Chapter Thirty: Murder and Silence

  In the cold garden of Yongwangfu, I wore a brocade robe and sat in the middle of the pavilion. The spring flowers in the garden had withered, but the trees were lush and verdant, exuding elegance. I got up early today to admire the morning sun, and Xiaoshunzi was worried that I would catch a chill, so he insisted that I wear the brocade robe. As I gazed at the rising sun and the clouds of dawn, my heart had only one thought - him.

  Xiao Shunzi saw that I was silent, and the four guards had already been dismissed, so he walked up to me and said faintly: "Is the young master still worried about what Prince Yong said?"

  I let out a soft sigh and said: "Xiao Shunzi, you say that Princess Chang Le really has feelings for me, but why have I never felt it?"

  Young Master, you have never been close to a young woman. Every day, you either read books or appreciate the scenery. Even with your wife, it was she who took the initiative. Princess, you are dignified and chaste, and have never expressed your feelings. It's no wonder that Young Master is unaware of this. I think Princess has a liking for you, otherwise, she wouldn't spend her days playing with your poetry. As for the matter in Southern Chu, I think Princess already knows some truth about it, but nobody else does. Moreover, if not for Princess's Half-branch Mysterious Lotus, Young Master would have lost his life long ago. If one says that Princess has no feelings for you, I wouldn't believe it. However, Princess probably also shares the same thoughts as you, which is why she never expresses them. Young Master, don't you also have a special feeling towards Princess? These are all things that Xiao Shunzi has observed and kept in his heart. It's just that both of you are constrained by your positions as monarch and subject, so you don't dare to express your true feelings to each other.

  I glanced at Xiaoshunzi faintly and said: 'Are you blaming me for being burdened by fame, unwilling to accept the princess's feelings?'

  Xiao Shunzi remained silent, apparently in agreement. I sighed and said: "I, Jiang Zhe, am not a person who cherishes fame, but there are some things that absolutely cannot be done. Last time, when Qin Qing questioned me, I didn't say a single false word. Although the princess and I have different social status, it's not because of this reason that I refused this marriage proposal. If I really had feelings for her, nothing could stop me. However, you should know that the princess never said she wanted to marry me, which means that even if she has feelings for me, she absolutely doesn't want to violate etiquette and morality. In that case, how can I follow King Yong's intention and propose to her? That would tarnish the princess's reputation. Although it may be difficult to speak out against the imperial family's authority, written records are unforgiving. I don't want the princess to have a tainted name in history. Moreover, the princess and I only met a few times, how can we know if she truly loves me?"

  Xiao Shunzi said in a low voice: 'The young master is right, it was this slave's misunderstanding.'

  I said calmly: "These are still my personal feelings, if it's from an official standpoint, I'm a southern Chu surrendered minister, what qualifications do I have to ask for the princess's hand in marriage? Even if Emperor Yong agreed in person, he would probably send someone to kill me soon after. Although Emperor Yong is letting the princess choose, his heart probably only wants her to marry one of Great Yong's heroes. Moreover, if I were to do something like this now, I'm afraid it would implicate King Yong, am I a person who harms the public for personal gain? Besides, you're not clear about my physical condition, are you? If anything unfortunate happens, how can the princess bear it?"

  Xiao Shunzi remained silent for a while before saying: 'I only hope that you will not be lonely for the rest of your life, young master.'

  I smiled slightly and said: 'After helping King Yong ascend to the throne and avenging my wife's death, I will let go of everything. If my body recovers by then, I will marry a virtuous and gentle woman as my wife. What do you think?'

  Xiao Shunzi smiled and said: "Of course that's good, I'll wait for you to marry the mistress and then have a little master."

  I let out a sigh of relief and fell back into the chair, saying: "The King of Yong should have also come to his senses by now, so he won't be coming to pressure me. By the way, what's the situation outside?"

  Xiao Shunzi said with a strange expression: 'Young master, do you want to hear good news or bad news?'

  I smiled wryly and said: "Let's hear the bad news first."

  Xiao Shunzi said: "This bad news is that a big thing has happened in the capital, now everyone goes to watch the excitement, but no one pays attention to the prince's actions."

  I furrowed my brow and said: "What's such a big deal that it has shifted everyone's attention in the imperial court?"

  Xiao Shunzi said: "This matter was originally a Jianghu matter, Master, do you know about the Guanzhong Alliance?"

  I said: 'Remember, Lianzhu Sha Qingyuan, his daughter Sha Zijing is a disciple of Fengyi Gate, the largest gang in Chang'an.'

  Xiao Shunzi said: "To say, the young master and they had a brief encounter. The other day, Sha Qinxin went to Xianyang to visit her grandmother, but was killed by someone. It is said that she died very miserably. The female disciples of Fengyimen, even if their martial arts are not good, have practiced a kind of martial art called 'Meteorite Killing Technique'. This is the personal creation of the master of Fengyimen, which is based on the flexibility characteristics of women's bodies. It is used for close combat and can be used to the extreme. When those female disciples encounter strong enemies and have no way to escape, they use this technique. Even if they cannot kill their enemies, they can die together. Now it seems that it was a pity at the time. Liang Yuanyu did not dare to act rashly for fear of hurting the princess, so she did not use this martial art. In short, after Sha Qinxin's death, both the Guanzhong League and Fengyimen were doing their best to catch the murderer, but the murderer caused a series of tragic cases. In the past ten days or so, many women in Xianyang have died again, and the murderer has shown signs."

  I said: 'In that case, relying on the power of Fengyimen and Guanzhonglian, we should be able to capture and execute this person quickly.'

  Xiao Shunzi shook his head and said, "Originally, the Phoenix Gate was not in full strength, so this person ran amok in Xianyang without any restraint. Now that the Phoenix Gate's main force has arrived, this person has already escaped."

  I frowned and said: 'How could this matter attract the attention of the officials in the court?'

  Xiao Shunzi let out a bitter laugh and said: "The deceased women all had signs of being drained of their energy, so people in the jianghu suspected that Mo Zong's people had re-entered Zhongyuan. When Mo Men's sect leader Jing Wuji went to the great desert, Mo Men's disciples also followed him, and those who didn't leave all changed their names and hid. One branch of Mo Men, 'Lian Xiang Pai', was especially skilled at draining energy. If Mo Zong reappears, it means Jing Wuji might re-enter Zhongyuan. Now he is already the State Master of Beihan, his comeback may symbolize that Beihan will launch a large-scale attack soon. If so, how can the court's civil and military officials not be concerned about this matter? That's why nobody remembers the Jin Xiu Alliance anymore."

  I unconsciously fanned myself with a folding fan and asked: 'What's your view on this?'

  Xiao Shunzi said: "I don't think it's strange for the Mo Gate disciples to stay in Zhongyuan. If they weren't here, that would be strange. Moreover, the people of Mo Gate are secretive and their whereabouts are unknown. Although there have been rumors about them from time to time over the years, they were all just hearsay. So I think it's possible that Fengyi Gate is using this as an excuse to divert everyone's attention."

  I sneered and said, "The power of the Demon Gate has already infiltrated Beihan. If Jing Wujie wants to compete with Fan Huiyao, relying on martial skills is meaningless. The key to their victory or defeat might be who unifies the world first. As soon as the Crown Prince's incident occurred, the Demon Gate appeared, and they really know how to seize the opportunity. Since that's the case, I'll join in on the fun. Xiao Shunzi, do you know what the Minister of Revenue, Liang Jian, is secretly doing now?"

  Xiao Shunzi said: 'He is now atoning for his crimes, but the information from Prince Yong's mansion is that the Crown Prince is arranging to take over his power, and Liang Jian has been placed under house arrest.'

  I smiled slightly and said: 'Has the matter of Huo Jicheng been handled properly?'

  Xiao Shunzi laughed and said, "This is the good news I wanted to tell you, Master. Huo Jicheng has disappeared, but he left behind a fake corpse to cover his tracks. Now, Fengyimen and the Crown Prince are searching for him everywhere, but unfortunately, they can't find any trace of him. The secret camp has already sent over Huo Jicheng's token."

  I stood up and said: 'Then you go and do something, go kill Liang Jianqian, don't use your hands, use poison. This way, what will everyone think?'

  Xiao Shunzi said with a strange expression: "Of course it was the prince who killed him to silence him, this plan of yours is truly vicious."

  I smiled and said, "This is exactly what I had in mind. I still have something to entrust to you. Huo Jicheng will not die; although he has died physically, his spirit will live on in the hearts of others. This is also how I repay him for letting me obtain the hundred million gold and silver. You must not tarnish his reputation."

  Xiao Shunzi suppressed a smile and said: "Don't worry, young master. I will definitely make Huo Jicheng the prince's nightmare."

  I warned him: "Be careful, if you are exposed, I will be in trouble."

  "Don't worry, if we can't beat them, we'll run. I absolutely won't let them catch us."

  I still had some worries, but thinking that I would arrange for Jing Chi and the others to receive her made me feel at ease. Just as I was about to instruct a few more sentences, Xiao Shunzi laughed at me for being fussy, but then we heard footsteps in the distance. From the sound alone, I knew it was Prince Yong who had arrived. He should have come to apologize, and I needed to give him an opportunity to do so. I waved my hand to let Xiao Shunzi retreat, and waited for Prince Yong to approach. However, Prince Yong's face wore a difficult-to-express sorrow, and my heart stirred as I asked: "Your Highness, why are you so grieved?" Li Zhi replied bitterly: "Today, the Princess insisted on leaving the palace to cultivate her mind at Wucheng Temple. The Emperor and Empress Dowager tried to dissuade her but ultimately had to agree, only forbidding her from becoming a nun." My heart shook, and I couldn't say another word. Looking into Prince Yong's ardent eyes, I said calmly: "Your Highness, one cannot force fate. Perhaps the Princess seeking Buddha is where she can find peace and happiness."

  Li Zai let out a faint sigh and said, "Let's not talk about it anymore. As long as the princess doesn't become a nun, there will always be room for maneuver in the future. What should we do next? The marriage between Qin Qing and Princess Jingjiang was really disappointing."

  I smiled and said, "Your Highness doesn't need to worry. For now, please show more courtesy to the Qin family. Otherwise, if they join the Crown Prince's side, it would be a disaster. I think General Qin is not so foolish, and there are still several young masters in the Qin family."

  Li Zai's eyes lit up, but he didn't say a word. I knew that when it came to these things, he knew better than me what to do. At this moment, I saw Jing Chi sneaking around in the shadows, probably because he had slipped out last night. Who made Hanshuang restrain him so badly? I originally thought of pretending not to see him, but then I changed my mind and said: "General Jing, why don't you come over and pay your respects to His Highness?"

  Jing Chi slowed down his pace, walked over, and bowed to the prince in a dignified manner. I smiled and said: "Your Highness wants you to compose a poem, what do you think?"

  Jing Chi opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to do. The King of Yong smiled and said: "I heard you've learned how to write poetry, I'm very interested. Let's do this, I'll give you a topic. By the way, where were you going just now?"

  He awkwardly said: 'I went out to gamble last night and now I'm back and want to go to sleep.'

  Li Zai glared at him and said: "Alright, you can write about sleep then."

  Jing Chi thought for half a day and said: "The Buddha sleeps well."

  Li Zai burst out laughing and said: "This is indeed interesting, it seems you've been to see the reclining Buddha at Dahua Temple."

  Jing Chi hastily said: 'Yes, yesterday Mou and General Chang Sun went to the Dahua Temple. Because it was too late, they didn't come back.'

  I smiled and said: "Alright, no need to explain. Continue with the poem. If you can come up with a poem, I'll spare you; otherwise, I'll make you copy military texts for a whole day."

  Jing Chi hastily said: "There is, one sleep and all things are done. I want to imitate his sleep." Upon reading this, he couldn't think of the last sentence no matter what.

  Li Zai smiled and said, "This second sentence is somewhat like a poem, barely passable. What's the last one? Jing Chi, if you can't come up with it, Mr. Jiang will lose."

  Jing Chi's mind went blank, thinking that if Mr. Jiang lost, he might not be able to sleep tonight. He thought and thought but couldn't come up with anything, only remembering the cold sweat on his forehead. Li Zhi smiled slightly and said: "If you can't think of it, then forget it. You're a general who can conquer the world, but writing poetry is probably not your thing."

  At this time, Jing Chi's mind moved and he remembered that every time Jiang Zhe told him stories, he often mentioned the phrase "Jing Hu Chen, sweeping wolf smoke". So he said: 'No one sweeps the wolf smoke.'

  Li Ze and I were both stunned. Actually, I had never thought of winning against Yong Wang, but unexpectedly, Jing Chi really came up with a poem.

  Li Zai said: "The Buddha sleeps well, one sleep and all things are done. I want to imitate his sleep, but the wolf smoke has no one to sweep it away. Good, good, this last sentence is a stroke of genius, revealing the heroic nature, King Li is convinced and admires." After speaking, he took off his jade pendant and handed it to me, saying: "If Yun can teach Jing Chi to learn poetry in more than half a month, Li Zai will be impressed."

  I took the jade pendant, smiled wryly and said: "Jing Chi, this jade pendant was lost to me by His Highness, I'll lend it to you as a gift, but if you can't compose a poem, it's me who will lose face."

  With a humble and respectful attitude, he accepted the jade pendant and said: 'Thank you, sir, for your gift.'

  I smiled and shook my head, what can I say? This rough general has really made me look at him in a new light. Originally, I thought of intentionally losing to the Duke of Yong and giving this defensive jade belt to the Duke of Yong, but it seems that's not possible this time.

  Yongning Fang, the Minister of Revenue, Liang Jin, gazed at the solitary lamp, his heart filled with desolation. He was an old fox who had navigated the treacherous waters of officialdom for many years, and he knew how to read the signs of fortune and misfortune. Since the exposure of the Ministry of Revenue's smuggling case, he had understood the underlying causes and effects. The so-called investigation by Cui Yang was actually a ruse, a ploy orchestrated by the Crown Prince himself to smuggle goods, while Liang Jin had been deliberately kept in the dark from the start. Although he had not been dismissed from his post, he knew that his future was bleak, as the Crown Prince was busy taking over his power and influence. He felt a deep sense of injustice and wanted to expose the Crown Prince with the evidence he had secretly recorded, but he hesitated, knowing that the bonds between ruler and subject, father and son, were too strong. What's more, he couldn't fathom why the Crown Prince would want to abandon him, until he thought of his brother-in-law, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that all records of his clandestine dealings had vanished into thin air. At this moment, he was like a man drenched in cold water on a winter's night, shivering with fear, thinking about the fate that awaited him after his death - his wife and children would be doomed to suffer. He wanted to flee immediately, but where could he go? The whole world was under the Emperor's rule, and he had nowhere to escape. Before he could think of a plan, an assassin from the Fengyi Gate appeared beside him. It was a woman in plain clothes, with a beautiful face but an aura of deadly intent. As she held his beloved child in her arms, Liang Jin surrendered, handing over all his powers according to her instructions. Now, he was a useless man, placed under house arrest by the Crown Prince. He knew that once the dust settled, he would either be executed for smuggling military equipment or stripped of his rank and left to die on the road. He could accept death, having lived a life of luxury and pleasure, but what about his family? In less than half a month, his hair had turned white, and his well-preserved face had become gaunt and haggard.

  He was deep in thought when the door to his study was quietly pushed open and a man dressed in black walked in. Liang Jin saw him with a glance, but didn't seem surprised, coldly saying: "Are you here to take my life? I've been waiting for a long time already. Actually, that young lady has always been in the rear residence, wouldn't it be more convenient for her to kill me?"

  The man in black closed the door and said: 'If you die, you will also implicate your family. Don't you want to resist?'

  Liang Jian's heart skipped a beat at this sound, which was soft and pleasant to the ear, but not like an ordinary person. He raised his head and looked towards the man's face, who had a black scarf covering his face, revealing only a pair of icy eyes that pierced through his bones.

  He slowly said: 'I am well aware of it, but now I am deeply trapped in the net and have no strength to struggle.'

  That person gently lifted his veil, revealing a face as clear as ice and snow. He smiled slightly and said: "Death can be lighter than a feather or heavier than Mount Tai. If you die under the king's law, not only will your family be implicated, but it will also benefit the treacherous people. If you are willing to take your own life, I can guarantee that your family will be able to live out their lives in peace and that in future generations, if there is a worthy descendant, they may obtain honor and fame."

  Li Jian's eyes lit up, and he said, "If I were to take my own life, perhaps those people would not trouble my family." However, how could this be guaranteed? He really did not dare to believe in the credibility of the Crown Prince. After a long time, he said, "You are the Crown Prince's person, if I were to take my own life, can you really let the Crown Prince spare my family?" His tone was full of doubt.

  That person smiled lightly and said: "The prince's promise is not guaranteed, but can you trust the promise of King Yong?"

  Liang Jin said in great surprise: 'You are a person of Prince Yong's palace.'

  That person said calmly: 'The King of Yong knows that you have done a lot for the Crown Prince, but now the Crown Prince is ready to abandon you. Your family and children will become sacrifices. If you are willing to take your own life, the King of Yong will arrange for them to settle in Youzhou. The king's word is as good as gold, he will not deceive you.'

  Liang Jian pondered deeply, his mind racing with thoughts. Finally, he said: "I believe in the sincerity of Your Highness, the Prince of Yong. If I had followed you earlier, things would not have turned out this way." He then took out a new booklet with ink still wet and said: "I once kept an account book of the Crown Prince's misappropriation of silver from the Ministry of Revenue, but it was taken away. This is what I've written down from memory over the past few days. I hope it will be useful to Your Highness."

  He took the booklet and said seriously: "Your Highness will thank you for your kindness, this is crane top red, you absolutely won't suffer, I know you want to say goodbye to your family, but I can't take risks, so I'm troubling you, if you have any last words, you can write them down."

  Liang Jianqian smiled slightly, picked up his pen and wrote a short letter. Without sealing it, he handed it to the man and said with a smile: "The officials of my dynasty have committed capital crimes, and the Emperor often grants them the 'Crane's Top Red' (a poison). The Prince of Yong is indeed cunning, please inform His Highness that I believe in his promise." After finishing speaking, he drank it all at once, and within a moment, blood flowed from his seven orifices and he died.

  He opened it and saw two lines of neat handwriting on it.

  Do not be greedy for wealth and lose your reputation, do not love power and lose your life.

  Liang Jin's final stroke

  Wu Wei 24 years Jia Xu June 2nd

  The second part is complete.

  The third part of the struggle for the throne will be updated from Monday, and I'll take a two-day break to recharge. Since I have class today, I'm posting this ahead of schedule; otherwise, it would've been 9 pm already.