The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1174 - 1153: Progress

Chapter 1174: Chapter 1153: Progress

Tao Yi knew that this world was complex; princes never receive the same punishment as commoners for their crimes, so regarding the previous incident of armed assault on the jail cells, he only submitted a memorial to impeach, never holding out hope that the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Justice and Punishments would actually arrest those people.

But just as the Emperor had said, this world was not truly owned by his old Li Family, even though he was the Emperor, he could not decree anything as he wished.

Therefore, even after the Empress Dowager threw a thunderous fit and then fell ill, he still dealt with several of his cousins one after another: punishing those who should be punished, and imprisoning those who should be imprisoned.

Meanwhile, as people in the capital were fighting their political battles, news from Yizhou City quickly arrived; the encirclement of Dongxi Village in Suizhou had occurred, and Tang Zhihe had uncovered more than 15,000 private troops from within, and they had been subdued without much conflict.

The memorial arrived in the capital, and it seemed everything had finally settled down.

The Empress Dowager softened instantly; the discovery of the private troops substantiated the crime of the Prince of Yizhou harboring private armies, and all that remained for her was to plead for mercy.

However, the Emperor summoned Wei Zhi and Tang Hui overnight.

He placed the memorial from Yizhou on the table and said with a deep voice, "The memorial states that the commanders of the troops were Huayang County Magistrate Tang Zhihe and Luojiang County Magistrate Yang Heshu, claiming they combined forces from Yizhou and Mianzhou garrisons for the encirclement. Do you believe it?"

Wei Zhi unemotionally said, "The garrison of a single state does not exceed a thousand men; Mianzhou has fewer, according to the records in the Ministry of War, only slightly more than six hundred. Can 1,600 people encircle 15,000? Moreover, those were the Prince of Yizhou’s elite troops."

"I don’t believe it either," the Emperor said gravely. "Furthermore, we have yet to receive any word from Yin Li."

The Emperor and Wei Zhi both looked towards Lord Tang.

Lord Tang bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have not received any family letters from Yizhou. Given the circumstances, I can only think of one possibility: the private troops of the Prince of Yizhou are not just in Dongxi Village."

He continued, "Looking at the account books from twelve years ago, submitted by Bai Shan and his colleagues, they were already capable of maintaining over 30,000 private soldiers back then. After twelve years, it should only have increased, not decreased."

The Emperor’s heart stirred.

The three old foxes exchanged glances, and after a moment of contemplation, the Emperor spoke, "Since the private troops have been confiscated, let’s prepare to convict the Prince of Yizhou. Bai Shan and Zhou Man should also be released; Libationer Kong has been barraging me every day; I’ve even avoided him by moving to the small study in the back."

Wei Zhi inquired, "What about the Xiang brothers?"

"Xiang Chao, who submitted the imperial petition, can be released. Xiang Ming is implicated in the assassination attempt of an imperial prince, and without concrete evidence regarding the matter in Dongxi Village, he should be temporarily detained."

Lord Tang said, "Your Majesty, Xiang Ming’s Achilles tendon has been severed; releasing him will give us more advantage than holding him."

The Emperor replied, "There is no rush with this matter, let’s take it slowly; wait another couple of days and see if the Prince of Yizhou has any confessions to make."

Lord Tang quickly agreed after a moment of thought.

Wei Zhi and Lord Tang took their leave, and since it was already late into the night and dark outside, Lord Tang felt a heavy weight in his heart.

Wei Zhi knew he was worried about his son and patted his shoulder, saying, "With Yin Li there, Zhihe should be alright."

Lord Tang sighed, "We took things for granted, how could a crafty rabbit have only one burrow? We’ve only been focusing on Dongxi Village; alas, what an oversight, an oversight indeed."

After a moment of silence, Wei Zhi suddenly brought up, "Do the heads of the major clans still refuse to leave the capital?"

"Yes, the Empress Dowager constantly summons them these days, and our investigations are becoming increasingly obstructed."

The Empress Dowager herself came from an established noble family, and the noble families were deeply entangled with each other. Over the past few years, the Emperor had promoted numerous scholars from humble backgrounds, like Wei Zhi, who was from a humble household himself.

Though this crafty old guy wasn’t entirely straight-laced either; although he was from a lowly background, he married his daughter-in-law from a noble family.

The Emperor is planning to revise the Clan Record, re-enlisting each of the great families, which has caused dissatisfaction among several of them.

Lord Tang gets a headache just thinking about these matters.

Wei Zhi knew: "Yang Heshu is also involved in this matter. Although Lord Yang does not seem in a hurry on the surface, he has always favored his children and probably will not stand by without intervening. Although he is not a Zongzi, he is the smartest and most outstanding among his generation in the Yang Family, and Sect Master Yang has always favored him."

Lord Tang fell silent.

Seeing him not speaking, Wei Zhi stopped in his tracks and made it explicit, "Lord Tang, Yizhou and Mianzhou are not far apart, and County Magistrate Tang and County Magistrate Yang being old schoolmates should act as mutual horns in this situation."

In plain terms, he was suggesting that Lord Tang should make contact with the Yang Family on his behalf.

Lord Tang couldn’t help but roll his eyes, "Why don’t you go to the Cui Family?"

Wei Zhi’s eldest daughter-in-law was a lady from the Cui Family and her cousin was Yang Heshu’s daughter-in-law; the two families were quite capable of engaging in a civil discourse, were they not?

Wei Zhi said bluntly: "I don’t get along too well with Lord Yang. If you go and it’s ineffective, then I will go."

Lord Tang snorted and walked past him with his hands behind his back.

Wei Zhi didn’t mind at all and followed leisurely behind him, asking after they had left the Imperial Palace, "As for Feng, are you going to talk to him or should I?"

Lord Tang said, "You go. I was his superior before, and he always feels somewhat uneasy in my presence. Some things will be easier for you to say."

After all, he was already going to see Lord Yang; he couldn’t push everything onto himself, could he?

Wei Zhi didn’t mind and nodded, taking on the task.

Manbao’s supply of medicinal herbs was continuous, and the four in prison also ate well; aside from being brought in for questioning every few days, they really had nothing else to do, so life was quite comfortable.

In his spare time, Bai Shan read books or chatted about everything under the sun with fellow prisoners next door; when he was in a particularly good mood, he generously shared a meal with them.

Xiang Ming also borrowed their books to read.

Manbao, however, occupied the only table in the prison cell with a pen for most of the time, writing and drawing, completely immersed in the exchange of medical knowledge with Teacher Mo.

The remaining time was spent treating the two prisoners in the cell.

Since there were only two patients, Manbao and Teacher Mo had almost thoroughly analyzed their cases. If it weren’t for the limitations of the prison conditions, Manbao would have already wanted to reconnect Xiang Ming’s Achilles tendon.

Thus, with Teacher Mo as the strategist, and Manbao dedicated to treating them, the two patients’ conditions began to show significant improvement.

Xiang Chao could walk around the cell now; the wounds on his back had scabbed over, and except for always itching to scratch, the only issue remaining was the bone fracture from his flogging that had not completely healed yet, but his internal injuries were mostly better.

Xiang Ming’s complexion was no longer so pale; though his lips were still quite white, indicating a lack of blood, he was able to talk more each day, and the amount of time he was lucid was increasing. This was unlike the first few days of his arrival, when he spent most of the time in a daze.

Then, the wounds on his body also began to heal. Although scabbing was slow, Manbao explained that this was because of the multitude of injuries on his body, which limited the natural healing pace of his body, hence it was slower than Xiang Chao’s.

But he could also sit up now; although his range of motion couldn’t be too large, he could fend for himself when it came to eating and drinking.

It was just that getting to the privy screened off by a curtain at the back was a bit troublesome. However, it became less of an issue after Xiang Chao could move freely, as strength was all he had.

Otherwise, he would have been driven to insanity, because he couldn’t read, nor had any interest in learning to read books; he was the most bored among the four prisoners, so much so that he had to pick a fight with a fellow prisoner next door every day to pass the time.