The people didn't understand why the emperor suddenly issued an amnesty order when the eighth prince, who had committed a heinous crime, was carried to the execution ground and the knife was at his neck. People outside the palace didn't know what was going on. They only knew that the Sheng Palace was bustling again. All the things that were carried out of the palace were returned, and there were many more rewards. They listened to the eunuchs in the palace reading the gift list at the gate of the Sheng Palace that day. The things that the emperor gave out sounded more and better than what was originally in the Sheng Palace.
The people didn't understand why this happened, and they complained a lot, but they didn't dare to speak out in the streets, so they could only hide in their homes and sulk. People living in the east, west and south directions were better off, after all, they were bystanders and had a worse direct experience. But the poor people living in the north of the city were upset. They lived in the houses built by the Prince Yu's Mansion and used the daily necessities bought by the Princess Yu. They would scold the Eighth Prince three times every morning, noon and night, and also scold Emperor Tianwu a few times.
Nowadays, the people in the north of the city have an unwritten rule that when they meet, they curse the emperor, the eighth prince, and the court together before talking about other things. And no one is allowed to report the cursing. If anyone leaks this matter, the people in the north of the city will tear the traitor to pieces even if they risk being beheaded.
But what good would it do to just curse? The imperial edict was issued by the emperor. They had dared to smash the gate of Prince Sheng's mansion with cabbage stalks before, but they dared not smash the gate of the imperial palace. Everyone knew that it would be regarded as treason and they would be beheaded on the spot.
As for the Eighth Prince Xuan Tianmo, he was now resting in the palace. He had suffered a lot in the death row, especially his legs, which had some root diseases. Emperor Tianwu was very distressed and annoyed, and asked all the doctors in the palace to take turns to treat his "most beloved son". In the end, it was determined that Sun Qi would be the main doctor for the Eighth Prince's injury, and Emperor Tianwu also kept Sun Qi in the Sheng Palace, asking him to watch over the Eighth Prince around the clock, and not to be careless for a moment.
Sun Qi's medical skills were good. At least he was chosen by Song Kang, so he was not an ordinary doctor. He treated Xuan Tianmo, and Xuan Tianmo's legs got much better. However, the medicines Sun Qi specified were all unique to Baicaotang, which meant that people from Shengwang Mansion had to go to Baicaotang frequently to buy medicine. Baicaotang didn't like this at first, but the Eighth Prince had an imperial order, so Baicaotang had to obey.
Yao Xuan personally went to Feng Yuheng to talk about this matter and asked Feng Yuheng how to deal with it. Feng Yuheng only said after listening: "Give him the medicine, as much as he wants, but you must ask him for money. Increase the amount of silver tenfold. It's up to him whether to buy it or not."
In fact, Xuan Tianmo would have to buy it even if it was twenty times, not to mention ten times. After all, the good medicine of Baicaotang was hard to find in the world, and everyone understood this truth.
After about ten days, Xuan Tianmo's legs had recovered, except for some rheumatism, which no longer affected his walking. The New Year was approaching, and the first thing Xuan Tianmo did after getting up was to immediately ask people to prepare silver to compensate the poor in the north of the city and distribute New Year's goods.
No one had any doubts about this move. The process went very smoothly at Prince Sheng's Mansion. It only took one day to prepare all the silver and New Year's goods. However, the staff of the mansion expressed different opinions. They said to Xuan Tianmo: "Last time, it was because of the food that caused trouble. This time, Your Highness should not send any New Year's goods. It would be better to convert those things into silver. Those lowly people are still happiest when they see silver."
Xuan Tianmo thought about it and realized that it was the same thing, so he listened to his staff and returned the New Year's goods in exchange for silver. This time, he personally led his guards to the north of the city to deliver the money. It was not until he saw the newly built houses in the north of the city in a short period of time that the hatred in his heart surged again. He did not expect that he came up with the idea of bringing Zhu Kongshan to the capital to redeem his reputation, but in the end it was to make wedding clothes for Xuan Tianming and Feng Yuheng. He was busy for half a winter, but he could not win so much good reputation as the other party who only spent a few days and some money, and left so many houses in the north of the city that would last forever.
He now found these houses particularly annoying, and he wished he could tear them down right there. Since it was the north of the city, it should look like the north of the city. These untouchables should live in dilapidated temples, wear shabby clothes, and even freeze to death every day in winter. But what is this now? If the untouchables all live in good houses, what kind of untouchables are they?
However, this thought was just in his mind. On the surface, Xuan Tianmo still had to act like a good person. After all, he came here today to try to restore his reputation. Although Emperor Tianwu had already tried his best to protect him, he still had to do what he should do outside. It was not enough to just have the emperor to help him. Only those who won the hearts of the people could win the world. He understood this principle.
As soon as Xuan Tianmo arrived in the north of the city, he got off the imperial carriage and knocked on doors with a group of guards holding silver. When people opened the door and saw that it was the Eighth Prince who they cursed every day, they didn't know how to face him. After all, he was a prince. It was okay to curse him behind his back, but it was not good to curse him in front of him. But people felt a little uncomfortable for them to accept the silver from Xuan Tianmo. What kind of money is this? Is it a hush money? If they accept it, will they have to say good things about the Eighth Prince against their conscience in the future? Or should they suppress all their previous dissatisfaction?
People felt that if they held the money back they would probably suffer internal injuries, so no one took the silver. Instead, they all walked out of their homes and stood on the main street in the north of the city watching the scene indifferently, wondering what this evil prince was up to today.
More and more people came out on the street. Everyone who was at home came out, and the crowds of people stood there. Xuan Tianmo saw that people didn't accept the silver, and he knew that these lowly people must still have a barrier in their hearts towards him. He tried his best to act friendly, and said to the people helplessly: "This king knows what you are thinking in your hearts, and I know that you must have cursed this king a thousand times in your hearts. But what this king wants to say is that regarding the large number of deaths of people in the north of the city, the emperor has already made a clear ruling. All of this was done by Zhu Kongshan and the Zhu family. They changed the winter clothes of the concubine and added a lot of poison when cooking porridge, which caused the tragedy in the north of the city. Now, the entire Zhu family has been executed, which can be regarded as paying for the lives of those dead people. This king came here today because he hopes that your life can be better, so he prepared silver for each household and each person, and I hope everyone can accept this king's heart."
He pushed the blame on Zhu Kongshan, which was understandable, because it was Zhu Kongshan who did it, and he was telling the truth. But no one in the north of the city believed his truth. When they heard that he pushed the blame on Zhu Kongshan and that the entire Zhu family was executed, the poor people in the north of the city were furious. Those who didn't dare to confront the Eighth Prince in person also gave up. After all, they had beaten this man in the street because of the Baicaotang incident.
So, sending silver was originally a good thing, but it eventually turned into the Eighth Prince being surrounded and beaten by all the people in the north of the city.
Xuan Tianmo was terrified. He didn't expect the people to be so excited. He thought money could solve everything, but he didn't expect that it wouldn't work in this case. During the siege, the guards threw away the silver in their hands to protect him. The silver was scattered on the ground and was snatched by people. Unfortunately, people didn't snatch it to spend, but to hit people. Large pieces of silver coins were thrown at Xuan Tianmo's head, and two big lumps appeared on his head after a few hits.
The guards did everything they could to protect him and evacuate, even drawing their swords, which frightened off some timid people and finally cleared a path. Xuan Tianmo fled back to the imperial carriage in a very embarrassed manner. The driver drove the carriage at full speed and only breathed a sigh of relief after running for a long distance.
Xuan Tianmo was extremely depressed. He couldn't understand what these lowly people wanted to do by not wanting the money.
But the guards around him reminded him: "Your Highness, the silver was also left by them."
Xuan Tianmo was stunned for a moment, then he remembered that he had just been hit on the head with silver. Thinking of this, the big bump on his head hurt even more. He was so angry that he kicked the guard hard: "If you can't even keep the silver, why do I keep you?"
The imperial carriage sped along and finally left the northern part of the city and arrived at the bustling streets. Xuan Tianmo finally put his mind at ease. Even if it was safe here, those lowly people in the northern part of the city would not chase him here. Damn it, he finally recovered his leg, but he didn't expect to hurt his head again.
On the busy street, the imperial carriage moved very slowly, and even stopped after a while. Xuan Tianmo asked dissatisfiedly: "Why did it stop?"
The driver outside said, "Your Highness, we have met the carriage from Prince Yuan's Palace. Should we let them pass first?"
Prince Yuan is the second prince, and Xuan Tianmo, as the younger brother, should give way. In the past, the driver would give way without asking. But now is different. His Highness is very proud and is a big hit in front of the emperor. The second prince has never been competitive and has not made much achievements in meritorious service and government affairs. This makes the driver of Prince Sheng's mansion think that the eighth prince no longer needs to follow the principle of elder brother first and younger brother second.
After the driver asked this question, before Xuan Tianmo could answer, a crisp voice came from outside, "The carriage of Prince Sheng's Mansion? Is Uncle Eight in it?"
Xuan Tianmo recognized the voice as his eldest nephew Xuan Feiyu. Then he thought, it was the end of the year, Xuan Feiyu was studying in Xiaozhou, shouldn't he be back? No matter what, he still loved this nephew a little bit, and was about to get up and lift the curtain to talk to him, but when he saw how embarrassed he was, he felt that it was really embarrassing in front of a child, so he simply waved his hand at the guards, indicating that he was not there, and sent Xuan Feiyu away.
It was not until he heard the carriage of Prince Yuan's Mansion slowly passing by his own palace carriage that an idea suddenly occurred to Xuan Tianmo's mind...
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