Aoyama

Chapter 426 Mountain Buffalo
After the imperial examination, the results would not be released until mid-March.

Because apricot blossoms are in bloom at this time, this list is also known as the "Apricot List".

After the imperial examination, came the palace examination, in which the Emperor Ning personally selected the top three candidates. No one could be sure that they would be the top scholar.

So when Shen Ye made that boast, no one took it seriously.

Amidst the bustling crowd, Zhang Li rode backwards on his blue ox, recording everything that had just happened in a wordless book. No one knew he was the author of the Four Dreams of Bianliang, nor did anyone know that a new storybook was about to be born.

The chief disciple of Huangshan Taoist Temple, captivated by the splendor of the capital, became engrossed in writing stories and novels, which sounds somewhat like a waste of his proper duties.

But who can decide what constitutes a proper profession?
Ignoring the commotion behind him, Prince Fu turned to Chen Ji without turning around and said, "Today's events will surely be written into a new story by that cunning Taoist priest from Huangshan. Tsk tsk, isn't that much better than those stinking Bianliang Four Dreams? Men and women love and hate each other, how can that be as interesting as chivalrous heroes in fine clothes and riding spirited horses?"

Chen Ji didn't answer him, but he still said happily, "This time, I'll definitely be in the storybook too. Tomorrow, I'll have Zhou Kuang go to the City God Temple and give that cunning Taoist priest two jugs of good wine, so he can write me as chivalrous and handsome. What nickname do you think I should get in the storybook? I definitely can't be called Prince Fu... How about Prince Xian? I've long felt that the title Prince Fu lacks grandeur and doesn't reflect my heroic spirit at all. It just sounds like a fat man with a big head and big ears..."

As they walked from Andingmen to Chang'an Street, Prince Fu kept grumbling, "Why is it so far? My legs are aching! Hey, how about you lead my horse next time?"

Chen Ji, still tipsy, agreed: "Okay."

Prince Fu was slightly taken aback. He had been talking to himself for a long time without Chen Ji saying anything, but now that he had brought it up, the other party agreed.

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether Chen Ji was drunk or not, or how credible his promise was...

“You can’t believe a word a drunkard says,” Prince Fu suddenly turned to look at him. “Hey, kid, are you sure you can overturn the case? Can you get anything out of Liao Zhong? He looks a bit like he’s dead to me… If you can overturn the case today, it will be a great story for me to lead your horse, and history should record it. But if you can’t, then you and I will both become a laughing stock.”

Chen Ji swayed on his horse, giving an irrelevant answer: "There are still five bowls left."

Prince Fu said irritably, "Drink, drink, drink until you're drunk. In the thirty-two years of the Jia Ning era, you're probably the second person to enter the palace drunk to meet the Emperor."

Chen Ji downed a mouthful of strong liquor, his eyes glazed, and asked, "Who was the last one?"

Prince Fu casually remarked, "Xu Shu, the deputy director of the Imperial Observatory, is also a scoundrel."

He led his horse south, and when he reached the Jade River Bridge, the crowd of onlookers suddenly fell silent, as if someone had grabbed their throats. They slowly stopped and then scattered like birds and beasts.

Prince Fu looked up.

Across from the Yuhe Bridge, the lights of the neighboring streets had disappeared. On the long, dark street, Jie Fanwei, wearing a straw raincoat and with his hand on his waist knife, stood on either side. The gray raincoat and bamboo hat made them look like a black mountain forest in the night.

A person stood in the middle of the bridge, dressed in a black fish-dragon robe, with a python embroidered on his shoulder.

Lin Chaoqing.

Prince Fu narrowed his eyes slightly and asked in a low voice, "I'm afraid we can't cross this bridge."

Chen Ji, carrying a wine jar, sat swaying on his horse, seemingly oblivious to the oppressive feeling of Jie Fanwei, and continued drinking as if nothing was wrong.

He took a swig of wine, his eyes still blurry with drunkenness, and asked, "Is Your Highness afraid?"

Prince Fu laughed heartily, leading his horse onto the bridge: "What's there to be afraid of? Once we get past this hurdle, we can enter the palace to meet the Emperor."

The iron-soled hooves clattered on the white marble bridge, and Jie Fanwei's gaze, hidden beneath his bamboo hat, was menacing as he stared at Prince Fu and Chen Ji as they approached.

Lin Chaojing blocked Prince Fu's path, but showed no hostility. He simply said politely, "Your Highness, may I have a word with Chen Ji?"

Prince Fu raised an eyebrow: "What can't be said in front of me?"

Lin Chaoqing clasped his hands in a salute: "This matter is of great importance, and I humbly request Your Highness's assistance."

Prince Fu glanced at Chen Ji, but ultimately loosened the reins and silently stepped back a few paces.

Lin Chaoqing took the reins, looked up at Chen Ji and said slowly, "Lord Chen, Prince Fu cannot inherit the throne. If you want to participate in the struggle for the throne and gain merit by supporting the emperor, I'm afraid you've miscalculated."

Chen Ji, seated on his horse, glanced sideways at Lin Chaoqing. He placed the wine jar on the saddle, leaned down with both hands supporting the jar, and asked, "Lord Lin, how much can you drink?"

Lin Chaoqing, smelling the strong stench of alcohol, remained unfazed and said, "I don't know if Lord Chen is truly drunk or feigning it. Today, I had a few words with Lord Chen that were more intimate than we were, and we'll forget them as soon as we're done. Even if others ask, I won't admit it... Everyone knows that His Majesty is single-mindedly seeking immortality, so the Crown Prince is dispensable. But among the hundreds of emperors over the past thousands of years, who has truly achieved immortality? His Majesty knows this perfectly well, and so do all the officials; otherwise, he wouldn't have established a Crown Prince."

The fate of the nation and its people is tangible, and it is incompatible with the cultivation of officials. Officials of the third rank and above have no possibility of cultivation, let alone the emperor. Therefore, the idea of ​​immortality is destined to fail.

The emperor knew, and the civil officials knew too, but no one dared to expose it.

Lin Chaoqing continued, “His Majesty has only two sons, the Crown Prince and the Prince of Fu. You might think that if the Crown Prince falls, the Prince of Fu will have a chance, but during the Silkworm Goddess Ceremony in the fourth year of the Jianing era, there were rumors that the Empress dismissed the palace maids and spent time alone with the Prince of Jing while picking mulberry leaves, and ten months later, she gave birth to the Prince of Fu. Although this is unsubstantiated, His Majesty later broke with the Prince of Jing, and the Empress was imprisoned in the deep palace from then on, unable to even see the young Prince of Fu, which already explains everything.”

Lin Chaoqing said confidently, "Lord Chen, the words 'bloodline in doubt' are enough to eliminate any possibility for Prince Fu. Although the Crown Prince has lost power, the future of Ning Dynasty still rests solely on him. Why don't we take a gamble? No matter what happens tonight, the Crown Prince will not die, nor will he be deposed."

No wonder that when Prince Fu was the eldest son of the Ning Dynasty, he was not chosen as the crown prince, but instead the second son was chosen, and all the officials remained silent.

No wonder Consort Xue dared to frame the Empress; she was truly fearless.

No wonder the Chen family and Wu Xiu bet on the crown prince... Ning Dynasty had no other choice.

The emperor will die one day, just as the sun will eventually set and the moon will eventually rise.

By then, the Ning Dynasty would need a crown prince, and so would all the officials. Therefore, today all the officials remained silent, tacitly allowing the Five Cities Garrison to block the entrance to Anding Gate, and tacitly allowing the Jiefan Guard to block the entrance to Yuhe Bridge.

Lin Chaoqing said calmly, "Lord Chen, have you thought this through? Don't make a mistake for yourself."

Chen Ji picked up the wine jar and took a big gulp, then poured the wine in front of the horse. The clear liquid flowed from the mouth of the jar, pouring onto the white marble bricks and onto Lin Chaoqing's black boots: "There are still four bowls left."

Having said that, he beckoned to Prince Fu in the distance: "Bring the horse!" Prince Fu muttered under his breath, "You're quite adept at ordering me around now. Just wait until you sober up, and see if I'll still pay you any attention..."

He approached Lin Chaoqing, took the reins, and asked, "Lord Lin, may we leave now?"

Lin Chaoqing remained silent for a long time before slowly stepping aside: "Please."

Prince Fu led his horse through the Jiefan Guards with complete composure. The two of them simply passed right in front of the Jiefan Guards and headed towards Chengtian Gate.

After walking away, Prince Fu quietly looked back and saw that the Jiefan guards stood motionless at the bridgehead, like more than ten statues.

Once he was sure that Jie Fanwei hadn't followed, he finally slumped his shoulders and let out a long sigh of relief: "I had already planned how to put on a show to protect you, but they didn't even lift a finger. It seems that this matter has already reached the ears of the Emperor, and Father is waiting to see you in Renshou Palace, so they only dare to act as intermediaries and dare not stop us anymore."

"Boy, you've had your fill of wine and recklessness. Whether you can escape unscathed tonight depends on your father's mood."

We've arrived at the Meridian Gate.

……

……

In front of the Meridian Gate.

Huge braziers burned along both sides of the palace road and on the city wall, and shadowy figures could be seen on the Yan Chi Tower, guarding whoever was watching.

Beneath the crimson palace wall stood a man around thirty years old, as burly as a mountain, clad in armor and wielding a massive halberd.

Seeing Prince Fu leading his horse, the man went straight to the horse and lifted Liao Zhong up like a chick. Chen Ji, still half-asleep, was shocked to find that this man, standing on the ground, was the same height as him when he was on horseback.

Just as Prince Fu was about to say something to the man, Chen Ji reached out and patted the man on the shoulder, exclaiming, "You're so tall!"

Prince Fu's expression froze.

The burly man glanced at him coldly, and Prince Fu quickly smiled and smoothed things over, saying, "Brother Shan Niu, how have you been? This kid has had too much to drink, don't take it to heart."

The ox is the first animal in the Chinese zodiac.

Some say that Shan Niu earned his reputation by fighting his way up in the venomous insect den of Wunian Mountain, catching the eye of the Inner Minister, who then took him in as an adopted son. Others say that's not true, as no one who came from Wunian Mountain has ever seen him there.

Some say that Shan Niu fled from a border town to the pass during the famine in Datong in the ninth year of the Jianing era. On the way, his parents handed him over to someone else, who was about to disembowel him and cook him. At that time, the eunuch, who was not yet the prime minister, bought Shan Niu's life with half a bowl of millet. Someone once heard the prime minister tell Shan Niu, "Don't cherish your life. Don't forget that in the ninth year of the Jianing era, your life was only worth half a bowl of millet."

From then on, the Inner Minister had to take it with him wherever he went.

At this moment, Shan Niu ignored Fu Wang and turned to look coldly at Chen Ji: "What happened to Liao Zhong?"

Chen Ji, his eyes glazed with drunkenness, asked, "Huh?"

Shan Niu asked no more questions and suddenly slammed his fist, as big as a bronze bowl, into Liao Zhong's dantian. The force of the punch was so strong that it caused Chen Ji and Fu Wang's clothes to fly backward.

Liao Zhong was trembling all over when he suddenly opened his eyes, which were bloodshot.

After the punch, Liao Zhong's six souls returned to his body, and his cultivation was completely destroyed.

Without changing his expression, Shan Niu reached out and pinched Liao Zhong's spine. With a slight twist of his two drumstick-thick fingers, a cracking sound came from Liao Zhong's bones.

The mountain ox's large hand gently kneaded Liao Zhong's back, making a series of cracking sounds, as if it were dislocating every vertebra of his spine.

Liao Zhong, his eyes bloodshot and resembling a vengeful ghost, shouted: "Kill me!"

Prince Fu was dumbfounded: "He can still talk?"

Liao Zhong could only move his eyes and mouth. He glared fiercely at Chen Ji: "I misjudged you. I should have killed you in Guyuan."

Shan Niu casually brushed his hand across Liao Zhong's chin, removing Liao Zhong's jawline.

Chen Ji slid awkwardly down the saddle to the ground and steadied himself against the horse.

Shan Niu carried Liao Zhong toward the Meridian Gate, but Prince Fu quickly grabbed Chen Ji's arm, saying, "Don't fucking drink anymore..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Shan Niu suddenly turned around and said, "His Majesty is still discussing matters with the Grand Secretaries, and it won't be his turn to speak for a while. His Majesty has decreed that he may drink his fill of wine before entering the palace to meet the Emperor."

Prince Fu was taken aback, then turned back to Chen Ji in disbelief: "...Boy, you're out of the woods. Wait, you're not my brother, are you?"

He then looked at the mountain ox: "And what about me?"

Mountain Ox said expressionlessly, "There's nothing for the prince to do tonight. Go back to where you came from."

Prince Fu's face darkened.

The mountain ox turned and walked into the Meridian Gate.

Outside the Meridian Gate, Chen Ji called out loudly, "Wait, we've finished drinking."

He tilted his head back and drank the wine in the jar in one gulp, then stuffed the jar into Prince Fu's arms and staggered after Shan Niu as he walked into the Meridian Gate.

(End of this chapter)