Qing!
Dang!
The melodious Daoist music abruptly stopped.
Jiajing, wearing a Fangguan crown and a Daoist robe, finished sacrificing to the heavens and then bowed to the Three Pure Ones.
At this moment, Lü Fang picked up the Qing Ci presented by the officials and began to read. Only Xu Jie's piece was somewhat acceptable. After reading it once, he burned it in the furnace.
At this time,
Lan Daoxing reappeared. He first dissected the Yin-Yang fish, then burned incense and offered silent prayers. Afterwards, he had a Daoist boy bring out a box containing the Heaven, Earth, and Human boards. He was extremely skilled in this art, able to cast a hexagram using celestial phenomena. With the three boards turning, a grand hexagram was formed. At this moment, he had also naturally thought of how to present his petition.
Jiajing had also completed his divination and obtained a hexagram of Heaven and Earth opposing (否, Pǐ). He was already quite displeased, thinking that the Daoist immortal Lan might have some good news. Thus, he asked indifferently, "Why are you not speaking?"
Lan Daoxing hesitated for a moment, thinking: You just stepped on the Pǐ hexagram, and I happen to be following it... kuAiδugg
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this hexagram is inauspicious..."
Oh?
Jiajing cared deeply about this art and couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
Lan Daoxing replied, "Your servant dares not deceive Your Majesty. Recently, treacherous officials have made their pleas. The heavens greatly detest them, thus all four aspects of life are overturned, and all vitality is extinguished. Moreover, Heaven's nobility is in prison, and the leader of chaos is put to use. Therefore, it is inauspicious."
Jiajing was stunned for a moment—
Treacherous officials making pleas?
Leader of chaos?
Could that be Gao Gong?
However, being extremely vigilant and suspicious, he immediately wondered if someone had instigated this and thus probed:
"Oh? How can this be resolved?"
Lan Daoxing had dealt with him for over a decade and naturally guessed his thoughts. He cautiously replied, "Vitality refers to the spirit of the people. When covered by the tomb, Your Majesty can grant amnesty to the living to resolve it."
Hmph,
Jiajing snorted softly through his nose, thinking: So, you are asking about the matter of the rebels in Jiangnan? It seems the person who instructed you was also well-intentioned, and I shall not pursue it... But is this ominous sign true or false?
He pretended to be completely indifferent, paced a few steps to the boards, glanced at them, and indeed saw the four tombs covering life. His chest tightened immediately, and he was greatly alarmed. However, he said calmly, "It's just a matter of four tombs covering life. How is it as ominous as you say?"
Lan Daoxing knew this was a critical juncture. He replied cautiously:
"Your Majesty, it involves an obstruction..."
From what he knew, at such a time, it was best not to say too much. This emperor was incredibly wise, and saying too much would expose him. He could only let the emperor fill in the blanks himself.
As expected,
Jiajing murmured, "Kui measures the heavenly gate... obstructed, unable to advance or retreat..."
As he spoke, his mind was already clear—
Even the Daoist immortal Lan disapproves of Gao Gong becoming Prime Minister. This means even the secondary Prime Minister position cannot be attained... Is it best to maintain the status quo? This Gao Huizi is truly hated by gods and men...
Being adept at disguise, he still feigned nonchalance. After the ceremony was completed, he had Lü Fang remove the Fangguan crown and sat in meditation on the Eight Trigrams platform for a while before slowly saying:
"Has the imperial edict been drafted?"
Lü Fang had already seen that the Daoist immortal Lan had made a move, and this Gao Huizi was likely to be disappointed. Upon hearing this, his heart was filled with immense joy, but he said softly, "It has been drafted. It so happens that today is the ceremony, so I did not have them deliver it, thinking Your Majesty would still consult the divination..."
"Do not send it yet, wait a little longer..."
...
At the same time,
Xu Jie and Li Chunfang agreed to meet at the Prince Yu's mansion.
For such a major event, Xu Jie, who was always adept at survival, would naturally not bear it alone. Once Gao Gong's letters and manuscripts were made public, the entire situation would change completely. Whoever published this matter would become the most hated opportunist among all the scholars and officials. Even if they became Grand Secretary, it would be difficult to implement policies. At that point, being in an awkward position of not being able to ascend or descend would be very embarrassing.
He was such a formidable figure! Naturally, he thought of Prince Yu. It was most suitable for Prince Yu to handle this matter. As the Crown Prince and the future Emperor, for him to expose a Legalist traitor hidden among the Confucian scholars would be legitimate. What would the officials and scholars have to say? It would also be acceptable to the Emperor.
Therefore,
As soon as they were seated and had taken a sip of tea, he got straight to the point, took out a package delivered by Zhu Mo that morning, slowly spread it out, and then placed it one by one. He then said, "Your Highness, this was delivered by Zhu Mo this morning. I do not know how he obtained it... These are all of Gao Suqing's letters, manuscripts, and memorials. Your Highness, please take a look first..."
Li Chunfang had already seen them and added, "Your Highness, do not be hasty after looking. Elder Xu and I will think of a proper plan together..."
Mmm,
Prince Yu rarely saw Xu Jie so serious and had already guessed that the matter was definitely not trivial. He casually picked up a secret letter, and after reading only a few lines, he slammed it onto the table with a "bang," exclaiming angrily, "This is rebellion! Gao Suqing is instigating the Surveillance Commissioner to force confessions from commoners and frame officials... We must quickly petition the Emperor!"
Xu Jie calmly said, "Your Highness, Master Li also mentioned earlier, let's not rush and look at it first..."
However,
How could Prince Yu not be anxious and angry?
This was because the letter was precisely Yin Zhengmao's request for advice on how Gao Gong should handle the case. The letter, in black and white, contained words that were utterly lawless—
"As per teacher's instructions:
It has been investigated that the rebel Zhang Gui and others insulted the yamen runner Song, and the injury is severe. Your student ordered the old clerk to investigate, and the truth was also found. Song is a household servant of Minister Dong, and the person involved is Minister Dong's nephew. Due to the suddenness of the incident, Song led dozens of household servants to surround and beat the rebels. Zhang Gui and others harbored resentment, hence they reported it.
Zhang Gui claims to have emulated the Grand Ancestor and abolished the master-servant relationship, which is confirmed. However, the claim of following Zhu Mo is still unverified. Your student deeply understands the teacher's intention of using law to aid Confucianism and wishes to conduct further interrogations to make Zhang Gui and others confess truthfully. May I ask if this is permissible?"
This letter,
Basically, it stated that the confessions of the rebel leader Zhang Gui and others that they "followed Zhu Mo" were obtained through torture. How could Prince Yu not be enraged after reading it? One must know that Yin Zhengmao was the Surveillance Commissioner of a province. If he handled cases in this manner, what would happen in the future? Would the common people then believe that there was no light in the darkness?
After reading the three letters, all of which were requests for guidance on controlling the pace of case handling to coordinate with the propaganda offensive, Prince Yu's entire body turned cold—
This Gao Gong was even more ruthless than Yan Song!
This was directly using the blood of commoners to force the court!
However,
Although this matter was extremely outrageous, Xu Jie and Li Chunfang were already accustomed to it. After climbing so high in their careers, had they not seen enough of these things? Only this Prince Yu, who had lived in the deep palace for a long time, would not know these things.
After Prince Yu finished reading Gao Gong's "Memorial on Rectifying the Eight Defects to Promote Rule of Law" and several articles from "Discourse on Shang Jun Shu," nearly half an hour had passed.
Seeing Prince Yu's chest heaving, his face filled with indignation, and then sighing, both of them kept shaking their heads and sighing.
Prince Yu had no heart to continue reading. He threw the documents onto the coffee table with a bang and said with a long sigh,
"Elder Xu, Master Li... I don't know what to feel. Gao Suqing has always taught me according to the orthodoxy of Neo-Confucianism, but who would have thought that it was all false! For more than ten years, how could I not see it?"
Xu Jie and Li Chunfang exchanged a glance, both with wry smiles: We have known him for twenty years, and where could we have seen it?
Xu Jie also shook his head and sighed, "Your Highness, earlier there were also rumors that Gao Suqing admired the Book of Shang Jun and the Legalist Canon. Seeing it today, it is indeed true..."
Li Chunfang said solemnly, "Your Highness, let's not talk about these things for now. How to deal with these things from Gao Suqing is the most important thing at present."