Chapter 24 The Spring Breeze of Twenty-Four Years Cannot Tolerate

Zheng Xiang, dressed in a purple robe and jade belt, was impeccably dressed and possessed a remarkable and extraordinary appearance. His lips, which opened and closed, were even redder than the crane-shaped crown embroidered on his robe: "Your subject Zheng Yangzhi pays his respects to Your Majesty."

"No need for formalities," the Emperor said, not wanting to bother with such formalities. "Shi Hong—"

"The matter of Shi Hong—" Zheng Yangzhi also opened his mouth, but his voice collided with the emperor's, and neither of them could hear each other clearly.

Zheng Yangzhi lowered his head, turned to the side, and asked the king to speak first.

Xu Heng inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. After realizing that Zheng Yangzhi wanted to talk about Shi Hong, his voice became full of energy: "Has Shi Hong had another outbreak? How is the disaster relief going?"

"Your Majesty, the surrounding population has been evacuated and resettled, and the damaged river channels and mountains are being repaired as quickly as possible. There have been no casualties so far. However, land transport to and from the capital region will be delayed by one or two days due to the detour."

Xu Heng nodded, but found it strange. Yesterday, he ordered Qingfu to return to the capital and summoned Zheng Yangzhi and Zhang Yezhuo, the Minister of Works. Why was it that only Zheng Yangzhi requested an audience twice in a row?

A fleeting doubt crossed Xu Heng's mind, but he quickly dismissed it. He emphasized to Zheng Yangzhi, "If the detour delays people's livelihoods, the Ministry of Revenue can allocate funds. With the autumn harvest approaching, all fertile land damaged by the Shihong disaster should be exempt from taxation. If the damage is severe, relief should also be provided."

"I obey the order."

Xu Heng nodded again.

After a while, Zheng Yangzhi remained bowed and stood there without taking his leave. Xu Hengxin suddenly felt a little uneasy, but he steadied himself and said, "Yangzhi, you've worked hard on this disaster relief effort."

Zheng Yangzhi pursed his lips, and after a moment of silence, suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, they said that you skipped court yesterday because you left the capital?"

His red lips complemented his slightly upturned phoenix eyes, making him alluring and bewitching.

Xu Heng's heart sank. He had taken every precaution, and even when he got excited last night and shouted at Wang Yuying, there were only two guards outside the door, and even Qingfu hadn't heard him.

Could it be that those two guards leaked it?

Xu Heng was immediately filled with murderous intent.

He quickly lowered his eyes, concealing his emotions, and told Zheng Yangzhi that the man might only have seen the king leave the city and was unaware of the details.

"I went to pray for blessings," Xu Heng replied, head bowed.

"Which Buddhist temple is it?" Zheng Yangzhi seemed to emphasize the word "Buddhist temple" very much.

Xu Heng suddenly looked up at the person below, and Zheng Yangzhi immediately lifted his robe and knelt on one knee: "Your subject is foolish and presumptuous, and his words and manners are inappropriate. It is because I am concerned about Your Majesty's health and worried about the affairs of the country that I am truly trembling with fear. I beg Your Majesty to punish my arrogance and disrespect. Your subject, with the utmost loyalty, will never dare to offend Your Majesty again!"

After a long pause, Xu Heng smiled helplessly and shook his head slightly: "I couldn't go. I was caught in a downpour as soon as I left the city, which forced me to turn back. Then I encountered Shi Hong, and the bridge was suddenly washed away, so I couldn't cross the river back to the palace. Fortunately, Qingfu crossed the bridge first, and I quickly told him to go back and inform you all to deal with Shi Hong."

These words were so well-spoken that Zheng Yangzhi gave the person above him a deep look.

Xu Heng suppressed his smile, his voice heavy with sorrow: "If I am dismissed from court without cause, I will issue an edict of self-reproach."

Zheng Yangzhi, equally serious, lowered his head and said in a loud voice, "Natural disasters are unpredictable and beyond human control. Your Majesty's safe return from this perilous journey is already a blessing for the nation. How can you attribute such an unforeseen event to yourself? If Your Majesty were to issue an edict of self-reproach, it would not be in accordance with the way of Heaven, nor would it be an unforgivable sin for us." He paused, then said in a deep voice, "It was my fault."

There was silence at the head of the table, and Xu Heng did not respond for a long time.

Zheng Yangzhi then confessed again: "I was momentarily bewitched, and my words and manner were inappropriate. I made trouble out of nothing and offended Your Majesty!"

These words struck Xu Heng like a thunderbolt, his mind went blank for a moment, then he gripped the armrest of the chair tightly, his mind clearing completely—yes, that's how it is.

He murmured, "You don't need to blame yourself anymore. I know you didn't mean to offend me. There have indeed been evil spirits around lately."

Zheng Yangzhi was puzzled. He had just casually uttered a cliché, so why did the emperor suddenly bring up supernatural phenomena?

He felt a vague unease and couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows.

Xu Heng, who was at the head of the table, circled back to Shihong: "After the torrential rain in Shihong, we must pay attention to epidemic prevention."

Zheng Yangzhi lowered his eyebrows: "Your subject obeys the decree!"

This response was more decisive than the last one.

Xu Heng waved his hand: "Go and deal with it quickly."

"Your subject takes his leave."

Not long after Zheng Yangzhi left, Xu Heng ordered Qingfu to summon the group of guards who had accompanied the emperor to Yuqing Temple.

Time was of the essence, so only three were found. The three of them ran all the way to the Imperial Study to receive the Emperor's order.

The emperor slowly spoke: "You shall thoroughly search the entire Yuqing Temple, from top to bottom, to see if there are any traces of evil practices or sorcery. Do not miss a single place, and do not let anyone know about it. You must find them out for me."

Zheng Yang's casual remark woke him up; Wang Yuying must be possessed to be embracing other men.

Evil spirits are present at Yuqing Temple.

Taoist priests all know how to draw talismans, or perhaps a female Taoist priest put a puppet talisman on Wang Yuying to control her actions. Everything she did, even the hurtful words she uttered during yesterday's interrogation, were not genuine.

Of course, he was absolutely not trying to find excuses to exonerate her. He still maintained that the case needed to be thoroughly investigated and that she should not be sentenced to death based solely on Wang Yuying's one-sided testimony. He almost became a foolish ruler who made a wrongful judgment again!

After Xu Heng came to his senses, he rushed to court. As dawn broke, he could see several white clouds drifting slowly across the sky, as if the majestic Chuigong Hall in front of him was breathing.

He seemed to be able to breathe again.

After the court session, Xu Heng naturally rushed back to the Imperial Study to review memorials. As the afterglow faded and the sky darkened, he glanced out the window and slowly put down his pen.

Qingfu immediately stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty?"

Xu Heng pondered for a moment and said, "I'm going out for a walk. You don't need to follow me."

Qingfu was completely baffled. For a moment, he suspected that the emperor was still drunk, but he dared not say anything and replied in a low voice, "Yes."

Xu Heng nodded, then left the imperial study with his hands behind his back. Darkness soon fell, with palace lanterns illuminating the path. He wondered if Wang Yuying, already possessed by evil spirits, would be even more dangerous in the darkness, especially with the Ghost Festival approaching.

Xu Heng was still worried and planned to go to the secret prison.

It was already dark when he arrived at the imperial prison. He hadn't brought any lamps, so he gently knocked on the prison door. The jailer who opened the door glanced at him and fell down in fright: "Your Majesty?"

After paying respects, quickly usher the emperor inside.

Xu Heng slowly descended the steps, while the jailer hurriedly informed his superior. Soon after, the Imperial Censor and a group of prison guards arrived and knelt and kowtowed three times to Xu Heng.

Xu Heng raised his hand and said softly, "Don't make a sound. I'll go inside and take a look."

As he spoke, he walked down from the lobby.

Most of the prison cells were built underground, and the further they went, the more cautiously the imperial censors and others followed behind. Normally, when visiting prisoners in the imperial prison, one had to be searched and it was strictly forbidden to bring anything in. However, the emperor made an exception, after all, he was the one in charge of the imperial prison and all the prison officials assisted the emperor in his actions.

The two nearest rows of cells are called official prisons, and are numbered according to the sequence of the Dog (戌), hence the name Dog Prison. Further in are the Pig Prison and the Rat Prison. During the three hours of the Dog, Pig, and Rat, the sky gets darker and darker, and the prisons also get darker and darker. Among them, the Pig Prison and the Rat Prison are water prisons.

The black water was channeled into a canal, which flowed downstream. A suspension bridge spanned the canal, and on the other side of the bridge lay the deepest and most secret dark prison of the imperial prison.

The imperial prison was directly under the emperor's jurisdiction. Xu Heng was afraid of revealing the scandal of Yuqing Temple, so he only sent the same group of guards to watch over Wang Yuying and Jing Ye. The prison officials were unaware of this and dared not inquire about the situation in the secret prison.

So Xu Heng told the jailers not to follow him and crossed the bridge alone. It was pitch black below the bridge, and he could hear the faint sound of water. It was eerie and unsettling, like the crossing of the River of Forgetfulness after death.

With each step Xu Heng took, the suspension bridge swayed. He thought, "This place is so gloomy and damp, how can Wang Yuying bear it?" He had even seen rats along the way, and the air was filled with the stench of blood and rotting flesh. What if she contracted the plague? She had been injured before... Right, he had just seen prisoners with their hands and feet bound, their bare upper bodies covered in whip marks. Could they be torturing Wang Yuying as well?

Xu Heng panicked and ran across the bridge, making it sway even more violently.

Upon stepping off the bridge, without waiting for any formalities, he blurted out to the guards, "You didn't use torture, did you?"

The guards were slightly taken aback, then knelt on one knee and replied, "Your Majesty, we have only detained them and have not subjected them to torture."

Xu Heng nodded repeatedly, thinking to himself, "That's good, that's good."

The guards were about to report the prison situation to the emperor, but Xu Heng put his index finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture—he wanted to see for himself.

He didn't let the guards follow him and went deeper into the area alone.

The closer Xu Heng got to the cell where Wang Yuying was being held, the slower his heartbeat became, and the lighter his movements became. He was skilled in martial arts, and he deliberately concealed his movements, making his footsteps silent.

The dark prisons were also arranged according to the time of day, and were called the Chou prisons. There were five prisons in total: Yi Chou, Ding Chou, Ji Chou, Xin Chou, and Gui Chou. They were divided into two rows by a corridor. Wang Yuying was imprisoned in the Ding Chou prison, and Jingye Pass was imprisoned in the Xin Chou prison, which were opposite each other across the corridor.

Just then, Jing Ye was talking to Wang Yuying. Wang Yuying was sitting against the wall and couldn't hear very well, so she got up to walk towards the prison door. Jing Ye quickly stopped her, saying, "Don't walk. You're tired. Just sit and talk. I'll walk closer."

He strode to the cell door, gripping the bars tightly with both hands, his body almost touching them: "I saved two steamed buns from the prison food earlier. If you're hungry, I'll throw them over to you."

Wang Yuying smiled and said, "There were only two steamed buns in total. So you didn't eat either of them?"

"I'm not hungry." Jing Ye smiled and then said, "Don't leave, sit down quickly."

Wang Yuying then sat down on the ground and said, "I'm not hungry, you eat by yourself."

She had little appetite. To be honest, she was still terrified, afraid that Xu Heng would break his promise and still kill her entire family.

I felt a pang of regret and self-reproach for my foolish mistake.

Because she stared intently at Wang Yuying without blinking, even in the dimly lit cell, Jing Ye could clearly see the changes in her expression. The smile on his face also faded, and after a moment, he said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry, it's my fault."

Wang Yuying shook her head. She and Jing Ye were mutually dependent. Xu Heng insisted on punishing her. She was not afraid of dying herself, nor was she afraid of Jing Ye dying. What she was worried about were the innocent people.

"How do you think His Majesty will kill us?" Wang Yuying asked Jing Ye with a faint smile. "Which hurts more, being slowly sliced ​​to death or being torn apart by five horses?"

Xu Heng was hiding behind the Yichou Prison not far away when he heard this and felt terrible. People's hearts are not made of wood or stone, but of flesh and blood. He had just been thinking of taking her out of the dark prison and changing her to a room with orchids and irises.

Xu Heng lifted his foot to reveal himself, but then heard Jing Ye softly call out, "Yingniang."

Xu Heng paused.

Jingye continued, "Yingniang, are you listening?"

A moment later, Wang Yuying replied, "Speak, I can hear you."

Xu Heng slowly retracted his foot, which had been suspended in mid-air, and hid it behind him.

Jing Ye spoke loudly and forcefully: "Yingniang, whether it's being slowly sliced ​​to death or torn apart by five horses, I'm willing to accompany you! But, I have one wish, I... I won't rest in peace until I say it before I die!"

"you say."

Jing Ye couldn't help but move closer to Wang Yuying, but was stopped by the fence. The iron chains and bars rattled, and his voice choked with emotion: "Yingniang, promise me before you die, marry me in the next life, so we can be husband and wife openly and legitimately!"

"You're dreaming!" The emperor's roar echoed throughout the dark prison.