Chapter 555: Jiang King Arrives
Chapter 549 of "The Great Ming in the Box" opens with: Shi Jian temporarily stayed in Qin Changqingâs guest room.The night had deepened, with all sounds... Find out what happens!
Shi Jian temporarily stayed in Qin Changqingâs guest room.The night had deepened, with all sounds hushed, leaving only the rustling of raindrops on the ground.
Shi Jian abruptly sat up in bed.
He threw on his clothes, went out the door, climbed over the wall, and leaped out of Qin Changqingâs official residence.
Hunching low, he jogged all the way to Jiang King Temple. No one was there now, as all commoners had returned home to rest, and even the templeâs Taoist priests slept.
This Jiang King Temple wasnât a military outpost, with no patrols at nightâonly a perpetually lit oil lamp swayed before Jiang Kingâs statue.
By the lampâs faint glow, Shi Jian pulled out a thin yellow silk from his sleeve, obtained earlier by his subordinate. Characters were already written on it in advance.
He hung this silk on the roof beam facing Jiang Kingâs statue, letting it dangle down.
The words inscribed read: âThe Prefect of Jiangzhou is an unbenevolent official. His tax collection is brutal and pitiless, intolerable to heaven and earth.â
Shi Jian scanned the sentence from top to bottom, confirming no errors, then chuckled darkly. Silently, he slipped back into his room, covered himself with a quilt, and fell fast asleep.
Early in the morning the next day, Shi Jian sensed something amiss upon wakingâthe atmosphere across Jiangzhou felt unusual, with unusual bustle outside.
He walked into the street, straining his ears to hear people discussing everywhere: âDid you hear? A strange silk cloth appeared in Jiang King Temple. It says, âThe Prefect of Jiangzhou is an unbenevolent official. His tax collection is brutal and pitiless, intolerable to heaven and earth.'â
âOf course I heard! Tsk tsk! Wonder which brave soul did this.â
âBrave, yes, but dangerous. That Qin Changqing is ruthless. Last time he beat several tax-evasion leaders to death in public⌠This time might beâŚâ
âHmph! I doubt heâd act this time,â a commoner murmured. âThose words appeared inside Jiang King Templeânot just anywhere.â
âWhy does the temple matter?â
âThat silk hung right before Jiang King himself!â the commoner whispered. âIn Jiangzhou, whoâd dare fool around inside Jiang King Temple? To messily hang something there is sacrilege! Would you dare?â
âThis⌠well, no.â
âRight? Since no one dared hang it there, whereâd that silk come from?â
âIsnât it obvious? Itâs an edict bestowed by Jiang King!â
âOnly Lord Jiang King himself could hang words within his own domain.â
The spread took on a life of its own.
Public gossip always grew more mythical with retelling. After two rounds on the streets, the story shifted:
âLate last night, Lord Jiang King came alive. He wrote that cloth himself and hung it.â
âTrue! Itâs confirmedâPriest Zheng suddenly awoke to relieve himself and witnessed Jiang King manifesting to write and hang that silk!â
âJiang King detested this corrupt official. See, all this recent rain? Thatâs Jiang King preparing to punish Qin Changqing.â
Hearing these rumors, Shi Jian stifled a laugh.
Cotton Thread Deity grinned inwardly: The peopleâs rumor-spreading skill truly hasnât changed for millennia. One retelling might be fine, two twists the truth. Three wrings it into something unrecognizable.
But Qin Changqing wouldnât wait for this rumorâs third round.
Soon, Qin Changqing stormed out of the yamen with a crowd of bailiffs, arriving at Jiang King Temple and stopping before the silk.
âTear this thing down!â Qin Changqing bellowed furiously.
The yamen runner nearby felt a bit flustered: âHonored Governor, th-this is the Jiang King Temple. How dare I recklessly act here?â
Qin Changqing was furious: âWhatâs wrong with the Jiang King Temple? Can one disrespect superiors just inside the Jiang King Temple?â
During the Ming Dynasty, officials changed every three years, so local officials were often transferred from other places. Qin Changqing was an official transferred from elsewhere and had no reverence at all for Jiang King.
But the yamen runner was a local who had grown up in an environment filled with faith in Jiang King since childhood. How dare he act to tear off the slip of paper hanging before the statue of Jiang King?
The yamen runner shivered: âHonored Governor, we should investigate properly firstâŚâ
Qin Changqing was enraged, kicked the yamen runner aside, and personally grabbed the silk cloth, tearing it forcefully.
Rip!
The silk cloth was torn.
The Cotton Thread Deity on Shi Jianâs chest chuckled: âAlright, Iâm going to act. Shi Jian, take care of the common people.â
At this moment, Shi Jian still didnât understand what the Deity was going to do, but no matter what it was, he only had one response: âAs ordered!â
The Cotton Thread Deity instantly became silentâŚ
At this time, Qin Changqing was still angry. He kicked an offering table inside the temple with his left foot and sent a cushion flying with his right foot, raging: âWho is the bastard who hung this thing in the Jiang King Temple? If I catch you, Iâll definitely chop off your dogâs head.â
He ripped the silk cloth in his hands into strips and then strode out of the Jiang King Temple.
Just thenâŚ
A common person suddenly pointed at the sky and exclaimed: âLook, look⌠ah⌠aah⌠Jiang King is here, Jiang King himself has descended to the mortal world!â
This sentence truly scared everyone stiff.
Most people didnât quite believe it, but they couldnât help but look up at the sky.
Light rain was falling from the sky. When they looked up, raindrops hit their faces.
Everyone saw a huge, tall deity slowly descending from the sky. The locals recognized with just one glance that the face of this giant deity was none other than⌠Jiang King!
âJiang King!â
âJiang King is here!â
âWow, so big, Jiang King is so big.â
That enormous Jiang King fell from the sky with a boom and stood before Qin Changqing.
Qin Changqing was completely stunned. He looked up to see the eight-meter-tall Jiang King standing before him, making him appear so small.
Qin Changqing: â!!!â
The giant Jiang King moved swiftly, and in an instant, his eyes locked onto Qin Changqing.
Qin Changqing: âAah!â
He stumbled back several steps, fell onto his rear, and scrambled backward using his hands and feet, his face filled with terror: âWhat happened? What is this?â
He was scared witless, but the local common people werenât afraid at all and cheered together: âJiang King! Jiang King! Jiang King!â
Many knelt down with a thump, and in an instant, the entire city fell so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Jiang King spoke: âQin Changqing, do you admit your crime?â
This silicone Deity might have been too large to fit in a case, causing its voice to echo heavily. When it spoke, it had a weighty echo effect, drawing the words out long and slow, truly giving off the feeling of a giant god.
Qin Changqing: âThis official⌠this⌠I⌠I⌠no⌠nothingâŚâ
Jiang King snorted angrily: âStop talking. Canât be bothered to listen to your excuses.â
After saying that, his giant hand swooped down with a swish, grabbed Qin Changqing in its palm, and lifted him up into mid-air.