Chapter 118

The Jing Wang Fu has suddenly suffered a disaster; the Prince has perished, the Heir Apparent is missing, and it is precisely the time when the group is without a leader.

However, the Prince's funeral cannot be skipped.

Fortunately, the Prince of Jing had three sons; besides the Prince of Prince Tai Ning and the Heir Apparent, there is still a twelve-year-old youngest son.

Now, he has been pushed forward to preside over the Prince of Prince Tai Ning's funeral.

It is no wonder that the various collateral branches are so eager, just wanting to seize the opportunity to sort out the assets of the Prince of Prince Tai Ning's estate, which is to say, to divide the spoils among themselves.

Who told the Prince of Prince Tai Ning to have no heir?

At this moment, inside the Jing Princely City, everything is white mourning clothes and hempen garments, with mourning sashes worn on the body.

At the various city gates, the imperial clan members are greeting the officials and gentry who have come to offer condolences; both sides speak in low voices and exchange courtesies.

The Prince of Fanshan, Zhu Zaitan, the Heir Apparent of the Prince of Fushun, Zhu Zaiji, and other collateral branches, together with the late Prince of Jing's third son by a concubine, Zhu Changsi, are keeping watch at the front hall of the Princely City, receiving guests and offering comfort.

The Princely Mansion suffered a great fire, but fortunately, the front hall was not implicated, making it just right for holding the coffin.

"Alas, it is still the Imperial Envoy who is bullying people too much; otherwise, how could it have come to this?"

"Who is to say it isn't? Those Imperial Envoys are lawless. The Prince of Chu, Zhu Xianhuan, was arrested and thrown into prison for no reason, suffering great humiliation. It is precisely because the Prince of Prince Tai Ning felt a sense of 'the rabbit dying and the fox grieving' that he took such a drastic step."

"I heard that Li Zaiting is quite fond of male beauty, which is how he gained the Emperor's favor. Now, whenever someone of high position and great power falls into prison, they are inevitably humiliated by him repeatedly. Who can see this and remain indifferent?"

Several Jingzhou Prefecture officials, having just offered comfort to the deceased's family, are huddled together whispering.

When the conversation turned to strange places, they couldn't help but stroke their beards and laugh.

Just as they were enjoying themselves, they suddenly heard a commotion coming from afar.

The few turned their heads, looking curiously, only to see the Prince of Fanshan, Zhu Zaitan, and the Heir Apparent of the Prince of Fushun, Zhu Zaiji, with expressions of anger or shock, simultaneously apologizing before leaving the guests where they were and hurrying away.

The Department Magistrate immediately became alert.

He walked quickly to the late Prince of Jing's third son by a concubine, Zhu Changsi, and said: "Jing Zi, is there some difficulty at the mansion? Although we only have meager strength, we can still help a little."

Nowadays, this Zhu Changsi can be said to be lying down and winning; his eldest brother's whereabouts are suspicious, his second brother burned himself to death, and there is an eighty percent chance he will be designated as the Heir Apparent. Calling him "Jing Zi" has an element of flattery, but it is within reason.

Although Zhu Changsi is only twelve, his demeanor is quite orderly.

Seeing the local Department Magistrate come to ask, he hurriedly cupped his hands in return, meticulous: "Magistrate He, it is not that there is any difficulty, it is just that distinguished guests have arrived, and the servants are unable to handle it, so the uncles had to go personally."

Distinguished guests... judging by that look of shock, anger, and panic just now, "unwelcome guests" would be more like it.

The Department Magistrate's eyelids jumped, and he immediately realized the situation, asking urgently: "The Imperial Envoy is here!? Who came? The Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

Zhu Changsi remained silent for a long time before nodding.

Only then did Magistrate He cup his hands in a salute and retreat back to the circle of officials, where the few whispered, not knowing what was said.

Afterwards, the group glanced around and, without even saying goodbye, covered their faces and quietly disappeared.

Zhu Changsi watched coldly, not speaking to stop them.

During these days, he has already become accustomed to the coldness of human relationships.

He shook his head, casting these people out of his mind, and instead looked with some worry toward the distance, at the entrance of the Princely Mansion.

This morning, news came from Wuchang Prefecture that Liang Menglong had arrived at the Provincial Governor's Yamen.

Immediately following this, the Provincial Governor, because of the turbulent situation in Huguang, began to lobby several Imperial Envoys, hoping to stabilize the situation with calm.

After much persuasion, he finally convinced Hai Rui and Li Zaiting.

The Zhang Chucheng case, officially, stopped at the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Du Si, the Regional Military Commissioner Mao Ruxian, and the Yuezhou Prefect Zhong Chongwen, and was closed and filed.

When Huguang heard the news, the three offices were overjoyed, repeatedly calling Liang Menglong a man of prime ministerial talent.

Today he rectifies Huguang, and in the future, he will benefit all the people.

The imperial clan members were about to celebrate together when they heard that when discussing the imperial clan, Zhu Xizhong's Embroidered Uniform Guard habits flared up, and he ignored the dissuasion of Provincial Governor Liang Menglong and the two Imperial Envoys, and left in a huff.

Liang Menglong was so angry that he smashed his cup on the spot and cursed: "Scheming for merit and rewards, rushing the case, disregarding the bonds of the imperial family, and casting the Emperor's benevolence and virtue to the back of his mind."

Although he did not know what this person's intentions were.

But this attitude of letting the Huguang officialdom off the hook while continuing to investigate the imperial clan was truly too obvious.

Originally, he was still worried about how Zhu Xizhong would act, but he did not expect that he would kill his way directly to their Jingfu.

Zhu Changsi withdrew his gaze and sighed inwardly; anyway, he was only twelve, so it shouldn't implicate him. As for whether he could be left with a complete Prince title, it would depend on luck.

Thinking this way, he once again revealed a look of sorrow and exchanged greetings with the guests who came to offer condolences.

Meticulously.

From the Jingfu city gate to the front hall, there is an official road.

At this entrance in the southwest, there are three white marble memorial archways, known as the head of the "Ninety-nine Memorial Archways of Qizhou."

The main pillars of the archways are carved with auspicious clouds and coiled dragons, and the horizontal plaque on the archway displays the four large characters "Screen and Fence for the Imperial House."

A stone tablet nearly a zhang high stands in front of the six-pillar archway, inscribed with "Civil and military officials must dismount and walk from here."

Both sets of calligraphy were written by the Emperor Renzong himself, protecting the Jing Princely House for over a hundred years.

But it is often precisely because of this that certain imperial clan members have developed a reckless and arrogant nature.

The Prince of Dean, Zhu Yiliu, has a fiery temper and is too lazy to even put on a show, saying sternly: "Zhu Xizhong, Wu Jinghe, today is the funeral of the Jing Princely House, we do not welcome you, please return!"

The Imperial Envoys are stirring up trouble in Huguang and bullying the imperial clan, which is one thing, but now that the Prince of Prince Tai Ning has just passed away, it is the time of the funeral, and yet someone has come to the Jing Princely Mansion to cause trouble!

They simply do not put these sons and grandsons of the Emperor in their eyes!

Zhu Xizhong and Wu Jinghe at his side did not pay any attention to this Commandery Prince.

The latter even pointed rudely at the Prince of Fanshan and the group of imperial clan members, explaining in a low voice to those around him: "The Prince of Fanshan, Zhu Zaitan, inherited the title in the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing."

"On the left is the Heir Apparent of the Prince of Fushun, Zhu Zaiji; the Prince of Fushun is now seventy-six and is already enjoying his old age, so the Heir Apparent handles most of the mansion's affairs."

"The one on the right is the Prince of Yongxin, Zhu Zaihao, who inherited the title in the forty-first year of Jiajing."

"The one next to him is the Prince of Dean, Zhu Yiliu, who is the full brother of the Prince of Yongxin."

"Of the Commandery Princes of the Jing Princely House, many have had their titles revoked, and now there are only these four Commandery Princely Houses left."

After speaking, Wu Jinghe shook his head secretly.

According to the current regulations for princely houses, all legitimate sons of a Commandery Prince, no matter how many are born, are all enfeoffed as Commandery Princes; those born of concubines are Generals of the State.

But there are often exceptions.

For example, this Prince of Fanshan, Prince of Yongxin, and Prince of Fushun are actually the three sons born of concubines of the previous Prince of Fanshan, Zhu Yougou.

In other words, as long as a Commandery Prince is capable enough of reproducing, he can create a pile of Commandery Princes and Generals of the State.

A Commandery Prince receives an annual salary of one thousand taels of silver, and a General of the State receives seven hundred taels.

The Prince of Fanshan, Zhu Yougou, by his own efforts, gave birth to eleven sons, three Commandery Princes, and eight Generals of the State—in one year, they would consume nearly ten thousand taels of salary!

This is without counting the five hundred taels per year for those Commandery Princesses, or the continued reproduction that follows.

It is precisely because of this "Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two" that there are dozens of Commandery Princes in Huguang, hundreds of Generals of the State and Generals of the Auxiliary State, with as many as two thousand people holding titles, and even the lowest-ranking Defenders of the State receive five hundred taels of salary a year.

In Huguang alone, this gold-swallowing beast of an imperial clan consumes one million taels of salary a year, and the imperial clan of the whole world is even more impossible to calculate!

The central government is stingy even with a few tens of thousands of taels, and it is perfectly normal to be in arrears with salaries; only if an immortal came could they be paid in full!

Here, Wu Jinghe was pointing and gesturing, completely indifferent, which made the several Commandery Princes frown even more.

They looked at each other, and immediately understood that Wu Jinghe and Zhu Xizhong were not here with good intentions.

The Prince of Fanshan, Zhu Zaitan, had high prestige, and he pulled back the Prince of Dean, Zhu Yiliu, who had just stepped forward.

The former stood on the court steps, looking down from a high position, and looked at the group of uninvited guests with full etiquette: "Duke of Cheng, this was written by Emperor Renzong himself, civil and military officials must walk from here."

"If you have the heart to come and offer condolences, you might as well abandon this wheelchair and walk into the hall."

He pointed at the stone tablet, his words laced with thorns; saying he should abandon the wheelchair was actually driving people away—since he was already in a wheelchair, it wasn't as if he could get down just because he wanted to.

These words were not lacking in etiquette, and also stated his attitude.

As soon as the words fell, the several Commandery Princes began to clamor, echoing in unison.

"Duke of Cheng, if you don't even have this bit of etiquette for the deceased, don't blame us for refusing to let you enter the mansion."

"Zhu Xizhong! It is one thing for you to force the Prince to his death, but for the sake of the Prince's funeral today, we will not argue with you, why don't you get down and walk!"

"The Duke wantonly slaughters the imperial clan and humiliates the imperial relatives; does he not even put Emperor Renzong in his eyes?"

The imperial clan members gradually surrounded them, clamoring incessantly.

The soldiers of the Princely Mansion exchanged glances privately, hesitant and in a dilemma.

Seeing the scene becoming intense, Zhu Shitai was a bit flustered and hurriedly ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guards behind him to be ready for battle.

"Cough... cough..."

Zhu Xizhong covered his mouth and coughed twice.

He turned his head to look at the inscription left by Renzong and muttered to himself: "Civil and military officials must dismount and walk from here."

Zhu Shitai heard it from behind and, thinking he had grasped the point, hurriedly said: "Dismount and walk, we didn't ride..."

Just as he was speaking, Zhu Xizhong waved his hand, interrupting Zhu Shitai.

Zhu Xizhong raised his head, looked directly at the several Commandery Princes, and took in their expressions one by one: anger, arrogance, worry, indifference, all different.

He tucked his handkerchief into his sleeve, braced his body, and said with a solemn face: "This envoy, holding the rank of Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, specially promoted to Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and Pillar of the State, hereditary Duke, military official who serves the state with sincerity in the Heaven-ordained pacification of the realm, with the additional title of Grand Tutor of the State, is an Imperial Envoy sent by decree to coordinate all military and political affairs in Huguang! Wherever I go, I act according to my discretion!"

"Etiquette... cough... the Imperial Envoy on inspection is the greatest etiquette in the Jing Princely Mansion today!"

"The Prince of Dean keeps talking about slaughtering the imperial clan and humiliating imperial relatives; does he not know what case this official is investigating? It is a major case of rebellion and treason; how dare you stir up trouble!?"

"The Prince of Yongxin keeps saying that this official forced the Prince of Prince Tai Ning to his death, bringing up the story of the Prince of Xiang, 'Xiang Zhuang dancing with the sword, his intent is on the Emperor'; do you really not know how to write the word 'death'?"

"The Prince of Fanshan brings out the handwriting of Emperor Renzong to suppress me; I am afraid he has forgotten what year it is today..."

Speaking to this point, Zhu Xizhong's expression became fierce, even carrying a sense of overbearing, and he roared angrily: "This official patrols the realm on behalf of Heaven; how dare you, a few mere Commandery Princes, use a small stone tablet to make the Heaven-sent envoy walk!"

"To not put the Emperor in your eyes like this, do you wish to emulate the incident at the Prince of Lishan's mansion the other day!?"

As soon as the words fell, the Embroidered Uniform Guards behind him suddenly drew their swords and pointed them at the ground, the sound of metal clashing ringing out.

The several Commandery Princes changed color suddenly.

Zhu Xizhong is arrogant and domineering to this extent!?

Could it be that he really came to slaughter the Jing Princely Mansion today? Does he not know that the one who starts the trouble will have no descendants?

Wang Shizi Apparent of the Prince of Fushun's legs were trembling, and he protected the several uncles in front of him.

The Prince of Fanshan shouted in shock: "Do you intend to kill all of us imperial clan members in Huguang?"

"Is this also the Emperor's intention!?"

He bit onto the Emperor, quietly blowing the matter out of proportion.

Does he really not care about the Emperor's virtue and act recklessly?

Zhu Xizhong's expression was cold, his face expressionless: "At this point, the Prince of Fanshan is still babbling."

"This official came for your Jing Princely Mansion today, and I am acting according to my discretion. If you continue to obstruct me, even if I kill you right now, it is within my discretion!"

"Do not say I did not warn you!"

The Prince of Fanshan paused, then remained silent.

The Prince of Yongxin tucked his trembling hands into his sleeves and stared at his boots.

The Prince of Dean, however, could not believe it and blurted out: "We are the sons and grandsons of the Emperor, with the dignity of princely titles; without our ancestors, how could there be the Great Ming Dynasty?"

"The Great Ming Dynasty is our family's world; you are but a domestic slave, yet you dare to shout about killing the masters at every turn!?"

Wu Jinghe hated such idiots the most.

He looked at the Commandery Prince looking down from the court steps and finally could not hold back: "We are acting on the Emperor's will, as if the Emperor himself were here."

"All under Heaven are the King's subjects; are all the imperial clan members not under his rule?"

"A mere Commandery Prince dares to be so arrogant, looking down from a high position in front of the Heaven-sent envoy and answering with such haughtiness."

Wu Jinghe suddenly changed his expression and shouted: "Get down the steps for me!"

With a roar of anger, everyone was speechless.

(End of chapter)