The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 385 Husband and wife are birds of the same forest

Kang Yingqian left Dingzi Street and walked alone under the moonlight. The moonlight shone on his gray hair, leaving a long shadow on the bluestone street, lonely and deserted.

Old Kang ignored the fierce fighting going on on the surrounding city walls and did not stop until he reached the West City, where officials lived and was also Kang Yingqian's home.

Standing in front of a remote and dilapidated house, I secretly glanced around. The moonlight was hazy. I looked up and saw a plaque with the word "Kang" hanging diagonally on the main door. The word "Kang" was dim and the lanterns hanging on both sides had long been extinguished.

He stretched out his old hand, which was like a dry branch, and knocked on the gate.

After waiting for a long time, the gate finally creaked open, and a crack opened inside, revealing the face of a charming woman. She looked around outside and asked in surprise:

"Why are you back so early?"

"There is nothing going on in the government office today."

He spoke in a low voice and pushed open the gate. The woman didn't say anything to him and went straight upstairs.

Kang Yingqian followed the woman, staggering through a dilapidated courtyard and into the house.

The woman had already gone upstairs, leaving Kang Yingqian alone in the main room.

The main room was even more messy than the courtyard. There was not much furniture, only a few old tables and chairs, and broken pieces of teacups were still left under the shrine.

Kang Yinggan looked calm and collected. He raised his head and glanced at his concubine's back. Kang Yinggan's concubine was in her thirties, with oily hair and powdered face. She wore a horse-faced skirt and spoke in a festive manner, which was totally out of place with the decadent scene before her.

Kang Yingqian took off his workshop uniform without saying a word and went to the inner room to change into a coarse linen casual outfit.

He picked up a coarse porcelain cup on the table, poured himself some water, and stared around blankly with his eyes squinted.

All that was left in the room were tables, chairs, and bare walls, and a few people were missing.

"Where's Xu'er?"

Lao Kang thought for a while, then smacked his lips and dozed off.

The young man was running on the gentle hills, and Kang Yingqian was chasing him with a crutch. He was so tired that he was panting. The young man was blurry in front of his eyes, and soon he disappeared.

I didn't know what time it was when I woke up. Suddenly, I remembered that the jade pendant entrusted to me by Emperor Wuding was still in the uniform recruitment bag, so I got up and went into the inner room to get it.

The old man struggled to stand up from the chair, his bones creaking and shaking like a rickety cart. When he stepped over the threshold, he stumbled and fell to the ground.

Kang Yingqian bumped into something soft and loose, and quickly looked up to see that his concubine had already grasped the jade pendant in her hand.

"Xu'er froze to death in Liaodong, and you didn't care. Everyone thought you had no money. You clearly still had money, but you refused to give it to your son! You damned bastard, why don't you die with your wife?"

Kang Yingqian forced a smile on his face and said to his concubine, "Madam, please speak in a low voice and go upstairs to talk."

"Bah! Stop trying to bluff me. I'm not as stupid as your wife. She was sick and had no money to treat herself, so she just dragged herself to death. Tell me, how much silver have you hidden? Hand it all over! Xu'er can be of use in Liaodong!"

Kang Yingqian panted and asked, "Where is the silver?"

"But your former subordinates came to help you? How much did they give you?"

After hearing this, Kang Yingqian smiled bitterly and started coughing violently.

Two months ago, Kang Yingqian, the second assistant to the cabinet, was jointly impeached by more than 30 officials from six ministries and three judicial departments, accusing him of collaborating with the enemy and committing corruption and dereliction of duty. Yang Hao instructed his subordinates to list evidence of Kang Yingqian's collaborating with the enemy, many of which were from the 47th year of the Wanli reign.

Emperor Wuding decided to show some leniency and let Kang Yingqian off the hook, after all, as he had been a longtime subordinate and had a special relationship with him. However, Yang Hao's faction refused to relent, instigating the impeachment of Kang Yingqian by more officials and uncovering evidence of Kang's past collusion with the Liaozhen regime. Furthermore, they ultimately targeted Qiao Yiqi.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Liu Zhaosun had to compromise. After a game of bargaining among all parties, Kang Yingqian was sentenced to confiscation of property and exile. The Kang family's property worth hundreds of thousands of yuan was confiscated, and all male members of the family over the age of 15 were sent to Liaodong to guard the border.

With the protection of Jin Yuji, Yang Qing'er, Qiao Yiqi and others, Lao Kang was spared from death and exile to Sakhalin Island. Instead, he stayed in the capital and continued to work in the workshop.

However, the Kang family suffered heavy losses. Kang Yingqian's wife, Cheng, suffered a relapse of an old illness due to shock and anxiety during the house search and died. Kang Guangxu, his only son, was sentenced to military exile and, along with several of Kang Yingqian's closest associates, was exiled to Ningguta in Liaodong. Their fate remains unknown. However, according to gossip (as revealed by Qiao Dazui), the Kang family members exiled to Liaodong were secretly protected by Liu Xingzuo and never went to Ningguta, but remained in Shenyang, hiding their identities.

Kang Guangxu, seventeen years old, was the son of Kang Yingqian's concubine, Madam Zhang. After Kang's fall from power, the ranks scattered, and his former associates and close associates shunned him. Several of Kang's nephews, who had previously relied on Kang's support for promotions in Kaiyuan, were also affected. These individuals were oppressed and marginalized by Yang Hao's followers, and were either demoted or dismissed.

My mother's family now hates Kang Yinggan more than they hate Yang Hao.

Concubine Madam Zhang was reluctant to leave Kang Yinggan, not because of the love between husband and wife. This was the skinny horse that old Kang bought from Yangzhou in his early years. When she learned that Kang Yinggan was still working in the workshop, she found a way to make money from him so that she could save her son in Liaodong.

After hearing what Mrs. Zhang said, Kang Yingqian felt a little uncomfortable and had to go upstairs.

This was a six-rafter house. The front half contained a podium, a table, and benches; the back half was a bedroom, with a three-sided, ribbed bed in the center, flanked by railings and covered with a red gauze curtain. A painting of a lady hung on the front wall, and four armchairs were arranged in a straight line opposite the bed.

Seeing Kang Yingqian like this, Zhang became furious and said:

"I was young and naive, and you, a bastard, tricked me out of three thousand taels of silver from Yihongyuan (the number one brothel in Yangzhou), saying you'd make me your wife if I gave birth to a son. For the past eighteen years, I've worked hard to raise Xu'er. In the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign, you squandered all the family money, bribed your superiors, and ran off to Liaodong to be some bullshit military supervisor. In the end, all the money was borrowed by Liu Zhaosun. Then you said you were a high-ranking official in Liaodong and asked me and Xu'er to come from Quzhou to join you... I was hoping to live a life of wealth and glory with you, but after only two years of good times, you, a damn bastard, are restless again. You even dared to offend the father-in-law of the current emperor, causing our family to be broken up and my family to suffer with you. Now I'm living like a beggar, making people laugh at me! My son is still suffering in Liaodong, and you, a bastard, don't repent and are still out there flirting with other women!"

"Sanniang, whisper, whisper, if you have something to say, let's talk it over!"

Kang Yinggan begged for mercy repeatedly. Zhang Sanniang snorted coldly and took off her upper jacket in front of Kang Yinggan, unbuttoned her lower skirt, exposed her chest, took off her shirt, and sat down on the bed as if no one was around.

The light was bright, illuminating a recruitment bag dragging down from the bedside railing.

Kang Yinggan was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He reached out to grab it, but Zhang's predecessor got it in his hands first.

"Give me!"

"Bring me the silver!"

Kang Yingqian stepped forward and tried to snatch the recruitment bag, but as an old man in his sixties, he was not as strong as the woman, so Zhang pushed him away, and he staggered and sat on the ground.

"You gave the money to those wild women instead of us! That damned maid of Governor Wang (Wang Huazhen) cost us so much money. Where did she end up when the Kang family fell from power? And that bitch Chunmei..."

Kang Yingqian got up from the ground, held onto the head of the bed, and whispered:

"I don't have any money. If you really want it, give me a few days."

Zhang Sanniang ripped open the recruitment envelope, took out the letter, and said angrily:

"When the time comes, you're still trying to lie. I only thought 'the bucket fell into the well,' but it turns out 'the well fell into the bucket!' Kang Yingqian, today you've also fallen into my hands! You colluded with the bandits, and Liu Zongmin even gave you 10,000 taels of silver! No silver?!"

"Hurry up and give me the silver. I'll go to Liaodong and redeem Xu'er. It's so annoying to see you, this old fool, every day!"

Kang Yingqian said anxiously, "Where can I get the money? I just accepted the offer and haven't paid a penny yet. You know, all our property has been taken away by Yang Hao. The capital is under siege, and now there are bandits everywhere. Where can you, a woman, go?"

Zhang sneered and grasped the jade pendant:

"This thing is valuable, otherwise you wouldn't have hidden it so well. I'll take it first."

Kang Yingqian said angrily: "Give it back to me!"

Zhang Sanniang raised her eyebrows, opened her eyes wide, and said:
"No! I've worked hard with you all these years, so I should give you some money! You're colluding with bandits, and I've got evidence against you, so you can't escape! Well, I won't argue with liars anymore. I'll report you right now, to the Military Affairs Department and the Suoyi Guards!"

Kang Yingqian said, "Don't shout! The neighbors can hear you. This is not a good place to play!"

Zhang said, "If you're afraid of outsiders hearing this, then you can't do anything! I'll keep this letter safe! If I want to spare you, just do these three things!"

Kang Yingqian said, "Don't mention three things, even if it's thirty things, I'll do it as you say!"

Zhang said, "I'm afraid I can't agree to it."

Kang Yingqian said, "Let's do it now. May I ask what three things you want to do?"

(End of this chapter)