperor's heirs and causing the emperor to cut off his descendants, she also persecuted the concubines in the harem.

At first, Concubine Wan wanted to have a child to inherit the throne, but she only gave birth to one son, who died a few months later. Although this child died for a short time, it also showed that she could still give birth, so she never gave up for so many years.

Emperor Chenghua also had a lot of feelings for her and wanted to have a child with Concubine Wan to inherit the throne. But as an emperor, he also had to consider the inheritance of the royal family, so there were many concubines and palace maids who were secretly favored, and there were also many royal heirs born.

However, the process of enthroning princes in the Ming Dynasty was very complicated, and their identity identification was extremely strict. From the birth of the prince, the royal family would have relevant resumes and records.

For an illegitimate child without a record, unless his brothers who were recorded died or received the emperor's grace, it is unlikely that he would regain the status of a prince.

This is cruel to say, but it is also helpless. The general environment of the harem in the past was like that. Concubine Wan was strong and always wanted to give birth to a prince herself.

Those princes were hidden by their mothers, waiting to compete for the throne in the future, including the current crown prince Zhu Youtang, who actually has a similar origin.

These illegitimate princes fought to the end, and it was the crown prince Zhu Youtang who succeeded in ascending the throne, and was directly named the crown prince. This made the other illegitimate princes lose the possibility of becoming legitimate. After all, they had "fought" for the throne.

If they want to "become legitimate" in the future, it depends on the thoughts of the person sitting on the throne. If the emperor is sentimental, it is possible to restore their status and make them princes.

"I'm afraid I have to ask people in the palace for news about the illegitimate princes in the palace. The relationship with eunuch Cao needs to be managed well!"

Xu Xin had an idea, and he had the idea of ​​asking Cao Zhengchun to help find out the news about Zhu Wusi, but why did he feel that this was a bit strange.