The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 836 Beating
The Imperial City, Prince Yun's Residence.

Several advisors rushed to the Third Prince's study.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened..."

The Third Prince was still lying on the soft couch in the study.

That night, Emperor Ningkang's whipping nearly exhausted all of his strength, leaving the Third Prince with his skin torn and bleeding all over his body, except for his face, which remained relatively clean.

His back injury, in particular, still caused him excruciating pain even after half a month, when he lay down to sleep.

Perhaps it was because of his injuries that his face lacked its usual warmth, and he looked somewhat gloomy.

"What's the matter?"

"Soldiers, there are many soldiers outside..."

The third prince's gaze sharpened, then he asked casually, "Oh, where did these soldiers come from, and what are they doing?"

"It seems to be the Imperial Guard. They've arrested a lot of people in the city, and now they're all being flogged in the streets..."

"Yes, Your Highness. I heard that someone was acting on His Majesty's orders to investigate and spread rumors throughout the city, maliciously slandering the Princess."

The staff members chattered, sharing what they knew.

The Third Prince's face showed a strange expression, but his heart couldn't help but tighten slightly.

His move against Princess Zhaoyang was merely a casual, impromptu action while he was confined to his sickbed.

Firstly, he resented Princess Zhaoyang for her disrespect towards him, her elder brother. If it weren't for her that night, he wouldn't have suffered such a beating, and no one would have known that he had killed the Crown Prince.

Secondly, it was also said that after returning to the capital, Princess Zhaoyang took over almost all the duties that he and the Crown Prince originally had.

He felt that Princess Zhaoyang's current smugness was due to her climbing to power over his dead body, so naturally he didn't want her to have an easy time.

He happened to know quite a bit about Princess Zhaoyang and Jia Lian's affair, so he ordered someone to embellish it and spread it to tarnish the reputation of his good sister.

Of course, he also considered that it would be disadvantageous for him to expose the matter, so he only sent two trusted confidants to do it, and even the staff here had no way of knowing about it.

Judging from the feedback from his two trusted confidants, he knew that things were going very smoothly.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Ningkang investigated him so quickly.

"Who is the person acting on imperial orders?"

"Your Highness, it is Duke Rongguo, Jia Lian..."

The Third Prince narrowed his eyes.

He was unaware that Jia Lian was actually behind what happened that night.

However, he knew about the relationship between Jia Lian and Princess Zhaoyang, who was her brother.

Now that Princess Zhaoyang has clearly stepped in to stand up for her younger brother, and given that Jia Lian has repeatedly refused his offers of service, he naturally has no intention of recruiting Jia Lian anymore.

Therefore, while smearing Princess Zhaoyang, he also dragged Jia Lian into it.

Unexpectedly, it was Jia Lian who was ordered to investigate the case.

He didn't know the specifics. If it weren't for his physical limitations, he would have immediately gone to find his two trusted confidants to test whether they had betrayed him.

"Are they coming for us?"

"That doesn't seem like it..."

The aide replied, "Those soldiers arresting people in the capital city don't seem to be doing it aimlessly; they seem to have gathered information beforehand."

Currently, our Prince Yun's residence is closed to visitors, which means no one is involved in this case, hence no soldiers or officers have come to our residence.

However, they seem to have set up their headquarters near our Prince Yun's residence, so all those who were captured have been brought here.

Just then, another guard ran in and reported:
"Your Highness, something terrible has happened. Those soldiers have committed murder right in front of our palace."

They killed quite a few, and some of their heads were rolled up in front of the brothers guarding the gate.

The commander is facing off over there and asked me to come in and ask for instructions..."

The third prince was stunned for a moment, then angrily slammed his hand on the bed: "You scoundrel, how dare you!"

The Third Prince wasn't stupid; upon hearing this, he immediately understood that the other party was making an example of him.

Well done, Jia Lian!
I had no intention of causing you trouble, yet you dared to...

The third prince immediately understood.

Jia Lian has definitely sided with the Fourth Prince.

He was representing the opposing camp in a counterattack against him.

Despite his anger, he couldn't help but think.

How dare Jia Lian provoke him like this, killing someone at the gate of his mansion? Could it be that he received instructions from Emperor Ningkang?
Thinking of this, a dark and uncertain expression appeared on his face. "Have Commander Wang withdraw his men and ignore them."

The Third Prince gave this instruction.

But in his heart, he had already sentenced Jia Lian to death.

The humiliation of today will be repaid a hundredfold in the future!
……

In almost no time, the entire capital city fell silent.

No one spoke of Princess Zhaoyang in public anymore.

Jia Lian's use of human heads to suppress rumors was incredibly effective.

Of course, at the same time, countless censors and officials were frantically writing memorials to impeach Jia Lian for his audacious acts of indiscriminate killing of innocent people and violation of the law.

As a result, when Jia Lian went to deliver the imperial decree, he was met with a barrage of insults from Emperor Ningkang.

"I ordered you to quell the rumors, and this is how you quelled them?"
Murder? Good! Who gave you the audacity to kill someone in the capital?

Jia Lian said confidently, "Your Majesty, please tell me whether I have quelled the rumors."

Seeing Emperor Ningkang staring at him fiercely, Jia Lian said, "Your Majesty has only given me one day. If we want to effectively quell the rumors in such a short time, we can only use swift and decisive measures."

Moreover, those whom I ordered to be killed were all people whose crimes were thoroughly investigated and for whom the evidence was conclusive.

Spreading rumors in the capital and maliciously attacking and seriously injuring the reigning princess is so shameless and has such a terrible impact that it has reached the point of being universally condemned and intolerable by Heaven.

Even if such a person is caught and imprisoned, he will only be executed on a later date.

I thought to myself, since they're all dead anyway, why not kill them on the spot to show those people? This will not only deter the wicked, but also warn the world not to speak recklessly about imperial matters in the future, or the consequences will be unpredictable..."

Emperor Ningkang snorted, "What a foolish view. Don't you know the principle that it's easier to stop a river than to silence the people? Do you really think that killing a few people will shut the world up?"

Jia Lian said speechlessly, "Your Majesty, what kind of analogy is this? Princess Zhaoyang was maliciously insulted and slandered. They committed a capital crime, not the other way around..."

Emperor Ningkang stared intently at Jia Lian, and finally said, "In the end, it is his fault for not studying."

Jia Lian secretly rolled his eyes.

Don't pretend. If you really didn't want me to kill, you would have sent someone to stop me the moment I made my move.

Now that everything is done, you're only now issuing a reprimand?
What's this called? You do the work yourself, and you take the blame yourself.

This boss is not responsible.

"Since you say you killed them because they committed capital crimes and that you need to use them to warn the world."

Then why did you choose to kill someone in front of Prince Yun's residence?

"Killed people in front of Prince Yun's residence? No, when I caught those people, I just found a random place and killed them. I didn't pay attention to whether it was in front of Prince Yun's residence or not..."

"Jia Lian, do you think I'm a fool?"

Jia Lian quickly lowered his head, looking as if he dared not argue any further.

Emperor Ningkang said, "Alright, those who deserved to die have been killed. But Jia Lian, I still have to warn you."

Even though Prince Yun is under my confinement, he is still my prince, and not just anyone can bully or humiliate him.

"Your Majesty understands..."

"Okay, let's go down."

Watching Jia Lian leave dejectedly, a stark contrast to his triumphant arrival, Emperor Ningkang sighed inwardly.

He knew Jia Lian was a smart man; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to accomplish such a serious matter in half a day.

But even smart people make mistakes.

Throughout history, countless famous ministers and outstanding figures have died in the struggle for power.

Emperor Ningkang had eaten the empty promises made by Jia Lian and listened to his boasts about his grand plans to conquer overseas.

He genuinely felt it was a pity that someone like Jia Lian died in a power struggle, at the hands of his own people.

While he was alive, he could ensure Jia Lian's survival.

But what happened after that?
Emperor Ningkang was an ambitious man.

But lately he's had a feeling that something bad is about to happen.

That's why he wanted to give Jia Lian a warning, to tell him not to be so sharp-tongued.

As for whether Jia Lian could understand his good intentions, he didn't care.

(End of this chapter)