Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 209 The official family collapses
Duke Guo of Qi saw that something was wrong with Qi Heng's expression and said, "Heng'er, you didn't sleep last night. Go back and rest."

"Yeah." Qi Heng nodded and walked out a little lost.

Princess Pingning raised her head, looked at Qi Heng's leaving figure, and asked worriedly: "Is Heng'er okay?"

"He must be feeling a little uncomfortable now. He will be fine after some time." Qi Guogong said.

Princess Pingning showed a trace of remorse and remorse in her eyes, and said, "If I had known that I had asked Heng'er to marry the sixth girl of the Sheng family, what happened today would not have happened."

Duke Guo of Qi really wanted to say, "It's hard to buy a lot of money."

He actually had no objection to Qi Heng marrying the sixth girl from the Sheng family, but Princess Pingning was used to being strong, and no one could change her decision.

But thinking about his wife's current situation, he didn't say anything after all. He sighed and said, "It's too late to say this now."

"No, it's not too late. The sixth girl of the Sheng family has a bad reputation and has never made a decision. I will come to apologize in person, and the Sheng family will definitely agree." Princess Pingning said.

After all, her home is the palace of the Duke of Guo. Even if she wanted to continue her relationship, she would not refuse to come to the Sheng family.

"Are you really willing to go?" Qi Guogong asked in surprise.

Princess Pingning is such a proud person that she is willing to go to the Sheng family to apologize.

"When I forced Heng'er to marry Jiacheng County Princess, he was probably very resentful towards me. Now I have looked away and let him do it." Princess Pingning said.

"Heng'er and you are mother and son after all, how can we hate each other because of this. But if you agree, I think he will be very happy when he finds out." Qi Guogong comforted.

"You ask someone to serve me, and I'll go talk to him." Princess Pingning said.

……

Yuan Wenshao came out of the palace, went to Sun Xu's house, told him to visit Liu Lei in the Penal Department Prison tomorrow morning, and then returned home.

"Mom, why is my brother so ugly?" Sister Wen looked at her brother curiously. Seeing his wrinkled face, Sister Wen couldn't help but ask.

"What nonsense are you talking about? It was always like this when you were born. You were uglier than your brother at that time." Hua Lan laughed.

"No, mother, you are talking nonsense." Sister Wen stared at her mother dissatisfied.

"Please keep your voice down, don't wake up my brother, or he will cry again." Hua Lan said quickly.

"Brother is not fun at all. He is either sleeping or crying." Sister Wen said with some disgust.

Hualan: "..."

As soon as Yuan Wenshao entered the room, he heard the conversation between mother and daughter. He raised a smile on his lips and said with a smile: "Your brother is still young. When he is older, he can play with you."

"Daddy!"

When Sister Wen saw Yuan Wenshao, she exclaimed, ran over and hugged his leg.

"Wow...wow..."

Brother Xian, who was sleeping soundly, shivered when his sister was so frightened, woke up, and started crying.

"I told you to keep your voice down." Hua Lan glared at Sister Wen, then took Brother Xian, who was being carried over by the nanny, and started to coax her.

"Dad, it's obviously my younger brother who is misbehaving and crying all the time, but mother still blames me." Sister Wen said aggrievedly.

Yuan Wenshao bent down and picked up his daughter, and said with a smile: "My brother is still young and naive, so it's normal to cry. Sister Wen is a sister and can't say that to my brother, do you understand?"

"Wow…"

Hearing that Yuan Wenshao was also blaming her, Sister Wen threw herself into his arms and started crying.

Sister Wen's crying confused Brother Xian, who was crying, and he forgot to cry.

Yuan Wenshao was confused, looked at Hua Lan who was coaxing his son, and asked, "Did you scold her?"

He felt that what he just said was not serious, why did Sister Wen cry suddenly.

"Your precious daughter is jealous. You were not at home yesterday and I just gave birth to a baby. My parents-in-law were afraid that she would disturb me and wouldn't let her in. I feel aggrieved," Hua Lan said.

"Sister Wen, stop crying. Look, your brother is looking at you." Yuan Wenshao coaxed.

Sister Wen immediately stopped crying when she heard this. When she listened carefully, she found that her brother was indeed not crying anymore and was embarrassed to cry.

Moreover, she felt a little embarrassed and buried her head in Yuan Wenshao's arms, unwilling to get up.

Yuan Wenshao said softly: "Dad has something to do these two days. My brother is still young and needs to sleep more to prevent you from coming over. It's not that my parents don't like you, you know?"

"Ah."

After hearing this, Sister Wen felt that her grievances had dissipated a lot.But she still didn't look up.

"Dad, I have nothing to do today. How about playing with you?" Yuan Wenshao said with a smile.

"Really?"

Hearing this, Sister Wen raised her head from Yuan Wenshao's arms and looked at him in surprise.

"Look, you've become a little cat." Yuan Wenshao smiled and stretched out his hand to wipe her tears.

"Daddy hates it."

Sister Wen moved her butt in dissatisfaction.

"How about daddy making amends to you and taking you to play on the slide?" Yuan Wenshao said with a smile.

"I still want to play on the swing, and daddy pushes me." Sister Wen said.

"Okay, you can play whatever you want."

Yuan Wenshao played with Sister Wen for a long time, and Sister Wen became cheerful again.

Not to mention that her brother was disgusted, she was still watching while Hualan was breastfeeding.

After her brother had finished drinking, Sister Wen said, "Mom, can you let me drink some too?"

"How old are you and still drinking milk?" Hua Lan couldn't help but smile.

"Actually, I also want to drink." Yuan Wenshao said.

Hua Lan rolled her eyes at him and said angrily: "You are still here, what are you talking about?"

Sister Wen pouted dissatisfiedly: "Mom, you are partial. You don't even give me a drink when you give it to daddy."

"When did I give it to your father?" Hua Lan said and glared at Yuan Wenshao fiercely.

"You just said that I was here to tell dad not to talk nonsense. Didn't you just want to wait for me to leave before giving dad a drink?"

Hualan: "..."

She was a little speechless by Sister Wen's ability to understand. Seeing Yuan Wenshao snickering at the side, she glared, then pulled Sister Wen and whispered instructions.

If someone comes to the house one day and Sister Wen says this, she will be embarrassed to see them.

……

Early the next morning, Yuan Wenshao met Sun Xu and went to the Ministry of Punishment.

Zhao Zongquan's succession to the throne is already a certainty, and it is no secret that the official family's time is running out.

Zhao Ceying is the eldest son of Zhao Zongquan. Once Zhao Zongquan ascends the throne, he is likely to be the prince.

When he spoke, the Minister of Punishment still had to give him face.

When Yuan Wenshao came to the Ministry of Punishment, the Minister of Punishment arranged for a small official to take Yuan Wenshao to see Liu Lei.

At this time, the prison of the Ministry of Punishment was overcrowded. The clerk took Yuan Wenshao and the others to a cell in the prison and asked someone to bring Liu Lei over.

Not long after, Liu Lei was brought over.

At this time, Liu Lei was wearing a bracelet and anklet, with a haggard look on his face, and his eyes were lifeless, like a zombie. "Sanlang!" Sun Xu stood up excitedly when he saw Liu Lei.

Liu Lei's dull eyes regained some sparkle, he raised his head and glanced at the two of them, and said bitterly: "You shouldn't have come."

He committed a serious crime of treason. The two came to visit him. If someone caught him and impeached him, he would be in trouble.

"Fart, we are friends. If you don't even look at you when you are in trouble, are you still a human being?" Sun Xu scolded.

Yuan Wenshao looked at the clerk who was leading the way and said, "Can you untie him?"

The young official smiled bitterly when he heard this and said, "Uncle, please don't embarrass me."

Yuan Wenshao knew that this was inappropriate, so he ordered Zhang An to put the food and wine on the table, and said, "You can go out first."

"Uncle, I'll wait outside first, but uncle, it's better to hurry up." The clerk reminded him and led the people out.

"sit down."

Yuan Wenshao asked Liu Lei to sit down and poured him a bowl of wine.

Liu Lei dragged the chain and sat down, picked up the wine and drank heavily.

Yuan Wenshao gave him another bowl and said, "Drink slowly, let's talk."

"What's there to talk about? I'm very satisfied that you can come and see me. However, rebellion is an unforgivable crime. Please stop working. I don't want to implicate you." Liu Lei said.

"Liu Sanlang, Liu Sanlang, since you know that rebellion is an unpardonable crime, why do you still participate in rebellion?" Sun Xu said sadly.

Liu Lei smiled bitterly and said, "So what if I know? It's hard to violate my father's orders. I can't report on my father, right?"

"Okay, now is not the time to talk about this. Saburo, we can't save you from the serious crime of treason, but your youngest son is still young. If you can perform meritorious services, I can plead for you in front of His Highness, and maybe you can save your youngest son." Yuan Wenshao said.

Liu Lei definitely cannot be saved, but Liu Lei has two sons. The eldest son is seven or eight years old, and it is difficult to save him. The younger son is only three years old, so there may be a chance to save him.

"Really?" Liu Lei heard this and grabbed Yuan Wenshao's arm tightly.

"I can't guarantee that you have surrendered to King Yan early. If you know any secret information, I can help you intercede." Yuan Wenshao said.

"Thank you, thank you." Liu Lei shed tears with excitement and choked up: "I can't repay you in this life. In the next life I..."

"Stop talking nonsense. Whether you can save your son depends on you. If you can tell useful information, you will have a chance. Otherwise, even if I help you go to His Highness to plead for mercy, it will be useless." Yuan Wenshao said.

Liu Lei wiped his tears after hearing this and said: "King Yan was worried that after the news of his rebellion spread, someone in the clan would call on soldiers from all over the country to serve the king. Therefore, he contacted his mother's clan and sent people to assassinate the clan."

"Your Highnesses already know." Yuan Wenshao shook his head.

If King Yan hadn't sent someone to assassinate Zhao Zongquan, Zhao Zongquan would not have come to Bianjing.

Even if a blood edict was passed down from the official family, Zhao Zongquan might not be able to obey it given his courage.

After all, everyone in Zhao Zong arrived in Bianjing, received the blood edict, and still wanted to run away.

If there was no assassination, he probably wouldn't have done anything after receiving the blood edict.

"Don't worry, just listen to me."

Liu Lei said: "King Yan was worried that all the assassinations would not be successful, so he made first-hand preparations. Except for the western suburbs camp, most of the soldiers and horses in the world were concentrated in the north and northwest border. King Yong felt that the soldiers and horses in the western suburbs camp and so on Once he got the edict of passing the throne, he could take control of it, and since his mother's family was a big family in the north, they didn't have to worry about the clan being able to mobilize the troops in the north. The only thing that worried King Yan was the troops in the northwest, so before he took action, he He sent people to spread the news of the civil strife in Xixia."

Yuan Wenshao was shocked when he heard this and said: "You mean King Yan wants to lure Xixia to invade the border, so as to hold back the northwest soldiers and horses?"

"That's right." Liu Lei nodded.

"Do you have any evidence for this?" Yuan Wenshao asked.

Liu Lei shook his head and said, "I have no evidence. Prince Yan spilled the beans when he was drunk."

By doing this, King Yan was luring a wolf into the house, so naturally he would not tell his subordinates.

If Prince Yan hadn't told him when he was drunk, there would be no way he would have known.

Yuan Wenshao said solemnly: "This matter is very urgent. I will go to the palace immediately to report to His Highness."

"Clang~"

At this moment, a melodious bell sounded from the direction of the imperial city.

The three people looked at each other when they heard the sound. The bells in the imperial city usually only ring during the New Year and Lantern Festival.

In addition, the bell will only ring when the emperor, queen mother, emperor, queen and prince pass away.

Now the bell ringing cannot be a holiday, and the late emperor and the queen mother have long since died. The only possibility is that the official family has died.

The bell rang 27 times in a row before stopping.

Yuan Wenshao sighed. In ancient times, there were 27 days of national mourning and 27 bells ringing, which also represented the death of an official family.

Yuan Wenshao was not sad because of the official's death. According to etiquette, during the national mourning period, he was not allowed to take the initiative to raise troops.

Even if he told Zhao Zongquan the news now, he could not send more troops to the northwest at this time. He could only wait for the news of Xixia's attack to send troops to reinforce.

But now that he knows, he can't pretend that he doesn't know. Even if he can't increase troops now, he still needs to send someone to notify the northwest frontier army, so that they can be prepared in case Xixia hasn't taken action yet.

Yuan Wenshao did not dare to delay, asked Sun Xu to talk to Liu Lei, and hurried to the palace.

After coming out of the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, Yuan Wenshao heard bells ringing in many temples and temples in Bianjing.

According to etiquette, when the emperor dies, the temple and Taoist temples must ring [-] bells to chant sutras and pray for the emperor.

By the time Yuan Wenshao arrived in front of the palace, the gate of the palace was already crowded with officials who came after hearing the news.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites were leading eunuchs to distribute mourning clothes to officials.

Even though Yuan Wenshao was anxious, he could only wait in line honestly.

After the officials all put on mourning clothes, they entered the palace under the guidance of the chamberlain.

All the way to the square of Funing Hall, under the auspices of officials from the Ministry of Etiquette, they knelt three times and kowtowed nine times towards Funing Hall.

After the ceremony, they entered the hall in batches to worship the officials.

When Yuan Wenshao entered, he saw Gu Tingye guarding the door of the main hall. When he came out after entering the main hall to pay homage, he pulled Gu Tingye aside and told Gu Tingye what Liu Lei said.

When Gu Tingye heard this, his expression became serious and he said, "I will find an opportunity to tell His Highness about this matter."

"Well, then I'll go back first." Yuan Wenshao said.

……

Early the next morning, after all the officials paid their respects, the official edict was read out by the Minister of Rites.

Zhao Zongquan succeeded to the throne and ordered that the funeral should be simple and no one should be buried with him.

Generally speaking, according to the rules, after the emperor dies, the concubines in the harem leave the empress, and any concubines who have no heirs are buried with them.

The palace maids and eunuchs who served him personally were also buried with him.

The official was tolerant throughout his life and was loved by all the officials. When the edict was read out, all the officials burst into tears.

Many people even fainted from crying.

After the worship, when Yuan Wenshao was leaving, Gu Tingye found him.

"Erlang, the prince invites you."

"What does the prince want from me?" Yuan Wenshao asked.

"After the national mourning, His Highness will ascend the throne, but Madam and the others are still in Yuzhou. Your Highness does not trust others and wants you to go to Yuzhou to pick up Madam and the others to come to Bianjing." Gu Tingye said.

"What?" Yuan Wenshao was stunned when he heard this.

(End of this chapter)