Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 244 The Gap

Although Yuan Wenshao did not attend the morning court, he knew exactly what happened in the morning court.

For a while, Zhao Zongquan and the Queen Mother seemed to have a tacit understanding.

Zhao Zongquan did not mention the issue of pursuing the title again. The Queen Mother just took King Yong's only surviving son into the palace and kept him by her side to raise him, without mentioning the issue of adoption.

However, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this matter is like a thorn in Zhao Zongquan's heart and will explode one day.

Yuan Wenshao lived a leisurely life in the other courtyard, spending time with his wife, playing with his son and daughter, and soaking in hot springs every day.

I even had the idea of ​​continuing to live like this from now on.

However, after living in another hospital for more than half a month, Yuan Wenshao had to return to Bianjing.

Because the verdict on the case of rebellion against the king had been handed down, he had to give Liu Lei a ride.

Although the house in Bianjing has not been lived in for a while, it has been cleaned by servants and has not changed at all.

Early the next morning, Yuan Wenshao joined Sun Xu and came to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.

In a class room, the table was filled with wine and food. Yuan Wenshao and Sun Xu were sitting there, and the atmosphere was a bit depressing.

Not long after, Liu Lei, who was wearing bracelets and anklets, was brought over by the government officials.

It's been a while since I last saw Liu Lei. He looked much older, dirty and messy, and his face was withered.

"Asshole, didn't I ask them to take good care of you?" Sun Xu said with red eyes when he saw Liu Lei's look.

After all, Liu Lei was an imperial prisoner and could not be visited casually. Sun Xu and Yuan Wenshao had only visited Liu Lei once for so long.

However, both of them sent money to the warden and asked him to take care of them.

The jailer who escorted Liu Lei over heard this and quickly explained: "Masters, it's not that we didn't take care of him. You also know that they are imperial prisoners. We usually can only take care of the food, but he won't eat."

Yuan Wenshao stopped Sun Xu who was about to say something else, and said to the jailer: "Can you please open his bracelets and anklets?"

The jailer asked: "Master Hou, the best I can do is open my bracelet."

"Then please."

Yuan Wenshao said and looked back at Zhang An.

Zhang An understood, stepped forward, took out a banknote from his pocket, and handed it to the jailer.

The jailer pushed back, accepted the banknote, opened Liu Lei's bracelet, told them to hurry up, and walked out and closed the door.

Liu Lei moved his wrists, grinned, and said in a hoarse voice: "When someone else is in trouble, no matter how good the relationship is, they will avoid it. I am satisfied that we can come to see each other before I die."

"Sauro."

Sun Xu's eyes turned red when he heard this. When he thought that Liu Lei was about to go to the guillotine, but he couldn't do anything, his heart was filled with sorrow and he clenched his hands.

"Okay, you are now a father, why are you still the same as before?"

Liu Lei looked away, sat down opposite Yuan Wenshao, picked up the wine jar on the table, and poured it into his mouth.

"The whole Liu family will be executed and the nine tribes will be executed. Your youngest son will be exiled for three thousand miles. I will have someone take care of him at that time and nothing will happen to him." Yuan Wenshao looked at Liu Lei who kept drinking and his clothes were wet. Without stopping, he spoke after a while of silence.

Liu Lei paused with the hand holding the wine jar and put it down, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Thank you!"

At this moment, he didn't know what to say except these words.

His entire family was confiscated and his whole family was confiscated. There was nothing left to repay Yuan Wenshao and the others.

As for his surviving son, the crime of treason is an unpardonable crime. Even if the emperor grants amnesty to the world in the future, it has nothing to do with his son.

His son will have to live in a remote area his whole life and will not be able to repay Yuan Wenshao and the others.

Yuan Wenshao picked up a jar of wine with some boredom, unsealed the mud, and took a big gulp.

"boom!"

Yuan Wenshao put down the wine jar heavily and said, "Do you have any last words to say?"

"No, I have thought about it these days. Although life is hard when being sent away, I can still survive. In addition to those civil servants, our Liu family is lucky to be able to retain a trace of blood. I don't dare to ask for anything. ”

After Liu Lei finished speaking, he wiped his tears and took a few sips from the wine jar. He coughed violently because he drank too quickly.

"Cough cough cough~"

"Sanlang, are you okay?" Sun Xu quickly helped him along his back.

"Cough...cough...hahaha..."

Sun Xu coughed for a while, regained his composure, and laughed crazily.

"Erlang, Sanlang, he..."

Sun Xu looked at Sun Xu worriedly. He thought Sun Xu was crazy.

Yuan Wenshao did not speak, but shook his head at Sun Xu.

Liu Lei laughed for a long time, with tears streaming down his face. He looked at the two of them and said, "It's really all the fault of my family, and I can't blame anyone else. But I have a piece of advice for you. Never let your children join the army in the future. Let them Wen, even if they fail the exam and accomplish nothing, don’t let them join the army.”

"My ancestor of the Liu family was a hero in the founding of the country. The iron certificate of alchemy given by Emperor Taizu was said to prevent death. In the end, it was not as good as a civil servant. It is sad and lamentable."

After saying that, he picked up the wine jar again and started drinking.

Yuan Wenshao fell silent when he heard this. Zhou's laws were indeed somewhat deformed.

Many of the founding lords had iron certificates of alchemy, which are commonly known as gold medals to avoid death.

But there is a limit to this thing, and no one will be forgiven for treason.

To put it bluntly, it is useless if it involves rebellion.

To be honest, there is nothing wrong with this. After all, anyone who rebels can be pardoned. Then anyone with the iron book can easily join the rebellion. In any case, failure can be absolved.

However, the Great Zhou Dynasty treated civil servants favorably. For civil servants, there was no death penalty. Even if they participated in the rebellion, they would eventually be exiled, and they were not consorts.

Yuan Wenshao clearly remembered a case. When the late emperor was in power, after being defeated in the war with Xixia, he was so angry that he wanted to kill a transport envoy in charge of army logistics.

As a result, he was opposed by a group of civil servants on the grounds that "since our ancestors we have never killed scholars."

To put it simply, since Taizu, I have no precedent of killing a scholar.

Emperor Renzong had no choice but to assassinate the official and send him to the army.

Once again, he encountered opposition from civil servants on the grounds that "scholars can be killed but not humiliated."

See, isn’t this reason ironic? If I want to kill you, I will say that there is no precedent for killing scholars since our ancestors.

Ci Pei also said that scholars can be killed but not humiliated.

I have to say that those who have read the book are different, they make sense of everything.

Emperor Renzong had no choice but to send the man away.

Moreover, being assigned to a civil service position does not mean becoming an ordinary citizen, but rather becoming an official in a remote area.

You read that right, being an official.

This is how literati are treated.

Those civil servants who prevented Emperor Renzong from killing the transshipment envoy were not doing so because of the benefits of receiving the transshipment envoy.

The transfer envoy did not have the ability to bribe all the civil servants.

They are only safeguarding their own common interests.

Once there is a precedent of killing civil servants, there is no guarantee that they or their descendants will be killed someday. However, it is precisely because of their maintenance that the law has become deformed.

It's no wonder that Liu Lei warned the two of them to let future generations learn literature and not learn martial arts even if they have no future.

Civil servants are the real gold medal to avoid death, more useful than anything else.

"Stop talking about this, let's eat vegetables." Yuan Wenshao interrupted Liu Lei and stopped him from continuing.

These words are too rebellious and will not do them any good if they are spread out.

He, as a general, could not change this kind of thing.

However, Liu Lei's words still gave Yuan Wenshao a warning. As a marquis, he did not have any ironclad guarantees. If he was not careful in the future, he could be killed without being charged with rebellion.

The three of them then chatted while eating, with Liu Lei talking more and Yuan Wenshao and Sun Xu listening.

"Master Marquis, it's getting late. Someone has been sent from above to tell us to take the prisoner to Dongshi. You see..." the jailer knocked on the door and walked in.

"pat~"

When Liu Lei heard this, his face turned pale and he dropped the chopsticks in his hand.

Although he had known his fate, Liu Lei still couldn't accept it at this moment.

"Erlang, Polu, I'm leaving. Don't come to Dongshi. I'll ask you to collect a body for our family later." Liu Lei's face was dull and his voice was dry and hoarse. He wanted to squeeze out a smile to show his free and easy attitude, but he failed. I can't squeeze it out no matter what.

Yuan Wenshao and Sun Xu opened their mouths, but couldn't say anything and could only nod.

"Thank you!"

After Liu Lei finished speaking, he stretched out his hand to the jailer.

The jailer put the bracelet on him and took him away.

"Erlang, I want to see him off." Sun Xu said with red eyes.

Yuan Wenshao raised the wine jar, took a deep gulp, wiped his mouth, and said in a dry voice: "Don't go, save the last dignity for San Lang."

"Yes." Sun Xu suppressed tears and nodded.

"Let's go." Yuan Wenshao stood up and said.

The two of them left Tianlao and came to a place not far from Dongshi. They found a teahouse and asked for a private room. They just sat there without saying anything.

I don't know how much time passed, but Zhang An opened the door and walked in, saying, "Master, the body has been restrained. I'm going to find someone to sew up the head and body."

Hearing this, Sun Xu couldn't bear it anymore and lay on the table crying.

Yuan Wenshao closed his eyes in pain, opened them after a while, and said in a calm tone: "Take them all to the cemetery."

"Yes!" Zhang An responded and retreated.

"Let's go, let's see Liu Lei off for the last time." Yuan Wenshao stood up, patted Sun Xu on the shoulder, and walked out.

……

On an unnamed hillside more than ten miles south of Bianjing City, a small river flows slowly not far away.

Dozens of pits were dug on the hillside, and Yuan Wenshao's soldiers carried coffins one by one into the pits.

"Master Hou, do you want to take a last look?" Zhang An said.

"No need, let's bury him." Yuan Wenshao glanced at Sun Xu, who had dull eyes beside him. Seeing that he didn't speak, he shook his head and said.

"Yes." Zhang An responded.

Soon, the soldiers began to cover the soil. In a short time, sixty-three graves appeared on the hillside.

All the immediate family members of Marquis Zhongjing are here. Except for Liu Lei, a three-year-old son who was exiled, everyone else is here.

This does not include the Nine Clans and other collateral clans.

Yuan Wenshao took a jar of wine, poured half of it in front of Liu Lei's grave, raised his head and drank the rest.

The same was true for Sun Xu. After drinking, the two of them stood there for a long time, until the sky turned dark, and then they went to Bianjing.

Sun Xu was riding on the horse and suddenly said: "Erlang, I advise you to find an opportunity to let him go."

Yuan Wenshao was stunned and said, "Why did you suddenly say that?"

"I think what Liu Sanlang said before he died was right, but now that your son is still young, that will happen in the future. But you are on the cusp of the storm right now, so you should leave Bianjing as soon as possible. For such a thing, I I don’t want to experience it again,” Sun Xu said.

Yuan Wenshao smiled calmly and said: "Now that I have a title and no official position, no matter how big the storm is, what does it have to do with me."

"No!" Sun Xu shook his head and said: "Now the struggle for power between the officials and the Queen Mother has become fierce. You protected the officials to suppress the rebellion, but the Queen Mother gave you a title. If you still stay in Bianjing, you will inevitably be implicated in the end. Get into this murky water.”

Yuan Wenshao looked at Sun Xu with some surprise. In his eyes, Sun Xu had always been like a child who had not grown up and had no scheming. He did not expect that he could say such a thing.

Sun Xu laughed at himself: "Are you wondering why I said these words? In fact, my wife told me this. She also asked me to have less contact with you. I have been hesitating whether to tell you or not."

"Thank you, don't worry, I know everything you said." Yuan Wenshao said.

"You don't blame me?" Sun Xu looked at Yuan Wenshao in shock.

He thought Yuan Wenshao would be angry after hearing this, but he didn't expect Yuan Wenshao to be so calm.

"What do you blame me for? Didn't you remind me?" Yuan Wenshao laughed.

It is human nature to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune.

Sun Xu could tell him this because he really regarded him as a friend.

"Then you still stay in Bianjing? If you can't help it, I can ask my father to help you. My father appreciates you very much and should help you." Sun Xu said.

"Thank you, but I had already planned in my heart, so nothing will happen to me. You, on the other hand, married a good woman." Yuan Wenshao said with a smile.

In his previous life, when he was watching whether he knew it or not, Zhao Zongquan did not appear many times. He deliberately pretended to be suspicious later on, giving the Queen Mother a chance to launch a mutiny and seize the opportunity to completely seize power.

Yuan Wenshao always thought that he was a wise and wise king.

After getting real contact, I discovered that Zhao Zongquan was very suspicious because of his background.

However, he has no chance to regret at this time. Now he can only take one step at a time.

"Erlang, my wife was also afraid that I would be implicated, so..."

Sun Xu thought that Yuan Wenshao was angry because his wife did not allow him to interact with Yuan Wenshao. He wanted to explain, but was interrupted by Yuan Wenshao.

"Polu, I don't mean to blame your wife. It's really rare for her to understand this. I was a little worried about you at first, but now it seems that my worry is in vain. If you have anything to do in the future, ask your wife more Meaning." Yuan Wenshao said.

People are selfish. Liu is worried that something will happen to him in the future that will involve Sun Xu, so it is normal for him not to let Sun Xu have contact with him.

Even Hualan had previously advised him not to visit Liu Lei.

After all, Liu Lei was plotting rebellion, and Yuan Wenshao would easily be caught if he went to visit him.

"Yes." Seeing that Yuan Wenshao was really not angry, Sun Xu showed a smile and nodded vigorously.

After entering the city, the two separated. When Yuan Wenshao passed by a restaurant, he was stopped.

"I've met Marquis Zhongyong. I'd like to invite someone to live in my house." The person blocking the road bowed and said.

Yuan Wenshao frowned slightly and asked, "Who is your master?"

The person blocking the road didn't speak, he just looked up at the second floor of the restaurant next to him.

Yuan Wenshao followed his gaze and saw that the window on the second floor was half open, and a person smiled and waved to him.

(End of this chapter)