What do people think?
Whose mouth is it? The mouth of ordinary people or the mouth of the nobles?
Gu Nanxi took a chess manual and played chess with himself.
Su Xuanming came over to take a look and saw that it was Gobang.
Gu Nanxi had won several games in a row and was quite confident. He invited Su Xuanming: "Let's play a game?"
Seeing that A Niang was in high spirits, Su Xuanming sat opposite her. He held the white pieces and A Niang held the black pieces.
Not long after it rained, Su Xuanming was sweating profusely.
A Niang uses the sky as a chessboard and people as chess pieces, and she can lay a net that covers heaven and earth.
But when it came to the real chessboard, the chess playing level plummeted and even Su Xuanming couldn't do it.
Gu Nanxi stared at the chessboard with a serious expression.
Wow, I finally met my match today!
"Da Lang, someone is here to ask for mercy?"
Su Xuanming exclaimed, "Yes, there are students and aristocratic families."
"What do you think?" Gu Nanxi thought for a moment and made a move.
Hehe, five stars are about to align!
Su Xuanming blocked the fifth particle without thinking: "Take this opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop and eliminate the trouble forever!"
The Su family is already in an awkward position. If they knew what was going on and kept a low profile, they might be able to spare their lives.
But they were so greedy that they dared to covet this piece of territory. Neither Gu Nanxi nor Su Xuanming could tolerate them.
The various forces in Kyoto are intertwined, and even in the midst of war, many families have survived.
A large number of people here will become an obstacle to Yunzhou's new policies.
"Very good, I will leave this matter to you and Yulang. Wait for your second brother and third sister to return to Kyoto, and then they will supervise the execution."
Su Xuanming's hand trembled and he made a wrong move.
"No regrets after making a move." Gu Nanxi quickly placed a black piece, and five stars in a row, winning!
Su Xuanming admitted defeat with a wry smile and played a few more games with Gu Nanxi.
Because he didn't know how to let Gu Nanxi win, he was ruthlessly kicked out of the study by Gu Nanxi: "I'm so old, and you don't know how to give in to me. You are so unfilial! I asked you to get married, but you didn't. As a result, I still don't have a grandchild to hug. Get out now, I don't want to see you."
After driving Su Su Xuanming away, Gu Nanxi threw the chess piece into the chess box, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the green trees outside the window in a daze.
The purpose of letting the three siblings of the Su family participate in this matter is to separate them from the Su family.
If they were to be swayed by etiquette and laws this time and let the Su family go, they would most likely be swayed by powerful officials and public opinion in the future.
All your efforts will be in vain.
…
After Su Xuanming and Yulang had communicated with each other, they reached an agreement that the scope of the witchcraft case should not be expanded, but no person involved in the case should be let off either.
It took a whole month to find evidence and determine the charges in this case.
It was not until the Autumn Examination was about to begin that the list of people involved in the case was fully finalized.
How to deal with these prisoners will have to wait until the imperial examination is over and will be decided by Duke Yun.
The cells in the Northern Yamen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were almost full of people.
The Su family, the prince of Chengguogong, and the Duke of Jiguo are no longer treated as well as when they first arrived.
There were four or five people locked up in their cell. They ate, drank, defecated and urinated all in that small cell, and the stench was overwhelming.
The prince of Chengguo was desperate. His legitimate son and three illegitimate sons were all locked up with him, which was distressing to watch.
He kicked his son on the buttocks and cursed him: "You disloyal and unfilial bastard, you abandoned your parents and ran away when the rebel army entered the city! I would rather give birth to a piece of barbecued pork than to give birth to you!"
"Dad, if you are angry, don't vent it on me! If you didn't favor your brothers, would I have been able to run away by myself? If I didn't run, and you used me as bait to attract the rebels, wouldn't that be unfair to me?"
"You dare to talk back? I will beat you to death, you unfilial thing! You are a useless piece of trash, your mother doesn't want you anymore!" The Prince of Chengguo swung the sole of his shoe and hit his son on the back.
"It's so annoying!" His son pushed the son of Duke Cheng away and said impatiently, "What does it have to do with me? Didn't you say that my mother was raped by the lowly people and was not worthy of entering the Duke Cheng's mansion?"
The prince of Chengguo was furious. He didn't expect his son to fight back. His face turned pale and blue. "She is your mother! I chased her away, and you didn't know how to protect her?"
"Come on. Did you really want me to stand up and protect her so that you could drive us both out of the house? I tell you, dream on! Before my grandfather left, he said that the Chengguo Mansion would be left to me in the future."
The prince of Chengguo was so angry that his hands were shaking: "So just for Chengguogong, you can watch your own mother being driven out? You are so heartless and ungrateful, no wonder your mother doesn't care about you!"
Speaking of ruthlessness, the other party was obviously not convinced: "Can I be more ruthless than you? You and my mother have been married for thirty years. My mother gave birth to your children, took care of the inner house, and was filial to your parents. When you encountered the rebellion, you couldn't protect her, and you blamed her for defiling your position as Duke of Chengguo. It would be fine if you despised her, you could give her a Buddhist temple and let her live out her life. But you actually gave her a divorce letter and forced her to die!"
"It's all your fault that we are in this situation today!"
"Unfilial son, I will beat you to death!" The Prince of Chengguo became angry and humiliated.
"You shameless old man, if you hadn't been involved in this, how could we have suffered such a disaster? How can you face your ancestors after you die?"
They are indeed father and son. When they quarrel, every word they say is like a stab to the other's heart.
Duke Ji in the cell opposite had a high fever, his face was red, his lips were dry, and he looked a little dazed.
He looked at this scene and felt that it was noisy: "Save your energy and stop making noise."
No one listened to his words, and the two of them fought like fighting cocks until they bled. The others watched numbly from the sidelines and did not step forward to stop the fight.
Duke Ji kept coughing and almost coughed out his lungs.
He stared at the entrance of the cell, muttering: "Why hasn't your mother come yet? Doesn't she care about Dalang's future?"
Suddenly, there was the sound of iron chains at the entrance.
The jailer said: "Please come in, my lords. According to the rules, you are not allowed to stay for more than half a quarter of an hour."
Shuyin handed the jailer a stack of meal coupons: "Okay, we got it. Please lead the way!"
The prison boss refused to accept it: "There are prison regulations that prohibit private acceptance of money and property."
Shuyin stuffed the coupon into the old man's hand and said with a wry smile: "This is a benefit given to us female officials. It's not an important thing. It's just a meal coupon for Baiwei Restaurant. You also know the situation of the two of us. Where do we have any relatives outside the palace?"
Mingzhen followed up, "Yes, it would be a waste if we kept these meal coupons. Please help us digest them."
The two were so kind that they could not refuse. The prison boss accepted the meal ticket with embarrassment, but the corner of his mouth curled up high: "I'll wait outside. If you need anything, call me and I'll come in."
"Thank you very much."
No one has come to visit them this month.
Shuyin and Mingzhen were the first to appear, instantly attracting the attention of everyone in the cell.
"Mother! I'm here, mother! Get me out now."
"Mingzhen! Mingzhen, you finally came to see us." The Prince of Chengguo, with a bloody head, held on to the railing tightly, looking at Mingzhen with eyes full of affection.
Little did he know that his hair was messy and there was blood on his head. His clothes were wrinkled like a pigtail and there were several pieces of straw hanging on the hem. He looked very miserable.
As soon as Mingzhen came in, she was almost knocked over by the smell in the cell.
When the prince of Chengguo reached out his hand to grab her, Mingzhen covered her nose and took a step back uncontrollably.
This action caused the Prince of Chengguo to be seriously injured.
He didn't mind that Mingzhen had been defiled by so many low-class people, but Mingzhen actually had the nerve to despise herself for being dirty and smelly!
Mingzhen avoided the gaze of Prince Chengguo and looked at her son.
My fat son lost almost half his weight, and his crescent-shaped face became an oval one.
Thinking of her son's ending, Mingzhen couldn't help but cry.
She wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, opened the tray, and stuffed the dishes of delicious food into the cell.
"Son, this is your favorite crab stuffed orange. Mom brought you two. The pickled pork from Zhu's shop, the fairy cake of wealth from the Eight Immortals House, the sweet-scented osmanthus cake, the mountain cave plum blossom buns, and the fried meat..."
The Prince of Chengguo swallowed his saliva and couldn't help but snatch the food from his son.
Although the food in the cell was not rotten, it did not taste good.
These days I was able to barely swallow the food, just to stay alive.
Mingzhen ignored the Prince of Chengguo and just kept looking at her own son, unable to get enough of looking at him.
"Son, it's all your fault that you don't have a good father. You have great ambitions but little talent. You don't know yourself well, and you have brought trouble to the whole mansion, and also to you. The road ahead will be difficult, you must take good care of yourself."
The biscuit in the fat son's mouth fell to the ground with a pop.
He looked terrified, grabbed Mingzhen's sleeve, and said frantically: "Mother, what do you mean by this? Aren't you going to save me? I am your only son!"
Mingzhen shook her head, filled with grief: "Your father committed such a serious crime, either the whole family will be executed or exiled. The only thing I can do is to bring you a meal, so that you can have a good journey."
"Mingzhen! A day of marriage is a hundred days of grace. Can you bear to see me suffer this disaster?"
"Yes, mother! Without me, who will take care of you in your old age? You have a good relationship with Duke Yun, please go and beg her to let us go!"
Mingzhen sobbed bitterly. If it was any other crime, she could still sacrifice her old face and run around for her son.
But they are committing witchcraft!
Everyone in Kyoto is avoiding him, so who would dare to get involved?
"Son, take care of yourself."
Seeing that Mingzhen could not be relied upon, the father and son completely tore off their disguises and cursed at Mingzhen.
"Mother, if you can't protect me, why did you give birth to me?! Is there any mother like you? What parent doesn't devote their heart and soul to their children? Why is it you who is so selfish!"
"Mingzhen, if I had known you were so heartless and ungrateful today, I would have died in bed! You brought shame to our Chengguo Mansion, and at the critical moment of life and death, you abandoned us father and son in order to save yourself! Why didn't you let the lowly people kill you? Why didn't you commit suicide? How dare you continue to live?"
Mingzhen never expected that such vicious words would come from the mouth of her closest person.
She looked at her son in disbelief and asked in a hoarse voice: "What do you want me to do?"
"Take the blame! Go tell Duke Yun that you did everything and it has nothing to do with us."
Mingzhen blinked, as if she couldn't believe what she heard.
Her son asked her to take the blame!
"Do you know that I gave birth to you after ten months of pregnancy?"
"Mother, since you gave birth to me without my consent, you must be responsible for me!"
Mingzhen: "When you were little, you would make a fuss in February, and I would hold you in my arms all night and coax you to sleep."
"Don't mention the past anymore."
Mingzhen wiped her tears and said, "Okay, let's not talk about it. I just want to tell you that I have fulfilled my duties as a wife and a mother. I don't owe you anything!"
She looked at her son with extreme disappointment and clearly saw the hatred and anger in his eyes.
She choked up and said, "Don't say anything more. I gave birth to you without your consent. If I had known that the child I gave birth to would be like you, I would rather not give birth to him!"
After saying this, she strode out of the cell, and no matter how the Duke of Chengguo and the Prince cried and begged, she never looked back.
Shuyin sighed and came to Duke Ji’s cell.
Duke Ji looked at her steadily: "Is there no other way?"
"You know what you did. No emperor would tolerate you. How dare you? What are you trying to do? Do you really think that Duke Yun is a good person who can be manipulated by others?"
Duke Ji smiled bitterly: "I thought she loved fame and wealth, and would always take into account the public opinion and the Su family."
"Sign it." Shuyin handed in paper and pen.
Duke Ji opened it and saw that it was a letter of severance.
Shuyin advised softly, "Sign it. We have to leave a bloodline for our family. You can give an account to your ancestors in the underworld. I have inquired about it, and this time you will not implicate all the nine clans."
Duke Ji was trembling all over and tried to pick up the pen several times, but dropped it each time.
Shuyin put the pen in his hand, held his hand tightly, and said firmly: "Sign it."
Duke Ji looked at her pleadingly: "Can you give Erlang, Sanlang..."
"No!" Shu Yin said firmly, "As a human being, you can't be shameless. Duke Yun is willing to give us a favor, how can we take advantage of it?"
Duke Ji was reluctant to put pen to paper. He always held a glimmer of hope in his heart. If Duke Yun was willing to give Dalang a chance to live, why couldn't he give Erlang and Sanlang a chance?
Shuyin stood up, and his shadow fell on Duke Ji.
Her voice sounded extremely cold: "It doesn't matter. You are too old to sign, but you can just use your fingerprints."
After saying that, she took out a box of ink from her bag, took Duke Ji's hand, pressed a heavy handprint on the paper, and then left without looking back.
Compared to the cell, the sky outside was clear and the scorching sun was somewhat stinging on the exposed skin.
"Shuyin, are you done?" Mingzhen had already wiped away her tears and was waiting at the door.
Shuyin nodded: "Are you okay?"
"It's fine. I was just sad for a moment, but I'll be fine after crying. A person's life is all about fate. Husband and wife are fate, and children are fate. I have little connection with my relatives, so once the fate is broken, it's broken. From now on, I will only live for myself."
Live for Duke Yun.
It was Duke Yun who gave me a new way of life!
"Okay, live for yourself! Serve Duke Yun!"
The two men clasped their hands, held their heads high, and walked towards the palace, facing the sun. (End of this chapter)
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