Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 177 Death of Zhao Nanxing

Jinyiwei Northern Pacification Division, Wu Prison, the last cell.

"Sir." The people guarding Zhao Nanxing have been replaced in shifts.

"Go and guard the door. I want to talk to Mr. Zhao alone." Tian Ergeng ordered.

"Yes, sir." The Jinyi captains had no doubts, bowed, clasped their fists, and left in a line.

Tian Ergeng extended his left hand, opened the wooden door, and stepped into the cell. "Mr. Zhao, we meet again." Tian Ergeng smiled and placed the food box in his right hand on the low square table.

"Master Tian, ​​it seems you have gotten the answer you wanted." Zhao Nanxing watched Tian Ergeng put out the wine and food in the food box one by one.

"I guess so." Tian Ergeng set the dishes and moved the stool he had sat on during the day between his legs. "Come on, Mr. Zhao, have a drink." Tian Ergeng handed one of the two pots of wine to Zhao Nanxing.

"You do it yourself. I won't interfere." As he said that, Tian Ergeng picked up another pot of wine and poured himself a glass.

"Okay." Zhao Nanxing didn't refuse. "So, what's the answer you got?"

"I accept your proposal." Tian Ergeng raised his glass in a toast. "Come."

"Please." Zhao Nanxing and Tian Ergeng clinked their glasses.

"Give me a genuine confession, and I'll hand it over in exchange for a great reward." Tian Ergeng downed the wine in his glass. "In return, I'll clear Lord Zou's name for you." He poured himself another glass.

"A wise decision." Zhao Nanxing nodded, then said, "Give me paper, pen, and ink, and I'll write it myself."

"No hurry, the night is long." Tian Ergeng smiled and toasted. "And I have a few questions for you."

"Do you want to ask what we want to do?" Zhao Nanxing asked doubtfully.

"No. You'll write this down in your confession later, won't you?" Tian Ergeng smiled and shook his head. "I want to ask you something else."

"Yes." Tian Ergeng's extremely kind attitude made Zhao Nanxing let down his guard. He turned his palm and said, "Master Tian, ​​please feel free to ask. I will tell you everything I know."

"Do you have a bad relationship with Lord Liu and the others?" Tian Ergenghe poured himself another glass of wine.

"Of course not." Zhao Nanxing asked back. "Why do you think so?"

"You are from the same faction, yet you insist on betraying Lord Liu and the others. So I can only assume that you are friends with Lord Zou, but have a grudge against Lord Liu and the others." Tian Ergeng put food into his mouth.

"Hahaha!" Zhao Nanxing laughed a few times, but he didn't openly mock Tian Ergeng for not understanding "integrity." "What was done is done, and you have to admit it. As for right and wrong, the world will have its own judgment." Zhao Nanxing blinked tiredly. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Haha. Please speak, Mr. Zhao." Tian Ergeng smiled and shook his head, then toasted again.

"Who did Liu Jihui bribe?" Although drunk, Zhao Nanxing's thoughts remained clear. "You should have found out, otherwise you wouldn't have come to me."

"Does this matter?" Tian Ergeng asked back.

Zhao Nanxing didn't answer directly but guessed, "Is it Luo Sigong?"

"Why do you think so?" Tian Ergeng asked with a smile. "I'll ask you a question in return."

"It can only be Luo Sigong, because if it was a eunuch in the palace, you wouldn't dare to ask for my confession." Zhao Nanxing leaned his forehead against the table.

"Hahaha. Mr. Zhao, you're really smart." Tian Ergeng said with sincere admiration: "You guessed it right."

"That's great." Zhao Nanxing fell gently on the table.

Seeing Zhao Nanxing fast asleep, Tian Ergeng's expression darkened. He put down his chopsticks, walked over to the bed, pulled out the sheet, tore it into two pieces, tied a knot, and looped it over the highest crossbar of the wooden fence. Tian Ergeng adjusted the length based on his memory of Zhao Nanxing's height, and only tied the second knot when he felt it was just right.

Tian Ergeng then placed the still-warm stool next to the hanging bed sheet and carried Zhao Nanxing over. Zhao Nanxing was old and his bones were weak and he lacked exercise, so he was not heavy. Tian Ergeng only pushed gently and passed Zhao Nanxing's neck under the bed sheet.

"Mr. Zhao, I really don't dare to ask for your confession." Tian Ergeng let go, and Zhao Nanxing immediately woke up and began to struggle.

Tian Ergeng didn't leave immediately. Instead, he waited for Zhao Nanxing to die while clearing away the food and wine on the table. He didn't take everything away, only Zhao Nanxing's wine pot, wine cup, and bowls and chopsticks. This made it look like Zhao Nanxing had eaten a meal alone, sitting with his back to the prison door.

After putting everything he wanted into the lunch box, Zhao Nanxing also "committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

Tian Ergeng left the prison carrying his lunch box. Before leaving, he pushed the stool over and locked the door.

From the moment he received Wei Zhongxian's instructions, Tian Ergeng knew that he probably had no choice but to kill people.

Tian Ergeng originally wanted Xu Xianchun to do it. But then he thought about it. The palace asked Luo Sigong to transfer the man from the East Office to the Northern Pacification Office, obviously to let the already corrupt Northern Pacification Office take the blame after the murder. Whether he would be blamed or not did not depend on who would take the blame for him, but on whether his new father Wei Zhongxian could protect him in front of the emperor. If Wei Zhongxian had no intention of protecting him, or if the emperor did not grant this favor after protecting him, he would be finished. It was not a good feeling to be a fish on the chopping board, but he had no other choice.

So in the end, in order to avoid any more trouble, he decided to do it himself. This way, he might even leave a good impression in the palace as a "daring and responsible" person.

He still gave Zhao Nanxing a chance, but Zhao Nanxing's answer was "Whether it is right or wrong, the world will have its own public opinion." But this time, the palace did not want public opinion.

Tian Ergeng walked to the gate of the Wu cell and said to the foreman, "Zhao Nanxing committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

"What did you say?" Xiaoqi widened his eyes in disbelief.

"I'm saying. Zhao Nanxing took advantage of the guards at the prison gate not paying attention and hanged himself with a torn bed sheet, committing suicide out of fear of punishment." Tian Ergeng patted Xiaoqi's shoulder. "You have been guarding here the whole time and have never entered. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Xiaoqi was already sweating profusely.

"Listen to me, and nothing will happen to you."

"We will follow your orders in everything." The six Jinyiwei, including Xiaoqi, all knelt down.

"From now on, the original shifts will be cancelled. You will guard here. No one is allowed to enter until new orders are received." Tian Ergeng casually pointed at a captain. "You."

"Here!" The captain was shaking like a sieve.

"After daybreak, go to the West Factory and tell Director Wei everything that happened here." Tian Ergeng chuckled and suddenly felt very tired. "I'm tired. I'm going back to sleep."

"Everything?" The captain was wondering whether this everything included the time Tian Ergeng had been there.

"Everything, everything!" Tian Ergeng walked away. As he left, he murmured, "I've done my best, and I'll leave it to fate."

------

In the Forbidden City, the Qianqing Palace. Seeing the cloaked Wei Zhongxian approach, the eunuchs who were doing odd jobs all knelt. As usual, Wei Zhongxian ignored them and went straight to the closed palace gate and asked the eunuch on duty, "Has the emperor returned from the Huangji Palace?"

"To our ancestors. The Emperor just came back and went out again not long ago." The eunuch replied.

"Do you know where he went?" Wei Zhongxian asked.

"He hasn't gone anywhere. His Majesty is in the eastern wing." The eunuch paused for a moment, then said, "I think he went to see Empress Li move to the palace."

"Empress Li," Wei Zhongxian's eyebrows twitched slightly. "Is it the one from Jingyang Palace?"

"You are wise," the eunuch replied.

Wei Zhongxian thought about it and decided that while Zhao Nanxing's death was a serious matter, the East Study was not the place to discuss it. "Okay, I'll wait." He pushed open the door to the South Study and went straight to his seat.

There are usually only five tables in the South Study, but even fewer, only three, are often used.

Wei Zhongxian would not work in the Southern Study, so his desk was only symbolically furnished with a few brushes, inkstones, and paper. Wang An and Wei Chao's desks were piled high with reports. In theory, as the eunuch in charge of the imperial eunuchs' affairs, Wei Zhongxian could have read them, but he restrained himself and simply sat quietly at his desk, waiting.

In the depths of winter, to keep warm, the windows of the halls were only opened for ventilation at specific times. If they were closed for too long, the room would be enveloped by the curling white smoke from the incense burners.

The door opened, and light and wind came in together, scattering the stable and orderly smoke.

"Why are you here?" Zhu Changluo took off his windproof and snowproof cloak, and Wang An immediately took it and hung it on the clothes hanger near the door.

Wei Zhongxian kowtowed quickly, then knelt there and said succinctly: "Your Majesty, long live the master. Zhao Nanxing is dead."

Zhu Changluo froze, and the air around him seemed to freeze. He didn't speak immediately, but walked back to his seat in silence.

Wei Zhongxian followed Zhu Changluo's movements, constantly changing the direction of his head until it was facing the imperial desk.

Wang An cast a questioning look at Wei Chao, but Wei Chao just shook his head.

"The three judicial departments submitted a joint petition. They request that Zhao Nanxing be brought to trial as well." Zhu Changluo sighed softly and said quietly.

"." Wei Zhongxian didn't know how to continue with this.

"Who killed him?" Wei Chao interrupted.

"He committed suicide out of fear of punishment." Wei Zhongxian was willing to help farm the fields.

"There has to be an explanation." Wang An made it clear.

"The person is in the hands of the Northern Pacification Office." Wei Chao reminded.

"It's impossible to let the entire Northern Pacification Division bear this responsibility." Wang An focused all his attention and watched the emperor's expression change with the corner of his eye.

"Explain the matter clearly." Zhu Changluo stared at Wei Zhongxian coldly and said sarcastically, "Did Tian Ergeng come to pay his respects to you?"

Wei Zhongxian shuddered. He had no idea how the Emperor had learned this, but he was prepared. "No one is wiser than my Lord." He pulled a long, folded, unbound sheet of paper from his bosom and raised it above his head. "I thought such a small matter didn't need to be reported directly to my Lord, but since my Lord has asked, I have the audacity to report this matter directly, bypassing the Imperial Household Department."

Zhu Changluo waved to Wang An.

Wang An took two long strides over and picked up the long piece of paper. As soon as he touched it, he felt it was unusually thick and heavy, as if something was stuck inside. As a precaution, Wang An didn't place it on the imperial desk, but instead unfolded it.

Zhu Changluo didn't want to watch, so he didn't notice Wang An's actions. He stared at Wei Zhongxian and ordered, "Speak."

"Your Majesty." Wang An interrupted presumptuously.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Changluo turned his head.

"Here." Wang An held up the ten thousand-liang silver notes he had found in the long paper. "Ten thousand liang."

Zhu Changluo nodded, then turned his attention back to Wei Zhongxian. "Is this a tribute from Tian Ergeng?"

"He acknowledges me as his father. This is his gift to me as his father." Wei Zhongxian said it very bluntly.

"Huh." Zhu Changluo raised his eyelids. "Really generous." He was not surprised by the fact that "Tian Ergeng recognized Wei Zhongxian as his father." But in his memory, Tian Ergeng's recognition of his father happened in the fourth year of the Tianqi reign when Wei Zhongxian was in power and began to crack down on the Donglin Party on a large scale. It was too early now. Something must have pushed Tian Ergeng to take this step. "Tell me about it."

Wei Zhongxian breathed a sigh of relief. The explanation was enough to convince him that the problem wasn't serious. He knelt upright and said, "Master, Tian Ergeng, under orders from Luo Sigong, received Zhao Nanxing, who had been transferred to him by Hai Zhentao, and interrogated him. Zhao Nanxing confessed without question, but his account differed significantly from that of the convicted official, Sun Ruyou. Confused and at a loss, he came to my humble residence to inquire about his fate."

You can guess, but you can't say. So Wei Zhongxian omitted all his speculation and analysis and just stated the facts.

"So, you suggested that he kill someone?" Zhu Changluo put the emphasis on the word "you".

"Yes. It was me who suggested that he kill people." Wei Zhongxian said with full energy.

"Why?" Zhu Changluo was surprised by Wei Zhongxian's frankness.

But Wei Zhongxian wasn't being candid; this was a lie he'd told after careful consideration. "I believe that when all officials are grateful for His Majesty's grace and the court reforms are complete, the situation should be over." He paused, took a deep breath, and spoke in a trembling voice:

"Zhao Nanxing is indeed a wicked and evil person, and wicked and evil people have always been stubborn! He instigated the officials to force the emperor to abdicate, and now the evidence is conclusive and he is imprisoned. Instead of confessing his guilt and repenting, he talks nonsense and uses his identity to accuse cabinet members and court officials. He hopes to disrupt the court through false confession. Once this beast's confession is made public, the uproar will surely arise again! Therefore, I ordered Tian Ergeng, who was panicked and didn't know what to do, to secretly kill this beast and calm the situation." Wei Zhongxian even skipped the part about "making a false confession or killing someone" and took all the things and responsibilities on himself.

After saying this, Wei Zhongxian fell to the ground and begged for punishment. "This humble servant acted on his own initiative without consulting the emperor. May your majesty punish me."

The so-called "relieving the emperor and father's worries" is not because I know the emperor's thoughts, but because the emperor and I are in harmony with each other and I think that only by doing so can it be good for the emperor.

"Wang An, what do you think?" Zhu Changluo smiled silently.

Wang An looked at Wei Zhongxian deeply and thought: This scoundrel who was purged halfway through his career is really capable, much more powerful than Cui Wensheng, the wild dog.

"Zhao Nanxing is indeed sinister and stubborn. So I think that although Weixi Factory made the mistake of not asking for permission, it handled the matter properly," Wang An replied.

Zhu Changluo did not comment on this, but asked Wei Zhongxian: "What do you think of Tian Ergeng?"

How is it? This question is too vague.

You can ask "What about this person?" or "What about letting him carry it?"

Wei Zhongxian thought about it. He could give up Tian Ergeng, and it would be nothing more than another way to reach out to the Jinyiwei. But he decided to tactfully protect him one last time: "It doesn't have to be used."

(End of this chapter)