If they were ordinary petty thieves who stole chickens and dogs, the Village Head would have waited until dawn to send them to the government office, so as not to disturb the county magistrate's rest. But tonight's malicious canal-diggers might be backed by some ruthless person from an unknown village. Fearing that a long delay would lead to complications, the Village Head immediately selected a few strong young men to escort the two thieves and accompany him to the county town over forty miles away.
The Village Head's family provided a mule cart, and a few slightly wealthier families provided mules, making it convenient for the Village Head and his party to travel back and forth.
It was simply too far; otherwise, the other villagers would rather skip sleep and walk there to watch the magistrate try the case.
The journey took a full two hours. Upon arriving outside the tightly closed city gates of the county town, the young men shouted loudly that they had caught the canal-digging thieves and demanded that the magistrate seek justice for them!
The city guards on night duty were not allowed to open the gates without authorization, so they immediately sent someone to request instructions from Lord Di.
In the back quarters of the county office, Di Xian, who was awakened by a servant boy, heard the reason for the disturbance. He had the servant take his waist token and accompany the city guard to the gates to bring the people to the county office.
By the time the Village Head and his party arrived at the county office, Di Xian had already put on his official robes and was sitting in the main hall. The deputy magistrate, the chief archivist, the county jailer, and other officials had also been called over overnight.
The Fengyan Canal, which had just been built at a cost of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, concerned the harvest and rations of the county's people for decades or even centuries to come. At this moment, it directly involved the lives and livelihoods of the people who built the canal. Therefore, even during the Chou hour when most people were dead asleep, the officials led by Di Xian all had solemn expressions and clear eyes.
"My Lord, it's these two thieves!"
The young men forced Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng to kneel on the ground, simultaneously throwing down the shovels and pickaxes they used to dig the canal, as well as the drugged cloth they used to knock out the canal patroller.
Di Xian slammed his gavel, halting the villagers' indignation and clamor, and asked the Village Head, "How damaged is the canal?"
The Village Head looked fearful in hindsight. He gestured with his hands and said, "Fortunately, we found them in time. They had only dug a shallow pit."
Di Xian asked again, "How are the injuries of the canal patroller?"
The Village Head replied, "He has already woken up. He only suffered some superficial wounds."
Having clarified these two matters, Di Xian could finally focus his energy on interrogating the thieves. Seeing that the two were covered in mud from the fields, and their faces were a mixture of blood and mud, he ordered the head constable to bring some water first to at least wash their faces clean.
Soon, everyone finally saw the true faces of Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng.
A young man beside the Village Head said, "I've seen them! They are traveling merchants. They came to our village to sell things!"
The deputy magistrate recalled for a moment and frowned, "On the day the sluice gates opened on the first of March, I also seem to have seen these two selling snacks."
There were many vendors doing business in the crowd that day, but the other vendors all had local accents. Only these two had Jinzhou accents, which made him look at them twice. However, since the county started building the canal last year, merchants of all sizes from various places had come looking for business opportunities, so two more traveling merchants from Jinzhou were not surprising.
Di Xian looked at Jiang Sheng and Jiang Qiang, who had remained silent from beginning to end, and suddenly realized that this matter was probably not so simple.
For three consecutive days, Jiang Sheng and Jiang Qiang refused to speak. At the same time, through the identification and testimonies of the Village Heads from various villages, as well as the clues investigated by the constables in Ning County, Di Xian finally confirmed that their act of destroying the canal had nothing to do with grudges between local villages.
Since appealing to their emotions and reasoning with them yielded no answers, Di Xian ordered the constables to torture the two.
On the night of the torture, when Di Xian interrogated the two again at night, Jiang Qiang spoke up, requesting Di Xian to dismiss the deputy magistrate and the others.
Both of them were wearing shackles. Di Xian was not afraid of them having other intentions and waved his hand.
When only three people were left in the hall, Jiang Qiang looked at Jiang Sheng, who was equally in a sorry state beside him, and smiled bitterly, "Reporting to Your Lordship, it was Princess Fucheng who sent us."
Men die for wealth, so even though they knew this trip was life-threatening, they still came. All they sought was a sliver of luck, praying they would smoothly complete the errand. To guard against Princess Fucheng's possible poisonous scheme to silence them, they had discussed in advance to split into two groups on their return journey: one would go openly to collect the remaining reward, while the other would stay in the dark to force Princess Fucheng not to break her promise.
But they also knew that the plan might not go smoothly. If luck did not favor them, they still risked being caught by the villagers or the authorities.
The backup plan Princess Fucheng arranged for them was to frame the Du family. As long as it succeeded, even though the two of them would still face a dead end, Princess Fucheng would treat their families well.
No one who could become a death-sworn assassin was a fool. Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng knew very well that if they really did this, once the Emperor convicted the Du family, Princess Fucheng's next step would be to kill their families, completely eliminating the hidden danger of the matter leaking from their families' mouths.
Therefore, now that their deaths were certain, the only way they could protect their families was to confess against Princess Fucheng. When Princess Fucheng herself became a prisoner, the guards around her would no longer risk taking action without their master's orders, and the shadowy assassins she cultivated would take this opportunity to fly far away, escaping the shackles imposed on them since childhood.
When the venomous snake entered the cage and the jackals and wolves scattered, their families would be able to continue living ordinary lives in ignorance, at most grieving for a period over them going out to do business and not returning all year round.
Di Xian was stunned, but he quickly guessed the true purpose of her destroying the canal if Princess Fucheng was indeed the one behind it.
However, these were all speculations. Since it involved the royal clan, Di Xian should stop his investigation here. Once he submitted a memorial to the capital, the Emperor would naturally dispatch the Imperial Clan Court to take over.
According to the laws of this dynasty, any crimes committed by the royal clan, big or small, were to be tried by the Imperial Clan Court and then handed over to the Emperor for sentencing. Provincial officials only had the right to impeach, report, and stop the royal clan from continuing their evil deeds. Of course, if the Emperor believed the Imperial Clan Court's trial was flawed or incompetent, he could also transfer the case to the Supreme Court or the Ministry of Justice.
The twentieth of April was a rest day for officials, and it was also a day when Emperor Yongchang could steal a moment of leisure from his busy schedule.
Emperor Yongchang decided to leave the palace in disguise with Empress Zhou. They would first visit the princess estates of their two daughters, then go to Prince Qing's estate to see their third imperial grandson, and finally go to Prince Hui's estate to see their fourth imperial grandson, having lunch at Prince Hui's estate before returning to the palace.
When leaving the palace, Emperor Yongchang first sent someone to deliver a verbal message to his second son and his wife, as well as to his third daughter-in-law, who was at home taking care of her child alone.
Prince Hui's Estate.
Prince Hui, who came alone to receive his imperial father's verbal edict, looked respectful, but a trace of fine sweat quietly appeared on his palms.
Fortunately, his imperial father still had to tour the two princess estates. If his imperial father came straight here after leaving the palace, the Princess Consort...
After the eunuch who delivered the message left, Zhao Sui calculated the time and let the Princess Consort sleep for another half hour before going to wake her up personally.
Inside the canopy bed, Yao Huang was sleeping soundly. Prince Hui sat on the edge of the bed and reached out his hand twice, only to be avoided by the Princess Consort wrapping herself in the quilt. Helpless, Zhao Sui had no choice but to say, "Imperial Father is coming."
Yao Huang, who was already awake but sleepy and wanted to stay in bed, suddenly opened her eyes and turned around, "Really?"
Zhao Sui replied, "At this time, Imperial Father should be at the Second Princess's estate. He will go to Prince Qing's estate, and then come over."
The weather was nice. Earlier this month, Yao Huang had taken a carriage to visit the two princess estates and the new imperially bestowed Yao family residence. Calculating the emperor's route in her head, she cast a faint, resentful glare at Prince Hui. "Both Your Highness and Imperial Father certainly know how to pick a day."
Her body had fully recovered by the time Yun'er reached his one-month milestone, and she felt completely refreshed. However, Prince Hui, who claimed to know a little about medicine, believed she needed to rest for a while longer. This was for Yao Huang's own good. Since he was willing to endure it, Yao Huang was naturally happy to cooperate. She hadn't expected this "rest" to last for over twenty days. It wasn't until last night that Prince Hui finally let go of his worries, carefully holding her and cautiously engaging in a round of intimacy.
It was as gentle as a spring breeze and fine rain, yet it still allowed Yao Huang to have a very comfortable and sound sleep.
Prince Hui's gaze had long fallen on the edge of the bed. He simply said, "Get up, go for a walk in the courtyard. Don't let Imperial Father and Imperial Mother see that you've just freshened up."
There was still a difference between having just woken up and having been awake for two hours.
After speaking, Prince Hui turned his wheelchair around, preparing to return to the front courtyard to wait for the Princess Consort.
Just as he turned the wheelchair and pushed the thin wheels, Zhao Sui felt a resistance. Looking back, he saw that the Princess Consort had quietly stretched out a leg at some unknown point. Her right toes, painted with pomegranate-red polish, almost touched his turned face, while her heel pressed tightly against the back of the wheelchair.
Zhao Sui: "..."
He looked forward and asked, "Why are you stopping me?"
Yao Huang: "Since Your Highness is already here, why don't you serve me for my morning bath?"
Zhao Sui: "..."
He lowered his eyes and turned his head, raising a hand to tickle the sole of the Princess Consort's foot. Then, taking advantage of the moment she retracted her foot, he pushed the wheelchair out of the canopy bed.
The Princess Consort's soft laughter came from behind. "I'll count to three. If Your Highness hasn't left the room by the time I finish, I'll go catch you and bring you back to help me wash my hair."
Prince Hui was very willing to help the Princess Consort wash her hair, but her hair washing and bathing went together. In broad daylight, with the maidservants waiting outside, he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. In the past, when they rested at noon, there was at least the excuse of an "afternoon nap."
Even though he didn't believe the Princess Consort would actually come to "catch" him, Prince Hui still slightly sped up his pace.
Prince Qing's estate was on the east side of the imperial city. The Emperor and Empress had only stayed with Zheng Yuanzhen and her son for half an hour before coming out, but it was still nearly noon when they arrived at Prince Hui's estate.
Yao Huang was already waiting in the first courtyard with Prince Hui.
Emperor Yongchang came this time specifically to see his imperial grandson, so the couple brought along the well-fed and well-rested little fellow. They didn't have the wet nurse follow them; instead, they let Prince Hui hold the little one. After all, sitting in a wheelchair, Prince Hui had saved up a lot of energy, and holding a baby weighing nearly ten pounds definitely wouldn't tire him out.
On either side of the main gate of Prince Hui's estate sat a majestic stone lion. Yao Huang pushed Prince Hui over to them, then rested one hand on her knee while using the other to point out the stone lion's eyebrows, eyes, and big mouth to Yun'er.
It was unknown if the little fellow could understand, but his pair of bright, dark eyes looked wherever his mother pointed.
At this moment, the imperial carriage arrived, and the family of three was right there to respectfully welcome it.
Emperor Yongchang stepped out of the carriage first. As soon as he showed his face, he saw his daughter-in-law holding the child with one hand and pointing at him with the other, saying with a beaming smile, "This is your Imperial Grandpa, the most amazing Imperial Grandpa in the world!"
Emperor Yongchang, who had only ever been called "Imperial Grandfather" by the three children of Prince Kang's family: "..."
However, "Imperial Grandpa" did sound much more affectionate than "Imperial Grandfather"!
"Come, let me hold my little imperial grandson."
Standing firm, Emperor Yongchang came over to take Yun'er.
Yao Huang handed the child over and then went to help Empress Zhou out of the carriage.
By the time the three generations entered the main hall, Yao Huang saw that Yun'er's chubby little hand was holding a lustrous and translucent mutton-fat jade pendant. Imperial Grandpa was giving away his wealth again!
After having lunch, Emperor Yongchang was still in a very good mood when he left Prince Hui's estate.
However, as soon as he returned to the palace, Eunuch Wang handed him an urgent memorial sent by a four-hundred-li express relay.
Any urgent memorials from local officials had to be submitted to the Secretariat immediately. If it happened to be a rest day, it would be sent directly to Emperor Yongchang.
Emperor Yongchang took it, his gaze sweeping over the words "Di Xian, Magistrate of Qingxia, Liangzhou," and opened it.
Eunuch Wang stood to the side, bowing slightly. Not knowing whether the memorial reported good news or bad, he held his breath in concentration. Then, he noticed the Emperor's fingers suddenly grip the memorial tightly. In that instant, Eunuch Wang felt as if his own heart had been gripped by the Emperor, and he didn't dare to breathe heavily.
After an unknown amount of time, he heard the Emperor say, "Summon Ye Shanglin."
Ye Shanglin was the Commander of the Imperial Guards who defended the imperial city. Holding a principal second-rank official position, he was a trusted external minister of Emperor Yongchang.
Soon, the nearly forty-year-old Imperial Guard Commander Ye Shanglin stood before Emperor Yongchang.
Emperor Yongchang glanced at the memorial placed face down on the desk and said slowly, "Arrange for two squads of imperial guards to change into plain clothes and secretly enter the Eldest Princess's estate and the Marquis of Jining's estate. The meals required by both estates will be purchased by the guards. Until I issue a decree, no one from either estate is allowed to take a single step outside. For now, announce to the public that the Eldest Princess and the Marquis have fallen ill and are declining visitors."
Ye Shanglin: "I obey the decree!"
After Ye Shanglin withdrew, Emperor Yongchang handed the reviewed memorial to Eunuch Wang, ordering it to be sent back to Liangzhou via the same four-hundred-li express relay.
