Chapter 394: The Emperor’s Grandnephew Is Worth Nothing

Although Li Maofang was furious at Zhang Yue’s mocking remarks and the frequent sexual encounters over the past few nights had left him exhausted, the matter of gunpowder was far too critical. Thus, under Zhang Yue’s gaze, he could only angrily rush to put on some clothes and follow him out. What he didn’t expect, however, was that as they passed by two trembling young maids outside, Zhang Yue suddenly stopped and gave them an order.
“You two, one of you go inside to see how the person on the bed is doing, and the other go find a doctor.”
Already annoyed, Li Maofang couldn’t help but snap, “Just a servant—how considerate of you!”
“Everyone’s life is precious. Would it benefit you, Marquis of Fuyang, if someone died now?”
By then, Zhang Yue had already stepped into the courtyard. As several soldiers carried out several chests from the west wing room used as a storage area, an old soldier from the Divine Machine Camp carefully opened each one to inspect its contents. After standing up and nodding in confirmation, Zhang Yue wasn’t surprised, but everyone else in the courtyard fell dead silent.
Most of these men were strong soldiers from the Divine Machine Camp, who had often handled firearms and gunpowder. They knew well how powerful these items were. But what puzzled them was where these things came from.
“That’s impossible… I checked them myself—these are clearly treasures!”
Seeing Zhang Yue walk up and order that the gunpowder chests be sealed temporarily and returned to the west wing room, Li Maofang, who had just declared it impossible, turned pale with shock. Ignoring the still-cold weather, he rushed down the steps in a few strides and shouted at Zhang Yue, “Leaving such dangerous things here—what if something happens? Hurry and have them all taken away!”
“Dangerous? These items have been stored with you, Marquis of Fuyang, for over a day or two. Why wait until tonight to move them?” Zhang Yue finally turned around. Seeing Li Maofang’s furious expression, he asked, “Besides, the Marquis of Fuyang just said you checked them before. So you knew about these gunpowders all along?”
“What if I did… You wretched Zhang Yue, a mere minor official, daring to deceive this marquis!”

Although Li Maofang didn’t know much from reading books, his royal background made many things seem as natural as eating and sleeping. He immediately realized that Zhang Yue was trying to trick him into revealing information. But after cursing once, he became both frightened and angry upon thinking about what it meant to have those dozen boxes of gunpowder in his west wing room, and his face turned pale instantly.
“How could I possibly know these are gunpowder? I also have no idea which damned bastard did this!”
“Not to mention those dozen boxes—even just one box of gunpowder is likely beyond your reach as Marquis of Fuyang.” Zhang Yue didn’t want to waste any more time arguing with Li Maofang and said bluntly, “There’s a plot for rebellion in the capital—this is a serious matter. Since gunpowder was found here, I ask Marquis of Fuyang to change clothes and go to the palace to report to the emperor. Send four men to escort him to the palace!”
Already exhausted from indulgence, exposed to the cold wind, and now faced with such a terrifying truth, even arrogant and domineering as Li Maofang felt his legs weaken and he lost his composure. He had indeed considered such treasonous ideas before, but only as fantasies—in his view, it made sense to let others plan while he reaped the benefits. Why would he risk himself for nothing?
“Zhang Yue, don’t slander me out of personal grudges!”
“If I really wanted to settle personal scores, I would have brought the gunpowder to the palace myself right now for the emperor to see!”
Zhang Yue was preoccupied with matters related to the Meng family. Seeing that Li Maofang was still stalling, he replied irritably before giving orders: “Twelve men should stay here to guard the gunpowder in the west wing room. Send two men to inform the Five Cities Military Command, and leave four more to accompany the Marquis of Fuyang to the palace. If he refuses to go, there’s no need to force him—the Jinyiwei will come to arrest him later. The rest, follow me. There are countless tasks to handle tonight—no point wasting time here!”
Seeing Zhang Yue wave his hand and the soldiers in red coats in the courtyard respond in unison, then quickly assign those who would stay and those who would follow, and then seeing Zhang Yue walk out without looking back, Li Maofang finally realized that this matter was serious—otherwise, why would Zhang Yue leave him behind so carelessly? The weather in this twelfth month was cold, and his body was cold too, but his heart was even colder now. Even a fool could understand that he had taken on the worst crime on behalf of someone else. If he couldn’t do something about it, he would surely bear the blame!
“Zhang Yue, stop right there!”

In his desperation, Li Maofang naturally couldn’t keep repeating “I beg you” over and over, but he still hadn’t developed the habit of lowering himself to ask for help. He rushed after Zhang Yue and grabbed his sleeve tightly: “You must have a way to help me! I’m the emperor’s own grandson. As long as I get through this difficulty, once the emperor calms down, I’ll be fine. I’ll never forget you then! My mother is Princess Yongping, and my father sacrificed his grandfather and other family members to follow the emperor. The emperor will surely remember his contributions!”
Zhang Yue calmly pulled his sleeve free and said, “Marquis of Fuyang, I’m just a minor official. I’m sorry, but I’m powerless to handle such a major matter.”
Seeing Zhang Yue mount his horse with a group of soldiers following at a quick pace, Li Maofang, furious to the point of turning blue, could only watch as messy footprints covered the snow. After standing there for a long time, he suddenly spat violently on the ground, completely forgetting any sense of propriety. Thinking of his aunt having only one legitimate son and himself being the second among the emperor’s grandsons, and knowing he was usually quite indulged, he gradually gained confidence. Indeed, with his father’s past merits and his mother’s status, what were a few boxes of gunpowder compared to that!
With this thought, he arrogantly flicked his sleeve and strode back to the main house. Pulling back the curtain of the side room to enter the bedroom, he found Zi Xiang already seated with the maid’s help, but her delicate neck bore a ring of purple bruises. Remembering how Zhu Gaosui, his third uncle, had tricked him, he almost felt the urge to strangle him, but after much consideration, he held back. He then ignored her, curled up in fear, and roughly ordered the maid to find clothes for her to wear.
Fifteen minutes later, Li Maofang emerged dressed in fine attire. Having just suffered an embarrassment, he wore a purple-gold crown, a qilin-patterned robe, and deer-skin boots, deliberately dressing in extreme luxury from head to toe. Even his snowproof cloak was made of pure white silver fox fur, without a single spot of color. If it weren’t for the soldiers in the courtyard having seen his embarrassed state earlier, they might have admired and envied him, but now they were all wondering.
This was a trip to the palace to apologize, not to pay respects—why dress up like this?

Since it was upgraded to the capital, this largest city in the north had never been in such chaos before. The streets were filled with soldiers in various outfits, their coats red, green, and blue. Although strict controls were in place during this thorough search, and few committed acts like plundering the people, many were still terrified. Even when Zhang Yue led more than forty people through Qianmen Street, they were stopped and inspected by the soldiers from the Five Cities Military Command, and only after seeing the official seals were they allowed to pass.

“Sir, shall we not go to the Meng family first?”

Hearing Hu Qi’s question, Zhang Yue, who was already riding slowly, turned to look at the forty-plus people following behind at a leisurely pace. Then he said in a deep voice, “Lord Yuan is meticulous; he must have already sent people there. We’re just waiting for the emperor’s orders. It’s pointless for me to go now.”

Hu Qi had been following Zhang Yue since Qingzhou and knew that not only were the Zhang and Meng families related by marriage, but Zhang Yue also seemed to have feelings for the fourth daughter of the Meng family. Although he knew he shouldn’t speak out unnecessarily, he cautiously reminded him, “Sir, this matter is extremely serious. If not handled carefully, it could implicate countless people. Especially the Meng family…”

“Implicate countless people… How could those who plotted this not think about the consequences! I sent people to watch over Gao Zheng at the Wang family’s place before coming to Dengcaohutong for exactly this reason. Putting aside the matters related to the Imperial Secretariat for now, all these plots, including the forgery of the imperial edict, were originated by Gao Zheng. Only he knows the truth best. It’s a good opportunity to bring him back to the palace. If he’s just using Meng Xian as a cover, things will be easier to handle; we can think of ways then.”

Despite holding such hopes, Zhang Yue didn’t say anything more. It had to be admitted that this possibility was extremely low. Judging from Meng Xian’s past actions, even Zhang Yue couldn’t believe he wasn’t involved in this. Still, he had to find Gao Zheng first and question him thoroughly. If that didn’t work, he would think of other solutions. If the charges were indeed proven, the Baoding Marquis’s family still had a 50% chance of escaping disaster. But if the Meng family’s property was confiscated… the best outcome would be for everyone in the family to become slaves, regardless of gender!

“By the way, even if Sir disapproves of Marquis Fuyang, he should at least show some courtesy. After all, he’s the emperor’s grandson.”

“The emperor’s grandson is worthless!” Zhang Yue, who was in an extremely bad mood, hid none of his disgust. “If he had not tried to make random excuses in front of the emperor, admitted his fault, and come up with an acceptable reason, at most he would have had his title revoked and be imprisoned. But if he remains ungrateful, who knows what the enraged emperor will do to him? In any case, even if his mother is Princess Yongping, she won’t be able to save him this time.” As for the last sentence, Zhang Yue merely thought to himself—Zhu Di might protect the Prince of Zhao, but Li Maofang, being a grandson who doesn’t share the Zhu surname, what does he count for in the emperor’s eyes?