30. Inspur
◎ Feeling down? ◎
Chapter 30
I have to say that Ji Sang is in really good health. He fell into the water in winter but he was not sick at all.
Although she said that she was taking care of Ji Sang, in fact, since he moved next door to Wutong Courtyard, Jiang Qiuye rarely visited him. She just asked Mingyue to share some of the medicinal food prepared by Wutong Courtyard with him every day.
Since that day, Ji Ci seemed to have never returned to the palace, and the housekeeper never urged Jiang Qiuye to move out, but served her attentively, letting her eat and drink as she pleased.
In this case, Jiang Qiuye chose to forget about moving out of the palace.
Two days later, she tricked and coaxed Ji Sang into leaving the palace.
After noon, she took Jinhong to Jingshan Academy, but she was surprised to find that the academy's scholars had filled the streets. She wondered how the news of General Dingbei's previous battle against Huai had spread to the streets, suddenly sparking public outrage.
This group of scholars were the most easily instigated people. Each of them held a pen and wrote down paragraphs of advice in indignation to express their grievances.
Jiang Qiuye stood at the back of the crowd and saw that the person spitting in the middle was actually Zhang Yi.
"Think back to when General Dingbei fought for our Great Jin for twenty-eight days, leaving no one alive and ending up in disgrace. If it weren't for the general's desperate defense of Pinghuai, we would have been the prey of the Li Kingdom by now! General Dingbei's spirit lingers on, and we scholars will fight for him every day!"
He suddenly pointed to the sky and shouted, "I was born on the border. When my hometown was captured, my grandfather was beheaded by the Li people! My sisters were raped by the Li people! My nephew, only a few months old, was stewed into hot soup! General Dingbei drove away the Li people. If he hadn't fought to the death, we would have been slaughtered like bones!"
"Yes! I refuse to accept this!"
"Give me back my title as general!"
After hearing this, the crowd began to roar, clap, and stamp their feet, attracting countless passers-by to watch.
"Give me back my title as general!"
Zhang Yi rubbed his neck and continued, head held high, "Remonstrance Minister Chen Zheng ordered twenty-three ministers to advise the emperor to re-investigate the Pinghuai Campaign and uncover the truth about General Dingbei. Yet, they were all thrown into prison. The heroic Chen Zheng died of illness in prison within two days. All of us will enter the civil service in the future, and Chen Zheng was our vanguard. I refuse to accept this!"
“I don’t accept it!”
“I don’t accept it!”
“I don’t accept it!”
Everyone loudly supported Zhang Yi.
"Restore Chen's reputation!" Zhang Yi shouted with his fist raised.
"Rehabilitate Chen Zheng's name!" Everyone agreed, their voices cracking like thunder, deafening and roaring into everyone's heart.
Zhang Yi moved a table over, climbed onto it, and stood still. His eagle eyes swept around him as he spoke, "We scholars are the voices of the Great Jin. We follow in the footsteps of Chen Zheng, speaking out for General Dingbei, for the over a thousand martyrs who pacified the country, for the Grand Counselor Chen Zheng, and for the twenty-three loyal officials imprisoned. The Great Jin needs good generals, and this will chill the hearts of its subjects! If we remain silent, the souls of those who died will never rest in peace!"
"I refuse to accept this!"
“I don’t accept it!”
“I don’t accept it!”
“I don’t accept it!”
The scholars below were all moved by his speech.
They were all people who wanted to study and become officials, who wanted to advise the emperor and the common people. They were all young and passionate, and they were inevitably infuriated by this.
The scholars were extremely excited, and suddenly someone started cursing, "The emperor is immoral today, harming loyal ministers and generals, and refusing to accept the title of Dingbei! We refuse to accept it!"
"shut up!"
At this moment, a group of armored guards rushed into the crowd and pushed the spectators away. Zhang Yi and others were immediately arrested and their hands were pressed behind their backs.
"Why are you tying us up? God will not see the general's injustice. What's wrong with us scholars speaking up for the general?"
"Slandering the current emperor and disrespecting the dignity of the royal family is a capital crime!" One of the captains drew his sword from his waist, pointed it at the sky and shouted.
Soon, the captured scholars were tied up with ropes by the guards and tied together like dogs, without any dignity.
This behavior aroused the anger of the crowd, but they dared not speak out, for fear that they would become one of the dogs.
The captain walked to the rear of the armored guards, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, what should we do with these people?"
Jiang Qiuye, who was at the edge of the crowd, saw that Ji Ci was there too, and it seemed that he had brought the guards to capture someone.
Ji Ci's expression was cold, he just frowned slightly and said, "Take him to the Ministry of Justice."
The captain was stunned upon hearing this and hesitated before saying, "Ministry of Justice? These people are slandering the emperor and inciting the crowd. Shouldn't they be imprisoned? If it were the emperor, perhaps he would do so."
Ji Ci ignored the captain's words and just repeated, "Take him to the Ministry of Justice."
Seeing this, the captain didn't dare to say anything more. He just kept silent for a while. Looking at Ji Ci's sharp gaze, he bowed again and saluted. He turned around and ordered: "Take these people to the Ministry of Justice."
"yes."
The tied-up scholars were pulled hard by the armored guards and pushed away. Some of them had their hats off, some had their clothes disheveled, and all of them looked terrified.
When the scholar passed by Jiang Qiuye, Zhang Yi's eyes met Jiang Qiuye's for a moment, and then quickly looked away.
Just before leaving, he roared one last time, "We scholars are speaking out for the injustice we have suffered! We refuse to accept it!"
Seeing this, the armored guards in the rear struck Zhang Yi hard on the back with the hilt of their swords. He staggered and nearly fell, his face etched with agony. Seeing this, the people around him lowered their voices and angrily cursed the soldiers as "royal dogs."
After the scholar left, Ji Ci pulled the horse beside him, jumped on it, and galloped away, seemingly not noticing Jiang Qiuye who was buried in the crowd.
After the massive protest ended, the crowd gradually dispersed. The overturned tables and chairs outside the academy, and the scattered paper scraps and pens on the ground all spoke of the anger of the scholars.
Jiang Qiuye's eyes dimmed. After exchanging glances with Zhang Yi, she realized that this was information sent by someone.
The Chen Zheng incident happened not long ago, and he died in prison. How would outsiders know about it?
After Feiyan Pavilion obtained the information, it used this incident to incite the masses, stir up public anger and dissatisfaction with the Emperor of Dajin.
Just by looking at what Zhang Yi said just now, you can tell that this person is really powerful.
…
Four days later, Ji Ci finally returned to Prince Qi's Mansion. It was already late at night, with a dark moon and strong winds.
After hearing the noise, Jiang Qiuye immediately took the medicine meal box and went to the main courtyard. This time she remembered and did not go in directly, but informed the housekeeper first.
But the housekeeper said that Ji Ci was not in the main courtyard.
After a lot of effort, the person finally came back, but she didn't know where he went in the middle of the night. She could only wander around the door with the food box.
After searching for a long time, she finally saw a figure in a barren land covered with weeds in the corner of the palace.
Ji Ci sat quietly on a huge rock, looking at the wall in the distance, wondering what he was thinking about.
There was a lot of dew at night, and a lot of frost formed on the grass. After stepping on it, Jiang Qiuye's shoes gradually became wet.
Hearing the noise coming from behind, Ji Ci turned around and was a little surprised that the young widow had come here.
After seeing him turn around, Jiang Qiuye realized that Ji Ci was only wearing a thin moon-white nightgown under his cloak. It had no belt and was spread out, revealing a piece of pale skin.
Her hair was not combed neatly with a crown like usual, but only some of it was picked out and tied with a headband, giving her a youthful look.
He was holding a cup in his hand and seemed to have drunk some wine. His eyes were slightly blurry and his cheeks were slightly flushed.
"Why are you here? Didn't you say you were leaving?"
Jiang Qiuye was stunned for a moment, his face slightly embarrassed, and he murmured, "Wasn't that just what I said in anger?"
She tugged at her skirt and walked forward. Seeing that Ji Ci didn't let her leave, she sat down next to him. Looking at the sake on the stone table, she reached out and took it away, and then took the wine glass from his hand.
"Your Highness must not have eaten yet. Drinking on an empty stomach is harmful to your health."
After that, he took out the prepared noodles from the food box he brought, handed it to Ji Ci, and said softly: "Didn't I tell you about my secret recipe last time? This is the turtle noodles. I mix turtle meat into the noodles and serve it with turtle soup. I also put a lot of nourishing things in it. Your Highness, would you like to try it?"
Ji Ci's reaction was a little slow after drinking. He lowered his eyes to look at the noodles in the clear soup, which exuded a faint fragrance. The young widow's white and tender hands holding the bowl looked even more delicious than the noodles.
He was silent for a long time before reaching out to take it, and still elegantly swallowed the whole bowl of noodles, without leaving any soup or side dishes.
The original pain in his abdomen gradually dissipated, replaced by warmth and satisfaction, which made him sigh unconsciously.
Jiang Qiuye took back the empty bowl in her hand, took out a white silk handkerchief, and leaned over to wipe Ji Ci's mouth personally.
Ji Ci stared at Jiang Qiuye. Her golden hairpin swayed slightly in the moonlight, gleaming with tiny glints. The red mole behind her earlobe was particularly vivid in the moonlight. He took in the fragrant aroma that filled his nose, and a gentle touch touched the corner of his mouth, leaving a trace of lingering warmth and a movement in his Adam's apple.
After Jiang Qiuye stepped back, he felt a sense of loss for no reason.
"Your Majesty, are you in a bad mood today?"
"Yeah." He didn't deny it, his tone was unusually gentle.
"Your Highness, could you please tell me something? I am just a little girl. Although I cannot help you solve any problems, I can be a good listener. Some things can make you feel better after speaking them out."
"...Weren't you there that day?"
"That day?"
"Yes, Jingshan Academy."
That day, Ji Ci left without even glancing at her, and she thought she hadn't been noticed.
Jiang Qiuye blinked, smiled slightly, looked back at Ji Ci, and said softly, "Then let me guess. If I'm not good, Your Majesty, please don't be angry."
"Yeah." Ji Ci nodded.
"Your Highness wishes to clear General Dingbei's name, but the Pinghuai Campaign was incredibly complex. His Majesty has been suppressing the need for a retrial, out of... fear."
"...Afraid?" Ji Ci couldn't help but smile slightly after hearing this word. It was the first time he heard someone use such words to describe the emperor.
"If I'm not mistaken, the situation back then was not only Zhang Liang's doing, but also the emperor's." Jiang Qiuye looked at him carefully when he said this.
Ji Ci's eyes turned cold, but he remained silent.
Seeing that he didn't seem to stop her, nor did he mention himself, Jiang Qiuye continued, "Your Majesty is afraid that when the war is reviewed, your actions will be brought up, damaging the reputation of the royal family, right?"
"And Your Highness, you not only want to clear General Dingbei's name, but you also want to protect those twenty-three remonstrators and the group of scholars. But if you do that, you're going against the will of His Majesty, right?"
"Why do you think that I want to protect those scholars? Inciting the people and slandering and provoking the royal family are capital crimes." Ji Ci finally asked.
Jiang Qiuye pursed her lips and said with a faint smile: "Because Brother Jian Xi... is too kind."
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