Chapter 116: The Final Blow After the Shocking News

Although Zhang Fu didn’t like Zhang Yue and was even less willing to take such a cousin to Beijing, he finally managed to persuade the stubborn Lady Wang and override his third brother Zhang Jie’s objections. So, Zhang Yue, who he had always disdained, no longer seemed a big deal. In his eyes, a young scholar who had just turned fifteen was nothing worth worrying about—there were countless such mediocre scholars in the capital, could there not be many more?

Under normal circumstances, Zhang Jie would have stirred things up by saying a few words, but this time he was so angry that he had no mind to remind his arrogant elder brother. Thus, on the day they set off from the dock outside Wajinchuan Gate, he didn’t show up at all, merely sending word that he was sick.

Since they were in a hurry to go to Beijing, the Zhang family couldn’t afford any pomp, and only a few family members saw them off at the dock. No matter how much Zhang Fu longed for it, he had to put on a solemn expression until they boarded the ship, after which he regained his usual composure.

Zhang Yue had traveled from north to south half a year ago and now had to go from south to north again. He naturally had more to say to his father who came to see him off, but before they could reach the more important topics, they both heard the sound of horse hooves. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, “The horse hooves are so regular—does it sound like soldiers?”

The dock outside Wajinchuan Gate was an important port connecting the Yangtze River to the canal. There were always many cargo and passenger ships, and horses were needed for both transporting goods and people, so the sound of horse hooves wasn’t unusual. Yet, at that moment, the hooves sounded like thunder, with a rhythmic pattern, as if the riders were all well-trained. When this group appeared before them at high speed, Zhang Yue didn’t know whether to say he had foresight or bad luck.

Seeing the man at the front, all he could think of was seven words—“seeing him everywhere”—was it because someone’s spirit was haunting him, or was it because he was too closely tied to that person? But when he saw the two prison carts behind, his expression changed drastically. He didn’t recognize the people in the back cart, but he had met the person in the front cart before at the Du family’s house.

It was Liang Qian, an academician of the Hanlin Academy and a right advisor in the Eastern Palace’s Right Spring Department!

In that instant, Zhang Yue felt a chill surge up from the depths of his heart and spread throughout his limbs in an instant. Though he wasn’t particularly well-informed, he was still the nephew of the Duke of Britain, so many pieces of news reached him even without him seeking them out. For example, he had heard absolutely nothing about Liang Qian being captured by the Jinyiwei, nor did he know what was going on. He vaguely felt that heaven thought a thunderbolt wasn’t harsh enough, so it sent another shock.

The leader of the Jinyiwei was Commander Yuan Fang, and the man riding beside him was Mu Ning, whom Zhang Yue had met twice before and who had recently been promoted to the rank of thousand-household commander in the Henan detachment of the Jinyiwei. Judging from the even more splendid and eye-catching brocade robe he wore now, Zhang Yue knew Mu Ning had been promoted again, but it was unclear to what rank.

However, his shock lasted only for a short while. The next moment, he suddenly remembered the strange letter his father had received earlier and quickly glanced at his father’s expression. To his great disappointment, Zhang Zhuo didn’t even blink when he saw the man on horseback; let alone show any unusual reaction. At that point, he began to doubt his own judgment—was that letter signed “Mu Ning bows hundred times” just a coincidence?

Though still puzzled, Zhang Yue now had some clues, unlike before when he had made countless guesses with no results. Moreover, this wasn’t the time to dwell on such trivial matters, so he quickly dropped the idea. Looking at Liang Qian, who wore a plain robe and appeared haggard behind the bars, and recalling how cheerful and amiable he had seemed at the Du family’s residence, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but sigh.

Liang Qian clearly seemed like a pure scholar. Although he had only visited the Du family once after their first meeting to seek advice, Zhang Yue found him to be an upright person. Why would such a person be taken away by the Jinyiwei, and seemingly about to be sent out of the capital?

Zhang Yuan, who was already on his horse, turned around upon hearing the sound of hooves. He was the commander of the Shencewei, under the jurisdiction of the Central Military Command, while the Jinyiwei belonged to the Top Twelve Guards and was not under the control of the Five Military Commands. Moreover, compared to the other commanders of the Top Twelve Guards, the commander of the Jinyiwei always held independent and superior authority. Even someone as noble as him greeted Yuan Fang with a smile and asked, “Commander Yuan, why do you bother personally escorting the prisoner cart?”

“This is a case ordered by the emperor himself. He has tasked me to bring Liang Qian, the Right Advisor of the Right Spring Court, and Zhou Mian, the Censor, to Beijing immediately.” After dismounting, Yuan Fang bowed slightly in response, glanced back at the people in the two prison carts, and then said with a smile, “To be honest with you, Master Zhang, I only received the news yesterday. We arrested them overnight, so we must send them on their way right away. All matters related to the Jinyiwei and the Beizhenfu Si in the capital are now under the responsibility of the new Beizhenfu Si head, Mu Zhenfu.”

Even those who weren’t very interested in court affairs knew that Liang Qian was someone appointed to stay in the capital to assist the crown prince. At this thought, Zhang Fu couldn’t help but shiver and instinctively stepped back a little from Yuan Fang. He looked around and saw a large ship beside his own, presumably belonging to the Jinyiwei. After exchanging a few words, he hurriedly boarded his ship, unwilling to say another word to this Jinyiwei commander who seemed to radiate a cold aura.

Zhang Yue was only a few steps away from Yuan Fang. Seeing Zhang Fu flee to the ship as if avoiding a plague, he frowned. Thinking about how a once-trusted official like Liang Qian had ended up in such a situation, he felt indescribable emotions. After saying a few words to his father, Zhang Zhuo, he also boarded the ship. As their own large ship slowly set off, he stared intently at the dock. Seeing Zhang Zhuo board a carriage and leave without saying a word to Yuan Fang, he grew even more puzzled.

Traveling with Zhang Fu and his father wasn’t a pleasant experience to begin with, and having a large Jinyiwei ship trailing behind at a leisurely pace made it even more uncomfortable, as if they were haunted by persistent pests. The two ships maintained a distance where they could be seen from afar, neither approaching nor falling behind. The more this was the case, the more uncomfortable the shipmaster and sailors became. Eventually, Zhang Yue even heard Zhang Fu’s furious cursing from the adjacent cabin.

“What are those Jinyiwei doing?! If they’re transporting prisoners, they should just speed up and overtake us. Following behind so leisurely—do they think they’re ghosts?”

The south was a land of abundance, while the north suffered from food shortages, so the canals connecting the two regions were extremely important. Since Emperor Yongle, Zhu Di, was still in Beijing, there were many grain ships traveling northward along these canals, though official ships were rare. As a result, few other ships approached either of the two ships. Unlike the previous trip when the three brothers traveled together, Zhang Yue tried his best not to wander on the deck, only going up for fresh air when he couldn’t hold back any longer.

As they were in a hurry to reach Beijing, aside from replenishing supplies, no one on the ship went ashore. While the captain and sailors were accustomed to this life at sea, many others were not, so there were almost always people on the deck taking a breath of fresh air. That day, after dinner in the cabin, as soon as Zhang Yue stepped onto the deck, he saw Zhang Rui and Zhang Bin, father and son, standing at the stern. He couldn’t help but glance at the large ship with the Jinyiwei flag behind them as well.

Zhang Rui turned around and saw Zhang Yue. Due to what Zhang Zhuo had said earlier, he thought his cousin was sensible, so he also found Zhang Yue a bit more tolerable. He then gave a calm order, “We’ll arrive in Tianjin in a few days, and Beijing isn’t far behind. This journey will take longer than your last trip by boat from Kaifeng to the capital. Once we reach the Tongzhou canal terminal, we’ll have to travel by land. If you’re tired, rest well in the cabin.”

As soon as Zhang Bin saw Zhang Yue, he remembered the humiliation he had suffered in the peach blossom forest at Qixia Temple. A fierce look appeared in his eyes. He kept his head raised, pretending not to see his cousin, and said, “Dad, I’m so dizzy from sitting on the boat all this time. What if we take a half-day break in Tianjin? Just half a day! Uncle is always strong, right? He can afford to miss half a day, can’t he?”

“Nonsense! We’ll get off the boat as soon as we reach Tongzhou. Can’t you wait just a few more days? If something happens to your uncle and you can’t get there in time, then why did I bring you along at all?”

“Anyway, since it’s just the two of us going, what’s there to worry about…”

Hearing the increasingly unreasonable talk from the father and son, Zhang Yue grew angry and simply walked toward the bow of the ship. By now, it was getting dark, with a faint crescent moon hanging in the northwest corner, and a few stars could be seen faintly. He thought that if not for this sudden turn of events, he would have been on a ship heading to Kaifeng, and would soon have seen his mother, sister, and others. But now he had to go to Beijing to face an unknown future. He couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

At present, the imperial administration of the Ming Dynasty was still functioning fairly smoothly, with military officials even holding slightly higher status than civil officials. If it hadn’t been for the later emphasis on civil governance over military power and the Tumu Fort Incident, the military system of the Ming might not have deteriorated step by step to its final state, and the Manchus might not have taken control of the Central Plains. In any case, Zhang Fu, the current Duke of Ying, as a leader among military officials, was absolutely crucial at this time. Moreover, Zhang Fu was impeccable both as an official and as a person. Could the consequence of his time travel be that good people don’t live long?

Although it was an urgent matter, out of concern, Lady Wang still had Zhang Yue bring along two maids, Hu Bo and Qiu Hen, along with Lian Sheng, Lian Hu, and Gao Quan. Additionally, there was Peng Shisan and three guards from the Duke of Ying’s household. Since the master rarely went on deck, the others dared not act rashly, especially Gao Quan, who spent his days confined in the cabin. As the steward, he had his own small cabin, where an oil lamp was lit as he wrote and calculated on paper, eventually rubbing his temples in exhaustion.

Although it was said that the previous incident involving Master Zhang Xin involved the use of those 2,000 taels of gold, with the Duke of Ying, Zhang Fu, present, most of the money was later recovered by the officials. Only Zhang Fu had advanced 300 taels and refused to take it back no matter what. Initially, he had sold several properties in Nanjing under the old lady’s orders. Others thought it meant the Zhang family of Xiangfu had been severely weakened, but what they didn’t know was that this was exactly what the family wanted others to see. Now that they planned to move the capital, with Master Zhang Zhuo in Nanjing, they could take the opportunity to acquire more land. He had originally intended to add two more estates in Beijing, but this trip turned out to be due to the Duke of Ying’s illness.

Why on earth did the Duke of Ying fall ill just now?