Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 276, The Death of Prince Zhongshun

They burst through the gate and the Imperial Guards stormed into the Prince's mansion.

King Chungshun received no information whatsoever and was completely unprepared.

The Prince's mansion was filled with servants and guards, as well as some martial arts practitioners.

Some of these people chose to flee, while others fought with the Imperial Guards.

Those who fled reached the outside of the Prince's mansion, only to find it surrounded by a dense mass of Imperial Guards, armed with heavy shields and crossbows, making escape impossible.

A volley of crossbow bolts pierced through countless people in an instant, causing rivers of blood to flow. Even the most skilled martial artists could not escape the encirclement of the army.

The resistance inside was also no match for the large number of Imperial Guards.

The entire palace was in chaos. Li San and his men flew to the backyard.

They saw that Prince Zhongshun was leading Jiang Yuhan into the tunnel.

Li San threw a dart, which hit Zhongshun Wang in the thigh.

King Chungshun screamed and fell to the ground.

Before long, the Prince's Palace had completely fallen.

Prince Zhongshun was captured by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Jia Rong walked over, accompanied by a eunuch who was delivering the imperial edict.

According to heaven’s destiny, the emperor issued an edict:
"Since I ascended the throne, I have been diligent and conscientious day and night, hoping to bring peace and prosperity to the world. However, Prince Zhongshun is rebellious and immoral, and disregards the laws of the country."

Salt and coal are of vital national importance and essential to the people. Yet they manipulate them wantonly, causing the people to suffer from poverty due to lack of salt and freeze to death due to lack of coal. The tragic scenes are everywhere, and the cries of anguish are deafening. They disregard my benevolence and have repeatedly ignored my admonitions.

This act greatly violates the responsibilities of a prince, betrays my trust, corrupts the court, and hurts the people's hearts. If he is not executed, where is the law? How can I be at peace with myself? I hereby grant him death to set an example and appease the people.

The proclamation was issued to all directions, so that everyone may know.

After the eunuch finished reading the imperial edict, he ordered someone to bring in a cup of poisoned wine.

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Your Highness, please!"

Prince Zhongshun struggled to say:
"What crime have I committed? It is that traitor Fang who manipulates salt prices and plunders the people. What does that have to do with me! He controls the court, imprisons His Majesty, and now he wants to kill me to silence me!"

Jia Rong, hands behind his back, smiled dismissively and said:
"See him off!"

His men immediately stepped forward, restrained Prince Zhongshun, and poured the poisoned wine down his throat.

Soon, King Chungsun began to tremble and foam at the mouth.

He pointed at Jia Rong and the others with his finger in resentment, muttering, "Traitors, traitors!" before dying.

In the final moments before darkness descended, King Chungsun's gaze seemed to pierce through time, glimpsing a scene from long ago.

At that time, the country was still at peace, and he was still young.

Father was very busy, so he preferred to play with his elder brother.

My elder brother has a teacher who often tests his knowledge in the Imperial Study.

One time, when he was bored, he followed along and listened in.

Unexpectedly, he understood even better than his brother after only listening to a few sentences.

His elder brother's teacher praised him highly.

His elder brother also praised him for his intelligence.

Later, the emperor also learned of this.

He expected praise, but instead received a harsh reprimand.

From then on, he was not allowed to approach the Imperial Study.

He now had two eunuchs by his side, who spent their days taking him out for cockfighting, dog racing, and all sorts of other forms of entertainment and enjoyment...

King Chungsun is dead.

His death was so sudden.

None of the civil and military officials in the court received any advance warning.

Fang Yong killed a chicken as casually as if he had just done it, with effortless ease.

The Imperial Guards seized gold from the home of Prince Zhongshun, filling ten carriages.

Fang Yong ordered his men to pile all this gold up at the entrance of Xuanwu Gate, creating a mountain of gold for the people to see. This was proof of how much the Prince of Zhongshun had plundered the people over the years.

At the same time, Fang Yong began to take full control to lower the price of salt.

The common people had no idea what had happened. All they knew was that a prince had died and countless amounts of gold and silver had been confiscated.

After the prince died, the suffocatingly high price of salt finally dropped.

The people cheered, and the previous rumors about Fang Yong were disproven.

But the ministers in the court felt only endless chills.

Unlike Cheng Fan, whose case was uncovered through legitimate means—namely, Fang Yong's use of evidence to bring the case to light, including a complaint, trial, subsequent involvement of others, and ultimately, sentencing—Fang Yong's actions were far more effective.

This series of procedures gave these officials the illusion that they could interfere or resist at any stage of the process.

However, what happened today has ruthlessly shattered their illusions.

Without any procedure, Fang Yong unilaterally ordered the death of Prince Zhongshun and confiscated all his property.

The Three Offices and Six Ministries are as fragile and laughable as paper in the face of an extremely violent institution.

This is horrible.

They finally realized Fang Yong's hideous nature.

If Fang Yong could kill King Zhongshun, he could naturally kill them all at will.

Those loyal followers of the King of Loyalty trembled and shook in fear.

They were terrified that they would be next.

The other officials also felt a sense of shared fate, realizing that there were hardly any clean officials in the court.

Upon receiving the news, Meng Shen felt a chill run through his body.

You know, ever since he became a Grand Councilor, he has been trying to make money in various ways, and even cooperated with Prince Chungshun. Who would have thought that he was a fine person yesterday and would be gone today!

King Chungshun did not resist Fang Yong's rule in the slightest, yet he still ended up like this. What will his fate be in the future?

Even Guo Bai and Cui Shu couldn't help but tremble with fear at this moment.

The next day at court, all the officials had arrived, and the Longqing Emperor sat high on the dragon throne.

Fang Yong arrived last, wearing a sword and shoes, and strode confidently to the chair next to Emperor Longqing.

Emperor Longqing was surprised to find that the way the court officials looked at Fang Yong had suddenly changed.

The previous obedience was replaced by fear and a hint of hidden anger.

Could it be...

Fang Yong glanced at the assembled officials, who all lowered their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

Jia She stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty, it is reported that Liang Mo, Chen Zhan, Lu Sui, Gu Yao, Shen Huaibi, and Xu Hengzhi colluded with Prince Zhongshun, abusing their positions to seek exorbitant profits, accepting bribes, and perverting the law. The evidence is now conclusive, and they have been imprisoned. We beseech Your Majesty to make a wise judgment!"

These six men were the most important henchmen of King Chungshun, holding important positions in the Three Departments and Six Ministries of the court, and working with King Chungshun to seek personal gain. Fang Yong arrested all of them when he executed King Chungshun.

At this point, Jia She's report was merely a formality, since the Longqing Emperor was the real emperor.

Everyone knew that Jia She was Fang Yong's man. Since he had already said that he had thrown these people into the death row, it naturally meant that they would be executed.

Emperor Longqing was also aware of this.

However, he did not want to be just Fang Yong's puppet.

Previously, all the officials obeyed Fang Yong, as he had no power to resist and therefore had no choice but to obey.

But now the situation seems different.

After observing, the officials seemed to have seen through Fang Yong's true colors and were no longer so obedient.

Perhaps he has a chance?
Thinking this through, the Longqing Emperor did not immediately agree to execute the six men, but instead said:
"These six men are all important officials in the court. How should we decide? May I... allow me to think about it some more?"

"Ok?"

Fang Yong, who was sitting to the side, squinted at Emperor Longqing.

Upon hearing this, Jia She, who was below, took out a scroll and said:

"Your Majesty, these are the crimes of these six men, which have aroused the wrath of Heaven and the resentment of the people. Their crimes are unforgivable. I implore Your Majesty to make a swift decision!"

The eunuch presented the scroll.

"This……"

Emperor Longqing looked at the scroll and was at a loss for what to do.

(End of this chapter)