An Qing sighed: "Husband, can you plead with the emperor on behalf of my fourth brother?"
Han Du's eyes widened and he looked at An Qing with a strange expression on his face: "What did you say? You want me to intercede for him?"
An Qing nodded.
"Why?" Han Du's face darkened and he asked in a serious tone.
"After all, he is my fourth brother, and he also took good care of me when I was young..."
Han Du couldn't answer the call, but it was absolutely impossible to plead for Zhu Di. "This is a serious crime of treason. The Emperor will naturally make the final decision on this matter. We'd better not get involved."
After An Qing heard this, he couldn't say anything else, but the melancholy between his brows could not be resolved.
...
The imperial court defeated King Yan's million-strong army in a single battle, and the Fire Dragon Cannon became famous throughout the world!
As the news spread, the vassal kings who were originally sick, injured, and unable to move forward in the face of King Qin's edict now became lively and energetic in an instant, leading the palace guards straight to the capital without stopping.
The vassal kings in the north were more direct, knowing that it was too far away from the capital and there was no advantage in coming to the capital. They actually led troops directly to attack the six areas occupied by Zhu Di, and recovered all six areas in a short time.
None of the civil servants and those who took the opportunity to defect to King Yan ran away, and were all captured and escorted to the capital.
Zhu Quan even took the opportunity to switch sides and jumped out to claim that he was coerced by Zhu Di. He also called on soldiers and horses to control the princess and the prince who had been settled by Zhu Di, and sent them to the capital together.
...
The turmoil caused by Zhu Di gradually subsided, and Zhu Biao held a court meeting to prepare to discuss Zhu Di's issues.
"Your Majesty! Although King Yan is a prince, he has no idea that the emperor has raised an army to rebel. I believe that the guilty should be punished! Use this as a warning to others!" Huang Endong, the supervisory censor, immediately stood up.
Han Du stood at the front and nodded secretly.
Zhu Biao's reaction was a bit strange. He did not immediately convict Zhu Di, but asked the others again: "Do you all think so?"
Just when Han Du thought the overall situation had been decided, a voice came out from behind: "Your Majesty, I think that although King Yan made a big mistake, but as the saying goes, knowing his mistakes can make a lot of improvements. After all, King Yan is a prince, so I think it is better. Give him a chance to change his ways!"
Han Du turned around blankly, looked behind him with wide eyes, and suddenly saw that it was Jie Jin.
"Your Majesty, I think this is not allowed!"
Han Du immediately stood up to stop him, bowed to Zhu Biao, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the crime of treason is no small mistake. If it is not severely punished, where is the law of the Ming Dynasty? Where is the ancestral precept of the Ming Dynasty?" "
"The law of the Ming Dynasty says that anyone who conspires to commit great treason will be put to death regardless of their leader or subordinate. Please make a clear decision, Your Majesty!" qδ
If a rebel can still punish himself with three glasses of wine and get over with it, then is there any royal law in this world?
Han Du didn't know why Xie Jin spoke for Zhu Di, but he couldn't let him succeed no matter what. At this moment, Han Du felt very regretful that he should not have recommended Jie Jin in the first place. He did not expect that not only had he not helped him once in so many years, but he would be stabbed in the back by him at this time.
Even in the face of the opposition of the Duke of Zhen, Xie Jin didn't panic at all. I saw him asking Han Du: "I remember the Ming Dynasty law very well, but resisting the decree and disobeying it are also a serious crime. Except for the king of Shu and several princes in the capital, no one else led the troops in time to serve the king. .According to Duke Zhen Guo’s wishes, should the emperor be asked to kill all the kings?”
This... Han Du was speechless for a moment. No matter how crazy he is, he will not let Zhu Biao kill all the vassal kings. Not to mention the turmoil caused by this, even if Zhu Biao does it, he will probably leave a bad reputation for killing blood brothers.
And once Zhu Di is really implicated with other vassal kings, maybe not even Zhu Biao can kill him.
"Xie Jin! Don't involve King Yan with other vassal kings."
"Although other vassal kings made mistakes, they did not cause harm to the people and the Ming Dynasty. But Zhu Di raised an army and caused chaos in half the world. Tens of thousands of people suffered, and more than one million casualties were suffered. If such a serious crime is not punished, how can we face these millions? therefore suffer
Suffering people? "
Jie Jin didn't care about this, and said without blinking, "Isn't it a serious crime of treason if the vassal king fails to resist the decree? Since they are all serious crimes, they must be treated equally. If we only talk about the major crime of King Yan and not the vassal king, How can King Yan be convinced? Your Majesty, please take a closer look!"
Han Du was about to speak, but was interrupted by Fang Xiaoru who stood up in advance.
"Your Majesty, I second your proposal!"
Han Du stared at Fang Xiaoru with wide eyes, not expecting that he would support Jie Jin instead of himself.
Suddenly, Han Du saw that both Xie Jin and Fang Xiaoru were pleading for Zhu Di, and a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.
Seeing the two of them working so hard for Zhu Di, I couldn't help but think: "If you knew that if Zhu Di Jing failed, both of you would die in his hands, I wonder if you would still plead for Zhu Di like this!"
"Especially you, Fang Xiaoru, actually interceded for the people who killed your ten clans and made your wife and daughter join the Jiaofangsi!"
"Your Majesty!" Han Du held up his hands and was about to argue.
Zhu Biao suddenly stood up, "This matter is of great importance, we will discuss it later. Retreat from the court!"
Han Du had no choice but to follow the crowd out of Fengtian Hall.
Fang Xiaoru saw Han Du with a gloomy face and took a few steps to catch up.
Seeing Fang Xiaoru coming, Han Du stopped and looked at him with a cold face.
"What did you mean just now? Did you accept money from King Yan? How can you speak for him so hard?"
Faced with the cynicism, Fang Xiaoru smiled nonchalantly: "I don't know if Xie Jin will take it or not, but I will take it!"
Hearing this, Han Du felt a little better, but looked at him even more strangely: "Then why do you want to speak for him? Do you still have friendship with King Yan?"
Fang Xiaoru shook his head: "When I was an official, King Yan had already gone to Peiping to join the vassal state. I haven't even met him a few times. How can we have any friendship?"
This made Han Du wonder, "Since we don't have any friendship and we didn't take any money from him, then what did you do just now?"
Fang Xiaoru sighed after hearing this: "Are you really not aware, or are you just pretending not to know?"
"What should I know?" Han Du was even more confused.
Fang Xiaoru did not speak directly, but changed the subject and asked, "What do you think of Jie Jin?"
Jie Jin... Han Du thought for a moment and said, "The article is well written, and he is worthy of his reputation as a talented man. But this person has a great desire for human beings, and he is someone who can climb up by any means."
Fang Xiaoru laughed with satisfaction, "You also said that this is a person who wants to climb up all the time. So why do you think he stood up to plead for King Yan? Doesn't he know that if the emperor is provoked? If he is dissatisfied, will his career be over?"
yes! This was also what caught Han Du off guard the most. He never expected that Jie Jin would intercede for Zhu Di.
What is he planning?
Zhu Di is now a clay Bodhisattva and cannot save himself when crossing the river. What benefits can Jie Jin gain by speaking for him? You might even be rejected by the emperor.
Han Du's eyes bulged and he couldn't help but lost his voice: "Unless..."
"Unless this Jie Jin was deliberately arranged by the emperor." Fang Xiaoru nodded with a smile.
Han Du's expression changed drastically and he looked at Fang Xiaoru blankly. But apart from this possibility, I can't think of anyone else's possibility.
"You mean, the emperor wants to spare Zhu Di? This... what does the emperor think?"
Fang Xiaoru spread his hands and shook his head: "Who knows the emperor's thoughts? I just saw that you insisted on asking the emperor to execute King Yan, and I was afraid that you would offend the emperor, so I came forward to agree with Xie Jin."
Han Du fell silent immediately and lowered his head. I thought a lot in my mind, but I couldn't figure out why Zhu Biao let Zhu Di go. Is it because they were brothers?
Are you kidding me? Since ancient times, there have been many emperors who killed their fathers and killed their brothers in order to compete for the throne. Although Zhu Biao is kind, he is not stupid enough to tolerate such actions as rebellion.
...
Princess Xu
When Prince He heard that King Yan was defeated at Jinling City, he knew that everything was over. Without any resistance, he was quietly sent to the capital by Zhu Quan. After all, these were Wang's sister-in-law and nephew, and Zhu Quan could not embarrass them.
After learning that it was Princess Yan and the Crown Prince of Yan, the officials did not dare to be expert and had to report it to the palace.
But Princess Xu asked to see the Queen.
The official looked at her dumbfounded and thought, "You are a prisoner now. It is outrageous to be tolerant given your noble status. How can you still ask for this and that?"
But Princess Xu insisted on seeing the queen, even at the risk of death. The officials had no choice but to quickly report it to the emperor, who would make a decision.
"She wants to see the queen?" Zhu Biao frowned and wanted to refuse, but then recalled Xu Miaoyun's past.
Zhu Biao felt melancholy as he thought about this man who had timidly offered blessings to him in the Duke of Wei's palace and called him brother, the prince.
"Okay, let her go to see the queen." After giving the order, Zhu Biao also drove to Kunning Palace.
...
Xu Miaoyun came to Kunning Palace with her three sons under the tense supervision of eunuchs on both sides.
Seeing that Zhu Biao was also here, Xu Miaoyun knelt down expressionlessly: "Xu Miaoyun, the sinner, brought his three sons to pay homage to the emperor and the empress."
"Pingshen, get up." Zhu Biao had no intention of embarrassing the four of them.
Xu Miaoyun seemed not to hear it and was still kneeling on the ground.
"The prince has committed a serious crime, and I can't ask the emperor for forgiveness for him. However, people still marry chickens and dogs, and although Miaoyun is a woman, she also understands justice. I have no hope of begging the emperor to forgive the prince. I only ask the emperor to forgive him. For the sake of blood and family ties, please ask the emperor to bury our family together."
Seeing Xu Miaoyun and his three sons kneeling down in obeisance, Zhu Biao looked solemn and said nothing.
Han Jingyun saw it and glanced sideways at Zhu Biao's expression. Then he walked over and helped Xu Miaoyun, "We are all one family, what are you talking about? The ground is cold, get up quickly."
Xu Miaoyun did not insist on kneeling on the ground and saluted generously: "Thank you, Queen."
He also scolded his three sons: "Why don't you thank the Queen quickly?"
The fat Zhu Gaochi had a simple and honest expression on his face, and he quickly took the lead in bowing respectfully: "Thank you, empress."
