Chapter 176: They haven't avenged their revenge, but...
There were originally two official kilns in the Southern Song Dynasty, one on Wugui Mountain in the southern suburbs, and the other at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain.
The official kiln at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain was originally under the control of the Xiu Neishi Division. It was strictly controlled by the imperial court and determined the soil used for firing the kiln and the kiln production plan. It was a porcelain kiln that fully served the imperial court.
The person in charge of the official kiln, whose surname was Lu, was good at painting, and his three sons were even better at firing the kiln, especially the eldest son Lu Quan, whose embryos were impeccable.
The vases and porcelain used in the harem were all hand-painted and made by him.
On that day, Lu Quan was ordered to make porcelain for the concubines to celebrate their birthdays, and he went to the palace to deliver designs to the concubines to choose from.
It was fine when I left, but when I came back, it was a corpse.
Returning with the corpse was Shi Miyuan, the then Minister of Rites.
Only then did the Lu family know why Lu Quan died in the palace.
It turned out that Lu Quan was sending flowers to a concubine, and he took advantage of the situation and raped and murdered the concubine. When he was caught on the spot, Lu Quan resisted and was slaughtered on the spot.
How could the young and old of the Lu family believe that the eldest son of his family, who was humble and gentle, and had a fiancée whom he loved deeply, would become so bestial as soon as he arrived in the palace that he would rape and kill his concubines.
But people from the Imperial City Division said that when Lu Quan committed the crime, Shi Miyuan happened to see him.
Shi Miyuan said that he had never seen anyone as cruel as Lu Quan.
Lu Quan's eyes widened when he saw Concubine Jin. When the maids were out doing things, he pounced on Concubine Jin like a hungry wolf. Concubine Jin didn't obey, so Lu Quan showed his bestiality and took advantage of her.
He picked up a porcelain vase next to him, smashed Concubine Jin to death, and then raped the corpse with all his heart.
The Lu family still wanted to argue, but Shi Miyuan had already taken out the imperial edict and read it out.
The imperial edict stated that Lu Quan raped and killed his concubines, which was a treasonous act. However, because the Lu family had been working for the court for decades, the Lu family, young and old, were sent to Hainan, and from then on they were not allowed to set foot in the south of the Yangtze River again.
"What happened later?" Qin Shaobai asked, "Why did Song Ci say that he had overturned the case for the thirty-two members of the Lu family?"
"Who would have thought that Mr. Lu was so strong-willed that he jumped into the blazing furnace shouting that there was no need to punish him."
Xiaolan couldn't talk any more, so she stood up and wanted to leave.
"Xiaolan, keep talking." Qin Shaobai looked calm.
Xiaolan was a little confused. In the past, Qin Shaobai would have sighed and expressed many emotions.
Today, he was so calm.
She really suspected that the person in front of her was no longer Qin Shaobai.
"Seeing the master of the house jump into the stove, Mrs. Lu's wife also jumped in. Immediately afterwards, all the thirty-two members of the Lu family jumped in."
Thinking about the tragedy that year, Xiaolan's heart tugged and her eyes were already red.
"Thirty-two mouths? How can it be calculated so clearly? Is it just a rough guess by everyone?"
Such a cold question made Xiaolan feel a chill in her heart. She raised her head and met Qin Shaobai's stern eyes.
She was very sure that the person in front of her was Qin Shaobai, but why did the light in his eyes look more and more like Zhao Bai.
Before she could answer, she heard Qin Shaobai say coldly: "Some people have never thought that the people behind may not have jumped in by themselves, but were caught and thrown in one by one."
Xiaolan looked at Qin Shaobai, the indifference and determination in his eyes made her more and more panicked.
Only Zhao Bai has this look.
She really felt that Qin Shaobai was being swallowed up by Zhao Bai little by little. If this continued, one day, Qin Shaobai would no longer be pretending to be Zhao Bai, but would completely become Zhao Bai.
No, this is absolutely not possible.
"Xiaolan." Qin Shaobai realized the panic in Xiaolan's eyes and quickly softened his voice, "I just guessed that maybe the Lu family really jumped into the stove by themselves."
Xiao Lan shook her head: "Back then, the princess also guessed like Brother Qin, and there are many people who believe that the people of Lin'an guessed like Brother Qin. However, Prime Minister Shi said that they jumped in by themselves, who dares to say otherwise?
"
Indeed, Shi Miyuan at that time had already controlled the entire Southern Song Dynasty court.
Who dares to say no?
Qin Shaobai finally sighed softly and held Xiaolan's hand.
Xiaolan's hands were cold and cold, as if she was still immersed in the frightening memories.
"Then what does this have to do with the ghost figurines?"
"Actually, no one knows what ghost figurines are?" Xiaolan's eyes became wandering, "After the Lu family all threw themselves into the furnace, the court sent several groups of people, but they were all scared away in strange ways.
According to them, at night, there are dozens of dark-skinned people working in the factory. Those people are silent and do not say a word, but they do not miss a beat in their work."
"Are you saying that the thirty-two members of the Lu family have become innocent souls, but they are still firing porcelain for the imperial court?"
Xiaolan suddenly trembled.
When Qin Shaobai saw this, he quickly hugged Xiaolan in his arms.
"Brother Qin, can you promise me not to worry about this anymore?"
Xiaolan raised her head and looked at Qin Shaobai expectantly.
Qin Shaobai didn't speak, but Xiaolan couldn't see the perseverance in Qin Shaobai's eyes.
She could only lower her head feebly and uttered the words she had never wanted to say: "As long as those ghosts appear, a porcelain doll will be found in the kiln the next day, and the porcelain doll's face will be the same as the new kiln official.
Almost the same, and then…”
"Then what..." Qin Shaobai asked.
"Within three days, the new kiln official will surely die."
As if spitting out the fishbone that had been stuck in her throat, Xiaolan breathed a long sigh of relief after finishing her words, and her eyes softened.
"Are those kiln officials also related to Shi Miyuan?" Qin Shaobai asked.
Xiaolan glanced at Qin Shaobai and nodded.
Qin Shaobai understood in his heart that Lu Quan's rape and murder of Concubine Jin was simply a trap.
Shi Miyuan must have taken a fancy to the official kiln a long time ago, and set up a trap for Lu Quan to get out of, and then took this opportunity to kill all the Lu family and take the official kiln as his own.
He couldn't come forward in person, so he found a few subordinates to be the supervisors. Who knew that these confidants had all become Shi Miyuan's scapegoats.
"Then why can't we see any official kilns under Phoenix Mountain now?"
"Later, the emperor was afraid that this would cause a greater commotion, so he listened to the opinions of the Sixth Prince, burned the official kiln with a fire, and built a new official kiln in the southern suburbs."
"It is said that when the fire was burning, there was a lot of crying and shouting in the kiln." Song Ci walked in at some unknown time, "Since then, there has been no incident of porcelain dolls."
"Why would the Sixth Prince make such a suggestion? This matter obviously has nothing to do with him, so why would he get involved?"
Song Ci looked at Qin Shaobai, who was full of doubts, for a long time, and finally sighed: "You must know that Lu Quan's fiancée is Princess Xinmei, the daughter of the Sixth Prince."
Qin Shaobai stayed there.
"The Sixth Prince had no choice but to do this. He had to show the Emperor that he had drawn a clear line with the Lu family. After all, at that time, no one could shake the position of Shi Miyuan, the Minister of Rites, in the Emperor's heart."
Everyone fell silent.
Being poor cares themselves, being wealthy cares the world.
Scholar-officials all know this truth. When their own strength cannot save the common people, they must first protect themselves. Only in this way can they accumulate strength and make a comeback.
Song Ci suddenly cleared his throat and patted Qin Shaobai on the shoulder.
"Shaobai, tell me the truth, what did Feiyu say in the letter he gave you?"
Qin Shaobai wanted to say, it's just a blank piece of paper, haven't you seen it before? But when he saw Song Ci's firm eyes, he knew he couldn't fool him, so he could only say softly:
"There were indeed three words written on the paper, but I couldn't see it clearly because as soon as I unfolded it, the words began to disappear, and finally it really became a blank piece of paper."
"Three words? Shi Miyuan?"
Qin Shaobai nodded.
"Sure enough, they will take revenge in the end." Song Ci lamented and sat down, "That day, the second son Lu Xin and the third son Lu Yi of the Lu family were not at home. After the tragedy, these two people never appeared again.
Pass."
"Master Song, are you saying that these two people were responsible for those porcelain doll incidents?"
Song Ci nodded slowly: "At that time, after the first porcelain doll incident, the Sixth Prince thought that Lu Xinlu Yi was back, but he didn't understand why Lu Xinlu Yi was punishing the treacherous minister, but did not point the finger at him.
"Zhun Shi Miyuan, he even thought that Lu Xinlu Yi would hate him and come to him for revenge."
Song Ci cast his gaze in the direction of Phoenix Mountain, as if something was quietly calling him there.
After a long time, he turned around and said leisurely: "They haven't shot this arrow of revenge for a long time. It turns out that it's just..."
"It turns out it's just that the time has not come yet."