Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 649: Birds of a feather

The two people in front of him did not respond for a long time, so Li Erzhan simply sat back down on the ground and slowly closed his eyes. He had a confident smile on his face, but under the sunlight, he even had a bit of the charm of Maitreya Buddha.

After a while, Choi Rae-gil sat down first. "We can take off our masks, but before that, I'd like to hear what you have to say."

“Of course.” Li Erzhan opened his eyes and smiled at Cui Mingji, who had sat down next to him. “However, I hope this young man can be a little more rational when I’m speaking and not get angry so easily.”

“My respected elders and teachers all died because of you. The fact that I didn’t shoot you on the spot, but instead sat here patiently listening to all this nonsense, is already quite rational.” Cui Mingji took a deep breath.

Li Erzhan was taken aback at first, then laughed: "Hehe. Young man, haven't you realized yet that we are actually the same kind of people?"

"Stop talking nonsense." Cui Mingji's lips twitched, and he glared back at him unfriendly.

“How can this be nonsense? Confucius said, ‘Those who follow different paths cannot make plans together.’ It is precisely because we share the same path that we can plot together to follow the dragon.” Li Erzhan stared into Cui Mingji’s eyes, as if trying to see through his soul. “You just said that your respected elders and teachers died because of me, but you didn’t shoot me dead with a single sword. Instead, you were ‘rationally’ sitting here listening to me speak. Have you ever thought about why?”

"Shut up." Cui Mingji had told himself countless times to stay calm, but Li Erzhan's words still made him gasp for breath.

"Let me tell you, you don't really care about those respected elders and teachers you keep talking about. Compared to their contributions to the Dragon Purification Society, their lives are utterly insignificant," Li Erzhan sneered. "Those respected elders and teachers who died because of me are nothing more than bargaining chips for you to demand more benefits!"

"Ah!" A surge of evil fire rushed straight to Cui Mingji's head. He roared and pounced on Li Erzhan, grabbing his neck tightly.

"Haha. Hehe cough. Cough!" Li Erzhan's eyes rolled back from being pinched, but he was still laughing.

"Alright, alright!" After a brief moment of stunned silence, Cui Laiji, who shared a similar past with Cui Mingji, suddenly snapped back to reality. "Do you really want to strangle him? Let go! Let go right now!" Unable to persuade him, Cui Laiji simply grabbed Cui Mingji from behind and forcefully pulled him away.

"Cough! Cough... cough!" After a series of rapid retching and gasps for breath, Li Erzhan finally recovered. "Let him go, let him strangle me!" Li Erzhan looked at Cui Laiji behind Cui Mingji, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes: "That way I'll be free."

“Prince Guangchang.” Choi Rae-gil hugged Choi Myung-gil. “If you want to speak properly, then stop provoking me.”

“I didn’t provoke you,” Li Erzhan swallowed, turned around, picked up his fallen official hat, and put it back on his head. “I just wanted you two to know that we are the same kind of people, and we can talk. If this young man feels offended,” after straightening his hat, he actually clasped his hands in a fist salute to Cui Mingji. “I apologize, please forgive me.”

"Ha," Cui Mingji said, lowering his head in frustration.

“Since we have something to talk about, let’s talk about it properly.” Cui Laiji released Cui Mingji and asked Li Erzhan with a cold look in his eyes, “What do you think we need to do to make this happen?”

“In normal years, if we wanted to rebel,” Li Erzhan paused and changed his words, “oh no, I mean to rebel. To rebel, we would need an anti-righteous army, then take over the city's defenses, capture the king, and finally find a way to gain a legitimate cause and the Celestial Empire's approval to avoid internal and external strife. But now the emperor is using the charge of treason to question the king and wants to depose him, so things have become very simple.”

“The Anti-Justice Army is no longer needed, nor is the city defense force. We only need to find a way to convince the Imperial Envoy and the Emperor behind him that the King and the Crown Prince are traitors and immoral traitors, and then convince the Emperor that the person behind us is loyal to the Celestial Empire.” Li Erzhan leaned over and picked up the letter he had torn in half and pushed far away in the earlier tug-of-war. “Actually, you’ve already grasped the key point, but this piece of waste paper is far from enough.”

"What would be enough?" Cui Laiji glanced at Cui Mingji subconsciously. If the person sitting opposite him wasn't Li Erzhan, he would have almost suspected that his own brother had already discussed it with the other party. Because except for the last sentence, what Li Erzhan was saying now was exactly the same as what Cui Mingji had said to him last night.

“First of all, you need me.” Li Erzhan held up a finger and pointed back at himself. “It is certainly a good idea to use Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui to curry favor with the Imperial Envoy. But the Uijinbu is never a place that can be taken lightly. Even if you have bribed some people in the Uijinbu, you cannot take away such high-ranking criminals as Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui without my personal intervention.”

"So? You're going to help us get these two people out?" Cui Laiji continued to ask.

"It's no use bringing it up; we need to go further!" Li Erzhan said loudly, sounding very excited.

"What do you mean?" Cui Laiji pressed.

“As I just said, there are two key points to this uprising in the current situation. First, we must convince the emperor that the king and the crown prince are both traitors and immoral people. Second, we must make the emperor believe that the person behind us is loyal to the Celestial Empire. We can put the second problem aside for now, because without solving the first problem, everything else is just empty talk.” Li Erzhan spoke rapidly, his eyebrows dancing, as if he were the one in charge of the “rebellion.”

“As far as I know, Jiang Hongli is indeed guilty, and our King is not innocent either. But!” Li Erzhan took a deep breath, “Jiang Hongli only received an edict from the King himself and had no interaction with the Crown Prince. In other words, the Crown Prince is probably innocent. If we hand these two over to that Imperial Envoy Yuan, we might be able to curry favor with him and secure a place in the court under his supervision, but that’s all! If we want to change the world and alter the royal line, we must do everything we can to smear the Crown Prince.” Li Erzhan suddenly paused and looked at Cui Mingji with a smile, “As for me, Li Erzhan, I may lack other skills, but I am quite adept at fabricating charges and smearing people.”

"..." Cui Mingji was furious when he saw Li Erzhan's smile, but this time, he held back and did not rush over to strangle Li Erzhan.

"The Crown Prince is your grandson-in-law. You're willing to smear his name and come here?" Cui Laiji coldly retorted.

“I already said that. If I could, I would also like to be a loyal subject, but you all kidnapped me. If I don’t ally with you, how can I survive?” Li Erzhan said with a matter-of-fact expression.

"Utterly shameless!" Cui Mingji cursed.

"Likewise," Li Erzhan said with a smile, cupping his hands in a respectful gesture towards Cui Mingji.

"You!" Another surge of evil fire rushed straight to Cui Mingji's head.

“Don’t be provoked by him.” Cui Laiji held Cui Mingji down and turned to Li Erzhan, saying, “We don’t trust you.”

“It’s just empty talk, I’ll put it in writing,” Li Erzhan said. “But before that, I need to meet the person behind you.” ————————

In the main hall of the Military Affairs Office, Zhang Wan, the current Military Affairs Assistant, sat in the first seat below the chairman with a sullen face. Despite the issuance of a series of martial law orders, including an earlier curfew, increased patrols, and the closure of the four small gates, his heart was far from at ease.

Below Zhang Wan, the other officials, including the Military Advisor and the Military Supervisor, remained silent but exchanged bewildered glances. Even now, they still didn't know what had happened; they only knew that Zhang Wan had entered the palace. They all wanted someone else to go and provoke Zhang Wan, to get to the bottom of things, but no one wanted to be the first to speak up.

Suddenly, a small commotion arose outside the hall. Upon closer listening, it was the sound of lower-ranking officials vying to greet their superiors.

The restless crowd all turned to look, and stood up the moment they saw the newcomer. When Zhang Wan saw the newcomer, a look of worry and concern immediately flashed across his face, but it wasn't until the newcomer entered the hall that he realized he should stand up and pay his respects.

"Your humble servant Zhang Wan greets Judge Liu." Zhang Wan led his subordinates quickly to Liu Xifen and the others.

"Is the decree issued!" Liu Xi raised his head, but couldn't muster the arrogant air of someone who spoke with absolute authority. Instead, he appeared somewhat dejected.

"Your Highness..." Zhang Wan was about to ask instinctively, but Liu Xifen stopped her with a gesture. "Receive the decree first."

"Yes!" Zhang Wan lifted his shirt and knelt down along with the other officers.

"By imperial decree of the Crown Prince." Liu Xifen coughed lightly, his words immediately silencing everyone in the hall. "Zhang Wan, the Military Advisor, is renowned for his loyalty and diligence, and possesses exceptional strategic acumen. At this critical juncture on the border, he is deemed deserving of a more important post. He is hereby promoted to Military Advisor, concurrently serving as a judge in the Border Affairs Department, and in charge of military affairs in the capital region. Upon further imperial orders, he will be awarded a salary and rank according to precedent. This decree is hereby issued!"

"Your Highness... Your decree!" Zhang Wan stood frozen in place. When he looked up, his face was filled with fear, terror, and sorrow. "Your Highness... Your Highness... he wouldn't..."

"Don't overthink it, Your Highness." Liu Xifen subconsciously wanted to explain further, but he cut off the words at the next moment. He changed the subject and said, "Your Highness is just bedridden right now and is fine. However, all matters of state have been handed over to the Crown Prince. Judge Zhang, you should receive the decree quickly."

"This..." Zhang Wan instinctively stretched out his hands in a daze. But just as the decree was about to be placed in his hands, Zhang Wan reflexively withdrew his hands: "Your subject Zhang Wan cannot accept the decree, please forgive me, Your Highness!"

"Why!" In an instant, a host of unpleasant thoughts popped into Liu Xifen's mind.

“I humbly acknowledge that the power to bestow titles and rewards rests solely with His Majesty. Although Your Highness holds the reins of power, how can you presume to act on it? According to the official regulations of our country, the appointment of officials of the second rank must be carried out by the King’s decree; according to the military regulations of our country, the appointment of officials of the border defense office must be recommended by the Three Dukes and then appointed by the King. Although the Crown Prince holds the power of decision-making, he should only hold the rank of third-rank or lower officials under the Crown Prince. The decree issued now is in violation of the laws of our ancestors. If I were to accept this decree, I would be disloyal! I humbly request Judge Liu to return the original decree to Your Highness!” Zhang Wan kowtowed and said.

"This..." Liu Xifen was somewhat at a loss. The events of this morning had filled him with anxiety, surprise, and joy; his mind was solely focused on implementing the King's final order, and he hadn't considered this possibility at all. He stood there stunned for a while, finally managing to utter only, "The situation is urgent; Judge Zhang, don't concern yourself with these trivial matters!"

Zhang Wan turned around and bowed four times in the direction of Changde Palace, saying, "The title of official rank cannot be given to others, and the law cannot be disregarded! Our Taizu's laws state that 'anyone who is removed from office of the second rank without imperial decree shall be executed for forging an order.' Although the situation is urgent, if I overstep the law and accept this decree, I will be placing the Crown Prince in an unjust position!"

Liu Xifen desperately wanted to reveal the truth and break the deadlock. However, the emperor's punitive expedition could arrive at any moment at the gates of Hanyang. The most urgent task was to stabilize the situation within the city and establish the image of the crown prince as respectful to Heaven and distinct from the king. Therefore, he absolutely could not reveal in front of everyone that the promotion order had been personally issued by the king. Liu Xifen racked his brains but couldn't think of a way to break the deadlock. Finally, he simply put away the draft edict he had prepared and went to help Zhang Wan up.

"Let's talk somewhere else," Liu Xifen said to Zhang Wan.

Zhang Wan assumed that Liu Xifen's actions meant he agreed to cancel the illegal order and proceed according to legal procedures, so he nodded and said, "Alright, let's go to the back room. I also have many things I want to ask you."

"You can go back now, there's no need to wait for me here." Liu Xifen nodded and turned to dismiss the government officials who had come with him to deliver the imperial decree.

"Yes. This humble official takes his leave."

"You all get up too," Zhang Wan said to the officers of the Military Affairs Department who were still kneeling on the ground, and then led Liu Xifen toward the back door.

The officials in the hall were not about to back down. They scrambled to their feet and blocked Zhang Wan and Liu Xifen's path. "Judge Liu, Counselor Zhang! What's going on in the palace?!"

Liu Xifen was taken aback, then turned to Zhang Wan and asked, "Didn't Prime Minister Park order the military sergeant to impose martial law on the entire city? Haven't you done it yet?"

"Martial law has been declared," Zhang Wan sighed. "But I haven't told them about that yet?"

Liu Xifen's expression softened slightly. "So, the proclamation hasn't been widely circulated in the capital yet?"

"I guess so." Zhang Wan smiled wearily.

"Gentlemen! Can you please stop playing games and say something we can understand?" A third-rank councilor who looked to be in his fifties frowned deeply.

"What on earth happened!" Another, slightly younger soldier, Cao Canzhi, asked more directly: "Martial law again, and a temporary regency? What's wrong with His Highness!"

His shout drew a crowd of officials, both high and low. "Yes! What's wrong, Your Highness? Tell us quickly!"

"What are you doing? Get out of the way, get out of the way right now!" Zhang Wan tried to use his official authority to shoo the officials away. But the king was displeased, and the matter of the crown prince acting as regent was far too significant; the officials simply didn't listen to him.

(End of this chapter)