Chapter 302: The Golden Medal for Immunity from Death
"That young man is so handsome, but he looks a little unfamiliar. Is this his first time here? Let's go ask him!" The
one walking in front was Shen Zhouan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice. This Shen and the emperor's Shen are not from the same family, but they just happened to be surnamed Shen.
My cheap father once said that this man was average in ability, but he was obedient. As long as he was assigned to do something, he would do it conscientiously. No matter what his superiors wanted him to do, he would never ask why, but would just work hard.
But he had an advantage that many officials in the Ministry of Justice did not have, that is, he was good-looking.
My cheap father was comparable to Emperor Xuanwu in terms of Ka Yan.
Jiang Xinyue knew her own limitations. If she came in disguised as a man, she would be discovered as a woman in a short while. The height and body shape difference between men and women was still very large.
The girls in Yihonglou make a living from this, so how could they not tell the difference between men and women?
You can tell the difference after just two steps.
So she... dressed up as Shen Zhouan's maid.
It's rare to see someone visiting a brothel with a maid, but if someone visits a brothel with a stunning maid, he will be considered a rich and playful young man who knows how to have fun.
"Oh! This young master is a rare guest!" The
beautiful girl twisted her waist and pushed Jiang Xinyue out with her butt. There were many men around who were sympathetic to women and reached out to hug her slender waist.
A big hand suddenly stretched out from the side and hugged the beauty's slender waist before everyone else.
The man was wearing a noble purple robe with a piece of mutton-fat white jade hanging from his waist, which was visibly expensive and rare.
Anyone with a bit of insight could tell that this young man in purple had an extraordinary background and could not be easily provoked.
"Your Majesty..."
Jiang Xinyue covered her mouth in shock and said softly, "Why are you here?"
Emperor Xuanwu smacked his lips and said, "I cannot accept the thought of you pretending to be another man's woman. If you must have a man, why can't it be me?"
How dare Shen Zhouan act so pretentiously?
The moment she saw the emperor, her tall figure bent down.
The girl, who was full of the strong fragrance of powder, thought that Shen Zhouan was already the biggest gold nugget in the audience. Now there was another handsome man who made the gold nuggets kowtow, so she wanted to use the same trick again.
"Hey, this gentleman is nice..."
"Hmph!"
The gleaming white knife stopped the girl's approaching steps. The emperor didn't even look at her, and went to the private room on the second floor with Jiang Xinyue in his arms.
The girl rolled her eyes at their backs and said, "Tsk! Pretending to be noble."
The private room on the second floor was covered on three sides, and the side that could see the stage was covered by pearl chains.
Shen Zhouan and several other officials who came in dressed up were pulled to their seats by the girls of Yihonglou. Only Wang Dequan and several personal guards were guarding inside and outside the private room.
"I have sent people to inquire about it. This Yihong Building is the property of the Chengguogong Mansion. Because it has a big man as a backer, this Yihong Building is very rampant in the local area. I have never been here in previous years, and I don't know their bad behavior. It is said that the new girls in the building will be auctioned at the Flower Bud Night. If your cousin is sold here, she will definitely be auctioned as a commodity tonight."
So, they just have to wait and see.
Jiang Xinyue suddenly thought of what Concubine Jiang told her, that Chengguogong had planted spies in the Ministry of Justice of her stepfather. Her lips moved, but she finally held back and didn't say anything.
It's better to let other people say things like complaints than to let Jiang Xinyue say them herself.
Looking down from the second floor, one can clearly see the layout of the entire stage. The guests downstairs can no longer wait and are shouting, "Mother Hong, didn't you say there will be a new girl auctioning for the Flower Stamen Night tonight? Where is she? Bring her out quickly!"
"What kind of fairy is this? Our Third Master Qu has been waiting for a whole night. If she doesn't look good when she comes out, our Third Master will destroy your Yihong Tower."
The old brothel owner came forward and comforted him flatteringly: "Don't worry, Third Master! If she wasn't a good thing, how could I dare to bother you? It's really this."
She raised her thumbs up: "She is beautiful, smart and lovely, and she is proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. You can tell at first glance that she is a rich family's daughter who is kept in the backyard and never goes out of the front door. Third Master Bao will be very satisfied."
The man who was flattered looked very young, tall and thin, with dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he had a weak kidney due to excessive indulgence.
Third Master Qu chuckled and pulled out a banknote from his sleeve: "If I am satisfied, you will definitely benefit from it."
"That is the nephew of Duke Cheng, the child of Concubine De's mother's younger brother. He should call Duke Cheng - uncle."
No wonder the old procuress treated him so differently.
She didn't even need to ask, the emperor had already answered for her: "The Qu family of Qinzhou saved the life of the late emperor three times when he led the army to fight. After the internal and external peace was restored, the old lady of the Qu family retired and handed over the military power, so the late emperor gave the Qu family a gold medal of immunity from death."
This is the most fundamental reason why the old lady of Duke Cheng's mansion dared to beat the empress.
The emperor did not take action against Duke Cheng because he knew that the Qu family had a gold medal of immunity from death. If the gold medal of immunity from death was still in the Qu family, no matter whether it was Duke Cheng or Concubine De, no matter how big the mistake was, they would be exempted from punishment.
No wonder there are so many noble ladies in the capital, but Duke Cheng didn't choose any of them, but fell in love with the eldest daughter of the Qu family who was far away in Chenzhou.
It turned out that he had his eyes on the golden medal of immunity from death in her family, so he dared to do so many small tricks in secret, right?
Jiang Xinyue was lucky again. Fortunately, she had been careful and handed over the evidence of the former emperor and concubine to herself, and Concubine De's murder of the royal heir.
Otherwise, once she showed the golden medal of immunity from death, wouldn't such a big trump card be played in vain?
She even had reason to suspect that the emperor was actually collecting evidence of the crimes of Duke Cheng and Concubine De, and wanted to collect enough evidence to sentence them to death at once, forcing the Qu family to take out the golden medal of immunity from death.
Jiang Xinyue was very smart, not just ordinary smart. She lowered her eyes and hid the shock in her heart.
Therefore, the death of the late Empress was also caused by the Emperor.
Because the Duke of Cheng’s mansion not only has the old lady holding the tiger-head stick given by the late Emperor, but also the in-laws of the Qu family holding the golden medal of immunity from death, it is extremely difficult to overthrow the Duke of Cheng. Only by taking
back the tiger-head stick of the old lady of the Duke of Cheng can we take back the golden medal of immunity from death when they make mistakes again.
The price of taking back the tiger-head stick is the life of the Empress, so this time taking back the golden medal of immunity from death... could it be that... the price is the Jiang family?
"Are you cold?"
Emperor Xuanwu held her shivering body and rubbed her arms. Jiang Xinyue's hair stood up.
She clenched her fists tightly: "A little."
"Wang Dequan, ask someone to take the ice basin away."
It's not that her body is cold, but her heart is cold. How can Jiang Xinyue dare to give her true heart to someone who can even scheme against her and make her lose everything?