Chapter 58: The Son of Heaven Arrives at the Celestial Prison

Facing this group of fierce-looking civil officials, let alone Xu Jingchang, even Wang Zhong, who came from a military background, shrank back in cowardice.

At a moment like this, status, prestige, and official rank were entirely useless. If just one madman out of the hundred-plus people present were to suddenly pounce, the others would undoubtedly follow suit, and Xu Jingchang would most likely be beaten into a pile of minced meat.

After all, historically during the Tumu Crisis, it was a supervising secretary who took the lead in beating the commander of the Brocade Guard, Ma Shun, to death with bare fists in the Golden Hall.

If Xu Jingchang were to die at the hands of this bunch, the scene would probably be far more thrilling than Ma Shun's demise.

"My lords, please stop staring at me. Hurry up and clean the place in batches. Spruce it up inside and out! After all, it's a new year and a fresh start; we should at least live like human beings!"

At his words, Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji both realized the gravity of the situation. Indeed, they were burning with anger, but they couldn't actually beat Xu Jingchang to death.

Therefore, those ministers each summoned the officials of their respective departments. Some swept and tidied, while others came over to help stoke the fire and wash vegetables.

Most of these lords had never dirtied their hands with manual labor, let alone washing vegetables and cooking; even getting dressed usually required the help of servants. Yet at this very moment, they had no other choice and had to bite the bullet.

Fortunately, there were a few among them of humble origins who had done all sorts of odd jobs in their early years, and they now charged to the front lines, pitching in with busy hands.

Seeing that everyone had something to do, Xu Jingchang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He brandished a kitchen knife and set to work.

One had to admit, a grand minister who knew how to cook—a marquis with exceptional culinary skills—still possessed quite a bit of charm.

"Director Xu, you aren't married yet, are you? How about I arrange a match for you?" Song Li chuckled and said, "Our Ministry of Rites is most skilled in matters like this."

Xu Jingchang rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid. Someone like me—who can grace the reception hall and command the kitchen, whose pen can pacify the realm and whose sword can secure the empire—is a heaven-sent talent destined to be extremely rare. How could I easily let an ordinary woman take advantage of me? What do you all say?"

The crowd collectively rolled their eyes, and Jian Yi directly scoffed, "If anyone enters a marriage alliance with you, there's no telling what kind of trouble they'll be dragged into. If that day ever comes... you wouldn't even have time to regret it."

Xu Jingchang glared at him fiercely. "You just wait, there'll be no food for you tonight! With a mouth that stinks so badly on New Year's Eve, you deserve to be stuck in here!"

Jian Yi smiled ungraciously. "We're all grasshoppers tied to the same rope. If I can't leave, none of us is getting out."

At this point, Xia Yuanji also poked his head over. "Alright, stop bickering. Let's be of one heart and mind to get through this ordeal first. We can settle accounts once we're outside!"

Everyone felt that Xia Yuanji's proposal for a temporary truce made a lot of sense, so they all quieted down, and Xu Jingchang concentrated on cooking.

The gyrfalcon in the sky and the hound Dahuang repeatedly delivered the prepared ingredients inside, and Xu Jingchang only needed a little bit of processing before they could be served at the table.

Even so, he was busy until dusk before finally managing to whip up meals for so many people.

"My lords, before the feast begins, let me say something. Sometimes, human beings aren't even as good as dogs. Look at my Dahuang... oh, and Xiaobai too. At times, they are much better than people. The more people I get to know nowadays, the more I like dogs. So disappointed, truly disappointed!"

With that, Xu Jingchang tore off a plump duck leg and shoved it into Dahuang's mouth.

"Eat up, you're the greatest contributor today."

Afterward, Xu Jingchang picked up a piece of donkey meat, and the gyrfalcon flew over, happily snatching it away.

This was the second-greatest contributor.

They always said "falcons and hounds, falcons and hounds"—today, this falcon and hound really had become major contributors. Who dared say that hunting with falcons and dogs had no benefits?

If not, would they like to come and stay in prison for a few days too?

Of course, ordinary people wouldn't be able to send these two creatures in even if they owned them.

The courtiers, who had suffered for many days, could finally eat something decent. Everyone raised their wine glasses, and just as they were about to say a few words, *bang!*

Immediately following that, a firecracker exploded in the air, ringing in everyone's ears with a buzzing sound.

Whose family set that off?

Why was it so loud?

Something wasn't right!

There were no residential houses around the celestial prison, and no one would run over here to set off firecrackers... While everyone was puzzled, the sound of firecrackers burst forth out of nowhere, dense as a rainstorm.

Following closely, clusters of fireworks bloomed in the sky.

At some point, the gyrfalcon had flown outside again, and this time when it returned, it carried a piece of calligraphy in its beak.

"Wishing all lords peace and prosperity in the New Year."

When the gyrfalcon landed on Xu Jingchang's arm, he took the piece of calligraphy and examined it over and over.

"This is the handiwork of Zhu Gaozhu, the Prince of Han."

Hearing this name, everyone present looked somewhat dumbfounded... Zhu Gaozhu? Wasn't that the reckless prince who only knew how to fight? They didn't have a very good impression of him at all.

Why had he run over here to set off fireworks and firecrackers?

Could it be to celebrate the New Year with us?

If so, His Highness the Prince of Han was truly heartwarming.

Just at that moment, the sounds of drums and music drifted in from outside, remarkably lively, accompanied by the singing of a grand opera.

The old fellow who had sent this grand opera performance over this time was none other than the Imperial Grandson, Zhu Zhanji.

The opera selection wasn't bad either—it turned out to be *Ganlu Temple*, the famous segment of "Dragons and Phoenixes Prosper."

Although they couldn't see through the wall, they could tell it was performed by masters; it simply sounded wonderful!

What on earth was going on here?

His Highness the Prince of Han and the Imperial Grandson had both run to the prison to spend the New Year with a bunch of criminal officials—how could they all have such immense prestige?

Everyone's gaze gradually landed on Xu Jingchang. It was obvious he was the chief culprit.

Yet everyone knew that the Prince of Han harbored ambitions for the throne; why would he change so drastically?

Didn't Xu Jingchang lean toward Zhu Gaozhi?

Why was the web of relationships getting more and more complicated?

Even people as well-informed as Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji exchanged blank stares at this moment. This defied all logic!

As it turned out, this matter indeed defied logic, yet it had truly happened. The reason why both Zhu Gaozhu and Zhu Zhanji had been drawn over was simply because they had sold bronze artifacts and made a fortune!

For one thing, Zhu Zhanji had already collected over a thousand gold beans, weighing a tael each.

And this was merely the first batch of dividends; there would be plenty more to come!

At present, Fatty Zhu's status at home had plummeted, and whenever his wife Lady Zhang wanted some money, she had to ask Zhu Zhanji for it.

There was no help for it; a useless father had forced a six-year-old child to become self-reliant. It was hard to tell whether this was a distortion of human nature or the loss of moral fiber...

Zhu Zhanji was still relatively loyal. This money had been acquired with the help of his cousin, and since his cousin had given him so many toys to play with, now that he was locked up in the celestial prison, he couldn't just do nothing.

The little fellow had hired an opera troupe to perform outside the prison to congratulate his cousin on the New Year.

As for Zhu Gaozhu, it went without saying how much he had earned.

Moreover, this experience of making counterfeits had completely opened the doors to a brand new world for Zhu Gaozhu; his way of looking at the universe was entirely different now.

Right, that corner of the Directorate of Protocol where the bronze wares had been buried had practically turned into a public restroom because too many people had urinated there.

When Zhu Gaozhu dug up the fake bronze wares, he unexpectedly discovered that the layer of soil covering them somewhat resembled the saltpeter soil used to make gunpowder. As someone who led troops into battle, he was extremely sensitive to weaponry.

Having craftsmen come to inspect it, it truly was authentic saltpeter soil.

This discovery thoroughly shocked Zhu Gaozhu.

Selling bronze wares was ultimately a small business, but if he could master saltpeter soil and manufacture gunpowder on a large scale, that would be an earth-shattering source of wealth.

Besides, a place where people frequently urinated actually contained saltpeter soil—wasn't that miraculous?

Could there be other things as well?

For instance, his urine was so yellow; what if there was gold hidden inside?

Zhu Gaozhu spent his days chatting idly with those counterfeiters and harvested a wealth of knowledge.

He felt more and more that his past life had been a complete waste of time.

Why bother competing with his eldest brother?

There was so much money waiting for him to earn; a limited life must not be squandered on the trivial matter of vying for the succession.

He must have a good chat with Xu Jingchang later to see if he had any other brilliant ideas.

To show his gratitude, Zhu Gaozhu had run outside the celestial prison to set off fireworks to celebrate the New Year for Xu Jingchang.

One loud explosion after another, clusters of fireworks blooming brightly.

At this moment, the court ministers were drinking wine, gazing up at the sky, and listening to the music. A few emotional ones even felt their eyes turn red.

"This New Year is extraordinary, truly extraordinary!"

"Director Xu, I appreciate your kindness. Let me toast you!"

Jian Yi took the lead in raising his wine glass, and Xia Yuanji quickly followed suit.

"That's right, we can consider ourselves sharing weal and woe through this. From now on, we must understand and support one another."

Liu Jun chimed in, "Let's not talk about the future just yet; for now, let's get thoroughly drunk!"

...

"What is the meaning of this second brother? And the eldest, where is my grandson? Where have they all run off to?" Zhu Di angrily interrogated his two sons.

Fatty Zhu hastily replied, "Father, people have already been sent to urge them. They'll be right over; it won't delay anything."

Zhu Di's anger refused to subside. At that moment, the third prince, Zhu Gao sui, looked around and lowered his voice. "Father, I heard that the second brother and the eldest grandson went to the celestial prison."

"They went to the celestial prison?" Zhu Di flew into a rage. "On New Year's Eve, instead of staying by my side to bring joy, why have they run off to the prison? Aren't they afraid of bringing bad luck upon themselves? Simply preposterous!"

Zhu Di stared fixedly at Zhu Gaozhi. "Eldest, explain what is going on here!"

The corners of Fatty Zhu's mouth twitched slightly as he suddenly dropped to his knees. "Father, the ministers of the Six Ministries and Nine Courts, pillars of the imperial court, have been locked up for several days now. Today is New Year's Eve; even if they made mistakes, things should be made clear to them. Furthermore, my cousin is still inside. Your son boldly implores Your Majesty to grant permission so that I may go check on them as well!"

With that, Fatty Zhu heavily thumped his knees onto the ground.

Before Zhu Di could speak, Empress Xu walked in from outside. "I've already prepared the sedan chair. Your Majesty, this whole affair is utterly absurd!"

Faced with this scene, Zhu Di was stunned for a moment before saying helplessly, "Very well, I will go with you all."