Chapter 135: Speculations by the Ministers
Chapter 135: Speculations by the Ministers

The next day, because he didn't have to report to the Zhenfu Division, Ye Xuan arrived at the Meridian Gate early at 1 a.m., just in time to meet the time when civil and military officials and royal relatives were waiting to attend court.

During the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang personally attended to every matter and always opened the court gate wide during the morning court sessions.

The daily routine court sessions were almost turned into grand court meetings held only three times a year, which meant that regardless of rank, almost all officials in Beijing had to attend court to discuss matters.

During the Ming Dynasty's morning court, civil and military officials would line up outside the Meridian Gate at the beginning of the morning to wait for the court session.

That is to say, when Ye Xuan arrived at the Meridian Gate, these ministers had been exposed to the cold wind for half an hour.

"Which department's official is this? Why did he come at this hour?"

Compared with the neatly arranged ranks of officials, Ye Xuan, who came leisurely on horseback, was naturally extremely eye-catching.

No matter they were civil or military ministers or royal relatives, they all looked over here.

Soon, an official who attended the garden party that day recognized Ye Xuan and asked in surprise, "Isn't this the gentleman? Why are the Jinyiwei also going to court?"

"I haven't heard of it, that's not right!"

Someone pointed at Ye Xuan's brand new officer uniform and said in surprise:
"How come he was promoted to a thousand households in just a few days? I remember he was only a hundred households a few days ago!"

"Yes, he directly skipped the fifth rank of deputy captain, which is considered a promotion of two levels!"

"Could it be that he has performed some great feat? But Jinyiwei has to solve cases and arrest people to perform great feats. I haven't heard that the gentleman has been caught again recently!"

"Hey, have you forgotten this gentleman's identity? If he is really the illegitimate son of that person, then being promoted twice is nothing!"

"But this is just speculation, how can it be taken seriously?"

The crowd immediately started talking about it, and even big figures like Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen couldn't help but look at him sideways.

Some people were arguing about Ye Xuan's identity. Someone said, "When you see this gentleman go through that door, it will be clear!"

When everyone heard this, they all thought it made sense, so they stopped talking and secretly paid attention to Ye Xuan's movements.

During the Ming Dynasty, when officials went to court, civil officials and military generals went through the east side door, while royal family members went through the west side door.

Regardless of why Ye Xuan, a captain of the Imperial Guard, came to the palace, his identity could be deduced from the door he entered.

If it was the east side gate, although no one knew why Ye Xuan came to the palace, it proved that in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Ye Xuan was at best a first-rate "civil official or military general".

But if Ye Xuan took the west door that only royal family members could enter, then the meaning behind it would be really worth pondering.

Just as Ye Xuan approached Wumen, the answer was about to be revealed.

The west door reserved for the royal family creaked open a crack, and a head wearing a phoenix-wing iron helmet appeared from behind the door.

The princes and their royal consorts, whose noses were bubbling from the cold wind, were overjoyed and thought to themselves that the gates were opened earlier today than usual. Could it be that the Emperor sympathized with them, the nobles, and took extra care of them, allowing them to enter the palace earlier than other officials to avoid the cold wind?

However, before they could cry out in gratitude for the emperor's great grace, they saw the captain of the Jinwu Guards smiled awkwardly at the nobles, then looked at Ye Xuan and whispered:
"Captain Ye, why did you come just now? Princess Anqing woke up this morning and asked Brother Ye Xuan to play the game of "Eagle Catches Chicken"!"

Ye Xuan frowned, rode his horse to the west side door, and said helplessly: "This girl is too active. Why does she want to play such a physically demanding game so early in the morning?"

After that, he asked, "What about the eunuchs and palace maids? I have already taught them how to play!" Li Ke Di smiled flatteringly and said, "Her Highness the Princess said that they are not as fast and accurate as you. It's not interesting at all."

Ye Xuan immediately realized that the palace servants were naturally cautious about An Qing and would never dare to catch the "chicken".

After playing in Anqing for a while, I naturally found it boring.

Seeing that Ye Xuan didn't seem to be in a hurry at all, Li Kedi opened the west door a little wider and called out, "Master Ye, please come in first and talk!"

Ye Xuan squeezed the horse's belly, and with the sound of the horse's hooves "kicking", he disappeared behind the west door in front of hundreds of Ming Dynasty's mainstays.

There were some princes who were proud of their superior titles. When they saw Ye Xuan had entered the west door, they raised their feet to go in, but were hurriedly stopped by Li Kedi.

"My Lords, the door is not open yet, please wait a moment!"

These arrogant nobles were immediately annoyed, pointing at Ye Xuan who disappeared behind the door and questioning: "How could that Jinyiwei come in while we have to wait?"

Li Kedi suddenly felt a headache. Under normal circumstances, he would not dare to offend any of these princes, but now he could only bite the bullet and say, "That gentleman is different!"

The nobles were immediately fuming and glaring, saying angrily, "What's the difference? He's just a captain of the Imperial Guards. I can crush him to death with just a flick of my finger!"

These royal relatives were not invited to the garden party that day, so they did not recognize Ye Xuan.

At this moment, the civil and military officials who witnessed Ye Xuan actually entering the imperial city from the west gate gathered around as if they had discovered some shocking secret.

Upon hearing the noble's words, an official who was usually at odds with him immediately sneered, "Crush him to death? I don't think you can do it."

"Who's talking?" The noble turned around and began to patrol among the crowd of officials.

Seeing that a conflict was about to break out, Li Kedi, who had opened the west side door, hurriedly changed the subject and said, "My Lords, please stop arguing!"

As he spoke, he turned his eyes towards the palace and said, "This Captain Ye was appointed by the emperor to enter the palace. I'm afraid he will have to go in and out of the Meridian Gate every day. It would be terrible if the gentlemen quarreled once every day."

"What? The emperor personally appointed me to the palace! And every day!"

"This... allowing a "mentally and mentally sound" general to enter and leave the harem every day is against the rules!"

The nobles were immediately furious when they heard this, but the foreign officials seemed to have expected it and were not very surprised.

Instead, they were very concerned about the Princess Anqing that Li Kedi had mentioned earlier. Someone immediately asked, "General, did you just say that Princess Anqing was clamoring for "Brother Ye Xuan"? "

Li Kedi nodded and said without doubt: "Yes, I heard from my colleagues that Lord Ye often goes in and out of Kunning Palace, and Her Royal Highness the Princess always calls him that. Is there any problem?"

"This is a big problem!" The civil servant smiled mysteriously and kept silent.

The other foreign officials also understood what was going on and remained strangely silent.

Although the nobles did not know what "Brother Ye Xuan" meant, they also noticed what Li Kedi said, that Ye Xuan often went in and out of Kunning Palace.

That’s the queen’s bedroom!

(End of this chapter)