Concubine Chen never expected that she would end up eating a piece of melon on the head of her own family.
Seeing that the emperor had given the order and looked like he wanted to get to the bottom of it, Concubine Chen wished she could give herself a slap. He no longer cared about the palace rules and regulations, and was busy admonishing from behind the curtain:
"Your Majesty, no!"
"Cao Guogong is a loyal minister, and his ancestors have devoted themselves to Daqi for generations. How can he send people to arrest him just because of the speeches of a few unruly people? Doesn't this make the old minister feel chilled?"
The words just fell.
Before the emperor could say anything, Liu Xiong, one of the chiefs of the Third Division and the censor of Zuodu, stepped forward to stop him:
"Your Majesty, this is a matter of the previous dynasty, just listen to it, any more words will be overstepped."
Although the words were euphemistic, every word warned Concubine Chen not to discuss the government affairs arbitrarily.
Concubine Chen was very angry.
The censor of Zuodu was venting his anger with the Yan family. He wished that both she and the eldest prince were not good. Naturally, he hoped that something would happen to Duke Cao's palace. It would be strange if he did not come out to dissuade him.
She simply ignored him and just begged the emperor:
"Your Majesty~"
"alright!"
The emperor waved his hand. He kept the money in mind and hurriedly spoke to comfort:
"What Chen Aiqing said is absolutely true. Since it is the will of the people, how can we easily be called 'unruly people'? We must give them justice. My beloved, I see you are tired too, so why not go back to Zhaohua Palace first."
Although the words were soft, they carried the majesty of an emperor, making people dare not resist.
Hearing this, the three His Highnesses burst into tears of gratitude and hurriedly shouted to the Emperor for his wisdom.
Concubine Chen knew the emperor very well. He was not someone who could change his mind easily just because of his favor. Seeing the current situation, he knew that he could not be persuaded anymore, so he simply stopped struggling and bowed before retreating.
That’s all.
The outcome was undecided, and there might not be room for change. When he left the Qinzheng Hall, he immediately gave a wink to his confidant maid.
When the confidant maid hurried out of the palace.
The other end.
The people from the Ministry of Punishment also divided their troops into two groups, one going to Cao Guogong's Mansion, and the other rushing to Chongwen Academy on the outskirts of Beijing.
Over here at Cao Guogong's Mansion.
Before Wei Zhun, the Minister of Punishment, led people to surround the mansion, Cao Guogong's wife Luo Shi just called her second son Xue Jing to the main courtyard, and took advantage of the fact that Jingyang Marquis Mansion avoided her to give Su Ruoyun eye drops.
"...That's what happened before we even entered the door. We'll have to deal with it later."
Roche sighed.
"That's all, I'm just an old man, so I'd be disrespectful if I didn't show respect. I'm just worried about Man'er. She's already wronged due to her status, and this Miss Su seems to be intolerable. If she finds out about Yuzhao'an, What should I do next?”
"Don't worry, mother, this matter will be kept well hidden."
Even so, Xue Jing's disgust towards Su Ruoyun grew even more because of his mother's crying.
He advised: "As for what you are worried about, it will never happen. In my son's heart, Man'er is my wife, and Su Ruoyun is just a cover. If you feel aggrieved, there is no need to go there again and again." The Hou Mansion has gone, just leave her alone."
"How good is this..."
Although he knew that his son was devoted to his niece, seeing that he decisively chose his old mother between his wife and himself, Luo Shi couldn't help but feel a little happy.
She gave birth to two sons, but the eldest daughter-in-law did not dare to manipulate them easily. Now that the younger daughter-in-law has not yet entered the house, she was given a taste of mother-in-law addiction, and Luo Shi was immediately satisfied.
On the face, he said sagely: "I know you have this heart, but for Man'er, you still have to continue to act..."
Just as he was about to continue saying something, there was a loud knock on the closed door.
Luo Shi frowned, and was about to scold his servants for not understanding the rules, when the voice of his confidant Nanny came from outside:
"Madam, Second Young Master, please come out and take a look."
"The palace was surrounded by the Ministry of Punishment, and they said they wanted to arrest the Duke and the Second Young Master and bring them to the palace."
Roche:! ! !
Xue Jing:! ! !
Mother and son looked at each other in disbelief.
But Mammy was so sure of her words that the two of them did not dare to delay and hurried to the front yard.
When the two arrived, they saw that Lord Wei of the Criminal Department and a group of soldiers had surrounded the front yard.
Cao Guozheng was dealing with Wei Zhun, while the prince's wife, Hua Shi, was waiting in the second room. When she saw the two coming, she hurriedly greeted them.
"Boss, wife, what's going on?"
What's going on, what's going on, I still want to ask you!
Hua knew that her mother-in-law was different from what she appeared to be, and she was always a smiling tiger. It can be seen that she is jealous of Concubine Chen and does not dare to do anything to her, the concubine's sister, so she turns a blind eye.
But she never imagined that her mother-in-law could do such a stupid thing without telling her family!
Wei Zhun's mouth was so tight that she couldn't speak. She had received news from her sister. Duke Cao's mansion dared to harbor a fugitive!
Forget about hiding him, he actually hid him under the emperor's feet and placed him in the Chongwen Academy. Isn't this a mental illness?
And besides the mother-in-law, who else could do such a stupid thing?
Oh, my brother-in-law can probably be counted as one.
The essential.
If the emperor had just let him off lightly, he would have just paid it back. In today's situation, I'm afraid it won't be that easy to escape.
Thinking about it, Hua sighed and hurriedly explained the matter.
"The imperial concubine helped to mediate, but she was reprimanded. She couldn't help at all, so she could only spread the news in a hurry."
Fahrenheit said:
"As soon as the prince received the news, he sent someone to the outskirts of Beijing. But as soon as he left, Lord Wei arrived on the back, and the academy did not know whether it was late or not. Mother, regardless of right or wrong, this matter is big or small. , if father and the prince are involved, our palace will be doomed."
Hua knew very well that with the Xue family's favor and the concubine's dealings, the matter would not reach this point.
But she had a more win-win idea in mind, so she said these words vaguely.
And it worked.
When Luo Shi suddenly learned that this matter was exposed, he was already panicked. But then he heard that the imperial concubine was reprimanded, and the Holy Emperor also sent Lord Wei to come in person. The 70 percent panic immediately turned into 12 percent.
He was worried about protecting the calf, so he didn't care anymore. When he heard Wei Zhun urging him again, he knew that he couldn't delay any longer, so he took his second son out together.
"Master Wei, this matter was done by me alone, and neither Duke Guo nor Jing'er knew about it. If you want to take it, take me, and please let them and their son go."
Even at this point, Luo's desire to perform was still very strong. The majestic princess actually imitated the actor's behavior and started crying with snot and tears.
Fahrenheit rolled his eyes when he heard this.
Fortunately, although the Luo family was stupid, she loved her children very much. She was afraid that it would affect her two sons, so she took care of the matter as she thought.
Fahrenheit couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Although the palace maid said it vaguely, Fahrenheit also guessed that it must be the money in the mouth of the unscrupulous people that made the emperor pay so much attention to it. Cao Guogong's palace was actually secondary, and with the "mastermind", everyone else would have no worries. .
However, her tone was still too relieved.
She could figure it out, how could Duke Cao not know it, so his wife's behavior was really stupid in his eyes, so he hurriedly reprimanded her.
But it's too late.
Wei Zhun was always upright and loyal to the emperor alone. He would not sell anyone's face. Therefore, after hearing what Luo Shi said, no matter how Duke Cao Guo defended her, he directly asked people to guard Luo Shi and take her to the palace together.
People from the Ministry of Punishment did not avoid anyone.
In such a short time, the atmosphere outside the Duke's Mansion had become lively.
Although there was no conviction, Wei Zhun did not do anything to the three of them, as if he just invited them into the palace. However, this majestic gesture, coupled with the deliberate spread of the news by someone who was interested, made the people watching unavoidably start talking——
"Have you heard? The Xue family is harboring fugitives! It's not anyone else but Luo Jinxian's children!"
"Luo Jinxian, that corrupt official, was punished by everyone, but the Xue family actually helped him?"
"It's really hateful. It's a waste of my respect for Xue Guogong as a fair man. It seems like this."
"Bah, these are a bunch of pigs and dogs. If I look at it, the Holy One should sentence them to the same fate as Luo Jinxian. All such corrupt officials should be killed!"
"Kill them all! Kill them all!"
I don’t know who started it.
Slowly, the discussion turned into a uniform "kill them all". Not only that, someone also brought rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves.
They didn't dare to offend King Kong's angry Lord Cao Guo, so they threw them at Luo Shi and Xue Jing. By the time they arrived at the palace gate, they were already in a mess.
The palace maid had to take Luo Shi to change into new clothes in a hurry. When she hurried to Qinzheng Hall, Luo Shi had already lost three souls and seven souls, and everyone was numb with fear.
If you don’t regret it after asking, of course you will.
Just because of his brother's instructions, he boldly rescued his nephew and brought him back, but he didn't expect that he would endanger the Xue family! Thinking of the people "killing them all" one after another, Luo's soul was gone!
That was her son, her grandson, and she couldn't watch these people die.
and--
Even if she was lucky enough to survive, how should the Xue family view her if this incident happened because of her.
With this thought in mind, although Luo Shi was so frightened that his teeth were chattering, after entering the palace, he quickly took everything on himself.
"Your Majesty, this matter was all done by my wife alone."
"It was my wife who couldn't stand my brother's pleading, so she changed her identity to my nephew on the way. It was also my wife who was worried that my nephew would not be doing well, so she forced Jing'er to send him things every now and then, and even threatened her life to prevent him from revealing anything. ."
"Everything is my wife's fault. Please let the Duke go and let Jing'er go. They don't know about the substitution, not at all!"
What Luo Shi said was righteous and sincere.
Seeing this, Xue Jing clenched his teeth, feeling moved and ashamed, but he didn't dare to say anything for fear of wasting his mother's heart.
As for Cao Guogong.
Before coming, he had thought that his wife was impulsive, and thought that although harboring a fugitive was a serious crime, depending on the status of the government, although it would be troublesome, it might not be impossible to save everyone.
But when he got to the palace and saw the emperor's face, Cao Guogong knew that it was over.
Today, I am afraid that if we do not achieve our goal, we will not give up, and the emperor will definitely find someone to take the blame. Thinking of the children and grandchildren in Manfu, Cao Guogong opened his mouth, but he didn't say much.
However--
Just when everyone thought that this matter would be settled with Mrs. Cao Guogong pleading guilty alone, the old man Chen pointed at Xue Jing and said a trembling "Eh".
