Chapter 454 Madam Yan
In the thirty-third year of the Southern Kingdom, during the Great Snow season, there was still no snow.
The shocking incident at the palace night banquet spread throughout Kyoto City. The fact that Huo Gannian killed King Xiyan in a bloody massacre shocked the entire Nan Kingdom, from the nobles and gentry to the common people.
The discussion was in full swing, and everyone was speculating whether this absurd thing was true or not. At this time, several imperial decrees shot out from the dazzling and ruthless palace like golden arrows, shocking the whole area again.
The order detailed numerous serious crimes committed by Huo Gannian, including defying the imperial authority, assassinating King Xiyan without authorization, and attempting to provoke a national war.
However, in appreciation of his many years of military service in defending the country, and his sincere relinquishment of his military power, he was pardoned from death, dismissed from office and power, demoted to a commoner, and all of the Huo Gang's properties, including branches, land, and houses, were confiscated, and all their gold and silver were taken over by the state.
Huo Gannian was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Huo Mansion.
The second order reprimanded the generals Duan Jie, Fu Lin, Rong Yi, and Luo Dongdong for forming a clique for personal gain and offending the majesty of heaven, and demoted them to low-ranking soldiers; Yun Wang and his family were fined all their property, demoted to commoners, and exiled outside Youzhou.
The third order was given by General Lion and Tiger to cancel the army's numbers and reorganize and redistribute them. Among them, 400,000 troops were sent to be stationed at the eastern and southern borders, and they were divided along the way. The maximum number of people in each unit could not exceed 20,000.
The remaining 100,000 troops stayed in Kyoto and went to Fengdu Mountain, a hundred miles away, for training. They were not allowed to leave the mountain without orders.
The emperor's grace was so great that he kept his promise of marriage in mind of their old friendship. Xu Huogan and Yun Chen were married separately and the wedding was completed on the first day of November.
It was also ordered that Yun Chen was an accomplice and would not be severely punished. He would only be carefully watched by his husband's family after marriage and would not be allowed to go out without his husband's permission.
When these four imperial edicts were issued, the whole country was stunned.
People were shocked by this sudden palace coup, and were surprised that Huo Gannian and Yun Chen, who were so powerful and had achievements recorded in history, could collapse overnight, be uprooted and almost exterminated.
What was even more shocking was that it turned out that for many years, Nan Lijun's so-called "will arrange marriages for Huo Gannian and Yun Chen" was a strange punctuation, which was a simple and clever word game, meaning that he would arrange marriages for the two separately, and never meant to allow Huo Gannian and Yun Chen to get married.
What a brilliant and vicious idea!
People couldn't help but lament, wondering if Huo Gannian, who fearlessly rushed to the battlefield with the promise of marriage in his heart, had ever seen the lies and fears that the king had developed early on?
Did he expect that the girl he wanted to marry at all costs would end up being given to the emperor as a male favorite?
The death of a hero always makes people sigh, and the people feel sympathy, regret and lament.
However, this sentiment did not last long. The new decrees issued one after another by the court made the people busy with their own affairs and had no time to feel sorry for Huo Gannian and Yun Chen.
Nanli Jun ordered the complete abolition of all new decrees issued by the Regent and Prime Minister Wu since they took office.
The people, who had tasted the sweetness of "benevolent rule", were forced to return to the previous mediocre and flawed rules.
It would have been tolerable if it had just returned to the old ways, but a new law from Lord Nanli caused resentment among the entire Nan people and sowed the seeds of disaster.
This new law not only overturned the "equal rights for women" established by Yun Chen when he was Prime Minister Wu, but also went against it.
It is ordered that from now on, all women in the territory of Nan Kingdom, except for female officials specially authorized by the imperial power, will be exempted from all equal rights.
Women were prohibited from dressing as men, appearing in public, engaging in business, industry, or politics, reading and writing, leaving their husband's home without permission, and speaking loudly in public.
In addition, women's household registration allows for sale, transfer and gift, which means that women are no longer independent and vibrant individuals, but become appendages of patriarchy that can be traded, sold, and killed at will.
These laws, which set civilization back thousands of years, not only slammed shut the door to the corrupt ethics that Yun Chen had spent his entire life trying to open briefly.
He also locked them up together with Yun Chen, tore apart the sun and moon above their heads, and ruthlessly strangled the throats of all the women.
The common people couldn't understand why Nan Lijun, who was obviously a woman herself, treated other women in the world so harshly?
You know, some women had even fought for her during the decisive battle in Youzhou...
On the day the new law was promulgated, the Beijing army began patrolling the entire city. No woman could be seen or heard on the streets.
Only Yun Chen was escorted out of the side door of the palace, tied up tightly in the prison cart, with his disheveled head hanging, as it slowly drove towards Yan's Mansion.
This time, like all other women, she will never be able to step out of the secluded mansion again.
The people on the roadside stopped and lowered their heads, unable to bear to see the war hero who had defended his country and protected the Nan Kingdom time and time again fall into such a state.
The triumphal avenue that had been so glorious when we came here was now completely silent, with only the rumbling sound of wheels covering the cold frost on the ground.
Suddenly, a clear and passionate female voice broke the silence, resounding powerfully through Triumphal Avenue:
"When the birds are gone, the good bows are put away. When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked! General Yun, she has forgotten that you are a hero! But I will not forget! The people of this world will not forget!"
This outrageous statement, coupled with the woman's voice, made the people look in surprise.
Song Qiaoqiao, the fifth daughter of Earl Song Lu, and Cao Shuyu, the eldest daughter of Duke Cao, were seen standing on the second floor of the Lingyun Martial Arts School, which had been forcibly closed. They were waving a hastily sewn tiger-head flag in the direction of Yun Chen.
Cao Shuyu seemed to have completely forgotten what "propriety" and "etiquette" meant, and shouted at Yun Chen, who was still bowing his head, with all her might:
"General Yun! Prime Minister Wu! Lift your heads! Look at the peaceful and prosperous times you've created! Look at the people you've protected with your life! General Yun! Don't be afraid! She can't defeat us! She can't silence us!"
Yun Chen still didn't look up.
In fact, she recognized the voice as early as Song Qiaoqiao shouted the first sentence.
But she didn't dare look up.
She was afraid that Song Qiaoqiao and Cao Shuyu would see her eyes filled with tears, and she was also afraid of seeing the scene she least wanted to see -
Sure enough, after Song Qiaoqiao and Cao Shuyu shouted a few times, a large group of patrolling Beijing troops rushed up and dragged the two down from the second floor.
Although Song Qiaoqiao was being dragged by two imperial guards, she kept shouting, "She is ungrateful" and "She is not worthy of being the ruler of the world!"
Everyone could tell that the "she" was Zhinan Lijun. While they admired Song Qiaoqiao's bravery and fearlessness, they also felt worried for her and Cao Shuyu.
They dared to ridicule the emperor in public and make such rebellious remarks, and they openly violated the new law that prohibits women from showing their faces in public and speaking loudly in public. I wonder what consequences will be waiting for these two girls.
As the prison van gradually moved away, the voices of Song Qiaoqiao and Cao Shuyu became increasingly blurred.
The last thing Yun Chen could hear was the panicked and heartbroken pleading of the old Earl Song Lu. The old man had a title but no real power, so he could only kowtow to the young and cold-blooded Beijing army, begging them repeatedly not to torture Song Qiaoqiao.
Someone from Duke Cao's family also hurriedly came to pull Cao Shuyu back. Relying on the power of Duke Cao's family, they gritted their teeth and pushed against the Beijing army.
Yun Chen finally dared to raise his head, and tears fell on the cold and heavy iron shackle on his neck, mixed with the fishy smell of iron, and flowed into the wound on his neck that had long been worn away, stinging his skin.
She looked back and inexplicably had the illusion that although there was no enemy invading, this great Nan Kingdom had already entered a period of chaos and decline.
Could it be that she was really wrong?
Would it be right to send troops to massacre and turn the capital into a river of blood?
For the second time in her life, she wavered.
The second time I thought, how wonderful it would be if there were no king in this world, and the people were the masters...
In this endless chaos and entanglement, an hour later.
The prison van stopped at the main entrance of the hastily renovated Yan Mansion.
The brown-painted door of the mansion was wide open. Yan Shijiu was dressed in white clothes as white as snow, with a hair crown as white as jade. He looked like a suave and elegant nobleman. He stood tall in the wind, looking at her with a smile.
He raised his hand to signal the escorting imperial guards to remove all the shackles from Yun Chen. When Yun Chen was about to fall due to days of suffering and physical and mental torture, he rushed over with big strides and hugged her in his arms.
"Madam Yan, please feel free to give me your guidance for the rest of my life. I am all ears."
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