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Chapter 33: The Drumming of Public Notice (Subscribe for more)
Tang Zhao smiled as he watched her pretending to shed tears and express her true feelings.

Seeing that the woman in front of her remained unmoved no matter what she said, Song Qingyan slowly stopped crying.

For a moment, the scene was silent.

"Aunt?" Tang Zhao pulled his hand back, lifted Song Qingyan's pointed chin, and said word by word, "You, don't deserve it!"

The crowd gasped.

Tang Zhao withdrew his hand and let Chunfeng carefully wipe his scallion-like fingers with a wet handkerchief. Then he threw the handkerchief into the garbage pile on the roadside. Looking at Song Qingyan's ugly and stiff face, he sneered, "In public, I am the Princess Zhaoshan, personally appointed by His Majesty. In private, I am the eldest daughter of the Duke of Wei. How dare you, a mere concubine, call yourself aunt in front of this Princess?"

Ever since Song Qingyan became the concubine of Duke Wei and moved into Yudai Lane, she has been in charge of the power of the mansion and has been able to get whatever she wants. Now, she is being humiliated by the daughter of the clan sister she despises the most. How can she bear it?

She looked at the Duke of Wei pitifully. The Duke of Wei frowned and was about to scold her, but Tang Zhao sneered and turned away.

"Rebellious girl, stop right there!"

Tang Zhao kept walking. She had achieved her purpose of coming here, so she didn't want to just stand there and get scolded!
Duke Wei punched the cotton and vented his anger. "Pack your things and return to Duke Wei's Mansion!"

Tang Zhao returned to the palace and asked Chunfeng Qiuyu to help her change into the county lady's clothes. Then she got on a carriage and drove eastward.

"Girl, where are we going?"

"Beat the drum for public hearing."

The spring breeze and autumn rain opened their eyes wide.

The Dengwen Drum was established by the previous dynasty to give the common people who had grievances but were unable to appeal an opportunity to have their cases heard by the emperor. Since the founding of the Kangzhi Emperor's reign, he had continuously improved the laws of Dayu to make them basically complete, and the number of unjust, false and wrong cases had been decreasing.

The Dengwen Drum was gradually forgotten by the world and only stood lonely in front of the gate of Zhengyang Palace.

After ten years, someone finally sounded the drum for public hearing again.

Tang Zhao got off the carriage and walked towards the Dengwen drum standing on the high platform.

"Who is it?" the guard in charge asked as usual.

"Princess Zhaoshan, Tang Zhao."

Emperor Kangzhi was stingy with himself and was also very stingy with his royal family. According to the rules, the royal sons and grandsons should be granted the appropriate titles and ranks when they come of age, but Emperor Kangzhi kept delaying it. Finally, he said: No reward without merit. No one who has not made great contributions to the country or the court should be easily granted a title.

This can be seen from the fact that Gu Ci fought on the battlefield for several years, but was only granted the title of General of Cavalry and not a Prince.

Even the royal sons are like this, let alone the royal daughters?

Among Emperor Kangzhi's many daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters, only Princess Yingde, who died on the battlefield, and several princesses who were married to foreign countries were given titles.

In addition, there is Tang Zhao, who was awarded the title of Zhaoshan County Lady for her contribution to disaster relief last year.

The guards exchanged glances, then knelt on one knee and saluted, "Your humble servant greets Her Majesty the County Lord."

"No gift."

"Excuse me, Madam Princess, what brings you here?" asked one of the guards.

"When you come to the Drum Tower, you must beat the drum," Tang Zhao glanced at him.

"Well," another person said, "may I ask what injustice has been brought against you, Madam County Lord?"

Tang Zhao raised his eyelids and looked at him.

The guard immediately apologized, "I dare not ask about the county lady's private affairs. However, if the county lady has any grievances, why not report it to the Luoyang government office and ask Lord Yin Wei for help?"

Who in Luoyang didn't know that Yin Wei held Princess Zhaoshan in the highest regard? If anyone dared to wrong the Princess, Lord Yin Wei would bite a piece of that person's flesh off!

At worst, you can complain to your husband's family! Prince Xuan and General Huoqi go to court every day, so why bother beating the Dengwen drum? "This county lady didn't know that the Dengwen drum can't be beaten?" Tang Zhao said slowly.

The guard was startled and didn't dare to say anything. He stepped aside and said, "Please come in, Lady County."

Tang Zhao knew that they meant well and had no intention of making things difficult for them. He walked past them and went up to the drum tower. He picked up the drumstick, swung his arm, and hit the drum hard.

Boom!Boom!Boom!
The big drum, which has stood for a hundred years, has been weathered by the wind and frost, but it still makes a deafening sound.

A guard downstairs ran to report, and the news of the drum beating was reported up the chain of command and finally reached the Fengtian Hall.

In the Fengtian Hall, the morning court session was just coming to an end. Emperor Kangzhi was bored and listened to the advice of the censor. The censor, quoting from classics, advised the emperor to grant titles to his adult sons and grandsons as soon as possible to show the royal dignity.

Emperor Kangzhi was noncommittal.

When the censor was about to persuade him again, the commander of the Feilong Guard came to report that someone had struck the drum to report the incident.

The ministers were in an uproar, and even Emperor Kangzhi showed a hint of surprise, "Who is it?"

"Princess Zhaoshan, Tang Zhao."

Emperor Kangzhi glanced at Prince Xuan's son, Gu Liu, standing in front of him on the left, and then at General Gu Ci, standing in front of him on the right. Seeing that they also looked bewildered, Emperor Kangzhi became curious and said, "Send the message to Princess Zhaoshan."

Tang Zhao was waiting in front of the Fengtian Gate. He heard the young eunuch loudly shout "Call Princess Zhaoshan to the emperor" three times before he, led by the Feilong Guards, stepped onto the hundred-step jade staircase and entered the Fengtian Palace.

Under the gaze of all the civil and military officials, Tang Zhao quickly walked to a position ten steps in front of the emperor, knelt respectfully on both knees, touched her forehead with her hands and bowed, "Your Majesty, your servant Zhaoshan, pays homage to your majesty. May your majesty live long and long!"

"No gift!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Keep your head up."

Tang Zhao raised his chin slightly, but his eyelids drooped. According to the rules, he was not allowed to look directly at the emperor.

This was the first time Emperor Kangzhi saw Tang Zhao, but he felt extremely familiar with him. After thinking for a moment, Emperor Kangzhi suddenly realized: this child looks 80% similar to the girl from the Song family.

Tang Zhao suddenly raised his eyes and looked directly into the eyes of the Emperor who was sitting high on the steps.

Emperor Kangzhi was stunned. Looking at those clear and bright eyes, he felt as if he saw an old friend.

When Hongcheng left Beijing to guard the northwest, he looked at him with such eyes and patted his chest to say that as long as he was in the city, he would be there.

The city is still there, but the people are long gone.

Zhou Dajian was shocked by Tang Zhao's audacity, and his scolding was swallowed back by a look from Emperor Kangzhi.

"You are so bold, girl, that you actually look me in the eye?" Emperor Kangzhi pretended to be serious.

Gu Ci stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, Zhaoshan lost his mother at a young age and was exiled to the farm. He had no time to learn etiquette and rules. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me for any impoliteness I may have caused."

He paused and continued, "As a husband, I have failed to teach my wife. This is truly a dereliction of duty. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Tang Zhao glared back at the man who had suddenly appeared to plead guilty and protect her, then turned around and said loudly, "Your Majesty wants to see what I look like. I also want to see what the wise emperor who ended the chaos, founded the Dayu Dynasty, and led the people to live and work in peace and contentment looks like."

"Is it really as the people say, that he is eight feet tall, has three heads and six arms, and has three eyes and two mouths?" Tang Zhaoxin lied.

All the civil and military officials in the court widened their eyes.

Gu Ci closed his eyes, ready to sacrifice his job to save his life.

Unexpectedly, Tang Zhao suddenly became sentimental, "Your Highness, I also want to see for my grandfather, whether His Majesty is still in good health and as elegant as before."

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(End of this chapter)