Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 369 - 308: East Palace Murder Case_1

Chapter 369: Chapter 308: East Palace Murder Case_1

Beijing in November is already covered with frost and snow.

As soon as Crown Prince Yu Jianshen woke up early in the morning, he fixed his gaze out the window at the pine branches that had been bent by the heavy snow, his eyes vacant and lost in thought.

It wasn’t until the day had started to brighten that a shrill voice sounded behind him, "Your Highness Crown Prince, Dr. Fei from the Hanlin Academy has already entered the palace."

The Crown Prince Yu Jianshen finally came back to his senses and looked back at the person behind him.

It was his closest eunuch Xi Huaien. At this moment, he stood behind him with hands clasped, bending slightly at the waist, his expression respectful. "This Wujing Boshi, surnamed Fei and named Yuan, is a new lecturer assigned by the Hanlin Academy. I have invited him to Hanyuan Pavilion."

Upon hearing these words, Crown Prince Yu Jianshen frowned, "Didn’t I already send word to the Hanlin Academy? I’ve been feeling unwell these past few days, so the East Palace’s classes have been temporarily suspended."

"This is the arrangement of Mr. Shang, the Daxueshi of Zuochun House."

Xi Huaien first glanced around and noticed that no one else was near before dutifully saying, "He also instructed me to tell you, Your Highness, that in times like these, it is natural to feel some despair. However, the more dangerous the situation, the more you must follow the rules and not let people find fault. The Daxueshi believes that classes at the East Palace must not be stopped! You need to show the world that you are resolute and tenacious, and let them know your virtues. Everyone who is selected as a Hanlin Scholar is a renowned Daru in Confucianism, so it’s not permissible to neglect them. If you can’t pull yourself together, you can look at the words he sent you yesterday."

The Crown Prince Yu Jianshen involuntarily turns his gaze to the wall where there is a line of vigorous and forceful calligraphy - Clenching onto the green mountains, it’s roots firmly planted in the rocks. Through thousands of grindings and tapings, it remains robust, enduring winds from east to west, south and north.

Crown Prince Yu Jianshen’s gaze darkened slightly, "This poem must have been penned by the Earl Jingan in Nanjing, right?"

"Exactly! A few months ago, during the great battle at the Guozi Bureau in Nanjing, Earl Jingan, Li Xuan, recited more than ten poems, inciting the students’ spirit and forcing Li Zhetian to retreat. This was one of the poems."

Xi Huaien said solemnly, "Your Highness, although Earl Jingan has helped Yu Jianji time and again, the message in this poem is still valuable."

"You don’t need to continue speaking about this; I do not hold any resentment towards Earl Jingan. If not for him, Nanjing City would now be in ruins. Everything he has done is part of his duty."

Crown Prince Yu Jianshen shook his head, "I heard that not long ago, the Knife Demon Li Zhetian was killed by Earl Jingan on Longhu Mountain?"

"That did happen."

Xi Huaien, unsure of the prince’s intent, whether he was just chatting or had other intentions, could only reply carefully. "The news has spread throughout the world. It’s said that scholars from all over the Yangtze River, various clans and sects, are all bowing their heads in celebration. This man had been reigning throughout the world for decades, destroying countless heroes and making countless enemies.

Especially among the followers of Neo-Confucianism, the world’s scholars of Neo-Confucianism considered it a great humiliation. Shaobao Yu, Mr. Shang, and others had long sought to get rid of him. But this man, while appearing reckless and proud, is cautious and elusive, leaving these scholars of Neo-Confucianism helpless. Hence Earl Jingan now has a high reputation among Confucians, and is highly respected by the Confucians of the North and South, and the Guozi Bureau."

Upon saying this, his expression changed slightly, "Your Highness, are you worried that Earl Jingan, with his status as the protector of Neo-Confucianism, will help Prince Cheng?"

The so-called Prince Cheng is the second prince, Yu Jianji.

Just over ten days ago, Yu Jianji held a great ceremony at the Xiao Mausoleum. It was said that on the day of sacrifice, not only were there colorful clouds around Nanjing City, but there were also sightings of the auspicious beast Kylin at the south foot of the Purple Gold Mountain and good omens reported all over south Zhili. Hearing this, the Emperor was overjoyed and named the second emperor’s son, Yu Jianji as Prince Cheng.

The title of the current emperor, Jingtai Emperor Yu Qiyu, before he succeeded to the throne after replacing his brother, Zhengtong Emperor Yu Qizhen, was ’Prince Cheng’.

— The emperor’s intention to change the crown prince is now clear.

Xi Huaien thought that, given Li Xuan’s reputation in Confucianism, if he had the heart to help Prince Cheng, it would indeed be a disaster.

Besides this, he also had some special intelligence.

It is said that Earl Jingan has dealings with several heavenly level figures, including Jiang Yunqi and Zhang, the Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain, and his background is impressive.

And he is also in a relationship with Princess Changle Yu Hongchang, who is a rising figure within the royal family. Although the princess seems to be on good terms with the Crown Prince, Prince Cheng, Yu Jianji, is her biological brother.

As the eldest son of Zhengtong Emperor Yu Qizhen, the Crown Prince is a step away from Yu Hongchang.

However, Crown Prince Yu Jianshen shook his head and promptly walked towards Hanyuan Pavilion, "Let’s go. We shouldn’t keep our teacher waiting."

Hanyuan Pavilion was less than fifty paces away from his palace. When Crown Prince Yu Jianshen arrived, Dr. Fei from the Five Classics was sitting inside the pavilion, reading the scripture in his hand while tasting tea.

The Crown Prince hurried over and respectfully saluted this Hanlin Scholar in his fifties, "My apologies for my tardiness, Teacher."

Dr. Fei also stood up and returned the salute, "Greetings, Your Highness. It’s the end of the Hour of Chen; you’ve arrived early."

Looking at the young, handsome, magnificent, and polite Yu Jianshen, Dr. Fei showed some admiration in his eyes, "Please sit, Your Highness. I teach the ’Book of Rites’ as arranged by the Daxueshi. Today, I’ll be lecturing on ’The Great Biography’."

After Crown Prince Yu Jianshen sat down, he noticed that a cup of tea and some snacks had been placed in front of him.

The tea was his favorite Da Hong Pao, and the snacks were a piece of purple yam cake and green bean pastry, both typical palace styles.

Yu Jianshen turned his head slightly in annoyance and frowned at Xi Huaien, "Why didn’t you prepare some for my teacher?"

When he came in earlier, he noticed that the plate in front of Fei Yuan was empty.

Upon hearing this, Fei Yuan responded somewhat sheepishly, "Thank you for your concern, Crown Prince. The hospitality of the East Palace has been impeccable. I have a big appetite, so I already finished the food that was prepared."

Only then did Crown Prince Yu Jianshen realize that today was the fifteenth, the day of the First Hope Dachao.

On this day, all civil and military officials in Beijing have to get up at the Hour of Yin (3 a.m.) and participate in the Dachao conference that lasts several shichen.

During this time, many people can’t even take a sip of water, let alone eat.

Confucianism is different from Taoism, the majority of Confucians exclusively dedicate themselves to Shenpo and people usually don’t exert much effort on physical fitness, making it easier to enter the gate. Consequently, most of them cannot eat before entering the Fourth Gate.

Dr. Fei must have rushed here after the Dachao conference when he must’ve been feeling starving.

Thinking about this, Yu Jianshen’s eyes dimmed.

According to etiquette, as the Crown Prince, Yu Jianshen should have attended after reaching adulthood.

However, his uncle the Jingtai Emperor always used his weak and sickly condition as an excuse to prevent him from attending the conference and meeting with the ministers.

Prince Yu Jianshen felt secretly disheartened but showed no signs of it. He glanced at Xi Huaien, who immediately understood his silent communication and ordered a eunuch to serve another portion of snacks and tea.

However, Dr. Fei did not partake in the food anymore. From the moment he started lecturing, he had become solemn and meticulous.

"Book of Rites: the Great Biography" has approximately a thousand characters and it is one of the main Chapters in the Book of Rites.

Yu Jianshen had memorized it all and had heard Hanlin scholars explain it several times, but he still listened earnestly.

Confucianism emphasizes profound meaning in subtle words. Their classics hold more than what meets the eye and one won’t understand the essence by merely reading and contemplating over the text.

In the past, Master Yu had extracted "Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Great Learning" from "Book of Rites", and had elaborated on them, making them one of the "Four Books".

Later disciples of neo-Confucianism clarified a number of principles from the books "Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Great Learning".

Dr. Fei clearly was highly knowledgeable and with an excellent memory. Not only could he explain clearly the principles in each sentence of the classic texts, but he could also recite the annotations and explanations of all Great Scholars from Zheng Xuan to Master Yu and compare them.

He explained why King Wen performed a grand sacrifice before declaring war during the Battle of Muye, the purpose of sacrificing to Heaven, the rituals used at the time, and so on, tirelessly.

Until the Hour of Wu, they only discussed ’The sage, facing south, listens to the world, and places five things first. The people do not interfere.’ which is just one fifth of the whole text, not more than two hundred characters.

"Let’s stop here for today."

Not until this point did Fei Yuan pick up the hot tea replaced by the eunuch and took a slight sip, "Crown Prince can ask me if he has any doubts."

Crown Prince Yu Jianshen stood up and bowed deeply, "The explanations were very clear by the teacher, your disciple has no doubts."

"That’s very good." Fei Yuan was pleased as he stroked his beard. He trusted Yu Jianshen’s words.

Today, during his explanations, Yu Jianshen listened with attentiveness, without being distracted. Occasionally, he would ask questions that hit the mark.

His colleagues’ good opinion about the Crown Prince was indeed correct. He was intelligent, alert, gentle, and good-natured.

"—Then, I will come tomorrow at the Hour of Chen to explain the remaining content. There will be no meeting tomorrow, so I will arrive earlier."

As Fei Yuan was talking and starting to stand up, he felt a wave of dizziness, heat pouring from his orifices. His body wobbled and he almost lost his balance.

As he was wondering what was going on, he saw that both Yu Jianshen and Xi Huaien, the manager of the East Palace eunuchs, were looking at him in horror.

"Mr. Fei!" Xi Huaien cried out in alarm and instinctively reached out to try and catch him.

But Fei Yuan had already blacked out, collapsing onto the table in front of him.

Meanwhile, Yu Jianshen looked at Fei Yuan who had collapsed, blood seeping from his orifices, then at the tea and snacks in front of him. He was panicked and uncertain.

Reacting quickly, a pale-faced Yu Jianshen immediately ordered, "Huaien! Send someone to the Imperial Physician’s office, have the on-duty physician come over. Call over two teams of East Palace guards to seal off the scene. Do not touch anything here. Summon all the officials on duty from the Zhanshi Government and Zuochun House as quickly as possible."

After a brief thought, Yu Jianshen added, "Also, bring in Wei Bailong, the brocade clothed Qianhu from outside!"