Chapter 65 Persimmons
After finishing his meal, Cen Yan waited outside the palace for a while longer.
One of the Imperial Guards commanders rushed over again, glancing at Cen Yan with suspicion before entering the hall. Cen Yan sighed inwardly, not surprised at all. After greeting him, and with the eunuch's announcement, the commander entered the hall.
A moment later, Eunuch Feng came out and invited him to go inside.
Cen Yan nodded and followed the chief eunuch into the hall.
Upon entering the main hall, as expected, His Majesty instructed the commander to speak.
Commander: "The altar has been surrounded, and several thieves have been captured, but..."
Cen Yan: "Foreigners?"
The commander bowed his head and wiped his sweat with his sleeve: "Your Highness is incredibly insightful."
Cen Yan: "It's not that miraculous. There are many tribes in the fiefdom, and they can learn many languages. Many languages have commonalities. The fact that the royal palace was able to catch the two thieves by chance was just because they spoke different languages, and I just happened to recognize them."
Emperor Shengwu's face was gloomy.
Cen Yan glanced at his expression and knew that this conflict was unlikely to be resolved so easily.
Elderly people have always placed great importance on auspicious omens, especially since Emperor Shengwu's health has not been very good in the past two years, which is one reason.
Secondly, when Emperor Shengwu was young, he unified the country and destroyed many states that frequently harassed the Great Sheng, which brought him decades of peace. In recent years, he has just shown signs of fatigue, and foreign states have dared to be unruly. Isn't this stabbing Emperor Shengwu in the heart and implying that he is getting old and his control over the Great Sheng has declined?
As expected, after hearing this, Emperor Shengwu ordered Cen Yan to lead men to surround the Huitong Hall. All foreign envoys who came to pay homage were not allowed to leave the hall until the matter of the destroyed altar was investigated, and were strictly prohibited from communicating with others.
As for the few thieves who had already been captured, they were handed over to the Ministry of Justice for severe torture.
Cen Yan received the order and left the hall, but said to Hao San, "Pass on my order to transfer a few more squads of personal guards from the camp. The Prince's Mansion and our side will split the troops in half. You make the arrangements. The Prince's Mansion will be under Liu Qi's command in the coming days."
Hao San hesitated, "Isn't that too much?"
Cen Yan simply said, "Go and do it."
Hao San accepted the order.
Once the meeting hall was surrounded, it was customary to question everyone, but Cen Yan made no move.
When Xu Si asked, he only said, "No rush, let's wait for the Ministry of Justice to send the document. Right now, they're all from the Prince's Mansion. If they find out something, it will be hard to explain."
Xu Si didn't understand, and Cen Yan didn't explain further.
The order was given, and the guards of the Prince's Palace waited quietly.
*
Zhuang Dongqing returned to the Prince's Mansion, and as soon as she entered a quiet place, she felt exhausted.
He felt that Cen Yan's words had some deeper meaning, but for the time being, he couldn't grasp the key point.
Zhuang Dongqing was always carefree, and Cen Yan treated him to good food and drink, so he couldn't think of anything and put it aside for the time being.
This fire was so intense that Zhuang Dongqing could see from the courtyard that the sky in the direction of the palace was brighter.
"Is he staying in the palace to assist in the investigation?"
Zhuang Dongqing didn't know much about Cen Yan's work, so he asked Liu Qi.
Liu Qi truthfully replied, "In times of panic like this, His Majesty prefers to use people he's used to. Master is always efficient in his work and is very skilled at questioning and interrogation. So, if there's anything important, or if His Majesty doesn't trust others to do it, he'll basically entrust it to Master."
Oh, Jane is in the Emperor's heart.
That's how powerful ministers are.
Zhuang Dongqing nodded, understanding.
I understand, but I can't put my mind at ease.
Seeing that Zhuang Dongqing looked tired, Liu Fu advised him to wash up, but Zhuang Dongqing shook his head for the first time.
After making arrangements for Consort Tao, and sending word to the Princess's residence, Liu Qi learned of the situation in the East Wing. After thinking for a moment, fearing that Zhuang Dongqing might be overly frightened, he returned to check on him.
Zhuang Dongqing, however, thought differently from him; his reasoning was clear and his thinking was well-defined.
"Wait a little longer."
Liu Qi: "Waiting for what?"
Zhuang Dongqing raised her chin. "I'll sleep after the fire at the altar has completely died down."
Liu Qi glanced around, then called someone over to ask, before telling Zhuang Dongqing, "It's basically extinguished. Young Master can wait if he wants. Right now, the Imperial Observatory and the Imperial Guards are near the altar. The Imperial Observatory is watching people dismantle the altar, while the Imperial Guards are recording the number of casualties and helping relatives identify the bodies."
Thinking of something, Zhuang Dongqing asked, "Were many civilians killed?"
That's not a good answer. Liu Qi lowered his eyes. "We'll only know the details once the Imperial Guards have compiled the statistics."
Zhuang Dongqing nodded.
Once the fire was extinguished, he didn't argue and indeed washed up and settled in. Liu Qi watched him enter the bathroom before she felt relieved. Before leaving, she gave a few more instructions, telling the servants to keep the prepared calming medicine warm, in case Zhuang Dongqing woke up in the middle of the night wanting to drink it.
While away from home, Zhuang Dongqing was filled with worry. As soon as her head hit the pillow, perhaps because her nerves had been on edge for so long during the explosion, she suddenly fell asleep.
I slept without any dreams.
I woke up early the next day and instinctively reached out to touch the person next to me, only to find nothing.
My eyelashes fluttered twice, and my memories slowly returned.
After dozing off for a while, Zhuang Dongqing couldn't fall back asleep, so she got up early, which was unusual for her.
She ate breakfast honestly. Since she was already showing her pregnancy, she felt a bit cumbersome. Following the doctor's advice, Zhuang Dongqing went for a walk in the Wangfu Garden to increase her physical activity.
When Liu Qi arrived after hearing the news, Zhuang Dongqing had already laid out his brush and ink, and was sitting in his study, carefully practicing his calligraphy stroke by stroke.
Liu Qi watched from afar for a while, and seeing that Zhuang Dongqing was in a relatively good condition, he quietly left.
News about the bombing came back in the afternoon.
"They've surrounded the Huitong Hall?" Zhuang Dongqing asked.
"Yes, it is said that this is a rebellion by foreign tribes with rebellious intentions. Today, the Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate have all been mobilized. They sent people to check on the government offices, and they said they are all extremely busy."
Zhuang Dongqing: "Where is the Prince?"
"They're busy both inside and outside the palace."
Zhuang Dongqing nodded.
Liu Qi left and dozed off on the recliner for a while, when Zhuang Dongqing suddenly woke up.
He seemed to realize something was wrong.
speech.
In the chaos at the altar, he seemed to hear several words of a foreign language, but it was already chaotic at the time, with all sorts of noises, and he subconsciously ignored what he couldn't understand. Now, thinking back... were the two thieves captured by the Prince's Mansion the Hao San that Cen Yan suddenly called after hearing the strange words?
Considering Cen Yan's background, Zhuang Dongqing couldn't sit still any longer.
They called Liu Fu over, but Liu Fu thought he had misheard: "Where are we going?"
Zhuang Dongqing said firmly, "Go to Consort Tao's place."
"Wait, let someone report first and see if she's willing to see me."
Zhuang Dongqing wanted to see Consort Tao, so he sent a message, and Consort Tao agreed to see him.
Zhuang Dongqing put on a cloak and went over.
When she heard Zhuang Dongqing say that he wanted to hear a few words in the Jurchen language, Consort Tao looked at him intently for a moment and then dismissed her attendants.
Zhuang Dongqing couldn't understand it.
It felt similar, but extremely vague. Ultimately, he had only heard it briefly last night, and he didn't have Cen Yan's amazing memory. It would be strange if he could make an accurate comparison.
Consort Tao remained calm and even offered Zhuang Dongqing a few words of advice: "I witnessed the entire royal family die in the palace back then. Moreover, there are many tribes in Yunnan with different languages, some of which are similar to the language of the Jin people. This doesn't prove anything."
Zhuang Dongqing nodded without saying anything more.
Concern leads to confusion.
Empress Dowager Tao clearly couldn't understand his feelings.
Of course, he didn't expect the other person to empathize; it was already very kind of him to talk to him so much.
After leaving Consort Tao's courtyard, Zhuang Dongqing stared blankly at the sky for a while.
While they were talking to Consort Tao, Liu Fu, who hadn't gone in, became uneasy. "Young Master, what's wrong? What did Consort Tao say to you?"
Zhuang Dongqing simply shook his head. "Let's go back to the east wing."
Before dinner, the second wave of news came back.
It was said that some officials in the court colluded with foreign powers to deliberately sabotage the prayer and sacrifice ceremony. After a night of interrogation, the captured thieves had confessed to a series of ministers' names. The lower-ranking officials were imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, while the higher-ranking officials were summoned to the palace for personal interrogation by His Majesty.
Among those detained in the palace was Cen Yan.
Zhuang Dongqing's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she heard this, but when she spoke, her voice was calm: "Is there definite news?"
Liu Qi: "Not really. The master also needs to go in and out of the palace when he is on official business. He may just be on official business in the palace and be questioned by some nobles, which is why he is nowhere to be seen."
That makes sense.
Zhuang Dongqing lowered her eyes and said, "I understand."
He paused, then, for the first time, commanded, "Since there's no definite news yet, the manor shouldn't let people spread rumors, lest it unsettle everyone."
Liu Qi was surprised for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "That's how it should be."
Fearing that Zhuang Dongqing wouldn't be able to accept it, Liu Qi kept secretly observing him, but saw that Zhuang Dongqing was still quite calm and asked Liu Fu to serve the dishes and start the meal.
As long as he could eat, everything was fine. Liu Qi stayed a little longer under some pretext, and only left after seeing that Zhuang Dongqing was indeed eating as usual.
After Liu Qi left, Zhuang Dongqing ate a little slower, but she still kept eating.
Well, don't waste it.
Actually, he didn't have much management experience. The sentence he said to Liu Qi was something he learned on the spot from Bi Shuyu. When Master Zhuang and the eldest young master had their accident, Bi Shuyu first stopped the servants from talking about it. After observing, Liu Fu said that the effect was quite good. The Prince's Mansion... should be the same, right?
"Eat well and drink well, and don't panic no matter what you hear. Trust me, can you do it?"
Cen Yan's words of advice when they parted echoed in my ears once more.
Zhuang Dongqing took a deep breath and exhaled, then buried her head and focused on eating.
After mentally preparing herself in the afternoon, Zhuang Dongqing was no longer panicked when news came back in the evening that Cen Yan had been detained in the palace. Instead, she chatted with Liu Qi about the recent arrangements at the Prince's residence. Even though she didn't quite understand what Liu Qi was saying, she was sure everything was in order before letting Liu Qi leave.
"I didn't expect the young master to be so calm," Xu Si said as he returned to report the news.
Liu Qi: "I didn't expect that either."
He thought he would have to focus on comforting Zhuang Dongqing these past two days, but Zhuang Dongqing turned out to be quite nice, which put him at ease and gave him more time to arrange other matters.
Liu Qi: "Did Master say something?"
Xu Si: "They summoned me to the palace first, and then they said they were going to detain me. I didn't see them at all, but Hao San was with me."
Hao San may not be very bright, but he's the best fighter among them. In this situation, having him by Cen Yan's side is actually the best arrangement.
Liu Qi nodded and simply said, "Let's do our part."
Xu Si: "I understand."
Now I understand why Cen Yan didn't interrogate the guests immediately after surrounding the Huitong Hall. Indeed, if the Prince's Mansion were also implicated, they would be suspects. Without privately contacting the foreign envoys at the Huitong Hall and obtaining information favorable to the Prince's Mansion, they wouldn't be suspected of colluding beforehand.
*
That night.
Cen Yan received the summons.
The palace was busy at the moment. After he was informed, the eunuch had to rush to another place, so Cen Yan took Hao San to the Imperial Study on his own.
They encountered the Third Prince, Li Zhuo, on the way.
Cen Yan chuckled at the conversation: "I've always been curious, with your excellent information network, how come you're now restricted from leaving the area? Do you think I'd believe that?"
"Besides, you really dared to sneak out and intercept me. If I call people now, what do you think His Majesty will think when he hears about this?"
Unable to win him over, Li Zhuo stormed off again in anger.
Cen Yan stood there for a while, and when he could no longer hear Li Zhuo's footsteps, he called out, "Come out, don't make me invite you."
A moment later, Li Yang's face appeared at the corner of the palace wall.
It was somewhat unexpected, but not very surprising.
Such was the living environment in the palace, so it's quite normal that Li Yang eventually chose this path.
However, before Li Yang could speak, Cen Yan said, "Perfect timing, help me with something first."
"If you don't agree, there's no need to say anything more."
Li Yang: "..."
Li Yang: "You go first."
...
Fifteen minutes later, Cen Yan arrived at the Imperial Study.
Apart from Eunuch Feng, all other irrelevant people had been cleared out of the study.
Cen Yan left Hao San outside the hall to guard the gate and went straight inside.
Upon entering the study, one sees a foreigner bound hand and foot in the hall, paying his respects to Emperor Shengwu. Cen Yan grabs the man's hair, revealing his face, and indeed, a pair of golden eyes are visible.
Cen Yan smiled: "The person behind this plan is very dedicated."
“It was him, he ordered me to do it,” the foreigner babbled.
Fearing that Emperor Shengwu couldn't see clearly, Cen Yan grabbed the man's hair and pulled him closer. Once he was sure Emperor Shengwu could see the man's expression, Cen Yan replied with the same words, word by word: "The Jurchen royal family has been wiped out. From which corner were you dug out?"
"You can't even speak properly, yet you dare to make false accusations?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the other party stared at Cen Yan as if he had seen a ghost, and then howled out a series of words in a foreign language.
There's no need to listen to what he has to say, because it's no longer necessary.
Cen Yan released the person and looked at Emperor Shengwu, who remained extremely quiet.
But Cen Yan knew that this was a sign of extreme anger.
As expected, Emperor Shengwu said, "Bring me my sword."
Cen Yan slowly lowered his eyes.
Cen Yan remained calm the moment the blood splattered on his face.
Having personally killed the traitor who had deceived the emperor, Emperor Shengwu was so angry that he couldn't stop coughing. Eunuch Feng quickly patted his back, while Cen Yan, though looking worried, joined in the persuasion, though his true feelings were the opposite of the emperor's.
finally……
Unexpectedly, this is the opportunity to leave Beijing.
On the surface, he was filled with resentment, but in his heart, Cen Yan didn't know whether he should thank the idiot behind him.
He probably didn't expect that his random guessing would lead him to the correct answer.
Cen Yan stayed for quite a while, and there were all sorts of noises in the hall. Hao San waited anxiously, and after an unknown amount of time, Cen Yan finally came out.
Once they were far from the Imperial Study, Cen Yan said, "It will take at least three to five days, and possibly seven or eight days, before we can return to the Prince's Mansion."
Hearing this, Hao San felt relieved, knowing that everything was alright.
*
What happens inside the palace is unknown to those outside.
Zhuang Dongqing waited for two more days, and although he appeared calm, he was already very uneasy.
On one hand, I felt that I was too stupid to be of any use, but on the other hand, I dared not do anything reckless, for fear of making things worse.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, the gatekeeper suddenly brought in some snacks, saying they were from a shop that Liu Fu often bought from, and were being delivered as instructed.
Zhuang Dongqing was puzzled. When he opened the paper package, he saw a bag of familiar candied melon seeds.
After smelling it, I knew in my heart that it was roasted nuts from Li Yang's shop.
There were only two bags in total. Zhuang Dongqing opened the other bag, which contained a package of dried persimmons.
Zhuang Dongqing asked Liu Qi after Liu Fu summoned him, "How is the Sixth Prince doing lately? Is he in the palace?"
Liu Qi was puzzled, but still replied, "Yes. The Sixth Prince didn't see many people recently, but he's been getting along well with His Majesty lately. Plus, with what happened with Consort Shu, His Majesty probably feels a bit guilty and is being very lenient with the Sixth Prince."
Zhuang Dongqing let out a soft breath and nodded.
He realized something, but wasn't quite sure, and didn't tell Liu Qi.
But he himself calmed down considerably.
Persimmons symbolize peace and good fortune, and are considered auspicious.
Li Yang wouldn't give him something for no reason.
If it were to be sent, it would probably have been sent by someone else in the palace through Li Yang.
Regardless, that's all he could understand, so he just went along with that idea.
There's nothing else to it, I'm just under a lot of pressure and need to relax.
After eating the candied melon seeds, Zhuang Dongqing placed the bag of persimmons in the inner room, keeping an eye on it both when she went to sleep and when she woke up, which made her feel more at ease.
Three to five days passed in this way, and every day there was a different story in the capital. During this time, rumors also circulated that His Majesty was at odds with the Prince of Dingxi and that the Prince of Dingxi had lost the Emperor's favor. After hearing these rumors, Zhuang Dongqing touched his persimmons and continued to eat and drink as usual.
On the seventh day, in the afternoon, after getting up from her lunch break, Zhuang Dongqing heard some noise from the outside room.
Having a premonition, he urged Liufu to hurry up and dress him.
When Zhuang Dongqing finished getting ready, before she even had time to tie her hair up, she went outside and saw the figure at the entrance of the east wing, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.
For a moment, Zhuang Dongqing feared that she was still dreaming after her afternoon nap.
It wasn't until Cen Yan walked up to him, took his hand, and he felt the warmth of a human that Zhuang Dongqing felt something real.
"Why are you acting silly? Are you unhappy to see me?"
Cen Yan asked with a smile.
Zhuang Dongqing quickly shook her head. As soon as she moved, she felt something slide down her cheek, which startled Cen Yan as well.
"Why are you crying all of a sudden?"
Zhuang Dongqing: "No, no."
When he opened his mouth, his voice was hoarse.
Zhuang Dongqing: "I, I..." The more she spoke, the more her vision blurred. Zhuang Dongqing stamped her foot and said angrily, "I can't control it."
Looking at his expression, Cen Yan understood.
He took the handkerchief from Liu Fu and wiped Zhuang Dongqing's face, speaking gently as he did so.
"I know, I know everything."
I'm not good.
"It has caused our young master to live in fear."
"It's alright, you're back safe and sound, everything's fine now."
Zhuang Dongqing: "I..."
As soon as she opened her mouth, tears started streaming down her face again. Zhuang Dongqing was both angry and annoyed, feeling extremely ashamed.
Cen Yan put his arm around him, and he buried his face in the other's shoulder.
I'm too ashamed to face anyone.
Cen Yan knew Zhuang Dongqing well; it wasn't convenient to talk outside, so he pulled her into the inner room to talk, which also kept the servants away, so that Zhuang Dongqing, who was too shy, wouldn't be able to stop herself.
After she calmed down, Zhuang Dongqing said, "I didn't mean to cry."
"Yes, I can't control it."
Zhuang Dongqing: "..."
Zhuang Dongqing: "Are you alright?"
Cen Yan: "It's nothing, it's been fine for a long time, but I can't get out. I'm in the palace cooperating with His Majesty in setting up a scheme."
"……oh."
No wonder there have been so many rumors lately.
Zhuang Dongqing: "I received the persimmons."
Cen Yan smiled and said, "I saw it."
It's right next to them.
Zhuang Dongqing wiped her face carefully before trying to make amends, saying, "I was just a little worried about you."
Cen Yan: "Mm."
Zhuang Dongqing felt a little awkward meeting his smiling gaze, and reached out her hand, saying, "Give me a hug."
Cen Yan responded, hugged Zhuang Dongqing, kissed his forehead, and said with amusement, "Liu Qi and Xu Si said you've been quite calm lately, so why are you like this in front of me? Are you just being coquettish on purpose?"
"...That's different."
"How are they different?"
Zhuang Dongqing said righteously, "I can't help. After thinking about it, I can only try not to be a hindrance. If I worry, Liu Qi's focus will definitely be on me, which will delay their business too much."
Unlike himself, who was just a freeloader, Liu Qi and Xu Si were still able to do a lot.
Cen Yan was stunned, not expecting to receive this answer.
Her heart softened. "Our Qingqing is so sensible."
He held Zhuang Dongqing's face in his hands and looked at it again and again. She had just cried, and her face was flushed all over, making her look particularly healthy.
Cen Yan was overjoyed and kissed Zhuang Dongqing's cheek, unable to resist asking, "You've been so good, what should I reward you with?"
Zhuang Dongqing: "?"
Cen Yan smiled and said, "Let's go to Jiangnan and stay for a while."
"Didn't you want to go before?"
"It's just right, the climate there is warm, so it won't be too cold when I give birth."
"That way, when my belly gets bigger, I won't have to stay cooped up in the mansion all day. I can go out more often, whether I take Mu Li with me or not. Anyway, I won't know anyone, so I won't have to be afraid of being recognized."
"how?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
