Chapter 94 Chapter 94 Old Paper
The candidates gathered in front of the door and cursed, and Rongchang Bo drew his sword and committed suicide.
When the news reached the capital, it caused an uproar.
The day Lu Shenru received the news, his face looked extremely ugly.
The news from the northwest not only said that Rong Changbo had committed suicide with a sword, but also that the army had lost a general. The actions of these scholars had also triggered the anger of the soldiers and generals across the army.
All the scholars who gathered in front of the residence of the Earl of Rongchang that day were captured by the soldiers. The soldiers wanted to execute these scholars and officials to be buried with the Earl to vent their hatred.
It would be easy for the soldiers in the northwest to kill a few troublemakers to vent their anger, but scholars' words and pens are the most unforgiving. Once the anger of the entire literati is aroused, or the soldiers stationed in the northwest mutinied, it would not be a trivial matter that could be easily suppressed.
Lu Shenru knew how serious things would become if they continued to develop.
But all he could do was to suppress the anger of the Northwestern soldiers.
Regardless of what happened to the Yang family, Lord Rongchang had fought on the front lines for his country and his people all his life, and had hovered between life and death many times. With his achievements, and now that he had committed suicide, the court should order a reward and a grand funeral for him.
The reward and lavish funeral given to Marquis Rongchang may, even if it cannot completely eliminate the hatred and anger in the hearts of the soldiers, at least it can reduce it a little and prevent the situation from developing further.
But it was useless for him to try his best alone, Du Lingjing mentioned.
"If Lord Dou can also treat this matter impartially and fairly, perhaps this matter can be settled as soon as possible."
Lu Shenru shook his head. "The scholars are even more intertwined and shield each other. How can they be willing to punish those candidates just to vent the anger of the soldiers?"
The next day in the court, only the faint voices of civil officials expressed that the Yang family had committed a crime and should be handled by the government. It was an insult to the integrity of scholars for them to surround the general who had made military achievements and insult him innocently, and the candidate who took the exam that day should be punished.
Unfortunately, his voice was too weak and was suppressed by other civil officials, so Dou Ge Lao did not express his opinion.
The emperor at the top of the table sighed and said repeatedly, "How could this happen? Lord Bo has made great military achievements and is a loyal minister."
He added, "The Yang family really has no idea of their own highness and treats the law as a joke. No wonder you have angered the scholar."
After arguing for two days, they still couldn't come to a conclusion.
The emperor hesitated to make a decision until the day of leaving Beijing for the summer approached, then he hastily raised his hand and waved.
"Gracefully bury Lord Rongchang."
He did follow Lu Shenru's suggestion and rewarded and buried the Earl of Rongchang with great honor, but the anger in the army did not subside. When the scholars saw that the emperor did not reprimand the candidates, they felt that the candidates were innocent and repeatedly asked the Northwest Army to release them.
But if they just released the people like this, who would bear the wrath of the soldiers and generals? Lu Shenru did not order the release of the people, and the scholar and some civil officials in the court kept making a fuss.
The emperor ignored her and when the day came to leave the palace, he went to the cool summer palace east of the capital.
"The emperor just left like that?" Du Lingjing was surprised. The matter was left aside in the hot summer, just like a broken wound that was left aside and ignored without any medicine applied.
Lu Shenru was not surprised, but the annoyance made him lose the mood to eat. He quickly ate two bites and put down his chopsticks.
"The Emperor has always been like this. If he had made a decision earlier, the situation today would not have happened."
He said that Shao Boju and the two young masters of the Yang family had become successful together.
"My lady also knows what happened at that time. The Yang family is really arrogant. After Yang Jinyu disrespected you, I was completely disappointed and didn't want to care about his family's affairs anymore. I thought that the prince was guilty of the same crime as the common people. I supported the illegitimate son of the Yang family to gain a foothold in the army. As for those two guys who killed people to silence them, since they dared to kill people, they should pay with their lives."
However, the two young masters of the Yang family were not sentenced to death in the end, but only to exile.
Du Lingjing recalled that when the news came out, the Yang family was overjoyed, and rumors spread throughout the streets of Beijing that it was the Marquis who mediated and saved the two legitimate sons for the Yang family.
Du Lingjing asked, "Then how did the two of them manage to escape with their lives?"
Lu Shenru sighed, "The Emperor was merciful again. Maybe he remembered the merits of Lord Rongchang or something, which led to the following incident. If it were up to me, those two would have been killed long ago."
Now the two useless dudes are left behind, while their father, a general with great military achievements, has died as a scapegoat.
Lord Lu rubbed his forehead.
Du Lingjing pondered over what had happened and remained silent for a while.
The man said, "The emperor is always like this, even more indecisive than the previous emperor. Up to now, there is no conclusion on civil and military affairs, and the crown prince cannot be decided."
He paused slightly when he said this, "But isn't this a kind of check and balance?"
Regardless of whether Prince Yong or Prince Hui was chosen as the crown prince, the government and the country would have been in chaos long ago.
However, with the current emperor's ability, he obviously cannot quell the chaotic situation.
The man sighed very lightly.
"Sometimes the Emperor's thoughts are clear to me, but sometimes I just can't figure them out."
But in the 14th year of Hongqi, the peace talks put the Yongding Army in a desperate situation. If there had not been the emperor who was regent at that time, the Yongding Army would have been destroyed at that time, and the Yongding Marquisate would not have the fate it has today.
... ...
The Emperor, along with Prince Yong, Prince Cheng, Lord Dou and others, went to a place away from the capital to escape the summer heat. The place was not far from the capital and one could make a round trip in one day by riding a fast horse.
However, the matter of Lord Rongchang has not been settled yet. The conflict between the soldiers and the scholars is like a suppressed fire, the heat is burning the earth, and there is no telling when the fire will be ignited again.
Lu Shenru did not dare to take it lightly, and as he was responsible for guarding the capital and supervising the country, sometimes he even had no time to return to his mansion.
Du Lingjing hadn't seen anyone for two days.
She didn't know if it was because the weather was too hot, but as the scorching sun rose, the nausea she had felt after a while came back again.
The imperial physician did not dare to give the lady and the fetus any medicine at will, so the woman could only bear it at this time.
Du Lingjing asked Ruan Gong to take out the old paper pages left in his father's study, plus the two boxes left by Sanlang, a total of three large boxes.
She focused her attention on these piles of old papers, which actually helped her distract herself from the unbearable feeling.
Before his father died, his father left Sanlang something that she didn't know about, like he left and might never come back. After his father left, Sanlang told the Marquis about the suspicious death of his father, and at the same time contacted friends from all over the country to collect more than the two boxes of information.
Du Lingjing felt that her father and Sanlang might know something that she didn't know.
She flipped through the old pages, sorting them out one by one.
It was normal that most of what his father left behind was left behind, but there were always some things about Sanlang that were hard to understand.
Du Lingjing saw that he had made a few more strokes on this old page, which first recorded the dispute over the succession to the throne after the death of the crown prince in the late years of the previous emperor.
Compared to the current fight between Prince Yong and Prince Hui, the fight back then was even more brutal.
The crown prince is the eldest legitimate son. After his death, if the queen has no legitimate son, the second son of the late emperor should succeed to the throne.
But the second son of the late emperor was the biological son of Concubine Jiang, the father of Nian Jia, Prince Yu, who died young and could not succeed to the throne.
Under him, the third prince and the fourth prince were two princes born in the same year. Although the third prince was the eldest, he had a bad reputation, but the fourth prince had a good reputation among the civil and military officials.
The late emperor was indecisive and could not decide between the two sons. Gradually the third and fourth kings began to fight each other.
In the fourteenth year of Hongqi, the year when the Yongding Army encountered an incident, the emperor asked his sons to return to his hometown to worship their ancestors on his behalf. He could not decide between the third and fourth princes, so he simply let both of them go. However, he was afraid that the two would quarrel halfway, so he asked the fifth prince to go with them.
It was that year that the Yongding Army was attacked by spies and trapped outside the Great Wall. The Tatars demanded peace talks. The late emperor fell ill, and the ministers could only let the Sixth Prince, the current emperor, Prince Yin, govern the country.
Imperial Concubine Lu Huairu became his concubine, and he kept his promise to save the Yongding Army from the brink of complete defeat.
But that same year, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince framed and persecuted each other on their way out of the capital to pay homage to their ancestors. The Fourth Prince fell into the river and drowned, while the Third Prince showed his violent side and even intended to attack the Fifth Prince. The late Emperor was heartbroken, but he also made up his mind to imprison the Third Prince in his fiefdom and never let him return to the capital. The Third Prince was furious and wanted to rebel, but was suppressed and completely lost the possibility of entering the East Palace.
He died in his fiefdom at the beginning of the following year.
This time, the late emperor did not dare to hesitate and immediately appointed the fifth prince as the crown prince.
At the same time, Lord Du was promoted to the cabinet to assist the fifth prince in ascending the throne in the future.
But no one expected that just when the political situation had finally stabilized, the fifth prince suddenly died.
The late emperor was severely traumatized and on the verge of collapse. He died of grief without appointing another ruler for the Eastern Palace.
In this way, the sixth prince, Prince Yin, who had never been favored by others, ascended the throne and became emperor in the 16th year of Hongqi.
His mother's family was from the Wei family of Zhongqing Bofu. Although he was not the direct branch of the Wei family, he was also of orthodox origin. He was a virtuous man, but his reputation was not prominent, but he did not have a bad reputation either. For so many years, he had little presence among the sons of the previous emperor.
But he was also an indecisive king, more benevolent than resourceful. He also fell seriously ill in the last years of his previous reign, and has been in poor health ever since.
Du Lingjing saw that Sanlang wrote down these events during the lifetime of the late emperor. These events were not royal secrets, and Du Lingjing knew that, but she didn't know why Sanlang made such a special note.
But when she looked down again, she saw that Sanlang mentioned another person under the paper.
He mentioned the emperor's biological mother, Concubine Wei, who was from the Wei family of the Zhongqing Marquis's Mansion and was Wei Jue's aunt.
This Concubine Wei died when the emperor was young, before the late emperor ascended the throne and was still a prince. Therefore, not many people know about her affairs.
But Sanlang mentioned Concubine Wei, and seemed to have found out about her life. He intended to record it and made a special mention of it here.
Du Lingjing wanted to look down, but the page was full. She couldn't find any old paper to turn it over, so she continued writing from here.
She couldn't help but feel curious as to why Sanlang even inquired about this and seemed to have found out.
But think about it.
Concubine Wei was an old friend of the late emperor who had been with him since he was still in the palace. Like Concubine Jiang, she married the late emperor very early. It might be difficult for others to find out about her, but it was different for the Jiang family.
Jiang was still with Prince Yu at that time, so she would naturally pay more attention to Prince Yu's affairs. Jiang must have known some unknown old things.
Du Lingjing was curious and flipped through the pile of old papers again, but unfortunately she couldn't find the next page after flipping for a long time.
She couldn't find it for a moment and sighed, but she looked out the door and windows.
But suddenly I found that the man who had not returned home for two days was standing silently outside the window.
Du Lingjing didn't know when he came back, nor did she know how long he had been standing outside the window.
She quickly turned around and looked at him, and saw a hint of gloom and despair in his tired dark eyes.
He whispered, "I didn't mean to disturb my lady."
These words made Du Lingjing's heart tighten.
What disturbed her?
Are you disturbing her while she is looking through Saburo's old notes?
She didn't know how to explain it to him, but he asked softly.
"I've been really busy these past few days, so I took some time off today to go home and have dinner with my wife. Is my wife free?"
Du Lingjing was stunned. It turned out that he had taken time out of his schedule to come back and have dinner with her.
But when he got home, he saw her in the west wing, looking through Sanlang's old papers. He didn't say anything and just waited outside.
For a moment, Du Lingjing thought that it would be better for him to be angry with her like before, which would make her feel better...
She had time to explain to him, "I just saw a note on the page about the Emperor's birth mother, Concubine Wei, but there was no follow-up, so I was just curious."
"Empress Wei..." He paused, then said, "If you are curious, you can ask Madam Baoguo."
Madam Baoguo was the sister-in-law of the late emperor's Concubine Wei. She knew more about Concubine Wei's life than anyone else.
And ever since Wei Jue and Nian Jia almost got into trouble, Mrs. Baoguo's attitude towards Du Lingjing completely changed.
After all, if it weren’t for this nephew’s wife, given her panic, the scandal would have been spread out.
She waited for Du Lingjing's attitude to change. A few days ago, she heard that she was pregnant, and had someone send a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables over.
But Du Lingjing was not very familiar with this aunt, so she had no reason to ask her about this matter specifically. If she had the chance, she could ask Concubine Jiang.
She said "hmm" and took it as a note.
But the man saw through her "perfunctory" attitude, so what she had been immersed in just now was not about Concubine Wei, right? Or was she looking for the cause of Jiang Zhuxiu's death?
But he said he didn't mind, so he wouldn't be unhappy with her about it anymore.
I would ask her what she had eaten in the past two days. I heard that she ate very little. "Did the child make you upset?"
He held her hand and said, "If I had known that this child would make you so upset..."
Du Lingjing laughed, "Can we change the child?"
The man was also amused by her words. A cool breeze blew from the corridor.
Lu Shenru held his wife in his arms.
There was an inexplicable sense of security in his embrace, along with his familiar scent. Du Lingjing felt that the discomfort in her stomach had subsided.
His shoulders and arms were broad and strong, his chest was solid and heavy, and he held her in his arms. Nothing could make her feel more at ease than this moment.
Du Lingjing was about to turn around and hug him, but she heard him whisper something.
"I have to go now. Madam, if you have anything to say, please send me a message. It's just..."
He paused, and Du Ling thought carefully about what he was going to say. Still hesitating, she raised her head and looked into his eyes.
He seemed not to want to say it, but he couldn't help it.
"My wife's eyesight is not good, and she has been feeling unwell lately. If possible, please stop looking through those old papers."
He was about to get up and leave after he finished speaking.
Du Lingjing knew that he still cared about her, but he just wouldn't say it out loud.
She regretted today that it took her so long to realize that he was standing outside the window waiting for her. Now she did not hesitate any longer and turned around to hug him.
"I know. I will watch less."
She said it with such certainty that Lu Shenru took it as the truth.
He laughed and bent down to kiss her forehead, "Yeah."
But he had no time to stay, so he stopped her in the inner courtyard to rest. Du Lingjing could only watch him walking alone under the scorching sun, striding out of their mansion and heading towards the towering imperial city.
... ...
After listening to his words, Du Lingjing stopped indulging in reading old papers. The weather had been getting hotter recently, and it was getting unbearable to sit still in the west wing in the afternoon.
She only took a quick look at it in the morning.
Who would have thought that today, instead of finding Sanlang's record of Concubine Wei's past, she found a piece of torn paper.
There were no more dots or strokes here, but Sanlang's handwriting, writing a line of words clearly. Du Lingjing took a look at it and her heart jumped for a moment -
The world is about to go into chaos, how can a sick body resist? It is just a burden... ...
She stared silently at the line of words, the handwriting showing the trembling of Sanlang's illness. When she put pen to paper, her voice was full of lamentation but powerlessness.
She froze in front of the shredded paper.
At this time, Mr. Liao sent her a letter saying that his father's aide, Mr. Chu, had regained much consciousness and wanted to see her as soon as possible, but was unwilling to go to Beijing.
Mr. Liao said that he had found a small courtyard outside Beijing to accommodate him, and asked Du Lingjing when she would be free to go with him outside Beijing.
Du Lingjing had nothing else to do today, so she asked someone to ask Mr. Liao if he was available today.
After receiving a positive answer from time to time, she went to change her clothes.
But before leaving, he read Sanlang's words again.
Mr. Chu only wanted to see her, which showed that what he wanted to tell her about her father's death was not suitable for his status as a marquis.
Du Lingjing could only ask the guards of the Marquis' Mansion not to follow closely. Marquis Lu also knew about this and had instructed the guards to follow from a distance in advance.
Du Lingjing picked up Mr. Liao and headed out of Beijing.
On the other side, in the Lu family villa outside the capital, someone watered the flowers for the last time, put down the watering can, and walked towards the guard at the gate.
It was the Han spy.
"I have something to say, and I want to report it to the Marquis."
As soon as he finished speaking, the guard at the gate's eyes lit up. He asked him to wait for a while while he rode at full speed to the capital to report the news.
Capital city, palace.
Lu Shenru had just finished the things at hand when he saw someone riding a horse at full speed.
The man was sweating all over and ran all the way to Lu Shenru. Lu Shenru raised his eyebrows at the first sight.
"What's the matter?" he said coldly.
The person who came spoke.
"The Emperor is suddenly seriously ill, and has sent a secret decree to Lord Yongding and the Imperial Concubine!"
Seriously ill... ...Secret order... ...
Lu Shenru clenched his hands.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
