Catching Monsters

Chapter 303 Neither Good Nor Bad News

Hearing Miao Yuanxing's words, Xiao Yuzheng narrowed his eyes slightly and fell into thought.

"Your Majesty, Minister Miao's words are reasonable, and I second that opinion." Upon seeing this, Minister of Revenue Zheng Chengze also slowly stepped forward and knelt on the ground.

In the imperial court, all the civil officials' eyes were fixed on Yan Hua, the Minister of Personnel.

Yan Hua is about sixty years old. He comes from one of the five great academies and is highly accomplished in Confucianism, having reached the rank of a third-grade Confucian scholar.

Among the five great academies, there are few who have reached the level of a great Confucian scholar and are still willing to serve as officials in the court.

For this reason, he was highly valued and entrusted with an important task by Xiao Yu, serving as the Minister of Personnel.

The Minister of Personnel, being the head of the six ministries, wielded considerable influence among civil officials in the imperial court.

Yan Hua, dressed in his official robes, slowly stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Your subject reiterates this."

Seeing Yan Hua's stance, the vast majority of civil officials in the court found their leader and, like wheat, knelt down in unison, shouting: "Your Majesty, we agree."

Seeing this, the military officers in the imperial court were not to be outdone.

Of course, the military officers' actions were not purely for Jiang Yun's sake, but rather to give face to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Last night, Tao Yuelan visited several nobles late at night and tearfully recounted this matter.

Moreover, most military officers and nobles also felt a sense of shared sorrow over the fate of their comrades.

The Duke of Zhenguo is already a high-ranking official. If the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is attacked and killed by a monster, and the monster is not severely punished, then what about them?

First, the Duke of Anguo stepped forward, knelt on the ground, his face solemn, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Jiang Yun has rendered meritorious service in killing demons. I hope Your Majesty will reward Jiang Yun handsomely and set an example for the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the soldiers in the army."

Seeing this, Li Wangxin also stepped forward: "Your subject reiterates the proposal of the Duke of Anguo."

Marquis Anjing quickly stepped forward: "Your subject reiterates the proposal put forward by Duke Anguo."

have to.

At this moment, a large number of military officers also knelt down.

The atmosphere in the imperial court was tense and neither side was willing to give in.

The civil and military officials seemed to be secretly competing with each other.

Xiao Yuzheng frowned deeply. Normally, he would be very happy to see such a polarized situation in the court.

Because of this, the final discretion will return to his hands.

But this matter put Xiao Yuzheng in a difficult position.

From Xiao Yuzheng's perspective, the best arrangement at this time would, of course, be to sacrifice Jiang Yun.

There is no doubt about this.

Otherwise, if the demon kingdom were to invade, coupled with the banditry in the southwest...

However, they had to consider the attitudes of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and many military generals.

If it were an ordinary nobleman, it wouldn't matter.

Duke Zhenguo Xu Xiaogang had just won a battle on the front lines when his family mansion was slaughtered by demons.

Jiang Yun is Xu Xiaogang's future brother-in-law.

If Xu Xiaogang were to actually kill Jiang Yun, what would he think?
What would the other military commanders think?
Xiao Yuzheng's original plan was that he should not be the villain; the best course of action would be for the court officials to discuss and sacrifice Jiang Yun.

After reluctantly agreeing, he would then have to say, "You've really put me in a difficult position."

In this way, things naturally fell into place for Xu Xiaogang. The matter was decided by the civil and military officials, and there was nothing he could do about it.

However, the current situation in the imperial court is one of severe polarization.

Xiao Yuzheng took a deep breath, gritted his teeth slightly, and wanted to steel himself and announce that he would just kill Jiang Yun.

Just then, a eunuch rushed into the main hall and whispered a few words in Feng Yu's ear.

Feng Yu's expression changed slightly, then he relayed, "Your Majesty, Tao Yuelan has arrived. You see..."

"Summon her." Xiao Yuzheng's heart stirred slightly, knowing that Tao Yuelan had come for this matter.

Feng Yu nodded and said loudly, "Summon, First-Rank Imperial Concubine Tao Yuelan, enter the hall!"

Ordinary people naturally cannot enter the imperial court for meetings.

However, the wives and mothers of important ministers in the Zhou state would receive certain titles.

Tao Yuelan was granted the title of First-Rank Lady of the Right in her early years. Now that Xu Dingwu has died and his son Xu Xiaogang has inherited the title of Duke of Zhenguo, she has been promoted from Lady of the Right to Grand Lady.

Tao Yuelan, dressed in the official robes of Lady Haoming and wearing a crown, walked calmly into the court.

Xiao Yuzheng took a deep breath, forced a smile, and asked, "Madam Tao, is there something important that you have come to court today?"

Tao Yuelan shook her head slightly, sighed slowly, and said, "Your Majesty, I am a woman and do not understand important matters of the court, nor would I dare to speak recklessly."

"I just had a dream last night."

“I dreamt of Dingwu. Dingwu said, ‘Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness in building a shrine for loyalty and righteousness for me, so that I may receive incense offerings.’”

"He simply did what he was supposed to do, dying on the battlefield for His Majesty."

"He told me I absolutely had to thank him on his behalf."

After saying that, Tao Yuelan knelt down and kowtowed.

Tao Yuelan neither mentioned the massacre at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion nor asked His Majesty to release Jiang Yun.

Instead, only Xu Dingwu was mentioned...

This made the situation even more awkward.

Xiao Yuzheng opened his mouth repeatedly, but took a deep breath and said, "I understand. Would Madam Tao like to take a walk in the Imperial Garden?"

"No, I'm just here to express my gratitude to His Majesty. I won't disturb you gentlemen's discussion of important state affairs any longer," Tao Yuelan said before leaving.

After Tao Yuelan left, the court fell silent. The civil officials no longer dared to demand that His Majesty kill Jiang Yun.

Tao Yuelan's stance was quite clear: the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had just lost one person in battle for the Zhou Dynasty.

Are you going to kill their future son-in-law right now?

Does this make sense?
"This matter will be discussed on another day! Court is adjourned!"

Xiao Yuzheng took a deep breath, waved his hand, and turned to leave the court.

Feng Yu quickly followed, standing respectfully beside Xiao Yuzheng.

Back in the imperial study, Xiao Yuzheng closed his eyes, no longer interested in reading the memorials, and said in a deep voice, "You dog slave, you don't agree with killing Jiang Yun either, do you?"

Feng Yu smiled awkwardly and replied, "What this servant thinks is not important; what matters is what Your Majesty thinks."

Xiao Yuzheng opened his eyes and slowly said, "I'm going to see Mr. Ye Xiuyuan."

"Make arrangements to leave the palace immediately."

"Yes."

……

The Eastern Garrison Command, the Imperial Prison.

"Master, this is a breakfast that Cui Xiang Lou just launched. It tastes good. You haven't been around here for a long time, so you probably haven't tried it. These meat buns are big and round."

Inside the cell, Jiang Yun was sitting with freshly bought steaming hot buns beside him.

Qin Shujian, dressed in a flying fish robe, massaged Jiang Yun's shoulders.

"Alright, this is my current prisoner. Is this how you treat prisoners?" Jiang Yun rolled her eyes at him, then said to Yang Liunian opposite her, "It's your turn."

Between the two, there was a Go set, and next to it was a pot of fine tea.

Yang Liunian chuckled and made a move in the game of chess, saying, "Ever since you reported to our Eastern Garrison Command, our Imperial Prison has become less and less murderous, more like an inn."

The room where the two were located was the darkest room at the very back.

Jiang Yun smiled, took a bite of the steamed bun Qin Shujian had bought, picked up a chess piece, and pondered how to play it.

"Go down here," Qin Shujian whispered to Jiang Yun.

Qin Shujian was also getting impatient. He massaged his shoulders from behind. Watching his master play chess was pure torture.

It smelled terrible.

Qin Shujian was, after all, a rich young master, and he had studied chess with a teacher since childhood.

Previously at the Sanqing Temple, he often saw his master and mistress playing chess in the backyard when they had nothing to do.

It often takes one or two hours.

He originally thought that his master and mistress were very knowledgeable about Go.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the two were complete noobs pecking at each other.

"Go away, go away. A true gentleman doesn't talk while playing chess." Jiang Yun waved his hand.

Sitting opposite him, Yang Liunian chuckled and said, "It seems you're not worried about this at all? You know, right now, the court officials are probably having a heated discussion about this matter."

"What's the point of thinking so much?" Jiang Yun said slowly, his gaze fixed on the chessboard. "If His Majesty wants to kill me, I can't escape, right?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Liunian subconsciously glanced in one direction within the prison and slowly said, "Do you know why I arranged for you to be in this cell?"

Jiang Yun shook her head.

Yang Liunian slowly said, "This prison previously held a prisoner for about two months. This person actually dug a secret passage here, which leads directly to the outside of the Eastern Garrison."

"What a pity, he had just finished digging and was excitedly preparing to escape the very next day."

"But the order to execute him immediately came down the very day before he fled."

"This matter was thus exposed."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun's pupils contracted slightly.

Yang Liunian said with a smile, "This secret passage will remain, and no one else will be assigned to live in this cell."

"Zhou Yi and I are both well aware of this matter."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun asked curiously, "Since you know there's a secret passage that allows prisoners to escape, why didn't you fill it in, Lord Yang?"

Yang Liunian's gaze remained fixed on the chessboard as he spoke, "This matter has not been reported."

"Tell me, given our status and position, where would we be imprisoned if we committed a crime?"

"Imperial Prison." Jiang Yun narrowed his eyes, instantly understanding.

Yang Liunian and Zhou Yi tacitly left the secret passage open, so that if something happened to them, they would still have a chance to survive.

I never expected that Yang Liunian would tell me about this.

Just then, a member of the Imperial Guard quickly walked in from outside the prison and looked at Yang Liunian.

Yang Liunian understood and gestured for Jiang Yun to wait a moment before walking out of the prison.

Once outside, the Imperial Guard whispered something in Yang Liunian's ear, after which Yang Liunian waved him away.

He then returned to the prison with a smile on his face and said, "Brother Jiang, the results from the court are out, and they're neither good nor bad news."

"Today in the imperial court, the civil and military officials argued heatedly over your matter, and even Tao Yuelan came to the court in the end..."

Yang Liunian recounted the general events that had transpired in the court while he was in prison.

To his surprise, Jiang Yun frowned deeply upon hearing the news.

(End of this chapter)