Jia Lian of the Red Chamber

Huang Shangshu was crying and laughing, he was really wronged by this scapegoat.

He knew that the Gu family was fooling people these days, but it's a pity that the emperor was willing to be fooled, so he had no choice but to be fooled.

With anger in his heart, Huang Shangshu slapped the gavel vigorously: "Gu Pei, let me ask you, there are 23 fishermen in Huguang Honghu Fishing Village. They accused you of arson and killed Peng's father and daughter. Then, for your sake Covering up parent-child crimes, sending people to set fire to the village, burning 73 villagers to death, do you plead guilty?"

Gu Pei sneered: "I don't admit it, I didn't let my son do the murder. It's her luck that my son fell in love with the fisherman's daughter. She couldn't think about throwing herself into the water and died. What has it to do with my son? How dare that Yuhuazi named Peng If you beat my son, you will die."

Huang Shangshu said: "Okay, let's not talk about the death of Yu Niang's father and daughter, I will ask you again, why did they set fire to the village and killed 73 people in the village? They never beat your son, did they?"

Gu Pei sneered: "These Yuhuazi beat me up, I'll have someone beat me back, is there something wrong?"

Huang Shangshu made the case: "Now there are 73 lives, not a question of wounding or maiming. Please answer the suspect directly, don't talk about it, and try to confuse black and white, and get away with it."

Gu Pei sneered: "It doesn't matter if I'm guilty or not."

Huang Shangshu's veins were bursting from anger, Dali Siqing and Du Yushi, who were co-trials, let Huang Shangshu wink and wink, pretending to be deaf and dumb and not letting go.

He had no choice but to slap the gavel vigorously again: "Gu Pei, the Holy Majesty said just now that he wants to know who you are relying on to act so boldly, and who backs you up. I also want to ask you , you are so reckless about human life, despise the law of the country, and despise the court, no, who did you rely on to destroy the golden palace of the heir emperor?"

Gu Pei seemed to have given up all his strength, and sneered: "Are you asking whose family I am fighting for? Let me tell you, my Gu family has been scholarly and beautiful for generations, and the pot is used to benefit the world and benefit one side.

"Just ask Jiangnan, who doesn't praise my Gu family's benevolence and righteousness? However, those Yuhuazi dare to make trouble and maim my son. Is my dignified Gu family going to swallow their anger? My son is a dignified family, full of knowledge, noble character, and a pillar of the country." But it's just a fancy fish, and it was beaten to death.

"Yuhuazi exterminates the roots of my descendants. I exterminate their entire village and die. Is it fair? Those Yuhuazi said that only 70 people died, even if they died a hundred and one thousand, it would not be worth my son's life!"

Huang Shangshu really didn't expect that under the circumstances of conclusive evidence, Gu Pei would be so presumptuous and arrogant in front of the emperor.Huang Shangshu laughed in his heart, he was very happy that Gu Pei died like this.

Huang Shangshu could actually subdue Gu Pei in one fell swoop, but he didn't want to take the responsibility of punishing Gu Pei on himself.

The Gu family was fed up by Emperor Qianyuan, so let Emperor Qianyuan cook it himself.

Huang Shangshu once again looked at Du Yushi and Dali Siqing on the left and right, signaling them to help, but they just shook their heads at Huang Shangshu, indicating that they could not persuade Gu Pei.

Huang Shangshu finally knelt down towards Emperor Qianyuan: "My Majesty, Gu Pei is insane, arrogant and domineering. He has reached a heinous level. I am not good at learning, and I am incapable of interrogation. Please ask the sage to be arbitrary."

Emperor Qianyuan did not expect that Gu Pei would be so stubborn in the face of irrefutable evidence.

He sneered: "What a Gu family, how dare you be so arrogant and domineering in front of me on my golden palace, and don't take me seriously as the emperor at all. I don't know, how long ago, the surname was Gu? The Gu family has already surpassed everyone, and the Gu family can decide life and death at will? In time, will my Golden Palace be replaced by someone?"

When these words came out, Gu Fei's scalp exploded immediately, and he fell to his knees and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, Gu Pei lost his mind because of the death of his only son. Madness, otherwise, how dare he speak like this in front of the Holy Majesty?

I, the Gu family, have always been loyal to the court and the emperor, without any second thoughts, and I ask the Holy One to observe clearly. "

When Gu Fei finished speaking, Gu Pei burst out laughing: "Madness, you actually said I was insane? Your mother was insane. Otherwise, why would your mother be locked up and my mother be corrected? What about the room? It’s so funny, you, the son of a lunatic, dare to say that I’m crazy, hahaha, it’s so funny.”

Gu Fei heard the words as if struck by lightning, and said angrily: "Second brother, don't talk nonsense, my mother died of illness when I was five years old, how can you involve a deceased person?"

Gu Pei raised his head and laughed like crazy: "You are an idiot, my brother, you are so pitiful, you are an idiot, that's all a lie my father made up to get my mother to be in power, and your mother was locked up in the backyard of the Gu family Here, only you, a fool, would foolishly think that your mother is dead."

At this moment, even Emperor Qianyuan was confused by Gu Pei, because it seemed that Gu Pei's situation could no longer be explained by arrogance.He seemed really crazy.

At this time, the little eunuch outside said: "Report to the emperor, Gu Xun is asking to see you."

Emperor Qianyuan was stunned when he heard the words, Gu Xun, the director of the imperial hospital, was also from the Gu family, and he was the uncle of Gu Pei and Gu Fei.Yin waved: "Send him into the palace."

Gu Xun entered the Golden Luan Hall, kowtowed to plead guilty: "My minister is guilty, please punish the emperor."

Emperor Qianyuan's eyes were full of gloom: "What's your crime, play it quickly!" If the Gu family really had a lunatic, what would his two beloved children do?

Gu Xunyan said: "Weichen also only discovered a few days ago that Weichen's nephew Gu Pei has intermittent madness. He was very smart since he was a child, but he was a little paranoid and arbitrary. At that time, because he was smart and successful in school, everyone I didn't pay attention to it either, I just thought he was a promising young man, proud and arrogant. This time when the Huguang incident came out, I was a little suspicious, so I didn't avoid being disgusted, and went to the Ministry of Punishment to have a pulse with him, and I found that he was indeed insane. "Emperor Qianyuan frowned: "Then what he just said is crazy? Who is the lunatic he said was locked up? Could it be that your family, Gu's family, really took a concubine as his wife?"

Gu Xun was busy arguing: "There is absolutely no such thing, the emperor is aware of it. The eldest lady of the house did die young."

Emperor Qianyuan was impatient: "Since the eldest lady has passed away, who is the woman locked up in your backyard?"

Gu Xun said: "It turns out that someone was involved. This person is not Gu Fei's biological mother, but Gu Pei's biological mother."

Gu Pei's eyes turned red when he heard the words: "You are talking nonsense, my mother is clearly at home, why is my mother locked up? Don't talk nonsense, I always remember my mother's appearance, she has never changed."

Gu Xun said: "In your eyes, of course your mother hasn't changed, because your mother died when her father went out and was robbed by bandits accidentally when you were under the age of [-]. Her mother died of illness because of this, The remaining twin sisters are Gu Pei's mother and the mother of Concubine Shu in the palace."

Emperor Qianyuan frowned and asked: "Twin sisters? How do you say that?"

Gong Xun said: "After Gu Fei's mother was stimulated after giving birth to him, she often had accidents. She couldn't believe that her parents were dead all day long. From the beginning, she cried all day, and then she cursed and hurt herself. Throwing into the well. Later, it developed to the point where he didn’t recognize his husband and children. As a last resort, when Gu Pei was three years old, the elder brother married the sister-in-law’s helpless twin sister again as the continuation. The two wives are twins, and they look very similar , Gu Pei was still young at that time, so he soon regarded his aunt as his mother."

Emperor Qianyuan frowned more and more: "So, Gu Pei's mother and Concubine Shu's mother are direct sisters?"

Gu Xun's scalp tingled, but he didn't dare to lie: "Exactly, not only that, my sister-in-law's mother is my official aunt, and my uncle is my uncle. Our Gu family, Du family, Mu family Generations are married, and the relatives of the ancestors are even more complicated. If there is no genealogy record, it is really unclear."

Marriage from generation to generation is an alliance of aristocratic families to protect their own family interests.

The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty heard these words speciously, but Emperor Qianyuan was terrified when he heard them.As an emperor, he often had contact with foreign missionaries and heard many rumors about the consequences of marriages between close relatives.For example, if aunts and cousins ​​get closer, the children they give birth to will either be weak or stupid like pigs.

Emperor Qianyuan couldn't help checking the numbers with the knowledge in the books, and carefully pondered whether his two sons were also infected with the Gu family's madness, but found that the seventh and eighth princes, apart from their weaker bodies, were really top-notch in terms of intelligence and appearance.

However, looking at Gu Pei again, Gu Pei is also thin, and the rest of the family is top-notch.Of course, he is also very tempered and paranoid.

Emperor Qianyuan was entangled immediately, the temperament of the seventh and eighth princes was not only paranoid, they were simply indistinguishable overlords.No one cares about these shortcomings because of their status as princes.

Now being told by Gu Xun, Emperor Qianyuan was very resentful.

He had great expectations for the Seventh Prince.

Thinking of this, Emperor Qianyuan's hatred for Gu's family increased even more. Would he dare to send a sick woman to the palace?

There are also those institutions responsible for the selection of beautiful women, Emperor Qianyuan immediately hated them.However, he soon realized that he was nobody to hate.Because the Ministry of Households is only responsible for reporting personnel to the emperor, as for who is left behind, canonized, and where they sleep at night, the officials of the Ministry of Households have no control.

It was Emperor Qianyuan's own wish that Concubine Shu was selected at the beginning. Although the Empress Dowager was present, all the people who were selected were decided by Emperor Qianyuan himself.

Emperor Qianyuan became even more indignant because of this.

Emperor Qianyuan showed unprecedented determination to Gu Pei and was determined to punish Gu Pei severely.

He ordered the third division: "Gu Pei's crime of murder and arson is convincing. Immediately depose the inspector, deprive Yunqiwei of the title, depose Jinshi's background, and put him on death row. Three days later, he will be executed at the Meridian Gate!"

Man Dian civil and military can't believe it, they haven't warned again and again,

Do you want His Majesty to give up his private affairs and serve the world for the public?

And Gu Pei just beheaded?

The whole hall was silent for a while.

Five years ago, the son of the magistrate of Yangzhou was jealous of others, and led his servants to fight with others, killing three of them in the confusion.The victim sued the yamen, and the magistrate of Yangzhou bought the procurator and sentenced his son to be exiled for three thousand miles.

The family members of the deceased refused to accept it, and went to Beijing to beat the Dengwen drum. Emperor Qianyuan personally sentenced the prefect's son to abandon the city at the waist, and the prefect himself was dismissed from office and sent to the army for three thousand miles.

Now that Gu Pei was carrying 73 lives, he was only sentenced to beheading?And Gu Fei's crime of covering up his brother, shouldn't he be questioned and dismissed from office?

The officials wanted to investigate, and when they thought of Concubine Shu in the palace, they suddenly fell silent.

After all, before the hundred officials wanted Emperor Qianyuan to make decisions arbitrarily, but now that Emperor Qianyuan has stopped, if all the officials want to entangle, Nanmian will be hated by Emperor Qianyuan.

Although the 23 fishermen felt that Gu Pei deserved a death sentence, none of them dared to question the emperor in the Golden Luan Hall.

Huang Shangshu witnessed Emperor Qianyuan's Zhu Bi hook Gu Pei's life.As the official of the Ministry of Punishment, he knew that this was the best ending the fishermen could strive for.

According to Jia Lian's deployment, there was room for the emperor, and it happened to ask for an order to order the fishermen in An'an to serve in the sea.

Huang Shangshu glanced at Gu Fei, then at Wu Yu, and said nothing more.He bowed and said: "My minister obeys the order!"

The servant of the Ministry of Punishment was ordered to enter the palace to escort Gu Pei.

Wu Yu went out to participate in the memorial again: "The third major crime that the minister participated in during the Qizuo is not referring to the sinner Gu Pei, but Gu Fei, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials and Household Affairs..."

All the civil and military officials understood what was said, they pricked up their ears to listen together, and each gave Wu Yu a thumbs up in their hearts: Wu Yu did a good job!

Gu Fei should be dismissed.

Suddenly, a shrill scream sounded from the Golden Luan Hall: "No, uncle!"

Everyone was terrified, but they saw Gu Pei vomit blood and knelt down at the feet of the Seventh Prince.

Gu Pei swung his sword and killed himself.

At this moment, Gu Pei is still not completely dead, the smug smile on his face has not disappeared, and the lingering sound of his words is still lingering: "Who, also, don't, think, kill..."

It turned out that the yamen servants escorted Gu Pei out of the Jinluan Hall. At that time, the 23 fishermen were retiring after their lawsuit was over, so the scene was a bit chaotic.

The yamen servant made a mistake and didn't pay attention, but Gu Pei took his sword out of the way and killed himself.

When Gu Pei was alive, he could be said to be responsive to the Seventh Prince's brothers, and he was more pampered to the Seventh Prince's brother than Emperor Qianyuan.

He picked up the sword and stabbed at the yamen servant: "You damn thing, you can't even hold a weapon, what are you doing as a guard?"

The yamen servant was frightened because of Gu Pei's sudden suicide, and he didn't know how to dodge. Seeing that the sword of the Seven Emperors was about to be pierced into the yamen servant's chest, when the other princes saw that they were about to bleed, they ran away in fright, especially the fourth prince. He was afraid of seeing blood and vomited.

The eldest prince was the furthest away, seeing that rescue was too late, he threw the jade fluorene in his hand at the seventh prince's wrist while running.The Seventh Prince's wrist was smashed, and the speed of advancing was slightly stagnated. At this time, the First Prince had arrived, and he kicked the sword in the Seventh Prince's hand with flying legs, and then slapped the Seventh Prince's face, cursing: "You are crazy, Wake up quickly."

The Seventh Prince was subdued by the First Prince, but he struggled with all his might, punching and kicking.In order to escape, he even wanted to poke the eldest prince's eyes.

As a last resort, the eldest prince had no choice but to cut his arm backwards: "Father, why are you crazy? Hurry up and plead guilty to Father, saying that you were confused for a moment, and you didn't intend to yell at the court."

The Seventh Prince was just awake at this time, he had inherited the excellent blood of the Gu family and Emperor Qianyuan, he quickly calmed down, and kowtowed: "Father, my son was convicted, my son was frightened and lost his head. "

Emperor Qianyuan turned his face away and waved his hands: "Forget it, you go back and rest, think about it carefully, is your surname Gu or Shui?"

The seventh prince kowtowed three times after hearing the words: "Thank you, Father!"

After he got up, he looked again at Gu Pei who was already dead and covered in white cloth, and then at Wu Yu who was still standing in the center of the hall, the hatred in his eyes was undisguised.

The civil and military officials above the main hall knew in their hearts that the Seventh Prince hated Wu Yu.

When the Seventh Prince turned around, he suddenly fell on his back to the sky.

After all, he was only a 15-year-old child, and his uncle committed suicide in front of him, which had a great impact on him.

The eldest prince was beside him, reaching out to catch the seventh prince.

Emperor Qianyuan was taken aback: "Gu Xun, show him quickly!"

After Gu Xun asked for his pulse, he didn't dare to exaggerate his condition. How many people in Tai Hospital were waiting for him to take over?

He replied truthfully: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince was just frightened and was furious, and the blood didn't return to his heart, so he passed away. I will prescribe a soothing soup for him, and he will be fine after a night of sleep."

Emperor Qianyuan was a little relieved when he heard the words: "Come here, send the Seventh Prince back, and the Imperial Hospital will send an imperial physician to treat him, so that he can take care of him."

At this time, Emperor Qianyuan had no intention of asking questions, and he was very tired.

He waved his hand and said: "I am not feeling well, all the ministers and workers, retreat from the court!"

All the officials sang this and retreated.Everyone felt awe-inspiring, the Gu family was really ruthless, they were ruthless to others, and they were also ruthless to themselves.It has to be said that the timing of Gu Pei's suicide was well chosen. If he refused to die, Gu Fei's position as a minister would be lost immediately.

What was waiting for Gu Fei was to exit in embarrassment.

Now that Gu Pei died, the Seventh Prince fainted, Wu Yu's performance was interrupted, Emperor Qianyuan was in poor health, and a series of incidents happened, the situation was very different.

Gu Fei's official position was temporarily preserved.At the very least, he retained the last bit of decency, and would not pull off his official robe in embarrassment in front of all the officials and drive him out of the court.

Who knows what changes will happen to the court scene when Emperor Qianyuan's illness is raised again?

Jia Lian watched Gu Pei's body being carried down, and Huang Shangshu briefly described the process.Jia Lian knew that Gu Pei's tragic death saved the Gu family.

At least, the Gu family had a chance to survive, and they could calmly arrange their way out.

Jia Lian felt that he had not failed either.

In today's court, the Seventh Prince's paranoid and selfish character was fully exposed, but the Eldest Prince's performance was remarkable.He saved the life of the yamen servant, not necessarily because he saved the Seventh Prince.

The third prince escaped, the fourth prince vomited, and the only normal fifth prince was at a loss and did not take any remedial measures.

Therefore, in the eyes of civil and military officials today, the eldest prince not only showed his wit, but also showed his kind nature.Not to mention winning a complete victory, at least, from now on, when all the officials mention the eldest prince, they will no longer despise him from being born as a palace maid, who is a petty person, so it is difficult to become a great weapon. ? ?Instead, he recalled his calmness in the face of danger today, his calm and wit, and his love for his younger brother as an elder brother.

The great shortcoming of the eldest prince not having the support of his family is not that important anymore.Without a descendant, you will rely more on the assistance of the officials.

Turning around, he said that Emperor Qianyuan was really uncomfortable, and he lay down after returning to the palace.Although there was no severe fever, there was abnormal pain in the waist and abdomen, and it was almost difficult to sit or stand.

Emperor Qianyuan wanted to hide it, but the imperial hospital did not dare to hide it. Soon the empress dowager found out and hurried to Qianqing Palace.Just in time to see Emperor Qianyuan lying on the dragon couch with a pale face and listless spirit.

The empress dowager turned pale with fright, and was busy asking about Emperor Qianyuan's illness.

The imperial doctor knelt down and pleaded guilty: "The dragon body of the Holy Majesty was murdered by the second anti-king and fell off the cliff last time. The injury at the waist has not healed. After a while, after the treatment by the ministers, it has improved a lot. I don't know why it suddenly deteriorated today. Please, Empress Dowager, pay attention."

The empress dowager immediately remembered that today is the day of the court meeting, and after comforting Emperor Qianyuan to sleep, the empress dowager immediately summoned Defu, the eunuch who served Emperor Qianyuan to go to the court, to ask: "Tell me everything that happened in your official family today. Wu Shishi told Bengong that if he dares to speak nonsense and deceive Bengong, he will be shot to death with a stick!"

Qin Defu didn't dare to lie, so he could only tell how Wu Yu participated in the Gu family, how the emperor interrogated him, how Gu Pei killed himself in the end, the seventh prince went crazy, the eldest prince rescued others, and then Emperor Qianyuan fell ill, and so on.

The empress dowager nodded slightly when she heard the witty performance of the eldest prince. The mother of the eldest prince was a little maid in the imperial garden. She was favored once in a while, and died of illness shortly after giving birth to the eldest prince.Although the eldest prince was raised in the prince's residence, the empress dowager took great care of him all the time. She did not let the eldest prince live in Ningshou Palace just because she was afraid of adopting the eldest prince and causing unnecessary disputes and bringing disaster to the eldest prince.

Unexpectedly, this child became more and more promising.

The empress dowager was very pleased.

Suddenly, the empress dowager grasped the cause of Emperor Qianyuan's illness; "Defu, tell me again, what happened to Gu Pei from the Gu family?"

Telford immediately broke out in sweat. In fact, when he was narrating, he tried to simplify Gu Pei's matter as much as possible, just to prevent it from getting out of his mouth.Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager was so shrewd that she instantly grasped the key to the problem.

Defu had no choice but to say: "The servants are not very clear. The doctor Gu reported that the reason why Gu Pei became violent was not his intention, but that he was suffering from madness, but it was not the kind of complete madness. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad, when it’s good, it’s a normal person, but once it gets sick, it can’t control itself and do some horrible things.”