Chapter 178: Emperor! You And Your Ministers Are Even More Exquisite Than Jue Wei Duck Neck! 【seeking Monthly Tickets】
“Noon is approaching!”
Liu Sanwu, designated by Old Zhu as the execution supervisor, said to Jiang Huan, who was in charge of security at the execution ground. The latter nodded.
Liu Sanwu immediately raised his command token: “Bring in the prisoner!”
The official in charge of the execution was Commander Chang Sen of the Five City Patrols. He waved the red flag in his hand and shouted hoarsely: “Bring in the prisoner—!”
With the rumbling of wheels, Song Zhong led a team of Imperial Guards and a prisoner cart into the execution ground.
All the onlookers knew that, by this point, Zhang Biao was destined to die.
Therefore, the old soldiers who had received his favors, along with their families, and the five of them including Shen Lang, all knelt down and cried out:
“Censor Zhang for ten thousand years—!”
“May Censor Zhang have a good journey—!”
“Brother Biao—! Take care—!”
The sound waves, like a mountain’s roar and the sea’s surge, thunderously echoed and stirred in the sky above the West Market Execution Ground.
Liu Sanwu felt fear and panic for the first time in his life.
The surging sound waves from all directions were like a tide that was about to press down from the sky, sweep him away, and engulf him.
In the end, he could not help but slam his hand on the long desk in front of him and roar, “What propriety is there in such conduct? Who ordered this?”
Jiang Huan glanced at him indifferently and said in a flat tone, “Grand Scholar, you have seen many hardships and read many books. Why are you so panicked?”
“I…”
Just as Liu Sanwu was left speechless by the retort, a sudden burst of angry shouts erupted from the viewing platform on the east side of the execution ground:
“Zhang Biao, traitor to the nation! Slandering Sacred Learning! Disturbing court affairs! He deserves to die!”
“Now that he is facing death, he is still causing trouble and inciting the masses. His heart is truly to be condemned!”
“Fortunately, the Emperor is wise and was not deceived by this monster. At noon three quarters, he will be executed according to the law! Are you mourning for a traitor to the nation by doing so? Are you trying to confirm that you are his accomplice?!”
Boom!
The entire crowd gasped at this pronouncement!
Many people looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was a middle-aged man in a blue scholar’s robe.
His face was solemn, carrying an arrogance unique to scholars, which made people sigh.
“It’s Master Fang! Master Fang is right!”
“Exactly! Such a monster must be executed! Otherwise, he will continue to harm the country and the people!”
“That’s right! If Zhang Biao is not killed, it will not be enough to appease the public anger, nor to clear the name of our ‘Sacred Learning’, nor to bring peace to the scholars of the empire!”
As Fang Xiaoru finished speaking, many scholars and students echoed his words.
The execution ground immediately became divided into two extremes, a noisy and bustling scene.
This made many of the observing civil and military officials, dukes, marquises, and nobles, including Emperor’s grandchildren Yunwen, Yunwen’s siblings, Zhu Gaochi and his brothers, and Li Jinglong, Guo Ying, and others, look at each other in bewilderment.
…
And in stark contrast to the almost boiling commotion at the West Market Execution Ground, deep within the Eastern Palace, in the hall where Consort Lü resided, there was a deliberately maintained, suffocating peace.
Yunwen paced back and forth in the study, his still youthful face flushed with an unhealthy redness from excitement.
He clutched a copy of the Analects in his hand, but could not read a single word.
The muffled sounds of the crowd outside scratched at his heart like cat’s claws.
“He’s dead… That madman Zhang Biao is finally going to die!”
He suddenly stopped pacing, his voice sharp with excitement:
“Mother! Did you hear the commotion outside? Noon, three quarters! It’s today!”
“That traitor who deceived the masses with his demonic words, slandered Imperial Grandfather, and framed ministers, is finally to be executed according to the law!”
He grew more agitated as he spoke and turned to rush out: “I want to go and see! I want to personally witness that madman’s head fall! See if he can still be so arrogant…”
“Stop—!”
A cold and stern command, like a basin of cold water poured over him, instantly extinguished Yunwen’s excitement.
Consort Lü sat on the main seat, her fingers twisting a string of agarwood prayer beads. Her face was so calm it was almost rigid.
But if one looked closely, they would notice that the fingertips twisting the prayer beads were slightly white from the force, and her well-maintained eyes were currently surging with emotions far more complex and profound than her son’s.
“What are you going to do?”
Consort Lü’s voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable authority:
“Go and watch the fun? To display your ‘hatred of evil’? Or to… let everyone see how delighted you are by Zhang Biao’s death?”
Yunwen was startled by his mother’s question and instinctively retorted, “I… shouldn’t I be happy? He slandered Imperial Grandfather like that, and disrupted the court…”
“You should be! But you should remember your identity even more!”
Consort Lü interrupted him, her gaze sharp as a knife: “You are the legitimate son of the Crown Prince, the Imperial Grandson whom the Emperor has placed great hopes on! How can your joys and sorrows be revealed on your face and shown to others?!”
She took a deep breath, suppressing the equally irrepressible urge in her heart to personally witness Zhang Biao’s downfall, and her tone softened, but became even more solemn:
“Yunwen, don’t you understand yet? Today’s execution ground, while seemingly a place to execute a prisoner, is actually… a Shura field set up by your Imperial Grandfather!”
“He is watching, watching everyone’s reactions!”
“Why were your brother Yun Teng, and sisters Mingyue and Mingyu, granted permission to watch the execution?”
Consort Lü’s voice lowered further, with a hint of coldness: “That is your Imperial Grandfather’s… perhaps pity, perhaps a test!”
“They lost their parents, and Zhang Biao helped the Crown Prince find the truth. It is natural for them to show some sadness or reluctance.”
“But what about us?”
Her gaze locked onto her son:
“We mother and son, though now honored in the Eastern Palace, are in fact treading on thin ice! Your Imperial Grandfather’s thoughts are as deep as the sea!”
“He could purge the court for your father the King and imprison a prince today, but who knows if tomorrow he might, due to a slight suspicion, also…”
She did not finish her sentence, but Yunwen was already so frightened that his face turned pale, and he subconsciously took half a step back.
Consort Lü looked at his frightened expression, a trace of pity flashed in her heart, but more so, a sense of determination.
She had to make her son understand the dangers of the imperial court.
“At this moment, who knows how many eyes are secretly watching us mother and son!”
She said, word by word:
“If we show the slightest impatience or joy, what will it be interpreted as by those with ulterior motives? Will it be twisted into a guilty conscience?”
“Or… gloating over certain purged factions?”
“One wrong step, and it will be eternal damnation!”
Consort Lü’s voice carried an bone-chilling coldness:
“Your father the King… his death was unclear. We are trying to avoid this mire, how can we throw ourselves into it?!”
Yunwen was completely shocked by his mother’s words, his excitement turning into after-fear and coldness.
He mumbled, “Then… then we…”
“We will be here.”
Consort Lü sat up straight again, regaining her dignified and serene demeanor. However, the prayer beads in her hand twisted faster:
“Read, meditate, and pray for your father the King. Everything outside is irrelevant to us.”
She closed her eyes, as if to calm the storm within her, but countless thoughts uncontrollably flashed through her mind.
Zhang Biao… this sudden variable had disrupted all her plans.
The storm he stirred up, while purging the forces of the Kings of Qin and Jin, objectively cleared some obstacles for her Yunwen, but it also pushed the Eastern Palace and the Crown Prince’s death back into the spotlight.
Did she hate Zhang Biao? Naturally, she did.
She hated his loose tongue, hated him for stirring up trouble, and hated him for possibly… knowing something.
But more than that, it was a deep sense of apprehension and hope.
Die… Zhang Biao, hurry up and die!
As long as you die, perhaps many secrets can be buried forever.
Only when you die can this court slowly return to peace.
After you die, my Yunwen can peacefully… ascend to the throne of Imperial Grandson!
She suppressed all her surging ambition, fear, and murderous intent beneath that mask of gentleness, kindness, frugality, and politeness.
At this moment, she was not the widow of the Crown Prince who might know certain secrets, but merely a grieving widow and a dutiful daughter-in-law.
“Yunwen!”
She opened her eyes, her gaze already restored to calm:
“Put away your thoughts and study well. You are your father the King’s son, and you will have to shoulder great responsibilities in the future. Do not let minor things cause major losses.”
Yunwen looked into his mother’s unfathomable eyes. He seemed to understand but not fully, but ultimately, fear prevailed. He responded in a low voice:
“Yes, Mother, your son understands.”
He returned to his desk and picked up the copy of the Analects, but felt as if the words on it had turned into Zhang Biao’s mocking face.
Outside the hall, the midday bells faintly rang.
The hand twisting the prayer beads, Consort Lü, paused almost imperceptibly.
It’s almost over… is it?
She thought silently, but in the depths of her eyes, a barely perceptible deep worry about the future flickered.
Although Zhang Biao was dead, would the tempest he stirred up truly subside with the fall of his head? She did not know.
She only knew that from now on, she had to be more careful, more patient.
For herself, for her son, and even more so for the thorny path leading to the pinnacle of power.
……
Seeing that the execution ground was still noisy and the midday bells had rung, Liu Sanwu and Jiang Huan exchanged a look. Knowing they could not delay any longer, they resolutely made up their minds.
“Bring the prisoner to the execution platform—!”
Liu Sanwu stood up and shouted loudly, as if afraid Chang Sen could not hear his order.
Clang!
As they approached the execution platform, the prisoner cart slowly stopped, and an Imperial Guard immediately opened the door of the cart.
Zhang Biao, with a smile on his face, alighted and lightly stepped onto the execution platform, sitting down calmly before the guillotine.
“Announce the decree!”
Liu Sanwu shouted until his voice was hoarse, but he could not hear his own voice at all.
Jiang Huan nodded to an edict-announcing eunuch, who quickly held up a roll of imperial yellow edict and read loudly:
“By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees—!”
“Wait a moment!”
Zhang Biao, standing before the guillotine, suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice clear and resonant, instantly drowning out all the noise at the execution ground.
Everyone present was stunned by the sound and their gazes all focused on him.
Even Jiang Huan, who was high up on the execution supervisor’s platform, knitted his brows almost imperceptibly.
Zhang Biao was seen straining to turn his neck, sweeping his gaze across the viewing platform, and finally settling on Jiang Huan, a look of extreme innocence, even a hint of grievance, on his face.
“Commander Jiang! Something’s not right!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs, his tone like that of an old farmer haggling at a market:
“I’m about to embark on my journey, how can the Emperor let me go naked?”
Go naked?
The words caused a collective gasp of astonishment!
Even Shen Lang and the old soldiers, who were secretly wiping away tears, forgot their sorrow and stared at him, dumbfounded.
Zhang Biao paid no mind to what others thought and began counting on his fingers, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear:
“Look, when I was alive, I was at least a ‘Censor’, even held a high position like ‘Grand Censor’. Although I never received a single coin of salary from the court, I did ‘labor’ for the Great Ming, didn’t I?”
“When I die, I should at least have some burial goods, so that when I meet King Yama, I can have something to talk about, to show that our Great Ming is dignified, and our Great Ming Emperor is generous, right?”
Jiang Huan’s face instantly darkened, and his fingers involuntarily moved towards the hilt of the Xiuchun Saber at his waist.
He had killed countless people in his life, from nobles and ministers to commoners. Which of them, at the brink of death, had not wailed and begged for mercy or made grand pronouncements?
Someone like him, who was facing death and still thinking about ‘burial goods’, was absolutely the first in history!
“Zhang Biao! You are facing death, and you still dare to speak nonsense!?”
Liu Sanwu’s beard twitched with anger, and he reprimanded sternly.
“Hey, hey, hey, Grand Scholar Liu, don’t be in a hurry!”
Zhang Biao waved his hand at him with an expression that suggested, ‘You don’t understand.’ “How is this nonsense? I am thinking for the dignity of our Great Ming!”
Saying this, he turned his head and looked at Jiang Huan again, his eyes exceptionally sincere:
“Commander Jiang, if I remember correctly, the Emperor previously issued a decree to give me a set of seven-colored glass tea ware?”
“Now, I am almost dead, but the tea set is gone. What, is the Emperor going back on his word and taking back even the belongings of the dead?”
Rumble!
This statement caused a sensation throughout the crowd!
Jiang Huan’s face turned white with fear, thinking, “You truly dare to say anything!”
“Shut up—!”
Jiang Huan finally couldn’t help but speak.
But Zhang Biao paid him no mind, and surveyed everyone present, saying with a wronged look:
“Look, that set of glass wine cups was bestowed upon me by the Emperor. I found them quite convenient to use, so I must take them! Otherwise, the old ghosts below will laugh at our Great Ming for being poor and uncultured!”
“And the quilt in the prison cell, although a bit thin, I’ve grown fond of it, so I must take it too! It’s cold down there!”
“Oh, right, the Wang Mazi pig’s head meat that Commander Jiang ‘invited’ me to eat a few days ago was delicious, bring me two more pounds! For the road!”
“In addition…”
He counted on his fingers, item by item, from wine cups, quilts, pig trotters, to writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. He even wanted to take the stone he often leaned against in the Imperial Prison while daydreaming.
The reasons were even more bizarre, such as ‘the literary atmosphere below is not flourishing and needs enlightenment,’ or ‘the stone is comfortable to sit on and I’m used to it’…
On the execution ground, tens of thousands of onlookers, from princes and nobles to ordinary citizens, were all dumbfounded.
Was there a sad atmosphere? Non-existent.
Was there a solemn atmosphere? It had vanished completely.
No one knew who was the first to break, with a ‘puchi’ laugh, and then, as if it were contagious, suppressed chuckles and discussions erupted one after another.
“This… is Zhang Biao crazy?”
“He wants pig’s head meat even as he’s about to die? Why doesn’t he have Wang Mazi make it for him right now?”
“And a quilt too? Is he going on an outing!”
“My heavens, in all my years, I’ve never seen someone act like this on the execution ground!”
On the viewing platform, Zhu Gao Sui pinched his thigh hard to keep from laughing, his face red.
Zhu Gao Xu’s mouth twitched, and he looked like he wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.
Even the usually steady Zhu Gao Chi couldn’t help but raise his hand to rub his temples.
Zhu Ming Yu, who had been crying, now had her mouth agape, looking utterly bewildered.
Zhu Ming Yue had also forgotten her fear and was staring blankly at the figure on the execution platform counting his fingers and ‘complaining about poverty.’
Shen Lang, Sun Gui, and the others exchanged glances, their grief completely replaced by a sense of absurdity.
Jiang Huan, who was named as the recipient of the ‘pig’s head meat’ and ‘glass cup,’ stood on the execution platform, his face as black as charcoal, wishing he could disappear into the ground.
“Enough—!”
Imperial Son-in-Law Mei Yin on the viewing platform, unable to take it any longer, let out a thunderous roar that instantly silenced the entire execution ground.
He stood up abruptly, pointed at Zhang Biao, and trembled with anger:
“You scoundrel! You rogue! At death’s door, you dare to slander the Emperor like this! Confuse the public! You deserve to die and be executed with extreme penalty!”
Zhang Biao pretended to be frightened by Mei Yin’s outburst, but then immediately gritted his teeth and mumbled,
“If you won’t give it, you won’t give it… why get so angry… so stingy…”
“No wonder people say, ‘birds of a feather flock together’… Old Zhu is stingy, and the son-in-law he chose is naturally stingy…”
“What a shame, what a shame. In the glorious Great Ming, the upper beam is crooked, and the lower beams are also askew. The Emperor is untrustworthy, and his officials are shameless. A perfect match… Hmm, even better than Jue Wei duck neck…”
“Pfft—!”
This time, even some of the soldiers maintaining order couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Mei Yin’s vision darkened with anger, and he almost fainted.
He finally understood that reasoning with this madman and trying to impose his authority was like playing music to a cow!
No, a cow isn’t as infuriating as he is!
“Halt your arrogance, you villain—!”
Just as everyone was amused by Zhang Biao’s antics, a clear and angry shout came from the east side of the viewing platform.
Fang Xiao Ru stood up abruptly, his face flushed with anger. His finger trembled as he pointed at Zhang Biao in front of the execution block, his voice carrying the stern righteousness of a scholar-official:
“You madman! At death’s door, you show no remorse, and you dare to mock and curse like this, desecrating the execution ground and belittling imperial might!”
“You… you simply don’t know what ‘propriety’ is! You’ve read the books of the Sages in vain!”
His words immediately drew everyone’s attention.
Their thoughts, which had been led astray by Zhang Biao, were pulled back to the solemn atmosphere of ‘propriety’ and ‘Orthodox Tradition.’
Many officials nodded in secret, feeling that Fang Xiao Ru had finally stepped forward and said something ‘proper.’
However, Zhang Biao, in front of the execution block, did not restrain himself upon hearing this criticism. Instead, his eyes lit up, as if he had found an interesting toy.
He tilted his head, examining the trembling Fang Xiao Ru from head to toe, and a supremely irritating, as-if-suddenly-realized expression appeared on his face:
“Oh! I was wondering who it was. It turns out to be Grand Scholar Fang!”
He drew out his words, his tone almost overflowing with mockery:
“I heard you previously led people to kneel outside the palace gate, demanding to ‘execute the traitor and rectify public opinion,’ right? What? The traitor hasn’t been executed, but your ‘public opinion’ has come to the execution ground to be ‘rectified’ by itself?”
“You…!”
Fang Xiao Ru was choked with anger by his distorted accusations.
Zhang Biao, however, gave him no chance to retort and continued slowly,
“Grand Scholar Fang talks about ‘propriety’ and ‘books of the Sages’ all the time. Although I’ve studied little, I know that Confucius valued ‘teach according to aptitude’ the most and detested rigid minds that memorize without understanding or adapting.”
He suddenly changed tack, smiling at Fang Xiao Ru, but his eyes held a sharp glint:
“Coincidentally, before I lose my head, I have a question for Grand Scholar Fang. The Analects say—”
He paused deliberately, building suspense for everyone, even Liu San Wu subconsciously leaned forward slightly.
“‘At thirty, one stands firm.’ What is the next sentence? And what does it mean?”
Upon hearing this question, the entire assembly of civil and military officials, including Fang Xiao Ru himself, were taken aback.
From the Analects, ‘When a man reaches thirty, he should be established; at forty, he should be free from perplexities; at fifty, he should know the decrees of Heaven…’
This is something even young children can recite by heart. What did Zhang Biao mean by asking this? Was he deliberately trying to humiliate Fang Xiao Ru?
Although Fang Xiao Ru found it inexplicable, his confidence in his own scholarship made him snort coldly and say proudly,
“Hmph! Ignorant ruffian! The sentence after ‘At thirty, one stands firm’ is naturally ‘at forty, one is free from perplexities’!”
“This is the Master describing the order of his progress in virtue and learning, saying that at thirty one can establish oneself in propriety, and at forty one can distinguish right from wrong without confusion…”
“Wrong! Terribly wrong!”
Before Fang Xiao Ru could finish explaining, Zhang Biao let out a loud roar, interrupting him.
Immediately afterward, he put on an extremely exaggerated, grief-stricken expression, as if he were immensely disappointed by Fang Xiao Ru’s ‘ignorance.’
“Huh?”
Fang Xiao Ru was stunned.
Everyone in the audience was stunned.
This… this could possibly be wrong?!
Zhang Biao shook his head, wagging it back and forth, and said word by word in an extremely serious tone, as if expounding some universal truth:
“Grand Scholar Fang, your studies have all gone to the dogs!”
“The Analects clearly states—”
“‘At thirty, one stands firm!’ Thirty people, only then will they be worthy of me standing up to fight them!”
“‘At forty, one is free from perplexities!’ Forty people attack me together, and I will not be confused at all!”
“‘At fifty, one knows the decrees of Heaven!’ Fifty people? Hmph! I’ll fight them until they know that Heaven has decreed they must die here today!”
“‘At sixty, my ear is obedient!’ Sixty people? I’ll beat them until they speak favorably to me, making them all obedient to my ears!”
“‘At seventy, I can follow my heart’s desires!’ Seventy people? I’ll fight them as I please!”
With each explanation, Fang Xiao Ru’s eyes widened, and the color drained from his face.
By the end, he was ashen.
His lips trembled, and he pointed at Zhang Biao, stammering ‘you, you, you…’ for a long time, but couldn’t utter a single word.
What kind of Analects is this?!
This is clearly the twisted logic of street thugs fighting!
“Pfft—Hahaha!”
On the viewing platform, someone finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter. It was Zhu Gao Sui, he laughed so hard he slapped the ground.
Zhu Gao Xu’s shoulders shook as he struggled to suppress his laughter, his face red.
Even Zhu Gao Chi couldn’t help but cover his mouth with his sleeve, his plump shoulders shaking.
The civil and military officials exchanged glances, wanting to laugh but not daring to, their expressions contorted and wonderfully varied.
This twisted interpretation… though utterly absurd, for some reason, it sounded rather compelling.
Jiang Huan, standing on the execution platform, his originally gloomy face now wore a strange expression.
He looked at Zhang Biao, who was making the great Confucian scholar Fang Xiao Ru question his entire worldview, and then listened to this unheard-of ‘interpretation of the Analects.’ At first, he found it preposterous, and then, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning—
Dismissal of Confucianism…
This fellow had once boasted about wanting to ‘Dismiss Confucianism’…
Could it be that he doesn’t want to completely abolish Confucianism, but rather… establish such a ridiculous and heretical ‘New Learning’?!
This thought startled Jiang Huan himself, but looking at Zhang Biao’s posture, which was absurd yet subtly exuded a kind of subversive power, he felt it wasn’t impossible!
After all, this madman acted unpredictably and couldn’t be judged by common sense!
No! This matter must be reported to the Emperor!
With this in mind, Jiang Huan subtly looked at a subordinate, who immediately understood. He quickly blended into the crowd and ran towards the Imperial Palace.
Meanwhile, Fang Xiao Ru was completely disoriented.
All the knowledge and principles of the sages he had lived by and upheld seemed so pale and powerless against Zhang Biao’s ‘Analects demolition.’
He couldn’t even find suitable words to refute such pure sophistry.
This immense cognitive shock was, for him, tantamount to mental lingchi!
Zhang Biao, seeing Fang Xiao Ru’s world collapsing, smacked his lips in satisfaction and delivered the final blow, his tone full of earnest advice:
“Grand Scholar Fang, so you see, reading dead books and studying books rigidly won’t work!”
“You need to be adaptable and understand the Sage’s ‘profound meaning’! Your scholarship still needs more practice!”
After saying this, he no longer paid attention to the petrified Fang Xiao Ru and turned back to Liu San Wu and Jiang Huan.
His face returned to its usual roguish demeanor, as if he had just casually swatted a buzzing fly:
“Alright, enough of the irrelevant people. Shall we continue?”
“Where were we? Oh right, my burial goods…”
On the execution ground, the somber mood had long since vanished.
All that remained was a sense of utter disbelief, an absurdity that had been completely overturned, and a complex feeling towards the soul that was still fiercely broadcasting even at the brink of death.
Zhu Gao Chi, who had been silently watching Zhang Biao, his eyes grew deeper and deeper.
Zhang Biao… are you a demon or a calamity? Mad or sane?
This mess you’ve left… how is it to be cleaned up…
Seeking monthly tickets! Double monthly tickets!
See if we can get three chapters!
