[R18] Will drink wine – Chapter 22 of “About to Enter the Wine” [English]

Chapter 22 Thunder

In the morning of the next day, Emperor Xiande was in charge of the autumn hunting field. He was not able to ride a horse to hunt, so he prepared some rewards and asked the men in front of the emperor to go to the hunting ground to make a fortune.

Li Jianheng couldn’t climb on the horse, so he kicked off several times before he climbed up.Emperor Xiande looked at him and said, “Jianheng will set an example. I’m waiting to taste your prey!”

Li Jianheng held the reins and had already ordered the guards. Even if he couldn’t hit him, he would not return empty-handed.So at this moment, he set off in high spirits, followed closely by the guards behind him, and Xiao Chiye also rode beside him.

At the end of the flat grassland of Nanlin Hunting Ground, there is a stretch of woods.The yellowed branches and leaves were hung with morning dew, and the released prey, large and small, were frightened by the hooves and shouts of horses, and fled in all directions among the grass.

Li Jianheng held the bow tightly, stretched it hard on his horse, and fired an arrow at the rabbit.The arrow poked weakly on the ground, some distance away. There was a burst of closed-eye cheers from the left and right, and then the guard who went to check brought back a prepared rabbit.

Li Jianheng said to Xiao Chiye with satisfaction: “Am I good at archery? I was taught by Grandpa Huang back then!”

Xiao Chiye said sincerely: “I have never seen such arrow skills in Libei.”

Li Jianheng immediately laughed and said: “You have been in Qandu for so long, don’t you have forgotten how to draw a bow?”

Xiao Chiye only brought an ordinary bow, which was not as powerful as the Jin Yiwei.He said: “Let me show you my skills too.”

As he spoke, Xiao Chiye drew his bow and fired an arrow into the open space ahead.The arrow was even weaker than King Chu’s and couldn’t even hit the ground.There was another burst of blind-eyed blowing from the left and right, and Xiao Chiye was very pleased with it.

Qiao Tianya was waiting impatiently behind, but when he saw this scene, he became happy again and said, “Did you see it? If you don’t practice well, you will be regarded as a fool!”

Shen Zechuan looked at Xiao Chiye’s shoulders and arms, remembered the bone finger again, and couldn’t help but smile.

King Chu didn’t ride for long, but his back ached and he refused to go any further.This is the result of drinking too much last night, and I don’t feel well anywhere now.He wandered around for a while, and when the time was up, he urged people to go back.

The guards behind him didn’t finish shooting their arrows, and they followed him back like a gust of wind, not even going to the woods to the east.

Li Jianheng dismounted and knelt in front of the emperor. Pan Rugui beside him was counting the prey for Emperor Xiande.The more he listened, the happier he became, and said: “Brother Emperor! There is also a fire fox, with the best coat color, just right for you to be your leader.”

Emperor Xiande was also happy and said, “You are more energetic than in Qiandu! Pan Rugui, give the things to King Chu.”

Li Jianheng happily lifted up the silk cloth, only to see underneath it was a large bow that no ordinary person could draw.He immediately showed his weakness and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!”

Emperor Xiande laughed, coughed a few times, and said, “Don’t like it? This one is not for you to use. This bow was left by Emperor Taizu in his early years. It is made of black iron with dragon tendons and weighs one hundred and twenty kilograms. Even the four generals in the world today cannot pull it. I give it to you because I hope you will always be diligent with this bow and remember the great achievements of Emperor Taizu.”

Li Jianheng agreed and asked someone to lift the bow down.

During dinner, Emperor Xiande called Li Jianheng to sit in front of him, leaning against him.This was an obvious hint, and all the officials here knew it, but they still had to pretend to be deaf and dumb, because Hua Siqian, the old man of Huage, was still on an equal footing with the King of Chu.

When they were full of wine and food, they lit a bonfire.

Emperor Xiande has not retreated today, and those present cannot retreat.Li Jianheng was already tired from sitting, but he saw that Emperor Xiande had no intention of resting.

What’s going on.

Li Jianheng winked at Xiao Chiye.

Xiao Chiye pretended not to see it.

By this time the singing and dancing had subsided and the fire was getting fierce.Emperor Xiande suddenly pulled up his clothes and called out: “Hai Aiqing.”

Hai Liangyi straightened his robes, knelt respectfully in front of the emperor, and replied, “I’m here, old minister!”

Emperor Xiande said: “What are you going to do today?”

Hai Liangyi kowtowed and said, “Today, I recommend that all six departments of household affairs be given the authority to report to His Majesty Xue Xiuzhuo in this matter!”

Hua Siqian had noticed something. He stroked his beard and said, “Why did Renshi say this? You already have the right to directly remonstrate with the emperor.”

“That’s true,” Hai Liangyi said, “but Xue Xiuzhuo’s notes have repeatedly failed to be delivered to the emperor, so it would be better to go to the emperor directly.”

“What kind of discount can’t be delivered to the emperor?” Hua Siqian said.

Emperor Xiande said: “I am also curious. Hai Aiqing, please ask him to come up and talk.”

After receiving the order, Pan Rugui looked at Hua Siqian, took two steps forward, and said, “Everyone from the household transfer department will have an audience with Xue Xiuzhuo!”

Xue Xiuzhuo was not wearing his official robe, as if he had just dismounted from his horse and was a little dusty.When he came up, he didn’t look at anyone. He knelt down and kowtowed to Emperor Xiande.

“What do you have to say?” Emperor Xiande asked in the wind.

Xue Xiuzhuo said: “The appointment of the household department by the minister is a matter of course. The most important thing is to check the financial details of the household department. In March of the fifth year of Xiande, I audited the general ledger of expenditures for the fourth year of Xiande and found that there was a subsidy of two million taels. To be cautious, I followed the instructions of the household department.Regarding the statement of “subsidising the Thirteen Cities of Juexi”, Jiang Qingshan, the chief envoy of Juexi, went to Juexi to reconcile with his ministers for several days and found that only 1.53 million was actually given to the thirteen cities of Juexi in the four years of Xiande.Four hundred and seventy thousand taels disappeared.Then in August of the same year, the Ministry of War spent 2.8 million taels on the border army, of which 1.8 million was for the garrison of the five counties of Qidong, and 1 million was for Libei County.Go, wait for me to catch up to Luoxia Pass, there are only 830,000 taels left!And so on, one after another, the treasury has suffered a huge loss. Where did the money go?I don’t know who took it, but I have a record!”

“You’re talking nonsense!” Hua Siqian shouted coldly, “The Ministry of Revenue has to reconcile the accounts at the beginning of the year! What kind of losses are there? The Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue doesn’t know, the cabinet doesn’t know, and the Chief of Ceremonies Bingbi doesn’t know either, but you are the only one who knows?!”

Hai Liangyi raised his head and said steadily: “Old minister, I know! Starting from the second year of Xiande, the accounts submitted by the Ministry of Revenue are divided into two volumes: the true and the false. What is handed over each year is not decided by the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, but by you Hua Siqian!”

There was a “crackling” sound in the bonfire, like thunder, which silenced everyone present. No one expected that Emperor Hamde would suddenly launch an attack in this way.

“Okay.” Hua Siqian smiled and stood up, “You are biting randomly? What kind of party! Is it the king’s land in the world? I, Hua Siqian, act magnanimously and always put the emperor first! If there are any unclear accounts, bring them out now, Zheng Guoshi, settle with him!”

Zheng Guoshi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, knelt down in a hurry and said: “Your Majesty, I would like to ask Xue Gui about the matter. Since there is a problem with the accounts of the fourth year of Xiande, why did it wait until now to come up with it? If there is really a problem, wouldn’t he have delayed a major event!”

Xue Xiuzhuo said quickly: “Now when the local officials enter the capital, they do not see the superior officials or pay homage to the emperor. They first send in their names and go to the Hua Mansion and Eunuch Pan’s other courtyard to wait and see them. The Hua Party is so powerful. I wonder who dares to follow the example of Hua Ge Lao Ma!”

“I have to tell the decentralized supervisory censors every year that if there is a problem, just say it! What are you afraid of? All the accounts of my Hua family have been presented to the emperor, and they are clean and clear!” Hua Siqian stared at Xue Xiuzhuo, “Xue Yanqing, you have to be an official when you have to enter the palace, do you remember who recommended it? I count you as half a teacher, and you framed me like this!”

Xue Xiuzhuo raised his head, looked at Hua Siqian for a moment, and said, “There are only monarchs and ministers in the court, not teachers and students.”

Hua Siqian turned to Emperor Xiande and said, “Does the Emperor believe it?”

Emperor Xiande lowered his eyelids and said, “I believe in the account book.”

Hua Siqian raised his head and laughed, clasped his hands and said, “Okay! Your Majesty, when the capital was in turmoil, the late emperor killed you at the end. Do you still remember who supported and escorted you all the way! Do you believe it tonight for a few unfaithful and unfilial villains?!”

Emperor Xiande raised his hand to drink tea and finally looked at Hua Siqian.His eyes were full of hatred, and he said: “Don’t you know whether it is to escort the troops or to intimidate the princes?”

Hua Siqian pushed the desk away and said, “Ji Lei!”

Just listen to the Jin Yiwei in the banquet draw his sword.

Hai Liangyi said: “How dare you make trouble!”

“I don’t dare.” Hua Siqian said, “But now that you are going to force the knife in front of me, do you want me to sit back and wait to be killed?”

“What do you want?” Emperor Xiande said coldly, “Xi Gu’an!”

The Eighth Battalion took a fierce step forward and blocked the imperial guard.

“Get Hua Siqian for me!” Emperor Xiande said.

“How dare you!” Hua Siqian shouted, “Xi Gu’an, your wife and children are drinking tea in front of the Queen Mother now. If you take another step forward, the Xi family will be extinct! The Queen Mother has treated you well over the years. You have been instigated time and time again. Now it’s not too late to look back!”

Xi Gu’an was forced to have no choice but now he was afraid when he took a step back.

Emperor Xiande said in a dark voice: “Is it in time? Xi Gu’an, is it in time for the first prince? Is Shen Wei in time? Which one of you is not more loyal than you! They have retreated, but has the Queen Mother let them go? I have already asked someone to draw up an imperial edict. As long as the King of Chu ascends the throne in the future, the daughter of the Xi family will be the mother of a country!”

“It is a common practice for the emperor to change his orders morning and evening, how dare you have such a big dream!” Hua Siqian flicked his sleeves, “The emperor is sick and has lost his head! Wei Concubine is already half a month pregnant, how can the King of Chu ascend the throne!”

Xi Gu’an held the knife, sweat dripping from his forehead.

I don’t know when the clouds overlapped in the night sky, and the wind on the eve of the rainstorm stopped. The flags on the hunting ground were hanging down, but no one moved them.

Xi Gu’an gritted his teeth, pulled out the knife, turned to Emperor Xiande, and said with difficulty: “The emperor… is terminally ill.”

“I gave you a chance.” Emperor Xiande looked at Xi Gu’an and gradually started to laugh. He laughed louder and louder, and coughed louder and louder. He supported the table and said in a cold voice: “I came to hunt in the autumn. If I am not 100% sure, how can I hunt down you rebellious officials and traitors! Qi Zhuyin has led his troops to serve the king. It’s time to get here in less than two hours! Who are you going to kill? Ah? Who of you dares!”

Ji Lei suddenly spoke: “Shuai Qi is far away in Cang County, Qidong, and the Jin Yiwei is responsible for all correspondence. Your Majesty, you have woken up!”

Emperor Xiande suddenly glared angrily and said, “Qi…”

Pan Rugui suddenly covered Emperor Xiande’s mouth, forced him to sit down, looked around at everyone, and smiled slightly: “The emperor is ill.”

The legs of all the civil servants were shaking. Hua Siqian looked at Li Jianheng and said with a ferocious smile: “The King of Chu intends to rebel in the hunting ground. He even brought a bow and arrow. The evidence is conclusive! What are you waiting for? Kill him!”

Except for the guards beside him, a cold light suddenly appeared all over the place.

Li Jianheng dropped his chopsticks in shock and fell to the ground with his stool when he backed away. He said: “Ge, Mr. Ge! I have no intention of becoming emperor!”

“Your Highness.” Hua Siqian said, “Do you know how to write the words ‘I can’t help myself’?”

Thunder exploded in the sky.

Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, Li Jianheng hid among the guards and could not stand up. He cried and said: “I am the free king! Why do I do this!”

The sword in front of him flashed, and Li Jianheng held his head and shouted.But there was a loud bang, and the table in front of him overturned with a bang.He tightened his collar and was lifted up.

“The Emperor gives you the Overlord’s Bow, and you will be the Crown Prince of Zhou Dynasty!” Xiao Chiye smiled solemnly, “I am now the Governor of the Forbidden Army of Qudu, and I want to see who will be my killer, Xiao Ce’an! Chenyang, help the Crown Prince mount his horse!”

“Xiao Er.” Ji Lei slowly drew his sword, “With the friendship between you and me, why do you have to do this tonight?”

“I’ve been hanging around for a long time.” Xiao Chiye let go of Li Jianheng, “My skin is itchy.”

“Capture him.” Ji Lei said, “As long as the second master’s life is safe, it’s okay to cut off his hands and feet.”

Xiao Chiye took off his cumbersome outer robe, and he was actually wearing a smart outfit underneath.He looked around and said: “Whoever can cut off my hands and feet, I will not only reward him a hundred taels of gold, but also call him Master Sheng.”

The Langlu sword, which was almost unsheathed in the capital, slid out steadily, the snowy light flashed, and the coldness was threatening.

“If it can’t be stopped, I will kill him.”