He was dazed, and the Crown Prince in distant capital was equally dazed. During today’s court session, a memorial from the Investigating Censor Shi of Nanjing stirred up tremendous waves. The memorial impeached the newly appointed Minister of Revenue for interfering in local governmental affairs and influencing the judgments of court-appointed officials. The language was extremely sharp, and it even directly criticized Emperor Jianzhang! It said Emperor Jianzhang had been deceived by treacherous ministers and petty scoundrels, bestowing favor upon thieves and frauds who stole renown through deception. It also said the imperial examination case had been tried unsatisfactorily, resulting in Old Master Chen being released to bring disaster upon Jinling.
That Censor Shi dared to speak and scold freely was something known throughout the realm. This reckless fellow only survived because Emperor Jianzhang was benevolent—had it been the Late Emperor or the King of Tai instead, he would have died a thousand times over, his corpse likely already rotted away.
But the Crown Prince hadn’t expected him to be such a fierce scold, and neither had the Cabinet—they’d actually allowed this memorial to reach Emperor Jianzhang’s presence. His heart hung suspended, thinking how he’d once thought there were still uses for Old Master Chen. Now he only felt regret for his past decisions.
Who would have known Old Master Chen couldn’t keep his composure—by all logic, Old Master Chen had weathered so many years of ups and downs, an old hand who should have learned to read situations properly. How could he do something so suicidal at this juncture? Going through all that trouble just to scheme against some young upstart from the Song family?! He truly deserved his misfortune!
He returned to the Eastern Palace and privately told his Crown Prince’s Senior Tutor Fu Youde: “Previously I thought him level-headed, who would have thought he couldn’t even endure this slight provocation, competing with a child like this? Even if Song Yan truly had been ruined by him, what benefit would it bring him?”
Fu Youde thought far more deeply than his Crown Prince. He stroked his beard and shook his head: “If Old Master Chen weren’t a reliable person, he wouldn’t have been able to drive Elder Zhang from the Cabinet together with the Song family back then, nor work for Your Highness for so many years. This matter may not be so simple. Your subject made a point to investigate the origins of this memorial. I heard that Censor Shi cursed him as a thief and sinister villain because he planned to have his subordinates instruct male prostitutes to kill Young Master Wang and then frame Young Master Song. This was clearly intended to provoke conflict between the Wang and Song families, so that the Wang and Song families would be at each other’s throats while he himself could remain safely on the sidelines watching the spectacle. Only…” Fu Youde saw the Crown Prince look toward him and continued: “Only perhaps he capsized in a gutter.”
The Crown Prince heard the implication in his words and frowned: “You mean this incident that Censor Shi is making a fuss about is connected to the Song family?”
This matter was indeed connected to the Song family. Since it involved his own grandson, Song Chengru couldn’t very well continue standing aside playing mute. That day when Emperor Jianzhang summoned the Cabinet, he waited for Emperor Jianzhang to finish scolding Censor Shi before stepping forward to report: “Your subject only has a vague understanding of the specific circumstances. That grandson of mine is still not very old, just eleven years of age—”
For Old Master Chen to actually contend with an eleven-year-old yellow-haired child, even wanting to frame him with a murderer’s reputation—it seemed his grudge against the Song family ran quite deep. Emperor Jianzhang looked at Song Chengru with an uncertain, gloomy expression and asked him: “Could it be that you somehow offended him in your daily interactions?”
Song Chengru honestly thought it over and asked hesitantly: “Could it be because of Her Majesty the Empress?”
Emperor Jianzhang became interested. “Oh?” he said, asking: “What does this have to do with the Empress?”
Song Chengru kept his gaze straight ahead, still maintaining a composed expression as he answered Emperor Jianzhang: “My humble wife made a trip into the palace last time. She said Her Majesty the Empress bestowed quite a few things upon my granddaughter who is far away in Jinzhong.”
Emperor Jianzhang gave a derisive laugh and didn’t continue questioning further. He ordered the Cabinet to draft a plan to have Old Master Chen escorted back to the capital for interrogation by the Ministry of Justice.
Minister of Justice Meng Jiming nearly worried himself to white hair. What he feared most was encountering matters involving Old Master Chen. The last imperial examination leaking incident had troubled him into an illness. Now stuck with this hot potato again, he truly had a splitting headache.
But headache or not, what needed to be tried still had to be tried, and it had to be done quickly. In Meng Jiming’s view, Emperor Jianzhang being scolded to his face by Censor Shi this time was still the lesser issue. If Censor Shi didn’t receive a result that satisfied him, he’d likely continue submitting impeachment memorials like death notices. By then who knows what he might say to make things even harder for Emperor Jianzhang to manage—this fellow truly feared no death. What had he said when he carried his coffin to court back then? That civil officials die remonstrating, military officials die in battle—that dying for speaking the truth was a proper death. Such a person, who’d made his actions known throughout the realm—Emperor Jianzhang normally feared provoking him.
Tao Dinghu had been dejected ever since Old Master Chen escaped guilt and was demoted to Jinling. Hearing this news, however, he couldn’t help but silently cheer—if you don’t kill the snake dead, endless troubles follow. He had damaging evidence held in Old Master Chen’s hands and truly dreaded this old man greatly. This time hearing that he’d stirred up such a major incident just after arriving in Jinling, Tao returned home and told his wife about it, then said: “His Majesty, to pacify the people’s hearts and also to compensate the scholars, specifically ordered that an imperial grace examination be held next year. Yet Old Master Chen still had to court death. This time His Majesty absolutely won’t let him off. Just wait and see.”
But before the Crown Prince and the court officials could await Old Master Chen’s arrival in the capital, they first received the Imperial Guard Commander Lai Chenglong who’d rushed back to the capital at breakneck speed—just Commander Lai returning alone wouldn’t be particularly urgent. Though he was escorting the imperial envoy back, after all there might be circumstances on the road, so returning first to report could be expected.
Of course, that was if the news Commander Lai reported didn’t make one’s entire body break out in goosebumps.
Commander Lai returned to report that the imperial envoy Grand Prince had been assassinated in Tianshui Town.
He’d already been assassinated once in Yangquan. Because of that assassination, the Emperor had specifically dispatched palace guards and Imperial Guards there, and specifically issued strict orders to local officials everywhere to strengthen vigilance. Even with all that, he’d been assassinated a second time?!
Within a day of Emperor Jianzhang summoning the Imperial Guard Commander, he ordered the Imperial Guard Commander together with Prince Zhennan who commanded the Capital Guards to rush to Huangjue Temple to arrest people.
The Grand Prince had been assassinated—why on earth arrest monks at Huangjue Temple? The entire capital was both alarmed and baffled. But at this critical juncture, no one dared to inquire recklessly. The Grand Prince had been assassinated twice, and they still didn’t know exactly what his condition was. No one had the courage to speak out of turn at this moment.
Only the Crown Prince who’d been urgently summoned into the palace because of this matter, along with Liangdi Fan and Prince Dongping remaining in the Eastern Palace, felt their hearts suddenly leap into their throats. Huangjue Temple! The Crown Prince knew of Huangjue Temple. He naturally also knew that Huangjue Temple was currently working for the Fan clan. Precisely because he knew this, he was frightened almost to the point his five organs burned with anxiety. As for Liangdi Fan and Prince Dongping, even more need not be said—these two both had guilty consciences. Hearing it concerned Huangjue Temple, their legs truly went weak.