Censor Zheng Goes to His Death (Seeking Follow-ups)

Chapter 30: Censor Zheng Goes to His Death (Please Keep Reading)

After Academician Su left the Imperial Prison, the cell to Xu Xing's left stood empty.

Not until yesterday was another convicted official brought in.

This official's surname was Tian. He was the Vice Prefect of Ru Prefecture. It was said that while escorting provisions and military pay to the imperial army, he had missed the deadline, leading to the army's crushing defeat. A special imperial envoy had personally interrogated and convicted him, and he was sent under guard to the Divine Capital to await the Ministry of Justice's disposition.

Vice Prefect Tian's face was waxen, his hair disheveled and his features grimy. After entering prison, he seemed even less spirited than Xu Xing had been before.

One look was enough to tell that the long journey under escort had cost him half his life.

Xu Xing was happy to do a good deed. Just as he had treated Academician Su and Chang Ji before, he shared some meat with Vice Prefect Tian each day.

On Vice Prefect Tian's second day in prison.

The fifth day after Princess Anren's wedding.

From the Yi-class cell separated from Xu Xing by a single wall came the shrill voice of a eunuch.

"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The convicted official Zheng Changshan embezzled and perverted the law, privately accepted bribes, secretly raised armed troops, and intended rebellion... In consideration of Zheng Changshan's many accomplishments during his service at the Censorate, his repeated remonstrances, and his merit to the state, his three clans shall not be exterminated. He is only granted death by poisoned wine; the males shall be exiled three thousand li, and the female relatives consigned to the Office of Instruction and Entertainment... Respect this!"

Cell Yi-32.

The eunuch in dragon-patterned robes drew out the final note of the imperial edict, then lowered his voice. "Lord Zheng, accept the edict."

He rolled up the edict and held it out to Censor Zheng.

Seeing that Censor Zheng refused to accept it, the eunuch in dragon-patterned robes sighed. "Lord Zheng, you know His Majesty's temper. You could submit a memorial at any other time, but you absolutely could not do so on the day of the Princess's wedding."

"His Majesty... has already been quite restrained."

He spoke heavily.

Censor Zheng was startled by those words.

The eunuch in dragon-patterned robes was Chongming Emperor's confidant, the Seal-Bearing Eunuch Li Enlu.

Li Enlu enjoyed a fine reputation both in court and among the common people. He was neither greedy nor corrupt, formed no factions, and pursued no private interests; in terms of personal virtue, he was beyond reproach. Whenever scholars outside the court cursed the eunuch faction, they would deliberately avoid mentioning the name of the Seal-Bearing Eunuch Li Enlu.

Likewise, Li Enlu was famous for being easy to speak with.

Now... Li Enlu had said that "His Majesty" had been quite restrained. The implication was that if Censor Zheng failed to give Chongming Emperor a satisfactory answer, the only one to die would not be himself.

"Your subject... thanks Your Majesty for his great grace."

Censor Zheng forced a smile, kowtowed three times toward the south, and accepted the edict.

To the south lay Purple Star Hall of the imperial palace.

Before long.

Only Censor Zheng and a bottle of poisoned wine resting on a lacquered wooden tray remained in Cell Yi-32.

"Alas! Woe is me!"

"I, Zheng Changshan, studied by the cold window for thirteen years. At twenty, I took the Ministry of Rites examination under the Department of State Affairs and earned the title of Third-Ranked Scholar. At twenty-one, I became a Secretariat Gentleman and won the late Emperor's appreciation. At twenty-seven, I entered the Censorate as Vice Censor-in-Chief..."

"After decades of rising and sinking through officialdom, who would have thought I would end like this?"

Censor Zheng raised the poisoned wine, pitying his own reflection.

He had been prudent and steady for most of his life. Who could have known... that in his old age, he would act impulsively just once.

Yet at that moment.

The wall beside where he sat in desolate silence suddenly began to tremble with a series of sounds.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

As though someone were knocking on a door.

Censor Zheng instinctively moved closer to the wall whitewashed with clam-shell ash.

"Lord Zheng."

"Do you have any last words?"

"This humble official can deliver them for you..."

From next door came the voice of a young man.

"You are?"

Censor Zheng frowned.

He had not expected the Imperial Prison's soundproofing to be so poor—there were ears beyond the wall.

"This one is also a convicted official from the Western Pass Circuit."

"I heard that Your Excellency spoke out for justice..."

"Though this humble official lacks the ability to rescue Lord Zheng, helping Your Excellency with matters within my power should not be a problem..."

Xu Xing had no intention of revealing his true identity to Censor Zheng.

The "father-in-law and son-in-law" were hardly on harmonious terms. If Censor Zheng had not been about to die..., then should the chance arise in the future, Xu Xing would not mind making things difficult for him. After all, by custom, although he had yet to visit the Zheng Family with a formal betrothal letter, he still counted as the Zheng Family's son-in-law...

Yet the Zheng Family had simply ignored him, not even visiting him in the imperial prison...

But—

No matter what, Censor Zheng was dying after remonstrating to the death on behalf of the millions of disaster victims in Western Pass Circuit.

Those who gathered firewood for the masses must not be left to freeze to death amid wind and snow!

This ought to have been the simplest of principles.

"This old man's death was worthwhile!"

"A hundred years from now, the common folk will surely erect a monument for this official and spurn all those grand lords of the court..."

Censor Zheng had originally felt somewhat desolate, but upon hearing Xu Xing's words, he immediately felt that his death remonstrance had not been a mistake. It was something meaningful.

A person's death in obscurity

was not the same as dying with a legacy that would endure for generations.

"This old man has no last words."

"Only one regret—that I have wronged my clan..."

"To earn a good name for myself alone while leaving my clan to such a miserable fate is this old man's fault. I have a separate residence in Eternal Joy Ward of Divine Capital, where three thousand taels of silver are hidden, along with tokens exchanged with relatives and friends."

"The silver may serve as your payment, while the tokens... I ask that you take them to find this old man's relatives and friends, and see whether you can rescue my clan."

Censor Zheng spoke word by word.

He spoke slowly, solely to ensure Xu Xing heard clearly.

After Xu Xing gave him a definite answer, he hesitated no longer and tipped back his head, draining the cup of poisoned wine.

No more sound came from the B-class prison cell.

Xu Xing withdrew his ear from the wall.

Only a wall separated him from Censor Zheng. Moreover, with inner force supporting him, his hearing and sight were far keener than those of ordinary people, yet even he could not hear very clearly. Thus, there was no need whatsoever to worry that others might overhear what Censor Zheng had said.

However, someone in the D-class imperial prison had heard his words.

Clerk Wu cupped his hands toward Xu Xing. "Lord Xu, to set aside past grievances and willingly convey Lord Zheng's last words—I deeply admire you."

Divine Capital was vast, yet not so vast.

During Xu Xing's first few days in prison, quite a few prison guards had worried that Censor Zheng would ask about him...

After all, Xu Xing and Censor Zheng shared a certain connection.

Who would have thought that Censor Zheng never asked about the matter at all? It became a joke for the imperial prison guards to discuss over tea and meals. First they mocked Censor Zheng for trimming his sails to the wind; then they mocked Xu Xing for having no family or friends to rely upon.

"I was merely soft-hearted for a moment."

Xu Xing shook his head, unwilling to say more.

Seeing this, Clerk Wu did not continue speaking.

After roughly a quarter of an hour had passed, Xu Xing spoke. "I have finished writing my arithmetic treatises. There will be no need to bring paper and brushes in the future. Clerk Wu, you have troubled yourself greatly during this time."

At first, he had requested brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to make cheating in the instance world more convenient.

Now that he possessed the white destinies [Broad Learning and Strong Memory] and [Literary Brilliance], his progress in scholarship advanced by leaps and bounds each day. He was nearly able to remember anything at a glance, so there was no longer any need to painstakingly copy model eight-legged essays.

Thus, paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones were now entirely useless to him.

On the contrary, having Clerk Wu around only added one more eyesore. It was hardly a good thing.

The imperial prison soon returned to tranquility.

Clerk Wu was only too eager to leave this hellhole of an imperial prison sooner.

That night, Magistrate Tian, who had been thrown into prison, took the initiative to speak.

And Xu Xing..., had likewise been waiting for this moment for a long time.

One more chapter, to be posted before midnight.