Chapter 283
The Demon King is actually in this village, and the Taoists and monks outside know it, but not many people dare to provoke the Demon King.
After the others left, the demon king, who was enjoying his leisure time in the manor, came out to meet the old Taoist priest. Yuan Jing still had to give face to the old Taoist priest, as the old Taoist priest had no prejudice against him. The two exchanged a lot of views on the issues of cultivation, and the old Taoist priest gained a lot.
In addition to hiding away, the Demon King would occasionally train Mu Yinghai, the half-demon. After all, he had some friendship with Mu Shuang, and he couldn't bear to see his only son, who was so weak, bring shame to them, the demons. Mu Yinghai lived a life of pain and happiness.
The old Taoist priest also took Yuan Jing out to meet his old friends. In fact, these people all knew Yuan Jing's name. After all, Yuan Jing made the first contribution to the eradication of the demon Ling Xiao. In addition, he had so many merits that people envied him. Therefore, they treated him very warmly. Even those who usually disliked demons would not jump out to accuse him of keeping a half-demon around him.
Ji Jinghuai came to the farm again. There had been such a loud fight outside the city before, how could he and the people in Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion not know about it? In addition, such a big thing happened in the palace. Even though he felt that his eyes had been broadened, he also felt as if his three views had been reorganized.
After paying respects to the old Taoist priest, Ji Jinghuai gossiped to Yuan Jing: "The Jiang family invited several Taoist priests and monks to the mansion to exorcise evil spirits, but the more they did it, the worse the situation seemed to be. This time, I don't know who got the connection, but they found a monk who was really capable. As a result, the monk came out not long after entering the Jiang family, and said that the Jiang family was suffering from karma, and that the victim had come to the door, so the Jiang family should fend for themselves."
Ji Jinghuai took a sip of tea and continued, "The master said that if we want to get out of this predicament, we have to ask the victims to come forward and eliminate their own sins. Otherwise, there is no other way out. Forcibly breaking the Feng Shui formation will only bring these sins upon themselves. The master's words soon spread in the capital. It is said that a Taoist priest did not believe in evil and went to the Jiang family to take a look, but he shook his head and left. So now many people in the capital are talking about what sins the Jiang family had committed to lead to such a result."
Fu Neng calmly said, "You will suffer the consequences if you bring trouble upon yourself."
Ji Jinghuai gave a thumbs up and admired Yuan Jing's ability. Even if he didn't know about the grudge between Yuan Jing and the Jiang family at first, he guessed it after knowing Yuan Jing's life experience. In the early years, the Jiang family did tell the public that Mrs. Jiang gave birth to twins, but one of the children died of illness within a few years. It was said that the children were born sickly, and everyone who heard it didn't think much about it.
Ji Jing thought, there must be something else going on, otherwise the Jiang family wouldn't be suffering such a severe retribution now.
The old Taoist priest looked calm after hearing this, then he said something to his apprentice and went out for a walk again. With the old Taoist priest's presence around, no other Taoist priest was willing to take over this thorny problem for the Jiang family, and some people who were interested vaguely guessed who the Jiang family had offended.
Thinking of that person's special situation, they all sneered at the Jiang family in their hearts. It is true that ignorance is fearless. The Jiang family even dared to offend and plot against this person. Now the retribution has come.
Jiang Shiming and Mr. Jiang originally thought that everything in the family was a coincidence, but now they understand who had offended the Jiang family, otherwise a series of bad things would not have happened to the Jiang family. Take Jiang Shengxu for example, he could choke while drinking medicine, and ever since he broke his leg, he has been involved in many accidents, big and small, and he has been exhausted.
Mrs. Jiang was extremely sad. She kowtowed to others but they refused to keep her to help the Jiang family solve the problem. She could only ask the old man for help. With the old man's status and position, he might be able to ask an expert to help.
Mr. Jiang did need some advice from others. He saw that most of the problems were focused on his eldest grandson and his daughter-in-law, and the others seemed to be implicated by them. He asked, "Tell me the truth, what did you do behind our backs to bring such a big trouble to your family?"
The Jiang family is almost becoming a laughing stock in the capital. If there weren't even more bizarre things happening in the royal family, the situation would be even worse.
"I didn't, they slandered me. They are incompetent."
Seeing that his wife was still quibbling and refusing to tell the truth, Jiang Shiming was so angry that he trembled: "You still refuse to say it. Even if we want to solve the problem, we have to find the source. Can you guarantee that after solving the trouble this time, it will not appear again next time? Do you want to watch Xu'er die?"
Mrs. Jiang fell to the ground. In just a short time, she changed from a noble lady to a haggard middle-aged woman. A few strands of white hair could be seen among her well-maintained black hair.
Her teeth were chattering as she thought of the young Taoist priest she saw when the Imperial Master got into trouble that day. Afterwards, out of fear, she asked someone to inquire about the young Taoist priest's situation, only to find out that he was a very capable person. It was said that the reason why Taoist Master Ling Xiao was killed was thanks to the young Taoist priest.
She wanted to say it was impossible. How could the young Taoist know everything about the past and know her own life experience? But these people might be gods who have fallen to the earth. Is there really something they want to know but cannot know?
Mrs. Jiang covered her face and sobbed. Jiang Shiming and his son looked at each other and realized that their daughter-in-law had hidden something very important from them.
At Jiang Shiming's urging, Madam Jiang had no choice but to tell the story of an incident that happened many years ago. Although she was evasive in her words, how could someone who had reached the position of Minister Jiang not be a shrewd person? Jiang Shiming was angry and anxious, and Minister Jiang's body swayed. Jiang Shiming was so scared that he hurried over to support him, helped the old man sit down on the chair, and turned around to scold:
"It's all because of you, you ignorant fool! Look at what you've done!"
Madam Jiang covered her face with a handkerchief and cried, "I don't want to do this either, but if I don't do this, what future will Xu'er have? I'm doing this for Xu'er and for our Jiang family, wuwu..."
Mr. Jiang felt dizzy. He pushed his son aside and looked at his daughter-in-law who was slumped on the ground. "Are you sure that the child is still alive? Is he the young Taoist priest on the mountain that day?"
Madam Jiang gritted her teeth and said, "His face is exactly the same as that Wen Shi back then."
Old Master Jiang cried out in grief: "God is going to destroy our Jiang family!"
"Father, is it really that serious?" Jiang Shiming still couldn't believe that a young Taoist priest could destroy the Jiang family.
Old Master Jiang said with an unpleasant expression, "I heard from people that the young Taoist priest is probably the reincarnation of a good man for ten generations. Even Ling Xiao, the evil Taoist priest, fell for him. Those Taoist priests and monks are unwilling to provoke him for fear of backlash. This kind of person is blessed by God with great merit."
"But..." What's the meaning of God's blessing? Isn't it true that man can conquer nature? Didn't the Jiang family win their current power and status by themselves?
Mr. Jiang wiped his face and looked at his daughter-in-law on the ground with a dark look in his eyes: "No matter what, we still have to fight for what we should fight for. When necessary, Ming'er, you know what to do."
Jiang Shiming knew what his father meant by looking at his father's eyes. As a last resort, he could only push his wife out to avoid disaster and misfortune. The Jiang family must not fall.
The father and son of the Jiang family began to use various connections again, hoping that someone could help them meet Yuan Jing, the young Taoist priest, hoping to ease the conflict between the two families, put all the blame on Mrs. Jiang, and hope that Yuan Jing would not implicate innocent people.
Because they were busy with this matter, they ignored the situation in the court and did not notice the hidden movements in the court.
Because the old emperor and those princes were in danger, no matter whether they were Taoist masters or Buddhist monks who went to diagnose them, they could not bring the old emperor's life back. On the contrary, the younger princes were in better condition, but the dragon energy in them was gone.
The young prince woke up, but the older one was still in a coma. The old emperor also failed to wake up, and his health was getting worse and worse. He was almost a skeleton lying on the bed. No one could expect him to return to normal. However, the court had to continue to function, and many important matters were waiting for the emperor to make decisions.
Although the Taoist monks said that the dragon spirit was gone from the little prince, his mother and his maternal family would never accept that and were eager to push the little prince they supported to the throne. The royal family members also saw hope. If these princes were all useless, then maybe one of them would be adopted from the royal family. The royal family's chance had come, so some royal family members began to move around to win over court officials. Even Prince Cheng was restless. Prince Cheng was instigated by his princess and her family to have his own ideas.
In the eyes of Prince Cheng, the son born to him by the princess was very smart. If other royal family children had hope, why couldn't his son fight for it? His son should have a greater hope.
If his son could be adopted, after he ascends the throne in the future, perhaps he could become the emperor emeritus. Prince Cheng's ambition was aroused, and his heart was burning with excitement.
The Liu family was also very excited, especially Liu Xi. She had been looking for that stinky man but couldn't find him. But if her cousin could become the emperor and her aunt could become the empress dowager, how many women in the capital could be more noble than her? How could she not find a stinky man?
Some people can't wait to dream about the position even before the candidate is decided.
In the village, the deposed prince's spirit is getting better day by day. Originally, Yuan Jinggang found a man who looked to be in his forties or fifties, not necessarily younger than the old emperor, but now he has recovered to his original age, and things will get better in the future.
He came into contact with more and more people in private. In order to avoid affecting Master Yuan Jing and his apprentice, as well as Funeng and others, the deposed prince moved out of this small farm and moved into a farm that was originally under his name. The conditions in that farm were much better.
Since Yuan Jing has created such good conditions for him, if he still cannot take that position under such circumstances, then all these years would have been wasted, and he would be ungrateful for Yuan Jing's kindness.
After all, he was once the crown prince, and the former Cheng'en Mansion was not without connections left. In addition, there were still some staunch royalists in the court, so he actually had considerable advantages.
In the past, these people might not have stood by him, but how many princes were available in the court now? As long as he cleared his grievances, he would be the most suitable candidate to inherit the throne, only him.
With the push behind the scenes by the deposed crown prince, someone in the court finally remembered that it was not that there was no prince available, as there was still a deposed crown prince who had been sent to guard the imperial mausoleum.
"But wasn't the deposed crown prince deposed because of the witchcraft incident?"
"Humph, who knows whether what happened back then was true or not? You all have not forgotten that Ling Xiao Yao Dao was involved in the witchcraft case, right? Can we really believe what Ling Xiao Yao Dao says? He just wanted to disrupt the entire royal family on purpose. He didn't have good intentions at all."
"That's right. The witchcraft case back then should be thoroughly investigated. If the deposed prince is innocent, then he is the most suitable person to take the throne, more suitable than anyone else."
"But this case was decided by His Majesty himself. Do you want to overturn His Majesty's words?"
"Your Majesty, haven't you suffered enough from the evildoer? It was because of the evildoer that Your Majesty made the wrong decision. Are we just going to let the evildoer lead us to make the same mistake again and again? I believe that Your Majesty will support us in investigating this case when he wakes up."
The calls for an investigation into the witchcraft case were growing louder and louder, and people kept demanding that the deposed crown prince be brought back from the imperial mausoleum. This made some people anxious. The letter from the palace was delivered to the Jiang Mansion outside the palace, and they were busy looking for someone to contact Yuan Jing's Jiang family, only then did they discover the changes in the court.
Both the father and the son were so anxious that their mouths were covered with bubbles. If they wanted to thoroughly investigate the case of that year, the Jiang family would definitely not be able to escape. Moreover, they hoped to push a prince who was related to the Jiang family to the throne, so there was no way they would allow the deposed prince to come out and jump around again.
"No, we must not let the deposed crown prince come out again. Father, I will send people to the imperial mausoleum right away and take the deposed crown prince to..." Jiang Shiming made a "click" gesture and completely got rid of the deposed crown prince before he was taken out. How many people would still stand on the deposed crown prince's side and speak for him at that time?
The old man thought about it for a long time and had no choice but to agree with his son's suggestion, because the Jiang family was already on that ship and couldn't get off. If the deposed prince was really allowed to come out and investigate the case, no one in the Jiang family would escape.
If the prince supported by the Jiang family ascends to the throne and becomes His Majesty, and the Jiang family becomes royal relatives, then this matter of the Jiang family might be resolved smoothly. Those who practice Taoism can't go against the imperial power.
As a result, the imperial mausoleum was greeted by wave after wave of explorers and assassins.
Some people poisoned the deposed prince's food. Later, a group of people came and were even more straightforward. They stabbed a knife into the deposed prince's body. They watched him die with their own eyes. Before they pulled out the knife, an astonishing scene happened. The deposed prince, who fell to the ground, turned into a scarecrow.
The next moment, the surroundings were brightly lit. A group of soldiers were lying in ambush outside, and the deposed prince came out surrounded by some officials. The assassins saw this scene and knew that an ambush had been set up here, waiting for them to take the bait. They raised their knives and were about to stab them, but they were quickly shot down. All the assassins who came with him were caught.
The deposed crown prince made his official appearance and was escorted back to the palace by a group of officials.
The deposed crown prince quickly took control of the entire palace and presented evidence piece by piece to prove what happened in the witchcraft case. He then ordered the arrest of all those involved in the case and their properties to be confiscated.
The Jiang family was the first to be hit. A group of soldiers surrounded the Jiang family, and no one in the Jiang family could escape.
When they heard that the deposed crown prince had come out and entered the palace to take charge of the situation, some worried Taoist priests and monks went into the palace to take a look, then left without saying anything. At this time, the royalists suddenly understood that the deposed crown prince was the one they wanted to support, because when these people saw the other princes who had woken up, they shook their heads and said no, and only they said nothing to the deposed crown prince. This attitude just showed that the deposed crown prince was the most suitable one.
When these Taoists and monks left the palace, they sighed, "I didn't expect that all the dragon energy would be concentrated on this abandoned prince. It seems that the fate of the Great Zhou Dynasty has not yet ended and can continue."
"That's fine. It doesn't matter if the Great Zhou Dynasty has run out of luck, but it will make the people of this world suffer."
The abbot of the White Horse Temple said, "I have read the fate of the deposed prince, and now it seems that his fate has been changed. He was originally going to spend the rest of his life in the imperial mausoleum, but I didn't expect that he would have a chance to rise to prominence. The Taoist sect was involved in this matter, because when the deposed prince was assassinated, it was a replacement puppet who died, and someone from the Taoist sect had already rescued the deposed prince."
"Who could have done this?" the monk asked the Taoist priest who was traveling with him.
"Not us." The Taoist shook his head firmly. They didn't want to become the second Ling Xiao, so they should stay out of the fight for imperial power. If they were not careful, all their years of practice would go to waste.
"Who could that be?"
"I thought of someone." It was the abbot of the White Horse Temple who remembered, "It was the young Taoist priest Yuan Jing. It was he who had a grudge against the Jiang family. Before the young Taoist priest entered the Taoist sect, his family should have been the descendant of Cheng En Gong, whose property was confiscated because of the witchcraft case. In terms of blood relationship, he and the deposed prince are cousins. The young Taoist priest went to Beijing to settle the grudges of the past, so it makes sense for him to rescue the deposed prince."
"So it was him! It turns out that the young Taoist priest has such a background. It makes more sense for him to intervene than anyone else." Because he himself is in the cause and effect.
The conversations and speculations of these people spread out, and many people suddenly realized the truth. Those who were originally ready to make a move did not dare to make a move. With this young Taoist priest supporting the deposed prince behind the scenes, who else could be his opponent? Didn't you see that both the Taoist sect and the Buddhist sect maintained a tacit attitude, and no one opposed the young Taoist priest's interference in the succession of imperial power.
The Jiang family, who were thrown into prison based on irrefutable evidence, have had a hard time. Although no bad things happen to them anymore, can anything be more unlucky than having their property confiscated and being thrown into prison?
Jiang Shiming was so angry that he slapped his wife several times, thinking that it was all her fault and that she had implicated the entire Jiang family and that it was the woman who had caused trouble.
Madam Jiang didn't dare to resist Jiang Shiming before, but now that she's in prison, what else can she care about? She started fighting with Jiang Shiming and scratched him with her nails: "What good do you think you are? If it wasn't because you still had feelings for that bitch, would I have wanted to harm her? It's all because of you, that bitch, who made you obsessed with her. You even wanted to keep her in the mansion as a concubine after she gave birth to a child. Do you think I can tolerate her existence?"
"You said I had implicated the Jiang family. Wasn't it because you Jiang family members harmed the Crown Prince, the Empress, and the entire Cheng'en Mansion? Is it my turn to put the entire Jiang family in jail?"
"So this is how you killed my mother." A voice suddenly came from outside, scaring everyone in the Jiang family.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
