Wanqingsi

Chapter 156 Oriole
At night, Yunzheng went to bed early at my urging, and when he was fast asleep, I got up from the bed, went to the outer room to light candles, and looked at the account books that I hadn't read during the day.Last time I found a strange expense in the account book. Recently, the share of the expense has become larger and larger. After returning to Beijing, I have encountered so many things. I have not had time to sort out this line. When I sort out this amount, I have to ask What happened to Yun Zheng.

Before I knew it, the night was getting late, I yawned, closed the account book, and prepared to go to bed and sleep.Suddenly I heard someone knocking on the door lightly, Ning Er went to open the door, and then came in and told me that Yun Gan wanted to see me.I put on my cloak and went out, Yun Gan said in a low voice: "Young Madam, Mr. Wei is out!"

"Did you follow him?" I asked quickly.

"Yes, if he approaches the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Yun Kun and the others will hold him back as you ordered." Yun Gan said, "I will come back and notify you as soon as I see him go out."

"Let's go right away! You go and prepare the car!" After I finished speaking to Yun Gan, I turned to Ning Er and said, "I have to go out, the young master finally fell asleep, don't wake him up!"

The carriage was galloping on the street late at night, and I was a little anxious.I don't know if Yunkun and the others have held back Brother Wei's family?There was no one on the dark street, and it was surprisingly quiet.Turn around this street, and not far ahead is the back alley of the Ministry of Justice.As soon as the carriage drove out of the street, Yun Gan stopped the carriage and lifted the curtain: "Young Madam, they are in front!"

I looked forward, and in the faint light from the lantern hanging from the top of the carriage, I saw Yun Kun, Yun Kan, and Yun Dui wrestling with a masked man in black.They didn't move their swords, probably because they were afraid that the sound of the sword's Jin Ming clashing would alarm the neighbors.The man in black's martial arts is not weak, the three iron guards are just blocking him, they can't hurt him, so they can't take much advantage.It seems that brother Wei's martial arts has improved a lot during this time. In the dark, he attacked with all his strength, his fists dancing vigorously, trying to break free from the siege of the three iron guards.Hearing the muffled sounds of fighting, I quickly stepped forward and shouted in a low voice, "Stop!"

The iron guard stopped immediately, and the man in black immediately flew to the side when he saw this, the iron guard had no choice but to block him again.I rushed forward angrily, and rushed into the fighting ring. The man in black swung his fist straight, and when he was about to reach me, he stopped suddenly. I glared at the man in black and said, "Brother, stop!"

His body stopped, I quickly grabbed his arm, and whispered dissuasion: "Brother, are you dying? You want to rob prison?"

"You've got the wrong person!" He whispered, trying to break my fingers.Angry and anxious, I grabbed his arm even more tightly, and my voice became louder: "I'm not blind yet!"

He sighed helplessly: "Ye'er..."

"I won't let you go!" I grabbed him tightly and said in a loud voice, "Do you know what you are doing now? Wei Xiang is a repeat offender, and I don't know how many masters are guarding the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice? Do you think you can do it alone? Can you get him out?"

"It may not be possible!" The elder brother of the Wei family said in a deep voice, "I have inquired, and the guards will not be my opponent."

"Even if you rescue him, so what?" I said angrily, "Will the emperor let Wei Xiang and you go? Do you plan to spend your life as a fugitive from now on?"

"Let's talk about the future." The eldest brother of the Wei family said with a look of indifference, "We can leave Tianzhao Kingdom!"

"Under the whole world, is it the land of the king! Even if you can leave the Tianzhao country and escape to other countries, as long as the emperor says a word, the monarchs of other countries will arrest you! Brother, you should be very clear in your heart." I said seriously. .

"Do you want me to watch my father be beheaded?" The eldest brother of the Wei family was also angry, and his voice became louder.

"He has committed a crime, so he will naturally be punished." I tried to convince him, "The emperor did not implicate you, it is already a kindness. If you rescue him today, you are breaking the law. Wei Xiang must be responsible for what he has done, Brother, how can you be so disrespectful?"

"I'm not a saint, so I can't kill relatives righteously!" The eldest brother of the Wei family was as stubborn as a donkey, "Of course you can say such high-sounding things, he is not your father!"

"He's not your father either!" I was so angry that I blurted out, seeing the astonishment in the eyes of the elder brother of the Wei family, I realized my slip of the tongue, and immediately bit my lips in annoyance.

"Ye'er, what do you mean by that?" Brother Wei grabbed me and said with wide eyes, "Why isn't he my father?"

"He..." I clenched my lips, wanting to bite my tongue off, and pulled him earnestly, "Brother, if you believe me, don't rob the prison! I won't harm you!"

"If you don't speak clearly, how can I believe it?" Everyone in the Wei family was really stubborn.I hesitated for a while, knowing that if I don't speak clearly now, he will definitely not go back with me, took a breath, and said seriously: "He is not your father, he is not Wei Xiang!"

"He isn't? How is this possible?" The eldest brother of the Wei family stared at me incredulously, his eyes under the veil were wide open, seeing that I was serious and didn't seem to be joking with him at all, he couldn't help but grabbed my arm , Shen Sheng said: "Then who is he?"

"I also want to know—who is he?" A gloomy voice sounded in the darkness, and there were chaotic and hurried footsteps all around, as if many people suddenly rushed from the end of the street, and the dark long street suddenly brightened like day .I looked around in a daze, all the officers and soldiers holding torches, surrounded us eagerly, two people walked slowly into the encirclement, saw their faces clearly, my mind went blank suddenly, the one with the gloomy face and two eyes The man with eyes like torches, if not today, who else could it be?

The emperor had a sullen face, staring at me with shocking eyes, with an ugly expression.Ji Jingyun beside him had a complex expression, with doubts and surprises in his eyes, and looked at me worriedly.It took me a long time to come back to my senses, the battle in front of me, without thinking about it, I knew that the emperor had set up a trap a long time ago, and he was waiting for the rabbit, but I didn't know whether the rabbit he wanted to catch was the big brother of the Wei family or me.

Suddenly, I remembered that when we were interrogating the truth in the Hall of Resting Hearts that day, Wei Xiang looked at me in panic, and my thoughtful expression fell into the emperor's eyes.I'm afraid that at that time, he had already sensed the difference, thanks to him being able to keep his face and deploy in secret, I forgot again, how could I have thought that he just glanced at me at that time because of his scheming and the depth of the city? Woolen cloth?You are such an idiot, Ye Haihua!
I scolded myself a few words in my heart, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, supported my waist calmly, and knelt down on the ground with difficulty: "The concubine sees the emperor!" Tie Wei knelt down with me, and I tilted my head Seeing that the elder brother of the Wei family was still standing there in a daze, and anxiously pulled his trousers, he came back to his senses and knelt down on the ground too.

The emperor was silent, I lowered my face, and could feel his cold gaze.After a while, he said coldly: "General Ji, invite Mrs. Ronghua to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for questioning, and I will lock up the others!" After speaking, he turned around and left.Ji Jingyun stepped forward to help me up: "Madam Yun, please get up..."

I supported my waist and stood up, Ji Jingyun sighed: "Madam Yun, you..." After a pause, he said again: "Madam, please follow me."

I turned my head to look at the eldest brother of the Wei family, Ji Jingyun saw this and said: "Madam Yun, don't worry, the emperor will not make things difficult for them."

Is it?The emperor might not embarrass Tie Wei, but it would be difficult for the eldest brother of the Wei family. If he recognized the elder brother of the Wei family as the assassin who assassinated him a year ago, I am afraid that the matter would be more complicated.But at this moment, there was no other way. The officers and soldiers escorted the elder brothers of the Wei family away. I just followed Ji Jingyun into the yamen of the Ministry of Punishment. Instead of going to court, they took me around the garden. There are officers and soldiers guarding the door of the house. When they saw Ji Jingyun, they stood at attention and saluted.Ji Jingyun brought me into the room, the room was like a flower hall, the emperor was sitting on the main seat with a cold face.I bit my lip and wanted to go forward to salute, but the emperor said coldly: "No need, sit down!"

I hesitated for a moment and sat on the side seat.The emperor looked at me with menacing eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Mrs. Ronghua, what did you mean by what you said just now, please explain to me."

He didn't play bureaucratic with me, scolded me for daring to bully the emperor and so on, my heart was a little firm, took a breath, and said slowly: "This matter started more than a year ago, when the concubine was still reduced to Leaning on the red building, one day when I went to the street, my money bag was stolen by a child..."

I told the story of how I met Aunt Zhou, mother and son, and told me about her life experience when Aunt Zhou, mother and son came to visit me in prison, and then I talked about the day when Aunt Zhou ran into Wei Xiang at the banquet. He talked about my suspicion, and then he sent people to Jeju to find out the identities of Aunt Zhou and False, and then said that Aunt Zhou committed suicide after seeing Wei Xiang. Zhou Fusheng is currently living in Yongle Hou Mansion.What I said was all the truth, I just omitted the previous stories, I weighed it in my heart, and told all the facts that I could tell the emperor.Seeing the emperor's unfathomable expression of joy and anger, I said anxiously: "...That's it, my concubine guesses that this Xiang Wei is actually not Xiang Wei."

"That is to say, you knew that Wei Xiang was a fake three months ago?" The emperor's voice could not hear any emotion.I bit my lower lip: "Yes!"

"Then why didn't you report it to me immediately?" The emperor's eyes narrowed dangerously, my heart trembled, and I finally asked the key point, how should I answer him, so that I can get away with it?
"So what if the emperor knew about it at the time? Could it be used as a reason to convict Wei Xiang?" A majestic prime minister in Tianzhao was impersonated. How will the common people and other countries who are eyeing them look at the court of Tianzhao Kingdom?I'm afraid that rumors will spread everywhere immediately, and the people's hearts will be unstable, which will give the enemy country an opportunity to take advantage of it.Seeing the emperor's expression turned gloomy, I said cautiously: "Furthermore, the emperor told his concubine and his wife to investigate the case of Wei Xiang framing Taifu Murong 19 years ago. The concubine thought that if Wei Xiang was really guilty, this would be the best way to punish him. Good reason, if Wei Xiang is innocent, the courtiers and concubines will report the false appearance to the emperor, but the result of the investigation is that Wei Xiang is guilty, then, anyway, Wei Xiang is going to die, why should the emperor be obsessed with the reason why he must die?"

The emperor looked at me silently. After a long while, the corners of his lips twitched coldly, and he sneered: "What a clever mouth, I was really fooled by you at the first glance. Is Wei Xiang guilty, should he die? What kind of reason let him die, is it up to you to decide?"

This is too serious, I quickly bowed my head: "The concubine dare not."

"Don't dare?" The emperor's voice came suddenly and sharply, "I will believe others who don't dare, but you dare to say that you really don't dare?"

I remained silent, eyelashes drooping.The emperor was so aggressive, I didn't dare to speak rashly, now I said so many mistakes, how dare I talk back to him, but he refused to let me go easily, and said sharply: "You are talking!"

"The emperor has already condemned the concubine in his heart, what else can the concubine say?" I bit my lip, feeling extremely wronged in my heart.

"What are you talking about?" the emperor said angrily. "Tell me your real intention! What are you thinking? What's going on in your mind all day long?"

"What can the concubine think?" I raised my eyes and said aggrievedly, "The concubine just doesn't want to implicate Aunt Zhou's mother and son in the matter of pretending to be Wei Xiang." I don't want you to know that my body is Wei Lanxue, so That's all.I stood up and knelt down on the ground: "If the emperor thinks that the concubine's crime of concealing the facts is unforgivable, how will the concubine be punished according to the emperor."

"You..." The emperor slapped the desk, his fingers trembling while pointing at me, I lowered my eyelashes, but I could still feel his anger.Ji Jingyun, who was sitting across from me, saw this, and hurriedly knelt down to plead for mercy: "The emperor calms down. Although Mrs. Ronghua concealed this matter from the emperor, it was out of kindness. She sympathized with Zhou's mother and son, please the emperor..."

"Shut up!" the emperor snapped, Ji Jingyun didn't dare to say any more, and shut up.The emperor sat back on his chair and didn't say a word for a long while before saying, "Jingyun, get out!"

Ji Jingyun was startled, glanced at the emperor, stood up, turned around and wanted to leave, then stopped: "Your Majesty, Mrs. Ronghua's body is not good enough to kneel..."

"Get out!" The emperor's voice cooled down.Ji Jingyun didn't dare to say anything more, and went out of the room.There were only me and the emperor left in the room. He sat silently, and I knelt silently, just facing each other in silence.

——2007, September, 2
(End of this chapter)