Chapter 116: The Cui Family's Downfall and the Establishment of a Male Queen

The old woman was naturally unwilling to do so. She would rather be sacrificed herself than let her daughter lose her life at such a young age.

But under Wuxu's deception, the villagers went crazy and ignored the old woman's wishes. They forcibly separated the mother and daughter, locked up the old woman, and forced her daughter to be sacrificed.

When the old woman finally escaped, she found that her daughter had been tied up and thrown into the river.

The daughter's body did not float out, so Wuxu said that this meant that He Bo had accepted the girl, and from now on everyone could go to the river to have children without worry.

Wuxu took the money and left. The villagers were happy, except for the old woman who had lost her only relative. She cried almost blindly.

But no one expected that the river would only be calm for a few days, and afterwards there would be frequent incidents of dark shadows attacking boats and people.

Finally, a stranger passed by and said that this kind of thing had also appeared in the river in his hometown. It was a strange fish that liked to eat raw meat. It was extremely large and fast. Its most common trick was to overturn small fishing boats and then eat the people who fell into the water.

So the black shadows are not Habaek. The villagers sacrificed the girls only to give them food. Once they are full, they will calm down for a few days.

These strange fish swam from other places when the river water level rose sharply in summer. With the help of outsiders, the villagers caught and killed the strange fish.

The river became calm again, but the old woman's daughter could not come back.

The villagers felt that this was unfair and proposed that the whole village provide for the old woman in her old age, but the old woman refused.

She reported the matter to the authorities and wanted them to arrest Wuxu, but the authorities made various excuses. The old woman refused to give up, so she resolutely sold her land and house and embarked on the journey of seeking revenge on Wuxu.

During this journey, she slept in the open air, begged for food along the way, and encountered danger several times and almost died. It was her love for her daughter and hatred for Wuxu that made her grit her teeth and persevere.

More than a month ago, she heard that Wuxu was in Beijing, so she rushed over specially. When she asked for hot water at the door of Rongyin Store, she told the clerk about her experience. Only then did everyone know that Wuxu was a liar.

After the old woman finished speaking, another old couple knelt before Zong Zheng Xiao and told him and everyone about their grievances.

They are also from outside the area. A year ago, their son often had nightmares. When he went out to relax, he met Wuxu and his disciples. Wuxu deceived his son, saying that he was haunted by an evil spirit and that if the spirit was not eliminated, his son would die soon.

The son was frightened, so he took Wuxu and the others back to his home. Wuxu deceived the couple again and asked them to give out half of their belongings to avoid disaster.

The couple asked others and everyone said that this master was indeed very capable, so they no longer had any doubts and continued to do things according to Wuxu's instructions.

Wuxu and his disciples took their son to perform shaman rituals and burn talismans, and they also chanted strange things all day long. After doing this for half a month, his son's mental state became worse and worse. Wuxu said that this was normal and that it meant that the evil spirits were about to be eliminated by them.

Out of trust in Wuxu, the old couple did not investigate further.

A month later, my son was exhausted, but he no longer had nightmares.

Wuxu said that he had finished catching ghosts and left with the remaining reward.

Who knew that not long after they left, the son went crazy, saying all day that he was a Taoist priest and was going to catch monsters. Not only did he make a mess of the house, but he once accidentally ran outside and hurt someone.

The old couple had no choice but to lock the man up and ask a doctor to treat their son.

After a period of treatment, my son would occasionally wake up for a while, but he was crazy most of the time.

Later, when the son woke up one day, he realized that he had caused a lot of trouble for his parents. After leaving a suicide note, he hit his head against the wall and died.

He wrote in his suicide note that during the month Wuxu was catching ghosts, he often wasn't allowed to sleep, saying that if he fell asleep the evil ghosts would come to visit him in his dreams.

Not only that, Wuxu always threatened him, saying that the evil ghost was watching him in the corner, and asked him to recite those messed up spells so that the evil ghost would not come over.

The son was on the verge of collapse from mental and physical exhaustion, and finally he could only lie to Wuxu and say that he no longer had nightmares and that they had successfully caught the ghost.

After he said these words, Wuxu really did not continue catching ghosts. He took the money and left without saying a word.

Only then did the son realize that what Wuxu and the others said about the ghost was actually a lie, and that he had brought a bunch of liars with him to cheat his parents of half their life savings.

Overwhelmed with guilt and grief, the son went crazy.

He said he was a Taoist priest, but he did not have the real ability to kill demons and monsters. This was what he subconsciously wanted to tell his parents that Wuxu was a fake Taoist priest.

After their son's death, the old couple was heartbroken. Knowing that Xiao Wuxu was heading north, apparently to the capital, they packed up their remaining belongings and followed him.

The old couple cried bitterly, and the wife said, "Your Majesty, Wuxu pretended to be a ghost and scared people, causing me to lose my child. Please help me."

The husband also said: "This matter is known to everyone in my hometown. We did not lie. If anyone does not believe it, they can go to the local area to inquire in person. Besides, he has harmed more than just my family. It's just that those people have various difficulties and cannot come to the capital to ask him for an explanation."

The old woman who lost her daughter before had the same meaning. She has nothing to fear because she is upright. She was telling the truth.

Later, some victims came forward and said that they had paid large sums of money to Wuxu to get life-saving drugs, but after the patients took them, the drugs either did not work or aggravated the condition, causing the patients to die early.

They went to Wuxu to reason with him, but were beaten up by his disciples and followers, who said they were deliberately trying to cheat them out of money.

Because many believers have seen Wuxu use the miraculous medicine to bring a dying patient back to life on the spot.

The believers who were sitting in meditation at the scene did not believe what the victim said, and they shouted that the medicine did not work because the patients' families were not sincere.

Rong Yin stepped forward again at this time, put away his playful expression, and said seriously: "Since you believe in Wuxu so much, you can take a look. Do you know these people?"

As he spoke, the guards pushed out the people hiding behind the victims and forced them to raise their heads to show the sworn believers.

Some believers recognized these people.

"I remember that man. When the Taoist priest first arrived in the capital, he brought his seriously ill wife to ask for medicine. After his wife took the medicine given by the Taoist priest, she looked sick at first, but soon became energetic."

"That woman and her child also came to ask for medicine. The child was almost dying. After taking the magic medicine, the child came back to life."

"There was also the old man and the old lady. The old lady asked for medicine for the old man, but because she was not sincere, the old man still died after taking the medicine. We watched the old lady ask someone to drag the body away, so how come the old man is still alive now?!"

"That person also asked for medicine..."

As more and more liars were identified, the real answer became clear, but no believer dared to be the first to say it.

In the end, the liars knelt down in front of the believers and admitted their sins.

"We are not actually sick, and that medicine is not a miracle drug. We were hired by the Taoist priest to act with him."

"We are all telling the truth. If we say anything false, we will be struck by lightning and die miserably."

The believers could no longer sit still and started to make a commotion. Some of them looked so pale that their faces almost turned as white as snow, as if they were thinking of something.

The evidence was right in front of him, there was no way to argue, and he could only look to the head of the Cui family for help.

The head of the Cui family was also panicked. He didn't expect that Zong Zhengxiao and Rong Yin actually had this trick up their sleeve.

He was about to open his mouth to argue, but Prince Ning next to him gave him a "reassuring" look.

After Patriarch Cui nodded his agreement, Prince Ning turned to face the crowd and said with a smile, "Your Majesty and Rong Yin have invited so many witnesses and given so many testimonies. If anyone still believes that Wuxu is a Taoist master, then I can swear on my life that you believed him wrongly, because he is indeed a big liar!"

"Wow!" Everyone gasped and was stunned.

Isn't Prince Ning in league with the Cui family? Why did he suddenly come out and accuse Wuxu?

Patriarch Cui and Wuxu also widened their eyes in shock. They had not expected that Prince Ning would actually turn against them at this time!

Patriarch Cui inexplicably felt that something was wrong. He looked up at Zong Zhengxiao and Rong Yin, but found that they looked calm and did not seem surprised at all.

A terrible thought emerged in the mind of Patriarch Cui. Could it be that he had trusted the wrong person from the beginning?

As if to prove his guess, Prince Ning continued, "Lord Cui and this Taoist Wuxu once told me personally that the so-called Taoist master and the so-called Rongyin were evil spirits that brought disaster. They were all a scam set up by the Cui family against the royal family from beginning to end. I was just playing along with them in order to expose their true colors. It was just an act."

The two eminent monks behind him also took two steps forward and said sincerely, "Amitabha, there are indeed Taoist priests with real skills in this world, but they are not comparable to those who deceive the world and steal reputation like Wuxu. The methods used by Wuxu are nothing but tricks. I once discussed Taoism with him and found that he did not even understand the basic Taoist theories. If you don't believe me, you can test him."

After the monk finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Wuxu. The believers looked as if they could see through him and hoped that he could make a few rebuttals.

Later, Wuxu did speak, but he did not explain himself, but directly confessed his guilt.

He kowtowed to Zong Zhengxiao, pointed at the ashen-faced Cui family head and shouted, "It has nothing to do with me. It was Cui who asked me to make up a lie to deceive everyone, saying that Rong Yin was a monster. In fact, I can't catch monsters or prescribe medicine. I am just a liar. I beg the emperor to spare my life for my voluntary confession!"

在無虛驚恐的求饒聲中，幾對年輕夫婦站了起來，不安地詢問無虛。

“那我們的孩子呢？你說孩子有慧根，讓孩子跟在你身邊修行，傳授他們真本事，既然你是騙子，那我們的孩子去哪兒了？”

被這麽多人盯着，無虛不敢不答，他哆哆嗦嗦地道：“全都賣給人販子了，至于賣到哪裏去了，我也不知道。”

“啊！我苦命的孩子啊！”有個婦人承受不住，哭嚎一聲後就暈了過去。

這下子信徒們再也控制不住情緒，紛紛大喊着“騙子”“還我錢”之類的話，舉着匕首就沖向了無虛。

無虛怕死，連滾帶爬地躲到侍衛們的身後，而侍衛們也在宗政逍的示意下，攔住了崩潰的信徒們。

侍衛大聲道：“各位請冷靜！無論你們是被騙了錢財還是丢失了孩子！想要追回，都得通過無虛，他最後一定得死，但也得是在彌補了你們的損失以後！”

侍衛這麽一說，信徒們也不得不停下腳步，有機敏的，當即就跪在了宗政逍和戎音面前，大哭着求皇上為他們做主。

宗政逍也沒追究方才他們以死逼他的事情，朗聲道：“你們是朕的子民，你們有冤屈，朕自會還你們一個公道！”

“多謝陛下，多謝陛下！”

信徒們齊齊感恩地磕頭。

皇帝和信徒們冰釋前嫌，無虛被拆穿，寧王其實從頭到尾都是卧底……本以為勢在必得的計劃，原來從一開始就注定了會輸。

崔家主腦中嗡嗡作響，他看着旁邊一臉正色的寧王，怒極反笑地扯了扯嘴角。

寧王一家為了這一天，居然勤勤懇懇演了十餘年的戲，就是為了讓世家相信寧王府是真的仇恨宗政逍。

世家走到這一步，不是因為不夠聰明，而是敵人太過狡猾。

在這場世家與皇室的博弈之中，他們世家，還是徹徹底底地輸了。

體內毒素發作，絕望再次激發了崔家主的負面情緒，他瞪着血紅的眼睛，忽然如困獸一般大叫了一聲，在将所有人的目光都吸引過來以後，他再次将匕首對準了自己的脖子。

“我沒有撒謊！我不是騙子！戎音就是禍國殃民的妖孽！我現在就以血祭蒼天！讓老天爺來評判，到底誰才是真正的禍害和騙子！”

說着，他手一橫，脖子馬上就見了血。

正在他要割下去的時候，不遠處突然傳來“轟隆”一聲巨響，像是雷雨天的雷聲，直接響徹整個天空，仿佛地面都跟着晃動了幾下。

衆人被吓得驚聲尖叫，下意識抱頭蹲在了地上，崔家主也愣住了，宗政逍趁機過去，一腳踢飛了他手裏的匕首。

好戲剛剛開場，他不會讓崔家主死得那麽痛快！

侍衛們沖上去将崔家主摁到地上，省得他再搞自殺這套。

很快，震動停了，駭人的聲音也消失了。

百姓們你看看我，我看看你，誰也不知道究竟發生了什麽。

沒過一會兒，幾名巡邏的官兵和百姓趕了過來，官兵來到宗政逍面前，跪下行禮，同時道：“報告陛下，崔家的一棟樓突然倒塌，廢墟上漆黑一片，有人說是天降神雷，劈垮了崔家的房子！”

跟随官兵一起來的幾人也在跟旁邊不知情的百姓八卦。

“真的，我當時剛好路過崔家，只見天降一道雷電，正巧劈在了崔家頭上，然後那棟樓就塌了。”

“這位仁兄說的閃電我沒看見，但崔家的房子确實塌了，地面也确實黑漆漆的，我以前見過被雷劈的地方，跟崔家房子那裏一樣的黑。”

“還有什麽可懷疑的，肯定就是雷劈的，除了雷，什麽東西能發出那麽大的動靜？”

“京城被雷劈的人家，我還是第一次見。”

一直在此地的圍觀的百姓高聲道：“方才崔大人一說完讓老天爺來評判誰是騙子，崔家的房子立馬被雷劈垮了，這是不是意味着，老天爺已經給出答案了？”

“呵呵，他崔家誣陷戎老板是妖孽，沒想到是賊喊捉賊，他們崔家才是真正的災星！”

“怪不得崔家幾個兒子都死得那麽慘，這是上天在懲罰他們家啊！”

面對衆人的指責，被侍衛押住的崔家主不停掙紮着大喊：“你們胡說！我崔家不是災星！不是！”

百姓們才不管他，繼續咒罵。

“災星！害得我們遭災！活該崔家死那麽多人！”

“災星滾出大晟！還我們一個太平！”

“崔家滾出大晟！”

“你們……”崔家主目眦欲裂，胸口劇烈起伏着。

他想罵回去，可一開口，喉間猛然湧上來一陣腥甜。

“噗！”一口黑血噴湧而出。

在衆人大喊崔家主遭報應了的聲音中，崔家主頭一歪，再次暈了過去。

這場鬧劇最後以世家落敗為結局。

無虛被收押，接受調査和審判，崔家主眼看着快不行了，宗政逍就允許崔家人把他接回了家。

巧合的是，崔家主剛被人擡走，原本還在飄落的雪花突然停了，籠罩了京城幾個月的烏雲散開，露出了耀眼的太陽，溫暖的陽光灑下，普照在每寸土地、每個人身上。

不知是誰先起的頭，等烏雲完全散去後，百姓們已經板板正正地對着宗政逍跪下，齊聲高呼：“陛下英明！陛下萬歲萬歲萬萬歲！！！”

這陣聲音，甚至可以與方才的“雷聲”比肩，足以讓大半個京城聽見。

經此一役，宗政逍和戎音的名聲将再次攀升到一個可怕的高度。

大雪停了，可針對崔家的審判，才剛剛開始。

端午節那天宗政逍之所以沒能陪戎音出宮看賽龍舟，是因為他接到了妹妹宗政惜的密信。

公主和驸馬在大晟穩定以後就開始游歷天下，正巧陳家出事那段時間，他們剛好在附近游玩，在收到崔家和宗政逍都在尋找陳大少的消息後，兩人先發制人，率先找到了躲藏起來的陳大少。

陳大少為了給家人報仇，答應了跟皇室合作，交代自己知道的崔家的罪證。

陳大少被秘密送回了京城，當然，公主還是不肯踏足這個地方，并沒有跟着回來。

而前不久，賀嫣也被寧月打動，交出了父親留給她們姐妹的幾個世家的罪證，其中李家最少，陳家次之，崔家簡直是罄竹難書。

有了這兩人的提供的證據，再加上宗政逍這些年的調查結果，幾乎是一夜之間，崔家就被一網打盡，連辯白的機會都沒有，因為那些惡事，的确都是崔家所做。

結黨營私是關鍵，更何況剛剛又犯了欺君之罪，不僅如此，這些年崔家的罪狀還涉及科考作弊、販賣私鹽、貪墨稅款、生意場惡意競争……

崔家幾個少爺欺男霸女、殘害人命，可惡程度比當年的李傲有過之而無不及。

從朝廷發出即将懲治崔家的信號後，官府衙門的門檻差點又被踏破，許多被崔家壓迫傷害，無處申冤的無辜百姓，今天終于有了申訴的機會。

崔家成了人人喊打的災星禍害，崔家的同黨也沒逃過制裁，其中還牽涉到陳李兩家，全部被革職查辦，關進了大牢。

臨近年關，大牢裏卻比集市還要熱鬧。

崔府被抄家查封，大門前堆滿了石子爛菜葉臭雞蛋，臭氣熏天，哪裏還有當初京城第一世家的輝煌高貴。

崔家主是在牢裏醒來的，他的管事守在他身邊，看着原本氣若游絲的崔家主變得面色紅潤、精神奕奕，立馬就猜到這可能是回光返照了。

聽管事說完自己暈過去後崔家的遭遇，又知道崔老太太和崔夫人在官兵進府前就已懸梁自盡，大少爺也被倒塌的房子壓斷了腿後，崔家主立時捶胸頓足、涕淚橫流。

“崔家竟敗在我手裏，等到了九泉之下，我如何敢與列祖列宗相見！”

他擡頭看向狹小的窗口，眼神怨毒，但又滿是凄涼。

“宗政逍，戎音，你們是贏了，終究是你們贏了！”

他擡臂高呼：“天要亡我崔家啊！”

話音未落，崔家主便身體一歪倒在稻草堆上，眼睛還在大大地睜着，人卻已經沒了氣息。

心有不甘，死不瞑目。

崔家主一死，崔家才是真正的完蛋了。

崔家九族以內無一不受牽連，或被判斬首、或被判流放、或被貶為奴為婢，抄家得來的銀錢也充入了國庫。

流程跟當年的賀家差不離，只不過牽連的人數更多，抄出來的金銀財寶也更多。

今年宗政逍沒有封筆，從年末忙到來年，只在除夕的時候，給自己和文武百官放了兩天的假。

新年一過，菜市口再次血流成河，成批的罪犯被送往邊關，又有多少少爺小姐，一夜跌落雲端，永入塵埃。

一直到夏末秋初，這場轟轟烈烈的審判活動才算徹底結束。

但還不等百姓們歇口氣，宗政逍又向全大晟宣布了一個大消息——他要明媒正娶戎音為妻，立他為後。

To make a man, especially one from a different race, the queen was probably the greatest feat in history, unprecedented and unparalleled, so it naturally caused quite a stir among the people.

But then, Zong Zhengxiao told the world that in fact, the cheap ice, cheap paper, fertilizers that you have long been accustomed to, the corn and various delicacies that you are accustomed to eating, and even the storybook that is popular in Dasheng, were all brought by Rong Yin.

And based on Rong Yin's guidance, Prince Ji Xie found two high-yield varieties last year - potatoes and sweet potatoes.

What Zong Zhengxiao and Rong Yin said before, "they're on the way", were referring to these two kinds of grains.

Now the high-quality varieties of these two staple foods have been planted and are about to be harvested. Zong Zhengxiao said that those who are interested can go to the imperial manor for a visit, and after the harvest, some will be released to the market for people to taste.

By the second year, potato and sweet potato seeds will be gradually distributed to everyone for planting, just like corn was before. In the future, everyone will have two more types of food to fill their stomachs.

Regarding the heir to the throne, Zong Zheng Xiao also gave an answer. Since he and Rong Yin would not have any descendants, he had secretly cultivated Ning Wang's second son, Zong Zheng Lianjun.

After making Rong Yin the queen, he will also hand over the position of crown prince to Zong Zheng Lianjun, so that the Da Sheng kingdom will not be left without a successor.

After Zong Zhengxiao's operation, all the people in Dasheng were stunned.

"According to this statement, Rong Yin has contributed a lot to the prosperity of Dasheng today."

"Your Majesty should not be lying, because these things did appear gradually after the mermaids were sent to the capital."

"All the high officials in the capital have come out to testify for the mermaid. These good things were indeed brought out by the mermaid."

"According to my friend's suggestion, I actually found the signature of 'Rong Yin' disguised as a floral pattern on the printed illustrations of the storybook."

"Both the teahouse and the bookstore have posted notices that the author of the novel is indeed Rong Yin."

Everyone was thinking, everyone was silent.

"Since Your Majesty has already arranged the successor, Rong Yin has made so many contributions to our Da Sheng, and he is also a good person. If we are not willing to give him the position of empress, wouldn't it be too stingy?"

"And maybe Rong Yin still has some good stuff to show us. If we don't agree to make him queen, and he runs away to another country, then won't the good stuff belong to someone else?"

"Yes, yes, once she becomes the queen, she will be one of our Dasheng people. If there are good things, they will naturally be close to us first."

"So... you don't object to His Majesty making Rong Yin the queen?"

"No, no, I don't object. In fact, I was quite supportive from the beginning, because I have worshipped the scripts written by Rong Yin for several years, and I found that they really brought me good things. I thought that if Rong Yin became the empress, his blessings would definitely be greater, and he would definitely bring me more good luck."

"What? Why didn't you tell us about this good thing?"

"Don't you know that offering Rong Yin's words, which was popular in the capital at that time, would bring good luck?"

"I don't know! No, I'm going to buy it now. Buy eight or ten copies and put them in every room of my house!"

As a result, the storybooks were once again sold out, and the bookstore owner lay in the mansion he had bought with the money he earned from selling storybooks, grinning from ear to ear.

Rong Yin originally thought that even with Zong Zhengxiao's explanation, it might take the people a long time to accept the fact that their country would soon have a male queen. However, he did not expect that the mentality and acceptance of the people of Da Sheng seemed surprisingly good.

Sure enough, in the face of absolute interests, all rules and etiquette are bullshit.

So what if there was no precedent of making a man of a different race the queen? Today, Dasheng will create this precedent! We are so awesome! We are so different!

The Qintianjian chose an auspicious date, the Ministry of Rites spent more than half a year preparing, and the Ministry of Revenue allocated money without any regrets.

In the early summer of the following year, which was also the day when Rong Yin traveled through the book, Zong Zheng Xiao and Rong Yin held their wedding ceremony, which was also the ceremony of crowning the queen.

Why not hold it separately? The answer is that Rong Yin feels it is too troublesome and tiring and does not want to come a second time.

Zong Zhengxiao and Rong Yin first dressed in wedding clothes, worshipped the heavens, the earth and their ancestors, then changed into dragon robes and specially made empress dresses, and under the gaze of all the ministers, they went up the steps hand in hand, and then stood side by side in the hall to accept the kneeling worship of all the officials.

"Long live the emperor! Long live the empress!"

Under the warm sunshine, with gorgeous clothes, jade crowns and pearl ornaments hanging down, Zong Zheng Xiao and Rong Yin smiled at each other. The past overlapped with the present. From the moment they met, they were destined to love each other for a lifetime.

Rong Yin raised his eyebrows and said in his heart: "Hello, bad emperor!"

Zong Zheng Xiao smiled: "Hello, little mermaid."

[End of text]