Gu Jue tapped the armrest twice with his left index finger and said to Concubine Yang lying on the stretcher, "Concubine, you can speak now."

Concubine Yang: “…”

After being caned thirty times, Concubine Yang's mood was completely different from before. How much more confident and outspoken she was before, now she was as nervous and fearful.

She was frightened by the thirty lashes of the cane and began to doubt what the man said. At this moment, she had the idea of ​​backing out.

That person didn't say that she would be beaten. He kept saying that Gu Jue would not order her to be beaten in order to protect his reputation as an emperor.

Before this, Concubine Yang also felt that what the other party said made sense. Three years ago, Marquis Anle got drunk at a palace banquet, acted crazy, and lost his manners in front of the emperor. He should have been punished with twenty strokes of the cane, but the late Emperor Gu Lang let him off lightly to show his tolerance.

While Concubine Yang was hesitating, she heard Gu Jue say again: "Didn't you want to file a complaint with the emperor? Why don't you do that?"

Gu Jue fanned his folding fan elegantly and casually, with an expression that showed a bit of interest and a bit of condescension.

At this moment, Concubine Yang felt like a lowly ant that could be easily crushed...

She clenched her fists tightly, her eyes flickering, but in the end she suppressed the hesitation and fear in her heart.

Can't retreat.

She had already been beaten thirty times. If she retreated now, wouldn't it be a waste of all her efforts? If she retreated now, she would not be able to get back her wealth, nor her title, and she would become a joke in the capital! She had to sue, how could she not sue? She had to file a lawsuit.

Having made up her mind, Concubine Yang said weakly but firmly, "I want to sue."

Concubine Yang was lying on a stretcher on the ground, unable to see outside the hall. She did not notice at all that several figures had appeared outside the hall. Two Jinyiwei were walking towards the Huagai Hall with two men in gorgeous clothes who looked 30% similar in appearance.

However, Prince Li, the Minister of Justice and other four people who were standing in a row on the left side of the main hall saw it and quickly exchanged ambiguous glances.

Soon, two men in fancy clothes came to the eaves outside the main hall and walked in side by side.

The older one was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing a purple robe, with a handsome face, smiling before speaking, and a straightforward and free-spirited temperament; the younger one was about twenty years old, with handsome features as well, but his slightly plump figure and flickering eyes made him look not tall enough.

The brothers were Gu Jin and Concubine Yang’s biological son Gu Ming.

"Your Majesty, Gu Jin and Gu Ming are here." One of the Jinyiwei with a small mustache said to Gu Jue with a fist salute.

Gu Jin looked frank and generous, but there was a hint of uneasiness in Gu Ming's expression, especially when he found Concubine Yang lying weakly on the stretcher, the uneasiness in his eyes became even stronger.

My mother was actually punished with a stick. Could it be...

Gu Ming lowered his eyes and looked at Concubine Yang with a questioning look. Concubine Yang nodded slightly at him, meaning that everything was going as planned.

However, Gu Ming was worried and stood beside Concubine Yang's stretcher anxiously, wondering why the new emperor summoned him to see him.

Concubine Yang became more determined because of her son's arrival. She swallowed her saliva and continued, "I want to sue my stepson Gu Jin for bullying his younger brother and being unfilial to his stepmother when the family property was divided. He was not an heir, but he got 70% of the family property."

"Sue the Queen for protecting Gu Jin and allowing him to bully the orphan and the widow because he is related to her."

"Your Majesty, you have indulged the Queen and have only listened to one side. Because of the Queen's words, the title of Prince Jing of our mansion has remained vacant until now."

She really hated it in her heart.

She had submitted two memorials for the purpose of ennobling her son Gu Mingcheng the title. One was submitted when the late emperor Gu Lang was still alive, and the other was submitted again after the new emperor ascended the throne. However, it had been more than two months since the new emperor ascended the throne, and the memorial requesting the title was still pending.

Obviously, her family had already distributed 70% of the property to Gu Jin, but the new emperor still refused to give the title to Gu Ming. If that was the case, she might as well go all out and file a complaint against the unfair division of the family and the unfair inheritance of the title. She wanted to take back all the title and property that belonged to Gu Ming.

Concubine Yang spoke with righteous indignation. Her voice was low at first, but gradually it became louder and louder, as if she was pouring out all her resentment and unwillingness of the past few days in every word.

Every word she wrote was full of tears and every syllable was filled with sorrow. After hearing them, the three other candidates except Xuan Juren all felt sympathy for her.

Mr. Xuan frowned slightly. Concubine Yang's words made the Queen a demon who brought disaster to the country, and the new Emperor a monarch who was misled by beauty!

Gu Jue on the throne listened excitedly, with a smile on his face, as if Concubine Yang was just a bad actor on the stage and her singing and acting were just to amuse him.

Shen Qianchen only treated Concubine Yang as a joke. When she heard her say that Gu Jue indulged her, she couldn't help laughing. She silently handed a cup of tea to Gu Jue's free left hand and blinked at him with sparkling eyes.

Shen Qianchen had never thought that she actually had the potential to become Su Daji. If it weren't for the wrong occasion, she would have been unable to hold back her laughter and fallen into Gu Jue's arms.

Should she say that Concubine Yang has "good eyesight" or not?

Shen Qianchen wanted to laugh, but Prince Li was so angry that it seemed as if all the blood in his body rushed to his head. His forehead was hot, his face was pale, and he was speechless for a while.

Concubine Yang is so shameless!

Apart from anything else, he and other royal relatives and Gu Nanzhao were all present when the family was divided. The division was done according to the rules. Because Gu Jin gave up his inheritance rights, Gu Ming, as the youngest son, became the adopted son, so he got 70% of the family property. But for some reason, Gu Ming was in urgent need of money that day and insisted on exchanging his property for cash.

Prince Li knew with a little thought that Gu Ming must have done something wrong that was why he asked for cash, but he was just too lazy to care or say anything.

Concubine Yang took two breaths and continued to speak indignantly, "I refuse to accept this. Even if I have to be beaten with the cane thirty times in court, I will ask the emperor to give me justice!"

When she said this last sentence, her eyes suddenly turned red and her voice became hoarse and choked.

After Concubine Yang finished speaking, Gu Jue leisurely put down his teacup, still with a faint smile on his lips, and asked, "Are you done? Have you forgotten that I was there on the day of the separation?"

She dared to exaggerate and make up stories right in front of him. Gu Jue really didn't know whether to praise her for being bold or fearless.

Others might be misled by Concubine Yang, but Gu Jue, Shen Qianchen and Prince Li were all present and witnessed the division of the Jingjun Palace on the day of the division.

The Minister of Justice and several other officials as well as the four candidates were in doubt and were trying to figure out what Gu Jue meant by this. Could there be some hidden story behind the separation of the Jing County Prince's Mansion? !

Concubine Yang: “…”

Concubine Yang was choked for a moment, her eyes flickered, and she immediately cheered up and said in a strong voice: "Yes, the emperor was also there that day. Your Majesty, didn't you go to the Prince's Mansion that day to support Gu Jin?!"

Gu Jin could no longer laugh. He was so angry at Concubine Yang's confusing right and wrong remarks that his hands turned cold and his teeth were chattering.

He had a lot to say, but he had been told by the Jinyiwei before he came, and now that Gu Jue didn't let him speak, he couldn't say anything and could only bear it for the time being.

He was also afraid that he would say too much, as too much talk would lead to mistakes. If someone caught him, it would make things difficult for Shen Qianchen.

Prince Li did not call her his brother's sister-in-law, but called her Yang in public, which shows that he was extremely angry.

Although he was furious, he still remembered the occasion and immediately bowed to Gu Jue: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for my impoliteness in front of you."

Prince Li took two deep breaths, calmed down a lot, and continued in an orderly manner: "When the family was divided that day, according to the rules of the royal family, the heir got the ancestral home and 70% of the property, and the remaining property was divided equally among the others. The legitimate son got 10% more than the illegitimate son."

"There is a document of division of the family as proof."

All the documents on the division of the royal family were backed up by Prince Li, and he was well prepared when he entered the palace. He immediately took out a document from a wooden box in the hands of his long-time attendant and handed it to the middle-aged eunuch to present to Gu Jue.

Gu Jue quickly glanced at the family division document, and then asked the middle-aged eunuch to hand it over to the Minister of Justice, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Left Censor-in-Chief to review it one by one.

The document on the division of the family property was written in great detail, clearly stating how many shops, farms, fields and other properties the Prince of Jing owned, as well as the amount of cash. It also stated that Gu Ming would get 70% and Gu Jin would get 120%, with the former getting the property and the latter getting the cash.

When the family business is divided, the value of the property is converted into cash and divided. However, everyone knows that the property will grow year by year. Good property is priceless and can be encountered by chance only, and its value far exceeds cash.

The three adults all read it carefully and confirmed that there was no problem with the division document. It can be said that if the family is divided according to this document, the person who will suffer the loss will definitely be Gu Jin.

After a while, the document from the Wen family returned to Gu Jue, who then had it taken to show to the four candidates.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

The four people, including Xuan Juren, were all surprised and somewhat flattered.

It was a great honor for the four of them to be able to witness the trial in person. With the presence of royal relatives and high-ranking officials, there was no room for them to make a comment. They did not expect the new emperor to be so courteous. They were surprised and extremely nervous.

The four of them gathered together and carefully read the document of division of the property.

Although they did not know the rules of the division of the royal family, they could also infer the rules based on the division of the family among ordinary people. In ordinary families, the eldest son usually supports his parents, so the ancestral home belongs to the eldest son, and the family property will be divided more to the eldest son. By the same token, it is understandable that the heir inherits the title and gets most of the property.

According to this document, Concubine Yang's biological son Gu Ming clearly got the majority of the property, which was a huge advantage, but now he still feels it is not enough... Could it be that he squandered all the property after the division of the family, and now wants to ask his brother Gu Jin for money? ! This kind of thing is too humiliating!

The four candidates looked at each other, and at this moment, they all realized the unreasonable aspects of the whole thing.

As the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

No matter how poor the Prince's Mansion was, even if Concubine Yang and her son had only received 10% of the family fortune, Concubine Yang should not have fallen to the point of not having even a complete pair of good clothes. However, she ran to the court to beat the drum in a patched dress, crying in front of a large audience that she could not make ends meet.

Concubine Yang was so poor that she was dressed worse than an ordinary citizen. On the contrary, her son Gu Ming was dressed in gorgeous clothes. They didn't look like mother and son at all. It was as if the son was the master and the mother was the servant.

If we talk about being unfilial, Gu Ming couldn't even support his biological mother, this is truly unfilial! Originally, the candidates still had a little sympathy for Concubine Yang who was caned thirty times, but at this moment, this sympathy had disappeared without a trace.

With the transmission of the separation document, the wind direction changed immediately.

Since there was no problem with the family division documents, there was no charge that the queen protected her uncle and the new emperor indulged the queen. Even more, Concubine Yang repeatedly accused the new emperor of suppressing the petition for the title of Prince Jing's Mansion. Was there any other hidden secret? ! The eyes of the crowd looking at Concubine Yang and Gu Ming's mother and son changed, as if they were carrying thorns, wanting to pierce their flesh and blood to see what color their flesh and heart were.

Concubine Yang: “…”

Gu Ming: “…”

Concubine Yang was speechless for a moment, her face changing from gloomy to bright.

Before she came, that person had told her about several possibilities that might happen. She would like to force Gu Jue to make a big deal out of a small matter, so she went to beat the drum to stir up the enthusiasm of these students, hoping that these students could make some noise.

The imperial examination will be held next month. If a scandal breaks out at this time, the royal family will inevitably become a laughing stock among the students and damage the royal dignity. Whether it is a division of the family or an inheritance of the title, this is a family affair of the royal family. Gu Jue must give the Gu family some face, right? ! Concubine Yang originally hoped that Gu Jue would use the title and money to shut her up. She got what she wanted, and Gu Jue could also give an explanation to the students waiting outside.

In this way, you can have the best of both worlds and everyone gets what they want.

Unfortunately, the situation still developed into the other possibility that the man mentioned. Ever since Gu Jue gave the family division document to the Minister of Justice and others for review, Concubine Yang knew that the matter had become more troublesome.

Concubine Yang gritted her teeth, managed to calm herself down, and continued, "Indeed, the family property was originally divided according to this division document, but that day the Queen helped Gu Jin buy out 60% of the Prince's Mansion's property with 300,000 taels!"

"That 60% of the property was originally worth more than 2 million taels!"

Originally, Gu Ming was to receive 70% of the family property, but Gu Jin bought away 60% at a mere 300,000 taels, leaving only 10%. This led to a deficit in the Prince's Mansion, and she could only use her dowry to fill the deficit.

The others couldn't help but gasp when they heard this, and they also did the math in their minds: Unless one is a fool, no one would sell a property worth more than two million taels for three hundred thousand taels.

Could it be that the Queen really used her power to coerce Concubine Yang and Gu Ming? !

"Your Highness and I are also forced into this situation and are powerless!" As she spoke, Concubine Yang burst into tears and felt as if her heart was being cut by a knife.

She really felt sorry for the property that was enough to support her for several lifetimes.

"So that's it!" Gu Jue suddenly put away the folding fan and tapped it lightly on his palm twice, as if he was thinking about something.

Concubine Yang's eyes flashed, and she felt a little proud in her heart: This matter cannot be explained clearly. Those who were present that day were all royal relatives, their own family. Even if Prince Li denied her words, she could still say that Prince Li sided with the Queen.

If the new emperor summoned other royal relatives to the palace, she would say the same thing. People always sympathize with the weak, and she just had to pretend to be bullied.

"What about the 300,000 taels of silver?" Gu Jue asked.

The picture that Concubine Yang had painted in her mind was immediately torn apart by Gu Jue's question.

She was stunned. She didn't expect that Gu Jue didn't say that it was Gu Ming who sold it on his own initiative. Instead, he turned the topic to the whereabouts of the silver. She was choked for a moment.

Everyone was looking at Concubine Yang, and they all noticed that something was wrong with her expression.

Gu Ming beside her trembled even more, with cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

Gu Jue asked again: "According to what you said, Gu Jin bought the property at a low price, so the silver should be 300,000 taels. Where is the silver?"

"Did you squander it all?"

"Or, are you and Gu Ming pretending to be broke and suing for a false claim?"

Gu Jue’s questions became more and more sharp.

(End of this chapter)