Chen Yu secretly glanced at the dog hole in the distance. Fortunately, Song Hua had already escaped. However, Xiao Jingzi was too big and strong to squeeze through the dog hole.
Seeing that Xiao Jingzi was still holding her arm, she shook her arm and whispered, "Let's escape from the Prince of Xiang's mansion."
Xiao Jingzi nodded, grabbed Chenyu, and ran.
Seeing this, Yang Hua was even more puzzled. Pointing to the servants in the courtyard, he ordered, "You few, go and chase after him! Find out which family that servant belongs to!"
Xiao Jingzi dragged Chen Yu along and ran until they reached the third intersection, where they saw a crowd of people gathered ahead.
That was the Dali Temple.
------
The two squeezed into the crowd. Chen Yu stood on tiptoe to look and saw the Ancient Locust King shouting at the entrance of the Dali Temple, "Bao Qianshan, come out and talk to me! Your emperor has already betrothed Hongyu to me. Hongyu is my first wife. How dare you kill her? Hand over Hongyu now!"
"This ancient locust tree king is truly devoted; even though Zhang Hongyu is about to be beheaded, he still won't give up."
"Yes, I heard that the emperor offered him an extremely beautiful concubine, but he refused."
“Men from Guli are more reliable than men from the capital.”
"yes……"
Listening to the crowd's discussion, Shen Yu also felt that the Ancient Locust King was deeply infatuated with Hong Yu. Little did she know, the Ancient Locust King was only clinging to Hong Yu for his own gain:
The Guli tribe is small in size, and apart from being rich in minerals and cotton, its crop yields are extremely low. Therefore, King Guhuai wanted to expand the territory.
He had an agreement with General Qiu that as long as Hongyu was brought back to Guli, the two sides would share Dili together.
Actually, who should marry the Ancient Locust King is up to Yan Wang and Qiu Shuang'er.
Now, Prince Yan has decided to change the marriage alliance, but he dares not inform Prince Guhuai directly, lest he reveal his intentions and arouse the emperor's suspicion.
This led to the Ancient Locust King causing a disturbance at Dali Temple.
With a loud rumble, the gates of the Dali Temple opened, and Hongyu, disheveled and wearing shackles, was escorted out by two yamen runners.
"Look, Zhang Hongyu is out."
"It's almost noon, the beheading is really imminent."
"King of Ancient Locust Trees, please save her..."
King Gu Huai knocked the yamen runner aside with a few punches and kicks, then rushed to Hong Yu with tears in his eyes, "Hong Yu, I've been guarding the entrance to the Dali Temple, but that wretched Bao Qianshan won't let me in!"
Hongyu remained blank and unmoved. She knew in her heart that the one who wanted to destroy her Zhang family must be the Prince Yan.
To save her life, she reported that King Yan was secretly training troops, secretly treating and winning over martial arts figures. However, the government searched but found no clues, and Old Master Li had also disappeared.
Her claim of possessing the letter from the Prince of Yan was nothing but empty talk, a mere attempt to save her life.
The guards had already searched her in prison, undoubtedly at the behest of Prince Yan. Prince Yan must have also searched the Grand Tutor's residence and the Hibiscus Garden. How could he let it go so easily if he couldn't find the letter? Could it be that he saw through her lies and thus refused to help her?
She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly someone touched her cheek, and she snapped out of her daze, opening her eyes to see the ancient locust tree king.
With tears in his eyes, the Ancient Locust King's deep voice rang in Hongyu's ear: "Hongyu, are you willing to return to Guli with me? As long as you nod, even if I trespass into the palace, I will make the emperor release you."
Hongyu looked around and surveyed the area for a long time, but when she couldn't find Songhua, she lowered her eyes in disappointment and nodded.
"Very well, I will go find the Emperor now." After saying this, King Guhuai was about to leave in a hurry.
A moment later, the Sixth Prince rode up, holding the reins in his right hand and the imperial edict in his left, shouting, "The Emperor has decreed that you must make way!"
Before the horse's hooves had even stopped, he leaped to the ground. Seeing that he held the imperial edict, the crowd stepped back, making way for him.
He stood on the steps of Dali Temple, while Bao Qianshan had already run down the steps to wait for orders.
"Lord Bao, take Zhang Hongyu to the Dali Temple to receive the imperial decree."
It seems that the Emperor doesn't want outsiders to know certain things, after all, Hongyu was once a royal wife.
The gates of Dali Temple are closed.
Hongyu knelt in the center of the hall. Looking up, she saw only the Sixth Prince and Bao Qianshan. No, there was also a trembling old man sitting to the side.
The old man raised his cane, pointed it at Hongyu, and cursed, "Zhang Xiansheng stabbed my grandson to death! Your entire Zhang family was executed—truly a fitting punishment for your evil deeds. Cough..."
Hongyu looked closely and realized that the old man with his pointed mouth and monkey-like face was none other than Zhang Manguan. Zhang Manguan's grandson? Could it be Zhang Jiubing, who served King Yan every day? So, Zhang Manguan was King Yan's man.
She instantly flew into a rage, pointing at Zhang Manguan and yelling:
"You despicable and shameless scoundrel! You used to come to my house every few days, begging to be related to my family. I never imagined that you would frame my father for accepting bribes and my brother for murder. You killed them, aren't you afraid they will come after you for your life?"
"Shut up, you abandoned woman! The evidence is overwhelming, how dare you refute it?"
Bang!
The sixth prince angrily slammed down his gavel, interrupting the argument between the two, then stood up and opened the imperial edict to read aloud:
"By imperial decree, Grand Tutor Zhang was found guilty of accepting bribes and selling official positions, with the amount involved exceeding 50,000 strings of cash. His entire family was to be executed. However, considering that Zhang Hongyu is the birth mother of Zhao Kang'er, and that Prince Yan pleaded for her, she was spared the death penalty but was instead demoted to a lowly status. So be it."
Hongyu sneered inwardly. Yan Wang pleaded for her because he was afraid she would hand over the so-called letter.
She prostrated herself on the ground and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty."
After a long while, she straightened up. Unexpectedly, the Sixth Prince spoke again, "His Majesty's decree states that Zhang Xiansheng killed Zhang Jiubing, and Zhang Manguan brought the matter to the county government. The Emperor intends to mediate the matter and orders Zhang Xiansheng's family to compensate Zhang Manguan with 10,000 strings of cash or perform forced labor to pay off the debt."
Ten thousand taels of silver?
Hongyu exclaimed in surprise, "Whose life is so precious? Even the county magistrate's monthly salary is only five or six strings of cash."
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