Chapter 95: Furious Memorials! Zhang Biao, Seeking Death! 【 Monthly Ticket Bonus Update 4 】
“Zhan Hui?”
Old Zhu frowned, “What memorial is he sending?”
After all, he was not a close confidant like Liu Sanwu or Mei Yin, so Old Zhu naturally could not let Zhan Hui in directly.
However, before the eunuch could answer, Jiang Huan, who was beside him, spoke first:
“Reporting to Your Imperial Majesty, that memorial was forwarded by Zhang Biao to the Censor Zhan, along with a congratulatory gift, said to be to celebrate Your Imperial Majesty’s recovery.”
“A memorial forwarded by Zhang Biao?”
Old Zhu paused for a moment, as if he didn’t understand such a bizarre move, and couldn’t help but say, “What is that bastard up to again? Forwarding a memorial and sending a congratulatory gift?”
“Uh, this…”
Jiang Huan’s mouth twitched, and he didn’t know how to answer for a moment.
Old Zhu’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Are you hiding something from Us?”
Rumble!
Upon hearing this, Jiang Huan felt struck by lightning.
Without any hesitation, he immediately knelt down with a ‘plop’ and quickly explained:
“Your Imperial Majesty, please forgive me. It’s just that Zhang Biao was too lawless. As soon as he heard the Jingyang Bell ring, he brought a group of people to find you and make trouble. I was worried that you were not yet recovered and might be offended by him, so I stopped him outside the palace gate.”
“Hmph!”
Old Zhu snorted coldly, his tone filled with killing intent, “Jiang Huan, do you know how Mao Xiang died?”
“This humble servant…”
Jiang Huan’s face turned completely pale.
He naturally knew how Mao Xiang died.
Even on the day he became the Imperial Guard Commander, he knew he would be the next Mao Xiang.
But he didn’t care much, because his life belonged to Old Zhu.
However, Mao Xiang died in the Hu Weiyong case, and how could he die so inexplicably?!
Just as Jiang Huan felt unwilling, he heard Old Zhu say solemnly again, “This time, I will spare you. If there is a next time…”
“Your Imperial Majesty, please rest assured, there will be no next time. This humble servant knows what to do.”
Jiang Huan quickly replied, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
Old Zhu gave him a deep look, then turned to Yun Ming and said, “Go and bring the medicine in, and let Zhan Hui have an audience!”
He wanted to see what exactly that bastard Zhang Biao was up to.
If it could still shock him again.
“Yes!”
Yun Ming acknowledged and quickly brought the medicine, handing it to Old Zhu.
Immediately after, Zhan Hui also walked in, head bowed and body hunched, his steps faltering.
Then, he knelt on the ground with a ‘plop’, holding his hands high –
That shiny Jinhua ham, with a memorial tied to it.
“This humble servant Zhan Hui, forwards… forwards the congratulatory gift and memorial from Zhang Biao, Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, wishing Your Imperial Majesty good health and eternal life.”
His voice grew softer and softer, until it was almost inaudible. His forehead was pressed against the cold floor tile, and he didn’t dare to look at the Emperor’s expression.
The entire bedroom fell into a strange silence the moment his voice faded.
All the eunuchs and palace maids widened their eyes, looking in disbelief at the ham held over their heads, and the memorial tied to it with a red string.
Old Zhu’s hand holding the medicine bowl began to tremble uncontrollably.
His gaze slowly moved from Zhan Hui’s trembling body to the ham held above his head, and then to the memorial.
Time seemed to congeal at this moment.
A few breaths later.
Yes, he had been shocked again as he wished.
“Crash!”
The medicine bowl slipped from Old Zhu’s hand and shattered, splashing brown liquid all over the floor.
An indescribable emotion, a mixture of shock, absurdity, and rage, accumulated in his chest like a volcano.
His face turned from yellow to red, from red to green, and finally became iron-black.
In the bedroom, the Hongwu Great Emperor’s low growl, spoken word by word as if squeezed from between his teeth, filled with enormous killing intent, echoed: “Zhang! Biao—!”
Boom!
In an instant, the air in the entire bedroom seemed to freeze into ice.
Old Zhu’s killing intent-filled roar reverberated in the hall, scaring all the eunuchs, palace maids, including Jiang Huan, Yun Ming, and the imperial physicians, to kneel down with a ‘plop’, not daring to even raise their heads.
Zhan Hui wished he could shrink into the crack of the floor tiles. The damned ham in his hand felt scorching hot, as if the Emperor would order him and the ham to be dragged out and chopped up at any moment.
Old Zhu’s chest heaved violently, and his emaciated hands tightly gripped the edge of the dragon couch, his knuckles turning white from the strain.
He stared intently at the ham and the memorial tied to it, his eyes seeming to spew fire.
He naturally knew that Zhang Biao’s purpose in doing this was to seek death.
But weren’t the things Zhang Biao had done also what he had hoped for?
Why didn’t he kill Zhang Biao? Wasn’t it because he hoped Zhang Biao would be his ‘knife’?
And now, this ‘knife’ was exerting its power, beginning to prick the abscesses of the Great Ming.
“Well done, Zhang Biao…”
Old Zhu’s voice was hoarse and distorted by extreme anger, “Truly a good subject of Mine, truly sent a… a great congratulatory gift!”
He waved his hand violently, his voice suddenly rising, like a wounded beast roaring:
“Take that memorial! And present it to Us! We want to see! What other nonsense can this bastard spout!”
An inner attendant scrambled forward, trembled as he untied the red string, and carefully presented the crumpled memorial, still bearing some oil stains, before the Emperor.
Old Zhu snatched it and roughly unfolded it.
The paper was rough, the handwriting was flamboyant, and an aura of mad self-destruction emanated from it:
【 Hahaha! Zhu Chongba! I knew you wouldn’t die so easily! The Yuan Dynasty couldn’t kill you! Chen Youliang couldn’t kill you! The jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards in the court couldn’t kill you! 】
【 Zhu Yuanzhang himself! Can’t kill you either! Hahahaha—! 】
Seeing these two lines of extremely arrogant words, Old Zhu’s eyes instantly widened.
An uncontrollable rage instantly surged.
Then, another extremely arrogant declaration of seeking death followed:
【 You don’t think that I, bringing these brothers to audit accounts, am your knife, do you? Helping you illuminate the eternal darkness of the Great Ming? 】
【 Bah! I’ve been bothering you for so long and haven’t gotten any benefits! I want to have a good time with my brothers before we die! 】
【 Oh right, and let you see how rotten your Great Ming is! 】
The following is a detailed account:
【 Today, preliminary, friendly financial audits and integrity investigations were conducted on the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of War, Ministry of Personnel, Duke Cao’s Mansion, Marquis of Wuding’s Mansion, and other government offices and noble residences. 】
【 The phased results are as follows: 】
【 I. Recovered a total of various embezzled funds, unpaid salaries, and illegal gains, equivalent to approximately eighty-seven thousand six hundred fifty-four taels and three qian of silver. 】
【 The silver has been deposited into the treasury, which is our temporary storeroom. The materials have been cataloged. 】
【 II. A total of one hundred and three vermin, large and small, were discovered and preliminarily verified. The list is attached, handle it as you see fit. 】
【 III. Additional gains: Several suspected official underworld rules and interest transfer chains. 】
【 For example: a secret letter between a certain Prince and a certain Empress in the harem has been temporarily confiscated; a privately collected illustrated edition of ‘Jin Ping Mei’ from Duke Cao’s residence has been confiscated to prevent him from indulging in lust and neglecting his duties. 】
【 IV. The audit operation generated labor fees, transportation fees, meal fees, work injury compensation fees, and mental distress fees, totaling five thousand taels of silver to be paid to us. 】
【 In summary, you still need to pay us: five thousand taels. 】
【 In addition, a 1% commission reward on eighty-seven thousand six hundred fifty-four taels and three qian, calculated, you owe us three thousand seven hundred sixty-five taels and four qian and three fen. 】
【 Given our relationship as sovereign and subject, we’ll waive the decimal point for you, three thousand taels will suffice. We are generous. 】
【 Hahaha, just kidding, I know you definitely won’t give it. But it doesn’t matter, we had fun. 】
【 A friendly reminder: The congratulatory ham was taken from Duke Cao’s mansion kitchen, of excellent quality. It is recommended that the imperial kitchen slice and steam it, with garlic paste for a better flavor. Eat well and drink well to better handle state affairs and expose more vermin! 】
【 Zhang Biao, respectfully presenting this suicide note! Nothing else requested, only swift death—!! 】
Silence!
Deathly silence!
In the entire bedroom, one could hear a pin drop.
Only Old Zhu’s heavy, bellows-like breaths.
The rage, killing intent, and absurdity on his face shifted like a revolving lantern.
Finally, all emotions transformed into an extremely complex, indescribable distortion.
He stared intently at the flamboyant, oil-stained handwriting on the memorial, as if he wanted to devour every single character.
A long time.
A long time.
“Hehehehe hahahaha…”
Old Zhu suddenly let out a low, hoarse, and ambiguous laugh.
The laughter grew louder and more manic, shaking dust from the hall beams.
Zhan Hui, kneeling on the ground, was terrified, thinking the Emperor had completely gone mad with anger.
Jiang Huan and the others also felt their scalps tingle, their backs soaked with cold sweat.
Suddenly, the laughter stopped abruptly.
“Bang—!”
Old Zhu’s vision went black, and he fell straight down.
“Your Imperial Majesty! Your Imperial Majesty—!!”
The imperial physician was scared out of his wits and scrambled forward, his trembling fingers searching for a pulse, then frantically pinching his philtrum, his voice choked with sobs, “Quick! Ginseng soup! Hurry!”
Yun Ming and other inner attendants scrambled to their feet, stumbling to get the ginseng soup, knocking over an incense burner and spilling incense ash everywhere.
The room was instantly filled with a chaotic, strange aroma, a mixture of medicine, oil, and dust.
Jiang Huan knelt in place, his scalp tingling, his mind a blank.
That scoundrel Zhang Biao actually made the Emperor faint four times!?
And with this method!?
He could already imagine his own miserable fate of being flayed and stuffed by the enraged Old Zhu.
Zhan Hui was even more limp on the ground, the Jinhua ham rolling to the side, its shiny surface covered in dust.
His face was ashen, his body trembling like a leaf in the wind, and only one thought remained in his mind.
It’s over! It’s all over!
Why did Zhang Biao, in his mad pursuit of death, have to drag me, Zhan Hui, down with him?!
If anything happened to the Emperor, I would be cut into a thousand pieces.
He was already regretting why he had coveted that slight possibility of ‘favored by the Emperor’ and agreed to forward this life-threatening item for Zhang Biao.
