Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 671 Only through destruction can there be construction
"Your Majesty, the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed. According to the records of the former Wei Dynasty, the sons and daughters of princes and nobles must be strictly disciplined. If they break the law, their punishment will be increased by three degrees. If that is the case, the punishment for this caning should be four degrees. If the punishment is increased by three degrees, it will be considered as one degree, with a punishment of three hundred strokes and a penal code of three thousand strokes. If there is a pardon, it will not be pardoned."

Upon hearing the words of the acting Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Emperor Jingtai's eyes widened in shock. He immediately ordered people to bring out the records from the Former Wei Dynasty to verify the information, and sure enough... it really did exist.

At this moment, someone stepped forward and said with a mocking expression, "Lord Zeng, this is not right. The Former Wei was Cao Wei. How can your Dali Temple use the sword of the former dynasty to kill people of our dynasty?"

The acting minister remained unfazed, his voice still booming. He was arrogant, his eyes sharp, and he turned to question, "Our Holy Dynasty gained unification of the world; from which lineage did it succeed?"

"That is Jin..."

The man immediately shut up after that one sentence, but the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices clearly had no intention of letting him off the hook. He even took a step forward and continued to ask, "Then which dynasty did Jin usurp?"

"Cao...Cao Wei..."

"Whose empire did Cao Wei conquer?! Tell me!"

"Eastern Han Dynasty..."

"Very well!" The Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices cupped his hands and said, "Since our Great Wei is a country ruled by the Han dynasty, why can't the Han laws and regulations be used? Your Majesty, I suspect this man has the intention to usurp the country, and his heart deserves to be punished."

Emperor Jingtai shrank back and turned to look at the person beside him: "Is this reasonable?"

"You're right...you're right...it's my fault for being so ignorant." The person who retorted blushed and dared not say anything more, so he bowed and retreated.

When the Minister of the Imperial Household continued to fire his guns, he really went after whoever he could. Whoever came to the rescue, he would give them a slap in the face without hesitation. He just wanted to crush those little brats to death.

The key point is that his arguments were thorough and fluent, and everyone knew that he was trying to avenge Anmus, but he never mentioned Anmus once from beginning to end, and the whole thing was full of quotations.

He debated with ten people, refuted all ten, and sent six of them to prison.

The kind of person who was arrested on the spot was someone who, while being discussed, would confess to their crimes, and after being pointed out, Emperor Jingtai had no choice but to have them detained.

Xia Lin did not attend the court assembly because, despite being the current core military leader of the Great Wei, his rank was not high enough.

He could go if he wanted to, and no one would even use it against him, but not going was the best choice. After all, he might not believe in the integrity of the Dali Temple, but he wouldn't disbelieve in its anger.

The soldiers that Anzi led were not ones that ordinary people could control.

Anyway, it's still unknown what will happen to those who were caught on the spot, but one thing is certain: after a brief period of silence, the Dali Temple has launched an even stronger offensive than before.

What's even more terrifying this time is that they have foreign aid.

No one could have imagined that the death of an ordinary official would cause that plague god to rush back from the border, and the first thing he did upon his return was to establish his authority.

"Uncle Xia".

After the court session, the acting minister was invited to Xia Lin's residence, which was on the island in the middle of the lake. Although it was not the first time he had met Xia Lin, he had heard of him for a long time.

Moreover, because he is Old Zeng's grandson, he has to call Xia Lin "uncle" when he sees him, even though his official rank is higher than Xia Lin's. Family seniority is actually higher than official rank.

"sit."

Xia Lin took down the kettle, refilled it with tea, and personally poured a cup for Zeng Daisiqing: "You performed well today."

"It's just my duty, Uncle, you flatter me."

Xia Lin laughed heartily: "How old are you this year?"

"Twenty-seven."

"Hmm, what a good age." Xia Lin nodded. "We only have one year. In this year, are you confident you can turn things around and restore order?"

"Yes." "Yes, we can't let Anzi die in vain. He paved a way for you with his life." Xia Lin paused for a moment, holding his teacup. "Alright, I won't say more. It's all up to you now. I can only offer you three forms of support. First, security support: I guarantee you won't be assassinated. Second, public opinion support: I will spread the word about your case to ensure you aren't smeared. Third, manpower support: I'll provide as many people as you need for evidence collection or investigation. As for the rest, I won't concern myself with or ask about anything else. Whether you succeed or not is your own business. This is all I can do for Anzi."

"Enough, that's enough!" The Grand Secretary stood up and bowed deeply to Xia Lin: "Uncle's actions are exemplary."

Xia Lin waved his hand: "Go back. Please give my regards to Master Zeng. I can visit him in a few days when things have calmed down a bit."

Dai Siqing nodded to Xia Lin: "These days, my grandfather has not been in good spirits, and I dare not say much to him about matters of the court. If seeing Uncle Shi can make my grandfather feel better, that would be a good thing."

After everyone left, Xia Lin's place became deserted again. However, this time it was better because he had a personal guard with him, so he wasn't too lonely. But this "personal guard" seemed a bit restless, always thinking about going to the capital to visit, saying that he hadn't been here for more than ten years and that everything felt very new.

However, Xia Lin dared not let her out at this critical juncture. Although time had passed, her identity was still extremely sensitive, and not all the people who knew her were dead. If she were discovered out of his sight, it would be a big problem.

"Come on~ I've been staying here for several days, and I've been looking at this lousy lake every day. It's so boring. I want to go into the city to have some fun."

Sure enough, it wasn't long before her daily antics started again. Xia Lin sighed, "Alright, alright, let's go. Let me change my clothes."

If it weren't for the current turmoil and the fear in everyone's hearts, this would actually be the best time of year in Nanjing. Although there are occasional light rains, they are not sticky. After getting soaked, one can escape to a teahouse, enjoy a cup of pre-Qingming tea, and listen to a new pipa melody, which would bring a sense of peace.

Xia Lin, dressed in an ordinary scholar's robe, brought Hong Yuan to the main street of Jinling. Although the fighting above had some impact on most people, life still had to go on, and most people's lives remained as usual.

Because of the rain, there weren't many pedestrians on the road, making it exceptionally clean and peaceful. Only the old woman selling camellias sat under the eaves of her house, weaving beautiful headbands from the blooming camellias and selling them for ten coins each.

Hongyuan was an active girl. She touched and looked at everything along the way, finding everything new and exciting. But this was understandable. When she was thirteen or fourteen, she lost her family and home and became homeless. After that, she was imprisoned in Huangya, a place where no one could be seen in winter. Even if she didn't say it, Xia Lin understood her loneliness over the years. So even though she was a bit noisy, it wasn't annoying.

Along the way, they saw quite a few constables standing by the roadside. These constables were very different from usual. They were all acting like proper people, conducting normal checks and performing their duties. If anyone was even slightly improper, anonymous letters would be sent to the Dali Temple.

This stuff works much better at the Dali Temple than anywhere else now. The Dali Temple has gone mad; they don't care whether they should be involved or not. They'll get involved in anything that's illegal!
With the yamen runners behaving themselves, the local hooligans and even the gang leaders also became more disciplined. They were all from the same vine, and it wouldn't be wise for them to cause any trouble at this time of year.

Xia Lin and his companions were tired from walking, so they found a roadside stall to sit down and eat something. Just as they arrived, they saw two constables leaving, and one of the constables even paid them money as he got up.

The stall owner was even a little frightened after receiving the money. He didn't even bother to serve the customer and chased after him, insisting on returning the money to the official.

"Take it if I tell you to. Don't be a pushover. It's fine if you don't want the money, but don't ruin your master's future." The officer impatiently shoved him aside: "Go back!"

The shopkeeper scratched his head, took the money, and walked back, muttering to himself, "How strange! In all these years, I've never seen officials give money like this before. Has everything changed these past few days?"

At this moment, a regular customer next to him chimed in, "Third brother, stop talking nonsense. If you have money, just take it. Why make trouble for yourself?"

"That's not how it works. I'm afraid that in the end, I'll lose both the principal and interest..."

He stopped talking after that and quickly turned around to serve the other guests. When he came to Xia Lin's table, he bowed and smiled, "You two are not locals, are you?"

"Huh? How did you know?" Hong Yuan asked in surprise. "We haven't even said anything yet."

"Hehe, this old man has been setting up a stall here for over thirty years, and I've seen plenty of people coming and going from all over the country. Those who come here covered in dust and dirt are traveling merchants. Those who are dressed in clean clothes and silk are northerners. As for the locals, they don't wear long skirts at this time of year because they get dirty easily from the rain, so the women mostly wear trousers."

The boss was very talkative and quite interesting, which made Xia Lin laugh and say, "Yes, I didn't expect that the people who wear Hu clothing the most are from the South."

"That's not how it works, sir. We're just trying to make a living, who cares whether we're barbarians or Han Chinese? As long as we can eat our fill, anyone will do. It's convenient for traveling and working, and what we wear doesn't matter. If you don't believe me, go and see the Jiangnan region; people there dress neatly and practically."

Hong Yuan glanced at Xia Lin, who chuckled and said, "Yes, I've seen it before. It's quite convenient."

As morning gradually arrived, the number of people on the street increased when they were halfway through their meal, and the owner's breakfast stall truly entered its busiest time.

It was only then that Hongyuan realized that the locals in Jinling really did wear trousers similar to those popular in Jiangnan. Both men and women dressed like this, clean and neat, with pockets sewn on the trousers to hold small items. The women's version was slightly different from the men's version, with a lapel and a fitted waist, which was just right.

"I want this dress too!" Hongyuan shouted, pointing at other people's clothes. "Look at what I'm wearing, it's so tacky."

(End of this chapter)