Liang Hanyu and Liang Lang noticed that gaze slowly lifted...
Sun Zheng was completely absorbed in getting through the gates of Prince Jing's mansion, oblivious to the growing number of onlookers pointing and whispering at him.
Minister Cao, still wearing the official robes he wore when he entered the palace that morning, stood in the crowd looking at Sun Zheng. With tears in his eyes, he said bitterly, "The Hanman students, powerless and without influence, have studied diligently for ten years for the imperial examinations, with their entire families scrimping and saving to help them succeed. Yet these so-called powerful and noble families want to climb the ladder of success through cheating."
"I will always remember the wise advice of the founding emperor of my Great Xia Dynasty, yet I have been threatened by a despicable person who used my beloved grandson as leverage..."
"How fair this world is!"
Minister Cao spoke passionately, fueled by anger, and the crowd in front of Prince Jing's mansion grew larger and larger as a result.
Sun Zheng's face turned ashen as he leaned against the vermilion gate of the Prince Jing's mansion and slowly slid down.
Zhou Quan, the Vice Minister of Revenue, had his carriage parked in a small alley. Watching the growing crowd, a servant asked, "Master, this old Minister only entered the palace today. He's a veteran of two reigns; the Emperor will surely give him an explanation. This commotion in front of Prince Jing's residence—does it mean he doesn't trust the Emperor? Will the Emperor not punish him?"
Zhou Quan sat leisurely in the carriage, picked up his hot tea and took a sip, feeling completely refreshed.
Seeing that his master remained silent, gazing at the sky, the servant whispered, "This year, the dead are coming one after another."
Zhou Quan suddenly smiled: "How many of the wronged souls from back then?"
"This Minister Cao is someone who personally witnessed Emperor Taizu ascend the throne. For that reason alone, he must live well."
In the autumn of the thirteenth year of the Kang Le reign, it became common knowledge that the heir apparent of Prince Jing intended to bribe court officials to help his concubine's son cheat in the imperial examinations. Thus, the scandal of cheating in the spring imperial examinations came to light.
Inside the Liang residence.
Liang Shuwen opened the ancestral hall, holding a long whip, and for the first time used family discipline on his eldest son, on whom he had placed high hopes.
The case of cheating in the imperial examinations was crucial to the entire situation. Prince Jing's heir, Jiang Zhao, followed Prince Jing and entered the palace in a sorry state, much like Marquis Wuding, Li Yuanda, had done on the day he carried thorns to apologize.
Sun Zheng and Liang Xu were both thrown into the Dali Temple that night to await their fate.
Inside the Imperial Library, Liang Shuwen's face was streaked with tears, completely devoid of the natural majesty he exuded when he wore the official robes of the chief minister of the country.
"Your Majesty, my loyalty to you is as clear as day!"
“That Prince Jing’s son must be taking advantage of being the late emperor’s nephew to set his sights on my Liang family. My rebellious son is really helpless.”
Emperor Kangxi reviewed the memorials with an expressionless face, as if the cheating case had not occurred within the royal family, nor had it ever happened.
He said calmly, "Did your eldest son tell you this?"
Liang Shuwen hurriedly shook his head: "Your Majesty, when I learned of this matter, I immediately opened the ancestral hall and used family law, but my eldest son seemed to have something he couldn't say, and he didn't say a word to me."
"It's alright, he'll always speak up at the Dali Temple."
Emperor Kang Le continued, “Minister Liang, you know your son’s character well. I have seen your unwavering loyalty to me all these years, but at this critical juncture, I cannot even suppress this matter to save face for your Liang family. I don’t know who leaked this information, causing my royal family to be caught up in this controversy.”
"Besides, whether it was your eldest son who was coerced by Jiang Zhao, or whether Jiang Zhao promised him a great reward, do you really think I'm foolish?"
"Minister Liang, Minister Cao is also an important minister of our dynasty. How can I give him justice?"
Emperor Kangxi's relentless questioning had Liang Shuwen sweating profusely. Ever since the case of the Duke of Dingguo, he had increasingly wanted to live a peaceful life and stay out of the limelight, but his troublesome eldest son was becoming more and more ambitious, just like he had been in his youth.
However, he had absolutely no idea that his eldest son was plotting this with the Prince of Jing's heir. Otherwise, he would have done everything in his power to extricate the Liang family from this mess and restore them to peace.
But could the emperor believe that?
Liang Shuwen's eyelids twitched again for no apparent reason, and he was reminded of the painting of the Four Swordsmen painted by the old Duke of Dingguo.
Someone from the Qin family has come to claim his life! It seems he'll have to invite a high-ranking monk to perform a ritual.
Thinking of this, Liang Shuwen racked his brains again and said, "Your Majesty, that Prince Jing's heir must have caught my wife... my wife's business dealings, so he could use them to blackmail my rebellious son. Back then, the late Emperor... I... today, my rebellious son was in the ancestral hall, and my wife only revealed this in her panic. I have no face to report this to Your Majesty. I am guilty!"
"Liang Qing, say that again?" Emperor Kang Le roared, his dragon eyes suddenly fixed on him.
However, Liang Shuwen vaguely sensed that the sage on the throne was no longer as furious as he had been just now.
He initially thought there was still room for maneuver in this matter. Moreover, before entering the palace, he had asked his son, who always disguised himself when he entered the Minister's residence. He initially thought there was still room for maneuver in this matter. If the Prince Jing's son insisted that he had done this, the old Minister's words alone could not stir up any trouble, and the matter would naturally be resolved happily.
But that old scoundrel Jiang Zhao immediately confessed to the matter after it happened, and even implicated his unfilial son.
No, someone must have conspired with that old scoundrel about something.
Could it be that Prince Jing who doesn't care about worldly affairs?
Well, thinking of that old hag at home, if it could save my eldest son's life, that would be good too.
Thinking of this, Liang Shuwen quickly searched his mind again and said, "Your Majesty, I am loyal to you. I dare say today that even if there were another Qin family, I would still go through fire and water for the Emperor!" At this point, Liang Shuwen wiped away a tear with his sleeve: "I only have these two sons left, and I have high hopes for them."
"My eldest son is steady and reliable, my second son died young, and even my youngest child is not close to me and left the palace early to fend for himself. What should I do, Your Majesty!"
When the second son, Liang Bai, was mentioned, Liang Shuwen keenly noticed a fleeting glint of something unusual in Emperor Kang Le's eyes.
His second son, Liang Bai, was far more learned than his eldest son, Liang Xu, but fate played a cruel trick on him. In the end, however, he died for the imperial family.
Inside the Imperial Study, Emperor Kangxi had already dismissed all the palace servants, leaving only the emperor and his minister; the hall was completely silent.
Liang Shuwen felt his heart pounding in his throat, and he knew that the next moment might be the day his Liang family's empire collapsed.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Kang Le suddenly frowned, clutched his chest, and said, "Minister Liang, step down. There are still about six hours before the next rooster crows. Minister Liang, can you make a decision?"
Liang Shuwen was stunned again. How should he decide? Then, he was so absent-minded that he didn't know how he left the Imperial Library or how he got back home from the palace.
Faced with the strict confinement and guard of his eldest son's courtyard, and the weeping of an old woman coming from the inner courtyard, he simply went to his study, neither eating nor drinking, and sat there all night until dawn.
He recalled the emperor's words before he left the Imperial Library, and the plan his eldest son had told him before leaving today. A moment later, with his back to his father, he silently shed tears as he looked at a landscape painting his father had come forward to paint.
The father loved his youngest son the most, but when he thought of his eldest son, who was now suffering in the Dali Temple prison, Liang Shuwen's face showed pain.
Moreover, the person in charge of interrogating this matter was a disciple of Zhu Juyuan, the former Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Among the Zhu family, the Qin family, and Xu Lin, who could possibly let his eldest son have an easy time?
What Liang Shuwen didn't know was that Xu Lin hadn't harmed Liang Xu, who was now deeply imprisoned. Instead, Xu Lin calmly sat down in front of Liang Xu and slowly drank a cup of hot tea that his subordinates had just handed him.
Xu Lin gently blew away the foam on the surface of his tea before turning to Liang Xu and saying, "Lord Liang, it's been a long time."
Liang Xu slightly raised his eyelids. The pain from the beatings he had suffered from his father was nothing compared to the agony of being imprisoned.
Unexpectedly, he ended up in prison one day.
Could the Luo family, the Tao family, and the Eastern Palace be related to them? But what does it matter? He knows he will be out of here soon.
A moment later, Liang Shuwen summoned his advisor, who was also his confidant, and whispered some instructions in his ear. The advisor's eyes went from shock to confusion.
After returning to the capital, Yao Zizhu, who had been staying in the outer courtyard with his father, saw his father enter the master's study and then sneak into the courtyard of Liang Ge Lao's youngest son. He felt uneasy. The image of that seemingly harmless, beautiful girl, who was actually a venomous beauty, and the poison she had put in his mouth flashed through his mind. He also imagined the scene of his brains shattering on the ground after the poison took effect.
At first, he thought he was being tricked, but a while ago he did feel a chill run down his spine.
Thinking of this, he suddenly shuddered, and then tried to find an opportunity to leave the mansion, but the Liang family had already been surrounded by palace guards like an iron barrel.
As he was deep in thought, a small pebble suddenly fell on his head, causing him to wince in pain. Looking down instinctively, he saw it was a piece of gleaming silver.
Then he saw that annoying guy named Songyang, who had almost cut off his ear that day, standing mysteriously on the roof, having somehow escaped the heavy surveillance.
Song Yang, holding his longsword, didn't even look at him, only saying indifferently, "You're so greedy, my master sent me to ask you if you've found out anything?"
Yao Zizhu snorted and put the loose silver into his sleeve.
Songyang said again, "Not going to talk?" As he spoke, he looked at Songyang's ears with a cold gaze.
Yao Zizhu's eyelids twitched at this sight, and he reluctantly pointed to the courtyard where Liang Lang usually lived. Before he knew it, the thing on the roof had disappeared.
Soon, the Luo family, the Crown Prince's Palace, and the Marquis of Chengyi all received the news.
Inside the study of the Luo family mansion, Qin Weixi paced back and forth as she listened to Song Yang's account of the current state of the Liang family mansion.
After a moment, she looked at Luo Ling, who was sitting steadily in the chair, and said, "Brother, does Liang Shuwen want Liang Lang to take the blame for his brother?"
"Is this an attempt to protect his eldest son?"
Luo Ling nodded: "It's just that I don't know if Liang Lang can deny it."
Songyang then said, "The Marquis said that Liang Shuwen has been in court for many years and must have some backup plans. That scholar is already being secretly escorted into the capital."
At the same time, Chen Guiyi, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, led a group of armed palace guards into the Liang family mansion under the pretext of searching. The guards rushed into the various courtyards, prompting Madam Qian, the Grand Secretary's wife, to repeatedly try to stop them, weeping loudly.
Moments later, the guards left by the Liang family's Hualixuan to search Liang Lang's courtyard discovered a tourmaline snuff bottle from the Jingwang Mansion in a hidden compartment of a wooden box on a multi-treasure cabinet in the study of the third son of the Liang family.
The snuff bottle was a gift from Emperor Taizu to his younger brother, Prince Jing, who was born with a disease and remained in the capital.
The snuff bottle was also engraved with Prince Jing's childhood name.
Meanwhile, Liang Lang, who was in a simple house in a quiet alley, was copying books on a dilapidated wooden table with four uneven legs.
Many students who were going to the capital for the imperial examinations did not have enough money to buy new books from bookstores, so they could only spend a little money to buy these copied books.
Since leaving the Liang family, Liang Lang has never asked the mansion for a single penny, surviving only on the meager silver he earned from copying books and the help of his classmates.
Liang Lang gazed at the green leaves swaying in the wind outside the window, thinking that it was early autumn, and in a while the green leaves would turn golden. Then the frost would arrive, and the snow would follow.
For a long time when he was young, he wondered when he would be able to earn enough money to travel to Jiangnan. He wanted to meet that innocent and carefree girl and tell her in person that he had been rude and that it was his fault.
His youthful arrogance caused him to regret it for many years.
Jiangnan, Jiangnan, that cheerful, sickly little girl is right here now, and he really wants to go and see her.
But before he could even travel to Jiangnan, the lively and lovely girl returned healthy to her former homeland, the capital.
But Liang Lang remained mediocre and accomplished nothing.
Many, many times he asked himself what he should do.
Just as he was thinking this, the dilapidated wooden door in the courtyard, which couldn't even be closed properly, was violently smashed open from the outside. The wooden door, which could barely be closed and allowed him to escape the hustle and bustle of the world in an instant, was also smashed in two, creaking and falling to the ground.
Liang Lang was stunned, as if he were a wooden chicken.
*
The Dali Temple prison in the capital.
A month later, after Liang Lang was imprisoned, the palace guards stationed outside the Liang family mansion withdrew. Meanwhile, the Jing Prince's mansion returned to its former tranquility after the heir apparent cruelly abandoned his only son who could carry on the family line.
After Prince Jing and his son entered the palace to apologize that day, when they left the palace again, Prince Jing's son, who had entered with all four limbs intact, ended up leaving with a leg missing, carried by eunuchs in a palanquin.
He was brutally beaten to death in front of Emperor Kangxi by the usually amiable Prince Jing.
Faced with the emperor's wrath, the Prince Jing's heir spoke without reservation. He claimed to have lost his mind and wanted to do something convenient for this youngest son, who had only come into his life after most of his life had passed. However, before he could do anything, everyone found out.
Emperor Kangxi then asked, "Anything else that has been overlooked?"
As Prince Jing threw his blade, Prince Jing's heir trembled violently and shook his head repeatedly.
Emperor Kang Le had a cold expression on his face, completely devoid of his usual kindness and gentleness towards his juniors.
"Fourth Uncle, Father was most worried about you. Before he passed away, he instructed me to take good care of you. Fourth Uncle, if you can put your mind at ease with me, your cousin, then I am not incapable of fulfilling Father's last wish..."
Before Emperor Kang Le could finish speaking, the heir apparent of Prince Jing hurriedly crawled forward and said sincerely, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I only have one daughter, Jiang Rong, and that is enough for me!"
Emperor Kang Le smiled faintly and gently patted the head of Prince Jing's heir: "Jiang Zhao, but I think you are not satisfied." After saying that, he raised his head and said to Prince Jing, who was standing with his head bowed in the distance: "Remove his name from the imperial register. I will give my father an explanation, and I will also give an explanation to the poor scholars of the world."
Inside the Prince Jing's residence, Prince Jing coldly looked at his unfilial son, whom he had once placed high hopes on. He ordered his confidants to carry him to the bed to apply medicine and said indifferently, "My son, I ask you, besides the matter of the students from Qianzhou, is there anything else you are hiding from me?"
Jiang Zhao, a middle-aged man nearing fifty, had lost all his arrogance and pride after this ordeal. He hurriedly said, "Father, it's gone."
Prince Jing nodded, looking at his son who was about to leave the manor, and asked, "Do you know why your father brought you to the palace? It's because of the scholar from Qianzhou. This matter can't be kept secret."
Jiang Zhao's eyes flashed: "Father, rest assured, I have already sent men to Qianzhou at full speed."
*
Young Master, Xu Lin has been ordered by the Emperor to stay away from home for a month, and has been eating and sleeping at the government office all this time. This is to prevent any leaks and premature trouble.
However, Emperor Kangxi hesitated to make a decision regarding Sun Zheng and Liang Lang, who had suddenly been imprisoned.
Meanwhile, the Luo family, the Marquis of Jingning's mansion, the Earl of Chengyi's mansion, and the Crown Prince's palace, all operating in the shadows, waited patiently for the scholar from Qianzhou to arrive in the capital. At the same time, they secretly sent people to monitor the movements of the Liang family, Chen Guiyi, and Woxue Pavilion.
Emperor Kangxi's hesitation also presented an opportunity for them.
Qin Weixi then asked Xu Lin to take good care of Liang Lang, who was unjustly affected by this. Meanwhile, the young master of the Jingning Marquis's mansion seemed unaffected by the incident, frequently climbing over the courtyard wall of Luo Zhanshi, and then bypassing everyone to enter the boudoir alone to patiently teach the heroine in the words of the young grandson of the Chengyi Earl's mansion how to shoot arrows.
Since Liang Lang was imprisoned, he has not uttered a word, and the yamen runners of the Dali Temple have acted as if they did not see him and continued to send him food and water to the prison as usual.
He couldn't understand why, just a moment ago he was in the heart of that poor little courtyard where he was enjoying himself, yearning for the Jiangnan region with its apricot blossoms and spring rain, and now he was in this Dali Temple prison where he never saw the light of day.
It wasn't until he learned from the conversation among the yamen runners that he realized that he hadn't achieved anything for many years, was being ostracized by his classmates, and was disliked by his father. By some strange twist of fate, he decided to secretly collude with Sun Zheng, the concubine's son of the Prince of Jing, to cheat on the imperial examinations, force the Minister of Rites, Cao Mo, and kidnap Cao's grandson as a hostage, hoping to gain the Prince of Jing's favor and secure a position in the capital.
However, my elder brother unintentionally learned of this matter and, out of brotherly affection, risked everything to befriend Sun Zheng on behalf of his younger brother.
When the cheating case came to light, Liang Xu was sent to the Dali Temple but had not yet been interrogated. His father, Grand Secretary Liang, went to the yamen to confess truthfully on behalf of his son.
Liang Lang sneered. Who was Sun Zheng? He didn't know. But no one listened to him, and no one from the Liang family had come to visit him these past few days. However, after learning from the yamen runners about the imperial gifts from the Prince Jing's mansion kept in his study, and his father's personal confession, he understood everything.
In the dead of night, people fall into a deep sleep.
Outside the Dali Temple, a tall, slender figure stood in the shadows. His voice was low as he asked, "Can I do it myself?"
The girl in front of me smiled and nodded, holding a food box in her hand and wearing a hooded black cloak.
"Okay, I'll wait for you outside."
A moment later, Xu Lin led the woman, who was dressed entirely in a black cloak, into the prison. As they walked, Xu Lin said, "These are turbulent times, and it's kind of Miss Liang to come see my younger brother so late at night."
Inside the cell, Liang Lang huddled in a corner, unable to sleep. He heard a sudden, light footstep. He didn't raise his head, but his lowered eyelashes fluttered.
A moment later, a girl dressed in a black robe and cloak stood in front of the prison gate, staring at him.
Liang Lang noticed the gaze and slowly raised his head, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes: "Luo...Xiao Xing?"
-----------------------
A note from the author: Thank you for reading.
It's been three months since I started writing this at the end of July, and today it's finally going to be a paid post!
I will continue to work hard, diligently write, and carefully craft each story, so as not to let down every friend who stays for me. [Heart]
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