Chapter 53: The Mysterious Poison Arrow
This prince is none other than the King of Guangping, who has been appointed as the crown prince for only three years. He has a lifesaving grace and a rebirth virtue to the younger generation of the Zhao family's second house, and he also sent his trusted aide, Lu Yunpeng, to be their bodyguard, staying with them for five years, so the three members of the Zhang family are very grateful to him.
It's said that he was injured in the war, Zhang's expression changed: "What's going on? Even if you want to lead troops out of the city, the Crown Prince is still the commander-in-chief. What are the other generals doing? How could they let the commander-in-chief get hurt?"
"Grandson doesn't know the details, only heard that it was a stray arrow shot from the battlefield." Zhao Wei's face was filled with anxiety, "What can be done? Liaodong is over 3,000 miles away from Shanghai, and it will take a lot of time for the news to arrive. The prince must have been injured for a long time, and I don't know how his injury is now."
Zhaoyao immediately discovered that something was off: "The Crown Prince led the army on behalf of the Emperor, isn't... that a recent event? I remember the army set out on the second day of the second month, when the dragon raises its head. Grandmother said it was a good day when she heard about it. It's been less than two months...". She turned her head to look at her grandmother: "Even if the Crown Prince was injured as soon as he arrived in Liaodong, the news would have taken some time to arrive, and now it's only just the end of March."
Madam Zhang's expression changed again. She was not an ordinary housewife, and she didn't know much about military affairs. As the widow of a renowned general of this dynasty, when her husband went to war, although she stayed at home living a peaceful life, she still cared deeply about his safety on the border. She had some common sense that she understood very clearly.
From the capital to Liaodong Jinzhou front line nearly a thousand miles, the army set out, even if it was an emergency. One day's journey of over 100 miles would take around ten days' effort. The infantry with heavy loads would be even slower. However, Liaodong had sufficient troops, and the prince might have brought his personal guards ahead of time. The main force followed behind him. He left the capital on February 2nd and wouldn't arrive in Jinzhou until mid-month at the earliest. If he had been injured in a battle with the Qing army around that time, it wasn't impossible. But as the crown prince, his identity was noble, and news of his injury shouldn't have been leaked out after being transmitted back to the capital. Not to mention that within just over a month, the rumors had spread to Shanghai over 2,000 miles away. Even small students in private schools could hear about it. Such rumors and panic were not beneficial to the imperial court.
Unless it was someone who deliberately leaked the news, wanting all the people in the world to know that the crown prince was injured.
How serious is the crown prince's injury?
Zhang thought to himself, his mind a jumble of thoughts. Finally, he came to a conclusion: "Regardless of whether there's more to this than meets the eye, the Crown Prince being injured can't be just an empty rumor. We need to investigate and get to the bottom of it."
As the family member of Zhao Laogong, Zhang wanted to inquire about this military news and had his own way. He immediately wrote a few letters, mentioning the rumors on the streets and alleys of Fengxian, and inquired about the truth in a subtle manner. However, before sending out the letters, he had to go ask Lu Yunpeng for clarification first.
Lü Yunpeng had just gone to Songjiang the day before. The Zhao family was still very peaceful, and he used to send a letter every ten days, but now it's only once a month. He should have returned to the Crown Prince's side long ago. However, because King Ying abandoned the small eldest house of the Zhao family, he didn't reveal his footprints. The old members of the Zhao family who colluded with him were not investigated, and the Crown Prince was worried that he would aim at the small second house of the Zhao family. This orphaned child and widowed mother had no reliable person to protect them, and the risk was too great, so Lü Yunpeng was allowed to stay behind.
Lu Yunpeng got married to Qiu Ye last year. The feelings between them were actually kept very private, Lu Yunpeng was straightforward but never lost his manners in front of people, and Qiu Ye was a honest girl, every time she sent him gifts, it was always after getting orders from Zhang Shi and Zhao Wei, openly and honestly sending them - as for why Zhang Shi and Zhao Wei would give such orders, that's not mentioned. Zhang Shi had no idea about the loving couple under her nose, when she heard the truth, she almost couldn't believe it.
It all came out very suddenly. Qiuye was already twenty, an old maid, and for the past few years she had been saying that she couldn't set her mind at ease about Master's well-being and didn't want to get married. Zhang Shi was moved by this and felt that he couldn't delay any longer. Qiuye had shared life and death with his grandson, and had saved his life, so she was not like an ordinary maid. Zhang Shi didn't want to wrong her, so he decided to prepare a generous dowry for her and let her marry out, finding a wealthy family's son as her husband. The person selected must be of good character, with a matching age and appearance, from a wealthy household - preferably a landlord's family. He was afraid that if he chose a merchant, it would humiliate her; if he chose a scholar's son, she might be looked down upon in the future; and if he chose an ordinary commoner, her life would be difficult. Zhang Shi had never been so meticulous when choosing a daughter-in-law for his son.
It took almost half a year to finally select three good candidates, and just as Zhang was about to let Akira choose one - actually, Akira had been serving Zhang every day and knew everything that was going on, but her mood couldn't be said to be very good - at this time, Lu Yunpeng suddenly came with a marriage proposal, bringing with him a handwritten letter from the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince proposed, the Crown Princess acted as matchmaker, asking for Lu Yunpeng's hand in marriage to Akira. Zhang was shocked and only then realized that her loyal maid had been secretly in love with Lu Yunpeng for over two years under her own nose.
The Zhang family was both delighted and angry, not because they were upset that Autumn Leaf had a private relationship with someone without following the rules, but because they were angry that she had hidden it from them, and instead let the Crown Prince and his wife know about their intentions first. However, since Autumn Leaf's relationship with her was special, she only got angry for a little while before happily agreeing to the marriage. She released Autumn Leaf from her duties as a servant and adopted her as a goddaughter, letting her grandchildren call Autumn Leaf "Auntie". She prepared a generous dowry, chose an auspicious day, and married Autumn Leaf off to Lu Yunpeng like she was her own daughter. The young couple lived in a small courtyard next to the school grounds. Last autumn, Autumn Leaf became pregnant, and last month gave birth to a big fat baby boy. Now that she has just finished her postpartum confinement, Lu Yunpeng went to Songjiang because he was worried about his wife and child, and as a result, he had been somewhat neglectful of news from the north. Only when he sent a message to Songjiang last time did he report the good news that his wife had given birth to a son.
Lu Yunpeng returned from Songjiang two days later. His complexion was not good, and the worry between his eyebrows could not be hidden, obviously he had already received the news. Zhang Shi took a look at him and felt a chill: "Is the Crown Prince's situation really bad?"
Lu Yunpeng said, "That arrow was no ordinary arrow, the arrowhead had been smeared with poison. At that time, it only shot into the shoulder and back of the temple, and was pulled out immediately. The poison had not yet taken effect at first. The temple also didn't take it seriously, letting the people around him bandage it casually. Some golden wound medicine was applied. At that time, it was the most critical moment in the war, and as the commander-in-chief, the temple could not leave lightly. Unexpectedly, after the battle, when he came down to take a look, the area around the wound had all turned black. The temple didn't feel any pain, which was due to the effect of the medicine. Although at that time, the imperial physician had already scraped off the poisoned flesh and prepared an antidote, the injury was too severe, and it repeatedly recurred, never healing. The temple thought about the war situation and refused to return to Beijing for medical treatment. The Liaodong generals urged him desperately. He then proposed a plan for a quick victory, which was perfected by the generals, and indeed won a great victory, driving away the Qing people. Only then did they return to the capital. However, on the way back to Beijing, the temple fainted and fell unconscious. When he arrived in Beijing, all the members of the Imperial Hospital worked together but still could not clear out the poison."
Zhang's heart sank as he listened: "How can this be? Who among the Qing people could have come up with such a vicious plan to apply poison to the arrowhead? And where did they find such a potent toxin? I've never heard of such a thing before!"
The cost of poison is not low. Moreover, the amount applied to the arrow is limited and often does not reach a lethal effect, so this method is generally not used on the battlefield. The several generals leading the Qing army have never used such tactics, so Zhang wondered why the prince was shot by a poisoned arrow. She asked: "Your Highness was shot while on the city wall? Didn't the guards around you discover the poisonous arrow?"
Lu Yunpeng's lips moved slightly. He said with some difficulty: "It was indeed the arrow that came from a suspicious direction. The prince stood on the city wall, but the arrow shot into his shoulder and back from behind. Although the arrow is a Qing soldier's object, the arrowhead looks like it has been used before. The prince feared that he had been secretly calculated by someone with ulterior motives, so he ordered people not to make a sound, and when the army retreated, he was escorted by his personal guards to return to Beijing first, entering the palace directly, only reporting to the emperor alone... Who would have thought that the poison would take effect so severely? The prince fainted on the way, and after arriving in Beijing, although the emperor ordered the news to be sealed off, rumors spread throughout the city within a few days, and now it is known to all..."
"Zhang said solemnly: 'The safety of Chu Jun is a matter of great importance. If someone intentionally leaks the news, they must have ulterior motives. You cannot be careless.'"
It will harm the Crown Prince's power, and there are only a few possibilities. Either some other imperial son has a mind to plot against the Crown Prince, or someone deliberately wants to stir up trouble for the court. If it is the former, the Crown Prince's position is stable, and he has performed well in governance. This time, he led the army on behalf of his father and achieved military merit, far surpassing his other brothers. Even if there was an accident, the Emperor could only choose another imperial son as the new Crown Prince, but the range of choices would not exceed those few adult imperial sons. However, the Second Imperial Son, Prince Yanling's mother's family is not prominent, and he has mediocre talent and does not receive favor; the Fourth Imperial Son, Prince Le'an, shares the same mother with the Crown Prince and has a deep affection for him; the Fifth Imperial Son, Prince Jinyang, is a romantic prince who only cares about love and pleasure; the Sixth Imperial Son, Prince Shouchang, has some talent and receives the Emperor's favor, but he is too young, and there are several older brothers above him. It is unlikely that any of these princes would do such a thing.
As for that ambitious Prince Ying, he may have such a heart, but the emperor is his eldest brother, and there are several adult sons under his knees. Even if the throne is to be passed down, it won't be his turn, but it can't be ruled out that he might intentionally cause trouble for the emperor.
As for those who are dissatisfied with the imperial court, most of them are remnants of the previous dynasty. Although the imperial court has always been lenient towards the descendants of Zhu Mingzong, it cannot be ruled out that some people resent Emperor Taizu for usurping the throne. They think that Emperor Taizu is disloyal and should have chosen a noble descendant of the Zhu family to ascend to the throne after driving away the Qing people, rather than becoming emperor himself. The problem is that when the crown prince was shot with an arrow, he was leading troops to resist foreign enemies. If those people had really harmed him, wouldn't they be helping the Qing people? The Southern Ming dynasty was destroyed by the Qing army, and the crown prince thought that they couldn't do such a thing. Lu Yunpeng also shared the same idea.
Who on earth would do such a thing?
Lu Yunpeng apologized to Zhang: "Your Highness is seriously injured, Lu cannot bear not seeing you, and must rush back to the capital immediately to visit. Please forgive me, old madam."
"Of course, it's only natural," said Zhang. "Here everything is peaceful and uneventful, detaining you here would be a waste of your great talent. I'll have someone prepare a horse and provisions for you right away, and after lunch, you can hurry on your way. Autumn Leaf and her son will stay here temporarily, and I'll take care of them properly, so don't worry."
Lu Yunpeng thanked her sincerely. Zhao Xiu added, "Grandma, we've collected some good medicinal herbs in our house over the years. Why not let Uncle Lu take them with him? Maybe they can be of help." Zhang nodded in agreement.
Lu Yunpeng was overjoyed, thanked him again, and then returned to his residence to bid farewell to his wife, Qiuye. Before long, Zhang's family sent someone to deliver wine and food, and prepared the saddle and horse. After Lu Yunpeng finished eating, he set off on the journey back to the capital.
Zhang's family saw off his grandson and granddaughter at the door, watching as their figures disappeared outside the city gate. Their hearts were heavy with worry, unsure if the Crown Prince in the capital would be able to safely navigate this calamity.
