Capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty

imperial study room

A few wisps of green smoke floated out from the incense burner in the room, and the scent of fine sandalwood filled the royal study room with fragrance.

The young Emperor Zhou Chengxuan of the Zhou Dynasty sat at the head of the table wearing a dragon robe, while Shangguan Wanrong sat next to his son.

There are several figures sitting on both sides in an orderly manner, including the Taifu Yuwen Hongru, the Minister of War Yuwen Chenghua, the Minister of Personnel Zhao Zhonghai, the Minister of Punishment Xue Chengyi and the uncle of the State Shangguan Taiqing.

Today, the most powerful people in the capital gathered together to discuss one thing, which was how to punish King Hui.

By privately exchanging death row prisoners, King Hui's move was a slap in the face to the emperor. I can easily replace the person you want to kill, so how can the majesty of the imperial power be reflected?

So when the news reached the capital, Shangguan Wanrong's anger was much greater than last time, and she almost cursed the eighteenth generation of Zhou Jiaxiang's ancestors.

But fortunately she held back, because Zhou Jiaxiang's ancestors were the previous emperors of the Zhou Dynasty.

"My dear friends, please tell me how to deal with King Hui's matter. Your Majesty is here today, and everyone can speak freely." Shangguan Wanrong said, suppressing the anger in her heart.

Zhou Chengxuan's eyes fell on several ministers. Although he didn't know much about court affairs, he always felt that there was something strange about these people when they sat together.

Several adults in the room looked at each other, and finally Xue Chengyi spoke first: "Your Majesty! Queen Mother! This act of King Hui has committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. According to the law of the country, he should be punished with death."

Even with Xue Chengyi's integrity, he paused when he said these words. The reason was for no other reason than that he felt that what King Hui did was too ridiculous.

His son Zhou He was already outrageous before, but he didn't expect that becoming a father would be even more courageous.

Several ministers in the room knew Xue Chengyi well, so Xue Chengyi's words did not surprise everyone. This is his style.

Zhou Chengxuan was stunned for a moment. He knew that the King Hui mentioned by Xue Chengyi was his uncle, but he had not seen this uncle a few times since he was a child. He only had these unclear memories.

Shangguan Taiqing raised his head slightly, looked at the Queen Mother for a moment, and then nodded in agreement: "What Lord Xue said is true. Nowadays, people's resentment is boiling on Guang'an Road, and the royal majesty has been seriously damaged. All this is because of what King Hui said."

It must be severely punished.”

Before the small court meeting, Shangguan Taiqing and his sister were angry, and they both came to the conclusion that King Hui must be killed.

It turned out that the two of them just wanted to use Zhou He's incident to suppress King Hui, and at the same time let the people see the emperor's majesty and win over the people.

It was a good thing this time, as the dignity was not established, and more trouble was caused.

Now the royal family has become a joke.

Since King Hui insisted on bringing his neck forward for them to chop, it was impossible not to chop him.

Yu Wen Hongru hunched over and said nothing, while Yu Wen Chenghua had a faint smile on his lips.

"I second the proposal!" Zhao Zhonghai also shouted softly. He had never had any friendship with King Hui, so it was naturally impossible for him to speak for him.

Seeing that the opinions of the three people were basically the same, Shangguan Wanrong cast her eyes on the old man whose body was half buried in the loess: "Master Taifu, what do you think?"

Only then did Yu Wen Hongru shake his body, and an old voice sounded: "King Hui is a relative of the emperor. He does not want to worry about the country, but he has repeatedly trampled on the majesty of the royal family and should be executed according to the law! But after all, King Hui is the king.

His Majesty's uncle is involved in family ties, so the final decision must be made by Your Majesty and the Queen Mother."

As soon as she finished speaking, the Queen Mother secretly cursed a cunning old man in her heart. What does it mean to involve family ties? Are you saying that His Majesty the Emperor does not distinguish between public affairs and private affairs?

But Yuwen Hongru's words also made the queen mother understand the meaning of the Yuwen family. You can kill or cut into pieces as you like, anyway, the Yuwen family has nothing to do with it.

"Xue Shangshu, according to the law, what is the crime for deceiving the emperor, despising the emperor's authority, and exchanging death row privately?" the Queen Mother asked calmly.

Which of these three crimes is not a serious crime of decapitation, but King Hui now has several crimes combined into one, and he must die.

Xue Chengyi replied without thinking: "The main culprit was cut in half, and the whole family was implicated!"

Zhao Zhonghai and Shangguan Taiqing's hearts "thumped", killing a vassal king in half, who could have imagined it?

The Queen Mother was also stunned for a moment, she felt that cutting in half was too bloody, but when she thought about the people on Guang'an Road scolding the royal family, she didn't care anymore, so just cut in half.

"Mother, Uncle Zhou hugged me once when I was a child. Isn't it too much to cut in half?" Just when Shangguan Wanrong was about to make a decision, Zhou Chengxuan's voice suddenly reached everyone's ears.

The Queen Mother was stunned. She didn't understand the meaning of Zhou Chengxuan's words. The punishment of being cut in half was too severe.

Yuwen Hongru was such a fine person. After hearing Zhou Chengxuan's words, he said softly: "Your Majesty is so generous, and my subjects are lucky! For caring about the royal family's face, you can be punished lightly!"

In fact, the Yuwen family doesn't mind what kind of punishment King Hui suffers at all, as long as they kill you anyway.

"Your Majesty is generous! The country is lucky!"

The emperor had already spoken, and the ministers could not say anything more.

"After all, Prince Hui is a member of the royal family, let's give him a more dignified death." Seeing the pity in her son's eyes, the Queen Mother Shangguan finally gave up the punishment of being cut in half.

In the summer of the fourth year of Jingtai, the imperial court issued an edict. King Hui and Princess Hui were given a cup of poisonous wine, and Zhou He was executed. The rest of the family members were exiled thousands of miles away. The male servants in the mansion were sent to the army, and the female servants were made official prostitutes. The other officials involved in the prison change were executed.

As soon as the edict came out, the country was shocked. This was another vassal king whose body and head were missing after King Fu and King Yue.

In Prince Hui's Mansion, Princess Hui committed suicide before the imperial edict arrived.

Zhou Jiaxiang knelt on the ground holding an exquisite wine glass made of gold and silver, his palms shaking unconsciously.

The eunuch who came to convey the order was waiting quietly outside the door, waiting to collect the body of King Hui.

Zhou Jiaxiang, whose eyes were blank, didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

What I'm crying about is that I, a noble vassal king, ended up in today's situation. What I'm laughing about is that even if I die, I can recover the whole body. If it were someone else who would have been cut into pieces, this can be regarded as a different kind of privilege.

.

"That's it!" Zhou Jiaxiang laughed miserably, raised his head, and drank the poisonous wine in one gulp.

Just after the poisonous wine was drunk, Zhou Jiaxiang suddenly figured out something. After Butler Song reported the matter, he could have survived and even earned some credit, but why did he hang himself anyway?

There is only one reason!

There was someone behind Butler Song who was instigating that he had to die.

And the person who instigated him actually wanted to bring down a current vassal king! Is there some conspiracy behind this!

Thinking of this, Zhou Jiaxiang's eyes suddenly widened, and just as he was about to say something, he felt a surge of blood in his chest.

"puff!"

Zhou Jiaxiang cried out after spitting out a mouthful of blood, but his eyes widened before he died, filled with unwillingness.

The summer of the fourth year of Jingtai
Chapter completed!