Chapter 277
Chapter 277
“That’s right. I’m going to kill his whole family.”
“There’s a story behind this, isn’t there?”
“A mere bookseller sent his wife to warm an official’s bed.”
“Did he mess with you?”
“He messed with my brother.”
“Your brother? When did you get another brother? Wasn’t I your only one?”
“Just got one. He cured my illness.”
“Impressive!”
“So, are you going to help me or not?”
“I’ll help! But on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“From now on, you don’t get to fight me over a woman, alright? It’s not like you’re going to sleep with her anyway! You just stick to being a proper widow. Don’t learn how to grope women from me.”
“Fine! But if you keep sleeping around like that, you’ll run out of seed and die one day.”
“Dying while doing it is exactly what I want. Let’s go. To the Tianfeng Bookstore.”
“Let’s go! To kill a family!”
Two hours later.
The imperial envoy of the Great Yan Dynasty, Yun Mengze, led soldiers to the warehouse of the Tianfeng Bookstore and found three hundred copies of *Romantic History of the Eastern Fence*. State Preceptor Zhu Yue of the Great Yan Dynasty’s Bureau of Rites was furious and went to the palace to see King Ning Yuanxian before dawn. To the King, the owner of the Tianfeng Bookstore was clearly just a merchant. Thus, it didn't matter what conspiracy was entangled within.
‘Kill him. Kill his entire family.’
***
Outside the Grand Court of Revision.
Zhang Xun, the second son of Zhang Chong, knelt with a straight back. Everyone told him he had been kneeling for months and could stop now. They said he had done his filial duty, and that heaven and earth would be moved by his heart. Even the imprisoned Zhang Chong sent word for him to go home. But every day, after finishing his duties at the Censorate, Zhang Xun would arrive on time to kneel outside the Grand Court, sharing his father’s imprisonment from the outside.
Everyone whispered that Zhang Xun was putting on too good of a show.
‘We know you’re a filial son, but there’s no need for such a drama. Isn’t this a bit much?’
Zhang Xun would simply smile at such comments. People said you had to act to get by in the world of officialdom, but the Zhang Clan was a family of substance, not actors. His daily kneeling here was to genuinely accompany his father, not to theatrically display his filial piety to the world. However, he did need to constantly show his devotion to the King. Who knew? Perhaps seeing it would soften the King's heart and lead to his father's release.
‘If I kneel here like a statue every day, over time, I’ll become a topic of conversation and leave a deep impression. That way, His Majesty won’t forget my father. People feel sympathy for the pitiful and the weak. Only when the King’s heart softens will my father see the light of day again.’
Of course, this King was as cold and heartless as iron and stone, so softening his heart would be more difficult than the Foolish Old Man moving the mountains. But Zhang Xun was determined to persist in this difficult task. A very trying time passed, and the weather grew warmer. Now, he had no trouble kneeling and sleeping through the night.
Today, after he finished his duties at the Censorate, Censor-in-Chief Wang Chengchou held him back and told him to prepare a memorial. It was an impeachment memorial, charging that the Count of Xuanwu’s Estate had failed to properly raise its son, leading the heir, Jin Mucong, to run amok and rape a helpless commoner girl. Zhang Xun was puzzled to hear this.
‘Something happened to Jin Mucong?’
In fact, at that time, Jin Mucong had not yet been arrested by the Wannian County Yamen. Wasn't it laughable? Before Jin Mucong was even caught, before the rape had even occurred, some officials had already written their memorials impeaching the Jin Clan. Censor-in-Chief Wang Chengchou said:
“When it comes to grudges, no family holds a deeper one against the Jin Clan than the Zhang Clan. Therefore, you have every reason to write this memorial yourself. Our Censorate will let you be the lead author. We will place your impeachment memorial at the very front so that His Majesty will read it and know your loyalty. Wouldn't that also help your father?”
His intention was crystal clear. He wanted Zhang Xun to stand at the forefront of the impeachment against the Jin Clan. The Zhang and Jin clans had a blood feud, so it would be most fitting for him to lead the charge. Zhang Xun bowed, neither accepting nor refusing, and headed to the Grand Court of Revision to kneel. Censor-in-Chief Wang Chengchou called out after him.
“Write it fiercely, vehemently. That will prove I am worthy of backing you.”
That night.
Kneeling outside the Grand Court of Revision, Zhang Xun debated whether to write the impeachment memorial. He would not take the lead in submitting it. But if everyone else was writing one and he didn't, he would stand out in a different way. So, he had to write it, but it had to be ordinary, something that would get lost among the others. After all, the Zhang Clan had resolved its feud with the Jin Clan with a smile, and the death of his younger brother, Zhang Jin, had settled all scores. So, while kneeling on the ground, he wrote a lukewarm impeachment memorial. It was utterly unremarkable, a far cry from the usual standard of his memorials.
In the middle of the night.
A light flared in the sky.
“Where is that fire?”
A servant said, “That… that’s in the direction of the Ancestral Temple.”
Zhang Xun said, “Go, quickly, and take a look. There’s no need to get close and try to put it out; just observe the situation from a distance. See who is so audacious as to try and shake the world.”
A short while later, the old servant of the Zhang family returned and said, “Many people witnessed it. It was the work of warriors from the State of Jiang. After setting fire to the Ancestral Temple, they urinated on it, and then sang and danced like madmen. They have all been captured now.”
“Envoys from the State of Jiang?”
Zhang Xun was shocked and shuddered. A few things came to mind. If the envoys of Jiang burned the Ancestral Temple, who would benefit the most? The Jin Clan. Who would suffer the worst luck? The Su Clan.
“It couldn't be Shen Lang's doing, could it? Is… is he really that capable? If he really did this… his strategy and audacity are just too incredible!”
Zhang Xun’s hair stood on end. He had only ever heard of Shen Lang and had never met him, yet he felt as if he had just witnessed Shen Lang’s sharp, sword-like aura soaring to the heavens.
‘This man is too formidable to confront. It’s fortunate that our Zhang Clan has resolved all our grudges with him.’
Then, Zhang Xun tore the impeachment memorial against the Jin Clan to shreds. Not feeling secure enough even then, he burned the torn pieces to ash. He prostrated himself on the ground and began to write a new memorial. He scribbled furiously, and the resulting prose was like a fiery breath, a sharp sword-aura soaring to the heavens. He seemed like a completely different person from the one who had just written the memorial impeaching the Jin Clan.
This memorial displayed the full talent of Zhang Xun, who had passed the imperial examination, placing fifth in the second-class. Every character blazed with indignation, fervor, lament, and boldness. Reading his words, one would regret not being able to draw a three-foot sword and strike at the State of Jiang. The memorial was about seeking justice for the King, for the world, and for all scholars.
***
Though it was not yet dawn, Censor-in-Chief Wang Chengchou was already up and had washed his face. It couldn't be helped. The rank of his office was high, but it was a position that required poverty. Whether he was truly poor or just pretending was not the point; he had to project an air of poverty. The Censor-in-Chief’s job was entirely about criticizing others and pointing out their flaws. Therefore, only a poor man in that position would have the moral high ground to criticize others. For this reason, Lord Wang’s residence was relatively far from the palace, and he had to wake up very early every morning to attend court.
‘This is truly exhausting. The sky is still dark, yet this old man must rise.’
After breakfast, Wang Chengchou carefully reviewed the impeachment memorial he had written once more. This should be fine. It was sharp enough, even to the point of being called malicious. He had impeached the Jin Clan with great cunning.
What did this mean? It meant that when the Count of Xuanwu educated his son, he didn't teach him how to be a subject, but how to be a lord. In other words, this incident revealed that the Jin Clan was not upholding its duty as subjects and was not loyal to the monarch. Of course, the Censor-in-Chief's literary skill was high, so he didn't write it so bluntly, but that was the gist of it. In short, he was using Jin Mucong's rape of a commoner girl to imply that the Jin Clan had treasonous intentions. Wasn't that something? Regardless of evidence, he viciously asserted his suspicion of treason. But it couldn't be helped. That was the job of the Censorate.
‘No matter how small the matter, I can turn it into something enormous.’
Did this Wang Chengchou have a personal grudge against the Jin Clan? In fact, he had a small one. The King had once sent him to the Count of Xuanwu’s Estate to act as a witness when the Jin Clan handed over Misfortune Island to the Hidden Yuan Society. But in the end, he had been humiliated by Shen Lang. While Prince Ning Qi could force a smile, Wang Chengchou couldn't even manage that.
‘Who am I? The Censor-in-Chief. A man whose entire job is to criticize others and make them lose face. Yet I was the one who lost face.’
Of course, the slap from the Jin Clan was aimed at the Hidden Yuan Society, but it had reached Wang Chengchou's face as well. Alas! To think Shen Lang's face-slapping technique had ricocheted onto him. So, this Censor-in-Chief was determined to viciously attack the Jin Clan the moment he got the chance. Of course, he knew in his heart that this memorial wouldn't cause any real harm to the Jin Clan. The King was the one most worried about the Jin Clan turning against him now, so a memorial like this could, at most, prevent Jin Zhuo’s enfeoffment as a marquis.
“Depart!”
At the Censor-in-Chief's command, the sedan chair set off for the palace. His residence was very far from the palace, but leaving at this hour was still relatively early. However, it was necessary. He was the Censor-in-Chief, solely responsible for impeaching and criticizing others. Therefore, he had to arrive at the palace early to unify the censors' intentions.
He had to check beforehand whether all the censors had written sufficiently scathing impeachment memorials, whether anyone had tried to be clever, and once everything was confirmed to be in order, he would reorganize them and present them fiercely. He had to create a public outcry to ensure the Jin Clan's enfeoffment as marquis would be rejected. The Censor-in-Chief was the commander of this operation. It couldn't be helped. Why hadn't the Jin Clan established any influence at court?