Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 175 Zhao Nanxing's Transaction
Tian Ergeng looked at Zhao Nanxing in surprise, then sternly shouted at the clerk, "Stop! Don't write it down!"

He swallowed and turned his gaze back to Zhao Nanxing. "Mr. Zhao, you can't say that."

"What I said is all true. No one knows what happened here better than me." Zhao Nanxing narrowed his eyes in thought and said carefully, "I don't know what kind of magic potion you Jinyiwei gave Minister Sun to make him give a false confession."

"What do you mean?" Tian Ergeng interrupted him.

Zhao Nanxing lived for decades, having served in several cabinets led by Zhang Juzheng, Shen Shixing, and Wang Xijue, each with its own distinct style. He also participated in almost the entire "controversy over the foundation of the state" that began in the 14th year of the Wanli reign. It can be said that he was a man of rich experience and a seasoned mind.

Therefore, upon seeing Tian Ergeng's reaction, he was immediately certain that the Jinyiwei were indeed not a monolithic entity. The head of the Northern Pacification Division, who had tortured Zou Yuanbiao to death, did not necessarily know more than he did.

"Master Tian, ​​it seems you've been kept in the dark too." Zhao Nanxing chuckled and asked provocatively, "Are you still listening? Or rather, do you dare to listen?"

Without intelligence, the situation is out of control. This feeling is terrible for the head of an intelligence agency like Tian Ergeng.

"Hmph, damn it! Is there anything I dare not hear?" A chill mixed with anger shot up from the soles of Tian Ergeng's feet to his head. He adjusted his breathing, suppressed his fear, and said calmly, "Everyone get out. Guard the prison door and don't let anyone in."

"Yes!" The Jinyiwei present were as if they had been pardoned, and they all bowed and left. This matter clearly involved a fight between superiors, and it might even involve the eunuchs in the palace, so naturally, they stayed as far away from it as possible.

"Mr. Zhao, let me ask you the questions." Although Tian Ergeng still used the honorific, the flattery and earnestness he had pretended to have had completely disappeared, and even his tone had a hint of unquestionable certainty. "It will be faster this way."

"Ask." Zhao Nanxing nodded.

"Let's skip the matter of Xiong Tingbi and go straight to the conspiracy to force the emperor to abdicate." The case in which Yang Yuan framed Xiong Tingbi was led by Tian Ergeng, and he also had the confessions of Yang, Feng, and Gu who identified Zhao Nanxing and Zou Yuanbiao in his hands.

"Lord Tian, ​​I want to correct you first. We never intended to force the emperor to abdicate. We just wanted to dissuade the emperor and prevent him from repeating the mistakes of the late emperor." Even until now, Zhao Nanxing did not think that there was anything wrong with his methods.

"I'm not interested in talking to you about this useless stuff." Tian Ergeng waved his hand and said impatiently: "Who is the mastermind? Who is involved? What did you discuss? Why did you confess voluntarily!" At the end, Tian Ergeng was almost roaring.

Anger often stems from a fear of the unknown: What motivated Zou Yuanbiao to commit suicide? Why did Luo Sigong suddenly change his attitude, going from actively seeking Sun Ruyou's release to shunning him? How could Lu Wenzhao, a mere centurion, force Sun Ruyou to confess, or even falsely confess, without torture? False confessions are common, but in this case, they were a major issue. Lu Wenzhao certainly wouldn't dare act on his own. Who was behind this? Was it Luo Sigong or someone else?

The unknown, like a black barrier, enveloped him, and the ironic thing was that the only thing that could illuminate him now seemed to be this dark candle that was about to burn out.

"Don't be anxious. I'm not anxious even though I'm imprisoned, so why are you anxious?" Zhao Nanxing glanced at the wooden fence behind Tian Ergeng and said meaningfully.

"Stop talking nonsense and get down to business." Tian Ergeng was trembling with anxiety, but he still didn't curse Zhao Nanxing.

"You learned about Xiong Tingbi's affairs through Yang Yuan, right?" Zhao Nanxing actually asked.

"So what?" Tian Ergeng asked back.

"Interesting." Zhao Nanxing smiled.

Through Sun Ruyou's confession, Tian Ergeng's reaction, Tian Ergeng's attitude towards "Xiong Tingbi's affairs", and the information he had, Zhao Nanxing had a glimpse of the interrelationships between the forces within the Jinyiwei and the extent of Tian Ergeng's knowledge.

"Mr. Zhao." Tian Ergeng was a man of few moral principles, but he was also a smart man. He guessed that Zhao Nanxing's behavior might have made him realize something. So he tried his best to restrain his outburst, stood up and saluted, saying, "Please help me solve this puzzle."

"I want to make a deal with you." Zhao Nanxing said.

"Oh, a deal. I like deals." Tian Ergeng nodded his head, perhaps agreeing or disagreeing. "But I need to hear what you can give me and what you want."

"What I want is simple. I want to expose the truth and vindicate Zou Yuanbiao." Zhao Nanxing's eyes were firm. "This started with me, and even if I have to die, I'll go first. He took this on me, and I can't let him be wronged. As for what I can give you, of course, the truth."

Tian Ergeng pretended to think for a long moment before answering, "Okay, I promise."

"I guess you have the confessions of Yang Yuan and others in your hands. And their confessions are basically the same as Sun Ruyou's, right?" Zhao Nanxing was still talking about Xiong Tingbi, because this was the entry point for him to realize that there was an information gap within the Jinyiwei.

"It seems you know everything." Tian Ergeng nodded. The reason he had been more suspicious than fearful before was because Sun Ruyou's confession was basically consistent with Yang Yuan's.

"I was the one who insisted on attacking Xiong Tingbi, and it was Zhao Nanxing who contacted Yang Yuan. Both are correct. But what Yang Yuan didn't know was that the people participating in this discussion included me and Zou Yuanbiao, as well as Sun Ruyou." Zhao Nanxing paused here, deliberately keeping the suspense.

"Can you just say I don't know anything?" Tian Ergeng was indeed irritated and said anxiously.

"Haha." Zhao Nanxing smiled bitterly. "There are also Sun Ruyou, Zhou Jiamo, Liu Yirong, Han Yu, and Xu Guangqi."

"Fuck." Tian Ergeng's hair stood up all of a sudden.

Tian Ergeng's expression shifted from gloomy to bright. In an instant, he thought of many possibilities. Some good, some bad, and some... damn, lethal!
"Master Tian, ​​it seems that you have indeed been kept in the dark by others." Zhao Nanxing murmured.

Zhao Nanxing's first reaction after learning the contents of Sun Ruyou's confession was that Sun Ruyou simply wanted to protect Zhou, Liu, Han, and Xu. However, one thing that didn't make sense was that Sun Ruyou was accusing Zou Yuanbiao. In Zhao Nanxing's impression, the relationship between the two men was not bad.

So he speculated that the Jinyiwei and Sun Ruyou had reached a deal. Sun Ruyou framed Zou Yuanbiao in order to shield the Northern Pacification Office, which had forced the murder of Zhao Nanxing, in exchange for the Jinyiwei's removal of these four people.

Zhao Nanxing, a man of stern character, disliked the outcome of such a petty scheme. He was determined to expose the truth and clear Zou Yuanbiao's name. He believed the emperor, who had approved the joint trial by the three judicial officials, was a wise man. Furthermore, given Zou Yuanbiao's suicide, the Imperial Guards would likely not dare to punish him. As long as he held out until the emperor ordered a joint trial, he could achieve his goal through a confrontation in court. As for the subsequent punishment, he was indifferent. At most, he would be sentenced to death for forming a clique for personal gain.

But during the process of being captured and transferred by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Zhao Nanxing noticed something strange.

Zhao Nanxing wasn't initially surprised by the "transfer" itself; after all, it was merely a transfer from the Eastern Office, the executor, to the Northern Pacification Office, the beneficiary. What truly puzzled Zhao Nanxing was the reaction of the young men escorting him. The attitude of the captain, surnamed Lu, and his explanations to his subordinates, suggested to Zhao Nanxing that the relationship between the Eastern Office and the Northern Pacification Office was not entirely harmonious. The Eastern Office, which hosted Sun Ruyou, and the Northern Pacification Office, the biggest beneficiary within the Imperial Guard, vying for credit were truly bizarre.

Zhao Nanxing decided to test the waters and requested a meeting with the chief officer, Tian Ergeng. This test, indeed, revealed a problem. The logical chain he had drawn was overturned. There must be some other motive involved.

Whose purpose was this? Zhao Nanxing didn't know, and he couldn't reason any further.

"Master Tian, ​​the Zou Nangao incident is nothing to you. As long as you reveal the truth, your merits will be offset." Zhao Nanxing tried to elicit further information while reminding Tian Ergeng to keep his promise. "Master Luo, when you handed me over to you, that must be your intention," he said, trying to test the relationship between Luo Sigong and Tian Ergeng.

"Haha." But Tian Ergeng no longer wanted to continue the conversation. To him, Zhao Nanxing no longer had any intelligence value. However, he still replied indifferently, "Mr. Zhao, I wish the matter were really that simple." Zhao Nanxing's intelligence filled in some of the missing information for him, but it wasn't enough, and it even raised more questions.

He needed to find more information to help him make the right decision. Tian Ergeng thought of someone and decided to give it a try.

"You don't want my signature?" Zhao Nanxing asked hurriedly when he saw Tian Ergeng getting up to leave.

"Don't worry, there are still many Donglin Party members waiting for me." Tian Ergeng shook his head and lied casually. "You should stay here and eat and drink well. Someone come!" he shouted at the top of his voice.

The captains who had been sent out heard the call of the Tongzhi and hurried over to wait for orders: "Sir!"

"Let's follow the previous rules, two inside and four outside, guard it. No one is allowed to be interrogated without my order." Tian Ergeng ordered.

"Sir, the feast you requested is ready." Xiaoqi, who went out to prepare wine and food, said timidly.

"I have something else to do, so I won't eat. Give it to my beloved Mr. Zhao." Tian Ergeng smiled and pretended to be relaxed, patting the little flag on the shoulder.

"Yes." Xiaoqi was quite flattered.

"Except for things that can kill people, give Mr. Zhao whatever he wants. Don't treat him unfairly." Tian Ergeng decided to stabilize Zhao Nanxing first. He might even be able to use him. "Thank you, Mr. Zhao."

------

At lunchtime, Lu Wenzhao brought Ding Baiying to the Lintai Tavern, which was located at the intersection of East Chang'an Street and near the former site of Taiji Factory.

Ding Baiying remembered clearly that she had been here before. That day, she and Miss Zhang had encountered a father and son who had no sense of crisis.

Thinking deeper, she realized that it was precisely because she had intervened to help the father and son that she and Zhang Shirui hadn't been able to have dinner here. Consequently, when they packed up and prepared to leave Beijing, they missed the deadline to leave the city. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had to wait until the next day to leave for Tianjin, and they wouldn't have been stopped by their senior brother. It could be said that one step slow led to another.

Even though Miss Zhang said that being stopped by her senior brother was a good thing, Ding Baiying still felt indignant. Every wrong has its perpetrator, and the debt should be brought to justice. The emperor had a group of vicious Jinyiwei stop an innocent weak woman. What a big deal.

But Ding Baiying didn't blame the father and son. On the contrary, she hoped that the enlightened middle-aged scholar would pass the imperial examination. If, like Yang Ting and his father, Yang Chun, went to Beijing to take the exam together, and the son passed while the father didn't, it would be too shameful.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Lu Wenzhao stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Ding Baiying's face. "Order."

"Hmph." Ding Baiying tilted his head to the side. The Emperor was too far away, and there was no point complaining. That father and son had done nothing wrong, except for a bit of deadly nonsense. After much thought, he could only vent his anger on his senior brother.

"Did I offend you by inviting you to dinner?" Lu Wenzhao waved his chopsticks, trying to hit Ding Baiying's forehead.

"Brother, don't embarrass yourself." Ding Baiying easily blocked Lu Wenzhao's "offensive." "You've been groveling all day long. I'm afraid you've even forgotten the basics. Can you even hold a stable horse stance?"

"I..." Lu Wenzhao was furious, but it was hard for him to refute. Fortunately, he was thick-skinned. "The horse stance is still stable."

"Is everyone in your line of work like this?" Ding Baiying continued to taunt. "Your face is as thick as a city wall."

"Hmph." Lu Wenzhao shrugged and snorted. "I'm in a good mood. I won't argue with you. Order some food."

"Sir, what can I get?" The official uniform on Lu Wenzhao was no different from that of an ordinary sixth-rank official. As long as he didn't show his badge, no one would know that he was a Jinyiwei.

"Mutton soup, stir-fried shredded chicken with soy sauce." There are few fresh vegetables in the north in winter, so Lu Wenzhao ordered almost all meat dishes.

"Okay, please wait a moment." After the servant left, Lu Wenzhao looked at Ding Baiying again.

"Have you decided where to go?" Lu Wenzhao asked.

"Kick me away?" Ding Baiying asked back.

"The capital is a complicated place, and you have a single-minded mind. I'm afraid you might fall into it if you're not careful," Lu Wenzhao replied.

Ding Baiying looked around and made sure he wasn't being watched before asking, "Is the Zhang family's situation really that bad?"

"I can only tell you that I don't know." Lu Wenzhao raised his hand to stop Ding Baiying's questioning, and then said: "I can confirm that the only thing is that Zhang Xianyong received the imperial edict but only sent a woman to Beijing to perfunctorily deal with the court. Other matters are not something that someone of my level can ask."

"But" Ding Baiying wanted to interrupt to defend Zhang Shirui.

"Hear me out," Lu Wenzhao interrupted. "From what I understand, the news of Zhang Shirui's house arrest in Beijing has been reported to Nanjing. If Zhang Xianyong wanted to admit his mistake, he would have come here. But Zhang Xianyong hasn't responded at all, not even a letter. I don't know what Zhang Xianyong is thinking, but if this continues, it would be best if he actually died of illness."

(End of this chapter)