Huangming

Chapter 172 The Blood Calamity of the Jade Steps, the Jade Balance Calculation
Holding the bright yellow imperial edict, Wei Chao walked along the somber palace bricks to the Zuoshun Gate.

A cold wind carrying the stench of blood swept over him. He squinted as he swept his eyes over the dense mass of officials kneeling on the steps, finally fixing his gaze on Zhou Jiamo, whose flesh was mangled and bloodied, lying on the torture bench.

"The imperial edict has arrived!"

The shrill voice pierced the noise, and hundreds of officials fell silent instantly.

Wei Chao shook out his whisk, the dust rustling in the wind, and the eunuch's shrill voice rang out as well.

His Majesty asked: "Zhou Jiamo, do you know your crime?"

Zhou Jiamo shuddered, his bloodied fingers digging into the cracks of the torture bench.

He struggled to lift his head, revealing a pair of cloudy yet piercing eyes through his disheveled white hair.

The Wei Dynasty came.

It's time to close the net!

Zhou Jiamo immediately began his performance!

"Old minister"

He suddenly coughed violently, and the blood he spat out splattered onto the imperial edict.

"This old minister is guilty!"

The roar startled Gao Panlong, who suddenly looked up.

Something seems off!

Didn't you, Zhou Jiamo, intend to die for your cause?

What crime did you plead guilty to?

Wei Chao gave a sinister smile, then suddenly raised his voice: "What is the crime?"

"The guilt is there."

Zhou Jiamo suddenly struggled and rolled off the torture bench, hitting his head on the ground with a dull thud.

Amidst gasps of astonishment, he trembled as he pulled a blood-stained fragment of a secret document from his robes and held it high above his head: "My crime is being coerced by Gao Panlong and deceiving the emperor!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar!

Everyone turned their attention to Gao Panlong.

"Zhou Jiamo! You're spouting lies!"

When Gao Panlong saw that Zhou Jiamo had confessed his crimes in public after being flogged and revealed that he had coerced Zhou Jiamo, he was furious and pointed at Zhou Jiamo, shouting:
"Zhou Jiamo! You old scoundrel! As the Minister of Personnel, you have betrayed the upright officials and become a lackey of the eunuch faction just to survive! You promoted the Donglin Party in the past, but now you turn around and bite the hand that feeds you, persecuting loyal and virtuous people. Do you have even a shred of the integrity of a scholar-official?!"

Before he could finish speaking, the censors and officials kneeling behind him, offering their remonstrances, also began to angrily curse:

"Zhou Jiamo! In order to protect yourself, you have actually slandered Chief Censor Gao and framed your colleague. You are utterly shameless!"

"A high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel, how dare you fawn over a eunuch! How can you possibly have the face to stand in the court?!"

"Zhou Jiamo! Your actions today will surely bring you eternal infamy!"

……

Despite being covered in blood, Zhou Jiamo responded with a cold laugh:

"Gao Panlong! You keep calling yourself a virtuous and loyal official, yet you coerced me into remonstrating with my life and forcing me to abdicate, and you secretly intercepted reports on the disaster situation in Shandong, causing people to be displaced! Your so-called 'loyalty and goodness' is nothing but a fig leaf to cover up your factionalism, deceiving the emperor, and treachery!"

He struggled to open the partially burned fragment of the secret letter and said sternly:

"Gentlemen, look! This is the evidence of Gao Panlong's crimes in forcing me! He not only wants me dead, but also wants to use my death to incite chaos in the court and obstruct the Qing Dynasty's investigation! Such a treacherous official is the real scourge of the country and its people!"

"Zhou Jiamo, are you crazy?"

I gave you the chance to become a paragon of virtue and be remembered for all time, and you didn't cherish it?

Now you want to drag me down with you?
"Gentlemen, Minister Zhou is delirious. Don't listen to what he says!"

"Hehehe~"

A series of snickers followed.

"Gentlemen, see clearly!"

Zhou Jiamo suddenly sprang to his feet, lunging at Gao Panlong and grabbing his crimson official robe with his bloodied hand: "This leader of the Qingliu faction is the real culprit behind forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices! Today, he is forcing me to die for my cause in order to incite you all to oppose the Qingliu faction!"

Zhou Jiamo moved nimbly and quickly; he didn't look like someone who had been beaten thirty times.

"Zhou Jiamo, don't come any closer!"

Gao Panlong quickly took two steps back. His expression changed drastically when he saw the secret letter being displayed in public, but he quickly grinned maliciously again:
"Zhou Jiamo! Stop making false accusations! This secret letter is clearly a forgery by you, an attempt to frame me! You are willing to be a lackey today, but you will surely be punished by heaven tomorrow!"

He turned to the kneeling officials and shouted:

"Gentlemen! Zhou Jiamo has become a henchman of the eunuch faction, seeking to use His Majesty's hand to slaughter loyal ministers! If we retreat, all the gentry in the land will suffer! Today, we would rather die than surrender, only then can we demonstrate our integrity!"

Immediately, the crowd outside Zuoshun Gate was filled with indignation, and curses erupted everywhere.

"Zhou Jiamo! You heartless, insane old thief!"

"You've become an accomplice to evil and harmed your colleagues; you'll surely die a horrible death!"

"What right do these eunuch lackeys have to stand in the imperial court?!"

However, just as everyone was cursing, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had quietly sealed off the surroundings. Wei Zhongxian walked out of the palace gate with a sinister smile and said in a shrill voice:

"His Majesty's decree—Gao Panlong and his accomplices have formed cliques for personal gain and deceived the emperor. They are hereby immediately dismissed from their posts and imprisoned! As for the others who knelt in remonstrance, anyone who obstructs the land survey will have their land ownership investigated. Anyone who conceals even one acre will be exiled to Liaodong!"

Upon hearing this, the officials who were kneeling in remonstrance turned pale instantly, and many collapsed to the ground.

Gao Panlong's eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at Zhou Jiamo and laughed wildly:
"Zhou Jiamo! Do you think you can save yourself by siding with the eunuch faction? Your actions today are nothing but digging your own grave! After you die, the world will surely condemn you as a treacherous villain, and your entire Zhou family will never be able to rise again!"

"Hahaha~"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiamo burst into wild laughter, his blood-stained teeth appearing terrifying.

When you were pressuring me yesterday, why didn't you think of this now?

He turned and kowtowed heavily in the direction of the Six Ministries Corridor: "This old minister is willing to atone for his crimes by reporting all wrongdoings and restoring order to the Ming Dynasty!"

Before he could finish speaking, Gao Panlong roared and charged forward, only to be swept down by a Jinyiwei guard with a single blow.

Rumble~
Suddenly, a clap of thunder boomed through the dark clouds, and it started raining in Beijing, a city that hadn't seen rain for over a month.

Raindrops pounded against the pool of blood.

"Good rain knows the season, when spring is here."

As Zhou Jiamo lay face up in the cold rain, he vaguely saw his younger self standing on the Jinshui Bridge.

At that time, he thought that the distinction between clear and turbid was truly as distinct as the ink color in an inkstone.

But now he understands all too well that the clear and the turbid are indistinguishable, and that the clear and the turbid are indistinguishable.

"What I'm doing today is only to expose the true colors of you hypocrites! As for the infamy I'll be remembered for... ha, I don't care about that anymore!"

The Imperial Guards stepped forward and dragged Gao Panlong and the others away, their curses fading into the distance.

Zhou Jiamo slowly closed his eyes, letting the blood drip down.

He knew there was no turning back.

But at least—he saved the lives of the entire Zhou family.

The kneeling remonstrance outside Zuoshun Gate had not yet truly stirred up any trouble before it came to an abrupt end with swift and decisive measures.

The Imperial Guards, like a dark cloud pressing down on the city, dragged Gao Panlong and his leading officials out of the crowd, chained them, and escorted them to the imperial prison. Those officials who had been so eloquent just moments before were now ashen-faced; some collapsed to the ground, some trembled like leaves, and some even fainted on the spot.

Wei Zhongxian glanced coldly at the group of nobles, his heart filled with disdain.

These people claim to be working for the country and its people, but in reality, aren't they just concerned about their own meager interests?
What a hypocrite!
The rain intensified, washing away the bloodstains and tears on the blue bricks.

Zhou Jiamo was helped up by two Imperial Guards. Although he was dismissed from his post and sent home, he received a decree from the emperor that "considering his meritorious service in redeeming his crime, he is allowed to retire with his original rank."

As he staggered past the kneeling crowd, no one dared to look him in the eye; only a few suppressed sobs mingled with the sound of rain.

The old minister tugged at his blood-stained clothes and suddenly sneered.

Yesterday, Gao Panlong forced him to be a "model of integrity," but today, this group of people don't even have the courage to call him a "lackey of the eunuch party."

So, in His Majesty's eyes, I was so ridiculous before?

now.

Outside the Office of the Ministry of Justice, more than 300 candidates who had jointly petitioned to boycott the examination were surrounded by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The leading scholars still tried to stand tall, shouting "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated," but the captain smashed their knees with a stick and dragged them into the prison cart like dead dogs.

Wei Chao stood with an umbrella, slowly reading from the roster: "Those listed here shall be stripped of their academic titles and permanently banned from taking the imperial examinations."

Before the words were even finished, the crowd erupted in wails.

Some elderly students with white hair vomited blood on the spot, and some even knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, crying out, "The students were coerced!"

Wen Zhenmeng was forced to kneel on the bluestone slab by the Imperial Guards, their official boots crushing the joint memorial he had just been clutching.

The rain blurred the ink, just like his crumbling ambition at this moment.

"Injustice! The student has been wronged!"

He struggled to throw his head back and scream, his Adam's apple bobbing violently on his thin neck.

"I was merely coerced by Gao Panlong to pass on a message; I never participated in the conspiracy. This academic achievement is the result of decades of hard work and study; it cannot be taken away!"

He regretted it.

Why did I get involved in this matter?
Driven by greed, he ended up in such a state?

Finished!

It's all over!

slap~
A slap interrupted his wailing.

The commander of the Imperial Guards pinched his chin and sneered: "So, the scholar-official is now crying foul? Yesterday, when you were loudly proclaiming 'refusing the exam and defying orders' at the guild hall, your voice was much louder than it is now!"

Wen Zhenmeng trembled all over. Suddenly, he caught sight of Gao Panlong being escorted not far away. He crawled a few steps and grabbed the hem of Gao's robe: "Chief Censor Gao! Say something! It was you who asked me to contact the candidates that day!"

Upon hearing these words, Wei Zhongxian, who was escorting Gao Panlong, had a slight glimmer in his eyes.

However, Gao Panlong became anxious.

He absolutely refused to allow himself to be accused of instigating the test takers!
"Go away!"

Gao Panlong kicked him in the chest, and the blood on his official robe smeared all over Wen Zhenmeng's face.

"When did I ever recognize a scoundrel like you?"

In the rain, Wen Zhenmeng finally collapsed to the ground.

He recalled that night a few days ago when Gao Panlong personally poured him tea and said, "I'll guarantee you a place in the Hanlin Academy if this is done well." But now, the aroma of that tea had turned into a bitter taste in his mouth.

If only I had known! If only I had known!
Why did we have to do it in the first place?

"The students regret it!"

He suddenly went berserk and banged his head against the ground, smashing his forehead until it was covered in blood and flesh.

"If I had known that Minister Zhou would betray us, or if I had known that His Majesty was prepared, I certainly would not have made this choice."

Just then, Wei Zhongxian emerged from the shadows, holding an umbrella, and lifted his chin with the tip of his boot: "Now you know fear?"

He leaned down and said in a low voice with a sinister smile, "We have a way out for you. If you are willing to cooperate and reveal the mastermind behind the instigation of the exam boycott, we can remove your name from the roster."

Wen Zhenmeng's pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw the black banners of the imperial prison fluttering in the rain, and he also saw his unsent letter home being soaked and ruined by the rain.

His elderly mother is still waiting for him to pass the imperial examination with flying colors back in their hometown, while his wife and children at home eagerly anticipate his success.

I can't fall here.

He must not fall!

"I admit it!"

He suddenly let out a shriek, his blood-stained finger pointing at Gao Panlong.

"He instigated the students to incite a strike! There's even a petition he personally drafted in a secret compartment in the back of the guild hall!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Panlong flew into a rage and tried to pounce, but was pulled back by the iron chain and staggered.

"Wen Zhenmeng, you are slandering others! You are a henchman of the eunuch faction! You will die a horrible death!"

Wen Zhenmeng's maniacal laughter echoed in the rain.

"Hahaha~hahaha~"

So what if they're lackeys of the eunuch faction?
As long as I pass the imperial examination with flying colors, what difference does it make if I acknowledge a eunuch as my father?
Gao Panlong was dragged across the Office of Transmission by the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), his crimson official robe patch torn, revealing the yellowed cotton lining inside.

He struggled to turn around and spat a mouthful of bloody foam in Wen Zhenmeng's direction: "Wen family brat! You betray your teacher for personal gain today, but you will surely be cooked into meat soup by the eunuchs tomorrow!"

Before he could finish speaking, the Jinyiwei commander escorting him suddenly yanked the iron chain, and the steel lock slammed heavily into his mouth, knocking out two of his front teeth.

Immediately, he was dragged to the Northern Garrison Prison.

The bronze doors of the imperial prison were closed tightly.

Gao Panlong clung to the iron bars and peered through the small window at the captains of the Northern Garrison Command carrying instruments of torture.

Huang Zunsu, in the next cell, suddenly gave a bitter laugh: "Chief Censor Gao, you said Zhou Jiamo cut himself off from the intellectual community, but now..."

He shook his shackles and said with a look of utter despair, "Who exactly cut off my escape route?"

Gao Panlong remained silent for a long time, then suddenly pressed his forehead against the cold wall.

He recalled the phrase "exterminating nine generations of one's family is not a pity" from the secret letter, and only now did he realize it with a start.

It turns out that Zhou Jiamo had seen through it all long ago; there was no pure stream in this game, only pawns and sacrificial pieces.

If a person does not serve himself, he will be destroyed by heaven and earth.

He underestimated Zhou Jiamo, and he overestimated himself!

Now, only death awaits him.

He's completely beyond saving.

But he was also smiling.

"Hahaha~"

"Does His Majesty truly believe that killing us will allow him to successfully conduct a land survey?"

ps:
Work is busy, so I write a long article in the evening.

(End of this chapter)