In just two or three days, the case of Zhong Hao killing people in the street became more and more serious. Although Du Rui knocked on the palace gate to complain on the day of the crime, he could not enter the palace because of his low rank, so he knelt outside the palace every day and begged the emperor to make a decision for his son. Lord Du's move was secretly suggested by Pei Lingfeng. Every day when he went to court and left court, all the ministers saw Lord Du kneeling there and whispered to each other. Lipin in the palace was not willing to be left behind. She knelt at the door of Yangxin Palace and begged the emperor to make a decision for her tragically dead brother. Concubine Wan naturally could not pretend not to know. But her image to the outside world has always been gentle and virtuous, paying attention to rules, and being fair and selfless. She could only kneel in front of the Yangxin Palace to plead guilty to the emperor, but was sent back by the eunuchs beside the emperor.
"My queen, please think of a way to save Hao'er."
Mrs. Zhong was afraid that the emperor would kill Zhong Hao in a rage, because the evidence was conclusive and Zhong Hao was imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice on the day of the crime. Now she had no other options outside, so she could only go to the palace and ask Concubine Wan to think of a solution. After all, a night of love meant a hundred days of grace, and the emperor still had some feelings for Concubine Wan.
"Mother, how can I beg for mercy in this matter? I have long asked you to teach him a lesson, but you let him do whatever he wants. My situation in the palace is no longer as good as before. The emperor favors Lipin, and she kneels in front of the Yangxin Palace. Do you think I can get the emperor to forgive him?"
Concubine Wan felt a headache. She had been in a difficult situation since the flood in Jiangnan. She finally arranged a marriage for her useless brother a few days ago, but now everything was gone. Even if she could be saved in the end, she could not escape exile. But her mother could not see through it. Didn't she see that her father did not ask for mercy, but just knelt there to apologize?
"He's your own brother! How can you be so cruel as not to save him!!" Mrs. Zhong screamed at the top of her lungs.
Concubine Wan looked at Mrs. Zhong coldly, throwing away the upbringing of a noble lady and yelling at her, her eyes full of bloodshot.
"If you had known this, why would you have spoiled him? Grandfather was neglected, and the emperor has not stepped into my palace for a long time. If I hadn't had a prince by my side, I would have been trampled on by others. Now only my father can still say a few words in front of the emperor. Do you think we can save a murder case in public?"
Concubine Wan also had a lot of resentment. Her brother never shared a bit of her burden and even asked her to clean up his mess from time to time. Now that she couldn't clean up the mess anymore, he blamed her, which made her feel a little disappointed.
"I can't do anything about this matter. I committed a crime in public and I'm beating the drums in front of the palace to complain. The emperor won't let my brother go just for the sake of his reputation."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhong collapsed in her chair and was still in a daze when she returned to the Zhong Mansion.
On the fourth day after the incident, the Emperor issued an imperial decree that Zhong Hao, who had committed murder in public, disregarded human life and disregarded the law, should be given poisoned wine to keep his body intact in consideration of his loyalty and duty to the Zhong family over the years.
Mrs. Zhong fainted upon hearing the news, and Shen Qingqing wasn't in a good condition either. However, because the child in her belly was Zhong Hao's only flesh and blood, the Zhong family valued her a little more.
The execution date was set for three days later, but Xiao Yunrou felt vaguely uneasy. She always felt that this matter would not end so smoothly, and she would not feel at ease until she heard the news that Zhong Hao was dead.
Sure enough, something big happened the night before the execution.
The lights in the Yangxin Palace were on. The emperor stared at the people kneeling in the palace with an angry look on his face. Finally, he couldn't hold back his anger and threw the white jade paper on the table, hitting Zhong Shijie's head. He watched helplessly as the bright red blood flowed from his forehead, and soon his face was covered with blood.
"Okay! Very good! Prisoner exchange? Zhong Shijie, you are really brave! Is there anything you dare not do?"
It turns out that Zhong Shijie obeyed the emperor's will on the surface, but secretly contacted the Minister of the Ministry of Justice of the same faction, and found a person who looked 70% like Zhong Hao to replace him late at night. However, Xiao Yunyan was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Although this matter was done secretly, it was originally designed by Xiao Yunrou. Zhong Hao's imprisonment was a pleasant surprise, but this accident must not go wrong. For this reason, he secretly sent people to watch the prison of the Ministry of Justice, and he found the clues.
Because of the relationship between the Zhong family and the Minister of Justice, there were no other prisoners around the place where Zhong Hao was imprisoned, so the only sound that could be heard late at night was the crackling sound of the torches burning on the wall.
As soon as he received the news, he contacted Prince An. Prince An happened to be blocking the gate of the Ministry of Justice with Prime Minister Xue and Lord Du, and caught Zhong Hao and his group who were about to get on the carriage.
Prince An looked at Zhong Hao, who kept dodging, with a half-smile, and asked with a smile: "Where are you planning to take Master Zhong, Minister Wu?"
Prince An's smile made the Minister of Justice shudder, knowing that he was probably finished. Lord Du, on the other hand, had a grim look on his face. He pulled Zhong Hao over and looked at him carefully, then angrily said:
"Sir Wu, you actually dared to secretly replace the death row prisoners! Your Majesty, please help me! Bring these two people into the palace and report to the emperor!"
Prince An curled his lips slightly and ordered the guards to tie up the Minister of Justice and Zhong Hao. He also sent some people to guard the Ministry of Justice prison and locked all the runners in a room, waiting for the emperor's decision.
Prime Minister Xue and Lord Du were confused by Prince An's sudden invitation, but they understood it after seeing this. Lord Du didn't think too much, but Prime Minister Xue was different. He looked at Prince An in a subtle way, wondering when Prince An had a grudge with the Zhong family. However, this did not prevent him from entering the palace as a witness to report to the emperor, after all, he saw it with his own eyes and could not lie.
Lord Du was suffering from the pain of losing his son and he would not let it go when he saw with his own eyes how the Zhong family used such despicable means to rescue the murderer of his son.
Several people entered the palace, and the emperor ordered a thorough investigation of the Ministry of Justice prison. They found the man who looked 70% like Zhong Hao, and then he got angry and injured Zhong Shijie.
Zhong Shijie had no way to defend himself and could only plead guilty. The Minister of Justice also knelt there with a pale face. He knew that he was lucky to be able to save his head after this incident, and he dared not think about anything else.
After the emperor gave the order to put all the people in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, Zhong Shijie took a look at Prince An who had nothing to do with it, and his emotions surged. Others did not know why Prince An was in the prison of the Ministry of Justice tonight, but he knew it. When the Jiangnan group's secret plan was exposed, Prince An must have found out the details, which led to what happened tonight. As for who told Prince An, he also had a guess. Wasn't Xiao Yunyan, the first aide to Prince An, the vice minister of the Ministry of Justice?
On the second day, the emperor publicly announced the crimes of the Minister of Justice and Zhong Shijie, and ordered that Zhong Hao's sentence be changed from being given poisoned wine to being executed by beheading, which was to be carried out by Prince An himself. The Minister of Justice used public property for personal gain, and was sentenced to have his property confiscated and exiled, and all the officials involved in the case were also exiled. As for Zhong Shijie, the emperor considered that he was a son and had made many contributions in protecting the emperor, so his property was not confiscated, but he was dismissed from his position as the commander of the imperial guards and sent to the Yanzhou army as a seventh-rank military officer. Zhong Ge Lao wrote a letter to resign from his position as a Ge Lao, and the emperor approved it.
Xiao Yunrou's father was originally the emperor's preferred candidate for the position of the Minister of Rites. He was transferred from the Minister of Rites to the Inner Cabinet because of this incident. Xiao Yunyan temporarily took over the position of the Minister of Punishments, and Lord Du was also promoted to the position of the Deputy Minister of Punishments. As for the position of the commander of the Imperial Guard, the emperor has not yet decided who should take over. After all, the Imperial Guard guards the palace and protect the emperor's safety. If they have selfish intentions, the emperor will not be far from death. In his previous life, Zhong Shijie was the one who stained the palace with blood in order to force the third prince to abdicate.
With Prince An personally supervising the execution, everything went smoothly. Zhong Hao died, but Zhong Shijie was still in the Ministry of Justice's prison. Only Mrs. Zhong collected his body while crying.
Concubine Wan in the palace did not go to the emperor to cry about this. Instead, she said that her father's actions were confused and illegal. As a daughter, she could not point out her father's crime. Moreover, her brother was committing crimes. She was a concubine but did not restrain her family to abide by the rules. She asked to be demoted and voluntarily went to the Buddhist temple to copy Buddhist scriptures and pray for the innocent Mr. Du who died unjustly for a month.
The emperor only sighed when he saw Concubine Wan's letter of apology. In his eyes, Concubine Wan was gentle and lovely. She had suffered a lot from her family this year, especially since she, a woman in the harem, was not involved in this matter. The emperor did not punish Concubine Wan and still let her be Concubine Wan. As for praying for blessings, she could do it in her own palace. In order to appease Concubine Li, the emperor allowed her to take a step further and conferred her the title of Fourth Rank Concubine.
Xiao Yunrou couldn't help but smack her lips when she learned that Zhong Shijie actually wanted to replace the death row prisoner, and she couldn't help but laugh when she learned about his fate. If possible, she really wanted to see Zhong Shijie's face at that time, whether he was as high-spirited as when he entered the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion in his previous life.
A day later, when the news about Concubine Wan came, Xiao Yunrou was silent for a long time. In her previous life, Concubine Wan was able to sit on the throne of Noble Concubine for many years without falling. It really took some ability for her to do so. The fact that she could grasp the Emperor's mind alone should not be underestimated.
But it doesn't matter. The Zhong family today no longer has the prosperity it once had. Those who want to rely on the Zhong family to support the third prince will also weigh the weight of this.
A Zhong Hao actually turned the originally prepared drama of competing for favor into a big drama in the court, from wanting to prevent the Zhong family from marrying the general of Shaanxi to the Zhong family being rebuked. Now that the Zhong family has no one in the power center, Concubine Wan has no help. It is probably impossible for her to become a noble concubine and rule the harem in this life. It will not be easy to get up again after this fall.
Xiao Yunrou was in a very good mood. Counting the day when Zhong Shijie would leave Beijing, she made an appointment with the third wife to personally select some fabrics to make clothes for her unborn baby.
The two of them first went to the largest silk shop in the capital. Zhuang picked out some soft fabrics, and Xiao Yunrou also picked out some brightly colored ones, thinking of making a set for the two children. After they had made their selections, they went to a teahouse on the way out of the city and sat by the window to have some tea and snacks.
After a while, Zhong Shijie appeared downstairs. He only brought two followers and a cloth bag. Compared with the previous time when he went out and was followed by a group of people, he did look a lot more humble, but this was not enough.
Xiao Yunrou looked away after seeing Zhong Shijie's back disappear from her sight. What she wanted was the destruction of the Zhong family. She originally wanted to slowly plot and reveal it to Xiao Yunyan and Pei Lingfeng bit by bit, so that the Zhong family would never recover. But in just one or two years, the Zhong family was defeated. Xiao Yunrou secretly speculated in her heart that there might be other people behind this. But this was also a good thing, it was much easier than for her, a woman in the back house, to plot.
"The one who just passed by was Commander Zhong, right?" Zhuang also saw Zhong Shijie's figure and said with her hands covering her mouth: "Oh no, now we should call him... Lieutenant General Zhong?"
A seventh-rank military general is only given the rank of a sixth-rank deputy general. To put it nicely, it's called a deputy general, but in fact, it's only slightly better than those small soldiers who have just entered the barracks.
"These past few days, all this mess of news has been circulating, and it's frightening me. I don't know what the Zhong family is thinking, they can even do such a thing as replacing a death row prisoner. Once this happened, a mansion that was originally in good condition has become ruined. The Zhong family used to have such a high profile in the capital..."
Xiao Yunrou smiled at Zhuang's regretful expression. What is there for the Zhong family to be afraid of?
"So, you should educate your children well. Wasn't this incident caused by your children?"
Zhuang nodded seriously. "My sister-in-law is right. This child, whether it is a boy or a girl, must be well educated. We don't ask him to do a lot, but at least he should be more motivated and not bring more trouble to the family. If my son turns out to be like Zhong Hao in the future, I will definitely break his legs."
Xiao Yunrou smiled when she saw Zhuang's idea, expressing her agreement. If a family has unfilial children, it is the path to the decline of the family.
After drinking tea for a while, the two prepared to return home. As soon as they got on the carriage, Zhuang called out in a low voice, "Sister-in-law, look, is that Qingqing?"
Xiao Yunrou raised her eyebrows slightly, slightly opened the car curtain and took a look. Wasn't it Shen Qingqing? She was wearing a plain dress and picking out fabrics in the satin shop. Although there was some distance, Xiao Yunrou still saw the smile on Shen Qingqing's face.
"I saw that Shen Qingqing didn't look like she was crying. Zhong Hao's seventh day of mourning just passed. Why is he leaving like this?"
Zhuang was taught from childhood that her husband is her God and she should obey her son after her husband's death. Even if Shen Qingqing was a concubine, how could she be so unruly and ruthless after her husband's death?
"You know how she entered the Zhong Mansion. She was unwilling to do so in the first place. After she got pregnant, Zhong Hao died. But she was lucky. The child in her belly was Zhong Hao's posthumous child, his only blood. On the day Zhong Hao's body was taken back, Madam Zhong sold all the more than 20 concubines that could be sold, and drove all the concubines out of the mansion. Only Shen Qingqing was left. Madam Zhong loved her son as much as her life, so she naturally took a liking to Shen Qingqing."
Zhuang curled her lips and asked the driver to go back home.
"If Mrs. Zhong knew that Shen Qingqing had no grief at all, she would suffer after she gave birth to the child."
Xiao Yunrou just smiled and didn't refute, because Zhong Hao was dead, so she didn't need to use Shen Qingqing as a raft. What happened to Shen Qingqing in the future had nothing to do with her. Thinking about how Shen Qingqing showed off in front of her when she was pregnant, she felt it was ironic. As long as she didn't cause trouble for herself in the future, she could do whatever she wanted in Zhong's mansion.
When they arrived at the Marquis' Mansion, they saw the maid from the third room guarding outside the door. When she saw Zhuang, she walked over anxiously.
"Madam San Shao, Madam Hou wants you to hurry up as soon as you come back.
Go to Zhining Garden."