Chapter 60: Water Dragon Song (Part 5)-2
After reading the letter from Yongzhou at the wonton stall that day, Zhang Jing immediately sent his martial artist steward, Liu Jia Rong, to Du’s residence. As luck would have it, he encountered Du Cong attempting to escape under cover of night.
Zhang Jing had once glanced at a letter Xu He Xue had sent back from the border to Prince Jia. The fourteen-year-old boy had mentioned a studious military officer in the letter. Zhang Jing remembered the name: Du San Cai.
Du Cong didn’t confess much, because he was still concerned about his wife and godfather and unwilling to reveal the identity of the person who helped him escape death and rise through the ranks to become a capital official.
“It wasn’t just Jiang Xian Ming who condemned your student. It was you, Minister Meng, it was me, a man who willingly accepted a much lower-ranking civil official as my godfather, it was the insatiable imperial clan! Even the Emperor!”
“But ironically, not the Danqiu barbarians.”
That night, perhaps prompted by Zhang Jing, Du Cong remembered the days when he had asked the young Jinshi to teach him how to read and write in the Hu Ning Army. He laughed and cried as he spoke these words, then smashed his head against the wall and died in front of Zhang Jing.
“I know, Your Highness, that in your heart, you really want to believe him. That’s why you can’t face him, can’t stay here. But are you truly going to leave?”
Zhang Jing watched as Prince Jia collapsed to the ground, almost kneeling. He didn’t hear Prince Jia’s answer, nor did he wait for one. He stood up, took the letter from Prince Jia’s hand, and walked towards the door.
“Teacher!”
Prince Jia’s panic was uncontainable. “Where are you going?”
Sunlight streamed through the vermillion lattice windows, falling on Zhang Jing’s shoulders. Prince Jia could only see his slightly hunched back. He heard his teacher say, “Yong Geng, today, I finally dare to pay my respects to him.”
What does it mean to pay respects?
What does it mean to pay respects?
Prince Jia couldn’t speak, his face wet with tears. He watched as the palace doors opened wide, his teacher’s figure gradually blurring in the sunlight.
He saw the outline of Zhao Wen Hall in the distance.
“Zhao Yong Geng, did the Empress forget to feed you again today? Why are you staring at my grapes like a little dog? Hahahahaha…”
“I thought you were so prestigious in the palace. Why are you like this?”
Eleven-year-old Zhao Yi was surrounded by several imperial children under the eaves of Zhao Wen Hall. They pushed and shoved him, throwing grapes and forcing him to pick them up.
He was angry and anxious, but all he could do was cry.
The tree in Zhao Wen Hall was huge, its shade covering a small patch of sky. Several pebbles shot out from within the shade, hitting the imperial children in front of Zhao Yi, making them cry out and clutch their foreheads.
He turned around and saw a boy about his age, dressed in a light green round-collared robe, playing with pebbles in his hand.
He almost thought he was mistaken. “Why are you here?”
“To study.”
The boy leaning against the tree trunk raised his chin slightly. “Zhao Yong Geng, either I come down and beat them up for you, or you beat them up yourself. Choose one.”
Zhao Yi remembered that he chose the former that day.
Princess Jia, Li Xi Zhen, entered the room and saw her husband slumped on the ground. She walked over silently, squatted down in front of him, and embraced him.
“Xi Zhen, if I hadn’t been attacked that year, perhaps I would have already burned those winter clothes for him,” Prince Jia hugged her tightly, sobbing. “Why didn’t I dare, why didn’t I dare later…”
Time had passed, the winter clothes were lost, and that person had been dead for sixteen years.
Zhang Jing left Zhong Ming Palace and headed towards the Department of State Affairs. Just as he entered the palace lane, he saw Meng Yun Xian running towards him, his face panicked as never before. Zhang Jing stopped, leaning on his cane, and waited for him to approach.
“Zhang Chong Zhi! Is Du Cong with you?”
Now, after meeting Dong Yao, Meng Yun Xian suddenly realized the gravity of his oversight. Seeing Zhang Jing, he demanded sharply.
“He’s dead.”
Zhang Jing replied calmly.
Meng Yun Xian hated his composure the most. His chest heaved. “You deliberately led me to believe you were rectifying official conduct, but you weren’t investigating officials, you were investigating the Daizhou grain supply case!”
Zhang Jing rarely saw him so angry. He didn’t respond, but simply handed the letter to Meng Yun Xian. “Meng Zhuo, I’m going to see the Emperor shortly. Keep this for me.”
Meng Yun Xian unfolded the letter, his face changing drastically, his lips trembling. “Chong Zhi, this is…”
“It’s true. Du Cong admitted it himself. This is the person who helped him escape death.”
“You showed this to His Highness Prince Jia?”
Meng Yun Xian finally found his voice.
“Since I sent him a letter asking him to return to the capital, I naturally couldn’t let him leave.”
“But Prince Jia…”
Even Meng Yun Xian couldn’t change Prince Jia’s mind. This letter would likely frighten him even more.
Zhang Jing shook his head. “Xu He Xue is different to him. Besides…”
He didn’t continue, only looking up at Meng Yun Xian. “Meng Zhuo, I’ve thought about it many times, even on my way to exile. If I hadn’t listened to your advice and insisted on keeping him, would he still be alive, like He Tong, like Prince Jia? I also wonder what he would be like if he had lived from his youth until now…”
“Du Cong said that it wasn’t only Jiang Xian Ming who condemned him, but also you and I.” Tears glistened in Zhang Jing’s eyes. “Those words cut me to the heart…”
These words also stabbed at Meng Yun Xian’s heart. He shuddered, remembering how, when he and Zhang Jing had wanted to empower military officials due to the urgency of the war, officials led by Wu Dai had slandered them to the Emperor, claiming they were acting in the interests of General Yu Jie, Xu He Xue.
“Chong Zhi…” Meng Yun Xian’s throat tightened. He was about to speak when he heard footsteps. He turned and saw Liang Shen Fu, the Chief Eunuch, leading several other eunuchs. He quickly tucked the letter into his robes and whispered to Zhang Jing, “Now that Qian Wei Yin is here, it’s not impossible for you to bring up the Daizhou grain supply case. But Chong Zhi, listen to me. Don’t implicate the Emperor in the grain supply case, don’t anger him, and don’t mention this letter yet. Now that we have this clue, wait for me to return, and we’ll discuss it together. Only by finding the mastermind behind the events of that year can we have a chance to make this public.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t be reckless today.”
Zhang Jing nodded. “After seeing the Emperor, let’s go get a shave on East Street.”
He then walked past Meng Yun Xian towards Liang Shen Fu and the others.
“Minister Zhang, the Emperor summons you to Qing He Palace.”
Liang Shen Fu was out of breath.
“Let’s go then.”
Zhang Jing said.
Knowing that Zhang Jing had difficulty walking, Liang Shen Fu personally supported him to Qing He Palace. Zhang Jing didn’t see Qian Wei Yin in the hall. According to Liang Shen Fu, the Emperor had already met with him.
“Your subject, Zhang Jing, pays his respects to Your Majesty.”
Zhang Jing bowed.
Emperor Zheng Yuan sat behind the screen, his voice betraying no emotion. “Liang Shen Fu, bring Minister Zhang a chair.”
Liang Shen Fu acknowledged the order and immediately had a eunuch bring a chair and place it behind Zhang Jing.
“You found Qian Wei Yin.”
Emperor Zheng Yuan spoke only after Zhang Jing sat down.
Zhang Jing lowered his head. “Your Majesty, if corrupt officials are not eliminated, it will harm the nation.”
“Minister Zhang’s words are not wrong. I saw a memorial today, stating that Minister Zhang owns thousands of acres of fertile land in your hometown of Zezhou. But I wonder, how did Minister Zhang, having only recently returned to court, acquire such wealth to support your entire clan?”
His voice was slow and deliberate, yet heavy with meaning.
Zhang Jing’s expression remained calm, as if he had anticipated this. He stood up calmly and knelt down. “Your Majesty, I truly do not possess such wealth. If any member of my clan has committed a crime, I implore Your Majesty to punish them severely.”
“Why would Minister Zhang do this?”
Emperor Zheng Yuan chuckled. “I still rely on you for the new policies. Qian Wei Yin is a criminal. The truth of his words is yet to be determined, isn’t that right?”
“Every word Qian Wei Yin said is true. Your Majesty, the Taoist palace you built in Daizhou was funded by the money they embezzled from the official grain supply. And Your Majesty has never even visited that Taoist palace.”
The smile vanished from Emperor Zheng Yuan’s eyes. “Zhang Jing.”
Zhang Jing heard the sound of an inkstone falling inside, then a hand lifted the screen. Emperor Zheng Yuan walked towards him, his voice laced with anger. “Are you blaming me?”
“I dare not. I am merely speaking the truth. Whether it’s the Mount Tai ceremony or building Taoist palaces, Your Majesty’s actions have only exhausted the people and wasted resources. In the twenty years of Your Majesty’s reign, countless Taoist palaces have been built throughout the land, but how many has Your Majesty, residing in Yun Jing, actually seen? If you had truly seen them, you would know the suffering of the people!”
“Has Your Majesty seen corpses floating in the water, starved to death? Have you heard that under your rule, countless people still suffer from hunger and cold, forced to eat tree bark and Guanyin soil? Do you know what Guanyin soil is? Do you know they are waiting for you, waiting for their Emperor, their father, to save their lives!”
Zhang Jing bowed his head and kowtowed.
Liang Shen Fu and the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall trembled, their knees buckling as they knelt, their faces covered in cold sweat.
Emperor Zheng Yuan’s heart stung. He staggered back two steps. Liang Shen Fu hurried to support him, but the Emperor shook him off and pointed at the kneeling Zhang Jing. “I see you… have no respect for your Emperor!”
Zhang Jing looked up, his hunched back, permanently bent from his years of exile: “Whether Your Majesty bestows thunder or rain, as your subject, I must accept it! But as a subject, though I do not fear death, I also hope that the Emperor I serve will allow us, his subjects, to die a worthy death!”
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