Chapter 65 Who exactly is Mr. Baomu?
Before the Dengwen Drum, a young man dressed in a white long gown gripped the drumsticks tightly with both hands and struck the drum one beat at a time.
The drumhead vibrated, and the drumbeats resounded throughout the capital.
A man dressed in black cloth armor stood beside the young man, guarding him and looking around warily, seemingly very worried about the young man's safety.
The drums sounded only briefly before a squad of imperial guards emerged from the palace gates. The commander of the guards at the head of the squad swept his sharp gaze over the two men, lingering on the man in black for a moment before looking away.
"Was it you who struck the Dengwen Drum?" The commander of the Imperial Guards asked, looking at the drumstick in the young man's hand.
"It is I." The young man put the drumsticks back on the drum stand and bowed to the other party.
"What is your name? What grievance do you have?"
Despite the pressure from the Imperial Guard commander, the young man remained unfazed and declared, "I am Tang Ming, a scholar from Jizhou, and I wish to accuse the heir of the Duke of Song of plotting to murder my classmate and friend, Song Yu."
Upon hearing these words, even the usually expressionless commander of the Imperial Guard showed a hint of surprise.
A few days ago, the whole capital was filled with stories hinting at the Song State Duke's family switching sons. I thought that once those stories were banned, the matter would be over, but I didn't expect the follow-up to come so quickly.
The commander of the Imperial Guards didn't say much, then turned to the man in black and asked, "And you, who are you?"
“I am Lei Tong, a bodyguard of the Marquis of Zhenbei. When I was passing through Jingzhou, I happened to meet Tang, a scholar who had passed the imperial examination, and I escorted him all the way to the capital.”
The commander of the Imperial Guards did not respond to Lei Tong's flawed explanation, but simply said, "Since Scholar Tang already holds an official title, he can enter the palace directly without being tortured. Please, His Majesty is already waiting."
Tang Ming straightened his clothes, took a few deep breaths, and then followed the Imperial Guards into the palace gate, with Lei Tong following behind him.
Tang Ming and his companion waited for about an hour in a side hall of the palace before the commander of the Imperial Guards finally led them into the main hall.
According to the rules of this dynasty, after the drum of petitioning is sounded, all the court officials must immediately enter the palace to meet the emperor. Within an hour, all the civil and military officials will have arrived and will be lined up on both sides of the main hall.
It was not the morning court session, and the emperor on the dragon throne was dressed in casual clothes. The court officials were not at all reserved, and some were even discussing among themselves what had happened when the Dengwen Drum sounded.
When the commander of the Imperial Guards led the two into the main hall, almost everyone turned to look at them.
Among them was a military officer who had some connection with the Marquis of Zhenbei. He recognized Lei Tong, one of his personal guards, at a glance and couldn't help but show a look of surprise.
Although Tang Ming had some courage, it was his first time meeting the emperor and so many important court officials, and his mind went blank when he stood in the main hall.
Lei Tong, who was beside him, gently tugged at his sleeve and made him kneel down with him.
Tang Ming only realized what was happening when his knees touched the cold ground. He then called out loudly, "Tang Ming, a scholar from Jizhou, pays his respects to Your Majesty."
"Lei Tong, a guard of the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence, pays his respects to Your Majesty." Lei Tong's voice was short and deep, but it was heard by everyone.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor looked up at Lei Tong and asked, "I remember the Marquis of Zhenbei is still in seclusion reflecting on his mistakes. As his personal guard, why did you go to Jizhou?"
Although the emperor's tone showed no anger, Lei Tong dared not be negligent in the slightest and explained, "Your Majesty, the Marquis is grateful for the kindness shown to him by the late Duke of Song. He had heard that the late Duke of Song's grandson might be living in exile, and later heard that someone was smearing the Duke's mansion. So he sent his subordinates to Jizhou to investigate the matter thoroughly."
Although everyone knows that the Marquis of Zhenbei is not really thinking about the Duke of Song's mansion this time, this statement can at least convince most people on the surface.
Many veteran generals in the court knew that when the Marquis of Zhenbei joined the army, he had served in the army of the former Duke of Song. The former Duke of Song had also promoted him, which was indeed a great favor.
The emperor did not ask Lei Tong any further questions, but instead turned his attention back to Tang Ming.
"Scholar Tang, what is the purpose of your beating of the petition drum?"
Tang Ming announced loudly, "I want to accuse Song Xi, the heir of the Duke of Song's mansion, of plotting to murder my classmate Song Yu."
The emperor did not speak after hearing this, but rubbed his temples and gestured with his finger to the chief eunuch.
The chief eunuch standing on the lower steps immediately understood and said, "Scholar Tang, if it is ultimately found that you made a false accusation, you will be punished with fifty strokes of the cane according to the law. Have you thought it through?"
"Students are willing to take responsibility for their words," Tang Ming said firmly.
As Tang Ming finished speaking, the emperor finally asked, "Who is Song Yu? What is his relationship with the Duke of Song's mansion? Why did Song Xi want to harm him?"
Tang Ming glanced at Lei Tong beside him, and Lei Tong said, "Your Majesty, Song Yu is the eldest son of the Duke of Song."
The court erupted in shouts; they had actually produced a legitimate heir. This was getting interesting.
The Duke of Song's face turned ashen, and he could no longer maintain basic etiquette. He shouted, "You're talking nonsense! Did the Marquis of Zhenbei instruct you to smear my Duke of Song's mansion?"
"Silence," the head eunuch announced again.
After calming down a bit, Duke Song immediately spoke up to defend himself: "Your Majesty, everyone knows that Marquis Zhenbei is unhappy with my son taking over the Xiling Army. He must have deliberately found these people to give false testimony. Xi'er is undoubtedly my legitimate son."
The emperor didn't even glance at the Duke of Song, but asked Lei Tong, "Do you have any evidence?"
"Your Majesty has found Song Yu's remains. You may immediately have someone verify whether the remains are related to the Duke of Song by blood."
Duke Song's expression changed slightly, but he still didn't believe Lei Tong's words: "The person is already dead. Who knows if bloodline tests are accurate now? Maybe you secretly tampered with the bones and just found someone to claim as my son."
Lei Tong said loudly, "The coffin containing Song Yu's remains is right outside the palace gate. I did not tamper with it. If Your Majesty does not believe me, you can ask the Imperial Observatory to come and verify it."
After a moment of silence in the court, the emperor finally spoke: "Bring in the remains."
Before long, four imperial guards appeared in the hall carrying a brand-new coffin. The coffin was obviously newly replaced. After it was lowered into the hall, the surrounding courtiers all craned their necks to look inside, where a skeleton was placed.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review leaned over the coffin and examined it carefully for a while before speaking: "Your Majesty, this person's neck bones are broken, which was not caused by later events. It is likely that he was strangled to death before he was born."
At this moment, Tang Ming said with a sorrowful expression, "Your Majesty, after Song Yu died, his adoptive mother's relatives claimed that he died of a sudden illness and hurriedly buried him. I did not see his body. It was not until I learned Song Yu's true identity that I began to suspect the cause of his death. Later, I and Lei Tong dug up his remains and confirmed that he was indeed murdered."
"Where is the Director of the Imperial Observatory?"
The moment the emperor spoke, the Duke of Song swayed slightly.
"Your subject is here." The supervisor stepped out from behind the crowd.
"To verify the kinship between this skeleton and the Duke of Song."
"yes."
The Imperial Observatory official walked up to the Duke of Song and, seeing his grim expression, smiled and said, "Duke Song, there's no need to worry. Our Imperial Observatory never makes mistakes in verifying bloodlines. Even if someone dies, we can still find their biological parents. Please, Duke Song, give me a drop of your blood."
The Duke of Song clenched his fists and, under the watchful eyes of the court officials, forced himself to say, "Your Majesty, this matter is utterly absurd and laughable..."
The emperor's cold gaze swept over them, and he uttered only three words: "Give him blood."
Seeing that the Duke of Song still wouldn't budge, the supervisor had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.
With a flick of his finger, he created a bloody gash on the back of the Duke of Song's hand, followed by a bead of blood floating in the Supervisor's palm.
Then the supervisor touched the forehead of the skeleton in the coffin with his finger. The skeleton emitted a faint red light, and after a moment, a slightly smaller drop of dark blood floated up.
The supervisor took out a white jade plate with layers of circles engraved on it from his bosom, and dripped two drops of blood into the two grooves in the jade plate. Then the court officials saw the circles on the jade plate light up one after another until the last one lit up.
Seeing everyone's curiosity, the supervisor explained, "This kinship compass is divided into ten sections. If there is no blood relation, only the first section will light up. If the relatives are distant relatives beyond three generations, they can be divided into six sections based on the closeness of their bloodline. The remaining three sections are for verifying blood relations within three generations. Only biological brothers, fathers and sons, and mothers and sons can light up the last section."
After the supervisor finished speaking, all the court officials looked at the Duke of Song with strange expressions.
So he really did have a son who was lost and killed. Doesn't that match up with the storybook?
"Duke of Song, is there anything you wish to tell me?"
The Duke of Song, his mind reeling, blurted out, "Your Majesty, he is indeed my son, but he is only an illegitimate child, not a legitimate son at all."
The court was silent for a moment, then the supervisor said with a slightly helpless tone, "It is easy to verify whether this remains belong to the eldest son of the Duke of Song. We only need to extract the bloodline of the late Madam. Even if the late Madam has been dead for a long time, I can still do it."
At this moment, a courtier spoke up: "Why go through all that trouble? Why not have the Duke of Song call his heir back and verify the blood relationship between the heir and the Duke of Song's stepmother? It might be a pleasant surprise."
In fact, all the officials in the court could see that the Duke of Song's behavior was to prevent the status of his heir, Song Xi, from being shaken.
After all, one son was dead, while the other controlled the military power in Xiling. Anyone would know what to choose.
Sure enough, the Duke of Song immediately said, "Your Majesty, even if he really is my son whom I have never met, it does not prove that his death is related to my son."
At this moment, Lei Tong spoke up: "Your Majesty, I have witnesses who can prove that Song Yu's death is related to the Duke of Song's mansion."
"What evidence?"
"The relatives of Song Yu's adoptive mother were coerced into collecting Song Yu's body and were not allowed to come to pay their respects. I have found the family that was coerced and brought them to the capital. They are willing to testify."
Moreover… according to them, this wasn't the first time the people from the Duke of Song's mansion had approached them. Years ago, they had accepted money from the Duke of Song's mansion to deliberately cause trouble for Song Yu, preventing him from participating in the imperial examinations.
"So it was you who did this." Tang Ming seemed unaware of the matter. Upon hearing Lei Tong's words, his face was filled with undisguised anger, and his gaze towards the Duke of Song was like fire.
"I knew it! Why has Brother Song been so unlucky all these years? Every time he takes the imperial examination, all sorts of accidents happen. It turns out it was you who caused this! Are you even fit to be a father? If it weren't for you, Brother Song would probably have passed the examination long ago. How could he have wasted his life like this!"
The Duke of Song avoided Tang Ming's gaze and said, "Your Majesty, these are all their one-sided accounts. The so-called witnesses may have been bribed long ago and are not credible. Moreover, I had no idea of Song Yu's existence before, so why would I send people to do these things?"
"I didn't say it was the Duke of Song who did it. After all, the person who replaced the Duke of Song's eldest son back then hasn't been discovered yet. Maybe it was that person who instructed him. Instead of suspecting me, the Duke of Song should investigate the people in his household properly."
After saying that, Lei Tong continued, "Your Majesty, I have also investigated and found that the younger brother of the second wife of the Duke of Song did indeed go to Jizhou two years ago and even met Song Yu. Not long after he returned to the capital, Song Yu was murdered. If you say that Song Yu's death has nothing to do with the Duke of Song's mansion, I'm afraid no one would believe it."
"So all the events in that revenge story are based on real events?" an official whispered.
"Speaking of which, who exactly is this Mr. Baomu, that he knows every detail of Song Yu's death? If I hadn't seen the remains with my own eyes, I would have thought that Song Yu was still alive and had written this book to seek justice for himself."
The court officials below whispered amongst themselves. They hadn't originally had time to read any storybooks, but because of the trouble the Duke of Song had caused earlier, they all went to read the so-called revenge story after court that day. Now, more than half of the ministers in the court had read it.
At this moment, Qi Hai, the Minister of War, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, although this matter concerns the family of the Duke of Song, it also involves a life. Even if it cannot be proven that Song Yu's death is related to the heir of the Duke of Song's mansion, he is indeed the most suspicious. I request Your Majesty to immediately recall Song Xi to the capital for investigation."
Several more people stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I second that proposal."
Finally, even the Right Censor-in-Chief stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the eldest son of the Duke of Song has been murdered, and the identities of the eldest son and the illegitimate son have been switched for many years. This matter has an extremely bad influence and must be thoroughly investigated. The heir apparent, Song Xi, has an unusual identity and is unfit to be a general. I urge Your Majesty to immediately issue an edict to remove him from his post."
Just as the emperor was about to issue the decree, the commander of the Imperial Guards suddenly entered the hall and reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, Song Chengliang, the former deputy general of the Duke of Song, is requesting an audience outside the palace gate."
The emperor clearly knew this person. He frowned slightly and asked, "What is he doing here?"
“Song Chengliang only said that it was related to the eldest son of the Duke of Song, and refused to say more.”
“Bring him to the palace.”
Before long, the commander of the Imperial Guards brought an elderly man with a straight back, who looked to be over sixty years old but whose eyes gleamed with intelligence, into the hall.
The man walked to the Duke of Song's side and knelt down on both knees: "Your subject Song Chengliang pays respects to Your Majesty. I am guilty and beg Your Majesty for punishment."
"Song Chengliang, what crime have you committed? Tell me!" the emperor asked.
Song Chengliang glanced at the Duke of Song, whose face was grim, and lowered his head, saying, "Many years ago, I secretly switched the Duke's legitimate son and illegitimate son, and sent the Duke's legitimate son out of the mansion."
Later, when the heir apparent learned his true identity by chance and wanted to find the Duke's legitimate son, the minister sent men to kill him, in order to eliminate any potential threat!
With a single sentence, Song Chengliang took all the blame upon himself.
“Deputy General Song, the late Duke Song treated you well. What reason do you have to replace his grandson? I heard that Song Xi has been taught by you all these years. You're not here to take the blame for Song Xi, are you?” Minister of War Qi Hai narrowed his eyes, his tone unfriendly.
Song Chengliang didn't even glance at the other person: "Every word I have said is true, and I dare not deceive Your Majesty."
"Then tell me, why did you switch the two of them?"
"Because the eldest son born to the Duchess has extremely poor aptitude and no talent for cultivation." Song Chengliang's body trembled slightly, and his eyes reddened. "Everything I have done is for the sake of the Duke's mansion. If the Duke has no talent for cultivation, and his eldest son also has no talent for cultivation, the Duke's mansion will probably decline as a result. The late Duke cannot be without a successor. Until I discovered that the heir apparent has excellent aptitude, I had the idea of switching the two."
After saying that, he turned around and kowtowed to Duke Song again: "Your Excellency, I was only thinking of the Duke's Mansion and had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure. Please punish me, Your Excellency."
"Absurd!" Duke Song suddenly shouted, kicking Song Chengliang in the shoulder. He then lunged forward, grabbed Song Chengliang, and said with heartache, "Uncle Liang, that's my own son! Sending him out of the manor wasn't enough, how could you kill him?"
No matter how the Duke of Song asked, Song Chengliang remained silent.
Watching the two exchange words, a cold glint flashed in Qi Hai's eyes. He hadn't expected that, even at this point, someone would suddenly appear and confess.
The Duke of Song's mansion does have a few backbone members, but unfortunately, the previous Duke of Song is dead, and the current one is a complete waste. Even if he jumps out, so what? Song Xi will definitely lose his military power.
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