Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 99 Imperial Decree
Jia Chuan pondered for a moment and asked, "You said that when you put your sister-in-law on the bed, her legs moved. Did you see that with your own eyes?"

Liu Mo thought for a moment and said, "Neither of us had much strength. He was spoiled by his family since he was a child, and I only know how to do needlework. I barely managed to put my sister-in-law on the bed. It was pitch black all around. I, I don't know, but her foot twisted and I was so scared that I sat down on the ground."

Jia Chuan then asked, "You had two chances to save your sister-in-law. I'll assume you didn't react the first time, but what about the second time? At least in your opinion, your sister-in-law might still be alive at the time, so why did you help Yu Bai get the knife?"

Liu Mo looked up at Jia Chuan, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "He said that if my sister-in-law came back to life, she would definitely find a way to sell me to someone far away to be a concubine. He also said that even if my parents stopped me, it would be useless. I've already... lost my virginity, so I can't get married in Le'an. Even if I were a concubine, I couldn't hide it. My sister-in-law has sons and daughters, and when they reach marriageable age, if people knew that she had an aunt like me..."

"Now that you've caught them, you might as well come into the Yu family home. Why wouldn't your sister-in-law allow it?"

“His family…has a bad reputation, and I’ve done something like this, so they definitely won’t contribute a single penny. He said my sister-in-law will definitely object; she only cares about her own children, she wouldn’t…”

How does your sister-in-law treat you normally?

Liu Mo burst into tears and did not answer.

Jia Chuan pursed his lips and said, "You two have talked quite a bit. But if you leave the body in the house like this, whether it's your brother who comes home in the morning or your parents who see it, they'll report it to the authorities. Once they investigate thoroughly, how can you possibly escape?"

“He told me to go talk to my parents first, to tell them that my brother had come back and killed my sister-in-law. He said that this matter should not be known to outsiders, and to persuade my parents to keep the truth from me, and just say that I had suddenly fallen ill…” Liu Mo wiped the tears from his face and said, “I was so scared at the time that I didn’t have time to think about whether what he said was true or false. I just did as he said. He left with blood all over his body, leaving me alone. He also told me to make sure to clean up the bloodstains in the house. I was scared and didn’t dare to go to my parents right away, so I started working. I didn’t dare to light the lamp. I was crying as I worked. I fell asleep on the ground when it was dawn. When I was woken up by my parents’ cries, it was too late.”

"He made you say your brother killed him. Even if your parents believe you for now, he won't admit it when your brother comes back... Oh, he calculated that even if you tell the truth, your family won't dare to report it to the authorities, and he won't care how your brother treats you after he finds out the truth! Then your brother becomes the scapegoat, and you still won't dare to say a word in his defense. In order to make your life better, you've ruined your whole family with your cleverness."

Jia Chuan got up and left, leaving Liu Mo sobbing behind him.

Jia Chuan went to ask Yu Bai again, and what he said was basically the same as what Liu Mo said. However, there was one thing that Jia Chuan couldn't understand: Yu Bai left covered in blood, so how come there were no bloodstains left on the wall?
Yu Bai said, "I was too weak to climb over the wall at that time, so I just opened the gate and left."

Jia Chuan opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked at Yu Bai, who was struggling to speak, and knew that the 'rubbing' Gao Yuntian was talking about was not something an ordinary person could endure.

He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and said, "Although you have no skills whatsoever, you have quite a temper. If someone gets in your way and says a few words you don't like, you want to kill them. You think that your cousin has a talisman in the Prince's mansion, but you never think that this world belongs to the Emperor. What does it have to do with the Prince of Han?"

Gao Yuntian exclaimed, "What's the point of telling him all this? He'd never understand."

Jia Chuan cleared his throat:
"Don't even think about who will come to your rescue in court tomorrow. If they could, you wouldn't be here tonight. Or someone would definitely come to your door tonight to demand your return. Or someone might abduct you on the way to the prefectural office tomorrow. If none of these things happen, you'd better tell the truth after court begins. If you recant, I promise you, you will suffer even more torture than tonight. They are all from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Think about it yourself."

Chen Mo said, "I've already told him that if he recants, I'll take him to the Imperial Prison in the capital. He knows about the Imperial Prison and that there are many good things there. I plan to let him try everything."

As soon as the group left the house, the interior was plunged into complete darkness.

Yu Bai lay on the ground, bound, trembling violently. He couldn't understand why these people weren't afraid of the Prince of Han's mansion. He pondered Yu Qing's words to him: "If you cause trouble again, I won't care anymore." But only the two brothers knew these words and they shouldn't be told to outsiders. Besides, these were all minor incidents before, but this was a murder case. How could Yu Qing not care?

But he was brought here just like that. Logically, this matter should have reached the Prince's Mansion by now. Yu Bai hoped that his cousin would come to pick him up soon. He didn't want to stay here. Once he got out, he would persuade his parents to go back to Nanjing with him. Nanjing was better than Le'an. Although he was still young then, he was so happy. He had already experienced the scenery of the Qinhuai River. Unlike Le'an, where finding a woman required...

Yu Bai gritted his teeth when he thought of Liu Mo; he should have killed that woman long ago.

……

Unfortunately, no one came to the door that night. Yu Bai waited all night in despair until two people came and took him out of the house and put him in a carriage. Then he saw Wang Po also being tied up and put into the carriage. Next came Liu Mo's father, a middle-aged man he didn't recognize, dressed in new clothes. Finally, the servants who had accompanied Liu Mo to the Liu family every time were also tied up and put into the carriage.

While Jia Chuan and his group were picking people up along the way, Lin Wei received the news that court would be held again today. He seemed to be used to Jia Chuan's occasional surprises. This time, he simply took a deep breath and did not feel unwell. He did whatever Jia Chuan asked him to do, since he had no other choice.

The court proceedings were quick and smooth. Yu Bai did not see his beloved cousin and did not dare to recant his testimony. Old Liu fainted several times in the courtroom. He could not accept that his daughter had killed his son and daughter-in-law. Thinking of his love for his daughter since she was a child, and seeing his daughter's face swollen from crying, Old Liu felt dizzy and did not want to wake up.

After Lin Wei finished the trial, Jia Chuan personally saw Old Liu and Liu Chang's friend off. He advised Old Liu, "I will do what I promised yesterday. You two still have grandchildren to take care of. Thinking too much is useless."

Liu Chang's friend also promised to take good care of him in the future.

Jia Chuan ordered the yamen runners to send the two men home, while the others were naturally sent to prison.

Lin Wei and others were in the second hall. He wanted to ask Jia Chuan how he knew that the Prince's Mansion would not send anyone to interfere this time.
Lin Wei knew very well who Yu Bai was. This scoundrel had visited the prefectural government several times before the previous administration. Lin Wei knew this person and had even seen him in person during his tenure. He didn't know how the previous administration dealt with him, but he didn't give Yu Qing, who came to plead for him, a friendly look. It wasn't that he was bold, but he knew that Yu Qing didn't want the people in the Prince's Mansion to know about these messy affairs. He wanted to show off his official authority and tell Yu Qing to go back and discipline him more, which would also be a way of giving the people an explanation.

Today's court hearing made Lin Wei realize that this was not a simple murder case, but also a power struggle between Jia Chuan and the Prince's Mansion. He needed to find out what Jia Chuan should do next.

But when Jia Chuan arrived at the second hall, he urged him to hurry up and continue working, as there were still so many people waiting in the prison.

Lin Wei grabbed Jia Chuan's arm and asked, "How do you know no one from the Prince's Mansion will come today?"

“I don’t know. I will investigate whether he comes or not. If the Prince’s Mansion wants to interfere, then I will write a letter to the Emperor.”

Lin Wei then asked, "So, what's the next step...?"

"Continue with the investigations, and resolve these long-standing cold cases one by one!"

……

Jia Chuan then led Lin Wei to interrogate the case for another three days, thoroughly indulging his desire for officialdom.

Although there was no movement at the Prince's residence, a cleanup was still carried out inside. Zhu Gaoxu's anger finally found an outlet, and Yu Qing was the first to be targeted...

But Jia Chuan knew that the good days would only last a few days. The imperial decree was about to arrive. Once the Prince of Han's mansion received the decree, the Prince of Han would have to find a place to vent his anger. Jia Chuan would then have to be extremely careful again.

Zhu Zhanji was quite considerate. Before the imperial decree arrived, he first wrote a performance letter to the prefectural government. The letter was sent to Lin Wei, who then conveyed to the entire prefectural government that Judge Jia was doing well and that their safety must be ensured.

Lin Wei didn't know how to ensure Jia Chuan's safety. If the Prince of Han got anxious and sent more people... Lin Wei didn't dare to think about it. In the past year or so, he had already done his best to hold on and not defect to the Prince of Han. Now, how could he possibly stand up to the Prince of Han? With those yamen runners from the prefectural government?
Lin Wei knew that what the Emperor hadn't written down was: If anything goes wrong, you will bear full responsibility!
Jia Chuan found it quite interesting. He had only spent a few days with Zhu Zhanji and met him a few more times afterward, but he seemed to understand Zhu Zhanji's intentions. The purpose of this letter of praise was not to make the people of the state government admire him, but to tell him that the Prince of Han's mansion should also receive the imperial decree and protect itself in preparation for the Prince of Han's recklessness once again.

Would you call this telepathy?

That evening, Jia Chuan returned to the house and held a group meeting, where he shared his thoughts.

"The Emperor will definitely punish the Prince of Han's residence to some extent. This punishment may make the Prince of Han act impulsively again. If he acts impulsively, he will definitely take action against me or this house. We must make preparations in advance."

Dong Yuanyuan asked curiously, "What can we prepare? Just to eat our fill and wait for the fight?"

Gao Yunduo said, "Brother Wu has the final say on matters concerning the house. Yuanyuan and I will accompany you to the yamen every day."

"What are you following along for? We can stay in the yamen, but what about you two? Are you going to come back? They can't kill Jia Chuan, but killing you two is easy enough. Forty or fifty people have blocked you two in the street. Even if you can fly over rooftops, where do you think you can fly with Yuan Yuan?" Gao Yuntian asked with a snort.

“If that’s the case, isn’t that exactly what he wants?” Gao Yunduo pointed at Jia Chuan.

Gao Yuntian became even more anxious: "How can you think of him like that? He has always put our safety first..."

Jia Chuan interrupted Gao Yuntian, looking at Gao Yunduo very seriously and said, "I hope the Prince of Han's Mansion will make a move, but I hope it will be against me, not you."

Gao Yunduo's face turned red instantly.

Dong Yuanyuan looked back and forth, originally wanting to say something on behalf of Gao Yunduo, but after quickly glancing at the two of them, she just chuckled and remained silent.

Old Zheng asked, "What's the difference? If they're going to attack you, won't they be the ones doing it?"

Jia Chuan waved his hand and said, "It's like shooting arrows in a straight line. You need a target. They're aiming at me, so others have a chance to save me."

Old Zheng hurriedly said, "Just pretend I didn't say anything. I don't understand your explanation. Let's get down to business!"

Jia Chuan took a deep breath and said, "I don't know who the experts are in the Prince of Han's mansion. Last time, the assassination attempt on the street was because they were not well prepared. If the Prince of Han is angry this time, he might bring out the people from the manor... Brother Wu, tonight, try to send a message to the people in the village to keep a close eye on the road from the manor to the city gate and see if anyone comes out tomorrow. Remember these people. If they come, we can't let them go back."

"Then what will you do? If three or more men dressed as black swordsmen ambush them on the way, even if I'm here, you might not survive!" Gao Yunduo asked angrily, her face flushed. "I'll just stay in the house," Jia Chuan said with a wicked smile. "I'll take a few days off. If they want to come here to fight, wouldn't that be handing me the evidence? The Emperor's punishments have just ended, and he needs new ones. The blacksmith isn't needed yet, and I'm just worried about not having any ammunition to accuse him."

Wu Bing thought for a moment and said, "If the Prince's Mansion is still as careless as before, then there is naturally nothing to fear. If they really recall the people from the manor, I will definitely know. This house... unless the Prince of Han mobilizes the army, a few skilled people alone will be useless. We can indeed get rid of these obstacles first, but..." Wu Bing looked at Jia Chuan and said seriously, "After all the traps and mechanisms in this house have been used once, they need time to be rebuilt. If the Prince of Han's Mansion follows up with another one... then it's hard to say."

Jia Chuan understood that this house was for escaping when you couldn't win a fight.

Zhu Zhanji had thought things through very thoroughly. Jia Chuan's visit to Le'an was just a minor disturbance, and the Prince of Han wouldn't make a big fuss. If it really came down to besieging the mansion and putting Jia Chuan to death, then it would be because Jia Chuan had truly slapped the tiger's tail, not just touched it.

However, Zhu Zhanji probably couldn't care less about Jia Chuan's life or death outside the house, so Jia Chuan felt it was best to stay in the house.

Even when it came to the point where they had to escape, Jia Chuan felt that he had already fulfilled his mission and there was no need to strive for perfection.

Jia Chuan looked at Wu Bing with a smile and said, "Fight if you can, run if you can't. Try not to cause any casualties among your own people. There's no need to take him too seriously."

Old Zheng looked at Shunzi and whispered, "It has nothing to do with us."

Shunzi replied, "We'll try not to fall behind when we escape; that would be helping each other out."

Gao Yuntian frowned and thought for a moment, then looked at Jia Chuan and asked, "From what I've heard, you're responsible for providing the Emperor with concrete evidence of the Prince of Han's illegal activities, giving the Emperor a reason to weaken the Prince of Han's power. The Prince of Han is getting anxious..."

"Otherwise what?" Jia Chuan asked speechlessly.

Gao Yuntian chuckled twice and said, "I thought it was like what you told Zhu Zhanqi, that you wanted to force the Prince of Han to show himself and kill him."

Chen Mo frowned and asked, "Didn't he say long ago that this mission was to force the King of Han to start a rebellion before he was ready?"

Gao Yuntian nodded seriously and said, "Yes, that's what he said. I thought he had changed after meeting Zhu Zhanqi. Well, the Emperor needs a reason to gradually weaken the Prince of Han's power, and the Prince of Han's temper will definitely not tolerate it..."

"Alright, stop analyzing. It's a good thing we don't have to get up early tomorrow. How about we have a drink tonight?" Chen Mo suggested.

Old Zheng immediately responded, getting up to find some wine, but Jia Chuan grabbed him, asking, "Are you that careless? We haven't even come up with anything yet..."

Old Zheng said, "Didn't you already have a plan? Who knows what the Prince of Han's mansion will do? If you just cower in, aren't you just waiting to see what they'll do? What's there to discuss? You have Tianyou, what are you afraid of?"

Jia Chuan sighed and let go.

……

So, Jia Chuan took a day off the following day.

It was the yamen runners who came to ask, and Jia Chuan was unwilling to let his men risk making the trip.

The bailiffs failed to open the gate, but Jia Chuan went to the gate himself and told them through the gate, "The Prince of Han may be going to make a move against me again. I'm staying at home to avoid causing trouble for Prefect Lin. Please tell Prefect Lin that I don't want to implicate the nearby residents. I'd appreciate it if Prefect Lin could find a way to settle the nearby residents. Alas, life is full of hardships!"

The constable responsibly returned and reported back to Lin Wei without missing a single word.

Lin Wei was probably so overjoyed that Jia Chuan wasn't coming to work that he suddenly cleared up the knot in his head. He immediately got up from his hospital bed and began making arrangements efficiently.

He first ordered people to relocate the residents near Jia Chuan's residence to another place, providing not only accommodation but also three meals a day. Although the accommodation was poor, at least the meals were provided, and besides, the accommodations at home weren't great either, so none of the nearby residents objected.

When the school districts were assigned, those who weren't included blamed their bad luck.

Then, a few yamen runners were secretly arranged to explain to the residents the reason for the temporary relocation: the Prince of Han's mansion was going to deal with the new judge, so they should hide to avoid being accidentally injured.

But the people didn't care how loud or soft the voices were; they spread the word with great enthusiasm.

Lin Wei was lying in the back courtyard when he heard that the news had slowly spread, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

The Prince of Han's mansion heard the rumors even earlier than the city's residents. As soon as the sun was overhead, Zhu Gaoxu knew that he was going to kill Judge Jia again. This time, his subordinates did not dare to hide it, and Zhu Heng dared not hide it either.

The leadership team of the Prince of Han's Mansion held another meeting, and Hao Wen was fortunate enough to attend this time.

The Prince's Mansion had not yet received the imperial decree from the capital, but the prefectural government had. Hao Wen's task was to recite the letter of commendation from memory, and then the team members analyzed it word by word, concluding that the person in the capital seemed to be comforting Jia Chuan.

Hao Wen was no longer allowed to listen to the rest of the meeting; he was sent away, and before leaving, Zhu Heng gave him a task: if the timing was right, he could poison Jia Chuan to death.

Hao Wen was almost scared to death.

If transporting grain to the Han King's granary is considered a pledge of loyalty, then what about killing Jia Chuan? There's no need for that.

Hao Wen left the Prince of Han's residence with trepidation.

In the study, after Zhu Heng suggested that they should go along with the plan, Qian Xun shared his opinion.

"Your Highness, is it possible... that the imperial decree concerning the Prince's residence should have arrived by now?"

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Qian Xun, snorted, and said, "You think you're the only one who could think of that?"

Zhu Heng looked at Qian Xun and said, "The Prince naturally knows the imperial decree is coming soon, otherwise why would that judge be hiding in his residence and afraid to come out? He also knows that the one in the capital wouldn't dare to do anything to the Prince. Having just ascended the throne, he can't worry about so many things. This is our opportunity..."

Wang Bin snorted coldly: "You make perfect sense!"

Zhu Gaochi waved his hand impatiently and said, "Enough of this useless talk. If he won't come to discuss grain, then delay it. We must search for all available grain in Shandong, and contact our former subordinates as soon as possible. I don't care if he's a new emperor or not; I just want to get started as soon as possible!"

Wang Bin said, "Back in Nanjing, some people were still loyal, but ever since the Prince came to Le'an, some have become ambiguous, and now..."

"Take care of a couple of those short-sighted ones to establish my authority. Do I really need to teach them this? Give them the silver if they need it, and find something to use against the stubborn ones. Have any rumors spread among those in the capital?"

Before Zhu Heng could answer, an old eunuch hurriedly entered the study, saying that the Emperor's decree had arrived.

……

After an incense stick had burned, the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree dared not linger for a moment and hurriedly left the palace.

Half an hour later, all the new furniture that had been put in the study was smashed again.

Zhu Heng then realized why Jia Chuan had hunched over and hidden in the house. It wasn't because he knew that the Prince of Han in the capital was powerless against him and was hiding to avoid trouble, but because he knew that the Prince of Han would be furious upon receiving the imperial decree, so he was hiding to avoid trouble.

Zhu Zhanji's words conveyed profound grief and indignation. In his decree, he stated that he initially disbelieved Zhang Xing's claims that his second uncle harbored rebellious intentions and was actively preparing for it. However, considering that he had issued an edict three months prior to disband the Prince of Han's guards, yet the Prince of Han's residence remained untouched, he was deeply distressed. His second uncle could have simply asked him for the throne, but ancestral rules and the imperial edict remained, and the throne had been passed to him—he had no choice. He still didn't believe Zhang Xing's claims, yet a mere judge had incurred his second uncle's wrath, violating ancestral rules by interfering in local affairs and even sending assassins. Upon learning this, he was heartbroken. How could his second uncle treat the rules established by Emperor Taizong as a joke? How could he possibly control the civil and military officials under such circumstances?

By the time the eunuch reading the imperial edict reached this point, Zhu Gaoxu was already red with anger. Zhu Zhanji didn't give him a chance to explain and immediately made his judgment. He clenched his fists tightly, barely managing to keep himself from rushing forward to snatch the edict and tear it to pieces.

The eunuch delivering the imperial edict seemed to sense the Prince of Han's anger, and his tone became somewhat unsteady: "Now that everyone knows about this matter, the people's mouths are much faster than letters. Second Uncle, you should restrain yourself a bit. As Emperor Taizong of Tang once said, water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. The will of the people is very important. If you continue to do this, Second Uncle, it will be very difficult for your nephew. It would be inappropriate not to do something. I hope Second Uncle will understand and cooperate."

Zhu Gaochi was furious. Not many people knew that he compared himself to Emperor Taizong of Tang, but his nephew knew that this was telling him that he was far inferior to Li Shimin, which was an insult! He suddenly looked up and glared at the eunuch who delivered the decree, his face bulging with veins.

Qian Xun, who was accompanying Zhu Gaoxu to receive the imperial decree, was terrified. He quickly tugged at Zhu Gaoxu's sleeve. This was not the time to lose his temper. He didn't want to think about the consequences. He had to hear the specific punishment. He whispered, "Your Highness, for the sake of the bigger picture, hold back."

The eunuch delivering the decree pretended not to hear: First, the guards who should be dismissed must be dismissed immediately, and the number should be doubled. This is to silence any gossip, and I think Second Uncle will also think it's necessary. The commander of the Imperial Guard will send someone to supervise, which will save Second Uncle from worrying. I heard that Second Uncle's granaries are very full. With the New Year approaching, the national treasury is not rich. Let's hand over some grain. I heard that Second Uncle is very wealthy. Let's suspend his annual salary for a year. Also, the officials under the Prince's Palace should be replaced...

(End of this chapter)