Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 237: The Scheme Leads to Disaster

A dissolute young man from an aristocratic family like Jia Rong could barely hold on when being questioned and coerced, but when the jailer wanted to punish him, he immediately became limp and could not bear it any longer.

As soon as he was brought into the execution room and saw the bloodstained instruments of torture, he was so scared that he pissed himself and shit himself. Before the torture even started, he cried and confessed everything.

Yang Hongbin and the other three judicial officials present at the scene could not help shaking their heads as they watched. In the past, Duke Ning was a famous general of the dynasty who had made great military achievements and was revered by later generations, but his descendants were such cowards.

In the case of Zhang Shouan, Jia Zhen, the third-rank noble and powerful general of Ningguo Mansion, was the real mastermind behind the incident, and Jia Rong was also instructed by him.

The news quickly spread from the interrogation records of the Dali Temple, first to the three judicial offices, and then caused an uproar in the court.

The Ningguo family, a top noble family that has been passed down for more than 70 years, conspired with father and son to do evil, which is horrifying!

It is said that when the news reached the palace, Emperor Jiazhao was furious and said, "The father and son of Ningguo Mansion are so despicable. There will be no successor to the Ningguo lineage!"

Originally these were words spoken out of the emperor's cold heart. The palace was locked up with many gates, so normally they would not have spread out. But for some unknown reason, they happened to spread out of the palace.

Moreover, many officials in the court knew through various channels the emperor's seemingly profound and cold words.

Having no successor can be a lament about the unworthy descendants, or it can be an outrage about the Ningguo lineage being extinct and having no successor.

But now that it has been revealed that the father and son of the Ningguo Mansion have colluded to commit evil, and Jia Zhen has been imprisoned in the Dali Temple, the situation has become serious.

Under such circumstances, would His Majesty simply lament the unfilial behavior of Ningguo and his son?
Although officials from various government offices were trying to figure out the emperor's intentions, they were more or less inclined toward the second possibility, but they were unwilling to act rashly.

However, the censors of Yongzhou Road in the Censorate did not need to worry so much. Their duty was to report on rumors. Moreover, the affair of Jia Zhen and his son could not be considered a rumor; it was clearly a fact of fact.

Several memorials impeaching Ningguo Jia Zhen and his son, who were favored by the emperor but committed crimes and harmed the people, appeared at the court meeting, accusing them of severely punishing them. This began to tilt the balance in the hearts of court officials.

Just as many officials are hesitating about how to stand on this matter.

Prince Zhongshun, who was the head of the clan affairs office, suddenly submitted a memorial severely criticizing Jia Zhen and his son in Ningguo Mansion.

Not only did he impeach Jia Zhen and his son for corrupting the officials of the country and harming the people in the Zhang Shouan case, he also said that the clan court had recently received many victims who reported the illegal activities of the Ningguo Mansion.

Among them, there were more than a dozen cases of appropriating and occupying farmers' fertile land at low prices, secretly forcing others to buy their shops, and seizing women for sexual pleasure, involving four lives.

Moreover, Lai Er, the steward of Ningguo Mansion, relied on the power of the Ning, Rong and Jia families to bully others outside.

Taking advantage of the continuous floods and droughts in the areas around Yongzhou since last year, which made it difficult for farmers to make a living, they bought up and occupied farmland at low prices.

As a result, it aroused public anger. Lai Er ordered his servants to injure and kill several people. In the end, the Lai family colluded with the government to quell the situation.

Prince Zhongshun said that the facts reported by the victims were solid and the witnesses were all present. The evil deeds committed by Ningguo Mansion were too numerous to list.

This memorial from Prince Zhongshun was as fierce as a sharp knife, and it immediately caused a thousand waves in the court...

……

Outsiders have different speculations about the reason why Prince Zhongshun suddenly attacked Ningguo Mansion.

Some people said that when the King of Wu was fighting with the emperor, Prince Zhongshun went to the Ning and Rong mansions in person, hoping to get the two Dukes of Ning and Rong to serve the emperor.

However, the Ningrong Jia family was in a wait-and-see attitude due to the reign of the Supreme Emperor at that time, and therefore rejected Prince Zhongshun's solicitation. This made Prince Zhongshun deeply ashamed, and he became enemies with the Jia family from then on.

There is another reason, which is a little less elegant, but more talked about and closer to the truth.

It is said that Jia Rong of Ningguo Mansion seduced Qi Guan, an actor from Prince Zhongshun's mansion, and even bought a farmhouse in Zitan Fort on the outskirts of the city to live with him.

Qi Guan was the beloved male concubine of Prince Zhongshun. Somehow, Prince Zhongshun got the news and brought a large number of guards to arrest him. It is said that Prince Zhongshun turned his love into hatred and broke Qi Guan's left leg. From then on, he could no longer perform or run away.

Prince Zhongshun therefore hated Jia Rong to the core and was determined to put him to death...

Regardless of the reason, everyone can see that Prince Zhongshun and the Ningguo Mansion are determined to fight to the death this time.

In fact, what Prince Zhongshun mentioned in his memorial is the result of similar scandals committed by all powerful and influential people. The only difference is the severity of the incident and whether it has been exposed in broad daylight.

As long as such illegal acts are not too serious, under normal circumstances, they will not lead to the death of hereditary nobles. This has almost become the unspoken rule in the court.

Even the civil servants who always pride themselves on being noble seem to have accepted this unspoken rule.

This time, Prince Zhongshun took advantage of the incident involving Jia Zhen and his son to reveal all the old secrets.

Some of these things didn't even happen this year, but it shows that he has been wanting to deal with the Jia family for a long time and has already collected a lot of blame.

Jia Cong's method of shifting the blame to Jiangdong was only to provide Prince Zhongshun with an opportunity to explode.

However, the officials in the court thought of more. Everyone knew that Prince Zhongshun was the emperor's most loyal minister and his most trusted half-brother.

Do his violent and abrupt words and actions represent the will of God?

Prince Zhongshun's actions also further tilted the balance in the hearts of officials in the court.

Soon after Prince Zhongshun submitted his memorial, Emperor Jiazhao issued an imperial edict: "Order the Dali Temple and the Imperial Clan Court to conduct a thorough investigation of all matters. If confirmed to be true, punish severely according to the law of the country!"

What exactly does this concise and to the point imperial edict from Emperor Jiazhao mean? If the court officials still don't understand, then they can all buy a piece of tofu and kill themselves.

When the emperor was fighting with the King of Wu, the four kings and eight dukes, with the Ning, Rong and Jia families as their backbone, did not help either side and just watched from the sidelines.

After the emperor ascended the throne, the four princes and eight dukes had been immersed in the military for generations, and their entanglements were so complex that they had become too powerful to be removed. They had a heavy influence on the civil and military affairs of the court. This matter had been a thorn in the emperor's side for more than ten years.

However, the Four Kings and Eight Dukes originated from the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty and have deep roots. Besides, they also have the face of the retired emperor and it is not easy to touch them. The emperor has never had a suitable reason to take action.

Now, there are only a pair of spoiled and good-for-nothing young men left in the Ningguo Jia family. They are already a tiger in Pingyang. When they fall, the emperor will no longer have the patience to tolerate them. He wants to kill the chicken to scare the monkey!
This imperial edict from Emperor Jiazhao was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The group of military heroes influenced by the four kings and eight dukes had lost the initiative, and finally the wind in the court completely turned to one side.

For civil servants, the emperor is the supreme ruler and his every word and action concerns the state system. There are some things that the emperor is not convenient to say in person, so as subjects, they naturally have to do it on his behalf.

Now that the emperor's will has been revealed, the officials in the court are just going with the flow and showing their abilities.

First of all, there were the quick-tongued censors of the Censorate, who had been ready to take action. The memorials impeaching the Ningguo Jia family were like snow in June.

Li Yan said that the heir to the title and the blood prince of Ningguo had committed evil and were guilty of heinous crimes. They were a family of nobles and had violated the law of the country and were guilty of the same crime as the common people and must not be tolerated.

The Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple and other government offices were not willing to lag behind, and related impeachment and guilt memorials followed closely, creating an uproar among the public.

In the next few days, the victims of the Ningguo Mansion's persecution came to the Dali Temple one after another, as if by coincidence, to report the various crimes of the Ningguo Mansion, which relied on its power to harm the people.

However, among the people in the market, the rumors that the Ningguo Mansion used its power to harm people and that its crimes were extremely serious and that only killing them would be the only way to appease the public anger were growing louder and louder and could not be stopped.

It seemed as if not long ago, the situation in which the common people frantically attacked Zhang Shouan was happening again in Shenjing City.

As for whether there is someone behind all this and fanning the flames, no one can tell for sure. This kind of thing is often a mess. You think it exists, but you can never tell for sure.

Prince Zhongshun was indeed a close minister to the emperor. At this critical moment, he presented a second memorial to Emperor Jiazhao, delivering the most fatal blow:
The heir to the title and the prince of Ningguo Mansion have disregarded the laws of the country, are treacherous and cruel, and have harmed the common people. Their serious crimes have been exposed, they have disgraced their merits and damaged the national dignity. I strongly request that the title of Ningguo be revoked!

(End of this chapter)