Chapter 128: Old Zhu: Biao, You’re So Similar!
The heavy, cold iron door of the Imperial Prison opened again, accompanied by hasty and chaotic footsteps.
Shen Lang, Li Mo, Sun Gui, Wu Nai Da, and Zhao Fengman, under Jiang Huan’s indifferent gaze, almost rushed into this grim place.
“Brother Biao!”
“Zhang Jianxian!”
“We’re here!”
The five of them immediately spotted Zhang Biao in the opposite prison cell, leisurely drinking small wine with his legs crossed.
Despite being in a death row cell, he appeared as if he were on vacation in his own backyard, rather than imprisoned.
Seeing his brothers enter, Zhang Biao’s eyes lit up. He immediately got up from the ground, raising his eyebrows with a smile:
“Oh? What brings you all here? Did something interesting happen outside again? Tell me quickly!”
As he finished speaking, he couldn’t help but laugh heartily:
“Hahaha! Even you guys have been brought in, the fun must be pretty big!”
“Uh…”
The corners of the five men’s mouths twitched, and they couldn’t help but look at each other.
Shen Lang, seeing Zhang Biao’s nonchalant demeanor, felt a pang in his nose, his voice tinged with a sob:
“Brother Biao! I’m glad you’re alright! You don’t know, outside… outside something big has happened!”
“Oh? Something big really happened? Tell me quickly!” Zhang Biao’s face immediately showed great interest.
Li Mo glanced at him with a complex expression, then spoke rapidly, recounting the events outside the Gate of Heavenly Acceptance: the conflict between Imperial Academy students, civil officials, and old soldiers and civilians, how they struggled to mediate, and finally how Jiang Huan delivered the Emperor’s oral decree.
“The Emperor said that as long as you admit your mistakes and… and mend your ways, he will pardon you!”
Shen Lang chimed in eagerly, his eyes filled with hope: “Brother Biao! This is fantastic news! Please agree! Let’s all get out together!”
“That’s right, Brother Biao!”
Sun Gui also nodded vigorously: “As long as the green hills remain, there’ll be wood to burn! Let’s get out first!”
Wu Nai Da’s eyes were firm as he said softly:
“Brother Biao, a gentleman’s revenge is never too late. We can make plans after we get out!”
“Zhang Jianxian!” Zhao Fengman was even more excited: “After we get out, we’ll continue the audit! We’ll find all those scoundrels who harmed you!”
However, the smile on Zhang Biao’s face gradually disappeared.
He listened to his brothers’ various pleas, especially when he heard that the injured old soldiers had risked storming the palace and confronting civil officials for him. His brow furrowed tightly.
Suddenly, he slammed the prison bars with immense force, his voice rising sharply with unprecedented anger:
“Are you all damn fools?! Is your brain in your backside?!”
“Ah?”
This sudden, furious scolding startled Shen Lang and the other four, leaving them frozen.
Zhang Biao paced back and forth in the cramped cell like a lit firecracker:
“Who told you to mediate?! Who told you to stop them?!”
“Isn’t it good if they fight?! It’s more exciting if they fight!”
“If Old Zhu ordered their arrest! Then there would be a bigger storm later!”
“Your intervention has only made things worse! Don’t you understand that a single spark can start a prairie fire?!”
He angrily pointed at the five men’s noses and yelled, “I finally managed to start a fire, and it was about to blaze up, and you guys come and douse it with a basin of water! And damn it, it’s cold water!”
“This…”
Shen Lang and the other four were stunned by the scolding, completely unable to grasp Zhang Biao’s logic.
They had clearly come to save him, to bring him good news!
“Brother Biao, we…”
Shen Lang tried to explain aggrievedly: “We didn’t want you to be accused of ‘inciting rebellion and misleading the populace’…”
“Bullshit charges!”
Zhang Biao rudely interrupted him, his face for the first time showing an expression not of jest or madness, but a mixture of profound sorrow and anger:
“I’m about to die, and I’m still afraid of that?! What I want is chaos! If there’s no chaos, how can that emperor sitting high above see how much gunpowder is buried beneath this empire?!”
“If there’s no chaos, how will those vermin expose themselves?!”
“You think I conducted audits just for that little bit of money? For those broken treasures?!”
He became more agitated as he spoke, his voice echoing in the Imperial Prison: “I want to break through this heaven! I want to sacrifice myself to awaken the world!”
As he finished speaking, he abruptly turned around, facing away from Shen Lang and the other four, facing the cold stone wall. His shoulders seemed to tremble slightly.
The entire Imperial Prison fell into dead silence.
Shen Lang and the other four were completely stunned. Looking at Zhang Biao’s back, they felt as if they were truly meeting him for the first time.
So, all his madness, all his cynicism, all his ‘desire to die,’ hid such a heavy, almost desperate purpose behind them?
Li Mo was the first to react. He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and said in a low but firm voice:
“Brother Biao, I understand. But precisely because of that, you need to get out even more!”
“If we can walk out of the prison, we will have a tomorrow! We will have the opportunity to do what you want to do!”
Zhang Biao did not turn around, only let out a very light scoff, as if from a distant place:
“Tomorrow? Heh… Tomorrow’s matters can be left to tomorrow’s people to handle.”
“But Brother Biao…” Shen Lang tried to persuade him again.
Zhang Biao suddenly raised his hand, stopping all his further words.
“I appreciate the good intentions of all you brothers.”
His voice became exceptionally calm, yet carried an undeniable decisiveness: “You… go.”
This calm refusal pained the five men even more than his previous scolding, leaving them feeling helpless.
“Go my ass!” Sun Gui was the first to erupt.
With bloodshot eyes, he punched the prison bars, creating a resounding clang: “We agreed to die together, to go mad together! You’re trying to be a hero alone now? No way!”
As he finished speaking, he said earnestly again: “Brother Biao! Just you wait! After we finish off all those vermin, we’ll come and join you in death!”
“Exactly!”
Wu Nai Da, abandoning his usual calculative demeanor, showed a hint of ferocity on his face: “We’ll drag them down with us even if we die! This court is rotten to the core, it might as well be overturned!”
“Zhang Jianxian!”
Zhao Fengman was like an ignited fanatic, his eyes flashing with madness:
“You wait for us! We’re going now! Even if we die, we’ll punch a hole in this sky!”
After uttering these words, which sounded like an oath and a farewell, the five men no longer looked at Zhang Biao. They turned resolutely and, with a desperate resolve to perish together, charged out of the Imperial Prison.
They were going to continue Zhang Biao’s unfinished ’cause,’ using their own methods, even if it meant throwing eggs at a rock, to tear away more of the decaying dynasty’s fig leaf.
“Come back—!”
Zhang Biao suddenly turned around, his facade of concern for the nation and its people instantly crumbling, replaced by genuine panic. He lunged towards the cell door and roared furiously at the backs of the five as they rapidly disappeared:
“All of you get back here, damn it! Who wants you to join me in death!?”
“Don’t stop me from dying! Bastards! Scoundrels! You’re repaying kindness with enmity!”
“I just want to die peacefully and quickly! Why is it so difficult?!”
His shouts echoed in the empty corridor of the Imperial Prison, filled with despair and grievance.
Li Jinglong, in the opposite cell, had been listening in stunned silence, his mouth agape.
He looked at the furious Zhang Biao, then thought about his earlier words about ‘breaking the sky’ and his current reaction, his mind completely a mess.
This… what kind of person is this?!
Zhu Gao Sui, who had been eavesdropping from the shadows, was trembling with excitement, his eyes shining, and only one thought was screaming in his mind:
Did you see! This is my Brother Biao!
Facing death with equanimity! Concerned for the nation and its people! Even his curses are so cool!
Even to avoid implicating his brothers, he’d rather die alone! He even cursed them for repaying kindness with enmity to draw a line!
What noble sentiment is this?! I, Zhu Gao Sui, will follow you for life!
Zhang Biao shouted fruitlessly for a long time, his only response the faint sound of the five men’s resolute footsteps from afar and the clang of the prison guards locking the doors.
He slumped powerlessly by the cell door, his face showing a life devoid of meaning, and muttered to himself: “What a sin… how could this happen, damn it…”
“I’ve already been thrown into death row and am awaiting execution, and this is happening… What if Old Zhu thinks I’m still useful and doesn’t kill me?”
“My Crazy Thursday, my air-conditioned room… my wuwuwu…”
His worries and his tears were clearly beyond the comprehension of Zhu Gao Sui and Li Jinglong.
But the Imperial Prison, accompanied by his cries, returned to its dead silence.
A more frenzied and unpredictable storm seemed to have been carried by those five young figures who had rushed out, towards every corner of Yingtian Prefecture.
On the other side, inside Huagai Hall.
The silence was like a tomb.
Jiang Huan stood with his head bowed, like a sculpture.
Yun Ming held his breath, wishing he could shrink himself into a shadow.
Old Zhu’s face was expressionless, but a brewing storm seemed to flicker in his deep-set eyes.
His fingers unconsciously tapped the armrest of the dragon throne with extreme slowness. The faint ‘tap tap’ sound was exceptionally clear and unsettling in the silent main hall.
Did they try to dissuade the conflict for fear of implicating Zhang Biao?
Zhang Biao not only didn’t appreciate it but instead cursed them for preventing him from seeking death?
Tomorrow’s matters are for tomorrow’s people to handle… To sacrifice himself and awaken the world?
Those five brats, in the end, shouted about ‘overturning this sky’ and ‘dragging people to their deaths,’ and then left resolutely?
This series of information rapidly sifted, analyzed, deconstructed, and reassembled in Old Zhu’s mind.
The first emotion he felt was extreme absurdity and enraged provocation.
A group of ants dared to speak of ‘overturning this sky’?!
Zhang Biao, facing death, was still putting on a show and manipulating people’s hearts?!
And those five brats who didn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth, did they really think they could stir up any waves?!
Killing intent, like a poisonous vine, grew wildly again, almost breaking through the dam of reason.
But in the next moment, something deeper was touched.
Zhang Biao’s crazy drive to push forward for a seemingly impossible goal, almost to the point of obsession, resorting to any means, even risking his own life…
And Shen Lang and the other five, though terrified to death, were ignited by some belief and dared to muster the courage of a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
This combination, this seemingly absurd yet subtly infectious behavioral pattern…
As he thought, Old Zhu’s thoughts involuntarily drifted far away.
They drifted back many years ago.
They drifted to his son, who was always gentle and humble, yet stubbornly held his ground on certain issues, even daring to contradict him.
That son was benevolent and not as fierce.
But sometimes, to uphold those so-called benevolent policies, principles, or to protect an official he thought shouldn’t be executed, or to not implement a ceremony he deemed unreasonable, he would display extraordinary stubbornness and courage.
He would even kneel before the Hall of Supreme Harmony, arguing his case, even knowing it would anger his father.
That kind of stubbornness, that almost naive persistence in pursuit of what he believed to be ‘the Way,’ that unyielding stance despite an overwhelming disparity in power…
Although the means of expression were completely different, one gentle and one fierce, one constructive and one destructive, deep within their core, there was a foolishness and lack of regret in not considering oneself or the consequences, in stubbornly hitting a dead end.
An absurd, yet incredibly clear thought struck Old Zhu like lightning.
Almost unconsciously, his lips parted slightly, and an extremely faint murmur, like a sleep talk, escaped his lips:
“Biao’er, this kid, in some ways, he’s truly a bit like you…”
This sentence was extremely light, as light as a gust of wind.
But in the dead silence of the hall, where one could hear a pin drop, it exploded like a thunderclap in the ears of Jiang Huan and Yun Ming.
Jiang Huan’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly. His head drooped even lower, as if he had heard nothing.
Yun Ming, standing by, trembled violently. His eyes widened instantly, and the color drained from his face. He looked up at Old Zhu’s back as if he had seen a ghost, then immediately lowered his head in extreme terror, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would leap from his throat!
Your Majesty, Your Majesty just said what?
Biao’er? Was he calling… the Crown Prince?
And that Zhang Biao… is like the Crown Prince?
Insane! Your Majesty must have been driven mad by anger! He must be missing the Crown Prince too much and has become deranged!
What kind of person is that Zhang Biao? A madman who courts death!
Yun Ming felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. He was so terrified that he forgot to breathe.
He kept his head lowered, not daring to let the Emperor see the unconcealable shock and absurdity on his face.
Old Zhu seemed to realize his slip of the tongue instantly.
The fingers tapping the armrest suddenly stopped.
The air in the entire hall seemed to solidify completely.
He didn’t turn around, nor did he offer any explanation.
Only his already straight back seemed to become even more rigid, as if cast in iron.
Silence.
A suffocatingly long silence.
After what felt like an eternity, Old Zhu slowly spoke, his voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation, breaking the terrifying quiet: “Yun Ming.”
“Your servant is here!”
Yun Ming flinched as if struck, his voice trembling.
“Go tell the Imperial Medical Office that I feel a bit dizzy and ask them to prescribe a few calming remedies.”
Old Zhu’s voice was calm and steady, as if the earth-shattering words he had just spoken had never occurred.
“Yes, yes! Your servant will go immediately!”
Yun Ming, as if granted a great pardon, scrambled out of the hall, his back already soaked with cold sweat.
Only after Yun Ming’s footsteps disappeared did Old Zhu slowly turn around.
His face remained expressionless, but his eyes were as sharp as a falcon’s, fixed directly on Jiang Huan, who still stood with his head bowed.
Jiang Huan felt that gaze and tensed even further.
“Jiang Huan.”
“This minister is here.”
“What did you hear just now?”
Old Zhu’s voice was not loud, but it carried an invisible pressure capable of crushing souls.
Jiang Huan did not raise his head. His voice remained in its usual calm tone:
“Replying to Your Majesty, this minister was contemplating the harm posed by the traitor Zhang Biao and his cohorts and did not clearly hear the conversation between Your Majesty and Eunuch Yun.”
Old Zhu stared at him for a long moment, his gaze seeming to pierce through his skull.
After a long while, he slowly shifted his gaze away, looking out the window towards the invisible distance again, and let out a cold, ambiguous snort.
“Since that Zhang Biao wants to die so much and is so good at causing trouble…”
Old Zhu’s tone became extremely deep and unfathomable, as if he were talking to himself, or perhaps giving an order:
“I want to see how hard this knife of his, which he believes can break the sky, truly is, and how many tough bones it can help us pry open.”
“Keep a close eye on him. And also keep an eye on those five brats outside who don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth.”
“If they want to play with fire, we’ll add some fuel for them.”
“Let’s see who ends up burned in the end.”
Jiang Huan’s heart grew solemn. He understood the Emperor’s intention.
He knew that the previous probing had shown Old Zhu Zhang Biao’s determination, even to the point of risking his life. It had also made Old Zhu no longer hesitate or worry.
This was to turn the situation to their advantage, even to fan the flames, using the chaos initiated by Zhang Biao for a more thorough and dangerous purge.
“This minister understands!” Jiang Huan responded in a deep voice.
Old Zhu waved his hand.
Jiang Huan bowed and silently withdrew from Huagai Hall.
The empty main hall was once again left with only Old Zhu.
He stood alone by the window, the afterglow of the setting sun casting half his face in dim, indistinct light.
After a long time, a very, very faint voice, almost dissipating in the wind, echoed softly:
“Like him? Perhaps. There was once someone… who was also like my sister…”
Please vote for monthly tickets~
Monthly tickets, monthly tickets! Please subscribe! Full subscription! Please vote for recommendation tickets!
