Chapter 379

That old man had been silent since Tang Lanzhou entered the door. It wasn't until Tang Lanzhou spoke to him that he raised his head and let out a long sigh.

"Lord Tang, why go to such lengths?"

Tang Lanzhou shifted his gaze.

"As the head of the Ministry of Justice, this subordinate naturally must perform my duties faithfully. Seeing those who rebel and usurp, naturally I must execute them. It's just unexpected that Lord Ke would also collude with that traitor Yan Song."

After he finished speaking, a middle-aged official in the crowd shouted angrily.

"No evidence! You are just doing things without cause!"

"We have no acts of forming cliques for private interests, and even less contact with Lord Yan! It's just that there is chaos in the capital today, and we were afraid of being killed by the rebels, so we gathered here under Lord Ke's leadership to guard our lives! What rebellion! We have never had such a thing!"

His words were righteous and stern.

The reason also seemed to make sense.

But neither the old man nor Tang Lanzhou spoke, nor did they respond in the slightest.

After a long while, when he was tired of speaking, Tang Lanzhou waved his hand.

"Kill."

Squish!

A fine head flew up, and a fountain of blood sprayed from the torso.

The leader of the Imperial Guard looked coldly at all the other officials until they tightly closed their mouths and swallowed all their words back, only then sneering and sheathing his blade.

The old man sighed.

"Lord Tang, is this seeking death?"

Tang Lanzhou nodded.

"Yes."

"Your wife died?"

"Yes."

The old man sighed again.

"Blame me; I originally thought that in your house there were only you and your old wife, and usually seeing you cautious and timid, and your official position was just right, I thought it would be more appropriate to use your head to launch the second forced palace incident."

"If I had known that Lord Tang still retained some of the sharpness of your youth, I should have let Lord Yan agree with Yingzhou to send more people to kill you... I didn't expect to leave Lord Tang to waste away in the world, I am truly sorry."

Tang Lanzhou was expressionless.

The old man's words had already laid his cards on the table.

Ke Hongwen, Cabinet Grand Secretary, veteran of two reigns, one of the late Emperor's entrusted ministers, head of the academic officials. The Jiangnan Ke clan, the literary sect of the Great Ming; if Yan Song was the head of the civil officials, then he was the head of the scholars of the Great Ming.

Such a person naturally wouldn't be as naive as that middle-aged official. He hid in the mansion of the person Tang Lanzhou wanted to kill; just this point alone made it impossible for him to bluff his way through.

Evidence?

Does Tang Lanzhou look like he's here to solve a case?

Ke Hongwen felt some regret.

Of course, he wasn't regretting sending people to kill Tang Lanzhou, nor was he regretting killing Tang Lanzhou's wife... He just regretted betting wrong that Yan Song would win, and betting wrong on where he should hide.

A long sigh.

"Lord Tang, since the outcome is decided, this old man admits defeat. Why not untie me first? I am willing to work with you to execute those involved in colluding with Yan Song, how about that?" Ke Hongwen said.

Tang Lanzhou looked at him silently.

He didn't speak for a long, long time.

Until Ke Hongwen's lips pursed.

"Lord Tang, don't be foolish!"

"Doing this today, you are clearly being treated as an abandoned pawn. When the hundred officials react, Zhu Zai will take your head to calm the situation. For Zhu Zai, the most important thing is always the Zhu family's world; he won't protect you—but I can."

Ke Hongwen said sincerely.

"Once Yan Song dies, I will be the head of the civil officials. I can mobilize the hundred officials to submit a petition to exonerate you, and even completely remove you from this matter."

"I also have connections with academic officials everywhere; you don't need to worry about public opinion..."

He rambled on, getting more and more urgent.

Tang Lanzhou, however, seemed to be suddenly awakened by him; his body shivered, and his gaze refocused on his face.

Just now he thought of his wife, and his heart throbbed again; only now did he come back to his senses.

He didn't listen to Ke Hongwen's words, but walked to an Imperial Guard, reached out to take the crossbow from his hand, took an arrow from the quiver, and turned back to the front of the crowd.

First, he looked at Ke Hongwen coldly, then lowered his head to press the crossbow against the ground, panting, stepped on the trigger, and laboriously loaded the arrow.

Seeing this, Ke Hongwen was scared out of his wits.

He shouted urgently: "Lord Tang, don't be impulsive! Killing others might be done with groundless charges, but I am different. I am a loyal minister entrusted by the late Emperor, and the Jiangnan Ke clan is the head of the scholars of the world. If you kill me, how will you answer to the scholars of the world! How will His Majesty stop the mouths of the public!"

"Is Lord Tang angry because of the assassination attempt on you last night? As long as you spare my life, the Jiangnan Ke clan will follow your lead in the future; in the future, you will be Yan Song. Could this satisfy Lord Tang?"

As Ke Hongwen spoke, he saw Tang Lanzhou stop moving after cocking the crossbow, just lowering his head and panting heavily.

He thought this was a sign of Tang Lanzhou wavering.

So he hurriedly continued.

"Lord Tang, about your wife's matter... How about this, I will take charge and have the Ke clan—"

Tang Lanzhou suddenly said calmly.

"Noisy."

Whoosh—squish.

Ke Hongwen felt his shoulder go cold first, his whole body was carried backward, and as he lay on the ground, his shoulder felt hot again, and then sharp pain came.

"Uh!"

He looked in astonishment at the arrow inserted into his shoulder, and then looked at Tang Lanzhou. Tang Lanzhou said calmly.

"My body is not very good, I shot wide, Lord Ke, please forgive me."

After speaking, he loaded another arrow into the crossbow, panted, pulled the trigger, and dragged the crossbow toward him.

"Lord, Lord Tang!"

Ke Hongwen was pulled by the sharp pain and stuttered, enduring it and saying urgently.

"Did I say something wrong just now?"

"I didn't participate in the forced palace incident, nor did I send anyone to kill you; I just chose wrong for a moment, wanting to see what Yan Song could accomplish—I didn't mean you any harm!"

"Spare me, I can save your life, and I can also suppress public opinion for His Majesty, reducing the impact to a minimum..."

Tang Lanzhou approached step by step.

Suddenly, Ke Hongwen had a flash of inspiration.

"Is it... your wife's matter?"

He stared intently at Tang Lanzhou's eyes.

When he said this, Tang Lanzhou's gaze fluctuated.

Clearly, whether he was talking about the world situation or saving Tang Lanzhou's life, Tang Lanzhou's gaze was dead silent. But at this moment, it did fluctuate.

"Is it really because of your wife?"

Ke Hongwen's eyes widened.

"A... woman?"

He couldn't understand; he felt Tang Lanzhou was crazy.

Although the Great Ming had the influence of "Wu Lin," the social atmosphere was a bit more open than the Great Ming Li Miao lived in before, but in the final analysis, it was still a feudal dynasty, and a feudal dynasty that had reached its peak; the status of women could not be high.

A person like Tang Lanzhou who had reached the peak of the officialdom, giving up power, the world, and even his life for a woman?

You've read too many storybooks, you're senile!

The higher one stands, the more one understands how cheap "people" are. Beauty, talent, temperament, physique; qualities that ordinary people cannot obtain are just labels on playthings in the eyes of people like Ke Hongwen, small dishes that can be taken at will.

Tang Lanzhou's behavior, in Ke Hongwen's eyes, was as ridiculous as dying for love for one's pet.

Summer insects cannot talk about ice.

It wasn't until Tang Lanzhou panted and pressed the arrow against his forehead that Ke Hongwen suddenly woke up.

"No, Lord Tang, think again!"

"Consider it again, think clearly! It's just a woman, I can compensate you with the most famous talented woman, the most beautiful—"

"Lord Ke, stop for a moment."

Tang Lanzhou said.

"You are wrong, you said a lot of nonsense."

Ke Hongwen said tremblingly.

"Where am I wrong... Lord Tang, I can change."

Tang Lanzhou shook his head.

"You are wrong in trying to persuade a dead man."

Click.

The trigger was pulled.

Blood sprayed out.

The arrow pierced Ke Hongwen's head.

"For a dead man, do life, the world, power, or desire have any meaning?"

"I am tired; no matter how many things you prepare in the world, I just want to say goodbye as soon as possible and take some gifts to see my wife."

Tang Lanzhou looked at Ke Hongwen's corpse and said calmly.

"Lord Ke saved me a lot of trouble; now the charges of forming cliques for private interests, conspiring to rebel, secretly raising dead soldiers, and privately storing crossbows don't need me to rack my brains to make up."

He waved his sleeve and turned around.

"Behead them all."

"Take the heads and send them to my house; build a firewood pile in front of my wife's spirit hall and build a Jingguan on it."

"My wife was afraid of the cold when she was alive; I want to make the fire bigger, the bigger the better."

The leader of the Imperial Guard bowed and agreed, turned back, and waved his hand.

Blood light soared into the sky.

Tang Lanzhou walked out of the mansion and panted while holding the door frame.

Just now he forcibly suppressed his anger, and his heart throbbed with sharp pain several times. He knew very well that his death was near.

But Ke Hongwen saved him a lot of time.

Tang Lanzhou looked far into the distance, toward the east.

The officials here were basically gathered by Ke Hongwen. To the east were Jiangmi Lane and Chang'an Street, where officials were most gathered. There were still many heads waiting for him to take.

Tang Lanzhou watched, and two figures suddenly flashed in his vision. One chasing and one fleeing, suddenly far away.

His pupils shrank suddenly.

He didn't know the person who was fleeing.

But he would never forget the face of the person chasing, even if it turned to ash.

Yingzhou Heaven-Man, fake Li Miao.