Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 90 Everyone has their own thoughts

Gao Yunduo looked at Jia Chuan's pale face and knew that the thrilling experience just now must have scared him, but he always wanted to tell the people around him that he was fine.

Gao Yunduo took a deep breath, turned to look at Gao Yuntian and asked, "Are you injured?"

"They can't hurt me, why didn't Yuanyuan come with me?"

"Why didn't she come? I ran fast and she couldn't run anymore, so she went back to ride her donkey."

Jia Chuan looked at the people behind Gao Yunduo, and Gao Yunduo hurriedly introduced them, "They arrived today. Brother Wu sent someone to deliver the message. He couldn't leave, so he asked me to take them on this trip."

Jia Chuan nodded and said, "Isn't this place far from the Prince of Han's Palace?"

"It's not close. It will take a while to walk. If we bring these people with us, it will probably be even slower." Someone said.

Jia Chuan nodded and said, "Put the dying on the horse, support the injured, and let's go!"

……

Word quickly spread through the streets of Le'an: the new yamen official, the one who had declared his irreconcilable opposition to the Prince of Han at the yamen gate today, was being hunted down. This man was incredibly formidable, holding his own against ten opponents. Those who came to kill him were killed, wounded, or fled. Anyone else would have gone into hiding afterward. But he had led the dead and wounded straight to the Prince of Han's mansion, explaining to those on the street that it was all arranged by the Han Palace. They were suddenly over thirty people, all dressed in the same fine materials and wielding fine swords. Who in Le'an had the nerve to do this? Moreover, this man had just jumped up and shouted that he would stand up for the people of Le'an that morning, and now he was being hunted down at noon. Who else could it be?
Jia Chuan kept shouting this throughout the journey, but he also made some more detailed inferences. For example, these people couldn't have come from outside the city. The soldiers guarding the city were not just for show. Besides, no matter where these people came from, they had to obey orders from someone, right? Who would be so eager to kill him?
The people couldn't remember so much, so Jia Chuan shouted many times, and it was enough for people to remember. The more he shouted, the more people followed the team. Later, Dong Yuanyuan, who had lost her way because of shouting, caught up with them on a donkey.

……

Veda received the news when Chen Mo led his men out of the city.

Not only did Zhang Xing not expect Jia Chuan to leave early, but Wei Da also did not expect it. Like Zhang Xing, he felt that he needed to make some arrangements first, waiting for Jia Chuan to leave the government office at dusk...

So his lunchtime was relatively relaxed. After finishing his meal, he sipped his tea comfortably when he heard hurried footsteps in the courtyard. Just as he was about to scold someone for being too tactful, the person rushed into the house without even a word of warning. Wei Da stood up and saw the person sweating profusely. Before he could ask why, the person said four words: "Zhang Xing has been defeated."

The teacup in Veda's hand fell to the ground and shattered as he said these four words, with tea leaves scattering everywhere.

……

When Jia Chuan and his group arrived near the palace, the palace guards had already put the gate of the palace under martial law and no one was allowed to approach.

Jia Chuan didn't mind. He threw the dead and alive, as well as a long sword, in front of the guards, raised his black suit and said loudly:
"It has been confirmed that the person who assassinated Judge Jia in the county yamen today was from the Prince of Han's mansion. The weapons, this outfit, the leader, and all the evidence have been sent to the capital. The remaining useless items can be kept by the Prince's mansion!"

Jia Chuan threw the black clothes to the ground and shouted:

"I hope that those in the palace will realize their mistakes and turn back, and quickly hand over the mastermind behind the assassination. However, I also know that my position is low and the King of Han will not look upon me with favor. I can only wait for the Emperor to give me justice!"

After saying that, Jia Chuan waved his hand and said, "Go home!" Suddenly, he thought of something and turned around and shouted, "My name is Jia Chuan, the new judge of Le'an Prefecture. Please report to the prince. Kill me every time and I will send someone to the capital. Everyone knows that the palace has many talented people hidden away. I am so lucky. You can use me to show the world the strength of the palace. The prince just needs to send people. If Jia Chuan dies, there are still Zhang Chuan and Li Chuan waiting! Your son is doing well, don't worry!"

……

The excitement in Le'an City had been enough for the people to talk about for half a year. It was still fresh in their minds, and everywhere they could hear the opening line: "Hey, have you heard about it? I saw it with my own eyes..."

The streets are like New Year's Day, people are looking happy and walking hurriedly.

But the situation was different for the officials in the provincial government.

Lin Wei, lying on the sickbed, was almost in critical condition. He couldn't understand how Jia Chuan dared! This time, Lin Wei drank the prepared medicine obediently. He didn't know what Jia Chuan would do next. He had to stay alive first. He wasn't worried about the Han Palace sending someone to take his pulse. He was just afraid that the Han Palace doctors wouldn't be able to cure him. His heartbeat quickened just thinking about the current situation. The Han Palace wouldn't give up. If the Han Prince was willing to submit, then he would submit to the emperor. No, the Han Prince wouldn't submit to the emperor. He would only rebel, and when he rebelled, the first person he would kill would be... Lin Wei quickly gasped.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't escape death, unless...

At this time, the servant reported that Hao Tongzhi came to visit again.

Lin Wei didn't want to see him, but he was also afraid that this man would put all the blame for the street assassinations under his jurisdiction on him, so he struggled to sit up and meet Hao Wen.

Hao Wen was uneasy after receiving the news. He had just given the money, and the judge had accepted it. How could he do this after accepting the money? Where were the rules?
In addition to ordering people to guard the main gate, Hao Wen also instructed people in the yamen not to go out and that no reports to the authorities today would be accepted. Then he walked around the second hall a few times and went to the back house to visit Lin Wei.

"Zhizhou Lin has to take care of this. If this angers the King of Han, we will all be implicated." Hao Wen sat on a chair next to the bed and went straight to the point without saying a word.

"How to manage it? Teach me." Lin Wei said weakly.

"Order him to reflect on his mistakes at home. No, first go to the Prince of Han's mansion to apologize, and then..."

"Don't you know what happened on the street just now? Someone wants to kill Jia Chuan and is about to kill him, and you ask him to apologize?" Lin Wei was so angry that he said a lot in one breath and quickly fainted.

"Then, then, what concrete evidence does he have to prove that it was the Han Palace that did it? Since he can't prove it, his previous actions were offensive, and he naturally has to apologize."

"Didn't he go? He went to beg the King of Han for mercy? Can you think before you speak after hearing what he said? He and the Han Palace have already broken off relations. It's broken, shattered, and it can't be restored! And he even went to apologize? How dare you think of that!"

"This is an offense against the emperor. If the prefect Lin doesn't care, the emperor will blame you one day..."

"Hmph! The evidence has been sent to the capital. Who can the emperor blame then?"

Hao Wen asked anxiously, "He said it was a gift, so it's a gift? I'm afraid he's just bluffing, right?"

"That's not difficult. We'll just have to wait and see what the court does in a few days..."

Before Lin Wei could finish his words, a servant came to report that Qian Xun, the chief secretary of the Prince of Han's Palace, had arrived.

……

Qian Xun arrived and left in a hurry. He was the Chief Secretary of the Han Palace, and his duty was to coordinate affairs between the palace, the court, and local officials. However, he was not here to negotiate, but to issue orders. First, he ordered the prefectural judge Jia Chuan to immediately clarify the rumors that had spread along the streets at noon.

The second is to immediately find out what kind of false evidence Jia Chuan said he had sent to the capital.

The third is to immediately order Jia Chuan to go to the palace to report back.

After hearing Qian Xun's three requests, Lin Wei almost laughed out of anger. Although they were three, they were actually just one, asking Jia Chuan to die. But Jia Chuan was not stupid, so how could he fall into the trap?

But the key point Hao Wen heard was not this. After sending the hurried Qian Xun away, he returned to Lin Wei's bedside and said seriously, "The most important thing right now is to know what exactly Jia Chuan sent out of the city gate."

Lin Wei waved his hand and said, "I'm still sick and can't go out. You go and ask him, and by the way, see if you can get him to go to the palace to reply."

Hao Wen immediately thought of the scar on Chen Mo's forehead and felt a chill in his heart, but Qian Xun had whispered to him before leaving that he must find out who he was taking with him when he left the city gate?

In other words, the palace has confirmed that Jia Chuan's men have indeed left the city, and they have taken someone with them. This person must be very important, otherwise Qian Xun would not have forgotten to scold him and left in such a hurry.

Hao Wen knew that he had made a mistake in not informing the palace in advance about the previous incidents, so he had to go on this mission even if he didn't want to.

So Hao Wen took a sedan chair to the remote house.

Unfortunately, he was not even allowed to enter the courtyard, but he did get a piece of paper, which listed the evidences one by one to prove that the person who was assassinated in the street today was from the Prince of Han's Mansion, and stated that these evidences had been sent to the capital.

Hao Wen carefully examined the paper, becoming increasingly alarmed. If it was truly as it said, all the evidence had already been sent to the capital. The Han Palace would undoubtedly face the Emperor's reprimand, and all officials would likely be demoted and transferred...

Thinking of this, Hao Wen quickly got into the sedan chair and ordered the sedan bearers to go directly to Prince Han's Mansion. He had no time to care whether he was allowed in or not.

……

After reading the paper, Zhu Heng said several times: "I was careless."

Veda took the paper and looked at it carefully, his face gradually turning pale.

When counting the people sent by Jia Chuan, Wei Da was only concerned about whether Zhang Xing was there. After confirming that he was not, he went to ask a few seriously injured soldiers. The soldiers were not good at expressing themselves and only said, "We retreated when we heard the leader shout 'retreat'."

As for whether the leader was dead or alive? Where had he gone? No one said a word.

Wei Da wanted to wait and see, perhaps Zhang Xing would be able to come back after a while. After Jia Chuan left the palace, a few people did escape and return to the palace, but when Hao Wen delivered the paper, Zhang Xing had not returned yet.

Originally, Zhang Xing had taken these people to make arrangements at noon. When the execution came in the evening, Zhang Xing would not have to personally take part, but only need to watch from the sidelines. Who could have expected Jia Chuan to leave early...

In fact, there was another arrangement in the Prince of Han's Mansion, but Qian Xun forgot to tell Hao Wen, which was to delay Jia Chuan. The later the better, at least until sunset, and it would be even better if it could be delayed until dark. When Jia Chuan left the yamen, there would be someone waiting outside the door to report to Zhang Xing.

Unfortunately, no one carried out the order, or rather, before they could even think of executing it, Jia Chuan had already left the yamen.

Now the paper clearly states:

The five individuals who had previously extorted money from Zhu Zhanqi's home were servants of the Han Palace. They frequently appeared at Zhu Zhanqi's residence and were well-known to the nearby residents. This time, a quarrel broke out among the five, and one of them killed the other four, leaving behind his weapons and clubs. Only the leader of the five was authorized to carry a knife, and this knife was identical in every way to the one used in the assassination attempt on the street today. The knife has been sent to the capital, and there are experts to verify this. Furthermore, since the five individuals were servants of the palace, their attire was identical in material to the attire worn by the assassins today, only the style was different, indicating that they did not belong to the same department within the palace. However, the inside of their collars bore the same marking, which could be considered the insignia of the Han Palace. The second thing was their inner garments...

The paper listed everything from outer clothes to inner clothes, to boots, and even the brands on the bodies of the assassins who died on the streets. What frightened Wei Da the most was this sentence on the paper: Zhang Xing, a guard at the Prince of Han's Palace, was the leader of the assassination. He was injured and had been sent to the capital.

Wei Da was also a military general. He didn't care about what Jia Chuan had said before. What he cared about most was Zhang Xing's capture.

Seeing that Wei Da had lost his composure, Zhu Heng advised, "Don't worry. They can arrest Zhang Xing, and we can say that Zhang Xing fled because he feared his crime. It's nothing."

"But Zhang Xing knows too much."

"Just say he framed Zhang Xing. He broke the palace rules. They made up a random crime, beat him with a few sticks, and kicked him out. From then on, Zhang Xing harbored resentment, and nothing he said or did can be trusted."

Wei Da looked at the cunning Zhu Heng and couldn't help but say, "This is no longer the Yongle Dynasty."

Zhu Heng choked for a moment, then snorted and said, "Emperor Taizong left behind instructions. The emperor dare not act rashly. The difficult thing is to appease the prince and not to act rashly. Now that all parties are not fully prepared, it would be too hasty..."

"This matter cannot be concealed."

"Yes, I have ordered people to guard the city gates. If the captain who sent the people out of the city comes back, he will have to go to the palace first. You must arrange the manpower tonight. This time, you must succeed. There is no other choice. If we let this Jia guy continue to make trouble, the prince will not be able to hold out for much longer. Come, follow me to see the prince."

Hao Wen stood trembling and bowed to the side, thinking Zhu Heng was asking him to go with him. He asked awkwardly, "How should I apologize when I see the prince?"

Zhu Heng was stunned for a moment, as if he had just remembered this person. He sighed and said, "At this point, the officials in your provincial government are probably bound to be implicated no matter what, especially after Jia Chuan's sudden death at home tonight. Of course, you are also to blame for the assassination this afternoon. I will talk to the prince and ask people in the court to speak well of you. You should also prepare a letter of apology so that if the emperor asks, you can have a correct answer. Just say..."

Zhu Heng thought for a moment and continued, "Just say that Jia Chuan mentioned that he had an argument with passersby on his way from Jinan to Le'an. These people are likely to come to Le'an to seek revenge on Jia Chuan. Then, say something about how you blame yourself for not being able to foresee and prevent it in advance. That's all that's fine."

Hao Wen's eyes widened: "Jia Chuan, I, he..."

"Don't pay any attention to him. He won't survive tonight. Whatever you say is true. Who in the capital can find a dead person to confront you?"

Hao Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

……

(End of this chapter)