Chapter 194
The weather was getting colder, with a few snowflakes floating in the air. The soldiers at the city gate rubbed their hands and continued to stand guard with their swords in their hands.
"I heard that the person from the Ding family who was going to the northwest will arrive today." There was nothing to do at the moment, so a few soldiers chatted.
"I've heard that Ding Wenhong is notorious in the northwest, and the people under his rule want to eat his flesh alive to relieve their hatred. I didn't expect that the governor of Dingyuan County couldn't control him."
"Don't even mention the people in the northwest. Aren't the plays on the stage and the stories told in the teahouse these days all about him? Who among the people in Yandu doesn't know about Ding Wenhong's deeds now?"
"Didn't they say that the stage had been demolished and the teahouse had been sealed by Lord Ding and his men?"
"Oh, Lord Ding led his men to the teahouse to arrest someone but was stopped by Lord Wei. As a result, he even chopped Lord Wei. He was not in the right and he injured someone, so naturally he didn't gain any advantage. After a few days of silence, these two places began to show signs of activity again. And I heard that a batch of storybooks came from the northwest. They were written based on Lord Wei and Lord Lin. They were easy to understand and people who could read liked to read them. Even those who couldn't read had storytellers to tell stories to everyone. Tianxuan Teahouse made so much money, who wouldn't be jealous? Now many teahouses in Yandu have storytellers to tell stories, but they dare not talk about the Ding family anymore. Instead, they talk about Lord Wei and Lord Lin. This spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. When everyone heard about the two adults fighting to the death in the northwest, they naturally thought of the people who fled when the Huns were at the gates of the city."
"Ding Wenhong's reputation has already been ruined before he even arrived in Yandu. The people in the city are now eagerly waiting to see how Your Majesty will deal with him."
"I don't think I can do anything about it. Grand Marshal Ding has always been protective of his own people. How could he let his own nephews die?"
"If it was in the past, Grand Marshal Ding could have saved Ding Wenhong with just a flick of his finger, but now your majesty is working hard to govern the country and is clearly trying to seize power. The imperial party is about to compete with the Ding party. In addition, the two adults from the northwest have military merits and political achievements, and they have a grudge against the Ding family. Ding Wenhong is going to be in trouble."
"That's what he deserved. He deserted the battlefield and left the lives of the people in the city uncaring. How many soldiers died defending the city in Ganzhou County? If we have a boss like this, we can only consider ourselves unlucky."
"Stop talking, there's movement."
They all looked and saw a group of officers and soldiers coming on horseback, followed by a prisoner cart.
A soldier stepped forward to conduct a routine inspection, and another soldier took the token document from the officer and asked, "From the northwest?"
"Yes, I am under the order of Envoy Wei to escort the criminal Ding Wenhong to the capital."
The soldier took a quick look at Ding Wenhong and saw that he had fair skin and a ruddy complexion. It was obvious that he had not suffered much on the journey. It seemed that the soldiers and servants who sent him here did not dare to offend the Ding family.
Yes, if the Ding family protects Ding Wenhong, he may be reinstated or promoted to a higher position in the future, and they, the little people, cannot afford to offend him. Moreover, even if Ding Wenhong is convicted, the Ding family will not fall in a short time, so it is better to have less trouble than more.
After the soldiers finished the inspection, they let the group in. Ding Wenhong leaned against the prison car and sneered, obviously not taking anyone seriously.
The wheels rolled away, and the soldier spat, "Who are you?"
The carriage drove into the city. The soldiers and officers escorting the carriage just breathed a sigh of relief when Ding Wenhong, who was behind them, said fearlessly, "Please bring a letter for me later. When I come out, I will report to my uncle and then reward you."
The soldiers and officers looked at each other and ignored him. Ding Wenhong said angrily, "I'm talking to you. Are you mute?"
Suddenly, a handful of rotten vegetable leaves came at him. Ding Wenhong was unable to dodge and was hit in the face. A foul smell came over him. He shook it off hastily and was about to curse when various things came at him from all directions. He used his robe to protect his head and face, avoiding the stinking eggs, and angrily said, "Who are you? Do you know who I am?"
"Who in Dayan doesn't know about Lord Ding who abandoned the people and fled for his life?" A voice came to my ears.
When had Ding Wenhong ever suffered such a great humiliation? He lifted his robe and looked around, but there was no one around. The prison van was full of dirt. "Are you guys eating for free? Are you just going to watch? Go and catch those troublemakers for me."
The officer said, "Sir Ding, it's not that we don't want to go, we just have to go and report first. Besides, the group just now came and left quickly, and we really can't catch up with them."
"Bullshit, I think you are tired of living..."
"Sir, the envoy of Wei asked us to escort you to Yandu. We are only responsible for ensuring your safety. But now that you are alive and well, we are not derelict in our duty. Sima Ding will not bother with us, the minions. As for you... let's talk about it after you come out." The soldier had endured Ding Wenhong's unreasonable behavior all the way, and finally couldn't stand it anymore and said.
"You...I am a member of the Ding family." Ding Wenhong said angrily.
There was another commotion, and a lot of people suddenly appeared from the shops on the street and the entrances of the alleys. Seeing that they were about to be smashed again, Ding Wenhong cursed, "You unruly people, um..." Cai Ye hit him in the face.
"You bastard, it's because of you that so many people died in Ganzhou."
"A cowardly official who is afraid of death."
"You should be captured by the Huns and tortured."
Ding Wenhong was so angry that he ran away, but there were too many people. He had just offended the soldiers and officers nearby, so no one came forward to help him. He could only avoid the things thrown at him while shouting and cursing.
At this time, there were bursts of horse hoof sounds. When the people heard the sound, they ran away faster and faster. When Lao Zhang and his soldiers came over, they saw the ground was in a mess. Ding Wenhong on the prison cart was in a mess and smelled bad, but the soldiers and officers next to him were clean. It seemed that the people would not implicate innocent people when they hit them.
Lao Zhang chuckled and coughed, "What happened? Who are you?"
The officer stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency, we are escorting Ding Wenhong to Beijing."
"You look unfamiliar to me. Who are you?" Ding Wenhong looked at Lao Zhang with a dark face. He knew almost all the generals of the Northern Army, but he had never seen the one in front of him before.
"I am the Lieutenant General under the Wei Xiaowei. Since nothing has happened, you can go through quickly." Old Zhang had a fierce look on his face and waved his hand to let the team pass.
"Captain Wei, are you Wei Zhongxuan's subordinate?" Ding Wenhong gnashed his teeth. Wei Zhongxuan and Lin Shuge had made him lose all face in the northwest. Everyone compared him with these two people, and no one thought that it took Wei Zhongxuan tens of thousands of elite soldiers to kill the Xiongnu Chanyu. What about himself? Why should he defend Ganzhou to the death when he has no soldiers under his command?
"That's right." Old Zhang showed a mocking smile, "Hurry up and send Lord Ding over."
"Wait, some villains just attacked an official of the imperial court. Go and arrest them quickly."
Lao Zhang scratched his ears and asked, "What did Lord Ding say? Where are these unruly people?"
"You...you..." Ding Wenhong was so angry that he leaned back, "You and your master can be proud as you want, I will come out to report to my uncle, he Wei Zhongxuan also..."
"Your Excellency has such great authority. Hurry up and give you a good ride. Otherwise, losing my life is a small matter, but please do not implicate our captain." Lao Zhang said sarcastically.
The Northern Army soldiers burst into laughter, and Cai Xing said in agreement, "Master Ding, please walk slowly. The Zhongdu prison is ahead. Please take care of yourself."
Ding Wenhong's eyes were filled with anger, and he stared at Lao Zhang and Cai Xing with gritted teeth. Lao Zhang laughed even louder when he saw this, "Sir, I'll ask the jailer to help you clean up. How come you are even more embarrassed than those Huns who entered Beijing?"
Ding Wenhong had ended up like this because of the invasion of the Huns. When he heard him mention the Huns, he must be talking about Wei Zhongxuan's surrender of captives. He was so angry that his teeth were itching. If he had not been in the prison car, he would have fought to the death with Lao Zhang.
"Even after all this, he's still so arrogant. Should I say he's indeed a member of the Ding family?" Old Zhang muttered.
Cai Xing said, "Your Excellency has not seen the past. During the time of the previous emperor, the Ding family was truly at its peak. Ding Wenhong was just a branch of the family, but he relied on the power of the Ding family to ignore not only the court officials but also the royal family members."
Lao Zhang shook his head, turned around and saw the mess, and said angrily: "Why do these people throw everything? It's so stinking. Hurry up and get someone to clean it up."
…
Lin Shuge had been pulled into agricultural production these days and was very busy. After hearing the news that Ding Wenhong had arrived in Yandu, he said to Xie Chen, "Zhongxuan, Lord Xia can move now."
Xie Chen nodded and told Lin Shuge what happened today. Lin Shuge smiled and said, "It's worth it that Axuan stayed up all night to write this plot. He is the villain in the storybook. The people who have watched the play all hate him to the core. If it weren't for the power of the Ding family, there would be more people taking to the streets today."
The villains in later TV dramas were portrayed too realistically, and the actors themselves would be boycotted and scolded. But this was a living prototype right in front of us. The evil things that Ding Wenhong did were what happened at the time, and it would be strange if the people did not hate him. If Lao Zhang hadn't stopped him, what would have been thrown at Ding Wenhong would have been more than just rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs. Coupled with the recent uproar over the closure of teahouses, Ding Wenhong, who came to Beijing today, became an outlet for the people's anger.
After Lin Shuge finished speaking, he saw Xie Chen's brows were filled with worry, "What's wrong? What are you worried about?"
"Brother, Axun has been looking for evidence of the Xie family being framed in Yandu for these years, but he has not found the key evidence. My grandfather was falsely accused of treason because of one person's report. He took out the correspondence between my grandfather and his subordinates, and the letters mentioned treason. But I believe that my grandfather was loyal to the emperor and the country all his life, how could he have the idea of treason? Someone must have framed him."
"You mean to report that person?"
Xie Chen nodded and said, "The person who reported the incident was promoted by my grandfather, and he was the one who handed the letter to the late emperor. He also led troops to surround the Xie Mansion. At the critical moment, my mother asked Axun to take me away from Yandu, so I escaped with my life."
"Who is that person?"
"My brother met Wang Heng, the Chief Justice of the Imperial Court, on the day of the captive surrender." Xie Chen's eyes were filled with hatred, and he slammed his fist on the table. "This ungrateful person is really unworthy of his life."
Lin Shuge recalled the frightened and panicked look on Wang Heng's face when he saw Xie Chen that day. "Can you let him speak out himself?" he said softly.
"Axun searched his house and found nothing related to the Xie family. This shows that he is very cautious and will not leave any evidence behind."
"What if he said it himself?" Lin Shuge's mind once again flashed back to Wang Heng's reaction when he saw Xie Chen. "This man seems to be quite timid. Of all the officials who saw you when you presented the captives, he had the biggest reaction." Lin Shuge's eyes lit up. "Zhongxuan, can he believe in ghosts and gods?"
Xie Chen said happily: "Axun said that he pursued immortality and hated death. He had already prepared a large number of burial objects for himself while he was still alive, and even hired a painter to draw a picture for his tomb."
In this era, many princes and nobles pursued immortality, and seeking immortality was the trend of the times. Many people even asked people to paint various pictures of the immortal world in their tombs after their death, hoping to ascend to heaven and attain eternal bliss after death.
"That's easy." Lin Shuge raised his eyes and said.
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