female concubine

After Shen Tu's case was rehabilitated, the Ministry of Punishment submitted the disposition of the new prisoner, and at the same time, the trial court also submitted the results of the disposition of the various judges in the crime of inhumane case.

The emperor took a pen and circled the word "Jianhou" on the case file, and wrote, "Decision made."

"Your Majesty, the King of Chu is asking to see you."

The emperor raised his head, and immediately glanced at the punishment for the presiding judge. Si Cheng of Dali Temple was the first presiding judge. In addition to being suspended from his post, he was also taken to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

Although the King of Chu was also the presiding judge, he took the second place. However, Chen Yu forcefully sentenced the ministers in the trial court, and explained in the memorial: "The rule of law follows the example, and the world is governed by the law. Officials who know the law and break the law can only be strict and not lenient. So is the prince.

So the disposition of the original Dali Temple was changed from replacement to dismissal.

The emperor put down the pen in his hand, looked up after pondering for a while, and said to Zhao Ci: "Send this case file back to the Ministry of Punishment, and let the King of Chu go back!"

"Is Your Majesty missing?"

The emperor shook his head, and immediately glanced at Liang Hanlin who was standing next to the living man. Today, knowing that Zhou Shinan was on holiday, Liang Wenfu took over for one day and drafted the imperial edict.

"Liang Qing!" the emperor called out.

"The minister is here."

"Draft an order for me!"

"Yes." Liang Wenfu prepared the manuscript paper and picked up the pen.

"Constructing the country's loyalty and goodness is a heinous crime, so the sentence is to be executed. As law enforcement officials, the sixth son of the emperor cannot strictly enforce the law, so he ordered him to be executed!"

Liang Wenfu was shocked, the emperor's decree made him unable to write the beginning of the words, "Your Majesty, the king of Chu is now a criminal, this prisoner..."

The emperor looked up at Han Bang, and Han Bang stopped writing and explained to Liang Wenfu: "Your Majesty asked Liang Hanlin to write, and let the sixth prince supervise the execution as a prince."

"Yes."

After a while, Liang Wenfu presented the written prefix and the content of the imperial edict to the emperor, "Your Majesty."

The emperor looked at it, and said with a slight smile: "You are worthy of being the number one scholar, and you are also worthy of being brought out by Zhou Shinan. Take it to the Political Affairs Hall, and let the subordinates handle it immediately after signing!"

"Yes."

After Liang Wenfu left, the emperor said again: "Liang Qi should go back too, and let Zhao Ci come in."

"Yes."

Zhao Ci entered, bowed and said, "Your Majesty."

The emperor turned cold, "There's no need to keep the Si Cheng who was detained by the Ministry of Punishment!"

Zhao Ci nodded and turned to leave, but the emperor stopped him again, "Wait!"

"His Majesty?"

"In addition, go and send a message to Yang Shu, tell him that the official robe does not need to be washed!"

"Yes."

At this time, there were not many people in the huge Yang residence. As early as the middle of the month, Yang Shu returned all the deeds of the female servants, and also paid off all their salaries for the remaining years. its dismissal.

The middle hall of Yang's residence is very simple. Yang Shu took off his coat and hat, and sat on the main seat with only his middle single. On the table on the right hand side was a neatly folded official uniform. A black official hat with a flat top Put it on the public service.

The butler of Yang's house was reluctant to leave, and begged inside, "Ah Lang, is he going to die alone?"

Yang Shu's old eyes were red, "Have you delivered all the things?"

"According to your instructions, the money was sent to the Daxiangguo Temple, the medical books were sent to the home of Deputy Envoy Sun, and the things you told me, Xiaodi, were also handed over to Prince Chu himself."

Yang Shu took a deep breath, squinted his old eyes, "I'm middle-aged and widowed, the housekeeper has been with me for more than [-] years, taking care of housework for me, I'm grateful in my heart, but it's different now, this is a wrong place, you should leave as soon as possible Bar."

The butler knelt down towards Yang Shu, kowtowed and cried, "King Chu asked Xiaodi to transfer the message to you!"

--------

Inside Chu Palace

"Under the door... that is to order the emperor's sixth son, the king of Chu, to be the supervisor, and there must be no mistake!" After reading the edict, Tong Shisheren saw that the king of Chu was standing still, and coughed softly to remind him: "Six kings, you should take over!" It's the purpose."

"Zhan Lijue? Isn't it Zhan Lijue? Why did it become Zhan Lijue and let me go to supervise the execution?"

Tong Shisheren handed over the edict to the king of Chu, "Your Majesty's thoughts, who knows, maybe he wants the six kings to understand that etiquette and law are unforgiving."

The King of Chu took a few steps back weakly, "Etiquette is unforgiving?"

Tong Shisheren bowed and said, "Tomorrow, the head will be beheaded. The court will be set up at the Wuchao Gate. Please arrive before noon, and the officials will leave."

Xiao Youqing immediately supported her and asked, "What's the purpose of this prison beheading?"

The King of Chu turned his head to the side, breathed calmly and said: "This result is not what I wanted. Not only did I make a mistake, but... I also made a mistake!"

Not long after Tongshi Sheren left, Little Six came in, "Ah Lang, there is someone asking to see you outside the door, claiming to be the steward of Doctor Yang's family."

"Yang Shu?" King Chu was shocked, "Let him in!"

An old man hurried in, and took out a letter from his pocket with a dejected expression on his face, "Prince Chu, this is a letter from my family, Alang, entrusted to you by Xiaodi."

Xiao Youqing took it for her, but the King of Chu didn't open it immediately, but asked suspiciously: "Where is your A-Lang now?"

"A-Lang is at home." The old man immediately knelt down and said with tears, "Although Xiaodi doesn't know what happened, I beg the prince to save my family, A-Lang!"

"What's the matter?"

"A few days ago, when Alang returned home, he began to dismiss the slaves one after another. Later, he sold off the few properties one by one, and donated all the property to Daxiangguo Temple. Since yesterday, Alang has taken off his clothes and sat in the middle hall. today."

After listening, the king of Chu hurriedly opened the letter.

I saw inside the envelope, a piece of blank letter paper, except for the red line, nothing was written.

The King of Chu lowered his hands, breathing more and more heavily, and then slowly raised his head, with ruddy eyes, he said: "You take a word for this king back to your family, A Lang..."

The old man raised his head to look at Yang Shu, recalled what the King of Chu had said, and relayed: "Duke Yang is relieved, the gentleman is well!"

"The king of Chu also said, thank you for letting Dr. Sun come to see me when I was a child. Now that I am cured, I will always remember this kindness."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, a group of people broke into Yang's residence, and the noisy sound spread all the way to the middle hall.

Yang Shu opened his eyes and said, "Go through the back door."

The old man kowtowed again, trembling with tears streaming down his face, "A Lang!"

Zhao Ci walked into Yang Shu's home. There was no extra furniture in the room except for the old tables and chairs. Yang Shu had been in the hospital for many years and had nothing to do. Zhao Ci sighed and waved away all the followers.

Walking slowly in front of Yang Shu, seeing that he was dressed in plain clothes, with gray hair and old age, Zhao Ci trembled with regret and asked, "Mr. Yang, do you regret it?"

"So what if you regret it, so what if you don't regret it, monarch and minister, father and son, for the sake of this so-called vain name, the ruler is not the king, the minister is not the minister, the father and the son don't recognize each other, I have had enough, old man!"

Zhao Ci then turned and walked outside, stopped when he came to the door, looked up to the sky and sighed: "Your Majesty asked the villain to come and give Yang Gong a message, and Yang Gong's official clothes don't need to be washed!" After saying that, he walked forward and left.

Yang Shu got up from his seat, knelt down towards the north of the house, kowtowed and said tremblingly: "I obey your orders!"

--------

"If you want to cry, just cry, there is a concubine here, no one will know about it." Xiao Youqing walked to her side, looked at her ecstatic eyes looking out of the window, and watched her sitting here alone for a long time without saying a word , Indescribably sad.

The King of Chu turned his head, held Xiao Youqing's hand, shook his head and said, "Sister, don't worry, he wants to use Yang Shu to warn me, no matter how trustworthy or important a person is, he can abandon him if he has a little bit of mischief. It's like a pair of clogs!"

"It's the same even if I'm his son, but does he think he can scare me away like this? I will never forget my second brother's death!"

On May 21 of the eighth year of Jianping, the Hanlin medical officer sent Yang Shu to die of illness at home. The whole court was shocked, and most of the mourners were women.

The sentence of beheading was postponed for three days, and Sun Hongda, the deputy envoy of the Hanlin Medical Officer, was ordered to succeed the Hanlin Medical Officer and lead the Hanlin Medical Official Academy.

On the day of the execution, at the court at the south gate of Tokyo, the prisoner was wearing three weapons and hand pots, and was escorted by the Ministry of Punishment in a dew cart to the gate of Kaifeng Mansion.

Someone sighed, "These two girls are really pitiful. The officials in the court protect each other, and no one upholds justice. This world is really..."

"One life is worth one life, even if it is a weak woman who has no strength to restrain a chicken, she will be punished after all if she harms someone!"

Someone also laughed sarcastically: "The water in the court is not only deep, but also dark. Who knows if there is anything else hidden in this invisible darkness!"

A seat was set up on the north side of the execution ground, and an execution platform was set up on the south.

The execution ground was soon filled with people, most of them were men. From time to time, children would come to him curiously, but they were all dragged away by the adults.

"I heard that the person in charge of this execution is a prince."

"What are the identities of these two women, so that the sons of the official family can personally supervise and execute them?"

"The prince is one of the chief judges of the wrong case. He has just been promoted to the position of Shaoqing of Dali Temple. No, the chair is not hot yet. It is these two people who framed and punished a group of Dali Temple officials. The officials let the prince The supervisor must have other intentions!"

"Supervised and cut!"

The imperial guards lined up a path on the left side of the execution ground, and then a thin young man slowly walked out. He looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, and he was dressed in a purple round collar, attracting everyone's attention.

Immediately there was a discussion among the crowd, most of them were old men who had seen the true face of the emperor, "No wonder there was a rumor in the capital that the most official among the princes is the Sixth Prince!"

"It does look like it!"

The law field is not big, so even if you stand outside the law field, you can clearly see the appearance of everyone inside.

The king of Chu stopped in the middle of the execution ground, glanced at the execution platform, and when he was about to step over, he shook the sleeve edge of his hand, sighed secretly, turned around and walked to the seat.

The green-robed officer on the side stepped forward, nodded and bowed his waist, and said, "My lord, I know that you have never been executed before, so I will explain to you here that the execution is usually at noon, when the sun is the strongest and the south gate is open. Facing the sun, it is the most yang, and it is in harmony with the most yin of this person's death, so when it is set at noon, someone will tell the time in a while, and at three o'clock, the prince only needs to throw this down!" The little official pointed to the engraved order word wooden sign.

King Chu didn't speak but nodded.

The reflection of the pointer on the sundial was spinning bit by bit. The King of Chu was sitting on the seat, sweating from his palms, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles.

Just after noon, the officials of the Ministry of Punishment brought two drinks and meals.

The official then stepped forward again, "I have ordered that before the death penalty, in addition to sending off wine, the prisoner is also allowed to bid farewell to his family members. The prince is the supervisor and beheader, so you will be under personal supervision in a while."

The King of Chu looked at the execution platform coldly, raised his eyebrows and said, "These two framed the country's Zhongliang, and their family members were not implicated. I'm afraid it's too late to hide, so why come to visit!"

"What the prince said is very true. The surname of the next official is Liu Mingquan, and he is Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of Criminal Justice."

The King of Chu turned his head, and then he looked at Yuanwailang squarely, "Yes."

The official bowed his waist and returned to his seat.

——Boom! ——

"Noon, three quarters!"

The King of Chu let out a trembling breath, but still couldn't stop the feeling in his heart getting heavier and heavier. He slightly shook his outstretched hand and took out a token.

The executioner on the scaffold removed the shackles from the prisoner's back.

- Kuang - Kuang - Kuang Dang! ——The small wooden sign touched the ground, spun a few times and settled down, with a clear and crisp sound.

Han Si bowed his waist and picked up the fallen wooden hairpin for the emperor.

"Your Majesty's hairpin is so unique...it should be an old thing. Seeing things and thinking about others, it turns out that His Majesty also has a woman he cares about."

The emperor took it, and said with a smile to Han Bang: "Didn't you say that you dare not speculate on the holy will without authorization?"

Han Si bowed and said, "The matter is prioritized, and of course I dare not talk about government affairs."

The emperor raised the hairpin and placed it under the beam of light, his eyes gradually turned red, "I didn't wait for the crabapple to bloom, and I didn't wait for... the promise!"

"Your Majesty, the people from the South Gate have returned."

The emperor turned his head, "What did you say?"

Zhao Ci glanced at the living man next to him, and immediately said: "When the King of Chu was beheading, the people were talking about the fact that the King of Chu was very similar to His Majesty when he was young. Apart from that, the King of Chu didn't do anything else until the execution was over. .”

The emperor pondered for a long time with his hands behind his back, and then asked, "What about others?"

"Prince Chu felt unwell after being beheaded. He vomited all over the floor and was taken back to the palace by Princess Chu. Your Majesty, after all, Prince Chu is still young, in his teens. Bloody things like prison beheading..."

The emperor turned cold, "When I was a teenager, I was still holding the head of the enemy general!" Then he sat back on his seat, "Let him see me when he is better!"

Zhao Ci was speechless, so he nodded, "Yes."