Jinting Han people

Chapter 132: Empress Jia Concedes (4k)

On the same night that Liu Xian made his wish in the imperial prison, another conversation concerning his fate was taking place in the palace.

During the days when she was in full power, Empress Jia Nanfeng was extremely happy.

During her time as Crown Princess, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sima Yan, repeatedly oppressed her. Although she had the Pingyang Jia clan's support, Sima Yan's harem was vast, and among the thousands of concubines, there were always some who were ignorant of current affairs, which deeply hurt her. Jia Nanfeng memorized the names of these people one by one, and now it was time to settle the score.

Those who dared to ignore her were all banished to the cold palace by Jia Nanfeng; those who dared to ridicule her appearance were all forced to do the hard labor of pounding rice by Jia Nanfeng; those who dared to talk about her behind her back were all cut off their tongues by Jia Nanfeng; as for those who once relied on Sima Yan's favor to order her around, Jia Nanfeng sent them all to Jinyong City along with the current concubines.

Of course, Jia Nanfeng hated the deposed Empress Dowager Yang Zhi the most. After all, at the height of her despair, Yang Zhi had feigned magnanimity and begged Sima Yan to spare her life. This was truly despicable! Given her background, what could Sima Yan do to her? Yet, Yang Zhi had taken advantage of this moment to show him favor, seemingly considering the greater good, but in reality, it was clearly an opportunity to blackmail her!
Jia Nanfeng, harboring a grudge, had recently been pondering how to manipulate the deposed empress dowager. Should she simply make her a charcoal-carrying slave? Or a laundry slave? Or perhaps, emulating the ancient sages, simply turn her into a human pig?
Just as she was thinking about this matter with joy, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Zhang Hua suddenly came to see her and said that he had something important to discuss with the Queen.

Jia Nanfeng had great respect for Wang Zuo, the talented scholar whom Sima Yan had promoted from a humble background. Perhaps because of his unattractive appearance, she was able to see beyond his background and judge his talent. Therefore, she personally greeted Zhang Hua and asked him in detail about his reason for coming.

Zhang Hua replied, "Empress, I came here this time because of the incident that happened last time. It has become so serious that it can no longer be suppressed."

"Oh?" Empress Jia pondered for a moment and asked, "Is Zhang Gong referring to the incident between Chang Yuan and that loyal King of Chu?"

"Yes, Duke Lu's actions have already sparked public outrage." Zhang Hua lowered his head and said rather helplessly, "Although Anle's son Liu Xian was indeed a member of the Chu King's faction, he did not participate in the coup. Duke Lu forcibly detained him in the imperial prison and has yet to produce a single charge against him. Many people have spoken up for him."

Empress Jia frowned and asked, "How come there's no evidence of a crime? Is he innocent?"

"Liu Xian is indeed a good person. He prides himself on being a descendant of Liu Bei and possessing some talent, so he is quite arrogant. He disdains many things and enjoys offending people. It is precisely because of this that he offended Duke Lu."

"Is that so..." Empress Jia pondered for a moment and then asked, "Didn't I arrest many of the King of Chu's close associates? Can't we let them give false testimony?"

"Duke Lu has already done this, but it didn't work. Many people would rather die than give false testimony."

“Is this person so popular?”

"Yes, there are some, but mainly because he accompanied the King of Chu on his final journey after he lost power. Everyone knows this. If he gave false testimony, it would not only violate the loyalty of friends, but also the loyalty of ruler and subject. Even if he survives, his reputation will probably be ruined..."

Upon hearing this, Empress Jia snorted softly and said sarcastically, "What's the point of fame if a person is dead? As long as a person is alive, even the worst reputation can be turned around one day. The fools in the world just don't understand this."

"Yes." Zhang Hua lowered his head and continued, "But Your Highness, we must come up with a solution, otherwise there might be some trouble."

"What kind of trouble will happen?"

"A few days ago, some remnants of the King of Chu came to the Prince of Liang's mansion to plead for mercy. The King of Liang didn't want to agree, but was afraid of offending them, so he offered a sky-high price, saying that if they wanted to save him, they would give him 20,000 gold and he would come to the palace to plead for mercy."

"Twenty thousand gold?" Even Empress Jia couldn't help but catch her breath when she heard the amount. She straightened up and asked solemnly, "Have they collected enough?"

"Yes, they have. Just this morning, four carts full of 1,500 horseshoe gold pieces, 2,000 gold bars, and 10,000 silver ingots were parked in front of Prince Liang's palace."

Zhang Hua paused, then raised his head slightly to glance at Empress Jia's expression and said, "Prince Liang is in a dilemma now, whether to accept or not. I have no choice but to ask Your Highness for his opinion."

Empress Jia's expression was as dense as clouds, and it was hard to tell whether she was happy or angry. She only asked, "Do you know how this was put together? Who was involved?"

"I'm afraid this is difficult to investigate, and Prince Liang doesn't dare to ask. After all, many of these remnants of the King of Chu are still active in the Imperial Guards. They may not have the courage to cause trouble at the court, but they can at least cause trouble at Prince Liang's palace."

"Not necessarily?" Empress Jia chuckled twice and said in a cold tone, "Is it that Prince Liang doesn't dare to ask, or doesn't want to ask?"

"Your Highness, things have come to this point, I'm afraid I can no longer take care of this. Besides Prince Liang, many others have come to plead for Liu Xian."

"Anyone else? Who are they?"

Zhang Hua pulled out a stack of yellow paper from his bosom and handed it to Empress Jia. As Empress Jia read it, he reported, "The King of Chu has been a virtuous king for so many years, and his reputation among the royal family is still very high."

"Except for the Prince of Liang, the Prince of Qinghe (Sima Xia), the Prince of Changsha (Sima Yi), the Prince of Chengdu (Sima Ying), the Prince of Qi (Sima Jiong), the Prince of Longxi (Sima Tai), and even the Prince of Huainan (Sima Yun) in faraway Yangzhou, all submitted memorials, urging the court not to execute innocent people, which would undermine the emperor's virtue."

"There are also three other imperial consorts: Wang Cui, Wang Dun, and Hua Heng. They were all colleagues of Liu Xian's, and they also submitted petitions to the court, requesting leniency."

"The most important thing is this: Former Imperial Censor Chen Shou went to all the Shu Han affiliations and jointly submitted a petition, hoping the court would give a decent explanation."

"What remains are some scattered memorials, but they should not be underestimated. Several leaders in the literary world, the older ones like Lord Yanfu (Le Guang), Lord Ziya (Liu Song), and the already seriously ill Lord Xiaoruan, and the younger ones like Lu Shiheng (Lu Ji) and Zhou Boren (Zhou Xi), all praised Liu Xian's talent and said it would be a pity to kill him."

After the introduction, Zhang Hua looked at Empress Jia's expression again. This time, Empress Jia stared at the paper in her hand, her eyes almost narrowed into a slit. Zhang Hua, who was familiar with Empress Jia, knew that this was a sign that she had murderous intentions, but this was not a bad omen, because the more a person wants to kill another person, the more cautious her behavior will be, just like a tiger. Before launching a fatal attack, it will lie dormant and wait for the right opportunity.

Sure enough, after Empress Jia finished reading all the memorials, she set them aside and asked Zhang Hua directly, "Mr. Zhang, in your opinion, was this a premeditated act, with a mastermind, or did they act on their own accord?"

Zhang Hua replied: "There should be some who are instigating this, but there should also be some who act on their own."

"Is there anything about the prince?"

"There's nothing about the prince."

"No?" Empress Jia flicked the table with her finger and laughed, "I almost thought that Liu Xian was the crown prince."

Zhang Hua also felt emotional in his heart. No one could have imagined that the Prince of Anle, who had few relatives when he was born, would develop to this point without any notice. This was completely unbelievable.

However, a closer look at his resume made this quite plausible. Liu Xian was a man of talent, a prominent second-rank official, a figure that only emerges once every few years. Having long been associated with the King of Chu and the Crown Prince, he naturally sat at the center of power, and it was only natural that he developed such an astonishing network of contacts.

Empress Jia also understood this. Although she did not know Liu Xian, just by reading these articles of plea, she understood her nephew's anger towards him. He should be a man who is arrogant, but he is a man without real power. However, he can be loved by so many people. This is undoubtedly a disrespect for his own power.

But he couldn't be killed now. Regardless of whether Prince Liang did it intentionally or not, most of the royal family wanted to save him. Even the true emperor couldn't go against the wishes of such a large clan, not to mention that Empress Jia wasn't the true emperor. Thinking of this, Empress Jia was ready to give in. She said to Zhang Hua, "I'll call Chang Yuan over right away. Let's come up with a plan today."

After saying that, she called Dong Meng and asked him to go find someone immediately.

About half an hour later, Jia Mi came back with a smug look on his face. He looked very happy, as if he had encountered something good that made him laugh anytime and anywhere.

But after hearing the reason why Empress Jia had summoned him, Jia Mi's smile quickly disappeared. He asked in disbelief, "Liu Xian is just a stray dog whose master has died. What's so sad about him?"

Empress Jia remained silent, but Zhang Hua replied, "Duke Lu, Your Highness has just taken power, and the whole world is watching. Some things should be handled with decency."

"What's so shameful about it? He's committing treason, isn't he?"

"That's not what you should say..." Zhang Hua said with a wry smile.

The crime of high treason can only be applied to the monarch or the father. Jia Mi was neither Liu Xian's monarch nor Liu Xian's father, so the two could not be connected at all.

Jia Mi actually knew this, but he just wouldn't give in. Now that he had absolute power, he still couldn't do anything to Liu Xian. Doesn't this mean that Liu Xian's previous mockery of him as a snail taking advantage of his power was the irrefutable truth?

It was Empress Jia who spoke again. She said to Jia Mi, "Changyuan, don't be impatient. Some things cannot be accomplished in a hurry."

"It's like hunting. It's very difficult to kill a tiger or other prey with a single arrow. Not only do you have to shoot it, but you also have to prevent it from attacking when it's injured. Most of the time, we need to protect ourselves, which is just as important as killing the prey."

Jia Mi understood what his aunt meant. She wanted him to be patient, but he was still unwilling to do so. He asked, "How can we just watch our prey escape?"

Empress Jia laughed and said, "Of course not. The bow is in your hands. Since you have already injured your prey, you have already taken the initiative."

"You can first dangle it, then slide it around, and then force it into a tight and unfavorable corner, leaving it in a dilemma."

"Wait until it bleeds enough and loses its strength, then you can attack it and it will be almost certain to win."

"Winning or losing is not a matter of the moment; it's a matter of life and death. We must be careful and cautious."

At this point, Empress Jia turned to Zhang Hua and asked, "This is a little bit of wisdom that my master taught me before I got married. In your opinion, Master Zhang, is there anything to be learned from it?"

Zhang Hua smiled and said, "Duke Wu (Jia Chong) is truly a loyal minister to the country. I deeply admire him."

Seeing that Jia Mi still had a look of resentment on his face, he tried to persuade him again: "In my opinion, what Duke Lu wants is actually to destroy Liu Huai Chong."

"Yes."

"If Duke Lu truly wishes to destroy Liu Huaichong, it's pointless to keep him in the imperial prison." Zhang Hua twirled his beard and chuckled. "For someone as arrogant as him, the more you torture him, the more he'll enjoy himself, feeling insignificant and self-righteous.

"Someone can be destroyed but not defeated. This is their creed."

"The more you fight him, the less likely you are to succeed."

Jia Mi did share this sentiment, so even though he disliked Zhang Hua, he couldn't help but ask, "It sounds like Mr. Zhang has a way to deal with them?"

"Of course there is a way. I have seen many people like this before."

"More than a decade ago, during the reign of the previous emperor, there was a remnant of the Shu Han dynasty named Li Mi. He was just as arrogant and self-important. He spent all day in the capital commenting on state affairs and criticizing current politics, offending many people, but he never showed any restraint."

"Then Duke Wu (Jia Chong) came up with an idea: to transfer him to Wen County in Hanoi to be the county magistrate, to see how his ideals would be thwarted in reality."

"and then?"

"Then he was left idle. No matter how well he performed there, whether it was good or bad, who he offended, or what achievements he made, Duke Wu suppressed him and treated him as if he didn't exist. He wouldn't let him enter the capital. This suppression lasted for ten years."

"Ten years later, the self-important Li Mi disappeared, and he became a gloomy, silent, and lifeless patient. When he went to Luoyang to report on his work, he lost his temper with the late emperor and finally died of illness on his way back home."

"..."

Facing Jia Mi's silence, Zhang Hua smiled and said, "Duke Lu, power has no likes or dislikes. Similarly, those who hold power should also be like the way of heaven, showing no likes or dislikes. Only in this way can those who are self-righteous face reality and realize that they are nothing."

"So I suggest that you transfer Liu Xian out of Luoyang and send him to a cold and harsh place to serve as county magistrate. Then, use his family members in Luoyang as hostages and let him serve as county magistrate until the end of time."

"If you still have any obsessions, since he is not in Luoyang and no one can protect him, then many methods will be used..."

With every word Zhang Hua spoke, Jia Mi's eyes brightened a little. At the end, the pride and charm on his face were almost the same as when he first came.

Jia Mi smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang is indeed a worthy successor to the king! I only had a superficial understanding of this principle before, but Mr. Zhang's words have truly opened my eyes. You are right! This is the way to go!"

"Let's put it this way. This county should be on the frontier, where it should be chaotic and difficult enough, but not too far away. Give him some ideas to prevent him from running away out of desperation."

"How about it, Mr. Zhang, is there a suitable place?"

This question was too simple for Zhang Hua. He replied, "Fengyi Commandery, Xiayang County."

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(End of this chapter)