Chapter 1,188 The emperor is a swordsman, and the nobles are fish and meat
Longqing six years, early November.
After two months, the funeral bell rang again.
This time it was three times.
"Concubine Zhen is gone!"
Su Mingzhe, who was working at the Hanlin Academy, received the news and immediately asked for leave and rushed home.
When he arrived at the Hall of Rongxi, he saw all the four princes and eight princes gathered together.
The Prince of Dongping County, the Prince of Nan'an County, the Prince of Xining County, and the Prince of Beijing County sit high.
Niu Jizong of the Zhenguo Mansion, Liu Fang of the Liguo Mansion, Chen Ruiwen of the Qiguo Mansion, Ma Shang of the Zhiguo Mansion, Hou Xiaokang of the Xiuguo Mansion, Shi Guangzhu of the Xiuguo Mansion, plus Jia She of the Rongguo Mansion, and Jia Zhen of the Ningguo Mansion accompany the last one.
When Su Mingzhe arrived, the scene was extremely quiet. His father Jia Zheng frowned, holding the armrest with his left hand and tapping the table with his right fingers.
When everyone saw Su Mingzhe entering the door, their eyes suddenly lit up.
Prince Shuirong of Beijing County was the first to laugh, breaking the tranquility:
"Brother Baoyu is back!"
"Greetings to all the princes, greetings to the uncles, and greetings to the father!"
Su Mingzhe bowed respectfully and saluted. After the ceremony, he said with a smile:
"I just heard the news that Concubine Zhen died of illness in the palace, so I hurried back. Unexpectedly, everyone got the news faster than me, who works in the palace!"
Hearing the ridicule in Su Mingzhe's words, Shui Rong laughed and explained:
"In the morning, Concubine Zhen was found dead suddenly. However, the emperor secretly ordered that the secret should be strictly kept, so it was not until just now that the funeral bell was rung!"
Ma Shang, who is in charge of the country, is younger and of the same generation as Su Mingzhe. He is only eighteen years old now and does not have such a deep city. When he saw Shui Rong and Su Mingzhe talking and laughing, his eyes suddenly turned red:
"Can you please stop laughing!"
"Do you know how many people have died this month?"
"He...he, what on earth is he going to do?"
Everyone knew who "he" Ma Shang was talking about, but when they heard this, they all remained silent.
Only the water-soluble one was more courageous and smiled and replied:
"What can he do? Of course, eradicate dissidents!"
"What King Beijing said is right."
Prince Dongping smiled contemptuously and said coldly:
"Even Wang Ziteng and Concubine Zhen died violently if they were told they would die suddenly. We, the four princes and eight princes, the nobles in the city, all became their dinner, the meat on the plate... If one of them didn't like it, he would be killed.
!What did you say at the beginning, to rest with the country... humph!"
"Be careful what you say, be careful what you say!"
Prince Lao Cheng of Nan'an County was prudent. Seeing that everyone was angry and depressed, he had no choice but to comfort him:
"As the saying goes, if the king wants his subjects to die, they will have to die! If the father wants his sons to die, the sons will have to die!"
"That is the Emperor, we cannot hold grudges!"
After hearing this persuasion, everyone felt even more depressed.
Back then, everyone raised their heads and rebelled together. As a result, the emperor and his family became emperors, while the four princes and eight princes became fish on the chopping board and were slaughtered by others!
This is so unfair!
In desperation, Prince Nan'an looked at Su Mingzhe and asked:
"My nephew, you are working in the palace, what news can you hear?"
Su Mingzhe hesitated for a moment, glanced at the Prince of Beijing, and then said slowly:
"When I was inquiring about the death of Concubine Zhen, I overheard someone saying that the eldest prince had put the second girl of the Zhen family under house arrest five days ago. In addition, many people were impeaching the Zhen family.
, saying that the Zhen family formed a clique for personal gain, engaged in corruption and fraud, and sold their official positions to gain titles... However, these memorials were all left unchecked."
"Slander, this is all slander!"
Everyone's expressions changed drastically, and many people even started to protest, using all kinds of curse words.
Beijing Wang Shuirong's face turned livid.
There are three legitimate daughters in the Zhen family.
The eldest girl married Shui Rong a few years ago and became Princess Beijing.
The second girl is participating this year
After a talent show, the emperor recommended marriage to the eldest prince, Prince Cheng, and became Prince Cheng's concubine.
The third girl, Zhen Yurao, has just reached her prime and is not yet married.
When Su Mingzhe visited the Zhen family in May, the old lady of the Zhen family even said that she would betroth this girl Yurao to Su Mingzhe.
Now, King Cheng has placed the second girl of the Zhen family under house arrest a few days in advance, which shows that he was already preparing to take action against the Zhen family today.
"Is it possible that he really wants to kill them all?"
All the four bastards and eight princes felt a chill, running from the soles of their feet to their foreheads, and their whole bodies were chilled.
"Zi Teng shouldn't have returned to Beijing!"
"If he was still leading the troops at Jiubian, he wouldn't have died at all, and we wouldn't have to worry so much!"
"What's the use of talking about this now?"
"..."
Watching the four bastards slowly losing control of their emotions and making a quarrel.
Su Mingzhe narrowed his eyes slightly, covering up the excitement in his heart:
"Emperor Longqing, just kill with all your strength. When you kill people to panic and cause chaos in the world, I can easily usurp the throne without spending a single soldier!"
Mid-November.
News finally came from Jiangnan that the Zhen family, the former most powerful confidant of the Supreme Emperor, and hundreds of people from the whole family were escorted to Beijing, and the Zhen family's property was confiscated.
In Chang'an City, all the noble families began to feel panic.
Su Mingzhe began to step up his plan to "usurp the throne".
Early December.
The men, women, and children of the Zhen family were escorted to Beijing.
End of December.
Before New Year's Eve.
Seventy-six men of the Zhen family were beheaded.
More than 500 women and children of the Zhen family were exiled to the border.
Just when all the noble people are panic-stricken, full of worries, and struggling to live their lives.
Emperor Longqing suddenly announced at the New Year's Eve meeting that all the empresses would visit each provincial residence on the day of the Lantern Festival.
This good news has somewhat dispelled the worries of the nobles.
It seems that the Zhen family's matter has become an accident.
Turn around.
Su Mingzhe changed his clothes and came to Sister Feng's place.
When I entered the backyard, I saw Sister Feng playing mahjong with three beauties.
When Wang Xifeng saw the man arriving, she smiled coquettishly, played out a piece of cake, and then joked:
"Look, let me tell you, as long as our second master has some free time, he will definitely come to visit you."
When the three beauties saw the man entering the house, they did not dare to be as unruly as Wang Xifeng. They all stood up and knelt down to salute and say hello:
"Yu Rao (Paulin, Yan Ping) would like to send my regards to the second master."
"We are all family members, no need to be polite."
Su Mingzhe smiled, took Sister Qiao from Ping'er, sat next to Sister Feng, and asked with a smile:
"Which of you won today?"
"Of course it's Pauline!"
Wang Xifeng sighed and said:
"As expected of a royal merchant, her brain works very quickly. All three of us lost the battle, and she was the only one who won."
"Sister Feng, I just have better luck today."
Xue Baolin felt bitter when she heard Sister Feng teasing her.
I don’t know what happened today, but she was very lucky. She often started listening before even playing two cards.
And because the four maids, Ping'er, Feng'er, Hongyu, and Lvzhu, were each standing behind one of them to serve, she couldn't let go even if she wanted to.
When the man heard that Xue Baolin had won, he couldn't help laughing. He handed Sister Qiao to Ruixue, who was working as a hostess, and then picked up the shy beauty and walked towards the house.
Zhen Yurao and Wang Yanping blushed with embarrassment and were about to go back to their respective rooms, but were stopped by Wang Xifeng.
"We are a family already. Why are you leaving? Ping'er, please sit down and let's continue playing cards!"
Ping'er smiled and sat on Xue Baolin's seat, accompanying everyone and continuing to massage.
When Zhen Yurao and Wang Yanping saw this, they looked at each other.
Finally, I could only sigh secretly, endure my shyness, and continue playing cards.
Not long after.
The sound of men's praises and Xue Baolin's begging for mercy came from the house.
The girls in the outer room didn't know why, but listening to the sounds in the room, they gradually felt their whole bodies starting to get hot.