The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 233

Zhou Chu looked at the undercover agent responsible for making contact with Chu Huizu and said.

Zhou Chu couldn't possibly handle the rendezvous himself; too many people were watching him. If he were to make the rendezvous, he would probably have been exposed long ago.

"By the way, transfer Chu Liu there and let him handle the arrangements. Doesn't Zhang Heling like gambling?"

Zhou Chu sneered.

After arranging all this, Zhou Chu wrote a secret memorial, and it was time for Empress Dowager Zhang in the palace to make a move.

In the capital, within the imperial palace, Emperor Jiajing has been delighted these past few days by reading the memorials from Jiangnan.

In the past two weeks, memorials from Jiangnan impeaching Zhou Chu have been piling up in the cabinet like they're free. After screening them, Yang Yiqing, Yang Shen, and others presented some of the more representative ones to Jiajing, while the others, which were mostly the same, were simply discarded.

These days, Zhu Houcong is looking at the memorials from Jiangnan impeaching Zhou Chu and laughing heartily in his study. The more these people demonize Zhou Chu and the more scathing their words are, the happier Zhu Houcong is, because he knows that the more they do this, the more anxious these people from Jiangnan are.

This is the situation that Zhu Houcong wanted to see.

As for dealing with Zhou Chu? What a joke! Haven't you seen cartloads of wealth being hauled to the capital? In the entire Ming Dynasty, a thousand officials combined don't carry as much weight in Zhu Houcong's heart as Zhou Hengqi.

Throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, which emperor had ever had a minister who could handle almost everything on his own? Only he himself, right?

Whenever he thought of this, Zhu Houcong felt extremely proud.

In his view, Zhou Hengqi's most commendable quality was that he always knew what to say and what to do, knew when to advance and when to retreat, and had a sense of propriety. He didn't even need to think about many things himself, as Zhou Hengqi had already considered them for him. Moreover, his words and actions never overstepped the bounds.

For example, when Zhou Hengqi asked for a few eunuchs to help him raise horses, Zhu Houcong was extremely pleased. What kind of people are eunuchs? Aren't they all the emperor's people? Zhou Hengqi's move was undoubtedly an active way of placing the emperor's spies around him.

Later, Zhou Chu went to Suzhou Prefecture to prepare for military training. He specifically asked Princess Deqing for the two brothers, Lin Lu and Lin Zhi. Zhu Houcong was aware of this and even instructed his aunt to grant Zhou Hengqi's every request.

This kind of minister reminded Zhu Houcong of Guo Ziyi of the Tang Dynasty, but in Zhu Houcong's view, Zhou Hengqi was far superior to Guo Ziyi.

"Your Majesty, this is a secret report from Lord Zhou."

Huang Jin jogged all the way to the Imperial Study.

"Quick! Quick! I want to see what the weighing instruments are saying."

Jiajing said with a face full of excitement.

Taking the secret memorial from Huang Jin, Jiajing hurriedly opened it and his expression changed upon seeing its contents.

"These people are absolutely lawless."

After saying this, Jiajing continued reading the secret memorial, and his expression soon turned to joy.

"As expected of a weighing instrument, brilliant! This plan is excellent."

When he came across something particularly interesting, Jiajing almost slapped his desk twice.

"Huang Jin, go and summon the maids who serve the Empress Dowager in Ning Shou Palace. I have something to tell them."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, and seeing Jiajing's barely concealed joy, Huang Jin guessed that Lord Zhou was about to make a big move. Thinking of this, Huang Jin dared not delay and quickened his pace.

Two days later, news spread through the palace that Empress Dowager Zhaosheng Cishou, while admiring flowers in the Imperial Garden, had accidentally fallen into the lotus pond and caught a cold.

Upon receiving the news, His Majesty was furious and severely reprimanded the palace maids serving at Ning Shou Palace. He then arranged for a newly appointed imperial physician from the Imperial Medical Academy to go to Ning Shou Palace to treat the Empress Dowager.

No one knows why the Empress Dowager would go to admire flowers in March or April, when the weather in the capital is the most unstable, sometimes freezing cold and sometimes very warm.

At this time of year, the flowers in the Imperial Garden probably haven't bloomed yet, right? Many people think this, but dare not say it aloud.

Empress Dowager Zhang was already quite old, and the imperial physician accidentally prescribed the wrong medicine. The Empress Dowager suffered from a cold-related illness and should have been prescribed warming medicine, but the physician prescribed cold medicine instead. As a result, the Empress Dowager's condition worsened, and after only half a month, Empress Dowager Zhang passed away.

This news shocked the court and the public, and officials were deeply saddened.

The wealthy and powerful people of Jiangnan were overjoyed when they heard the news.

"God is really helping me."

These wealthy and powerful men flocked to Zhang Heling's home in Suzhou Prefecture.

"Duke Changguo, please accept my condolences. The Empress Dowager was persecuted to death by the Emperor. Why don't you rebel instead?"

Zhang Heling, who was playing with his newly acquired concubine in the mansion, was stunned when he heard this.

"what?"