Chapter 379
Knocking on the Door
Chapter 379 Knocking on the Door (The plot is not progressing; it is recommended to wait until the end to read this chapter)
Master Wu confessed very quickly.
Even the most secretive matters need to be done by someone.
The Wu family, relying on the powerful backing of Prince Lu, dared to do business all over the country, even having dealings with the north and northwest where the war was still raging.
When the late emperor was seriously ill, Prince Lu was determined to sit on the dragon throne and was already prepared to force the emperor to abdicate.
Forcing someone to abdicate naturally requires the use of force.
With limited manpower, they had to find powerful weapons to bolster their forces.
However, the Great Wei Dynasty had extremely strict control over its bows, crossbows, and armor; even scraps were handled by designated personnel.
King Lu searched for people and went to great lengths, but failed to succeed and almost exposed his true colors. In the end, he had no choice but to go far away and buy them back from the Di people in the north.
Everything was clearly ready, just waiting to be done. However, Empress Dowager Yang, being from a military family, summoned the Western Camp into the city ahead of time. Before even receiving the imperial edict, she had already taken control of the inner and outer courts, as well as the inner and outer city walls. The entire city was under martial law, and the Imperial Guards patrolled day and night.
The enemy outnumbers us.
With the two palaces surrounding the new emperor and accepting Empress Dowager Yang's regency, the ministers he had previously managed to persuade, after only mentioning the Prince of Lu a few times, all fell silent when they saw the situation was not right.
Once that moment passes, there will never be a more suitable opportunity, so you can only keep waiting, and then wait again.
Although he did not actually take action on the surface, he never stopped gathering manpower and purchasing weapons over many years.
Master Wu was always the one who put in the most effort at the front.
Holding a crucial piece of leverage, Wu confessed at this point. Although he didn't reveal everything and even tried to bargain, the information he provided was enough for others to follow the clues and uncover something much bigger.
Having only been awake for half a day, Master Wu lay in bed, speaking intermittently. In the middle of the conversation, he couldn't control himself from urinating and defecating several times, which made him increasingly fearful.
Lying in the filth once more, he cried out in a hoarse voice, almost desperately, "I have important matters to attend to! I want to live! Quickly, call the imperial physician! I want to live!"
In fact, after the Wu family was exposed for secretly possessing dragon robes and prohibited weapons, and corresponding items were found during a search of the mansion, even if he stubbornly refused to speak, there was no possibility of him escaping punishment.
But whether it's caning, exile, or imprisonment, he doesn't care anymore.
He just wanted to live; if he couldn't survive, no one else could either!
As Master Wu continued to speak, the judges dared not make any further decisions and hurriedly arranged for someone to go to the palace to report the news.
As dusk approached, a group of people hurried out, rushing out of the palace gates before the appointed time, heading straight for the Prince of Lu's residence.
In the Prince's mansion, Prince Lu was listening to a report from his subordinates with a group of retainers.
The people speaking didn't dare to raise their voices, and their tone was very vague.
"They say... they say there's a long queue outside the Kyoto government office, not just people from the city, but also people from other places... all sorts of people, they've all gone mad, trying to implicate the prince..."
“There are also those people outside who have nothing better to do than keep bringing up old stories…”
"The students won't quiet down either, they're making a huge fuss. Originally it was just the Imperial Academy, but now many other academies like Nanlu, Qingya, and Jingshan are following suit. I don't know if they saw that the Imperial Academy got fame, but one by one they've started writing articles too—and even signing their names..."
"Did you write down the name?"
"I took some notes..."
King Lu was looking at the list with a gloomy face, but one person took advantage of a break and quietly walked out.
He hadn't gone far when he heard a voice behind him ask, "Old Tian, where are you going?"
Old Tian was startled. He turned around and saw that it was an old acquaintance who had joined the Prince of Lu's tutelage around the same time as him. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Everyone has three urgent needs—the outhouse, let's go to the outhouse!"
Then he asked, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to the outhouse too." Even though the path to the outhouse was right in front of them, neither of them went in. Instead, they both walked out the door and went to the alley entrance together. They each found someone to help them send messages home. Although they took different routes, they both told their families to pack their things and go back to their hometowns first.
After they had seen the man off, the two breathed a sigh of relief and turned back together.
On their way to the study, the two of them slowed down considerably, and on the way, they even encountered two or three familiar staff members.
Although everyone's eyes were clearly meeting, they all looked at each other without noticing, only their faces showed similar expressions of anxiety.
With the study right in front of him and several people guarding outside, Old Tian wasn't in a hurry to go any further. Instead, he stopped and couldn't help but ask, "Brother... do you think we'll be able to get through this time?"
The question was abrupt and seemingly unrelated, but the other party understood. They sighed and said in a low voice, "It's hard to say. Today is different from before. Not only are there a group of censors leading the way, but the Empress Dowager and Empress are also putting on an act. The students are also very angry, and there are those aggrieved parties who were originally suppressed. Now that the wind is blowing against them, they're all rushing out again. It's really not good..."
After sighing and mustering their courage for a while, the two finally stepped inside.
After entering the room, they went into the inner room, where people were talking.
"...This is really different from the past. Logically speaking, it is the Emperor's own business and has nothing to do with a group of students. They shouldn't be so fixated on it. I made a special trip to inquire about it and found out that there are many reasons behind this."
Almost immediately, people began to question it.
"You mean, all this commotion, with the inner court, scholars, and censors all jumping up and down, is because Wu Er wanted to seize a restaurant and forcibly take a young woman as his concubine? Have you gone mad?"
"At first, I also felt that it didn't make sense, but after asking around, I felt that it made perfect sense!"
This person started by talking about the gambling den opposite Song Ji's place, rambling on and on, mentioning how Liao the head of the family seized the family property, how Song Miao set up a stall at the Imperial Academy to supply steamed buns to the students, and then talked about the relationship between Master Cao and the censor Cao who was in charge this time. He also mentioned the contents of the memorial submitted by censor Cao concerning Liao Qingjiao and Wu Er, that is, the Wu family's owner.
The Imperial Academy steamed buns were so famous a few days ago, and there were also stories of an orphan girl offering a recipe, the Empress Dowager bestowing gold, and copper coins for renting a house. It was truly a wonderful story. I heard that the palace was going to give tables and chairs to Song's restaurant. The whole capital was praising the Emperor's benevolence and how he was so close to the people as if they were one family.
"Wu Er saw that her restaurant was doing well and that she had the skills, so he was determined to hire her. But he didn't realize that someone who had made such a name for herself was not someone who could be easily manipulated!"
"Things have already escalated to this point, what's the use of you saying anything now? Everyone's watching, are you going to go and beat her to death?"
"As long as Wu Er doesn't talk nonsense, the rest are just minor troubles, and we can get through them by just toughing it out."
"It would be better if the scholars and the Censorate didn't make a fuss. Why don't we try to send some articles out and tell people on the streets to stop focusing on this and start talking about something else—didn't Prime Minister Wei have a dispute with someone over marrying a widow a while ago? How about we bring that up again?"
"I've already turned it over, but it's no use. It's all chewed-up stuff! It's just sugarcane pulp, why would you eat it twice?"
The argument raged on inside the room, which annoyed the King of Lu.
“Who am I? I am seriously ill right now. He has always prided himself on being benevolent and virtuous. If he had any shame, he wouldn’t dare to come and coerce me at this time.”
He said with certainty, "We definitely won't be able to get anything out of Wu Er either. As for the restaurants and the women, there's no need to bother with such trivial details."
At this point, King Lu asked everyone to discuss the matter first, but then called the other two into a separate room, arranged for guards to be on guard, and made sure the doors and windows were tightly closed before asking, "It's been so many days since I asked you to find a remedy for internal leakage, haven't you found it yet?"
"We've found a few, and they're having the doctors test the drugs..."
The two quickly explained the progress and the effects of the prescription.
After hearing this, the King of Lu sent the man away and summoned a trusted confidant.
The other party whispered, "The drug administration still doesn't dare to agree..."
Seeing that the host across the street remained silent with a dark expression, the confidant knew things were going badly and quickly added, "This man won't listen to reason, so I've already sent someone to his hometown—he has an elderly mother and younger siblings, so he's easy to handle. We should get a reply in the next few days..."
He then went on to explain in detail how he set up the scheme and how he carried out his tasks, doing so very meticulously.
Upon hearing this, the King of Lu simply said, "We'll urge him a bit, but we don't have that much time."
As the two were talking, they suddenly heard someone knocking on the door and calling out, "Your Highness—an angel has arrived!"
(End of this chapter)