Chapter 88: A Night of Blood in the Capital (Part Two)

After Sun Yingyuan led the soldiers of the Yongwei Camp out of the Fan residence, a Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard asked Li Tingbiao, "Sir, how should we deal with the rest of the Fan household and their property?"

"Is this your first day on the job at the Embroidered Uniform Guard?" Li Tingbiao glanced at the Chiliarch with displeasure, then said expressionlessly, "The Fan family colluded with the enemy and betrayed the state, and they resisted arrest with weapons. Execute all remaining members of the Fan household on the spot, and haul away everything of value!"

Before leaving, Li Tingbiao added, "Hurry it up. We still have to go to the western city later, to invite those honored officials to be guests at the Imperial Prison."

After the order was given, the Fan residence was first silent, then immediately filled with cries of shock and piercing screams, punctuated by the sounds of metal clashing.

Before long, the Fan residence fell completely silent, and a thick stench of blood spread continuously through the muggy air.

Beyond the Fan residence, all the residences in the capital belonging to the Eight Great Shanxi Merchants were stained with blood, the smell of gore lingering long without dissipating.

After the eastern city came the officials' quarters in the western city. Large numbers of Embroidered Uniform Guard members, led by their peripheral personnel, charged straight for the residences of officials who had colluded with the Eight Great Shanxi Merchants.

Squad after squad of Embroidered Uniform Guard members pounded on the doors of the offending officials' homes, shouting loudly. Whenever anyone was slow to open the door, they climbed over the walls directly and, on the pretext of resisting arrest, killed everyone they saw.

The officials who opened their doors promptly and cooperated with the arrests were lucky enough to escape with their lives, merely being dragged off to the Imperial Prison.

For a time, the entire western city was in an uproar. Some curious officials sent their household retainers out to gather information, but the moment they stepped out the front gate, the Embroidered Uniform Guard members brandished their blades and shouted them back inside.

Some household retainers, relying on their masters being high-ranking court officials, ignored the Embroidered Uniform Guard—and met a very miserable end.

Some of the offending officials turned pale, their eyes bloodshot, not daring to close them all night, terrified that the Embroidered Uniform Guard would storm into their homes and drag them out of their bedrooms in their bare asses.

After the western city came the southern and northern districts. The peripheral personnel of the Embroidered Uniform Guard all mobilized, and acting on the intelligence gathered during the day, they mercilessly slaughtered the thugs and ruffians who had helped the Eight Great Shanxi Merchants spread rumors targeting the Crown Prince.

Throughout the night, Beijing was filled with the sounds of footsteps, the thunder of horse hooves, and the death screams of those in their final moments.

Every Embroidered Uniform Guard member involved in the operation was brimming with excitement, as if a little universe had exploded in their hearts. How many years had it been since they'd had this much thrill!

Ever since that dumbass Luo Yangxing took over, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had degenerated into god-knows-what state. Nothing like now, working under Lord Li—so satisfying!

According to incomplete statistics, that night the Yongwei Camp and the Embroidered Uniform Guard together killed over 1,500 members of the Eight Great Shanxi Merchants' families, retainers, and guards, more than 2,000 thugs and ruffians, and over 800 court officials along with their family members and retainers—among them more than seventy officials below the fourth rank.

The court officials were almost all killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The Yongwei Camp was only responsible for the grain depots of the Eight Great Shanxi Merchants in the eastern city. The Embroidered Uniform Guard, once given the order, feared killing no one and never worried about their reputation.

In their hearts, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's reputation had never been good anyway, so a bit more blackening didn't matter—as long as they enjoyed the killing!

The Yongwei Camp was different—they were an army. Killing high ministers in the capital would cause enormous trouble, and they might even be branded with mutiny. That was why Zhu Cilang had the main force of this operation carried out by Li Tingbiao's Embroidered Uniform Guard.

At the fourth ke of the Hour of the Ox (2 AM), Beijing had gradually quieted down, and the operation that had lasted five hours was nearing its end.

A large group of people emerged from the Dezhuang Hotpot restaurant on Chessboard Street, heading straight for the Northern Provincial Military Commission of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

In the outer prison of the Northern Provincial Military Commission were held a large number of officials and the chief managers of the Eight Great Shanxi Merchants in the capital, most of whom had been brought in just tonight.

The inner prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—the true Imperial Prison—could only hold those sentenced by an imperial edict personally issued by the Emperor. Generally, only high officials of the Nine Ministers or Commandery Governor rank, drawing two thousand shi of grain, were qualified to enter.

At this moment, the Imperial Prison was heavily guarded, protected by dozens of layers of Embroidered Uniform Guard members. Even Zhu Cilang's party, carrying the seal of the Eastern Palace, had to pass through layer upon layer of inspections.

"Is the Imperial Prison always this strict?" Zhu Cilang asked Li Tingbiao beside him.

Li Tingbiao said, "No. Though the guards are usually strict, it's not like this. These guards were only deployed in the past two days, mainly because a big shot has arrived at the Imperial Prison, and His Majesty personally issued an edict to take care of him."

Zhu Cilang asked curiously, "Who? With such a big face?"

Li Tingbiao said, "Gao Yingxiang!"

"He's already arrived?" Zhu Cilang was slightly startled. From his daily perusal of memorials, according to Sun Chuanting's report, the army escorting Gao Yingxiang would need at least another day to reach the capital—he hadn't expected him to have been secretly delivered to Beijing several days early.

Then, on second thought, that Emperor father of his was indeed cautious, afraid that Gao Yingxiang might meet with an accident or be snatched away by someone.

"Originally, with that big shot here, the Imperial Prison wasn't taking in new inmates recently. It took me tremendous effort to arrange those eight traitor chief managers into the Imperial Prison," Li Tingbiao complained somewhat.

Zhu Cilang laughed: "Oh? So it was because of my face that you opened a back door for those traitors?"

Li Tingbiao gave an embarrassed smile, while feeling great disgust toward the eight traitor chief managers, thinking that having them there simply lowered the class of the Imperial Prison.

Zhu Cilang had no interest in seeing Gao Yingxiang—and probably wouldn't be allowed to anyway—so he directly had Li Tingbiao lead the way to meet the eight chief managers of the traitor families.

Arriving at Fan Yongshan's "private room" in the Imperial Prison, Zhu Cilang stared at this extremely uneasy Fourth Master Fan.

Fan Yongshan looked at his visitor with some curiosity at first, then soon guessed the general idea. He said, "You must be the Crown Prince."

Zhu Cilang did not answer him, continuing to stare at him until Fan Yongshan began to feel creeped out inside.

After a long while, Zhu Cilang spoke: "You colluded with the enemy and betrayed the state. Do you know how many common people have been ruined—their families destroyed—because of you eight beastly families!"

Fan Yongshan said, "Heh heh. Our eight families have operated in Shanxi for over a hundred years. Can a little brat like you shake us? Even the current Emperor doesn't dare touch us in the slightest. Little Crown Prince, you'd better tread carefully, and don't become the sacrificial lamb your Emperor father uses to appease our eight families, hahaha!"

An Embroidered Uniform Guard member picked up an iron whip and cracked it across Fan Yongshan's body, angrily saying, "You dog! You become a traitor and still dare to be this arrogant!"

Zhu Cilang said coldly, "I will slaughter all you dog traitors sooner or later!"

Fan Yongshan winced in pain, the corner of his mouth twitching. His brows moved slowly, and a bitter smile appeared on his pale face, then he burst into loud laughter: "Traitor? Heh heh. Among the Nine Border Garrisons, who secretly communicates with the Manchus besides our Eight Great Shanxi families? Shaanxi, Xuanfu, Liaodong—where is there no merchant secretly communicating with the Manchus? This is an open secret everyone knows. A huge chain of interests formed decades ago. With so many officials and merchants, can you kill them all?"

"Do you know how many officials in the capital lean toward us? From the Grand Secretariat ministers and the eunuchs in the palace down to Company Commanders and constables—can you arrest them all? Not to mention our home base in Shanxi, which is already like an iron bucket. If the court tries to bite it down, it'll probably shatter a few teeth!"

"I'm just a collateral branch of the Fan family. Kill me, and our family head will simply replace the manager in the capital."

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang frowned, feeling deeply unsettled. He couldn't be bothered to look at Fan Yongshan again, turned and left, then waved his hand and said, "Drag him off! Before the morning court, make him confess and spill everything he knows. Remember—don't torture him to death!"

Li Tingbiao immediately said, "Yes! Rest assured, Your Highness. Once inside the Imperial Prison, even dying is hard. I'll make him walk through the gates of hell three times a day, and he'll still live another thirty years!"

"Who's going to support him living that long? Once this business is done, dispose of him. People like him just waste air while alive!" Zhu Cilang said with some displeasure.

Torture in the Imperial Prison was not only terrifying, but the force applied was also extremely precise. During the Wanli era, Qian Ruogeng, the Prefect of Linjiang, was thrown into the Imperial Prison for offending a powerful figure and remained there for as long as thirty-seven years.

In the Imperial Prison, Qian Ruogeng's qi and blood withered entirely... pus and blood dripped continuously, his limbs were swollen, sores and toxins covered his body, and he also suffered from tumors on his feet. He could neither stand nor walk, his ears could no longer hear, his eyes could no longer see, his hands could not move, his feet could not walk—only a slight breath remained in his throat. He seemed not dead, but in truth was no different from dead.

While Qian Ruogeng was imprisoned in the Imperial Prison, his son Qian Jingzhong, who had just turned one year old, gradually grew up and passed the jinshi examination. After the Tianqi Emperor ascended the throne, Qian Jingzhong submitted a tearful memorial begging to have his father's crimes pardoned.

The Tianqi Emperor was moved by Qian Jingzhong's cries for justice on his father's behalf and his plea to take his father's place, finding his sentiments pitiable. He thus spared Qian Ruogeng from death and released him to return to his hometown, saying to Qian Jingzhong, "You have not failed your father; in the future, you will surely not fail me."

More than twenty years later, when the Ming dynasty fell and Qing troops marched south, Qian Jingzhong happened to fall ill. He refused to take medicine and died—one could say he did not betray the Tianqi Emperor after all.

After leaving the Imperial Prison, Xu Sheng beside Zhu Cilang turned back to look at the imposing architecture of the Imperial Prison and sighed with emotion, "I really miss the days when I used to work here!"

As he said this, he deliberately glanced at Li Tingbiao. Hearing this, Li Tingbiao launched a flying kick at Xu Sheng and cursed, "Get lost!"