Font Size:
After accompanying the Emperor in the Imperial Palace for half a day, the Empress Dowager returned to the Chang Le Palace as the sky darkened.
While serving Emperor Kang Cheng, Wei Zili had a look of wanting to speak but hesitated.
“Old man, just say what you have to say. Don’t put on this act in front of me,” Emperor Kang Cheng scolded with a smile, but his voice was very weak due to his frail health.
“Your Majesty, the main reason is that this servant received a note handed over by Lord Lu and doesn’t know whether to present it to you.”
Is it him? “Is it that guy Lu Desheng who handed the note to me to complain?” He must be feeling wronged since he was blocked from seeing me today.
Wei Zili hesitated.
“Not him?” Emperor Kang Cheng suppressed the smile on his face. “Bring me that note.”
“Your Majesty, when you read this note, please try not to get angry.”
“Nonsense, give it to me!”
Emperor Kang Cheng read the note and spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Your Majesty!” Wei Zili was shocked and quickly moved forward.
“Alright, alright—” Emperor Kang Cheng, furious, chuckled. “Truly my good uncle!” It turned out that the immortal masters who were refining pills for him were intentionally brought by his uncle! Ever since he discovered that the pills were not right, he had detained those immortal masters who were helping him refine pills.
When they were captured, those masters still insisted that what they did was a great merit and that he was about to achieve immortality.
He replied at that time, “Yes, I am about to achieve immortality, so I want to bring you all to become immortals together.”
Only then did those masters fall silent.
My dear uncle, since you are so eager to send me away, I will take you with me when I leave, how about that? The nephew and uncle, even if we go underground, we will still be relatives. Holding the note, Emperor Kang Cheng smirked ferociously.
Of course, he didn’t believe everything Lu Desheng said. He had his own judgment, and there were signs of this matter in the past.
“Wei Zili, destroy the second imperial decree in the plaque.” This was his guarantee to his birth mother, but now he didn’t want to keep it!
Emperor Kang Cheng remembered that his birth mother had never liked Lu Desheng because of his younger uncle. When she was young, she wanted to be close to this younger uncle, but she didn’t really like him.
“Yes!” Wei Zili shook his head inwardly. He knew what was written in that imperial decree. He could only say that the Empress Dowager had suffered a great loss this time.
After resting for an hour in the Changle Palace, the Empress Dowager thought about it and still couldn’t rest assured about the Emperor, so she returned to the Imperial Palace.
“Mother, I want to add a few more people to my list of funeral attendants. What do you think?” Emperor Kang Cheng asked.
Funeral attendants? The Empress Dowager, without hesitation, said, “As the Emperor, if you want people to serve you in the afterlife, it is only natural.”
“Even if the people I bring have somewhat inappropriate backgrounds?” Emperor Kang Cheng asked again.
The Empress Dowager dismissed it indifferently, “In this vast world, there is no land that is not the Emperor’s, and along the borders of the land, there are no subjects who are not the Emperor’s officials. Being able to serve the Emperor faithfully is their honor.”
“Good, with your words, we can rest assured. Mother, remember your words tonight.”
“Rest assured, if anyone dares to disobey, I will not let them off!”
“Then I can rest assured.”
Before long, the Empress Dowager deeply regretted the words she had spoken.
At the hour of You, the leader of the Imperial Guards, Lin Ran, was summoned to the palace by Emperor Kang Cheng.
About two quarters of an hour later, he came out of the Imperial Palace and couldn’t help but look up at the snowy sky, it was truly a night of killing in the snow.
The leader of the Left Imperial Guards, Sheng Huaixing, saw his leader coming out and greeted him, “Leader, what did the Emperor command?”
“A big task is at hand!” Lin Ran handed him a thick stack of documents, “The first three pages, the people listed on them are designated by the Emperor to be buried with. We need to handle this tonight. First, order the closure of the four gates of Chang’an City, then arrange for personnel to guard the various important roads, and finally select elite troops, gather enough manpower, and set off to work!”
This long list of names, the task is quite heavy, we must act quickly. Lin Ran thought to himself.
Sheng Huaixing took the documents, opened them, and found that it was quite long. The first three pages were the names of the court officials, while the following pages contained the reasons for their execution or the imperial edicts.
This kind of document, this kind of method, seemed strangely familiar.
As he quickly scanned through the list, Sheng Huaixing suddenly felt a headache. The Emperor really knew how to play, starting to gather people as soon as he was about to pass away.
The reason why he could remain so relaxed was mainly because he had quickly scanned the list and found that neither his family nor his relatives were on it. Most importantly, the names of his enemies were on it, tsk tsk.
Speaking of which, this was somewhat like the Book of Life and Death, once your name was on it, you wouldn’t live to see tomorrow. They were like the Grim Reaper leading the spirits of the dead, haha.
“Leader, where shall we go first?”
“Follow the order on the document.”
“Then it’s the residence of the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Xue Huaimin?”
“Let’s go!”
Xue Residence
When Xue Huaimin saw Lin Ran appearing with the Imperial Guards, he knew that tonight was his time of death.
“Lord Xue, the Emperor has issued an edict!”
Xue Huaimin and his family knelt down.
Lin Ran opened the documents and read, “By the grace of Heaven and the mandate of the Emperor, it is decreed: Xue Huaimin, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who should have upheld the duties of the court, set an example for the officials, led by example, and set a good example for future generations. Unexpectedly, he formed cliques, pursued personal gain, repeatedly violated the national laws, and committed unforgivable crimes! I deeply abhor his sins, now bestow a pot of poisoned wine for his execution! Execute immediately, without delay! Also, exterminate the Xue family! By this decree, I express my gratitude!”
Xue Huaimin smiled bitterly, his greatest crime was actually plotting to kill the Crown Prince. Although the Emperor did not explicitly mention it, he was not merciful at all.
He did not regret the choice he had made when he sought to become a successful official. He had plotted for the Fourth Prince, knowing full well it was a matter of life and death, and he had considered the consequences of failure.
Politics was so cruel, it was either you or me.
But now, the Fourth Prince hadn’t failed, he hadn’t achieved the position of a powerful minister, but he had ended up in this situation!
He hated the Fourth Prince for crossing the river and dismantling the bridge. Yes, it wasn’t even a case of killing the donkey after grinding the mill, but crossing the river and dismantling the bridge. At the same time, he also hated Xie Zhan for taking the credit and utilizing him. He knew that he had borne much of the anger that he should not have borne, all because of Xie Zhan!
Sheng Huaixing advised, “Lord Xue, please go on your way. We have important business to attend to, don’t waste time.” Their task tonight was heavy, and they had to act quickly at each house.
Hearing this, Xue Huaimin burst into laughter. After laughing, he said, “Young man, you have a future, I won’t make things difficult for you!”
With that, he picked up the poison wine from the tray, offered a salute towards the direction of the Imperial City, and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness! I am not alone in my path, everyone, I’ll go ahead!” With a gesture of his hand, he drank the poison wine in one gulp.
They say he was clever, and Xue Huaimin guessed what was going on when he saw the thickness of the document.
Lin Ran left some people behind to deal with the Xue family, and then led his men to the next house.
“Leader, which family is next?” Sheng Huai’an asked.
“The Xie family!” Lin Ran replied impatiently, “Don’t ask the obvious, didn’t you see the Book of Life and Death, or rather, the list of people to be buried with, just now?”
“Hahaha.” Sheng Huai’an laughed, “I was just about to say, this list of people to be buried with is a bit like the Book of Life and Death of the King of Hell, we are like the Black and White Impermanence.”
“Less chatter, hurry up.”