Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 315 Is King Xue Fearful?

The Court of Imperial Sacrifices would provide accommodations for musicians from the outskirts of the city, located in the eastern part of the city. Ordinary musicians would share a room with a dozen or so people, while senior musicians could have their own rooms. Those who were granted the honorary title of Imperial Music Doctor could even have their homes there.

Lei Sibao had been a musician in Yecheng for many years, and he had his own private house in the East City, with two musicians serving as his servants and attendants.

After being punished yesterday and rescued by Xue Tao, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Lei Sibao was sent back to his residence. From yesterday to today, visitors have been coming in droves. Because the house is too small to accommodate too many visitors, some people have to stand in the courtyard on the outer corridor.

Inside the room, Lei Sibao lay face down on the bed, his back covered with a lot of the antidote he had obtained from the Imperial Medical Academy, and he kept humming to himself.

A musician nearby comforted him, saying, "Brother Lei, it is truly hateful that you were insulted and beaten by that evil official, but it is a great honor that you were rescued by Xue Shaoqing! Let that evil official know that our Taichang Temple has its own rules and regulations, and it is not a place for him to bully and act arrogantly!"

"I've found out that this new Zhang Xielu is the grandson of Zhang Yangong. Zhang Yangong was tyrannical when he was in power, and it seems his grandson is no better!"

Another musician said with great concern that although the other musicians had not been severely punished for their mistakes yesterday, Lei Sibao's case was enough to make the others very worried, fearing that they would also be abused and punished in the future.

However, as soon as these words were spoken, someone nearby sneered: "So what if he's not a good person? Zhang Yan Gong was in power for many years, and he was very powerful. In the end, he was stripped of his power by Huang Changru's casual remark. In the past, the Zhang family's sons and relatives were already wearing scarlet robes after they were removed from their official robes, but now they are only appointed as eighth-rank assistant music officials. It can be seen that the family has fallen on hard times!"

"Absolutely, absolutely! We have nothing to fear! Even without Huang Chang's long-standing favor with the Emperor, we still have Brother Lei. Brother Lei's family has a beautiful and virtuous relative who pleases the famous Prince, and he also has a Junior Minister who treats scholars with respect. After this incident, Zhang Xielu will never dare to provoke us again!"

The more these people talked, the more excited they became, completely disregarding Zhang Xielu's declining family background. Some even started gesturing wildly.

The room was already small, and with so many people crammed in, it was not uncommon for someone to accidentally touch Lei Sibao on the bed, causing him to yell in pain: "Which scoundrel poked the cane marks on my back? It hurts so much! Get out, all of you get out! Yesterday when I was being tortured on the platform, none of you came to my aid, but now that you see I have powerful backers, you come here to fawn over me!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd couldn't help but look embarrassed. A few of the more shameless ones quickly shouted, "My brother wasn't outside the hall yesterday, Fourth Brother, please wait here! If that wicked official dares to make things difficult again, we'll scratch his official robes and face for you!"

No sooner had the words been spoken than a clerk's gruff voice rang out from outside: "What are you all doing gathered here? Disperse! Disperse all of you! Is Lei Sibao in the room? Get out here right now and come back with us to the hall for your supervision!"

The actors gathered outside scattered like birds upon seeing the menacing magistrate, while rough shouts and curses echoed from inside the room: "Which dog slave dares to cause trouble? Don't you know that Master Xue instructed my brother to take good care of his injuries? I'll be damned... Ah, ah, my lord, spare my life!"

These actors were incredibly arrogant, not even taking the dismissed prime minister Zhang Yue of Yan seriously. They even thought that Zhang Yue's dismissal was due to the advice of Huang Fanchuo and Huang Changru. However, they were terrified of these officials from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

The clerks had no official rank or title, but they directly managed the officials and often punished them with sticks. It was not uncommon for several of them to be beaten to death each year. Therefore, when they saw these clerks, they would call them "Lord" or "Father-in-law" in an attempt to win their favor by belittling themselves and praising them.

As soon as the actors peeked out of the room, their arrogance vanished considerably upon seeing the official wielding a stick. They quickly fled, begging for mercy with forced smiles.

Before long, the once bustling courtyard was left with only Lei Sibao lying on the bed groaning and two servants. The heroes who had sworn to protect Lei Sibao had also vanished without a trace!

Lei Sibao looked up and saw two clerks enter. He felt a chill run down his spine, but he forced himself to remain calm and said, "Yesterday, Vice Minister Xue asked me to return home to rest. Please, gentlemen..."

"We have not heard Xue Shaoqing's order. Zhang Xielu has ordered you to be summoned to the hall immediately. Get out of bed and go with us right away. Do not delay any longer!"

The two were not deterred; one of them even raised his hand and slammed the stick against the side of Lei Sibao's bed.

They weren't necessarily very obedient to Zhang Dai's orders, but they were happy to use them to suppress the arrogance of some of the more unruly actors. As for whether the orders were reasonable, that was for the higher-ups to decide; they only needed to ensure that they were intimidating enough in front of the actors.

Lei Sibao hurriedly rolled off the bed from the other side, enduring the pain as he grabbed his robe and put it on. He ordered a servant to take out a dozen copper coins and stuff them into the clerk's hand, then winked at another servant, signaling him to hurry to the office to find someone to report the news. Only then did he obediently follow the clerk out the door and head towards the Taile Department's hall.

When Lei Sibao reappeared outside the hall, the eyes of all the actors were drawn to him again. They knew what had happened yesterday, and seeing this scene naturally aroused their curiosity once more, with some of the younger actors cheering and applauding Lei Sibao.

Seeing this, Lei Sibao's courage was restored. He straightened his chest and strode into the hall with an air of arrogance.

Inside the hall, Zhang Dai was looking through Lei Sibao's records. When Lei Sibao stepped into the hall, Zhang Dai looked up at him twice and then smiled and said, "You haven't been drinking today, have you?"

"Thank you for your consideration, Zhang Xielu. I haven't drunk any yet, but I will later. After being tortured yesterday, I was fortunate to receive a gift from Xue Shaoqing. I took this gift to the Imperial Medical Bureau to seek medical treatment and obtained a medicinal wine for treating sores and swellings. I need to drink three liters every afternoon to promote blood circulation and dispel blood stasis!" Lei Sibao said confidently.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai chuckled again. The more this guy brought it up, the more he wanted to teach him a lesson. It wasn't that he was petty enough to argue with a mere entertainer, but rather that he was competing with Xue Tao, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

"Since you haven't drunk any alcohol, then you should focus on your art."

Zhang Dai picked up a song book, raised his hand and ordered a clerk to hand it to Lei Sibao so that he could begin receiving instruction.

Lei Sibao took the scripture and glanced at it, but remained standing and said, "Reporting to Zhang Xielu, I'm afraid the exam will not be able to be held today. I was tortured yesterday, and my muscles and bones are swollen and my hands and feet are in pain, so I can't move."

"What crime should an actor be punished for resisting supervision?"

Zhang Dai was not annoyed upon hearing this, but simply asked again.

Upon hearing this, Lei Sibao's face turned cold at first, and then he said sternly, "Zhang Xielu, stop making baseless accusations! When did I resist? It was only because I was punished by you that my injuries were still painful and could not be healed. If you still want to persecute the innocent, don't blame me for filing a complaint with my superiors!"

"Drag him out first, then give him ten strokes of the cane, and put him in shackles on the stage. He can only be taken down when he is ready to perform!"

Zhang Dai was too lazy to waste any more words with him. The so-called supervision of the class was just a formality. Seeing that this guy was unwilling to even go through the formality, he went straight to the point and gave the instructions.

"Wait, wait, Zhang Xielu, how could you... If you're not afraid of Xue Shaoqing, then what about Prince Xue?"

When Lei Sibao saw the clerk about to drag him out again, his expression changed immediately, and he immediately spoke up loudly.

Zhang Dai was taken aback upon hearing this. He raised his hand to signal the clerk to pause for a moment and said in a deep voice, "What do you mean?"

“My family has a daughter, whose beauty and talent are remarkable, and who is favored by the Xue and Wang families. Zhang Xielu comes from a prestigious family, surely he knows about this? Or is he just pretending not to know to conceal his true intentions?”

Lei Sibao sneered, "I have no acquaintance with Zhang Xielu, nor any enmity between us. Why is Xielu making things difficult for me? Perhaps he was instigated by someone in the department to use his official power to force me to submit and obediently offer up my daughter."
"I do have a young daughter in my household who is about to grow up, and whose beauty and talent surpass even her elder sister's. But such meticulous training is reserved for a prince; how can I entrust her to an ordinary person! Zhang Xielu is using threats and coercion like this; does he really think I don't know any noble people?"

Zhang Dai was puzzled when he heard this. After thinking it over, he finally understood what Lei Sibao meant. He was both amused and exasperated, and too lazy to waste any more words on the man. He simply ordered, "This scoundrel is wicked. He resisted the supervision and insulted his superior. Give him ten more strokes of the cane and drag him out!"

As Lei Sibao was dragged out of the hall and pulled onto the high platform, the area outside the hall suddenly became lively again. The scene was vaguely like yesterday, but the atmosphere was much stronger than yesterday.

It's not uncommon for actors to be punished, but the fact that they've been punished for days on end, and that it's also mixed with the rivalry between the officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, has caused even more discussion and speculation about what will happen next.

Zhang Dai didn't go out to watch the commotion. He hadn't expected Lei Sibao to use Prince Xue to scare him. Then he thought about how Xue Tao had stopped him from punishing this guy yesterday. He suspected it wasn't just about humiliating him, but perhaps also related to this matter.

Xue Tao's daughter married the Crown Prince, and his son married the daughter of the Prince of Xue. They were related by marriage to the Emperor and his brother, making their status as imperial relatives very solid.

If Lei Sibao is treated with any special care because of this, it means his daughter must be quite favored in the Xue family. These people are all wealthy idlers, with no real business to attend to; they just tinker around with trivial matters.

Zhang Dai didn't even take Prince Ning seriously, let alone Prince Xue. They didn't interact much, and could be said to have lived in relative peace. But if Prince Xue were to actually give this guy some extra support out of sheer boredom, it would inevitably make his work more difficult.

So after thinking it over, Zhang Dai decided to take a drastic approach, simply removing Lei Sibao from the register of officials to avoid further trouble. Even if Prince Xue wanted to avenge his father-in-law, he would have to do it elsewhere so as not to interfere with his work.

So while Lei Sibao was being tortured on the stage, Zhang Dai wrote a decree to remove him from the official register in the Imperial Music Bureau. However, as the Assistant Musician, he only had the power to supervise the performance of the actors in the Imperial Music Bureau, not the power to dismiss or remove them. He could only submit this to his superior in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices for a ruling.

(End of this chapter)