Chapter 68 The Banquet Case Concluded In the capital city, Tuoheqi's residence had already been...
Inside the capital, Tohqi's residence had been surrounded by soldiers from the Infantry Commandery. Longkodo swaggered in, watching his servants flee in panic. A moment later, a shout rang out from the main courtyard, "My father is devoted to his master, a loyal servant of the Emperor! How dare you!"
Ha, I didn't expect there to be a tough one among these lackeys.
Longkodo, as if watching a good show, clicked his tongue twice: "Oh, let me see who's saying this." He strode into the courtyard and saw Tohchi's son, Uleden, being forced to kneel on the ground. Longkodo casually raised his riding whip and pressed it against Uleden's forehead, sneering: "Tohchi is a traitor, the Emperor has ordered his property confiscated, what kind of person are you to dare utter such nonsense?"
Ulden's eyes bulged with blood at these words, and he immediately struggled to stand up: "My father was framed and framed. He is innocent."
"Injustice?" Longkodo pretended to pick his ear and pointed the whip to the side: "Come on, take this guy to the outer courtyard and give him twenty lashes to wake him up. Also, ask him what other unspeakable things Tuoheqi has done."
Upon receiving the order, the soldiers nearby immediately covered Uleden's mouth and dragged him out. Soon after, the sound of being beaten with a board could be heard from outside.
After a while, a military officer came to report that the women and servants in the main and back courtyards had been placed under guard. Longkodo grunted and glanced around, saying, "Take stock of all the valuables in the house. Move what needs to be moved. Also, tell everyone to be on high alert. If even a fly gets out of there, hmph!"
As evening fell, Uleden was dragged from the front to the back—to the room where Tohchi's wife, Deng, was being held. Deng stumbled and crawled over, hugged Uleden, and cried, "My son, how did you end up like this?" She reached down and felt something wet, and in the dim sunlight filtering through the crack in the door, she could vaguely see a hand covered in blood.
Ulden's lips trembled as he said in a low, deep voice, "Father is innocent, he is...innocent."
Tears streaming down her face, Madam Deng sobbed, "My child, how could they be so cruel to you?" After crying for a while, she wiped her face and suddenly stood up, searching around. But most of the things in the room had been moved away, even the hairpins and pendants in her hair and hands had been taken. Now, she couldn't find anything that could heal her wounds.
Deng paced frantically around the room like a trapped animal, finally tearing down a curtain hanging from a pillar and using it as a cushion for Uledeng. Suddenly, she remembered something and lunged towards the pillar. Sure enough, there was a broken teacup there, accidentally knocked over by soldiers carrying things. Clutching the shards tightly, she rushed outside, shouting to the soldiers at the door, "Guards! Guards!"
At this moment, in the Cheng'en Duke's residence, Longkodo was woken from his sleep. He immediately flew into a rage, shouting, "Which brat dares to disturb my peaceful slumber?"
His concubine draped a robe over him and said tenderly, "If it weren't something important, who would dare to bother you? Please go and take a look."
Longkodo stroked his concubine's rounded chin, which calmed his arousal. When he saw the visitor outside, he learned it was Lady Deng, wife of Tuoheqi, who wanted to confess her husband's crimes and said she was willing to submit to the law, only asking for a bottle of wound medicine to save her son. Longkodo raised an eyebrow smugly, casually took a bottle of wound medicine from a small box in the high cabinet, tossed it over, and confidently said, "Have someone take her statement."
The charges against her husband, Tuoheqi, had already been written down. Deng glanced at the unconscious Uleden, who nodded tearfully in agreement. When it came time to sign and affix her fingerprint, she used a shard of porcelain to cut her finger and pressed it down instead of using ink.
In September, the grand banquet case of Tuoheqi finally came to an end. All the servants in Tuoheqi's household were dismissed, and his wives, concubines, and children were all demoted to commoners. As for Tuoheqi himself, although he was extremely wicked, the emperor spared his life because he had served as an official for many years without merit but with hard work.
Whether it was out of consideration for Twelve or for other reasons, the Emperor did not completely eliminate them and instead showed leniency.
Yinreng let out a long sigh of relief, then summoned the head of the guards, Hai Qing, and Cheng Yexing, and said in a deep voice, "There is something I need you to do."
The next day, Hai Qing and Cheng Yexing rode their horses, with a cartload of goods behind them, to Tuoheqi's residence. Of course, Tuoheqi was now a commoner, and it wouldn't be long before this grand mansion was reclaimed by the imperial court.
Cheng Yexing dismounted and looked at the dust-covered plaque above the gate, sighing deeply. This was the residence of the Nine Gates Admiral, a place he had never even had the chance to kowtow before. In just two months, it had become like this, truly proving the saying: "Life is unpredictable." He sighed again, wanting to say a few more words to Hai Qing, when a pungent stench wafted over from somewhere.
Cheng Yexing immediately covered his nose and said, "Ugh, what's that smell?" Looking around, he saw that someone was emptying a chamber pot from the side door. The smell was so strong that it made him nauseous, and it also made the outside stink.
Hai Qing said, "I heard that during the raid, this house was completely surrounded." People outside couldn't get in, and people inside couldn't get out. Moreover, with so many people crammed together to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, it's no wonder it smelled so bad.
Cheng Yexing sighed with emotion.
Hai Qing raised her head forward and said, "Guard Cheng, let's go."
Cheng Yexing took a few steps forward and knocked on the door. After a while, a woman dressed simply with her hair tied up in a headscarf came to open the door and froze on the spot when she saw them. When she learned that they were guards from the Crown Prince's side, she immediately rushed inside and shouted loudly, "Master, the Crown Prince has sent someone to see you."
Hai Qing and Cheng Yexing went in one after the other, and both the front yard and the main yard were empty. When they reached the main house in the main yard, they saw the woman from before helping Tuoheqi walk out shakily.
Although Tohchi didn't suffer any torture in prison, his subordinates, in order to extract confessions, deprived him of food, water, and sleep. In the end, he was reduced to a mere skeletal thing, almost dying in prison.
Tuoheqi staggered over the threshold, knelt down in front of Hai Qing and Cheng Yexing, and cried out, "This humble subject has failed the Emperor's grace, this humble subject deserves to die ten thousand times over."
Hai Qing stood and read out Yinreng's imperial edict: "Wanliuhashi Tuoheqi has acted recklessly and caused the Emperor and the Twelfth Prince to be disgraced. The Crown Prince has ordered that his entire family leave the capital immediately and not return without an imperial decree."
After Hai Qing finished repeating Yinreng's words, Cheng Yexing stepped forward and helped Tuoheqi and Deng Shi up. He said in a deep voice, "His Highness, out of consideration for you as the maternal relatives of the Twelfth Prince, specially instructed us to transport some valuables. Please pack up and leave as soon as possible."
Upon hearing his words, Lady Deng couldn't help but sob softly, and Tuoheqi's face was a mixture of tears and laughter. The couple then bowed deeply, saying, "This humble subject obeys the Crown Prince's decree!"
They were told they'd have time to pack, but what was there to pack? If it weren't for Deng pawning her silk clothes for copper coins after the ban was lifted, they wouldn't have even had enough to eat these past few days. Now that Yinreng has sent money and clothing, it's a lifesaver.
After Tuoheqi got up, he begged them to help him find some bodyguards, saying that he wanted to take his son, who had just recovered from a serious illness, and his wife, Deng, to their hometown in Northeast China.
As the saying goes, "If you're going to help someone, help them to the end," Haiqing and Cheng Yexing spent half a day asking people to help them hire a carriage. By the time they finished doing all that, it was already evening.
Cheng Yexing said, "It's getting late. If you don't mind, boss, come stay at my house for the night. We'll send Tuoheqi's family out of the city tomorrow morning before returning to Xiyuan to report back."
Hai Qing nodded, knowing that Cheng Yexing was the Crown Princess's brother and was also valued by the Crown Prince. Since she wanted to befriend him, she said, "Don't call me 'boss' anymore. Let's just call each other 'brother' when we're not alone."
Cheng Yexing immediately complied and called him Brother Hai. Hai Qing smiled and said, "People who don't know might think my surname is Hai, so let's just call me Brother Dai."
Cheng Yexing untied the horse's rope and replied with a smile, "That's true. Nowadays, everyone pays attention to Han surnames, and our family has also changed our surname to Cheng." He mounted the horse and said, "Brother Dai, I'll lead the way. When we get home, I'll order a feast, and we brothers can have a couple of drinks!"
At this time, Fourth Master was also hosting a banquet for Longkodo at the restaurant. During the meal, Fourth Master swallowed his pride and addressed Longkodo as "Uncle".
Longkodo readily agreed, then exclaimed, "You are the prince raised by Empress Xiaoyi—my own sister. If Empress Xiaoyi were still alive..." He shook his head, picked up his wine cup, and drank it all in one gulp.
The Fourth Prince's face stiffened for a moment before he continued, "Now that my uncle has not disgraced the family name of the Duke of Cheng'en, Empress Xiaoyi would surely be very pleased in the afterlife."
Speaking of this, Longkodo burst out laughing, "Yes, I am loyal to my master. Not to mention anything else, just look at what happened to the previous one. I take him as a warning." He spat to the side, "Traitor, what a scoundrel."
Fourth Master smiled and lowered his eyes when he heard him say that. “Speaking of the last one, that was indeed a lesson from the past. The Commander of the Nine Gates Infantry and the Five Battalions of the Patrol only had one master. If anyone in this position dared to interfere with others, they would only face death.” He raised his hand to fill Longkodo’s cup, and then poured himself a cup as well. “Uncle is a wise man. He knows what it’s best for someone in this position to do.”
Longkodo narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the Fourth Prince. Everyone knew the Fourth Prince was a staunch supporter of the Crown Prince, and he had assumed the Fourth Prince was there to curry favor with him on behalf of the Crown Prince. However, after listening to the whole story, it seemed things weren't as he had imagined. After a while, Longkodo raised his hand and clinked glasses with the Fourth Prince: "What you say makes sense, Uncle, I appreciate your kindness."
Fourth Master also drank the wine in one gulp. After the jar of wine was finished and the dishes on the table were almost gone, the banquet, ostensibly a reward but actually a warning, came to an end. Fourth Master helped the drunken Longkodo into the carriage and then watched him leave.
Then the Fourth Master's gaze slowly darkened.
I've heard that Longkodo's father, Tong Guowei, has been spending a lot of time with the Eighth Prince these past few days. He doesn't expect Longkodo to be too biased towards the Crown Prince, but he wants to warn him that he absolutely must not side with anyone else!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
