Soon, Concubine Tian Guifei, who had always competed with the palace for favor, also arrived. After saluting, she wisely did not ask anything, but just sat down and waited for the good news.
Among the three concubines, Concubine Tian, who wears heavy makeup and light makeup, looks the most enchanting, with spread eyebrows, peach-shaped almond eyes, full cherry lips, and a slender neck. Just a provocative look can captivate the soul and make people intoxicated. Although she is a mother of three children, she still has outstanding charm and strong charm. No wonder she can blatantly compete with the queen for favor and win the favor of the emperor.
Today, Concubine Tian is wearing a lavender tulle coat. There is no trace of scenery on her chest, which can more or less cover up her charming appearance. Compared with going to the Qianqing Palace to see the emperor's delicate and delicate make-up, she is already a Much more restrained. After saying hello, she sat elegantly on the chair, her beautiful eyes looking forward curiously, as if the matter in front of her had nothing to do with it.
Since the beautiful biological mother had a long-standing relationship with Concubine Tian, the queen stipulated that all palaces in the queen's palace must call themselves "daughter" when they meet the emperor. Rather than being a regulation of the inner court, it is better to say that this rule was made for Concubine Tian alone. Yaoji found it funny when he thought of a beautiful woman greeting her younger father as "daughter". Palace fights between beauties are really interesting. Literary fights are more interesting than martial fights!
Yaoji saw it and made an estimate in his heart. He didn't know what would happen to Concubine Tian, but there was only one possibility for her to behave like this. That is, the calmer you appear on the surface, the more anxious and uneasy you feel in your heart. But the deliberate cover-up will always reveal some flaws. His beautiful and bright eyes kept flashing, as if he wanted to find out the truth immediately, and his guess was confirmed from the side.
When all the principals arrived, Yaoji stopped peeking at the beautiful aunts. After slowly scanning the surroundings, he put his hands behind his back and raised his voice and asked, "Where are Gao Qiqian, Wang Zhixin, Du Xun, and Wang Dehua?"
The four guys in red python robes standing in the front row under the slow platform didn't know why. When they heard His Highness the Crown Prince called their names, they felt frightened and nervously stepped out of the queue and gathered in front of the white jade steps.
The old fat man Wang Cheng'en walked to the railing, held up the imperial edict in his hand, and read out in an orderly manner in front of the public: "By God's blessing, the Crown Prince has issued an edict that the sinful slaves Gao Qiqian, Wang Zhixin, Du Xun, and Wang Dehua have bad character and are favored by the servants. You are arrogant, you are a thief, you want to accept bribes, you have betrayed the divine grace, your crime should be punished, and you will not be pardoned immediately, I admire this!"
The edict is short but meaningful.
Originally, everyone's crimes could be written in an imperial edict, but for these prodigal slaves, there is no need to waste extra pen and ink. Dragging them out and cutting them is better than anything else. Out of sight is clean. It's useless to say more, so let them quickly go downstairs to keep company with the sliced Liu Jin.
Facing the advancing Qing army last winter, Gao Qiqian first feared the enemy and fought timidly, and then backed up his troops and refused to save him, which directly led to Lu Xiang's death in the battle at Julujiazhuang. He also colluded with Yang Sichang, which made it possible for Lu Xiangsheng's body to be buried eighty days later. The imperial court has not posthumously awarded any title to this good general, which makes Yaoji extremely dissatisfied, so now he has Gao Qiqian killed as a sacrifice to Lu Xiangsheng's spirit in heaven.
"Your Highness the Queen, Your Highness the Prince, this servant has been wronged!!!!!!!!!"
In front of everyone, when they learned that they were going to be beheaded, the four high-ranking eunuchs were stunned for a moment, and then they realized that they were about to be killed, and they knelt on the ground regardless of their own face. , immediately kept kowtowing, shouting and crying, as if he had been greatly wronged. No matter what, as long as one of the queen and the prince can be persuaded, maybe a dog's life can be saved, otherwise the head will be dismembered.
Unjustly accused? Hum! " Yao Ji sneered. Such a performance is so bad. If he is soft-hearted, how can he get military expenses? Then Fang Zhenghua ordered: "Search the rooms of these four people thoroughly. Not even a corner or a hidden compartment can be found. Let it go, I want to see how much money they have plundered over the years! "
With the power of these four eunuchs, no one dared to search the house where they lived except for the restraints of their colleagues. Counting from the time when Chongzhen ascended the throne, so many years have passed, maybe he will be able to bring you a lot of surprises.
Fang Zhenghua clasped his fists and saluted, and immediately led his subordinates from the Dongchang clan straight to the prisoner's residence. The prince and concubine were waiting here, and it would take at most half an hour to obtain the evidence of the crime and submit it to them. Otherwise, Dongchang was in trouble, so they dug deep to find the money that should be there.
Yaoji returned to his own huanghuali chair and sat down, looking at the scenery in the distance with his hands, completely ignoring the reactions of the four guys below who were howling like ghosts: "The wind is light and the clouds are calm, the weather is really good today!"
Empress Zhou didn't even expect that her brother Hong would come up with this trick. If she failed, how would the royal family lose its dignity? How will we discipline the many servants in the future?
It seems that Brother Hong is young and ignorant after all, and does not know how to deal with things appropriately, and he has not left himself a way out. He should teach him well after he returns.
There was an incense burner on the table in front of Yaoji for timing. It took fifteen minutes to burn one stick of incense. When he saw that the third stick of incense was gone, half of the fourth stick was almost left.
Before leaving, the young prince had already told Fang Zhenghua that it didn't matter even if he demolished the house, as long as he could find money, no matter what the cost.
It doesn't matter if you can't find it. Anyway, these scoundrels must be killed, otherwise you will be harmed by them at some point.
The worst case scenario is to hand them over to Dongchang and subject them to severe interrogation and so many tortures. It would be best to let them go through it one by one. Let alone these people, how many rounds can they endure even if they are tough?
At this time, Fang Zhenghua trotted over from the inner court and knelt down to report: "Your Highness the Queen and Your Highness the Prince, I have fulfilled my mission and have seized many stolen goods!"
Yao Ji stood up and looked at Dongchang Fanzi in groups of two or four, carrying the boxes with great difficulty, placing them one by one in front of him, and then neatly opened the top cover, and the mountains of silver inside were revealed to the public. The silver coins are all in the shape of fifty taels and one ingot. Judging from the neatness of the placement, the money may not have been used yet.
Thanks to the period from Hongwu to Zhengde, the imperial court wasted no time in issuing treasure banknotes, which depreciated rapidly, leading to increased inflation and boiling public dissatisfaction. In the later period, the treasure banknotes were always worth only five copper coins. Minjian no longer accepted this kind of waste paper. The Ming court also learned from the experience and lessons and did not issue banknotes again.
Therefore, if greedy eunuchs want to accept bribes, they can only accept three types of high value-added items: real gold and silver, jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings. But most of them are large in size, far less easy to hide than treasure notes, and difficult to be discovered by others.
The four father-in-laws who capsized in the sewer were all high-ranking and powerful people. Emperor Chongzhen had great trust in them. Unless they committed a heinous crime, they would be far from being turned upside down. Even if there were boxes of gold and silver under the bed, there was no need to worry about these yellow and white items. Things can cause death.
The smaller box contained more gold ingots, which sparkled as soon as they saw the sun, catching people's eyes. The eunuchs and maids at the foot of the steps couldn't take their eyes away from it. While everyone was astonished, most of them felt jealousy in their hearts. meaning.
Seeing that such a large amount of treasure could be found from the servant's house, the three stunning beauties, Queen Zhou, Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan, were all shocked. They couldn't imagine that the slaves and maids who usually had a low eyebrow would have such wealth, which was no less than that of a wealthy gentry.
Yao Ji lowered his hands and held on to the white marble railing, sneered at the four suspects, and waited for an opportunity to tease: "Okay, it seems that you guys are really good at making money. If you don't have eight thousand taels, you are derelict in your duty! You guys are so good. We are the four richest people in the imperial palace. Even my father is rich! If you can only get in but not get out, then your breasts should not be embroidered with giant pythons, but should be showing off Pixiu. That would be a perfect match. . It’s just that I don’t know that you were desperately crying for poverty, did not think about donating money to fight the enemy, and accumulated such wealth. Do you want to imitate Liu Jin? Or do you simply want to rebel? Not only did you deceive the emperor wantonly, but you also committed it deliberately. What a sin this is. ah?"
Dongchang Fanzi found 73 boxes from the houses of four people, as well as 125 bags and boxes of various sizes. Naturally, they contained luxurious items. Now that the evidence is conclusive, Yaoji is too lazy to let anyone count it in front of everyone. Anyway, everyone present can see it clearly and feel like a mirror.
The big label of "deliberate rebellion" is slapped on. As long as it can be proved, not only the suspect will be executed by Lingchi, but also the whole family will be executed. It is the legendary annihilation of the family. Who is not afraid?
Wang Zhixin knew that the prince's words were full of hatred. He couldn't bear to part with the money, and the food was about to be moved. He first begged for mercy: "Your Highness, Your Highness, it is this slave who is greedy! It is this slave who has betrayed the divine grace! It is all my fault. Ah! I beg Your Highness to have mercy and give this slave a chance to make meritorious deeds! I will work hard, work hard, and be loyal to my duties, and I will never dare to accept a bribe again!"
While praying for His Majesty's life, Wang Zhixin couldn't help but regret and reflect in his heart. Why did he have to accept so much money in the first place? It really shouldn't be done, it shouldn't be done at all! In the end, it turned into a bamboo basket to fetch water, and it was all in vain! Not only did he not lose anything, but he also got the result of his head falling to the ground. What were you trying to do? Once you lose the Holy Family, it's all over!
Gao Qiqian was not to be outdone. He was afraid that if he was not proactive enough, the little prince would think he was being neglected, which would be miserable, so he begged with tears in his eyes: "It's the slave who deserves to die! It's the slave who's guilty! It's the slave who's showing favoritism! It's the slave who's greedy. ! It’s this slave who can’t control himself! I beg His Highness to have mercy on you, and I will never dare to do it again! From now on, I will change my mind, be a new person, be honest and dedicated, and I will be Your Highness’s loyal servant!”
As long as you enter the palace, something will be missing from below. Now if there is something missing from above, then you really don't have to live anymore. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we must fight for it with all our strength. Gao Qiqian was so frightened that his forehead bled. He only waited for the little prince to be open to him. If he could survive today safely, he would not worry about being a bully for the prince later. Down.
