A few days later, Xuanling accused the Guan family of being disrespectful to Wen Yuan and falsely accusing Concubine Shu. He vigorously and resolutely implicated the Guan family in framing the ministers Zhen, Xue and Luo. He also found out that the Guan family had been embezzling and accepting bribes in the past few years.
, befriending party members and committing dozens of harsh crimes, shocking both the government and the public.
It was sunny after the rain and the summer heat dissipated. Concubine Zhengui and I had a few children. Fang sighed: "Why doesn't the emperor know about Guan's mistakes? It's just that the political affairs of the government and the public often affect the whole body, so you should not act rashly. And this is the case.
It is also a way to deal with the matter slowly and treat it slowly, but now the emperor has the intention to cut off its foundation."
Taking my time, I naturally understand that if I treat it slowly, I will see results soon. And if I don’t count all the crimes, I can catch them all in one fell swoop and eradicate the root causes.
I smiled, "Guan Wenyuan is domineering, and her two brothers are not much better. The emperor came down with the force of thunder, and they were caught off guard."
Her smile was as light as the wind, "Guan Wenyuan has been pampered for a few years, and her family is quite powerful. How can she not be domineering? Look at An's being so submissive in front of the emperor. She heard that her father was favored by the emperor.
After being rewarded as a magistrate, there is not much peace of mind. It is the same whether you are an official or a concubine. It is inevitable that you will lose your shape under the emperor's favor."
I picked up a chess piece and muttered to myself, "The emperor stayed at An's place again yesterday."
Concubine Zhengui raised her eyebrows slightly, looking quite disappointed, "Since the New Year's Eve dance, the emperor has treated her like a treasure. Although she has been neglected a lot because of the death of Concubine De, there is still some old feelings. The emperor has been very fond of her recently.
Don't stay overnight in Kongcui Hall, just don't let me look at Chi Shao's face again."
"The emperor treats her very well indeed." I smiled. "We are all trapped here. Who knows what her father is like outside. He is no better than sister Zhou Pei, who is an official at home. She is more sensitive to all kinds of news."
The decline of the Guan family became obvious with the arrival of the first autumn wind. Seeing him build a Zhulou, seeing him banquet guests, and seeing his building collapse. The steward who rose to power by pacifying King Runan, after six or seven years of Xuanhe
It was a complete defeat. When the Autumn in Ziao City was bleak, the Guan family also fell apart with the decline of everyone's fate. Their homes were confiscated, exiled, and imprisoned. All adult men were cut in half, and those under fourteen were exiled to the Western Xinjiang. Their wives and daughters were also
After hearing the news, Guan Lu committed suicide in prison in despair.
That night, Wen Yuan, the official in charge of the dressing gown, was barefoot and disheveled, begging hoarsely outside the Yiyuan Hall. Her cry was so shrill that it resounded through the silent night sky of Ziao City. Except the Queen Mother and Yu Yao, everyone was awake, every day
Everyone was listening, and everyone was watching with their eyes and hearts. The Queen Mother was used to such things, but Yu Yao, her ears could not hear anything else except the sound of wooden fish and chanting.
Of course, Guan Wenyuan had also gone to seek help from the queen before, but the queen, who was gradually falling out of favor, had no power to take care of her. The queen quietly closed the palace door and told others that she was "having a headache."
At that time, Xuan Ling and I were sitting across from each other in the west room of Yiyuan Hall. He was holding a copy of "Taiping Yulan", and I was holding on to a volume of "Tai Shang Influence" and quietly flipped through it.
Yes, be quiet. For me, I am turning a deaf ear to Guan Wenyuan's call at this moment, and Xuan Ling has no intention of paying attention to her. Xuan Ling also asked Li Chang to give her a verbal message, "I have thought that you have served in the palace for many years, but I have no intention of paying any attention to you."
You are a commoner and I will not let you die, so go back."
Guan Wenyuan knocked on the door of the palace and cried, "Your Majesty has punished my concubine's mother's family. How can I have a home to return to? My life is worse than death! Your Majesty, please forgive me and spare my family."
!”
Xuan Ling ignored her. I didn't allow anyone to pull her away. This kind of despair would devour her faster than death. Guan Wenyuan's pleas became more and more sad, and when there was no response, they began to turn into resentment and resentment against Xuan Ling.
I am ruthless and hate my cruelty. A loud thunder rolled outside, and the sultry weather was finally broken by a rare thunderstorm.
It was a heavy rain all night, and the "gushing" rain washed away the sultry heat that had accumulated in Ziao City for several days, and also slightly relieved my suffocating heart. I accompanied Xuan Ling, who was drafting an edict,
The content of this edict is a thorough clarification of the injustices that my father and brother have harbored for several years, and it is also the beginning of my parents spending their old age peacefully. I specifically ask Xuan Ling not to give my father an excessively high official position. He is really old.
The rain was so loud that I gradually couldn't hear Guan Wenyuan's call.
The heavy rain stopped and before the first light of the morning came, I had no trace of Guan Wenyuan in front of Yiyuan Hall. Li Chang told me that she died in the heavy rain, her body was like floating duckweed, and she was finally dragged away.
Burial mound.
I didn't say anything, I just left quietly. At the beginning of a new day, there were many trivial things waiting for me in the Sixth House.
Yu Yin went to the palace to ask for an audience. She told me, "Gu Jiayi has left on her own and her whereabouts are unknown." She asked me, "Why don't we use torture to extract a confession from Guan Wenyuan and ask her to reveal the mastermind behind the scenes?"
I shook my head and dismissed this possibility, "There are still people alive in the Guan family, and she won't force those people to die together. Moreover, she hates me to the core, how can she hope to lose someone who can restrain me."
Yu Yin was helpless, but then she felt relieved. She said: "Your Majesty has collected a lot of evidence of Guan's crimes over the years, and finally it can be put to use now."
I felt grateful in my heart and said: "The Sixth Prince is your husband, and it is right for you to do your best for your father-in-law's family. From now on, it is convenient for you to come and go outside the palace, and your parents must take good care of you and the prince."
I smiled lightly and said, "Your Majesty is willing to work so hard, after all, it is because of your ability in the palace." I paused for a moment, "Which one is easy to get along with? Can you bear the grievance?"
"Eldest sister said Concubine Jing?" Yu Yin smiled brightly, with a long ruby autumn azalea hairpin hanging from her temples and a trembling bead pendant, which made her look even more radiant. "What kind of grievance can she give me? I can't do anything about it."
Everyone is the same person. She is really a quiet person, so quiet that the prince has never seen such a person. What's more, although her health has improved a lot, she just talks about the soup all day long. The prince always pities her,
She has enough food and clothing, but she can't speak a few words on weekdays, and she's never even sat down with her."
I was slightly shocked in my heart, and then smiled and said: "Your Majesty has no affection for her at all, no more than I have known you for many years. Since Your Majesty didn't spend the night at her place, you will naturally serve her well."
Yu Yin's smile faded slightly, and she quickly said with a smile: "Eldest sister is used to making fun of me! But the prince does treat me very well."
Maybe, this is good. Everyone raises their eyebrows, just like a play.
Isn't life just like a play? Just like Xuan Ling and I, after playing for a long time, we naturally become involved in the play. It seems so deep to outsiders, but only a little bit remains in our hearts.
After finishing speaking, Yu Yin and I went to see Yu Yao. When I told Yu Yao the news that "Guan Xi was dead", Yu Yao just listened quietly with no expression on his face, as if he was listening to what others were saying.
I placed a sparkling multi-treasure ring in front of her, and her eyes suddenly lit up. She unconsciously put the ring in her palm and said infatuatedly: "He still keeps it, he actually still keeps it!"
She stood up suddenly, with a beaded hairpin ringing in her hair, her face full of pain, "Sister, he still thinks of me, he has not forgotten me! I want to see him, you let me go see him for the last time!"
"She couldn't suppress the sobs in her throat, "Sister, he is dead. I will never see him again."
I felt sour in my heart, so I grabbed her and said, "You're crazy! He has his own wives and concubines crying for him in the execution ground, so what do you mean by running away?!"
Yu Yao was so anxious that she refused to listen. Although her body was weak, she was very strong when she tried hard. When Yu Yin saw her struggling, he quickly stopped her and advised: "Third sister, wake up! Why did Guan Xi leave this ring?"
The one beside him was taken from the hand of his concubine Liu. The eldest sister is afraid that you will be sad, Third Sister, so she won't let me tell you." Yu Yin's chest was rising and falling, "Has Third Sister forgotten the past? This step is taken today.
If you go out, you will be betraying your clan and your family, and tomorrow the Zhen family will become the biggest joke in the capital!"
Yu Yao stopped struggling and stood there quietly, as if struck by lightning, looking dazed. Although Yu Yin spoke in a hurry, it was true. Seeing Yu Yao like this, he couldn't help but panic and called out hurriedly:
"Third sister."
Yu Yao held the multi-treasure ring tightly, as if she wanted to crush it, "Second sister, did you really take it off on another woman's hand?"
Yu Yin sighed, "Ms. Liu is his eighth concubine." She held Yu Yao's hand, "Second sister, it's really not worth it."
After a long time, Yu Yao softly said "Oh", the voice was as thin as mist, "I will never remember this person again." Her voice was so soft, as if she was not in the world, but so decisive. After that, she turned around and turned inward.
She walked towards the room. Her steps were a little shaky, and she disappeared behind the screen like a wisp of misty smoke.
Yu Yin grabbed my palm, looking quite remorseful, and regretted, "I was impatient."
I patted her hand comfortingly and said softly: "You just said something I didn't dare to say, and you are her sister and you are willing to say such things to her."
Yu Yin nodded clearly, "Eldest sister, please go back and have a rest. Concubine Jing will come to report this month's accounts later. I'm going back too."
I nodded slightly, "I will let Hua Yi watch her carefully. Among our sisters, Yu Yao used to be the most worry-free, but now it worries me the most."
Yuyao's life has returned to the days when her heart was as calm as a dry well. Guan Xi's death completely caused her world to lose its color. The color of joy and the color of sadness have all disappeared. I suspect that her world is actually
Only black and white were left, and the only answer I received was the calm sound of the wooden fish.
Guan Wenyuan's death was like a ladle of ice water poured into the boiling pot of oil in the harem. Suddenly within a few days, all the jealous concubines stopped and quietly experienced the consequences of her death.
Everything was profound and he hesitated to speak. What aroused another round of attention in the harem was Zhaoyuan Anlingrong's cry for his father.
The fall of the Guan family made Xuan Ling want to reorganize the officials, and the more than 800,000 taels of silver and dozens of fertile lands and beautiful houses that An Bihuai had plundered were revealed through this thorough investigation.
Lu Zhaorong brought Shuhe to my place. Shuhe looked very fond of her younger siblings and smiled innocently. I was playing with a white-feathered parrot in the corridor, and Lu Zhaorong smiled and said: "Just look at that bird, its fur is snow-white.
I wonder if Zhaoyuan’s father would regard this parrot as a silver coin.”
"Sister Lu is always good at making jokes!" I broke off a leaf from a Chlorophytum to tease the bird. "Three years to clear the magistrate's office, one hundred thousand snowflakes of silver. Not to mention that An Bihuai is the father-in-law of the country, but he is also the father-in-law of the emperor. Eight hundred thousand taels of silver is considered.
What!"
Lu Zhaorong covered his mouth and smiled and said: "He is willing to think that he is the father of the country. What does the queen's father mean? I'm afraid he also appointed himself the father of the country, just to fool a fool."
"If there is no fool, who will give him money and a house? The most important thing is that his daughter is favored. Who cares whether he is the real father-in-law or a fake father-in-law."
Lu Zhaorong stood up and came over, stroking the feathers of the bird, "The emperor did not treat him as the head of the state, but still deposed his official position and imprisoned him. When he was so angry about what happened to the Guan clan, who made An Bihuai touch his head? His prefect also
The emperor was promoted because of An's reputation. An is better than Huai, and he doesn't cherish this gift. Instead, he behaves randomly. Isn't it just a slap in the face of the emperor to make people laugh? How can the emperor's temperament be tolerated?" She smiled and gilded it.
Some corn was added to the shelf of the birdcage, "I heard that Mrs. An had been kneeling outside Yiyuan Hall and taking off her hairpin to await punishment for two days. She didn't yell like Guan Wenyuan, she just kept crying. The weather outside
It's cold, and the wind blowing on her body is enough to make her suffer. Do you want me to go take a look?"
I waved my hands repeatedly and said, "That's it. Sister, don't join in the fun. What if the emperor is soft-hearted and agrees? Then she will show our face when she gains power."
Lu Zhaorong smiled and said: "That's all. I heard that the one who reported An Bihuai was a clerk under him. Although his official position is small, he is very courageous. He even dared to provoke the father of the emperor's favorite concubine. This shows that An Bihuai is not an honest person."
I chuckled to myself, right? Apart from Zhou Pei and I, who knew that he was a small clerk who had worked for Zhou Pei’s father for three years as a clerk in charge of the grain depot. I’m afraid even An Lingrong himself couldn’t figure it out.
Well. I smiled lightly and said, "What my sister said is that he doesn't know how to behave himself and his luck is bad."
However, that night when Feng Luan Chun'en took me to the east room of Yiyuan Hall, I saw the mausoleum. Her hairpin was gone, her hair was spread out, and her usual elegant or gorgeous clothes had been replaced by a new one.
Wearing plain ocher clothes, she hopes to take the blame on her father's behalf. She has been kneeling for two days and two nights, and her whole body is shaky after hearing that there is no water or rice.
I stopped by her side and said softly: "Sister, why are you doing this? After all, your own health is more important."
She turned to look at me and said calmly: "Sister, won't you even give me a chance to apologize?"
"How could that be?" I looked down at her, the long dress with red and golden begonia flowers trailing on the hem of her skirt, like bright flowers blooming in the soil, "I'm just worried that the heavy wind and dew late at night will damage my sister.
Otherwise, if a mouse ran out somewhere and bit my sister, what would happen if she got malaria?"
She trembled slightly, as if she had been chilled by the wind, "Sister, it's a joke, why are there rats in Yiyuan Palace?"
"Yes. I forgot, these are only found in prison. I was worried wrongly. I should not be worried about my sister, but Uncle An."
Li Chang bowed to invite you: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is already waiting for you."
I said sweetly and gently, "It's so cold. My sister may be damaged by the wind. I will go and beg the emperor for my sister."
I walked in alone, leaving her covered in dew. The Yiyuan Hall was filled with the fragrance of brocade, and Xuan Ling reached out to me: "I've been waiting for a long time."
I politely said, "I saw Sister An was pitiful outside, so I gave her a few words of advice."
"How could she listen?" Xuan Ling sneered, "At this moment, she only has her incompetent father in her heart. I promised him the favor of magistrate and gave him a promotion, but he actually ruined it like this and embarrassed me."
I reached out and touched his cheek, "Don't be angry. No matter how bad An Bihuai is, it's still An Bihuai's fault. What does it have to do with sister An? Your Majesty, let her get up."
Xuan Ling held my hand and said, "Your palms are so cold. You must have been talking to her outside for a long time." He breathed to warm my hands, "Why did I want to punish her? She was kneeling on her own.
It’s unbecoming to take the blame for my father!”
I leaned on his shoulder and said, "Your Majesty, don't blame my sister. She is also eager to save her father." I asked Xuan Ling, "Will Your Majesty forgive An Bihuai?"
He snorted softly, "How could it be? I will not anger her, nor will I forgive An Bihuai because of her."
"My sister has been deprived of water and rice for two days and has been restless. Your Majesty, are you not afraid that something will happen to your sister?"
There was a stern expression on the corner of his lips, "It is a serious crime for a concubine to kill herself, which will bring harm to her family. She dare not."
Li Chang knocked on the door twice and said softly: "Your Majesty, it's late at night, and Empress Zhaoyuan is still dancing outside the palace."
Xuan Ling hesitated for a moment and walked out.
Her dance was like a startling dragon, shocking the reflection of the bright moon in the sky. Her mausoleum's hair was flying, and her skirt was like a spiral flower, dancing on the cold jade steps, letting the autumn dew infect her moon-white stockings.
I was secretly shocked. In my memory, Xuan Ling could not resist this dance.
"Beautiful! So beautiful," he admired sincerely. He stood beside me in a loose robe, always looking intoxicated, with deep admiration and longing condensed between his brows and eyes.
I said softly: "It's a pity." He turned back to look at me, and I stood in the moonlight, thinking to myself, "Such a good dance should not be entangled with desire. Dancing for desire has lost the dignity of Queen Chunyuan."