Chapter 61: The Bright Mirror Suspended High - Liu Xuande (Part 2)

  "Good nephew, what's going on?" Seeing Tao Ying crying and commanding Cao Hong to bring over a middle-aged man he didn't recognize, even Liu Xuan, who was known for being worldly-wise and calculating, couldn't figure out what trickery Tao Ying was up to. He could only ask Tao Ying proactively: "Good nephew, who is this person? Why did you arrest him and bring him here?"

  Tao Ying did not rush to answer Liu Bei's question, but instead walked in front of the Xuzhou soldiers and civilians who were watching, first making a four-way bow, before loudly saying: "Ladies and gentlemen, generals, fathers and elders, I am Tao Ying. Today, in your presence, as a son, I ask the virtuous and respected Uncle Xuande to preside over a fair trial, to punish several villains. Please all be witnesses, see if my accusations are reasonable or not, whether Uncle Xuande's judgment is reasonable or not, and whether these villains should be punished or not!"

  He had satisfied everyone's appetite, and pushed Liu Xuanzhi to the edge of the volcano. Vice Director Tao started kicking Liu Xuanzhi in the butt - Tao turned to face Liu Xuanzhi and his three brothers again, cupped his hands together, and then pointed at the trembling middle-aged man and said: "Uncle, General Yun Chang, General Yi De, please let me introduce you to this person. His name is Zhang Hang, he's a doctor that my father trusts the most. For the past five years, my father has been using the prescriptions he writes himself, and drinking the medicine he brews himself. Usually, he's pretty good to him, never owed him money or grain, and sometimes even rewards him. He basically treats him like family."

  "Langzhong?! Tao Qian's most trusted Langzhong?!" Even if Liu Xuanzhen's city was deep, at this moment he couldn't help but change his face color. He stole a glance at the crowd and saw that the Mi brothers were already pale and trembling with fear. Liu Xuanzhen's heart skipped a beat as he vaguely guessed Tao Qian's sinister intentions.

  "Come on, Lord Tao, spit it out already, don't keep us in suspense!" urged Guan Yu and Zhang Fei together.

  "Alright, I'll keep it brief." Tao Ying nodded and pointed to the map, saying: "Here's what happened. Over the past two months, my father's condition has been fluctuating, sometimes good, sometimes bad, and inexplicably worsening at times. Given this situation, General Cao Hong, the commander of our household troops, has been extra cautious and strengthened his supervision of my father's food and medicine. Even Zhang Langzhong, who is one of my father's most trusted physicians, is not exempt from this scrutiny. Every time he prescribes medication or brews medicine for my father, he must first undergo a body search to prevent him from secretly adding other substances to the medicine, even if it's just his personal medical box. The medicine must be handed over to our household guards for safekeeping before brewing, leaving no opportunity for him to tamper with it."

  "In this regard, although I think General Cao Hong is making a big deal out of a small matter and being overly suspicious, losing the demeanor of a gentleman - however, it wasn't until later that I realized I was wrong, General Cao Hong was right." Deputy Director Tao shook his head in remorse while quietly shifting the blame for the crime of secretly investigating and spying to General Cao Hong, who stood beside him with an awkward expression, silently shouldering the blame.

  "It was five days ago that I discovered my mistake. Five days ago, my father's condition took a turn for the worse again, and I was worried about his illness, so I came to this Zhang Langzhong's medicine room to check on him. I just wanted to ask about my father's condition and what medicines he had taken. But what surprised me was that in this Zhang Langzhong's medicine room, I saw several things..."

  Tao Ying said this, and a Tao Fu guard next to him brought over a square tray. On it were the same four treasures of the study that Zhang Hang had used in his room that day: an old stone inkstone, a new bamboo pen holder, a used ink stick, and several blank sheets of Cai Hou paper. Then Tao Ying pointed at the tray and said loudly, "These are the things I saw in Zhang Lang's medicine-brewing room. At first glance, they seem like ordinary writing instruments that any doctor would use, so it wasn't strange to see them by Zhang Hang's side. That's why I didn't pay attention to them at first, but General Cao Hong's words reminded me."

  After intentionally pausing for a moment to whet the appetite of the crowd, Tao Ying finally spoke out loudly: "At that time, General Cao Hong told me that he had decided to search Zhang Langzhong's body and asked the guards to take care of Zhang Langzhong's medicine box only four or five days before the incident. This immediately caught my attention."

  At this point, Tao picked up the brand new bamboo pen and showed it to everyone, then pointed at the other four treasures in the tray and said: "Please take a closer look, among Zhang's writing materials, everything else is used, only this pen is new. Originally, replacing a pen wouldn't be unusual, because pens can get worn out or damaged, so it's not strange that Zhang replaced one. But..."

  "But then I thought of what General Cao Hong said, and I immediately came to two conclusions." Tao raised two fingers and said loudly: "Firstly, it was just a coincidence that Zhang Langzhong's brush happened to be damaged or lost, so he had to change to a new one. Secondly, because General Cao Hong searched very thoroughly, it was impossible to hide anything, so Zhang Langzhong thought of a way to hide some things that shouldn't be brought in the hollow tube of the bamboo brush, and therefore changed to a new brush! I also came up with these two conclusions, so I quickly picked up the brush to check, and what surprised me was..."

  At this point, Vice Director Tao gave another vicious pause and handed the new bamboo pen to Zhang Fei, who had the loudest voice. He said: "General Yide, take a look, what's hidden in this brush? The top of the pen can be twisted open."

  "Alright, I'm Zhang Fei. Let me take a look." Zhang Fei, who hated evil like an enemy, loved doing things like this. However, as soon as he took the brush, he let out a loud cry, "It's so heavy! There must be something inside the pen holder!"

  Guanyu also curiously came over, and the two brothers, known for their righteousness reaching the sky, twisted open the tip of the pen holder again, pouring out a few silver water droplets. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei then shouted together, "Mercury! The pen holder contains mercury!"

  "Mercury?!" General Zhang Yide's voice was loud enough for everyone to know, and with this one loud shout, at least half of the surrounding Xuzhou soldiers and civilians heard his voice, and suddenly there was a big commotion. The brothers Mi Zhu and Mi Fang in the crowd turned even paler, and Mi Zhu glared at Mi Fang with an angry expression, thinking that this brush matter, why didn't you tell me about it?!

  "Big brother, look quickly, it's mercury!" Zhang Fei, who didn't know the inside story, handed the pen holder to Liu Xiang and loudly demanded that he take a look. Liu Xiang, who knew he was being tricked, reluctantly nodded his head, but in his heart he was anxious and calculating, secretly praying, "Heaven help me, I hope Zou Jing and Zou Fang brothers have done things carefully and haven't let this doctor know too much of the inside story. Otherwise, the consequences would be unthinkable, even for me."

  "Not bad, it's mercury!" Tao Ying said loudly: "Some people may not know that mercury is also a very potent poison. If you eat about seven qian of mercury (about ten grams, one jin in the Han Dynasty was about 250 grams), you can make a strong man fall ill! My father was precisely because he ate mercury mixed in his medicine, which worsened his condition!"

  "Scoundrel!" Tao Xiang's honest big brother, Tao Shang, was furious and rushed to Zhang Hang's face, grabbing his collar and lifting him up. With red eyes, he roared: "You scoundrel, my father's condition is getting worse and worse, did you poison him with mercury?"

  "Spare my life, great young master." Zhang Hang frankly admitted, crying and begging: "Great young master please understand, I was also forced to do so, someone forced me to poison the medicine of our master!"

  "Who's bullying you?!" Zhang Fei, with a strong sense of justice, strode forward and snatched Zhang Hang from the pottery merchant. He raised his massive fist, as big as a vinegar jar, and bellowed: "Speak! Otherwise, I'll break three of your bones with one punch!"

  "Zhang Hang pointed to the crowd and shouted: 'It's him, it's Miao Fang! He forced me to do this. If I didn't listen to him, he would kill my son. I'm 38 years old and just had a son, I was desperate!'"

  "You... you're talking nonsense!" Mei Fang's face turned pale as he shouted, but beside him, the crowd of Xu state military and civilians had already erupted into countless angry roars and curses.

  Before Qin Yi could make a move, General Zhang San had already thrown Zhang Hang to the ground and rushed over to grab Mu Fang's collar, lifting him up like an eagle grasping a small chicken. He roared in anger: "Mu Fang, you little scoundrel! I really misjudged you. Who would have thought that you could do such a thing? Tao Fu Jun is such a kind-hearted person, and yet you dared to poison him. If I don't tear you apart today, I'll be letting down Tao Gongzi for the ten jars of good wine he gave me."

  "Three generals, no, it's not me." Zou Fang was also thoroughly panicked, wanting to say that there was still the shadow of Liu Xiang behind this matter, but he didn't have the guts, and could only struggle to equivocate: "Three generals, don't listen to Zhang Hang's one-sided words, he is framing me, I didn't do such a thing."

  "I didn't frame you." Zhang Hang pointed at Meng Fang and shouted loudly, "You gave me twenty kilograms of gold and said that after the matter is settled, you will give me another thirty kilograms of gold. If I don't agree, you would kill my whole family, kill my only son! Moreover, last night you also gave me some mercury and some arsenic powder, telling me to feed the master mercury first, and when you think the master can die, then put arsenic in the master's medicine!"

  As he spoke, Zhang Hang also pulled out a bottle of mercury and a packet of arsenic from his bosom, holding them up high and shouting: "Ladies and gentlemen, generals, please take a look! This is the mercury and arsenic powder that Mei Fang handed over to me last night! And this brush, it was also made by a skilled craftsman at Mei Fang's request, and the idea of hiding poison in the brush was also taught to me by Mei Fang."

  "You're talking nonsense! Nonsense! Nonsense, nonsense..." Zou Fang was already at a loss for words, and could only desperately accuse Zhang Huan of speaking nonsense, but his voice grew smaller and smaller, his tone weaker and weaker. At the same time, Zou's crotch area was already a mess, urine splashing all over the floor, and some even splashed onto Zhang Fei's body, provoking Zhang Fei to become even more enraged. He raised his hand and slapped Zou Fang in the face, slapping him so hard that his face bloomed with flowers, and two shiny white teeth flew out.

  "Uncle, please take charge for us!" At this time, Vice Director Tao had already pulled Tao Shang to kneel in front of Liu Xiong and begged with a crying tone: "Uncle, you are our elder and also a relative of the Han imperial family. Now that our father is seriously ill and cannot handle affairs, my brothers and I are weak and timid, and really don't know what to do. Please, uncle, you must take charge for us and uphold justice!"

  If possible, Liu would have liked to strangle the weak and timid Tao Deputy Director in front of him, and his heart was cursing Tao's ancestors for eighteen generations. He thought that this little villain should be so damaging, actually forcing me to cut off my own arm, forcing me to kill Mei Fang myself, killing my most loyal and powerful follower in Xuzhou! How did you come up with such a sinister and ruthless move, you little villain?

  "Big brother, you say something, how to deal with this traitor?" Zhang Fei shouted loudly while dragging the already limp Zou Jing, "I'll take action for you, and uphold justice for Lord Tao and Young Master Tao!"

  "Third brother, hold on a minute." Liu Bei finally spoke up, first stopping Zhang Fei, then helping Tao Shang and his brother Tao Ying to their feet. Holding onto Tao Ying's hand, he asked in confusion: "Second Master, since you already discovered the true culprit behind the assassination of Lord Tao five days ago, why didn't you take action immediately? Why did you wait until today?"

  "Because I, your nephew, do not dare to," said Vice Director Tao, sobbing and tearfully. "Governor Miao Fang is a giant rich man in Donghai, with deep roots in the five counties of Xuzhou. Every move he makes affects the stability of Xuzhou. His older brother, Miao Zhuo, is also the vice governor of Xuzhou, holding great power in his hands. If I were to act rashly and something unexpected happened, the consequences would be unbearable for me. That's why I came up with this plan: on one hand, secretly gather ironclad evidence of Governor Miao Fang's crimes; on the other hand, invite you, my uncle, to Xuzhou, asking you to take charge and punish the culprit, avenging my father's death."

  Wailing, Vice Director Tao grasped Liu Bei's right hand with both hands and shook it repeatedly, bawling loudly: "Uncle, you are highly respected and your words carry great weight. General Guan Yu and General Zhang Fei are also invincible. Please, you must preside over justice for my nephew and punish Mi Fang and his accomplices! My nephew believes that as long as you are here, no matter how bold Mi Fang and his accomplices may be, they will not dare to rebel."

  Facing Tao Deputy Director, who is more capable of crying, thicker-skinned and blacker-hearted than himself, Liu Xianggong was also completely helpless. He had no choice but to kill Mi Fang. Although Liu Xianggong didn't want to do it, he thought about ordering Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to take action, killing the high-ranking officials of Xuzhou on the spot and annexing Xuzhou. However, Liu Xianggong didn't have the guts to do so. Not only would this ruin his reputation, but also Guan Yu and Zhang Fei wouldn't unconditionally execute such an immoral order. Moreover, Liu Xianggong understood that since Tao dared to do this, he must have made preparations for any eventuality - the unseen Xu state generals Cao Bao and Zang Ba were warnings! So, for a while, Liu Xianggong didn't know what to do was good.

  "Lord Tao, rest assured, with old Zhang here, no matter how many accomplices the treacherous Cao Fang has, we're not afraid!" On the other side, the fiery Zhang Fei responded on behalf of Liu Xuan De and shouted at Cao Fang, "Speak up! Who are your accomplices? Is your elder brother Cao Zhen also involved in this affair?"

  Suddenly thinking of Mochizuki, Zhang Fei quickly turned to Guan Yu and roared: "Second brother, help me drag Mochizuki over. If he also participated in the plot against Lord Tao, I'll behead him too!"

  It was Guan Yu, the second brother of the Guan family, who heard Zhang Fei's shout and walked up to Zou Jing in big strides. He grabbed Zou Jing with one hand, just like an eagle grasping a small chicken, and dragged him into the circle. Zou Jing didn't struggle, but was pulled along by Guan Yu with a pale face until they reached Zou Fang's side. Then Zhang Fei slapped Zou Jing in the face again and roared: "Tell me, you treacherous brother, did you participate in this affair?"

  Mi Zhu was beaten by Zhang Fei until his mouth bled, but he remained silent, only lowering his head and waiting for the verdict of fate. At this time, Mi Fang beside him also knew that he was doomed today, in order not to implicate Mi Zhu, Mi Fang could only grit his teeth and say: "General, please don't hit my brother, it has nothing to do with him, I did it alone."

  When Mo Fang confessed, both Mo Zhu and Liu Xiang were shocked. Then Mo Zhu's eyes welled up with tears, silently grateful for the sworn brothers' loyalty. Liu Xiang, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief, knowing that since Mo Fang refused to implicate Mo Zhu, he definitely wouldn't implicate himself either.

  "It's indeed you who did it." Zhang San sneered, suddenly slapping Mian Fang's face again with the back of his hand, and furiously asked: "Tell me, why do you want to harm Master Tao? Master Tao is a kind-hearted person, and you're his subordinate, how could you be so ruthless as to lay hands on him?"

  "I did it for you brothers!" Mei Fang's heart was raging, but she didn't dare to say the real reason in public, so she gritted her teeth and replied: "Because I don't like Tao Ying, that little brat! He's a wolf in sheep's clothing, with a heart blacker than a beast's. He's worse than a beast, with a heart full of malice and a tongue as sharp as a snake's fang. He's a thorough hypocrite! I hate this father-son pair, so not only do I want to kill Tao Jian, but also that little brat Tao Ying!"

  "Good scolding!" Liu Xuan thought to himself, feeling that Mei Fang's scolding was too accurate and relieving.

  "Mr. Mi, when a bird is about to die, its cry is mournful." Deputy Director Tao burst into tears again and wiped away his tears as he asked Mi Fang: "I really don't know where I offended you, how did you end up like this and still insult me so viciously? In fact, if I really wronged you in some way, you could have just pointed it out to my face and I would have apologized to you. Even if it meant kowtowing and admitting my mistake, or even cutting off my own head as punishment, I would have accepted it. Why did you also drag my father into this?"

  At this point, Vice Director Tao could no longer hold back his emotions and again pulled Liu's hand to wail and cry, "Uncle, I really don't know where I went wrong, why did Director Mei target me like that? Please, Uncle, you must ask him clearly what I did wrong to Director Mei. I can apologize to him in public!"

  Liu Wangshu was so angry that he wanted to skin Tao Deputy Director alive, but in front of so many people, Liu Wangshu couldn't express it and could only shake his head solemnly. He pulled the crying Tao Deputy Director in front of Mi Fang and slowly asked: "Mi Fang, I only ask you two questions, please answer truthfully. First, is there still a mastermind behind your back? Second, why did you want to bribe the murderer to poison and harm Tao Fugui?"

  Hearing Liu Xuan's majestic and thick voice, and seeing Liu Xuan's serious and solemn face, Mei Fang really wanted to cry out loud. "Don't you know all these things, Master Xuande? Why are you still asking me what I'm doing? If it wasn't for helping you annex the five counties of Xuzhou, if it wasn't for helping you take control of Xuzhou, could I have done such things?"

  "Slap!" Another loud slap landed on Miao Fang's face, taking away two more of his teeth. Zhang Fei, holding Miao Fang, waved his huge palm and shouted: "My big brother is asking you questions, if you don't answer truthfully again, I'll pull out all your teeth!"

  Spitting out a mouthful of blood and broken teeth, Cao Fang's mind also calmed down a lot. Regretting that he had brought disaster upon himself due to his own actions, Cao Fang could only swallow his anger and reply: "Duke Zhong, don't ask any more questions. This was all my doing, no one else instructed me. I wanted to kill Tao Qian because I hated him to the bone for favoring his son Tao Yi, and also knew that old man Tao Qian planned to pass on Xuzhou to Tao Yi, so I took action against old man Tao Qian!"

  Although it's not the truth, Miao Fang has no choice but to take all the blame upon himself. If he were to reveal the truth at this moment, not only would he be unable to save his own life, but he would also implicate Miao Zhu and Liu Bei. So, with a heavy heart, Miao Fang took on all the guilt alone, spitting out blood as he loudly declared: "Lord Guan, this matter is solely my doing, it has nothing to do with anyone else! If you want to punish or kill me, please direct your anger at me alone!"

  "So, I'm sorry." Liu Bei said with a double meaning and turned to Zhang Fei, ordering: "Yide, send Zuo Ci on his way. Take off his head to uphold the law of the country."

  "Alright!" Zhang Fei happily agreed, and with one swift motion, he threw Miao Fang to the ground. He then drew his treasured sword from his waist and stepped forward, pinning Miao Fang's abdomen under his foot. With a swift swing of his sword, he first stabbed Miao Fang in the chest, and then with another swing, beheaded him. Miao Fang's head flew off, spewing fresh blood that splattered all over the chilly Xu Zhou land. Yet, on Miao Fang's severed head, his eyes remained wide open...

  "Thank you, Uncle Xie, for upholding justice for us." Tao Ying pulled Tao Shang to pay respects to Liu Xianggong, expressing heartfelt gratitude. Liu Xianggong's expression was bitter, and he could only help Tao Shang and Tao Ying brothers up, exchanging pleasantries with the two brothers, saying some empty and insincere words.

  Mi Zhu never looked at his brother's corpse, but slowly walked to Tao Qian's carriage, knelt down on both knees in front of Tao Qian, and knocked his head saying: "My lord, Mi Zhu was not strict in teaching, which led to my own brother committing such a heinous crime. I know my fault, please punish me as I deserve."

  Tao Qian, who had been silent all along, coughed repeatedly before sighing and saying: "Please get up, I have already seen and heard everything with my own eyes and ears. This matter has nothing to do with you. Although you are guilty of being too lenient in your management, there is no need for punishment. Get up and take Mei Fang's body back to prepare it for burial, let her rest in peace."

  "Thank you, my lord, for your kindness." Zou Ji knelt down heavily and then looked up to say: "Although you are not willing to punish me, I am ashamed to see you again. Please allow me to resign as the administrator of Xuzhou and take my family back to our hometown in Donghai to live in seclusion."

  Tao Qian let out another sigh, thought for a moment, and then nodded reluctantly, saying: "Alright, as you wish."

  Mi Zuo didn't say another word, but instead knocked his head three times on the ground in front of Tao Qian, then stood up and handed over the token of authority to Cao Hong. With his head hung low, he walked out of the crowd without saying a word, never once looking at Liu Xuan or Tao Ying, nor even glancing at Mi Fang's corpse. He looked like a soulless, wandering corpse.

  After Tao Qian left, Tao Ying and his brother Tao Shang again expressed their gratitude to the three brothers of Liu Xuan, until Tao Qian could no longer withstand the cold wind and coughed violently. The welcoming team then escorted the three brothers into the city to rest, and the 500 elite soldiers brought by Liu Xuan were also led to a military camp outside Xuzhou City. Soon, the empty field that was once crowded with people became desolate and empty, with only some auxiliary troops from Xuzhou left behind to clean up the area and deal with the aftermath.

  Mi Zong did not immediately send someone to collect Mi Fang's body, and the helpless Xu Zhou old soldier simply placed Mi Fang's head on his body and covered it with a grass mat. But just then, someone suddenly ordered: "Don't rush to cover it up, wait."

  The Xuzhou veteran holding the grass mat was stunned, and when he looked up again, he saw that our Deputy Director Tao had led a team of guards back here at some unknown time. The Xuzhou veteran hastily paid his respects as Tao dismounted and walked to the front of Mei Fang's corpse, pulling out a silk book with writing on it from his pocket. He shook it towards Mei Fang's corpse, saying: "Mei Zifang, do you still remember what place this is?"

  Mao Fang's head was already on his chest, of course, he couldn't answer. Instead, the old soldier from Xuzhou who was paying respects smiled and said: "Young master, he is already dead, there is no way for him to answer your questions."

  "So you'll answer for him?" Tao Ying smiled and asked: "Recall, what happened when Lord Mian Fang was lying in this position?"

  That old soldier from Xuzhou was somewhat perplexed, but after careful recollection for a long time, the old soldier suddenly exclaimed, "I remember now, more than half a year ago, you were in this very position and jumped into Cao's army's oil cauldron."

  "Answer correctly, there's a reward. I'll have your superior give you a bushel of grain later, just say it's my intention." Tao Yingxiao smiled and put the white silk cloth with writing on it on Mian Fang's body, then instructed the old soldier: "When Mian Bijia sends someone to clean up, hand over this letter along with the body, and tell Mian Zhu's family to give him four words - 'Old debts cleared'."

  "Has the old debt been cleared?"

  The old soldier was somewhat puzzled, Tao Ying smiled but did not answer, he just nodded his head to confirm that it was indeed these four words. Then Tao Ying remounted his warhorse and led his personal troops back into the city once again, leaving behind the white silk on Mei Fang's corpse fluttering in the wind. On the silk there was a line of text written by Mei Fang himself - "To those who enter the Gui army camp to deliver letters, I am Tao Qian's second son, Tao Ying!"