Chapter 75 Chapter 75 He Kneels Down [Copywriting Plot]
As dusk fell, it was time for the caning.
Xue Yuanyin finally waited for this moment. She saw two jailers open the door, use the key to remove the chain on her body from the wall, then put a layer of locks on her hands and feet, blindfolded her, took her out of the cell, and put her in a prison van.
They soon arrived at the place and they untied the black cloth on her face. She had been in the dark place for a long time. When she saw the light, the setting sun stung her eyes. It took her a while to see clearly what was ahead.
This was in the square in front of the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace. The evening court meeting had probably not yet begun, and there were only a few officials around. On either side of the execution platform stood a senior eunuch supervising the punishment and two muscular thugs, each holding a long wooden board for caning.
The jailer brought her over and, without explanation, pressed her onto the scaffold. Xue Yuanyin stumbled, nearly falling, and was barely able to breathe when she was dragged to her feet. When they reached the scaffold, the jailer pressed her onto it and left.
Xue Yuanyin watched as two thugs brought ropes and tied her to the execution platform. The chief eunuch stood above and asked indifferently,
"I'll give you one last chance. Will you tell me what His Royal Highness wants to know?"
Xue Yuanyin crouched on the execution platform, which was icy cold from the winter wind. Her face, where it bumped against the platform, felt frozen solid, barely able to move. She swallowed the lump in her throat and answered with silence.
The chief eunuch said in a shrill voice, "Since Miss Xue won't say anything, don't blame me for not giving you a chance!" He glanced at the sundial in the square. There was still a quarter of an hour before the execution, but it didn't matter. He would finish the task earlier and go back to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
He waved his whisk and said in a long voice: "Caning——"
After he finished speaking, a wide and thick wooden board came down heavily. Xue Yuanyin immediately felt a board heavier than the Xue family's punishment falling on him, and a burning pain began to burn in his back.
Her forehead was suddenly covered with cold sweat and she clenched her teeth.
Without giving her time to breathe, the second blow came right after her, with no less force than the previous one. Xue Yuanyin clearly felt the pain coming from behind.
There were officials passing by nearby, and they walked past quickly upon seeing this. Although most of them were in a hurry, no familiar figure appeared.
She closed her eyes, a feeling of despair and numbness rising in her heart.
It turned out that Zhang Jingxuan really didn't come to see her off, and then she felt relieved for a moment. Fortunately, he didn't come. She looked so miserable after being beaten and sweating, and it would only get worse later. She hoped he couldn't see this miserable state.
Then she thought again: the first time she was punished by Xue Chang was because she was found to have an affair with him. Now the second time she was punished was because he had arrested her and thrown her into prison on the night of the palace coup.
Her two tragic experiences and willingness to accept punishment were all because of him.
Should we say it is a bad fate?
Xue Yuanyin lowered his head, pain spreading behind him, and his vision went dark and blurry for a moment.
Although it was only two strokes of the cane, she had been punished by Xue Chang a while ago and was injured on the night of the palace coup. Her body had not recovered well to begin with, and she had been suffering day and night in the cell recently. Her body was getting weaker and weaker. She was already on the verge of her limit, and she was only one cold away from falling ill completely.
Now the caning replaced the cold and fell on her, making it almost unbearable for her.
Xue Yuanyin vaguely thought that it would be good to faint in advance, so that she would not be afraid when she was beheaded.
Just as this thought came to mind, there seemed to be hurried footsteps coming into the Meridian Gate Square. It sounded like a eunuch. He said breathlessly to the chief eunuch in charge of supervising the execution:
"Quick, stop fighting! Stop it immediately! Drag the man away first..."
He then covered Xue Yuanyin's eyes with a black cloth again. She was far away and could not hear clearly. She was also tied to the execution platform and could not move. She could not see what was going on. She only vaguely heard the chief eunuch ask "Why", and then another eunuch replied "Enter the palace" and other words. She could not hear more.
Xue Yuanyin was suspicious, but the third wooden board did not fall, and she was once again put on the prison cart and taken away from the palace.
Leaving the suffocating palace walls, the fear and exhaustion of surviving the catastrophe washed over her. She had been forcing herself to stay awake, but now she could no longer force herself to stay awake. Amid the throbbing of the wheels and the blinding darkness, she gradually drifted off.
-
Dusk fell in the west, the sky became dark and foggy, as if snow was about to fall.
Zhang Jingxuan had already been standing at the palace gate. After hearing the young eunuch come out to report that everything was safe, he let out a breath and slowly felt relieved.
He couldn't go over to look at her, nor could he show any anxiety, otherwise the prince would catch him. He handed over the small change, and the eunuch took it and left.
Zhang Jingxuan stood in front of the palace gate, gazing at the magnificent and majestic vermilion palace in front of him.
As he was about to enter the palace, some inappropriate memories suddenly came to his mind.
It had been so long that he almost forgot that he first met Xue Yuanyin under the red walls of the imperial palace.
Twelve years ago, at the age of eight, he was chosen to be the crown prince's study companion. Xue Yi, who was only one place behind him, was eliminated. Xue Yi, a man of explosive temper, was dissatisfied with this outcome. He angrily asked the imperial guards at the palace gate to borrow a spear taller than him and challenged him to a duel.
Xue Yuanyin followed behind Xue Yi. She was only five years old and had a very bright look in her eyes.
The brother and sister looked at him as if he were an enemy.
Eight-year-old Zhang Jingxuan, still somewhat arrogant, accepted the challenge, but he didn't understand why it was called a duel when two people came together. He asked Xue Yi why he brought a little girl with him.
Xue Yi confidently said that he was a little scared to go it alone, so he brought a companion with him to raid the formation. Although he was only five years old, he was still half a person.
So he faced off against half a man from the Xue family alone. Xue Yi was responsible for the fighting, while Xue Yuanyin was responsible for cheering him on.
Of course he was not able to defeat Xue Yi in the end, because he was very weak and had no martial arts skills at all.
Xue Yi felt guilty instead. Seeing that Zhang was not feeling well, he forcibly carried him to Zhang's house.
A few days later, he brought an apology gift and apologized for his previous recklessness.
He and the Xue brothers and sisters knew each other from that time.
The Xue brothers and sisters have similar personalities and are both carefree, but his way of getting along with them is completely different.
He and Xue Yi had complementary personalities and became good friends, often chatting about everything under the sun, regardless of gains or losses. But Xue Yuanyin was completely the opposite. He had just stolen a piece of her sesame candy because it was too bitter, and she would demand another from him, refusing to give it to him for free.
At that time, Zhang Jingxuan was a proud young man who had always been flattered when he grew up. How could he ever compensate someone with a candy for such a trivial matter?
He naturally refused, but Xue Yuanyin was even more unwilling. Although she was three years younger than him, she had already started practicing martial arts and was not afraid of his cold face and intimidation. She picked up her sword and axe and started to fight. He was weak, but he was still a teenager. If he couldn't match Xue Yi's strength, how could he be stronger than this little girl?
In the end, both sides suffered losses, and the eldest grandson of the Zhang family and the eldest daughter of the Marquis's family lost all their face.
Because he was older than her and had eaten the candy first, he was ordered by the elders to apologize.
Because of this incident, Xue Yuanyin stopped eating sesame candy and ate sour cinnamon candy instead. Why? Because she realized he had a sour taste. If she ate something sour, he wouldn't eat hers.
She was also extremely rude to him, oblivious to the age gap and the barriers between men and women, always coming without even saying hello. Later, he would even lock the window when he showered, because if Xue Yuanyin couldn't get through the front door, she would really climb through the window.
However, when he grew up and Xue Yuanyin learned that he ate candy to suppress the bitter taste of medicine, she would bring two bags of candy every time she visited the Zhang family.
One pack of sour and one pack of sweet.
She never gave him the candy directly, but every time she left, Zhang Jingxuan would always find the bag of sweet candy on his bedside.
…
A sharp cold wind blew, and Zhang Jingxuan regained some clarity from his past memories. He raised his eyes, smoothed his clothes, and stepped inside.
The red gate slowly opened, and Zhang Jingxuan walked into the Suzaku Gate, crossed the front street of the Meridian Gate, and arrived at the Meridian Gate. He peered through the three palace gates ahead and saw the Crown Prince, furious, standing in front of the Golden Throne Hall.
Tonight's court meeting was supposed to be for all the ministers to support the crown prince's ascension to the throne, but unexpectedly, accidents happened frequently and due to numerous intentional or unintentional obstructions, this small court meeting, which was originally just a formality, was forced to be delayed.
If the prince can't even see that he's been set up, he shouldn't be the crown prince.
But precisely because the prince knew that he had been set up, he found it difficult to calm down his inner frustration and anger at this moment.
If it's a calculation, then there's a conflict of interest. Either there's a purpose or there's a demand.
Prince Yu and Xue Chang had this motive, but they were currently lying low and might not have the means to pull it off. Besides them, who else had both the motive and the plan? The Crown Prince didn't want to think about it.
In other words, it was precisely because he could guess who it was that he was particularly angry, and because he had no place to vent his anger, he became furious with these ministers who were always watching his back.
What did these officials do? Actually, they did nothing. A few important officials of the court took leave and delayed his enthronement. It was just a small mistake. At most, they were impeached by the censor.
It is precisely this method, which is not excessive and just happens to take advantage of the prince's weakness, that allows us to negotiate with the prince.
Zhang Jingxuan looked straight ahead and stepped into the dark and long palace corridor.
Ahead stood the Meridian Gate, the Guardian Gate, and the Taiji Gate. Five gates and three courts, symbols of royal authority. He gazed at the bright yellow light at the entrance to the corridor ahead, his expression gentle and peaceful, his steps slow and steady.
He thought to himself that Xue Yuanyin was actually right about one thing: he was born a proud person.
This is a place that can help people reach the top, but it can also trap people.
The ups and downs of life, the changes in the world, all depend on this power. He was born and raised at the foot of the imperial city, took on the burden of the family, and endured the humiliation of the family himself.
He entered the officialdom at a young age and ascended to a high position at a young age. He was the most favored minister of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace and had ambitions to control the court.
If nothing unexpected happened and if everything went smoothly, that's what he should have done.
But until that day.
He went with his father to the ancestral temple, removed his name from the Zhang family tree, and accepted the clan's punishment that would befall him in the future. He then prayed to the Buddha to bless her, but the next moment he felt ridiculous. People these days are so strange, believing in ghosts and gods instead of mortals. Even though the gods and Buddhas have never appeared, he actually tried to pray like those kneeling believers, with all his heart and soul.
But after thinking it over and over again, weighing it all, until he finally stepped into the palace, the only thought in his mind was that he just hoped that the girl could eat, drink and sleep well, and not have to do anything, and he would be here to work alone to find a future for her.
He had always thought the guests who believed in gods and Buddhas were ridiculous, foolish, weak and incompetent, always pinning their hopes on others. But now that he was in their midst, he realized that he was the one who deserved the ridicule the most.
God saw him sitting on a high tower, taking a gamble, and finally falling down and getting smashed into pieces.
He struggled, denied it, but finally gave in and obeyed.
Zhang Jingxuan walked step by step into the imperial palace, stood before the white jade staircase, and gazed at the towering Golden Throne Hall. He peered through the crowd of civil and military officials to the crown prince standing in the foreground. The crown prince, clad in a dragon robe, looked at him with a gentle, reserved, and stern demeanor.
In the twenty-second year of Yongchang, at dusk, dark clouds covered the sun and fine snow fluttered in front of the Golden Palace.
Zhang Jingxuan lifted up his robe, bent his knees facing the long white jade steps in front of him, and knelt down steadily on the neat and smooth blue brick floor.
His ochre-red robe outlines his smooth and upright figure, and his dark black crane cloak cannot hide his elegant posture in the fine snow.
Even when kneeling on his knees, he was still gentle and elegant, well-mannered, and did not look shabby.
Zhang Jingxuan slowly bent his back, prostrated himself on the ground, and said softly:
"Your Highness, I beg for mercy and to save this person."
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The author has something to say: It was the prince's minister who gave the order to arrest her, and it was Zhang Qu who knelt down to beg for mercy.
I can finally say this!
The male protagonist's name is Zhang Qu (qú), and his courtesy name is Jingxuan.
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