Da Ming: I told you to die for your cause, why are you actually going to die?

Chapter 132 Let the storm rage on! [Seeking monthly votes]

Did they just die of illness?

What does this sentence mean?!

What is he implying?!

What does he know?!

The countless questions and the immense shock caused Jiang Huan, a seasoned and ruthless commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to involuntarily take a half-step back.

Looking at Zhang Biao's harmless face, his breathing suddenly became extremely heavy, and his fingers trembled slightly uncontrollably.

He stared intently at Zhang Biao, as if he were seeing this madman for the first time.

"What...what nonsense are you spouting?!"

For the first time, Jiang Huan's voice trembled noticeably and became hoarse, even carrying a hint of fear he himself was unaware of: "His Highness the Crown Prince succumbed to illness due to overwork and died young, a fact known throughout the country! You..."

He pointed at Zhang Biao, his expression shifting rapidly, and said, "How dare you speak ill of the Crown Prince and curse the royal family here?! You..."

At this point, he found himself unable to continue speaking.

Because this statement is a 'fact' recognized by the Ming Dynasty.

Given Old Zhu's paranoia, how could he not have investigated Zhu Biao's cause of death? He would have investigated thoroughly, even if it meant turning the world upside down!
Therefore, there are only two reasons why Old Zhu did not go on a killing spree because of Zhu Biao's death.

One is that Zhu Biao's death was a natural death, and the other is that he failed to find out that Zhu Biao died from other causes.

Jiang Huan was well aware of this, since he was the one in charge of investigating the case.

But Zhang Biao's words undoubtedly pushed him to the brink of disaster.

Even if Old Zhu had the slightest suspicion because of those words, he would be killed without a burial place.

After all, Zhang Biao's strangeness and the secret information he could casually reveal had already shocked everyone.

You can question whether rice is rice, but you absolutely cannot question Zhang Biao's information.

Even if he casually utters a completely unfounded statement, it will make people ponder it for a long time.

Moreover, Old Zhu was very suspicious.

"Oh dear, look at you, what's the rush?"

Zhang Biao immediately reverted to his usual carefree grin, as if his earlier shocking remark was merely a casual joke: "I was just having a dream, just asking around. Commander Jiang, why are you reacting so strongly? Is there some hidden story we don't know about?!"

He emphasized the last two words, "hidden story," with extreme softness, yet they were like two poisoned daggers, piercing Jiang Huan's heart.

Jiang Huan felt a chill run from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head, and her whole body felt icy cold.

He couldn't bear to listen anymore!
Not a single word!

He didn't know if Zhang Biao really knew something, or if he was just frantically probing and blackmailing him.

But in either case, this topic absolutely cannot continue.

Not a single word could be uttered from this prison.

"Shut up--!"

Jiang Huan suddenly let out a suppressed growl, interrupting Zhang Biao's words, his face contorted in a terrifying grimace: "This commander thinks you've truly lost your mind! You're spouting nonsense!"

After saying that, he turned around abruptly and, almost staggering, shouted at his men, "Go! Go now!"

He didn't even dare to look at Zhang Biao again, as if if he stayed for another second, the madman would utter more terrifying words that would bring him and countless others to their doom.

Before long, Jiang Huan led his men out of the death row of the Imperial Prison as if fleeing a plague, their backs completely soaked with cold sweat.

He had to tell Lao Zhu this news, even if what followed was a tumultuous storm, he dared not deceive Lao Zhu.

……

As Zhang Biao watched him leave, the playful, cynical expression on his face vanished like the tide, replaced by an extreme calmness and profundity.

He slowly got up from the bed, walked straight to the dry wall, and touched the stone wall. It was indeed not as cold and damp as the cell he had been in before.

However, there was no sound from the outside world, as if it were a locked room.

What appears to be a tremendous 'kindness' is actually nothing more than a mental prison that increases psychological burden.

"Ah!"

Zhang Biao couldn't help but laugh, muttering to himself, "It seems that some of the tricks used in later generations were already being employed in the Ming Dynasty six hundred years ago. We can no longer say that the ancients were inferior to later generations..."

As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze fell on the narrow ventilation opening, as if he could see through that faint light the raging storm that his words had stirred up outside.

The reaction was even stronger than expected... It seems that this stone was thrown in the right place and at the right time.

His heart, like an undercurrent beneath the ice, was calmly and turbulently calculating.

The traditional approach is no longer viable.

Zhang Biao coldly reviewed the situation in his mind.

He remonstrated with the Ming Dynasty against its deep-seated problems, bound those destined to die to force them to commit suicide, incited others to demand unpaid wages, vehemently criticized Emperor Zhu (the Hongwu Emperor), even causing him to faint four times, and hurled insults at the nobility. He even went so far as to call on the Ming Dynasty to die, audit the Six Ministries, and even challenge imperial authority...

These crazy actions initially did indeed enrage Old Zhu, leading to his swift death.

But after so many times, Old Zhu seems to have developed a 'resistance' and has even started to think about how to use his 'mad knife' to cut others.

In other words, the act of "remonstrating to the death" not only changed Zhu Yuanzhang, but also increased the difficulty of "remonstrating to the death".

Therefore, Zhang Biao had to change his strategy and put forward a suggestion that Zhu Yuanzhang absolutely could not tolerate and that he must be killed as soon as possible.

For example, 'dismissing Confucianism'.

The results proved his strategy to be correct.

Old Zhu did indeed harbor murderous intent towards him.

But that's about it.

The fact that the execution was carried out "after the autumn harvest" instead of "death by a thousand cuts" shows that Zhu Yuanzhang had not given up on him.

The fact that Zhu Yuanzhang imprisoned him but delayed his execution is the best proof of this. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to squeeze every last drop of value out of him and dig out all the secrets he knew.

"Hey!"

Zhang Biao sighed helplessly.

"Trying to use me as a tool? Old Zhu, you've got your hopes up."

I, Zhang Biao, came to this Ming Dynasty not to be your tool for fighting corruption.

You are merely a 'key' for me to traverse between two worlds.

As for Zhu Biao's cause of death...

Zhang Biao's eyes grew increasingly deep and unfathomable.

He did find some information; it wasn't just fabricated.

During his previous frantic auditing of the archives of the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Personnel, and even casually browsing through some old files, some scattered and seemingly unrelated records caught his attention.

The timing of several large expenditures with unclear destinations coincides with the period when Crown Prince Zhu Biao was seriously ill.

The names of one or two eunuchs who served the Crown Prince but later died unexpectedly or disappeared.

There was also the hometown of a certain imperial physician who had once examined the crown prince's pulse but later resolutely resigned from his post and went into seclusion, which was inexplicably struck by a great fire.
These fragmented pieces of information, taken individually, prove nothing.

But when put together, they point to a chilling possibility.

In addition to some materials from later generations
I don't need concrete evidence; I just need to plant a seed of doubt.

Zhang Biao knew Old Zhu's personality well.

For someone like Lao Zhu, who suffers from severe paranoia, even the slightest hint or ambiguity is enough to grow a towering tree in his mind—a tree of suspicion capable of devouring everyone.

Moreover, once this secret is revealed, I will become the target of everyone's criticism.

Zhang Biao's gaze swept over the noticeably increased number of guards outside the cell.

Old Zhu isn't the only one trying to shut me up.

Those who might be implicated will stop at nothing to make me 'suicide' or 'accidentally' killed.

Ironically, the imperial prison is now the safest place.

He made a calm assessment.

This is Jiang Huan's territory, and also the place that Old Zhu is currently keeping a close eye on.

Here, only Old Zhu can decide whether he lives or dies.

Those who want to silence them can't even get their hands on them.

Zhang Biao calmly analyzed each of his steps.

I must make sure that it's Old Zhu who ultimately kills me; only then can I 'go home.'

As for Shen Lang and the others...

Thinking of those five "little wolf cubs" who had been suspended from their posts and were facing a siege, a barely perceptible ripple flashed in Zhang Biao's eyes.

[If I throw this stone, all of Lao Zhu's attention will be drawn to it.]

[If Fu Youwen and his gang want to use underhanded methods to harm them again, they'd better think twice before running into Lao Zhu.]

Before Zhu Yuanzhang uncovers the truth about the Crown Prince, the entire Yingtian Prefecture will be in a state of high-pressure 'silence,' which will actually give them a chance to catch their breath and operate covertly.

Moreover, given Zhu Yuanzhang's tendency to rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free, a thorough investigation into the Crown Prince's past would inevitably implicate a wide range of people. Fu Youwen, Ru Chang, and others—not one of them—would be able to escape unscathed!

[Maybe...it can even save my men some effort.]

【at last……】

A near-mad curiosity flashed in Zhang Biao's eyes.

I'd also like to see where Old Zhu's bottom line really is.

How far will this mystery surrounding the death of his beloved son push him?

Will it drive him completely mad, causing him to recklessly massacre the court? Or... will it reveal a sliver of his human vulnerability?

This scene is getting more and more interesting.

Thinking about this, Zhang Biao felt a strange excitement.

He was like a madman standing on the edge of a cliff, calmly waiting for the final, spectacular explosion as he lit the fuse of the explosives beneath his feet.

He lay back down on the small bed, as if the turbulent waves outside caused by him had nothing to do with him.

But his ears were keenly attuned to every sound outside.

The more frequent footsteps of the patrols, the suppressed and tense whispers among the jailers, and the deathly silence that permeated the entire prison, like a storm brewing.

He knew a storm was brewing.

And he, the instigator, is at the center of this storm.

Now, all we have to do is wait.

Waiting for Lao Zhu's response.

Waiting for the final, decisive blow that will send him 'home' to fall.

We await this storm, which will turn the entire Ming Dynasty upside down.

Old Zhu, you absolutely mustn't let me down!

A smile appeared on Zhang Biao's lips, and then he slowly closed his eyes.

Asking for a monthly ticket~
　I have to keep watch tonight. I can't add an extra chapter, please forgive me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)