Chapter 581: Prison Exploration
Zhang Luan pointed to the main gate of the Northern Pacification Office and said, “Let’s go in quickly. If it’s too late, I’m afraid they won’t welcome outsiders anymore.”

Zhang Yanling said indifferently: “With your identity, you can go in at any time. Besides, this is not a place to receive outsiders. You can only go in if you show your identity. It doesn’t matter what time you come.”

“Too.”

Zhang Luan nodded and said, “Then tell me, who is behind all this?”

“It’s obvious. Who could have obtained the evidence of Li Zisheng’s communication with Liang Fang, but kept it hidden until the right time to bring it out and deal a fatal blow to Li Zisheng, and also to you? This person, without some skill and strength, could do it?”

Zhang Yanling said with a smile.

“You mean… Tan Chang, the commander of the Eastern Depot?”

Zhang Luan couldn’t help but shudder, and said with a sad face, “Alas, why do people nowadays always repay kindness with enmity? Tan Chang was originally unemployed at home, and it was me and the Empress Dowager who recommended him to stabilize the court. I didn’t expect that not long after, he would turn against us!

“Qin Chang has worked in the Imperial Household Department for a long time. His strength should not be underestimated. Can I defeat him?”

Zhang Yanling pushed Zhang Luan from behind and said, “Even if you don’t want to fight, they will still be ruthless to you. If you want to gain a firm foothold in the court, you must face these powerful people. Even if Wan’an and Liu Ji joined forces during the time of the previous emperor, what would happen? Wouldn’t they still be defeated?
“Now you are afraid of a mere eunuch who is in charge of the Eastern Depot? In the final analysis, he is just a servant and you are the master!”

Zhang Luan gritted his teeth and said viciously: “If an enemy comes, we will stop him with our generals. If a flood comes, we will block it with earth. Anyway, I can’t stand it, but my son will take over for me. I will fight that old man to the death!”

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes at his cheap father and said, “Just listen to me for a few words, and you’re talking nonsense again? Let’s go, let’s go to the Northern Pacification Office, this dragon’s den and tiger’s lair!”

……

……

The Beizhenfusi Yamen was located in Zhaohui Jinggongfang, adjacent to Bei’anmen, with Fuxiang Temple and Xingyou Palace nearby. Its main gate faced the North Taiye Lake, which is Qianhai in later generations. There were very few visitors here at night. Of course, as a secret agency directly under the emperor, it was never closed at night.

Because the Jinyiwei arrested people regardless of day or night, they could be sent out on missions at any time, and it was common for people who went out on missions from here to get into disputes with others, or even get killed or injured.

The fact that Zhang Guozhang came with his son to visit at night was something that the people on duty had not expected, so they did not rush to ask the person in charge to come out and deal with it.

The person who represented the Jinyiwei this time was Jinyi Captain Mou Bin.

“Zhang Guozhang.”

Mou Bin stepped forward and greeted him respectfully, “I wonder why you came to visit me so late at night? Isn’t the case of Eunuch Liang concluded?”

Zhang Luan looked around, then looked inside the government office, and asked, “Where is Commander Zhu?”

“He…has sent someone to notify them.”

Mou Bin replied respectfully.

“Then… where is the pacification envoy?”

Zhang Luan asked again.

“Father-in-law, have you forgotten? After Envoy Zhang was dismissed, this position has been vacant. Now, the affairs of the Northern Pacification Division are temporarily managed by me. If you have anything to say, just tell me and I can pass it on to you. You don’t have to come here in person.”

Mou Bin seemed very cautious when he said this.

He probably guessed that Zhang Luan came for Li Zisheng’s matter.

So he didn’t dare let Zhang Luan overstep his authority.

You don’t know the rules and want to cause trouble, but we are a group of people who just want to make a living.

Zhang Luan suddenly realized, “Oh, yes, Zhang Jin was once used by Liang Fang, and he gave Liang Fang gifts many times, which is why he got the position of the Northern Pacification Commissioner. So when Eunuch Huai returned to the court, the first person he arrested was him. He was only dismissed now, but not questioned?”

“This… not yet.”

Mou Bin asked cautiously, “Why are you here?”

Mou Bin heard that Zhang Luan seemed to be deliberately using Zhang Jin’s resignation to warn him.

Zhang Luan looked at his son, and after receiving a positive look, he seemed to have found someone to back him up. He straightened his neck and said in a loud voice, “I went to the palace today and got the approval of His Majesty to supervise Li Zisheng’s case… From now on, this case will be temporarily handed over to me. Do you understand?”

“Are you in charge? Do you have any imperial edict?”

Mou Bin was somewhat incredulous.

Does the emperor trust Zhang Guozhang so much?
Don’t you know how good the relationship between Zhang Guozhang and Li Zisheng is?
Can we still give him the leadership of this case?

Could it be that the emperor is planning to make a small matter out of a big deal and let Li Zisheng off the hook?

Zhang Luan frowned and asked, “Captain Mou, do you think I have to lie to you about this? Do you know what a crime it is to say such things?”

Mou Bin quickly stated: “I have absolutely no such intention… Since His Majesty has appointed you to supervise this case, the chief judge must be you!”

“Isn’t that okay?”

Zhang Luan shook his head and continued, “But I guess someone might bring this up in public at the court tomorrow. If the ministers object, there’s a chance I’ll lose this authority. That means there’s still a possibility that things might change for the time being.”

Mou Bin thought, since you knew that things might change, why did you come directly to the Northern Pacification Office to ask for help without getting a formal imperial edict?

Zhang Luan explained: “However, I have received the imperial edict and have the power to preside over the trial. All the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department are witnesses.

“I don’t want to make it difficult for you. If you really can’t make the decision, you can ask Commander Zhu, and then Commander Zhu can ask Eunuch Huai’an, or the two Eunuchs Qin, to see if this is true.

“The reason I came to the case early was mainly because I was afraid that someone would tip off the people behind Li Zisheng and give them a chance to destroy the evidence… I told His Majesty in person at the Palace of Heavenly Purity that Li Zisheng and I have a good relationship. If he really did something treasonous, I would have to deal with him personally. But if he didn’t, I don’t want anyone to wrongly accuse him… Do you understand?”

Mou Bin shouted in his heart “Oh my god”.

I thought to myself, did you get rid of our Majesty with just a few words?

Our Majesty is wise and brave, and he has a capable assistant like Eunuch Huai by his side. How could he be fooled by your misleading words?
Zhang Luan frowned and asked, “From your attitude, it seems that you still don’t believe it! Tell me, do you not believe in His Majesty, or do you not believe in me? Or do you not believe in the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department?”

“No, no, I absolutely believe it.”

Mou Bin quickly agreed, “You are the most appropriate person to supervise this case personally. After all, you were the one who presided over the Liang Fang case before, and this case is actually related to the Liang Fang case. It is completely understandable!”

Zhang Luan smiled faintly and shouted, “That’s it. Why don’t you take me to see Li Zisheng right away?”

“But……”

Mou Bin thought to himself, you are really talking about something that is not related to the topic!
The person has already been imprisoned in the imperial prison. If you come and meet Li Zisheng and reassure him, will he still confess his crimes truthfully?
You are not here to help, but purely to sabotage us, do you understand?

“Zhang Guozhang, can you wait until you get the imperial edict tomorrow, and then bring the official from the Ministry of Justice to see Li Zisheng? Right now, he just wants to ask questions, and we are not making things difficult for him.”

Mou Bin patiently explained, “Please don’t worry. Without your consent, we will never use severe punishment on him.” Zhang Luan shook his head repeatedly: “From what you said, you still don’t trust His Majesty and me. You think I will hinder your investigation, right?”

“I have absolutely no such intention!”

Mou Bin quickly denied it: “I, Mou, am loyal to Your Majesty, and the world can prove it!”

Zhang Luan frowned and said, “Since you believe in His Majesty and me, then lead the way immediately and take me to see Li Zisheng and ask him a few questions.

“If this doesn’t work, I think you… Oh! How should I put it? Actually, we are very polite to each other, and I don’t want to cause trouble for you at all. What do you think?”

At the end of the conversation, Zhang Luan stared at Mou Bin. As long as the other party continued to say “no”, he would turn around and leave. From then on, the two sides would be completely enemies.

“Yes, yes, Father-in-law Zhang, you are right. Please come this way… I will pass the message and bring the person here for questioning.” Mou Bin was frightened. The other party even said the word “trouble”, and he could no longer refuse.

Mou Bin knew how much the emperor relied on Zhang Luan, and from then on, if Zhang Luan said anything bad about him in front of the emperor, he would be in trouble.

In addition, Mou Bin did not want Zhang Luan to go directly to the cell to see Li Zisheng and let Zhang Luan feel the gloomy situation in the imperial prison. If he directly proposed to take the person away, Zhang Luan would cry to death.

After all, Zhang Luan is the most troublesome guy in the court. He got his official position inexplicably. This kind of person likes to do things unconventionally.

“no!”

Zhang Luan said directly, “You have to take me to the cell to have a look… Don’t worry, I won’t disturb you from doing your normal work. I have no control over how you manage the prisoners. Even if you think it’s in accordance with the rules and really want to torture Li Zisheng, it’s none of my business. But now I want to interrogate the case, so you have to follow my rules. Please lead the way.”

“Please.”

Mou Bin had no choice but to personally lead Zhang Luan and his son to the yamen.

……

……

Zhang Luan and his son followed Mou Bin all the way to the gate of the Jinyiwei prison.

Mou Bin went to explain things to the jailer.

Zhang Luan took the opportunity to hold his son’s hand and asked in a low voice: “What’s wrong with Mou Bin? He was quite polite when I saw him before, why is he causing trouble for me today? I was really anxious just now. If he keeps refusing, I really can’t do anything about him and can only leave.”

“Father, you performed very well just now. You frightened this guy!”

Zhang Yanling first praised him, then explained: “Don’t you see it yet? He feels that he has achieved his goal and has won the appreciation of the two big men in the inner court, Huai En and Qin Chang. And this case is obviously that the Silijian wants to put Li Zisheng to death. You are going against his benefactor. How can he like you?”

“Hey, he feels honored to be admired by those damn eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department?” Zhang Luan frowned and shook his head, “I used to think he was a real person.”

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, “This guy isn’t a bad guy, it’s just that his butt is a little crooked at the moment, that’s all.”

“What do you mean?”

Zhang Luan asked.

“He’s on the wrong side! But he’s on Huai En’s side, which means he’s on the new emperor’s side, so it’s not his fault… Dad, you have to conquer him with your real ability.”

Zhang Yanling smiled.

“Why should I conquer him? I don’t want to be in charge of the Jinyiwei affairs… Are you going to let me be the commander of the East Factory? I have never seen a civil servant occupying that position. As a father, I still want to live a good life for a few days!”

After Zhang Luan finished speaking, he glared at his son again.

……

……

Then Mou Bin came over and took the father and son into the imperial prison.

Mou Bin didn’t even ask why Zhang Luan came alone but brought his son with him.

But he was very sensible. No matter what, he had a father-in-law and an uncle-in-law in front of him, both of whom had a say in the emperor’s eyes, which was very important.

A person who can communicate directly with the emperor and even have the emperor listen to and accept his words is an absolutely powerful minister.

In the Ming Dynasty, only a few people like Li Zisheng could enjoy such treatment.

And now, apart from the two palace maids Huai’en and Tan Chang, it seems that among the external officials, only Zhang Luan and his son have this qualification.

When Mou Bin led the two men into the imperial prison, he was thinking in his heart that if he had known earlier, he should have let Qin Yun come. He was more accustomed to dealing with this father and son.

“What kind of place is this? Isn’t it said that the Imperial Prison is the best prison in the Ming Dynasty? All the prisoners there are high-ranking officials and nobles. Why is it in such a state?”

Zhang Luan asked, covering his nose.

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile: “Dad, have you never been here before?”

Zhang Luan smiled bitterly and replied, “When I came to the Northern Pacification Office to handle cases before, I just had to wait in the lobby outside for the hearing. When have I ever been to such a gloomy and terrifying place?”

Mou Bin took the opportunity to say, “Zhang Guozhang, if you want to see the criminal, there is really no need for you to come to this dirty place in person. Let’s go out immediately and wait for him to come to see us, okay?”

“Actually, there’s nothing wrong with coming in and taking a look. At least it broadens your horizons!”

Zhang Luan pulled himself together and forced a smile, “Is the person imprisoned so deeply? How has Li Zisheng behaved since he came in?”

“he……”

Mou Bin wanted to conceal it, but when he thought about Zhang Luan’s meeting with Li Zisheng soon, he realized that many things could not be concealed, so he reported the truth, “We moved him here at sunset… We didn’t expect him to spend the night here at first… But according to the rules, those who cannot be released on the same day must be moved here first. We are just following the rules. He was quite calm after he moved in, but he looked much more vicissitudes than usual.”

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, “That’s right. Anyone who comes here will have an uncertain future and won’t feel very good. Even if I come here in the future, it will be the same.”

“You are smiling.”

Mou Bin pointed to the cell door not far away and said, “That’s the cell with the light on. It’s also a special privilege. There’s light even after dark, which is considered to be adequate care for him.”

Zhang Luan greeted from a distance: “Minister Li, is that you? I came to visit you.”

When Li Zisheng heard the voice, he ran to the prison door and shouted, “Zhang Guozhang, you are here? I… I am here!”

There was a noticeable tremor in his voice, and it was obvious that he was very excited.

(End of this chapter)