HLnovel Chapter 515 Imprisoned
Chapter 515 Imprisoned
Chapter 515 Imprisoned
Because Dengzhou was the closest to South Korea, Wang Wenzhou's fleet arrived there first. After landing, they learned that the battle was over and Zhu Youjian had not hanged himself, which finally put Wang Wenzhou at ease. The subsequent journey was like a tour, traveling by sea to Tianjin and then by land to Beijing.
This time, Zhu Youjian did not greet Wang Wenzhou, and Wang Wenzhou did not care. After all, he was the emperor, and it would be inappropriate for him to come out of the city to greet him all the time.
Wang Wenzhou was stunned as soon as he arrived in the capital. He was greeted by a young eunuch who delivered an imperial edict. After the eunuch read the edict, Wang was arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Even after Wang Wenzhou was imprisoned, he still couldn't believe that Zhu Youjian, that heartless bastard, would actually harm him.
The news of Wang Wenzhou's imprisonment spread throughout Beijing instantly. Apart from a few influential figures in the know, no one understood why Wang Wenzhou, who was enjoying such imperial favor, had been thrown into prison.
Wang Wenzhou's friends were stunned. His enemy had offended too many people and done too many outrageous things. He had a lot of political enemies who would definitely kick him when he was down. His enemy was likely to be in big trouble.
The officials held a meeting to discuss countermeasures. Besides quickly making arrangements and finding a way to get Wang Wenzhou out of trouble, they couldn't think of any other solutions. Finally, they reached a consensus: first, they would appease the ministers to silence them; even if they didn't speak well of Wang Wenzhou, they wouldn't allow them to kick him while he was down. Then, they would try to contact Wang Wenzhou and seek his opinion.
The Heavenly Prison is next to the Ministry of Justice's prison.
At this moment, Wang Wenzhou acted as if nothing had happened, leisurely sipping his wine.
The jailer, Zhu Taining, cautiously attended to Wang Wenzhou. Although Wang Wenzhou had been imprisoned, he was different from other prisoners. Both of Wang Wenzhou's sons still held their titles, and given the Emperor's trust in him, he might rise again someday. Moreover, Wang Wenzhou's reputation as a mad dog was well-known, and Zhu Taining dared not offend him.
The so-called "Heavenly Prison" was not actually a large prison, but rather several adjacent courtyards. Those imprisoned there were either members of the imperial family or high-ranking officials of the court. Although they were locked up inside, legally speaking, they were not criminals.
Because prisoners had to undergo trial by the three judicial departments, while those imprisoned in the Imperial Prison were only detained by imperial decree. Precisely because of this, those imprisoned in the Imperial Prison rarely met a good end. Simply put, they had offended the Emperor. Wang Wenzhou was an exception. Although Zhu Youjian didn't visit him, he specifically instructed that he be treated well. Zhu Taining dared not neglect this.
Wang Wenzhou took a sip of his drink and said dejectedly, "Little Pig, can you do me a favor?"
"Lord Wang, please tell me your orders. I will do my best to fulfill them," Zhu Taining said hurriedly.
Wang Wenzhou said, "Go to my residence and tell my babies to take turns coming to keep me company. That bastard Zhu Youjian, I don't know when he'll let me out. He's up to no good. He knows I can't be without my babies by my side, yet he still locks me up. It's outrageous!"
Zhu Taining smiled bitterly. "Lord Wang, in the entire Ming Dynasty, only you, even imprisoned in the imperial jail, dare to curse and call the Emperor by his name. If it were anyone else, I would have beaten them senseless long ago."
Zhu Taining cupped his hands in apology and said, "Lord Wang, I am truly powerless to help with this matter. His Majesty has issued a strict decree that no one, regardless of who they are, is allowed to visit you, and you are also prohibited from sending any messages out."
Wang Wenzhou took a swig of his wine and said irritably, "This is too much! Go tell Zhu Youjian that this is not fair! Either let my baby come and keep me company, or have him send a few palace maids to keep me company."
"Lord Wang, please spare me! How dare I!" Zhu Taining wanted nothing more than to strangle Wang Wenzhou. He truly was a mad dog. This was the Imperial Prison, not a brothel. How dare he have the Emperor send palace maids to keep him company? Were you drunk? I've been in charge of the Imperial Prison for over a decade, and you're the first person to have ever indulged in such lavish feasting here. And you're still not satisfied?
"You won't talk, huh! I'm going to die! I'm going to hang myself!" After saying that, Wang Wenzhou took off his belt, threw it onto the roof beam, and prepared to hang himself.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Taining immediately grabbed Wang Wenzhou and shouted, "Someone come quick!"
Several guards hurriedly entered the room.
Zhu Taining instructed, "Keep a close eye on Lord Wang and make sure nothing happens to him."
"Yes!" the guard replied hastily.
Zhu Taining cupped his hands in a gesture of respect and said helplessly, "Lord Wang, please spare me. Don't make a scene. I'll go see the Emperor right away and deliver your message."
Wang Wenzhou said irritably, "Hurry up! If you dawdle any longer, I'll bite my tongue and kill myself."
"I'll go right away!" Zhu Taining was furious. Wang Wenzhou, are you the prisoner or am I? Your Majesty! You can't bear to kill Wang Wenzhou, so please release him. The officials are right, wherever Wang Wenzhou goes, there is no peace.
Zhu Taining rushed to the palace, explained his purpose to the head guard on duty, and then the guard relayed the message. Zhu Taining then waited outside the palace gate.
This wasn't the first time Zhu Taining had requested an audience with Zhu Youjian. Usually, with a messenger sent all the way, and given Zhu Youjian's busy schedule, he would have to wait at least two or three hours. But on this day, just as Zhu Taining took out his pipe to smoke, a young eunuch came and led him into the palace.
Zhu Taining felt like he was dreaming; today had gone so smoothly.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live ten thousand years!" Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, Zhu Taining immediately kowtowed.
Zhu Youjian said, "Rise, has Wang Wenzhou caused a huge disturbance in prison?"
"Hmm!" Zhu Taining nodded and said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, you don't know, Lord Wang keeps saying he wants to commit suicide. I had no choice but to have him kept under strict guard, but then he said he wanted to bite his tongue to kill himself. I really had no other choice but to come and ask for Your Majesty's opinion."
Zhu Youjian asked, "How did he insult me?"
"Ah..." Zhu Taining was stunned. How did the Emperor know that Lord Wang had scolded him?
“That…” Zhu Taining didn’t want to help Wang Wenzhou cover it up, but he was afraid that if he revealed Wang Wenzhou’s words, Wang Wenzhou would find out and definitely retaliate against him.
"Haha!" Zhu Youjian tilted his head and glanced at Wang Chengen, laughing and scolding, "Boxin is really infamous. Even though he is in prison, the prison warden does not dare to say a bad word about him."
“Tell me what he said, I won’t tell him,” Zhu Youjian said irritably.
"Your humble servant obeys the decree!" Zhu Taining recited Wang Wenzhou's cursing words verbatim, but with a slightly different twist.
Zhu Youjian laughed and scolded, "Wang Wenzhou is a scoundrel who has no respect for the emperor and his father. He really needs to be taught a lesson."
"He's insisting on having women accompany him?" Zhu Youjian asked.
"Yes!" Zhu Taining nodded.
Zhu Youjian glanced at Wang Chengen and said irritably, "Alright, alright. Boxin is a womanizer by nature. If he drinks too much without a woman by his side, he might do something foolish. Wang Chengen, let Liu Hanxue go and keep him company. All of you, leave!"
"This old servant obeys the decree!" Wang Chengen and Zhu Taining left the study.
Zhu Taining was completely bewildered. The women in the palace were either imperial concubines or palace maids; in general, they were all the emperor's women. How could the emperor send one of his own women to accompany Wang Wenzhou? My God! Could the rumor be true?
At this moment, Wang Wenzhou's children were extremely anxious, because Zhu Youjian had issued an edict forbidding anyone from visiting Wang Wenzhou. The children were terrified that they couldn't see Wang Wenzhou. Furthermore, Wang Ying knew something about the imperial prison; anyone imprisoned there had an 80% chance of not surviving.
After discussing it, the children decided that they had to rescue their enemy no matter what. Even Liu Rushi, who was always loyal to the emperor and loved her country, was determined to rescue her husband, even if it meant raising a flag of rebellion.
If Wang Wenzhou knew what the babies were doing, even if he was reluctant, he would still have to slap them hard to wake them up, because what they were doing was not saving him, but pushing him to his death.