The typo and misnomer have been corrected, updated today
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When she heard the news, Chen Shiba Niang was having breakfast. She threw down her bowls and chopsticks, got up and ran to her grandfather's house.
"Master is here." The maid in the yard stopped her and whispered.
Chen Shiba Niang pushed her aside and walked in quickly. The door of the room was open, and inside she could see Old Mrs. Chen talking to Chen Shao, and several stewards sitting there.
"...These, and these...are all sold..." Old Mrs. Chen said, pushing over several deeds in front of him.
"Father, this is your private property, how can you sell it with your son's implication?" Chen Shao said.
"Although it is said to be my private property, it was bought at a lower price than the market price. It is all my fault. I want you brothers to move to the capital and rush to buy it." Old Mrs. Chen said.
"But I hadn't entered the capital yet at that time. This matter had nothing to do with my father. It was all my fault for humiliating my father." Chen Shao kowtowed.
"How can I blame you? It's my fault for not avoiding taboos." Old Mrs. Chen said, "The imperial censor is just telling stories based on hearsay. What is true or false is just for the sake of argument. Who cares what the facts are."
In the room, Chen Shao's choking self-blame continued, and Chen Shiba Niang couldn't listen anymore. She raised her hands to wipe her tears, turned around and ran away quickly.
How can you blame your grandfather? This is his money, not his father's.
How can you blame your father? This is a house that his grandfather bought before he came to Beijing.
Who's to blame? It's all my fault that the father wanted to speak to the woman, but the censor bit him and refused to let go.
It's all her fault, it's all her fault, it's all her fault.
Didn't I say that? As long as she is willing to leave the capital, this matter will be over.
Why doesn't she want to go? Why doesn't she want to go?
"Eighteen Mother, where are you going?"
Chen Danniang shouted from behind, looking at Chen Shiba Niang who was walking out quickly.
Chen Shiba Niang has passed away like the wind.
At this time, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple frowned and looked at the notice handed over by the Yushitai.
"After all, it's a life-saving favor, so why are you so anxious to kill someone?" He couldn't help but say.
"The King of Hell wants someone to die at the third watch. Who dares to stay until the fifth watch?" the subordinate said, "Sir, please issue the signature."
This ghost judge can even be so cruel to his savior, so people like them don't need to get into trouble.
Don’t you see that even the dignified Prime Minister Chen was so embarrassed that he had to resign?
Dali Si Cheng nodded.
"Bring someone here," he said.
The subordinate responded and turned to leave.
"Walk a little slower," Si Cheng said again, "At least you can finish your meal safely."
The subordinate laughed.
"Compared with the ghost judge, Si Cheng, you are a Bodhisattva." He smiled, bowed and retreated.
"After all, he is a disciple of an immortal. Leave a line in everything so that we can meet each other easily in the future. You don't have to be too strict." Si Cheng muttered.
Although Dali Temple was willing to relax, Cheng Jiaoniang's meal was still disturbed.
There was a loud knock on the door, and the concierge opened it. Before asking who it was, a woman wrapped in a cloak and a hood rushed in.
"What are you doing? Who are you?" shouted the concierge.
Because she was a woman, she didn't dare to stop him, so she accidentally let Chen Shiba Niang break in, but the next moment he shouted, the two guards sitting in the concierge rushed out.
They didn't care whether they were men or women, they stretched out their hands and grabbed them without any courtesy.
Chen Shiba Niang's scream sounded in the yard.
This made everyone in the family stand up. Huang held her child in her arms, and even Cheng Jiaoniang came out.
"Ms. Chen, what are you..." Banqin asked hurriedly.
The two guards looked at Cheng Jiaoniang, then let go of their hands and stood aside, but their eyes were still fixed on Chen Shiba Niang.
Chen Shiba Niang reached out and threw off her hood angrily and looked at Cheng Jiao Niang.
"Why don't you want to leave?" she asked. "Don't you know how to avoid the sharp edges and keep a low profile?"
Another one to accuse the lady...
The maid was busy with the business of the three stores and was often away from home. Banqin's eyes were red and she felt extremely angry that she couldn't speak.
"Do you know how many people you are going to harm by doing this now?" Chen Shiba Niang said with tears in her eyes, "Do you know that my father was impeached because of you, and my grandfather was insulted..."
Before she finished speaking, Cheng Jiaoniang shook her head and interrupted.
"That's not because of me, it has nothing to do with me," she said.
Chen Shiba Niang bit her lower lip, feeling angry and about to cry.
"Cheng Jiaoniang, you are so heartless," she said.
"This lady."
Mrs. Huang looked around, handed the child to the girl, boldly stepped forward and said in a trembling voice.
"If you are here as a guest, please sit down and talk inside. If you are here to quarrel, then please go back."
"I'm not talking to you." Chen Shiba Niang said without looking away from Cheng Jiao Niang.
"But you are talking in my house." Huang's temper also got worse, and she said in a louder voice.
Only then did Chen Shiba Niang look at her and raised her hands to wipe away her tears.
"Quarrel." She laughed again, "I don't dare to quarrel with her. I just don't understand what you want to do?"
"You don't need to understand." Cheng Jiaoniang said, looking out the door, "It's enough for me to understand."
Banqin also looked outside the door, his expression suddenly changed.
Chen Shiba Niang subconsciously turned around and saw several police officers standing in front of the door.
"But Mrs. Cheng?" The messenger stood in front of the door and asked in a kind and respectful manner, "We are from Dali Temple."
Chen Shiba Niang suddenly turned her head to look at Cheng Jiao Niang.
"Madam." Banqin reached out and took Cheng Jiaoniang's arm, tears welling up in her eyes.
So, has the wait finally come?
"Are you asking a question, or are you going to jail?" Chen Shiba Niang stepped forward and asked.
"Well, it depends on how the question goes." The messenger replied respectfully.
"Can my family stay with me?" Huang asked in a trembling voice.
"Of course you can, as long as you don't go to court." The messenger said with a smile, then quickly put it away again.
Although laughter can express one's friendliness, as policemen of Dali Temple, their laughter makes people more unhappy.
"No need, sister-in-law." Cheng Jiaoniang said, "Ban Qin and I can go."
Huang looked at her, stroking the hand in front of her body and trembling slightly.
"Just go and talk to your brother." Cheng Jiaoniang said again.
Huang responded yes.
"Sister, don't be afraid," she said tremblingly.
I don’t know who is more afraid of this...
The police officer on the side murmured to himself, looking at Mrs. Cheng with some admiration again.
As expected, he is worthy of being a disciple of an immortal, a master disciple of a different person, looking at Yun Danfengqing's demeanor...
"I'm not afraid." Cheng Jiaoniang said with a slight smile, turned around and took the first step.
"Cheng Jiaoniang!"
Chen Shiba Niang chased a few steps and shouted.
Cheng Jiaoniang looked back at her, turned around and went out without saying anything.
Surrounded by policemen, a carriage drove past on the street.
The streets were extremely cold after the snow. Even though he was wrapped in a thick cloak, Han Yuanchao, who had been standing at the door since dawn, had his hands and feet numb from the cold.
Watching the carriage passing by, he couldn't help but step forward, his legs and feet staggering.
"Sir." The boy quickly supported him.
Han Yuanchao helped him stand firm, watching the carriage go away. The young man's thick brows furrowed even more in the cold wind, and he held his hands tightly in his sleeves.
"I cannot change my mind and follow the vulgar ways, otherwise I will end up miserable and poor." He chanted slowly.
After chanting, he smiled bitterly again.
Unexpectedly, Qu Yuan's words came from his feelings when he was facing a woman.
At the same time, bursts of laughter erupted from Prince Qing's palace.
The snow in the open space in the backyard had not been cleared, and King Qing was running and laughing on it.
"Your Highness, Your Highness." A chamberlain came over in a hurry and looked at Prince Jin'an who was only wearing a cotton robe and shouted.
With a thin layer of sweat on his head, his sleeves rolled up, and half of his strong arms exposed in the winter, King Jin'an turned around with a smile.
"Ms. Cheng has arrived at Dali Temple." the chamberlain said.
The prince of Jin'an County smiled.
"Then there will be something good to see this time." He smiled, turned around after laughing, and continued to look at Prince Qing.
The chamberlain took a few steps back and only saw the prince's straight back, not the frozen smile on his face.
It's endless, it's endless, what can I do? That's how life is.
…………………………………………
The young minister of Dali Temple sighed inwardly.
What bad luck.
He said to himself again.
The subordinate official had finished reciting the question slowly. Looking at the woman standing in the hall, he could only clear his throat and scolded Si Cheng and Yu Shitai again in his heart.
This is because he is not Zhengqing. When something difficult happens, he needs to come out and deal with it.
"Ms. Cheng, do you accept the accusation made by Master Cheng Feng just now?" he asked.
Cheng Jiaoniang shook her head.
"The folk girl doesn't recognize it," she said.
"But Mr. Feng said that you admitted to doing these things." Shaoqing asked.
"Yes, I have done these things, but the speaker has no intention, the listener has the intention, the doer has no intention, and the observer has the intention." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
The speaker is unintentional, the listener is intentional, the doer is unintentional, and the observer is intentional. What does this mean?
Shaoqing frowned.
"I do things just for the sake of what I want to do, and for the sake of what I do. As for what others think of me, that's not something I can control. What they think has nothing to do with me."
Cheng Jiaoniang continued, "Sir, Mr. Cheng admitted that she had done these things, but she did not acknowledge Feng Zhongcheng's accusations."
So do you admit it or not?
Therefore, the trial of this case is troublesome, so let’s try it slowly.
A thought flashed through Shaoqing's mind, and he was about to raise the gavel in front of him.
"Sir." A scribe behind him coughed lightly, "The people from Yushitai are here."
In the back hall, Shaoqing's brows jumped when he saw the censor coming.
"What did you say? We need it today?" he shouted in a loud voice.
"Master Zhongcheng will make a final decision today." The censor said with a straight face.
"Now? Today?" Shaoqing took a few steps back and forth, "Are you kidding? How can anyone be so easy to interrogate?"
"Master Zhongcheng said that this case is easy to try, so he asked her to admit it. It was settled and he sent her home." The censor said numbly.
Send her home?
Shaoqing was startled and then understood.
The prison in Dali Temple is not as good as the Yushitai, where officials are investigated and dealt with.
It's enough for a girl's family to be ruined if they come to Dali Temple, let alone live in jail.
It seems that this ghost judge still has some human feelings, and he still remembers that he is a benefactor.
However, this kind of kindness is more like a cat crying than a mouse.
"Just do it if you ask her to," Shaoqing said with a snort, then turned around and walked toward the hall, "Just wait."
At this moment, in Gongnu Courtyard, Huang was waiting impatiently, and finally saw Fan Jianglin walking out quickly.
"What are you doing? Go quickly, my sister has been taken to Dali Temple." Huang said anxiously.
Fan Jianglin nodded.
"Has it been taken away?" he asked.
Huang nodded and urged him to leave.
"Wait a minute, we just caught a big case yesterday, I'll finish it first," Fan Jianglin said.
Huang was stunned, and then became furious.
"You've lost your mind! You haven't been home for so many days. What are you busy with?"
Hidden under the uneasiness of the unfamiliar environment in the capital, the violent temper of the northwest woman finally broke out, and she reached out and grabbed Fan Jianglin's arm.
"My sister's case is more important, or your bullshit case here!"
People outside the foyer immediately smiled and turned away.
"Sister is important, sister is important." Fan Jianglin said slightly awkwardly, while pulling away his wife's hand, "I'll be fine now. This will be fine."
After he said that, he walked away as if running away.
An angry Mrs. Huang stomped her feet in the hall.
"Sir, go quickly, we are here."
Outside the official hall, the soldiers following Fan Jianglin said.
Fan Jianglin looked gloomy.
"How can it be done? Weapons and heavy objects are no joke." He said, and while he was talking, the group of people had already arrived at the backyard of Gongnuyuan.
Several people were already standing here, surrounding two men who were tied up and kneeling on the ground.
"Li Mao!"
Fan Jianglin walked up quickly and kicked one of the men to the ground with anger.
"Speak quickly!" he shouted sharply.
This movement startled everyone around.
"What's wrong, sir?" Someone asked in a low voice, "Were you fine just now? Interrogating a prisoner is just like doing a family thing."
"Mrs. Fan is here, something happened at home." The person who followed whispered.
Colleagues exchanged looks of understanding, and everyone suddenly understood.
I can't tell, this Military Supervisor Fan is still henpecked.
"Say it quickly!" everyone shouted.
The man who fell to the ground was picked up again. Although his beard was unshaven and his face was haggard, he could still identify him as the former city gate official Li Mao.
"I'm just borrowing the artillery truck," he said.
"Borrow?" shouted a general, "Who do you think you are? Dare to borrow weapons?"
"I don't count as anything..." Li Mao lowered his head and laughed at himself.
In the past, when he was a prison guard, no one looked up to him as a thing, and now that he was pushed out because of a fire in his house and lost his official status, he was even less of a thing.
Before he could finish his words, Fan Jianglin kicked him off again.
"Borrowing? Are you lying to a child? Tell me, are you a spy who rebelled against Beiliao from the West?" he shouted.
Li Mao raised his head and shook his head violently.
"My lord, my lord, I am not." he shouted hurriedly.
"No?" Fan Jianglin grabbed him and dragged him aside, standing in front of a broken artillery cart. "Then why did you dismantle the catapult? Is it to disperse and transport it out of the city, or to learn from it?
Skill trap?"
Li Mao shook his head repeatedly.
"Sir, it was not dismantled, it was destroyed when I was testing cannonballs," he said.
Fan Jianglin sneered, and his eyes fell in front of a trebuchet that was still intact. This trebuchet seemed to be a trebuchet, but it didn't seem to be a trebuchet. There was a black stone bullet stuffed in the upper barrel.
"Is this?" he asked, "you mean the stone bullet destroyed the trebuchet?"
Li Mao nodded.
"Yes, yes." He said, and as soon as he finished speaking, Fan Jianglin kicked him again.
"Do you think I am a three-year-old child or a fool who has never been on the battlefield?" Fan Jianglin shouted, "How can a stone bullet self-destruct a catapult!"
"My lord, my lord, this stone bullet of mine is different from the previous stone bullets." Li Mao said hurriedly, struggling to get up and standing in front of the catapult, "mine is ignited, will explode, and has a very strong urging force.
The catapult is too scattered to withstand..."
Fan Jianglin frowned.
"Ignite? Can stone bullets be ignited?" he asked, his eyes falling on the stone bullets, "How to ignite them?"
Li Mao hurriedly stepped forward, his hands tied behind his back, and he could only point to him with his shoulder.
"Here." He said.
Fan Jianglin frowned, reached out and took out a fire twister, flicked it casually, and lit a fire.
"How about lighting it?" he asked, reaching out and lighting the fuse pointed by Li Mao.
His movements were so fast that Li Mao didn't even react. By the time he saw the fire twister, the lead was already gleaming and submerged into it.
"My lord, no!"
Li Mao shouted.
At the same time, there was a loud bang in Gongnuyuan.
In Dali Temple, Shaoqing continued to interrogate Cheng Jiaoniang with some impatience.
"Ms. Cheng, do you admit guilt or not?" he shouted with raised eyebrows, while slamming down the gavel in his hand.
The gavel fell on several cases and made a loud noise.
Shaoqing felt his ears buzzing and the ground beneath his feet shook violently.
"Sir, the ground is shaking!"
The loyal subordinates hugged Shaoqing and dragged him out and rushed out. Everyone in the hall immediately rushed out, including the censor and others who were hiding in the back hall. They also rushed out with their heads in their hands.
Standing outside the hall, the roar in my ears had dissipated and the ground was as stable as usual. A group of people stood looking at each other in panic.
What happened?
"Oh, where is that Mrs. Cheng?"
Someone said something, and everyone looked around hurriedly, only to see that the woman was still standing in the hall, and the little girl who was originally standing outside the hall had rushed in and stood beside the woman.
One inside and one outside, one light and one dark, there are many people but few, and the two are opposite each other.
"I don't plead guilty." Cheng Jiaoniang looked at Shaoqing outside the door and replied seriously. (To be continued)
