When Emperor Jingming heard that his son Yin Wen would rebel in the future, anger was his dominant emotion, but he was not too surprised. He understood well that power moves men's hearts; it was only natural that Yin Wen would rebel for the throne. However, upon hearing that Lu Shaoheng would actually join Yin Wen's rebellion, Emperor Jingming's heart suddenly felt bitter.
Back when Lu Shaoheng ranked first in the imperial examination, Emperor Jingming was still the Crown Prince, and he greatly admired Lu Shaoheng's talent. When he saw Lu Shaoheng voluntarily request an external assignment and offer to start as a minor local official, he felt that Lu Shaoheng was completely different from other scheming officials. What surprised him even more was that after arriving in the locality, Lu Shaoheng did not sink into obscurity but instead worked diligently and achieved remarkable results.
For matters beneficial to the people, no matter how small, he would implement them; for matters harmful to the people, no matter how minor, he would eliminate them. It was precisely because Lu Shaoheng governed with vigor and integrity that wherever he governed flourished and prospered, earning him the praise and love of the common people. Until today, Emperor Jingming had always believed that history would record a beautiful story of a harmonious ruler-minister relationship between him and Lu Shaoheng.
But he never expected this relationship to end in such an ugly and disgraceful manner. Emperor Jingming couldn't understand what he had done wrong to Lu Shaoheng that the man would rebel for the sake of such a rebellious son! Earlier, when Liu Sanqi mentioned Lu Shaoheng on the Sky Canopy, the white-haired old minister had already calmly removed his official hat, knelt down with both knees, and pressed his forehead to the ground. When Emperor Jingming had faced Yin Wen's tearful kneeling earlier, he could still gather his thoughts to curse Yin Wen and vent his anger. But now, looking at the silent old minister, he found himself at a loss for words.
The atmosphere was extremely tense; none of the court officials dared to speak. Thus, Liu Sanqi's voice from the Sky Canopy was heard all the more clearly.
"One family, two top scholars; father and son, both prime ministers. Whenever we mention Prime Minister Lu Shaoheng now, people easily think of him as the father of Prime Minister Lu Anmin. But there is a little-known fact: Lu Shaoheng's eldest son, Lu Jishi, was also a top scholar. Moreover, for many years, many people in the Great Jing Dynasty only knew that Lu Shaoheng had such a prodigious son as Lu Jishi, but did not know of Lu Anmin.
"Historical records about Lu Jishi are scant, but they are full of praise: 'His bearing was like jade; he was intelligent and studious; his talent was astonishing to the world; all who met him were sincerely convinced.' From these brief words, you can already feel how great Lu Jishi's personal charm was. In the memoirs written by Prime Minister Lu Anmin after his retirement due to old age, he even mentioned that when his elder brother was young, he was much admired by the ladies of the capital, who privately gave him the elegant nickname 'Jade-Faced Lu Lang.'"
Under the Sky Canopy, many married women in the rear palaces were momentarily stunned upon hearing the long-unused nickname "Jade-Faced Lu Lang." Then, recalling the carefree days of their youth, a faint nostalgic smile crept across their faces.
"Although history has no ifs, if Lu Jishi had not died young, the Lu family might have produced three prime ministers. After Lu Jishi became the top scholar at twenty, like his father Lu Shaoheng in his youth, he voluntarily requested an external post, where he promoted beneficial policies, eliminated harmful ones, governed with integrity, and benefited the people—clearly another capable minister. At that time, everyone in the capital believed that when Lu Jishi was recalled to the capital, he would surely be heavily favored by Emperor Jingming.
"However, fate is unpredictable. In the year Lu Jishi turned twenty-nine, while serving as the magistrate of Wu County in Suzhou Prefecture, he suddenly fell ill and died. Whether an official is good or not, the common people have a scale in their hearts. According to the county annals of Wu County, when Lu Jishi's coffin was to be transported by water back to his hometown in Shandong for burial, the people of Wu County flocked to mourn, weeping bitterly as if for their own family, unable to speak through their sobs."
Under the Sky Canopy, in Wu County, although six years had passed since Lu Jishi's death, the people still remembered him well upon hearing Liu Sanqi's mention. An old woman with white hair sat in front of her house, holding her granddaughter and basking in the sun. The little girl asked in confusion, "Grandma, is this Lu Jishi that the Sky Canopy mentioned the same Lord Lu you and Mom and Dad talked about?" The old woman sighed regretfully: "Yes, it's him. Lord Lu was a good official. In all my long life, I've never met such a good official. Your father was once wrongly imprisoned, and it was only thanks to Lord Lu's thorough investigation that he was released unharmed. Lord Lu is the savior of our entire family!" It was the first time the little girl had heard this. She frowned and said discontentedly, "Then the heavens are really wicked! How could they let a good man die of illness like that?" The old woman gave a wry smile: "Yes, sometimes the heavens are indeed blind."
On the Sky Canopy, Liu Sanqi's voice was full of emotion: "Even the common people, who had no blood relation, were so grieved by Lu Jishi's death. We don't need to guess that his family was naturally even more heartbroken.
"Of course, after hearing this, some of you might be wondering why I was talking about Lu Shaoheng's rebellion earlier but now keep mentioning Lu Jishi. I haven't gone off-topic. In fact, it was precisely because of Lu Jishi's death that Lu Shaoheng chose to join Yin Wen's camp. Yes, as you've probably guessed, Lu Jishi's death was not a pure accident but was deliberately orchestrated.
"Originally, Lu Shaoheng and his family didn't know this. But the page boy who poisoned Lu Jishi, claiming his conscience troubled him, chose to confess to Lu Shaoheng that he had poisoned Lu Jishi. According to the page boy, he poisoned Lu Jishi because Lu Jishi had obtained evidence of corruption by Liu Youjin, the Prefect of Suzhou Prefecture, and planned to secretly impeach Liu Youjin to Emperor Jingming.
"Thus, upon learning the news, Liu Youjin, in order to protect his wealth and life, had his son-in-law Xue Mingzhi bribe the page boy and provide him with poison, instructing him to secretly drug Lu Jishi's tea, thereby creating the illusion that Lu Jishi died of illness."
Under the Sky Canopy, upon hearing this, Emperor Jingming couldn't help closing his eyes. At that moment, he even felt an urge to turn and flee.
"As Lu Jishi's father, Lu Shaoheng naturally could not let his son die wrongfully after learning the truth. He quickly went to the palace to inform Emperor Jingming and hoped for a strict punishment according to law. However, because Liu Youjin was the father-in-law of the Second Prince Yin Rui, Yin Rui naturally could not stand by and watch his father-in-law go to prison.
"Therefore, Yin Rui rushed to the palace to plead for Liu Youjin, using all sorts of excuses to exonerate him. Moreover, Emperor Jingming at that time was unwilling to upset the balance of power among the princes, so he ultimately did not bring the case to open trial. Instead, he simply removed Liu Youjin from his post as Suzhou Prefect and let him retire on the grounds of illness, hoping to minimize the matter.
"Naturally, Lu Shaoheng could not accept this outcome, as it let Liu Youjin off far too easily and brought him no due punishment."
Under the Sky Canopy, in Kunning Palace, Empress Xu snorted coldly. She was all too familiar with Emperor Jingming's way of muddling through; after all, when Yin Ning had previously wanted to investigate the Crown Prince's death, his attitude had been the same. Empress Xu looked at Yin Ning and remarked with disdain, "Your father has spent his whole life trying to balance this and that, and in the end, nothing is balanced! Lu Shaoheng's rebellion is largely your father's fault!" Upon hearing this, Yin Ning nodded in agreement, but she felt there was still much mystery surrounding Lu Jishi's death. She looked at Liu Sanqi on the Sky Canopy with an inquiring gaze, believing that Liu Sanqi would soon provide the answer.
In the live broadcast room, Liu Sanqi looked into the camera and continued, "It was when Lu Shaoheng was deeply disappointed that Yin Wen quietly extended an olive branch, hoping that this prime minister from a humble background would side with him and help him seize the throne.
"Originally, Lu Shaoheng only wanted to be a pure minister serving the people, with no intention of getting involved in the princes' factional struggles. But in order to seek justice for his wronged son, Lu Jishi, he chose to join the camp of the Third Prince Yin Wen. Even our Prime Minister Lu Anmin was at that time solely focused on avenging his elder brother, so he agreed to become the teacher of Yin Wen's only son.
"However, their actions played right into the trap Yin Wen had carefully laid for them, mistaking their enemy for their benefactor!
"In history, right up to the moment before his death, Lu Shaoheng remained in the dark, deceived by the despicable Yin Wen, never knowing that Yin Wen was the true murderer of his son!"