Chronicle of Emperor Jing

Jing Li stood alone outside the hall, not looking at the last scene of the woman.

The waning moon hanging in mid-air covered everything on the ground with a layer of pale white, just like his mood at this time.The powerful ministers have been eliminated, the overall situation has been settled, and the queen has also received her due end. He can finally use this method to comfort the spirits of Yu'er and Concubine Shu, but at this moment, he does not feel any satisfaction.

"...I will never reciprocate your love for the rest of my life." The queen's vicious cursing words are still in my ears.

Does this woman, even if she is about to die, have a thorn in his heart?

Over the years, he has been telling himself that Wei Yan loves him, and trying to convince himself of this, but what about the truth?

Jing Li stood for a long while, and finally sneered sarcastically.

So what if Wei Yan really never reciprocated his feelings?Now, does he really care about such boring things as feelings?As long as Wei Yan stays by his side forever, that's enough.

Anyway, as long as he doesn't let go, Wei Yan will definitely not dare to leave him on his own.

Anyway, he started thinking about Wei Yan, not because Wei Yan fell in love with him.

Anyway, he became more and more reluctant to let go of Wei Yan later, not because... well, he tried to recall, maybe Wei Yan loved him, otherwise Wei Yan would not hide when he should go, Foolishly leaned over to try to comfort him.

Thinking of this, he felt a little better.

However, if other people have troubles, such as Wei Yan's "Brother Yuan Heng" has troubles, with Wei Yan's temperament, I'm afraid they won't avoid them, and they will still try their best to get together to help.

At that time, Wei Yan took the "Yanshan Listening to the Waves Map" he rewarded as a favor, and tried his best to help Qi Yuanheng in this matter, and he always kept it firmly in mind.

Thinking of this, Jing Li's mood became gloomy again.

"Your Majesty, the empress is dying." Fuji came out to report to the emperor after dealing with the matters in the palace.

He found that the emperor's face was ugly at this time.I don't know if the emperor was offended by the empress calling him by his first name, or if he was stabbed in the sore spot by the empress' last words, his whole body exuded a gloomy aura.

"The decree goes on, the empress died of illness, a grand funeral, a big funeral, the whole country mourns, a year of ban on music, and a ban on marriage for half a year for those who have nobles." Jing Li quickly recovered from the unreasonable emotions just now, Calmly ordered to go on.

Now that he had achieved his goal, he did not hesitate to give the queen the last honor.

Then, countless grievances and secrets were buried with the grand burial of Queen Xie.

In the middle of June, the Wei family, which had disappeared from the court hall for four years and had long been forgotten by everyone, suddenly made a sound.Old Marquis Wei, who had already retired at home in the past seventy years, wrote to the emperor, claiming that the Ministry of Criminal Justice was suspected of listening to lies, collecting evidence indiscriminately, and being tortured into a trick, and demanded a retrial of the case of his youngest son Wei Yan being exiled.

For the Wei family's accusation, the Ministry of Criminal Justice couldn't laugh or cry.Although the head of the Sanju Department had been removed long ago, and the officials of the Ministry of Punishment had also been transferred to recruit countless new people during the emperor's several major changes, there were still old people who knew about this matter.

Back then, Hou Weiyan of Yongning was never interrogated in court at all, so how could he say that torture was a trick.Besides, the final crime, under the intervention of the palace, has directly changed from a heinous felony to a misdemeanor that will be pardoned every time the world is amnesty. What else does the Wei family want?

However, because of this case, the head of the Sanfa Department who was in charge at the time is not in a good situation now, so the new minister of the Ministry of Punishments, who has only been in office for two years, dare not take the order of "retrial by the Ministry of Punishment" lightly and convened a All the subordinate officials discussed repeatedly in the yamen, trying to figure out how to proceed with the trial in order to satisfy His Majesty the Emperor.

It's not that Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice must try to please the emperor, but that the lessons learned from his inability to figure out what he wants to do is already in front of him, which really forces him to take this case seriously.

However, within a few days, the thoughts of Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice were distracted by the "remnants of King You" captured in Jingzhou.After several years of fruitless searches, the officers and soldiers sent by the Jingzhou State Army and the Criminal Ministry finally captured the remnants of King You and his supporters hiding in the deep mountains like a god, and escorted them to Beijing.

Compared with this case, Wei Yan's case is simply not worth mentioning.

Compared with the excitement of the officials, Jing Li was not surprised and joyful when he heard the report from the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, as if he had received the news long ago.

Because of the delay in this matter, the Ministry of Criminal Justice wanted to deport Wei Yan back to Beijing for a retrial. By the time he arrived in Jiangnan, it was already early August.

In the past few years, under several amnesties, Wei Yan has been detained in a small county in the south of the Yangtze River. All his life revolves around that small county, and he is not allowed to move at will. In the past few years, apart from the fact that his parents were too old to go to Jiangnan to visit him, and could only communicate with each other to convey their missing, his elder brothers and Meng Jiu and others had already visited him.

With Zhao Shi and others taking care of him in life, everything was fine, but at the beginning, life was a bit monotonous, until two years ago, after Qi Yuanheng and his wife returned to live in his hometown in Jiangnan, he often came to visit him, and then things got better.

Qi Yuanheng is currently planning a memoir on water conservancy, farming and mulberry. Wei Yan often accompanies Qi Yuanheng for a stroll around, traveling all over the Siye Township with a radius of hundreds of miles, and coming into contact with a world that he has never touched in the first half of his life.

From the capital city to Youzhou and then from Youzhou to Jiangnan, he learned a little bit about the world at a glance along the way. He thought that those thick calluses on the soles of his feet were all the suffering, but now he is with the villager in the countryside. Only when we eat and live together can we truly feel their hardships and hopes, and gradually come up with the idea of ​​doing something for them in the future.

Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder, when His Majesty the Emperor made fun of him for "enjoying the riches and honors of the world, but not knowing the sufferings of the people" and asking him to learn more about people's livelihood, did he ever think that one day he would use such a method to make fun of him? , come into contact with the misery of the world?

Every time he thinks of the emperor, he can't help touching that piece of jade.After many years of touching, the patterns on the surface of Nuanyu are somewhat blurred.

The greater the distance, the clearer the emperor's appearance.His cold appearance, his warm appearance, his deliberately bad manners, and the emperor's appearance like an old mother, staring at him for doing this and that, are all vivid in my memory.Occasionally, when dreaming back at midnight, Wei Yan couldn't help but miss the warm touch of the human body, especially in winter, this feeling is even worse.

Jiangnan is thousands of miles away from the capital, and when the Xie family's treason case spread to this small county, the dust had already settled.Even so, Wei Yan broke into a cold sweat for the emperor when he thought of the poisonous killing that must have been extremely dangerous at that time, and his desire to see him became even stronger for a while.

On that day, the official of the county government came to inform him that his case was going to be re-tried by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and asked him to pack his luggage and leave for Beijing on another day. Qi Yuanheng.

The officials in the small county are all from the village, and they didn't make much fanfare, but just came to tell him in private.

"It's been these years, you've been exiled, and you've suffered a lot. Why did your emperor reopen this case?" Qi Yuanheng couldn't understand why the emperor ordered the Ministry of Criminal Justice to retry this case.Of course, the title of "your emperor" is just his catchphrase and has no other meaning.

"Your Majesty probably wants to rehabilitate me, so let me get rid of the charges first." Wei Yan, who is in the officialdom, understands the reasons for this better.

Wei Yan's current situation is that the punishment has been pardoned and the charge is still there. It is not impossible for the emperor to prosecute him, but if this charge still exists, people will often find it out in the future and use it as a pretext for attacking. It couldn't be better.

"Back then, he couldn't help you get rid of the crime, so now there is a way?" Qi Yuanheng was very clear about the cause and effect of Wei Yan's innocent wronged case when they met later in private.

After Qi Yuanheng said such a sentence, he thought about it carefully later, but he didn't say any more.

In the past few years, he has received many letters from friends in Beijing, talking about the situation in Beijing, and he knows that His Majesty the Emperor is no longer the young emperor who was restrained by various forces.Now the Empress Dowager hides in the harem, eats vegetarian food, recites Buddha, and no longer interferes with political affairs. He has uprooted the Xie family of the later family, and he has also used various means to organize and sort out other forces in the court.

The current emperor, His Majesty, is already in control of the real power and reigns over the world. As long as he continues to instruct, there will naturally be countless officials who will follow his will and come up with solutions for him.Even without his permission, the officials below will probably figure out his thoughts and help him with this errand.

"Since it was my father who requested a retrial, there must be a solution." Regarding this point, Wei Yan firmly believed and was not worried at all.The old man of his family would not write a letter asking for a retrial out of nowhere, it was naturally ordered by the emperor.Since it was ordered by the emperor, how could there be no way?

"No matter what, it is impossible to punish you twice with the same crime." Qi Yuanheng no longer entangled with this point, but told Wei Yan earnestly, "When you return to your emperor's side in the future, you should be more careful in doing things. Your emperor is no longer His Majesty the Emperor."

"Brother Qi, don't worry, I know it in my heart." Wei Yan promised very straightforwardly, but as for whether he really took it to heart, only God knows, and no one else knows.

After Wei Yan bid farewell to his neighbors and fellow villagers, when he packed up everything and went north along the river with Zhao Shi and others, there was a little life in the palace struggling to come to the world.

Ziyan was in pain for a whole day and night, but the baby still couldn't be born.

"Your Majesty, should we protect the child or protect the adult?" The imperial physicians and women tried every means, and if they dragged on, they would end up with two dead bodies. The imperial physician in charge had no choice but to come out in fear to ask the emperor's will .

If the woman inside said that she is favored, she has no status so far, and only lives in a small courtyard in the deep palace. If she is not favored, it is not necessarily the case. Since the eldest son of the emperor, the emperor has added so many The prince and princess, even when the queen was giving birth, he never appeared outside the delivery room again, but appearing here tonight is enough to explain everything.

However, the imperial physicians couldn't figure out whether adults or children were more important in the emperor's heart, so they could only bite the bullet and ask for the holy will.

Child or adult?

Jing Li obviously didn't think about this question. After a long time, he finally said, "My lord."

The palace is such a cold and cruel place, it may not be a bad thing for this child to miss the royal family.

The yard is small, and the sounds in the delivery room can be heard outside, and the outside sounds can also be heard inside.Zi Yan, who was already weak and unable to scream, suddenly gained strength when he heard the two words uttered by the emperor in a trance.

"Baby, Your Majesty, you promised, you are the Son of Heaven, you must not break your promise."

Both inside and outside fell silent, only the woman's crying and calling to protect the child floated in the night, which moved the listeners.

"Child." Jing Li finally turned his head away, ordered in a low voice, and fulfilled the wish of the woman inside.

When the sixth son of the emperor was born, it was the darkest night, Jing Li stood by the window, looking at the darkness outside, he didn't even look at the child who was carried out by the maid, but just ordered the next thing in a cold voice.

The emperor's sixth son, Jing Ke, and his mother, Xue Meiren, were recorded on the birth jade plate of the emperor's sixth son, and it was also the description of Emperor Xuan's mother and concubine later in the history of Jing, but there is only one surname in the records of this empress and concubine of Emperor Lie. , and other things are all vague, so that in the future, there will be countless absurd rumors about the origin of the sixth prince.

"Queen Mother, a prince was born last night, and my lord did not keep it."

Early the next morning, the Empress Dowager woke up, and while she washed and washed, she listened to someone report the news she had inquired last night.

"It's fine if you die." The queen mother was not surprised by the death of her son and mother.

The woman's identity is too sensitive. If she is not dead, the emperor will have to decide whether to kill or not. It has been difficult for a while. Now that she is dead, the emperor will not have to worry about it. Moreover, the woman is alive. The prince is not a good thing either.

If the direct prince grows up and knows what happened today, the father and son's estrangement and the brothers turning against each other will definitely not be able to escape.Maybe nothing will happen when the emperor is alive. After a hundred years of the emperor, the first prince will succeed to the throne, and the life of the sixth prince will probably be very difficult.It's better to die now, it's a good thing for the emperor and the sixth prince.

"My maidservant heard that the Ministry of Criminal Justice is going to retry the case of Marquis Yongning, and Marquis Yongning will probably return to Beijing soon." While combing the Empress Dowager's hair, the female officer talked about another matter.

"Even if the Marquis of Yongning comes back, so what? The emperor is no longer the emperor of the past! From then on, even the Marquis of Yongning has to be cautious and walk on thin ice." Regarding this news, the Queen Mother also did not feel much worry.

Today is different from the past, after several years of tempering, the emperor has become a real emperor.

Over the years, the emperor has endured in every possible way, planned in every possible way, painstakingly achieved, worked hard, exhausted his thoughts and means, and honed his heart so hard that he truly held the power in his own hands. How could the emperor still be like before? Allow others to touch his authority once?

From then on, no matter Wei Yan or the Wei family, they must abide by their duties as ministers.Otherwise, the emperor will clean up by himself without being reminded.