(The previous story about the Lan family’s execution of three slaves to repay Tianfu has been slightly modified)
Yunxi went down to the Qianqing Palace to criticize the memorial. In the afternoon of that day, more than a dozen imperial officials came to impeach the Lan family; and Yunxi received a secret report from Jinyiwei: There were more officials who wanted to remonstrate with Zhezi. Not drafted yet.
That night, Yunxi was still thinking about this matter while eating, and seemed a little absent-minded. Xiyao asked strangely: "What's going on, Your Majesty? Is there something big happening in the court?"
"Hey, Huang Huai proposed to strictly prohibit officials from keeping slaves and maids. That's fine. But he also proposed to punish the servants or children of powerful people in Beijing for their illegal activities, and impeached Lan Zhen by name. And the first crime of impeaching Lan Zhen was to slander the emperor. In my name, I executed three slaves without authorization," Yunxi said.
With a "bang", Yunxi turned his head and saw that the small bowl in Siqi's hand fell on the table, shaking the whole table, and rice grains jumped out of the bowl. Siqi immediately took it again After picking up the rice bowl, the maid serving on the side hurriedly tidied it up.
"The execution of three slaves without authorization is a serious accusation..." Xiyao said to Yunxi, who nodded before she finished speaking.
"This," Xiyao said, "my husband also knows about it, and those three people should also be executed."
"But I can't come forward at this time, and I can't let the officials know that those three slaves were executed because of Si Qi." Yunxi said.
Now that the matter is on the table, it must be handled in accordance with the rules. Siqi is just a non-clan princess, and according to the "Ming Dynasty Law", the crime of slandering her should not be punished with death. Therefore, in order to extract Siqi, we cannot let everyone know about this matter and Siqi. Qi is related; as an emperor, Yunxi cannot interfere without authorization.
"As for other things, although the crimes they committed are not big, and they are just compensation among the people, when there are more things, it becomes a serious problem, and it is also detrimental to the court's impression among the people." Yunxi said.
"Not to mention that Lan Mingxuan is also involved in a life-threatening lawsuit." Yunxi told Xiyao about Lan Mingxuan's matter.
Xiyao glanced at Siqi and said, "Those slaves will be punished as long as they are punished. What is Your Majesty Lan Mingxuan going to do?"
"Lan Mingxuan is only fourteen years old this year. He didn't kill anyone with his own hands. According to the "Great Ming Law", he can be exempted from exile. I plan to ask Lan Zhen to compensate the family some money, and then ban Lan Mingxuan from leaving the house." Yun Xi. said.
"I immediately sent someone to tell my parents' family to severely punish the slaves who broke the law and discipline, and kidnapped them and sent them to Yingtian Mansion," Xiyao said.
After finishing the meal, Yunxi wanted to go back to the bedroom to rest, but suddenly he heard a childish voice calling: "Uncle."
"Siqi? Why didn't you go back with Min'er?" Yunxi said.
Siqi did not answer, but just said: "The three slaves of the Lan family who were impeached and executed this time were the three who were executed because of Siqi, right?"
"Yes." Yunxi felt that lying could not hide it, so he told the truth.
Siqi said in a low mood: "I was the one who caused uncle's trouble."
Yunxi picked her up and said, "Why did you get Lan Zhen into trouble? The slaves of the Lan family have done so many crimes, and they would have been impeached even if they didn't do this."
"But at least I won't be the one who stands out." Siqi said.
"That's not necessarily the case. Think about it. Lan Mingxuan's fault caused someone to commit suicide. Even this incident is enough for Huang Huai to impeach Lan Zhen. It would be the same without you." Yunxi said.
Si Qi thought about it and felt that what Yun Xi said made sense, but she was still a little depressed. Yun Xi repeatedly comforted her to make her feel better.
…
…
Lan Zhen didn't dare to go home immediately after the morning court. She had to be careful about everything at such a sensitive moment. She came to the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion for a busy day and then went home in the evening.
As soon as he entered the house, he said to the housekeeper: "Call Chen and Mingxuan!" Seeing his unwavering expression, the housekeeper did not dare to delay and immediately went to find Chen.
Mrs. Chen came to the hall with some confusion. Before she could speak, she heard Lan Zhen scold: "How do you deserve this family!"
"What's going on?" asked Chen.
"What else are you asking about? Today, Huang Huai asked His Majesty to severely punish the slaves and children of powerful officials for breaking the law, and impeach our family by name, saying that our slaves have committed the most illegal acts," Lan Zhen said.
Just as he was talking, Lan Mingxuan walked in. Lan Zhen immediately said to him: "Kneel down!"
Lan Mingxuan trembled and knelt on the ground.
Mrs. Chen walked over to support her son and said to Lan Zhen: "Why are you being so harsh to your son?"
"You are still protecting him, do you know what he did? On the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, he took his slaves to rob other people's antiques." Lan Zhen said.
"This is nothing." Mrs. Chen muttered softly.
Lan Zhen didn't hear her muttering and continued: "The person who was robbed of antiques couldn't think about it anymore and committed suicide on New Year's Eve."
"I was exposed at this time during the morning court today, and I lost all my face."
"This," Mrs. Chen was also a little panicked: "We won't let Mingxuan go to jail or be exiled."
She is also from a noble family, and her father was conferred the title of uncle by Zhu Yuanzhang. Although he was later regarded as a remnant of Hu Weiyong and his title was removed, and he no longer has much influence, but after all, she has experienced it and knows that such a thing can be big or small, it all depends
Your Majesty's will and the public opinion in the court. If the public opinion is very bad and the emperor does not protect it, he may be dealt with however harshly.
"Isn't Siqi very favored in the palace? I beg Siqi to say a few good words for his brother in front of Your Majesty."
"There's no need for Qiu Si Qi Meiyan to do this. His Majesty will still protect Lan Mingxuan. He didn't hurt or kill anyone with his own hands," Lan Zhen said.
"But Lan Mingxuan can do such a thing now, and he won't dare to kill people on the street in the future! How can that happen!" Lan Zhen said.
Mrs. Chen felt a little relieved when she heard that Lan Mingxuan would be fine. Then she heard Lan Zhen's last words and said, "What I'm trying to teach you is that I made some omissions in running the family. Please punish me."
"We must teach the slaves not to bully others and to abide by the "Da Ming Law". This time, after all the cases in Yingtian Mansion are settled, the remaining servants with bad conduct in the mansion will also be expelled from the mansion, and the number of slaves in the mansion will be reduced.
, within a hundred people.”
"And Mingxuan, look what you have taught him!" Lan Zhen became angrier the more she thought about it: "We can't let him hang around in the house anymore, I'm going to throw him into the guardhouse and beat him."
"Sir, Mingxuan is only fourteen years old." Mrs. Chen said.
"When my father was fourteen years old, he followed his uncle to fight in the north and south. I have made up my mind and don't need to say more," Lan Zhen said.
Chen didn't dare to refute, so she could only agree.
Lan Zhen immediately ordered the arrest of the servants who had already known something illegal today. He did not dare to slap the stick at this time, so he ordered each of them to be slapped ten times, tied up and thrown into the woodshed to be handed over to Yingtian Mansion.
