Chapter 123: Die When You Must Die
Chapter 123
"Where is Lin Ran?"
The Empress Dowager had been keeping people informed of the whereabouts of the Jinwu Guards since they left the palace. She felt that, given her son's fondness for Lü Desheng, Lü Desheng must be included in the list of people to be buried with him! She had been waiting for that moment to come.
But when she heard the Jinwu Guards knocking on the door of Duke Cheng'en's Mansion, she suspected she had misheard, "Where did you say Lin Ran is?"
The young eunuch who replied tremblingly said, "Because of the Empress Dowager, Commander Lin Ranlin of the Imperial Guards has brought the Imperial Guards to the residence of Duke Cheng'en."
The Empress Dowager felt dizzy. What was the Emperor planning? Who was he going to sentence to death?
"Prepare the imperial palace for me immediately! Quick!"
Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager's carriage arrived at the Yugan Palace in a hurry, and was about to go to Emperor Kangcheng's bedroom when it was stopped by Wei Zili.
The Queen Mother scolded, "How dare you! Get out of my way!"
Wei Zili remained unmoved and did not move aside, "Empress Dowager, the Emperor said he will not see anyone."
When he said this, all the Jinwu Guards guarding the Yugan Palace looked towards the Queen Mother with sharp eyes.
The Empress Dowager probably realized something, and she shouted inside, "My son, you can't do this, he is your uncle!"
Emperor Kang Cheng, who had just vomited blood, sneered. His mother knew a lot. She didn't know the list of burial companions at all, but as soon as the Jinwu Guards went to Duke Cheng'en's Mansion, she guessed that something was going to happen to her brother.
He also received the news that Lin Ran had just sent back. At that time, he had just come out of the Xie family. According to their speed, they should have just arrived at the Cheng'en Mansion now, right?
Cheng'en Palace
After hearing the emperor's decree granting him the privilege of being buried with his nephew, the emperor's uncle Peng Yong hugged the pillar and burst into tears, refusing to die bravely.
Lin Ran looked at the time and decided to give his advice one last time. If he didn't listen, he would have his men take action. "My Lord, please choose one and then go on your way. Don't force us to take action. Leave some dignity for yourself."
The uncle hugged the pillar and cried bitterly, "Sister, please save me, please let my nephew let me go, I don't want to die yet!"
Sheng Huaixing shook his head. If he had known this would happen, why would he have done it in the first place? The sentence in the imperial edict, "I will be very happy if you can find an immortal to refine the elixir for me," revealed the key to his misfortune.
"Go!" Lin Ran ordered. Ever since they entered Duke Cheng'en's mansion, Peng Yong had already sent word to the palace. If the emperor wanted to release them, someone would have intervened long ago after such a delay. Since no one had come, the implication was clear.
So, the emperor's uncle was strangled to death by the Jinwu Guards.
"Let's go to the next one!"
The Jinwu Guards went to three houses in just one hour. The officials and their families in Chang'an City were suddenly silent. When they learned that the emperor had taken away even the king's uncle before his death, they had lost their temper and prayed silently in their hearts that the Jinwu Guards would not go to their houses tonight!
You know, the ministers were originally discussing intensively which prince to support as the crown prince.
You have to know that when the emperor dies, they will be buried with him. They will definitely not secretly hope for the emperor's death, but will deeply hope that he will live a hundred years, no, live for ten thousand years.
The Zhao family watched the movements of the Praefectus Urbi with trepidation, fearing that they would come towards them.
Yan Mansion
"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims: Censor Yan Hua is a man of integrity and resolute conduct. He has taken it upon himself to impeach and supervise officials, and has spoken frankly without fear of the powerful. I am greatly pleased with him, and I grant him the privilege of being buried with me! This is my decree!"
Yan Hua listened numbly. Even if the emperor's decree praised him like a flower, it could not change the fact that he was going to be taken away. He was going to be buried with the emperor!
"Why?"
Seeing him like this, Sheng Huaixing kindly explained, "Master Yan, the emperor is about to pass away, and he cannot do without an imperial censor."
"Then he can ask Lu Desheng to go down and accompany him!" Yan Hua shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Master Yan, be careful with your words! Now that things have come to this, please consider your descendants and family. We are not the only ones visiting the Yan Mansion tonight." In order to make him die quickly, Sheng Huaixing had to say one more thing, "Master Yan, please go in. We have important matters to attend to and cannot waste any more time."
When the Yan family heard his words, they inexplicably felt less sad. What happened? Yes, their Yan family was not the most unlucky. The Xue family, the Xie family, and even the Cheng En family had all submitted obediently. How could their Yan family still resist?
Coming out of Yan's house, Lin Ran looked at him.
"Commander, why are you looking at me like that?"
"You didn't say anything when you were at Xie's house."
Sheng Huaixing chuckled and replied, "The Xie family is very understanding and righteous, so I don't need to say more. I just said that so as not to delay work."
Then, they left with nearly ten more families.
Sheng Huaixing finally understood that the person who wrote the edict was a true hero. For those ministers who were to be buried with the emperor, the edict listed their crimes if they were guilty and then sentenced them to death. For those who were innocent, the edict praised them in various ways, saying that they were so useful that the emperor wanted to take them away and continue to use them in the underworld, and then sentenced them to death.
After a night of official duties, he was already traumatized by the Emperor's praise. He probably had the same thought when the other ministers heard the decree: "Your Majesty, please stop praising me! Can we not have these compliments? I just want to avoid death."
The emperor even ordered the death of a favorite minister, whose status was second only to Lu Desheng.
The reason the emperor gave for the death penalty was that he wanted someone close to him.
This was a bolt from the blue for the favored minister. He exclaimed, "We are all favored ministers, Your Majesty, why do you treat us differently?"
The commander told him that the emperor actually hated him for not keeping his mouth shut and secretly revealing what was going on around him.
As they completed each one, they checked a box on the list and moved on to the next one.
That night in Chang'an City, they killed people in droves.
Later, someone counted the ministers who were executed and buried with the emperor that night, and found that it was very difficult for the ministers of their dynasty. It was very difficult to be a minister of Emperor Kang Cheng. If you were too bad, you would be taken away. If you were too good, you would also be taken away.
In the Yugan Palace, Emperor Kangcheng stayed awake all night, counting the ministers he had dealt with: Minister of the Central Secretariat Xue Huaimin, Minister of Personnel Xie Mingtang and others, his uncle Peng Yong, Censor Yan Hua, Prince Taifu Chen Bingguang, and his favorite minister Liu Shujie...
There is only one left.
He had done everything he was supposed to do, and if there was anything he had missed, it would be left for his descendants to solve, he thought with a sigh.
This time, he treated everyone equally, taking away one or two individuals from each family he deemed threatening. He simply wanted to eliminate some individuals, especially those from the larger families, not to force them into rebellion and cause dynastic unrest. He believed his approach was justified, as he believed the lack of wealth was not the problem.
It was just as Emperor Kangcheng had expected. Those officials and their families who were visited by the Jinwu Guards that night went out to inquire and found that Emperor Kangcheng's attack this time was quite widespread. Then they suddenly became less sad. What happened?
You had your hand cut off? I had my leg cut off.
Your head is taken off. My stomach is gone.
Everyone suffered losses? That's fine, we're all still alive, and we'll recover slowly.
Only Xie Zhan, after listening to his confidant's reply, guessed the emperor's intention. The ministers buried with him also knew the truth, thinking that the imperial edict's praise was genuine, and that the real crime should not be announced!
He couldn't help but sigh that the emperor had a great balance.
Lu Songli also lamented Emperor Kang Cheng's imperial mentality and felt that he must be awarded the "Master of Balancing" Lifetime Achievement Award to do him justice.
Inside the Yugan Palace, Emperor Kangcheng put down the list in his hand and slowly extended his hand to Wei Zili who was standing beside him, "Give it to me."
"Your Majesty, do you really want it?" Wei Zili's eyes were already filled with tears.
"Um."
Emperor Kang Cheng looked at the nine pills in his hand, swallowed them all, then lay back on the dragon bed and closed his eyes.
A quarter of an hour later, when the rays of the early winter sun pierced through the clouds, the Dragon Funeral Bell rang out throughout Chang'an City: Dang-dang-dang...
In Chang'an City, almost everyone had gone through a thrilling night. At this moment, everyone heard the bell ringing and felt it was a coincidence.
Lu Songli also heard the nine tones of the funeral dragon bell. She stood up and looked towards the direction of the imperial palace. "You live when you should live, and die when you should die. Song Zhi, you truly deserve to be an emperor."
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