Looking at the white and black paper in front of her, Qing'er's eyes suddenly widened a little and her eyelashes trembled.

Jiang Si smiled and comforted her: "Don't be afraid, just stretch out your finger, dip it in the cinnabar and press it. It's easier than writing."

At the door, Ah Man looked up at the sky silently.

Girl, you are really good at comforting people.

Qing'er was obviously even more frightened and was afraid to reach out.

Jiang Siqiao's face turned cold: "Why, you dare to do something so evil, but you dare not admit it?"

Qing Er fell to her knees and begged, "Girl, please forgive me. I won't dare to do it again..."

Jiang Si sneered: "If begging for mercy is useful, what else do we need the government for?"

Qing'er looked at Jiang Si hesitantly.

The girl looked at her coldly, with a firm expression that would not concede rejection.

"Miss, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just had no choice. If I hadn't agreed to Master Zhu at that time, my sister and I would have been killed by my brother..." Qing'er begged for mercy with her last bit of hope.

Jiang Si's eyes became more and more serious, with a sneer on his lips: "In order to survive for yourself and your loved ones, you can justify killing innocent people? How dare you say such words to beg for mercy? Well, sign it quickly. If I am happy, I may not hand it over to the government. If you keep nagging, I will go find Yu'er..."

"I'll draw!" When Qing'er heard Jiang Si mention Yu'er, she completely lost the courage to persist and pressed her fingerprints on the paper with tears in her eyes.

Jiang Si blew away the ink and folded the papers and put them away.

Many people stayed awake all night.

Jiang Yi rested at Haitangju.

It was late at night and the wind suddenly picked up outside, banging against the windows, but the room was warm as spring.

Jiang Si slept next to Jiang Yi, and turned sideways to look at his elder sister who was not sleepy at all.

"Sister, can't you sleep?"

Jiang Yi shook her eyelids lightly and did not respond to Jiang Si's words.

Jiang Si reached out his hand from under the quilt and embraced Jiang Yi's frail body.

Dim lights, a quiet house, a cold night with howling winds.

Jiang Yi's heart struggled in the cold lake water. Her sister's gentle voice was like drifting wood, giving her a little hope.

"Big sister, Yanyan won't be able to sleep without you."

At this time, Jiang Si would not be stupid enough to ask Jiang Yi if she still loved Zhu Ziyu.

She understood her elder sister's feelings very well.

After trusting and loving a man for so many years, how could you immediately cut off your feelings even if you saw his ugliest side one day?

What the eldest sister needs at this moment is time. Use time, the coldest whetstone, to polish her soft heart bit by bit. Finally, she can calmly call the man a "beast" when she thinks of him. This is the tolerance of time.

She believed that there would be such a day, but not now. What she had to do now was to use Yanyan to inspire her elder sister to have the courage to face everything.

And Jiang Yi did react when she heard Jiang Si mention her daughter.

She clutched her snow-white undergarment tightly and cried silently.

Jiang Si's eyes were wet, and he said softly: "Sister, Yanyan will be here to accompany you soon. You and Yanyan will live here in the future. With father, second brother, and me, our family will be fine..."

Jiang Yi pulled Jiang Si's sleeve with extra force, and her crying suddenly became louder.

Ah Qiao, who was sleeping in the outer room, turned over quietly and sighed in her heart.

The eldest aunt is so pitiful. It seems that the girl is living a free life.

Well, actually there is nothing wrong with sneaking out for a stroll in the middle of the night or having a handsome guy climb over the wall to stroll in at night.

My aunt was gentle, well-behaved and polite, but so what in the end?

Jiang Si, who was comforting her elder sister, didn't know that in this cold late night, her other maid, Aqiao, had a drastic change in her mentality.

Before daybreak, officials who needed to attend court had already walked out of their homes, holding lanterns in the cold wind, and hurried towards the Qianqing Gate.

Emperor Jingming also got up early, and was helped by the eunuchs to dress properly and start the day's government affairs.

Emperor Jingming went to bed late last night because he was secretly reading a storybook, and now he is still a little groggy.

Seeing that Emperor Jingming was in low spirits, the chief eunuch Pan Hai cautiously suggested, "Your Majesty, let me bring you a bowl of refreshing soup."

"No thanks." Emperor Jingming waved his hands to refuse.

Every morning, there are only the same things, which is really boring.

Of course, even though Emperor Jingming complained, he still enjoyed this boredom.

Being boring means that nothing big, bad or annoying happens. This way he can read storybooks with peace of mind. Otherwise, as a wise ruler, he will be unable to sleep at night and worry about the country and the people.

I felt a little sleepy, so I went to take a nap. After finishing my government affairs, I had to finish reading the rest of the storybook. I was just reading the interesting part last night when Pan Hai confiscated it!

Emperor Jingming glanced at those familiar faces, and his long-cultivated sensitivity immediately made him feel something was wrong.

Why do some guys act like they've been injected with chicken blood?

Emperor Jingming immediately came to a silent conclusion in his heart: It seems that someone is going to be in trouble.

Sure enough, as soon as Rijian finished speaking, several people rushed forward to impeach the same person: Zhu Ziyu, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy.

The New Year is coming soon, and these historians are worried about not being able to complete their assignments. You, a scholar of impeccable character who is supposed to be a role model for scholars all over the world, have caused such a thing. Shouldn't you be impeached and kept for the New Year?

After listening to the impassioned speeches of several historians, Emperor Jingming was also shocked.

A scholar with a promising future actually kept a mistress and treated her as a husband and wife?

How did such an idiot pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi?

Emperor Jingming stroked his chin, feeling a little unhappy.

This year, there have been many cases of people ignoring secular ethics for the sake of the women they like. First it was the boy from the Anguo Mansion, and now it's Zhu Shaoqing's son.

This kind of thing is so touching in a storybook, and it happens again and again in real life. Does it mean that he has not disciplined his people well and that they have ignored the rules and etiquette?

It must be that the previous lenient treatment of Duke Anguo gave these people a misconception.

This kind of unhealthy trend must not be encouraged!

Emperor Jingming's face suddenly darkened: "You are right, I will dismiss Zhu Ziyu from his post and never employ him again."

"Your Majesty is wise." Several historians felt inexplicably aggrieved.

They did not expect the emperor to handle the matter so efficiently, leaving them with no room to maneuver.

"Zhu Deming, the Right Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, is incompetent in disciplining his students, so he should be demoted to the rank of Fifth Rank Temple Secretary."

The ministers were shocked and thought that the emperor was really ruthless this time.

It is normal for a son to make a mistake and bring trouble upon his father, but Zhu Shaoqing must have cried himself to death after being demoted two levels at once.

Emperor Jingming glanced at his ministers slowly and said, "Duke Anguo will be fined one year's salary."

The ministers were stunned.

What's going on with Duke An?

I remember that in late spring, the youngest son of Duke An committed suicide for love with a commoner girl, but they had been married for several months.

Emperor Jingming seemed to have anticipated what his ministers were thinking, and said calmly, "Compensate for the punishment."

The ministers' expressions were distorted.

Is this still possible?

Emperor Jingming's three consecutive punishments showed a certain attitude, which made his ministers feel frightened.

"What is the origin of the woman who was hanging out with Zhu Ziyu?"