Chapter 119 Chapter 119 is the only genuine version...
"No……"
Ji Huacheng opened his mouth in horror.
Gu Zhizhuo gave him a look, and he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Miss Gu has a very dark heart.
The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion did not dare to take the lead, so it pushed the Ji family to the front.
The clan leader must not agree to this. The emperor liking Ji Ruo is a good thing for their Ji family, so why must they become the evildoer?
Once the drum of reporting was struck, it would be like a slap in the face to the emperor. What benefit would the Ji family get? The only consequence would be the annihilation of the entire family.
When the emperor is angry, millions of people will die.
Fame is nothing; saving your life is what matters.
"Meow!"
As the mountain breeze blew, Gu Zhizhuo's clothes rustled.
Chief Ji raised his head stiffly. The smoke from the cooking fires at the foot of the mountain was like sharp needles piercing his pupils. He closed his eyes in pain, and heard the murmur of "unfilial descendants" in his ears.
"I'll go."
Patriarch Ji said these two words with great determination.
Is the clan leader crazy?! Ji Huacheng cried out, and he threw himself at him, grabbing his feet tightly.
No. Don't!
If you offend the emperor, your property will be confiscated and your clan will be exterminated!
Clan leader Ji kicked him angrily, but he didn't know where he was injured. Ji Huacheng screamed in pain and rolled on the ground.
"Me?"
Shen Mao's golden cat eyes lit up.
"Don't move! If you dirty Maomao, your master will throw you out."
"Meow~"
It shook its ears, tilted its little face to watch Ji Huacheng rolling around, and stretched out its little paws, eager to try.
"How did Hua Zhen die?"
When Clan Leader Ji spoke, Ji Huacheng suddenly stopped rolling. He said in a trembling voice, "My eldest cousin fell into the water and died of a high fever."
He propped himself up on his elbows and said in a slightly hurried voice, "On our way back to Jiangnan, my eldest cousin was so depressed and drank all day to drown his sorrows that he fell off the boat while drunk."
"Oh."
A hint of sneer appeared between the lips of Patriarch Ji.
If Ji Huacheng had told the truth after returning to the clan, he would not have ended up in the dilemma he is in now.
Patriarch Ji thought back to the past six years and understood everything.
Ji Huacheng had deliberately concealed the truth. He had used it as leverage to blackmail Ji Ruo and amass a fortune. Even Hua Zhen's death might have been his doing.
So, after he returned to Jiangnan, he never mentioned it again.
Chief Ji gritted his teeth in hatred. He supported himself on the tree trunk and slowly stood up, with the center of gravity of his body resting on the tree.
His eyes met Gu Zhizhuo's in mid-air.
This Miss Gu still had her hair in two buns, so she probably hadn't reached the age of marriage yet. But from the moment they met until now, she had been plotting against them to the letter.
Moreover, Patriarch Ji knew that she was using him, but he had no choice but to be used by her.
This is indeed the only way out for the Ji family.
"Miss Gu, if you were a man, becoming a marquis or a prime minister would be a piece of cake." Clan leader Ji smiled bitterly.
"Even if I say no, the emperor's absurd behavior cannot be concealed for long. If this happens, the Ji family will lose all face and their century-long reputation will be ruined. From now on, they will never be able to hold their heads up in the scholar community again."
"Once this happens, there will be no chance for the Ji family to recover."
Clan leader Ji's face was filled with despair.
Gu Zhizhuo pushed him out, he had no other choice.
Whether he does it or not, the final result is actually the same.
If they really want to confiscate your property and exterminate your clan, you won't be able to escape.
The only difference is that he himself is the one who appeals, and the Ji family is a group of upright and famous people who are not afraid of imperial power. They are of high moral character. Even after death, the Ji family will still maintain their integrity, and their status among students will be even higher from now on.
Miss Gu seemed to give him a choice, but in fact, he had no choice.
Patriarch Ji wiped the remaining blood from the corner of his mouth, bowed deeply and said, "Please, young lady, take me back to the capital."
Gu Zhizhuo was not surprised by his decision. He had managed to keep the family from falling after going through two dynasties. If he didn't have a sense of determination, he would not be able to continue to be the patriarch.
"please."
Patriarch Ji looked back in the direction of Zhuangzi again, and the shame and humiliation made the fire in his heart burn fiercely.
Ji Huacheng fell to the ground in despair, trembling, his mind filled with the words "confiscation of property and exile." His eyes were empty as he muttered, "Our Ji family is finished, it's finished."
Gu Zhizhuo walked past him and said impatiently, "Shut up."
Ji Huacheng covered his mouth with his hands and curled up.
Two guards went over and dragged Ji Huacheng up. He looked like all his bones and muscles had been pulled out, and his limbs were limp.
The mountain is not high.
When chasing someone, Gu Zhizhuo deliberately led Ji Huacheng to that cliff, which took some extra time.
In less than an incense stick of time, he returned to Wangshan Pavilion.
The Ji family members leaned over the railings, looking down eagerly. When they saw Gu Zhizhuo and the Ji clan leader coming up one after another, the second master Ji asked in a panic, "Uncle, where is Cheng'er?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Ji Huacheng, covered in blood, being dragged up, with his toes dangling to the ground. He was unconscious, and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.
Seeing this scene, Master Ji's eyes turned red and he was on the verge of collapse. He rushed out shouting his son's name, but Gu Zhizhuo didn't signal him and the guards didn't stop him.
"Miss Gu, are there any laws against you for maliciously injuring others?"
He held his son in his arms, his clothes were stained red with his son's blood, and his hands were wet and stained with blood.
The shocking bright red color frightened his heart so much that it almost stopped beating: "Cheng'er! Wake up, Cheng'er."
"Ji Huacheng." Gu Zhizhuo leaned against the pillar of the pavilion and said calmly, "Your father said that I hurt you maliciously. What do you think?"
The tabby cat cheered for her: "Meow!"
"No, no, no!"
Ji Huacheng, who had been half dead just a moment ago, shuddered and said weakly, "Dad, I hurt myself. It has nothing to do with Miss Gu. I accidentally fell and scraped myself." To make him believe it, he struggled to get up and jumped twice, blood spurting out of the unhealed wound. "It's just superficial injuries."
He smiled ingratiatingly at Gu Zhizhuo. In just one hour, his fear of her was completely engraved deep in his soul.
"Cheng'er?"
Master Ji Er couldn't believe it.
He wanted to say something else but was interrupted by Chief Ji's shout of "Enough".
When he looked up, Clan Leader Ji was looking at them with a sinister expression, as if he was about to eat them alive. What had happened? He wanted to ask his son, but Ji Huacheng rolled his eyes and turned them away.
"Miss Gu." Clan leader Ji said politely, "Can I take Ji Xinyuan with me?"
Ji Xinyuan is Ji's biological father.
When Patriarch Ji called his name, he quickly withdrew his gaze and responded, "Uncle, where are you going?"
Will the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion let them go?
Gu Zhizhuo nodded: "Prepare a carriage for them both."
Zheng Qi accepted the order. As for the others, Gu Zhizhuo did not explain anything, so Zheng Qi had someone take them to "rest" and separated the west courtyard for them to use.
As soon as the carriage was ready, Patriarch Ji took Ji Xinyuan with him.
After leaving the villa in the carriage, Chief Ji told Ji Xinyuan everything in a low and hoarse voice.
Ji Xinyuan's eyes widened, and a chill rose from his tailbone and spread throughout his body. Just like when he first heard about this.
Ji Xinyuan's sweat kept flowing down, soaking his temples.
"Could it be that they are deliberately deceiving us?" he asked without any hope.
Patriarch Ji: “…”
Silence often means a lot.
Ji Xinyuan's last bit of luck was gone, and he regretted: "I shouldn't have listened to her. I shouldn't have let her replace Yuanchu's identity."
He cried heartbrokenly, "What the old Taoist said back then was right. The twins are unknown. I was too optimistic. I ruined the Ji family!"
It's not that twins are taboo in Jiangnan, but before Ji Yuanchu and her sisters were born, an old Taoist priest said that the eldest son would give birth to twin girls, and the younger sister would be a disaster and would destroy their family.
You're right. All right.
"Xinyuan," said the Ji clan leader in a deep voice, "You are the eldest son, and you should have been the next clan leader. Over the past few decades, everyone in the Ji family has witnessed how well you've done. You are a qualified eldest son. You must make amends for the mistakes you've made..."
Patriarch Ji's voice was drowned out by the clattering of wheels.
The carriage moved slowly along the official road and finally entered the city gate at dusk.
Patriarch Ji had never been to the capital of the Great Qi Dynasty. He had originally decided that he would only set foot in the capital after a member of the Ji family passed the imperial examination and became an official.
"Go directly to the Meridian Gate."
Patriarch Ji was speaking in the carriage.
The Dengwen Drum was erected on the Meridian Gate city wall. After the carriage stopped at the Meridian Gate Square, the two men got off the carriage one after another and climbed up the city wall.
Emperor Taizu established a drum for reporting grievances, and those who had grievances could beat the drum to have their grievances heard by the heaven.
Chief Ji walked towards the large vermilion drum standing there and picked up the drumstick with trembling hands.
Once you knock, there's no turning back.
"Knock, uncle." Ji Xinyuan looked ashen, but without a trace of hesitation.
While in the carriage, they had discussed the worst-case scenario: the emperor would fly into a rage and confiscate their property and exterminate their entire clan. However, this possibility was extremely unlikely. The emperor was not cruel and was somewhat indecisive. If he had any dignity, and there was even one reasonable person in the court, he would not have gone to the extent of confiscating their property.
"For the Ji family!"
The archways of merit and the imperial steles in front of the ancestral hall appeared before the eyes of Patriarch Ji. These were the glory of the Ji family.
Integrity must not be lost.
He tightened his grip on the drumstick and struck it hard.
Boom!
The Dengwen drum was much louder and more dull than the Mingyuan drum that stood in front of the Jingzhao Prefecture gate.
The sound of one hammer strike was loud enough for half of the capital to hear.
The two of them standing here had attracted the attention of the Jinyiwei. No one could be stopped from beating the drum to report the incident, but anyone who beat the drum would be punished with thirty strokes of the cane afterwards, so no one would come and beat the drum for fun.
Boom!
Boom!
The sound of drums resounded through the sky again and again.
The Dengwen Drum had not been sounded for five or six years, and many people who heard the noise came to the Wumen Square.
After Chief Ji had knocked the drum for eighteen times, the Jinyiwei officer on duty, Jiang Tongzhi, stepped forward and asked as a matter of routine, "Who's knocking the drum?"
The Ji clan leader, holding the drumstick, lowered his hand and answered the questions: "The clan leader of the Jiangnan Ji clan, Ji Yan, the principal of Tongshan Academy."
As soon as he said this, some students recognized him.
"It's the Jiangnan Ji family." The student said excitedly.
There is no doubt about it, he also said that he is the principal of Tongshan Academy.
Classmate: "Ji family?"
The student excitedly told his classmates, "The book 'Collected Annotations to the Four Books' that we are reading recently was written by the great scholar Ji Shuo of the Ji family."
"Is Ji Yong, who was selected for the 'Strategy for the World', also a member of the Ji family?" the classmate said admiringly. "In the provincial examination, there was a question that was similar to the ninth strategy in 'Strategy for the World'."
"It was the Ji family who beat the drum to report the incident! Come quickly."
The students were calling their friends at the foot of the city wall.
On the city wall, Jiang Tongzhi continued to ask, "Why are you beating the drum?"
"Sue." Clan leader Ji gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and said in an excited voice, "Sue, the king took my wife."
Tongzhi Jiang was dumbfounded.
He even forgot to stop him from continuing.
Patriarch Ji noticed that more and more people were gathering at the Meridian Gate Square, so he deliberately used more plain language to say, "Announcement, the current emperor is having an affair with a married woman."
"Report, the concubine of the former Duke of Zhenguo, Ji Ruo, a daughter of the Ji family, lost her chastity and committed adultery with the current emperor, giving birth to a child born of adultery."
There was an uproar.
There was chaos in the Meridian Gate Square.
"How dare you!"
Jiang Tongzhi finally found his voice and said sternly, "You have framed the current emperor. What is your crime?"
His heart was pounding with fear. This man was talking nonsense and inciting the people. If they were held accountable, none of them would escape.
The eyes of Ji clan leader Hun Dun were shining brightly. He had taught at Tongshan Academy before. In such a large classroom, he could make everyone hear his voice clearly without shouting.
It is still the same today.
His voice was extremely penetrating, and he spoke loudly, "The Great Ancestor Emperor once said that any citizen of Daqi who has a grievance that cannot be redressed may strike the drum to report it, and no one may stop him."
He held the drumstick.
"Today, I will accuse the Emperor of shamelessness, disregard for the people's livelihood, and his excessive debauchery and extravagance."
He dared to say these words, but Jiang Tongzhi didn't dare to listen to a word.
The Meridian Gate Square was in chaos. No one knew where so many people came from, and they all gathered below.
"Back off!" Jiang Tongzhi just wanted to stop all this quickly.
But, you can't kill people.
With so many eyes watching, killing the person who beat the drum to report the incident would be a serious taboo.
I can only use coercion.
"Come here, take him down."
"Anyone who speaks nonsense and misleads the public will be killed without mercy."
The Jinyiwei on duty immediately surrounded them as ordered, and drew their embroidered spring swords at the same time, with the cold blades pointed at them, and the threat of death approached step by step.
For any upright person, it is an honor to die for his remonstration.
For the Ji family. Ji Xinyuan moved his lips and muttered to himself vaguely.
He let out a loud voice and shouted: "The drum of hearing is heard by the heavens."
"We have sounded the drum to report the incident. How can you not investigate and question us?"
"I don't accept it!"
After saying that, he opened his arms and resolutely rushed towards the blade of the Embroidered Spring Knife.
The Jinyiwei had no time to withdraw his hand, and the sharp blade penetrated his abdomen.
Ji Xinyuan grabbed the embroidered spring knife that had stabbed into his abdomen and pulled it out with force. The blood that spurted out drifted with the wind to the bottom of the city wall.
rain?
Someone wiped the moisture off his face and shouted, "It's blood, blood, the Jinyiwei killed someone!"
"I want to sue. The former Duke Zhenguo was a man of unwavering integrity. The Emperor disregarded human ethics and took his wife..."
His body slowly fell down.
He looked up at the sky. The worst thing he had done in his life was to let Ji Ruo marry in his place.
It's gone in the early Yuan Dynasty.
At the time, he was almost certain that Ji Ruo had pushed Yuanchu off the cliff. He wanted her to pay with her life, but Ji Ruo said that if no one married into the Zhenguo Mansion, the late emperor would think that the Ji family was unwilling to submit. The opportunity that the Ji family had waited for three generations would be destroyed by his decision.
She was like an evil ghost, bewitching him and arousing his greed.
It's gone in the early Yuan Dynasty.
Hua Zhen is dead.
The eldest house was shattered by her, and she also wanted to destroy the Ji family.
He would never agree!
"Xinyuan."
Chief Ji leaned over and hugged him. He looked old and frail, crying uncontrollably, but there was not a trace of tears on his drooping face.
On the carriage coming to the Meridian Gate, Patriarch Ji also imagined that after beating the drum, the Jinyiwei would most likely not dare to report it. They would be stopped, expelled, or even secretly killed after being driven away to prevent future troubles.
But if one death could arouse public anger, the Jinyiwei would have to take revenge.
Ji Xinyuan failed to educate his daughter properly and deserves to die as an atonement.
"Xinyuan."
When Chief Ji raised his head, tears streamed down his face.
"I want to sue!"
"Accusing the current emperor of the crime of adultery."
"If the Jinyiwei want to silence me, they can kill me too."
The Jinyiwei killed the person who beat the drum for the news without any reason! They also killed the Ji family. The students below the Meridian Gate Tower were in an uproar: "We want justice!"
I don't know who called out these three words first, but voices gathered together and set off a huge wave.
"Justice!"
"Is the Emperor really committing adultery with my wife?"
"It must be true. The Jinyiwei are killing people to silence them!"
"And there's a child born out of wedlock?"
"Why hasn't the emperor come out yet?"
It can no longer be suppressed. Jiang Tongzhi's face turned pale: "Go and report it to the cabinet and His Royal Highness Prince Chen. Go quickly."
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