The palace wall reflects the moon

Chapter 37 Mrs. Jiang

"I thought it was because you didn't want to see Meng Zhen's face. As long as you can't see it, it's the same for everyone."

Shen Shuning's mouth was dry, so he took a big sip of tea, put down the tea bowl, and continued: "However, the number of death row prisoners in the prison is wrong. The missing number happens to match the day when Meng Zhen's death was recorded in the history of Tong."

Shen Xiao was silent for a moment, then turned around, his eyes were dark, and his tone was light: "The prison is under the jurisdiction of the punishment department. It is the punishment department's fault for bothering the eldest princess to worry about it."

Shen Shuning's heart was filled with chills, and he was speechless for a moment.

The emperor always called her sister, never the eldest princess. This was the first time in so many years that he had blocked her with something in his words. Although his tone was calm, there was a bit of biting coldness in it.

This was to scold her for stretching her hand too far.

After Shen Shuning calmed down, he said a fair word for the Ministry of Punishment.

"I insist on checking the files, and the Criminal Department dare not disobey."

"But the Ministry of Punishment never reported it to me," Shen Xiaoyun said in a cool voice, "I guess it's because the successes are insufficient and the failures are excessive. It's time to change the person."

After finishing speaking, he asked again: "What do you think, Sister Huang?"

Shen Shuning's mind was buzzing, and he said numbly, "What the emperor said is absolutely true," and then strode out of the Yangxin Palace.

Looking at the tall eight-carriage sedan parked outside Yangxin Hall, Shen Shuning was upset for no reason. It was the emperor's tacit permission that she could do whatever she wanted in the palace. Whether it was in the palace or in the temple, the emperor had always allowed her to do whatever she wanted. sister.

So much so that she lost her sense of propriety and the sedan chair stopped arbitrarily outside the Yangxin Hall.

It seems so stupid right now.She waved her hand and asked someone to drive the sedan out and carry it away quickly.

She went back on foot, accompanied by Dan Hong on the long palace road.

Looking up at the sky, the clouds on the horizon were stained with ink, and seemed to be pressing heavily on the earth. It was probably because of the bad weather that she couldn't breathe.

Seeing her master's ugly face, Dan Hong realized something and whispered softly: "The emperor and you are close relatives, so naturally he misses you everywhere. But after all, the emperor is the most respected person in the world, how can he tolerate any offense or doubt? Besides, his temperament No matter how good a person is, he will have unhappy moments, so you don’t have to take it to heart.”

Shen Shuning shook his head, "It's my fault."
-
At the beginning of spring, the imperial garden is full of flowers and the fragrant breeze blows.

Liu Qingshu finally got free time and sat with Xin Wei and Chu Ying in the Drunkard Pavilion. After a while, Zhang Zhaoyi and Cao Zhaoyi came upon hearing the news, and the small Drunkard Pavilion became particularly lively.

"I heard from the old ladies in the palace that the late emperor used to go hunting when spring came." Chu Ying smiled as brightly as a flower.

Cao Zhaoyi became interested upon hearing this: "I know that the late emperor loved to go to Jiu Ming Mountain for spring hunting. My father has been to Jiu Ming Mountain once. The scenery there is so beautiful. The fog was as thick as clouds in the early morning, and the sky was full of stars at night. , only heard the chirping of birds and insects..."

"This is the divine clock of creation, with yin and yang cutting off the dusk," Liu Qingshu said with a smile, "I've seen it in my mother's paintings."

Zhang Zhaoyi gently waved the cattail leaf fan and said flatteringly: "I heard from my father that Mrs. Liu's paintings are so fragrant and lifelike that people will never forget to praise them after seeing them. I guess Concubine Liu can also be good at painting, right?" "

Liu Qingshu was modest: "Although my mother's paintings are good, they are not as good as Mrs. Jiang's back then. She has been practicing for a long time, but her goshawk paintings are special. They are pure and full of energy, which is rare to see in a hundred years."

There was silence all around.

Cao Zhaoyi broke the silence: "Concubine Liu is talking about the wife of Jiang Liu, the eunuch?"

"Yes."

Everyone was quiet again.The eunuch is a sinner, but Concubine Liu openly praises the eunuch's wife?
How should they respond to this?
"Mrs. Jiang and Lu Yunjin are a woman worthy of admiration."

A voice came from the steps, and everyone turned to look. Yu Zhaoyi walked up to the Drunkard Pavilion and said as he walked: "Without Lu Yunjin, where would the future Jiang Changgong be?" Chu Ying said bluntly: "Jiang Liu Didn't you just climb up the ranks step by step by becoming a eunuch? What does it have to do with his wife?"

"If it weren't for Lu Yunjin, why would Jiang Liu become a eunuch?"

Yu Zhaoyi walked to the pavilion, bowed to Liu Qingshu, and then said to Chu Ying: "Lu Yunjin is unparalleled in beauty and talent. Naturally, he is coveted by many people. One day, Lu Yunjin is pregnant with His daughter was forcibly abducted by a shameless person. Unfortunately, the other party was a high-ranking official, so Jiang Liu had no way to sue, so he entered the palace and took refuge with the then Eunuch Fu. When his daughter was five years old, he finally took back his wife and daughter."

Chu Ying was shocked: "So he is willing to be castrated and climb higher and higher on the road of eunuch, in order to protect his wife and daughter!"

Everyone mourned.

After all, they were soft-hearted women. They couldn't help but sympathize with Jiang Liu's difficult situation at that time, and were both saddened and shocked by Jiang Liu's sacrifice.

They were either legitimate children or concubine children. Their fathers all had concubines, and their mothers only taught them to be generous, dignified and virtuous wives.

But they have heard that they would like to be a winged bird in the sky and a twig on the ground.

I have also heard that mountains have no mausoleums and rivers are exhausted.Thunder trembles in winter, and it rains and snows in summer.When heaven and earth are united, I dare to be with you.

Which woman has never longed for such sincere feelings, and such a man who is so devoted to her?
Xin Wei leaned against the railing of the pavilion, listening to them talking about the past, with no emotion on her face. She just looked at the beautiful spring scenery under the pavilion quietly, with silence in her eyes.

Cao Zhaoyi asked: "Then you said Mrs. Jiang is worthy of admiration, why did you say that?"

Yu Zhaoyi sat down at Liu Qingshu's signal and explained unhurriedly.

"Lu Yunjin comes from a scholarly family and has first-class beauty. The Lu family worked hard to train her. They originally wanted Lu Yunjin to marry into a noble family and climb high, but she fell in love with Jiang Liu, a student from a poor family. congenial."

"The Lu family objected but were unable to do so. Lu Yunjin insisted on making a private life-long arrangement with him. She sold calligraphy and paintings for him, worked as an embroiderer, and saved a lot of money for him to take the scientific examination in Beijing."

"It was precisely because of her selling paintings on the street that she became visible in front of others and was coveted by others."

Chu Ying is a sweetheart, and her eyes turned red when she heard this: "So, Lang Qing, concubine, they really should grow old together..."

"How is Mrs. Jiang doing now?" Cao Zhaoyi asked.

"Dead," Yu Zhaoyi lowered her voice and frowned, "Three years ago, someone threatened Lu Yunjin's life against Jiang Liu. Lu Yunjin refused to allow Jiang Liu to accept this threat, so he committed suicide with a sword."

Xin Wei felt a dull pain in her heart and closed her eyes.

The scene of her mother's body being brought back could not be suppressed in her mind. The mother's body was covered with a white cloth. Her father did not allow her to see it and asked someone to push her back to the boudoir.

She climbed through the window and slipped into the mourning hall, and saw her father, who had always been calm and calm, dressed in pale white, with his body hunched and his head hanging down, kneeling in front of the spirit for a long time.

Chu Ying stood up suddenly: "Who is so shameless?!"

Everyone looked at Chu Ying, looking at her in astonishment, and then she slowly remembered that Jiang Liu was the guilty minister, the eunuch's guilty minister who was reviled by the world.

Chu Ying lowered her head and sat down slowly, "Let's assume he is guilty. There is Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment to interrogate him. Threatening someone's wife is nothing. It's just a villain's behavior."

Her voice is getting softer.

"Besides, a human wife is innocent..."

Liu Qingshu said meaningfully: "Who knows whether Mr. Jiang Chang is guilty or not."

(End of this chapter)