There was silence in the court hall, and you could hear a needle drop. Seeing that all the civil and military officials lowered their heads and did not dare to raise their heads, or even dared to take a breath, the Queen Mother sneered in her heart, and then she said lightly——
"Dear ministers, what else do you have to report?"
"The Empress Dowager is here to tell you that if you have any affairs, please report them to me——"
The ministers quietly raised their heads and squinted their eyes to look hard, and saw Zhang Shouguang, the imperial censor, coming out of the queue.
"Master Zhang, please speak——"
"I obey the decree——" Zhang Shouguang paused for a moment, cleared his throat and said loudly: "Yesterday, more than a hundred people knelt outside the censor's platform, requesting to see the Queen Mother."
"What? Why wasn't such a big event reported earlier? Where are these people now?"
"These people and ministers have been settled and are now waiting in the official office."
"Who are these people?"
"These...these are the family members of the twenty-four officials who died at the hands of the rebels."
"Huh? Why do they want to see the Ai family?"
"They...they..."
Zhang Shouguang was a little hesitant, but the Queen Mother did not have such a good temper. She shouted——
"explain!"
"Yes! They want to ask the Queen Mother to make the decision for them."
The Queen Mother frowned slightly and said: "What is the decision? Why? The imperial court has not only killed and arrested the rebels, but also given them money as compensation. Do they still have any dissatisfaction?"
"When we got back to the Queen Mother, they said, if the Queen Mother can make the decision for them, why not take the money?"
"Is there any injustice left? Tell me."
"These twenty-four officials and their families jointly requested the Queen Mother to execute Wen Junchen! To comfort the souls of the deceased in heaven!"
"No!" Yingping almost jumped up from the throne when he heard the words 'execute Wen Junchen'. He pointed at Zhang Shouguang and shouted: "Let them go! The rebels kill innocent people indiscriminately! With the teacher... with Wen What do you and your ministers do!?"
"Your Majesty!" The Queen Mother's stern voice came from behind.
"Queen Mother - these people must have been ordered to do this -" Yingping hurriedly defended his master. He was extremely anxious. At this time, he had no power in his hands, and his master's life was no longer in his hands.
"Please return to your throne, Your Majesty. The Ai family will make their own decision." Before Yingping could finish his words, the Queen Mother's irresistible voice came again.
Yingping was about to say something else, but it was obvious that the Queen Mother was staring ahead, not even looking at him. He knew that it would be in vain to continue like this. He reluctantly returned to his seat, staring at Zhang Shouguang with anger in his eyes.
"Fellow ministers, do you have any suggestions?"
"I am going to report to the Queen Mother. The old minister has something to say, and I don't know whether to say it or not." Sun Guoqi came out and said.
"Master Sun, it's okay to say -"
"Before I say this, I would like to ask the Queen Mother to forgive my sin of 'disrespect'"
"How come the Aijia doesn't understand the simple principle of 'loyalty is harsh to the ears'? Master Sun, tell me, it's your fault that the Aijia doesn't punish you."
"I would like to thank the Queen Mother!"
Sun Guoqi was very charming, and his bent head was almost at the same level as his knees. It seemed that his old bones were still very hard. Then, he continued: "Master Zhang said that the family members of those officials requested the Queen Mother to execute Wen Junchen. I thought that if she did not agree to this request, the Queen Mother would be unethical——"
"What?"
"Is Mr. Sun crazy?"
"What's wrong with the Queen Mother?"
There were whispers below. Hearing that Sun Guoqi was so bold and dared to accuse the Queen Mother in front of all the civil and military officials, I couldn't help but feel a cold sweat for the old man.
"Your Majesty, it's the father's fault if the son doesn't teach. Your Majesty mistakenly believed people's words and caused this disaster. Although Your Majesty has agreed to issue the "Edict of Guinji", it was an act of self-examination by Your Majesty. As the mother of Your Majesty, the Queen Mother should not When the Holy One makes a mistake, should the Queen Mother be punished accordingly? If the Queen Mother is unwilling to punish, people in the world will say that the Queen Mother feels sorry for the Holy One and covers up his sins. In this case, doesn’t the Queen Mother lose her virtue?"
It was originally an attack on Wen Junchen, but now it suddenly turned into an accusation against the Queen Mother? Everyone in the court was shocked, thinking that Mr. Sun is so brave. Even if you are Wang Shangshu's best friend, how dare you say such things about the Queen Mother in the main hall?
There was still no sound coming from the bead curtain, and the hall was almost suffocated. The people in the hall could not clearly see the woman's face and expression. She might be suppressing her anger and looking down at Sun Guoqi, or she might be thinking about the impact of this incident on herself, but no matter what she was thinking about, She didn't show anything at all, she just uttered one word——
"speak--"
"Prince Si of the pre-Qin Dynasty once made a mistake that caused chaos in the big family. The ancients said: 'If the law cannot be enforced, you must commit the crime yourself.' Martingale will deal with the prince according to the law, but who is the prince? The prince is the heir of tomorrow's king, so he cannot impose punishment, so he Punishing the prince Fu Gongzi Qian. Now the same principle applies when the king makes a mistake. The king, the respecter of the country, cannot impose punishment. Instead, he can punish the emperor, teachers, ministers and ministers. This can show the empress dowager's attitude of strictly disciplining the saints. Later, he can order Wen Junchen was punished on behalf of the Holy One in order to appease the anger of the twenty-four officials and their families. Therefore, I beg the Queen Mother to issue an edict to execute Wen Junchen!"
Yingping clenched his fists and trembled all over. If he hadn't still had some sense at this moment, he might have rushed over and beaten the old man severely.
After a long time, a soft sigh suddenly floated out from the bead curtain, as if they were about to face something helpless. Yingping was startled, and an unknown feeling spread into his heart.
"So, the Ai family still has to execute Wen Junchen?"
"The Queen Mother must execute Wen Junchen—"
The Queen Mother punished the Emperor as a mother, and the Emperor's teacher accepted the punishment on the Emperor's behalf, hum! This Sun Guoqi is quite interesting. No wonder when they were discussing how to execute Wen Junchen a few days ago, the old man Sun would pat his chest and say that the matter would be left to him. Now it seems that he is indeed right.
Wang Yanqing lowered his head and couldn't help but sneered in his heart, but there was no expression on his face, as if everything today had nothing to do with him.
“My ministers—what objections do you have?”
There was silence for a while in the hall, and then there was movement immediately. Cao Ansheng took a step from the queue, bowed and said: "Wei Chen seconded the proposal——"
Then, a second person stood up and said the same: "Wei Chen seconded the proposal——"
"I have no objections—"
"I second the proposal——"
For a time, Wen Junchen seemed to be the bearer of all the crimes. Even if he was struck by thunder from the sky, everyone wanted to kill him quickly.
"General Chang——" The Queen Mother turned the topic to Chang Zhishan, who had been silent, and said, "What do you think?"
Chang Zhishan's body moved slightly, and he who was slightly bent over like a little old man suddenly straightened up and stared straight at Yingping, his eyes burning like a torch, without the slightest humility that a minister and a monarch should have. He did not answer the Queen Mother directly, but still stood in the hall looking at Yingping and his big, dim eyes at the moment.
Time seems to have passed for a long time. I'm afraid that if it goes any longer, it will make people feel that this is a kind of neglect. For someone of the Queen Mother's status, if she hesitates to answer her questions, you can even call it 'disrespectful'. 'The crime is placed on the person being questioned.
There was a strange feeling in the main hall. Chang Zhishan completely ignored the Queen Mother's questions and only focused her eyes on the Holy One. The Queen Mother was not dissatisfied with this kind of 'ignorance'. Instead, she looked at Chang Zhishan with interest, as if thinking Let's see how Chang Zhishan will react in the face of this situation.
Yingping felt Chang Zhishan's gaze, and he turned his gaze to Chang Zhishan. Their eyes met, and at this moment, Chang Zhishan's eyes, which had been really fiery just now, became calm and soft at this moment.
"Back to the Queen Mother, the general has no objections -" Chang Zhishan slowly looked away, his tone was terrifyingly calm, as if the sky was falling.
The people in the hall seemed to heave a sigh of relief, but I don't know if it was because Chang Zhishan finally answered, or because of his 'no objection'.
"The general will have no objections—" Gongsun Cuo said, his fat body trembling.
Wang Yanqing saw that both Chang Zhishan and Gongsun Cuo had expressed their opinions. At this time, he said unhurriedly: "I second the proposal——"
Three of the four ministers who took care of life had already agreed, so there was no need for Yin Jingting to say anything more. He sat on the chair with his eyes closed, completely ignoring the noise around him, fearing that he would fall asleep the next moment.
When the Queen Mother saw her brother speaking, she no longer waited and said, "As Mr. Sun said, the Ai family has also been thinking about this issue these days. As the mother of a country, if the Holy One does not strictly discipline and punish the emperor when he makes a mistake, Then how can the Aijia live up to the trust of the late emperor? But the Holy One is a person of great dignity and a body of ten thousand gold, so how can he be punished like the common people? Mr. Sun’s words really speak to the hearts of the Aijia. As a mother, the Aijia must Punishing the Holy One, Wen Junchen is the emperor’s teacher, and this matter happened because of him, so he deserves to be punished on behalf of the Holy One. Minister of the Ministry of Punishment——"
"The minister is here!" I saw Liu Zhiqing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, who was standing next to Wang Yanqing, coming out of the queue and respectfully waiting for the decree.
"I order you to take Wen Junchen down, put him in prison, and behead him in three days!"
"I obey the decree——"
Yingping felt as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue, and his whole body was extremely stiff. How could he not see it at this moment? How can this be done for the officials and their families? What kind of mother disciplines her son? This is plain murder! Everyone wants their master to die! Because as long as their master is still alive, they are afraid that one day the new law will come back! Yingping felt filled with regret. He recalled that his master once told him that if he wanted to serve as an official in the court, he should be a critic. Even if he had to face the thundering wrath of the emperor and the hostility of other officials, he just wanted to have a clear conscience. . But what about now? This one is a critic, and this one is obviously a judge! The price of quelling the world's anger with one's own life, bearing the malice of hundreds of officials, and dedicating one's life to the new law is really too high!
Yingping's clenched fists gradually loosened, and now he had no choice. Now he can't control hundreds of officials or the Queen Mother, and I'm afraid he won't be able to control even Gongsun Cuo and Cui Ren in the future.
Puppet - a real puppet! I, Yingping... am just a puppet whose hands and feet are tied with strings. How sad!
