Chapter 57: The person is dead and you still want to throw dirty water on him!
"Who do you think you are? I'm lucky enough that I didn't let you starve to death, and you still want to eat good food.
If you had the ability of the Ran family to cure diseases and save lives, let alone a table of meals, it would be no problem for people to provide you with tribute. How dare you shout at us here? It seems that you are tired of living! ”
After being whipped, Shang Zicheng became much more obedient, but there was a sinister glint in his eyes as he looked in the direction of the Gu family.
Mrs. Shang kept an eye on her younger son the whole time. She didn't stop her older son when he rushed forward, so she could only watch him get beaten.
Shang Bin hadn't said a word since this morning. He Qin lost her backbone and had no idea what to do except hug her little son and cry.
The whip that fell on Shang Zicheng alerted the other prisoners present, and no one dared to offend the police again.
The Gu and Chen families sat in the shade and ate their home-cooked meals, while the other prisoners held up their hard, black steamed buns and waited anxiously.
Feng Bi brought out a full tray of steamed buns, and noticed that there was a person lying on the cart behind Ran Qingxuan, so he casually said to give him the rice porridge.
Ran Qingxuan didn't explain and just let him go.
While the officer wasn't paying attention, she picked up some more dishes and took five steamed buns to the Xiao family.
"Thank you for your help today, Brother Xiao. My husband is not able to move and is not conscious yet. As a woman, I cannot say some things. If there is a chance, I hope Uncle Xiao will not refuse."
The purpose of Ran Qingxuan doing this was to resolve the misunderstanding between the two families. Xiao Hongyi understood the implication, but the knot of family confiscation was not something that could be resolved easily.
"The cart is a bit of an official, you don't have to..."
"Thank you so much, Madam Ran."
Two voices sounded at the same time. Regardless of Xiao Hongyi's expression, Mrs. Xiao Li Ping took the food from Ran Qingxuan and thanked him.
After returning to the Gu family, Ran Qingxuan turned his head slightly to look at the Xiao family. Sure enough, he saw Xiao Hongyi with his eyes closed, and nodded to Li Ping resignedly.
"Sixth brother's wife, the Xiao family doesn't appreciate your kindness. They should bear the suffering on their own. Why are you wasting your breath on this?"
Second sister-in-law Chang Yue'e took a bite of a sugar cake, somewhat puzzled as to why Ran Qingxuan was so persistent in getting the other families to clear up the misunderstanding.
Ran Qingxuan did not answer her immediately, but took advantage of the presence of all the Chen family members to ask about the doubts in her and Gu Yanchen's hearts.
"Uncle Chen, there is something I want to ask you."
Seeing Ran Qingxuan so serious, Chen Chengping put down the steamed bun in his hand and nodded.
"You can talk as much as you want, niece. I will tell you everything I know."
The cart stopped right behind Ran Qingxuan. Gu Yanchen, who was pretending to be fainted, immediately pricked up his ears when he heard it. He also wanted to know the reason for this.
"Uncle, don't be nervous. I'm just curious why everyone keeps saying that all this was caused by Gu Yanchen after the emperor ordered the confiscation of the family and exile a few days ago?"
Old Madam Gu and the women of the Gu family all stopped eating. After all, they were also curious why these people cursed each other so viciously as soon as they met.
"Yes, I am also very curious. Yan Chen has been fighting outside and left after returning to Beijing a few days ago. The remaining women in the Gu family are all well-behaved women. How could they offend these people?"
Chen Chengping felt bitter when he heard this. He sighed deeply before telling everything he knew.
"In fact, what does all this have to do with your Gu family? In the past two days, even the most confused people can see that it is the emperor who deliberately wants to make your family suffer."
"As for us..."
“You may not know that when the imperial edict came down, our whole family was shocked.
The imperial edict said that the military pay allocated to the Iron Cavalry Battalion was robbed by Wan'er's husband in collusion with the people from the Black Shadow Village.
The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict produced the testimony of the prefect of Fuzhou, saying that he saw with his own eyes that I accepted two carriages of military pay, but that was clearly a false accusation.
I happened to be in Fuzhou at that time to check the farmland. I learned that my son-in-law was leading troops to suppress bandits in Fuzhou, so I hurriedly met him. The two carriages were filled with ordinary items that my son-in-law asked me to bring to the Gu family. There was no military pay..."
Ran Qingxuan frowned. She didn't know much about the other men in the Gu family, but she also knew that with the character of the men in the Gu family, it was impossible for them to do something that would bring shame to the family.
"Nonsense! The Emperor is simply framing me. The Third Master has been loyal to the Emperor and the country, and has led the Iron Cavalry Battalion to countless victories. Those who have risked their lives for him are his most important brothers. How could the Third Master do such a thing as embezzling military pay?"
It was also the first time that Chen Wan'er heard her father explain the truth of the matter. She was instantly furious, but she did not dare to speak too loudly.
"We naturally believe in our son-in-law's character. How could we not know about such an obvious frame-up? But..."
Chen Chengping looked at Old Madam Gu who was silently wiping her tears, and his voice became softer.
"The eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict produced a confession, saying that nephew Gu had signed and sealed the above statement personally, and the emperor then sentenced the Chen family to confiscation of their property and exile!"
After hearing this, Gu Yanchen, who was lying on the cart, almost stood up immediately to prove his innocence.
After hearing this, the women of the Gu family were so shocked that they widened their eyes for a long time. None of them believed that Gu Yanchen would do such a thing.
"Dad, there must be other reasons. My sixth brother didn't even stay in Beijing for three days before he went to fight Blue Rain. When he came back, he was already seriously injured and unconscious. It's simply nonsense for him to sign and seal the deal."
"Could it be that Uncle Chen accidentally offended the Emperor, and the Emperor thought that the Chen family and the Gu family were related by marriage, so he wanted to get rid of them together?"
After hearing this, Chen Chengping quickly thought of the state banquet in the golden autumn of the year before last. Because the harvests from fertile fields in various places were not very ideal, he couldn't bear to see many untouched delicacies from land and sea on the banquet being thrown away.
At that time, he had drunk a few more glasses of wine and complained to the officials around him about the emperor's extravagance, which was overheard by the second prince.
Although the emperor did not reprimand him when he found out, his expression was not very good.
When everyone at the table heard this, they felt bitter. Just because they felt sorry for the food and raised a few questions, the emperor wanted to exile the Chen family together, and even went to great lengths to frame the deceased third master of the Gu family with a false crime.
How could this not make everyone in the Gu family feel chilled!
"I never thought that my son would be thrown dirty water on him even after so many years of death. Emperor Mingde is so incompetent and cruel, he doesn't deserve it at all..."
"Mom, don't say anything wrong..."
Sister-in-law Zhou Furong was so frightened that her face turned pale and she immediately grabbed Madam Gu's sleeve.
Ran Qingxuan also felt extremely chilled. The Chen family's actions thus demonstrated the emperor's deliberate planning. Without thinking, he knew that the same was true for the remaining families who were exiled.
After listening to Chen Chengping's explanation, Gu Yanchen, who was lying on the cart, realized that it was all because Emperor Mingde was too narrow-minded.
His idea coincided with Ran Qingxuan's, and he understood that other exiled families had also offended Emperor Mingde to some extent.
Especially the Xiao family. He clearly remembered the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet three years ago when Xiao Hongyi attended with his wife and eldest son and daughter.
This is where the bad happens...
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