"What's wrong?" Huo Wujiu asked when he saw Jiang Suizhou sitting
down in front of him.
Jiang Suizhou raised his head, looked at him steadily for a moment, and
uttered, "A man died under this Prince."
Huo Wujiu's eyebrows jumped: "Who is it?"
Jiang Suizhou answered, "A minor official of the Ministry of Rites, named
Pang Zong. He's… a nephew of Pang Shao."
Huo Wujiu immediately understood what was going on.
Wei Kai had always been quick to handle affairs, so he must have gotten his
hands on it today.
Huo Wujiu didn't bat an eyelid: "Look at you, don't tell me you're feeling
sorry for Pang Shao, are you?"
Jiang Suizhou shook his head.
"No," he added. "This Prince just thinks it's too bizarre, like a dream."
After muttering that, he looked at Huo Wujiu and said, "Do you know how
he died?"
Of course Huo Wujiu knew. After all, it was his idea and his order to get
that man killed.
However, he acted rather enthusiastically and asked, "How did he die?"
Jiang Suizhou narrated, "Halfway to the Chief Minister's residence, the
horses pulling his carriage were spooked. He was thrown out of the carriage
and fell to his death."
Huo Wujiu commented calmly, "Oh, it turned out to be an accident."
Jiang Suizhou carried on, "However, an emperor's court robe he had hidden
fell out of his carriage. Timely enough, many people caught sight of it.
Now, the capital is abuzz, saying that Pang Shao is harboring a disloyalty
and wants to take over the Jiang family name."
Huo Wujiu chuckled.
Wei Kai's work was really reassuring. He executed everything from start to
finish without leaving a trace, all according to his directives.
"And then what happened?" he urged.
Jiang Suizhou said, "The Emperor was naturally furious, and immediately
summoned Pang Shao to confront him. Although Pang Shao had an alibi,
the Emperor refused to listen. In the end, Pang Shao could only shake off
the responsibility and only claimed that he had no knowledge of the matter;
that perhaps his unfavored nephew had his own dissent and did something
secretly. In order to dispel the Emperor's doubts, he also offered to severely
punish Pang Zong's family branch."
Jiang Suizhou inhaled slowly.
"Today, Pang Zong's family, including his father and brothers, have all been
imprisoned. Presumably even if they are still alive, they will all be
dismissed from office and banished to the frontier."
Huo Wujiu smirked without moving a muscle, quite satisfied with the
result.
He asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"
Jiang Suizhou nodded: "It's wonderful news, but I find it… strange as hell."
He frowned and said thoughtfully.
Huo Wujiu raised his eyebrows while maintaining his composure, surprised
by his reaction.
"What's weird about it?" he asked.
"These days, Pang Shao has had one accident after another, but you and I
both know that those incidents were all man-made, and I was behind them,"
he said. "But today's incident, I didn't do anything at all."
Huo Wujiu remarked, "Maybe it's a coincidence?"
Jiang Suizhou shook his head without a second thought.
"Impossible," he said, "So I've been wondering… who is the person behind
this that is so powerful?"
Huo Wujiu didn't say a word and just listened to him quietly.
Then he heard Jiang Suizhou add, "This person is well-informed. His idea
is ingenious, and his means are also sharp and ruthless. Now, Pang Zong is
dead, and a dead man tells no tales. He only left public evidence, which
naturally makes Pang Shao unable to argue against countless mouths.
Having set up such a trap, while promptly drowning any arguments, this
person must be a cruel character."
Huo Wujiu paused and nodded in agreement.
But then Jiang Suizhou frowned and continued.
"What's even stranger is that he didn't involve this Prince at all."
Huo Wujiu added inwardly, That's not nonsense.
Jiang Suizhou said to himself, "The emperor's court robe in his carriage
was handled by him. The Ministry of Rites recorded it on the books,
absolving this Prince of any blame. This person attacked Pang Shao
viciously and happened to avoid me. Say… do I know this person?"
Huo Wujiu's brow jerked.
Maybe he's more than just an acquaintance, he mentally murmured.
Outwardly, he didn't bat an eyelid and remained calm and collected.
"Maybe," he said, "Do you have any guesses?"
Jiang Suizhou mused.
"This Prince has been thinking about it all afternoon, and I can't figure it
out," he said, "Nowadays, there are few people in the court who are capable
of fighting against Pang Shao. General Lou is not in Lin'an, so I'm sure he
can't stretch his hands this far. Qi Min has the intentions, but not someone
who would kill… so narrowing it down, this Prince does not know who it
is."
Jiang Suizhou stared intently at the flickering candle lights on the table. He
was pondering seriously that his eyebrows were knitted tightly, making Huo
Wujiu feel a bit guilty, as if he had played tricks on him.
Perhaps it was because it was rainy in the south, and it was humid all
around, that was why as time passed by, someone's heart easily softened.
He mentally sighed and opened his mouth to speak.
However, Jiang Suizhou looked up at him with a smile in his eyes.
"This Prince may not guess who it is, but no matter his identity, he's rather
a sharp and good person," he said. He raised his hand across the quilt and
patted Huo Wujiu gently.
"Since he acted so, he should have good intentions for this Prince. Rest
assured. If I ever get to know this man one day, I will definitely try my best
to commision him and have him protect you."
Huo Wujiu paused and swallowed back all the words that reached his lips.
"… That sounds great." A few moments later, he said slowly.
Jiang Suizhou returned to the manor late today, but hadn't chanced upon
Pang Shao.
The servants in the Pang residence waited in fear and trepidation in the
house until after the fourth night watch. When the sky slightly brightened, a
servant from the gate house came to report that their master had returned
from the palace.
The servants around had never waited upon Pang Shao with such gloomy
countenance.
For a moment, everyone dared not step forward. They watched Pang Shao
stride all the way to the main hall, close the door and go straight to meet the
ministers who were waiting in the Pang Manor until dawn.
The servants outside the door heard Pang Shao lose his temper in the room.
As for the ministers in the room, no one dared to breathe heavily.
They were all aware of Pang Zong's thoughts. It wasn't a day or two for
him to curry favor with Pang Shao. However, no one expected this man to
be so bold and also so coincidentally be met with an accident on his way to
the Pang Manor.
Pang Zong's father was Pang Shao's elder brother born from a concubine.
Although his official position was not as high as Pang Shao, he was a very
powerful right-hand man. Today, Pang Shao pushed his whole family out in
order to get rid of suspicions on him. For Pang Shao, this wasn't a gecko
breaking its tail, but his own arm.
Pang Shao was rightfully furious.
However, he was getting older. He spent the greater part of the night in the
palace and had little strength to fly into a temper. Nevertheless, he smashed
a tea cup, reprimanded several people in front of him, and sat in the
master's chair, gasping for breath.
"I thought he was just a sick dog who could not live for a few years, but I
didn't expect such sharp teeth and claws. I've always underestimated him."
Pang Shao clenched his teeth in anger.
The officer beside him immediately asked, "Chief Minister, could it be that
someone did this on purpose at this time?"
Pang Shao sneered.
"Otherwise, do you think he just wanted to use the emperor's court robe to
frame Jingwang and came to me to ask for credit? That his horse
coincidentally got spooked, he fell to his death and coincidentally allowed
the emperor's robe to fly out of his carriage?" he questioned, "If you do
think so, then it is the gods in the sky who want my life."
The man promptly agreed, "What Your Excellency said is true. This matter
is indeed fishy! But… How did Your Excellency know about who directed
it?"
Pang Shao raised his eyes and stared at him.
"From the top to the bottom of the court, who else needs to do this, and who
else has the ability to execute it?"
"Uh…"
For a moment, the crowd looked at each other.
Pang Shao scoffed.
"Just in time, His Majesty loves hunting. I'll give him a big gift in the
hunting ground in a few days to make amends."
——
After Pang Zong died, even Jiang Suizhou's errands at the Ministry of Rites
proceeded a lot smoother.
In a few days, he finished the task at hand.
Seeing that the summer was about to start, the day when the Emperor would
leave for Tianping Mountain approached. Jiang Suizhou rested for a few
days, and then began to prepare for the hunting trip.
This was indeed quite a problem for him.
He was inept at horse riding. Before transmigrating, he went to the
racecourse at most and rode around the flat track in full gear. After coming
here, he traveled either in a sedan chair or a carriage, and never once rode a
horse.
Once they arrive at the hunting ground, it would take some effort to find
ways to avoid loafing on his job.
Gu Changyun and Xu Du were also quite worried about Jiang Suizhou's
decision and came to persuade him several times.
Their uneasiness was nothing more than distrust of Huo Wujiu. Huo Wujiu
was disabled after all. He couldn't walk on the road. If there was any
danger, he naturally couldn't be counted on.
Jiang Suizhou, on the contrary, was quite at ease.
"It's fine. I believe there won't be too much trouble at the imperial hunting
ground," he pacified them, "What's more, Huo Wujiu is a prisoner of war,
and this Prince 'hates' him. Naturally, I should keep an extra eye on him. In
that case, I can avoid anything about going hunting in the mountains."
Hearing Jiang Suizhou's argument, the two also felt that there was some
truth in it. Furthermore, they really could not persuade Jiang Suizhou, so
they could only give up.
At the end of April, the Emperor's honor guards left Lin'an.
Hundreds of majestic chariots, under the escort of the palace guards, left the
city mightily and headed all the way to the north.
Tianping Mountain was more than 200 miles northwest of Lin'an and
within the borders of Suzhou prefecture. It was originally a beautiful
landscape, famous for its precipitous peaks and steep cliffs, and covered
with maple trees. It was entirely picturesque with the red maple reflected in
the river in autumn.
Before the capital was moved down south, it was quite lively in the
mountain, with frequent visitors, along with a Daoist temple there.
However, in the second year of moving the capital, Pang Shao took a fancy
to the territory and ordered people to surround it, and it later became an
imperial property. Even the Daoist temple on the mountain was demolished
and transformed into a palace.
This was also the first time Jiang Suizhou took a trip out of Lin'an City.
He took Huo Wujiu into the palace early in the morning and boarded the
carriage of the Jingwang Manor.
The Hou Zhu has been unhappy these days. He also kept a straight face the
entire morning, and it was not until he saw Huo Wujiu that he showed a rare
smile and harshly ridiculed him.
The Hou Zhu's mood turned sunny for a short time. Nonetheless, he didn't
forget to dispatch 20 to 30 percent more troops to surround the Jingwang
Manor carriage.
Jiang Suizhou noticed this as soon as he got into the carriage.
He swept the curtain for a couple more glances and smiled at Huo Wujiu,
"Look at this, such mighty weaponry is only around His Majesty."
Huo Wujiu glanced out faintly through the gap in the carriage window and
uttered a meaningful laugh.