All rivers and mountains are safe

Shen Mingan was actually in a very bad state, and he went to court the next day relying on the ginseng slices under his tongue to suspend his energy.

The weather was warm in May, but Shen Mingan was afraid of the cold, and also afraid that his already pregnant belly would be seen and cause trouble, so he wore an extra thin coat underneath.

The shape of the Qinghe Gate remains the same, but the person on the dragon chair has changed.

The last time Shen Mingan went to court, he was still at the top of the officials, but this time he was at the bottom of the officials, the most inconspicuous position.

There were too many courtiers in front of him, Shen Mingan looked over from a distance, and couldn't move his eyes away after seeing the tall and straight figure closest to the dragon chair.Lu Ciheng arrived early, and stood at the top with his hands behind his back. Shen Mingan stood too far away and couldn't see his face clearly.

I haven't seen him for two whole months, and Lu Ciheng seems to have lost some weight. He changed his usual casualness when he went to court, and raised his head to stare at Lu Qingshi with burning eyes. The outline of his mandible is clear and sharp. I watched it for a long time.

The routine report in the early court lasted for about a quarter of an hour. Lu Qingshi seemed very tired of such a scene. He sat on the dragon chair and stared blankly at the courtiers below. Standing up, "That's all for today, if there is nothing else, then retreat."

"—Your Highness."

Lu Qingzhi, who was eager to leave, froze when he heard the voice. He sat back very reluctantly, looked at Wei Boran in front of him, and said in a dull voice: "...what is Mr. Wei doing?" something?"

"Your Highness, I have something unclear and would like to ask Your Highness." Wei Boran stood up straight after paying his respects, and spoke respectfully and politely. 52, born with one arm, only one hand, now living alone, no wife, parents or children."

"The tax was collected at the end of last year, but he couldn't pay it. The two taxes made him feel sorry for his hard life, so he relaxed the deadline and asked him to pay it again in March this year. This person is grateful and goes to the dock every day to pay for the cargo ships. Unloading, I used brute force to unload more than a hundred bags a day, and was crushed into a hunchback. In March, I finally saved enough money to pay taxes, but found no one to monitor the taxes. The government officials checked the tax books and found that this If someone fails to pay taxes within the time limit, he will be arrested and thrown into jail.”

"Excuse me, Your Highness, how should this person appeal for grievances, and who should handle this case?"

Wei Boran made trouble for no reason, but he asked such a simple question. Lu Qingshi was at a loss. He nervously grabbed the armrest of the dragon chair, sorted out what Wei Boran said, and asked: "The two tax envoys Where did it go, since the two tax envoys promised him to relax the time limit for paying taxes, why did this person disappear when he was about to pay taxes, isn't this his negligence of duty?"

"Your Highness." Wei Boran looked directly into Lu Qingshi's eyes, and his voice was clear and passionate: "The two tax envoys were born on the 25th day of the seventh lunar month, and are currently being imprisoned in imperial prison."

Lu Qingshi opened his mouth in astonishment, and managed to calm down, "That man broke his hand, doesn't he have a mouth yet? Wouldn't he explain it to the county magistrate when he was caught wrongly?"

"The county magistrate of Xihe County in Tongzhou was born on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. He is also imprisoned now." Wei Boran paused, and added, "He is locked in the same place as the two tax envoys."

Lu Qingshi's face changed drastically, and he said in a panic: "Taxation, taxes should be managed by the prefect of the state. If this person didn't pay taxes, he should go to the prefect of the state..."

"Your Highness." The Minister of the Ministry of Officials came out of the hundred officials, his voice was old and old, but his words were extremely clear, "The Tongzhi of Tongzhou is dead. On the tripod, blood flowed to death."

The Minister of the Ministry of Officials is almost ancient, he is a veteran of the three dynasties, not only Lu Chengjing, but even the late emperor respects him very much, and he is also extremely coercive among the officials.

As soon as he opened his mouth, Lu Qingshi's face became panicked, and he began to fidget.

There was silence in the hall, only the voice of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials sounded slowly, "The head arrester did his duty, so he was arrested, but his case was not interrogated, and the tax revenue was not supervised, because these officials were all sent to prison. , and will die soon, just like Zhou Tongzhi in Tongzhou, shed blood to death, but Your Highness, what crime did they commit to die so tragically?"

"They, they..."

"They committed unwarranted crimes!" The official secretary's voice suddenly rose several degrees, the voice was thick and powerful, and echoed for a long time in the silent hall.

Lu Qingshi panicked all of a sudden, and he tried his best to defend himself, "But this is not what I want to do..."

Before Lu Qingshi could finish his stuttering words, Wei Boran interrupted him, "Is it His Highness who imprisoned those troublemakers?"

"Yes..." Lu Qingshi said eagerly, "But they first despised the king's law and gathered a crowd to make trouble, so I locked them up!"

"If it wasn't for His Royal Highness helping Dule to cheat in the exam first, how could these candidates gather together to make trouble because of the unfairness of the exam?!"

Things happened one after another, and Lu Qingshi was so overwhelmed that he couldn't even breathe, but Wei Boran took the lead without even giving him a chance to speak: "His Royal Highness, please listen to the news that he is locked in prison this time. Who are the people who will be sacrificed with blood?"

Wei Boran took the list out of his arms and read it out line by line. His voice was clear, and every word seemed to ring out.

Not only Wei Boran and Minister of the Ministry of Officials, but all the courtiers below had hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at Lu Qingshi alone, and Lu Qingshi even felt creepy being stared at by them.

Wei Boran read very slowly, and as time passed, small conversations began to be heard in the silent hall. Among the names Wei Boran read were the courtiers' colleagues and their relatives.

There were too many people on the list, Wei Boran actually read it for more than a quarter of an hour before finishing the last word. Some courtiers couldn't help sobbing when they heard the names of their wives, children and parents in it.

"Your Highness, what is wrong with these people, what is the crime? Some of the ministers are even the humerus of the country. If they all lose their lives because of such trumped-up charges, all the candidates who participated in this exam will be imprisoned." If there are no worthy people who can fill their vacancies, the lives of the people will be upside down and disorderly, and the country will perish!" Wei Boran paused, knelt down with the petition in his hands, and said in a loud voice: "Your Highness, please order, release A person who takes blood to worship."

As if a single stone stirred up a thousand waves, after Wei Boran took the lead, the courtiers in the hall knelt down to petition one after another, and said in unison: "Your Highness, please issue an order to release the people who took blood to worship."

With his current status, Shen Ming'an can only stand at the bottom of the hundred officials. Not passing an edict, and even making a sound is a felony. The only thing he can do is to kneel down with them, so as to gain more power and make this matter more Grasp.

In an instant, most of the courtiers knelt down, and only a few people were still standing there, not expressing their views.

The eunuch took the petition from Wei Boran and handed it to Lu Qingshi. Lu Qingshi's heart was beating like a drum, and he dared not open the paper while clutching the paper. The courtiers below wandered around, subconsciously wanting to find his husband.

Looking back and forth, he couldn't find Shen Ming'an no matter how hard he searched.Lu Qingshi thought that Shen Ming'an had already been demoted because of his deliberate framing. He went to Shen's residence before, but he didn't even see Shen Ming'an's face.

What's more, a small official like the scribe of the Imperial Academy is not qualified to come to the court every day.

In the past, Shen Ming'an stood in front of him in any matter, and tried his best to advise him. Lu Qingshi had never faced such pressure from the officials alone, and now he was truly isolated and helpless.

Lu Qingzhi looked at the courtiers kneeling below with trepidation, pursed his lips, and turned his gaze to Lu Ciheng as if asking for help, "The edict was issued by the emperor, not to mention, what's more, the third brother is in charge of this matter, and I have nothing to do with it." relation……"

"Your Highness's words are wrong. It is His Highness's order that I take full responsibility for this matter. I am just following orders." Lu Ciheng sneered when he heard the words, and walked unhurriedly to the center of the hall with his hands behind his back, "It's Your Highness who insisted. To act according to the imperial decree, I have never agreed with this move, Your Highness, take a closer look, the petition is stamped with my seal."

Lu Qingshi stood still, and the courtiers put pressure on him. He should follow everyone's wishes and order him to be released at this time, but he was afraid that after he really released him, Lu Chengjing would accuse him of resisting the decree and bullying, and vent his anger on him. He didn't dare to speak for a long time.

Everyone in the hall was in a stalemate, and after a long time, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials spoke, breaking the weird atmosphere, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't make a statement, so it's better to ask the third prince to make a decision."

"Shangshu's words are serious, and the prince is still here, so how dare I go beyond the rules and make a decision." Lu Ciheng said with a half smile: "Since this is an order from the emperor, why not ask someone to invite the emperor to come and make a decision?"

Shen Mingan's eyelids twitched, and he looked up at Lu Ciheng. The Minister of the Ministry of Officials' words had a clear meaning, which was equivalent to bypassing Lu Qingshi and allowing Lu Ciheng to take power.

Although Lu Ciheng did not agree with the act of taking blood as a sacrifice, if he could order the release of people, it would indeed be expected by all, but the Minister of the Ministry of Officials said so openly that Lu Ciheng would make a decision, and there was no objection from all the courtiers.

It was normal for Lu Jiheng to evade at this time, but his act of inviting Lu Chengjing over at this time made Shen Mingan full of suspicion.

Shen Mingan knelt on the ground, just as he was thinking this way, he suddenly felt that his stomach was poked violently, neither light nor heavy, and it was fleeting. He lowered his head, widened his eyes slightly, and carefully put his hands on it, and his stomach It was poked, and this time it was poked right in his palm.

He realized belatedly that it was the child who was moving.

Shen Mingan comforted the child in his stomach with a wry smile. It was the first time that he felt the existence of the child in his stomach so clearly, but it was at such an inopportune time.