Chapter 354: Xu Hongru Is About to Rebel

Xu Guangqi had originally wanted to see if there was any way he could help, but at this moment he knew there was nothing to be done about this matter.

The Duke Yansheng was truly too foolish — he had been sold out by Xu Xianchun in the entire affair. Even if the truth were told, it would no longer be of any use.

The jade pendant given to Xu Xianchun, that letter still in existence, and the promise of two hundred thousand taels of silver to Xu Xianchun — there was no way to explain any of it away.

If Your Grace the Duke Yansheng had no guilty conscience, then why would you have done such things?

There was simply no way to prove that Your Grace the Duke Yansheng was innocent.

Xu Guangqi steadied himself, rose to his feet, and looked at Kong Yinzhi as he said slowly: "Duke Yansheng, His Majesty has issued an order."

Upon hearing these words, Kong Yinzhi hastily knelt on the ground, his heart turning ice-cold.

He knew his final outcome was about to arrive, and judging from Xu Guangqi's demeanor, he understood that this outcome was not a good one.

Looking at Kong Yinzhi kneeling on the ground, Xu Guangqi said slowly: "Strip the Duke Yansheng of his title, and cast him into prison pending trial."

There was no ceremony of reading an imperial edict, because Zhu Youxiao had not actually issued any edict — he had merely conveyed this one sentence. Xu Guangqi passing this sentence on to Kong Yinzhi was already sufficient.

When Kong Yinzhi heard that he was to be stripped of his title, he collapsed directly onto the ground.

He had only just inherited the title of Duke Yansheng — and now he was going to lose it?

Kong Yinzhi's entire mind had gone completely blank.

He had failed his ancestors — what kind of outcome awaited him?

There was no time left to think about any of this.

Xu Guangqi did not even look at Kong Yinzhi. He turned and walked to the doorway, saying to the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers standing outside: "Take him away."

After saying this, Xu Guangqi walked straight out without pausing any further.

Because there was no longer any point — this matter had reached its current state, and everything was already too late.

Stepping out of the small courtyard's gate, Xu Guangqi let out a sigh.

He was deeply worried in his heart, unsure of what His Majesty was thinking. If His Majesty truly had follow-up plans, Xu Guangqi would feel gratified; but if His Majesty was merely acting on a moment's anger, the matter would likely become very troublesome.

Although he had served under His Majesty for quite some time and had some understanding of him, Xu Guangqi was still worried.

After all, His Majesty was young now — the phrase "youthful and hot-blooded" was not said idly. Now that matters had reached this point, all he could do was his utmost to maintain things.

Glancing at Xu Xianchun standing guard at the courtyard gate, Xu Guangqi could not hide the disgust on his face.

Clearly, this time Xu Xianchun had dug a pit for Kong Yinzhi. If not for the pit Xu Xianchun had dug, matters would never have reached this state.

However, Xu Guangqi also knew in his heart that he could not say anything against Xu Xianchun. Xu Xianchun had done this, and His Majesty was pleased. Whatever he said would be useless.

But there was one matter Xu Guangqi still needed to address.

He stepped forward, coming to Xu Xianchun's side, and said: "Master Xu, the man has been arrested. This will likely stir up no small commotion. Under no circumstances may this matter implicate His Majesty. If anyone raises a fuss, you may push it all onto me."

"I accompanied His Majesty out of the capital this time, and with such an incident occurring, I cannot shirk the blame. His Majesty has also entrusted this case to me, so no matter what happens, it is all my idea, and all done by me. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing these words, Xu Xianchun was taken aback, and the expression on his face turned serious.

He understood what Xu Guangqi intended to do. Xu Guangqi was going to take the responsibility upon his own shoulders.

If His Majesty's reputation were to suffer damage, even if the uproar later reached an uncontrollable point, as long as His Majesty dealt with Xu Guangqi, he would be able to appease the people's hearts.

As for why Xu Xianchun was not used, the reason was also simple. Because Xu Xianchun was a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were the Son of Heaven's personal troops — their reputation had been very poor for many years.

Even if Xu Xianchun were made to take the blame, it would still damage His Majesty's reputation. Saying that His Majesty doted on the Embroidered Uniform Guard would also be a bad reputation for His Majesty.

But Xu Guangqi was different — he was a civil official. If he took the blame for this matter, the external pressure on His Majesty would be much less.

However, Xu Guangqi's own reputation would likely never recover. Outsiders would certainly fabricate all sorts of stories about him. People had already called him a treacherous minister before; this time, he probably would never be able to clear his name.

Xu Xianchun looked at Xu Guangqi and slowly bowed, saying: "Grand Secretary Xu, your righteousness is great."

Glancing at Xu Xianchun, Xu Guangqi said expressionlessly: "It is not because of you."

After saying this, Xu Guangqi did not linger but turned and walked out.

His steps were firm, though his back was slightly hunched.

Matters in Jining city soon settled down — it was merely a matter of arresting some people, and no one dared to make trouble.

Public order in Jining city was now very good. Embroidered Uniform Guard officers were everywhere in the city, and troops led by Qi Jin were everywhere as well. Even the street ruffians had disappeared — if anyone stirred up trouble and got their legs broken, no one would care.

What Xu Guangqi worried about was not Jining, but the outside.

Yuncheng, Xu Family Village.

The atmosphere throughout Xu Family Village was very tense.

Ever since news from Jining city had arrived, Xu Family Village had entered a state of high tension. As one piece of news after another came in, it became even more tense here.

In the center of Xu Family Village stood a large house — the residence of Xu Hongru.

At this moment, Xu Hongru was pacing anxiously back and forth inside the house, his face carrying an expression of terror. Looking at the people coming and going outside, he was momentarily at a loss.

He had originally planned to rebel in the eighth month of this year, but who could have expected that something would suddenly go wrong.

Xu Hongru had not prepared anything up to now — military grain was insufficient, and manpower arrangements were also insufficient. Under such circumstances, if he rashly rebelled, there would be only one path: death.

The only thing Xu Hongru could do now was wait for news and see whether the situation could still be reversed.

Just at this moment, footsteps sounded from outside.

A young man walked in from outside. Upon seeing Xu Hongru, he spoke with some urgency: "The government troops have left Nanjing city, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard in various regions have all begun to move."

Hearing this, Xu Hongru's expression grew even darker, though the agitation from just before had subsided.

Before an event occurs, people are always fearful and anxious, with all sorts of thoughts running through their minds. But when the event actually happens, people instead become calm.

Xu Hongru was in exactly this state at the moment.

He raised his head and looked at the young man, saying: "We cannot wait any longer."

"Haoxian, matters have reached this point — we must rise up immediately. The dog emperor is right in Jining; as long as we can take Jining, we can still succeed. So prepare to make our move — we cannot stop any longer!"

Hearing Xu Hongru's words, Wang Haoxian's expression turned very ugly, and he said with some anger: "I really don't know what those people in Jining city were thinking. Were they out of their minds? Assassinating the dog emperor and exposing all of us in the process — utterly foolish beyond belief!"

Hearing Wang Haoxian's words, Xu Hongru's expression also turned very ugly, and he cursed: "Who could have thought that the people of the Lu Prince's household would ruin things. Those people were selling grain on their own, and after being discovered by the dog emperor, they actually thought of assassinating him. Cowards afraid of death! At least they died cleanly, but unfortunately they ruined our plans."

"Enough of that for now." Xu Hongru waved his hand and said: "Go immediately to muster our forces. We will rise up quickly. This time might even turn out to be a good thing — perhaps misfortune will turn into blessing."

"After all, that dog emperor has been tyrannizing Shandong, and many people can no longer stand it. Those officials who took part in the grain trafficking must be panicking right now. Send someone immediately to persuade them to come over to our side. Once the army arrives, they should open the gates and surrender from within."

"Tell them that if they don't follow us, they're dead for sure; if they follow us, there's still a sliver of hope. Once we take down the dog emperor, they'll all be founding ministers of the new dynasty—we won't treat them poorly."

After hearing this, Wang Haoxian nodded and said, "I'll make the arrangements right away."

"There's one more thing I need to tell you." Wang Haoxian thought for a moment, then continued, "The dog emperor seems to be investigating the Kong family. Quite a few of the Kong family's shops have already been sealed up, and their grain has been confiscated by the court."

"Is that so?" Xu Hongru stood up, speaking with some agitation.

"Yes, the news just arrived." Wang Haoxian nodded, speaking with certainty, "It's definitely true and reliable—the dog emperor really is doing this."

"Heaven has truly granted us this opportunity!" Xu Hongru clapped his hands excitedly and said, "Is the Duke Yansheng still in Jining?"

"He's right there in Jining!" Wang Haoxian gritted his teeth and said, "Perhaps we can do something."

"We absolutely must do something." Xu Hongru thought it over, then said excitedly, "Have people spread word that the Duke Yansheng has already been arrested by the dog emperor and will be executed any moment now, all because of this grain trafficking affair. Use this to scare those corrupt officials into joining our cause."

Wang Haoxian nodded with a grim face and said, "Good, I'll go make the arrangements at once. I'll also have people find out what's happening in Jining as soon as possible, to see how the dog emperor is handling the Duke Yansheng."

"If he's already been arrested, then all the better. We should rise up as soon as possible and then march on Qufu. If we can get the Kong family of Qufu on our side, our chances of victory will be much greater."

Xu Hongru nodded and said, "Go handle it immediately."

Meanwhile, outside the walls of Jinan.

A party of travelers had arrived.

Zhao Yan looked at the city of Jinan, his feelings somewhat complicated.

A few days ago he had received His Majesty's summons, ordering him to come to Jining for an audience. He hadn't dared to delay and had hurried over at once. When he was still sixty li from Jining, he had encountered the imperial envoy—Chen Sihai of the Supervisory Office under the Office of Transmission.

Zhao Yan never even got to see His Majesty's face before Chen Sihai intercepted him, and then the two of them had rushed all the way to Jinan together, leaving Zhao Yan exhausted from the journey.

Still, Zhao Yan didn't dare complain. Shandong was already on the verge of turning upside down. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was arresting people everywhere, sealing up shops, and confiscating grain.

The whole of Shandong was gripped by fear and unease.