Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 4: The Murder of Prince Annan

"I don't accept it! I don't accept it! I was careless! You sneaked up on me!"

"You know you can't afford to lose, come again?"

"Come again..."

Bang! !

When the burly Zheng Wu was knocked down for the third time, the Annan guards' faces all changed, and the students cheered: "Brother, you are mighty!" "Brother Yue is chivalrous!" "Did Wukong go back to save Master?"

"I'm going to tear you apart!"

Zheng Wu turned over and got up, gritting his teeth and looking ferocious, but the next moment, he immediately shrank his neck and lowered his head.

"Stop! Stop!"

Two figures were approaching rapidly, the leader of which was Li Weining. He was terrified and jogged all the way, completely disregarding his manners.

Ruan Zhengyong followed closely behind, taking quick steps. He first glared at Zheng Wu, scaring him so much that he lost all his arrogance. Then he looked at Haiyue and said coldly, "Excellent stick technique! I didn't expect that a Ming Dynasty student would be so proficient in both literature and martial arts!"

"Concession! Concession!"

Haiyue put the white wax stick behind her back and smiled elegantly.

The Hai family of Qiongshan was a scholarly family that had produced an Imperial Censor, but not every son of the Hai family had a talent for literature.

Haiyue's father, Haihao, is even better at martial arts and is even praised as "the bravest warrior in Qionghai".

Regardless of whether he was the first or not, with such fame, Haihao founded a folk society called Yinglue Society, which was somewhat similar to the Guangdong martial arts school in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, where he taught martial arts and made a living.

Haiyue's martial arts were learned from her father's instruction since she was young, which laid a solid foundation. Spears and sticks are external skills, and their moves are actually not too unusual. The real secret passed down by each school is the internal training method.

For example, the internal training method he practiced since childhood was named "An Chan Zhi Long", which was taken from a poem by Wang Wei in the Tang Dynasty: "At dusk, the empty pool is quiet, and An Chan Zhi poisonous dragon", which means to calm the mind and enter into a state of meditation to subdue the poisonous dragon of the world.

Once you master this method, you can use your strength with great skill, which is far beyond brute force. In terms of strength, Hai Yue is also tall, but not necessarily much stronger than the big and strong Zheng Wu. However, when it comes to skills, the latter is far from being his opponent.

Zheng Wu obviously didn't know how he was defeated, but Ruan Zhengyong knew how powerful he was. Although his tone was cold, there was a hint of strangeness in his eyes when he looked at Haiyue.

Li Weining trotted over, bewildered. "Huh! Huh! What's going on? Why are they fighting?"

Hai Yue said, "Envoy Li will now ask your guards. The tribute was stolen from the government office. I don't know the reason, so I can't comment on it. However, since you have already moved into the academy, you want to search us students because you are worried about the theft of the tribute. This is absolutely not allowed!"

"that's right!"

At this time, other students also came out after hearing the noise. After hearing the whole story, they all cheered.

The faces of the Annan side looked ugly.

Haiyue had assumed the prince would always defend his subordinates, but Li Weining, after hearing the entire incident, widened his eyes and, without hesitation, questioned the guards, "We've come to the Ming Dynasty on a mission of great responsibility. How dare you be so disrespectful? We are guests, and we should observe proper etiquette. How can we act recklessly in the host's territory?"

Zheng Wu's face was pale and he was breathing heavily, looking indignant. Ruan Zhengyong stepped forward, blocking the rude guard and bowing to Li Weining, saying, "I have failed to discipline my children properly. Your Highness, please punish me!"

"Humph!"

Li Weining snorted angrily, then turned to look at Haiyue, immediately apologizing, "I really love Journey to the West, so I came to bother you. I didn't expect to cause trouble in the academy. It was not my intention. I hope you will forgive my rudeness!"

After saying this, he bowed with both hands and saluted to all directions.

The students were somewhat moved, and their angry expressions softened.

Although Annan was a vassal state, a prince of a country was still a nobleman after all. It was not easy for him to be so humble.

Hai Yue remained unmoved. One played the good cop, the other the bad cop, as anyone could. She pointed southwest and said, "Envoy Li, do you see that courtyard?"

Li Weining asked curiously, "What is that?"

Hai Yue suggested again, "It's the numbered rooms. Some of them are simple, while others are large enough for the envoys to live in. Since you're worried about the tribute being stolen, why don't you move there so you don't disturb the students at the academy?"

The expressions of the students around him became strange. They thought you were trying to provoke the other party, but it turned out that you really want the delegation to move?

After all, Room 1 is just a temporary residence, and the conditions are no better than those in the school dormitory. Prince Annan will never agree to this...

"That's a good idea! Just go live in room number one!"

However, Li Weining's eyes lit up and he actually nodded in agreement.

Ruan Zhengyong's expression changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, we have already arranged it..."

Li Weining looked at the guard leader and said, "You're worried about the loss of the tribute, and I'm also worried about traitors and assassins. If a thief really comes to assassinate me, can you protect me?"

Ruan Zhengyong immediately said, "We will definitely ensure that His Highness is safe!"

"What about the others? If an assassin were to kill someone living in the academy, wouldn't that harm innocent people?"

Li Weining said, "Thanks to Young Master Hai for reminding me to move to the private room. You two can protect me. Even if an assassin comes, it won't affect the academy. It's the best of both worlds! Move!"

As it turned out, Li Weining was not just talking, he really urged the guards to move the luggage out of the tidied room and go to the cell.

It was a separate courtyard, which was located in the county school. It was used as a place for students to live when the three preliminary examinations for the imperial examinations began every year. The conditions were relatively simple and needed to be cleaned.

Annan's guards came in and out, all with grim expressions. Everyone gathered to watch, whispering among themselves, all of them very impressed with Prince Annan. "That's great! We can all live in peace and avoid any trouble!"

Hai Yue smiled and said something to her brother Hai Rui.

Regardless of whether they are consistent in words and deeds, the other party is at least willing to make concessions.

The water from the well does not interfere with the water from the river.

However, it turns out that moving to a cell does not mean that there is no contact between the two parties.

In the following days, whenever they met at the academy, Li Weining would come over to chat, and his attitude became more and more intimate:
"If you don't mind, please call me by my courtesy name, 'Huaide'. I can also call Mr. Hai 'Shisanlang'."

"We're not that familiar with each other yet, so there's no need for you, Envoy Li, to condescend to me..."

"How can you be so condescending? The so-called prince is just a member of the royal family of the outer vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. If Thirteenth Brother passes the imperial examination one day, he will surely have a bright future!"

"Thank you, Brother Huaide, for your kind words!"

"Your place also has a Five Finger Mountain, right? I've even wondered if the Monkey King was once trapped beneath the mountain, waiting to be rescued by the pilgrims."

"Surely there is such a mountain. You've only been in Hainan for a short time, but you know the geography here very well?"

"Ha! Journey to the West is my absolute favorite...especially Wukong! He was really wronged in the three fights with the White Bone Demon. What bothered me the most was when Wukong wanted to pay his respects to Tang Sanzang, but Tang Sanzang refused. Wukong then transformed into a clone, paid his respects, and then left! Humph! Tang Sanzang's eyes are mortal and he can't tell the difference between true and false. How could Baoxiang Kingdom be so difficult!"

"Don't get excited... Don't get excited..."

"Speaking of which, will Wukong still marry Princess Jinding? In the past, Wukong caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace just for his wife. Now he has completely changed?"

"Have you ever watched Yuan Dynasty drama?"

"Ha! I've seen it... but I prefer Shisanlang's new version! Wukong is an outlier, yet he possesses such extraordinary abilities. Even though he once wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he sought the true scriptures under the guidance of Guanyin. Didn't he become a Buddha in the end and achieve enlightenment?"

……

Faced with a book friend who could almost recite the first thirty chapters by heart, Haiyue, who already loved Journey to the West, gradually started chatting with him, especially mentioning the differences between the Yuan Dynasty drama and the 100-chapter version.

The epic story of Journey to the West was born as early as the Song Dynasty. The form of opera and variety show brought the adventure legend of Tang Monk and his disciples into thousands of households and became well-known to the people.

In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the general impression people had of the Journey to the West was the Yuan Dynasty drama version, with Tang Sanzang as the absolute protagonist, both wise and brave. It was this holy monk who saved everyone from danger on the journey to the West and taught his disciples in the process.

As for Sun Wukong, he was known as "The Great Sage Who Equals All Heavens". His legitimate wife was the beautiful Princess Jinding Kingdom, who was captured by the Monkey King in the Purple Cloud Luo Cave in the Flower-Fruit Mountain. The princess was not allowed to see her parents and often sighed. In order to appease her, Wukong stole the fairy clothes and hat, fairy peaches and fairy wine, and made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace. He was later subdued by Guanyin Bodhisattva.

In the 100-chapter version of Journey to the West that was widely published in the late Ming Dynasty, the positions of Tang Monk and Sun Wukong were swapped. The change was bold and inconsistent with the historical prototype, but the overall level of excitement far exceeded the Yuan Dynasty drama version.

"Fan fiction" is better than the "original work".

Li Weining can even carry out the plot of Yuan Dynasty drama with ease, which is indeed true love.

Haiyue also talked about some follow-up content, which made Li Weining extremely excited.

Of course, urging for updates is still useless.

Although Li Weining was sad, he turned his grief and anger into drinking and held banquets one after another. More and more students attended the banquets.

"He held a banquet and drank heavily all night long. This Prince of Annan really has a huge capacity. Outsiders are not used to drinking Shanlan wine, but he can compete with them and get everyone drunk..."

Early that morning, Haiyue got up to wash up, and smelled the smell of alcohol on her clothes, and couldn't help but murmur.

There was no annoyance in his tone, just some emotion.

After spending some time together, he could also see that Li Weining was not a two-faced hypocrite. He was really a nice person with a mild temper, modest and polite.

But precisely because of this, this person is not a qualified Annan envoy.

So this feeling is first directed towards the people of Annan who are suffering.

How would they feel if they knew that the diplomatic delegation they relied on for hope was chatting and laughing with a group of local students on the land of the Ming Dynasty, and was not at all concerned about the tragic situation of war in the country?
The same feeling was also expressed to the people of the Ming Dynasty, including himself.

It is now the ninth year of the Jiajing reign, and the young Emperor Jiajing is preparing to work hard to govern the country. Although all the reforms in the feudal dynasty are aimed at strengthening centralization and increasing fiscal revenue, and ultimately consolidating the rule of imperial power, the lower-class people can indeed share some benefits and improve their lives.

It's a pity that Jiajing failed to hold on. At this stage of the Ming Dynasty's development, there were too many drawbacks. When the Japanese pirates in the south and the northern barbarians came to the fore, how much better off were the people of the Ming Dynasty, whose families were all clean, than Annan?

'Sometimes knowing the direction of history can also feel powerless. What can I do?'

"Being a knight-errant... Ha! Where will the knight-errant be in the future world?"

"As for the imperial examinations, how far can one go in the corrupt officialdom?"

Perhaps because she was still hungover, Haiyue couldn't help feeling sentimental at this moment. She shook her head, reached for the long stick leaning against the bed, and prepared to go out for some morning exercise.

"what--!!"

Suddenly, a shrill scream came from outside.

Hai Yue immediately reached out, grabbed her weapon, and walked out. Before she even reached the school gate, she saw her younger brother Hai Rui running towards her, "Brother! Something terrible has happened! Envoy Li... has been killed!"

　Thanks to the book friends "Be a Mortal 0723" and "Shangxian Qitian" for their rewards and support. The new book is about to start, and I hope you will read and collect it. Monthly tickets are also very important!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)