Why does Chapter 358 require paying with one's life?
"The story begins with Ding Shaojie's memorial to the throne, in which he reported that a young woman from outside the capital was traveling to the capital and that the carriage window of her carriage was embroidered with silver bamboo patterns. There was a popular saying that silver bamboo patterns represented His Highness Prince Rui."
Ding Shaojie's actions were clearly intended to sow discord between Your Majesty and Prince Rui. At the time, you dragged Ding Shaojie out of the court and dismissed him from his post.
The emperor was naturally aware of these matters. He nodded after hearing this, and Jiang Yu continued, "His Highness Prince Rui is in charge of firearms research. At this critical moment, someone is attempting to put Prince Rui in danger. I feel that this matter is not simple, so I sent people to investigate Ding Shaojie."
As expected, some things were uncovered. I discovered that Ding Shaojie was having an affair with the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Qiyang, and was caught in bed by the Marquis. The Marquis then used this to force Ding Shaojie to write that memorial. Having reached this point, I dared not continue the investigation without authorization. I reported the matter to His Highness Prince An.”
The emperor nodded again upon hearing this. "Prince An told me that he sent people to monitor the Marquis of Qiyang's residence and discovered that he was colluding with Zhang Fengtian, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. However, when the two met, Zhang Fengtian died. Later, the Marquis of Qiyang confessed that the person behind him was the Prime Minister."
“Yes,” Jiang Yu continued, picking up where the emperor left off. “I was afraid that the Prime Minister would continue to target Prince Rui, so I thought of creating some trouble for him so that he would have no time to pay attention to Prince Rui.”
Just then, I heard that the Prime Minister's eldest grandson, Pei Qitang, had killed a high-ranking official, and I thought of bringing this up to cause trouble for the Prime Minister. However, I did not expect that Lu Peichen would later die.
Jiang Yu recounted the whole story without any concealment. The emperor listened in silence for a while before saying, "Why didn't you submit a memorial impeaching the Prime Minister Changsun for committing murder?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu immediately knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty is afraid that if I impeach you in public, you might find a way to escape punishment."
"You don't believe I will punish him."
Upon hearing the emperor's words, Jiang Yu immediately kowtowed, saying, "Your subject dares not."
"Hmph." The emperor snorted, but said nothing more, instead saying, "You may rise."
"Yes." Jiang Yu stood up and stood there respectfully.
The emperor was satisfied with her attitude and said, "I am not senile yet. In the future, you can just tell me about these kinds of things directly, and there will be no unnecessary trouble."
"Yes," Jiang Yu quickly replied, but in his heart he thought that if he spoke directly to the emperor, there might be even more trouble. After all, the prime minister was a shrewd and calculating man, and a counterattack would be very difficult.
Just like this time, when the emperor wanted to slap him in the face in public, he threatened to resign.
"I know what's going on with the Prime Minister. You should focus your main efforts on the reform of the money shops and the affairs of Lingnan." This is the most important thing at present, and it is also what the Emperor cares about most.
Jiang Yu quickly agreed, saying that once the firearms to be taken to Lingnan were ready, the people heading to Lingnan could set off. The emperor nodded in satisfaction and then sent Jiang Yu back.
After Jiang Yu left the imperial study, Zhao Fuquan returned. Seeing that the emperor was preparing to write an imperial edict, he immediately stepped forward to serve him, reporting, "This servant took Prince Rui to select jade. Prince Rui chose a piece of blood jade and a piece of mutton fat jade."
The emperor didn't seem to care much. He grunted, took the pen Zhao Fuquan handed him, and began writing imperial edicts. He wrote three in a row, then handed them to Zhao Fuquan, saying, "Go to the Prime Minister's residence yourself."
Zhao Fuquan quickly accepted the imperial edicts and left the imperial study. He handed the two edicts to two capable eunuchs, instructing them to go to the residences of the Marquis of Qiyang and the Ding family, respectively. Upon reading the contents of the edicts, the two eunuchs immediately went to proclaim them.
Zhao Fuquan glanced down at the imperial edict in his hand, thinking that the Great Qian Dynasty might soon be in turmoil. He then walked to the palace gate, got into a sedan chair, and headed towards the Prime Minister's residence.
The Prime Minister's residence was very close to the palace; the sedan chair arrived in about a quarter of an hour. The sedan chair stopped, and Zhao Fuquan lifted the curtain to look outside. He saw two gatekeepers standing ramrod straight at the entrance.
Seeing his sedan chair stop, he hurried over and, smiling, invited him into the mansion. Zhao Fuquan had to admit that the rules of the Prime Minister's mansion were truly strict; even with such a major incident, the entire mansion remained orderly, without a trace of panic. It was very much like the Prime Minister's style of doing things.
Upon entering the mansion, the steward of the Prime Minister's residence greeted him, led him into the hall, ordered tea and refreshments to be served, and then trotted off to announce his arrival.
Upon arriving at the door of the Prime Minister's study, the steward listened carefully to the sounds inside, then gritted his teeth and said, "Prime Minister, Eunuch Zhao from the palace has arrived."
There was a moment of silence inside, then the Prime Minister's voice rang out: "Come in."
The steward pushed open the door and saw Pei Qitang and his mother, Liu, kneeling on the ground, both with tears streaming down their faces. He dared not look at them for long, reported that Zhao Fuquan had arrived, and then carefully stood aside.
The Prime Minister sat there silently for a while, his eyelids drooping, then stood up to leave. But he had only taken two steps when the hem of his robe was grabbed. Pei Qitang looked up and cried, "Grandfather, are people from the palace here to execute me? Grandfather, I don't want to die! Please save me, Grandfather! Waaah..."
Pei Qitang had never imagined that he would be executed for killing a commoner. He was the eldest grandson of the Prime Minister; how could killing a commoner warrant such a death sentence?
At this moment, Lady Liu also kowtowed repeatedly, crying and begging the Prime Minister to save her son. The Prime Minister looked down at the two of them with a frown, his face showing great impatience.
Seeing this, Pei Hanming quickly pulled the two apart, saying, "What are you doing? If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?"
Both the Prime Minister and Pei Hanming had long been prepared for Pei Qitang's death, so neither of them felt heartache at this moment; their hearts were filled with more worry about the future.
"Let's go receive the imperial decree together."
The Prime Minister uttered these words and turned to leave. Pei Hanming gestured for the steward to pull Pei Qitang to the front hall, then followed the Prime Minister there.
The steward sighed inwardly and summoned two guards to restrain Pei Qitang as he was led to the front hall. Seeing that her son was truly beyond saving, Liu clutched her chest and collapsed to the ground. The steward quickly had her revived and then carried away in a sedan chair.
Upon arriving at the hall, the Prime Minister Zhao Fuquan rose to greet him and asked, "Prime Minister, has everyone arrived?"
At this moment, Pei Qitang, who was limp and unrecognizable, was carried in. The steward came over to report that Liu had fainted. As for the other illegitimate children in the household, they were not qualified to come and receive the imperial decree.
The Prime Minister gestured for Zhao Fuquan to read the imperial edict aloud, then knelt on the ground, lifting his robe. In truth, he knew what it said without even needing to read it: Pei Qitang was to be executed, and Pei Hanming was to be dismissed from office and never be employed again.
After Zhao Fuquan finished reading the imperial edict, he said to the Prime Minister, "Prime Minister, the Ministry of Justice will be here shortly."
What are these people doing here? Of course, they're here to take Pei Qitang away and execute him in three days.
P.S.: One chapter today, the other one will be added tomorrow.
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