The Second Master of the Red Chamber

After noon, order in Tiewang Mountain stabilized.

Although Emperor Ning Kang's side had completely taken control of the situation in Tiewang Mountain, Emperor Ning Kang's troubles had just begun.

The princes, clan members and ministers who had just escaped from the war were all very indignant when they heard that Emperor Ning Kang's troops had stormed into the palace of the retired emperor and not only placed the retired emperor and the empress dowager under house arrest, but also killed or imprisoned the two emperors' close associates.

After their fruitless attempts to break into the palace of the retired emperor, they united and indignantly rushed to the palace of Emperor Ning Kang to persuade and protest, intending to make the misguided emperor Ning Kang return to the right path.

They were not unaware that their actions might anger Emperor Ning Kang.

They just felt that, firstly, they had a large number of people and powerful forces, and secondly, these high-ranking nobles were the foundation of the empire, and even Emperor Ning Kang would not dare to do anything to them easily.

Otherwise, who will help him protect the country left by his ancestors?

Since they are filial sons and grandsons, and the most loyal subjects of the empire, they naturally cannot remain indifferent when the survival of the empire is at stake.

They thought that even if they could not rescue the emperor and the empress dowager, they had to make their attitude clear to Emperor Ningkang. They wanted to let Emperor Ningkang know that even though he was the emperor, he could not act recklessly and commit treason.

Of course, there are also some people who have to stand up because it concerns their own vital interests.

For example, Lord Xiao Jingxiao, one of the current cabinet ministers.

As the prince's father-in-law, he still wanted to save the prince.

Although in the current situation, unless the emperor escapes, it will be impossible for the prince to make a comeback.

But at least the prince's life must be saved first. Only by saving his life can we make plans for the future.

We must not let the Crown Prince be executed because of Emperor Ningkang’s momentary anger.

Therefore, even though he knew that Emperor Ning Kang didn't like him, he had to stand up and take the lead at this time.

A group of people knelt outside the gate of the palace, and from time to time they sang in unison, "Your Majesty, please think twice", the sound was very frightening.

I don't know how long I knelt, but finally I saw Dai Quan leading a team of eunuchs walking out of the palace.

The kneeling people all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Emperor Ning Kang had finally been moved and compromised by them and was going to present facts and reason with them.

They like to present facts and reason the most, so what can be achieved in the subsequent negotiations depends on the abilities of the leading prince and his loyal ministers in the court.

With so many of them, it was impossible for everyone to enter the hall and discuss philosophy with the emperor.

Most people thought so, but Xiao Jing, who was at the front, noticed the pitying look that Dai Quan gave him and felt something was amiss.

As expected, Dai Quan walked up to Xiao Jing and, without saying a word, he raised his voice and sang:
"Your Majesty's oral order:
This time, the prince plotted treason and held the two emperors hostage, causing the deaths of countless loyal and brave men. His actions are unforgivable and extremely foolish.

As the prince's father-in-law, the prince's teacher, and the chief lecturer in the Imperial Study, Xiao Jing should have taught the prince strictly, so that he would know loyalty, filial piety, gratitude, and righteousness, and be able to distinguish right from wrong.

Now that the prince has fallen to this point, Xiao Jing has an unshirkable responsibility.

The court specially ordered him to be caned 80 times to serve as a warning to others."

As soon as Dai Quan finished reading the order, his attendants arrested Xiao Jing.

Everyone around was frightened.

The prince made a mistake, so it is reasonable for Xiao Jing, who has been teaching the prince for many years, to be held responsible for his poor teaching.

But eighty strokes of the cane, and that too in court, is that too much?
With Xiao Jing's old arms and legs, could he withstand eighty strokes of the cane?

So they all pleaded for mercy, especially the princes, who no longer cared about "petitioning" at this time and stood up to intercede for Xiao Jing.

It was of no use to plead for mercy. When the servants placed the torture instruments in the middle of the gate, the soldiers immediately took Xiao Jing over.

Xiao Jing was naturally frightened and turned pale, but when he saw the respected old princes pleading earnestly and recounting his contributions to the Wei Dynasty and the court over the past decades, it was still of no use.

Dai Quan didn't even bother to symbolically ask Emperor Ning Kang for instructions.

Xiao Jing then knew what Emperor Ning Kang was thinking.

He was actually calmer despite his disappointment. He stood up straight and shouted towards Emperor Ningkang's bedroom: "Since Your Majesty is determined to let me die, I thank you for your grace!

This old minister only hopes that Your Majesty can forgive the Crown Prince this time for the sake of their father-son relationship, or at least spare his life. If so, even in the afterlife, this old minister will be grateful to Your Majesty for his great kindness!

Your Majesty! I am leaving now. May your Majesty be healthy and my Great Wei prosper for generations to come! "

After saying this, he allowed the soldiers to strip off his clothes and robe, then he lay down on the long torture bench and closed his eyes.

The two sturdy eunuchs who were carrying out the execution received a signal from Dai Quan, and immediately raised the wooden sticks in their hands without hesitation, and hit Xiao Jing hard on his bony back.

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"... "

The heavy knocking sounds struck the hearts of every petitioner. Emotions of reluctance, fear, etc. lingered in their hearts for a moment, causing them all to stand up and then unconsciously take a few steps back.

In Emperor Ning Kang's bedroom, when Xiao Jing's voice came in, the emperor and his ministers who were discussing matters stopped talking.

But Emperor Ning Kang did not say anything, so naturally no one else dared to say anything.

Until an eunuch ran in and reported: "Your Majesty, Lord Xiao fainted once when he was executing the seventeenth stroke of the cane, and then when he was executing the twenty-ninth stroke of the cane, he was found to be dead.

Chief Steward Dai asked me to come and ask if we should continue the execution?"

Emperor Ning Kang asked, "How are those people outside? Have they dispersed?"

"Not yet. They are all watching the execution. Many old princes are crying..."

"I understand, let's go down."

The eunuch was stunned when he heard this, wondering if Emperor Ning Kang did not hear clearly what he said before.

Fortunately, the chief eunuch serving in the palace winked at him, and he retreated obediently.

……

The beating continued.

Seeing Xiao Jing, who had been beaten to a bloody mess and had been motionless for a long time, many people burst into tears.

There is a sense of grief in the crying.

Because the country was relatively stable in the middle and late period of the Emperor Emeritus' reign, the Emperor Emeritus was also known for his leniency towards his subjects and rarely abused them.

Many people have forgotten how many years ago the last first-rank official was beaten to death in public.

Especially since this man, who was beaten to death and whose body could not even be preserved, was still the most noble and most coveted cabinet minister by all civil and military officials, and who was like a holy place.

Since the establishment of the cabinet, there have been ministers who have been put to death due to interrogation, but after decades of ups and downs, the number of such cases would not exceed two handfuls.

But...no one has ever been stripped and beaten to death in public like this!

Not to mention, the man was clearly dead now, but they didn’t even let go of his corpse.

For a time, many civil officials who had made entering the cabinet their lifelong goal could not accept it.

An old official with white hair and beard rushed forward crying, desperately pushing away the eunuch who was carrying out the execution. After being pulled away, he imitated Xiao Jing's previous actions and cried out in grief towards the palace:

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, if you continue to be so stubborn and do evil things, one day you will incur the wrath of heaven, and you will definitely regret it, you will definitely regret it..."

"Old man, I'm here to keep you company!"

Then, he suddenly rushed towards Xiao Jing's torture bench and died by touching it. As he died heroically, the civil service group cried even more.

However, in contrast, the larger number of royal family members retreated quietly.

When he saw the officers and soldiers from the pro-army camp dragging away Xiao Jing, who had been executed, and the old minister who had died by touching the stool, as if the deaths were just two insignificant people.

At this moment, they suddenly understood.

Thousands of people died on Tiewang Mountain this time, including many powerful figures in normal times.

Under such circumstances, it seems that the death of a few more nobles would not be a big deal.

Jia Lian was also witnessing this "tragedy" from a distance.

He is quite free at this moment.

Ever since he took over the palace of the retired emperor, it seemed that there was no place for him to use his power in the entire Tiewang Mountain.

Emperor Ning Kang never summoned him again, and other people, even those who had a good relationship with him, did not dare to get close to him.

He just wandered around with his personal soldiers.

No one dared to get close to him, and of course, no one dared to pick a fight with him.

From this, it is not difficult to draw the conclusion that Emperor Ning Kang has not yet figured out how to deal with his cheap nephew who was transformed from the most loyal minister!

"Master Hou!"

Suddenly, Jie Jun and Jia Yu came riding towards them.

Jia Lian turned around and glanced at them, "What's the matter?"

Xie Jun said anxiously: "My Lord, this is not good.

Just now, Helian Xiong and Xie Jing came to the camp together and took out the imperial edict, asking Su Keguang to lead the artillery army to assist Xie Jing in setting up defenses at the important traffic arteries at the foot of the mountain to guard against possible rebels. "

"This Su guy, it's a waste of the Marquis' trust in him. If it weren't for the Marquis' promotion, he would still be sitting on the bench in the Shenji Camp. How could he be so successful today?

Now, seeing the Marquis in danger, he is the first to jump out and stab the Marquis in the back. What a villain! "

Xie Jun has been following Jia Lian since Jia Lian took office as the commander of the West City Army. He is extremely loyal.

He also realized that Jia Lian's current situation seemed a little bad, so he was very dissatisfied with Su Keguang who was "adding insult to injury" at this time.

After all, logically speaking, if the emperor wanted to mobilize the artillery army, it would be natural for it to go through Jia Lian, the commander of the firearms battalion.

Now this transfer order obviously bypassed Jia Lian and was directly issued to Su Keguang and the artillery corps. This made all the officers of the firearms battalion feel that Su Keguang had betrayed Jia Lian.

After Xie Jun finished speaking indignantly, he found that Jia Lian seemed to have nothing to do with him. He did not seem anxious at all and instead looked at Jia Yu next to him.

"Has your majesty mobilized the musketeers?"

"Never."

Jia Lian shook his head and smiled.

It seems that His Majesty the Emperor thinks that the artillery army is the real threat.

Without saying much, he could understand some of Emperor Ning Kang's concerns.

After all, when he gave up the support of the retired emperor and decided to follow Emperor Ning Kang wholeheartedly, he had anticipated the situation that might arise later.

Nothing was said to Jia Yu and the others. At this time, the more you do, the more mistakes you will make; the more you say, the more mistakes you will make.

Only when Emperor Ning Kang wants to see him will he have room to show his abilities.

"Go back." Jia Lian said to Jie Jun.

"I won't go back. I want to follow the Marquis!"

Xie Jun felt that the emperor was going too far. It was clearly their Lord who had led the entire firearms battalion to come to the king's defense and made the greatest contribution, but just because the emperor said something specious, his Lord was treated unfairly. It was really unclear about rewards and punishments, and he was extremely incompetent!
In his opinion, if the Marquis is really the descendant of the retired emperor, and the Marquis does not even choose the retired emperor as his biological grandfather, but chooses him as his uncle, shouldn't he be moved and then get closer to, trust, and make use of the Marquis even more?
He made the same promise in front of tens of thousands of soldiers in the morning, but he turned around and ignored the Marquis. Now he is even trying to seize the Marquis' military power!
How heartless and ungrateful...

Xie Jun didn't want to work for such an emperor, nor did he want to see Su Keguang's smug face. He wanted to stay with Jia Lian, thinking that if the emperor had any bad intentions, he would escort Jia Lian down the mountain at all costs.

Jia Lian naturally saw the determination in Li Jun's eyes. He was somewhat moved and was also certain that if he really chose to take the risk to help the emperor in the morning, they would probably follow him...

But, isn't it precisely because of this that he couldn't exchange their precious lives for that false promise and slim chance?
There is nothing to regret. Perhaps Emperor Ning Kang is just too busy at the moment and has no time to consider how to place him.

He believed that Emperor Ning Kang would definitely be able to "figure it out".

Because, in every aspect, he has done well enough.

"Go back. You are the commander of the artillery army. Keep an eye on the artillery army for me during this period. Remember, if you want to save your life, don't speak up for me at this time, and don't compete with Captain Su over something that is completely false. This will not benefit you or me.

I'll talk about everything after I come back..."

Jia Lian didn't want to say too much, but he couldn't bear to see Jie Jun lose his life for no reason because of his loyalty, so he gave him a reminder.

Xie Jun wanted to say that he was not a coward, but facing Jia Lian's confident gaze as always, combined with the emphasis Jia Lian had placed on the word "come back", he suddenly realized something.

Just as they were about to ask, they saw Su Keguang riding alone towards them from the direction they came from.

"I greet you, Lord!"

Su Keguang dismounted from his horse and saluted with his fists clasped.

Jia Lian nodded while riding on his horse, and said, "I heard that His Majesty asked you to lead the artillery corps to assist General Xie in garrisoning at the foot of the mountain?"

"I came here to report this matter to the Marquis, and I just..."

"You don't have to say more, I understand."

Su Keguang was a former commander of the Shenjiying Camp. He met Jia Lian when Jia Lian was the deputy commander of the Shenjiying Camp.

Later, Jia Lian was ordered to form a firearms battalion, which required transferring a group of skilled craftsmen from the Shenji Battalion, and he was just one of the extras.

Perhaps the court's original intention was to have him check and balance Jia Lian, and not allow the entire firearms battalion to be staffed by soldiers and horses recruited by Jia Lian himself.

Despite this, he was still very grateful to Jia Lian.

After all, if it weren't for Jia Lian, the Firearms Battalion would never have existed, and he wouldn't have been able to jump from the pension department to become a fourth-rank military officer in the Imperial Guard, just one step away from becoming a general in the true sense.

Moreover, he felt that following Jia Lian, it would not be difficult to take this step. This can be seen from the fact that the people around Jia Lian were promoted step by step because of him.

Not to mention, he sincerely admired Jia Lian's ability to be close to a demon!

Therefore, although the transfer order ordered him to lead the artillery corps down the mountain immediately, when he realized that this special transfer order was aimed at Jia Lian, he immediately came to Jia Lian to explain the situation.

He didn't want Jia Lian to misunderstand him, because he knew that would make it difficult for him to move forward in the entire Firearm Camp.

Didn't you see Jia Yu and Jie Jun, the two commanders, come to Jia Lian without even saying hello? Didn't you see the discontented look the senior officers of the Firearm Battalion gave him after Xie Jing and Helian Xiong left?
However, Jia Lian seemed to be more open-minded and reasonable than he thought. After interrupting his explanation, he looked at him seriously and said, "Due to personal reasons, I may not be able to lead the artillery army for the time being.

However, the artillery army and even the firearms battalion do not belong to me, Jia Lian, alone. They are also the result of two years of hard work and concerted efforts by people like you and me.

This Marquis hopes that in the coming period of time, you and Jie Jun will work together to keep an eye on the artillery corps and not let any of the brothers or any of the artillery get into trouble.

Could you possibly do it? "

Su Keguang was stunned. After a while, he nodded heavily, then knelt on one knee and said, "I will definitely fulfill your mission."

...(End of chapter)