In the Tang Mansion in Jiuyun Alley, Tang Ning slept extremely peacefully. She had no idea that someone was arguing about her outside the door. However, while she was sleeping, the chaos in the court hall was like a frying pan exploding.
The second wave of impeachment in the court was far more violent than Song Hong and others imagined. This time, not only Cao Dejiang, the imperial censor, but also people from the three provinces of Zhongshu, Shangshu, and Menxia were dismissed one after another. His harsh words in court, The reputation of Song Hong and his son for many years was almost destroyed.
Correspondingly, Xiao Yan beat the imperial edict, took control of the Imperial Medical Office, threatened the Beijing Chinese Medicine Hall with black armor guards, and ran rampant in the city. Zhongshu Ling, Lu Chongyuan and others were also caught up in this matter.
"It was the Song family who was at fault. They broke into Jiuyun Lane without permission and hurt people..."
"That's not the reason for him to beat the royal wife without authorization! Your Majesty, Xiao Yan relied on your Majesty's favor to threaten the imperial court with black armored guards. Today he dares to coerce the Imperial Medical Office and Jingzhong Medicine Hall not to visit, and he will dare to endanger the imperial court in the future. Your Majesty and the Imperial City must not indulge in such a domineering behavior!"
"That old woman from the Song family is so ungrateful and vicious, how can she be worthy of her destiny?"
"She is the grandmother of the Song family. She teaches the children of the family why they are wrong..."
"It's a joke. The non-virgins of the Song family are pretending to be concubines in the front, and the son is behind to commit the murder. The old woman of the Song family even wants to disfigure her face and kill Miss Song. How can she be regarded as a respected elder with such viciousness?"
The two parties in the court were quarreling fiercely. One accused the Song family of being immoral, and the other scolded Xiao Yan for being arrogant.
The huge palace was like a street market. On weekdays, when the high-ranking courtiers were seen arguing, their faces would turn red and their necks would be thick, so they would just roll up their sleeves and rush in for a fight.
Emperor An took Jindan last night and had sex with Concubine Chen for half the night. The result of his indulgence was that he felt tired when he got up early.
He had no energy to begin with, and was thinking about the golden elixir that had been newly opened today and had not yet been delivered. Now he heard the noise below, and he had an extremely headache.
"okay!"
The emperor spoke, and the place below instantly fell silent.
"What's the noise like?" Emperor An glanced at the man standing in the hall, as if looking at the lively Xiao Yan: "Xiao Qing, tell me."
Lu Chongyuan's eyes suddenly darkened, and those who had just impeached Xiao Yan also cursed secretly. The eunuch didn't know what method he used to get His Majesty to trust him so much.
Xiao Yan faced everyone's gaze and stepped forward.
"Wei Chen actually doesn't understand what's going on." He turned to look at the person who first impeached him: "Master He just impeached me for hurting people, right?"
The person who was named was from Yushitai. After he glanced at Lu Chongyuan, he took a step forward with the scepter in his hand and said righteously: "It doesn't matter if it's me who said it. Yesterday, in full view of everyone, you injured the old lady of the Duke of Song Dynasty. , throw him on the street and let his servants humiliate him in every possible way, does Governor Xiao want to deny it?"
"I don't want to deny it, but I just want to ask, where is the place where I take action?"
He Yushi's expression changed: "Although it is Jiuyun Lane, but..."
"Yes, Cumulus Lane."
Xiao Yan didn't wait for Yushi He to finish what he said, and said quietly: "The governor was in his own house and beat up people who broke into the governor's house. What's wrong? Or is it that Yushi He thinks that your family The door is wide open, and anyone can go into your house, humiliate your female family members, beat and beat your girls. If you don't lead others to smash them, He Yushi can also send them away respectfully. come out?"
He Yushi's face turned red: "You are just making excuses. Mrs. Song is going to visit her daughter..."
"Did the visit to your home disfigure someone's face, cause them to faint, or beat them until they vomited blood and fell ill?"
Xiao Yan choked on his words and the man choked on his words.
"Don't say that the governor hasn't given the house to Mrs. Song yet. It was wrong for the Song family to break in without permission. Even if I really gave it to Mrs. Song, I, as the secret envoy of the Imperial Council, saw someone breaking into someone else's house to commit murder and injury. Man, I heard that someone in the house is asking for help, is it possible that I should just sit back and ignore it?"
He Yushi's face turned red and white, and he said angrily: "How can this be the same? Mrs. Song is just teaching the juniors in the house a lesson."
"So it turns out that He Yushijia is trying to beat him to death by teaching his nephew?"
"You!" He Yushi was blocked and said angrily: "You are obviously looking out for others. Even if you don't tell the story about Mrs. Song and Miss Song, then you are intimidating the Imperial Medical Office and Beijing Chinese Medicine Hall not to give up. People’s medical visits are never fake!”
"Where did that fallacy come from?"
Xiao Yan frowned: "The members of the Song family broke into Jiuyun Lane yesterday. The governor was frightened and stayed in the house all day without going out. How could there be any coercion?"
He Yushi almost slapped Xiao Yan in the face with the word "bah". Xiao Yan was obviously the one who injured the person and threw him out. He even had his hand cut off and his name ruined. He was so cruel and vicious.
Now where did he have the nerve to say that he was frightened? He Yushi wished he could spit in his face.
"Why do you need to quibble, Governor Xiao? No one in the whole court knows about this matter..."
"Oh, is it so?"
Xiao Yan raised his eyes and looked at the crowd of courtiers: "The Imperial Medical Office has not complained, no one has complained in the Beijing Chinese Medicine Hall, and the black-armored guards have not been out of the Privy Council camp yesterday. I am curious, there are people in the court." Who, like Yushi He, knows who this governor is threatening?"
The originally bustling court hall was extremely quiet, and even those who had followed Yushi He to impeach Xiao Yan had their eyes averted.
Xiao Yan did injure Mrs. Song, and he did threaten the Imperial Medical Office not to visit the doctor. Even the words of those medicine halls in the capital were known to the world, but in the final analysis these words were just a casual confession, relying on It's all because of Xiao Yan's "evil reputation".
The Governor's Mansion left no letter, Xiao Yan did not come forward in person, and even his close associates did not go there. Unless someone from the Imperial Medical Office is willing to appeal, who can prove whether this is true or not?
Taking a step back, even if someone from the Imperial Medical Office really came forward to testify, it would still be the same. The person who conveyed the message was just an inconspicuous domestic slave. Xiao Yan never showed up from the beginning to the end. The Imperial Medical Office said a word, even Hei Jiawei has never been to any medicine hall, so he can easily introduce a scapegoat when the time comes, but the person who sued Xiao Yan here is definitely dead.
Even though they were yelling at Xiao Yan for being shameless and cunning, and their faces were livid with anger, no one in the palace spoke.
"If anyone knows anything about it, feel free to speak up. I will not embarrass you at all."
Everyone was silent.
"There's none?"
After Xiao Yan finished speaking, no one spoke. He raised his eyes and glanced at Yushi He, with a cold mist in his eyes, mocking: "Master He, is this what you call the whole court?"
Apart from you, no one in the whole court knows about you?
Yushi He looked back at the people behind him in disbelief: "Master Huang, Master Lin..."
As soon as he opened his mouth, he saw the two people he named quickly bowed their heads and took two steps back, as if they could not avoid it. They had no share of the same hatred as before. Not far away, Zhongshu Ling Lu Chongyuan also had an ugly face, but he did not say a word. .
The blood on He Yushi's face faded instantly.
Xiao Yan sneered: "I know that in order to clean up the court for Your Majesty, many people's interests were affected in the past. I also know that there are people who are dissatisfied with the fact that I am in charge of the black-armored guards to exterminate those who have disloyal intentions for Your Majesty. But I never expected that I have always been upright and upright. The people in Taichung, who are known as unyielding censors, are actually catching wind and shadow."
"Master He wants to slander me without any evidence, and even uses such ridiculous reasons to criticize me. Are you dissatisfied with my previous actions on behalf of Your Majesty, or are you dissatisfied with His Majesty's appointment of me as the head of the Privy Council, so you risked your life to become the censor?" Qing Ming, don’t you also want to destroy this governor?”
Emperor An's expression turned cold.
He Yushi was sweating coldly. His knees softened and he knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty clearly knows that I have no selfish intentions at all. I am just fulfilling my duties as a Yushi."
"Is there any evidence for what happened at the Imperial Medical Office?"
"I..." He Yushi's face turned pale, "I just heard..."
Xiao Yan chuckled when he heard this: "Whenever you falsely accuse a high official in the court, you only need to rely on hearing."
"I, the Censor, have the right to report the news..."
"Then where did this wind come from, and who told it? You were the only one in the whole court who heard about it, and no one else in the capital knew about it. Is what Mr. He is playing a rumor from outside, or is it something you made up yourself? "
Xiao Yan's words were sharp and sharp, and for a moment, He Yushi, who had always been eloquent, was speechless.
Emperor An's eyebrows tightened tightly. He looked down at Yushi He who was hesitating and his face was as pale as paper, but he was not happy. Then he heard Xiao Yan said coldly:
"I would like to ask, Mr. He, what do you think Mr. Lu is doing? Could it be that this wind was given to you by Mr. Lu, or is it some other lord in the court who dislikes me?"
"I don't!"
Although He Yushi denied it very quickly, Xiao Yan's words still made Emperor An suspicious of Lu Chongyuan and others.
Emperor An took a deep look at Lu Chongyuan and said coldly: "He Zongran, is there any evidence for what you said against Xiao Yan?"
He Yushi opened his mouth for a long time: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
"Yes or no."
"Weichen... no..."
When Emperor An heard this, he immediately laughed angrily, his eyes full of deep anger.
"The purpose of setting up the censorship station in the middle of the court is to allow you to inspect all officials and enforce discipline. It is not to allow you to care for your own personal grievances and collude to murder loyal ministers. Without any evidence, you falsely accuse the secret envoys of the inner circle and the first-rank officials of the court. I It’s enough for you to be a royal censor.”
"Come here, pull down this man who talks nonsense and has excessive selfishness. He will be punished for thirty years and demoted to the rank of envoy in the palace. If he does it again, he will not be forgiven lightly."
He Yushi was almost beaten to the end. The imperial envoy in the palace was still a censor, but he was only an official of the eighth rank. He was in charge of the rituals of worship in the palace, and punished those who left the class and spoke inappropriately outside the palace gate. In other words In other words, he was just the lowest-ranking discipline official inside and outside the pavilion, and his current position was only one step away from being the censor Zhongcheng.
He Yushi knelt on the ground and hissed: "Your Majesty, Wei Chen did not accuse Xiao Yan. What Wei Chen said is true."
"He has been running rampant in the capital for a long time, and the number of people he has harmed is even greater. He relied on His Majesty's favor to deceive the superiors and subordinates. He is responsible for everything that happened to the Song family. He dared to harm the royal wife today, An. I know that I will not dare to harm Your Majesty in the future, and Your Majesty must not be deceived by this treacherous eunuch."
Emperor An was so noisy that his brain hurt, and he just wanted to go back to the palace to take the golden elixir.
When the guards came forward, Yushi He suddenly became anxious. He couldn't be convicted like this, and he couldn't be demoted. He didn't know where he got the strength to break away from the guards who were dragging him. He stood up and rushed towards the imperial steps. past.
"Your Majesty, everything the minister said is true. Xiao is disgusted with the eunuchs who wield power, eradicate dissidents, and wrongfully harm the courtiers. The minister just doesn't want to see your majesty being deceived by him. Everything the minister says is true. Eunuchs taking power are a sign of the country's destruction. Your Majesty, please think twice..."
"Shut up!"
Emperor An was furious in an instant. He dared to curse him to perish his country: "Someone, pull him down."
"Your Majesty, your Majesty's ministers are devoted to the Lord, and every word they say is loyal..."
Seeing that Emperor An didn't listen to him at all, Yushi He wanted to rush towards the stage in a hurry.
Emperor An was so frightened that he staggered back and fell on the chair. At this moment, Xiao Yan suddenly stepped forward and stood in front of Emperor An. He only said "Your Majesty, be careful" and kicked Na Yushi away. He walked out and bumped into the pillar next to Lu Chongyuan.
After a loud "bang" sound, the man fell down. Lu Chongyuan's face turned pale and he backed away in panic. He had no time to dodge, and he saw a mouthful of blood from He Yushi spurting out and splashing on Lu Chongyuan's official robe.
"Rebellious ministers and traitors, traitorous ministers and traitors, drag him down with me and kill him with a stick!!"
Emperor An was so shocked that his face was full of anger. He looked at He Zongran who was like a dead fish on the ground and cursed angrily.
Lu Chongyuan stepped forward with his bloody official boots: "Your Majesty, you can't do it. He Yushi only lost his temper when he was in a hurry. Your Majesty, you can't kill him with a stick..."
Xiao Yan stood in front of Emperor An: "He scolded His Majesty as the king of ruined country because of impatience. He frightened Your Majesty in front of the palace and almost injured the Holy Dragon's body because of his impatience. Then did Lu Zhongshu think that he would wait for him to hold a knife to His Majesty's neck? At that time, that’s what we called rebellious ministers and traitors?”
Emperor An was also extremely angry. When He Zongran pounced on him just now, he was frightened and almost fell off the throne. Such a loss of attitude made him furious: "This thief is talking nonsense in front of the palace, pull him down..."
Lu Chongyuan said loudly: "Your Majesty, no!"
Emperor An suddenly looked at Lu Chongyuan: "What's wrong? He cursed me for the subjugation of the country and deserves death. Or do you, like him, think that I am the king of the subjugation of the country?"
Lu Chongyuan didn't want to force it with Emperor An, but He Zongran couldn't die.
Today's impeachment of Xiao Yan was originally led by the Lu family, and it was because of his instructions that He Zongran became the leading figure in the court.
If it was just to be demoted, he could still think of other ways to make up for it, so as not to lose the hearts of the people. But if He Zongran really died in front of the palace, then who would dare to conspire with their family in the future, and who would dare to listen. What about his Zhongshu Ling?
"Wei Chen doesn't dare."
Lu Chongyuan said he didn't dare, but while holding the white jade tablet in his hand, his back was straight.
The fish bag on his waist was light and mysterious, and his tone was extremely strong when he spoke.
"He is indeed guilty of misconduct in front of the Imperial Palace and deserves to be punished, but the antecedent reason is the duty of the Imperial Palace to impeach. Although the impeachment has not been proved, if he was convicted of death for picketing the courtiers, then the Imperial Palace in the future will Who else dares to speak out? Besides, the censor is supposed to impeach and rectify lawlessness, and the officials are frightened. If your majesty kills Governor Xiao because of the censor's impeachment, it may cause criticism from the subjects and hurt your majesty. Holy reputation.”
"He Yushi is guilty and deserves to be punished, but his crime does not lead to death. I hope your majesty will tell you clearly!"
As soon as Lu Chongyuan finished speaking, the courtiers who came from aristocratic families also spoke one after another.
"What Mr. Lu said is reasonable. What Yushi did was just his duty. Although he made mistakes, his crime will not lead to death."
"Wei Chen seconded the suggestion. It is understandable that He behaved inappropriately in front of Yushi Palace. Your Majesty, please think again."
"If Your Majesty kills the censor with a royal stick, people may criticize him."
"Your Majesty, please think again!"
"Your Majesty, think twice!"
Emperor An looked at the people who came forward one after another. Half of the court was kneeling behind Lu Chongyuan in darkness. He was breathing heavily in his throat, and his whole body was on the verge of rage.
The other courtiers looked at each other for a moment, and then couldn't help but look at Cao Dejiang, the imperial emissary.
Cao Dejiang pursed his lips tightly and looked extremely unhappy. Although He Zongran spoke for the Lu family, it is indeed inappropriate for people in the Yushitai to be killed for impeachment. Otherwise, once this case is carried out, everything in the Yushitai will be hindered. However, He couldn't do it even if he was asked to plead for He Zongran. Then He Zongran had selfish motives in impeaching Xiao Yan, and the Lu family was not a good person either.
He remained silent, and several other veterans in the court also frowned and did not speak for a while. Seeing their silence, those courtiers who came from poor families also became quiet.
Seeing Emperor An being turned pale by the courtiers who came from aristocratic families, and being left alone and helpless, Xiao Yan suddenly said: "Your Majesty, what Lu Zhongshu said does make some sense."
Emperor An looked at him sharply: "Xiao Yan, you!"
"Your Majesty, let me finish what I have to say first."
Xiao Yan comforted the angry Emperor An in a gentle voice: "It is the duty of the Yushitai to impeach courtiers. Although I have a grievance, I don't want your majesty to break the rules of the court for me. However, the offense suffered by your majesty cannot be forgiven lightly." , Mr. Lu Zhongshu also said just now that Mr. He is indeed guilty of misconduct in front of the palace and deserves to be punished, so why don’t we change the punishment."
An Di was stunned: "Change?"
Xiao Yan raised his lips and said, "It is still as your Majesty said before. He will be demoted from his official position after being punished for thirty years, and then let Yushi He take the whip ten times in front of the palace every day and recite the Five Confucian Classics. This will allow him to remember the day clearly. If you have done something wrong, you can restrain yourself and warn others in the court not to commit the crime of disrespecting etiquette and speaking nonsense again, and to remember the way of being a minister."
"Your Majesty, what do you think of this punishment?"
When Emperor An heard this, his expression suddenly looked strange, and within a moment his anger dissipated and he almost laughed.
"Your method is good. I am a kind-hearted person. It is really not easy to kill the censor with a stick, so I will do as you say, with small punishments and big warnings, so that his memory will improve."
Below, the faces of Lu Chongyuan and others were as black as the bottom of a pot.
Ten lashes can't hurt the bones at all, and reciting the Five Classics of Confucianism is a trivial matter for those who have been studying since childhood. However, the place and method of execution are extremely humiliating. This is simply tearing off He Zongran's face and throwing it on the ground. For For He Zongran, I'm afraid it would be better to kill him.
Seeing He Zongran just waking up from the pain and vomiting blood and fainting, Lu Chongyuan said urgently: "Your Majesty, this method is not possible."
"Lu Zhongshu, you can't do this or that, so what do you want?"
On the stage, Xiao Yan's beautiful face was slightly stained with cold dust, and his eyes were slightly raised, which was very confusing.
"Your Majesty has spared Mr. He as you wished, and I will not pursue him any further. What else do you want? Is it possible that His Majesty should suffer the wrath of Mr. He's curse to subjugate the country in vain? Or is it possible that Lu Zhongshu also has what you think in his heart? Will I, the great Wei Dynasty, perish?"
Lu Chongyuan: "..."
Eunuch!
Thief! !
