Chapter 6 The Blame
The Imperial Guards patrolling Kyoto would handle every corpse. Generally, they would deal with those who died of old age, starvation, disease, accident, or were not yet dead but were about to die, in order to prevent the spread of disease.
When someone dies unjustly, they should be investigated, but to save trouble, people often turn a blind eye.
As for the naked male corpse, simply transporting and incinerating it would be sufficient.
So the body fell into the incineration area without any hindrance. Just a second before the fire was lit, an officer from the Imperial Guard recognized the blood-stained face.
"This is... His Highness Prince Ding'an!!!"
The message, along with the corpse, sped toward the Grand Tutor's mansion, the urgent wind carrying the faint cry of cranes.
There really are cranes.
Grand Tutor Yuwen Huai of the Great Zhou Dynasty loved cranes and jokingly said that he had plum blossoms as his wife and cranes as his children. People all praised him for his integrity.
But at this moment, he was hunched over, his hair was gray, and his eyes were drooping. He looked old and frail, not at all like the powerful Grand Tutor who once held sway over the court.
He gave a wry smile: "Everyone says I'm old, but they will miss my old age."
The word "remember" is generally used to refer to things from a long time ago. If you remember someone, it often implies that that person has been dead for a long time. This makes the phrase unlucky.
"Sir, the Prince of Ding'an left our residence when the incident occurred. We cannot shirk this responsibility. There are already rumors circulating that after you eliminated the Prince of Ding'an, His Majesty will be next, because you intend to support the Prince of Shangyang to ascend the throne."
The student, Wang Yong, was anxious and had no time to listen to his self-pity. He quickly analyzed the tense situation, becoming increasingly alarmed and sweating profusely as beads of sweat rolled down his temples. He forced himself to speak, saying, "Although the Prince of Shangyang is your grandson, he is far away in his fiefdom and has not yet entered the capital. This is nonsense. You should go to the palace and explain the situation to Empress Dowager Wei. Do not let her believe the suspicions of petty people. There is still room for this matter to be resolved."
Yuwen Huai leaned on his cane, his expression indifferent, with a touch of otherworldly grace: "Let's just leave it to the fate of the Great Zhou Dynasty."
Wang Yong was momentarily filled with anxiety, realizing that the Mandate of Heaven for the Great Zhou Dynasty was truly not promising. However, seeing the Grand Tutor's calm demeanor, he felt there was still hope.
People can change their ways at any given moment.
When Yuwen Huai arrived before Empress Dowager Wei, he was no longer calm. He spoke passionately about his contributions to the country, and when he got emotional, he coughed several times.
Empress Dowager Wei slapped the white jade table in front of her, "Then tell me, why did Prince Ding'an die!"
Yuwen Huai remained silent.
He was accused of causing the death of Prince Ding'an.
However, at the beginning, he originally wanted to prolong the life of this dynasty.
He said heavily, “His Majesty ascended the throne as a child and is now twenty years old, but he is physically weak, has no children, and has no brothers. Only his cousin, Prince Ding’an, remains in the capital, which has become the key to continuing the bloodline. However, Prince Ding’an refuses to marry and have children, and always suspects that I want to depose His Majesty and install a young son so that I can control him. The bloodline of the country needs someone to carry on, so I had no choice but to resort to a desperate measure and poison him. Who knew that he would flee all the way and by the time I found out, he was already dead.”
Empress Dowager Wei leaned forward, her expression serious but slightly tense, eager to press for an answer: "Then do you have such intentions?"
Yuwen Huai chuckled: "Has the Empress Dowager forgotten? It was I who personally placed His Majesty on that throne."
Empress Dowager Wei remained silent, but her expression was hesitant.
The Duke of Zhou feared rumors, and Wang Mang was humble before his usurpation.
If outsiders have such suspicions, how much more so must the person involved?
His Majesty has long suffered under Yuwen Huai's control, and is constantly restrained by him. The thought of his beloved cousin is like a knife to his heart, and he is determined to make Yuwen Huai pay the price.
The civil and military officials of the court submitted memorials impeaching the traitor, and the public was indignant. They wanted to kill the traitor and his cronies as well, and to wipe them out. Everything went so smoothly.
On the guillotine.
The old and frail Yuwen Huai ultimately did not live to see the end of his life.
He looked up at the azure sky as he lay prone on the execution platform.
"Your Majesty was young and frail when you ascended the throne. After the late emperor passed away, the imperial relatives mentioned the succession of the throne from brother to brother. It was I who advocated that Your Majesty ascend the throne."
If he wanted the Prince of Shangyang to ascend the throne, he would have had the opportunity long ago.
This is so obvious, yet nobody pays attention.
Just like they didn't bother to investigate, Ding'an Prince was killed by someone who slit his throat. It couldn't have been the old and frail Grand Tutor Yuwen.
In the sprawling slums, they couldn't even remember where they had found this distinguished body, because there were bodies everywhere.
But these are not the main reasons. The real reason is that they did not want to find a lowly commoner girl, but only a noble murderer.
"He died because of you," the system mentally concluded.
Guan Zhiwei walked through the bustling crowd, carrying a hundred pounds of firewood on her shoulders. She looked like a turtle carrying a heavy shell, which amazed everyone who saw her.
A round trip out of town costs two copper coins.
To cut down trees in the mountains, you need to pay two more copper coins.
But this is still more cost-effective than buying firewood, as it only requires her to put in some labor.
She's struggling to make a living, while the idiot is talking nonsense.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes: "What does this have to do with me? I'm the one taking the blame. He was dying for his imperial power, but it's all my fault."
You killed the Prince of Ding'an, and he's the one taking the blame.
Guan Zhiwei was too lazy to argue with the system; she was an idiot who had spent her entire life being filtered.
She said in a rather shameless way, "The imperial power for which he risked his life would betray him, so why can't I make him take the blame? He hasn't done that much for me yet."
The system fell silent.
Because of this argument, Guan Zhiwei, unusually, looked through the crowd at the old man on the guillotine in the center of the market.
Just then, Yuwen Huai also looked over.
Their gazes seemed to collide in mid-air.
It was a calm, scrutinizing, and unwavering gaze; she seemed detached and out of place.
For no apparent reason, a thought flashed through Yuwen Huai's mind: this must be the one who is wreaking havoc on the world.
He didn't have time to think, because the head flew high into the air, and blood splattered everywhere.
The powerful Grand Tutor Yuwen collapsed suddenly, and the onlookers swarmed forward, dipping steamed buns in the hot blood to take home and cure their illnesses. Some even tried to seize Yuwen Huai's body and flesh for medicine.
"I have blood-stained buns here, 10 coins each."
"I'll buy it! I'll buy it!"
They started hawking their wares in the street, scrambling to grab the hot, blood-soaked buns.
"Absurd! Absurd!"
"How could a man who dedicated his life to the country and its people end up like this!"
"A virtuous man should be entrusted with important responsibilities, and the emperor should lend him his high reputation. The vast sea is calm on one side, and the Yangtze River is clear for ten thousand miles."
Yuwen Huai was the head of the civil officials, and scholars throughout the land regarded him as their teacher.
In the end, some fearless students stood up for him.
They stood in the streets to plead for Yuwen Huai, filled with righteous indignation. They hated the court for executing a loyal minister, and they also hated the ignorance of the people, wondering who had protected them.
They were furious. Guan Zhiwei walked past them, calculating how many days the firewood would last.
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