Chapter 367: Dashing Himself to Death Before Your Majesty

"Explain the matter clearly." Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Xianchun and spoke slowly, his tone extremely low.

His face was so grim it looked ready to drip. Clearly, Zhu Youxiao was already angry.

All the palace attendants serving in the room dared not even breathe; they held their breath, stood hunched and cautious, terrified of provoking Zhu Youxiao.

"Your Majesty, the Wenxiang sect has rebelled!" Xu Xianchun said with a mournful face: "Your servant was escorting Kong Yinzhi back to Qufu, but we were ambushed by them halfway there."

"There were over a thousand of them, armed with all kinds of weapons, and they attacked your servant's escort convoy. Your servant originally intended to fight to the death to get Kong Yinzhi and the others away, but who could have imagined that Kong Yinzhi was actually in league with them!"

"Not only did he refuse to leave with your servant, he nearly led your servant into a trap. They deliberately slowed the march so that those behind could catch up, and your servant nearly lost his entire force because of it. Your servant has failed Your Majesty; your servant failed to see Kong Yinzhi's wolfish ambition!"

As he spoke, Xu Xianchun wept again, thumping his head against the ground with heavy thuds, blood slowly staining that small patch of carpet red.

Seeing Xu Xianchun with tears and snot streaming down his face, even Zhu Youxiao's heart shuddered.

Setting everything else aside, if he kept kowtowing like that, Xu Xianchun would probably knock himself into a concussion. It had to be said, Xu Xianchun really could be ruthless toward himself.

"How dare you! Nonsense! How could a descendant of the Sage Confucius do such a thing?"

Zhu Youxiao slammed the table and roared in anger: "You must have feared the Wenxiang sect, abandoned Kong Yinzhi's safety, and fled back on your own. And now you still dare to spout nonsense here and slander others—this is utterly outrageous! Guards, drag him out and behead him!"

Hearing this, Chen Hong shot a puzzled glance at Xu Xianchun, then at Zhu Youxiao, somewhat confused in his heart.

By all logic, His Majesty should have seized this opportunity to make the matter stick, so why was he now punishing Xu Xianchun?

Compared to Chen Hong, Xu Xianchun was far more astute.

He instantly understood Zhu Youxiao's intent, straightened up directly, and stood at attention, saying: "Your servant's loyalty to Your Majesty is witnessed by heaven and earth. If you say your servant feared the rebels and clung to life, your servant has nothing to say."

"The reason your servant rushed back to Jining city was simply to report the rebellion to Your Majesty, hoping Your Majesty could prepare early. Now that the message has been delivered, your servant has no regrets. At this point, your servant can only die to prove his innocence!"

Having said this, Xu Xianchun stamped his foot and opened his eyes wide, his whole face twisting into a ferocious expression as he charged toward a pillar not far away, looking as if he meant to dash his head against it.

Seeing this, Chen Hong was startled and hurriedly rushed forward to stop Xu Xianchun.

But Chen Hong was nowhere near as fast as Xuianchun; he only managed to catch a corner of Xu Xianchun's robe.

With a tearing sound from the fabric, Xu Xianchun slammed into the pillar with a thud, his head split open instantly, and his whole body collapsed to the ground.

His forehead was split open and bleeding, his face covered in gore, blood streaming down from his temples—it looked absolutely terrifying.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao's face darkened even further, and he demanded angrily: "Is he dead?"

Chen Hong was still dazed, but hearing his master's questioning voice, he snapped back to his senses as if waking from a dream, reached out to check Xu Xianchun's breath, and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, he has fainted."

"Then why aren't you finding someone to treat him?" Zhu Youxiao said to Chen Hong with irritation: "Even if we're going to kill him, we need to wait until he wakes up and get the full story first. Now go find the imperial physician—don't let him die."

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will go at once." Chen Hong shuddered, turned, and hurried toward the door.

"Just send someone." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said: "You go find Xu Guangqi and Zhang Weixian. I want to discuss this matter with them."

"Tell them what happened here." Zhu Youxiao nodded again and said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong quickly acknowledged and went off to find them.

Xu Xianchun was soon carried away to have his wounds bandaged.

Meanwhile, Chen Hong arrived before Xu Guangqi and said with a grave expression: "Grand Secretary Xu, His Majesty summons you."

Hearing this, Xu Guangqi quickly rose to his feet.

Seeing Chen Hong's very unpleasant expression, Xu Guangqi hurriedly asked: "Eunuch Chen, what has happened?"

"Someone has rebelled." Chen Hong sighed and said: "His Majesty summons the Grand Secretary and the Duke of Ying."

"What exactly is going on?" Xu Guangqi drew in a cold breath and asked hurriedly.

Chen Hong did not conceal anything and told Xu Guangqi everything that had just happened.

After finishing, Chen Hong continued: "His Majesty does not believe the Kong family would rebel. Even though the Kong family colluded with the Wenxiang sect and sold all the court's disaster relief grain to the Wenxiang sect as provisions for their rebellion, His Majesty still refuses to believe the Kong family would conspire with the Wenxiang sect."

Xu Guangqi looked at Chen Hong, his expression rather complicated.

Since when had this Eunuch Chen started talking like this?

One had to know that Chen Hong's words carried barbs. What he had said earlier was already enough to prove the Kong family's collusion with the Wenxiang sect.

Selling off the court's disaster relief grain to supply the Wenxiang sect's rebellion—that single crime alone was enough to warrant the extermination of the entire clan.

The Kong family was absolutely accomplices of the rebels; there was nothing more to say about it. And now, during the escort, the man had actually been taken away by the Wenxiang sect.

Xu Xianchun said they were 'taken away,' but His Majesty did not believe it, and so Xu Xianchun prepared to dash his head against a pillar before His Majesty to prove his innocence.

Xu Guangqi did not even know how to evaluate this matter. Would Xu Xianchun really dash himself to death before His Majesty to prove his innocence?

In truth, plenty of people did this sort of thing, but few actually died from it. Everyone did it merely to show their resolve and scare the emperor.

Usually this was a tactic reserved for civil officials; a hawk of the emperor like Xu Xianchun would never dare do such a thing, because it constituted threatening and coercing the emperor.

Civil officials had that privilege; military officers and the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern Depot could never have it. If you dared do such a thing, you might as well wait to die.

So there had to be something fishy here, but it could not be said aloud. You could hardly argue that Xu Xianchun was telling the truth, could you? Then the Kong family would truly be doomed beyond redemption.

So Xu Guangqi could only hold his nose and accept it.

There was another point: if His Majesty accepted Xu Xianchun's account, he would certainly face countless opposition. At the same time, everyone would impeach Xu Xianchun.

But now no one dared do such a thing—who knew whether the matter was actually false?

If the Kong family really had been taken away rather than seized, then anyone who dared to vouch for them at this moment would end up in a very, very miserable state once the truth came out.

As for impeaching Xu Xianchun—the man was about to dash himself to death to prove his innocence; what more did you want from him?

Xu Guangqi sighed and said to Chen Hong: "I will go at once."

Having said this, Xu Guangqi walked outside.

On the way, they ran into Zhang Weixian.

Unlike Xu Guangqi, Zhang Weixian was not thinking about whether the matter was true or false at all—he was not even thinking about the Kong family.

In Zhang Weixian's mind, this meant someone was rebelling.

This was a good thing. This was an opportunity.

The Staff Office had just been established, the position of Chief Staff Minister was still vacant, and there was enormous outside criticism of his department—this was precisely his chance to prove himself.

Thinking of this, Zhang Weixian was trembling with excitement. As for the Kong family or whatever—Zhang Weixian did not care.

Once a rebellion grows large enough, it becomes a war disaster—armies marching and fighting everywhere. Who would care who the Kong family is?

If they truly get mixed up in this, they certainly won't come to any good end.

"Duke of Ying, have you heard about the matter?" Xu Guangqi looked at Zhang Weixian and asked slowly.

Zhang Weixian nodded with a grave expression and said, "I've heard. I already understand the general situation. Who could have imagined these rebels would be so bold? Who could have imagined the Kong family would be colluding with them?"

"Duke of Ying, watch your words." Xu Guangqi hastily said, "There's no conclusion to this matter yet. You mustn't speak recklessly."

Zhang Weixian glanced at Xu Guangqi, knowing that this man wasn't speaking up for the Kong family, but rather worried about what waves such words might stir if they got out.

But Zhang Weixian didn't see it that way. He felt he not only needed to take a stance, but also let everyone know it.

If all his actions remained consistent with the Grand Secretariat and the civil officials, then what was the point of establishing the Staff Office?

If he truly wanted to serve as Chief of Staff, he had to demonstrate his own value.

If it were those trivial matters from before, he wouldn't have much recourse. But this time was different—he needed to show sufficient firmness, sufficient conviction.

"Grand Secretary Xu, the things the Kong family did—they were colluding with the Wenxiang sect all along, selling off the court's disaster relief grain to them."

"Now the Wenxiang sect is rebelling, and all that grain has become their military provisions. Still saying they weren't in league? I say they're birds of a feather!"

"Now that His Majesty has stripped the Duke Yansheng of his title, they're preparing to take desperate risks. They've truly failed in their duty as subjects!" Zhang Weixian said furiously.

Glancing at Zhang Weixian, Xu Guangqi understood in an instant—this man wasn't debating with him. He was declaring his position.

So Xu Guangqi gave up any thought of continuing the discussion with Zhang Weixian, because it would be utterly pointless.

As the saying goes, you can't wake someone who's pretending to sleep. His stance doesn't represent reason.

A stance is a stance—it has nothing to do with reason.

Whether that reasoning is correct or not, from his position, that is the reasoning.

But thinking of the court and public strife that lay ahead, Xu Guangqi still let out a sigh.

There was still something in his heart he didn't understand—why would His Majesty provoke this kind of conflict?

Xu Guangqi could naturally see that this conflict had been provoked by His Majesty. But he also understood that even if he wanted to stop it, there was no way.

Still, after returning, he would need to think carefully—why would His Majesty do this?

As one of His Majesty's favored ministers, if he couldn't even figure out this matter, he feared his path wouldn't go much further.

The two men walked in with their own thoughts, and soon saw Zhu Youxiao, whose face was full of anger.

"Your servant Xu Guangqi."

"Your servant Zhang Weixian."

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty." Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, the two men quickly bowed in salute.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Rise."

After Xu Guangqi and the other man straightened up, Zhu Youxiao continued, "I imagine you've already heard about the matter?"