Chapter 122 Wanlichun (I)
Meng Yunxian changed into his official uniform and left the palace. Before he could get on the carriage, someone stepped on the thick snow and called out, "Mr. Meng!"
The man was wearing ordinary clothes and had a sword on his waist. Meng Yunxian turned around and looked at him in the light of the lantern under the eaves. "Who are you?"
"I have something to say."
The young man seemed to be concerned about the eunuch who came to the Meng Mansion to deliver a message. He walked closer to Meng Yunxian's aunt, leaned forward and whispered something.
Neizhi sucked in a breath of cold air and uttered an "Ah". He managed to calm down and quickly walked to Meng Yunxian's side. Hiding from the eunuch, he lowered his voice and said, "My Lord, the Palace Guardian's Chief Yu Hou Miao Jingzhen sent him to pass on a message. The medicine used by the famous doctor Zhang Jian hired by Duke Lu conflicts with the golden elixir. The Imperial Concubine broke into the Qinghe Palace and crushed the golden elixir into the Imperial Concubine's medicine while Liang Shenfu and others were not paying attention...Now, Lord Miao has captured the Imperial Concubine."
These few words revealed a shocking deep meaning. Meng Yunxian almost immediately understood that Miao Jingzhen must have known what his father, General Miao, had done, but was unwilling to "kill his own relatives for the sake of justice", so he resorted to this desperate measure and gambled the lives of his entire family to protect Prince Jia.
He immediately changed his mind, "Go, ask Deputy Envoy Zhou to trap Huang Zongyu first, and don't let Huang Zongyu enter the palace before me."
Neizhi immediately went to call for help.
"You go back to the palace first, I will be there soon." Meng Yunxian raised his voice and said to the eunuch.
The eunuch did not dare to ask about Meng Yunxian's affairs. He bowed and responded, then got on the carriage.
The sky was dark and cold fog was floating in the dim light. Meng Yunxian's carriage was parked in the middle of the road. The curfew was still in place. The soldiers of the Imperial Guard Cavalry Division stood in the middle of the road, examining the carriage coldly.
Ge Rang, wearing armor, pushed through the crowd and walked forward. Just then, Meng Yunxian was helped down from the carriage by the eunuch. He called out, "Lord Meng, I will follow you into the palace."
Meng Yunxian heard his powerful voice, raised his head and saw Ge Rang spreading his arms, letting the soldiers around him take off his armor and sword.
"You spent many years in a cold and bitter land before Huang Zongyu brought you back to the capital. Now you finally get the position of Deputy Privy Envoy," Meng Yunxian said as he approached him. "But you did this tonight. You are really going to give up your life, General Ge."
"I know that you moved Liu Tingzhi in order to have me take his place. I also know that you did this to give General Yujie a better chance of success."
Ge asked himself to take off his wristband. "When His Royal Highness Prince Jia and the Imperial Concubine first conspired, we were already in contact. However, I still had some hope for the emperor, so I never acted rashly. Every step of your plan was ingenious. If it were an ordinary person, they would have died long ago. But why did Pan Youfang and Duke Lu escape every time? Why were they able to destroy the bodies every time?"
"That young man named Dong Yao made me understand that General Yujie's case is a death warrant for those of us who want to overturn the verdict, but it is a talisman for those of them who committed such evil deeds but have been at large for 16 years."
"You see, they can even use this case to kill more people, or even destroy your heart."
Ge Rang exhaled white air, "Tell me, how can there be such absurd things in this world? Those who do evil can live in peace by doing evil. General Yujie is already dead, but everything they do is still insulting him!"
"If it weren't for General Yujie, I would have died more than ten years ago. I would have died on the battlefield, trampled by the horses of the barbarians, and pecked into a pile of rotten meat by their falcons..."
Ge Rang gritted his teeth and said, "I only regret that I didn't receive the military order at the beginning. If I knew General Yujie's plan, even without the military order, I would have led my Dingqian Army to skin Mengtuo alive without Tan Guangwen!"
"I figured everything out in Tai'an Palace. If the emperor doesn't want to retrial the case, there will be no possibility of a retrial. Besides, the emperor doesn't like Prince Jia. Once the imperial concubine gives birth to a child, Prince Jia will definitely be sent to Tongzhou again. Then there will be no possibility of overturning the case for General Yujie."
"It's just that I didn't intend to involve His Royal Highness Prince Jia in tonight's incident, but he insisted on doing so and even threatened my subordinates with a dagger..."
Ge Rang felt a little guilty, "Mr. Meng, what do you think we should do now?"
"Have you caught Zhang Xinen?"
Meng Yunxian asked.
“Got it.”
"Alive?"
"Alive."
Meng Yunxian nodded, "Okay, have someone bring him up."
Although Ge Rang didn't know Meng Yunxian's intention, he still turned back and ordered Commander Lin of the Tiger Roar Camp to bring Zhang Xin'en.
Zhang Xinen was wearing a thin shirt and was tied up. He did not look like a rebel but a gentle and handsome scholar. Ge Rang kicked him hard in the knee, forcing him to kneel down in front of Meng Yunxian.
"I was wrong to trust you lackeys of the imperial court! You can kill me or chop me up, all is up to you!" Zhang Xinen raised his head, his face full of resentment.
"Sir, you look like a scholar. How come you are the deputy leader of the Lotus Sect?"
Meng Yunxian stepped forward.
"If the imperial court had not forced people to live in despair, who would have placed their hopes on a religious sect to save them?"
Zhang Xinen glared at him and laughed coldly, "You people are high-ranking officials with generous salaries and fine silks, but you don't know the suffering of the people. How many people have their land taken away by you officials and wealthy gentry? How many people can't get enough food? There are natural disasters and man-made disasters... People can't ask you officials to save them, so they naturally pray to the gods, hoping that God will save them."
Meng Yunxian leaned over and stared at him, "Then how come you have become the deputy leader, but still need us to save you?"
Zhang Xinen suddenly kept silent.
"Who would want to be an enemy of the imperial court if they could get a high position and generous salary, right, Deputy Master Zhang? You hate us, but you also want to be one of us."
Meng Yunxian's words were sharp, tearing apart the true, human, selfish desires beneath Zhang Xinen's words.
"There is nothing wrong with this,"
Meng Yunxian continued, "But Deputy Sect Leader Zhang, you want too many things, but you may not have the ability to obtain them. If you don't have the ability, I will be the knife and you will be the meat."
Zhang Xinen stared at him, "What do you mean?"
"I want you to plead guilty to a capital crime."
"What?"
Zhang Xinen was stunned.
"The person who lured you to Yunjing was actually Pan Sansi. He made a deal with you that as long as you surrender and work with him to eliminate all the members of the Lotus Sect who participated in the rebellion, he would be able to rid you of your identity as a traitor and even recommend you to serve as an official in the court."
Meng Yunxian stood up straight and said slowly, "You were tempted by this and took the risk to enter Yunjing City, but you didn't know that this was a trap. Pan Sansi informed Huang Zongyu and Huang Xianggong about this and agreed to arrest you in the city at midnight tonight. You knew you were fooled and were furious. You led the disguised followers to sneak into Pan's mansion. It happened that Pan Sansi and the Palace Censor Ding Jin were arguing in the main hall. You heard Ding Jin arguing with Pan Sansi, but you didn't hear the details. You only knew that Ding Jin shouted at the end that if Pan Sansi didn't agree to him, he would simply send the written crime book to the emperor."
Meng Yunxian added, "You didn't know what was written in the book of guilt, and you didn't care. You didn't listen carefully, and you led people to kill Pan Youfang. You even didn't let Ding Jin go."
Ge Rang was standing nearby and was shocked when he heard this. He stared blankly as Meng Yunxian, in just a few words, pinned the blame for the deaths of Pan Youfang and Ding Jin on Zhang Xinen.
"What a joke! If I didn't do it, why should I admit to this death penalty?"
Zhang Xinen turned his face away.
"What if I tell you that you can only live if you admit your guilt?"
Meng Yunxian said in a deep voice.
Zhang Xinen was startled and raised his head. He didn't know who this person was. After a moment, he snorted coldly: "Who knows that you think I'm going to die anyway, so it doesn't matter if I have a few more serious crimes on my body, but I don't want to do what you want!"
Meng Yunxian suddenly leaned over and grabbed his collar, "Zhang Xinen, you have no choice. If you don't believe me, you will die tonight. If you do, you still have a chance to live. Tell me, what should you choose?"
"I……"
Zhang Xinen was speechless.
Meng Yunxian knew what he was thinking, so he immediately let go and said to Ge Rang, "As for Wu Dai, just say that the Lotus Sect members killed Wu Dai to vent their anger because they knew that the emperor loved the imperial concubine."
"This...will the government really believe it?"
Two court officials died overnight. Pan Youfang was an important official in the court, and Wu Dai was the father of the imperial concubine. I am afraid this statement cannot explain it clearly.
"News came from the palace that the emperor has shown signs of a stroke."
Meng Yunxian said in a low voice.
Ge Rang was surprised, "What?!"
"So, Lord Ge, if it weren't for this, I really wouldn't be sure that I could get His Highness out of this matter," Meng Yunxian said with a bitter smile, "The most important thing now is not whether the emperor believes it or not, but Huang Zongyu. I gave this witness to Huang Zongyu. If he is willing to admit to Pan Youfang's death, then Wu Dai's death will be insignificant."
"Where is His Highness? I have to take His Highness back to the palace."
Ge Rang did not dare to delay and immediately asked someone to invite His Royal Highness Prince Jia out of the carriage at the back. In the dim light, Meng Yunxian saw that Prince Jia was covered in blood, his hair was disheveled, his face was pale, and every step he took was weak.
"Your Highness."
When Meng Yunxian saw that he was about to fall, he immediately stepped forward and helped him up.
Seeing Meng Yunxian reaching out to untie his outer robe, Prince Jia stood still, until Meng Yunxian threw the blood-stained robe to his personal guard Yuan Gang behind him. He slowly leaned forward and bowed: "Lord Meng, I'm sorry."
"What are you talking about, Your Highness?"
Meng Yunxian and the eunuch helped him to the carriage. Amid the rumbling of the carriage, he handed the clean outer robe to Prince Jia and said, "Your Highness, change your clothes so that we can enter the palace."
"I have failed you."
Prince Jia took the clothes slowly, his voice very hoarse.
Meng Yunxian asked him, "Your Highness, you have been planning today's event since the day you returned to Beijing, right?"
"Ever since you told me all the truth, I haven't had a peaceful sleep," Prince Jia held the clothes in his hands and did not move, "I swear, I will be the person closest to the emperor."
"I can marry Wu's daughter. I can endure the disgust and tell him, amid the repeated tests from the government, yes, Xu Hexue deserves to be cut into pieces, yes, my teacher is too confused, yes, I was confused before, too, I kowtowed for both of them and got this scar on my forehead..."
Prince Jia's eyes were wet again, but he was smiling, "Your Majesty, you are not wrong. I am wrong. I was confused before, and from now on... I will never dare to do it again."
"Mr. Meng, I can say these words without hesitation, but the more I say this, the more I understand in my heart that no matter how many injustices this is for people like us, the government will never let the truth of this case come to light."
"Since I became the emperor's adopted son, I have been living in fear for as long as I have been in the palace, fearing that I might die at any time. The court officials have been using me as a chess piece, and the emperor has been looking at me with disgust every time."
"Only during those years in Tongzhou did I feel truly at peace."
Prince Jia said slowly, "But I know I can't go back, and I don't dare to go back. The death of my teacher and Zi Ling's injustice have overwhelmed me. But you see, since my teacher's death, although I have been able to stay in Yunjing by writing Qingci, I have no ability to investigate Zi Ling's case. All of this has been relying on you."
"You've done too much, but what can more evidence do? Didn't Pan Youfang already prove it with Dong Yao and his gang? This case cannot be touched."
"I know you have high hopes for me, but I am not someone who deserves your treatment. I was a coward when I was a child. Without Ziling, I would have been bullied. Because of him, I have been bullied less."
"I have nothing now. This life of mine should be used to avenge him. I don't want to listen to anyone insulting him anymore. I don't want to insult him anymore either."
As a human being, you cannot be cowardly.
Even though he was born to be such a coward, he still dared to walk calmly in the current desperate situation.
"Your Highness, we may not be at the end of our rope."
Meng Yunxian felt bad, he calmed down and said, "Hurry up and change your clothes. The emperor has had a stroke, and as his adopted son, you should go see him."
Upon hearing this, Prince Jia raised his eyes suddenly.
Stroke?
The carriage stopped suddenly, Meng Yunxian lifted the curtain and saw Zhou Ting standing not far away. The officers of the Night Watch were surrounding another carriage tightly.
"How outrageous! You guys in the Night Office are really outrageous!"
Huang Zongyu's roar was heard.
Meng Yunxian was helped down by Neizhi and walked in front of Zhou Ting. "If you help me like this and nothing works tonight, you might not be able to save your life."
"Your subordinate, I want to save those sixty-odd people."
Zhou Ting lowered his head and said.
"You're a good boy." Meng Yunxian patted his shoulder and heard Huang Zongyu's voice in front of him, "I have to go over there quickly. He has a bad temper."
Zhou Ting said nothing, stepped aside, and asked Chao Yisong and others to move away.
"Mr. Huang."
Meng Yunxian saw Huang Zongyu leaning on a crutch, his chest heaving with anger beside the carriage, and white mist constantly coming out of his mouth.
"Meng Zhuo!"
When Huang Zongyu saw the people from the Night Guard retreat, his face turned pale and he asked, "What are you going to do? What do you want to do?"
"You know about Pan Youfang and Wu Dai, right?"
Meng Yunxian walked up to him.
As the Privy Councilor, how could Huang Zongyu not know? He received the news before the message came from the palace, "Ge Rang is crazy! Are you crazy too?"
"Tell the people you sent to capture Ge Rang to go back." Meng Yunxian said straightforwardly.
"You want to rebel?!"
Huang Zongyu raised his hand and pointed at him tremblingly.
Meng Yunxian smiled, "You don't seem to understand the current situation very well. How about I explain it to you? It was you who gave the order to the Imperial Guards to search for Zhang Xinen?"
"So what if I did it?"
"That is to say, Ge Rang acted like this tonight because of your order."
"I asked him to search for Zhang Xin'en, I didn't ask him to kill the imperial officials! This is a serious crime! It's punishable by death!"
"But Pan Sansi and Ding Jin were clearly killed by Zhang Xinen." Meng Yunxian stopped in front of him.
"What?"
Huang Zongyu still didn't know the details. He only heard the news from the palace that the emperor had a stroke, so he didn't care about that and hurried to the palace. "Don't think you can deceive me! Those people in Pan's mansion are Ge Rang's old subordinates and members of the Dingqian Army. They clearly want to help General Yujie..."
"Mr. Huang, please listen to me."
Meng Yunxian interrupted him, "Zhang Xinen has confessed that it was Pan Youfang who lured him into the city, and it was Pan Youfang who told you about this. When he entered the city, he found something wrong and knew that he would not survive, so he decided to break into Pan's house with his men. He happened to see Pan Sansi and Ding Jin talking in the main hall, so he killed them both."
"Nonsense! It was clearly Ge who asked him to tell me..."
Huang Zongyu's words stopped abruptly. He met Meng Yunxian's sharp eyes and asked, "Are you... going to use this witness to force me?"
"If it's Pan Sansi, this matter won't have any impact on you, but if it's Ge Rang..." Meng Yunxian pulled his lips, "Mr. Huang, Ge Rang is someone you have promoted from the bottom up. If something happens to him, I'm afraid you can't escape the connection, right?"
Huang Zongyu gritted his teeth, "Meng Zhuo you..."
"Mr. Huang, Ge Rang is not afraid of death. I'm sure you know that if you don't let him go today, he may not let you go in the future when he testifies. It doesn't matter whether you did it or not. What matters is that if someone believes it, you can't get away with it."
Seeing Huang Zongyu's increasingly ugly expression, Meng Yunxian stopped talking at the right time and looked back at Zhou Ting and the others. After they moved away, Meng Yunxian lowered his voice and said to him, "You may not know yet, but the imperial concubine intended to harm the emperor, and has been caught by the people of the Palace Front Department."
"……What did you say?!"
Huang Zongyu's eyes widened.
"You left in a hurry than I did, so you probably didn't receive the news. After the emperor used Zhang Jian's medicine, he could no longer use the golden elixir, but the imperial concubine ground the golden elixir into powder and mixed it into the emperor's medicine."
"How dare she act like this?!"
"Aren't you investigating the doctor surnamed Wang? Did you find any of the imperial concubine's belongings in his house? If she had nothing to hide, why would she take advantage of His Royal Highness Prince Jia's absence to harm the emperor? His Royal Highness Prince Jia was outside tonight and was attacked!"
Huang Zongyu was indeed nervous. "How is His Royal Highness Prince Jia?"
"My people rescued His Royal Highness Prince Jia."
Meng Yunxian turned around and looked at the carriage. "He is in the carriage. He is frightened and can't speak at this moment."
Huang Zongyu was not someone who would believe everything he said, "Your Highness and Xu Hexue are obviously old friends. What happened tonight..."
He suspected that His Royal Highness Prince Jia might also be involved in this matter!
"Mr. Huang, the emperor has not been in good health recently, and now he has suffered a stroke. It is time for you to think about which path to take. But I have to remind you that the bloodline of the child in the imperial concubine's belly is questionable, and the gender is unknown. However, His Royal Highness Prince Jia is the flesh and blood of the emperor's younger brother, and the emperor has adopted him with his golden mouth and jade words. If you accidentally take the wrong path, then only the Yao County lineage will be left. Wouldn't you let the emperor down?"
Huang Zongyu's heart moved. If the baby in the imperial concubine's belly was really not the emperor's flesh and blood, wouldn't the bloodline of the royal family of Da Qi be in chaos?
If he didn't think about Prince Jia today, once Prince Jia was implicated in this matter, who would inherit the throne? The lineage of Taizu of Yao County?
"The Taizu lineage of Yao County has already accepted the favor from Duke Lu, so it will no longer accept your favor." Meng Yunxian suddenly spoke.
Huang Zongyu was shocked when he heard this.
Duke of Lu...
He actually came so early?
Huang Zongyu was thinking about it, but he heard the sound of a blade sliding out of the sheath, and then a knife was swung across his neck. Huang Zongyu was horrified, "Meng Zhuo, you still want to kill me?!"
"You should also know that I, Meng Yunxian, was born in the military. Over the years, my rudeness as a warrior cannot be concealed by wearing this official uniform."
Meng Yunxian put the knife close to his neck and said, "Mr. Huang, let's talk it out. If you are willing to go the same way as me and protect His Royal Highness Prince Jia, we will go into the palace together. But if you insist on killing His Royal Highness Prince Jia, we will fight to the death with you, both for His Royal Highness Prince Jia and for our own lives."
"Mr. Huang, I sincerely advise you not to do business that will lose money."
