This path was blocked!
[Start over]
It was still [Jiankang Palace].
It was still [Commander of the Central Army Fu Qi], [Right Guard Commander of the Crown Prince Zhu Yi], and [Tongtai Temple abbot Fahui].
This time, Zhu Yuanzhang gazed intently at Commander of the Central Army Fu Qi.
Then, under the shocked eyes of everyone present, he stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, this humble monk wishes to report Prince of Linhe Xiao Zhengde and Hou Jing for conspiring to rebel!"
Silence fell!
Fu Qi, Zhu Yi, and the monk Fahui all turned their eyes to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Even the emperor seated on the throne fell into a deep silence for a moment.
After a while, Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, spoke from behind the bamboo curtain.
Zhu Yuanzhang could feel a pair of exceptionally sharp eyes fixed on him from the throne.
"What evidence do you have?"
Zhu Yuanzhang could clearly hear the surprise in Xiao Yan's voice.
His heart sank.
Not shock! Not anger! Not disbelief!
Surprise!
That old schemer!
He seemed to have known all along that Xiao Zhengde and Hou Jing had conspired together!
Then why had he let Xiao Zhengde join forces with Hou Jing?
Zhu Yuanzhang forced down his shock and confusion.
Then he continued.
"Hou Jing and Xiao Zhengde have been secretly conspiring for a long time. There are dozens of letters between them. Your Majesty need only send someone to search Prince of Linhe's Mansion to see for yourself."
With that, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head.
His eyes blazing, he looked at Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, on the throne.
"Summon Xiao Zhengde."
Emperor Wu of Liang fell silent for a moment.
He seemed to be weighing the pros and cons.
"Your command is obeyed."
The black-robed eunuch in the hall hurried out to deliver the order.
Before long, several riders galloped through the palace gates toward Prince of Linhe's Mansion.
Time passed second by second.
Zhu Yuanzhang noticed a hint of pity in Fu Qi's eyes as he looked at him.
Zhu Yi, meanwhile, stood among the officials with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.
He showed no reaction at all to Xiao Zhengde's attempted rebellion.
Behind him, after a flicker of contemplation, the monk Fahui's eyes gradually turned cold.
"Your Majesty, we searched Prince of Linhe's residence but found no evidence of the alleged collusion and treason."
Outside the hall, the black-robed eunuch entered with a group of soldiers and reported to Xiao Yan.
Behind the bamboo curtain, a smile appeared on the emperor's face.
"It seems the accusations against Prince of Linhe were entirely fabricated."
Xiao Yan spoke slowly.
Almost at the same time, the abbot of Tongtai Temple, Fahui, stepped forward behind Zhu Yuanzhang and bowed.
"We have failed to discipline our disciple. We beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."
"Just this once. Do not let it happen again."
"Your Majesty is most gracious!"
Fahui turned around, and his icy face came into Zhu Yuanzhang's view.
In that instant, the monk seemed to transform into a blood-red tree of flesh with countless branches.
Countless crimson branches pointed at Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not resist.
He watched calmly as the blood tree drained him until he was nothing but a withered husk.
[You died]
But that did not mean he had failed.
At least Zhu Yuanzhang now knew that Emperor Wu of Liang was not entirely unaware of Xiao Zhengde's betrayal.
There was probably another reason he had deliberately put this traitor in command of the army against Hou Jing.
[Start over]
Darkness followed him like a shadow.
This time, Zhu Yuanzhang did not try to send a memorial to Emperor Wu of Liang.
After everything in Jiankang Palace had settled, Emperor Wu of Liang made a bold declaration about launching the Taiqing Catastrophe. Once he formally appointed Xiao Zhengde as a general and stationed him in Danyang, Zhu Yuanzhang walked out of the hall and bowed to the monk Fahui.
"Your disciple has already mastered the Sangqiwo Jataka Secret Mantra, the Fixed Light Demon-Subduing Secret Mantra, and the Buddha-Spoken Soapberry Secret Mantra."
"..."
The profound monk, whose aura felt even more obscure and unfathomable to Zhu Yuanzhang than Minghui, Mingguang, and Mingshan of Imperial Awakening Temple combined, turned his head.
For the first time, he studied Zhu Yuanzhang with something close to admiration.
Then he slowly declared, "Heaven has not forsaken Tongtai Temple!"
He spread his monk's robe and said quietly, "Come back to the temple with me. This place has become a den of trouble. I'll arrange for you to leave with Xiao Zhengde for Jing-Yang as soon as possible."
"That won't do."
Having learned from his previous attempts, Zhu Yuanzhang knew Tongtai Temple would never last long enough to depart with Xiao Zhengde.
"What year and month is it now?"
Zhu Yuanzhang bowed, then raised his head and asked solemnly.
This question was crucial.
Hou Jing would cross the river on the twentieth day of the tenth month and reach Zhuque Passage on the twenty-fourth. With Xiao Zhengde acting as his inside man, he would capture Jinling on the twenty-fifth and then lay siege to Taicheng.
"The eighteenth day of the tenth month."
Perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang's attainment in Mind-Settling Zen had truly delighted Fahui.
The bejeweled monk before him answered patiently.
"Could you send me away tomorrow?"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
Fahui shook his head.
"No."
"The day after?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was baffled.
Given Tongtai Temple's standing at court and the strength Fahui had displayed, quietly sending one of the temple's monks out of the city should have been easy.
But from Fahui's reaction, it seemed all but impossible.
"..."
Fahui remained silent.
After a long while, when it became clear that Zhu Yuanzhang would not give up until he got an answer, he finally spoke.
"Without the protection of the Xiao Liang Royal Aura, no one can escape the city."
"I see..."
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned grave.
He did not doubt that Fahui was lying.
It was easy enough to judge.
He had seen with his own eyes the blood shadow Fahui became after he died.
Even Fahui himself had died inside the city.
Clearly, whatever prevented people from leaving the city was no ordinary thing.
"Why can't you leave with Xiao Zhengde?"
Fahui asked quietly. Golden light glimmered in the monk's kindly eyes.
He seemed eager to hear what "Minghe"—who had suddenly mastered three of the Eight Great Secret Mantras—would say.
"Xiao Zhengde won't escape. He has an agreement with Hou Jing and will definitely return to Jinling to take the throne. Helping him will only lead to death."
As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang watched Fahui's expression.
However—
"How could Xiao Zhengde be so foolish as to believe Hou Jing's lies?"
Fahui shook his head, clearly unable to believe Xiao Zhengde would do such a thing.
"What's so hard to understand? Xiao Zhengde has always been shortsighted."
What kind of sane person just runs off to the north for no reason?
And after realizing Northern Wei didn't want him, Xiao Zhengde had actually come running back of his own accord.
That was truly absurd.
At Zhu Yuanzhang's firm explanation, Fahui's eyes flickered.
In an instant, he seemed to understand something, and a look of realization crossed his face.
But his expression changed so quickly that before Zhu Yuanzhang could react, he had already returned to his usual image: the kindly, greedy old monk.
"If things truly develop that way, then every way out of the city will be cut off. The only path to survival will be to enter Taicheng... Never mind. Come back to the temple with me first!"
Fahui sighed deeply.
He rolled the prayer beads in his hand and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a deep, thoughtful gaze.
By the Qinhuai River, martial monks arrived by boat.
The two boarded. As they gazed at the towering Nine-Story Pagoda, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Fahui the same question again.
"Why can't your disciple simply escape the city?"
"Unspoken."
Fahui gave the same answer as before.
But this time, unlike before, Fahui's gaze was clear and sharp as he watched [Jiankang Palace] gradually recede behind them.
"There is a great terror."
Before you continue