Chapter 124 The Qin Family Exile
Chapter 124
The emperor has passed away?!
Lu Desheng stood up involuntarily, looked towards the direction of the palace, and said sadly, "Your Majesty, have a safe journey. Return to heaven and be your Taiqing Zhenren."
He didn't sleep that night, and it should be said that almost all the officials and families in the capital didn't sleep. No one expected that in the morning they would not only be greeted by the dawn, but also the news of Emperor Kangcheng's death.
Xie Zhan looked towards the Imperial City with joy. Last night, when Emperor Kangcheng had the Jinwu Guard order so many ministers to be buried with him, he had guessed that he was nearing death. With his death, the dark cloud that had weighed on his head finally lifted. He, Xie Zhan, would lead the Xie family into a new era.
As the Dragon Funeral Bell rang and the Jinwu Guards withdrew, Zhao Wenkuan of the Zhao family breathed a sigh of relief. From last night until early morning, everyone in the Zhao family had been awake all night, and now it was clear that they had escaped disaster.
God knows how panicked he was when the Xie family was in trouble! Didn't his daughter's premonition dream work? She clearly said that the Xie family was fine from beginning to end.
Later, when he learned which ministers were buried with him, he was extremely grateful that after being impeached by Lü Desheng and demoted half a rank, he realized that he was not favored by Emperor Kang Cheng and had become much more obedient, no longer jumping around and annoying the emperor. It was probably because of this that Emperor Kang Cheng didn't think of him. He was able to save his life.
When the tolling of the Dragon Funeral Bell faded away, the ministers finally came to their senses. It seemed that the emperor had not yet appointed a crown prince. So the ministers changed into court robes and rushed to the palace.
Lu Desheng also changed into new court clothes and planned to see Emperor Kang Cheng for the last time.
The Jinwu Guards are evacuating from all city gates and important streets.
"Go back and change your clothes before coming back to the office." Lin Ran instructed.
Sheng Huaian looked at him in confusion. Weren't they done yet? "Commander, the brothers have been busy all night. Can you at least let us take a break during the day?" If the work wasn't finished, they could just continue. There was no need for him to go back and change clothes before coming back.
"Just do what I tell you to do, why so much nonsense." Lin Ran said unhappily, with a secret decree in his hand.
Okay, you are the commander and you have the final say!
Sheng Huaixing returned home and happened to meet his stupid younger brother.
"It smells so strong of blood!" Sheng Huaian kept backing away from him, looking disgusted.
"Really?" He didn't notice.
"Brother, how many people did you kill last night?" Sheng Huaian was curious.
"You don't want to know." He said as he walked towards his yard, and Sheng Huaian followed.
When he entered his bedroom, his stupid brother tried to follow him in, but he locked him outside the door.
Sheng Huaian was waiting outside bored. After a while, he saw his brother come out after changing his clothes. He glanced at him and walked out. "Brother, are you going out?"
"Um."
Sheng Huaian looked at him with admiration, "Brother, you are really amazing. You work day and night. Even the donkeys at the entrance of the village don't work so non-stop."
Sheng Huaixing slapped him on the forehead and said, "The situation in Chang'an City has been very stormy recently. Stay home and don't go out." Stupid brother.
When Sheng Huaixing arrived, Lin Ran had already changed into a clean, standard-issue commander's uniform and was waiting. Standing beside him was the Minister of Finance, Wu Yuchun.
"Let's go to the Qin family!" Lin Ran said. They changed clothes to show their respect for the loyal and brave Qin family.
Sheng Huaixing: He just knew it.
Qin family
Shortly after the funeral bell rang, Qin's third sister-in-law, Nie Yunniang, gave birth to a daughter safely. The Qin family was filled with mixed feelings of sadness and joy.
Just then, the doorman came to report that the Jinwu Guards had arrived.
The Qin family members looked at each other. What was coming would eventually come. They had previously speculated that after their father, Qin Yue, had shouldered such a heavy responsibility for the Qin family, no more deaths would occur in their family. With this assumption in mind, they were no longer afraid.
When Lin Ran brought people to the Qin family, he found that the Qin family opened the door to welcome guests.
Qin Heng, along with Qin Sanlang and Qin Sheng, greeted everyone at the door. "Commander Lin, Deputy Commander Sheng, please come in."
Lin Ran nodded without saying anything more.
When they arrived at the Qin family's main courtyard, all the Qin family members were standing there.
Lin Ran raised the imperial edict in her hand and said, "The late emperor's will! Madam Qin, Prince Qin, and everyone else, kneel and receive it!"
The Qin family members knelt down in a flurry.
"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims: Qin Yue, Marquis of Pingxi, as the Grand General of the Northern Frontier, was responsible for protecting and safeguarding the borderlands. However, due to his negligence and failure to monitor the movements of the elite Qiang and Hu tribes, the Crown Prince was killed by them, resulting in the loss of the nation's foundation and the turmoil of the court. His crime is grave!"
In recognition of his and the Qin family's past meritorious service, his titles of Marquis of Pingxi and General Zhenbei are retained; his sons, wives, and daughters are exempted from the death penalty; all official positions held by the male members of the Qin family are dismissed, and all imperial decrees held by the female members are removed; the entire Qin family is exiled to Pingzhou, all property in the mansion is confiscated into the national treasury, and the entire family is imprisoned, with orders to depart on a chosen day. Imperially granted!
Lu Songli listened calmly. As expected, the Qin family could not escape the fate of exile, and the place of exile was also as she expected, the Northeast.
The northwest has always been the Qin family's garrison. Who knows how many relatives, friends, and former subordinates there are? Who knows how many people have benefited from the Qin family's favors? Emperor Kang Cheng would never exile the Qin family to the northwest.
The southeast and southwest each have their own problems, such as the hot and humid climate, miasma, witchcraft, etc., which make northerners extremely uncomfortable and may even cause casualties.
The Qin family knew how to fight. The Great Dawn was in turmoil, and Emperor Kang Cheng still wanted to use the Qin family, so he naturally didn't want them to be wiped out. Exile was already difficult, and if he had to risk his life to overcome a multitude of problems once he arrived at the exile site, it would be somewhat contrary to his original intention.
Therefore, it is easy to understand why Emperor Kang Cheng chose Pingzhou in the northeast as the place of exile for the Qin family.
Moreover, Pingzhou is located to the east of Youzhou, facing the sea to the south, Lelang County to the east, Goguryeo to the northeast, and a large area to the northwest is the territory of the Xianbei people. The territory is very small, and by controlling the mouth of Youzhou, Pingzhou can be contained.
Emperor Kang Cheng was also on guard against the Qin family.
After Lin Ran finished reading out the late emperor's will, Wu Yuchun was eager to take over all the property of the Qin Mansion.
Qin Heng asked politely, "Commander Lin, could you please allow us to clean ourselves up?"
Lin Ran: "Sure, but only for a quarter of an hour."
"Thank you very much."
"You can't take any property with you!" Minister of Finance Wu Yuchun emphasized.
"Don't worry."
"Lord Wu can go and take over the warehouse first." Lin Ran glanced at Qin Heng when he said this.
Qin Heng understood and asked the manager to get the key to the warehouse.
Lu Songli pulled Qin Sheng and ran towards their yard.
Back in the bedroom, Lu Songli quickly removed the various hairpins on her head and inserted three wooden hairpins on top. She also took off the jade bracelets and gold bracelets on her hands. After thinking for a while, she only wore a chicken wing wood bracelet on her left hand.
These were all prepared by her in advance, and she specially invited craftsmen from other places to make them. As soon as the father and son were finished, she sent them far away from Chang'an City.
Then she began to change her clothes. The clothes she wore inside were mainly comfortable and warm. They were all inconspicuous clothes she had prepared. She put on a long coat that was neither new nor old on the outside, and held a headscarf in her hand, ready to wrap her head.
They would be imprisoned soon, so they had to take good precautions to keep warm. She also felt that, with Master Wu's stingy nature, he would definitely not want them to wear their fine clothes. He would even check if they had smuggled any valuables from the mansion.
After she had fixed herself, she pulled Qin Sheng over and changed his clothes first, putting on the inconspicuous and warm clothes she had brought with her.
Lu Songli's movements were so fast that before Qin Sheng could react, she stripped him of his clothes. When he was putting on his clothes later, Qin Sheng came on his own.
Finally, she took off the jade crown that he used to tie his hair, and quickly took out a wooden hairpin to pin it up. At the same time, she also put a string of chicken wing wood bracelets on his hand.
Qin Sheng didn't understand.
"Wear it, don't lose it." As long as they tell others that the couple are wearing the same wooden bracelet and it is their token of love, others will not be too suspicious.
Seeing that time was running out and they had to rush back to the main courtyard, Lu Songli instructed Qin Sheng to bring a rattan basket. In the basket were some children's clothes, which looked half-worn but very warm.
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