Defense
A few days after Zhuzhi returned to Chang'an, it was July 15th.
Within a hundred days, evil ghosts, evil spirits and dead souls will surround the eight waters.
In Chang'an, many monks died.
Buddhism and Taoism will never end.
On the day of the Ghost Festival, the Ullambana in Chang'an City was hung upside down, and lotus flowers were used in Taiji Palace to worship ancestors. As night fell, I felt drowsy and confused, as if I was possessed by a ghost.
My uncle presided over the ritual and invited me to leave Taiji Palace, enter Lingtai Temple, and climb Lingbao Tower to watch the ceremony.
I don’t believe in ghosts or gods, nor do I worship Taoism or Buddha.
The reason I said I couldn't go wasn't because I was too lazy.
On the fifteenth day of the month, Zhongyuan Festival pardons sins, all over the world pardons sins, and the sage queen pardons the sins of King Xin.
The emperor is in the palace and the empress is in the hall.
The emperor ordered the prince, and the empress entrusted me.
In the past, Concubine Guo controlled the inner palace, killed the imperial concubine and imprisoned the prince, and was above the saint.
Now, the Guo family has died and no trace of them has been found, and Prince Xin has lifted his house confinement. As soon as the prince left his residence and went to the court, he spoke only a few words before he was scolded by the new king. The king immediately ordered him to return to Prince Xin's residence and continue his confinement.
The king was scolded, imprisoned for a hundred days, and suffered from depression for a hundred days.
The Emperor and Empress could not bear it, so they specially sent me and the Crown Prince to visit him in broad daylight.
So, on the day of the Ghost Festival, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the officials of the Eastern Palace, and I, received the order from the Holy Empress and went to the prince's residence together.
The Guo family prospered for thirty years, but ended up with three generations of the Li family's rulers and ministers all being slaves of the Guo family. Not only was this happening to the royal family, but the entire northern area of Chang'an was also deeply implicated.
Princess Xin and Concubine Jiang, Princess Jiang's father once wrote a poem to celebrate the birthday of Concubine Guo, and Qian, the wife of Prince Xin, her brother once led the way for Prince Guo's carriage.
The congratulatory message paves the way for the close ministers.
As a result, many court officials regarded Jiang and Qian as rebels. The Censorate reported their crimes, the Dali Temple arrested the Jiang family, and the Ministry of Justice imprisoned the Qian family.
Prince Xin has lived in seclusion in the royal residence for many years, with only his wife and concubine, Princess Jiang and Lady Qian, by his side. Without his wife and concubine, the king would have died early.
When his brother ascended the throne, Prince Xin thought that his brother had gained power and the world, so he started to plead with the saint for the two Yue families. After that, he also begged for mercy for the King of Zhao and the King of Zhou in court.
The Jiang and Qian families are not very powerful and usually do not cause any trouble. They are like a bamboo in the wind on the left and a grass on the wall on the right. In the eyes of a saint, there is no benefit in killing them. They are both in a state where they can be killed or not.
But in Chang'an City, there are so many people whose crimes are less serious than these two families that they cannot be counted on two hands, and there are even more people whose punishments are heavier than these two families.
If the saint pardoned Prince Xin's wife's family on the spot, would it be because the lord was incompetent, or because those families who had already been executed died in vain?
Prince Xin had not participated in politics for a long time. Whenever something happened, he always put his brother first and then the king. He relied on his brother and forgot the king, so he was scolded by his brother and the king.
The King of Zhao and the King of Zhou were both sons of the previous emperor and were the closest uncles of the current emperor.
King Zhou of Zhao was cruel and tyrannical. He often bought young children from poor families and cooked and ate them.
The King of Zhou was lustful and immoral.
In the Zhou king's house, the father-in-law bullied his daughter-in-law, the illegitimate son bullied his legitimate mother, the father and daughter had an affair, the brothers and sisters had sex, the aunt and nephew had an affair, and the aunt and nephew were in love.
The King of Zhou often forced his maids to wear cotton in summer and naked in winter, and to run around the palace in the scorching summer and cold winter.
They died in the summer heat, died in the winter cold, and countless maids in the palace were killed or injured.
The Zhou Palace, under the control of the Li family, can be regarded as the number one palace of the princes in Chang'an.
They bully men and women, are arrogant and domineering, plunder and kill people at will, and act like a slave and bully the heavens.
The King of Zhao and the King of Zhou had no achievements or political accomplishments, but they relied on the royal family surname Li, their father and brothers, and were lawless and deserved no redemption.
The new king was so happy that he killed the king and his father, scolded his own brother, not to mention the so-called uncle.
The saint was determined to purge the royal family. Although the two kings were princes, they had long been on the list of those to be killed by the current master.
The Second King is a beast among men. He knew he was going to die, yet he came to seek help from King Xin. It seems that his crimes and atrocities are not due to the ignorance of animals, but are simply due to his innate evil...
This matter concerns your Majesty's uncle and younger brother. The ministers remained silent, the Crown Prince watched, and only Prince Qi and Prince Fu in the court jumped a hundred feet high.
The King of Qi was eager to gain merit, and fearing that killing his uncle would damage the emperor's reputation, Li Erlang volunteered to judge the two kings of Zhao and Zhou on his father's behalf and execute the Jiang and Qian clans...
When Prince Fu saw Prince Xin being scolded by the emperor, he turned around and labeled the emperor's brother and his own uncle as a traitor to the Guo family. Li San did not see the emperor's anger and took the job on his own.
The Prince of Qi wanted to destroy the Jiang and Qian clans, and the Prince of Fu wanted to kill his uncle, the Prince of Xin.
The Yan family holds spears, the Yan family holds tablets, and the saint holds the fish token to rule the world. State and family affairs are all in the mind of the new monarch, and court officials all make a living by trying to figure out the monarch's mind.
Civil officials have read many books and military generals have made many achievements, but they are not as favored as the eunuchs who are around the sage.
This means that political achievements are not as good as speculation, and brute force is not as good as taking shortcuts.
The sage ignored his brother and forcibly killed the two kings.
As for the Jiang family, the Dali Temple submitted memorials to the emperor, requesting the confiscation of property and exile, but the emperor did not agree. The Ministry of Justice, seeing the situation, did not mention the Qian family.
The court officials speculated that the saint wanted to release the Jiang and Qian families.
The ministers followed this advice, but the emperor still did not agree, and the court officials were confused.
The Jiang family and the Qian family have been detained for several months.
The King of Qi put his emperor before his father, and forgot his father to serve his emperor. After the Secretary of State Yue Jia gave him some advice and the eunuchs advised him, he finally shut up.
Prince Fu never paid homage to his wife's family. In addition, his uncle was incompetent and he had no wise ministers around him. I don't know who Li San had offended. No one in the court kept his mouth shut, and no civil or military official tried to enlighten him.
Li San had no king, no father, and no relatives. He held a butcher knife and killed people with his eyes closed.
The emperor and empress tried to control him several times but failed, so they had to imprison him in the palace to reflect on his actions alone.
By mid-July, Prince Xin was seriously ill and became ill due to worry.
The prince came as ordered. When Prince Xin saw the prince of the Eastern Palace, he immediately got up from his sickbed and paid his respects to His Royal Highness the Prince.
The king sat up again, fell asleep again, cried again, complained again, and sobbed again. Over and over again, he only repeated four sentences, "Your Highness, the Kings of Zhao and Zhou are definitely not part of the party that deposed the crown prince. The Jiang and Qian families were forced by Concubine Guo. Doesn't Your Majesty trust your own brother? Doesn't Your Highness trust your own uncle?"
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince helped Prince Xin to his feet and asked, "Uncle Wang has been imprisoned for years, and even the Emperor rarely sees him. How could he be so close to the rebellious princes? The two princes have been executed, so uncle Wang, please do not mention it again."
Don’t mention the rebel king.
Prince Xin went back and forth, leaving only three sentences, "The Jiang and Qian families were forced by Concubine Guo. Doesn't Your Majesty trust your own brother? Doesn't Your Highness trust your own uncle?"
Prince Xin looked at the Crown Prince, and Your Highness looked at me.
I took the opportunity to help the princess, the lady and the county lady to their feet.
Seeing the two concubines pale and the county lady weeping, I said, "You two ladies look haggard and sick. I think you must have suffered at the hands of Guo. If you had obeyed Concubine Guo, why would you have suffered with the prince? The princess is strong-willed and refused to yield to Guo. She is loyal to the emperor and husband. There must be loyal people in the family. Guo stole the country and caused chaos, and everyone is trying to escape responsibility by using the word "forced". I am afraid that the three courts cannot investigate the whole matter. I hope Your Highness will make a wise judgment."
Prince Xin listened to what I said and said "yes" ten times in a row.
The princess and the lady bowed repeatedly, and I helped them up one by one.
Wang Yicheng, a minister of the Eastern Palace, immediately knelt down and advised His Highness to conduct a thorough investigation and clear the name of the princess, the Jiang family, and the Qian family.
Now that His Highness has spoken clearly, we will naturally investigate the matter.
So, a group of old ministers praised His Highness as benevolent, filial and wise, and said he was worthy of being the crown prince of the Joseon Dynasty.
The authority of the emperor and empress must not be violated, and the holy will of the sage cannot be disobeyed.
The sage wanted to fulfill Prince Xin's wish, and also wanted Prince Xin to know and be loyal to the king. He also wanted his subjects to understand the sage's heart. He openly paved the way for the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, and secretly allowed me to win over the hearts of the people.
Rather than saying that the Crown Prince is the emperor's son and I am the empress's daughter, the Eastern Palace and I are more like a minister of the Yongle Palace and a female official of the Lizheng Palace.
That day, I went to Prince Xin's house and left the wisdom, benevolence and filial piety to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the wisdom and charity to me.
He is indeed the son of the emperor and the daughter of the empress. The other princes and princesses of the Li family did not have this honor.
The saint gifted the Buddhist temple to pray for the king’s brother, and the queen gifted the pagoda to pray for the king’s uncle.
He also granted Prince Xin a villa outside the city for his enjoyment and recreation.
The Lord posthumously conferred the title of Prince on Prince Xin's eldest son who died young, and the Queen promoted Prince Xin's eldest daughter, the Princess of Yuyang County, to the title of Princess.
Before leaving, the prince advised his uncle to enjoy himself in Chang'an and not to ask about the Li and Guo families.
I also advise Princess Jiang, Mrs. Qian, Princess Yuyang, and Princess Shouyang to take care of their health, enjoy the mountains and rivers, and return to Chang'an.
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