Chapter 361 Mother's Family Gains Power 1
Later that day, Song Zhao stopped crying.
She shed tears sadly and just said that she wanted to be quiet for a while and asked Xiao Jingheng to give her some time to relieve her emotions.
After Xiao Jingheng returned to Chaoyang Palace that day, although he reviewed the memorials without saying a word, anyone could see the anger in his heart.
Xiao Yinzi knelt at the gate of Chaoyang Palace, slapping himself in the face, and begged Xiao Jingheng for forgiveness.
After all, he was Jiang Deshun's apprentice. When Jiang Deshun served tea to Xiao Jingheng, he also said carefully,
"Your Majesty, Xiao Yinzi is really confused about this matter. Don't let him go out and cause trouble for Your Majesty. Let me take him back and discipline him well."
"Discipline?" Xiao Jingheng suddenly stopped writing, put down his red mark, and said angrily:
"Is this the good disciple you have trained? I think you don't need to worry about him anymore!"
He walked out with his sleeves swung, stood in the corridor and shouted at Xiao Yinzi:
"I have said that anyone who mentions the past to Imperial Concubine Yi will be killed! Considering that you have served me for many years, I will allow you to keep your body intact."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yinzi was so frightened that his face turned pale. He slammed his forehead to the ground and cried for Xiao Jingheng to spare his life.
But Xiao Jingheng ignored him and turned back to the main hall.
When the people in the imperial court saw this, they realized that Xiao Yinzi had no hope of survival, so they stepped forward to detain him and ended the matter silently.
At this moment, Xiao Fuzi came to Chaoyang Palace.
He greeted Xiao Jingheng at the door. Xiao Jingheng saw that it was him and asked hurriedly:
"But what happened to Concubine Yi?"
Xiao Fuzi said, "The Imperial Concubine is very sad. Upon hearing about this, the Imperial Concubine Hui has already rushed to Changle Palace and is now trying to persuade the Imperial Concubine."
He glanced at the little mark who was so scared that he almost peed his pants, and said:
“The Imperial Concubine is kindhearted and was afraid that the Emperor would be angry with Xiao Yinzi because of this incident, so in her grief she still asked me to come and plead with the Emperor for mercy.
The Imperial Concubine said that she was the descendant of a criminal and had already accumulated karma. If someone else died because of her, she would be even more upset. Therefore, the Imperial Concubine begged the Emperor to forgive Xiao Yinzi. He did not mean it.
With Xiao Fuzi's words on behalf of Song Zhaolai, Xiao Jingheng finally relaxed.
"Forget it. Drag him away and give him fifty strokes of the cane as a warning to others."
Then he told Xiao Fuzi, "Go back and take good care of the imperial concubine. I will visit her later."
These fifty lashes are neither too much nor too little, and if they fall on a person, they can cost him half his life.
After being tortured, Xiao Yinzi had to be helped back to the porch, where he could only lie on the bed, unable to move.
Jiang Deshun brought him some medicine and asked with concern:
"How is it? Can you still bear it?"
As soon as Xiao Yinzi saw Jiang Deshun, she couldn't help crying.
"Master... I have served the emperor for many years, and I have done everything properly without any mistakes. But today the emperor refused to give me any chance. If it weren't for Concubine Yi who spoke for me, I'm afraid I would have already..."
"What nonsense!" Jiang Deshun scolded him harshly, "In this imperial city, the lives of servants are in the hands of the master. You have to accept any punishment the master wants to give you. What's more, you were at fault in the first place, so why are you still complaining?"
Xiao Yinzi sobbed aggrievedly, "But I didn't say anything to Concubine Yi... Those words were said by Concubine Yao and the others..."
"This is the palace. As a slave, you can't tell right from wrong in front of your master. You've followed me for so many years, don't you understand this?"
Jiang Deshun sighed, pointed at his broken leg, and shook his head helplessly.
"Master, your leg is broken, and you are not able to do things well. You should retire next year. You will replace Master and become the chief eunuch in front of the emperor. So you cannot complain to the emperor. You must be more alert and do your job carefully. Do you understand?"
Having said that, even if Xiao Yinzi couldn't figure it out, he had to understand.
He wiped away his tears and nodded reluctantly, "Master taught me, I understand."
In the following days, Xiao Jingheng's heart was almost completely trapped in Changle Palace.
He would visit Song Zhao every day.
Although Song Zhao stopped crying, he always looked very depressed and had no appetite for food.
In just a dozen days, he looked not only more haggard, but also much thinner due to hunger.
She is pregnant now, and putting herself in such a difficult position is not good for her and the heir in her belly.
So Xiao Jingheng summoned Yunshan and asked her why Song Zhao tortured him like this.
At first, Yunshan was very frightened and did not dare to tell Xiao Jingheng what she had heard from Song Zhao.
But under Xiao Jingheng's tyranny, she could only cry and say:
"The Queen said... the child is gone, she is the daughter of a criminal, and the prince she gave birth to will also be the descendant of a criminal. The Queen said that this child will only bring shame to the Emperor and the royal family."
"Silly talk!" Xiao Jingheng said helplessly, "Why is she so upset about those insignificant things in the past?"
Yunshan said: "It is also my incompetence that I failed to persuade the queen. Your Majesty should stay with the queen more often when you are free. After all, only when you are there will the queen eat a bite of food. If you don't come, the queen will just stay on the couch and cry secretly. I feel so distressed when I see this..."
How could Xiao Jingheng not want to persuade Song Zhao?
But the knot in her heart couldn't be solved by Xiao Jingheng in just a few words.
A few days later, Doctor Zhang said to Xiao Jingheng:
"Your Majesty, Concubine Yi is so worried and depressed that she has trouble eating and sleeping all day long. Her healthy body has become extremely weak. If Concubine Yi continues like this, I'm afraid... the royal heir will be in danger!"
After hearing what he said, Xiao Jingheng became even more anxious, like an ant on a hot pan.
Ning Wanshuang heard that Xiao Jingheng had not eaten for a whole day because of this matter.
So later in the evening, she went to Chaoyang Palace with the food she had cooked herself, and advised Xiao Jingheng to put the dragon's body first and eat some food no matter what.
But Xiao Jingheng didn't eat a single bite of the food, but drank a lot of wine instead.
Seeing him like this, Ning Wanshuang couldn't hide her distress and said, "I have heard about Concubine Yi's affairs. In fact, she doesn't mind being sent to the cold palace, but as the daughter of a guilty minister, this matter has become a knot in her heart. She is also privately afraid that the emperor will be humiliated because of her and her offspring in the future."
Xiao Jingheng stroked his forehead sadly, "But I have never thought about it this way."
"Whether the emperor thinks so or not is not important. What is important is that Concubine Yi has forced herself into a dead end. I'm afraid she won't be able to get out of it for a while."
Ning Wanshuang moved closer to Xiao Jingheng, massaging his tense temples intimately, and suddenly suggested:
"I remember that at the beginning of the year, the only daughter of the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate (a first-rank civil official) died of a serious illness. At that time, the emperor personally summoned him to express his condolences."
Seeing Xiao Jingheng remained silent, Ning Wanshuang continued to test:
"In fact, the Luo family has a clean family history, and Lord Luo will have difficulty in having children at his age. I think that if Imperial Concubine Yi can become Lord Luo's daughter, then she will not be considered the daughter of a guilty minister."
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