Da Ming: I told you to die for your cause, why are you actually going to die?

Chapter 29 Loyalty and Honesty! [New book, please add to your collection]

"Zhang Qianxian!"

Recovering from his shock, the fat censor who had previously offered to buy Zhang Biao a coffin immediately changed his address and asked in a trembling voice, "How...how did you do that?"

“Yes, Vice Censor Zhang! The Emperor not only didn’t blame you, but also…rewarded you with silver?” Another censor, who was rather dark-skinned, reacted quickly as well.

"Not only was he rewarded with silver, but he was also promoted to the rank of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, a fourth-rank official!" a minor official in the capital immediately added.

This means they intend to learn from Zhang Biao.

Clearly, everything Zhang Biao experienced completely overturned their understanding of the Hongwu court.

He died remonstrating in the Fengtian Hall, was imprisoned, and yet he came out alive and was promoted and made a fortune? That's a myth!
The way the lower-ranking officials in the capital looked at Zhang Biao changed again.

"Yes, Vice Minister Zhang! Tell me quickly! What did the Emperor ask you?"

"Are you blessed by a deity?!"

"Is that fifty taels of silver real? Can I touch it?"

The low-ranking officials in the capital instantly surrounded Zhang Biao, chattering away and their eyes burning with desire that could melt the silver in his arms.

They are too poor!
We desperately need hope!

Zhang Biao's success, or rather his survival, was nothing short of a beacon in the darkness, a feast for the starving.

Zhang Biao enjoyed the treatment of being the center of attention, which greatly satisfied his vanity.

He cleared his throat, preparing to embellish his story and boast about how he had outwitted Old Zhu with his wit and courage.
at this time!

"Brother Zhang!"

Shen Lang's trembling voice rang out again, carrying a more urgent panic concerning his own interests. He interrupted abruptly, "You just said... His Majesty also mentioned my jade pendant?"

Although he was questioning Zhang Biao, his eyes were fixed on the unpaid salary compensation that belonged to him in Zhang Biao's arms, as well as the ten taels of silver that Old Zhu had given him as an extra reward. His eyes were filled with longing and disbelief.

"Oh! Yes, yes!"

Zhang Biao suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing he had almost forgotten the important matter.

He immediately took out twenty taels of silver and stuffed it into Shen Lang's hand without saying a word, his action as bold as throwing two stones.

"Brother Shen! Here! This twenty taels is a special reward from the Emperor!"

Zhang Biao's voice was loud and clear, making sure everyone could hear: "The Emperor has said! Of these ten taels, you must immediately go and redeem your family's ancestral jade pendant!"

"in addition!!"

Zhang Biao's voice suddenly rose again, filled with the excitement of announcing a major benefit: "His Majesty also said—"

He paused deliberately, whetting everyone's appetite, and then spoke slowly and deliberately, a bombshell:

"Buy three more pig heads for Imperial Censor Shen!"

"So that we won't embarrass our Great Ming Dynasty again over a piece of meat!"

Boom——!
The crowd erupted!

"Three pig heads!!"

"A pig's head bestowed by the Emperor himself?!"

"My goodness! This is an overwhelming wealth... no, it's an overwhelming amount of meat!!"

"Brother Shen, you've struck it rich! You've struck it rich!!"

The gazes of the lower-ranking officials in the capital towards Shen Lang instantly shifted from envy to blatant jealousy. Three imperial-bestowed pig heads?

That should be enough to last until the Lunar New Year, right?
Shen Lang was stunned as he held the cold, heavy twenty taels of silver, standing there dumbfounded, as if he had been struck by lightning.

The Emperor not only bestowed ten taels of silver upon me to redeem my ancestral jade pendant, but he also specially gave me money to buy three pig heads?!
A tremendous sense of absurdity and an indescribable bitterness overwhelmed him instantly, and tears streamed down his face: "His Majesty, he is so wise!"

As he spoke, he knelt down with a thud towards the Fengtian Hall and kowtowed three times, crying like a child.

"Alright, Brother Shen! The Emperor has already said, don't embarrass our Great Ming!"

Zhang Biao quickly pulled him up, then glanced around at his colleagues, whose eyes were glazed over and whose drool was starting to seep out, and gave them a knowing, extremely irritating smile:

"Colleagues! Today, Censor Shen's family is having a feast! His Majesty has specially approved three large pig heads! Everyone who sees them gets a share! Don't just stand there! Let's go! Let's help Brother Shen redeem his jade pendant! Then we'll head straight to Wang Mazi's butcher shop! Today, our Jiangxi Circuit of the Censorate! No! All of you present! are having a feast!"

"Ow—!"

After a brief silence, a deafening wolf howl, filled with hunger and ecstasy, erupted from Fengtian Square.

What kind of upright officials are these?! What kind of dignified court are they?!

Compared to three glistening, fragrant imperial pig heads, everything else pales in comparison!
A group of impoverished Beijing officials, dressed in blue robes and usually either remonstrating to the death or being remonstrated to the death, were now like hungry wolves on steroids. They swarmed around Shen Lang, who was carrying a huge sum of money and whose mind was still blank. They pushed and shoved, shouting and yelling, as they rushed out of Fengtian Square, heading straight for the nearest pawnshop and Wang Mazi's butcher shop.

The scene looked just like a group of bandits coming down the mountain to kidnap a bride.

"Brother Shen! Hurry up! If we're late, Wang Mazi will be closing up shop!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Redeem the jade pendant first! Then buy the pig's head!"

"I want to eat pig's ears! Don't anyone try to take them from me!"

"I want pig intestines! The kind that's thoroughly braised!"

"Zhang Qianxian! Could you lend me some of your thirty taels of silver? I'd like to buy a couple of pounds of meat to take home."

"Hahaha! No problem!"

Zhang Biao laughed loudly and was quickly swept up in the excited crowd.

Looking at the faces around him, flushed with excitement and hunger, listening to the heated discussion about the ownership of the various parts of the pig's head, and feeling the weight and presence of the silver in his arms, he was momentarily dazed.

Although he was seen as a 'great hero' by these low-ranking officials in the capital, he was unsure how long he could stay in the Ming Dynasty world—perhaps two days, five days, or half a month, but at most no more than a month.

Because in September, Zhu Yuanzhang will definitely establish a crown prince.

That will be the time when he leaves the world of the Ming Dynasty.

These low-ranking officials in the capital who ate pig's head with him probably never remembered that they were "Zhang Qianxian," who died for remonstrating and was imprisoned, yet came out alive and was promoted, dared to demand unpaid wages outside the Fengtian Hall of Emperor Zhu, ate noodles inside the Fengtian Hall, and even extorted fifty taels of silver from Emperor Zhu.

Damn! I'm getting a little sentimental. I guess I'm really suited to the "I'll forget about you once I've had my pants down" persona!

Zhang Biao inwardly berated himself, then began to console himself.

There's a saying: "Drink today, for tomorrow we may die; worry about tomorrow later." Why think so much?

[Since we'll be traveling back anyway, we can just treat them to pig's head again! We'll be drinking buddies!]

As if he had made up his mind, Zhang Biao immediately waved his hand and said, "Let's go! Let's eat pig's head! Today, it's on me! All you can eat!"

"Brother Zhang is truly righteous!"

Shen Lang was the first to loudly echo, his eyes filled with admiration, gratitude, and loyalty to Zhang Biao! Loyalty! Loyalty!

(End of this chapter)