Ink Burns

Chapter 254 The Historian
As Emperor Yongping had predicted, the eunuchs proceeded with their examinations in an orderly manner and found that seven officials of the third rank, including the Right Battalion Commander of the Western Hills Camp, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the Commander of the Northern Garrison, and the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, were suffering from the "Qianji Yin" poison. The emperor personally decreed that all those suffering from the "Qianji Yin" poison should be summoned to the Censorate for a tea ceremony. If they could not explain how they acquired the poison, they should resign due to illness.

The investigation should have continued, but due to the sudden attack on Ningwu Pass and Xinzhou City, the coordination efforts were time-consuming and exhausting. As a result, the Imperial Eunuchs' consultations with officials of the second rank and above, as well as noble families, were postponed for ten days.

On the tenth day, Qiaocheng in Yanyunling outside Shanhaiguan was attacked.

Unlike the attack on Xinzhou, the Tatars did not withdraw after entering the city. Instead, they set up camp on the city wall, claiming that they would spend the most difficult winter on the grassland in this city. For a time, the military households in the city were burned, killed, and looted, and the people suffered greatly.

The ministers requested that Marquis Wuding and General Cui Bainian of the Northern Frontier Army return to Shanhaiguan to lead troops immediately. However, Cui Bainian invited Liu Sun, the former chief physician and medical clerk of the Imperial Medical Academy, to stay at his residence to treat his illness. Under this pretext, he indicated to the court that he was in poor health and might not be able to take on the important task. But everyone knew what Cui Bainian really wanted to do: to use this opportunity to force the emperor to back down and let go of the ministers from the Jiangnan faction in the court.

At the cost of escalating conflict and the sacrifice of 417 military households in Yanyun Ridge, Emperor Yongping was certain of one thing: "Qingfeng" must be colluding with the Tatars, yet he still hadn't figured out Cui Bainian's methods of communicating with those outside the Great Wall.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The young emperor had Buddhist prayer beads wrapped around his left wrist. Pushing one bead would trigger a recitation of a sutra. He was born weak, and these beads were obtained for him by his birth mother, Empress Dowager Fang, to protect his life. Although he did not believe in them, he wore them every day.

The prayer beads tapped on the table, their clear, crisp sound like the ethereal Buddhist chants emanating from underground.

Xu Quyan's eyes were deep and unfathomable: "You mean, not a single person from the Marquis of Wuding's residence has come out?"

Wu, the chief eunuch, bowed and said, “They all used the excuse that ‘the master of the house is slightly unwell.’ The mansion’s gates remained tightly closed from beginning to end. Not only were there no people, but not even a bird or a feather floated out. It was because Lord Xue personally kept watch on him. For several days in a row, he did not even return home.”

"Where is the Grand Princess's residence?" Xu Quyan asked in a low voice.

“Apart from the purchasing manager, no one else came in or went out.” Wu Dajian hunched over even lower: “After following them, there was nothing unusual; including those entering and leaving the capital, we kept a close watch on those on land and those on water, but nothing unusual was found.”

How then do we transmit messages?
If the Tatars want their night raid to succeed, they need at least three things: First, where to attack? Second, when to attack? Third, for the raid to go smoothly, the Tatars must have a map of the city to be attacked; otherwise, the natural barrier of the Yanshan Mountains will drag the attacking Tatars into a frozen, icy state.

All three are indispensable.

The map alone would be very difficult to hide.

With mountains and streams stretching across the land, even if the map is measured in ten thousand times the size of a standard map, a complete map would still be six to four feet long and cannot be concealed in a sleeve.

Xu Quyan leaned back, his left hand habitually stroking the Buddhist prayer beads. Thousands of thoughts rushed through his mind, but without exception, they all collapsed midway.

Xu Quyan fell into deep thought. Wu Dajian respectfully raised his eyes slightly and tentatively asked, "Your Majesty, shall we remain inactive?"

Xu Quyan snapped out of his daze, turned his gaze to Eunuch Wu, and pursed his lips.

There are two options: First, fulfill Cui Bainian's wishes, release the person currently being investigated, and send him back to the Northern Frontier for future purposes; second, ignore the situation, remain calm and wait for "Qingfeng" to reveal a flaw, or for one of "Qingfeng's" confessions to be pried open, then he can arrange for someone to legitimately take over the Cui family's Northern Frontier army and march north to reclaim Yanyun.

The former strategy of playing the long game would conveniently distract Cui Bainian, making the situation in the capital much simpler. However, letting the tiger return to the mountain is always too risky. Even if he has a backup plan, he is likely to be outnumbered and fail at the last minute. Moreover, he has not yet figured out how the Cui family communicates with the Northern Frontier. What if they cooperate from the inside and outside and catch him off guard? Wouldn't his ancestral foundation be destroyed in an instant?
The latter, however, is plausible from both a moral and rational standpoint, both in terms of public and private interests. At least in historical records, it won't tarnish his reputation or damage his image, and the benefits are obvious. The only drawback is probably the potential sacrifice of countless border soldiers' lives. Xu Quyan pressed his lips tightly together, his pale lips seemingly glued together, finding it extremely difficult to make a decision.

Before Xu Quyan could answer, they heard a series of hurried footsteps outside the covered walkway.

Wu, the Grand Eunuch, frowned and pushed open the door. He saw a second-rank eunuch leading two unfamiliar junior eunuchs in a hurry. He immediately scolded in a low voice, "What kind of behavior is this! No one is allowed to run around in the inner palace! You must be even more cautious and prudent in front of the Emperor!"

"No, no, that's not it!"

The little eunuch shouted, "Something big has happened! Something big has happened!"

"Princess Jing'an went to the Imperial Ancestral Temple! She went at the hour of You (5-7 PM)! She said she received a dream from the late Emperor yesterday and wanted to pay her respects! The head eunuch let her go, but who knew that the princess would burst into tears as soon as she entered the hall."

Eunuch Wu's face darkened: "Crying? What are you crying about?"

"She lamented that the late emperor died young, leaving no one to protect her. She lamented that the late emperor spoke incoherently on his deathbed, his words unclear and incomprehensible, making it difficult for people to understand or remember. She also lamented that the late emperor passed away in a hurry, leaving many things unfinished before departing this world," the young eunuch stammered.

Supervisor Wu's expression changed drastically, and the more he heard, the greener his face became.

What does this mean?!

Isn't this blatantly confirming the rumor that the sage's ascension to the throne was illegitimate?
When the emperor ascended the throne, there was no edict, no decree, no succession to the throne, and no crown prince was appointed in advance.

The emperor's ascension to the throne was entirely due to the words of Empress Ji, Grand Princess Jing'an, and Grand Eunuch Xu, who served as the late emperor's attendant!

They say the late emperor passed the throne to the sage before he died, but it's all just talk! With three mouths spitting it out, the decree of succession was issued!
But now, with Empress Ji gone and Eunuch Xu nowhere to be found, only this aunt of high seniority and with a strong desire for power remains of the three!

She claimed that the late emperor was incoherent and unclear before his death, even stating that he "passed away in a hurry and didn't arrange many important matters." Wasn't she implying that the statement "the throne was passed to the fourth prince, who was then Prince Qing" was not true?

There were rumors circulating that the emperor's ascension to the throne was illegitimate. The most prevalent and widespread rumor was that Empress Ji had no children of her own and regarded her adopted son, the fourth prince, whom she had raised for many years, as her own. She was willing to risk her life to put her son on the throne.

In the third year of the emperor's reign, Empress Ji still ruled from behind the curtain. At her suggestion, the tax on the land of the common people and tenant farmers was reduced. The tax that was originally paid by the farmers was changed to be paid by the landowners. The common people called it the "Land Change Order". Unfortunately, before the "Land Change Order" was implemented, Empress Ji passed away. Shortly afterward, the annex where Xu Dajian lived was flooded, leaving only a charred corpse.

Everyone said that the corpse was not Xu Dajian's, because Xu Dajian was lame in his right leg, while the corpse's right leg was intact.

As a result, rumors arose that the sage was of humble origin and that his position was illegitimate, and these rumors have not completely subsided to this day.
"Seal off the Imperial Ancestral Temple inside and out!" Eunuch Wu ordered through gritted teeth, raising his whisk high.

The little eunuch cried, "It's sealed off, but... but it's no use. His Highness also brought the historian Qin Bowen!"