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Chapter 70 - They made great contributions to the country
Chapter 70 - They made great contributions to the country
Chapter 70 They made great contributions to the country
“That guy? How could he hurt you? He even can’t beat me. He is just a kid of 15 or 16 years old.” Liao Zhiyuan shook his head and refuted.
Lu Jiangbei said in a deep voice, “Whether who hurt me yesterday, I’m pretty sure that Zhu Quan has a gift for learning kung fu, and he always keeps his strength under wraps. You said he can’t beat you, but I want to tell you that maybe he could beat you two or three years ago.”
Liao Zhiyuan still didn’t believe it. Just as the saying went, seeing was believing. He could beat Zhu Quan every time when they practiced kung fu at Northwest Drill Ground. After the competition, Zhu Quan admired his skillful kung fu and bought him a drink!
Refraining from spitting blood, Lu Jiangbei said, “Now I only know that the Gezhu of Wuying Tower who fought with me is a boy under the age of 18 with bizarre kung fu skills that are different from the schools in the Central Plain. To protect his identity, he used a salix-leaf shaped sword which he is unfamiliar with, or he will not be easily beaten by me in a hundred moves. His moves are simple and fluent, placid but murderous. Lynx, don’t talk with him if you meet him. Just run away as soon as possible.”
Certainly, Liao Zhiyuan was unconvinced. But when he looked at Lu Jiangbei who was half-dead, he just couldn’t speak out some good words to appreciate themselves but depreciate others.
Lu Jiangbei was just like a weak young scholar from his appearance to his style of conversation, and people who met him for the first time always regarded him as a wuss. However, they would know that they were wrong after fighting with him just within one move. This young scholar was not a “wuss”, but a “tough man”. Even the most skillful man would be hurt by him if they have a battle! He was the most skillful man in the Armed Escort, except the old men who took a back seat 10 years ago. So, he could be called “The first among young men in the imperial guard”. When Gao Jue who was strong battled with Lu Jiangbei at daily life, he had 7 losses in 10 battles, while Lu Jiangbei always won easily.
“Gao Jue asked me about the clues of the Gezhu of Wuying Tower earlier, but I concealed this matter. Do you know the reason, Lynx?” Lu Jiangbei’s eyes were deep.
After consideration, Lian Zhiyuan nodded, “You guys become rivals in love, and you don’t want him to see your awkwardness, so you just play cool.”
It seemed that Lu Jiangbei didn’t dispute with Lian Zhiyuan so as to save energy, but he put him in the blacklist in mind.
Looking at the white sand in the yard, Lu Jiangbei recalled, “We had three direct slaps with each other that time, which were neck and neck. Therefore, his internal energy isn’t weaker than mine. However, to my surprise, his arts of lightness are similar to Gao Jue, which can make you confused in a very short time. And he can change his arts continually in short distance with slow movement but in a speed faster than lightning indeed. Thus, you will be overwhelmed by him. Fortunately, I play with Gao Jue for many years and now I’m familiar with this kind of arts. Otherwise, maybe I’d have been overwhelmed by his quick attack.”
Liao Zhiyuan said surprisedly, “Gao Jue’s kung fu is Dun Shu. He practiced in secret methods in Nihon. Even if we intend to learn from him, we are just laymen. Since you said that the Gezhu of Wuying Tower used the arts of lightness similar to Dun Shu, would he be a person from Nihon?”
Lu Jiangbei shook his head, “If he is a foreigner, why should he use an unfamiliar sword to hide his identity? After several contacts, I’m sure that the young man is our acquaintance, and I’ve dealt with him more than once before. The reason why I don’t talk to Gao Jue is that I suspect that the person is Zhu Quan, Lord Ning. He is a favored son of the Emperor. You can’t go to find him without sufficient evidence. Neither can’t you investigate his kung fu. You should give special instructions especially to Gao Jue.”
Liao Zhiyuan touched his chin with his knuckles, frowned and questioned, “But Zhu Quan was granted the title of Lord Ning by the Emperor in March this year, and he was also entrusted with an important task by the Emperor. He was sent to Daning Prefecture to guard the frontier with Mongolia. Even if he was a hidden expert, why would he build the Wuying Tower to fight against the Changye Tower of the Emperor without any reason?”
Lu Jiangbei wanted to say something but stopped. He just said finally, “We can put aside the motivation. I only know that there are no more than five people whose kung fu are comparable to mine and who are 10 years younger than me. Zhu Quan is one of them. After coming back last night, I have sent sunstreaker to Daning Prefecture at full speed to see if Lord Ning is in office. The injury of the Gezhu of Wuying Tower is more serious than mine. He can’t stand the long journey. The 22nd in this month is the maneuver of Daning Drill Ground. At that time, if Lord Ning appears, he will have no suspicion. On the contrary, if he doesn’t appear, you can report to the Emperor secretly and suggest calling Lord Ning back from his fief to observe for a period of time.”
“Well, I get it.” Liao Zhiyuan nodded, then asked curiously, “Chief, when did you find that Zhu Quan has peerless kung fu? I haven’t heard of it before! He pretended to be a wuss in front of me. How can he expose himself in front of you?”
“When Consort Yang died two years ago, Childe Duan and I witnessed it.”
“Consort Yang? Zhu Quan’s mother?”
“Yes, you and Gao Jue were in Guangxi Prefecture, so you didn’t know.” Lu Jiangbei said with a sigh, “Childe Duan and I went back to the capital to report our work. As soon as we arrived in the capital, we heard some news from the Imperial Palace that the Emperor was furious again. Consort Yang had been beheaded and her heart was gouged out. The Emperor buried her head in the east side of the palace gate, her heart in the west side of the palace gate, and hung her body on the flagpole outside the Taiping Gate. He ordered the guards to watch her body, and said to them that when the vultures in the sky pecked all her flesh with only bones left, they should put the bones down and throw to the mass grave.”
Hearing that, Liao Zhiyuan felt numb. In recent years, the Emperor’s temper grew with his age, and he became more and more moody. The concubines and consorts in the Imperial Harem were his favorite for abreaction, even the mothers of every princes.
At the 23rd year of Hongwu Period in Qianwu Palace, Consort Xian, the mother of Lord Tang, Consort Ning, the mother of Lord Lu and Consort Hu, the mother of Lord Yi, somehow angered the Emperor. Consort Xian’s head was smashed by the Emperor with a jade Paperweight on his desk. Consort Ning and Consort Hu were frightened immediately. They hid around the palace. The Emperor locked the door of the palace and picked up a golden spittoon to play hide-and-seek with them. After a while, the imperial bodyguards outside the palace heard only two screams from the palace. Then the door opened suddenly. The Emperor came out and ordered the bodyguards to take a largest bamboo basket. Then he went back to the palace and closed the door.
Then a eunuch ran to the Imperial Kitchen and found a large bamboo basket. With the Emperor’s permission, he opened a crack of the door and put it into the palace. After one hour, the Emperor came out, yawning and ordering the people that he wanted to eat sashimi and roast mutton. He let the servants ask the Imperial Kitchen to cook quickly. And he pointed at the center of Qianwu Palace and let the bodyguards carry the bamboo basket and bury it outside the Taiping Gate. The bodyguards did as he said, and they carried away the bamboo basket covered with black cloth and buried it. Then Consort Xian, Consort Ning and Consort Hu disappeared from the Imperial Harem.
Half a month later, the good news came from the frontier frequently. And the Emperor’s mood got better. He sighed and said that those consorts both accompanied him many years and brought up three princes. They really made great contributions to the country. So, he awarded them posthumous names and let the eunuchs dig out the bamboo basket outside the Taiping Gate. They dug out the bamboo basket, and uncovered the black cloth. The three corpses were too rotten to recognize. So, they just recognized their identity at random by their costumes, and finished this work carelessly.
Things like this often happened in the Imperial Palace. Liao Zhiyuan couldn’t figure out why a lot of officers still wanted to send their daughters into the palace although they had heard such things. What were they thinking about?
With his narrow eyebrows frowned, Lu Jiangbei shook his head, “The Imperial Court and Imperial Harem have so many connections. On the surface, the Emperor just got angry and killed a consort. But the situation is more complex indeed. Different powers struggle with each other. Consort Yang is only an innocent pawn to draw forth the dispute. However, she had no family to help her when she was alive and still had no one to bury her body after she died.”
Liao Zhiyuan agreed, “Expect those concubines who have no kids, Consort Yang indeed is the one who has the least support from others. I heard that she was brought by the Emperor from the public.”
“At that time, Consort Yang’s son Zhu Quan was just 13 years old. He lived in the Prince Yard with other princes behind the Eastern Palace. At the very beginning, the Emperor didn’t like him. He said that as a boy, Zhu Quan was more delicate than girls and he didn’t think Zhu Quan would establish his own career. Over the next few years, he became more outstanding than other princes in literary talent and kung fu. Then he was valued and favored by the Emperor. But as he wasn’t taken under his mother’s wing, he was left out by other princes.” Lu Jiangbei signed, “Under that circumstance, he couldn’t even protect himself but still had the courage to bury his mother’s corpse. It was very hard for him.”
“Really? He defied the Imperial Edict, but didn’t the Emperor get angry with him?” Liao Zhiyuan didn’t expect that such a big thing happened in the Imperial Place. He always called himself as “the jack of all trades of the capital”, but he knew nothing about this thing.
A faint smile appeared on Lu Jiangbei’s face. He said suddenly, “I don’t know how he came up with such a devious scheme. And no one connected him with the missing of Yang Consort’s corpse. I happened to pass through Taiping Gate and witness the scene with Childe Duan. Though I felt strange, I didn’t mind it. After ten days, the guards who once guarded Yang Consort’s corpse died suspiciously, and their heads disappeared. Childe Duan and me thought about that situation, and then we suspected that the shepherd boy was disguised by Zhu Quan… I pitied him for losing his mother at a young age, so I discussed with Childe Duan and decided to conceal for him.”