Chapter 140: Caning
In Changshoufang, an old lady was sitting on the doorstep, choosing vegetables while looking at the scattered Yulin troops. Ming Huashang noticed her, took the initiative to walk towards her, and asked with a smile: "Hello, old lady. Are you preparing dinner? What are you having for dinner?"
The old lady was well-known in the Changshou Room for her warm-heartedness. She usually liked to walk around the streets and chat. Perhaps because of the mutual sympathy between the Sheniu, the old lady was not shy and chatted with Ming Huashang freely: "We are planning to have shepherd's purse soup cakes tonight. What are you doing? Didn't I ask you once before? Why are you here again?"
Ming Huashang sat at the doorstep without any hesitation, helping the old lady to choose vegetables: "There are many people in this area, and the commander is afraid that there are explosives hidden in the alley, so he asked us to look for them. Auntie, do you know any men in this area who are secluded, have strange tempers, and are not with their children, and are about 30 to 50 years old?"
The old lady thought for a moment and said warmly, "That's a lot."
The old lady talked about the gossips of various families in the neighborhood like a treasure trove, but the "weird person" she was talking about was obviously not the kind Ming Huashang was looking for. Ming Huashang listened to the family's gossip and interrupted her tactfully: "Auntie, I don't know the whole story of whether there is an affair or not, so I dare not comment rashly. The weird person I am talking about is the kind of person who likes to make trouble, has a bad temper, speaks in a serious and formal manner, and is not very popular with children."
The old lady frowned when she heard this: "We are all ordinary people living in this neighborhood. How can we like to study medicine... But when we have a headache or a fever, we all like to ask Lord Liao."
Ming Huashang tried to ask: "Master Liao is..."
"He is also in your Jingzhao Prefecture, and seems to be a military officer."
Ming Huashang wondered when there was a military officer named Liao in Jingzhao Prefecture. She pronounced the name and suddenly realized, "Are you talking about Lord Liao Yushan, the Jingzhao Yin?"
The old lady nodded repeatedly: "Yes! Has he been promoted to Jingzhao Yin?"
"Yes." Ming Huashang said, "The Jingzhao Yin also lives here?"
"Yes, it's over there, in the courtyard with the tree at the gate." The old lady chattered, "Lord Liao is a cultured man, he has nothing to say to us, and we dare not disturb him. Unexpectedly, he has been promoted to Jingzhao Yin. What rank is Jingzhao Yin? How much is his salary?"
Ming Huashang was embarrassed and said tactfully: "This is the boss's private matter, it's not appropriate for us to pry into it."
The old lady said "oh" in disappointment and nodded: "That's true. But he definitely earned much more than us ordinary people. I guess in a few days, Jingzhao Yin will not live here anymore and will move to Dongcheng."
Ming Huashang listened to what the old lady said and doubts flashed through his mind. Jingzhao Yin was promoted in September last year. His salary as a military officer was meager and he could only afford to rent an old house in Xicheng. However, the annual salary of a third-rank official was not low. Why was Jingzhao Yin still living in such a place?
Ming Huashang asked, "Madam, has Lord Liao lived here for a long time?"
"It's been more than ten years." The old lady said, "It's rare, after all these years, he finally got a promotion. In the past few years, I saw him go out early and come back late every day, often with the lights on late at night, all alone, without even a companion. Well, it's good that he got a promotion, hard work will eventually be rewarded."
Ming Huashang asked, "Has he lived alone all these years?"
The old lady sighed, "Yes, his wife had no money to treat her illness after giving birth, and she died of illness within a few years. The neighbors saw how hard it was for him to raise his daughter alone, and suggested introducing him to a continuation of his marriage, but he refused. God is also blind. He raised his daughter with great difficulty, but ten years ago, there was a spring plague in Chang'an, and his daughter was infected with the plague. During that time, the price of medicine in Chang'an soared, and he had no money to buy medicine, so he watched his daughter die. It's so pitiful, the little girl was only seven years old when she died. If she could grow up, she would be your age."
Ming Huachang vaguely heard the old yamen runner mention that Jingzhao Yin had a daughter, but she died early. Unexpectedly, the cause of death was so tragic and helpless.
Ming Huashang sighed and continued to ask the old lady about the things in Changshoufang. As she was listening, she caught a glimpse of Su Xingzhi standing not far away, looking at her with hesitation. Ming Huashang apologized to the old lady and stood up and ran over.
Ming Huashang and Su Xingzhi walked to a deserted place. Seeing that no one could hear them, she lowered her voice and asked, "What happened?"
It was time to go to the yamen, but Su Xingzhi came out to look for her. Something must have happened. Sure enough, Su Xingzhi suppressed his anxiety and said, "Something bad has happened. Yu Ji seemed to know something. She had a quarrel with me yesterday and then disappeared."
Su Xingzhi spent the whole night looking for Su Yuji last night, but found nothing. Su Xingzhi no longer had the heart to go to the government office, so he asked for leave from Yu Shitai and continued to look for people in Chang'an City today. He looked for Su Yuji in all the places she might have been, but still couldn't find her. Su Xingzhi could only come to Ming Huashang, hoping that she had some clues.
Ming Huashang and the Yulin Army were searching the city, and Su Xingzhi spent a lot of effort to find her. When Ming Huashang heard that Su Yuji was missing, she frowned deeply and asked hurriedly: "What did she say to you last night? Tell me from the beginning."
Ming Huashang frowned and fell into deep thought after listening to Su Xingzhi's narration. Based on her understanding of Su Yuji, Su Yuji should not be such a sensitive and irritable person. She ran away from home just because her brother said a few words for another woman. Did she hear something?
This incident made Ming Huachang notice a detail. In the dream, when Su Yuji came to the Ming family to reveal that she was the real daughter, she seemed to have brought a painting, so her self-proof was so convincing.
However, Ming Huashang had lived in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion for seventeen years but could not find any clues. How did Su Yuji know that she had been replaced and even produce evidence?
Where did the portrait come from?
If Ming Huazhang hadn't been there, Ming Huashang would have definitely suspected that there was a traitor in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and that perhaps the second and third wives had deliberately caused trouble and deliberately stolen the portrait to stir up conflict. But combined with her sudden death and the clues she had obtained during this period, Ming Huashang felt that this matter might not be that simple.
She had always been concerned about the real daughter, first doubting who she was, and then doubting who Ming Huazhang was. She never thought about why Su Yuji came to her house. In her opinion, it was perfectly legitimate for Su Yuji to come to her house after learning that she was the real daughter.
However, Su Xingzhi clearly said that Nanny Su did not tell Su Yuji about his life experience, and he never mentioned it either. So how did Su Yuji know about it?
Ming Huashang first considered why Su Yuji came to visit. She believed that it was Nanny Su who swapped the granddaughter of the Su family with the daughter of the Duke's family because Su Yuji said so in her dream. Where did Su Yuji get this knowledge from?
Ming Huachang's heart skipped a beat. Apart from the people around Wang Yulan, the only people who knew more about the baby swap 17 years ago than the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion were probably the Li family. Prince Zhang Huai had loyal followers and enemies, and there were more than one party who wanted to find Ming Huachang.
Ming Huashang couldn't help but imagine that if she hadn't had that dream, she would probably still be the second daughter of the Salted Fish, and wouldn't have joined the Black Owl Guards, and naturally wouldn't have known Su Yuji and Su Xingzhi. At the same time, Su Yuji was told that she was the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo who was replaced.
The person behind the scenes wanted to find out the orphan of Prince Zhang Huai, so he exaggerated Su Yuji's life experience and encouraged her to go to the mansion to find her relatives, in order to test the reaction of the Duke of Zhenguo. Su Yuji did not know Ming Huashang, and she also misunderstood that her adopted brother's family deliberately changed her life in order to let their daughter enjoy glory and wealth. Who can tolerate such a gap? She was betrayed multiple times, and it was reasonable for she to come to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to reveal the truth in an emotional state.
In the dream, the Duke of Zhenguo knew that this was a trap set by the enemy, but in order to protect the real orphan Ming Huazhang, he could only follow Su Yuji's words and insisted that Ming Huashang was Su's child and wanted to send Ming Huashang away on the spot. It was Ming Huazhang who felt sorry for it and tried to stop it, so Ming Huashang was saved from being abandoned.
However, he also exposed himself to danger by doing so, and the protector behind him immediately assassinated Ming Huashang. In this way, Ming Huashang's identity seemed to be confirmed, and the court would think that she was the daughter of Prince Zhang Huai, otherwise why would she commit suicide out of fear of crime?
Therefore, the real orphan was able to hide the truth and use someone else's trick to take the blame.
Ming Huashang finally connected everything together. It turned out that both she and Su Yuji were just pawns in the game of the superiors. When the person behind the scenes instigated Su Yuji, he never cared about Su Yuji's life or death, and when the other party tried to kill Ming Huashang, they did not hesitate at all.
Ming Huashang sighed. As a chess piece, it was too tiring to feel angry and sad. The most urgent thing was to save people. Ming Huashang said, "Su Yuji is in danger now. We must find her as soon as possible. Where does she usually go?"
"I've been looking for her, but the people there said they haven't seen her." Su Xingzhi was very anxious. "I really had no choice, so I came to you. I thought she would come to see you."
Ming Huashang had never seen Su Xingzhi lose his composure like this before, and she was also infected by his anxiety. At this time, someone outside the alley shouted, "Mrs. Ming Er?"
Ming Huashang responded and asked, "I'm here. What's the matter?"
"Someone from your family is here to see you."
Ming Huashang and Su Xingzhi were startled at the same time and hurried out, but saw Zhaocai outside. Ming Huashang's heart was tense and relaxed, and she herself felt strange. Of course it must be someone from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. Why did she think it was Su Yuji?
Zhaocai looked solemn, and when he saw her he hurried over and said, "Madam, the Duke has ordered you to return home as soon as possible."
Ming Huashang was surprised. The Duke of Zhenguo had never interfered with her going out before. Why did he suddenly ask her to go back today? Ming Huashang asked, "Why?"
Zhaocai had a strange expression on her face. She quickly glanced around and tiptoed to whisper in Ming Huashang's ear: "My lady, something happened in the palace. The Danfeng Gate is in chaos. It seems that the empress is angry and is punishing Prince Shao and Prince Wei. The Duke is afraid that something might happen, so he asked me to take you back quickly."
Ming Huashang was shocked and asked subconsciously, "What about the second brother?"
"The Duke immediately sent someone to look for him, but the person who searched for Erlangjun said that he had left the capital.
If you can't tie it, the Duke will send someone to pick up the lady." Zhaocai said, "We thought you and Erlang were together, but we didn't expect you to be so far away. We searched for a long time before we found out that the Yulin Army was in Changshoufang."
The investigation deadline is tomorrow. Su Yuji is missing, Ming Huazhang is out of town, and Duke Zhenguo asks her to return home. All the things are piled on her at once. Ming Huachang's mind goes blank for a moment, and she doesn't know what to do.
What should she do? She doesn't have three heads and six arms, so who should she listen to? How much she hopes that a savior can come down from the sky to help her find the murderer, find Su Yuji, and solve all the problems.
However, she knew that there would be no savior in the world and she could only rely on herself.
Ming Huashang clenched her fingers tightly and forced herself to stay calm. She couldn't help but wonder, if Ming Huazhang was here now, what would he do?
Thinking of him, Ming Huachang's flustered mind seemed to have grabbed a piece of driftwood, and she tried to follow his thoughts. If it were him, he would definitely stabilize everyone's emotions first, and then prioritize and do the most important things.
Ming Huashang also started to think, what is the most important thing to her?
As soon as this question came into her mind, Ming Huashang had the answer. It was undoubtedly her family. Ming Huazhang must have had his own plans for leaving the city at this time. Ming Huashang did not need to worry about it. On the contrary, Su Yuji was the one who should be most worried.
Su Yuji is very likely her sister, Ming Huashang can't let anything happen to her, she must tell her the truth before Su Yuji is manipulated by the person behind the scenes. If Su Yuji falls into the trap of the person behind the scenes and comes to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to recognize her relatives, then everyone will be finished.
She had to find Su Yuji as soon as possible.
The second thing was to solve the case. The deadline was tomorrow, and if the case was not solved, everyone would be angered by the Queen. She was not from Jingzhao Prefecture, so she could stay out of it, but others could not. After fighting side by side for such a long time, she could not irresponsibly abandon her teammates.
In comparison, the Duke of Zhenguo asking her to return home to avoid the limelight was the least important thing. This was of course a means of self-protection, but shrinking one's head would not solve the problem. The Queen reprimanded Prince Shao and Prince Wei, saying that she was not a member of the royal family, and it was useless to worry. It was better to do her own thing.
At least make sure your family doesn't give any evidence to the enemy at this juncture.
Ming Huashang made up her mind, her heart calmed down, and she felt her mind was clearer than ever before. Ming Huashang said to Zhaocai, "Have you brought the guards with you?"
Zhaocai nodded: "I brought it."
"Okay." Ming Huachang said, "Now send the most capable person to Jingzhao Mansion to tell Mr. Xie She's father's words. Next steps will be decided by Mr. Xie She. You can stay here with a bodyguard to help the Yu Lin Army, and the rest of you will follow me."
Zhaocai responded subconsciously and asked in surprise, "Madam, where are you going?"
"Something happened at Su Zushi's house. I'm going to help him find someone." Ming Huashang handed over her original plan to Zhaocai and said, "I was going to ask these families carefully, but time is running out. You help me finish asking, and then go back to the mansion and wait for me. These are the key questions. No matter what you hear, write it down and tell me when you get back."
Zhaocai and Ming Huashang grew up together, and they have a good understanding of each other. Ming Huashang is very confident in letting Zhaocai go to question. I dare not say anything else, but when it comes to gathering information, the Yulin Army may not be as good as the maids in the inner house.
Zhaocai hesitated: "But the Duke said..."
"I have so many guards with me, nothing will happen." Ming Huashang said, "Don't worry, I will talk to my father and won't let him get involved with you. Good luck, if you do me this favor, I will buy you some pine nuts when you get back."
Zhaocai was Ming Huashang's maid. She had gotten used to listening to the Second Lady over the years. Seeing this, she muttered, "Okay. Madam, you have to be careful."
"I know." Ming Huashang didn't even have time to say goodbye. She ran towards Su Xingzhi without even turning back and said hurriedly, "Go and ask the question. I'm leaving first."
ยท
Daming Palace.
The setting sun melted gold, and the evening clouds merged into a jade. The clouds floated in the sky, and under the afterglow, they were gorgeous like a fairyland dream. Princess Yongtai knelt at the foot of the white jade steps, kowtowed and begged: "Grandmother, please, please forgive my brother and my husband this time. It's my fault. I shouldn't have brought my husband back to the East Palace, and I shouldn't have failed to persuade them when they were talking about the Duke of Ye. All the mistakes are my fault. I hope that Grandmother will let them go because it's their first offense."
The tall Purple Palace was magnificent, majestic, and solemn. The sunlight reflected on the glazed tiles, making it hard to open your eyes. Princess Yongtai's face was pale, her lower abdomen ached, and cold sweat flowed down her forehead, but she looked up at the long palace stairs that seemed to have no end, gritted her teeth, and continued to kneel on the cold and stiff stone bricks to beg for mercy.
Princess Yongtai stayed in the East Palace last night. Seeing that she had severe morning sickness, Wu Yanji asked her to stay with her parents for a few more days. Today, she was in the East Palace to take care of her baby when a group of eunuchs suddenly came and took Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji away.
The people in the Eastern Palace were frightened and quickly sent people out to inquire. They learned that what the three of them had said about the two Zhang brothers yesterday had somehow reached the ears of the empress. The empress was furious and ordered that Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji be beaten with a hundred sticks.
The 100 sticks were carried out by the empress's confidants, and there was no water in them. Even the specially trained soldiers could not withstand the 100 sticks, let alone the two young masters Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji.
This almost cost them their lives.
The Crown Prince fainted when he heard the news, and when he woke up he hugged Concubine Wei and cried. Princess Anle also cried and shouted in fear. The East Palace was in chaos, and no one went to rescue them. Princess Yongtai had no choice but to support her weak body, send people to the Prince of Wei's mansion to invite Prince Wei to the palace, and run to the Queen to plead for mercy.
She couldn't see clearly whether the door of her grandmother's bedroom was open, but she couldn't give up. The executioners had been gone for so long, and neither Princess Taiping nor Prince Xiang had shown up. Even her father-in-law, Wu Yanji's father, Prince Wei, hadn't come.
Princess Yongtai knew that they would not come. No matter how much you love your younger generation, how can they compare to protecting yourself and being prudent?
She was all alone. If she gave up, what would happen to Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji? Would she just watch her brother and husband being beaten to death?
Princess Yongtai begged and kowtowed again and again; the sound passed through the noble nanmu door and the bright Persian tapestries, leaving only a muffled sound.
Shangguan Wan'er knelt in front of the couch, looking cautiously at the empress above her. The empress leaned back on the couch, closed her eyes and listened to the female official's report on government affairs, as if she could not hear what was happening outside.
Shangguan Wan'er felt sorry for the pleas, but when she saw the empress's calm profile, her sympathy quickly disappeared like ripples.
After the empress ascended the throne, she became more and more suspicious. Shangguan Wan'er rarely saw the empress so angry. She didn't know what the two Zhang brothers said, but the empress ignored her ministers and ordered people to bring Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji to Danfeng Gate for caning. It can be seen that what they said was far more than just dissatisfaction with the two Zhang brothers, but more of a violation of the empress's taboos.
Anyone who came to plead for mercy would be going against the Empress. Princess Taiping and the Prince of Wei were the most favored by the Empress and the ones who knew her best. They didn't dare to take risks. Why would Shangguan Wan'er get herself into trouble for a few princes and princesses who had nothing to do with her?
Her grandfather was confiscated by the empress because he stood on the wrong side. She grew up in the palace, and the most important lesson she learned from twenty years of palace life was to rely on the strong and not to meddle in other people's business.
Shangguan Wan'er finally lowered her eyes, ignoring the increasingly mournful cries outside. Some sounds, once you close your eyes, you can no longer hear them.
The empress closed her eyes and listened indifferently to the report from her subordinates. Today's political affairs were no different from usual, and there was actually no need to think about them. She listened for so long because she was thinking about what Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji said.
The empress knew how the government and the public viewed the two Zhang brothers. She didn't care about those words. When a man became an emperor, he could have three palaces and six courtyards. When a man was in power, killing people was considered heroic. Why couldn't a woman do the same?
She just wanted to let the world know that those who obey her will prosper, and those who defy her will perish. She, Wu Zetian, is no less capable than any man in doing what a man can do.
But Li Chongrun and Wu Yanji should never, ever say that she raised a boy as a concubine, which was a disgrace to the ancestors of the Li family.
It was a scandal only for the empress and the queen mother to have male concubines, so why not for the emperor to add concubines? Li Chongrun called her "Your Majesty" but he didn't really regard her as the emperor. When they looked at her, they were still looking at an old woman.
The most proud thing about the empress's life was that she founded the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the most regretful thing was also the Great Zhou Dynasty. Her Great Zhou Dynasty ended without any disease, and when future generations mention her, I am afraid they will still say that Wu Zetian was the emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty, or even the empress.
She had to return the world to the Li family under the pressure of her ministers and the people, and this had become a source of worry for her. It was fine if the people said so, but what right did Li Chongrun have to say so?
She could kill her second son without blinking an eye back then, and now she can beat her grandson to death with a stick.
This is the roar of a dying emperor before his demise.
Princess Yongtai's forehead was broken, blood was flowing down her eyelashes, and she could no longer see anything. She just kowtowed numbly, begging for mercy, hoping to get mercy from her grandmother.
After an unknown amount of time, a palace maid stopped in front of her, holding her up, with a look of pity and mockery in her eyes.
"Princess, you have been kneeling for an hour. Go back and rest. Prince Shao and Prince Wei have been tortured and sent back to the East Palace. If you go back quickly, you can still see them for the last time."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
