All the residents of the capital took to the streets, raised their necks high, and watched the gorgeous fireworks in the sky.
For the people of the Ming Dynasty, the Spring Festival is the most solemn festival of the year.
And this New Year’s Eve is the key moment to welcome the Spring Festival.
An open space in the imperial city was covered with a thick red carpet. Ming Chengzu, dressed in a yellow dragon robe, stood on the red carpet, with one hand behind his back and the other pointing at the fireworks in the distance and the officials around him.
, chatting and laughing happily.
Guards in uniforms stood neatly next to the rows of salutes. Then a man who looked like an officer at the front dropped the baton in his hand and began to uniformly fill the salutes with teacup-sized fireworks shells.
"My dear friends, how do I feel that this year's fireworks are more brilliant than in previous years?" Ming Chengzu turned around and looked at the officials behind him.
"These bright fireworks herald a prosperous life for our people of the Ming Dynasty; the national power of the Ming Dynasty will be strong for all generations." An old man wearing the official uniform of a first-class official replied tremblingly.
"Well said, my Ming Dynasty will be immortal for thousands of years." Ming Chengzu held his head high and his chest high, his eyes under the dragon crown were as deep as the dark starry sky.
Under the splendid fireworks, a group of more than thirty people on fast horses and light cavalry set off from the station of the Thirteenth Battle and galloped all the way north.
There was a rumbling sound of firecrackers in Changpingzhou City.
In a house in the center of the city, Zhizhou Duan Shixiong was sitting in the main room of his house. The round table in front of him was filled with delicacies and rare fruits.
Next to him sits the original wife, Mrs. Huang, and below her is the beautiful concubine whom she recently took.
"I originally thought I could go back to my hometown of Yangzhou to celebrate the New Year this year, but I received temporary instructions from above. All court officials will celebrate the festival in place and celebrate with the people. Come on, Madam, use your chopsticks."
As he spoke, Duan Shixiong picked up a shredded squid and put it into the delicate small bowl in front of Huang.
Immediately, he picked up another dish with chopsticks and was about to put it in the bowl of the concubine next to him when an urgent cry came from outside the door, "Who is it?"
Immediately afterwards, there was a crackling sound of fighting, getting closer and closer.
Duan Shixiong felt guilty and ignored the Huang family and his concubine beside him. He threw the chopsticks in his hands on the table, jumped up from the chair, and was about to escape to the back hall.
"Duan Zhizhou, where are you going in such a hurry?" A voice came from the door.
At the same time, at the door leading to the back hall, a captain in soap uniform, holding a standard saber, slowly approached.
"Who are you? You broke into Zhizhou's house at night and acted daringly." In a panic, Duan Shixiong shouted loudly, as if he was using his voice to embolden himself.
"You really forget things. You just interrogated me in the hall a few days ago. Duan Zhizhou has no memory of me after not seeing you for a few days. Are you out of sight, or are you guilty of being a thief and deliberately pretending that you don't know me?" Xiao Chen said with a blank expression.
With a calm expression, he looked at the panicked Duan Shixiong, holding the Libian in his left hand, and slowly walked in from the door.
The concubine in front of the table, who had never seen such a formation, was already frightened and panicked, and her branches were trembling.
He slipped down from the chair and leaned against the round wooden pillar of the hall. His left hand drooped, his right hand went around his chest and grabbed his left shoulder. His head was lowered and he was trembling.
The first wife, Mrs. Huang, was sitting quietly on the chair, looking at the many captains who suddenly appeared, as if she had expected that today would come sooner or later, and said nothing.
"Chen Xiao, it's you? I didn't embarrass you that day, what are you going to do?" Looking at Xiao Chen's young face, Duan Shixiong no longer made any plans to escape.
He knew Xiao Chen's strength very well, and no matter how much he struggled, it would just be a waste of effort.
"Correction, my name is not Chen Xiao, my name is Xiao Chen. Colonel of the Thirteenth Military Service of Dongchang."
"So what about Dongchang? I am the parent official of Changping Prefecture, a fifth-rank official appointed by the imperial court." Duan Shixiong roared loudly.
Xiao Chen remained silent, waved his right hand gently, and quietly watched Duan Shixiong's performance in front of him.
Several captains around him instantly dispersed and rushed into a room each.
"Excuse me, what crime have I committed? On New Year's Eve, you led people to break into my house. Is it because I carried out the imperial court's decree and stayed here to celebrate with the people?"
Duan Shixiong spoke passionately.
Watching his performance, Xiao Chen smiled lightly: "Handcuffs."
The two captains behind him walked forward, carrying shiny black felon shackles.
Looking at the two people approaching, Duan Shixiong felt panic in his heart and stepped back involuntarily: "What are you going to do? Why should you shackle me? My father-in-law is a third-rank official of the imperial court and the commander of the Yanqing Guard, Mr. Huang."
Duan Shixiong has been an official for more than ten years, and he knows in his heart that once these shackles are attached to him, it will be as difficult as climbing to the sky to take them off.
At this moment, he wished he could move all the eighteen generations of his ancestors out, just to give himself a chance to breathe?
"Oh, your father-in-law is the commander of the Yanqing Guard? He is really a high official." Xiao Chen had a faint smile on his face.
Two of the three suspects in this case actually have this kind of relationship. Compared with those dead men of Jinyiwei, this Shixiong's mouth is really unreliable.
"My father-in-law is on an equal footing with the commander of the Jinyi Guards. Why do you, Dongchang, take me for no reason?" Duan Shixiong seemed to have seen a slight turning point, dancing around and continuing to roar.
"That's right. In the minds of the imperial officials, the mere mention of the Jin Yiwei makes them tremble with fear. Your father-in-law and the commander of the Jin Yiwei are on an equal footing. It seems that he has some strength."
"Then you still want to arrest me? If you retreat now, I can pretend that what happened before didn't happen." Duan Shixiong straightened his waist, feeling proud and proud.
The two captains had already arrived in front of Duan Shixiong, stretched out their hands, grabbed his right hand, and tried to put the shackles on him.
"Bold." Duan Shixiong flicked his right hand, and the shackles in the captain's hand fell into place.
The captain of the Thirteenth Army, who had not seen the big world, a fifth-grade official, dared to throw the shackles aside.
He raised the standard saber in his hand and hit Duan Shixiong hard on the face with a "pop" sound.
When the other party was stunned, the heavy shackles clenched his left wrist. At the same time, he twisted his right hand and stuffed it into the other end of the shackles.
"You, you are causing trouble."
Another captain came around Duan Shixiong, ignored his words, and kicked him in the crook of his calf.
Duan Shixiong, who was completely unprepared, fell to his knees on the ground with a "pop".
The captain squatted down, put his left shoulder on Duan Shixiong's back, and threw him to the ground. He picked up his two ankles, fastened the shackles in his hands, and stood up.
