King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 496 Qing Qing outside the door

Let's talk about the Imperial College, a team of Jin Yiwei came here.

Zhu Xianming's decree is already being carried out. Eunuchs have gone to the Ministry of Rites to announce the decree. The Jinyiwei group is here to beat people.

Led by a hundred households, a group of school lieutenants broke into the Imperial College and took people from various study halls according to the roster. There was a sudden uproar everywhere in the prison.

Soon a dozen people were taken down, and they were all held down in the courtyard by the Jinyi guards. There were already school captains standing there holding water and fire sticks, waiting for the execution to begin after the decree was announced.

At this moment, a large number of students had gathered in the courtyard, and most of them were filled with indignation, thinking that it was the Jin Yiwei who was showing off his power again.

Looking at the unconvinced students in front of him, Baihu, who led the team, read loudly: "By decree..."

Just these two words made all the supervisors present bow down, including the professor who came forward to ask about the situation.

"Xu Baoxiang and other thirteen people did not study the classics, colluded with cliques, and made arrogant comments about the royal family. This is really abominable..."

It was characterized as forming a party for personal gain, and also making irresponsible remarks about the royal family. The supervisors present immediately understood what was going on.

In recent days, rumors about the inner residence of Prince Xiang's Mansion have been widely spread in the Imperial College. Many people have discussed it privately, including Feng Yuan.

Someone had also approached him about this joint memorial, but Feng Yuan wisely declined the matter. At this time, he only felt extremely lucky.

"These thirteen people have bad conduct. Each of them will be punished by twenty with a staff. They will be expelled from the Imperial Academy and their merits will be reduced and they will never be used again!"

Hearing this, the students present were so surprised that the punishment was too harsh.

You can bear the responsibilities of the staff, you can study after being expelled from the Imperial Academy, and you can take the exam again even if you cut off your merit and fame, but never using it... it blocks all possibilities.

Although these people are still alive, they are already socially dead.

The current situation is no longer clear, the scholar-bureaucrats have been tamed to a deeper extent, and the atmosphere and environment of criticizing current affairs by asking names no longer exist. These thirteen people have really been thrown into the abyss.

"The students were wronged, the students were wronged..."

"Students are waiting to correct..."

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty..."

In this courtyard, various aspects of life were immediately staged.

There are those who cry out for injustice, those who remain true to their original intentions, and those who shrink back and beg for mercy...

However, these actions cannot change the final result.

"Take off their uniforms!" Baihu, the leader of the team, said expressionlessly.

The school captains immediately took off the prison students' robes without hesitation.

These people were left with only a single piece of clothing, shivering in the cold wind.

"Unjustly accused...unjustly accused..."

Everyone seemed to realize that something serious was about to happen next, so they all begged for mercy.

"Execution!" Baihu, the team leader, said calmly.

No matter how these people shouted, the captains remained unmoved. They picked up their sticks and attacked the prison students, causing the scene to burst into mourning.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Feng Yuan was shocked again. No matter who he was in front of the royal family, he was nothing more than a throwaway.

As the old saying goes, one cannot hear what is happening outside the window and only read the books of sages. This is the way to cultivate one's moral character... Feng Yuan thought to himself.

The supervisor's memorial was delivered by the Secretary of General Affairs and followed the most formal procedures, so everyone in the court was keeping an eye on this matter.

While the executions are still going on, a large number of officials from various ministries have begun to communicate privately to seek justice for these prison students.

About half an hour later, more than 30 officials appeared outside Qianqing Gate, kneeling in front of the gate to pray for blessings.

In fact, only a small number of these officials were arranged by Prince Rui, some of them were motivated by public motives, and the other part were the prince's people.

At this point, things were beyond King Rui's control, and he was happy to see it happen.

Zhu Jinghong's strong rise, coupled with his previous actions in Gansu, inevitably attracted his enemies, and now these people have gathered together.

In the Qianqing Palace, the emperor already knew the situation outside, and Prince Rui and Prince Rui were involved in this matter, which really made him feel particularly chilling, even though this was expected.

But he had indeed wronged the prince. Zhu Jingyuan actually didn't know about what happened outside the Qing Dynasty today.

To be precise, he didn't know many things.

On the dragon chair, Zhu Xianming was thinking, when a eunuch came in and reported: "Your Majesty, three bachelors have arrived and are outside to persuade them to go back!"

Zhu Xianming said nothing. He was not quite sure what these three people were thinking.

After a few breaths, Zhu Xianming said in a deep voice: "Send a message to Beizhen Fusi and tell them to get ready!"

The so-called preparation, of course, means preparation to arrest people. This kind of thing has happened many times in the past, especially in the years after Zhu Xianming took office.

Even if he can come out alive after being taken to prison by Jin Yiwei, his removal from official position is almost certain.

"Yes!"

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Xianming picked up the memorial again, telling about the affairs of Jinling Qingzhang. During this period, many troubles occurred.

After a while, a eunuch reported: "Your Majesty, Prince Rui has arrived at Qianqing Gate and is admonishing the officials together with the elders!"

Lao Liu pretended to be a good guy at this time. Maybe he was the mastermind behind the scenes... Zhu Xianming thought to himself.

But he's not that stupid. Maybe he's really here to show his courtesy...

It is evident that the king's heart is unpredictable.

At this time, outside Qianqing's door, Zhu Jingyuan was panting and admonishing. At this moment, he was really working hard.

Seeing that the prince and the others were there, he felt so happy that today was a double happiness.

The more heated the dispute between these people will be, the more unstable the position of the Xue family's girls and concubines will be, and the more difficult it will be for Lao Shisan's inner house to be peaceful...

So now, it doesn't matter to Zhu Jingyuan whether these officials continue to stay.

So, if he could persuade these people to leave, it would be another great achievement for him.

Those people he himself invited were naturally the first to be "influenced" by him, praising "what His Royal Highness Prince Rui said is absolutely true", and then left the Qianqing Sect in a wise manner.

But Zhu Jingyuan got a bad reception from other people, especially the prince's people who said some sarcastic words to him, which made this guy suddenly become murderous.

Of course, the three pavilion elders were not idle either. Their words had some effect, and several people finally left the scene.

But what's terrible is that more people who have learned the news are gathering at Qianqing Gate, which makes the number of people present increase instead of decrease.

However, as a large number of Jin Yiwei arrived, the discussion at the scene gradually became quiet again.

The school lieutenants quickly surrounded the Qianqing Gate and stared at the nearly a hundred officials present with evil eyes. They only waited for their superiors to speak and they would take action.

At this moment, Li Qingxiang, the commander of Beizhen Fusi, also arrived. On such an occasion, he had to come in person to feel relieved.

"You all gather here and make endless noises. Where do you put your father?"

"If you and others still have any sense of conscience, please disperse as soon as possible and return to your respective positions. Otherwise, don't blame me for being unkind!"

Although Li Qingxiang's tone was stern, he actually hoped more than anyone else that these people would get out of here as soon as they could.

Taking people back would have to be tried, and then it would offend people. Of course, Li Qingxiang didn't want to cause trouble.

Of course, he knew Jin Yiwei's identity very well, so he would do everything he should do, otherwise he would have to get in first.

At this moment, Prince Zhu Jingyuan also arrived at the scene. He was panting as he was supported by the eunuch and ran over.

He was not in good health to begin with. In the past two days, he had learned that Gao Shuyan had been killed, which had dealt a heavy blow to his spirit. He even looked even more haggard now. "Everyone, this is Qianqing Palace, not a place for you to be arrogant... Go back quickly!"

The haggard look of the prince really shocked the hearts of the officials present.

"His Royal Highness, the ministers and others are here out of public motives, and do not want to be unjustly punished by the Holy One..."

"Yes, Your Highness, I am all sincere and have no intention of being presumptuous..."

Compared to Zhu Jingyuan, everyone present was more willing to complain to the prince. After all, this man was soft-hearted and kind-hearted, and maybe he could be persuaded to join in.

Zhu Jingyuan would not have thought that these people would actually want to instigate him to rebel.

"Fourth brother, I remember that Chief Zhang and Chen Shaoqing were both your old friends in the East Palace..."

Although Zhu Jingyuan only said a simple sentence, the meaning of Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was very obvious. After all, even Zhu Jingyuan could see it.

"Lao Liu, don't stir up trouble here. Today's disaster... wasn't all caused by you!" Zhu Jingyuan cursed angrily.

This is where the prince was stupid. He brought dirty things to the table without taking into account the overall situation and impact.

Sure enough, today I have killed two birds with one stone. Prince, can you be any cuter? Zhu Jingyuan laughed in his heart.

But at the same time, he said humbly: "Fourth brother... I don't know where I offended you, which led to such accusations!"

"Did I make a big mistake by urging them to go back? Or did I disrupt the fourth brother's deployment?"

People who are too smart often hurt themselves because of their arrogance.

The officials currently staying at the scene are not all speculators from Prince Rui's Mansion. A large part of them are out of public motives and came to intercede on behalf of the punished prison students.

So when they heard that Prince Rui framed the prince, how could these people accept it, especially when there were old people from the East Palace among them.

Chen Shaoqing, who was pointed out by Zhu Jingyuan, said angrily: "His Royal Highness Prince Rui, the officials present today are all ministers of our Ming Dynasty, but you are calling someone from the East Palace old people. Are the East Palace and the Ming Dynasty separate?"

As soon as these words fell, someone else spoke up and said: "The prince is the foundation of our country, the Ming Dynasty. Could it be that His Highness Prince Rui can make the decision for the Holy One to remove the prince who is the foundation of the country?"

Officials elected through the imperial examination are not weak in words.

Just now, Zhu Jingyuan persuaded his people to leave, so that there was no one to support him. Now he was feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"The prince and I are closely related by flesh and blood. Do you want to destroy the brotherhood of my Tian family by confusing right and wrong with your slanderous words?" Zhu Jingyuan asked with a gloomy face.

As soon as these words came out, most people present had to sigh with emotion, His Highness Prince Rui was really thick-skinned.

With all the things he did, it was really ridiculous to have the nerve to talk about brotherhood.

Zhu Xianming had real-time knowledge of what was happening outside. He could no longer bear the embarrassment of his two sons, so Cheng Ying came to Qianqing Gate.

"The Lord has spoken orally..."

After hearing these words, the officials present, regardless of whether they were convinced or not, could only kneel down and kowtow.

"I have endured your disobedience over and over again. If you ignore the friendship between the king and his subjects, I can only enforce the laws of the country!"

Cheng Yingnian stopped and immediately scolded severely: "Jin Yiwei!"

"Have!"

Hundreds of school captains present shouted in unison, directly maximizing their intimidation. As the emperor's personal army and the first guard of the Ming Dynasty, they naturally had a sense of pride and pride.

When the officials present heard the shouting, they all felt trembling and frightened. Only a few determined people could barely maintain their "decency" at this moment.

"Everyone, please leave quickly. Are you... really going to fall into disloyalty and unfilial piety?"

"Your Majesty is wise, everything will be decided by itself, so why do you need to act like this..."

Under the threat of the murderous Jinyiwei, and with the persuasion of three cabinet ministers and two princes, someone finally chose to leave wisely.

But before everyone left, Cheng Ying ordered: "Take down all these rebellious people who are disobeying your father!"

A few of the dozen or so people left behind originally wanted to get up and leave, but they never knew they would encounter such a scene.

Normally, since people are leaving one after another, the Jinyiwei people will not take action, and then this matter will be considered "happy".

Li Qingxiang was also surprised at this time, but Cheng Ying's words represented the emperor's will, so he could only order his men to execute it.

As a result, a total of twelve officials who were left behind were captured by the Jinyiwei people and then escorted away from the scene.

Seeing this scene, the first assistant Zhao Yushan looked thoughtful, while the second assistant Chen Jinyun had an expressionless face, but felt very regretful in his heart.

Only the third assistant, Zheng Zhiqing, couldn't help but sigh at this moment, secretly saying that these people who were caught were screwed, so they were completely finished.

As for the two brothers Zhu Jingyuan, they dislike each other.

"Everyone, let's go and apologize to the Holy One!" Zhao Yushan broke the silence.

As assistant ministers of the cabinet, they failed to appease the officials, which led to these troubles, and it was only right to apologize to the saints.

However, Zhu Xianming did not see them and just asked them to go back to their own affairs.

Of course, Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Xianming's requests for a face-to-face meeting were also rejected by Zhu Xianming. He felt angry just looking at these two people.

After everyone left, Zhu Xianming read a few more memorials and found that he couldn't calm down, so he simply left the Qianqing Palace and headed north.

The only one who could make him feel at peace was the Queen.

Strolling to Kunning Palace, Zhu Xianming walked in quietly without letting anyone know.

At this time, the queen was idle, playing with flowers and plants in the back hall, and she already knew what was going on outside the door.

Looking at the emperor walking in, Yang Qingyin did not stand up to greet him, but pointed to the chair next to him.

Zhu Xianming sat down alone, and then a palace maid brought tea, and then they retreated.

"You all should go down too!" Yang Qingyin ordered the other maids present.

"Yes!"

After everyone left, only the emperor and empress were left at the scene, and Zhu Xianming said angrily: "Those two shameless bastards, sooner or later I will be pissed to death by them!"

Yang Qingyin also knew that her two sons were causing trouble in this matter, and they were framed by Lao Shisan, who had made great achievements. This made her feel very uncomfortable.

Yang Qingyin replied: "I am responsible for not teaching them well!"

She has always thought that the sixth child was sinister and the fourth child was upright, but now it seemed to her that she could not trust the fourth child either.

In a sense, Zhu Jingyuan did gain a lot today, at least the queen no longer trusts the prince.

"These two bastards..."

Zhu Xianming wanted to curse a few words, but in the end he didn't want to say more. After sighing, he shook his head helplessly.

At this moment, he thought of his youngest son again, but found that the guy who used to be particularly boring was now so excellent and pleasing to the eye!

"I thought the government would strictly clamp down on these rumors in the capital, but I expected them to intensify. Those involved in Yingtian Mansion, the Five Cities Military and Horse Division... and the Jinyi Guards must all be severely punished!" Zhu Xianming said bitterly.

Turning around, Yang Qingyin said slowly: "They are sandwiched between the fourth and sixth elders, and they have some unavoidable reasons..."

Juxtaposing the fourth and sixth children shows that in Yang Qingyin's eyes, she is indeed disappointed with the prince.

"But there is only a piece of sky above their heads!" Zhu Xianming's eyes were unkind.

Yang Qingyin wanted to defend the officials a few more words, but a complaint came from outside.

"Your Majesty, I would like to inform you that... the Crown Prince fainted just now. The doctors have seen that he is not seriously injured. They said it was caused by excessive anger!"

(End of this chapter)