Chapter 1465: Chapter 1441 Nemesis (Additional chapter for the reward from reader “Her Majesty Xiaoxue”)
“Aside from the rooster gemstone that had already been carved, they also polished other small accessories and left behind a large piece that couldn’t glow. The head artisan hid some stones and managed to transport the chipped shell back to his home. Besides him, other craftsmen also secretly hid some luminous stone beads they had cut off.”
The status of craftsmen was very low, especially in the Gaochang Kingdom, where craftsmen were controlled by the nobility.
In their spare time, they farmed in the villages and were directly conscripted when needed. To leave their craft affiliation required a considerable amount of money.
So, they dared not sell the hidden items immediately and just kept them secretly.
“That rooster gemstone was presented by the nobility to the Gaochang royal family,” Lord Tang said. “Until the fourteenth year of the Great Zhen dynasty, when the King of Gaochang allied with the Turks, His Majesty sent Hou Ji, Xue Wan, and others to conquer Gaochang, and when Gaochang Kingdom perished, Hou Ji hid the gemstone away.”
Isn’t the fourteenth year of the Great Zhen just two years ago?
Bai Shan asked, “So Hou Ji didn’t know there was a problem with this stone?”
Lord Tang slightly raised the corners of his mouth and said meaningfully, “The eldest prince of the Gaochang Kingdom, who once owned this gemstone, knew there was a problem. In the fourteenth year of the Great Zhen, not only did his household give birth to two problematic children, but his eldest son also suffered from nosebleeds, weakened, and died. He invited many doctors, and finally, the people from a Buddhist temple told him it was the stone that was problematic.”
“Before the fall of Gaochang Kingdom, he had already sent people to find that craftsmen’s village, but before he could do anything, Gaochang fell. The Gaochang prince was captured. I checked the other day, and he’s already dead. Those who served him closely have also died, but among those who went to that village back then, one person was left. He said that the prince once intended to present the gemstone to His Majesty, plotting against our royal court, but Hou Ji, greedy as he was, embezzled most of the wealth collected from the Gaochang royal family.”
Lord Tang looked up at the two of them. “Unfortunately, a minister who stayed by the Gaochang prince’s side didn’t want to be enslaved, so he told the secret of the gemstone to Hou Ji in hopes of gaining favor.”
Bai Shan asked, “What about those people?”
“All dead.” Lord Tang said, “They didn’t return to the capital; they died of illness directly on the way.”
They were prisoners, not members of the Gaochang royal family. Their deaths were insignificant, and since Hou Ji had just made a great contribution, neither the emperor nor the court officials would trouble Hou Ji for a few ministers from a hostile country.
Bai Shan had a thought, “I heard the Crown Prince and Hou Ji don’t get along.”
Lord Tang nodded, “After Hou Ji conquered Gaochang, he embezzled most of the property and even slaughtered prisoners, which His Highness couldn’t stand and once took the lead in impeaching him.”
He said, “Originally, he had followed His Majesty through life and death, and in the third year of the Great Zhen, he was conferred the title of State Duke Yu. But in the sixth year, due to indulging his household slaves to enclose land in Shangzhou, coincidentally, the Crown Prince was ordered to inspect the Nine Provinces and happened to arrive in Shangzhou.”
The Crown Prince had a bad temper, and at that time, Hou Ji’s household slaves spoke impudently, so he directly beheaded them.
Not only did he behead the household slaves, but he also beheaded Hou Ji’s own brother.
The person who instructed the household slaves to enclose the land was Hou Ji’s brother, though it could have been Hou Ji himself. Unfortunately, the Crown Prince acted too quickly to question him further.
However, Lord Tang felt that even if he had been questioned, given Hou Ji’s contributions, at most, it would have been a slap on the wrist. Such things were not uncommon in court.
His Majesty had always been lenient towards meritorious officials.
The Crown Prince beheading Hou Ji’s brother was a significant scandal at that time. It happened just when the Crown Prince had recently married and was highly favored.
At that time, no one knew about his infertility. His relations with his brothers were pretty good, and no one competed with him, so he hadn’t lost his senses yet. Despite being so angry that he killed the person, as soon as he returned to the capital, he immediately went to the palace to plead guilty in front of the emperor and the courtiers, apologizing to Hou Ji. He expressed his anger at seeing people driving away commoners and enclosing land with slaves and claimed it was an accident due to his fury.
Libationer Kong and Scholar Master Zhang, seeing their pupil, the Crown Prince, apologize to Hou Ji, were naturally displeased. They felt the Crown Prince had acted correctly, appropriately, although slightly unlawfully in procedure, still, such minor flaws could be overlooked.
The officials from humble origins, led by Wei Zhi, were deeply disgusted by the nobility enclosing land, so they overlooked the Crown Prince’s unlawful methods and fiercely criticized Hou Ji.
Even the emperor had to concede a bit in Wei Zhi’s presence, let alone Hou Ji.
His own brother was dead, and he was already furious; facing Wei Zhi’s attack, he lost his temper and fought with Wei Zhi in front of the emperor.
This resulted in a famous mass brawl on the court, still occasionally mentioned by some old ministers to this day.
Like Lord Tang’s father, the old Lord Tang, back then, the old Lord Tang heroically kicked Hou Ji when he rushed over, saving Lord Wei who stood beside him.
Of course, the old Lord Tang also got hit on the left cheek, resulting in a swelling that lasted a long time, which Lord Tang remembered well.
“His Majesty was enraged at Hou Ji for causing a commotion in court and failing to restrain his family, thus demoting him to Left Minister of War,” Lord Tang recounted the past grievances and, after taking a sip of tea to soothe his throat, said, “Afterwards, Hou Ji was sent to guard Liangzhou. In the fourteenth year of the Great Zhen, he made the primary contribution during the campaign against Gaochang and was supposed to be promoted to State Duke, but then…”
Lord Tang lightly coughed, “But then the Crown Prince couldn’t stand his slaughtering of prisoners, coupled with someone informing on him for embezzling property, so the Crown Prince petitioned for a thorough investigation. His Majesty initially didn’t want to investigate…”
After all, Hou Ji had just made a significant contribution; it’s unreasonable to investigate him immediately after he had just brought back prisoners. Regardless of facts, public perception would certainly be that His Majesty couldn’t tolerate meritorious officials.
The emperor didn’t want to discourage meritorious officials, and at the time, half the court expressed opposition, much like sharing a common fate; thus, the emperor was even more opposed to the investigation.
Lord Tang said, “But the Crown Prince entered the palace overnight. Who knows what he said to His Majesty, and the next day, His Majesty ordered an investigation. However, it was only a perfunctory investigation, and nothing was found, but Hou Ji wasn’t promoted; he was just rewarded with many things and praised several times.”
But for Hou Ji, not being promoted was a punishment.
Now that the world was gradually becoming peaceful and wars were decreasing, for military men, making a name for themselves was becoming increasingly difficult. Missing this opportunity, he might never be promoted to State Duke in his lifetime.
Lord Tang said, “After that, Hou Ji often spoke resentfully of the Crown Prince, so their discord is no secret. Based on the information we’ve gathered, Hou Ji had one of his protégés give a gem to a merchant, who then passed it to an official in the East Palace, who then offered it to His Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“Both the merchant and the official in the East Palace took it, but none of them knew the inside story,” he said. “I suspect Hou Ji doesn’t have much influence in the palace, so when the Crown Prince gave the gemstone to you and sealed your study, he didn’t know it had been sent out, until news from Lord Yin prompted him to send someone to steal it.”
Bai Shan was puzzled, “Lord Tang, why are you telling us this?”