Chapter 50 The Drum of Petition
"Your Majesty, when I discovered that Baohe Tower was suspected of overstepping its bounds, I was prepared to report it first..." Sensing Kangxi's doubts, Yinzhen calmly began to explain, but before he could say two words, he was suddenly interrupted by a voice from outside the hall.
A young eunuch walked in cautiously with his head down and reported, "Your Majesty, Lord Tong requests an audience."
Standing beside Kangxi, Liang Jiugong frowned deeply. He hadn't expected his little eunuch to be so clueless. Was this the time to come in and report? How could he have no sense at all?
Emperor Kangxi's anger was palpable even without his imposing presence. He remained silent, and an invisible pressure descended upon the young eunuch, causing him to kneel down with a thud. "This servant deserves to die, this servant deserves to die! But Lord Tong insisted on seeing me, this servant..."
"Shut up!" Liang Jiugong stepped forward and scolded, glancing at Kangxi's face. The little eunuch immediately dared not speak again, but knelt on the ground, his legs trembling.
"Get out and let Tong Guowei in." Kangxi looked at the little eunuch coldly, having no intention of arguing with him at this moment. Liang Jiugong, standing to the side, knew perfectly well that this little eunuch could no longer stay in front of the emperor.
"Yes, yes, yes." The little eunuch scrambled out, filled with endless regret. What good could he expect from incurring the Emperor's displeasure? He dared not be intimidated by Tong Guowei's power, but forgot that his master was the Emperor.
"Your subject Tong Guowei pays his respects to Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"
Tong Guowei, still wearing a dark blue court robe, rushed in without even glancing at his third son, Longkodo, who was kneeling on the ground, and performed a deep kneeling salute to Emperor Kangxi.
Kangxi did not immediately help his uncle up as usual. He stared at Tong Guowei, who was kneeling on the ground, with a cryptic expression. Judging from the young eunuch's behavior, one could tell how much favor he had bestowed upon the Tongjia clan in the past. Out of respect for his mother, he had elevated them to such a high position that even those in the imperial court dared not easily offend them.
But what did his good cousin Longkodo do? Did Tong Guowei even know the truth? Was his current behavior a deliberate attempt to show weakness to him? Or was he trying to use his mother's influence to get me to let Longkodo go?
Emperor Kangxi remained silent for a long time, and Tong Guowei's heart skipped a beat. Ever since he heard that Longkodo had entered the palace with the Fourth Prince and the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, he had had a bad feeling, not to mention that the incident happened at Baohelou, which was under Longkodo's command. He rushed over, hoping that the emperor would give him a lighter punishment because of him, but who knew... the situation was more serious than he had imagined.
Tong Guowei, who was completely unaware of his third son's audacity, greeted Kangxi with a grand salute, appearing before him in a show of weakness, which inadvertently aroused Kangxi's dissatisfaction and suspicion.
"Get up," she said, giving her uncle some face by letting Tong Guowei stand up. Without saying anything more, she turned to Yinzhen and continued, "Yinzhen, please continue, and let Lord Tong understand."
"Yes." Under Tong Guowei's questioning and uneasy gaze, Yinzhen kindly explained the background, "Because identical imperial dishes and tributes were found at Baohe Tower, I originally intended to leave it at that for now, and report back to Father Emperor before conducting an investigation, so as not to alert the enemy..."
Tong Guowei felt a wave of dizziness. Upon hearing the word "tribute," he wanted nothing more than to beat Longkodo to death. What a rebellious son! He dared to touch anything!
"Just then, a commotion broke out outside the private room. Your Majesty, please forgive me, but I took my wife out for a stroll without many guards. As a result, the private room was quickly invaded by an arrogant and domineering woman who claimed to be the owner of the restaurant. She made outrageous remarks to my wife and me and even tried to assault her. Fortunately, the guards arrived in time and subdued her..."
"Under the emperor's very nose, there are still women this arrogant?" Yinzhi, kneeling in the corner, couldn't help but chime in again.
"Shut up!" Kangxi then remembered his eldest son who was still kneeling, but seeing his appearance, he did not intend to call him up. "Yinzhen, you continue."
He wanted to see how this woman had implicated Longkodo.
"Yes," Yinzhen nodded, showing no displeasure at being interrupted, and continued, "This extremely arrogant woman revealed her family background before I could even interrogate her, saying she was Longkodo's favorite concubine, Li Si'er..."
"Li Si'er..."
"Yin Zhi!"
"Father, it wasn't me this time!"
Yinzhi cried out his innocence, and Kangxi was taken aback, only then realizing that it was Crown Prince Yinreng who had spoken up this time. Kangxi, accustomed to scolding, felt no fault of his own and rebuked, "Stop your nonsense! Go and reflect on your actions in the corner!"
He then looked at Yinreng, his gaze softening considerably, and asked with a hint of doubt, "Baocheng, do you know this Li Si'er?"
"Your Majesty, Longkodo's favored concubine is quite famous, and I have heard some rumors about her." Yinreng looked at Longkodo below, a look of embarrassment on his face, and added, "It is said... it is said that this woman was originally a concubine of Longkodo's father-in-law, but Longkodo took a liking to her and snatched her away. She is very favored and often appears at various banquets in place of his wife, Lady Hesheli... However, these are just rumors in the capital, and I am not sure if they are true..."
Yinreng spoke subtly, but Kangxi understood perfectly. He picked up the teacup on the table and smashed it in front of Longkodo, saying, "Disregarding human ethics, favoring concubines over wives, Longkodo, you are truly something else!"
"I deserve to die!" Longkodo kowtowed, not daring to refute in the slightest.
Emperor Kangxi paced back and forth in the hall, pointing at Longkodo with eyes full of disappointment. "Yinzhen, Qian Jinxi, you two get up and let Longkodo kneel alone!"
"Yes." Yinzhen and the other man stood up, knelt for a while, and stumbled slightly.
The matter was already clear, and there was no need for Yinzhen to add anything further. But before Kangxi could get angry, a long and drawn-out drumbeat suddenly came from outside the hall.
"Bang—bang—"
Everyone was puzzled: where did the drumming sound come from in the palace?
"Drum of Petition!" Yinzhen suddenly spoke, startling everyone's expressions.
The Dengwen Drum appeared during the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties period and was established in various dynasties afterward. It was used by people with grievances or urgent cases to beat the drum and appeal to the emperor.
However, with the enactment of strict laws, this instrument became virtually useless. Furthermore, Qing law stipulated that the drum could only be struck in matters of national importance, such as major military or political affairs, or in cases of extreme injustice and tragedy; otherwise, it would be punished as a serious crime. Moreover, before striking the drum, one would be flogged thirty times.
Therefore, although the Dengwen Drum was set up in front of the Meridian Gate, no one ever struck it. People with grievances would only report to the various government offices and would not choose to beat the drum.
Now that the Dengwen Drum has been sounded, one can imagine the magnitude of the event. How could Kangxi not be anxious? Suppressing his anger, he ordered Liang Jiugong, who was standing beside him, "Liang Jiugong, go and find out who is beating the drum."
"Yes." Liang Jiugong responded and hurried off. Accompanied by the continuous drumbeats, Kangxi temporarily lost interest in dealing with Longkodo. The people in the hall remained quiet, waiting for the result.
Who struck the first Dengwen Drum during the Kangxi era?
Soon after, Liang Jiugong returned with an unusual expression. He glanced quickly at Longkodo and reported, "Your Majesty, the person beating the drum is Yue Xing'a, the eldest son of Lord Longkodo..."
"What?"
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