Jia Lian of the Red Chamber

The guard was so grateful that he wanted to kowtow to Feng Ziying.

He is a third-class guard, and he can't afford to offend Jia Lian, let alone delay his errands.If Jia Lian insists on obstructing, he will be punished.

His family has no backstage, otherwise he would not have been assigned to guard Dengwen Drum. This place has not been opened for several years, and no one is seen for many years, which can make people dumb.

However, this is an errand anyway, with a salary to support the family, and the salary is not low, he doesn't want to throw it away.

Jia Lian deliberately frowned: "I don't want people to know that the prisoner I'm escorting beat the Dengwen drum. If I don't make it right, I'll die!"

Feng Ziying, a good man, persuaded: "Now they can't knock and knock. Anyway, you can't escape the responsibility of negligence. This little brother is not easy. Why should you make him suffer?"

Jia Lian sighed, staring at the little guard in great confusion.

Feng Ziying winked at the little guard, and the little guard wrapped around Jia Lian and only bowed, crying: "Master Jia, please, please help the little one, the little one will definitely remember your great kindness, and you will be useful in the future." Brother Xing must go all out and do his best. Raise your hand and help the little one!"

Jia Lian reluctantly nodded and said: "Then let's meet the official of the Ministry of Punishment together. However, I'm the first to say something ugly, and I have to take it to the business first, and then you will do the business."

Jia Lian promised to take him with him, and he was already so grateful that he dared to fight for the first place.

After reaching an agreement in this way, Jia Lian escorted the fishermen to the lobby of the Ministry of Punishment together with the guards. The Minister of the Ministry of Punishment had been waiting for a long time after hearing the sound of drums.

When Jia Lian saw the Minister of Criminal Justice, he hurriedly cupped his hands and reported: "Your official, Jia Lian, was ordered to suppress the bandits, and now he has arrested 22 bandits. They are here to hand over a business, and I ask you to check and accept them."

The official of the Ministry of Punishment was surnamed Huang, Sanyuan Jidi's old number one scholar. He frowned and asked, "Isn't there a commoner who beat the Dengwen drum to appeal for grievances, how did he become a bandit? Is it a bandit or a commoner who complained?"

The little guard hurried forward to report: "Young Zhang Biao is not only a bandit, but also a commoner complaining of grievances!"

Huang Shangshu suddenly gave a row of gavels: "What a mess, bandits are bandits, and common people are common people, how can they be confused?"

The little guard trembled in fright, pointing at Mrs. Mi's mother and son and Luo Wen, he said, "They are the ones who can beat the Dengwen drum, but Mr. Jia says they are bandits. In fact, it is the bandits who beat the Dengwen drum!"

Huang Shangshu was stunned when he heard the words, and pointed to Jia Lian and asked, "Tell me, what's the matter? You arrested the bandits, how did you catch the people who complained of wrongdoing?"

Jia Lian pretended to be ignorant: "Reporting to my lord, the lower officials didn't know. They were originally bandits arrested by the lower officials. However, when they arrived at the Meridian Gate, they took advantage of the unpreparedness of the lower officials and beat the Dengwen drum. As for why they After beating the Dengwen drum, the lower officials were also very confused, the lower officials had already found out that they were the bandits on the canal who robbed Mr. Li at the Taipu Temple, so they were arrested and brought to justice, your lord will investigate clearly."

Huang Shangshu knew that it would be useless to ask Jia Lian again, so he slapped the gavel: "Du, my lady, who are you? Since you are a bandit, you deserved your crime if you were arrested. How dare you go to knock on the drum to disturb the saint?" Driver, do you know the crime?"

Mi Si showed no fear, and said: "My lord, the little lady was originally the daughter of the Mi family, a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River. My father, Mi Huaishan, was a former Jinshi. Qing Li Mingtang is the married husband of the women."

Huang Shangshu was stunned when he heard the words: "Mi Huaishan? Are you Mi Huaishan's daughter? No, Mi Huaishan's daughter fell into the water and died 15 years ago. Why are you pretending to be an official?" After speaking, Huang Shangshu was shocked again. become reprehensible.

Mrs. Mi was not in a hurry, she kowtowed and said: "The little lady is indeed the daughter of Mi Huaishan. When the little lady followed her husband to take office, she once paid a special visit to you. You were the number one scholar back then. However, he worked as an editor in the Imperial Academy, and was very depressed. He often communicated with my father. I remember that the little woman took advantage of the opportunity to follow her husband to visit her. The aunt once gave the little woman a pair of bracelets, which is strange to say. The little woman fell into the water, the hairpin on her head, and the ring on her hands fell into the middle of the river, but the pair of bracelets with mandarin duck clasps were firmly worn on her hands and did not fall off. There was an inscription of a gold shop on it, and adults can tell when they inspect it. .”

Huang Shangshu had met Mi Shi before, but he didn't have the reason to stare at the old man's daughter, so he didn't remember whether Mi Shi was round or flat.However, he did have an impression of the bracelet.Then he waved his hand, and the yamen servant presented the gold bracelet. The gold ornaments in Huang Shangshu's family were all custom-made in Jinlou. He checked the seal skillfully, and he saw three words, Quan Ji Zhang.

Huang Shangshu's voice suddenly became much lower: "You beat the Dengwen drum, is it because of the incident of falling into the water more than ten years ago?"

Mi Shi kowtowed: "Exactly."

Huang Shang wrote suspiciously: "Since it is because of the drowning, why didn't you report it back then, but have to wait 15 years later?"

Mi said: "At the beginning, the little woman was pregnant and was about to give birth. She was kicked down the river heartily by the thieves, and was rescued, but she fell into a coma and didn't wake up until the time of giving birth. At that time, months had passed. Yu, the little woman was bedridden because of illness, and she didn't get better until half a year later. At this time, I realized that the thief had married a high-ranking daughter. But my parents recognized the couple as Adoptive daughter and son-in-law. I have been living abroad for more than half a year. Even if I go back, it will only increase my troubles, and maybe I will hurt the sisters at home and bring shame to my parents. Therefore, the little woman decided to hide her name and never mention her future. "

Huang Shangshu clapped his hands and said, "Yes, why is it time to sue now?"

Mi said: "The little woman later married the savior of the year. Unexpectedly, the dog fell ill when he was five years old. He went out to get medicine in the heavy rain, but fell ill when he came back. He refused to rest and concealed it. The little woman was fishing while sick, and when he suddenly fell ill and lay in bed, he was already terminally ill and there was no cure.

"Later, our mother and son relied on the help of the villagers for ten years. Unexpectedly, in September last year, the little woman was sick at home, and suddenly the house caught fire. The little woman couldn't sleep because of the illness, so she ran away. We lost our lives. The poor village has hundreds of people, young and old, but only [-] people escaped. We had no choice but to escape from the famine. We heard that there were people in Beijing giving away rice for porridge, so we rushed all the way to the capital.” Huang Shangshu Frowning: "Why do you want to go to the capital, don't the local officials care?"

Luo Yi was busy kowtowing: "My lord, this is why the villain beat the Dengwen drum. Our village was burned to the ground. It was not a natural disaster, but someone deliberately set it on fire. The reason why we came to the capital was originally It is a pity that we did not know until we arrived in the capital that the enemy is powerful and spread all over the government and the public. Moreover, the enemy has already listed the crimes before us, and beat us and other innocent people into lake bandits. Therefore, we neither Dare to go to Beijing to file a complaint, and dare not return home, so I had to hide by the canal and fish quietly for a living."

Huang Shangshu slapped the gavel: "Do you make a living by fishing, or do you make a living by robbing?"

Mrs. Mi hurriedly said: "This matter is all due to the little woman, just because one day she slipped her mouth and let the child know about his life experience, knowing that his biological father once wanted to kill him, so he thought about it day and night, thinking about it. I wanted to find the thief to avenge the murder of my wife and son. It was appropriate. That day when they were fishing in the river, they met the Li family's fleet. My son recognized the thief, and in a fit of anger, he sent their whole family up and down. I was the one who recognized the thief and thought it was a bad omen to rebel against my father, so I asked him to let the thief go down the mountain. Because my son felt resentful, I let the thief and his wife take the blame."

"Your Majesty must have known what happened later. We were the ones who kidnapped Wang Family's Shangshu. However, this old thief's family education was not strict back then, which caused the princess's womb to be dark. He didn't guard himself, but allowed her daughter to force Li Mingtang to marry him. They Although the Wang family did not kill the little woman with their own hands, the little woman suffered the innocent disaster because of the connivance of the Wang family. Therefore, their husband and wife, father and daughter owe us mother and son. Pleading guilty is also right!"

Huang Shangshu snorted coldly: "Smart words, then the Li family and the Wang family deserved what they did, but what about the Gu family's caravan?"

Luo Yi kowtowed and said: "The villain beat the Dengwen drum to accuse the inspector Gu Peizongzi of doing evil. He robbed the women of the people, forced the fiancee of the people to death, and killed the young father-in-law Peng. Later, in order to cover up his son's scandal, the inspector not only sent troops to chase and kill us, but also set fire to the village, causing more than 70 people in my village to die in the sea of ​​fire. Please also ask the adults to make decisions for the villains and avenge the small people."

Huang Shangshu suddenly broke out in a cold sweat: "Gu Pei? Gu Pei, the inspector of Huguang?"

This Gu Pei is not simple, his elder sister is Concubine Shu in the palace, and his nephew is Emperor Qianyuan's favorite Seventh Prince.

The second master of the second bedroom of the Gu family is the principal of the imperial hospital, and the third master of the Gu family is the servant in the Ministry of Rites. The Gu family is not only a family of scholars, but also a family of medicine.

Huang Shangshu glared at Jia Lian, this kid really brought back a lot of trouble for him!

However, now that the person has arrived at the hall, he has to act according to the rules, otherwise, when the emperor asks, he cannot explain.However, once this case is reported to the emperor, he has done nothing wrong and will be remembered by the Gu family from now on.

However, between the emperor and the Gu family, between the Gu family and his own future, he knew very well how Huang Shangshu should choose.

He waved his hand and said, "Since you are going to sue the imperial court, follow the rules and lift the nail board."

The little leopard immediately fell to the ground and kowtowed: "My lord, Jia's mother was ill for many years because of falling into the water, and she couldn't bear to be tortured. I am willing to roll the nailboard instead of my mother, and I hope my lord will do it!"

Huang Shangshu took the token and did not cast it for a long time. He looked at Mi Shi with a complicated face.Mi Huaishan had exchanged letters with him back then, which benefited him a lot.However, if he easily let Mrs. Mi see the emperor, would the Gu family hate him even more?

Although his Huang family is also a scholarly family, it is difficult to match the Gu family's splendid family.

Jia Lian looked at Huang Shangshu hesitantly, and hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "This dynasty respects Confucianism, governs the world with filial piety, and surrogate mother is punished because of filial piety, the emperor will be pleased to hear that the people are well educated, don't you think so? "

Huang Shangshu stared at Jia Lian for a few moments, and suddenly realized in his heart, how did the bound bandits escape and beat the Dengwen drum?

Careless?

Just now he was frightened by the sound of Dengwen's drum, so he didn't think about it for a while, but thinking about it now, it makes a lot of sense.

At this time, Feng Ziying was watching the excitement at the door, and seeing Huang Shangshu seemed embarrassed, she said with a smile: "Someone beat the Dengwen drum, and it is Huang Shangshu's duty to send people to the emperor, who would blame you? Disturbing the common people's grievances is blocking the world's speech. Can your lord bear the responsibility? Huang Shangshu should remember Mr. Zhen a few years ago. He was only a day late and failed to deal with the grievances of the people in time. He is still alive today. Minnan is the county magistrate!"

Huang Shangshu smiled when he heard the words: "The two adults are right, then let your son live on behalf of the mother!"

The yamen servants quickly placed the nail boards, Luo Yi went up to roll the nail boards first, and the yamen servants covered the top board with a white cloth.Generally speaking, the family members gave money, and the yamen servants stretched the white cloth vigorously, so that the blood hole on the person who rolled the nail plate would be shallower, although it was still covered in blood, and it would not hurt the bones.

If the family members don’t care about anything, the yamen servants will not meddle in their own business, and your life will be ruined by God.

Jia Lian explained to Luo Yimi before, how to stuff money, once it is on the nail board and rolling, don't cry out no matter how painful it is, but take a deep breath, so that the damage will be minimized.

At this time, when Mi Shi saw that Luo Yi was about to roll the nailboard, she hurriedly bowed to the four yamen servants, and gave them the money for her life while they were helping her.

Of course, Mishi asked for two lives, and she entered two big purses.

When Luo Yi rolled, although blood spurted, he moved freely after getting up, and quickly drank the spiritual water that Jia Lian had prepared for him.Therefore, his body looks scary, but his life is actually harmless.

Little Leopard had practiced some messy boxing and kicking skills. He held his breath according to Jia Lian's instructions. He was agile, and the yamen guard stretched the white cloth vigorously. The blood holes on his body were shallower than Luo Yi's.There was less blood, and under Jia Lian's reminder, he deliberately covered his hands and body with blood, which looked very scary, but the injury was actually not serious.

In order to cover them up, Feng Ziying gave Luo Yi and Xiao Baozi the hemostatic plaster from the Secretary of the General Administration: "My old Feng loves to make friends with heroes most of his life. These plasters can stop bleeding and relieve pain, so I give them to you."

A group of fishermen were busy applying medicine to the two to stop the bleeding, and they were in a mess.Not long after, the eunuch who passed the decree in the palace arrived.The emperor ordered: "Written by Huang Ruigui, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, send the grievance complainer who rolled over the nail board to Qianqing Palace!"

After Huang Shangshu knelt down to receive the decree, he ordered the foreman: "Put the rest of the people in prison and wait for interrogation." He pointed to the three little leopards and said, "Follow me into the palace!"

Jia Lian signed the handover with the foreman Yamen servant, so far, his task of suppressing bandits has been successfully completed.Jia Lian was thinking about whether to sneak into the palace to watch the fun or go home to see his wife and children, thinking about the next step.

But he heard the little eunuch say, "Jia Lian, the fourth-rank imperial guard with a knife, listens to the announcement."

Jia Lian was taken aback, why hasn't the little eunuch left yet?But he immediately knelt down: "The humble minister leads the decree!"

The little eunuch Yan said: "Jia Lian, the fourth-rank imperial guard with a knife, will immediately enter the palace to have an audience!"

Jia Lian kowtowed: "The humble minister leads the decree!"

Jia Lian kowtowed and stood up, hurriedly handing him a chicken blood stone that he had prepared, and said with a smile: "Dare to ask my little eunuch, where is the emperor at this time?"

The little eunuch touched the moist chicken blood stone in his hand, and smiled all over his face: "The emperor is in the Qianqing Palace, Mr. Jia, don't panic, Mr. Feng Ziying has already reported your affairs to the emperor, the emperor is very happy, and I want to promote you, you Just wait for the happy event to come."

Jia Lian immediately reassured and said: "At this time, who are the people in Qianqing Palace?"

The little eunuch said: "I don't call it Daqi today. The emperor was discussing matters with Mr. Zhang, Prince Zhongjing, Wang Ying, and the others in the South Study Room when he heard someone beating the Dengwen drum. Then he came to the Jinluan Palace and waited for the drummer to bring him back. The trial is about to take place, besides me, I still sent people to the Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. When I was young, there was a joint trial of the three divisions in the Jinluan Hall, and the emperor personally listened to it and made a decision on the spot."

Jia Lian thought to herself when she heard the words, probably it is impossible to decide the case on the spot, the defendant Gu Pei is still in Huguang, and the other defendant Li Shaoqing went home and Ding You went home.At most today, the joint hearing of the three divisions is to accept the case, and then issue a document to escort Li Shaoqing and Gu Pei to Beijing immediately.It will be half a month at the earliest when they enter Beijing.

It was already the twelfth lunar month.

Jia Lian silently calculated the progress of Prince Xi, if they went well, there should have been news of their entry to Beijing years ago.

Jia Lian came out of the Ministry of punishment here, and met Feng Ziying winking there.

Obviously, Feng Ziying knew that Jia Lian was instigating this big wave of people beating the drum, and Jia Lian was not going to hide it from everyone.Jia Lian just made a gesture to let people understand that he was just suppressing the bandits according to the emperor's request. As for why these bandits beat the Dengwen drum, he didn't know.

He was very frustrated, he just caught the bandit's pride and let the bandit take advantage of the loophole.

However, Jia Lian doesn't care whether others believe it or not.He only needs to report to the Minister of the Ministry of Justice in this way.It would be even better if the emperor could believe it.

Jia Lian gave Feng Ziying a knowing look, and followed the little eunuch into the palace.

When Jia Lian came to Qianqing Palace, the Jinluan Hall had already opened its posture.The emperor sits on the throne, the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the inspector's hall officials stand on the left side of the hall.

The three little leopards knelt in the middle.

There were still civil and military ministers on both sides, and Da Qi was not called today, the only civil servants present was Uncle Zhang, so he stood with the three court officials to attack.The military officer is Prince Ying, the newly promoted Minister of Guards, and Prince Zhongjing, the former Minister of the Imperial Palace.

Huang Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment was the first to go out, detailed what he knew, and reported to the emperor, so that the emperor had a general impression.

In the end, the Minister of Dali Temple questioned Luo Yi, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate's Du Yushi coordinated the questioning, and finally clarified the whole story of the case.The confession was handed over to the emperor for imperial inspection, and then the emperor Zhubi approved it, and the Huguang procuratorate was quickly transferred to Beijing to await trial.

Later, the Metropolitan Procuratorate presided over Mrs. Mi's lawsuit against her husband Li Mingtang for killing his wife and son.

This case is very clear, the only thing that is unclear is Mi's identity. Although, Huang Shangshu has a bracelet as evidence, witnesses are still needed.

Emperor Qianyuan approved after inspection, and transferred Li Mingtang and his wife, and Mi Huaishan and his wife to Beijing.

In less than half an hour, the three people who filed the imperial petition were sent back to the Ministry of Punishment. For the sake of Mi's father, Huang Shangshu sent people to be detained in a separate room with their mother, and sent a doctor to treat them.

In Mi's hand, she had the spiritual water presented by Jia Lian as medicine. Although it could not cure her illness, it could relieve her palpitations and heart problems, but there was no cure for her cough.It is impossible for Jia Lian to enter the Ministry of Criminal Justice to treat her.Mi's can't expose Jia Lian's medical treatment, this is their agreement before entering Beijing.Otherwise, once they leaked it, Jia Lian would not admit it, and the previous agreement with Little Leopard to protect his mother's life for eight years would be over.

Therefore, Mi's mother and son kept their promises and did not disclose Jia Lian's acupuncture skills.

Turning around, he said that Jia Lian was waiting outside the Qianqing Palace to watch the excitement, and finally this matter was carried out according to his hope.

When Jia Lian met Mingming, he found that Emperor Qianyuan's complexion was ugly and his expression was very irritable.

Just as Jia Lian was about to kowtow, Emperor Qianyuan waved his hands and poked wildly: "Tell me, what happened to the Mi family's mother and son?"

Jia Lian replied: "Back to the emperor, they are the fishermen who fled from Huguang, the wife of Li Mingtang who pushed Jiangxin down, and the canal bandits that the emperor wanted my ministers to arrest."

Emperor Qianyuan frowned: "What evidence do you have for saying they are fishermen? What evidence do you have for saying they are bandits?"

Jia Lian ordered someone to open a box that he never brought into the palace: "Your Majesty, please take a look, this is Li Mingtang's Shaoqing official robe. As for whether he is a Huguang fisherman, I have no evidence. Also, I concluded that the young The leopard is the son of Li Mingtang, because I saw Li Mingtang's portrait, and the little leopard's eyebrows and eyes resembled him."

Emperor Qianyuan snorted: "This man with eyes can tell at a glance. The key is, did Li Mingtang commit suicide or murder?"

Jia Lian said, "I have investigated, and Li Mingtang married his step-wife three months after his ex-wife disappeared, and that step-wife gave birth to a son within six months after entering the house. Although they claim to have premature birth at seven months, whether it is premature or not, we only need to know Just ask the old woman at that time and you will know. A person who hastily married his wife before the first anniversary of his wife's death and gave birth to a child within six months can be seen at a glance. Li Mingtang's motive for killing his wife and children is very clear , he wants to marry another high family."

Emperor Qianyuan looked at Jia Lian: "This is why you must play to ask Zhen Zhaoan?"

Jia Lian was taken aback.

His uncle smiled and nodded.

Emperor Qianyuan read Jia Lian's private letter.

Emperor Qianyuan also knew that he wanted to help Little Leopard?