As soon as Zhu Gaochi said this, you could hear a pin drop in the hall, and he could even hear his own heart pounding.
Zhu Di was silent for a long time, which made Zhu Gaochi feel that he was about to suffocate, and then he slowly said: "Now that the prince has spoken, I have to give you this face, let him go back to Zhejiang." He mentioned the Zhu pen and
On the two-foot imperial silk that had been prepared long ago, he wrote a big word and threw it in front of the prince.
Zhu Gaochi was immediately overjoyed and kowtowed heavily: "Long live my father!"
"Don't be too happy too early." Zhu Di snorted coldly and said, "Go and do this errand yourself." He looked at the hourglass in the corner and said, "It's almost noon, and there are still three quarters before the execution. You
Is it possible to walk to the Taiping Embankment on my own without being allowed to ride on a horse or in a sedan chair, and without being supported by anyone?"
"This..." Zhu Gaochi was stunned. He was seriously ill when he was young. Although he finally saved his life, his legs and feet also became disabled. Later, his body became increasingly obese and walking was extremely inconvenient. He had to be helped when he went out. Now the emperor actually asked him to do it by himself.
It's not difficult to walk to Taiping Embankment
"What, it can't be done?" Zhu Di said lightly: "Then there is nothing we can do."
"I'll just do my best." Zhu Gaochi took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and said, "If Zhou Xinming hadn't given up, I would have made him arrive."
"That's well said." Zhu Di nodded and said, "If you arrive late or not, everything is fate..." After saying that, he closed his eyes and said, "Why are you still dawdling?"
"My son obeys the decree." Zhu Gaochi saluted his father, picked up the imperial silk ribbon on the ground, blew on the red traces on it, carefully folded it, put it into his sleeve, and then stood up with difficulty while supporting the silk ribbon.
Zhu Di watched his fat body limping to the entrance of the palace with cold eyes, then turned around and crossed the threshold with his legs, disappearing from sight. Then he slowly lowered his eyelids and said: "Huang Yan, this is your first time to go to prison.
When, what did you tell Zhou Xin?"
"Chen..." When the emperor asked about this, Huang Yandeng was immediately out of his mind. Fortunately, he was also an old minister of Yandi. He also served as an envoy to Korea and saw great storms and great world conditions. He was still able to calm down and said: "According to the emperor's instructions
He wanted to ask him, do you want to be Biyu, but where do you put the emperor? He replied that the Ming Dynasty was not the Shang Dynasty, there was no Biyu, and there was no King Zhou. Then the minister asked him to explain the feud with Jin Yiwei, and there was no such thing.
Something else...
"Really?" Zhu Di said coldly: "Why didn't you tell me Zhou Xin's answer before?"
"My minister, I was afraid that the emperor would think that I was speaking for him," Huang Yan swallowed hard and said, "and I thought that he would say in the memorial..."
"Huh..." Zhu Di glanced coldly, and Huang Yan suddenly sweated profusely and knelt down on his knees. Fortunately, Zhu Di had been feeling unwell recently and was extremely bored by this matter. He had no intention of going into it further and just gave a cold warning.
Said: "Next time I dare to make my own decision..."
"I'll hit you with my head." Huang Yan kowtowed as if pounding garlic.
"It's good to know." Zhu Di snorted coldly and said: "Pass the decree, order Dongge University Scholar Yang Rong to go to Shaanxi immediately to convey the decree, summon the Marquis of Xining Song Hu to return to the capital, and meet with the Marquis of Fengcheng Li Bin to discuss the military strategy, and set off immediately.
There must be no mistakes”
"Yes." Huang Yanru was granted amnesty and hurried to the cabinet to convey the order.
Giving Yang Rongpai this kind of hard work is obviously a disguised form of punishment. The emperor's heart is like a prison. But this emperor's heart can't do whatever he wants, because he still has the heart of heaven on his head and the heart of his ministers around him. Below
And the people's hearts... Zhu Di was a wise emperor after all. He knew the thoughts of his ministers and people; he felt that the great tide in Zhejiang was a warning from God. It seemed that neither the hearts of his ministers, the people, nor the heart of heaven wanted him to kill Zhou Xin.
Only an independent man can disregard the will of Heaven, the hearts of ministers and the hearts of the people.
After all, let’s just go with the flow...
Emperor Yongle's act of taking advantage of the situation may be the cruelest in the world. Now all hopes are pinned on the prince's lame leg. If he can't arrive at the execution place at 3:00 noon, not only will Zhou Xin be unable to save him, but the prince's leg will also be saved.
His reputation will plummet. The subjects will not care whether Zhu Gaochi is disabled or not, and they will all have a strong sense of disappointment. This is something the prince cannot afford in any case.
Zhu Gaochi could only risk it, gritted his teeth, and moved towards the palace gate step by step.
The palace servants, guards, and officials in Beiyuan all looked at Zhu Gaochi's limping figure with complicated eyes, both covertly and covertly. They saw that he slowly walked through the long imperial road, taking twice as long as ordinary people.
, walked to the palace gate.
The imperial guards at the palace gate and the eunuchs on duty were shocked when they saw the prince limping towards him, and they all saluted him. The eunuchs in the East Palace hurriedly stepped forward to help him, but were stopped by the sweating prince.
: "If there is a will, I will walk to Taiping Embankment by myself."
How is that possible? The eunuchs in the East Palace were stunned. Seeing the prince walking from Yitian Palace to the forbidden gate, he was already exhausted and crumbling. This place is still two miles away from Taiping Embankment. How could he get there on time?
At this time, Yang Shiqi happened to walk to the palace gate and whispered to the stunned eunuch: "Why don't you find a crutch for His Highness?"
The eunuchs suddenly realized this and hurriedly shouted: "Crutches, go find the crutches quickly." Although this thing is not rare, it can't be found by looking for it.
A guard from the East Palace had an idea and removed a crossbar from the prince's carriage and handed it to the prince. It was used as a walking stick. Not to mention, although this thing was not suitable for use, it could support the prince's heavy body and allow him to walk again.
the power of.
Under the high red wall of Beiyuan, a scene like this appeared. Countless palace guards formed a large circle, guarding and guiding the prince in the circle, walking towards the Taiping Gate with sticks. More and more people came and went.
After receiving the news, the officials joined the ranks of the guards. Although the imperial guards could not move, they saluted with solemn expressions...
Countless pairs of eyes were filled with tears, looking at the trembling prince. Although no one dared to reach out and touch him, once he was exhausted, there would be countless hands to support him and never let their highness fall.
But not everyone was staring at the prince with emotion. Some of the royal guards had already galloped away on horseback and went to Taiping Embankment to report the news.
On the Taiping Embankment, although Zhu Gaoxu and Ji Gang didn't drink much, they were still drunk. Looking at Zhou Xin kneeling on the execution platform, they were already a little tipsy.
At this time, there was a sudden commotion outside the execution ground. The two of them frowned slightly. Looking down from a high place, they saw the gate open, and a flag commander dismounted from his horse and rushed towards the execution platform.
At this time, there must be no good news. Ji Gang waved his hand and motioned for the guards to let him up. Sure enough, the flag school stepped onto the stage, knelt in front of the two of them and reported: "The emperor has issued a decree to pardon Zhou Xin."
The expressions of the two people suddenly changed, but both wine glasses were held firmly in their hands. They were obviously people with amazing determination. After a moment of silence, Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and said, "Where is the decree?"
The flag school was stunned, I'm just a messenger, okay?
"Whose will is it?" Ji Gang asked in a deep voice.
"It's in the hands of the prince." Qi Xiao said hurriedly.
"Prince" Zhu Gaoxu gritted his teeth and crushed the wine glass in his hand...
"The prince came on foot," Qi Xiao was in a hurry and was a little out of breath. Then he evened out his breath and finished speaking: "The emperor seems to have a decree that the prince come to the execution place on foot..."
"What?" If it weren't for the public gaze, Zhu Gaoxu would have kicked this bastard off the stage. Ji Gang was actually happy: "With his lame leg, can he walk in an hour?" He glanced at the execution ground in the middle.
Sundial. In this era, there were strict restrictions on killing people. Generally, prisoners were executed at the beginning of autumn. It was the moment when the sun turned from extreme yang to yin. Human life was condemned by God and deserved to die. Even the criminals who were executed could not wait until autumn.
, should also be set at three quarters of noon. This is the time of day when the Yang Qi is the strongest, and the souls of the dead will dissipate immediately and will not form unjust ghosts. Therefore, there is no mistake at this time.
When executions are carried out in the capital, and imperial prisoners are killed, it is natural to strictly abide by this regulation. Therefore, a sundial is placed on the execution ground. The imperial prison adjusts the position in advance, and waits until the shadow of the pointer in the center of the stone plate turns to three o'clock at noon.
Immediately cut the carved pattern with a knife.
At this time, the clouds dispersed a lot, and the sun shone on the hands, casting a faint shadow that fell on the engraved pattern at noon.
"There are still two quarters of an hour." Ji Gang said in a deep voice.
"He can't make it." Zhu Gaochi spread his hands and threw the broken porcelain pieces on the ground. Then he picked up a white towel and wiped his palms. There was no bleeding. That was because he had practiced martial arts for many years and had developed thick calluses on his palms to protect him.
He said grimly: "With his lame leg, he wouldn't be able to walk here even in a day. Father is just making a gesture to block the mouths of those civil servants and make the boss very embarrassed."
"It should be like this." Ji Gang nodded and said with a smile: "Let's just watch the show." After saying that, he got a new wine glass for King Han and poured a full glass.
"Yes." Zhu Gaoxu took it and drank it all in one gulp: "Father really wanted to go with us."
The two of them continued drinking and joking, but their smiles were forced, and their eyes kept darting back and forth between the sundial and the Taiping Gate. It was obvious that they didn't mean what they said, but they were actually very nervous... If a miracle happened and Zhu Gaochi arrived on time, Ji Gang would be the one to do it this time.
A big defeat and a loss. Although Zhu Gaoxu seems to be staying out of the matter, if the prince can save Zhou Xin in this situation, he will win back everything he lost before, and his reputation will rise to a higher level. The blow to him is compared to Ji Gang
It's still big...
The two wanted to deploy troops to block the Taiping Gate, but no one dared to mess around because they knew very well that the emperor was watching all this closely. Even if they dared to play some tricks behind the scenes, it would be nothing under the emperor's eyes.
Don't dare to make mistakes
In that compartment, the prince had already put on crutches lined with soft cushions. Under the expectant eyes of countless people, he speeded up and moved forward step by step... In fact, he had reached his limit, his vision was black, and his eyes were full of stars.
But he knew that his father was watching him, his subjects were watching him, and Zhu Gaoxu was also watching him. Whether it was for those expectant eyes or cursed eyes, he had to let himself go.
Even if I am exhausted, I have to walk to Taiping Embankment before I die.