Green Mountain
Chapter 215 - 170、Ritual Supervision

Chapter 215: 170、Ritual Supervision

In the quiet garden path, Mr. Feng stood on the gravel road, looking at Chen Ji with keen interest, "How did you guess?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Previously, when Mr. Feng came to Cuiyun Lane, you first asked who was leading the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry, indicating that this personal guard was not under your control, and you were very concerned about who their new leader was."

Mr. Feng laughed, "Then why would I want to kill General Qian?"

Chen Ji looked straight at Mr. Feng, "Because a person as smart as you doesn’t like things being out of your control."

He didn’t wait for Mr. Feng to speak, and continued to analyze seriously, "The leader of the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry was originally General Zhou, but now it has been changed to General Qian... I guess that this was also your doing. General Zhou was driven away by your scheme. You thought that by getting rid of General Zhou, you could control this personal guard, but unexpectedly, Official Liu did not choose you, but handed it over to General Qian."

Mr. Feng gradually restrained his smile and said casually, "Then do you know that being too smart isn’t always good?"

Chen Ji earnestly replied, "As long as it’s useful to Mr. Feng, it should be enough."

Mr. Feng patted him on the shoulder, "Young man, remember the promise I gave you back in Dragon King Village, it is always valid. Doctor Yao and the others are staying here in the Prince Mansion. If you can help me kill General Qian within a day, they can live; if you fail, prepare to collect their bodies."

Making a grand gamble with several lives, Chen Ji was reluctant but had no choice. This Mr. Feng was ruthless, stirring up civil unrest and killing his own for power, there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

If he didn’t agree, Zhang Zhuo and his master would truly die.

Chen Ji took a deep breath and affirmed, "Alright, I will go kill General Qian."

Mr. Feng smiled widely, "This General Qian is a high-ranking official in the Innate Realm, and always has a hundred guards by his side. Killing him won’t be easy."

Chen Ji frowned and asked, "What is his official rank?"

Mr. Feng shook his head, "I don’t know either. This is my lord’s fiercely guarded death soldier, treasured for many years."

Chen Ji suggested, "The matter of seizing power must also be important to Mr. Feng. How about letting Jiang Yan wear a suit of armor and act with me? That might increase our chances."

Mr. Feng laughed heartily, "Jiang Yan has his own matters to attend to; he won’t have time to assist you. If you want Doctor Yao and your brothers to live, find your own way."

Having said that, he turned and walked towards Jing’an Palace with his hands behind his back, "Follow me. I’ve been delayed here for too long and missed Prince Jing’s chess game."

...

...

The Jing’an Palace was brightly lit, with armored soldiers standing in line at the front.

Mr. Feng arrived at the palace, stepped over the high threshold and entered, while Chen Ji and Zhang Zhuo could only wait silently outside.

Inside the great hall, Official Liu and Prince Jing were sitting across from each other in front of the Hidden Dragon Wall.

The chess game was nearing its end. Official Liu, dressed in a plain grey cloth robe, sat at the chess table and slowly said, "Prince, you lost your mother at a young age. If it weren’t for my sister taking you in and raising you with patience in the Kunning Palace, you might have been killed long ago. During those years, she raised you by her side alongside His Majesty, treating you as her own. Did she ever mistreat you?"

Prince Jing, focused on the chess game and without looking up, replied, "Never. In winter, she would specially instruct the palace maids to prepare charcoal fires for me, and in summer, she would send ice from the cellar to relieve the heat. Everything His Majesty had, I had; what His Majesty didn’t have, I also had, including my teacher of the Classics, personally chosen by her."

Official Liu rolled up his sleeves and placed another chess piece, "After His Majesty ascended the throne, both of you drifted away from her. Now, she is in Cining Palace, sorrowful and withered. Raising two sons with great difficulty, yet both treat her as a stranger; no mother in the world can endure such a blow."

While Prince Jing pondered over the chess game, he calmly said, "My father-in-law is a reasonable man. After His Majesty’s ascension, the Empress Dowager should have let go earlier, instead of indulging the Liu family’s authority. No one’s fortunes are good all the time, nor do flowers bloom for a hundred days. The recent calamity of the Liu family was also a consequence sown early on."

Official Liu chuckled, "Prince, you were made a prince at twenty-one, and your first mission was to collect grain taxes for His Majesty in the south. I remember when you first arrived in Jiangnan, those wealthy families killed their own daughters-in-law, brought them to the government office, gathered a thousand people, and accused you of tax collection that led to deaths. In the end, it was still the Liu family that intervened and helped you collect the grain."

Prince Jing sighed, "I was inexperienced at that time, and it was fortunate that I had the help of my father-in-law."

Continuing, Official Liu said, "In the winter of the 11th year of Jianing, there was banditry in Nanguang. During your military campaign to quell it, you fell ill with lung disease and lay unconscious, surrounded by rebel forces in Liuzhou. It was also my Liu family who went to Laojun Mountain Dao Court to seek Immortal Medicine and sent troops to relieve you. Right now, Liu Mingjing is on his way to Laojun Mountain Dao Court, determined to obtain the Life Feather Pill for you at any cost."

Genre: Historical Fiction

Language Style: Formal Descriptive

Tone: Tense and Intriguing

Plot Keywords: loyalty, conspiracy, power struggle, assassination

Prince Jing’s motion of placing chess pieces halted for a moment, then he said with a sigh, "The Liu family has helped me greatly."

Looking straight at Prince Jing, Official Liu continued, "Over the years, Prince has been running around for His Majesty, but how has His Majesty treated you? The old subordinates of the Thousand-year Army were either demoted or killed. Take General Zhang four years ago; he left his post without permission due to his mother’s death, which is a serious crime, but not deserving of death. Yet, the Eunuch Party executed him first and reported later, cutting him down on his way to his mother’s funeral."

Continuing, he said, "And then there’s General Li under Prince’s command, who calmed the chaos but received no reward, and was later thrown into the inner prison for allegedly discussing politics while drunk, and tortured to death. What about my Liu family? Aren’t we the same? Although we might have failed His Majesty, we also helped him seize the throne. Why hound us to extinction?"

Prince Jing sighed and said, "Father-in-law worries too much; how could His Majesty exterminate us?"

Slowly, Official Liu said, "You know very well who is in Renshou Palace. As long as Prince and the Liu family live, he cannot sleep!"

With that, he messed up the chessboard in front of him, "Prince, if it were not for you, why would the Liu family endure so much for all these years? The opportunity wasn’t ripe before, so we had to let it go. Now, the Liu family has strong troops, ample grain, and the Divine Martial Army of the Jing Dynasty supporting us from the north... Don’t hesitate anymore; it’s time to make a move!"

Outside, Chen Ji suddenly started; had Prince Jing and the Liu family already discussed the rebellion?

Before, he had been puzzled: where on earth had the Liu Family gained the confidence to dare to plan a rebellion? Consort Yun was only a concubine; from where did she draw the courage to establish contact with the Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Department?

This piece of the puzzle had always seemed incomplete, with many things that couldn’t be explained. However, if Prince Jing was placed at the center of this puzzle, many things made sense.

Yet, at the next moment, Prince Jing said softly, "Father-in-law, once the action begins, countless people across several provinces will suffer immensely. I cannot agree to this."

This had truly confused Chen Ji; to him, Prince Jing did not appear to be someone intending to rebel.

Where had the error originated?

Inside Jing’an Palace, Official Liu slowly stood up: "Your Highness, the arrow is already placed on the bow and we must shoot; there is no room for hesitation. You must take the throne willingly or not, and if you must blame someone, blame only me, do not blame the Liu Family."

Just then, a burly general strode in. His footsteps clanged on the stone tiles.

He came to the center of the hall, bowed to Official Liu with his fists clasped: "Master, someone in the East Market has spotted Jin Zhu. This individual now lives reclused, hiding within a cleaner’s modest garden."

Official Liu waved his hand: "General Qian, take a unit of Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry and ensure his capture."

After speaking, he said to Mr. Feng: "Wenzheng, invite the prince, the Princely Heir, and the Commandery Princess to the Liu Mansion. Tomorrow, we’ll start the ancestral rites, beat the drums, gather the crowd, sacrifice the heads of the Eunuch Party on the banner, and then the army will march!"

Official Liu walked outside, a dense crowd of armored soldiers followed behind him like a raging black tide that surged outward. The intense aura of solemnity killing was like scorching magma that could melt even wrought iron.

Mr. Feng looked at Prince Jing with a smile: "Your Highness, shall we? Please do not make this difficult for me."

Prince Jing elegantly rose, smoothed the wrinkles on his robe, and walked out of Jing’an Palace leading Bai Li. When Mr. Feng stepped out, he glanced at Chen Ji with a meaningful look in his eyes.

...

...

Anxious hoofbeats shattered the quiet of Anxi Street.

Chen Ji and Zhang Zhuo, clad in armor, spurred their horses to catch up with the rear of the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry. Everyone’s armor masked their face, and they surged like a flood toward Luocheng Eastern Market.

Zhang Zhuo tightened his reins and moved closer to Chen Ji, lowering his voice to say, "Something is fishy. These men... none of them seem quite right."

Chen Ji glanced at the cavalry ahead, slightly shifting his eyes, and whispered back, "Lord Zhang feels so too?"

Zhuo Zhu leaned in lower: "I think Prince Jing is the problem. The Liu Family has surrounded Luocheng yet hesitates to send troops north, obviously waiting for his decision. Over these years, as Prince Jing has run Henan Province, how could he possibly be unaware of the Liu Family’s private ironworks and private army?"

Chen Ji asked: "Does Lord Zhang suggest that Prince Jing is also involved?"

Zhang Zhuo hesitated for a moment: "That’s exactly where the problem lies. As the saying goes, ’speed is precious in war’. If he truly had rebellious intentions, he should have declared and marched north already. Why delay? There’s no benefit to him at all!"

Zhang Zhuo continued: "And that Mr. Feng, what’s he still playing at, struggling internally at a time like this? Taking control over the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry, how much could it really benefit him? I just don’t understand, can’t understand at all!"

Chen Ji suddenly said: "Lord Zhang, if there’s an emergency later, immediately ride to Tuoluo Temple for reinforcements. Save my master first."

Zhang Zhuo was shocked: "An emergency? What kind of emergency?"

Chen Ji responded: "The timing of Jin Zhu’s appearance is too coincidental. This is clearly a trap set against General Qian... they want to remove obstacles for Mr. Feng."

No sooner had he spoken when suddenly a sharp whistling sound came from ahead.

Chen Ji looked abruptly, only to see long spears whizzing from the open windows of the covered buildings on both sides of the street, impaling the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry one by one!

For a moment, war horses neighed and the orderly ranks of the iron cavalry descended into chaos.

Chen Ji shouted: "Move quickly."

Zhang Zhuo immediately spurred his horse, turning into a side alley.

Chen Ji remained on horseback, looking distantly at those dark gaping windows, and he suddenly remembered many things: When he encountered Mr. Feng at Dragon King Village, Mr. Feng had said, "It’s unfortunate that the skilled experts by Prince Jing’s side have been removed by the Ritual Supervision Department over the years."

The phrase used was "Ritual Supervision," not "Eunuch Party."

At that moment, Chen Ji had also noticed something odd about the phrasing but hadn’t pondered deeply on where exactly it was off. Now, with all the clues coming together, he finally understood.

No wonder after the clash with the Heavenly Horse, both sides had retreated unscathed.

It turned out Mr. Feng had always been a man of the Ritual Supervision Department.