Chang Sui'an's confession of guilt was delivered to the palace before noon.
Now that the person has confessed his guilt, the next step is to hand the case over to the Three Officials to determine the punishment.
Anyone who injures someone's life shall be beheaded according to the Dasheng Law.
There is a month of forbidden punishment in Dasheng, and no prisoners are allowed to be executed before the autumn harvest in September. However, today is the last day of September. If they are really executed by beheading, then the sentence will be imminent.
Therefore, in the afternoon, in Xuanzheng Hall, Wei Shuyi advised on this matter: "... General Chang is now fighting against the rebels outside. If his son is killed here, it may hurt his loyalty and be disadvantageous to the war situation. Therefore, I dare to ask the saint to think twice before making a decision!"
They had tried to vouch for Chang Sui'an before, but now that he had "pleaded guilty", it was almost impossible for him to get away with it, so they could only try to plead in a roundabout way in order to do their best to save Chang Sui'an's life.
"Your Majesty, what Minister Wei said makes sense." Usually, Grand Tutor Chu rarely agreed with Wei Shuyi's words, but at this moment he also said, "General Chang has worked hard and made great contributions. He has only this son to carry on the family line. If he loses this son, it will be like the end of his bloodline... Wouldn't this chill the hearts of the generals?"
In his opinion, the idea of continuing the incense business was all rubbish, but the situation was special at the moment, so he might as well fight poison with poison.
The old tutor spoke with an increasingly sad tone, "... Moreover, the whereabouts of the little girl from the Chang family is unknown, and her life or death is uncertain. If something goes wrong, when General Chang returns to the capital with battle wounds, how will the whole court treat him with dignity?"
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"
There are quite a few people who agree with this.
But there are also many objections.
"According to what you said, does that mean the girl from the Changsun family will have to die in vain, and the murderer won't have to bear any responsibility?"
"The person has already committed a crime. If we cannot treat him equally and punish him severely according to the law, how can we convince the public? Where is the authority of the law?"
There were no officials from the Changsun clan among these voices. Changsun Yuan had not attended court for many days, claiming to be ill.
But there is no need for Chang Sun Yuan to come forward, as there are voices expressing pressure on various places on his behalf or through him.
Looking at his arguing ministers, the Emperor of the Holy Ce did not make a clear statement for a while.
It has come to this, where is that girl?
If she really encountered an accident, if she really... wasn't it her Chongyue?
…
"Father, now that we have confirmed that the murderer is Ming Jin, why don't you make it clear immediately?"
In the Changsun Mansion, Changsun Ji also learned about Chang Sui'an's confession, and now he anxiously questioned his father.
Chang Sunyan said: "There is not enough evidence now, and the time is not right."
"But father, if this continues, the life of the Chang family's young master will be in danger!"
Chang Sunyan looked at his son and said, "Aji, you should understand that the one who wronged the young master of the Chang family was never our Chang Sun family, but the Ming family, the saint - one day, the world will know all this."
"But... are we going to watch the young master of the Chang family die unjustly?" Although the thirteen-year-old boy was still undecided, he was not ignorant and his vision was not narrow. "General Chang is still in Yangzhou. If someone uses this incident to instigate and provoke... What if General Chang turns against Xu Zhengye and rebels against the court together with those rebels?"
Zhang Sunyan: "In this battle in Yangzhou, the target of rebellion is not the imperial court, but the illegitimate Ming empress... They want to support the crown prince and the orthodox bloodline of the Li family. How can they talk about 'rebellion'?"
Chang Sun Ji was startled.
After a moment, he lowered his voice and asked, "Father... Is Xu Zhengye's uprising related to our Changsun family? Is grandfather aware of it?"
Or... an accomplice? "You are still young and your mind is impatient. You don't need to worry too much about some important matters for now. Your grandfather will take care of everything at home. As for your aunt's case, when the time is right, your grandfather and I will seek justice for it."
Chang Sunyan did not want to talk to his son any more: "Go back. Tomorrow we will offer sacrifices to Confucius. You can go with the people of the clan."
"yes."
Chang Sun Ji left the study, feeling extremely depressed.
So, grandfather knew about Xu Zhengye's uprising, right? Was grandfather trying to use this to put pressure on the empress? Just like the precedents of those military remonstrations? Now, watching the young master of the Chang family being unjustly killed... was this also part of grandfather's plan?
The calculations of interests behind this, layer upon layer, combined together, became what the father called a "big deal"... Is the life and death of the young man who was wrongly wronged and hit by his inkstone, a trivial matter that no one cares about?
No, at least the other party's family must care. In the eyes of their family, it is a big deal, just like he lost his aunt...
After hesitating for a long time, Chang Sun Ji finally came to the dungeon of Dali Temple and asked to see Chang Sui'an.
Thinking of the young boy's act of openly injuring the prisoner that day, the jailer did not dare to make a decision on his own, but he also did not dare to offend the Changsun family, so he went to ask Han Shaoqing for instructions.
Han Shaoqing agreed, but asked the jailer to convey his intention, asking the young man from the Changsun family not to make things difficult for the Dali Temple.
Of course, this was just a polite remark to absolve himself of responsibility afterwards. He was not afraid of revenge from the Changsun family and he might even be happy to see it.
After the jailer opened the cell door, Chang Sun Ji saw Chang Sui'an.
The boy said in a cold tone: "I want to talk to him alone."
Although he felt that the prisoner could not say anything now, the jailer still agreed, but he did not dare to leave too far.
"Chang Sui An?"
"Wake up."
Chang Sun Ji squatted down and pushed the unconscious boy. Seeing that there was no response, he couldn't help but frown.
He subconsciously looked at the other person's forehead, but could no longer see any trace of the injury he had caused that day. It was not that he had hit the other person lightly, but that the other person had too many injuries to distinguish at all.
But he soon discovered that the most serious injury on the other party was the wound on his shoulder which was still bleeding.
He had heard about Chang Sui'an's punishment, but he didn't expect that he would be subjected to such severe punishment...
Chang Sun Ji avoided the jailer's sight, took out the medicine he brought with him, poured it all on the wound, and pressed with his palm to stop the bleeding.
Perhaps it was because of the extreme pain, Chang Sui'an frowned slightly and made a low sound.
"What did you say?"
Chang Sun Ji leaned closer to listen.
The young man with gray and cracked lips struggled to speak in a dreamy voice: "Ning, Ning..."
Chang Sun Ji heard it this time.
After a moment, he whispered in her ear: "Don't worry, Madam Chang is safe and sound. She asked me to come here, and she also said that you must hold on and nothing must happen to you."
Hearing this, Chang Sui'an's frown slowly relaxed, and after a while, he uttered a weak word: "Okay..."
After a moment, he said, "Thank you..."
He was conscious and confused at the moment, and couldn't tell who the visitor was, but he still expressed his gratitude.
Chang Sun Ji was stunned for a moment, then turned his head away, his eyes suddenly turning red.
He did not remove his hand until the wound on his hand stopped bleeding. He then took out a pill for treating internal injuries and stuffed it into Chang Sui'an's mouth.
"sorry."
The young boy blamed himself and said: "This is all I can do. I hope you can hold on."
After Changsun Ji left, the jailer who served the meal took the opportunity while the prison boss and others went to see Changsun Langjun off, and hurried to the cell to check on Chang Sui'an's condition.
Seeing that Chang Sui'an's wound had stopped bleeding, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Chang, please eat something quickly..."
He took out a bowl of vegetable porridge and fed it to Chang Sui'an with a spoon.
There is also medicine for healing in the porridge. This is Yao Yi's instruction.
"When I was young, my father and I were saved by General Chang and His Royal Highness the late Crown Prince during the war..." Seeing that Chang Sui'an couldn't eat, the jailer choked up and said, "I believe that the son of General Chang would not kill anyone. I know you are innocent."
"You have to survive to have a chance to clear your name..."
A tear slipped out of the corner of Chang Sui'an's tightly closed eyes.
The jailer tried to feed him another spoonful, and Chang Sui'an swallowed it.
The jailer quickly finished the bowl of porridge.
The groggy boy opened his mouth again.
“……” The jailer looked at the empty bowl of porridge, feeling a little helpless.
Tomorrow, he will definitely change to a bigger bowl!
…
At the same moment, Qiao Yang, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, was preparing for tomorrow's Confucius memorial ceremony.
Offering sacrifices to Confucius at the Temple on the first day of October every year is always a major event for the Imperial College.
The grand ceremony will be held in the Confucius Temple, headed by the teachers and students of the Imperial Academy, with the chief priest as the chief priest, officials from the court participating in the sacrifice and accompanying the worship, and many great scholars and writers will also attend.
"Dad..." Qiao Yubai came back from outside.
"Is everything arranged?" Qiao Jijiu asked in a low voice.
Qiao Yubai nodded seriously: "Don't worry, Dad."
Then he said, "Master Wu Jue had someone deliver the things. They are now in the courtyard."
Qiao Jijiu went to see it immediately.
A large box that had been unloaded from a mule cart was placed in the yard. Qiao Jijiu stepped forward and opened it himself. A little monk about ten years old stood up, put his hands together and chanted "Amitabha".
Qiao Jijiu was startled: "...Why is it a person?"
He hurriedly asked the little monk: "Where is the crane I want?"
What the hell, what should I do at this critical moment? Can't I tell the difference between a man and a crane?
"Amitabha, the little monk has arrived, and the crane has arrived."
The young monk took the flute from his waist, put it to his lips and blew it. As the sound of the flute rang out, a white crane flew over.
The white crane landed beside the little monk, and the little monk put down his flute.
Qiao Yang was surprised and clasped her hands: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Both cranes and divine elephants represent auspicious omens. One year, when the saint was offering a spring sacrifice at Dayun Temple, a crane brought a peach branch and circled above the altar for a long time without leaving. This story became widely circulated.
But Qiao Yang knew that the crane was raised by Wu Jue. The crane was good at dancing the crane dance and knew how to obey orders.
But he only found out today that the monk who raised cranes in Dayun Temple was actually a ten-year-old little monk.
…
At midnight, there was a sudden knock on the door, which woke Qinshuang, who was already sleeping restlessly, up suddenly: "...Who?!"
A servant's voice came from outside: "The prince asked Miss Qinshuang to serve him!"
Qinshuang subconsciously hugged the quilt tightly and responded in a trembling voice: "I... I'll get up and dress up right away!"
"Hurry up, don't keep the prince waiting for too long!"
Qinshuang quickly got up from the bed and lit the lamp. She dressed hastily and sat in front of the dressing table. She wanted to draw her eyebrows, but when she saw the face covered with scabs and scars in the mirror, her eyes suddenly turned red.
But she didn't dare to delay, and hurriedly drew her eyebrows, applied powder and rouge, but it couldn't cover the scars at all, and instead made them look weird and ridiculous.
Is she going to meet that crazy prince with this face?
He suddenly asked her to serve him at this moment. Perhaps he had been stimulated by something again... She didn't know what terrible torture was waiting for her!
For a moment, fear, humiliation and the hatred that she dared not face made Qinshuang completely collapse, and she lay down in front of the mirror and cried.
But no one came to comfort her.
The servant delivered the message and left.
Although she was only a concubine, when she was in favor, there were always maids around her to serve her attentively. But now that she has fallen into this situation, those maids dare not get close to her anymore, for fear of being implicated by her.
There were two other concubines living in this yard, but both died. One committed suicide, and the other was beaten to death.
The courtyard was deathly silent at night, and Qinshuang gradually stopped crying.
Soon, satin was hung on the apricot tree in the yard, and Qinshuang stepped onto the drum stool.
Between committing suicide and being beaten to death, she chose the former.
The drum stool was kicked away, and the woman's body was hanging in the air with a painful expression on her face.
The next moment, someone suddenly appeared, hugged her body and saved her.
Qinshuang, who was sitting on the ground, coughed for a while, tears welling up in her eyes. When she saw the person coming, she was stunned: "...Why is it you?"
In front of him was a middle-aged woman, dressed like a maid. Because of her ugly appearance, many people in the mansion called her the ugly woman.
But she had a good embroidery skill, and with this skill she worked as an embroiderer in the Ming family for more than ten years.
Woman: "Miss Qinshuang, are you really willing to die like this?"
"You've seen what I look like now..." Qinshuang laughed at herself, "I ridiculed and humiliated your appearance before, so this is retribution."
She used to rely on this face to win the favor of the prince and became arrogant. However, in the end, it was this face that killed her.
The ugly woman didn't show any resentment, instead she sighed and said, "My daughter is also your age."
Hearing these gentle and loving words, tears suddenly welled up in Qinshuang's eyes.
She also had a mother, but her mother died. Otherwise, she would not have been sold into the Ming family as a slave by her father.
In despair, helplessness and coldness, Qinshuang suddenly hugged the only woman in front of her who could give her a little warmth.
The woman patted her on the back.
Qinshuang cried and told her story.
"Poor child..." the woman asked softly, "I can show you a way out. Are you willing to do it?"
"What way can I survive?" Qinshuang murmured hoarsely, "I'm afraid my only way to survive is..."
I'm afraid that the only way for her to survive is to let the person who makes her life worse than death die.
The woman held her shoulders and nodded to her gently.
Meeting those eyes, Qinshuang was shocked and shook her head, "No, I don't dare..."
"I'm not asking you to do anything, but you might as well listen to me first." The woman's voice was soothing, which made Qinshuang calm down slowly.
…
Ming Jin, who was drunk, had already become impatient. As soon as Qin Shuang walked into his bedroom, he grabbed her neck.
After a series of unbearable insults, he threw the man heavily to the ground, picked up a porcelain bottle and smashed it at him.
Qinshuang crawled away in panic.
The porcelain vase shattered beside her, and the broken pieces flew everywhere.
"How dare you hide?" Ming Jin squatted down in front of her, grabbed her hair, picked up a piece of broken porcelain with his other hand, and probed her face little by little: "Let me see where to punish me..."
As he spoke, his hand paused, but it stayed at the corner of Qinshuang's eyes.
He suddenly asked with great interest: "How about I dig out one of your eyes?"
Qinshuang shook her head and struggled: "Prince, spare my life!"
Ming Jin exerted force with his hands and pulled her head back.
"I treated the prince with my whole heart. It was not me who harmed him!" Qinshuang closed her eyes in fear and cried, "It was the lady from the Chang family who harmed you... You should seek revenge on her!"
Ming Jin's face darkened: "What did you say?"
"I...I just heard it from Madam by chance!"
Ming Jin stared at her closely: "What did you hear?"
"I heard from Madam that she has found out that the reason why the prince's horse suddenly lost control on the racecourse that day was because of Chang Suining's manipulation!"
Ming Jin's eyes were extremely cold.
"No wonder..." He seemed to have figured something out: "No wonder the horse was able to be subdued by her later!"
He should have thought of it earlier!
"This bitch... actually hurt me to this extent!"
"I will cut her into pieces with my own hands!"
"I heard that bitch is missing... I must find her!"
Qinshuang's eyes dodged for a moment.
Ming Jin saw it and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck: "Why, do you know where she is?!"
Qinshuang didn't dare to answer for a moment.
"You just said...you heard my mother talking about this. How did you hear it? You overheard it, right?" Ming Jin stared at her without blinking: "Tell me, is the disappearance of that bitch related to my mother?"
He is not a fool. Ming Luo suddenly came back yesterday and was trying to test him with his words to see if he knew the whereabouts of his mother.
My mother is missing, and that bitch is also missing. Could this be a coincidence?
"...Yes, I overheard Madam instructing Madam Liao to hire a killer that day..." Qinshuang said in a trembling voice, "She said that after the matter was accomplished, she would take Madam Chang to the other courtyard that Madam had brought as a dowry!"
Ming Jin: "Is it done? Is Chang Suining dead or alive now?"
Qinshuang cried and shook her head: "I only heard that, and I don't know what happened later..."
Ming Jin looked at her intently: "You bitch, are you lying to me and trying to get away with it?"
"How dare I!"
Ming Jin suddenly smiled: "Whether it is true or not, I will know once I go there..."
After all, it's his mother's place, so it doesn't hurt for him to go there.
"But you have to accompany me." He pulled Qinshuang to her feet and said, "If you dare to lie to me, and if I don't see that bitch there, I will cut you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!"
…
Mingjin was also confined to his house, but by the time the other servants in the courtyard noticed late at night, he had already left.
But even so, he couldn't get out, as the back door of the Ming Mansion was guarded day and night.
Just before Ming Jin left the house, the two men had been knocked unconscious by the ugly woman and taken away.
Soon, Ming Jin got on the carriage smoothly. The driver was his personal servant, who never dared to disobey him in the slightest.
Inside the carriage, at Mingjin's request, Qinshuang, as usual, tried to remain calm and make tea for him.
While Ming Jin was not paying attention, she secretly sprinkled a small packet of medicine powder into the teapot.
"Prince..."
When the tea temperature was just right, Qinshuang handed over the teacup.
Thanks to book friend miya2022 for the 10,000-yuan reward! Thanks to Yanzhihu1, who only reads books but does not leave comments. Thank you all for your monthly tickets.
Oh, good night first, I will continue to work hard on coding tomorrow
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