Chapter 63 Why does the rumor seem like it has suffered a great injustice? ...
In the court, Emperor Jingwen's face was so gloomy that it seemed as if water could drip out of it, his knuckles were clenched until they turned blue and white, and the urgent report from the border was crumpled into waste paper in the emperor's palm.
He slammed the memorial in his hand onto the imperial desk and roared, "How dare this traitor Fang Yilan be so arrogant and openly oppose me!"
The ministers below were so frightened that they all knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.
The Chief Censor suddenly straightened up and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, calm down. Although Fang Yilan holds military power, she is unpopular and a traitor who deserves death. Your Majesty only needs to announce her crimes to the world, and everyone will be willing to kill her."
The whole hall suddenly came alive, and the other ministers echoed and offered suggestions.
The Minister of Rites knelt forward and said, "I beg you to issue the 'Exhortation to Suppress the Rebellion' and announce it to the whole world, so that everyone in the world will know her true face!"
A fierce glint flashed in Emperor Jingwen's eyes. After a moment's deliberation, he issued an order: "Pass on my order. Draft a document immediately to expose Fang Yilan's crimes to the public. Let this evildoer be infamous for eternity!"
The candles in the Hanlin Academy were lit all night long, and the civil officials knew best how to transform the emperor's anger into heart-wrenching manifestos.
"The daughter of the Fang family is cunning and treacherous, stealing the military token..."
Afterwards, the silk copies of the manifesto were sent to the academies in various prefectures.
The scholars and writers in the capital city have always been opportunists. In order to please the emperor, they wrote articles with fierce words, and the other party used Lan to criticize them verbally and pen-wise.
Wei Shen was hiding in the drafty attic of the academy, his hands frozen stiff in the middle of the night, copying the manifesto:
He was born in a small town on the northwestern border. He failed the imperial examinations many times and earned some money by copying manuscripts.
After three days of enduring, he couldn't stand it anymore. He slammed his pen and cursed, "Why don't you add some erotic stories? I guarantee it will be sung all over the city tomorrow."
This shout startled the Academician, who was napping in the corridor. The Academician patted his face and smiled brightly: "How did your brain suddenly light up? Report to the Ministry of Revenue tomorrow. I will give you a job as a ninth-rank clerk."
Wei Shen's eyes lit up and he grinned, "Thank you, Master."
The largest bookstore in Shangjing City carved a book overnight, writing about how Fang Yilan maneuvered between Zhao Huaixu, Zhou Ting'an, and the prince to protect his own interests.
Several impoverished scholars were writing furiously under a tung oil lamp. One scholar in a blue shirt suddenly paused: "Isn't this 'seven times in the account' too much? After all, he's a hero defending his country..."
"Fool!" The shopkeeper sneered, blowing out smoke rings. "No matter how powerful a person is, he cannot fight against heaven."
Shao Xian tore up the documents posted all over the capital with her bare hands. She was so angry that she wanted to go out and confront someone: "Sister! They are throwing dirty water on General Fang!"
Shao Wan held her sister's shaking hand and said, "Hold on, I'll think of a solution."
...
Nanqi City has been captured, and Fang Yilan's army is ready to evacuate Nanzhao.
"Alan!" Aruo trotted over to see her off. He untied the silver safety buckle from his neck and tiptoed to tie it on for her. "The mountain god will always protect you. May your journey be smooth."
Fang Yilan looked at the tears that were about to fall from Aruo's eyes and smiled softly: "Aruo, take care of yourself too."
Zhao Huaixu was checking the saddle when he suddenly felt a weight on his sleeve. Aruo quietly put a booklet into his hand. She blinked and said seriously, "This is what you've always wanted. You must protect Arlan."
Zhao Huaixu took it and said in a low but sincere voice, "Thank you."
When Fang Yilan and his party arrived at Nanqi City, a group of people had already gathered at the city gate.
"Traitor!" The old woman's saliva mixed with rotten vegetable leaves flew towards me. "My son's blood hasn't even dried yet, and you dare come to our Nanxi City!"
The rotten vegetable leaves flew past Fang Yilan's ears. Zhao Huaixu turned around and dismounted, shook out his cloak with his backhand to block the attack, and protected Fang Yilan in his arms.
A man in sackcloth was about to throw a stone, but was forced to take a half step back by Fang Yilan's stare that was pinning him to the ground.
"General!" The new recruit was stopped as soon as he drew out half of his sword.
"Put away your swords." Fang Yilan glanced at the rioters and ordered, "Northwest Army, listen up! Do not harm any civilians."
Fang Jiabing cursed with red eyes: "We risked our lives for the people of Ruining, but in return we are only cursed..."
The soldiers behind him were all so angry that their faces turned red, but Fang Yilan had already issued the death order, so they could only suppress their anger and enter the city despite the hostile eyes on both sides.
How could Fang Yilan not see the new manifesto posted on the city wall?
Those words were turning into poisonous needles that pierced the flesh of the soldiers, but if they really started fighting, they would fall into Emperor Jingwen's trap, turning the Northwest Army from a pillar of national defense into a rebel army that massacred the people, and they would fall into an even more passive position.
That night, the personal soldiers brought a lot of torn rice paper into the tent. Fang Yilan looked through it and found that they were all accusations of treason.
"General, look at this!" an illiterate soldier gritted his teeth and said, "That damn emperor must have sent someone to post it in the city!"
Fang Yilan unfolded the crumpled paper. The whole piece was written in parallel prose with sharp words, criticizing the emperor for his heavy taxes and levies, which made the people's lives miserable.
There will never be another person with this writing style.
Fang Yilan suddenly laughed out loud: "Where is the person? Find him quickly."
Soon, the guards dragged a disheveled beggar to the carpet. The beggar rolled half a circle, and suddenly a strong shout came from his matted hair: "Easy, easy! My bones are not as strong as you warriors!"
The beggar suddenly lifted his matted hair, revealing a face blackened by soot. "General Fang! I finally found you!"
Fang Yilan was surprised and delighted: "Lu Qi, it really is you! How did you get to Nanqi?"
Lu Qi dusted himself off and said, his playful expression subdued. "When I saw the battle in the southwest, I sensed something was amiss. I thought you must be in a difficult situation, so how could I sit back and watch? So I headed south and arrived at Nanxi City. I wanted to look for you, but I'm in rags, so who would take my words seriously?"
As he spoke, his face full of disdain, he cursed: "Those sour scholars wrote manifestos? Bah! When I scolded the censors and made them cry, they were still in their mothers' wombs! What a mess they wrote!"
Lu Qi's nose was almost raised to the ceiling of the tent: "When it comes to writing manifestos, no one in this world can compare to me, Lu Qi."
"That's not enough." Fang Yilan swirled the wolf hair brush in his hand and said, "We have to poke the emperor in the heart. I heard that he hates people talking about his illegitimate position the most."
The teacup in Zhao Huaixu's hand suddenly stopped in mid-air. He lowered his eyes and stared at the silver needle floating in the tea soup. His Adam's apple moved but he didn't say anything.
Lu Qi thought for a moment and said, "The late Crown Prince Jiang Sheng was both benevolent and virtuous. At the age of sixteen, he inspected the Yellow River floods on your behalf. It was only natural that he should inherit the throne. How could he suddenly become so impatient and commit such a heinous act as usurping the throne?"
Fang Yilan stroked his chin and said slowly, "Perhaps Emperor Jingwen secretly plotted against the late Crown Prince and framed him to successfully seize the throne."
"Write it like this!" Lu Qi slammed the table and stood up, rushing out, shouting as he went, "If that bastard emperor saw this, he'd be so pissed he'd vomit three liters of blood! I'll write it right now!"
"Wait a minute." Fang Yilan suddenly raised the corner of his lips, "Remember to include the fact that the late Crown Prince reduced taxes in Jiangnan in the 19th year of Honghe. The more detailed the better, so that the people can know about the late Crown Prince's benevolent act."
"In the 21st year of Honghe, the late crown prince personally went to the disaster-stricken area in the southeast for three months, and the people still worship his immortal tablet in the temple." Zhao Huaixu suddenly added, his eyes deep.
Lu Qi nodded and said, "Leave it to me!" He rushed out of the tent with the manifesto.
Fang Yilan turned to look at Zhao Huaixu, who was still rubbing the edge of the teacup, and softened her voice: "Yuan'an?"
"I'm fine." The teacup had been turning several times in his palm before he finally spoke.
Fang Yilan stroked the back of Zhao Huaixu's tense hand with her fingertips, then sat across his lap and stroked his face, "Why do you look like you've suffered a great injustice?"
The ending tone was wrapped in a honey-like smile, but it made Zhao Huaixu feel bitter in his throat.
She always liked to use this posture to tease the cub, as if he was still a poor fourteen-year-old proton curled up in the corner of the stable.
Zhao Huaixu's eyes flickered, and he tilted his head to bite and kiss her earlobe: "Who dares to bully me when A Lan is here?"
"And before that?"
Zhao Huaixu paused, a superficial smile appeared on the corner of his lips, but there was an indelible ink in his eyes. He looked at the words "The 21st Year of Honghe" on the manifesto on the desk, and vaguely smelled the smell of burnt flesh.
That year, a fire broke out in the Eastern Palace. The eight-year-old boy curled up in the secret compartment of the Crown Prince's study. Through the gap, he saw his father being pierced through the chest by a long sword, and he was completely unaware of the wood chips piercing his palm.
Before his death, his father was still worried about him because he was still young and someone would bully and hurt him.
The fire buried his father, the emperor, and his mother, the queen, together. He was unknowingly replaced by the child of Xiling Dancer, hiding in a dark corner of the palace. At the age of fourteen, he was stuffed into a prison car to Xiling as a "royal bloodline."
Zhao Huaixu's laughter was filled with chilling coldness: "Those people will naturally be sent to hell one by one by Yu An."
Fang Yilan had a vague guess as to why he hated Emperor Jingwen so much, and why he suddenly fell silent when he heard his own seemingly absurd guess.
A strong wind suddenly blew outside the tent, and the tea had already cooled completely. Fang Yilan sighed and said, "Yu'an, if it hurts, you need to tell me..."
...
The storyteller at the Qingfeng Teahouse in Shangjing City clapped his wake-up stick loudly, stroking his graying beard. "Last time, we talked about the eldest son of Chen's Rice Shop. He could distinguish the five grains at the age of seven, and at fifteen, he took over the grain transport for his father. Shopkeeper Chen had originally intended to pass the family business on to his eldest son. But who would have thought that the futures shipped to the northwest would be seized by bandits? A check of the accounts showed a deficit of two thousand taels of silver."
He paused deliberately to keep the question in suspense.
"Guess what?" The storyteller suddenly unfolded his folding fan and deliberately bowed in the direction of the imperial city. "Chen Erlang dug out letters from under his brother's bed that he had exchanged with bandits, and even discovered a fake seal engraved by the eldest young master on the account book!"
Amidst the roar of applause from the tea drinkers, the storyteller lowered his voice and said, "Even stranger still is this: after the eldest son murdered his father, he mysteriously disappeared. That night, someone saw the second son's confidant burn his brother's family's house to ashes."
These words frightened the child in the front row so much that he cried out "Wow" and shrank into his mother's arms.
The play was full of twists and turns and moving, and soon became popular in the streets and alleys of Shangjing. In addition, once Lu Qi's Jiaowen was published, it was easy to imagine who the protagonist of the play was.
"Fang, Yi, Lan!" The ministers kneeling at the foot of the jade steps heard the sound of teeth snapping from the dragon throne, tearing the article into pieces, followed by the dull sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
Emperor Jingwen looked at the folk story books that were sent to him and slammed the table in anger: "How dare they... How dare they!"
"Castrate all the rumormongers and send them to jail!" As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes went dark and he fainted.
The imperial physician on duty rushed over and, after a brief examination, said solemnly, "Your Majesty, your heart is in a state of anxiety. Do not worry too much. You need to rest and recuperate."
Not long after, Emperor Jingwen woke up and heard a roar from his bedroom: "Send me the troops! Conquer the southwest now!"
"Your Majesty, please think twice!" The Right Prime Minister hugged Emperor Jingwen's thigh and cried, "If we send troops now, the people will really believe the rumors!"
The next moment, blood splattered, and the head of the right prime minister fell from above, revealing the sinister face of Emperor Jingwen: "I said! Conquer the southwest for me!"
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