Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 875: The End of the Picture
When Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing arrived at the Lin Mansion, he saw that the place was already in mourning. Looking around, there were not many guests coming in and out, and the servants of the Lin Mansion were not only sad, but also indescribably miserable. Especially when the eldest son of the Lin family came out in a hurry, he was trembling like a sieve, and looked like he couldn't bear the burden.
Zhu Jing always hated timid and cowardly people, but even he couldn't blame Young Master Lin too much at this moment, because his father, the pillar of the family in his prime, died suddenly, and the cause of death was secretly consistent with the recent turmoil. If his three children encountered such a thing, it might not be a big deal for Zhu Tingfang and Zhu Ying, one with strong will and the other with a big heart, but Zhu Er was not much better in the past!
Therefore, he was not as cold as usual, but said in a gentle tone: "I will burn a stick of incense for Minister Lin."
After his father passed away suddenly due to illness, his students, old acquaintances, relatives and friends almost all avoided him like the plague. Only a few people who were too close to him came to pay their respects. The trend of discussion outside was getting more and more urgent. Master Lin, who was almost on the verge of despair, thought that Zhu Jing came here today to inquire by order, so he even made the most tragic preparations in his heart.
But at this time, Zhu Jing euphemistically said that he was here to pay his respects. After a moment of shock, the huge stone in his heart seemed to burst open instantly. As a man, tears welled up in his eyes. Fortunately, as a filial son who had lost his father, it was not excessive for him to cry like this. Therefore, he quickly lowered his head to wipe his tears and respectfully invited Zhu Jing in.
After bringing the person to the mourning hall, he saw Zhu Jing lighting incense and paying his respects in front of the coffin, then standing silently for a while, but turning around and walking out without saying anything. After returning the greetings, Young Master Lin finally couldn't help it, he got up and rushed forward, mustering up the courage to stop this loyal minister of the emperor who was known to everyone in the capital.
"Duke Zhao, what does the court say about my father 's matter?"
Seeing that Young Master Lin's expression was filled with grief and indignation, Zhu Jing lowered his head and glanced at the filial sons and grandchildren kneeling beside him. He saw that the youngest were only three or four years old, kneeling there with a confused look on their faces. The others either lowered their heads in silence, or looked up in anticipation, or were as indignant as Young Master Lin, just like the people outside. He couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"Don't listen to what people say."
As soon as he said this, he could see that the spirits of the people in and outside the mourning hall changed instantly. However, he did not want to simply comfort them, and said calmly: "The clear will be clear, and the turbid will be turbid. Besides, the dead are the greatest. As descendants, you should know best what kind of person the head of the Lin Shangshu family is and what kind of personality and style he has."
This time, Young Master Lin's face turned pale again. His father was indeed very low-key outside, not like a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel, but at home, especially in front of him, the eldest son, his true nature was revealed. Moreover, he knew that there were actually quite a few officials coming and going in his family. Just a few days ago, many of the people who jumped up and down and threw stones to ask for directions were guests in his house.
"We know what's going on." He tried his best to squeeze out these few words. Seeing that Zhu Jing remained silent, he had to bite the bullet and said, "But the outside world is focusing all the attention on my family. My mother has been bedridden due to the grief of losing her husband, and now she is even more frightened. My brothers, sisters-in-law and children are still young. Duke Zhao, there must be an explanation for this matter, right?" It would be great if the court could grant a funeral and sacrifice!
Zhu Jing stared at Young Master Lin for a long time, until he lowered his head in panic. Then he said word by word: "Carry the coffin back to your hometown. The capital is a troubled place. Your family is sick and your children are too young to stay here. Of course, if you think it is easier to pass the imperial examination by living in the capital, then just pretend I didn't say anything."
Young Master Lin was speechless. He was a scholar who passed the examination in Shuntian Prefecture, and then passed the examination in Northern Zhili, which was much easier than in Jiangnan. He had planned to take advantage of his father's management of the Ministry of Personnel to see if he could pass the joint examination and get a good ranking in the palace examination. But now, with his father's passing and the current signs, everything was over.
Not only his fame and fortune, it is likely to affect his future, that of his younger brothers, and even the future of several generations to come!
Therefore, he watched Zhu Jing walk out the door. He wanted to chase him, but his feet felt like they were filled with lead. In the end, he could only turn his head and glare at the spirit tablet fiercely.
It's all your fault. You're greedy. You're already the Minister of Personnel but you're still not satisfied! If you hadn't messed around with all these things behind my back, I would still be the safe and sound Minister!
When Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing left the Lin residence, he did not ride away as usual, but got on a carriage surrounded by guards. This was relatively rare for him, but for those who noticed his trip, they felt that although the Minister of War came to pay his respects openly, it was not surprising to cover up his whereabouts.
And because of the guards who were so numerous, others could not get close to him, and therefore could not notice the guards' followers. So, of course, no one noticed that after one of the followers opened the curtain of the carriage, Zhu Jing was stunned for a moment, and then got into the carriage with a fierce face.
There was a person sitting in the dark corner at the back of the carriage. When the thick door curtain fell and the curtain did not move and no light came through, Zhu Jing asked coldly, "I was wondering why the Queen Mother suddenly instructed me to come to the Lin Mansion to pay my respects. It turned out that it was you who instigated it. But when Minister Lin was in office, the Queen Mother had already removed the curtain, and Minister Lin was not polite to the eunuchs in the palace."
"Neither the Queen Mother nor you should have any good feelings towards him, so why did you instigate the Queen Mother to let me go on this trip? And now you come here specially to wait for me?" Zhu Jing's eyes suddenly turned stern, and even his tone became murderous. "He, Minister Lin, is indeed not a good person. The rumors outside this time are actually not unfair to him, but how dare you!"
The person in the car acted as if nothing had happened: "We haven't even opened the coffin for an autopsy yet, and you're already pinning the blame on me, isn't that too arbitrary?"
Zhu Jing sneered, "I just bowed in front of the spirit, and the strong smell of medicine came to my nose. Unless my sense of smell is impaired, it is impossible for me to ignore such a smell. The combination of those medicines can make people with heart disease suddenly worsen their condition and then die suddenly. I think you used this trick before."
"Since that time, I have memorized the prescription, and I also memorized the special taste of the combination. And now, almost thirty years have passed, and you use this trick again. Do you think I will forget your miraculous feat back then?"
The man hidden in the shadows at the back of the carriage finally sat up slightly, and then said calmly: "Duke Zhao has a good memory, which is naturally unmatched by me, so of course I dare not ignore you. I did not deliberately reveal such a flaw, but because there are very few means to make a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Personnel die of a sudden illness in an upright manner."
"I can't hang people from the rafters!"
Hearing such a blatant statement, Zhu Jing's face suddenly darkened. Especially when he saw the other party suddenly lean forward, he shouted: "Are you admitting it? Do you think I really won't report it to the emperor?"
"Duke Zhao, you are a loyal minister, so you will never report to the emperor casually." When he said this, the person finally showed his face. It was Chu Kuan. Facing Zhu Jing's gaze like a needle, he remained calm and said word by word, "Some people can be punished by national laws, but some people cannot. In this case, why don't I share the worries for the emperor?"
"You are overstepping your authority... No, it's simply lawless!" Zhu Jing was immediately furious. At this moment, he finally understood why the Queen Mother sent a group of imperial attendants to follow him today. It turned out that it was not to prevent someone from peeping and spying on the Lin Mansion, but to prevent this scene from being seen by outsiders.
He clearly remembered that Chu Kuan seldom entered Qingning Palace in recent years, and his former friendship with the Queen Mother seemed to have faded a lot. Now it seemed that his aunt still treated him as a confidant as she did in the past.
However, the more this happened, the more Zhu Jing couldn't understand why Chu Kuan would hand such a handle directly to him. Even if the Queen Mother knew about this and acquiesced - it was not impossible - he was convinced that the Emperor would not approve of such a method and hated it, so he couldn't help but be more vigilant about Chu Kuan's purpose.
And then, he heard something that almost shocked him to the point of breaking the carriage: "Besides, whether it was the deposed queen or the eldest and second princes, although they died at the hands of traitors, they were more or less related to me."
"Of course, you don't have to doubt the Queen Mother. She knows nothing about this. I have stayed in the palace for too long. Although Hua Qi has taken over these imperial attendants, I have spent too much time on them in the past few years. So they, like me, put the Ming Dynasty first."
This last sentence did not make Zhu Jing, the Duke of Zhao, feel at ease, but made him even more alert. He was a very experienced person, so he knew that some people in the world would never listen to certain truths, and would wholeheartedly regard their own set of rules as the golden rule, and would never repent.
The emperor has a similar personality, but in comparison, this supreme emperor has been much better in recent years than he was in his youth. However, Chu Kuan is clearly worse than the emperor. He actually dared to lay a hand on the deposed empress, her mother and her two sons, as well as Minister Lin!
Maybe there are more than just these four, and it is very likely that more people have been harmed over the years!
Zhu Jing quickly went through the list of abnormal deaths over the years in his mind. Based on his memory, the list ranged from the deposed empress, the eldest prince, the second prince, Minister Lin, all the way to a certain envoy from the Ministry of Personnel, a certain assistant minister... With just such a rough count, he discovered that there were at least more than twenty people. He immediately took a deep breath.
Without any further hesitation, he leaned forward to lift the door curtain in front of him, but in an instant he felt something sticking tightly to his back, as if it would pierce into him mercilessly as long as he moved.
Even though he did not have the experience of fighting for his life on the brink of life and death during the Northern Expedition the year before last, as he had in the past when he accompanied Emperor Ruizong to the Northern Expedition, because the most dangerous mission was undertaken by his eldest son Zhu Tingfang, Zhu Jing's reaction was still extremely sharp. However, before he could give it a try, he heard Chu Kuan's calm voice.
"If I were the Duke of Zhao, I wouldn't act so rashly. You should know that since I have said so much, I am putting life and death aside. You and I have known each other for a long time. You should know that once I make up my mind to fight to the death, I will never back down, let alone show mercy."
"That's right. If you didn't say it, no one in the world would know that you did these things. But since you said it, it means that compared to the previous things, you think the next thing you want to do is bigger than these things, so you put it aside."
Even though he had a sharp blade on his waist, and in this small carriage, he was probably no match for Chu Kuan, who was more skilled in small movements, but after his initial surprise and anger, Zhu Jing quickly calmed down. He sat back slowly, and when he saw Chu Kuan calmly put the sharp blade back into his sleeve, he asked a question.
"What do you want?"
"It's very simple. Please invite your son-in-law, the Duke of Zhao, to come out."
Seeing Zhu Jing's eyebrows raised, he was obviously angry, Chu Kuan smiled and said, "The Queen Mother is my savior and the mistress I have served for many years. I respect her like a god, so I will not do anything to her nephew. And you don't have to worry about how I treat your son-in-law. If he didn't keep a distance from me and was too wary of me, I wouldn't have resorted to such a desperate measure."
Zhu Jing simply felt that Chu Kuan was unreasonable. It was understandable that someone thought Zhang Shou was more important than him. After all, even he could not understand Zhang Shou's extremely difficult things.
However, Chu Kuan's statement actually implied that he valued Zhang Shou more than the deposed empress and the eldest and second princes whom he had previously assassinated? Moreover, what did Zhang Shou mean by keeping a distance from others and being too wary? Could it be that Zhang Shou had long seen through some of Chu Kuan's affairs but had kept them secret?
Although Zhu Jing was a warrior, Chu Kuan knew that he was a meticulous person, not a civil servant. So when he saw him like this, he knew that he was overthinking. But at this moment, he didn't care whether Zhu Jing was overthinking or not. Instead, he was worried that he would refuse directly regardless. He couldn't really do anything to him, so he would only use the most drastic means.
Therefore, while Zhu Jing was frowning in thought, he said in a persuasive manner: "Duke Zhao, you arranged for Zhang Shou to be raised in that small village, and that small village should be full your spies. Therefore, the emperor and Grand Tutor Ge believed that there were learned people from overseas who enlightened him and taught him the things he is teaching others now."
"But you should be able to understand that this is impossible! If so, where did he learn these things from? Is he like Emperor Taizu, who was able to dream of the Emperor of Heaven, and therefore was able to do what no one else could?"
Zhu Jing clearly saw that the more Chu Kuan spoke, the more ferocious his face became, or even fanatical. In the end, he even turned the sharp blade in his hand, and his eyes became more dangerous than before. After pondering for a long time, he asked coldly, "Liang Jiucheng tried him alone under the order of the emperor, but to no avail. I think you are crazy!"
