Chapter 035: Crow Night Cry (IV)
The winter examination case had been solved, but the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy had been arguing for a whole month to determine Wu Jikang's guilt. In the beginning, the two sides could not reach a consensus only on the issue of guilt. Later, the two sides became increasingly hostile, arguing with each other every day.
It was almost the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy, who were not on good terms with each other, started fighting in the Qinghe Hall.
As soon as the two sides started fighting in front of the emperor, the emperor's headache came back, causing the imperial physician to be in a panic, as they had to take the emperor's pulse and treat his injuries.
"Master He, this is your fault. Let them fight if they want. Why are you joining in the fun? Just stay away from them."
When Pei Zhiyuan returned to the government hall, he saw Hanlin scholar He Tong kneeling outside the gate. He lifted his official hat and saw the fine cloth wrapped underneath. "Look at your head, tsk..."
"Who wants to fight? Those old idiots in the Censorate are simply disrespectful!" He Tong angrily took back his long-winged hat and put it back on. "Except for Censor Jiang, they all fart in front of the emperor! When they can't win the argument, they start fighting. If I don't know how to fight back, won't I encourage the arrogance of the Censorate?"
He Tong got angry again after just a few words. Pei Zhiyuan nodded twice, but before he could continue to agree, a voice with hidden anger came from the door: "He Tong! Kneel down!"
Hearing teacher Zhang Jing getting angry, He Tong, who had been so righteous just now, suddenly became dispirited. He lowered his head and dared not speak anymore.
"Mr. He, your hat is crooked."
Pei Zhiyuan reminded him coldly, and then said, "Mr. Zhang is angry. You stay outside for a while. I will go in and take a look."
He Tong straightened his hat and heard that Pei Zhiyuan was making sarcastic remarks. He snorted and ignored him.
"Chongzhi, he is in the Imperial Academy after all."
The officials in the government hall had not yet arrived. Seeing Zhang Jing's gloomy face, Meng Yunxian put the memorial in his hand on his knees and said in a low voice, "Although you are his teacher, there are some things you can't make decisions for him."
Zhang Jing heard the voice and turned his head to look at him, "Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. Isn't this the situation you want to see the most?"
"The Jianyuan and Hanlin Academy have reached such a point of incompatibility. You are not as anxious and angry as Jiang Xianming. Ni Qinglan's case is no longer simple. They are no longer quarreling over Ni Qinglan."
Zhang Jing coughed for a long time and did not take the tea handed to him by Meng Yunxian. He asked the waiter to pour a bowl for him and drank a few sips before continuing, "I would like to ask you, is this enough?"
Meng Yunxian restrained his smile: "Not enough."
"Chongzhi, although Grand Tutor Wu hasn't seen the emperor for a long time, you see, when the emperor fell ill today, Imperial Concubine Wu immediately went to Qinghe Palace to take care of him."
"Noble Consort Wu has been by the emperor's side for many years. She is the most favored by the emperor. She only has one brother, Wu Jikang. There is a big age difference between them. She has no children either. She is partial to Wu Jikang. The emperor has watched Wu Jikang grow up. Do you think that his refusal to meet Grand Tutor Wu shows his attitude?"
Meng Yunxian looked at the dazzling sunlight outside the door, and said meaningfully:
"I don't think the government really wants to punish Wu Jikang."
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Emperor Zhengyuan was still ill in bed. The struggle between the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy intensified, but no law was found to convict Wu Jikang.
"I heard that he had asthma and fell ill in the night office. His sister, the imperial concubine, was taking care of the emperor. I heard that she asked the emperor for mercy..."
"The emperor issued an order this morning, allowing him to return to the Wu Mansion to recuperate..."
The autumn sun was at its brightest in the afternoon. Ni Su listened to the discussions of many people around her, but she felt a chill running through her bones. In a trance, she heard someone next to her shout "It's out", and she immediately raised her head.
The dark and cold door of the Night Palace slowly opened, and a young man in luxurious clothes was carried out on a stretcher. His face was pale, and he leaned against the back of a chair with his eyes half open, breathing weakly.
"Han Qing, since you took on this winter exam case, you have rarely been in the palace. If I hadn't come here today under the imperial order, it would have been difficult for me to see you."
After entering the palace, Liang Shenfu, the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, instructed the people carrying the sedan chair to be more careful. Turning back, he saw Han Qing, the messenger of the Night Watch, coming out, and said with a smile.
"Godfather, I will go back to the palace tonight. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, I will definitely be in front of you, godfather." Han Qing smiled.
"We all have a festival that is not good. The emperor is suffering from a serious illness. Even if you come, I am afraid we will be busy." Liang Shenfu patted his shoulder. "You have a good intention. I know it. That's why I want to remind you not to take it too seriously. Be careful not to really upset the emperor."
Liang Shenfu said this very tactfully and in a low voice, so only Han Qing could hear it.
Han Qing bowed his head, "Son, I'll remember that."
As the two were talking, Zhou Ting, who was standing nearby, saw Ni Su among the crowd. She was dressed in mourning with a thin white cloth tied around her forehead, and her black hair was bare of any decorations.
"Your Excellency, Miss Ni is here."
Zhou Ting reminded.
Not only Han Qing heard this, Liang Shenfu also heard it. They both followed Zhou Ting's gaze and saw that the young woman in plain white clothes was particularly eye-catching under the bright sunlight.
"Don't let her cause trouble here."
Han Qing frowned and said to Zhou Ting.
Zhou Ting immediately walked down the stairs. At the same time, Wu Jikang's sedan chair was about to pass through the crowd. The servants of the Wu mansion were busy clearing a path through the crowd of people watching the excitement. One of the servants shouted "make way" and his eyes suddenly fell on the girl in mourning clothes in front of him. He was obviously stunned for a moment.
For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on this woman.
"Miss Ni, you shouldn't have come today."
Zhou Ting walked quickly to Ni Su and whispered.
"I'm just here to take a look, don't you allow me to do that?"
The words were addressed to Zhou Ting, but Ni Su's eyes were always on the sedan chair.
"What are you looking at?"
In public, it was not convenient for Zhou Ting to discuss the case in detail with Ni Su.
"Of course I came to see what the murderer who killed my brother looks like."
The young man on the sedan chair looked sickly, and Ni Su's voice was quite loud. As soon as he heard it clearly, his eyes met his.
Then he started coughing violently.
Liang Shenfu, the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, saw that he looked like he was having trouble breathing and was coughing so hard that his heart and lungs were about to vomit, so he hurriedly said, "Quick! Send Yanei back to the palace. The chief physician of the Imperial Medical Bureau is waiting. Don't delay any longer!"
Everyone was busy protecting the young master on the sedan chair. Ni Su watched coldly from the sidelines, but she saw Wu Jikang looking down at her.
He is laughing.
In an instant, Ni Su's mind went blank.
Many people surrounded Wu Jikang and walked out of the crowd. Zhou Ting beside her whispered something to her but she couldn't hear clearly. Her mind was full of the look Wu Jikang had just given her.
Like dense needles, they constantly pierced her heart and gnawed at her sanity.
She turned her head and stared at the man's back.
He was high above, surrounded by people.
"Miss Ni."
Zhou Ting didn't allow her to go to Wu Jikang.
The people around had dispersed. Only Ni Su and Zhou Ting were left in front of the gate of the Night Office. Ni Su looked at his hand holding her wrist and raised her head.
Zhou Ting immediately let go of her hand and met her slightly red eyes. He was stunned for a moment, then said: "Don't be impulsive. He is now ordered to return home. If you stop him, you will be disobeying the order."
"Then how can I avoid disobeying the order?"
Ni Su trembled, "Master Xiao Zhou, please tell me why he could be taken back so openly after killing someone? Why is it so difficult for me to walk out of here?!"
Why?
Because Wu Jikang insisted that he was guilty of manslaughter, because the government was biased against Wu Jikang, and because the Wu family was powerful and she only had herself.
These words cannot be spoken out loud, if spoken out loud, it would be disrespectful to the government.
Zhou Ting was silent for a moment, and then said, "Miss Ni, I also want to give you the justice you want. Right now, the Night Bureau is not going to let this matter go, so please take care of yourself."
Ni Su no longer wanted to listen to what Zhou Ting had to say. She also didn't need to make things difficult for the Night Guard, so she turned around and went back the way she came.
"Master Xiao Zhou, I heard that the officials of the Imperial Academy tried to convict Wu Yanei several times, but the emperor always used the excuse of being ill to ignore them... The emperor's heart is biased, so how can there be justice? Do you think that in the end, Wu Jikang's death sentence cannot be sentenced? I think our envoy will soon be unable to handle this matter. He will never go against the emperor..."
Chao Yisong sighed.
Zhou Ting had been immersed in officialdom for many years, and he knew very well how disadvantageous it was to Ni Su for the matter to have developed to this point. A hint of complexity emerged between his handsome brows.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunion, a mountain of lanterns was transported to the street at some point. In broad daylight, many people used ladders to light the lanterns on it. It lit up slowly, and the light was not very beautiful.
Ni Su looked down in a daze for a while and felt that the figures were so chaotic. The mountain of lights was high and majestic , and it seemed that it would collapse soon, burying her underneath and crushing her flesh and bones without her even having time to scream.
She seemed to hear the creaking sound of the lamp tower crumbling, but she forgot which way to go and just raised her hand to block it.
The world was spinning.
She could hardly see the mountain of lights, nor the people on the street, until a man put his arms around her waist. Facing the scorching sunlight, she stared at his pale, handsome face for a moment, then looked at the mountain of lights again.
It turned out that it was still standing there steadily and had not collapsed.
Ni Su's eyes became moist almost instantly, and she suddenly hugged Xu Hexue tightly as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw.
In order to make her look less strange, Xu Hexue pursed his lips, still quietly transformed in front of people and let her hold him.
In front of him was a huge mountain of lights. The light shone on his face, causing a crystal shadow to condense in his eyes.
No one noticed how he appeared, and he quietly listened to her sobs, looked up at the mountain of lights, and said, "Ni Su, don't cry, we are not at the end of our rope yet."
Ni Su's eyes were blurred with tears and she looked up in his arms.
Xu Hexue lowered his eyes, "Even if the government wants to protect him, it still cannot change the fact that Wu Jikang killed someone, but you can force him."
How to force?
Ni Su's eyelids moved slightly, and she murmured, "Dengwenyuan..."
"The government cares about the gossip of the people. You can use it to your advantage. Make sure everyone in Yunjing City knows about your brother's injustice. Let the people of Yunjing City become your complaint paper."
Xu Hexue paused for a moment and then said, "But Ni Su, you should know what you will face if you really go to Dengwenyuan."
What she did was not only filing a complaint to the emperor, but also damaging the reputation of the government. The punishment that Dengwenyuan would give her would only be severe, not light.
"I want to go."
Ni Su said while choking up.
He knew that she would definitely go. If there was a better way, he actually didn't want to say these words to her. The government's favoritism towards Wu Jikang was already obvious, and he could probably guess what Meng Yunxian was waiting for at this moment.
This is the best way and is most in line with Meng Yunxian's plan.
But Xu Hexue couldn't help but think that these dirty games in officialdom were extremely cruel to Ni Su.
The mountain of lights became brighter and brighter, almost blinding.
The noise around me got louder.
In the interweaving fluorescent lights, Xu Hexue touched her hair gently, almost tentatively:
"Ni Su, do you want to eat mooncakes?"
