During the rainy season of the first year of Xiangfu, Beiliang Palace removed all of its large red lanterns. The festive red couplets were also replaced with white couplets in the wee hours of the morning. Coincidentally, there was a slanting wind and a drizzle. The trees wanted to be quiet, but the wind and rain did not stop. The children wanted to be nurtured, but the parents were no longer there.
The raindrops struck the roof tiles of the tens of thousands of clumped together tiles. From far to near, gently and heavily, they wrapped around fine streams of water that trickled down the roof troughs and eaves. It was like a wine cup hanging from a wine cup, a dense web of knocking and gliding notes. When the couplets outside Mount Qingliang were changed to couplets that everyone could see, all of Liangzhou was dumbfounded. Word spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Many old people gathered their courage and came to the outside of the prince's mansion at the foot of the mountain to personally see the ghastly white couplets. Then, two hours later, not a single firecracker or drum could be heard in the city. The main road of Liangzhou led directly to Beiliang Palace. The streets were covered in white mourning. Afterwards, Liangzhou's provincial governor, Hu Kui, dressed in mourning robes made from the coarsest linen, led all of the Liangzhou government officials to the Yi Gate. Hu Kui did not step onto the steps. Instead, he stood at the bottom of the stone steps and faced the tens of thousands of Liangzhou commoners on the main road. After a moment of silence, he turned around and shouted with all his might, "Bow!"
The wind and rain were dark. A large swath of people knelt on the streets in a vast expanse of whiteness. One bow, three kowtows. The sound of the three kowtows was as heavy as spring thunder.
"Bow again!"
"Bow three times!"
One bow, three kowtows, three bows, nine kowtows.
— —
Great Peace City, Jingzhe. The officials of the capital all considered the morning court to be hard work. Many old foxes of the officialdom had long since developed the ability to enter the forbidden palace on time. However, eighty to ninety percent of the officials had gathered early outside the palace gates. A strange celebratory atmosphere appeared on the imperial road. No one went to break that layer of window paper. Although everyone in Great Peace City already knew that the old man from Beiliang was finally dead, countless people were clapping and cheering. They formed cliques and groups. For this reason, they floated white after white and were dead drunk. They had to be carried home. According to the laws of the Liyang Dynasty, the death of a vassal king must be reported by the Crown Prince to the imperial court and the Court of Imperial Clan within the capital. Lame Xu was a king with a different surname, so the Court of Imperial Clan did not mind. Logically speaking, the Crown Prince should also rush to inform the Crown Prince. However, the Ministry of Rites in Great Peace City could not wait. The Crown Prince was magnanimous enough to not fuss over this matter. He only set up a rule that in this morning's imperial court, the Crown Prince would first present a memorial to the Crown Prince of Northern Liang. For this reason, the Ministry of Rites was in chaos. First, the Minister of Rites, Lu Daolin, who was related to Butcher by marriage, said that he was sick and did not care about the affairs of the Ministry of Rites. Without a leader, the two third-rank Left and Right Assistant Ministers of the Ministry of Rites had different opinions and could not work together, so they pushed the responsibility to each other. As for Jiang Yongle, who was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, compared to the two cunning Assistant Ministers of the Ministry of Rites, Jiang Yongle, was originally one rank lower. He was also in charge of the memorial to the Crown Prince of Rites. Actually, in the past, when he bestowed posthumous titles, there were traces that could be followed. The Crown Prince's thoughts were not too deep. The Song Family's Young Teacher's "Wen Huai" and Lu Feichi's "Wen Gong" were both written by him. The two were at the back of the Liyang Dynasty's posthumous titles. Jiang Yongle took one of the four meanings of the word "Huai", which corresponded to the meritorious deeds of the Song Family's Young Teacher. The head of the Green Party, Lu Feichi, took the meaning of "Consecration".
However, when it came to the King of Beiliang, Xu Xiao, to attempt to make a conclusion about this human butcher, how much courage did he, Jiang Yongle, have? How many heads could he chop off? Even if he was lucky enough to guess the Emperor's thoughts, as long as it did not conform to the opinions of the world, or did not conform to the tastes of the court officials, or even caused the martial artists of Beiliang to hold a grudge against him, he, a mere Department for Purging Officials, could casually make things difficult for someone, and he would have no chance in his official career in this lifetime. Jiang Yongle almost wanted to give this fellow a punch, but in the end, he did not have the courage to do so. Pan Chunjian was a true martial artist of the battlefield. If they really fought, even ten Jiang Yongles would have to lie down.
Jiang Yongle was sullen all day, as if his wife had died. In the past three days, he had lost countless strands of hair. In particular, Jingzhe had spent the last few hours sitting by the light of a lamp before morning court. He had practically flipped through the "Posthumous Solution" book, yet he was still unable to write. He truly had the heart to die. Before dawn, Jiang Yongle slapped away the teacup and the "Posthumous Solution" book, sending them crashing to the ground. This Department for Purging Officials abruptly stood up, almost crazed. His fingers trembled as he pointed at the foggy and pitch-black scenery outside the window. He angrily cursed, "Old man Xu, even if you die, you still won't let this Jiang live in peace?!"
The maid waiting outside the door was trembling with fear. She summoned her courage and knocked on the door, but was angrily shouted at by the Department for Purging Officials from inside the room. The maid no longer dared to push open the door and disturb the master's important matter. Jiang Yongle sighed, crouched down, and picked up the "Posthumous Solution" book. The book had been soaked in tea. Jiang Yongle raised his sleeve to wipe away the tea stains, then carefully tore open the pages that were stuck together and placed them back on the desk. With disheveled hair, Jiang Yongle stretched out his five fingers to stroke his silver-white hair. With a silly chuckle, he sat upright and still, and began to write at a great speed. He separated the civil and military titles, totaling forty-two beautiful titles and fifteen evil titles, and casually wrote them on a piece of Lanting Familiar Proclamation. When he put down the brush, he was already extraordinarily tired. The Department for Purging Officials was gasping for breath. He turned his head and ordered the maid outside to bring in a copper coin. After the confused and beautiful maid entered the room, she saw the master point at a piece of Familiar Proclamation whose writing could faintly be seen through the back of the paper. He had her place the copper coin on the paper. After the maid did so, she was dismissed by Jiang Yongle with a wave of his hand. Jiang Yongle pressed down on the copper coin with one hand and flipped over the Familiar Proclamation with the other. As a result, the Department for Purging Officials, who intended to resign himself to fate, saw the words that the copper coin was leaning against.
Li!
Posthumous Solution: Meritorious service to the country, slaughtering the innocent.
Jiang Yongle hesitated for a moment, then muttered to himself, "This is the will of Heaven."
The eastern sky started to turn white. In the main hall, there were many talents and officials. Most of them were wearing the purple court robes that only third-rank officials could wear. Some of the elders who were conferred the title of Duke and Marquis even had official patches embroidered with pythons. The assistant ministers and officials who wore the red robes were mostly at the back. Now that they had been conferred the title of King and Vassal, there was only one Crown Prince, Zhao Zhuan, left in the main hall. He stood alone in front of the officials to his left and right, closest to the nine steps. The Emperor of the Zhao family sat on the dragon throne. Two giant incense burners were surrounded by Immortal Qi. He sat in the north and looked towards the south. When the weather was good, he could even see the imperial road far away. The Emperor looked away. Almost no one in the main hall dared to raise their heads. Only Grand Secretary Zhang Julu, two or three officials of the six departments, and a few generals dared to look at him. Only Tantanon Huan Wen raised his head and stared. The Emperor didn't know what the old man was looking at. He looked around. The Minister of Rites, Lu Daolin, didn't come to court. The new Minister of War, Chen Zhibao, had his eyes closed. Gu Jiantang guarded the border all year round and all the military officials in the main hall looked up to him. It was said that Chen Zhibao had received Old Minister Gu's instructions. At the beginning, he was well-behaved and many of the military affairs were handled according to the new Minister of War's wishes. Actually, Chen Zhibao didn't get involved and was rather lazy. He spent his days in the Gu Hut reading. Later, Gu Lu probably felt that this little person was at his wit's end and started to provoke him. In the end, the Treasurer of the Ministry of War, Huang 'E, was stripped of his official robes and thrown out of the Gu Hut. The Assistant Ministers in the Gu Hut, Shuang Lu, Lu Baijie and Lu Shengxiang didn't do anything and didn't even lift their eyelids. Huang' E, who had a wide network of connections, went everywhere to persuade them. After this, the Censorate started to impeach Minister Chen. In the end, the Emperor casually revoked Manager Huang 'E's official fourth-rank title. Under the Emperor's feet, Huang' E didn't dare to be angry or say anything. He ran to the border to "relax". However, the Pillar of Country, Gu Jiantang, didn't even want to see him. Huang 'E was still a bachelor and became a joke in the capital.
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