TCPCHW Chapter 15 Part 2

The Crown Prince Chases His Wife

Chapter 15          On Fire (2/2)

The Shengqian Hall was the office of the supervisor of the Imperial Academy. There was a desk in the hall, two red stools were specially arranged, and two workers were on duty. The Shengqian Hall was in charge of the school rules, and the supervisor could punish the students directly if they violated the rules. If the violations were more serious, the violators would be pressed on the red stool and beaten with a bamboo stick.

“It’s none of your business. Go away, Dandy Wang!” Qin Hao also disliked the dandyish style of the second son of the Left Prime Minister. The Left Prime Minister sent this fellow to Imperial Academy in vain. This fellow didn’t look like a scholar at all, but a standard dandy of the second generation.

“I’m not that interested in meddling with you, the concubine-born of Prime Minister Qin. I’m here to find Young Master Jiang.” Wang Jingyu had always used Qin Ming’s concubine-born status to stab a knife into his heart. This move had never failed.

“You…” Qin Ming was about to rush toward Wang Jingyu but was held tightly by a group of boys behind him.

“Young Master Qin, the supervisor is coming over at this time. Let’s not get agitated and started fighting as it’s not worth it.”

Wang Jingyu laughed wickedly. He was not as timid as the kid of the Qin family, and the kid knew that he was a concubine-born without self-confidence, hehe.

Wang Jingyu turned to look at Jiang Mu and said with a smile, “Young Master Jiang, you and I are the same age. How about being brothers with different surnames? Although I don’t know anything, I think I’m still a righteous person, and I can be considered popular in the capital. With my cover, how can there be anyone who dares to harass you? Don’t always have a cold face, why don’t you think about it again?”

This little dandy from the Left Prime Minister Mansion also said the same thing every day. The two sons of the Left and Right Prime Minister regarded Jiang Mu as a tool, and the two of them set up a challenging arena there.

“What are you doing? Go home after school. Do you want to be beaten? His Highness Taizi will come to the Imperial Academy in person tomorrow to attend the Linyong Ceremony and there are still many things to prepare in the school, so don’t cause me trouble.” The supervisor of Imperial Academy, who was in charge of the school rules, always had a stern face and held a cane in his hand.

This group of kids instantly dispersed.

The supervisor was sometimes very powerless in managing these students. With his identity, he couldn’t offend the sons of high-ranking officials, and he rarely genuinely beat them. He just felt sorry for some poor and outstanding scholars, who didn’t study well and stood in line behind the children of these noble families to make trouble. They tried to please these sons of noble families to take shortcuts to the court, but little did they know that once they took these crooked ways, sooner or later something bad would happen.

——

The Emperor’s Linyong Ceremony was based on respecting teachers and respecting the Tao as the foundation of education. From time to time, the Emperor would personally come to the Confucius Temple in Imperial Academy to worship Confucius, and after the sacrificial ceremony was completed, he would go to the Yilun Hall of the Imperial Academy to listen to the teaching of the scriptures. It should have been the Emperor of Hui who came to offer the sacrifice, but in recent years, with the Emperor of Hui claiming ill, and Taizi supervising the country, it became Taizi’s turn who presided over it.

Taizi Feng Zhan had fasted for a day in the Taizi Mansion in Xishan. The entourage officials that followed Taizi were civil officials above the third rank, military officials above the second rank, and officials of the Imperial Hanlin Academy above the seventh rank who had all fasted at home for a day.

The next day, six quarters before sunrise, the ministers of Taichang Temple went to the Taizi Mansion in Xishan to invite His Highness Taizi to leave the mansion. Taizi Feng Zhan, dressed in sacrificial clothes, left the mansion in a carriage.

After entering the city, and passing through the Meridian Gate, the bells and drums rang in unison, and the civil and military officials who didn’t accompany the worship stood at the side in court uniforms and kneeled to send His Highness Taizi off.

The Chief Officer of the Imperial Academy, including the education officers and officials of the Imperial Academy, who were all wearing court clothing, and all the students knelt on the left side of the outer street of the Imperial Academy to welcome His Highness Taizi. The nobles and officials accompanying the sacrifice entered the Confucius Temple with Taizi.

The day before Linyong, the Ministry of Works had set up a large tent dedicated to the Taizi at the Confucius Temple in advance. Taizi went to the tent to change his clothes and ascended the hall to worship Confucius.

——

All the students in Imperial Academy were supposed to go to the Confucius Temple to worship, but no one noticed that a few people were missing.

When Qin Ming arrived at the Imperial Academy this morning, he suddenly had a stomachache. After using the toilet in the thatched hut, he was on his way to the Confucius Temple alone. When he passed in front of the Chongwen Pavilion, the library building, he was beaten brutally with a sack over his head. He suffered because there were almost no supervisors left behind and there was no way to ask for help. Later, his hands and feet were tied up, his mouth was gagged, and he was still covered with a sack. After being knocked unconscious, he was dragged into Chongwen Pavilion.

And Jiang Mu was stopped by a tribute student, saying that the Chief Officer of the Imperial Academy asked Jiang Mu to go to Chongwen Pavilion to get the “Agricultural Book” and Taizi would use it when he went to Imperial Academy to listen to the scriptures after worshiping Confucius. Jiang Mu was skeptical about this, but he was recommended to the Imperial Academy in the name of His Highness Taizi. Considering that in case Taizi really wanted to read the book, Jiang Mu still went to Chongwen Pavilion.

After Jiang Mu entered Chongwen Pavilion, he searched for the book he needed in the vast volume of books. Suddenly, there was a creaking sound, and the door of the library was closed from the outside, followed by a click of a lock. Jiang Mu narrowed his eyes and rushed to the door, but the door was locked, and the door seemed to be blocked by a wooden board outside.

At this moment, a burning smell came over, and Jiang Mu turned his head to see flames starting to ignite in the corner of the library. There seemed to be pitch-black kerosene on the bookshelves and the floor on that side, and the blaze spread at a very fast speed.

The books in the library were flammable, and the fire was not easy to extinguish. Jiang Mu violently kicked the door twice, but he still couldn’t open it. At this time, the thick smoke had spread in the library. Jiang Mu covered his mouth and nose with his cuffs. He treaded all the way around the library, but there was nothing weak enough that he could break the door with his bare hands.

At this time, Jiang Mu saw a hapless man covered in a sack in the corner of the other end. Jiang Mu opened the sack on the man’s head and saw that it was Qin Ming who was unconscious. Jiang Mu slapped him in the face and Qin Ming woke up gradually.

“You hit me, cough cough…” The fire rushed through the bookshelf, and the smoke became smokier and smokier.

Jiang Mu tore open the ropes that tied Qin Ming’s hands and feet, and said anxiously, “It’s on fire. We have to find a way to get out of here.”

“What, cough cough…” Qin Ming was already dizzy from being beaten, but now he was frightened, and the thick smoke suffocated his nose. He felt that he was going to faint again.

Jiang Mu was not much better. At this moment, thick smoke was billowing in the library, and the smoke made him dizzy. Jiang Mu sighed in his heart. Jiang Mu lamented in his heart that his revenge had not been avenged, could it be he was going to die here?

At this moment, the door of the library was knocked open by force, and two masked men in black rushed in. The two were dressed in similar clothes, only the details were slightly different.

After entering the building, the two searched on both sides as if they had a tacit understanding and saw Jiang Mu and Qin Ming at about the same time. The two masked men dragged the two fainted boys who were choked by the smoke and collapsed to the ground out of the library. They dropped them in the open space outside the Chongwen Pavilion. The two men in black jumped onto the roof and disappeared separately.

Because most of the people went to the Confucius Temple, no one put out the fire. The fire in the library of the Imperial Academy was getting bigger and bigger.

When the people worshipping at the Confucius Temple saw the thick smoke billowing from the Imperial Academy, they felt it was bad because there was a fire.

Taizi ordered the supervisor of the Imperial Academy to immediately gather people to put out the fire, so he hastily ended the sacrificial ceremony and waited in the big tent.

By the time everyone put out the fire in Chongwen Pavilion, the building had been burnt down, but the building next to it was safe.

Destroying the building was a small thing, but the collection of books inside made the Chief Officer of the Imperial Academy very distressed. There were many unique and rare books in it, which was really a heavy loss.

But it wasn’t this that shocked him the most. Although there were no casualties this time, the son of the Right Prime Minister was tied up, knocked unconscious, and sent to the library and Young Master Shao of the Princess of Zhaoren Mansion was also trapped there. They nearly died. Since it was a murder case, it was not something he could handle.

After Jiang Mu and Qin Ming were respectively placed in the Chief Officer’s office and the Education Officer’s office, the Chief Officer of the Imperial Academy asked his deputy, the Education Officer, to immediately go to the Imperial Hospital to ask for an imperial doctor. He sent someone to notify the Princess of Zhaoren and then this Chief Officer immediately returned to the Confucius Temple.

When reporting the matter to His Highness Taizi, the Right Prime Minister Qin Wenzheng heard that his precious son Qin Ming almost died on the spot, almost fainted, and immediately rushed to the Imperial Academy to see Qin Ming.

The Left Prime Minister asked unhurriedly, “Today, all the students should worship at the Confucius Temple. Why are these two people in the library alone?”

The supervisor told the Chief Officer before that Qin Ming would take people to block Jiang Mu during these days. The Chief Officer didn’t dare to hide, so he said it at this time.

The Left Prime Minister asked, “Is this accident caused by the two’s personal grudge?”

The Chief Officer of the Imperial Academy didn’t answer. He didn’t dare to speculate on this matter, and he was still distressed by his collection of books.

Taizi Feng Zhan lightly buckled the armrest of the chair and said solemnly, “This case involves two young masters from the Right Prime Minister Mansion and the Princess of Zhaoren Mansion, who almost lost their lives. I order the Capital Magistrate to investigate strictly.”

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