Star Trace Gate

During the meeting in Taiji Hall, Ren was sentenced to be temporarily imprisoned in Kyoto Prison for suspected conspiracy to seize the southern border territory, and the old emperor ordered the Minister of Justice, Song Wenxuan, to thoroughly investigate the case.

I came to Kyoto, but I didn't dare to play the exciting shows, and I didn't become an imperial envoy. Instead, I was thrown into prison...

Ren Ye felt very aggrieved and shouted "It's unfair" in the hall, but no one paid any attention to him.

After the meeting was over, the old emperor slowly left the Taiji Hall surrounded by a group of eunuchs.

He walked down the corridor and whispered, "...Damn it, the third brother just shouted and so many people jumped out at once."

Behind him, Lord Rat didn't dare to respond.

"It seems that many people in the cabinet and the six ministries are in the border areas and have invested a lot of money." The old emperor no longer had a gloomy look on his face. Instead, he smiled and said, "I want to use the little prince Huai. So many people can't sit still. Ha, it's very lively...!"

……

Lich City, the Minister of Personnel’s Mansion, and the tea room.

"Your Excellency is going to the palace to see the Emperor today, and I'm afraid he won't be back at night." The servant looked at Bau who had been waiting for three days, and said coldly, "You'd better go back."

"Then tomorrow I will..." Bau smiled politely and wanted to speak.

The servant looked at him and interrupted him indifferently: "If the master wanted to see him, he would have seen him long ago."

After these words were spoken, Bau stood there in extreme embarrassment, not knowing where to put his hands.

"Please come in, Lord Bau." The servant made way.

"Um……!"

Bau's face turned purple and he nodded in a very embarrassed manner, then hurriedly left the Minister of Personnel's mansion as if he was escaping.

When we walked to the long street, it started to drizzle and a mist rose on the road paved with gray stone slabs.

A breeze blew by, chilling me to the bone.

Bau walked in the drizzle, looking at the dark sky, feeling an indescribable sense of humiliation and resentment in his heart.

He came for three whole days but did not see the Third Master once. Instead, he was mocked and looked down upon by the servants several times.

Why do you have to see the Third Master?

In fact, it was not a big deal. He just felt uneasy and wanted to get some advice from the elders in the clan.

The Third Master he was expecting to meet was none other than Jin Guoting, the Regent of the Cabinet who had just spoken in the Taiji Hall, the Minister of Personnel, the Grand Secretary of the Jing'an Hall, and the Shaman Chief of the Golden Wolf Clan.

This man has followed Emperor Wanwu for many years, and has been used since the death of the Dragon Lord. He currently holds a high position of power and prestige in the court, and has many students and former officials - outsiders call him: Jin Ge Lao.

Ever since Bau got involved in the border turmoil, he has been uneasy and worried every day.

The Qingliang Prefecture plague incident; the case of the missing stone slabs of the Bu Lao Mountain; the Daqian thieves’ plot, and Wu Yuanjun’s Nezha causing chaos in the southern border; and the thousand supernatural powers at Loushan Pass sniping at the little prince Huai, causing a shocking commotion...

Any one of these incidents, if picked out at random, would be enough to implicate countless people.

It would be fine if Bau was an official in some other place, but he happened to be the governor-general of Lingnan Prefecture, and all these conspiracies revolved around this place.

He wanted to ignore it and stay out of it, but that was almost impossible.

Immortals fight, mortals suffer.

Bau, who had long wanted to give up, was accidentally dragged into the chess game. If he was not careful, he would be crushed to pieces.

To ordinary people, Bau might be a big shot with connections everywhere, but in Kyoto, he is just a small man with a low perspective who cannot see the way forward clearly.

Therefore, he came to the Minister of Personnel's Mansion just to get some advice from Jin Guoting, even if the other party only hinted at him who to cling to and what position to take.

But he didn't expect that he had secretly prepared generous gifts and had been here for three consecutive days, but he didn't see the Third Master, let alone the housekeeper of the mansion. He was only sent away by an ordinary servant.

When I think of this...

Bau felt very sad and helpless.

Looking back to the past, he was also one of the twelve fierce generals of the frontier. He was capable of wearing armor and fighting in battle, and his blood was stained on the battlefield.

He is a man who has shed blood, risked his life and made great contributions to his country and his people.

The most important thing is that because of his bravery and fighting skills, he brought countless benefits to the Golden Wolf Clan.

Almost every time there was a meeting, the witch leader Jin Guoting would mention to the emperor: How many enemies our wolf general Bau killed, where he attacked, etc.

Now that the country is peaceful and prosperous and southern Xinjiang is unified, who would remember what he, a small local general, had done for this land?

They have fought the battle, they have shed their blood...

But all the credit, glory and wealth went to the descendants of famous families.

The Golden Wolf Tribe had several legitimate sons who had already held important positions in the army. Any one of them was a second-rank or higher rank character. He had only wanted to be an official who could do practical work, but he was "extorted" of more than three million Star Sources to operate.

Haha, even the people in my clan treat me like this.

Then why shouldn’t I be greedy?

Why should we still have to eat steamed buns and bran and vegetables after shedding blood?

Bau felt very aggrieved and even resentful.

The anger and resentment that had accumulated in his heart over the years were now like the dark clouds in the sky, unable to be dispelled.

He hated the Third Master, who took away his credit and supported the clan's direct descendants to rise to prominence, but in the end was unwilling to even say a few words of advice. He just hid in the mansion to avoid danger, and let his servants humiliate him.

I'm not even a fucking outsider, not even as good as a dog!

He also hated the court and the emperor...

Have you forgotten who gave you the chair and built the ladder for you so that you could ascend to the throne and call yourself the emperor?

On the long grey street, a drizzle of rain fell from the sky.

It washed away all the dust in the world, but it also chilled Bau's heart.

Tomorrow, he won't come again.

From then on, he had no roots in Kyoto.

The Golden Wolf Tribe was not his home, and he was no longer a child from here...

"call!"

In the rain, Bau let out a long breath, turned his head and said to his trusted general, "Let's go back to the posthouse."

"Hmm...!" The trusted general responded and wanted to give some advice, but he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips.

The two men walked in the rain, heading north, preparing to return to the inn to rest.

"Tap tap...!"

Just then, there was the sound of horse hooves.

Bau thought they were soldiers on duty, so he stepped aside and prepared to make way.

However, he never expected that a group of soldiers came hurriedly in front of him and stopped.

The leader, who was wearing the robes of a third-rank official, looked at Bau with great dignity and asked, "Are you the Lingnan General—Bau?"

Bau was stunned for a moment, then clasped his fists and said, "Yes, I wonder who this person is...?"

"You are suspected of being involved in the case of Prince Huai's embezzlement of southern Xinjiang territory, which has angered the emperor. He has ordered the Ministry of Justice to conduct a thorough investigation." The young official looked down at Bau and said, "Do you want to leave on your own, or do you want us to do it?"

Bau was stunned. He stood there dumbfounded and said, "This...this, I am innocent!"

"Take it!"

The official waved his hand and shouted.

……

A few hours later.

Ministry of Justice, inside the torture chamber.

Bawu's hair was disheveled and he was hung naked on a wooden frame. His hands were tied and a star-sealing cone was inserted behind his back.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock…!”

Purple-red blood flowed out from the whip marks that tore the skin and flesh, and fell onto the mottled and cold ground.

Bau tilted his head, with half of his white hair stuck to the wounds on his shoulders and chest, mixed with his flesh and blood, looking horrible.

After the Ministry of Justice arrested him, they executed him without any further ado.

After being whipped dozens of times, Bau's bones were broken, his skin was torn, and his life was almost totally exhausted.

He was breathing heavily, and blood foam was faintly flowing from the corners of his mouth.

The young third-rank official, drinking tea and sitting cross-legged on a pear-shaped chair, asked with a smile, "Master Bau, are you still not going to say anything?"

"I have not colluded with... with King Huai to seize my southern border territory... What did your Excellency tell me to say?" Bau closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

He was almost losing consciousness at this moment, but it was still impossible for him to take the initiative to talk about buying land.

If you don't say it, there is still a glimmer of hope. If you say it, you will die.

"Haha, you're such a tough old man." The young man put down his teacup and said to the clerk in the Ministry of Justice, "It's said that this man from the Golden Wolf Clan has a huge penis and is gifted. I don't know if it's true or not. Someone... peel off the skin of his penis and let me take a look."

Bau felt extremely humiliated when he heard this, but his anger was like his bound hands. Even with his anger rising, he could not break free from the shackles.

"You're speaking in such a loud voice?!"

At this moment, a gloomy voice suddenly sounded in the corridor of the torture room.

The young official immediately stood up and looked back, only to see an old figure standing behind the wooden fence.

He froze in place, his face pale and his body trembling with fear.

Bau slowly raised his head and saw a ray of light behind the wooden fence, and that light... was shining on someone he had wanted to curry favor with.

The Regent of the Cabinet and the Minister of Personnel—Jin Guoting.

He just stood there quietly, staring at his own miserable state with his cloudy eyes...

"Get out and give him fifty slaps on the face." Jin Guoting didn't even look at the third-rank official, but just gave the order lightly.

The third-rank official didn't dare to say a word and left the torture room in disgrace. He was pulled aside and slapped in the face by the people brought by Jin Guoting.

The clerks in the room also left quickly.

Jin Gelao walked into the smelly torture chamber, looked at Bau with his hands behind his back, and said softly: "During the Taiji Hall meeting, the Third Prince reported the Little Prince Huai, claiming that he conspired with you to try to bribe our southern border territory. After the meeting, the emperor called me to talk alone, and I didn't leave the palace until half an hour ago. The people in the Ministry of Justice were eager to find evidence...their methods were inevitably a bit extreme."

"Jinliang, your uncles and aunts are late and have caused you trouble." Elder Jin sighed, his eyes full of love and care for the younger generation.

Bau looked at him, tears of grievance flashing in his eyes.

"...Is what the Third Prince said true?" Elder Jin asked bluntly.

When Bau faced the witch leader of his tribe, he instinctively felt fear in his heart. He just lowered his head and did not answer.

"Since the Third Prince dared to report to the Emperor, he must have relevant evidence in his hands." After a brief pause, Elder Jin asked softly, "Did you receive the money?"

"No, absolutely not!" Bau shook his head suddenly and said, "I... I have never accepted a penny from the little king."

"So, you two did conspire together?!" asked Elder Jin.

Bau hung on the wooden rack and fell silent again.

"Confess." After a long silence, Jin Ge Lao sighed and said, "If you confess, you can still save your life."

"Third Master, if I confess, I will die!" Bau suddenly raised his head and replied in a trembling voice: "But...but I am really innocent. I really didn't take any money for this matter."

Jin Ge Lao looked at him and said, "Do you know why I didn't see you before?"

Bau was stunned.

"Some people in the court have been waiting for the young prince Huai for a long time." Jin Ge Lao said calmly, "Even if the third prince did not report him, there would be people who would punish him to death. You and the young prince Huai came together, so you naturally had a lot of exchanges on the way. If I had seen you first, I could not guarantee that there would be gossip. But now the matter is clear. The emperor wants to investigate the case of the young prince Huai's embezzlement of territory. His intention is not to investigate you, but to give an explanation to the officials who knelt down to ask for orders. So, if you take the initiative to speak out, you can still survive."

Bau's lips twitched.

"You were one of the Twelve Frontier Generals before, and you made great contributions in the early years. Although you have come into contact with the confidants of Prince Huai, you did not accept any money, let alone take any action." Jin Ge Lao's words were concise and straightforward: "After you confess the truth, I will plead for you, but you will be dismissed from office and demoted to a commoner. But... this is better than losing your life."

Bau looked at him with tears in his eyes and asked in a trembling voice, "Can I really survive... Third Master?"

He was also asking himself, do I have any choice now?

Otherwise, what awaits him will be the most famous spiritual inquiry technique in Southern Xinjiang...

If you stretch out your head, it's a knife, if you shrink your head, it's also a knife.

Master Jin looked at him quietly and nodded slowly.

……

The end of midnight.

Huitong Hall, in the wing room.

Xu Bangzi drank his tea boredly and asked Mo Youqian in a low voice: "Brother, why hasn't our prince come back yet?"

"Who knows?" Mo Youqian shook his head: "I don't care about this now..."

"Then what do you care about?" Xu Bangzi asked back.

"Hehe." Mo Youqian smiled neurotically.

"Actually, I don't really care when His Highness will come back." Xu Bangzi stroked his chin with his hand: "I just care about whether the Third Prince will host another banquet for His Highness after we finish discussing this serious matter?"

“Hehe…!” Mo Youqian nodded repeatedly.

"Alas, the Third Prince is a very good man. I hope that if His Highness is invited to a banquet again, he must remember to bring us along for personal protection." Xu Bangzi said seriously, "I am in great shape today. I can beat at least twenty female monsters."

"I have courage that no woman can match." Mo Youqian replied solemnly.

"Oh!"

As soon as the two finished speaking, the door was suddenly kicked open and a row of soldiers rushed in with steel knives in their hands.

Xu Bangzi, Mo Youqian, Yinrou Ding Jun and others were all stunned.

"you……?!"

"The Third Prince has personally reported that the young Prince Huai is suspected of embezzling our southern border territory. The emperor has ordered that he be imprisoned. The people who accompanied him are all accomplices and should also be imprisoned and executed in the autumn." The leading official explained the reason with a cold face, then waved his hand and shouted, "Catch him!"

"ah??!"

Xu Bangzi opened his mouth wide and made a very standard confused sound.