Jun Shu then ordered another guard to bolt the side door from the inside, and then to guard the main gate of the Maritime Trade Office, forbidding anyone from entering.
He then rode quickly to the Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office to report the case.
Emperor Deqing placed great emphasis on maritime trade during his southern tour, and all matters concerning the Maritime Trade Office received special attention. The fact that everyone in the Hangzhou Maritime Trade Office had died tragically overnight was, of course, something that could not be kept secret from him.
Emperor Deqing had been in a bad mood these past few days.
A major earthquake struck Hebei. The Crown Prince, who was overseeing the country, made the decision to dispatch troops for rescue and to provide porridge and money for disaster relief without consulting the Emperor.
Even with the fastest courier service, it would take at least seven or eight days for a memorial to be delivered from the capital to Hangzhou. If one were to request instructions before providing disaster relief, the best opportunity would naturally be missed.
Logically speaking, the crown prince was simply more pragmatic, prioritizing the suffering people over the most important and urgent matters. This choice was not wrong, but rather a reflection of the awareness a qualified ruler should have.
Unfortunately, the current ruler of the Qi Kingdom is Emperor Deqing.
If we consider only the father-son relationship, Emperor Deqing should be more gratified to see that the Crown Prince, as the heir, handles things better.
However, being in the royal family, their relationship transcended that of father and son; it was that of ruler and subject.
As the emperor traveled south, everyone from officials to commoners knew that Emperor Deqing was not in the capital. A little observation revealed that the decision to provide disaster relief was made by the crown prince, who remained in the capital. As a result, the people were grateful to and supported the crown prince. As emperor, and still in his prime, he wouldn't be satisfied if his successor was incompetent. But with his successor's prestige rising, even rivaling his own, he was naturally even more displeased.
The Crown Prince could not leave the capital, so the eldest prince went deep into the disaster area to oversee the relief efforts. He wrote in his memorial: "The people praise the Crown Prince and are grateful to him. Many enthusiastic people are planning to raise money to make a golden statue of the Crown Prince and offer incense to him, so that he may be kept safe for eternity."
Emperor Deqing couldn't help but throw the memorial away halfway through reading it.
If a golden statue is created, offerings are made, and he becomes a living bodhisattva, then where is the emperor, who is still alive, placed?
News of the massacre at the Maritime Trade Office arrived at this time.
Emperor Deqing had found a reason to vent his anger openly, but he had no one to whom he could vent it.
All the people in the Maritime Trade Office who could die were dead, except for a seven-year-old child left in the Wang family. He couldn't blame the baby for not coming home last night and not dying with his parents!
The memorial submitted by the provincial inspector stated that the murderer first poisoned the well, causing the weaker women and the refined clerks to die directly from the poison without any visible wounds. The yamen runners, skilled in martial arts, were stabbed with swords after being poisoned, resulting in excessive blood loss and death. As for Wang Siqi, his body was found without even a head.
Therefore, it can be inferred that the murder was motivated by revenge.
However, there was no record of the Maritime Trade Office having any enemies.
It can only be speculated that after the establishment of the Maritime Trade Office, the collection of taxes on coastal trade aroused the dissatisfaction of pirates, leading to disturbances and demonstrations.
Suppressing pirates falls under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Judicial Commissioner. As for matters related to taxation, those fall under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Administration Commissioner, which is superior to the Maritime Trade Office.
Therefore, I request that the case be referred.
Emperor Deqing once again threw down the memorial.
The three highest authorities within a province—the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, the Provincial Procuratorate Commissioner, and the Provincial Inspectorate Commissioner—were parallel institutions responsible for military affairs, people's livelihood, and criminal matters, respectively. However, when a major case occurred, the Commissioner's first reaction was not to cooperate and divide responsibilities, but to shirk accountability.
Adding fuel to the fire, Emperor Deqing simply handed over the investigation to the Lingguang Guard.
He himself, having lost all interest and eager to return to the capital to punish the Crown Prince, decided to return home ahead of schedule.
The emperor's arrival was a grand affair, and his departure was marked by the entire city turning out to see him off. On the day the fleet set sail, the Hangzhou docks were packed to capacity.
Taking advantage of his small stature and agile movements, Yang Tiange managed to slip away from his family and sneak to the front of the imperial ship, where he approached Chu Wan, who was returning to the capital with Consort Jing.
"Here, this is for you!" He proudly raised his little face and pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve with great flair. "It's made of Hangzhou silk, and the embroidery is Suzhou embroidery. You can't buy it on the market at all."
The handkerchief was made of white silk, embroidered with peonies in intertwined branches, with lilac-colored flowers and silver thread for branches and leaves, making it both elegant and precious.
Chu Wan was too young to understand its value; she only knew it was very beautiful.
But who is this young man in front of me?
He seemed somewhat familiar, but she had traveled south with the emperor for three months and had met several times more people than she had met in the three years since she was born, so it was impossible for her to remember them all.
"Actually, I just want you to know that I'm not a bad person!" The little boy still held his head high, trying his best to maintain his proud demeanor. "Just remember that! Then take my handkerchief, and when I grow up and pass the imperial examination, I'll come to the capital to find you. Then I'll be able to support you!"
Chu Wan bit her fingertip, completely bewildered.
She couldn't understand much of what the young man was saying. But, someone who gave her such a pretty handkerchief couldn't be a bad person! Even though she didn't know him, she figured she could still accept the gift, right?
Chu Wan looked up at her wet nurse, who remembered that he was the young master of the governor's family who had pricked the horse's rump at the Prince of Ying's mansion. She guessed that he had been disciplined by his family and knew that he had made a mistake that day, so he came to apologize. She nodded to Chu Wan, indicating that she could accept the money.
Chu Wan happily stretched out her little hand, grasped the other end of the handkerchief, and said with a smile, "I will wait for you to come and play with me. Let's meet in the capital." Afraid that the other party might not recognize her front door, she added, "My home is in the Prince of Ying's mansion. If I am not at home, then I am staying in the palace with my aunt. You can also come to the palace to find me."
"Okay!" Yang Tiange said, "Don't worry, I'll be there soon, definitely before your wedding!"
The two were talking completely irrelevantly, yet they strangely reached a consensus...
Chapter Index 54 | 53, 52, 51, 50, 49.2
Chapter 54:
The Governor's Mansion, Yingliu Residence.
Wushuang knelt before the table, practicing calligraphy with a brush in hand.
Wang Hongbo was sitting across from her at a table, intently doing the homework assigned by his teacher.
In comparison, Wushuang was much less serious. Although the Marquis of Runan's family was a military family, they always had strict requirements for their children's studies. In her previous life, Wushuang lived to be sixteen years old, and even if she didn't boast of being a talented woman, she was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Now that she had returned to when she was just beginning her studies, if she were to use all her knowledge, she would definitely be exposed. She really had no choice but to be perfunctory.
However, no one else knew about her "difficult situation".
After finishing his homework, Wang Hongbo put down his brush and looked up to see Wushuang sitting swaying. With her left hand, she grabbed a rose pastry from a plate on the corner of the table and put it in her mouth, while with her right hand, she clenched her brush and repeatedly traced the character "依" in "白日依山尽".
Incorrect posture, incorrect pen grip, incorrect writing style, and absent-mindedness...