Su Shanyue did not try to persuade him any further.
He called a prison warden and took Fu Xiaoguan to the Dali Temple Prison.
Lou Shiwu, Shaoqing of Dali Temple, walked in at this moment and sat opposite Su Shanyue.
"Sir, this gentleman..."
Su Shanyue raised his eyebrows slightly, "This gentleman is going to visit the prison with the emperor's oral order."
"Oh..." Lou Shiwu nodded slightly, took a teacup, and poured himself a cup of tea. "I just heard the news that at the court meeting today, His Majesty conferred the title of Ding'an Earl on this gentleman, and granted the three wives the title of third-rank imperial decree. The plaque of the Fu Mansion will soon be replaced with the imperially bestowed gold plaque Ding'an Earl Mansion."
Su Shanyue was startled. Lou Shiwu laughed, stroking his long beard and saying, "Since this gentleman came, the six major families in Jinling have fallen... five of them have fallen. Don't underestimate this gentleman because you have been standing on the corpses of the five major families!"
Su Shanyue frowned, "Don't say such nonsense. Everyone can see Ding'an's ability. Besides... he could have been the emperor of the Wu Dynasty. Now that he has become the largest family in Jinling, it is reasonable and logical."
Lou Shiwu drank the tea in one gulp and said, "Your Excellency is absolutely right. I didn't say that, I heard it from someone else."
"Who's gossiping?"
"The Censorate, these old fools were once punished by the Earl of Ding'an, but now they've learned their lesson. Perhaps they no longer have the support of Qin Huizhi and Xue Kailian, so they dare not submit a letter to Your Majesty to impeach the Earl of Ding'an. Yet, they still want to tarnish his reputation. Their hearts are damned!"
Su Shanyue thought for a few breaths and whispered, "Send someone to monitor these old immortals. If they are found spreading rumors, capture them immediately!"
Lou Shiwu clasped his fists and bowed, "I'll do it right away."
…
…
The heavily guarded Dali Temple Prison is the highest-level prison in the city of Jinling.
Generally speaking, ordinary prisoners were imprisoned in the Jinling government prison. If the case involved officials of the Yu Dynasty or the case was particularly serious, they would be imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice prison.
As for being imprisoned in the Dali Temple, it was basically a death sentence.
Xi Xunmei was sitting in the cell. In one corner of the cell were straw mats and straw mats, which was where he slept.
In the other corner was a smelly wooden barrel. In the middle of the room was a low table. Sunlight from the high window shone in. He sat in the slanting ray of sunlight, with his legs bent and his eyes squinted, looking at the dazzling sun in the high blue sky outside the window. His face was expressionless.
Under the guidance of the prison warden, Fu Xiaoguan came to the door of the cell.
"Master Fu, the smell inside is... a bit pungent. Why don't you just stay at the door and watch him?"
"No problem, open the door, I'll go in and talk to him."
The old warden looked at Fu Xiaoguan's back, stretched out his hand to call the jailer, and asked him to open the cell door. Fu Xiaoguan walked in and his eyes fell on Xi Xunmei.
His clothes were worn out, his face was no longer lively, and he looked a little listless, but his hair was still meticulously groomed.
This once glorious Minister of Personnel now looks like an old farmer fleeing for his life.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Xi Xunmei turned his head slightly. Perhaps because his eyes had just turned from the bright place to the dark place, his eyes narrowed even more, almost into a line.
Through the line, he could vaguely see the person who came in. His eyes slowly widened, and then he grinned.
"I didn't expect you to come see me."
Fu Xiaoguan also laughed, "I just got back last night. I was a little late, so I'm sorry for making you suffer."
Xi Xunmei shook her head. "Actually, you shouldn't have come. In the eighth year of the Xuanli reign, you first came to the capital. At that time, Master Qin Bingzhong hoped that I could take care of you. I am Master Qin's student, and I always listen carefully to what my teacher says... Please sit down."
He pointed to the low stool next to the low table. Fu Xiaoguan walked over and sat down facing him.
"I had hoped I could look after you, but I didn't expect you to be so capable. You actually caught His Majesty's eye with just a piece of policy paper... Actually, now that I think about it, you would have caught His Majesty's eye regardless of that policy paper."
"You are a prince of the Wu Dynasty. Both Emperor Wen and the current Emperor Wu have had a rather delicate relationship with Your Majesty. Your Majesty and Empress Shang are aware of your identity, but the ministers like me and the six major clans of Jinling have been kept in the dark."
"So I never helped you. You just returned to Jinling yesterday, and you came to see me today... I still say that, you shouldn't have come."
Fu Xiaoguan smiled slightly. "But I still came. It's not because you helped me, but because I want to ask you. The Xi family began to withdraw in batches during the New Year. You should have known that Xi Hua betrayed His Majesty and was going to rebel. Why didn't you report it? Or... why didn't you leave?"
Xi Xunmei lowered his head, a self-deprecating smile on his face. "The ruler is the ruler, the minister is the minister; the father is the father, the son is the son... On one side is the ruler and the minister, on the other side is the father and the son. If I report to the ruler, it would be patricide; if I conceal the truth from the ruler, it would be deceiving the ruler. I am the Minister of Personnel and I am well aware of the laws of Dayu. I know Xi Hua will definitely fail, but I don't want the Xi family to be confiscated and all nine generations of the clan to be exterminated."
So I was in great pain during that period. Although the Confucian classics said that among Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teachers, the Emperor comes before Parents, but when I really faced it and had to make a choice, I found that I could not choose between loyalty to the emperor and family affection.
Therefore, I never informed Your Majesty, nor did I leave… I could not leave, because I was still loyal to the emperor, so I could only stay and die to thank the emperor for his grace.”
Fu Xiaoguan listened carefully and was silent for a moment. "Actually, in my opinion, your choice is not wrong. If it were me, I would do the same as you."
Xi Xunmei was startled and looked at Fu Xiaoguan, "Don't say such things again."
"Let's not discuss this issue now. I want to ask you another question. In terms of Dayu's laws, besides the codes issued by the Ministry of Commerce, how much do you know about the rest?"
"The laws of the Yu Dynasty were based on the Yu Criminal Code. Basically, all lawsuits were decided according to the provisions of the Yu Criminal Code."
Fu Xiaoguan had never studied the laws of the Yu Dynasty before, so he couldn't help but frown when he heard this. The meaning was similar to the "Song Xing Tong" of the Song Dynasty in his previous life.
"I need someone like this now to rewrite the laws. Civil law and criminal law must be separated."
Fu Xiaoguan patted his butt and stood up. "Old Qin has a copy of the 'Code of Neo-Confucianism'. You can go get it and take a look after you get out. The smell in here is too strong. As for the rest, we can discuss it after you get out."
Fu Xiaoguan walked out of the cell, and Xi Xunmei narrowed her eyes again.
But what he was thinking about was the separation of civil law and criminal law... What does this lord want to do?
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