Huangming

Chapter 66 A desperate resistance, a traitor emerges.

The sun had already set.

Night fell over the entire Forbidden City.

The area outside Zuoshun Gate was dark, with only a few palace lanterns casting a faint light.

But this light flickered erratically in the night wind, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

"Grand Secretary Han, why hasn't Vice Minister Sun come out yet, even after several hours of going in?"

The ministers who had come to kneel and remonstrate were beginning to panic.

"Don't panic, hold on, and there's a way!"

Han Kuang tried to cheer him on, but his throat was dry and he looked weak and listless.

Anyone who hasn't eaten all day and is kneeling on the ground would do the same.

Sun Shenxing said from the side, "Although my student is a bit stubborn, he can distinguish right from wrong when it comes to matters of principle. Now, he has probably been arrested and taken to the imperial prison."

As he spoke, Sun Shenxing looked sorrowful, let out a sob, and sighed, "It is a pity that my Chengzong, who was originally very talented, has suffered such a great calamity."

Yang Lian comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, Your Excellency. Although Zhisheng is gone, his spirit will live on forever!"

As Zhou Jiamo, the Minister of Personnel, listened, he felt that the meaning of the conversation was gradually changing.
Even if he's thrown into prison, he's not dead yet, right?
Why does it sound like someone is dead?
He sighed and said, "Now there are only sixty-odd people left who kneel and remonstrate. It seems that His Majesty does not want officials like us anymore. I will retire and return to my hometown tomorrow."

The king chooses his ministers, and the ministers choose their king.

Zhou Jiamo was exhausted.

He's not going to serve me anymore!

"Why does the Minister say such discouraging things?"

Although Han Kuang's lips were chapped, his eyes were incredibly sharp, as if a fire was burning within them.

He has not lost, nor will he admit defeat!

The Ming Dynasty must never be controlled by the treacherous officials of today!

"If Your Majesty does not retreat, we will die here and let the world see what kind of court this is!"

The Donglin Party controlled public opinion and wielded enormous influence among scholars.

A campaign of public opinion, coupled with Zuo Shun kneeling and remonstrating at the gate, could dissuade many people from taking up official positions.

This is why Han Kuang persisted.

Does this mean that our great Ming Dynasty really doesn't need officials to govern the country?
Does Your Majesty truly not value your reputation?
Zhi acridine~
The left-hand door opens.

The pale light from the eight-treasure glass lamp in the eunuch's hand pierced the darkness, casting a cold, eerie glow on the blue brick floor. The heavy, thunderous thud of the fish-skin boots of more than ten imperial guards startled the crows perched on the palace walls, which fluttered and flew into the thick, cloud-covered night sky.

Han Kuang's chapped lips moved slightly, a glimmer of hope flashed in his cloudy eyes, and his hoarse voice trembled: "Your Majesty has finally..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Tiqian coughed, his narrow eyes sweeping over the kneeling crowd, a mocking smile curving his lips.

He unfurled the yellow silk scroll, his shrill voice piercing the deathly silence like an icicle: "Imperial Edict!"

The Imperial Guards knelt down in unison, their hands on their swords, the clanging of their armor startling Sun Shenxing so much that his knees buckled.

“I am not Jie or Zhou, and you are not Bi Gan?” With each sentence Wang Tiqian recited, a pale face would flash across the lantern in his hand.

"The act of kneeling before the gate at Zuoshun Gate must be completely stopped by tomorrow morning. If they remain obstinate, they will not be spared by the law!"

"Don't say you didn't predict what you said!"

Wang Tiqian's sinister voice echoed in the darkness.

Yang Lian suddenly looked up, veins bulging on his forehead, and hissed as if to protest: "We are loyal subjects..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Tiqian interrupted him with a cold laugh: "Did you hear that, Yang Jushizhong? Thunder and rain, are they not imperial favors? If you know what's good for you, then leave now, and His Majesty will forgive and forget what happened today, and you will still be a subject of my Great Ming Dynasty."

The lantern suddenly shone on Zhou Jiamo. The old minister covered his face with his sleeve, and tears welled up between his fingers as he murmured, "Retire...it's time to retire..."

Han Kuang, however, seemed oblivious to the impending doom. His withered fingers dug into the cracks in the brickwork, and he roared like a trapped beast: "Does Your Majesty not know! Those who gather cliques and disrupt the government are eunuchs—" We are the loyal ministers!

They are traitors!
Why doesn't Your Majesty understand? Why doesn't Your Majesty know?
Wang Tiqian looked at the crowd behind Han Kuang and said, "There is conclusive evidence that you have been forming cliques and disrupting the government in the imperial prison. If you still do not repent, when the sun rises tomorrow, it will be you who are in the imperial prison."

After Wang Tiqian finished speaking, he turned and left.

It left behind the mad Han Kuang, the furious Yang Lian, the tormented Zhou Jiamo, and the terrified Donglin officials.

"What exactly is this eunuch's claim about forming cliques for personal gain?"

Behind him, an imperial censor from the Censorate asked a question.

Han Kuang turned around and sighed, "It was Zhou Chaorui and the others who wanted to remonstrate with their lives, but they failed."

This matter is a secret, known only to a few people.

Even Liu Yiju, the second-in-command who was on sick leave at home, was unaware of it.

Yang Lian, Zhou Jiamo, Sun Shenxing, and Sun Chengzong!
Han Kuang's eyes suddenly sharpened.

We have a traitor in our midst!
Is this traitor you, Sun Chengzong?
Or are Zhou Chaorui and his men afraid of dying?

Just then, the palace gates were opened again, and this time it was not the eunuchs who came, but Sun Chengzong, dressed in official robes.

The palace lanterns were dim, and no one could see Sun Chengzong's face clearly. Han Kuang suddenly stood up and went to grab Sun Chengzong, but he had been kneeling for too long and fell down after only a few steps.

He stared intently at Sun Chengzong and roared, "Sun Gaoyang, did you betray us?"

Upon hearing Han Kuang's words, Yang Lian also became excited, his eyes flashing.

"Minister Sun, you've been in the palace for several hours, what exactly have you been doing?"

Sun Shenxing crawled between Sun Chengzong, Han Kuang, and Yang Lian, saying, "There must be some misunderstanding here. This is a divisive tactic by the eunuch faction. We must not fall for it!"

After saying that, he turned to Sun Chengzong and said urgently, "Zhisheng, quickly explain to them, and the misunderstanding will be cleared up."

Sun Chengzong lowered his head and remained silent for a moment before saying, "Master, they have no misunderstanding. It was I who told His Majesty about the faction forming cliques and remonstrating to the death in the imperial prison."

Han Kuang's bloodshot eyes were fixed on Sun Chengzong, his withered fingers digging into the cracks of the blue bricks, making a harsh scraping sound.

He suddenly straightened his hunched body, and the dust that covered his knees fell off in a flurry.

"How dare you, you brat!"

Han Kuang's hoarse roar, carrying the stench of blood, burst forth.

He never expected this!
Sun Chengzong, that guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, actually betrayed them for Xing Jin!
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Sun Chengzong as if he wanted to devour him.

"While we risked our lives kneeling and pleading before Zuoshun Gate, you were actually serving as a guest of that eunuch in Qianqing Palace!"

Yang Lian suddenly sprang up, the hem of his official robe tearing against the edge of the palace bricks.

He staggered toward Sun Chengzong, his right hand, with its bulging veins, grabbing Sun's scarlet robe, the jade belt at his waist cracking crisply in the struggle.

"What kind of drug did His Majesty give you that made you betray your colleagues' lives?" His bloodshot eyes seemed to burst, and spittle splattered onto Sun Chengzong's drooping brow bone.

"The branding iron that tortured Zhou Chaorui in the imperial prison today will be burning your spine tomorrow!"

Sun Shenxing staggered between the two, his aged face appearing sallow under the palace lanterns.

His withered fingers gripped Yang Lian's wrist tightly, causing the golden thread on the crane on the shoulder of the robe to sway violently.

"The young rope must have its reasons."

The old man's cloudy tears streamed down his nasolabial folds, wetting his white beard, and he spoke to Sun Chengzong almost pleadingly:
"Back when we were discussing history at the Imperial Academy, you said you'd rather be a broken piece of jade than a whole piece of tile. Zhisheng, explain to everyone that what you just said was nothing but a fit of hysteria. You didn't do that, nor did you think that way."

The kneeling officials around him retreated in fear, their shadows distorted by the palace lanterns into menacing ghosts.

Sun Chengzong remained silent with his head down, the tassels on both sides of his black gauze hat trembling slightly in the night wind, casting shadows that perfectly concealed his tightly pursed lips.

Han Kuang suddenly let out a bitter laugh like an owl, his withered fingers poking at the peacock patch embroidered on the other man's chest: "Look at this bird! Truly a clever beast that chooses its tree carefully!"

(End of this chapter)