Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 157 Is your head harder than the emperor's knife?

Qian Longxi's residence.

Unlike the panic and confusion of the nobles, a strange emotion permeated the air here, mixed with anger, contempt, and helplessness.

Several key figures of the Donglin Party are having a secret meeting, and each of them has a frosty expression on their face.

The crux of their anger was no longer the killing of the vassal king, nor the "Emperor's Campaign".

In their view, the vassal kings were parasites on the country, and they were happy that the emperor was willing to take drastic measures to deal with them. What they really couldn't tolerate was a name in the military intelligence report that had been embellished and spread like wildfire by countless people—the Consort Jingbei.

"This is utterly absurd! It's the most ridiculous thing in the world!" Qian Longxi was so angry that his beard was trembling. "When has our Great Ming Dynasty ever had a precedent of bestowing a Mongol woman as a concubine? This is not a marriage alliance, this is clearly destroying our own Great Wall and inviting wolves into our house!"

“The distinction between the civilized and the barbarian is the foundation of the nation! Where does Your Majesty place the traditional Chinese attire and the teachings of the sages with this action?” A vice minister of the Ministry of Rites was heartbroken, as if the sky were about to fall.

This secret meeting, with its heated debates among the officials, ultimately revolved around the issues of the "Mongolian enchantress" and the "suspended empress."

In their view, the emperor parading around with a Mongol woman and bestowing upon her the title of "Consort Jingbei" was itself a provocation against the entire Ming Dynasty.

On a deeper level, it was a tremendous humiliation and blow to Zhou and her maternal family, the Earl of Jiading, Zhou Kui.

For the Ming Empire, which was in turmoil, August of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign was a turning point in its destiny.

Emperor Xizong Zhu Youxiao died in the Qianqing Palace without an heir. His will passed the throne to his younger brother, Prince Xin Zhu Youjian. Prince Xin entered the palace and ascended the throne, changing the era name to Chongzhen.

Also in this month, the imperial edict for the selection of a consort by Prince Xin was issued to Kunshan County, Suzhou Prefecture. Zhou, the daughter of Zhou Kui, the Earl of Jiading, was selected for her dignified appearance, virtue, and talent, and became the consort of Prince Xin.

According to the established rites, in the first month of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, the grand ceremony for the investiture of the empress should have been held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where Lady Zhou, originally the wife of Prince Xin, was formally established as the Empress of the Ming Dynasty. However, the emperor casually postponed the ceremony, citing "illness."

This delay led to nothing further.

Lady Zhou remained "Princess Consort of Xin," residing in Kunning Palace, but she did not receive the most important title. Several court officials submitted memorials mentioning this matter, but the emperor either withheld them or reprimanded them for "discussing matters within the palace."

Now, before a proper empress has been appointed, the emperor has brought back a Mongolian concubine with a prestigious title!

What do you want to do?
Does the emperor intend to make a Mongol woman his empress?!
The thought flashed through the minds of everyone present like a bolt of lightning, sending a chill down their spines.

This is outrageous! It's utterly insane!

But such thoughts only lingered in their minds for a moment before being overwhelmed by a deeper sense of powerlessness. They knew, of course, that with the emperor's wisdom, he would never do something so insane.

But what's terrifying is that even if the emperor really wanted to do it, they were powerless to stop him!
Is your head harder than the emperor's knife?
This statement is a tacit consensus among everyone at this moment.

A young censor, his face still bearing the undiminished scholarly air, trembled as he asked, in an almost desperate tone, the question everyone wanted to ask, yet dared not ask…

No one responded.

how is it?

Submit a memorial? Sure. The emperor will just throw your memorial into the imperial garden.

A deathbed remonstrance? Sure. There will be another pool of blood outside the Meridian Gate, your family will collect your body, and then the emperor will continue doing what he wants.

They can quote classical texts, weep bitterly, and elevate the orthodox tradition and public opinion to the highest level.

But what was the result? The emperor dared to kill even the princes of the Zhu family as easily as cutting melons and vegetables, so why would he care about the spittle of a few civil officials?

Before the butcher's knife stained with the blood of a prince in Shaanxi, everything they were so proud of—the pen, the spittle, the ancestral rules—seemed so fragile, as fragile as a sheet of paper soaked with water.

Qian Longxi looked at the angry and desperate faces in the room and felt a chill in his heart.

He knew that the game was over.

This emperor has completely broken free from all the shackles imposed on him by the civil service!
……

The secret meeting ended unhappily.

Everyone left with heavy hearts and a sense of helplessness, but Qian Qianyi stayed behind. He gestured for Qian Longxi's page and servants to leave and personally closed the door to his study.

Just moments ago, Qian Qianyi was filled with righteous indignation, but now his face only showed a ferocious expression of being driven to the brink of despair.

He lowered his voice, sounding like a madman:
"Bo Guan, it's over! It's all over!"

Qian Longxi rubbed his temples wearily: "Muzhai, things have come to this point, what can we do but cry out? Let's just wait and see."

"Wait and see?!" Qian Qianyi jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "When he comes back, we'll be fish on a chopping board! Bo Guan, don't you understand? With the death of the King of Qin, those vassal kings like the King of Fu, the King of Shu, and the King of Chu are completely terrified!"

He leaned close to Qian Longxi's ear, his voice lowered, carrying a sinister chill: "Nobody! Not a single person has the guts!" The two knew perfectly well what Qian Qianyi meant by "having the guts"—it meant raising an army to purge the court of corrupt officials.

This is the last trump card, and also the most dangerous card, that the civil service group has to play in its fight against the out-of-control imperial power.

They hoped that the emperor's tyranny would provoke a powerful vassal king to rebel, and they would act as inside agents in the court to depose the tyrant in one fell swoop.

But now, that card is gone.

The princes were more afraid of death than these unarmed civil officials.

Qian Qianyi paced back and forth in his study like a wild beast trapped in a cage, muttering to himself: "External support is gone, and we have no military power... The first people he'll settle accounts with when he comes back are us... those of us who supported him in the first place, and now we're the ones who are hindering him at every turn! He thinks we're in his way!"

Qian Longxi's heart sank little by little; he knew that what Qian Qianyi said was true.

……

A few days later, the atmosphere in the capital became increasingly tense.

The news that the emperor will return to court at the end of the month has been confirmed by the Da Ming Yue Bao newspaper.

The entire officialdom fell into an eerie silence, like the calm before a storm.

Inside the study of Qian Qianyi's residence.

He had been sitting there for a long time, looking emaciated with sunken eyes.

Suddenly, as if injected with some power, he slapped his thigh hard, and a desperate and crazed light burst forth in his eyes.

He rushed out of the mansion like a madman, not even bothering to sit in the sedan chair, and led two servants, ran all the way into Qian Longxi's mansion.

He didn't even wait for notification before barging into Qian Longxi's study.

"Bo Guan! Bo Guan!"

Qian Longxi was startled by his madman-like appearance, and the brush in his hand fell to the ground, staining the document black.

Qian Qianyi grabbed his shoulder, his whole body trembling violently with excitement, his voice distorted: "Bo Guan! I've got it! I've got it! We can't wait any longer, as long as we're alive, we can always make a comeback!"

Qian Longxi was so dizzy from being shaken that he said urgently, "Muzhai! Calm down! What are you thinking about?"

A glint of hope, like grasping at a straw, shone in Qian Qianyi's eyes as he spoke, word by word:

"The Great Ming Code! The ancestral family law!"

Qian Longxi was taken aback.

Qian Qianyi was breathing rapidly, his face flushed red from the blood rushing to his head: "The 'Collected Statutes - Officials' states: 'Officials who have been away from home for more than ten years may submit a written application to visit their families!'"

"Applying to visit relatives?!" Qian Longxi was stunned. "What... what's the use? If he wants to kill you, what difference does it make where you go?"

"It's different!" Qian Qianyi roared. "It's completely different! If we stay in the capital, we're like turtles in a jar, unable to escape! He can do whatever he wants with us! But as soon as we submit our application to visit our families, and he approves it, we leave immediately!"

He paused, his eyes growing even more crazed: "If he dares to make a move while we're on the road, what would that be? It would be the persecution of loyal officials who have requested leave to return home! It would be the actions of a tyrant! It would surely incite public outrage! Then we would have a glimmer of hope! A glimmer of hope in terms of public opinion!"

Qian Longxi stared blankly at him, his mind a complete mess.

Qian Qianyi gripped him tightly, almost pleading, "Bo Guan, this is the only way! Follow the rules set by the Zhu family themselves and walk out of this dead end! Staying in the capital means certain death! Leaving might mean a slim chance of survival!"

Qian Longxi looked at Qian Qianyi, at the frantic will to survive in his eyes, and felt the string holding him together—the one that maintained his composure and dignity—snap...

broken.

Yes, how do you choose between ten chances of death and nine chances of survival?
He trembled as he sat back down at his desk, staring at the official document stained black by his own ink. The ink stain resembled a grotesque "death" character.

After a long while, Qian Longxi raised his head, his eyes also burning with a mad flame, and grabbed another pen.

"Draft!"

His voice sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Immediately! Tell them... my mother is critically ill, she misses her son terribly, and is unable to eat or sleep... I must return home immediately to serve her medicine!"

　I'm waiting for the bullet train; let's see if it'll be crowded tonight.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)