Chapter 173 Will the Truth Hurt People (VI)
"I don't know who told Huo Chong about the royal family's affairs."
"Prince Lian, could it be that you accidentally told Huo Chong this news?"
The simple two words between the emperor and his ministers made the already quiet Golden Palace as quiet as death. No matter how stupid the officials standing in the Golden Palace were, they were much smarter than ordinary people. They all lowered their heads, not daring to let Yongzheng have the opportunity to meet their eyes.
Officials even dared not to breathe. The brothers had already killed each other to such an extent that officials could only choose to stay out of it.
Prince Lian didn't care anymore, and even found it a little funny. He knew that Yongzheng was just using this as an excuse, but he didn't expect that the countless crimes that Yongzheng had tried to accuse over the years were real this time.
When false comes true, true comes false; when true comes false comes true. Being punished by Yongzheng for this reason, Prince Lian felt that this might be the best outcome for him.
He raised his head and looked at Yongzheng frankly. Prince Lian felt relieved.
"Your Majesty, if you think I am guilty, then I am guilty. Fourth brother , you are the head of the Aisin-Gioro family. If you think I am wrong, then I am wrong. Disrespect is also a crime. No matter what crime you use to convict me, I will admit it."
Yongzheng was shocked at first, then a feeling of almost ecstasy burned in his heart.
After so many years! After so many years! The Eighth Prince finally gave in and admitted his guilt. This green-headed fly who had always pretended to be a "virtuous king" finally recognized the truth and realized that he was guilty in front of the emperor.
“Hehehe…” Yongzheng laughed out loud.
“Hahahaha…” Prince Lian also laughed.
The two looked at each other and understood each other's intentions at the moment.
Prince Lian felt a kind of happiness of self-abandonment and the relief of giving up everything. However, this refreshing relief only lasted for a moment, and he suddenly remembered his wife who was forcibly "divorced" by Yongzheng. His chest immediately felt as if it was torn apart. The smile disappeared immediately, and tears rolled down his cheeks from his eyes.
Except for the movements of the two brothers, the Golden Palace was completely silent. Rows of first-, second-, third-, and fourth-rank officials were arranged in an extremely neat row, with their bodies straight, their hands hanging down, their heads lowered as much as possible, and their eyes fixed on the golden bricks on the floor of the Golden Palace. They were like rows of neatly carved wood and clay sculptures.
Keeping this posture, it was impossible to sneak a peek at Yongzheng who was high above. But Yongzheng's laughter reached everyone's ears and sounded like a completely grim smile.
Carefully savoring the painful expression and desperate tears of the Eighth Prince, Yongzheng let out a long breath and asked condescendingly: "Prince Lian, do you really know your sins?"
The Eighth Elder wiped away his tears with the sleeve of his court robe without any image, and then he tried to answer in a calm and normal voice: "Your Majesty, I understand."
"Do you have anything to defend yourself?" Yongzheng continued to squeeze out from Prince Lian the joy that only a victor can get from a loser.
"I did not defend myself."
Savoring the victory that was too late, Yongzheng breathed a sigh of relief, "In that case, Prince Lian, you go back and wait for your fate."
"I obey your order." Prince Lian bowed and left Yongzheng. He walked calmly between the two rows of puppet-like officials with their hands hanging down and their heads bowed, heading towards his destination.
On September 9, the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign, Yongzheng issued an order to remove Prince Lian Yunsi from the clan affairs office. Although it is inevitable to associate such a thing with this day, Yongzheng was really impatient.
On September 10, Yunlu, Sunu, Wuerzhan and others were stripped of their yellow belts and expelled from the clan office. The final blow to the leading figures of the Eighth Master Party fell on these members of the royal family.
The shock caused by such a ruthless approach was so great that no one even paid attention to the fact that 20,000 government troops were annihilated by Huo Chong.
Huo Chong received the news on September 15th, and he received two copies of it. Compared with the news received by the intelligence department of the Han regime, the news sent by Mr. Ding was more detailed. It was so detailed and powerful that Huo Chong felt a little embarrassed.
If possible, Huo Chong didn't want Lao Ba to die so quickly. So Huo Chong specifically mocked Lao Ba's sincerity in the manifesto.
There is absolutely no malice in writing this. In Huo Chong's opinion, portraying Lao Ba as a simple-minded fool is to reduce other people's hostility towards Lao Ba by insulting Lao Ba. At least Huo Chong thinks so. As long as Lao Ba does not fall, Huo Chong will have the opportunity to obtain more intelligence.
However, Yongzheng was obviously not affected and decisively dealt with Lao Ba, leaving Huo Chong with no hope for intelligence from the upper echelons of the capital.
Therefore, the information brought by Mr. Ding made Huo Chong anxious. The fact that he could still send in information now meant that the intelligence network did not disintegrate due to the demise of Lao Ba. However, the credibility of the information transmitted by this intelligence network was greatly reduced.
Believe it, and you will not feel at ease. Don't believe it, and you will talk about it.
Huo Chong wanted to ask Qian Qing to discuss the matter. But he got the news that Qian Qing had gone to meet with Master Changxin who came to meet Huo Chong. With a sigh, Huo Chong put the matter aside for the time being.
"Oh." Qian Qing sighed, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
The Taoist priest Changxin showed no reaction at all, as if he was not affected at all. This style is really like the carefree and unrestrained style of a cultivator.
Qian Qing mustered up his courage and said, "Master, I wonder what this Seven Killings Fate is all about?"
Master Changxin did not ask any questions and started explaining directly.
The Seven Killings are also called the Partial Officials. Ancient Chinese astrologers believed that it was an extremely evil omen. Although the name is evil, it can be controlled and transformed to turn evil into good, and it is noble to achieve great success. The Seven Killings are the majority...
Qian Qing originally wanted to pretend to be pious. He had already privately hired several fortune tellers and knew a lot about the so-called Seven Killing Fates. At this time, he couldn't listen to the Taoist priest again, so he couldn't help but interrupt, "Okay, Taoist priest, I don't believe this."
Hearing this, Master Chang Dao was delighted, clapped his hands and laughed, "Haha! That's how it should be! That's how it should be! Miss Qian, the road is rolling forward, and we are all in this torrent. We are the body, and our destiny is like wings. If we happen to meet, it will be like having wings on our ribs. But this is God's will. If you think it is God's will, then stop and grab these wings. God's will is not something that mortals like us can grasp. In the end, it will be in vain and we will suffer the consequences."
Qian Qing thought this was interesting, but it still didn't solve the problem she cared about most. Fortunately, Master Changxin didn't give a long speech, so Qian Qing could only hold back her shame and tell Master Changxin about her most difficult situation.
It turned out that Qian Qing had killed many people personally in these battles, especially in the Battle of Jinan, when he led a special team to capture prisoners and interrogate them.
Qian Qing did not lose sleep afterwards, although she felt a little sorry for the Qing army, but that was all. What made Qian Qing feel ashamed was that she fully realized her ruthlessness in killing, and she was worried that Huo Chong would look down on her and think she was a bloodthirsty female devil after knowing her true nature.
Moreover, those fortune tellers who talk about the Seven Killings Fate all say that people with the Seven Killings Fate have suffered setbacks since childhood, lost their father and mother, and became displaced.
When Qian Qing didn't know about the Seven Killings Fate, she felt very pitiful. Why did so many bad things happen to her? God was unfair to her.
After learning about the existence of the Seven Killings Fate, Qian Qing's reluctance and grievance turned into a kind of fear. If he did not have the Seven Killings Fate, wouldn't his parents not have suffered such a bad fate?
According to the introduction to logic that Huo Chong taught Qian Qing, from the perspective of fate affecting destiny, Qian Qing is not the victim of bad luck, but the people around Qian Qing are the victims of this bad luck. Qian Qing, who brought bad luck, has become the perpetrator in a sense.
Qian Qing certainly didn't dare to say this to Huo Chong, let alone to others. If possible, Qian Qing hoped that she would always be Huo Chong's beautiful, intelligent, and elegant eldest disciple, and also everyone's cheerful and bright eldest sister.
Qian Qing felt that he would rather die if he were regarded as a bloodthirsty and murderous jinx by these close people.
But the more he expected himself to do his best, the more Qian Qing could not accept his dark side. Over the past few days, his self-awareness and state of mind had tortured Qian Qing. He had no choice but to seek help from Master Changxin.
After telling his story hesitantly with shame, Qian Qing looked at Master Changxin anxiously, but he saw that Master Changxin did not show any surprise, which surprised Qian Qing very much.
"Miss Qian, I am a cultivator. Mr. Huo claims to be a materialist and does not believe in gods and ghosts. Mr. Huo said that I am a man of Tao. Why does he think so? I don't know Mr. Huo's Tao. Because Mr. Huo's Taoism seems incomprehensible to me. But I also think that, in my opinion, Mr. Huo is also a man of Tao. I wonder what Miss Qian thinks of my words?"
Qian Qing was confused and didn't understand what Master Changxin was trying to say. He could only shake his head to indicate, "I don't know."
"Yes. Just don't...know...the Tao!" Master Changxin praised again, "Miss Qian, the problem of mortals is not knowing that they don't know, but not knowing that they don't know. Talking about Tao is illusory. I won't have such abstruse discussions with Miss Qian. Let me borrow what Mr. Huo said, existence is reasonable. Miss Qian, what happened is against reason. But existence is reasonable. Are you saying that what happened shouldn't have happened?"
"Should it?" Qian Qing couldn't help but ask back.
"We are all born of the Great Dao. The Great Dao came first, and we came later. Therefore, what we know is only what we see. Do you think that this short-sighted vision has seen the whole Great Dao?"
Qian Qing was stunned. Although he felt that Chang Dao Master had some enlightenment in mind, this was far from what Qian Qing wanted.
Then she heard Master Chang Xin continue to say: "Mr. Huo is a man of virtue, how do you know he would despise you? Moreover, the disdain in the heart of Mr. Huo is different from what you think."
Qian Qing felt inexplicably relieved. This was what she had been expecting. She asked, "Master, what should I do?"
"From my point of view, Mr. Huo has a Ziwei destiny. When Qi Sha meets Ziwei, it turns into power. Miss Qian is Mr. Huo's eldest disciple and the leader of all the generals under Mr. Huo. God's will has been made. Isn't it good for Miss Qian to follow Mr. Huo and move forward?"
After Master Changxin finished speaking, he frowned. After hesitating for a moment, he continued to ask, "Could it be that Miss Qian has other intentions that are more important than Mr. Huo?"
Qian Qing was immediately furious, "What are you talking about, Taoist priest?"
