Great Zhou Martial Immortal

Chapter 108 The Golden Buddha Weeps, Zhou Xing's Story Comes to an End

Just after the noon bell rang, a huge crowd suddenly surged into front of the Dayun Temple gate.

The leading student, his robes fluttering, knelt on the stone steps, holding a copy of the Diamond Sutra aloft: "We beg the Buddha to grant us salvation! Save Judge Di!" His voice was like tearing silk, startling the copper bells on the eaves into a chaotic tinkling.

"Buddha, please open your eyes!"

A lame old woman suddenly collapsed in front of the gilded Buddha statue, her withered hands pounding the blue bricks with a loud thud.

She was holding a blood-stained garment in her arms—the undergarment her son had torn off while he was being tortured in Lijing Prison.

Blood seeped through the coarse cloth, leaving hideous dark marks on the prayer mat in front of the Buddha.

The incense burner overturned, and blue smoke danced wildly. Thousands of people surged into the Dayun Temple like a tide, kneeling and filling the nine courtyards. The sounds of chanting and wailing mingled, shaking the dust that had accumulated on the beams to fall in a flurry.

This kneeling and pleading continued for a full half hour.

Just as Abbot Faming was bringing out the Great Cloud Sutra to comfort the monks, a young novice suddenly stumbled out of the main hall, crying, "Master! Buddha..."

Everyone followed the sound and went out——

The gilded Maitreya statue, meticulously crafted by artisans from the Western Regions, shimmered with an unusual glow under the setting sun.

First, a glistening drop of water formed on her right eyelid, and then tears slowly seeped from her left eye as well.

Two lines of clear tears slid down her compassionate, smiling face, splashing up tiny droplets in front of the lotus seat.

"Buddha wept!"

All the monks in the temple prostrated themselves on the ground, and the crowd instantly erupted in cheers.

Soon, the news spread, and the entire God's realm was in an uproar:
—In the silk shops of Nanshi, merchants were passing around a silk painting of "Maitreya weeping blood as a warning"; students of the Imperial Academy immediately printed "Ode to Buddha's Tears" and distributed it to various neighborhoods; even the courtesans of Congshanfang were singing the newly composed "Song of Buddha's Compassion"; most deadly of all, that very night hundreds of people knelt on Luoqiao Bridge, shouting "Please Your Majesty execute the cruel officials to appease Buddha!"
The Wu family members immediately became restless.

Upstairs in the Seven Treasures Pavilion, Wu Youyi's face was ashen, and he smashed the teacup in his hand: "So that's how it is! So that's what they were planning! What a vicious scheme to kill someone by using Buddhism! First, they incite the ignorant masses, and then they use the will of Heaven to force the emperor to abdicate—truly wicked!"

Emperor Wu Yizong suddenly slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "Who cares about that now!" He roared, brandishing a secret letter: "That mad dog Zhou Xing just arrested Zhao Su, the treasurer of the Ministry of War! He's one of our men!"

"Report——"

A trusted aide stumbled in, his official hat askew: "News has just come from Anye Ward that Zhou Xing has sent men to arrest Cui Yuanli, the Assistant Director of the Imperial Workshops, accusing him of possessing treasonous books by the Tang Dynasty!"

"Cui Yuanli?"

Wu Youning was taken aback. "That's not the one who supervised the construction of the golden plaque for our Mingtang..."

Another guard rushed in and knelt down: "Reporting to the Prince! The men from Lijing Prison have broken into the Ministry of Agriculture and captured Zheng Defang, the brewing official..."

"enough!"

Wu Youyi suddenly sprang to his feet, his eyes bloodshot. He grabbed a dagger from the table and plunged it into the map, right on the three characters "Dali Temple": "Prepare the horses immediately! Go to the Prince of Wei's residence!"

……

Ziwei City.

Yingxian Palace.

Li Lingyue placed the scroll on the imperial desk and slowly unfurled it, her fingertips moving along the vermilion-lined boundaries of the prefectures and counties: "Your subject has carefully reviewed the number of temples reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of State Ceremonies, and after repeated verification, has drafted the 'Regulations for the Reform of Dayun Temple,' which I request Your Majesty to review."

"Ah."

Wu Zetian glanced at the blueprints and gave an encouraging look: "Go on."

Li Lingyue said, “Your subject believes that in all 320 prefectures of the empire, any temples built by imperial decree of the previous dynasty can be renamed ‘Dayun Temple,’ with the Dayun Temple in the capital as the chief abbot. In prefectures where there are no existing temples to be renamed, government land should be selected for construction, and the scale should not exceed that of the main hall of the prefectural government. This is the first point.”

Secondly, each prefecture may recommend two monks well-versed in the *Mahamegha Sutra*. After examination by the Honglu Temple, these monks will travel to the capital for training, with instruction passed down in stages. The first batch should complete their initial training before this winter, and next spring they will be dispatched to various prefectures to establish lecture halls for the dissemination of the sutra.

Wu Zetian listened quietly, her gaze gratified.

Li Lingyue pointed intently at the map: "As for Futian Temple, 30% of the incense money from each temple can be used as charitable funds. To prevent the abbot from embezzling, a supervisory regulation should be attached. Orphans and widows should be taken in first, and the list can be coordinated with the Ministry of War's pension order. In this way, the national treasury expenditure can also be reduced. Your subject has calculated that if this method is followed, the expenditure can be halved. The people of the world will surely praise Your Majesty's benevolence. We can have the best of both worlds."

"it is good!"

Wu Zetian was very satisfied, having put one worry to rest. She casually picked up the Regulations for Supervision and flipped through them: "This should be a revision of the old system for the reorganization of the public granaries in the first year of Yongchang. It's very good, well-organized, and in line with the temples... Did you revise it yourself?"

The last sentence was delivered with a smile and a playful tone.

"Mother!"

Li Lingyue immediately retorted with dissatisfaction, "Can't I change it myself?" She turned her face away, "That person is busy tinkering with all sorts of nonsense in the Suiming Pavilion all day long, how can he have time to care about these things... This morning he even asked me for the 'Golden Poppy Garden,' saying that he wanted to use the secret techniques recorded in the 'Dan Ding Scroll' to try planting spiritual herbs... He's busier than me!"

Wu Zetian laughed loudly upon hearing this: "You, you! Lu Qing is so clever. Since he is willing to study the 'Dan Ding Juan' together, if he really refines the elixir in the future, you will be the one who benefits. You don't even know how lucky you are..."

Just as Li Lingyue was about to retort, she suddenly saw Shangguan Wan'er quickly enter and hand over a secret memorial.

She shut her mouth, knowing in her heart that it was coming!
Wu Zetian's expression changed slightly. She glanced at the memorial, her face showing no emotion, and waved her hand dismissively: "I won't read it. Read it!"

Shangguan Wan'er immediately unfolded the memorial and said in a low but clear voice, "Your Majesty, I have verified that of the sixty-four people arrested by Zhou Xing, forty-three have nothing to do with the past affairs of the Li Tang dynasty, but rather had personal grudges against him. Nineteen of them are scholars from humble backgrounds who have entered officialdom through the imperial examinations in recent years. Because they refused to submit to him, they were framed. The remaining twenty-four..."

She paused, then continued, "They may have impeached him for his cruel conduct, or ridiculed his humble origins..."

The candlelight inside the hall suddenly flickered, reflecting a flash of cold light in Wu Zetian's eyes.

Li Lingyue waited expressionlessly for the next part.

"What a loyal minister!"

Wu Zetian chuckled lightly, but her voice was chillingly cold: "I ordered him to investigate treason, and he's already settling personal scores first!"

Shangguan Wan'er lowered her head and continued, "According to further investigation, Zhao Huaiyi, the general manager of Yanghui Manor, was indeed a defeated soldier from Runan in the fourth year of the Chuigong era. Although there is no concrete evidence to show that he was Li Zhen's strategist, his former troops did indeed stay at Yunyang Pass for three days with the Yue King's personal guards. Because he was proficient in alchemy, Zhou Xing changed his name and took him under his command."

Wu Zetian's expression grew even colder.

Shangguan Wan'er's voice was as clear as a gurgling spring as she continued to explain the investigation results regarding the accusations against "Qiu Shenji":
"Secondly, the Zhang family massacre in Luozhou. Although there is no concrete evidence of boiling oil being poured into ears, there were indeed sharp blade marks on the well rim when the sixteen members of the Zhang family threw themselves into it, and the land involved now belongs to Zhou Xing's nephew-in-law."

"Thirdly, the death of Imperial Censor Wang Deqian. Although his body was not fed to dogs, the autopsy record states that 'his shinbones were completely shattered, as if he had been torn apart by a chariot,' indicating that he was indeed tortured before his death, and the story of his brutal murder is not unfounded."

"Fourth, the Henan disaster relief case. It is true that the rice was used to feed the cranes, and the land deed for the medicinal herb garden also matches the date of the disaster victims' land sale documents. As for the family letters, there is no concrete evidence yet, and we may need to ask General Qiu."

"Fifthly, the claim of 'Zhou Emperor' cannot be confirmed. However, when I led the Kite Guard to secretly investigate Yanghui Manor, I discovered multiple secret rooms with mechanical doors. The complexity of the mechanisms and locks on them was no less than that of the 'Nine Palaces Thousand Machine Lock' of the Mechanical City..."

Li Lingyue became increasingly surprised as she listened.

Boiling oil into ears, feeding corpses to mastiffs, feeding stale rice to cranes...

There's even a "Zhou Emperor"?!

What did Lu Chenyuan change in Qiu Shenji's memorial?

Click!

Enraged, Wu Zetian clenched her fist and smashed the armrest of the round-backed chair.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the hall, and a female official knelt down in a panic: "Your Majesty! Urgent report from Dayun Temple—the Maitreya Buddha statue is weeping, and thousands of people are kneeling and begging for severe punishment of the cruel officials!"

The air suddenly stagnated.

Shangguan Wan'er was greatly surprised. Wu Zetian glanced quickly at Li Lingyue—Li Lingyue was still immersed in the astonishment at Lu Chenyuan's major revision of the memorial, her face showing only surprise and astonishment, nothing more.

Wu Zetian breathed a sigh of relief and said to Li Lingyue, "Taiping, what are your thoughts on this?"

Li Lingyue came to her senses and immediately curtsied, saying, "Your Majesty is wise! There are many strange things about this matter. Although the Buddha statue weeping is miraculous, it is too coincidental that it happened at such a time of turmoil in the court. I fear that someone is using the will of Heaven to interfere in the affairs of the court, intending to rescue Di Renjie and others."

She paused briefly, then said seriously, "How can the law of the land be abolished because of a miracle? If there is indeed solid evidence of treason against Di Xiang and others, they should be severely punished; if it is a false accusation, we cannot overcorrect because of Zhou Xing's mistake."

She looked directly at Wu Zetian and said, "I believe that the Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate should jointly investigate the case, find out the truth first, and then make a decision!"

Shangguan Wan'er was somewhat surprised to hear this.

Wu Zetian gazed at her daughter for a long time, then suddenly chuckled, "Very good, you're making more and more progress."

She pondered for a moment, then said, "Since I came to power, I have always governed the country with the law." Her voice was neither hurried nor slow, yet carried an undeniable authority as she said, "Since the Grand Justice Zhou Xing has been found guilty of abusing his power and perverting the law, he should be severely punished! Issue an edict to immediately imprison Zhou Xing, and appoint Lai Junchen to preside over his trial. As for Cen Changqian, Ouyang Tong, and others..."

A shadow crossed her eyes: "Transfer it to the Censorate for retrial...The Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review shall handle it together."

Shangguan Wan'er wielded her brush with lightning speed, leaving behind elegant regular script on the imperial edict.

Her lowered eyelashes concealed the fleeting relief in her eyes—at least, those loyal ministers had a way out.

Li Lingyue remained respectful and composed on the surface, but inwardly she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He really did it!

With Zhou Xing falling into Lai Junchen's hands, the two cruel officials were fighting like dogs, and what awaited him was only a fate worse than death, forcing him to confess! In this way, the accusation of treason would be untenable, and Cen Xiang, Di Ge Lao, and others would naturally be able to weather the storm safely.

……

The Iron Prison of Dali Temple.

Zhou Xing held a red-hot pair of iron tongs to Lu Fuyuan's throat, grinning maliciously, "Minister Lu, if you don't sign this soon, your eyes will be next—"

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside the prison door.

He frowned and turned around, only to see several jailers escorting a group of disheveled officials as they staggered in. The leader, his face covered in blood, still shouted angrily, "Zhou Xing! How dare you frame a court official because of a personal grudge! His Highness Prince Wei will never let you get away with this!"

Zhou Xing's pupils constricted sharply—Zhao Su, the Treasurer of the Ministry of War?!
This person is clearly a member of the Wu family, so how did he end up in this Iron Prison?
He abruptly turned to Duan Hun beside him: "Who issued the arrest warrant?!"

Duanhun was also taken aback: "Wasn't it a handwritten order sent to us by the lord himself?" As he spoke, he presented the Dali Temple's approval document and some arrest warrants.

Zhou Xing snatched the document, his fingertips trembling as he unfolded it—

The seal is genuine!

The handwriting is exactly the same as his!
But the forty-odd extra names on the list stung his eyes.
Zhao Su, the treasurer of the Ministry of War: Just three days ago at a banquet, he mocked him for coming from a poor family.

Cui Yuanli, the Assistant Director of the Imperial Workshops: He came from the Cui clan of Boling and once impeached him for his cruel and illegal actions.

Zheng Defang, the chief steward of the Ministry of Agriculture: He was once falsely accused and demoted for strictly investigating the resale of disaster relief grain.

Lu Jingming, the Prime Minister of Taipu Temple...

Xu Mingyuan, Left Censorate...

"This……"

Cold sweat instantly soaked through my back.

Zhou Xingtai was familiar with this method—it was exactly the kind of framing he usually used!

Someone wants him to reap what he sows!
"Bastard!"

He roared and tore the document to shreds: "This is a frame-up! I have been interrogating them in prison all along, and I have never—"

The words caught in my throat.

Did the Emperor order the hunting party to be discarded after the hunt was over? But Cen Changqian and the others haven't been killed yet; isn't it too early to act now?

Was Lai Junchen trying to frame someone? He should have known the Empress's intentions, and besides, there was nothing unusual when he was temporarily transferred to the prison.

Qiu Shenji seeking revenge? But he's still at Jianmen Pass in Sichuan; even if he wanted to, he couldn't.

Who is it? !
His mind raced, trying to figure out who had the ability to forge arrest warrants and pull this stunt!
After much thought, I realized I had too many enemies and was completely at a loss.

"grown ups!"

Duanhun suddenly whispered, "Outside..."

The sound of iron boots pounding the ground came from the end of the prison corridor, each step feeling like it was treading on Zhou Xing's heart.

He turned around abruptly, knocking over the charcoal brazier beside him.

The red-hot branding iron rolled to the side, sizzling and burning the scattered scraps of paper.

"Minister Zhou has a terrible temper."

Lai Junchen walked slowly, his hand resting on the gilded tortoise-shaped pouch at his waist. The prison guards of Lijing Prison surged in like a tide, instantly blocking all exits. Lai Junchen was in his early thirties, tall and thin, with slightly effeminate features. He bent down and picked up a piece of paper that hadn't completely burned, examining it closely in the firelight: "'Execute them on the spot'? Tsk tsk, Brother Zhou is even more ruthless to his own people than the rebels."

Zhou Xing staggered backward, cold sweat pouring down his back.

He knew very well that crying out for justice was useless; since Lai Junchen had come, it must be at the Emperor Wu's behest.

The Empress knew best whether he was guilty or not...

He suddenly remembered that three days ago—in this very torture chamber—he had said to Cen Changqian in the same mocking tone: “Does Prime Minister Cen know? The most poisonous branding iron is often used on old wounds.”

"Hahaha--"

A sudden burst of hoarse laughter shattered the silence.

Chained up, Lu Fuyuan raised his head, his white beard still stained with blood, and shouted, "Zhou Xing! I've been waiting for this day for ages!" He yanked the chains so hard that the torches on the wall shook: "You've finally met your match!"

Ouyang Tong, who was on the next rack, suddenly spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, which landed squarely on Zhou Xing's collar: "The jackal has finally been devoured by the tiger, how satisfying!"

Lai Junchen smiled, seemingly unconcerned, and suddenly took out a bright yellow silk cloth from his bosom.

The people in the prison held their breath instantly—it was an imperial edict embroidered with a golden phoenix!

"Zhou Xing, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, hear my decree."

Zhou Xing trembled violently, his knees slamming heavily onto the blue bricks.

Lai Junchen's cold voice echoed in the iron prison: "Zhou Xing, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, has been found guilty of condoning treason, accepting bribes, and fabricating charges against others. He is hereby dismissed from his post and investigated. The cases he handled shall be transferred to the Censorate for retrial. This is the imperial decree."

After reading it aloud, Lai Junchen suddenly leaned down and whispered in Zhou Xing's ear, "Brother Zhou, are you aware that an anonymous letter was delivered to my residence this morning..."

He took out a slip of paper from his sleeve, on which were only eight bold, powerful characters: "Please enter the urn; the heat is just right."

Zhou Xing's pupils suddenly contracted.

Lai Junchen flicked his fingertips, and the note turned into fragments that fluttered down. He laughed and said, "Of course, I don't want Brother Zhou to confess so easily. Why don't we just walk into the trap... What do you say?"

(End of this chapter)