Chapter 007 Exiled to Yelang County
The woman beside him saw the disappointed expressions on the faces of the Xu family members and said, "Madam Xu, don't worry too much. I heard from the master that the court has been making a big fuss about the timber case recently, and many people have been implicated."
She looked around and then stammered, "It is said that the Censorate was originally going to collectively impeach Uncle Zhu, and Lord Xu... led the way... cough... and then..."
Grandmother trembled and said, "The second child was killed as a warning to others?"
Little Huang immediately flattered her: "Mother, you can actually use idioms."
Unfortunately, the flattery backfired, and both her grandmother and second aunt glared at her unfriendlyly.
Little Huang shrank her head and muttered, "Everyone looks down on me. What's so great about having read a few books—"
Xu Zhenying was helpless. This lady was quite subtle in her words. What was she talking about leading by example? Wasn't she just being instigated by others to be the first to take action?
I really don’t know how Second Uncle could become a fifth-rank official with his intelligence.
Could it be that it was all thanks to the support of Lord Taishan?
After learning about the situation, Lian Qiuzhi was not too panicked. She bowed to the lady and said, "Thank you, Madam Fang, for telling me."
Madam Fang waved her hand and smiled bitterly, "No need. Being in the same cell is fate. Besides, I'm only telling you what I know."
Lian Qiuzhi consoled her, "Madam Fang, don't worry too much. I don't understand the profound principles, but Elder Fang is a veteran of three dynasties. He's been through many storms, so I'm sure his life won't be in danger."
Mrs. Fang didn't seem so optimistic, but she didn't want to say much to the Xu family. She just said perfunctorily, "Thank you."
Lian Qiuzhi turned around, and everyone from the Xu family surrounded her in the corner, all looking at her expectantly.
Grandmother Huang spoke first: "Second Brother's family, what does that Madam Fang mean...will we be beheaded again?"
Madam Huang patted her chest and said, "Mother, Second Uncle actually dared to go against Uncle Zhu. Who is Uncle Zhu? He's the Emperor's own uncle! Didn't you see that a third-rank official could lock him up at will? What can our Xu family use to fight him? Second Uncle is really confused as an official!"
Lian Qiuzhi naturally wanted to protect her husband. Although she felt that Xu Deyuan had done something wrong in this matter, as the saying goes, husband and wife should be of one mind, so at least they should not let outsiders see it.
"Sister-in-law, impeaching all officials is the responsibility of the Censorate. Uncle Zhu has the upper hand, and my husband is just fulfilling his duties."
"Hmph, that's nice talk." Little Huang was not buying it. "Then why did the Censorate arrest only the second son? I just heard from that lady that it was clearly the second son who was foolishly instigated. I still know the principle that the first bird to stick its head out gets shot!"
"This..." Xiao Huang's words made perfect sense, and Lian Qiuzhi was unable to refute them for a moment. "Sister-in-law, how can I, a mere woman, comment on what my husband does outside? Anyway, things have come to this point. It's useless to think too much. We can only wait for the emperor's order."
Just as I finished speaking, someone really came.
Leading the way were several yamen runners. They stood sideways, their waists bent, and said flatteringly, "My dear eunuchs, please be careful where you step. The Fang and Xu families are inside—"
Almost everyone immediately thought of one thing: the person who announced the decree had arrived.
Everyone looked at each other, with emotions of panic, fear, and confusion flashing across their faces. Several girls were so frightened that they hid in their mothers' arms. Even Xu Lezhi was trembling like a quail at this moment, with none of his previous arrogance.
The situation at the Fang family across the street is not much better.
Less than an hour after he was imprisoned, the imperial edict arrived.
She heard someone from the Fang family crying out, "It's all over, it's all over! The imperial decree to behead us must have arrived."
"Mom, I don't want to die—"
The Fang family seemed even more flustered.
Xu Zhenying, on the other hand, actually ran forward, but was held back by Miao and his eldest brother. Miao scolded him, "Everyone else is hiding behind, but you're running forward. How come you're so bold now?"
Xu Zhenying didn't want to reveal his true identity so quickly, so he just explained: "I just wanted to know as soon as possible-"
The eldest brother Xu Huiming said, "There's no rush at this moment."
As he spoke, the eldest brother held her hand a little tighter.
It turned out that Xu Huiming was also very nervous, but was just pretending to be calm.
Gao Yayi was a tall and strong man, and the space seemed a bit cramped when he entered. He shouted, "The Fang and Xu families, kneel down and accept the order!"
In an instant, everyone knelt down.
Xu Zhenying could only bend his knees and kneel in the corner. Then he heard a shrill voice with a long tone, mechanically reading out the contents of the imperial edict.
Xu Zhenying had never seen what the imperial edict looked like. She raised her head slightly, but only saw the eunuch wearing green clothes and with a tall and thin figure. She could not see anything else.
Xu Zhenying listened attentively. She was an engineering student and was not good at liberal arts, but she had a good foundation in Chinese and understood the meaning.
In short, the Xu family has been exiled! We have to leave early tomorrow morning!
And it is modern Guizhou, which was called Yelang County in ancient times.
Xu Zhenying didn't know the map of this dynasty, and only had the memories of the original owner in his mind. Yelang County should be the area of Guizhou today, a place where legend has it that there is no clear sky for three days and no flat land for three miles.
In her previous life, Guiyang had been developed and built into an important modern city, and she had even visited there. She still had vivid memories of Qianhu Miao Village, Xiaoqikong, Libo, and other places.
But in this life, Guizhou seemed to be a land of high mountains, vast rivers, and harsh climate, so few prisoners could even reach their destination alive. For most people in the Zhou Dynasty, exile to Yelang was no different from death.
Sure enough, just as the eunuch finished reading the imperial edict, someone from the Fang family fainted on the ground. Old Madam Fang shouted, "Hurry, hurry, Brother Yao is sick again. Where is his medicine?"
Someone cried and replied, "Aunt, there's no time to clean it up. It's all in the room in the backyard."
The eunuch seemed to have a grudge against the Fang family and said with a smile, "What medicine? I see that the Second Master is not in good health. It would be better to die in prison than to die on the road in the open air."
"You filthy eunuch, even if my Fang family is in dire straits, it's not your turn as a cripple to kick us when we're down!"
"Uncle, don't argue with him! It's not worth it!!"
"Oh, this gentleman has such a stubborn temper—I wonder if his fate is just as stubborn? Old Master Fang was a wise man his whole life, but for some reason he just refused to leave us eunuchs a way out, repeatedly suggesting the dismissal of the Grand Supervisor. I thought my godfather was usually quite polite to your family, so why would he want to kill us all..."
Master Fang Zhi spat at him, "Who the hell is Li Ping? If the emperor wasn't young, why would he have entrusted his orphan to a eunuch before his death? You crippled bastards, relying on the late emperor's favor, have no regard for repaying your master, only for abusing power and seeking personal gain. You've brought the Great Zhou Dynasty into such a state of chaos. If this continues, the three hundred years of foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty will surely be destroyed by you eunuchs!"
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