Chapter 108 Ichiro Hachisa, he should have been at the Copyright Bureau editing books...
Before the storm had subsided, another incident suddenly arose.
Xu Cai's house was located in a neighborhood near the palace, but was in the opposite direction from the Jiheng Prefecture.
Jiheng Prefecture is located in Yongshou Lane, an area where powerful and wealthy people from Beiye City gather. Xu Cai, even though he has already been promoted to the rank of a fifth-grade military officer, is still a member of a corrupt family and is still firmly blocked from the outside by the invisible threshold of social status.
The saying "The highest ranks have no poor families, and the lowest ranks have no noble families" is now the most accurate description of this.
The difference in social status is like an insurmountable chasm; even living in the same neighborhood doesn't qualify one for another.
After traveling for less than half an hour, the carriage finally came to a stop in front of the Xu residence.
Upon hearing Xu Cai's words of great importance, Yu Nie's heart tightened instantly, and he rushed over without delay.
Before the car had even come to a complete stop, she hastily and recklessly lifted the curtain and jumped out. Following behind her was Huan Xun, who had come with her because he saw her distress.
When they got off the bus, what came into their view was an ordinary two-courtyard house, with a front hall and a back room, and layers of gray tiles on a gable roof.
After passing the screen wall, a three-bay hall was directly in front of them.
The hall was bright, and surprisingly, the trellis was filled with the flowers and trees that Langxi loved, such as daffodils, magnolias, hibiscus, and wisteria.
Although the courtyard is not large, it is kept very clean and tidy, with a unique elegance.
She had no time to look closely and followed Huan Xun quickly into the hall.
The moment she stepped inside, her breath almost stopped.
Facing the main entrance of the hall is a memorial tablet inscribed with the name "Xu Jingyang".
Langxi sat on the ground, holding a round-mouthed jar in his arms. He looked like a withered tree, his face devoid of any color, as if he had lost his soul, as if he would leave this world at any moment.
Xu Cai, dressed in her official uniform, knelt in front of her, frantically bandaging her still bleeding hand.
The blood stained the ground, a shocking sight.
Before Yu Nie could ask what was going on, she lifted her skirt and rushed to Lang Xi's side, kneeling down.
She grasped her icy hand and called out, "Junior Sister, what happened to your hand? What... what happened to it?"
Langxi seemed not to hear anything, completely unaware, only tears kept rolling down her face, each drop hitting her clothes.
A bundle lay forlornly at her feet.
All of this indicates that she had only recently returned from Xuzhou.
However, judging from the distance, this journey wouldn't be this fast.
It wasn't hard for Yu Nie to guess that Lang Xi must have encountered some unexpected event along the way, which was why he had to turn back halfway.
She looked at Xu Cai, but Xu Cai clearly had no interest in answering her question.
His entire focus was on Langxi, his brows furrowed, his eyes filled with heartache and guilt.
He murmured softly:
"It's all my fault... It's all my fault. If I hadn't tricked you into going to Xuzhou, you wouldn't have missed seeing your brother one last time. I just... I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to accept the fact that your brother is dead and would rush to the government office to demand an explanation, regardless of your own safety. That's why I thought of cremating him, settling everything down, and then slowly telling you all about it."
Even though they saw the memorial tablet as soon as they entered, not to mention Langxi, Yu Nie was extremely shocked when he heard these words.
She wondered if she had misheard. Xu Jingyang... was dead?
How could Xu Jingyang have died?
He should have been compiling history books in the Secretariat...
Upon learning of Xu Jingyang's death, even Huan Xun, who was standing behind them, couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart.
Although Zuo Lang was a minor official, he was not so easily executed without a word.
Moreover, he had never heard of the emperor ordering the killing of anyone from the Secretariat.
Before Huan Xun could send someone to find out what had happened, Xu Cai, under Yu Nie's continued questioning, slowly and sadly spoke:
"Ever since my brother passed the imperial examination and entered the Secretariat, rising from a clerk to a compiler, he has been diligently compiling history. There are nine people in the Secretariat’s Compilation Bureau who are responsible for compiling history. My brother is responsible for verifying historical facts and collecting relevant materials."
"One day, my brother came to me with a worried look on his face and said that a child had given him a letter, saying that it was written by a palace maid who had served the late emperor's favorite concubine."
"The letter said that the reason why the favored concubine, Lady Cheng, committed suicide by jumping into a well was because more than ten years ago, when the emperor was still the crown prince, he took advantage of the late emperor's incognito visit while he was overseeing the country, and he had taken liberties with Lady Cheng, whom he had long secretly admired, and had repeatedly used the lives of palace servants to force Lady Cheng to serve him in bed."
"Although Cheng was unwilling to be humiliated, she had no choice but to repeatedly submit to the Crown Prince. This only stopped when the late Emperor returned. But who knew that less than a month later, when Cheng went out of the palace to visit relatives and pray at the national temple, the Crown Prince took the opportunity to find her again and forced her to have sex with him."
“The Cheng family was not a prominent clan, unlike the four great aristocratic families. She was timid and weak by nature, and the Crown Prince threatened her father, brothers and sisters’ futures, so the Cheng family had no choice but to comply with him with tears in their eyes.”
Xu Cai said, "But who knew that Cheng would become pregnant soon after returning home? She didn't know who the child belonged to, the late emperor or the crown prince? She dared not ask anyone for details. As time went by and the child grew bigger, she felt immense pressure, became depressed, and lived in constant fear."
"So, she committed suicide by jumping into the well because of this?" After hearing the first half of the story, Yu Nie felt as if she had experienced a nightmare herself. She couldn't believe that Zhao Yunfu, the dignified ruler of a country, would do such a heinous and immoral thing.
Xu Cai shook his head and said, "Because the late emperor saw that Madam Cheng was in a bad mood, in order to cheer her up, he summoned the wife of Cheng Zhaosheng, who was then the governor of the Censorate, and who was also Madam Cheng's mother, to the palace to keep her company."
"When Cheng's mother noticed that her daughter had lost a lot of weight, she thought that Cheng's rapid weight loss was due to the symptoms of her first pregnancy. However, Cheng, who could no longer bear the psychological pressure, took the opportunity to tell the story of how the Crown Prince had humiliated her."
"Who knew that the Crown Prince's spy, who had been planted by her side, overheard this. Upon learning of the matter, the Crown Prince was furious. Within days, he approached Lady Cheng, vowing to make her pay for her nonsense. Lady Cheng was terrified and knelt down to beg for mercy, repeatedly agreeing to his previous demands. She was willing to maintain this secret relationship with him, only asking him to spare her family."
"At that time, Lady Cheng was four months pregnant. She became very emotional and started bleeding. Seeing this, the Crown Prince finally agreed."
Yu Nie was stunned for a long time, not knowing where to begin his question.
After a long pause, she said, "Didn't she ever think of exposing Zhao Yunfu's evil deeds to the late emperor?"
"The letter said that she had thought about exposing him, but every time she saw the late emperor's gentle gaze towards her, and Zhao Yunfu said that he had plenty of ways to deal with her, that he was the crown prince and she was just a concubine, no matter how angry the late emperor was, he could not kill him. As long as he lived, he would definitely not let the Cheng family get away with it."
At this point in Xu Cai's speech, Yu Nie couldn't help but lower his eyes.
She wouldn't blame Cheng for being cowardly, and she could understand her concerns. People like Zhao Yunfu, if not killed directly, would cause endless trouble.
"And in the end? The child... survived?"
Xu Cai nodded: "However, not long after the child was born, the entire Cheng family was executed. When Cheng learned of the tragedy, she refused to eat or drink and soon committed suicide. The child was sent to a temple to be raised."
Upon hearing that the entire Cheng family had been murdered, Yu Nie clenched his fists: "Was it the Crown Prince's doing? What crime did the Cheng family commit?"
"The palace maid said that they had no evidence to prove whether the Crown Prince was behind it. The Cheng family was convicted because they were impeached and accused of using witchcraft to curse the late emperor. There was both witness testimony and physical evidence. During that time, the late emperor and Cheng Zhaosheng had political differences, and Cheng Zhaosheng had repeatedly argued aggressively in court, winning the late emperor's favor. However, although the Cheng family had a motive, the palace maid believed that they were framed."
At this point, Xu Cai's eyes reddened:
"After my brother got the letter, he searched everywhere and questioned all the palace servants who were present at the time. In addition, the palace maid had a golden cicada attached to her heart. This golden cicada was given to Cheng by the late emperor and is recorded in the daily records of the harem. After comparing information from various sources, he believed that this royal scandal was true and planned to record it in the history books."
"Regarding the emperor's majesty and virtue, the nine people in the Bureau of History who compiled the history also decided to record it after careful examination. However, their actions attracted impeachment from censors, who reported it to the emperor."
"The emperor took them in for questioning, but these nine men, including my brother, refused to change the truth, even at the cost of their lives. That night, the emperor personally killed four of them."
"The few remaining of them were imprisoned in the Yeting Prison. No matter how much the higher-ups tried to persuade, coerce, or entice them, they still refused to change their duty as historians."
“I had a fellow townsman who worked in the Imperial Palace. He told me about this, and I took advantage of my duty to request an audience with His Majesty to plead for my brother. His Majesty said that as long as I could persuade them not to be so stubborn, he would be lenient.”
Xu Caiyue's face showed increasing pain as she spoke: "I conveyed these words to them, but my brother said that if he were to call black white, he would rather die."
"Therefore, on the afternoon when Axi and the others had just entered the city, the elder brother committed suicide by drinking poison, and all of them lost their lives because of this incident. Their bodies were thrown into a mass grave."
Xu Cai, observing their reactions, continued:
"Several days later, I dared to send someone to secretly collect the body, and then waited a few more days before secretly cremating it."
At this moment, Huan Xun finally understood why he hadn't heard a sound.
How could Zhao Yunfu, someone who values his image in the book, have made such a huge scandal such a fuss?
Instead, based on the timeline, it appears that during that period he was claiming illness and handling official business within the government compound.
No wonder I hadn't heard about this big event.
After hearing this, Yu Nie could not simply sigh.
From her junior brother to Xu Jingyang, a person's life can vanish so easily in this dynasty.
She knew the root of the problem, and she became increasingly convinced that she was right.
After Xu Cai finished speaking, her gaze fell on Lang Xi.
Calling her softly again, "Junior Sister?"
Within just a few days, she lost her junior brother whom she had grown up with, and then her childhood sweetheart.
She didn't know how Langxi could bear all of this.
After Xu Cai finished speaking, he took out a farewell letter written by Xu Jingyang himself in prison from his pocket.
After being numb for so long, Langxi finally reacted.
Her gaze fell on the rough-textured letter.
The words on the waxy yellow envelope looked as if they had been copied, and there were four large characters written on it: "Respectfully written in remembrance."
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