Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 117 Enraged
Hou Tai sighed and said, "The King of Han's temperament is unpredictable. He's obsessed with this. If he doesn't kill Jia Chuan, he probably won't have the mind to think about anything else. I don't even dare to think about what he said to me that day."

These people all knew how arrogant Zhu Gaochi had been that day, and they also knew that the Emperor would not hand over Jia Chuan, but Liu Mian still glanced at Jia Chuan with concern.

Gu Zuo took a sip of tea and said, "It seems... your actions were a bit too hasty."

Jia Chuan knew that these three people in front of him must be trustworthy, otherwise the emperor would not have sent them. So even if he didn't mention his mission, these three people would know. Now that Gu Zuo said this, Jia Chuan was not surprised, but he didn't understand why Gu Zuo had such a conclusion. What was he so anxious about?

Gu Zuo put down his teacup and said, "You should calm down and investigate the King of Han's actions in Le'an carefully, rather than being reckless in order to gain merit."

Jia Chuan raised an eyebrow, glanced at Liu Mian, as if asking: Can I confront this guy?

Liu Mian turned his head, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of tea.

Jia Chuan understood the meaning and asked, "According to Imperial Censor Gu, should I start with the prefectural government office, just like Imperial Censor Gu did?"

Gu Zuo glanced at Jia Chuan. At least until today, he still felt that Jia Chuan was just relying on his merit in saving the emperor to gain the emperor's trust. He was only thinking about merit and wealth, and was impatient and impetuous. He was like a headless fly, running around Le'an without any strategy. He seemed to be pushing the Prince of Han to the edge, but in reality, he made no progress and caused himself a lot of trouble without realizing it.

Jia Chuan saw through it and smiled, saying, "Hao Wenyuan was originally a sub-prefect, a higher rank than me. I know his relationship with the Prince's Mansion, but I don't have the power of Censor Gu to imprison and interrogate him. Even if I did, what would it matter? What did Censor Gu find out? Even if all the officials in the Prince's Mansion are replaced, it won't be long before Censor Gu has to make another trip."

Gu Zuo said with a stern face, "I know you have your reasons, but you have repeatedly risked your life, provoking the King of Han to do things that harm the people of Le'an. You have done something meritorious, but how innocent was that person who died by the river?!"

"You should say that to the Prince of Han in person at his residence. Why are you talking to me?" Jia Chuan said, his anger rising from nowhere, showing no respect for Gu Zuo whatsoever.

Gu Zuo immediately became anxious: "You're so arrogant, I should report you!"

"Hurry up, this is what the Prince of Han has been waiting for. The people he found in the court are probably not as useful as Imperial Censor Gu. You are in Le'an, so your words will naturally be very effective. I've already thought of the words for you: Jia Chuan, the judge of Le'an Prefecture, is ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, and does not know that the dead cannot be brought back to life. He has repeatedly provoked the Prince of Han, causing the Prince of Han to lose face. He had no choice but to kill civilians to lure Jia Chuan out to die. Jia Chuan is uneducated and thinks that he can gain official rank by risking his life, which will bring glory to his ancestors and benefit his descendants. But Jia Chuan forgot that he has no one in his family, and now he has no descendants. After his death, to whom will the glory be passed?! But he still risked going out. This man is eager to make a name for himself and his heart is full of glory. Although he stopped the Prince of Han from killing innocent people, he was still not satisfied. He even dared to question the Prince in front of the palace and paraded the corpse around the city, causing panic among the people. The Prince is furious!"

"Enough!" Gu Zuo shouted angrily.

"Not enough! The judge of Le'an Prefecture, a mere seventh-rank official, dares to provoke a local prince like this. Even the prince's servants and relatives can kill people in Le'an without being punished. Where does Jia Chuan, a mere seventh-rank official, get the audacity to find the real culprit? Where does he get the audacity to stand at the entrance of the prefectural government office and shout to the people: If the Prince of Han's mansion has committed any more crimes, you dare to accuse me, and I dare to investigate!"

Gu Zuo was stunned.

"I'm doing this on the edge of a knife, not seeking anyone's sympathy, relying solely on my unwavering loyalty!" Jia Chuan patted his chest forcefully, coughing a little too hard, and continued, "You want to say I'm ambitious and eager for quick success, but don't you consider what kind of person that word is usually used for? At least they need power, right? Whether it's military power or local jurisdiction, do I have that? You say I'm too hasty, but this is Le'an, and the King of Han is the supreme ruler of Le'an. Who gave me the right to set the pace?! If the King of Han wants to kill me, do I go and tell him to wait a moment? If the King of Han is privately manufacturing weapons, do I tell him to wait a moment? If the King of Han is plotting a rebellion, do I tell him to wait a moment while I slowly uncover the evidence?!"

Jia Chuan was so angry that his face turned red. He had already stood up and was now pacing back and forth, but the resentment and grievance in his heart did not lessen much after shouting a few times.

At this moment, Gu Zuo's heart was also churning with emotions. Before leaving the capital, the emperor told him about the purpose of his trip and also mentioned Jia Chuan. He heard a lot of praise and satisfaction in the emperor's words, but Gu Zuo didn't think much of it.

As Jia Chuan himself said, how could a young man, who was only a seventh-rank official, stir up such a big storm in Le'an?
In Gu Zuo's opinion, everything the emperor knew was probably false.

This kind of thing has happened many times throughout history!
For military merit, civilians were killed to make up the numbers; for political achievements, civilian lives were disregarded and the truth was concealed; and some even lied about disasters for money... From ancient times to the present, how many of the memorials piled on the emperor's desk were true?

Gu Zuo came with prejudice, so he didn't talk much with Jia Chuan these past few days. Even after he realized that what Jia Chuan said was true, he still refused to admit that he had misjudged the situation, so he came up with this reason: young people risk their lives for merit, regardless of the lives of ordinary people.

He hadn't expected Jia Chuan to get angry. Everyone in the officialdom was shrewd and worldly-wise. He was a third-rank official in the capital, and he had seen plenty of flattery. Yet today, he had been yelled at for half a day by a mere seventh-rank official.

Gu Zuo's expression was extremely unpleasant, and Hou Tai glanced at Liu Mian.

Liu Mian cleared his throat and said, "Imperial Censor Gu, please don't be angry. Like Imperial Censor Gu, I also had some opinions about Jia Chuan... Let me put it this way, when Jia Chuan came to the capital, the Emperor ordered me to meet him. At that time, I had some opinions about this young man, just like Imperial Censor Gu."

Jia Chuan stopped and looked at Liu Mian.

Liu Mian said, “Don’t look at me like that. This is the truth, and it’s only human nature. Tell me about your background and education. Your parents died early, and you started working as a boatman with your uncle when you were young. If it weren’t for your eloquence, you would have died from exhaustion or starvation like your uncle. You ended up with a job at the patrol station. Although it’s a patrol station, you’re in a remote mountain forest. Life is tough, but it’s much better than working as a boatman.”

Jia Chuan stared at Liu Mian in astonishment. He had no idea what the origins of this body were. He only knew some things from what Old Dong had told him. Old Dong had only heard a few words from this body before. How could he not be surprised to hear Liu Mian bring it up?

However, Liu Mian thought that Jia Chuan hadn't expected his background to have been discovered.

"Given your past, how could you suddenly gain the Emperor's trust and be entrusted with such an important task simply because you saved his life? How could this not arouse suspicion? Therefore, don't hold a grudge against Censor Gu for his prejudice against you; it's only human nature. Censor Gu has spoken his mind, and many people keep their opinions to themselves. You're quite famous in the capital now… Similarly, Censor Gu shouldn't take Jia Chuan's words to heart. The censor's duty is to impeach officials and clean up corruption. This impeachment… includes imperial relatives and the Prince of Han, who is arrogant and has committed many illegal acts. The Censorate has impeached him many times in the past two years, but to no avail. It seems Censor Gu is willing but powerless, isn't he? This shows how difficult Jia Chuan's job is. If he hadn't risked his life, how could he have driven the Prince of Han to this state? The Emperor seems hesitant now, but this hesitation is quite different from his previous helplessness." Liu Mian paused, then added with a smile:
"As for Le'an, you and I both know that risking one's life is useless. The Prince of Han has already granted his wish. Jia Chuan is still alive today, and he has even sent a group of suspects to the capital and found time to investigate two murder cases. Such ability... In fact, his courage alone is enough to make Liu admire him."

Gu Zuo let out a long breath, stood up, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Liu Mian, and said, "Commander Liu is absolutely right. I... have been biased."

Liu Mian quickly got up and stepped forward to support Gu Zuo's arms, and said with a smile, "You and I are the same. Fortunately, he is young and we are older and of higher rank than him, so he can only accept it."

After saying that, Liu Mian looked at Jia Chuan.

Jia Chuan was indeed young. He didn't know whether Gu Zuo had changed his attitude so quickly because Liu Mian's words made sense, or because Liu Mian was Liu Mian. But he could no longer contain his anger and quickly bowed to the two of them.
"Jia Chuan's words were quite offensive just now, please don't take offense, Imperial Censor Gu. It's just that these days... sigh, I've been living in fear and anxiety, and I've been holding a grudge. Imperial Censor Gu, please be magnanimous and don't hold it against me. After I return to the capital... if I'm still alive, I'll go to Imperial Censor Gu's residence to apologize."

Gu Zuo sighed, walked over and patted Jia Chuan on the shoulder, saying, "I was wrong to judge you. You are very good."

Hou Tai quickly said, "Oh dear, we're all on the same side, why talk about right and wrong? The fact that the Emperor allowed us to sit together shows that we all share the same heart. Let's all sit down and talk about how to deal with things next. We don't know when the Emperor's decree will arrive, and the Prince of Han can't bear to see the three of us stay any longer."

Jia Chuan gently helped Gu Zuo sit down, then turned around and sat back in his original seat.

Liu Mian chuckled and said, "It's alright. He can't do anything about the three of us. If it were anyone else, he might even come to our door and kick us out."

Hou Tai naturally understood this principle; he was just saying it as a way of passing the time.

Liu Mian said seriously, "Jia Chuan said that there must be evidence of the Prince of Han's rebellion in the manor outside the city. I know about this manor. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has been secretly investigating it since the late emperor ascended the throne last year, but they have not found anything. I did know before that there were a few people from the Jianghu in the manor, and now I know roughly how many. If the emperor's decree includes investigating this matter, what should we do?"

Jia Chuan looked at Liu Mian in surprise again. He had wanted to discuss this matter in detail before, but Liu Mian had politely declined with the words "waiting for imperial decree". Tonight, however, Liu Mian took the initiative to bring up this topic.

Hou Tai glanced at Gu Zuo and said, "Imperial Censor Gu is an imperial inspector who can 'report major matters to the emperor for decision and make immediate decisions on minor matters.' If His Majesty wants to thoroughly investigate the Prince of Han's estate, he will probably have to rely on Imperial Censor Gu."

Liu Mian said, "Investigating the King of Han's estate is no small matter."

Gu Zuo frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "If the evidence is sufficient, I will go to the Prince of Han's residence. If the Prince of Han wants to prove his innocence, he will allow me to bring people to investigate. If he does not allow it..."

“He definitely won’t allow it,” Hou Tai said. “He’s already shown me his weapons, so showing them to you won’t hurt. He’s just hoping the Emperor will send troops to the estate, which would confirm that the Emperor forced him to rebel. If troops are forcibly sent into the estate and they find anything…”

Liu Mian waved his hand and said, "The Emperor will not mobilize troops."

Gu Zuo glanced at Jia Chuan subconsciously, and he suddenly realized how difficult this task was for Jia Chuan. The Prince of Han was like a stubborn piece of meat, and no matter how you tried to cut him, it wouldn't work.

Jia Chuan said, "Don't rush. I'm waiting for news from Wu Bing. This snow came at just the right time; I've been looking forward to it for some time. The day before you arrived, people came to the manor again. I figured only Master was left there. Wu Bing's men have been keeping a close watch these past few days, and I haven't seen those men return to the manor yet. The King of Han thinks highly of me; he's probably keeping them here to kill me after you leave..."

"What's the use of snow?" Hou Tai asked.

Jia Chuan thought for a moment and said:

“I was thinking of first figuring out what might be in the manor. Normally, we shouldn’t even go near the manor, let alone get close to it. The manor is so big, how many of us can keep an eye on it? After the snow, we can tell what’s going on with the carriages coming in and out of the manor by the tracks in the snow. Wu Bing and his men have been watching for the past few days, and the manor is very quiet. They haven’t even seen any patrols in the past few days. They’ve only seen three carriages come out into the city at the same time once, taking some daily necessities from the Prince’s manor. The carriages didn’t go into the Prince’s manor. Wu Bing said that the manor usually does this every five days or so, taking meat, vegetables, incense, wine, firewood and other things back from the Prince’s manor. In the summer, it’s one carriage a day, and in the spring and autumn, it’s two carriages every three days. Wu Bing and his men can figure this out without waiting for the snow.”

Liu Mian said, "This is perfectly normal. The estate has its own grain, and if we don't trust buying other things in the market, taking them from the Prince's mansion will save us from having servants profiting from it."

"But why haven't the patrolmen come out these past few days? Is it because it's too cold to move? Or is it because the apprentices are all away? The snow has been so heavy these past few days, shouldn't we have transported more supplies back? There's no shortage of carriages in the manor, much more so the cellars. The roads outside the city are difficult to travel in this weather... That's one reason. Secondly, the Prince of Han knows I've captured the people in the manor. Although I don't know if they're dead or alive, just in case, shouldn't we send away some of the people in the manor that shouldn't be exposed?"

Jia Chuan paused for a moment and then said, "That day, the Prince of Han fell into the trap, thinking that I had taken people to the manor. He immediately mounted his horse and rode out of the city straight to the manor, which gave me the opportunity to smash up the blacksmith shop and let Inspector Zhang take the blacksmith out of the city. The Prince of Han also fell seriously ill because of this. It can be seen that there is something extremely important in the manor. Moreover, there were people patrolling every day before. Why did they stop patrolling when it snowed?"

Hou Tai said, "Perhaps it's because the King of Han knows that the three of us are here. He won't kill you, and you won't harm his people or his land. It's a good time to rest and recuperate, so the people on the estate have become a bit lax."

Liu Mian frowned and asked, "Is it possible that the important items on the estate were moved away before it snowed?"

(End of this chapter)