"You little bastard, what nonsense are you talking about? The queen has already made a decision. Do you still want to harm your father?"
Tongxian Lieutenant strode forward to reprimand the young man of the Chen family. Gu Lei was so angry that he banged his cane on the ground and scolded solemnly: "Queen, the governor is here, how can you be so small?"
Is the county lieutenant running wild here?"
"Tongxian Lieutenant."
Chu Nanzhi also glared at him with a fierce look: "Since I entered the Chen family, you have repeatedly blocked the father and son. What do you want?"
"Queen, lower official"
Just as Lieutenant Tong County was about to speak, he was forced back by a sharp look from Gu Lei.
At this time, Chu Nanzhi had completely seen Gu Lei's prestige among the officials and people of Langzhou, and it was true that just one look could make people tremble.
She strolled back into the hall, leaned down and stared at the crying child. While wiping his tears, she softly comforted him: "Good boy, aunt also wants to seek justice for your mother, but she can't."
There's nothing you can do about it like this."
After hearing this, the young Dabao of the Chen family immediately looked fiercely at Lieutenant Tong with his childish eyes, but before he could speak, Chen Laosan stopped him again: "Dabao, don't talk nonsense."
"Chen Sanlang, you still want to deceive me now?"
Chu Nanzhi gave Chen Sanlang a look that said he was not angry, and then suppressed Chen Sanlang's anger.
The eldest daughter of the Chen family then looked at Lieutenant Tong with firm eyes, pointed at him angrily and said loudly: "Mother, it's him, he is the one who harmed our mother-in-law, causing us and our father to lose our mother-in-law."
"you"
The fierce-looking Tongxian Lieutenant was about to draw his sword. Chu Nanzhi waved directly to the guards in front of the courtyard gate: "Take down this Tongxian Lieutenant who has no superiority."
"Queen, please don't listen to this childish nonsense."
Lieutenant Tong Xian shouted hoarsely with a grimace on his face.
But Chu Nanzhi turned a deaf ear and continued to face the eldest daughter of the Chen family, saying in a gentle voice: "Good boy, you don't have to be afraid. Tell your aunt carefully how this person killed your mother."
After being comforted by her, the eldest child of the Chen family sobbed and replied:
"At the beginning of last month, my father received the official order of national mourning from the government, so he took us back to my grandma's house, but someone reported him. After that, the Tong County Lieutenant led people to search for our family's whereabouts. My father had no choice but to
He took us to hide in Tibet until my mother was about to give birth ten days ago. My father had no choice but to secretly take us back to the old house. However, that night, Tong County Lieutenant found the house. They broke into the house and beat the mother who was about to give birth.
, my mother-in-law and my brother who was already in labor were beaten to death in front of our eyes."
Hearing this, Chu Nanzhi clenched her fists angrily.
When I was about to give birth, I was in so much pain that I didn’t want to give birth, but I still suffered this terrible crime.
She looked at Chen Laosan with great pain and asked sternly: "Chen Sanlang, is what you said is true?"
Chen Laosan kept choking, recalling the tragic situation that day, and the heartbreaking pain made him speechless for a while.
Chen Dabao mustered up his courage and continued: "Tong County Lieutenant said that my father and mother-in-law died in childbirth, and he concealed it and refused to report it to the government. He committed an unforgivable crime. If my father did not cooperate with the government and reported my mother's death as dystocia to the government,
He wanted to expose my father and implicate the whole family. In order to save my brother and me, my father had to hide the matter."
"Tong Fei, can you admit what Mr. Chen family said?"
At this moment, Gu Lei finally couldn't hold it any longer, his pupils burst into flames, and he looked at the county captain angrily.
When he was in the county government office, he once boasted in front of the queen that all his disciples were loyal and righteous people, but he never expected that he would encounter such appalling things when he went to the county government.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. I don’t know how many similar tragedies happened in the entire Langzhou City in the rest of the month. It is really infuriating.
Tong Fei was being escorted by the guards, shaking her body tremblingly, as if she was at a loss.
"The folk customs are so simple and honest. The people of Langzhou voluntarily abide by the etiquette and laws in gratitude for the late emperor's kindness and are unwilling to exceed the rules."
Gu Lei looked at Zhang Xuan, the chief historian, with a lonely look on his face, feeling extremely humiliated: "Is this what you call living in peace with the people and asking for life for the people?"
"Teacher, please calm down. There must be some misunderstanding."
Zhang Xuan was also very angry and glanced angrily at Tong Fei, who was already livid with fear: "Tell me quickly, who instructed you to dare to disobey the late emperor's decree and act in reverse?"
As he spoke, murderous intent flashed in his eyes: "If you dare to say one wrong word today, I will let you die without a burial place."
Facing the aggressive and fierce gazes of everyone, Tong Fei struggled to break away from the restraints of the guards in fear, and slammed into the thick pillar in the hall. She immediately bled profusely and died on the spot.
Zhang Xuan hurried forward to check Tong Fei's breathing, then walked back to Chu Nanzhi and Gu Lei, and said in a deep voice: "Report to the queen, report to the teacher, this little county captain committed suicide out of fear of crime."
"Sir Chang Shi has such great official authority, but just a few words can make people commit suicide in fear of crime."
Chu Nanzhi glanced at Zhang Xuan with sharp eyes like blades.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw a mouthful of hot blood spurting out of Gu Lei's mouth, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Teacher."
Zhang Xuan ignored Chu Nanzhi's scolding and went forward to help Gu Lei in a hurry.
"The grassroots people are guilty. The grassroots people are ashamed of the people of Langzhou and ask the queen to punish them. The grassroots people are willing to die today to apologize and give justice to the people of Langzhou who have suffered this time."
Gu Lei fell into Zhang Xuan's arms, his sad eyes staring straight at Chu Nanzhi, who looked particularly pale and weak.
Chu Nanzhi just stared quietly at the Chen family's father and son and the county captain lying in a pool of blood.
This Tong Fei is no more than a small county captain in the county, but she dares to act so boldly. I think there must be someone behind her.
And no matter how famous Gu Lei is, he may not be able to make the entire Langzhou officialdom work for him.
I'm afraid there is a bigger force behind this, and Gu Lei's reputation is just a force of public opinion fueled by the people behind it.
"I have never thought about punishing Mr. Gu. I believe in the vision of my mentor Chang Lao. The replacement of the old system will inevitably cause friction. I have never been afraid of obstruction and refutation from knowledgeable people like Mr. Gu. As long as it is
If it is an upright move, I am even willing to accept the debate honestly, but if someone wants to use underhanded tactics to deliberately maintain the old system, I will never be merciful if I find out."
Looking deeply at Gu Lei and Master Zhang Xuan, Chu Nanzhi said solemnly:
"I will definitely stick to the reform of the official system in Langzhou to the end. I still say the same thing. The empire is not the world of aristocratic families, but the world of the whole country. Although I cannot guarantee the absolute fairness and justice of the reformed official system, I can still govern the world.
After all, it depends on those who are virtuous and capable, and only a sound evaluation mechanism can ensure the fairness and rigor of official selection."
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately urged Zhan He in front of everyone: "Master Zhan, starting from today, you will start a thorough investigation of the murder of pregnant women in the state, and you must find out the instigator behind this."
"I will take my orders."
The Queen's actions today undoubtedly gave Zhan He hope to break the ice, and he vowed to seek justice for the innocent people who died.