It is said that the Shu Kingdom sent the names and birthplaces of the owners of the two hundred and thirty-seven jars of ashes in the underground prison to various countries, and asked local governments to help find their families. Jia Cong also joined in the fun and asked his post office to send letters to each family for free according to their addresses.
The thing is, even though the New Year is approaching, many people are still rushing to pick up the ashes of their ancestors.
The family members of the Shu Kingdom came first, and there was also an old man in his seventies who came in person. These people first went to the Yamen to ask for an audience with Qiu Liang. Qiu Liang took time out of his busy schedule to meet him, and there was no need to mention sighs of comfort.
They ordered a capable person to accompany them to retrieve the urn.
The Biman mansion has been renovated according to its original appearance. The places where Biman should be seen, the reliefs on the screen walls, and the courtyard above the prison have also been rebuilt as quickly as possible. The master who led him there did not lie, and said: "
This place has been in disrepair for a long time, and the Tianshi Taoist bandits attacked a few days ago, causing many damages. Many of the courtyards in the back are still the same. You can go back and have a look." He also held a big candlestick to lead the way and led his family.
They went down to the prison. When the relatives saw the ancestor's name on the ashes jar, they burst into tears. After crying, they inevitably asked how their ancestor died and what crime he committed. The master said that they had no idea at all and had no clue.
The Zhonghua Bookstore in the capital was the first to learn of the incident, and immediately invited Mr. Wang to write a book called "The Mansion of Biuan". The book said: On a certain date, someone stabbed a letter with a dagger and dropped it on the small kitchen door of the Prince's Mansion in the Kingdom of Shu.
There was an address in the letter at the crack of the door. The prince was suspicious and ordered Qiu Liang, an important minister, to lead the troops overnight to check this and that. He wrote both bombardments in the book, and at the end of the book he also attached the names of the 237 people.
Identity. The hunchbacked old eunuch, the underground prison, the urn, the bandits, the Tao of Heavenly Masters, the artillery... everything caught the attention of the idle readers. How can this book not be popular? However, at the end of the book, those people have no idea why.
He would be thrown into jail, and he asked the judge to guess. Soon, all the storytellers in the country began to talk about this book. This is a story for later.
The father of the imperial concubine brought a large group of Lingdang's parents and family members, except for the missing cousin. He also said that it took so long because there were so many people. Jia Cong couldn't laugh or cry, he had no intention of asking for so many
So he first invited the father of Bell Ding to come to see him. His name was Shen Zhao. He had been working as a coolie in a mine for the past two years and was in good spirits. Hearing that his daughter was safe, he immediately shed tears. Then the whole family met and burst into tears.
There is no need to go into details. Jia Cong talked with Shen Zhao for a long time. Seeing that this man was really a talent, he prepared to take him back to Taiwan.
Then he casually asked how he was doing in the mine. It turned out that the imperial concubine's family had spent a lot of effort to get them out. These people were undoubtedly death row prisoners, and what they sent was a gold mine. Since it is a place where gold is produced, there must be some thieves.
, I am afraid that people who go out will leak the news. Therefore, it is easy to enter the gold mine but difficult to come out. Jia Cong thought for a while and asked him to write an article describing how the gold mine officials stole gold. Shen Zhao was startled, and there were tears in the corners of his eyes.
Bow to the ground.
He wrote it all night and submitted it. Jia Cong couldn't help but want to cry after reading it - those laborers were worse than animals. After thinking for a moment, he said: "I know your article is good. But I can only give this article to
It is useless for the bookstore to print and publish and buy some money for your family and present it to the prince and his son."
Shen Zhao was immediately disappointed: "Why can't it be presented to the prince?"
"The point is wrong." Jia Cong said calmly, "Those who suffer are all laborers, and laborers are criminals. Although there are many innocent people like you who are implicated, they are still criminals. But the gold belongs to the Kingdom of Shu. The prince sent him to the gold mine to replace The official who oversaw his work stole the prince's gold and tried every means to deceive his master. Such content can anger him. As for your article -" he pointed out, "it is written with blood and tears, and it is inevitable for good people to read it. It will arouse a feeling of compassion. Send it to bookstores and spread it around so that more people can see it. Maybe it will attract some old Confucians to make suggestions to the princes of various countries and ask them to improve the treatment of laborers. As long as a prince adopts it, it is considered a good deed. .”
Shen Zhao stayed for a long time, wanting to refute but having nowhere to refute, and finally shed tears: "The villain is wronged..."
Jia Cong said: "Although you have been wronged, the fault does not lie with the prince or the prince, but with the law. The crime of sitting in a row is ridiculous and inhumane. As long as this law is not abolished, what if the mines treat laborers well? Should Mr. Shen Do you want to do hard labor?"
Shen Zhao's eyes lit up and he cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Jia, can you possibly persuade the prince to break this method?"
Jia Cong shook his head: "It can't be done now. No, it should be said that it can never be done. Think about it, once the power is in hand, who wouldn't want to say, 'If you make me unhappy, I will kill your whole family'? Even if this prince is kind-hearted and abolished, This method may be restored after the crown prince succeeds to the throne. What's more, there are so many princes in the world, with different temperaments and habits."
Shen Zhao felt sad and sighed for a long time: "It's just a villain who thinks too much."
"I want to help your friend in the gold mine, so I'll write another article." Jia Cong put away the previous article, "You know how to write it." Shen Zhao nodded.
The next day, Shen Zhao submitted another article, describing in detail how gold mine officials harmed the public and enriched themselves. Jia Cong sent this article directly to the desk of the King of Shu. Thinking of Ling Dang's cousin, he casually asked Chen Ruijin. She said: "After some rectification, I have become more sensible. I will send it to Wu State in a few days and let Zhen Zangzhu handle it as appropriate."
Jia Cong originally thought of leaving immediately and rushing back to Dajiala to celebrate the New Year. However, Chen Ruijin said that he did not want to travel in the cold weather and it was better to see the customs of Shu. So they stayed in Shu for the New Year. When Qiu heard about it, she specially I came over to Ma Xing and asked why. Chen Ruijin said lazily: "We got married this year. After we got married, we had to go to their house to celebrate the New Year. Although their second sister-in-law is a well-rounded person, she is her and I am me. For example, let's see Blue and white dishes are pleasing to the eye, but she likes brightly colored dishes. Wouldn't it be comfortable if I didn't have to worry about my age during the Chinese New Year in Shu, and everything could be done as I pleased?"
Ms. Qiu laughed dumbly: "That's why it's so embarrassing for your man to listen to you."
Chen Ruijin also laughed and said: "He doesn't know at all. Even if he does know, it doesn't matter. He has methods for other things, but he definitely has no method for this kind of thing."
Qiu was filled with emotion and a little envious, so she wanted to tell Situ Cen. She didn't want Situ Cen to look bad when he came back, so she asked him and said it was okay. She tried several times, but he didn't say anything. Qiu felt a little uneasy and said Someone asked Jia Cong to ask.
Jia Cong gradually had nothing to do, so he made an appointment with Situ Cen to have a drink in a small restaurant. When the two met each other, they realized that something was wrong with him. He usually drinks wine casually, but now he drank it down when it was served. Five or six cups went away. Jia Cong stood aside for a long time, not talking or eating or drinking. Situ Cen put down his cup and said, "I told the truth to my brother."
"ah?"
"Didn't you guess that my brother liked a man? You guessed right."
"We guessed it right..." Jia Cong immediately understood what he had done and jumped up, "What? You..." You naughty kid! I spent so much effort to cover it up for you! He immediately covered it up and said,
"Just guess what's inside."
Situ Cen glanced sideways at him: "Didn't you guess it?"
Jia Cong chuckled: "I guessed it too."
Situ Cen tilted his neck and poured a glass of wine: "Did you do that?"
Jia Cong pretended to be stupid: "What?"
Situ Cen said in silence for a long time: "I am a tall and dignified man. I can't let my mother take the blame for me."
Forget it, it was obvious that he had figured it out. Jia Cong waited for a while before saying, "That matter... is what the princess wants."
Situ Cen took another drink and said, "My mother-in-law has many shortcomings, but she is very good to our two brothers. How can I let her take the blame for what I did? Am I still a human being?"
"This... you are right from a logical point of view." Jia Cong said slowly, "But if this happens, will the prince have a gap with you? The princess is also afraid that you two brothers will not get along. She is your brother after all.
My mother-in-law..."
"...I am also his biological brother."
Jia Cong sighed: "How come you were born into Situ's family! It's really not like that. You will never be able to win a legitimate son in your next life." Situ Cen smiled bitterly, immersed himself in drinking, and became very drunk.
Seeing that this man was looking more and more like a pile of mud, Jia Cong called a servant in and ordered him to go to the prince's house immediately. He told the prince that he must come no matter what. "Just say that I have something important to see him, don't tell him."
His Third Highness is also here." The man responded and left.
The prince thought it was something important, so he dropped all his official duties and rushed over. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Situ Cen slumped on the desk, and frowned. Jia Cong stood at the window and looked out, but did not turn around when he heard the voice behind him.
Naidao said: "It was me who came up with the idea." After a pause, "The Emperor's people used what happened back then to threaten the princess, so the uncle used A-Cen's name to seize nineteen properties. In the final analysis, it was still
In order to hinder the rectification of the officialdom. However, the old incident has alarmed the prince, so it is obviously inappropriate not to give an explanation. So I persuaded the princess to take the initiative to help Acen take the blame." He sighed longly, turned around, "It's a small matter.
He turned out to be an upright and upright master. How could he be born into a family like yours? If he met a cruel brother, nine lives would not be enough to kill him." The prince said nothing.
Jia Cong said again: "I know that accidental injury to people's lives is also an injury. I also know that if someone enters my heart, that person will be there forever as if he has taken root. However, people always have to move forward. Since you are
If you can't forget him, don't forget him and let him accompany you in your memory until you grow old. This sounds hypocritical, but it's really helpless. Otherwise, what else can you do?"
"Acen... If you don't want to forgive him, just tell him the truth. If you don't want to see him, just send him to Tianzhu. He will definitely work hard for you. I also know that this cannot atone for the sin, because it is not a person at all.
It's better than you two brothers making each other uncomfortable."
For a long time, the prince said blankly: "There is no resurrection after death."
"There is a saying that I heard in Youjinghua. When you can no longer have it, the only thing you can do is not to forget. It was once difficult to make a difference." Jia Cong walked to the table and sat down, looking sideways for a while.
The prince held his forehead and said, "Emotions are a strange thing. Sometimes they can be replaced at any time, and sometimes there is only one for eternity. If you two are destined, maybe you can stay together until old age in your next life."
The prince's eyes lit up: "Can you see it?"
Jia Cong shook his head: "No. Since Acen doesn't want to lie to you, I don't want to lie to you either. This matter is really a trick of fate. Although I really hope that you two brothers can have no grudges, you can't do it and you can't force it, right? But
I believe God has his own providence, and maybe this is not the worst outcome."
The Crown Prince had been standing since he walked in. Now Zi Fang casually pulled up a chair and sat down. He raised his eyes and looked out the window and said, "It's been so long that I can't even remember what he looks like."
"You can pull it off," Jia Cong said, "I can't remember how you found out that girl's identity? Wouldn't you have been able to think of that thing if you hadn't seen her portrait?"
The prince said: "I only remembered it after seeing the portrait."
"Look." Jia Cong spread his hands, "This is called 'he never left'. Even if it has been many years, you can still think of it when you see someone who looks like him."
The prince thought for a long time and said, "I am as old as I am, but he still looks the same as before." With a smile on his lips, he said, "His sister really looks like him."
Jia Cong immediately shouted: "You don't want to take that girl in, do you! Don't commit such a sin, you can marry her to a good family."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" The prince glanced at him, "How could I have thought that? That's his sister!"
Jia Cong shrugged: "It's okay if he doesn't. You see, if you take care of his parents and sisters for him, he will always be a seventeen-year-old boy in your heart. You won't quarrel and break up because you have an older wife and a younger wife, which is not bad."
The prince shook his head: "I would rather he live."
"But he is already dead. Can't you accept this fact?" Jia Cong glanced at Situ Cen, "If A Cen had known about you two back then, he might have had some scruples and wouldn't dare to talk to you like that.
It’s a martial arts competition.”
The prince immediately said: "Nonsense! He is not..." He suddenly shut up.
Jia Cong looked at him for a long time and said softly: "He is not made of tofu. What happened back then was an accident and no one wanted it. Although Acen doesn't know that he is your sweetheart, he doesn't want him to die."
The prince was stunned for a long time, then said with a wry smile: "After half a roundabout way, you are still begging for mercy on behalf of the third child."
Jia Cong sighed: "I'm not begging for him. I'm just pleading for him. There is a saying that is very shameless, but I still have to say: Acen was unintentional. And he was still a child at the time. Yours is better than you
He must be a year older. He must have underestimated his opponent during the sword duel, otherwise he would not have let a fourteen or fifteen-year-old kid accidentally kill him. Furthermore, since Acen is just a child, why doesn't he have a strong martial arts master watching him?
Isn't it wrong to give a child a sword that can kill someone if he acts? Shouldn't he use a wooden sword or a bamboo sword for fun? Even if it doesn't work, he should use a blunt sword. Although Acen did the right thing,
He is not the only person responsible, and it is unfair for him to bear the consequences alone."
The prince snorted coldly: "Mr. Jia, doesn't he always say that there is no fairness in the world?"
"There is no fairness in the world. However, as family members and friends, you should try your best to be fair to your family and friends. Everyone supports each other and warms each other. Otherwise, life will be so cold." Jia Cong paused, "Master Yuan, as a person with Ah
People who have nothing to do with Cen can be treated unfairly; Prince, you are his brother, should you treat him fairly?"
The prince stayed for half a day and said sadly: "Mr. Jia is really eloquent. I seem to have convinced you."
Jia Cong pointed to the wine bottle on the desk: "Would you like to get drunk?"