Brocade tears

On June 20th in the tenth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant of the cabinet, the pillar of the Ming Dynasty, died of illness.The sky collapsed and the earth fell apart, and Long Live dropped out of the court. He was given the lofty honor of "Shangzhu Kingdom" and posthumously named "Wenzhong".However, four days later, Yushi Lei Shijia and other seven officials went up to impeach Pan Sheng, Minister of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of the Hall of Martial Arts. Unexpectedly or within reason, the emperor ordered Pan Sheng to retire from office.Pan Sheng was recommended by Zhang Juzheng before his death. His resignation showed Zhang Juzheng's fall from favor to the court and the public, and also showed the emperor's long-suppressed resentment towards the late Shoufu.However, the [-]-year-old emperor is young and soft-hearted. Mr. Zhang is still the same Mr. Zhang, and he has a father-like upbringing to him. The relationship of more than ten years cannot disappear in a flash.However, the cold emperor's heart could not maintain the deep affection. In March of the following year, the emperor began to deprive Zhang Juzheng of the titles and official orders granted to Zhang Juzheng's descendants. In April, he ordered the family property of Zhang Juzheng to be confiscated.The thick thundercloud that had been accumulated for a long time above the heads of the widows of the Zhang family finally brought down a thunderstorm, which kicked off the liquidation against Zhang Juzheng.

The task of depriving Zhang's residence fell on the shoulders of Meng Yi, the deputy of the Fusi Inspection Office in Beizhen. He was responsible for leading a team of [-] inspectors from the guard to arrest Zhang Juzheng's sons in Beijing and rush to Zhang Juzheng's hometown. In Jingzhou, the inside and outside of Zhang's mansion were sealed off, the family members were detained and returned to Beijing, the accounts and property were checked, and all property was confiscated.This operation was supported by Nanya and Wuxiangwei, and was commanded by Zhang Jing, a middle official of Dongchang, who was an imperial envoy.

However, before the imperial envoy arrived at Zhang Juzheng's hometown of Jingzhou, the local officials of Jingzhou Prefecture sent troops to block all the entrances and exits of Zhang's mansion, and locked the old, young, women and children in the mansion.At the beginning of August, when Meng Yi led a team to arrive, Zhang's house had been out of food for a month, and more than ten people starved to death. .Meng Yi felt sympathetic and wrote a letter to Shen Shixing, the chief assistant at that time.Shen Shixing couldn't see it anymore, so he came out to intercede with the emperor, and worked his way up and down to save Zhang Juzheng's 80-year-old mother who was able to stay in Jingzhou, leaving only an empty house and ten hectares of land.All the remaining family members were escorted to Beijing and arrested in imperial prison.

At that time, the eldest son Zhang Jingxiu committed suicide in embarrassment and indignation in Beijing, Zhongbei Sizhao Prison; the second son Zhang Sixiu, the third son Zhang Maoxiu, and his uncle Juyifa were assigned to live and die in the miasma; people.The fifth son, Zhang Yunxiu, who was not in Beijing, fled, and his whereabouts were unknown for a while.Even Zhang Juzheng, who had been buried in the loess for a year, was almost opened up and killed.

Deputy inspector Qianhu Meng Yi, hereditary military membership, was originally from Zhejiang and belonged to the Zhejiang Army.During the Jiajing period, because of his great achievements in fighting the Japanese under Qi Jiguang's command, he was recommended to the Jinyiwei North Town Fusi as an inspector Tiqi, and moved to the deputy thousand households of the inspection office. The double-headed sword with a handle shaped like a snake is so skillful that people nicknamed it "Seven Swords".

In his life, he has seen countless swords, lights and swords, bloody winds, and walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, piles of bones, and his vision and mind have long been extraordinary.However, this liquidation operation against the Zhang family still made him feel a chill in his heart.How could the emperor be so ruthless to his teacher who has been kind to him for more than ten years? Even if this person commits a serious crime, he will die like smoke, and the rest are women and children who have no resistance , so cruel to his widow, this is really... outrageous, harmful to human harmony.

On the way to escort the prisoner back to Beijing, Meng Yi noticed a girl with a strange appearance who seemed to be of alien origin.She looked about ten years old, not yet Jiji's age.Although the girl was skinny and disheveled from hunger, she could still see that she had a very beautiful complexion.She was always protected by the women in the same prison car, but whenever they could get some water and food, they kept her close first.It was cold at night and the prison car was not protected from the cold, so the prisoners surrounded the girl and used their bodies to protect her from the cold wind.Meng Yi was curious. One night, after he was stationed, no one was near the prison car. He approached the prison car and asked what happened.Seeing that he cared about him, one of the prison women grasped at a life-saving straw and insisted that he would come.

The girl's name is Li Sui'er, and she is a servant of the Zhang family.He was originally from Jiashan County, Jiaxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. His parents are unknown and his appearance is peculiar. He must have alien blood.When she was young, she was adopted by a widowed old embroiderer Li Shi who lived in the county, and the mother and daughter depended on each other.When she was six years old, her mother-in-law Li died of illness. Since then, she has been alone and alone, relying on eating a hundred meals in the county town, running errands and delivering goods for others.This child is extremely clever, especially with an excellent memory, which can be called a photographic memory.It is said that everything she has heard, people she has met, and the path she has traveled can all be remembered in her mind, and she will not forget it for a long time.Therefore, it is very famous in Jiashan County, and has the title of "child prodigy and beggar".

In the seventh year of Wanli, Li Sui'er was eight years old. By chance, the servant of Wang Fude, the governor of Zhejiang Province at that time, discovered her from the county seat, brought her to Wang Fude's side, and became Wang Fude's maid.She spent a short time in Wang Fude's mansion. A few months later, Wang Fude took her back to Beijing to report on her work, and sent her to Zhang Juzheng's mansion, where she became a maid in Zhang Juzheng's mansion in Beijing.

Li Sui'er was appreciated by his second elder brother Zhang Sixiu in Zhang Juzheng's residence, and he took her with him to teach her how to read and write.In less than half a year, he could memorize the meaning of the Six Books classics upside down. Later Zhang Juzheng learned that this girl was so good, so he took her into the study to serve him with him, and became a school boy in the mansion.This is two years in a flash.

After Zhang Juzheng died of illness in the tenth year of Wanli, Sui'er went back to his hometown in Jingzhou for burial with his eldest brother Zhang Jingxiu, second brother Zhang Sixiu, third brother Zhang Maoxiu, fourth brother Zhang Jianxiu, and uncle Ju Yi Fuling.Afterwards, several sons stayed in their hometown to keep filial piety for Zhang Juzheng. The eldest brother Zhang Jingxiu was in charge of the house, and specially arranged a small courtyard for Li Sui'er, and ordered a large number of silk and satin fabrics and colorful embroidery threads. The woman embroidered in the courtyard every day, very She seldom goes out, and the meals are brought to her by her family. She seems to be finishing a very complicated embroidery handicraft, which takes nearly a year to embroider.

By June of the 11th year of Wanli, Li Sui'er had spent nearly a year in his hometown in Jingzhou, and he had already become his own family in the minds of Zhang's family.This child is exquisite in seven orifices, dexterous in ingenuity and can talk, and as he gets older, he becomes more and more beautiful and beautiful.The women in the Zhang family really liked her, seeing that she was 13 years old (twelve years old), and she was about to reach her age, it was time to find someone else.It's just that for some reason, whenever the wives and wives arrange marriages for her, they will be opposed by Zhang Yunxiu, the fifth elder brother who guards the house.

At the beginning of the new year, the period of emphasizing filial piety had passed. Except for the fifth elder brother, the rest of the Zhang family's heirs had already returned to Beijing to wear filial piety and resume their jobs.The fifth elder brother is currently the head of the family, and he has to take care of everything.At first, the women thought it was Brother Wu who fell in love with Li Sui'er himself, but later found out that was not the case.Fifth Brother simply doesn't want her to marry, as long as she stays in Zhang's house forever.Sui'er herself expressed that she did not want to marry, and only hoped that she could serve in the mansion all the time.

After staying in Jingzhou for such a long time, she exhausted her energy and embroidered all day long, and finally embroidered a masterpiece.But the finished product has never been shown to anyone except Wu Ge.Also in June of this year, the fifth elder brother Zhang Yunxiu took Sui'er's embroidery out, saying that he was looking for a buyer.The embroidered work was a large one, which was tightly wrapped and carried onto the carriage.Before leaving, Zhang Yunxiu gave a death order to his family, no matter what happens, Li Sui'er must be taken care of.He seemed to have foreseen something, on the second day after he left home, something happened at home, Jingzhou government army besieged Zhang's house, several women in the house remembered Fifth Brother's instructions before leaving, and desperately protected Li Sui'er, The only rations left in the mansion were for her to eat, and she survived the most difficult period.

Now that the child is about to be sent to the imperial prison in the capital, the women begged the military master to help the child. She is still very young, and she is not from the Zhang family, so she should not be involved.

These convicts are all long-term slaves bought by the Zhang family. They have nowhere to go but the Zhang family, and they are absolutely devoted to the Zhang family.But because I haven't read a book, I have experienced few things, and my mind is simple, so I can't see deeper.But Meng Yi was different. From the detailed descriptions of these criminal women, he heard something unusual.

This Li Sui'er seems to be specially protected by several heirs of the Zhang family. What is the embroidery she spent a year embroidering?Why did the fifth brother Zhang Yunxiu take her embroidery to find a buyer in person?This Li Sui'er was a book boy who had served in Zhang Juzheng's study. She had an extraordinary memory, could read and write, and was good at embroidery. Such a girl was not unusual.

He hesitated for a long time, feeling that this matter might not be simple, and if he meddled in his own business, it might cause unexpected troubles.But the pleadings of the prisoners and the girl's taciturn and miserable appearance finally softened his heart.The night before entering Beijing, he communicated with Li Sui'er for the first time at the side of the prison car.He asked Li Sui'er what he had embroidered in Zhang's mansion for so long.The girl was silent for a long time, and finally looked up at him, and replied coldly:

"What is embroidered is the splendid country of Ming Dynasty."

Meng Yi was shocked by the girl's words. To his ears, these words did not seem like words that a girl who hadn't reached the age would say at all.And the indifference and determination in the girl's golden amber eyes made Meng Yi's heart tremble even more.Meng Yi thought about it, but didn't ask further questions.He decided that he couldn't interfere in this matter, so he made up his mind and stayed away from the prison car.

In September, after the handover in Beijing was completed, the convicts and wives were sent to imperial prison, and Meng Yi completed his task this time.The next interrogation has little to do with him, these criminals have entered the Imperial Prison, and I am afraid that it will be difficult for them all to come out.This dynasty does not know how many people like this will be implicated and imprisoned every year. The court battle is like a battlefield, the companion is like a tiger, and Zhang Taiyue is as strong as Zhang Taiyue, and he can't protect the people behind him.

And he, a Meng descendant, is a rough man in the army, and he has a wife and four children to support at home.It's best for him to work hard with his head down, he doesn't want to meddle in the affairs of the top, and he doesn't have the ability to meddle.How many people's hearts are higher than the sky, and their lives are thinner than paper, it is better to have self-knowledge.There is no extravagant hope for being able to have enough food and clothing and a happy family.

It's just that the brown-haired girl with light eyes lowered her eyebrows and lowered her eyes, and her phrase "the beautiful country of Ming Dynasty is embroidered", but for some reason, it has been lingering in his mind for a long time.