Chapter 56: The Emperor Shows Me Sincerity, I Show Him My Loyalty! Seeking Monthly Tickets
Shen Lang clutched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.
He looked at the humble room, bare as a bone.
He remembered how Brother Biao had taught them to act the night before, how to hold the account book to show determination.
He remembered Brother Biao leading them to risk their lives for a sliver of survival, even telling them to celebrate tonight their going to death generously, the scoundrel.
A burning stream of heat rushed to Shen Lang’s eyes.
Mixed with fear, anger, and immense grief and indignation.
“Celebrate?”
Shen Lang’s voice was hoarse, and he looked up abruptly, “Damn it!!”
“Our lives were won back by Brother Biao through his methods!”
“Without him teaching us to curse corrupt officials, to hold account books, without his paintings protecting us and angering the Emperor unconscious, this group of us would have died under the court rods today, or in the Imperial Prison!!”
He stepped forward, his voice like a wounded beast growling, yet full of power:
“Brother Biao treated us with sincerity, fighting for a way to survive for us ants! Now that he’s in trouble, how can we cower here, eat his pig’s head meat, and still celebrate?!”
Shen Lang’s gaze was like burning coals, intensely scrutinizing everyone:
“Touch your consciences! Think about what Brother Biao did for us! Think about his humble room! Think about his last words! Can we just watch him die?!”
Whoosh!
As soon as Shen Lang finished speaking, there was absolute silence all around.
It wasn’t that they weren’t moved by Shen Lang’s words, but they considered more than Shen Lang.
So, after a brief, suffocating silence.
From the crowd, a sallow-faced, thin low-ranking official, trembling, mumbled softly, “Brother Shen, it’s not that we don’t want to save Censor Zhang, it’s just that we’ve just crawled back from hell, and to go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony again…”
He paused, looked around at everyone, then lowered his head, “We’ll die, we’ll all die. I still have an old mother and a young son to raise.”
His voice was filled with desperate fear, and his body shivered uncontrollably.
Another low-ranking official instinctively took half a step back, his eyes darting away, “Yes, the Emperor was angered unconscious by us, and he still remembers Censor Zhang, which means the Emperor is in a rage. If we go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, aren’t we adding fuel to the fire?”
“I’m afraid we won’t be able to save Censor Zhang, and we’ll all be implicated. This is just foolhardy courage.”
Fear, like a cold tide, instantly extinguished the newfound passion of many.
The instinct for survival and responsibility for their families made them hesitate.
Some lowered their heads, no longer daring to meet Shen Lang’s eyes.
“No!”
Just as the atmosphere was about to congeal, Zhao Fengman was the first to react, his loud voice choked with tears, but unusually firm, he roared:
“Without Brother Biao, we would have died just now! This life was a fluke! If corrupt officials are not punished, my family and I will starve to death or be forced to death anyway! Rather than live a pathetic life, barely surviving with my family, it’s better to die grandly with Brother Biao! I’m going all out anyway!”
After speaking, he suddenly pulled out the Blood and Tears Salary Demand Record, stained with saliva, that he was holding, and gripped it tightly, as if it were a weapon.
“Right! Let’s go all out!”
Sun Gui also straightened his body, slapped his patched official robe forcefully, and said hoarsely, “Damn it! I’ve had enough a long time ago! Brother Biao is righteous, we can’t be cowards! At worst, eighteen years later, we’ll be good men again!”
“Scholars must do what they should and not do what they shouldn’t!”
Li Mo bent down and picked up the account book that had fallen on the ground, his hands still shaking, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, with a solemnity almost akin to martyrdom. “My sovereign treated me with sincerity, and I will treat my sovereign with loyalty! Even if it’s a sea of knives and flames, I, Li, will go with Brother Shen!”
“Yes! Let’s go together!”
“Let’s go find Brother Biao!”
“We can’t let him go alone!”
More and more people were infected by this determination, suppressing their fear.
The flames in their eyes burned again, this time mixed with tragedy and mockery of fate.
Shen Lang looked at his colleagues who had regained their courage, took a deep breath, and said decisively, his voice echoing through the humble room:
“Good! Brothers! Grab our account books! Let’s go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square!”
“We will die for a cause! We will cry out our grievances! We will beg the Emperor for mercy! Release Censor Zhang!”
“Today, we are not demanding our salary! We are only seeking justice! To save our Brother Biao!”
“Let me say this upfront, this is a path of certain death. Those who worry about their families and children can withdraw now, no one will laugh at you. Those who stay, follow me!”
As soon as these words were spoken, a few people who were still hesitating now had red eyes, gritted their teeth, and stood firm.
“Let’s go!”
The crowd responded with a roar, with a tragic resolve, and rushed out of the humble room in a flurry.
Soon, only five pig’s heads remained in the humble room, along with the Zhu Yunteng siblings who stood there dumbfounded.
Zhu Yunteng watched the retreating figures disappear at the end of the alley, feeling a surge of heat rush through his cold limbs, making him dizzy.
Zhu Mingyue stepped forward silently and gently took her younger brother’s cold hand.
Zhu Mingyu bit her lip, looked at the empty doorway, then at the five unsightly pig’s heads on the ground. Finally, she just kicked the door frame impatiently and cursed in a low voice:
“Madmen! They’re all madmen!”
But in her eyes, the previous disdain was gone, replaced by a complexity and bewilderment that even she hadn’t noticed.
On the other side, in the Eastern Palace, Chunhe Hall.
“Your Highness! Your Highness! It’s bad!!”
A pale eunuch almost crawled in, his voice trembling uncontrollably:
“Zhang Biao was in the Emperor’s bedroom and angered the Emperor so much that he vomited blood! He fainted on the spot! The imperial physicians are doing their best to save him!”
“Plop!”
Zhu Yunwen, who had been forced by Consort Lü to copy the Book of Documents in his room to calm his nerves, swayed violently upon hearing the eunuch’s report.
If not for the timely support of the palace maids, he would have collapsed again.
“Him again…”
Zhu Yunwen’s voice was like a sleep-mutter, filled with bone-chilling cold, and he couldn’t help but tremble all over.
Consort Lü’s reaction was completely different.
An opportunity! This is a heaven-sent opportunity!
Zhang Biao, this madman, dared to commit such treasonous acts again in the Emperor’s bedroom, before the Emperor’s sickbed.
This was no longer simply causing trouble; this was handing the hilt of regicide directly to her, Consort Lü.
“Yunwen!”
Consort Lü’s voice suddenly rose, with an undeniable penetrating power:
“Put away that cowardly look of yours! The sky isn’t falling! The Emperor has immense fortune and is protected by all the past emperors, he will surely turn from danger to safety!”
Although her words seemed to be comforting her son and stabilizing people’s morale, her gaze was sharp as lightning, sweeping over the palace maids and eunuchs present, her thoughts racing: “What a loyal and brave Censor Zhang, pleading for his official position…”
“Guards!”
“Your servant is here!”
A trusted eunuch, Wang De, stepped forward.
“You immediately go to the Hanlin Academy…”
Consort Lü spoke slowly, but every word was clear:
“Find the court historian on duty. Tell him that someone in the Emperor’s bedroom was roaring at his sovereign, uttering foul language against him, his behavior was unprecedentedly wild, and his words were extremely vicious! Order him to record in detail every rebellious word and every disloyal act of Zhang Biao!”
“Also…”
Consort Lü’s gaze turned towards the hall, and she said calmly and indifferently, “Quickly inform Scholar Huang Zicheng! Tell him that the Emperor was angered unconscious by the wicked official Zhang Biao, and his dragon body is in critical condition! This is a national crisis! He, who has read the books of the sages and received great favor from the nation, at this time of crisis for the state and insult to the sovereign, should know what is righteousness!”
“Remember!”
She paused, looked coldly at Wang De, and lowered her voice: “This is all your own initiative, but the Eastern Palace will never forget your contributions!”
“Your servant understands! I will not fail my mission!”
Wang De bowed deeply, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and he quickly took his leave.
Watching him leave, Consort Lü resumed her dignified demeanor and drank her tea as if nothing had happened.
Emperor, please hold on!
You must see with your own eyes how your chosen Imperial Grandson will eliminate that treacherous official who is harming the country and its people while you are incapacitated!
The banner of loyalty and filial piety for the Great Ming Empire will ultimately be carried by my son, Yunwen!
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【 Remember to like the pig’s head meat!!!
Also, thank you to _Lu Kou_ Jian for the 500 reward. Thank you to Yang Hou Ye for the 500 reward. Thank you to Kuai Kan Na Shi Sha for the 500 reward. Thank you to 80 Hou Kan Shu Da Shu for the 200 reward. Thank you to Tong Nian Jian Yuan, Dan Ding De Niu Niu, You Zou Xian Sheng, Zhan Zheng Fan Zi, Xu Xin Xiao Dao You, Dao Fa Zi Ran for the 100 reward each.
