Chapter 63 The Drum of Appeal Sounds I almost thought you were a woman too...
The large open space outside the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City was four mu square according to regulations. Along the paved official road, five-zhang-high sandalwood flagpoles with dou (a type of ancient Chinese unit of length) were erected every two feet. The flags with yellow silk trim fluttered in the wind, and a drum for petitioning was placed directly in front of the road.
The remonstrance drum is simple and dignified in design. The drum body is carefully carved from solid wood, and the drumhead is covered with thick, tough, and durable rhinoceros hide. When struck, it produces a loud and clear sound that can be heard throughout the land. The wide drumhead can be several feet in diameter and is painted with cloud and water patterns. The colors are colorful yet dignified, symbolizing that the people's appeals to the emperor will be blessed by the emperor and will be successfully heard.
The drum stand is made of bronze, with a sturdy structure and intricate carvings. It is decorated with mythical beasts such as the Qilin, as well as floral patterns such as lotus and peony, which not only demonstrates the imperial grandeur but also expresses the beautiful wishes for national peace and prosperity and favorable weather. The drum stand is equipped with a square base, the edges of which are also decorated with exquisite relief carvings, complementing the drum body and the drum stand.
The Dahuang Dengwen Drum has been in place for a long time. As a judicial system for direct appeals, people could strike the Dengwen Drum to directly present their cases to the emperor. If there was indeed a grievance, the highest supervisory body, the Censorate, would handle the case, thus achieving the goal of redressing their grievances.
The drum-duty personnel are arranged in rotation by the Six Ministries' Supervising Secretaries and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They are responsible for receiving petitions for cases submitted to the Emperor and forwarding them to the Emperor. Today, the drum-duty personnel is Jin An, the Supervising Secretaries of the Ministry of Revenue.
The sky was clear and the breeze was gentle. Jin An was idly on duty in the corridor. His gaze fell on the Dengwen Drum, and he curled his lip in disinterest before turning to the giant stone lion outside the Meridian Gate. Ahead, golden sunlight bathed the official road, and an official in blue robes was walking gracefully.
Jin An narrowed his eyes, hissed uncertainly, and waited until the person got closer before greeting him from afar, saying, "Brother Tan!"
Feng Tan smiled and returned the official salute, saying, "Is it my turn to be on duty today, Brother Jin'an?"
“That’s right,” Jin An said with a bitter face, grumbling to Feng Tan, “Look at this scorching sun! The Dengwen Drum hasn’t been sounded for years, and we have to take turns on duty with the people from the Six Ministries and the Embroidered Uniform Guard! I haven’t finished all the work in the Six Ministries yet, and there’s no one to beat it. Can’t you just send one or two minor officials to watch over it?!”
Since the founding of the Dahuang Dynasty, the Dengwen Drum had only been sounded once. The Six Ministries and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were too busy with their daily duties to pay much attention to the rotation of officials guarding the drum. Later, a wrongful case arose due to the absence of the official on duty, leading to a bloodbath among the people seeking justice outside the Meridian Gate in front of the drum. Outraged, Emperor Jianming immediately appointed additional officials to guard the drum. If any official on duty neglected their post for personal reasons, they would be punished with caning in court to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
Feng Tan followed Jin An's gaze to the Dengwen Drum, his face as if shrouded in mist, making it impossible to discern his true intentions. He asked, "Brother Jin An, does the sound of the Dengwen Drum truly reach the ears of Heaven?"
“Of course, as long as the petition drum is sounded and there are witnesses and physical evidence proving it's a miscarriage of justice, then the Censorate must accept the case.” Jin An looked at Feng Tan, raised an eyebrow, and smiled, “By the way, what brings you here today, Tan-ge’er?”
Feng Tan's gaze swept from the gate, past the tall flagpole, and landed on the lacquered red drum for petitioning. He said softly, "I have come to plead my case."
Jin An suddenly stood up from under the eaves, staring at the boy standing in the interplay of light and shadow, unable to believe his ears, and exclaimed with wide eyes, "What?"
Feng Tan turned and walked forward, leaving him with a figure in a smart blue robe. Every step she took was firm and powerful, and every word she uttered was filled with resentment: "I have come to seek justice!"
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
"......"
"Thump!"
The drums thundered, instantly echoing over the imperial palace. Each strike of the drum by the windmill was powerful and resounding, one after another, for a total of five hundred and twenty-one strikes. The scorching summer sun illuminated the young man in the blue official robe standing before the Dengwen Drum, his brows furrowed with both sorrow and resolute determination; he was the only one whose light shone brightly in the courtyard.
Sweat streamed down his cheeks. After 521 drumbeats, a large number of officials had gathered behind Feng Tan.
The leader was Wei Shengxian, a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, followed by a group of Embroidered Uniform Guards in flying fish robes. The offices of the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries were located in the southeast corner of the Meridian Gate of the Imperial City. With such a commotion at the Meridian Gate, the officials on duty today were all attracted by the drumbeats and came out of their offices.
A group of eunuchs in blue robes strode out from the Meridian Gate. The leader was Jiang Lili, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. He greeted the officials, squinted at the official in blue robes in front of the Drum of Appeal, and said, "Who is beating the drum? What audacity! What kind of injustice is it that requires you to beat it more than five hundred times? Even our ancestors' eardrums are throbbing from the noise!"
Feng Tan turned around, his gaze sweeping over the officials standing in the courtroom. He took out the petition with neither servility nor arrogance and said, "Feng Tan, a senior official in the Ministry of Justice, has a grievance to present!"
Jiang Lili asked, "What injustice has Lord Feng suffered?"
The complaint, written in black and white, was laid out before the assembled officials. Feng Tan stood before the Dengwen Drum, his voice resounding, "On the 21st day of the third month of the eighth year of Chongming, Gao Yu was ordered to interrogate the hundreds of women arrested in the Women's Calamity Case. Among them, 521 confessed that Feng Youming's claim of women's rights was a pretense; his true intention was to seize the throne! However, the confession submitted by Gao Yu was a fabrication. The claim that Feng Youming plotted to usurp the throne is unfounded. Furthermore, 521 women suffered cruel torture at the hands of corrupt officials and died unjustly! Moreover, Feng Youming's actions back then were only to ensure that women throughout the land had access to education, the right to express their aspirations, and the right to be human, so that Emei could rise above their circumstances. How can he be accused of threatening the fate of the Great Huang Dynasty? The dead cannot clear their names, and the living cannot litigate. Are both heavenly justice and the law still upheld?! When the Great Huang Dynasty's heavenly way is lost and humanity is destroyed, great chaos will ensue!"
After saying this, Feng Tan presented the complaint, his eyes gleaming with a deep light, and said, "Most of the revised articles of the Dahuang Code are consistent with the parts that Feng Youming requested to be rectified back then. This can be said to prove from another perspective that Feng Youming's actions were without fault. I earnestly hope that you gentlemen will uphold justice and restore the innocence of the deceased and the living!"
The heavy hammer struck again and again, leaving the officials present stunned and unsure of what to do. Jiang Lili took Feng Tan's complaint, as if holding a hot potato, wanting to throw it away but unable to, yet not daring to hand it to the Emperor. If it were a commoner, it wouldn't matter, but Feng Tan was different; he was an official, and a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Justice who had brought down the treacherous minister Gao Yu and was famous throughout the capital.
Holding the petition, Jiang Lili gritted her teeth and said angrily, "Lord Feng, I will go and request His Majesty's permission right away!"
......
The sound of the petition drum resounded throughout the capital. Emperor Chongming accepted Feng Tan's petition, read it over and over for a day, and then handed over the review of the case of the woman who caused the disaster to the Censorate.
The crescent moon hung in the sky. Feng Tan was detained in the interrogation room of the Censorate according to regulations. She had been interrogated by the left and right vice censors all day. Now that the night was deep and quiet, she was so sleepy that she lay down on the wooden table and closed her eyes to rest.
She dared not sleep deeply in the Censorate, and even in her light sleep, she would spare a moment to keep an eye on the door. Feng Tan closed her eyes and did not look at her surroundings, but she felt a gaze full of pressure fall on her.
Feng Tan slowly opened her eyes and met Xiao Yinshi's dark eyes without any doubt. She straightened up, yawned, stretched, and said, "Has Lord Xiao not finished his shift yet?"
"Thanks to Lord Feng," Xiao Yinshi said, leaning over Feng Tan with his arm resting on the table, "the officials of the Censorate have not been able to rest for the past few days."
Feng Tan knew what the censors were busy doing: impeaching her and finding loopholes in the complaint.
Seeing that Feng Tan remained silent, Xiao Yinshi took out the case file from his interrogation of Feng Tan earlier that day, quickly glanced through it, and spoke in a low voice that made it impossible to discern his emotions. “Feng Tan, is it because you are a censor from the Six Ministries, or because you are so eloquent and sharp-tongued that we, the two vice censors, have been unable to find a single point of contention with you?”
In the candlelight, Xiao Yinshi's deep gaze fell on Feng Tan. She met his eyes without flinching. Even after being coerced into confessing all day, the determination and clarity in her eyes remained undiminished. "Lord Xiao, a scholar has his own backbone. I am not a fish to be slaughtered. I walk the righteous path and am not afraid of being interrogated by you censors."
Her attitude of "try and try as you please, I'll admit defeat if you find even the slightest loophole" somehow pleased Xiao Yinshi. He looked at Feng Tan, chuckled softly, and said meaningfully, "A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, and won't turn back until it hits a wall. You can do your way of the world, but you have to do it in the world. What, is the Dahuang Dynasty considered the world?"
Feng Tan knew that Xiao Yinshi was laughing at her arrogance and her overly idealistic thinking. She pursed her lips and pondered for a moment before saying, "The imperial court is a battleground of deceit and intrigue, but there is always a scale in the hearts of the officials. If the Dahuang Code cannot be followed, it means that the people of the world are told that the Dahuang Code is without laws. Doesn't that mean that everyone can rise up in rebellion? The scholar-officials learn the art of manipulation and power. They want to educate and keep the people ignorant. The common people learn benevolence, righteousness, morality, loyalty, and filial piety. Once they realize that the Dahuang Code can be abolished, they will awaken like Feng Youming. How could the ruling class want to see such a situation?"
The dim candlelight illuminated Xiao Yinshi's deep and sculpted features. He looked at Feng Tan, a fleeting interest flashing in the depths of his eyes. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he said, "The Great Chaos Code can be changed once because of you, and it can be changed a second time. Feng has ordered women to enter the court as officials, which is tantamount to going against the imperial authority in the eyes of the ministers. You are going against the entire court by yourself. What chance do you have of winning? Is it just based on your own little bit of reasoning?"
The crisp, woody scent lingered in her nostrils, and the man's words plunged Feng Tan's heart into despair. Her gaze, which had been fixed on him, trembled slightly, and she slowly clenched her fingers.
"This world only recognizes might. You're not qualified to change it." Xiao Yinshi took in Feng Tan's change in eyes, his voice low and husky, with a hint of seduction. "I happen to have some power in my hands. Do you want me to help you?"
The man slowly unfurled his alluring spiderweb, drawing people in. His dark eyes fixed intently on Feng Tan, revealing a deep, dark desire as thick as ink, terrifying and chilling.
Feng Tan struggled out of the dark shadows in Xiao Yinshi's eyes, her brows and eyes becoming clear and bright. "Arsenic wrapped in honey, Feng Tan dares not swallow."
Xiao Yinshi chuckled briefly, his captivating gaze sharpening rather than diminishing. His fingers touched Feng Tan's Adam's apple once more. He recalled that in the Linzhang sea area, the boy's Adam's apple was bruised but did not bleed. In the library, Feng Tan had let him touch it through his clothes.
The man's aura was chilling, his deliberately lowered voice like that of a demon, "Every word of this indictment is filled with emotion, every sentence defending the female perpetrator. In this world, only women themselves can truly care for women. I almost thought you were a woman too... You, are you?"
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