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◎Brothers are brothers, and rulers and subjects are rulers and subjects.◎
Because he didn't stay in Qianyuan Hall for long, Qingyang returned to Chongwen Pavilion to attend arithmetic class, and managed to finish class at the same time as his eldest and third brothers.
Qin Bing was away, so Qin Ren became the one who talked the most. He asked his sister, "Where's my second brother?"
Qingyang: "The Emperor punishes my second brother by having him reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors."
Qin Ren: "Yuan Chongli?"
Qingyang: "He went home to recuperate and will come back when he's better."
Qin Liang: "Did the emperor mention the case of the Marquis of Pingliang?"
Qingyang: "This is a matter of great importance to the court. I cannot tell you. Anyone who wants to know can ask my father."
Qin Liang: "..."
Qin Hong: "Okay, let's stop asking about the court affairs and go back to eat."
No matter how many princes had lunch in Chongwen Pavilion, the three princes would go back to their respective palaces to eat in the small kitchen, take a short break after lunch, and then go to the martial arts hall for martial arts lessons.
In the past, Qingyang would finish school early and go to her father and mother's house for dinner. But today, since they were all together, she followed her third brother.
Qin Ren: "Sister, are you not going to look for Mother?"
Qingyang: "Let's go after we finish eating. I want to see how Second Brother reflects on his mistakes."
Qin Hong and Qin Ren: "..."
Qin Bing's Jinghe Palace was just east of Qin Hong's Chongyuan Palace. Qin Ren was determined to satisfy his sister's curiosity. When he approached Chongyuan Palace, he looked at his eldest brother and asked, "Brother, are you going?"
Although Crown Prince Qin Hong, who was already fourteen years old and considered himself to be mature and sensible, was also somewhat curious, he suppressed the urge to agree. He acted like an older brother and advised, "Just take a quick look. Don't stay too long."
Qin Ren: "Well, let's just take a look."
After bidding farewell to his elder brother, Qin Ren walked ahead holding his sister's hand, with Zhang Su following three steps behind.
Qin Hong stood there for a moment, then turned and went back into his own Chongyuan Palace. Qin Liang followed him and whispered, "After being beaten like that, I thought the Emperor would have given the Second Prince a new study partner."
Qin Hong didn't say anything. When Qin Liang first became his study partner, he was really close to his cousin for a while. The two were inseparable and could talk about anything. But after several incidents where Qin Liang accidentally revealed his words to his father and his father criticized him for it, Qin Hong knew to be on guard against Qin Liang without his eldest sister reminding him.
"I'm hungry, let's go eat." Qin Hong quickened his pace and walked into the aisle, especially cherishing the time he didn't have to face Qin Liang every day.
Jinghe Palace.
Qin Bing, with nothing to do, had already eaten lunch early. The eunuch Chang Ji, following his father's orders, had locked him in the inner chamber. Unable to escape, Qin Bing could only lie in bed and sleep. But after receiving several kicks from Yuan Chongli, even the pain from applying medicine was unbearable. Adding to the frustration of being confined, Qin Bing couldn't sleep at all. He kept thinking about the morning's events, and ultimately directed all his anger at the two talkative eunuchs.
There were voices coming from the yard. It was his third brother and sister. Qin Bing got out of bed, ran to the window and pushed it open.
Chang Ji, the eunuch who was greeting the two princes, said: "..."
He ran over in fear and tried to close the window from the outside to prevent the third prince and the little princess from accidentally letting the cat out of the bag in front of the emperor, and the emperor from blaming his own princes for not being sincere in their reflection.
Qin Bing pushed his hand away, glaring, and said, "Father only told me to reflect on my mistakes behind closed doors, he didn't say I can't open the window. Move aside!"
Chang Ji winked at the third prince and his sister.
Qin Ren: "... Don't worry, brother. My sister and I just came to see you and won't tell anyone."
Qin Bing beckoned his younger siblings to come closer, humphing, "Changji, you're worrying for nothing. I don't trust you. Sister, forget about these two days. On the night of the 19th, go to the Emperor and plead for me. If you can coax him into agreeing to take me to see the Yellow River, I'll be your horse for 200 paces."
Qingyang: "I don't like second brother hitting people. You even beat Yuan Chongli to tears."
Qingyang saw her second brother just starting to take action, and she was very scared of his furious look.
Qin Bing: "...Okay, Second Brother promises you that I won't hit anyone easily in the future. Then remember to plead for me."
Qingyang: "No, my father is the emperor, and the emperor's words are final. He punished my second brother to stay indoors for three days, so it must be three days."
Qin Bing: "What's the big deal? You should keep your word to outsiders. We are family, so there's no need to be so serious. Before, I made my sister angry, and you said you would never talk to me again. But because my second brother treated you well, you forgave him, right?"
Qingyang: "But you fought with Yuan Chongli, and Yuan Chongli is an outsider. He heard that the emperor punished you for three days."
Qin Bing couldn't win the argument with his sister, so he glared at her and threatened, "If you don't plead for me, I won't care about you anymore. I will never be your stablemate again."
Qingyang didn't care. Even if her second brother didn't play with her, she still had her third brother, Zhang Su, and Jie Yu to play with her. Sometimes her father would also play horse for her.
Qin Bing: "...You don't want to help? Let's go, I don't want to see you!"
The fierce second brother was not likable at all. Qingyang happily took the third brother away. Zhang Su was still waiting outside.
Qin Bing: “…”
In the blink of an eye, it was the morning of the 20th. Emperor Xingwu called the two concubines and three children to Qianyuan Hall to have breakfast together, but he did not call the second child who was confined to reflect on his mistakes.
Concubine Li glanced at the Imperial Concubine with some shame. After knowing this, she had pleaded for the Second Prince and asked the Emperor to tell her not to interfere during the meal. She took advantage of the Emperor's good mood after the trouble and pleaded again, but the Emperor patted her on the shoulder and still told her not to interfere.
The Imperial Concubine gave Li Concubine a faint smile in return. Why did she need to beg for mercy? She fully agreed with the Emperor's decision to punish his son. It was wrong for the second son to hit others, and it was even more wrong for a child to interfere in state affairs. He should be punished!
As for the children, the little princess was concentrating on eating her breakfast. She was only thinking about the Yellow River and not her second brother who had scolded her.
His younger sister had already rejected his second brother's request, and Qin Ren, knowing that he was not very popular with his father, did not dare to speak up. What if he got scolded?
Since he had decided to ignore it, Qin Ren ate very attentively.
Prince Qin Hong was absent-minded while eating. As an older brother, if he didn't take care of his younger brothers, would his father think he was too cold? But if he spoke up, would his father really praise him as a good brother?
After much hesitation, the family gradually put down their chopsticks. Seeing the Imperial Concubine and the Beautiful Concubine leaving side by side, it seemed that their father was about to take them on their journey. Qin Hong wiped the sweat from his palms, took a few steps forward, and said respectfully, "Father, ever since my sister told me that you were going to take us to the Yellow River, I have been looking forward to it. You see..."
Emperor Xingwu: "I know he is looking forward to it, so I punish him. Otherwise, if I reward him by letting him go out of the palace to play after he has done something wrong, he will dare to do the same thing next time."
Qin Hong: "...Yes."
Qin Hong quietly stepped aside and breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, he had done his duty as a brother and had a clear conscience.
The journey to the Yellow River was over fifty miles. Emperor Xingwu boarded a carriage with his three children. He peered through the curtains at the people on the city streets, chatting about everyday matters. After the carriage had left the city for some distance, Emperor Xingwu, holding his daughters, posed a question to the eldest and third daughters: "Tell us about the second son's attack on Yuan Chongli. What mistakes did he make?"
Qin Hong became nervous again. Although Qin Ren was also a little nervous, he had his elder brother in front of him, so he had time to think slowly.
The little princess, who had listened to Mr. Du talk about the etiquette of classmates and her father talk about brotherhood and the ethics of monarch and ministers, walked to the window with little interest and continued to observe the outside.
While Emperor Xingwu was distracted by taking care of his daughter, he also used this incident to teach his two sons, and specifically explained why he should be lenient to Pingliang Hou.
Qin Hong understood: "The world has just been stabilized, and the Marquis of Pingliang holds military power. The court should focus on appeasement and try to avoid war."
Emperor Xingwu nodded slightly.
Qin Ren sighed, "Everyone makes mistakes. I hope Pingliang Hou can understand my father's painstaking efforts and stop being stubborn."
Emperor Xingwu frowned. What the third brother said was right, but why did it sound wrong?
.
In winter, the flow of the Yellow River decreases, revealing large areas of mudflats on both sides. It does not look like a majestic river at all. Qingyang saw it once and no longer thought about it.
At the Pingliang Marquis' Mansion in the capital, the marquis' wife wrote a letter to her husband who was far away, feeling distressed and aggrieved. She wrote down the whole story of how her youngest son was beaten and the emperor's handling of the situation.
At the end of the month, Pingliang Hou Yuan Zhaoxiong, who was in Wuwei, received this family letter. After reading it, Yuan Zhaoxiong took out the letter written to him by Emperor Xingwu a few days earlier, and with a frown, sent someone to call his confidant to take charge.
When the steward learned that the young master had been beaten, he wondered, "Could it be that the emperor deliberately arranged for the second prince to beat the young master as a threat to the marquis to obey?"
Yuan Zhaoxiong shook his head. "The Emperor is a man of broad mind and integrity. He wouldn't take his anger out on a child. He scolded the Second Prince, and I'm ashamed of myself. I shouldn't have been so foolish and greedy for short-term gain. I've betrayed the Emperor's trust in me."
The steward said, "Does the Marquis really want to hand over the land? Wouldn't that mean you are admitting that you are guilty of corruption?"
Yuan Zhaoxiong was in a dilemma because he wanted to hand over his land to make up for the loss, but he didn't want to be branded as a corrupt official.
The steward inquired a few more times, confirming that the Marquis was determined not to keep the land. He smiled and said, "It's actually very simple. Marquis, you can just betray the local officials who offered you the land under false pretenses and tell the Emperor that you deliberately set yourself up to test how many corrupt officials are hiding in Liang Province. That way, you can hand over the land and maintain your reputation as a loyal minister."
Yuan Zhaoxiong: "...It's good, but won't it mean that no official will dare to honor me anymore?"
The steward said, "...My Lord, I don't want to betray the Emperor's trust, so this is the only way to end this matter. But don't worry, my Lord, we can't kill all the corrupt officials. When one group dies, there will be a new group. Next time, we must learn from this lesson and not put things like farmland in the open."
Yuan Zhaoxiong smiled and handed the task of compiling the list of corrupt officials to the manager.
In early December, Emperor Xingwu received Yuan Zhaoxiong's explanation and a list of corrupt officials in Liangzhou.
Emperor Xingwu cleared the name of Marquis Pingliang at the court meeting and rewarded the Yuan family with three thousand acres of fertile land and numerous jewels and silks.
When the news reached several princes, Yuan Chongli was finally able to hold his head high and look at everyone with his head held high. Qin Bing also completely regained his closeness to him.
In the afternoon, Qingyang slipped into the imperial study again: "Father, is Pingliang Hou really a loyal minister?"
Emperor Xingwu: "It's a temporary solution. Father doesn't want to provoke him into rebellion. He is also afraid of your prestige and army. In addition, we fought side by side in the past. Now that you have a handle on him, he can only pretend to be a loyal subject."
Qingyang: "Will he be greedy again in the future?"
Emperor Xingwu: "It is easy to change the country, but difficult to change one's nature. I think it will happen."
The little princess wanted to ask more, but Emperor Xingwu spoke first, "He is only slightly greedy. Father can tolerate it. But if his greed were to seriously affect the livelihood of the people in an area, Father would never tolerate it."
Brothers are brothers, and the ruler and his subjects are the ruler and his subjects.
【Author’s words】
Here I come, 100 red envelopes, see you tomorrow [kiss]
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