Prince Chen turned around and looked at the person who came, smiling: "Fourth brother."
"Fifth brother." Yun Yanze walked from the darkness to the candlelight. He did not look at the Zheng family members imprisoned in the cell. He nodded slightly to Liu Zhongbao, turned to the King of Chen and said, "Why are you here, fifth brother?"
"I should be the one asking this question to my fourth brother." Prince Chen looked at Yun Yanze, who was dressed in white and looked out of place in this prison. "Why are you here instead of recuperating in Zhangliu Palace?"
Yun Yanze slowly turned his head and looked at the Zheng family members in the prison: "Please rest assured, fifth brother, I am not here to plead for my uncle and aunt. I just came to see them, don't think too much."
"I didn't think of anything." Prince Chen crossed his arms and said, "Now that people have seen it, you should leave."
"Your Highness." Zheng Zhen said, "We have all been wronged. Please find a way to save us."
"Cousin, our father is dedicated to the people, and the ministers in the court enforce the law impartially. They will definitely give you justice." Yun Yanze looked at the Zheng family: "If you need anything, tell me and I will have someone bring it to you."
Madam Zheng laughed bitterly. Of course, the prison lacked everything, but even if His Highness sent it, they couldn't keep it. What I want now is not food or drink, but to get out of here.
"Aunt." Yun Yanze smiled apologetically at Madam Zheng, "Please forgive my incompetence for not being able to clear your name right away. Now...now my mother has been demoted to a beauty, and I live deep in the palace, so I can't take care of many things. But there is one thing you can rest assured about. My little cousin is locked up in the other courtyard, and I will arrange for someone to take good care of him."
"I believe you are innocent." Across the prison bars, he smiled as gentle as jade: "You just cooperate with the six officials in the investigation, and don't worry about your little cousin. I'm here for everything."
Madam Zheng gripped the railing tightly and loosened her grip, then tightened again: "I feel relieved that Your Highness is watching over me."
"I'm glad my aunt understands." Yun Yanze turned to look at Liu Zhongbao: "Eunuch Liu, can I send someone to send some clothes to my uncle and aunt?"
"Your Highness, if you want to send something to the Zheng family, you can draw up a list for me and I will deliver it to you." Liu Zhongbao smiled and said, "Your Highness is kind-hearted, I understand, but the Heavenly Prison has its own rules, so please don't make things difficult for me."
"Thank you, Eunuch Liu." Yun Yanze paused, turned his head and glanced at the Zheng family: "Then I won't disturb my fifth brother and Eunuch Liu. Goodbye."
Yun Yanze came and left, without leaving anything and without asking anything. It seemed that he really just came to care about his uncle who was imprisoned in the Sky Prison.
Prince Chen laughed sarcastically, raised his hand and said to the dragon guards standing beside him: "Don't just stand there, take Zheng Wangnan to the cleansing room."
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you." Big tears rolled down Mrs. Zheng's cheeks. She choked and said, "The master and the old lady didn't know about these things. I did everything."
Mr. Zheng, who was lying on the ground, was stunned for a moment, then looked at her in astonishment: "Madam, why did you do this? It's a capital crime!"
"It's all my fault." Madam Zheng covered her face and cried bitterly: "It's all my fault."
"Mother, how could this be?" Zheng Zhen had always believed that her family was framed by the evil concubine, but she never expected that all this was actually true?
"More than 20 years ago, I met the Imperial Concubine in a teahouse in Beijing. The Imperial Concubine was as beautiful as a fairy, and I was jealous of her. After the Imperial Concubine entered the palace, I went to the palace as a guest. I saw that my sister was not as valued by His Majesty as the Imperial Concubine, and I became more resentful of the Imperial Concubine. Later, when His Majesty ascended the throne, I learned that the Imperial Concubine was going to accompany him to the south, so I wanted to harm her."
"I know I have committed a heinous crime that deserves the death penalty. I do not ask for forgiveness from the Queen and His Highness, but I ask that you do not implicate innocent people." Madam Zheng kowtowed to the Prince of Chen repeatedly: "I am willing to be cut into pieces to atone for my sins."
"Because of jealousy, a young lady from a marquisate sent countless assassins to assassinate the imperial concubine and the prince who were favored by the emperor." After hearing what Madam Zheng said, Prince Chen laughed out loud: "This story is well told, but unfortunately I don't believe it."
"Your Highness!" Madam Zheng looked at Prince Chen in astonishment: "This was indeed done by this sinful woman."
"Before I came here, I looked at the family tree of Madam's mother." Prince Chen shook his head and sighed, "Madam's mother's family has two brothers and a sister. I heard that your two brothers even have grandchildren. The little baby is white, tender and cute, very lovable."
"You have committed such a serious crime. If the Zheng family is willing to divorce you, they can naturally save the lives of the whole family. But it's a pity for your brothers and sisters. They knew nothing about it, but they have to suffer from your involvement. The whole family will be convicted and thrown into prison, and their descendants will also be enslaved." Prince Chen looked at Madam Zheng: "Madam, will you regret it?"
Madam Zheng knelt on the ground, hunched her shoulders and sobbed. Prince Chen stood there for a while but did not hear her say a word of regret. Turning his head to look at Mr. Zheng kneeling on the ground, Zheng Wangnan, who dared not speak, suddenly felt extremely fed up and said, "If Madam Zheng is imprisoned in solitary confinement and she dies suddenly, it will be the Zheng family who killed her in order to make her take the blame for the whole family."
"If she is alive and well, we will follow the law. Children under the age of nine and the elderly over the age of eighty will be exempt from involvement." Prince Chen turned and walked out, leaving a sentence: "Lock up the naughty child of the Zheng family as well, and lock him up with... Madam Zheng."
After walking out of the prison, Prince Chen let out a long breath and looked up at the sun hanging in the sky: "Thank you for accompanying me for so long, Eunuch Liu. Please do as you please."
"I'm leaving now." Liu Zhongbao bid farewell to Prince Chen and went straight back to Taiyang Palace. He told Emperor Longfeng exactly what had happened.
"This child has always been unwilling to suffer loss since he was young." After listening to this, Emperor Longfeng laughed out loud, "He was like this when he was little. When he heard the guards guarding the palace saying bad things about me, he, a little kid of seven or eight, dared to rush up and fight with them. He came back with a bruised face and proudly told me that he had grabbed a handful of the other person's hair."
"I still remember that the little prince had a big bump on his forehead and his pants were torn." Liu Zhongbao laughed, "At dinner, the prince ate half of your meal."
When he was imprisoned in the Qiandi, life was extremely hard and even rice was rationed. The little prince had a big appetite and was lively and active, so the imperial concubine planted some sweet potatoes in the backyard. When he was so hungry at night that he couldn't stand it anymore, he would dig a sweet potato out of the ground, peel it, eat it, and then go back to sleep.
Emperor Longfeng smiled when he recalled the past. Even he himself had not expected that the girl who was sent to the palace by her biological father would accompany him through all the ups and downs for so many years.
His mother was born in a humble family, and every woman in the palace was not his choice. Only Mei Dai was there. He saw her being sent to the palace by her father. She was crying and looked so pitiful. If she was driven away by him, she might have nowhere to go. So he nodded and let her stay.
"The New Year is coming soon." Emperor Longfeng looked at the red plum blossoms blooming outside the window and said, "Pick a few of the best ones and I will take them to Mingyue Palace."
"I'll go right away." Liu Zhongbao trotted to the plum tree and picked up the plum blossoms.
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Jiuzhu lay on the wall between her home and her uncle's, waiting for her brother Fu Liu to come back with his marriage proposal.
After waiting for a long time, there was finally some movement in the yard. She looked at Ming Cunfu who walked into the yard with a smile on his face, and she knew that the marriage was settled.
"Sixth brother, Sixth brother." Jiuzhu waved at him from the top of the wall: "Congratulations, Sixth brother, you got what you wanted."
"Sixth Young Master, you are finally back." Chunfen smiled helplessly at Ming Cunfu: "Miss is not going anywhere today. I have been waiting here for a full hour."
"Thank you for your concern, sister." Ming Cunfu took out a purse from his arms and stuffed it to Jiuzhu through the wall: "Use this money to buy rouge."
"Thank you, Sixth Brother." Jiuzhu accepted it happily. It turned out that waiting for Sixth Brother to come back here was the best choice.
Adding the wedding money given to her by her sixth brother, the New Year's money given to her by her elders, and the New Year's gift given to the county lady by the Palace Department, she had enough money to bring into the palace to support Her Highness.
After getting the money, Jiuzhu decisively climbed down the wall, turned around and left in a good mood.
Ming Cunfu looked at his sister's ruthless back and suspected that she had been waiting here for so long just to get him to pay money.
No, how could he think so about his innocent and lovely sister!
He is not a good brother.
"Ten taels!" Jiuzhu opened the purse Ming Cunfu gave her and laughed happily: "Sixth brother is so generous today!"
She put the silver into the box and went back and forth counting the contents.
"Miss." Chunfen fed her a piece of fruit and reminded her quietly: "On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month in previous years, managers of various farms and shops would come to the mansion to pay interest."
Smart younger generations should learn to serve tea and water when the elders are counting money. If the elders are happy, won’t they have the money?
"Thank you, Sister Chunfen. I'll go talk to mother now." Jiuzhu hurriedly swallowed the fruit, picked up her skirt and ran to the main courtyard.
"Oh." Chunfen glanced at the small box that had not been closed yet, and helped Jiuzhu put the box away.
The relationship between ordinary parents and children is the happiness that the master, mistress and young lady have been waiting for for sixteen years.
"Jiuzhu." Shen was counting the silver. Seeing her daughter peeking out the door, she waved at her, "Come in."
"Mother." Jiuzhu looked at the copper coins in the cloth bag and exclaimed sincerely, "It's a lot of money."
"This is the harvest of the farm last year." Shen grabbed a handful of silver and stuffed it into Jiuzhu's pocket with a very gentle smile: "Take it, sit next to me and play, don't disturb me while I'm doing the accounting."
"Thank you, mother." Jiuzhu put the change into her purse and sat obediently beside her, watching Shen shi clattering on the abacus.
"If you're bored, go play by yourself." Shen looked up at her daughter and said, "Don't be bored."
"Not boring." Jiuzhu shook her head seriously: "When my daughter went to the city when she was young, she saw the boss lady of the buns selling dumplings counting the bills. Her daughter was sitting next to her waiting for her. She gave her daughter five copper coins."
At this point, Jiuzhu smiled and said, "My mother is much more generous than the boss lady. She gave me a handful of silver."
Shen's hand that was fiddling with the abacus paused. She stood up, walked to Jiuzhu, and hugged her in her arms.
Jiuzhu, her child.
She must make her the happiest girl in the capital.
"Mother." Jiuzhu hugged Shen with her backhand, rubbing against her like a puppy. "Father said he had a day off today, why aren't you at home?"
"Him." Shen touched her daughter's head and said, "He went to settle the accounts."
Jiuzhu wondered, "Does my father still need to go out and settle some annual accounts?"
"Of course." Shen smiled: "It's almost the New Year, and the weather is getting cold. We need to get back the money we owe."
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