Chapter 102: General Humiliated (5)
5
General Wei's eyes were red, and he beat his injured legs hard: "I deserve to die... I am old and can't even protect my own children... I deserve to die..."
Zhu Qingchen held his hand and said sternly, "It's not you who should die, it's someone else who should die."
General Wei turned his head and looked at him in surprise, but did not dare to ask.
This is a great act of treason.
General Wei's eldest son said, "Young Master, His Majesty is violent and indulges eunuchs to run rampant. In order to block the news, he has convicted the entire Wei family. We only dare to tell you the matter, young master. I hope you..."
Zhu Qingchen understood: "I know, I won't go out and tell anyone."
"That's good. We have no choice but to protect ourselves. In a few days, our family will go back to our hometown. We can't stay in this damn place anymore."
The emperor still had some dignity and knew that this kind of thing could not be spread out, so he sent people to seal off the general's mansion and sent them away.
If the news gets out, the Wei family will be the first to be attacked.
They want to save the lives of their entire family, which is understandable.
Zhu Qingchen paused and said, "I just don't know if the emperor often summons the children of officials to the palace? Is it..."
"We don't know about that. The emperor looks gentle and often summons young talents to the palace for banquets. We just think that the emperor cherishes talents. If we hadn't seen it with our own eyes, we wouldn't dare to believe it."
Maybe it had happened before, but the emperor disguised himself well, so the young masters had to swallow their anger and did not dare to talk about it.
Only General Wei lost his temper and made a scene. The emperor became anxious and wanted to suppress the Wei family.
Zhu Qingchen held General Wei's hand and said earnestly, "Don't worry, I noticed something was wrong when I came here, and I told the Duke of Zhenguo about it. If it was the emperor..."
He paused, then whispered in the old general's ear, "It's not possible to keep him."
It was not until General Wei heard these words clearly that he finally understood, and tears welled up in his eyes: "Young Master knows me, Young Master knows me..."
Zhu Qingchen nodded and patted the back of his hand vigorously: "I understand, I understand everything."
General Wei whispered, "I have thought so in my heart for a long time, but I dare not tell anyone. Whatever the young master wants to do, just go ahead and do it. I will not leave, I will stay here. If the young master needs soldiers, I will do my best to help him."
"Young Master, you have just arrived in the capital.
I am not familiar with several important officials in the court. I will contact them. I have lived to this age. I am not afraid of being embarrassed. I am only afraid that my descendants and ordinary people will be bullied to death. I will never leave Beijing even if it costs me my life. "
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen nodded vigorously, "I understand. I understand your painstaking efforts."
He picked up the medicine bowl that was placed aside and said, "You should take the medicine now. After taking the medicine, you will get better soon, so that you can help me better."
General Wei perked up and stood up: "Okay, okay, take the medicine."
Zhu Qingchen put two drops of medicine on the back of his hand, tested the temperature, and confirmed that it was not hot before feeding it to General Wei spoonful by spoonful.
This time, General Wei drank it all up. He wished someone would bring the medicine pot to him so that he could chew and eat it together with the dregs.
Zhu Qingchen comforted him with a few words, chatted with him about the situation in the court, and finally coaxed him to take a nap to rest.
General Wei was sleeping on the bed, his white hair was scattered like weeds. He had just been trying to cheer himself up, but now he immediately became depressed.
Zhu Qingchen stood up and helped him pull up the quilt.
Everyone in the general's mansion saluted him and said, "Young Master, thank you for your help."
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen nodded and asked, "The young master who was bullied... Is it convenient for me to meet him?"
Everyone looked embarrassed: "I'm afraid..."
The person being held down by a group of eunuchs was the youngest son of the third branch of the general's mansion. His name was Wei Yuan, and he was a young boy about the same age as Chu Yunyang.
Everyone in the General's Mansion took Zhu Qingchen to a locked courtyard.
"Don't blame the young master. After returning from the palace, he locked himself in the yard, and we had to deliver the food to his door."
"In that case." Zhu Qingchen sighed, "Then I won't go in. I'll wait for General Wei to come and enlighten him."
Zhu Qingchen had never seen this kid before, and he was afraid of making things worse by barging in rashly.
Everyone in the General's Mansion saw Zhu Qingchen off. Zhu Qingchen warned them, "You'd better have your personal guards guard the gates of the mansion for the next few days. Be careful with the food you eat and the medicine given by General Wei. I'm afraid the Emperor..."
If he wants to kill us all, it won't be difficult.
"We all understand. Thank you for your advice, young master."
Zhu Qingchen took Chu Yunyang and left through a side door, and went to the residence of the old censor Chen again.
The old general and the old censor were old friends. Although they didn't know the inside story, they knew that General Wei was beaten.
, he naturally couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
It was because Chen the old censor pleaded for the old general that the enraged emperor smashed his head with his seal.
When Zhu Qingchen went there, the old man had his forehead bandaged tightly and was leaning against the bed drinking medicine.
As soon as he saw Zhu Qingchen, he held his hand and kept calling him "Young Master", feeling extremely aggrieved.
They simply don't understand. They are clearly following the rules, so why are they being treated like this?
The emperor is a human being, and so are they. They are subjects, not pigs, dogs, cows or sheep. So on what basis?
Zhu Qingchen sat beside the couch, comforted him, coaxed him to drink the medicine, and waited until he fell asleep before he prepared to leave.
The people from the Censorate also escorted him out through a side door, not daring to be seen by the emperor's men.
It was already dark when I came out of the Censorate.
Zhu Qingchen and Chu Yunyang walked side by side on the way back.
Chu Yunyang lowered his head and kicked the pebbles on the ground in frustration. For a moment, he failed to keep up with Zhu Qingchen and fell behind.
Zhu Qingchen realized he was lost and looked back.
Chu Yunyang raised his head, trotted forward, and shouted unhappily, "Teacher."
"Hmm?" Zhu Qingchen put his arm around his shoulders and rubbed his arms: "What's wrong?"
"I..." Chu Yunyang rubbed his face vigorously, "I can't explain it. I suddenly felt sad and scared."
He raised his head and looked at Zhu Qingchen seriously: "Teacher, will I be the second Young Master Wei? I..."
He originally thought that the emperor was just suspicious of their family, but he did not expect that the emperor would be so absurd as to humiliate the general's mansion like this and not take the general's mansion seriously at all.
Will the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion become the second General's Mansion? Will he become the second Young Master Wei?
Young Master Wei still has his grandfather to save him, but what about him?
His father and brother were far away in the northwest, what if...
He couldn't help but feel like retreating.
"Don't you have a teacher with you?" Zhu Qingchen hugged him tightly, rubbed his arms hard to warm them up, and tried to give him some strength. "The teacher will protect you, don't worry."
"Yeah." Chu Yunyang responded sullenly.
Zhu Qingchen said gently, "You think the current situation is already very good for us."
"You didn't come to the capital alone. Your teacher came with you. You also knew about this matter and were not kept in the dark, so you can be more vigilant.
, you also met General Wei and Censor Chen."
"You won't be Young Master Wei. Not only your teacher, but also General Wei will protect you. Everyone, anyone who has been bullied for no reason, they will protect you."
"Of course, you are still young, and it is normal for you to be afraid. If you want, you can pretend to be sick when you go back, and say that you just arrived in the capital, and you are not used to the climate, so you fell ill all of a sudden, and the teacher will go to deal with the emperor."
Zhu Qingchen was serious about what he said.
He had certainly considered it.
Let Chu Yunyang pretend to be sick and solve all the problems by himself.
See what he thinks.
Chu Yunyang hesitated for a moment, and finally pulled Zhu Qingchen's sleeve: "I... I won't pretend to be sick, I want to be with the teacher."
"Okay." Zhu Qingchen touched his head, "Then go with the teacher. Let's go, the teacher will take you to the restaurant for dinner."
"Um."
Zhu Qingchen took him to a private room in a restaurant on the street for dinner. Chu Yunyang had a bad memory and after eating a little, he forgot all his fears.
He made up his mind to go wherever the teacher went and do whatever the teacher did.
He grew up in the northwest and had never been to the capital, let alone seen the emperor.
He fought wars mainly to protect the people. He had no idea about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
Since this emperor is not good, why not just replace him with a better one?
The process may be a little difficult, but it would be great if it could protect my family.
After figuring this out, Chu Yunyang suddenly became enlightened and ate three plates of pork elbows in a row.
Zhu Qingchen was stunned when he paid.
After eating and drinking, the two men set off back to the Duke of England's mansion.
While talking to his teacher, Chu Yunyang demonstrated his moves, preparing to punch the emperor to death.
Before he got close, Chu Yunyang saw a man dressed as a eunuch standing in the yard.
He quickly withdrew his hand and looked at Zhu Qingchen. The two pretended not to be familiar with each other and walked forward.
The eunuch happened to turn around and saw them as well.
He was an old eunuch, not tall and thin, with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes.
As soon as he saw Zhu Qingchen and Chu Yunyang, he hurried forward and said, "Young Master, Young General."
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen supported him lightly, "Did the eunuch come from the palace?"
"Of course." The old eunuch smiled.
"His Majesty was very pleased when he saw the young master's memorial. He sent this old servant to ask the young master to bring the young general to the palace to see him tomorrow morning."
"I understand. Thank you, eunuch." Zhu Qingchen smiled and stuffed a bag of silver into his hand. "Thank you for taking the trip."
The old eunuch weighed the silver and smiled even more: "Young Master, you are too polite."
Zhu Qingchen smiled and said, "It's just a token of my appreciation. I haven't been to the capital for a long time, and I don't know much about the situation there. I hope you can give me some pointers when the time comes."
"Of course." The old eunuch was very satisfied, and his face almost broke from smiling when he left.
After the old eunuch left, Chu Yunyang pursed his lips and said, "Teacher..."
Zhu Qingchen put his arm around his shoulders: "What's wrong?"
Chu Yunyang paused and said, "Why did the teacher give him money? And even personally send him off? Wouldn't it be better if I could do it myself?"
"This eunuch is just a small fry. The more polite we are, the more he will relax his guard, and the people behind him will also relax. Doesn't the Art of War say that to capture a thief, you must first capture the leader. It's not a big deal, so why not let him go?"
"Yeah." Chu Yunyang nodded thoughtfully.
Understood.
*
The next morning, Zhu Qingchen took Chu Yunyang to the palace.
Chu Yunyang was still awake late last night, and was practicing boxing in the yard, preparing to beat the emperor to death with one punch.
Zhu Qingchen couldn't sleep because of his noise, so he personally told him to go to his room and sleep, and only then did he go back.
When he woke up in the morning, Zhu Qingchen had dark circles under his eyes, while Chu Yunyang clenched his fists, still looking energetic.
It doesn't make sense.
The two men changed into official uniforms and entered the palace together.
I won't go to court today.
In the Funing Palace, the emperor was sitting high on his seat with his feet crossed.
A dozen young eunuchs stood below, laughing and playing with the emperor.
The emperor plucked a grape from the table, and the young eunuchs stood up and stretched out their hands to take it.
The emperor raised his hand, aimed twice, and then threw the grapes out.
But the next moment, a young eunuch seemed to be pushed by someone. He staggered and fell to the ground, crushing the grapes with a "puff".
The juice splashed and stained his clothes.
The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.
The young eunuch raised his head in horror, only to see that the smile on the emperor's face was no longer there.
He quickly crushed the grapes
He picked it up and put it in his mouth, but suddenly felt something was wrong, so he spit it out and held it in his palm.
He was at a loss, and while he kowtowed, he begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, please spare my life! Your Majesty, please spare my life!"
Blood was flowing from the young eunuch's forehead, but the emperor ignored him and just waved his hand casually.
The other young eunuchs immediately understood, stepped forward quickly, and hurriedly dragged him away.
He was afraid that if he moved too slowly, he would displease the emperor and be dragged down and beaten to death.
The voice begging for mercy was heard far away. The little eunuch was dragged on the ground, leaving a long trail. With a scream, he completely disappeared.
At this time, the old eunuch came in from outside, took a look at the dirt on the ground, and quickly bent down to wipe it clean with his sleeve.
The hall was restored to its spotless state.
The emperor was quite satisfied with his performance and asked calmly, "What's wrong?"
The old eunuch bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Ying and the young master of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion are outside the palace gates asking for an audience."
"Let them in."
"yes."
The old eunuch stood up and was about to leave, when suddenly, another voice came from above his head: "I heard that the young master of the Zhenguo Mansion and the Duke of Ying are both good-looking?"
The old eunuch knelt down quickly and said, "Yes, when we entered the city yesterday, the people all said that he was handsome. The young master of the Zhenguo Mansion was a little wolf cub, and the Duke of England was dressed in white, just like a little Guanyin."
The emperor became interested, raised his eyes slightly, and said, "Go and summon him quickly."
"yes."
The emperor straightened his clothes, sat upright on his high seat, and called out, "Someone come."
The young eunuchs hurried in from outside and stood on both sides.
Compared with just now, no more, no less.
As soon as one is killed, a new one will take his place, and no one can tell.
Soon, the old eunuch came in with Zhu Qingchen and Chu Yunyang.
Zhu Qingchen folded his hands and bowed, "Your Majesty, I, Zhu Qingchen, and I, the youngest son of the Duke of Zhenguo, pay our respects to Your Majesty."
"Please stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zhu Qingchen looked up and saw a man in his twenties, wearing the emperor's uniform, sitting in his seat.
He supported himself with his hands, leaned closer, and squinted his eyes, trying to see more clearly.
Chu Yunyang followed the teacher and felt the emperor's gaze, so he quietly moved behind the teacher.
If they had not known the emperor's character long ago, I'm afraid others would have only regarded him as
He is eager to find talented people.
Zhu Qingchen's face darkened slightly, and he interrupted, "Your Majesty, this time when we came to the capital, I and the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion specially prepared gifts for Your Majesty."
The emperor retracted his gaze and sat up straight again: "Thank you for your hard work, Duke Ying."
"I dare not." Zhu Qingchen stood up and shouted outside, "Bring it up."
About ten soldiers came up carrying five large boxes.
When the box was opened, most of the items inside were local specialties from the Northwest.
Zhu Qingchen remained calm as he introduced them one by one: "Northwest Tianshan Snow Lotus, Wolfskin Cloak..."
The emperor took a look and could not hide his lack of interest.
Only when Chu Yunyang mentioned hunting wolves personally did he become slightly interested.
He cleared his throat, and the old eunuch understood. He picked up the wolfskin cloak with both hands and placed it in front of the emperor.
The emperor couldn't let go of it, touched it twice, and said to Chu Yunyang: "You are very good."
Chu Yunyang suppressed his nausea and responded, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zhu Qingchen winked at him, and Chu Yunyang understood and took out the prepared wooden box from his arms.
"Your Majesty, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion has another generous gift for you."
The old eunuch was about to go forward to take it, but the emperor waved his hand and asked Chu Yunyang to bring it up himself.
Chu Yunyang lowered his head, took small steps forward, and opened the gem-encrusted box in front of the emperor, revealing a rosary made of round gems inside.
"Your Majesty, this is a gem that I found on the heads of the grassland tribes while I was fighting. The gem is dazzling, and I polished it into a round shape with my own hands, strung it into a rosary, and presented it to Your Majesty as a trophy."
"As a testimony of the precious stones, one day I will personally present the Northwest Tribe to Your Majesty."
The emperor was overjoyed and looked at him with more approval.
Of course, Chu Yunyang himself couldn’t say such words. This was what Zhu Qingchen taught him.
The emperor beckoned to him and said, "Come closer."
"Yes." Chu Yunyang held the box and moved closer.
"Come up the steps."
"yes."
Under the emperor's guidance, Chu Yunyang walked up the steps step by step and came in front of the emperor, only one step away from him.
Chu Yunyang tried his best to endure and not show any disgust or resentment, and also tried to control his hands and not punch him.
The emperor stretched out his hand to him and said, "Put it on me."
"Yes." Chu Yunyang put the wooden box on the table and imitated the
The old eunuch held the rosary in both hands and gently placed it in the emperor's hands.
The emperor suddenly tightened his grip and held his hand.
Chu Yunyang was startled and almost jumped up to punch him.
The emperor patted the back of his hand and said, "You are young and heroic, which is really good."
Chu Yunyang pulled his hand back with all his strength and bowed, "Your Majesty, thank you for your compliment."
The emperor stroked the rosary in his hand, his face full of joy, and waved his hand: "Come here, pass on my order——"
The old eunuch stepped forward to receive the order.
The emperor said, "The youngest son of the Duke of Zhenguo, Chu Yunyang, is young and promising, brave and outstanding, and has made many outstanding achievements. He is specially appointed as the mighty general. A banquet will be held in the palace tonight, and all officials will welcome General Chu and celebrate his achievements and appointment!"
"Yes." The old eunuch went out to convey the order.
The emperor looked at Chu Yunyang with joy, and took the opportunity to pat his hands.
If Chu Yunyang hadn't known the emperor's character long ago, he would probably have been deceived by him.
He was really good at disguising himself. Right from the start, he granted official positions and titles, and invited all the officials to a banquet. Who wouldn't be confused? Who wouldn't think he was a wise ruler?
However, even when he was named a mighty general, the emperor still had to specifically mention that he was "outstanding in appearance and grace". If he was more vague, it would directly become "graceful and elegant".
Disgusting thoughts cannot be hidden.
Chu Yunyang took back his hand, put it back down, clasped his fists and saluted: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The emperor kept the two men to talk for a while before reluctantly letting them go.
The young eunuch extended his hand to Zhu Qingchen and Chu Yunyang: "Young Master, Young General, please come this way."
"Okay, thank you."
Because he had a banquet in the evening, the emperor let them rest in the palace.
Of course, Zhu Qingchen did not dare to let his guard down.
The young eunuch took them to a side hall and served them attentively, bringing them not only hot tea but also snacks and fruits.
Chu Yunyang picked up an apple, but Zhu Qingchen held his hand.
Zhu Qingchen said to the young eunuch, "Excuse me, sir, could you please bring us a basin of water so that we can wash our faces and tidy up our appearance?"
"Okay, okay." The young eunuch hurried out.
Zhu Qingchen patted Chu Yunyang's hand and asked him to put the apple aside.
Soon, two young eunuchs came in carrying two basins of hot water.
Zhu Qingchen remained calm: "Thank you."
"You are too polite, young master.
Just wait outside. If the young master and the young general need anything, please call us at any time."
"good."
The young eunuch left the palace and closed the door respectfully before leaving.
After Zhu Qingchen confirmed that they had left, he immediately pulled Chu Yunyang to the basin, pressed his hand into the water, and whispered, "Wash your hands quickly and clean them."
Chu Yunyang nodded: "Got it."
"Don't eat the apple you touched. Throw it away somewhere."
"Hmm." Chu Yunyang paused, "Teacher, there's no need to be so cautious, right?"
Zhu Qingchen also washed his hands and whispered to him, "I'm afraid you'll be poisoned to death."
“How can it be so amazing?” Chu Yunyang took his hand out of the water, put it to his nose and sniffed it, and wanted to take a sip, “No problem.”
Zhu Qingchen slapped him hard and said, "Don't eat with your hands in the next few days. Use chopsticks. And don't say anything. Be careful, there are ears on the other side of the wall."
"knew."
Chu Yunyang turned around obediently and went to deal with the apple.
Yes, on the bracelet that Chu Yunyang presented to the emperor -
poisonous.
This is a special product from the northwest, a chronic poison, kindly provided by the villain of this world, Yuwen Shu, the regent of the Great Zhou.
Zhu Qingchen dissolved the poison with water, stuffed his nose with a handkerchief, held the bracelet with bamboo tweezers, and soaked the bracelet in the poison for three days and three nights.
This poison is called tarsal frost. It is extremely toxic and just a little bit of it can drive a cow crazy.
After a long time, the cow gradually becomes thinner and eventually dies.
Because after the cow is killed by the poison, a layer of light green frost will form on its bones, so this poison is called "tarsal frost".
Most doctors in the Central Plains don’t know this, let alone see it.
Although the medicinal properties may be compromised after soaking in water, it is still better to be careful.
In order to trick the emperor, Zhu Qingchen even asked Chu Yunyang to use a beauty trap.
Let Chu Yunyang present the gift in person. As long as the emperor has set his eyes on Chu Yunyang, in order to show his respect for him and to deceive Chu Yunyang, he will definitely wear the bracelet all the time and will not take it off.
Zhu Qingchen breathed a sigh of relief and gave himself a thumbs up in his heart: "I'm such a smart guy, so awesome."!
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