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"What's your name? From the looks of it, you seem to be going to the emperor's temporary palace to complain? What are your grievances? Can you tell me?"
During the inquiry, Emperor Deqing's attitude was gentle and his expression was friendly, which was very different from his usual majestic appearance.
On the other hand, although the filial woman did not know that the person in front of her was the emperor, she also understood that the identity of Emperor Deqing must be extraordinary. Just being a follower could make local officials like Zhang Jizhi, the prefect of Linqing, respectful and frightened.
However, after hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, the filial woman bowed and bowed with a humble attitude, but she did not answer the question, but her expression became more miserable and she said: "The old father of the civilian girl has been framed and suffered a huge loss. She has been wronged, and the people who framed my father are all powerful people, and the leader among them is of high status, and no one dares to defy him. Although the daughter of the people wants to complain about her grievances, she does not dare to put herself at the expense of herself for the sake of you, sir. I inform you of your grievance, and I only hope that you can help the daughter of the people to meet His Majesty the Emperor. This is already a great kindness. The daughter of the people will definitely devote her whole life to repaying you. From now on, she will work as a cow and a horse without any complaints!"
Hearing the words of the filial woman, Zhao Junchen, who was standing behind Emperor Deqing with his hands down, couldn't help but have a flash of light in his eyes, and thought to himself: "Although this girl looks like she has been wronged, her scheming is actually It should not be underestimated. It is obvious that His Majesty's status is noble, and such a noble person must have arrogance in his heart, but he still uses words to provoke him. Showing a look of distrust, under such provocation, If you agree to something in the heat of the moment, I'm afraid she will lead you away."
While thinking secretly, Zhao Junchen raised his eyes and carefully looked at the filial woman in front of him. He saw that although this woman was wearing filial robes and looked a little embarrassed due to the dispute with the Yamen servants not long ago, she had a little makeup on her eyebrows. She had obviously dressed up carefully!
Such a discovery. It made Zhao Junchen even more thoughtful.
On the other hand, Emperor Deqing was not angry because of the distrust of the filial woman. Instead, his attitude became more gentle and he said with a smile: "No matter what, you must tell me your identity, otherwise your origins will be unknown. How can I let you go to see the emperor? What's more, I ask myself that you are quite good in the temple. Influence, even if the person who caused your father to be wronged is the current court elder, I am not afraid to redress your grievances, so you don’t have to worry about anything, just tell me your grievances, and I will naturally make the decision for you."
Zhao Junchen was now determined to find out the truth about the woman in front of him, and he also took the opportunity to boost Emperor Deqing's momentum and interjected: "Yes. My master's status is extremely noble. Although there are countless high-ranking officials in the court, in the eyes of my master, they are all It’s just ordinary. Moreover, my husband has always been upright and selfless, and he can’t bear to see injustice in the world. So, girl, just tell my husband your grievances. As long as you really have grievances, my husband will definitely help you.”
After the filial piety woman hesitated for a moment, she finally replied: "Li Jiamin, a civilian girl. My father is Li Xin, the former magistrate of Huaiyin. However, his father was framed a few days ago. Now he is trapped in prison and has suffered all the humiliation and torture. Seeing that his body is no longer supported Unable to stand it any longer, the daughter of the common people wanted to fulfill her filial duty and could not bear the suffering of her father in prison, so she planned to rush to the capital to file a petition and redress her father's grievance! Unexpectedly, when passing by Linqing, she learned that His Majesty the Emperor had already been on a southern tour and was now in Linqing. After a short rest, I wanted to kneel down in front of the palace gate to redress my grievances. I never thought that after the local officials got the news, they would forcefully stop me. If I hadn't been lucky enough to meet you, my lord, I'm afraid the civilian daughter would have been driven away by them."
As he spoke, Li Jiamin's expression became more miserable.
Then, Li Jiamin suddenly raised her head, looked directly into Emperor Deqing's eyes, and asked: "My lord, you just said that even if the person who falsely accused my father was an elder in the court, you are not afraid to redress the grievances of the people's daughters, but the people I dare to ask again, if that person’s background is more noble than that of the current court elder, would you still dare to plead the grievances of a common girl?”
It is still a method of provoking generals.
However, Emperor Deqing was not a reckless and impulsive person after all. After hearing Li Jiamin's rhetorical question, he was slightly stunned, but instead of being provoked by Li Jiamin, he remained silent.
Although Emperor Deqing is the emperor, and no one in the world is more noble than him, it does not mean that Emperor Deqing can act arbitrarily, otherwise it will cause turmoil in the government and the public, and backlash from officials! At this time, hearing Li Jiamin's description that the person who had wronged her father was actually more noble than Chaozhongge Lao, Emperor Deqing couldn't help but feel a little more cautious.
Nowadays, although Emperor Deqing has a good impression of Li Jiamin and has some thoughts in his heart, he will never go to war for her and cause shock in the temple.
At the same time, hearing the name of Li Xin, the prefect of Huaiyin, made Emperor Deqing feel vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember it. After all, there were too many prefects in the world, and they changed frequently, so Emperor Deqing was very worried. It’s hard to remember them all.
Then, Emperor Deqing turned his head and glanced at Zhao Junchen, with a look of inquiry.
On the other side, after hearing Li Jiamin's self-introduction, Zhao Junchen's eyes couldn't help but flicker, but he finally guessed what the grievance Li Jiamin said was, a trace of meaning flashed in his eyes, and then he took a step forward and came to Deqing Beside the emperor, he said softly: "Your Majesty, I am not familiar with Li Xin at all, but it is a coincidence that when we were listening to books in the teahouse not long ago, the storyteller mentioned his name. Do you still remember? ?”
Hearing Zhao Junchen's reminder, Emperor Deqing was stunned again, then thought about it carefully, and finally remembered what the storyteller in the teahouse said not long ago, which was about "The prince's discerning eyes are like a torch, and he can see through the disguise of the corrupt official Li Xin." At the same time, Emperor Deqing finally understood that the culprit Li Jiamin said framed her father was actually his own son, Prince Zhu Heyu!
Although Zhao Junchen had successfully aroused Emperor Deqing's fear and jealousy of Prince Zhu Heyu through the arrangements in the teahouse, Emperor Deqing still had reason to know that no matter what the truth was at this time, if he was really Helping Li Xin reverse the case will damage the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu. For the prince, reputation is often the most important.
For a moment, Emperor Deqing felt that he had said enough before. We shouldn't even care about Li Jiamin's affairs and let local officials drive her away.
On the other side, Li Jiamin saw Emperor Deqing's hesitant expression and understood that after revealing his identity, Emperor Deqing had guessed something, so a trace of determination flashed across his expression, and he finally stopped hiding it. Without waiting for Emperor Deqing to speak, he explained in detail: "My lord, you must have guessed that Min's father was charged with corruption by His Highness the Crown Prince during the trial of the 'Southern Inspection Preparation Fraud Case'. The reason why he was arrested and imprisoned was that the family of a common woman had a large amount of money of unknown origin. But as heaven and earth can tell, most of the ancestors of women's families were engaged in business. It was only in my father's generation that they began to engage in official careers. After generations of accumulation, the family wealth is naturally rich. , but all this money was earned innocently by our ancestors, so what's the crime?
However, when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrived in Huaiyin, the officialdom of Huaiyin was filled with panic. The factory guards under the prince knew that the daughter's family was wealthy, so they took the opportunity to blackmail my father, but my father was an upright man. Naturally, he was unwilling to give in. In the end, the factory guards fabricated evidence and took the opportunity to frame him! As for the corrupt officials in the Huaiyin officialdom, because my father helped His Royal Highness expose their crimes, they were never willing to join in with them, but they also joined forces with the factory guards and gave false evidence to frame my father!
Originally my father thought. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise and mighty, and will never believe the words of villains. Unexpectedly, His Highness the Crown Prince just read the perjury of those corrupt officials and learned that the daughter's family was rich in wealth, so he easily concluded my father's crime. As a result, my father was arrested and imprisoned without even a chance to defend himself. , and was eventually beaten into a trap!
My lord, my father is really unjust! The daughter of the people also knows that His Highness the Crown Prince is the future emperor and has a very high reputation. The daughter of the people does not dare to sue His Highness the Crown Prince, nor does she dare to let you offend the prince because of this matter. I only hope that you can bring the daughter of the people to see the emperor. , let the daughter of the people complain to the emperor about her father's grievances and restore her father's innocence! The folk girl kowtows to the Lord! "
As she spoke, Li Jiamin had tears in her eyes and kowtowed to Emperor Deqing repeatedly. She even made a "bang bang" sound when she hit the ground with her forehead, which was obviously a lot of force.
However, when he kowtowed, although his forehead was red and his face was stained with dust, the image of a strong weak woman, paired with a plain dress, became even more charming, so much so that even though Emperor Deqing wanted to push it away , but I can’t bear it.
After hesitating for a moment, Emperor Deqing finally couldn't bear it, so he took another step forward, supported Li Jiamin, sighed, and said: "Well, I will explain your matter to the emperor, but what will happen to the emperor?" The decision is still uncertain. I think the emperor will send someone to visit your father after arriving in Huaiyin, and we will make a final decision by then. But before that, you can follow the emperor southward for the time being."
While speaking, without waiting for Li Jiamin to make another request, Emperor Deqing turned to Zhao Junchen and said: "Junchen, let you arrange this girl for the time being. She is redressing her father's grievances. She is really pitiful and respectable. What you are doing here is It’s time to take good care of her and don’t let her suffer any further.”
However, Emperor Deqing was too thoughtful now and did not consider the details clearly. Due to a moment of negligence, he actually said Zhao Junchen's name in front of Li Jiamin.
He is so young that he can scare the Linqing prefect, and he is also called "Junchen"...
But this "junior minister" regarded himself as a servant in front of the old man in front of him. After seeing him, the Linqing prefect subconsciously knelt down and kowtowed. In addition, this old man could also intervene in the personnel arrangement of the southern tour at will... …
Li Jiamin is a smart person, but with the help of Emperor Deqing's slip of the tongue, he vaguely guessed something. His body shook slightly, and a trace of suspicion and shock flashed in his eyes.
However, firstly, he was not sure yet, and secondly, Li Jiamin had other thoughts. After hesitating for a moment, he did not express his guess. He just lowered his head and hid the fluctuation in his eyes, as if he was letting Emperor Deqing make the decision. look like.
However, Zhao Junchen had been carefully observing Li Jiamin's reaction, and naturally discovered something unusual about Li Jiamin. On the contrary, Emperor Deqing did not notice Li Jiamin's condition because he turned around and ordered Zhao Junchen.
So, after hearing Emperor Deqing's instructions, Zhao Junchen's eyes became more meaningful, but he just lowered his head and agreed: "Don't worry, sir, I will naturally put this girl in place."
Emperor Deqing nodded, looked at Li Jiamin carefully, and said: "In that case, let's arrange it this way. Miss Li, you don't have to worry. I will definitely report your matter to the emperor, and he will definitely consider it seriously." of."
After saying that, Emperor Deqing turned around and left, walking toward the temporary palace with a thoughtful expression.
Zhao Junchen took a step forward, came to Li Jiamin, and said with a smile: "Miss Li, come with me."
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After arranging Li Jiamin properly, Zhao Junchen returned to his room when he saw that Emperor Deqing had no other arrangements.
During the process of settling Li Jiamin, Zhao Junchen originally thought that Li Jiamin would take the opportunity to test a few words with him to confirm the identity of Emperor Deqing and himself. However, Li Jiamin behaved extremely well and obeyed Zhao Junchen's arrangement without any questions. It made Zhao Junchen take a high look at her and felt that this woman's scheming should not be underestimated.
Sitting behind the desk, Zhao Junchen was not in the mood to deal with the household affairs for a while. He just thought to himself: "This Li Jiamin is probably not that simple. Her behavior today is either deliberate or under the guidance of an expert behind her." ...but that's right, when His Majesty is on tour to the south, it is a time when the situation is changing, and I am definitely not the only one who wants to take advantage of the opportunity to do something... But, if there is really an expert behind Li Jiamin, this will Who could be the master? Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao? They should not have this means; Zhou Shangjing? It is unlikely. Li Jiamin's actions are obviously aimed at the prince. Zhou Shangjing is not so leisurely now... So, Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian?..."
While thinking secretly, Zhao Junchen frowned slightly, vaguely feeling that there might be the shadow of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian behind Li Jiamin, but he was not too sure, after all, it was all just conjecture.
"In any case, the appearance of Li Jiamin will do more good than harm to me after all, so no matter whether there is someone behind her or who the instigator is, I can add fuel to the flames, act according to the opportunity, and incorporate this situation into my In the plan, achieve better results..."
Originally, when he used the "Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case" to plot against Prince Zhu Heyu, Zhao Junchen had already expected that during the trial and handling of the "Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case", due to time constraints, his subordinates would The factory guards were obsessed with seeking credit, which would inevitably lead to a large number of unjust, false and wrongful convictions. During Emperor Deqing's southern tour, he would also inevitably encounter many wronged family members of the prisoners who would redress their grievances and file complaints against Emperor Deqing!
However, in Zhao Junchen's original expectation, although many people would complain during the southern tour, Emperor Deqing would never overturn the case for them for the sake of the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu, and Zhao Junchen's This plan was just to slowly wear away Emperor Deqing's patience and confidence in Prince Zhu Heyu - today's arrangement in the teahouse was the first step in Zhao Junchen's plan.
However, Li Jiamin's performance and Emperor Deqing's appreciation of Li Jiamin made it possible for Li Xin to overturn the verdict!
This possibility is not high, but it will happen after all!
Once Li Xin is overturned, the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu will inevitably take a hit, and then the families of other prisoners involved in the "Southern Patrol Preparation Fraud Case" will see hope and follow suit one after another, working with Li Jiamin. They also complained to Emperor Deqing and complained about their grievances!
In this way, Zhao Junchen's plan will produce greater success and achieve additional effects.
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen murmured: "Although as long as Emperor Deqing's sanity remains, the possibility of overturning the verdict is very small, but this possibility will eventually arise. In this case, then I will secretly help Li Jiamin, I just hope that Li Jiamin can seize the opportunity..."
While Zhao Junchen was thinking secretly, Xu Qingyan pushed in the door and reported to Zhao Junchen: "Young Master, Zhang Jizhi, the prefect of Linqing, wants to see you."
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…(To be continued)
