Green Mountain
Chapter 347 - 287, Brought it upon oneself

Chapter 347: 287, Brought it upon oneself

In the darkness of night.

Chen Liqin pursued Chen Wenxiao with a blade, yet no matter how fiercely he pressed forward, the blade in his hand never fell upon Chen Wenxiao.

As Mrs. Liang wept, six border army infantry swarmed in, pressing Chen Wenxiao onto the yellow earth, tying his hands and feet with hemp rope.

Chen Liqin froze in place: "What are you doing?!"

One of the border army infantry stepped on Chen Wenxiao and said, "Isn’t Mr. Chen going to kill him? We’re helping you hold him down—please, go ahead and kill him."

Chen Liqin flushed with anger: "This is a Chen family affair—since when is it your place to interfere?!"

The border army infantry sneered: "I risk my head and shed blood on the battlefield, and this kid colludes with the enemy and betrays the nation from behind. If the general hadn’t ordered us to escort him to the Imperial Capital, he wouldn’t have made it out of Guyuan City alive!"

Chen Wenxiao’s face was pressed into the ground, and he screamed with all his might: "Let me go! Father, save me! Mother, save me!"

Mrs. Liang threw herself forward like a madwoman, pushing away the border army: "We are the relatives of the Junior Scholar from the Master’s Mansion. When did we collude with the enemy and betray the nation? Do you have any evidence? Don’t slander us with baseless accusations!"

The border army infantry turned to glance at Hu Junxian. The border army hadn’t been present when Chen Wenxiao allegedly colluded with the enemy, and they had no evidence—only Xiao Man’s testimony.

At some point, Xiao Man had slipped away quietly, leaving only Hu Junxian and Zhou You seated on their horses.

Zhou You turned to look toward Xiao Man. Xiao Man raised his head, gazing at the stars in the sky, acting entirely uninvolved.

The next moment, someone spoke softly: "I can testify that Chen Wenxiao colluded with the enemy and betrayed the nation."

Mrs. Liang and Chen Liqin turned sharply, only to see Chen Wenzong standing by the fire basin, his eyes red but his expression calm.

Mrs. Liang cried out in anguish: "Wenzong, what are you doing? You mean to destroy your brother? Don’t utter nonsense!"

But Chen Wenzong merely spoke softly: "When Chen Wenxiao was captured alive by traitors of the Jing Dynasty, the enemy questioned him about the Dragon Gate Inn, and in order to..."

"Enough!"

Stumbling forward, Mrs. Liang stopped in front of Chen Wenzong and whispered bitterly: "Wenzong, you’ve sworn to excel in the Imperial Examination, with your name announced outside Eastern Hua Gate. But for the final palace examination, only Your Majesty’s royal pen decides the champion. If Wenxiao is convicted, how could Your Majesty ever choose the brother of a criminal as the top scholar? Your dreams of success in the examination will be ruined, and your life wasted. Spare him, and it will save yourself as well!"

Tears streamed down Mrs. Liang’s face: "Wenxiao, you two brothers are all I have to rely on. If both of you come to ruin, how am I supposed to live? Who can I depend on then?"

If this matter were settled quietly in Guyuan, it might not be transmitted to the Imperial Capital.

But treason is a different story. If he were sent to the Ministry of Justice in the Imperial Capital, Chen Wenxiao would face only one outcome—immediate execution.

The crime requiring immediate execution would be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice, then cross-examined by the Inspection Bureau, approved by the Dali Temple, and finally presented to Renshou Palace for Your Majesty’s personal confirmation.

Your Majesty would undoubtedly learn of it, and no one could intervene!

Chen Wenzong stood in silence for a long time: "Mother, asking me to cover for him is tantamount to asking me to admit that everything I’ve studied, all the principles I’ve written, are false... What use would there be in becoming the top scholar?"

Mrs. Liang pleaded sorrowfully: "Have you not learned the principle of intimate concealment? Confucius said, ’A father conceals for his son, and a son conceals for his father—this is righteousness.’ Intimate concealment is also the virtue of a gentleman. Even in the law of the Ning Dynasty, it is written: ’Maternal grandfathers, grandsons, daughters-in-law, husbands’ brothers, and brothers’ wives may all conceal crimes’—this is the highest principle of human ethics and reasoning!"

Chen Wenzong stood there, stunned, looking first at his mother, then at Chen Ji, unable to speak for a moment.

Mrs. Liang hadn’t lied to him—the laws of the Ning Dynasty indeed said so, and the Supreme Sage had indeed taught such principles.

As Chen Wenzong wrestled with his internal conflict, Qi Zhenzhuo suddenly rushed over, shouting: "When traitors of the Jing Dynasty asked about the Dragon Gate Inn, Chen Wenxiao, to save his own life, betrayed my master Chen Ji. My master defended the Crown Prince at the inn, single-handedly slaughtering a hundred Jing Dynasty soldiers and almost dying at the enemy’s hands. Chen Wenxiao’s actions are tantamount to treason!"

At these words, the surroundings fell silent.

Mrs. Liang suddenly collapsed to the ground, her eyes empty as if her soul had left her body.

Chen Ji glanced at Qi Zhenzhuo, unsure if he should formally recognize this disciple.

In the deafening silence, Hu Junxian spoke again: "Chen Wenxiao, in his servility and betrayal to the Jing Dynasty, is guilty and deserves to die. Our border army does not have the authority to judge him, so we will escort him to the Ministry of Justice for trial, to right this wrong. Pull him up and take him away for detention."

Upon hearing this, Chen Liqin’s heart sank into despair.

But just then, Mrs. Liang suddenly rose from the ground, pulling the hairpin from atop her head and rushing toward Chen Wenxiao, driving it straight into his chest.

Mrs. Liang sobbed softly: "Don’t blame me, your brother cannot come to harm..."

Chen Wenxiao looked down at the hairpin in his chest, then raised his head in disbelief to look at Mrs. Liang, tears and mucus streaming down his face: "Mother, my chest hurts so much..."

Before finishing his words, he let his head drop, never to breathe again.

Mrs. Liang looked around at everyone hysterically: "Is it enough now?"

This unexpected turn of events stunned everyone—no one had expected Mrs. Liang to be so resolute as to kill her own son with her own hands. Even Chen Ji and Xiao Man hadn’t thought Chen Wenxiao would die not on the battlefield but at the hands of his own mother.

Chen Ji found it all absurd. The Ning and Jing dynasties seemed fraught with illness, utterly incomprehensible.

Mrs. Liang swept her bloodshot eyes across those present: "This matter is over. If I discover anyone spreading it further, the Chen family in the Imperial Capital and the Liang family will not spare them!"

With that, she glared malevolently at Chen Ji and Xiao Man, her hair disheveled, her appearance like a ghost.

Chen Wenzong stepped forward to help her, but Mrs. Liang silently pushed him away. She lay over Chen Wenxiao’s body, quietly crying for a long time, unable to rise.

Xiao Man looked helplessly at Chen Ji: "Master, I never expected..."

Chen Ji spoke softly: "Don’t be afraid—it’s his own fault."

Still, he thought, he and Mrs. Liang had undoubtedly forged enmity unto death.

...

...

Hu Junxian regarded Mrs. Liang for a long time before waving to the border army infantry: "Now that the criminal has met his end, our border army will no longer interfere."

The border army infantry quickly retreated, fearful of becoming the target of Mrs. Liang’s grudges.

Chen Ji recalled matters for a moment and suddenly asked: "You were well hidden in the cellar—why were you discovered by the Heavenly Strategy Army?"

Zhang Zheng replied gloomily: "We were hidden in the well, safe and sound, but then someone being chased by the Heavenly Strategy Army panicked and jumped into the well, breaking apart the stones stacked against the well wall!"

Chen Ji frowned: "What happened to them?"

Zhang Xia replied: "They were killed by the Heavenly Strategy Army..."

Before he could finish, a shadow fell overhead. Chen Ji looked up—it was Mr. Feng seated on horseback, smiling as he gazed at him: "Are you wondering whether that person was sent by me?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Yes."

Mr. Feng smiled: "Stop guessing—it was me."

With that, he dismounted, handed the reins to Xiao Man, and said to Chen Ji: "Walk with me. I’m in a good mood today; I might just answer a few of your questions."

Zhang Xia tugged at Chen Ji’s sleeve, shaking his head slightly.

Chen Ji smiled: "It doesn’t matter."

Mr. Feng and Chen Ji walked toward the ruins, journeying for quite some time without Chen Ji uttering a single question.

Mr. Feng stood in Xuwei Lane, gazing at the countless corpses of border army infantry, and suddenly asked: "Chen Ji, don’t you think the border army are the most foolish people in this world?"

Chen Ji replied quietly: "What do you mean, Sir?"

Mr. Feng chuckled: "The Ministry of War in our dynasty has a rule: border armies receive their pay one day after setting up camp. During the spring of the 14th year of Jianing, the Datong border army marched north to confront the enemy. A particularly sly civil servant employed trickery—each time the army camped, he ordered the Datong border army to move camp the next day. This way, military pay was never distributed."

Chen Ji was taken aback: "Is such a thing even possible?"

The matter sounded so absurd it was difficult to believe it wasn’t fabricated.

Mr. Feng spoke calmly: "The border army’s stupidity lies in this: even after being exploited in such a manner, they still fought valiantly against the enemy when battle came. In the end, the Datong border army defended Drum Hill against the Jing Dynasty’s Hu Ben Army for over a month, and the entire force perished. When the Night Patrol gathered their bodies, they found their stomachs filled only with grass roots, tree bark, and leather."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Mr. Feng pointed to the night sky outside Guyuan City: "Chen Ji, the world shouldn’t be this way."