Chapter 5: Investigation

He Mingzhao strode out of Baohe Hall.

After granting Jian Jin the Tanhua, for the rest of the people, he followed the ranking set by those ministers who had examined the papers, and granted the Zhuangyuan, the Bangyan[1], the 2nd grade Jinshi, and the 3rd grade Jinshi.

He didnt leave until all those people went to the street parade. When he left, his heart was actually a little lost.

After walking for a while, He Mingzhao jerked to a halt. At the moment he stopped, the guards and eunuchs behind him also stopped in unison.

Turning his head, He Mingzhao said, Get someone to check out Jian Jin.

Yes, Your Majesty, said an imperial guard in black and white armor behind He Mingzhao.

The two imperial guards following He Mingzhao were Black-Clad Guards, the most powerful fighting force in the Great Qi.

The Black-Clad Guards were created by the Founding Emperor of the Great Qi, and were initially used to protect the emperor and monitor the ministers in the court. However, in the following years, due to struggles and other reasons, the Black-Clad Guards gradually fell into decline. It wasnt until the late emperor started to make use of the Black-Clad Guards again and handed them over to He Mingzhao that the Black-Clad Guards developed and grew in the past ten years.

It could be said that without He Mingzhao there would be no Black-Clad Guards, and likewise, without the Black-Clad Guards, there would be no He Mingzhao.

He Mingzhao didnt even study much before he entered the Black-Clad Guards, and it was the Black-Clad Guards that allowed him to grow up in the end.

His mother was a peasant-born palace maid, who had the good fortune to be seen by the late emperor, and then rose to the top in a single step and had a good life.

The late emperor really favored her for a long time, and even named her Imperial Concubine Li. For a year or two, her fame was unmatched in the harem.

However, at the time when she was most favored, she became pregnant.

For women in the harem, it was common for mothers to rely on children, but the late emperor had no shortage of children, and he was also lustful and fickle.

Imperial Concubine Li was born to a peasant family, but she was exceptionally beautiful, which allowed the late emperor to spoil her for two years. However, when she became pregnant the late emperor naturally went to find someone else.

Imperial Concubine Li had never studied and wasnt well educated, so when she was in favor she was very vocal and offended many people. After she became pregnant and was unable to receive favor, she couldnt see the late emperor and had no maternal family to rely on, so people started to target her and her treatment in the palace declined.

Such a gap was a bit unacceptable to Imperial Concubine Li, but what was even more unacceptable to her was that just after she gave birth to He Mingzhao, He Mingzhao was recognized as an ominous person.

She was struggling in the delivery room and was about to deliver her baby when the sky suddenly went dark she was just in time for a solar eclipse!

In the sudden darkness, He Mingzhao came into the world.

Before He Mingzhao was born, the Great Qi had already suffered many disasters, and on the day of He Mingzhaos birth, someone came to report that there was a flood in the south.

The late emperor was being forced by his ministers to issue an edict of self-condemnation[2], when suddenly the harem reported that the seventh prince was born.

The late emperor immediately had someone bring in He Mingzhao, and invited the national teacher. After that, He Mingzhao was identified as being born to bring disasters.

When he learned of this, the late emperor immediately threw He Mingzhao back into Imperial Concubine Lis palace, and never set foot in Imperial Concubine Lis residence again.

Imperial Concubine Li had suffered a lot of grievances when she was pregnant, so she planned to ask the late emperor to intercede for her after the baby was born. However, she never expected that when the baby was born, her situation would be worse and she would even be completely forgotten.

Thinking about how her life had been getting worse and worse since she conceived this child Imperial Concubine Li was more convinced than anyone else that the child was born to bring disasters.

She then took out all her anger and grievances on He Mingzhao.

He Mingzhao would always remember being stabbed with hairpins, slapped by Imperial Concubine Li, and even kicked out by Imperial Concubine Li as a child.

If it werent for the fact that some of the eunuchs and ladies in Imperial Concubine Lis palace took pity on him and looked after him a little more, he might have starved to death.

Funny enough, when he grew to ten years old and met the National Teacher, he suddenly said that although he was wicked, he could suppress evil spirits and be a general.

As it turned out, when the national teacher said he was an ominous person, in fact, he was ordered by the late emperor. Later, when he saw that He Mingzhao was miserable, he felt guilty, so he changed his words and said that.

Only then did the late emperor remember that he was his son and sent him to the Black-Clad Guards, where he was taught martial arts.

The martial arts training was very hard, but compared to what He Mingzhao had been through before, it was paradise.

He was very talented in martial arts training, and as a result, he was able to take charge of the Black-Clad Guards and start doing missions at the age of 13 or 14.

He had no preferences and could bear hardships. Not only did his subordinates eat and live with him, but when he was rewarded or had any silver, he also gave it to the people under him. Since then, the people of the Black-Clad Guards all looked up to him. Not to mention, the Black-Clad Guards themselves also developed and grew rapidly.

If the subsequent events had not occurred, he would probably have been fine, happily serving as the commander of his own Black-Clad Guards.

And now

He Mingzhao felt a vague pain in his head.

Five years ago he was betrayed by his own father and the people around him, was hunted down and nearly lost his life later when he snapped awake, his body had healed fully, but he had lost four months of memory, and at the same time had fallen victim to headaches.

His head hurt almost every moment, and from time to time he would get sick. At that time his head hurt so much that it was worse than death for him.

However, there were so many people who wanted him to die.

He still refused to die!

Get ready. I have to attend the Qionglin banquet tonight. He Mingzhao added.

Yes, Your Majesty.

He Mingzhao continued on his way and suddenly thought of something.

His head surprisingly didnt hurt so much after he entered Baohe Hall today.

Before, his mind was all on Jian Jin, and only now did he realize that something was wrong.

He was in a good mood, so he wasnt sick anymore.

When He Mingzhao felt his head was feeling much better, Jian Jin had just gotten on his horse and was ready to parade the streets.

He was somewhat embarrassed at the moment.

His partner had named him the Tanhua, which was solid favoritism. It was squeezing the original Tanhua down He was a little uncomfortable with it.

However, the others didnt have such complicated feelings as he did.

At this moment, all the examinees had the feeling that they had escaped, and they looked at Jian Jin with different gazes.

This man in front of them was unusual. This was someone who dared to talk to His Majesty, who wasnt afraid of His Majesty at all!

Brother Jian, you have a lot of courage. Its admirable. After Zhang Qinjing got the Huiyuan, he got the Zhuangyuan. This new Zhuangyuan, who had just added two first place wins, was the first to show goodwill to Jian Jin.

Jian Jin: he and He Mingzhao said just a couple sentences in total

After thinking about it, Jian Jin asked, Brother Zhang, why are you all so afraid of His Majesty?

Zhang Qinjing said, I also want to ask you why youre not afraid of His Majesty! Ive seen several princes before and have never been afraid, but when I see His Majesty, I dont know why I shudder from the bottom of my heart.

Jian Jin was taken aback and suddenly thought of something.

No one on this planet could use their mental power. However, they did have mental power, it was just weak. He Mingzhaos mental power was the most powerful of all the people he had ever met.

Moreover, He Mingzhaos mental energy was still a mess if he looked over with his mental energy, he would find that He Mingzhaos mental energy was radiating away from his head, with teeth and claws, and also with a certain aggressiveness.

Of course, because He Mingzhao himself didnt know how to use his mental energy, he wasnt really going to attack others, but it was normal for others to feel scared when facing him.

In the future, he must contact He Mingzhao more often and heal He Mingzhao quickly.

It shouldnt be difficult. After all, He Mingzhao seemed to have a good impression of him.

With this in mind, Jian Jin, who was riding his horse, quickly dodged a flower thrown towards him.

At the same time, He Mingzhao had already gotten the information about Jian Jin from the Black-Clad Guards.

For examinees like Jian Jin, the Black-Clad Guards had already done investigations, but not in detail.

When He Mingzhao opened this report, his face suddenly changed.

T/N

1. Bangyan: the 2nd place in the palace exam

2. Edict of self-condemnation: In times of crisis, the emperor could issue an edict of self-condemnation, admitting blame and reviewing his own faults in order to show his willingness to do his best for the country, appeasing the people