11-20

Chapter 11: Shock! This person actually stole gold in this way!

The young eunuchs grunted as they carried the boxes, their arms stiff and sore, crying and complaining all the way.

It is true that they serve others, but generally no one would let eunuchs lift heavy objects!

"Scream, scream, scream! What are you screaming for?"

The chief eunuch was extremely angry: "We didn't even scream!"

Isn't he tired? He is dying of exhaustion!

Looking up at the road that seemed to never end, and the eunuch carrying the box, I seemed to hear the arms and legs, as well as the spine, which had been maintained for many years, groaning in pain and dullness.

My Lord, instead of copper coins and cloth, why don't you reward Xu Yanmiao with a house?

＊

The knock on the door sounded again, Xu Yanmiao: "..."

[Who is it this time? Can you let me eat hot pot in peace? ]

The clerk of the Ministry of War was quick to snatch the remaining fish balls from the red soup. His movements were faster than lightning, and the air was still filled with the tempting smell of fish.

"From the sound of footsteps, it seems like there are a lot of people. Xu Lang, since you don't remember making an appointment with anyone, is that your enemy? Did he call his thugs to your house?"

"How is that possible! I have always been very cautious! I have never had an argument with anyone, so how could I have an enemy?"

Xu Yanmiao thought about it and it seemed that her original body had never provoked anyone. Then... who was outside the door?

When Xu Yanmiao said that she was being cautious, she did not notice the indescribable expression on the military clerk's face.

€€€€Hurry up and eat a piece of beef to calm your nerves!

The clerk of the Ministry of War stuffed beef into his mouth while keeping his eyes on the situation at the door. Seeing that something was wrong, he picked up the small pot and poured the boiling red soup over there.

Xu Yanmiao opened the door.

He saw a man dressed as a eunuch standing at the door, with a circle of mud and dirty water on his shoes, probably caused by stepping into a depression with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

The other party called him affectionately: "Xu Lang."

He added: "Your Majesty has issued an order. Please accept it."

"oh oh!"

Xu Yanmiao hurriedly followed the etiquette he remembered and received the imperial edict in a clumsy manner. The military clerk also hurried out of the room to salute. The chief eunuch read the imperial edict very quickly. After reading it, Xu Yanmiao had just taken the imperial edict with both hands when the young eunuchs couldn't wait to carry the box into the room and asked, "Excuse me, clerk, where are these rewards?"

Xu Yanmiao: "Just find any corner."

The box soon hit the floor with a "bang bang" sound. For some reason, the sound revealed a sense of joy of "finally being freed".

The chief eunuch suddenly said, "Xu Lang... this order was written by the emperor himself."

"Ah, OK!" Xu Yanmiao answered quickly, and felt that the other party seemed a little surprised. He hesitated and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty... Thank you, Noble?"

€€€€Zhong Guiren is a respectful title for eunuchs who are favored by the emperor.

The chief eunuch smiled friendly and said, "I will present this thank you to His Majesty."

Then he took the young eunuch away.

＊

The clerk of the Ministry of War stretched his neck until they could no longer see his back, then he quickly got up and stretched his back: "Finally they left!"

Xu Yanmiao had already jumped into the house like a rabbit, and said cheerfully: "Wuhu! I have money!"

What followed was cheers of joy.

[Old Emperor, is this because I helped him fight against that prince consort named Liu? Is that a reward for me? ]

[Sorry, I will never secretly say that you are stingy again! ]

Three hundred thousand dollars!!!

You can rent a better house now!

The clerk of the Ministry of War looked at Xu Yanmiao's back thoughtfully. Given the emperor's character, it was impossible for him to take out so much money from his private treasury as a reward for such a small matter. There must be other reasons.

I guess it was Xu Yanmiao's thoughts that solved some problem for Your Majesty.

Moreover, the eunuch who was close to His Majesty was so courteous to Xu Yanmiao, calling him "Xu Lang" and calling himself a slave. It was obvious that the eunuch was so intimate with him, it seemed...

The clerk of the Ministry of War narrowed his eyes and smiled, appearing to be somewhat relieved.

Xu Lang is trying to win the emperor's favor.

Xu Yanmiao picked up the chopsticks for the third time, and the end of the chopsticks just dipped into the red oil...

"Knock, knock, knock."

There was a third knock on the door.

Ministry of War Secretary: "..."

Xu Yanmiao: "..."

Xu Yanmiao threw down his chopsticks.

[Damn it! This is too much of a bully! ]

【Can't you just let me have a good meal? 】

But you still have to open the door.

Xu Yanmiao, under the sympathetic gaze of the military clerk, opened the door for the third time. This time it was a stranger, clad in the last bit of sunset light, with a humble look: "Mr. Xu, I am the steward of the Dou Mansion. The owner of the family specially invites you to the banquet. Please do me the honor of coming."

Xu Yanmiao was confused: "Dou Mansion?"

Prime Minister Dou?

＊

"did you find it?"

"My Lord, I didn't find it!"

"Have you confessed everything?"

"My Lord! The servants in the house are all crying out that they are innocent. No one has admitted that they stole the young master's betrothal gift."

Prime Minister Dou stared at the warehouse door silently and covered his ears with his hands.

The gate was covered with gold lacquer and decorated with animal masks, and had tin rings and a huge fish head in the middle. There were three gates in total and three locks.

The first lock is a puzzle lock, the shape of the lock is a fish head, and the keyhole is hidden in the fish eye. Because people think that fish do not close their eyes at night, it means to be alert.

The second lock is a shrimp-tail-shaped silver lock, also known as "General Qian". The lock looks like a curled-up shrimp, and the lock body is like a long cylinder, fastened with three iron hoops with carved patterns.

The third lock is a poetry lock. There are seven characters engraved on the lock in advance. You need to align the characters to open the lock.

There were also guards patrolling the courtyard day and night. There was a small gap between every two gates that could accommodate five people standing. He also arranged two people to guard each gate. Every morning and evening, servants would go in to count the property, and the servants who counted the property would be searched after they came out...

Prime Minister Dou was puzzled - why were there a few items missing from the betrothal gifts?

Upon hearing the news, the in-law, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, rushed to the Dou residence and asked anxiously without even taking a sip of water: "What's missing?"

"A pair of silver-plated gilded xiapei pendants are missing. A pair of white jade dragon-shaped hairpins. A pair of gold and jade earrings. A pair of jade double-chi chicken heart pendants. Also, the gem-encrusted gold crown originally had fifty-five gems, but twenty are missing, which is very obvious. There are also some missing pieces that have not yet been counted."

Although there were few things, they were all on the betrothal gift list! According to etiquette, these betrothal gifts needed to be moved outside the woman's door, displayed, and then called out by the woman's housekeeper!

At that time, guests from all parties, relatives from the groom's family and relatives from the bride's family all came to watch.

This should have been a face-saving move for the woman, showing how much the man valued her when he offered the betrothal gift, but now it has become their death warrant.

The betrothal gift was discovered to be short in weight in public, and it was not only the girl's family that was embarrassed, but also the Dou family.

€€€€Especially since he was remarrying his eldest son this time, he couldn't let it appear that the Dou family looked down on the second eldest daughter-in-law.

Prime Minister Dou had accumulated many wrinkles on his face due to his age, and now each wrinkle revealed distress and fatigue: "There is still half an hour before the auspicious time for calling the names. It is too late to make up for it now. It is also too late to rewrite a gift list."

The thief was very careful, and only stole small items. As for the big items, he did not touch any of them, otherwise he would not have been discovered until now. But small items are difficult to repair, and who knows where a piece will be missing suddenly, or a jewel will be taken out of a hairpin.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites roared angrily: "If I know who did this, I will skin him alive and tear out his bones!"

Prime Minister Dou's family is fine, they are marrying a wife. But his family is marrying a daughter! Marrying a daughter!!!

The two looked at each other, then considerately turned their heads away, so that the other would not see the sadness on their faces and become even more worried.

"How about the city inspector..."

"Only half an hour. It's too late."

"That's right. Although the city inspectors are responsible for investigating and arresting cases in the capital, even if they are divine judges, they can't close a case in just one hour."

"I'm afraid only gods can do this..."

Um?!

The two of them looked at each other suddenly, and they could see the determination and surprise in each other's eyes.

They said in unison: "Xu Yanmiao!!!"

＊

"Ah-ju!"

Xu Yanmiao rubbed his nose and stared at the warehouse door with deep resentment.

[Damn it, they said they were going to a banquet! But why didn't they say they had to work before the banquet! ]

[But! Who would ask the Ministry of Personnel to handle the case? ! ! ]

When he arrived at the place, Xu Yanmiao found out that Prime Minister Dou had invited more than just him. The Dou family had directly sent invitations to every official in the Ministry of Personnel, inviting them to the banquet.

But before that, they had to help Prime Minister Dou find the lost betrothal gifts. They only had half an hour...

Of course, the entire Ministry of Personnel knew that they were just runners-up.

They all pretended to investigate, but were actually secretly glancing at Xu Yanmiao.

Xu Yanmiao was slacking off and complaining madly at the same time.

[Why do we need to ask the Ministry of Personnel when we are looking for something? Are the city inspectors just there to eat for free? If that doesn't work, ask the Ministry of Works to see if anyone has used a mechanism to sneak in through a secret passage!]

[The Ministry of Personnel is here to judge the case? Outrageous! ]

[And he still came to work overtime after work, which is too much. He didn't even give overtime pay! ]

[However, with such a strict anti-theft mechanism, how did they steal things? ]

Xu Yanmiao glanced left and right and found that everyone's attention seemed not to be on him. He immediately changed his posture quietly, leaned against the pillar, staring at the system interface with his eyes flashing faintly.

Melon is coming!!!

＊

coming soon!

The imperial inspectors who were patrolling the city even lowered their breathing for fear of disturbing Xu Yanmiao. Many of them even stretched their necks to look over there.

Damn it, I really want to know which thief was this? How unrefined! He even stole the betrothal gifts. I heard it was lost overnight. No one found anything wrong when they counted the property in the previous six months.

Finally caught.

Prime Minister Dou was bending over to check the keyhole. At this moment, he suddenly stood up and stepped on the copper coins scattered on the floor of the warehouse. His angry foot made a crackling sound.

The Minister of Rites took a deep breath and exhaled in a relaxed manner. His breath turned into white smoke in the winter.

The torture prepared earlier can come in handy.

【found it!】

Xu Yanmiao excitedly opened a page with his mind.

【etc......】

He was stunned.

Eyes widened in shock.

【This this this €€€€】

Others: What happened? What happened?

One or two necks stretched longer.

And Xu Yanmiao, with a voice of shock, amazement, and admiration, groaned...

[How can you steal like this?! ]

[He used that place to hold the small jewels and took them out of the warehouse... But the night-shining pearl is not small anymore, doesn't it hurt him? ]

Everyone pricked up their ears and stopped what they were doing in a hurry.

What? Who pinched me? Where did it pinch? What hurts? What hurts? Tell me now!

Xu Yanmiao: [He used his shit to pick up the gold!!!]

Chapter 12 Hiss! How can someone cram so many things in!

Oh shit!

Asshole?!

Someone from the Ministry of Personnel subconsciously touched his butt and his eyes widened in confusion.

How can you stuff anything into this thing?

"Also..." A certain official from the Ministry of Personnel swallowed his saliva, "If you put jewelry in there, it will...will...get...stained...something, right?"

Help!!!

Prime Minister Dou's hands were shaking.

It's dirty, it's dirty, his son's betrothal gift is dirty!!!

【What the hell! What the hell! What the hell! 】

Hmmmm???

The others became excited instantly.

What did Xu Yanmiao see?

Is there anything more ridiculous than hiding gold in one's asshole? No way? This is gold hidden in one's asshole!

[How did they do this!] Xu Yanmiao's rare voice was so shocking that it trembled: [The most stuffed in one time was two jade combs, two white jade bracelets inlaid with gold, and four South China Sea pearls! Is this an asshole? This is a black hole!]

"Hiss!"

The pupils of the men present trembled.

How can someone cram so much stuff in there! Won't it make you faint from the pain?

"I know, the thief must be a woman. Women can give birth to children and can stuff those things! Maybe the woman even sneaked in disguised as a man."

Some people said it with confidence.

€€€€Children are naturally not born from there, but this person doesn't know it.

[No wonder Prime Minister Dou's youngest son was limping a while ago. I thought he was beaten by Prime Minister Dou because he was competing with the prince of Jibei for the most beautiful woman.]

The man who spoke so confidently seemed to be strangled by someone.

A man? How could it be a man!

Is it true that men are gifted there... Stop, don't think about it anymore!

€€€€However, several people present were secretly glancing at their colleague's buttocks. If it were not in public, someone might have directly pushed him down and pulled down his pants just to verify it.

The one who looked more like someone was being strangled than this man was Prime Minister Dou.

€€€€After all, the culprit was actually found to be his youngest son.

It's such a great filial piety!

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites, his relative, turned around and looked at him with shock in his eyes.

After Prime Minister Dou noticed this, he was afraid that his relatives would misunderstand him, so he immediately explained: "It was all my rebellious son who acted on his own initiative..."

At the same time, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites spoke in a low voice, still a little embarrassed in his excitement: "Prime Minister, can your youngest son really take out so much treasure from that place?"

Prime Minister Dou: "..."

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites coughed.

He is just... curious.

It was as if a spice jar had been overturned on his face; Prime Minister Dou's expression revealed a mixture of funny feelings.

But if we ignore the fact that it was our own house that burned down...

Prime Minister Dou also cleared his throat and said in a low voice: "This... I don't know either. If it weren't for what happened today, I really wouldn't have known that the beast had such a... cough, gifted talent."

The two looked at each other, and both showed regret in their eyes.

Prime Minister Dou: I can't use my own son to test the strength of his asshole.

Honglusi Qing: That's the prime minister's son, the prime minister's son, the prime minister's son... (repeat silently to remind yourself)

On the other hand, Xu Yanmiao was so focused on eating melons that she couldn't pay any attention to the outside world.

[Fuck, you just pick out the jewelry with your asshole, wash it, and then give it directly to the courtesan? ]

[How could there be such an idiot? Luckily the Oiran doesn't know about this€€€€wait, haha ​​...

Everyone pricked up their ears.

What kind of gossip is this! It can actually make someone like Xu Yanmiao laugh like this!

[Dou Shifei (Prime Minister Dou's youngest son) gave the courtesan seven South Sea pearls some time ago, each the size of a fist... puff...]

Seeing this, Xu Yanmiao really couldn't help laughing.

€€€€The main thing is that I think this thing was picked out by Prime Minister Dou's youngest son one by one, and it took him seven days to pick it out.

After laughing, he looked around in panic and found that other people seemed to be still investigating the scene. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to secretly gossip.

[These seven South Sea pearls are collectively called the Big Dipper. Each one has a different color, white pearls, pink pearls, black pearls, peacock green pearls... Dou Shifei gave them to the courtesan, making everyone else in the building envious.]

[And then... pfft...and then, the courtesan gave all the "Big Dipper" to the Prince of Jibei. The Prince of Jibei made them into a belt and wore it out every day to show off. Hahahahahahahaha! ]

The official from the Ministry of Personnel pinched his thigh hard.

You can't laugh! You absolutely can't laugh!

Everyone was trying to hold back their laughter until their faces turned red.

The Prince of Jibei originally lived in Jibei. The Prince of Jibei had been bedridden for more than half a year, and the Prince came to Beijing on behalf of his father.

Some time ago, this man wore that precious belt to court every day, and he would put his hands on his hips and straighten his back from time to time, for fear that he would not be noticeable.

The belt was indeed a treasure, and many low-ranking officials gathered around him, wanting to take a look at it - and even touch it.

The head of the Ministry of Personnel (rank seven) breathed a sigh of relief.

There were two officials in this position. The other one noticed that his colleague had a strange expression and widened his eyes: "You can't be..."

The official from the Ministry of Personnel closed his eyes, as if it was bright daylight, and opened them after a while. He said with lingering fear: "I almost touched it at that time, but fortunately the Prince of Jibei slapped my hand away."

What a great favor! I can never repay you!

[That's weird.] Xu Yanmiao's attention shifted to other places again.

[Such a large set of pearls is missing. How come no one noticed it when we were counting it earlier? ]

【Wuhu! Found the grass! 】

Xu Yanmiao almost died of laughter.

[This Dou Shifei is really talented. He actually picked out these seven pearls from seven sets of jewelry, and he picked out the biggest one from each set. Hahahahahahahaha! ]

[Prime Minister Dou didn't allow him to spend money recklessly and only gave him fifty taels of silver every month for expenses. He couldn't win against the courtesan at all, no wonder he took such a risk, hahahaha.]

Tsk tsk tsk,

Tsk tsk tsk.

Prime Minister Dou's face went from livid at first to expressionless.

His eyes fell on the mace in the corner and he slowly revealed a ferocious smile.

The things are all dirty, and even if they are recovered, they are unusable. But the Nabi must continue.

Prime Minister Dou thought quickly and whispered a few words to the Minister of Honglu Temple, whose eyes became brighter and brighter.

"Okay! That's it!"

A loud shout woke Xu Yanmiao up, and he tiptoed and carefully blended in with other officials of the Ministry of Personnel. To his surprise, whoever he saw from the Ministry of Personnel would give him a smile.

Xu Yanmiao also smiled back.

[Fortunately, no one noticed me slacking off. ]

[The Minister of the Honglu Temple suddenly yelled, "What are you doing?" 】

Soon, not only they knew about it, but also the groom's and the bride's families and the invited guests knew about it.

The daughter of the Minister of the Honglu Temple was virtuous and kind. She learned that the world was now poisoned by the aftermath of the extravagant style at the end of the previous dynasty, so she begged her father to marry her off with a small gift.

When the Dou family learned that this woman was of high moral character, they responded by offering her a small gift in marriage proposal.

Of course, the small gift is relative to their family background. In the eyes of wealthy families, reducing one million to three hundred thousand is already extremely unfair, while ordinary people see three hundred thousand as a sky-high betrothal gift/dowry.

In short, the reputation of the daughter of the Honglu Temple Minister has risen rapidly in the outside world, and she has also gained a reputation for virtue. As for whether the dowry is really small in private and whether the family gives subsidies, that is a matter of opinion.

The terrifying screams coming from Prime Minister Dou's home, where his youngest son was beaten so hard that he couldn't get out of bed for half a month, were all insignificant matters.

＊

The old emperor did not go to the Dou Mansion.

He wanted to give his brother-in-law this honor, but Empress Dou asked him not to give his brother too much honor. Prime Minister Dou was a cautious person, but his family might become arrogant because of this.

The old emperor naturally obeyed the queen's wishes, but even though the person did not arrive, he ordered the eunuch to bring gifts.

After the eunuch came back, he couldn't help but tell the old emperor about the strange things in the Dou Mansion.

"Today, Prime Minister Dou only prepared a small betrothal gift for the ceremony of paying tribute. The Minister of the Ministry of Rites was not angry. Instead, he echoed Prime Minister Dou and talked about how the world today is influenced by the last years of the previous dynasty, and that luxury is the norm. From high officials to ordinary people, marrying off their daughters and wives requires spending all their family property."

"So the two decided to start with themselves, to marry at a low price, and try to rectify this extravagant trend."

"I heard from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Rites that this was a suggestion from the Minister's daughter. For a while, people on the streets were praising this heroine, saying that she was concerned about the country and the people even though she was at home."

Hearing what the eunuch said, the old emperor couldn't help but recall the end of the previous dynasty.

At that time, people were living in luxury and decadence. From the emperor and ministers to the common people and businessmen, everyone competed in extravagance in food, clothing, housing and transportation. Even the tavern girl he saw in the market, who was only 28 years old, had a hairpin on her head and pearls on her ears.

The glass is Bi Liuli, which comes from the Huangzhi Kingdom on the sea. The pearl is Daqin pearl, which comes from the Daqin Kingdom in the Western Regions.

The entire dynasty exudes an unhealthy and corrupt atmosphere, and things are going on in a turbulent manner.

At that time, no one thought that the great Zhou Dynasty, where all nations came to pay tribute, would collapse so suddenly. Many people thought that it was just a little rotten.

At that time, every family admired wealth and luxury in marriage, and they were very ostentatious and competitive. The emperor spent 20,000 kilograms of money to marry the empress, which was equivalent to the assets of 2,000 small peasant households. The princes spent at least 200 kilograms of gold to marry, and even small peasants had to pay a dowry of more than 10,000 coins.

But don't think that only the betrothal gift is like this.

When the emperor married off his daughter, the dowry he prepared would generally not be less than 200,000 coins.

When a royal family married off their daughter, the dowry could range from hundreds of thousands to millions, or even tens of millions.

Small farmers also have to pay thousands of dollars.

With such competition, it is not so bad for the rich, but the poor are simply unable to afford the extravagant wedding expenses. Nine out of ten people have to go into debt to get married.

Later, people began to abandon and kill babies. Regardless of whether they were boys or girls, they were abandoned or drowned at birth. The imperial court repeatedly banned this practice but it continued.

The old emperor sighed: "I lament the hardships of people's lives... When I was young, my family only had a few acres of thin land, but they were able to send me to a private school. Later, my eldest brother got married, and my eldest sister got married. Our family's financial situation suddenly fell into decline, and I sold myself into slavery just to beg for a meal."

The old emperor never shied away from his origins; instead, he was quite proud of it and would talk about it from time to time.

Who else can go from being a slave to becoming an emperor!

Who else!

However, the emperor dared to speak, but the eunuch did not dare to respond and just kept silent.

After expressing his feelings, the old emperor said: "Order the Imperial Academy to draft a decree prohibiting extravagant marriages and issue it to the whole country."

€€€€The previous reward to Xu Yanmiao was a "decree", but now it is a "edict", which has completely different meanings.

Once the emperor uses an "edict", it becomes an official document announced to the world.

"I will also pass on my oral order that Li Qingyun, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, has taught his daughter well and will be rewarded... Li has been praised for her honest words and talents and will be rewarded..."

After giving the order, the emperor felt much more relaxed. Just at this moment, a palace maid came to report: "Concubine Zhang said that she had received your Majesty's oral order and would see you in a quarter of an hour. She also heard that your Majesty had been sitting in the palace for a long time today, and was worried that your Majesty had not eaten, so she specially sent you some garlic noodles..."

The chief eunuch glanced at her and couldn't help but applaud Concubine Zhang in his heart.

Because of his background, His Majesty's favorite food is the common food of the people. If Lady Zhang sent any cakes or soup, His Majesty would give her a verbal order to reprimand her. But it's no wonder, Lady Zhang was His Majesty's first concubine when he was still an officer, and she always knew His Majesty's temperament.

The old emperor nodded slightly, and the garlic noodles were served to him. He took a few big bites and asked the eunuch while eating: "Besides this, is there anything else interesting?"

The eunuch smiled and said, "There is a strange and interesting story."

The old emperor chewed a clove of garlic and said, "Hmm?"

The chief eunuch said, "After the tribute ceremony was over, screams were heard from the Prime Minister's residence. It was heard that Prime Minister Dou was chasing his son with a mace."

The old emperor perked up and reached for the melon seed plate on the corner of the table: "What happened?"

The chief eunuch told the emperor what he had learned: "It seems that Prime Minister Dou discovered that the son of the Dou family was competing with the prince of Jibei for the position of the most beautiful woman."

The old emperor subconsciously said: "That's it?"

I thought it was a drama of a father and son turning against each other. It was just a fight over an Oiran? It was not a fight between a father and son over an Oiran, but the fight over the Prince of Jibei, who was completely unrelated to them.

He has even prepared the melon seeds, just show him this!

Xu Yanmiao is still the best, never letting him down.

The author has something to say:

The old emperor gradually became a man of fun ()

＊

Theoretically speaking, the dowry and betrothal gifts should have both expenses and income, and should be equal.

I guess the reason why they drowned during childbirth is because they were competing with each other (regardless of whether they had the idea of ​​competing or not, most people would be swept along by the social atmosphere), and since they had already paid so much for the dowry/bride price, the expenses for the banquet would probably be quite high. Even if they could accept gifts, for ordinary people, their social circles were also ordinary people, and the gifts they received were not expensive, so they would suffer losses.

€€€€The above is just speculation, not guaranteed.

€€€€If you find out later that this is not the case, or if you have other ideas, then change it!

Chapter 13: Ouch! We've poked the marketing peddlers in their nest!

"Boom boom boom boom boom €€€€"

The old emperor blurted out: "What's going on!"

"It seems..." The chief eunuch listened carefully, "It seems that the drum outside the Meridian Gate was struck."

Dengwen drum?

The old emperor stood up solemnly.

"Inform all officials!"

...

Xu Yanmiao walked at the end of the officials, listening to the military clerk giving him scientific explanations.

"When your majesty first founded the country, he set up a drum outside the Meridian Gate. If the people had grievances, they could beat the drum and report to the emperor."

"Oh! Do we need to roll over the nail board? I heard that only by rolling over the nail board can we express our grievances."

"Of course not. Where did you hear that rumor, Xu Lang?" The clerk of the Ministry of War could not help laughing: "Your Majesty set up the Dengwen drum to open up the channels for people to speak out. If everyone who comes to appeal for justice has to roll on a nail board, six out of ten people will die. Who would dare to come to appeal for justice?"

Isn't this just like taking off your pants to fart, a waste of time?

Even in previous dynasties, those who complained would be either whipped dozens of times or beaten with a stick dozens of times, but no one had ever tried the rolling nail board.

Xu Yanmiao felt embarrassed: "It was my mistake..."

As soon as I stepped into the side hall near the Meridian Gate, a strong smell of blood hit me in the face.

[Fuck!] Xu Yanmiao's pupils trembled: [Did the old emperor really let the people who came to appeal for justice get kicked off the nail board?]

Others: "..."Thank you, we also had an earthquake.

The prime minister and the six ministers who were walking in the front suddenly looked up at the old emperor.

Your Majesty, isn't this inappropriate?

€€€€The main reason was that they also smelled the smell of blood, which was abnormally strong.

The veins on the old emperor's forehead were throbbing.

He glared at Xu Yanmiao. Then he immediately bit his tongue and said, "I have ordered the imperial physician to come and treat her. Before this woman beat the drum, there was not a single piece of good flesh on her body! I don't know what injustice she has suffered that she can endure such pain."

He pronounces his words very clearly, fearing that others may not be able to hear or cannot hear clearly.

When reading the word "before", the stress is still on it.

The imperial physician came forward with the medicine box, and felt pity for the bloody man in front of him. His years of medical experience told him that such patients could not be saved, and he could only give them acupuncture to reduce their pain before death.

"well......"

The imperial physician reached out to feel the patient's pulse.

"Snap..." A bloody hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and pushed him aside.

Imperial Physician: "Ah!!!"

Pretend to be dead!!!

The old emperor gripped the armrest so hard that veins bulged all over his arm.

If he wasn't sitting on a chair, he would have taken three steps back!

"Your Majesty!!!" The bloody man spoke. His voice was not full of energy, but it was also particularly sad and angry: "I, Xie Luoshui, sue the Marquis of Kuaiji, his wife, and his son!"

The old emperor opened his mouth and wanted to say something.

Xu Yanmiao had already said it for him in his heart.

【Fuck, fuck, fuck, this is the constitution of the female protagonist in abusive novels! She is so injured that she should be dying, or at least barely breathing. Her voice is so powerful.】

Xu Yanmiao stared at the information given in the system gossip and took a breath.

[She had a miscarriage yesterday!!!]

Civil and military officials: "Hiss!"

You can't tell at all!

After a miscarriage, any woman would lie weakly in bed for ten days or half a month.

[6666, amazing! He took advantage of the time when the Marquis of Kuaiji and his family were attending Prime Minister Dou's tribute banquet to escape, stole a horse, and galloped forty miles in one breath to the capital to file a complaint.]

Everyone's eyes involuntarily fell on the legs of this ragged woman.

The inner thigh was rubbed until it was bleeding.

but!

As Xie Luoshui spoke excitedly, he subconsciously took a step forward with his left leg. His clothes swayed, the torn cloth tore at the wound, and the blood scab was torn open again not long after it healed.

"Hiss" I'm sorry, but Prime Minister Dou really couldn't help but helped her and felt the pain.

But the frail woman in front of him just frowned slightly, as if this kind of pain was not worth mentioning to her.

She quickly recounted her story.

She said that she was originally a farm girl, and recently she went to the city with her parents to sell fish. The prince of Kuaiji used sweet words to coax her into the palace, but later heard that the emperor wanted to choose a husband for Princess Xiangyang for the second time, so the Kuaiji family imprisoned her to prevent her from going out and talking nonsense. At the same time, the prince pretended to be a clean person who had not married for many years for the princess and did not even have a maid in his house.

As for the pregnancy, it was because the prince raped her after getting drunk.

The old emperor cast his eyes towards the Marquis of Kuaiji who was present: "Do you have anything to say?"

Xie Luoshui also looked at the Marquis of Kuaiji, prepared for the other party to refute or even turn the tables.

But no one expected that the Marquis of Kuaiji confessed his guilt directly, saying that he was bewildered at the time and wanted his family to marry the princess so much that he did such a thing to deceive everyone.

After confessing his crime, he immediately apologized to Xie Luoshui, a peasant girl, so quickly that everyone from the emperor to the officials was very confused. The old emperor was still confused and sentenced the Marquis of Kuaiji for wounding and the Marquis of Kuaiji for adultery according to the law.

After the verdict was made, the old emperor could not help but ask: "Marquis of Kuaiji, those who kill others shall be put to death, and those who injure others shall be punished. I sentence you to forty strokes of the cane for the crime of injuring others. Do you admit your guilt?"

The Marquis of Kuaiji thanked him and said, "I plead guilty."

The old emperor asked again: "Your son raped an unmarried woman. According to the law, he should be sentenced to two years in prison. Do you admit it?"

€€€€That means two years of hard labor.

The Marquis of Kuaiji thanked him again and said, "I plead guilty on behalf of my rebellious son."

The old emperor looked at Xie Luoshui and asked, "Are you convinced by this verdict?"

Xie Luoshui also bowed and said, "I am convinced."

Now that the victim has admitted his mistake, the meeting should be adjourned.

Xu Yanmiao came here confused, and now he was leaving confusedly. He was in a state of confusion and began to doubt why he came to this court meeting.

When I looked up, I saw Marquis Kuaiji walking out hurriedly, eager to leave.

Xu Yanmiao subconsciously opened the system.

[It feels weird...]

When his heart sounded, Marquis Kuaiji paused, and the next moment, he walked even faster.

As he was about to step out of the side hall door, Xu Yanmiao uttered several interjections expressing shock in his heart.

[Oh oh oh oh! Stealing a dragon and switching a phoenix!!! It's actually stealing a dragon and switching a phoenix! ]

The old emperor, who was getting on the sedan chair, staggered and almost fell off.

The chief eunuch: "Your Majesty!!!" He hurried to help him.

"No need to help me!" The old emperor turned around and jumped off the sedan chair, walking briskly into the palace: "I have something else to do!"

Hurry back to eat melon!

Now that the emperor has gone back, all the officials must naturally go back as well.

The Marquis of Kuaiji's legs went weak, so the Jinyiwei picked him up and dragged him in.

Xie Luoshui looked at these officials in confusion. Some of them suddenly pulled off their beards for no apparent reason. What were they doing?

I couldn't figure it out, but I followed him back subconsciously.

Xu Yanmiao followed the group absent-mindedly, his eyes fixed on the system interface.

[I told you what was wrong! If you really had a conscience, you would have confessed when asked, and you wouldn't have done something like imprisonment in the first place.]

[I didn't expect it to be a case of stealing a dragon and switching it with a phoenix. ]

[The current prince of Kuaiji Marquis is not the descendant of Kuaiji Marquis! 】

This this this €€€€

All the officials who had been tired from the drum-beating suddenly became alert, their eyes were bright and full of curiosity.

How exactly is he not the descendant of the Marquis of Kuaiji? Tell me! Tell me quickly!

Did his wife have an affair and bring in her son with her lover to replace the little princess? ! !

[The child was exchanged by his wife! It was a random baby boy brought back from outside! I want to see if the Marquis of Kuaiji knows about this.]

【Woooa ...

[Your circle is so messy! He knows, he has always known about this! He is weak, he only has one child, he wants a prince to inherit the title, so he just accepted it with a pinch of his nose! ]

All officials felt very sorry.

Since the Marquis of Kuaiji knew about this, he probably acquiesced to it. Then it couldn't be the lover's child.

The Minister of Revenue was very disappointed: "The wife of the Marquis of Kuaiji is so confused! Husband and wife are one body. If she doesn't have the man's bloodline, she should at least have the woman's bloodline. Why did she bring a child who has nothing to do with either side back to inherit the Marquis's mansion? It's just finding a lover. The Marquis of Kuaiji is so generous, why would he care about such a small matter?"

The Minister of Revenue stamped his feet and said: "How foolish!!!"

Marquis of Kuaiji: Get out!!!

Marquis of Kuaiji: You all just want to watch the fun, why don't you let your wife give birth to a child for you!!!

The old emperor quickly called the chief eunuch and said, "Go and bring here the son of the Marquis of Kuaiji and his wife!"

Watch the fun.

Soon, the two were brought over.

During this period, all officials had their fill of gossip.

What is going on? The son of Marquis Kuaiji could write poems at the age of three and essays at the age of five. It turns out that Marquis Kuaiji had someone prepare poems and essays for him to memorize in advance.

When the son of Kuaiji Marquis was ten years old, he hunted a black fox and released it. The black fox spun three times on the spot and then jumped into the arms of the son. This story of the black fox recognizing its master, which was talked about on the streets, turned out to be captured in advance by Kuaiji Marquis. It was shot because it had been hungry for three days and could not walk. Then it found meat in the son's arms and jumped on him.

[And that fox! Hahahahahahahaha, that fox hahahahahahaha€€€€]

Xu Yanmiao's laughter was earth-shaking.

[That fox was actually an ordinary red-haired fox that was caught and then dyed black with ink hahahahahahahahaha! ]

[This is such a wicked forgery. The poor fox almost drowned in the inkwell.]

The Marquis of Kuaiji's face turned red, and he looked as if he had been stripped naked and thrown into this hall.

What's wrong with faking it!

Others can't fake it even if they want to!

Moreover, how can the fame of a scholar's family be simply described as fraud!

This Xu Yanmiao is so vulgar!

Xu Yanmiao found another fake one: [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA€€€€]

Marquis of Kuaiji: "..."

Could you please stop laughing!

Xu Yanmiao found another fake one: [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA€€€€]

Marquis of Kuaiji: "..."

Is this the end? Is this the end?

Xu Yanmiao: [Hahahahahahaha! So this is how the reputation of Kuaiji Hou as the most elegant and handsome middle-aged man was created! No wonder he is so skilled in building momentum for his adopted son, it turns out it's a family tradition! Hahahahaha...]

All the officials present blushed, and only Xu Yanmiao's wild laughter echoed in the hall.

Xu Yanmiao's heart suddenly became quiet.

The Marquis of Kuaiji's heart skipped a beat and he turned towards the palace door as if possessed by a ghost. Then, he saw his wife and the wild child walking in, led by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Finished.

Marquis Kuaiji thought in despair.

Xu Yanmiao exclaimed "Oh!" and was very excited.

【I actually caught up with the scene to eat melons! 】

[It seems that the old emperor's Jinyiwei has already been investigating the Kuaiji Marquis's Mansion. ]

[I understand! The previous dismissal must have been faked, in order to prevent the Marquis of Kuaiji from jumping off the wall in desperation!]

[The Imperial Guards brought people here. They must have found out that Xie Luoshui is the princess of the Marquis of Kuaiji Mansion! ]

Marquis Kuaiji closed his eyes in pain.

This time it's really over.

The author has something to say:

Those who kill will be put to death, those who injure will be punished

€€€€Xunzi

Chapter 14 Shock! A certain marquis actually admitted in public that he was a cuckold!

Xie Luoshui suddenly felt countless eyes focused on him, and suddenly felt uncomfortable.

What are they looking at? Are they laughing at me?

He wiped the blood off his face, looked at him stubbornly, and pursed his lips tightly.

Then she heard...

"Madam Du." The old emperor said calmly, "Was it your idea to steal the dragon and the phoenix, or was it the idea of ​​the Marquis of Kuaiji?"

Madam Du seemed dumbfounded. She immediately turned to look at the Marquis of Kuaiji, her eyebrows raised: "Switching a dragon with a phoenix? Wei Jin! Explain to me clearly, what is stealing a dragon with a phoenix? You switched my child?!"

The prince of Kuaiji who was standing next to him shook his head, with an expression that said "Are you kidding me?" "Mom! What are you talking about? What do you mean by stealing a dragon and switching a phoenix? Dad, what's going on? Your Majesty must have misunderstood!"

Marquis of Kuaiji: "This... is of course the Jinyiwei who slandered me! Dalang is my son! How could I do such a thing as switching the son! And I even asked for the title of the Crown Prince for him, this is a crime of deceiving the emperor! A capital crime!"

Three voices were heard, some sharp, some urgent, and some weak, and it was extremely noisy.

Oh, there's a fourth one.

[Tsk tsk, people of the same family are like birds of a feather. Mrs. Du cleared herself of the blame with just a few words. It was clearly a conspiracy between husband and wife, but she made it sound like she knew nothing about it.]

[The Marquis of Kuaiji was not a good person either. When Madam Du was pregnant, he put pressure on her openly and covertly, making her worry that she would not be able to give birth to a son to inherit the title of Marquis. After the birth, he kept sighing and groaning, and even hinted that he had a concubine who gave birth to a son and wanted to take them in. How could he have a son with his weak sperm? If he really had a son, he would have happily brought him home.]

[After tricking Mrs. Du into offering to steal a daughter, he remained silent, puffing on his pipe from time to time, acting like a wimp. In fact, he had clearly acquiesced, but he didn't want to fall into a moral trough, so he acted like it was because Mrs. Du was stubborn and I couldn't persuade her, and I was very worried.]

Xu Yanmiao's revelations immediately made all the officials eat their fill.

Each one is simply breathtaking.

What a nest of snakes and rats this is in the Marquis of Kuaiji Mansion! Even that prince... oh no, the fake prince can do such a thing as imprisoning a commoner girl.

One official murmured: "Are they really not blood relatives?"

Yes! Very similar!

"It's just a pity for that dear daughter... With her status as a legitimate daughter, and the fact that His Majesty has always been generous in favoring meritorious officials and heirs, she would have definitely been given the title of Princess. Unfortunately, it was ruined by her parents like this."

"Yeah yeah."

"If you ask me, the Marquis of Kuaiji is really a bad person. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs."

The Marquis of Kuaiji himself was a very thick-skinned person.

You can say whatever you want, but I'll just say I haven't done it!

Turning to look at the old emperor, he insisted: "Your Majesty! This matter requires evidence. How could I do something like confusing the bloodline? If this is true, I could have kept my daughter and pretended she was twins. Why did I abandon her? Someone must have wronged me! Your Majesty, please understand!"

Everyone knew that what Xu Yanmiao said must be true.

Everyone knows that the Marquis of Kuaiji insisted that there was no evidence to prove the crime.

No matter how arbitrary the old emperor was, he could not punish the family of the Marquis of Kuaiji with a false charge that people all over the world thought was false, such as "I think you used a fake prince to cheat for the title."

For a moment, the court fell into an eerie silence.

Marquis Kuaiji had not received a reply from the old emperor for a long time, nor had he heard Xu Yanmiao's new thoughts. A smile of satisfaction quietly appeared at the corner of his lips.

He won the bet.

If the emperor wants to be a wise ruler, he cannot just rely on Xu Yanmiao's voice to determine who is guilty or not.

And Xu Yanmiao... So what if he knew the truth? Even if everyone in the court knew that he did it, so what? He has handled everything well. If there is no evidence, everything is false.

The only thing that made him unhappy was...

Marquis Kuaiji looked calmly at Xie Luoshui, who had grown into a young girl.

Didn't he hint at the beginning that the baby girl must be killed just in case? Could it be that Mrs. Du was soft-hearted and spared her life? Humph! What a foolish woman, she almost brought disaster to the Marquis's mansion!

€€€€If you are caught cheating for a title, it is deceiving the emperor! It is disrespectful and you will be beheaded!

At this time, the Minister of Justice said slowly: "Since Your Majesty has clearly stated that you stole the dragon and switched the phoenix, you must know where the real phoenix is. Why don't you invite him over and do a blood test to prove your relationship with the Marquis of Kuaiji?"

The old emperor smiled and said, "My dear minister, you are right."

The Marquis of Kuaiji looked unhappy.

He actually ignored the blood test!

But, fortunately, he knew a secret, vinegar could make the blood of close relatives incompatible, as long as he could find a way...

[Eh? Blood test?]

Xu Yanmiao's inner voice rang out.

[But... the blood test is fake. ]

[As long as you don't add vinegar in advance, if you put your own blood into the water bowl, it will blend. ]

The old emperor looked unhappy.

The Marquis of Kuaiji laughed.

All officials... are in chaos.

"Blood test is ineffective?!" An official was confused: "After the chaos in the country, I found my father by blood test..."

If the blood test is fake.

Then who has he been calling dad for more than 20 years? !

Some officials even turned green with anger: "My wife said the child was mine, and I even did a blood test to prove my relationship with that bastard."

The official next to him comforted him: "Maybe it really is you..."

The green-faced official interrupted him, his face full of grief and indignation: "I was sent out for two years. After returning home, I had a one-year-old child. She said that the child was conceived after I met her and made love in my dream."

The official who comforted him: "..."

Ah this...

This... I'm afraid that there is a high probability that this child is not yours.

The Minister of Justice, who was the one who proposed the blood test and triggered the storm in the court, was actually terrified: "Fortunately, fortunately, I don't have any children, and my biological father has never been lost."

Other officials: "..."

Did you listen to what people say?

The Minister of Justice coughed and tried to save the situation: "Your Majesty, there is also the bone-dropping method to identify relatives. The blood of father and daughter will surely dissolve into each other's bones..."

【Fake.】

"I heard that parents and children can identify each other's urine..."

【Fake.】

"Also, the things on the mother and daughter's chests must be similar..."

【Fake.】

Minister of Justice: "..."

[Fake... Eh? Why is there no sound? Is this the end? ]

[Is it really gone? This Minister of Justice doesn't seem to be doing very well. 】

The Minister of Justice could no longer hold back, and gnashed his teeth and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have thought that those are all folk remedies and cannot be used. I am ignorant and ashamed of myself, but I still dare to show up. It is really inappropriate."

The old emperor couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

These are the testing methods that have been passed down for thousands of years, but every time he said one, Xu Yanmiao denied it. No wonder he is so upset now.

"My dear," the old emperor said sincerely, "I can't blame you for this."

It's all Xu Yanmiao's fault!

[Then it's time for the Royal Guards to come out and produce decisive evidence! ]

Xu Yanmiao's heart was still as excited as ever.

[Xie Luoshui had a vegetable washing basin at home. It was the basin she lay in when she was put into the Luoshui River as a baby. It was also the wash basin in Mrs. Du's room. At that time, she was too anxious and asked her personal maid to take Xie Luoshui out of the house and find a place to dispose of her. She couldn't let anyone see her, so she had to put her in the wash basin.]

[The bottom of the basin is engraved with the craftsman's seal! It was made on a certain date. The craftsman has a record in his account book, and the account book of the Marquis of Kuaiji also has a record. We can check and match them up.]

The Marquis of Kuaiji set his jaw, having already thought of the words in his mind - when the time comes, he will say that his wife wants to get a new washbasin, and the old one has been thrown away long ago.

[Oh, and there is also a record in the government files of the nearby Luoyang County that eighteen years ago, a family in Luoyang County caught fire and the couple died. The strange thing is that there were only two bodies in the house, and the baby boy who was supposed to be in the house mysteriously disappeared.]

Marquis Kuaiji had a slight sweat on his neck.

But he had already thought of an excuse in his mind.

It's just an unsolved case. It's a bit far-fetched to say that the baby boy is the current prince of the Marquis' Mansion.

[Yes, yes! The Imperial Guards must have prepared the household register of Luoyang County. The household register is compiled every twenty years. In addition to the name, gender, age, number of fields, location, tax payable, house type, number of rooms, and number of livestock, there will also be portraits of people, both portraits and text portraits.]

【That's unfortunate! 】

[The Luoshui fisherwoman actually bears some resemblance to the wife of the Marquis's mansion, and the Marquis's mansion's son actually bears some resemblance to the male owner of a farmer's household in Luoyang County! ]

【Tsk tsk.】

[The evidence is as strong as a mountain~]

nonsense!

Where is the irrefutable evidence?

The Marquis of Kuaiji's eyes became firm: "Your Majesty!"

He shouted: "It has come to this! I can only say this!"

The old emperor subconsciously asked: "What?"

"My wife! She had an affair with a farmer in Luoyang County 20 years ago! They had been having an affair for two whole years!"

Decisive and powerful.

"I just didn't know why Your Majesty said that he was stealing a dragon and switching a phoenix, so I firmly said that I had never done it. Now I think that Your Majesty suspected me because he saw that the prince was not similar to me and my wife. I also suspected this matter because of the difficulty I encountered today."

"Now it seems that I have been a cuckold for twenty years and raised someone else's son for eighteen years!"

As he was talking, the green-haired turtle's eyes became moist. He raised a corner of his sleeve and gently wiped away his tears.

The ministers were stunned.

You have tried really hard to avoid being charged with falsely claiming the title.

The author has something to say:

Household registration reference from the Ming Dynasty:

The household registration is compiled every 20 years. In addition to name, gender, age, amount of land, location, taxes payable, house type, number of rooms, and number of livestock, there will also be a portrait of the person, both a portrait and a text portrait.

(This paragraph is referenced from: [Each family is issued a household registration form, and a "supply form" is filled in according to the format, i.e. the number of people, name, gender, age, relationship with the head of the household, the number of all kinds of fields, location, tax grain to be paid, type of house, number of rooms, and number of livestock. The above items are also compared with the old register, and the changes in the population and property of each household are re-filled. The "supply form" is in duplicate, with the official seal in the middle. After binding into a book, it is summarized and then reported step by step.

€€€€《The Past and Present of the Household Registration System》】

＊

There are corresponding settings, but they have not been written in this chapter yet.

Kuaiji Hou was the eldest son of the second generation, but he was weak in sperm. He had two younger brothers, and each of them had several children, so his father was reluctant to give him the title of heir. He was furious, and his wife happened to be pregnant, so he decided that this baby must be a son.

(I didn't pretend to call them twins boy and girl because I felt guilty and was afraid that the two children would not look alike and would arouse suspicion)

He struggled even though he knew the emperor was aware of his actions because if he was convicted he would be put to death immediately (the crime of deceiving the emperor), and if he deceived the emperor he could resign and run away to save his life.

＊

Chapter 15 Humph! You almost killed one of my generals!

Mrs. Du said nothing.

Cheating a title is a crime of insubordination and punishable by beheading. But adultery only requires one and a half years of hard labor (for both men and women), which is half a year less than rape. Even a fool would know which one to choose.

and......

€€€€Anyway, she is the one who is cuckolded, so what is there to be afraid of.

The Marquis of Kuaiji was dismissive of the ministers' shock.

As long as I can save my life, a mere green hat doesn't matter.

Two hundred years ago, foreign races invaded the Central Plains, China was divided, and dynasties existed one after another. The emperor of one of the dynasties only trusted eunuchs, so he required people to castrate themselves if they wanted to become officials. Even so, there were people who continued to cut off their chickens to do so.

I heard that the entire dynasty had 20,000 more eunuchs at that time.

He is just wearing a green hat - it's okay as long as he knows he is not wearing it!

Then, the accumulated momentum was broken by Xu Yanmiao's two words.

[Ah? Is this true? ]

The college student had no idea what was going on and scratched his cheek in confusion.

[Back then, he switched the baby because he thought the old Marquis of Kuaiji would not give him the title of Crown Prince. It was because he was over 30 and still childless. The other party wanted to make his second brother, who had seven sons, the Crown Prince. So, did Madam Du have to give birth to a son? ]

A strange light flashed in the old emperor's eyes.

A panic suddenly arose in the heart of Marquis Kuaiji.

Then, he saw the other party showing a hearty smile: "Hahaha, Marquis of Kuaiji."

The face of Marquis Kuaiji turned pale.

"I sympathize with your situation very much." It would be more convincing if he didn't smile. "In this case, I will give you a son to take care of you in your old age. Look, how about your second brother's youngest son? He is still a baby. If you raise him well, I will make him the prince..."

"No!!!" Regardless of the fact that he was still in the court and was still guilty, the Marquis of Kuaiji almost screamed in resistance.

The Minister of Works, who was watching quietly, was stunned by the sight. He thought that this man was crazy. How could he not humble himself at this time and refute the king so loudly?

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites spoke in a low voice: "Looking at him like this, could it be that he was stimulated?"

Suddenly, a voice interrupted, suppressing the sound but unable to hide the excitement inside: "I don't know what the excitement is! If that Xu... could talk about it!"

Minister of Works: Wait, why does this voice sound so familiar?

When he turned his head to look, his heart almost stopped beating: "Your Highness, why are you here?"

After blurting out the words, he realized that he had said something wrong and shut up in annoyance.

Even if the prince only came to court two or three days out of ten, he, as a subject, should not speak like this.

The prince put his hands behind his back and smiled: "The court has been very interesting lately..." Behind him, three or five of the prince's servants who wanted to drag him away but did not dare to use force were so anxious that they were about to cry.

The prince seemed to be completely unaware and just put his head between the Minister of Works and the Minister of Rites.

"There is no prince here. I just came here to talk to someone about this matter."

He was very interested: "What do you think? Is he jealous of his younger brother? He was jealous that the younger brother almost snatched his position as the crown prince. He has been brooding over it, so he has been unwilling to kill the fake crown prince and adopt his nephew after the old Marquis of Kuaiji passed away and he inherited the title?"

The Minister of Works hesitated to speak.

On the contrary, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites was very interested in gossip. He took the initiative to move towards the Crown Prince and whispered: "I also think so. Otherwise, why would he let a wild child take the position of Crown Prince?"

"Yes, yes, yes, the Marquis of Kuaiji doesn't look like he is afraid of killing people!"

"I regret it now. I regret it very much. Why didn't I pay more attention to the affairs of the Marquis of Kuaiji Mansion when I was young? At that time, the old Marquis of Kuaiji had not yet appointed a crown prince!"

The Minister of Taichang Temple was very upset.

Lost a big melon!

The prince sighed with regret: "When I was still in the army, I was not familiar with the old Marquis of Kuaiji..." Then he was so excited that he was afraid that the world would not be in chaos: "But! Xu Yanmiao must know!"

Xu Yanmiao did know.

He himself was not interested in how the old emperor killed the Marquis of Kuaiji, he just wanted to watch the show.

[Wuhu! The defense is broken! The defense is broken! ]

[Oh! No wonder you were so upset. It turns out you have never been able to beat your twin brother since childhood. ]

€€€€The ancients believed that having many children meant more blessings. Twins or multiple births were never a bad sign. On the contrary, giving birth to twins or multiple births would mean that the parents were blessed with great fortune and the blessings of their ancestors.

€€€€Moreover, if you give birth to twins, you can get rice and money as rewards from the court.

[He can't win in literary talent or fighting, and he lives on his title, while his younger brother has climbed up to the position of Tongzhi of Jiaxing Prefecture.]

"How pitiful! The face of the Marquis of Kuaiji is so pale that it has lost all its color."

"That's not right. After all, it hits a sore spot."

"From the information revealed by Xiao Bai Ze, does it mean that if Wei Jin (Marquis of Kuaiji) had not made haste to have Madam Du give birth to a son while the old Marquis of Kuaiji was still alive, the position of Crown Prince might not have been in his hands?"

"Alas, the old Marquis of Kuaiji attached too much importance to the eldest son. In the end, when he saw that he had a son, he decided to give him a chance, thinking that he could support the Wei family."

The crowd: murmured, whispered...

[But it's no wonder. When others get up at 5 a.m. and study until midnight, you are thinking about which clothes are the best and most elegant, and which will be praised as "a gentleman" when you go out.]

[While others are busy studying the six arts of a gentleman, not afraid of the cold in winter and the heat in summer, you are inviting your friends to hold a banquet, praising each other and raising each other's reputation.]

"His face turned from white to blue again!!!"

"Wow! His chest is heaving so badly, will he be mad to death?"

"What did Xu Yanmiao say? Broken..."

[I can't even compare to him in terms of the number of children he has. The only thing that can compare to him in life is that I have a title, while this twin brother was born later and can only be ranked below me.]

[Under such circumstances, how could he possibly consider adopting his nephew? In his eyes, he was the son of his enemy. Even if he would call him father in the future, he would never want the other party's son to get the title. He even developed PTSD because of this, and would not consider the children of other brothers or cousins.]

Baiguan: "Wow!"

So that's how it is!

Marquis of Kuaiji: "Enough!!!"

The prince clapped his hands: "The defense is broken, the defense is broken!"

Old Emperor: "..."

The chief eunuch whispered: "Your Majesty, His Highness..."

The old emperor didn't know what expression he should show for a moment, and rubbed his eyebrows: "Let him be."

【Huh!】

The old emperor looked up suddenly.

His intuition told him that Xu Yanmiao had found something good!

The other officials thought the same and could not help but smile.

Even though it's not very kind, but...it's really fun to watch other people laugh!

Look at the Marquis of Kuaiji, his whole body is shaking and his defense is seriously broken.

[Woo!] Xu Yanmiao whistled in her heart, [When I was reading gossip before, there was a sentence "someone was born with six toes", I just glanced over it and didn't make any connection. Tsk tsk, the old Kuaiji Marquis, Kuaiji Marquis, Kuaiji Marquis's two younger brothers and several nephews and nieces, and Xie Luoshui, all have six toes! On the contrary, the fake prince has normal toes.]

[Polydactyly is an autosomal dominant genetic disease. Regardless of whether a boy or girl is born, the chance of having the disease is 50-50. I don't know if this family is lucky or unlucky, but they all got the disease! ]

Marquis Kuaiji reflexively stared at his feet and his pupils suddenly shrank.

It turns out that the biggest flaw lies in himself.

€€€€The people present didn't understand what chromosomes and genetics were, but they roughly understood that most Wei family members had six toes.

The fact that Xie Luoshui has six toes alone cannot fully prove that she is the legitimate daughter of Marquis Kuaiji. However, if they look similar, and there is a washbasin used by the wife of Marquis Kuaiji in her home?

These were enough to convince the people of the world, rather than forcing them to mistakenly believe that the emperor was a tyrannical and incompetent ruler who falsely accused his ministers.

The old emperor decided to take back his comments about Xu Yanmiao being a "broken mouth".

How well behaved and sensible this person is! He knows what it means to share your worries!

"Wei Jin." He didn't even address her by her title. "The Imperial Guards have already found out..."

Tell all the decisive evidence in Xu Yanmiao's heart.

Then he looked at Xie Luoshui: "Xie, are you willing to follow the palace maid to the back room to take off your shoes and socks?"

Xie Luoshui's mind was already confused by this huge gossip. He stood there in a daze, unable to even remember whether to question or doubt. His mind was blank.

Instead, the fake prince collapsed: "How is this possible! How can I not be a member of the Wei family! Xie Luoshui is the legitimate daughter of the Marquisate! How is this possible!"

Wasn't she a poor woman who could be humiliated by him without anyone to turn to?

Isn't it possible for him to do whatever he wants?

The fake prince suddenly rushed to Madam Du, grabbed her shoulders and shook her: "Mother! Speak up, mother, I am the real one! I am!"

His mother slapped him in the face, loud and crisp.

The officials who were eating melons: "Wuhu!"

It was a very hard slap. His face was red and swollen, and there were bloody marks from the scratches of his fingernails. He must be disfigured. It was a foregone conclusion! This was definitely not her biological son!

Madam Du rushed to Xie Luoshui and coughed twice: "Luoshui... this name is really nice. Luoshui, I am your mother! That damn Wei Jin actually exchanged you for the title. You must have suffered all these years. Your mother is really heartbroken..."

Xie Luoshui came back to his senses. Amidst the barrage of voices, he looked up at Madam Du in front of him, his face turning extremely pale: "When the prince... no, I was tricked by Wei Min into returning home, Madam was very angry at first, thinking that I seduced Wei Min. The day she really changed her attitude was when I was bathing. Madam ignored the servants' obstruction and barged in arrogantly... I guess it was then that she saw my feet. Afterwards, Madam changed and treated me very well. She also said many times that she treated me like her daughter..."

Xie Luoshui stared at Madam Du, the water in his eyes seemed to be smoldering: "Are you treating me as your daughter, or am I your daughter!"

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Mrs. Du shivered and hugged her arms. Facing Xie Luoshui's questioning, she was speechless.

Xie Luoshui asked loudly: "Later, when you wanted to marry Princess Shang, you were afraid that the royal family would find out, so you locked me up. The beast you raised got drunk and raped me€€€€"

She didn't think that this was something that needed to be avoided, nor did she think that she needed to be careful to protect her chastity and self-esteem.

€€€€That is something that only noble and upper-class people have the leisure to think about after they have eaten and drunk their fill. When she runs barefoot in the fields, no one will scold her for not respecting herself; when she plants crops in the fields wearing shorts with her arms and legs exposed, no one will exclaim that she is not chaste.

The girl who has never been disciplined by any rules or restrictions is like a big tree with tenacious vitality, growing vigorously and wantonly, and always staring stubbornly at anyone who hurts her.

"Madam Du, when I was pregnant, you were so happy. Were you thinking that the title of Marquis of Kuaiji would return to your bloodline? But you also thought that if Princess Shang really won the favor of His Majesty, would you plan to exchange the child again after the princess became pregnant and gave birth?"

Xie Luoshui should have responded to the emperor's question immediately, but her mind was so confused that she could no longer take all aspects into consideration.

The old emperor didn't care about this.

What he was more concerned about was... this family of bastards actually dared to covet our Xiangyang?! They even wanted Princess Shang? Am I that picky!

Xie Luoshui's words were almost like dropping a bomb among the officials.

Everyone was shocked.

This family is really not afraid of death!

Prime Minister Dou: "...Why are young people getting more and more bold nowadays?"

"The last time I saw someone so fearless was when Princess Wanshou's husband threatened to beat her to death."

You guys are really one mountain higher than the other.

Thank you so much, Jiu Zu.

...Oh, maybe the Marquis of Kuaiji was planning to drag all his nine clans to death together, with the main message being "I don't want to live anymore, what about you?"

The prince continued to walk around slowly with his hands in his pockets. When he came to Prime Minister Dou, he heard this and his eyes lit up: "Beating to death? What do you mean by beating to death?"

...

The prince went to see Prime Minister Dou.

The Minister of Industry then said to his friend: "Why did you discuss those...those things with the Crown Prince just now? He is the Crown Prince! You did not consider advising him to make progress, but instead flattered him with your words and actions. How can a minister behave like this?"

The most important thing is, if the emperor knew that his good friend was leading the prince to learn bad things - even if it was the prince who took the initiative, the father would think that all the mistakes were someone else's fault.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites was very relaxed and waved his hand: "The prince likes to talk about these interesting stories, so let him talk. They are all insignificant things, so there is no need to be so cautious."

He looked in the direction of Xie Luoshui, a little surprised: "Hey, I thought she wanted an answer, but she followed the palace servants to check her toes after asking."

"What?" The Minister of Industry immediately turned around to search: "He really left."

After a while, Xie Luoshui came back. She didn't mind taking off her shoes and exposing her feet in public, but she guessed that the officials in the court would mind, so she went to the inner room.

The palace maid who examined her bowed to the emperor and said, "She has six toes indeed."

The evidence was conclusive and there was no chance for the Marquis of Kuaiji to turn things around.

Xie Luoshui walked up to him and stared at him.

Kuaiji Hou was impatient: "What's the matter?"

Xie Luoshui admitted that he was somewhat unwilling to accept it. Not towards the Marquis of Kuaiji and Madam Du, but towards the two symbols of "biological father" and "biological mother"... a natural resentment - why did you do this to me?

"Why didn't you announce to the public that they were twins, a dragon and a phoenix?"

When the Marquis of Kuaiji heard this, he thought it was ridiculous: "Twins must look identical. If they don't look alike, wouldn't it attract attention? Wouldn't it make people have wild thoughts? If people find out that the prince is not my biological son, wouldn't all my efforts be wasted?"

€€€€He didn't know what identical twins or fraternal twins were. He just made his judgment based on his own experience and what he thought was common sense.

"So you're going to kill me?!"

"What else? If it weren't for the kindness of the slave woman who dealt with you, I would have taken the initiative to push you and the basin into the Luo River, and this wouldn't have happened today!"

The Marquis of Kuaiji spoke very cruelly.

Xie Luoshui's pupils shrank slightly.

The guards came over and forced the family of Marquis of Kuaiji out of the palace. Another wave of people to be executed were about to be added to the prison.

Xu Yanmiao stuck her head out to look, and saw the girl with an expressionless face and her lips slightly pursed as she stood in the floating light and smoke. Her eyes showed confusion as she didn't know what to do after things ended perfectly.

[It's also very pitiful. ]

[In a short period of time, I had a miscarriage and was imprisoned. I gritted my teeth and filed a complaint with the emperor. I didn't expect to suddenly learn about my life experience and found out that my parents were scumbags. Now I am confused about the future again...]

The old emperor suppressed his smile.

I didn't realize that Xu is such a sentimental guy.

[Alas, if only the old emperor could notice how amazing Xie Luoshui's physique is. ]

[For a body like this that could ride a horse forty miles the next day after a miscarriage, but was still seriously injured and bleeding, she first beat the Dengwen drum with all her strength, and then she was barely able to speak, and it's been almost half an hour now, but she didn't show any signs of being unwell...]

[With such great patience and ability to endure pain, you should go out to sea! Go to America! Now Daxia's seafaring technology has no problem sailing there, all we need is a map and the right people! ]

[There is a thing called corn over there. It has a high yield and low labor cost. It is the best dry crop and can fertilize the field! The yield of one season of corn per mu is equivalent to two stone of millet! ]

Officials: "!!!"

Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?

The Minister of Works tightly grasped the Minister of Rites' arm, his lips trembling slightly: "I don't believe it..."

"I don't believe in pie in the sky."

"Xu Yanmiao is teasing me, right?"

How could such a good thing happen in the world!

If there really is such a good thing, why did it only appear now? Why did it only appear now?

The Minister of Rites' arms were shaking, his brain was boiling, and he couldn't calm down.

But he still managed to shout, "Find a pen and paper. Write it down while your memory is still the best! You must write it down!"

[There is something called potatoes over there, which can be eaten as food. It can be grown in high mountains and old forests, and the yield per mu is more than ten stones! ]

The prince took a deep breath and his expression became serious.

Where is America and how to get there? These things will be figured out from Xu Yanmiao's mind sooner or later. Now the most urgent thing is...

He turned to the prince's servants.

"How many treasure ships can go out to sea now? How long will it take to gather helmsmen with experience in long-distance voyages from all over the country and have them come to the capital? Is there enough food in the granaries in the capital for this voyage? Do we need to transfer food from granaries in other places? Please prepare a memorial for these as quickly as possible and present it to me."

"only!!"

[There is also a thing called sweet potato over there, which is not afraid of locust plagues. It can regenerate after a locust plague, and has a yield of ten shi per mu. It can also be rotated with wheat and rice! ]

Aren't you afraid of locust plagues?!

The clerk of the Ministry of War almost turned into a screaming chicken. He pinched his thigh tightly to prevent himself from losing his composure.

But! This is a plague of locusts!

The old emperor stood up suddenly, strode to the front of Marquis Kuaiji and Madam Du, swung his arm and slapped them, sending them flying sideways, with blood foam and broken teeth falling to the ground.

When he thought of Xie Luoshui, who was chosen by Xu Yanmiao as the most suitable person to go to America, and who was almost killed by them, he immediately swung his arm up, making a loud "bang" sound.

"Poisonous husband and foolish wife!"

The old emperor's eyes turned red with anger.

"Almost destroyed one of my generals!"

After the fight, he turned around and held Xie Luoshui's hand, his eyes full of affection, which made Xie Luoshui's back go numb and he subconsciously took a half step back.

The old emperor's gaze became more affectionate: "Thank you Luoshui."

In his eyes, the person in front of him was not a woman, but the word "corn" floating in front of her head, the word "potato" floating in front of her body, and the two legs were not legs. On the left was a sentence "Sweet potatoes are not afraid of locust plagues", and on the right was a sentence "Sweet potatoes produce ten shi per mu".

"Have you ever thought about... becoming a marquis?"

Chapter 16 Ah€€€€

Who wouldn't want to be a marquis? That's the Marquis!

At the beginning of the founding of the country, there were so many places where military merit could be earned, but up to now there are only 155 meritorious officials and marquises. Compared with the 1,188 officials in the capital, this is barely one-tenth.

The gold content is particularly high.

And before that, he had conquered the world! After the dynasty was stable, it was very difficult to be crowned a marquis, and it was even more difficult to be crowned a king.

Xie Luoshui has also been able to feel how powerful the kings and princes are these days.

At this moment, the old but majestic emperor held her hand and promised word by word: "I heard from the sea merchants that there is a land overseas that grows three kinds of crops. If you can bring it back, I will make you a marquis. If you want the land of Kuaiji, I will make you the Marquis of Kuaiji. If you don't want it, I will make you the Marquis of Luoyang County."

Luoyang County is the county where Xie Luoshui's adoptive parents lived. Being granted a fief here can be said to be a glorious return to his hometown.

There is little rain in winter, but it rained today. The sound of raindrops hit the glazed tiles and struck my heart along with the voices of people, trembling with each raindrop.

Xie Luoshui looked at the old emperor in a trance, and with every word he spoke, the light in his eyes gradually brightened.

€€€€That is the light of hope and a bright future.

＊

The old emperor announced on the spot that the Marquis of Kuaiji was stripped of his title and imprisoned together with Madam Du, awaiting execution in the autumn. As for the fake prince, he should have been sentenced for rape, but the old emperor directly determined that he was a murderer, and the victim was already dead, so he had to pay with his life.

The fake prince's legs were shaking, and he tried to make his voice sound less scared: "Who did I kill?"

Oh, and he's still trying to make a death struggle.

The old emperor didn't say anything, and the Minister of Justice seemed to "remind" him helplessly: "Wei Min, the fetus is also a human being!"

He let out a long sigh, feeling particularly compassionate.

The fake prince was choked by these words and his face twisted.

He wanted to yell and make a specious argument. If abortion could be considered murder, there would be countless murderers in the world. But...

Looking at the big Xia Tianzi not far away, the fake prince trembled from his legs to his hands, and his whole body was shaking. Finally, he collapsed and shouted: "I was wrong! I know I was wrong! I really! I really won't dare to do it again!"

Crying bitterly, tears streaming down his face.

The old emperor pointed at him and turned his head to look at Xie Luoshui with a meaningful smile in his eyes.

"Thank you, look."

From a two-year hard labor sentence, it was turned directly into a death sentence€€€€

"That's power."

Xie Luoshui's heart skipped a beat.

The five fingers of the right hand slowly, slowly tightened, as if trying to hold something.

＊

The old emperor was merciful and only liquidated the family of the Marquis of Kuaiji, without taking action against the nine clans of the Marquis of Kuaiji.

The Marquis of Kuaiji was even more devastated. He would rather the old emperor kill all his nine clans than let his twin brother go.

Besides, he also hated

"Xie Luoshui! Why? My father got the title of Marquis of Kuaiji after many life-and-death struggles and victories in many battles when he followed the emperor to conquer the world. How can you be promised the title of Marquis so easily?"

He shouted so loudly, so heart-wrenchingly, that Xu Yanmiao could hear it as well.

Xu Yanmiao just felt that this person was inexplicable.

[It was your father who went through life and death, not you, so what does it have to do with you? 】

"Ha-ha" The Minister of Justice laughed out loud without any sense of boundaries.

Marquis Kuaiji didn't know whether to glare at Xu Yanmiao or the Minister of Justice first. He was so angry that he almost lost control.

Xu Yanmiao continued to add fuel to the fire unknowingly.

[And speaking of ease, isn't it easier for you to inherit the title by just being the firstborn? ]

[But it's no wonder. After all, the title almost fell into the hands of his younger brother. It's normal for him to be upset because of this. ]

[Fortunately, he didn't know that his father hesitated whether to give him the title. Finding out that he couldn't have children was only a small factor. After all, he only needed to adopt a child from the Wei family.]

[If he knew that his father was more because of his incompetence, and thought that he was frivolous, did not do practical things, cared too much about reputation, and was only good at boasting, he would probably be even more angry...]

"Ah€€€€"

The Marquis of Kuaiji yelled in grief and anger, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

The imperial physician felt the old emperor's pulse and reported: "He is so angry that he may faint for a while."

[Ah? Really? You made yourself so angry that you fainted? You are so petty. ]

Xu Yanmiao was still unaware.

The clerk of the Ministry of War looked at him hesitantly, wanting only to say: That's enough, Xu Yanmiao, please behave yourself! This man has already fainted, there is no way he can faint a second time.

Soon, the unconscious Marquis of Kuaiji was thrown into prison along with his wife and fake son.

The Crown Prince just glanced at it and yawned: "Another one comes in."

The former prince consort calmly looked at the three newcomers for several times. There was no separation of men and women in the prison. He found that the man was unconscious, the woman was manic, and only the younger one, with lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling, seemed to be able to communicate.

So I raised my enthusiasm slightly and asked them who they were and how they got in.

As soon as the fake prince explained his family situation, the person on the other side went from being stunned to having a wild smile on his face.

The fake prince was furious: "What are you laughing at!"

The former prince consort: "It's good that your parents were executed, but mine were only demoted to commoners! It seems that my family's situation is much better than yours."

Fake Prince: "..."

Want to hit someone.

The Crown Prince suddenly asked: "Did you hear any rumors before you came in?"

The fake prince was stunned: "What?"

The Crown Prince considered his words carefully: "Has the royal family made any moves... like dealing with the woman who caused trouble in the palace? Or has your adoptive father told you something similar?"

Fake Prince: "No."

The Crown Prince was delighted: "So should we release him?"

"No." The fake prince answered based on his own impression: "Nothing happened in the royal family, otherwise my father... my adoptive father would have told me so that I would not get into trouble."

The former prince consort also said: "I didn't notice any movement before I came in."

The eyebrows on the Crown Prince's face were almost squeezed into a ball.

After the former Marquis of Kuaiji woke up, he asked again. The former Marquis of Kuaiji understood why he asked this question, and said: "The court only knows that Your Highness was imprisoned, and also knows why you were imprisoned, but the punishment of that nobleman...no news was spread at all."

After hearing this, the Crown Prince's face turned pale.

There was no rumor... Well, family disgrace should not be made public. A Zheng must have been secretly executed by grandpa!

Grandpa is too inhumane...

Inevitably, a feeling of resentment subtly rose from the bottom of my heart and lingered for a long time.

＊

The court is dismissed.

Xu Yanmiao walked home lazily, completely unaware of the complicated gazes behind her.

Many times, everyone from the emperor to the officials wanted to speak, stop him and ask him about America, but all kinds of thoughts piled up in their hearts and they were unable to shout out.

Xu Yanmiao walked back home slowly, and then...

"What the hell is this?!"

At the door of the house, boxes were placed one after another, and guards stood vigilantly around them. As soon as they saw Xu Yanmiao, the tense expressions on their faces relaxed: "Xu Lang, you are finally back."

Xu Yanmiao: "What are you doing..."

"We are the guards of Princess Wanshou. We are here on the orders of the princess to send a gift of thanks to Xu Lang for speaking out for justice that day."

Xu Yanmiao was shocked.

"So many boxes of stuff, just for a few words of thanks?"

The chief of the guards nodded modestly.

He actually had some doubts in his heart, but the princess insisted, so he had no choice but to obey.

"Please accept it, Xu Lang. The princess said that Xu Lang had given her a second life. These are just small gifts, not even one ten-thousandth of Xu Lang's kindness."

Xu Yanmiao: "Then...put it in the house first."

Boxes were carried in one by one.

"The princess is so generous."

Xu Yanmiao was delighted: "Fortunately, the old emperor pointed at me that day!"

And soon there would be no place to stay in the house.

Xu Yanmiao scratched his head: "It seems that I have to move houses in the next few days."

I looked down and saw: "Why is there a letter hanging on the lock?"

...

Outside the window, the clouds were getting dark and night was brewing. Xu Yanmiao fumbled to light a candle and opened the envelope facing it.

"Is the Crown Prince's uncle going to return to the capital soon? His uncle is in a high position of power, and the two of them have a close relationship?"

The candlelight illuminated the innocence on Xu Yanmiao's face.

"But what does this have to do with me? I haven't offended the Crown Prince."

He thought about it.

"I know!" Xu Yanmiao clapped her hands, "After Uncle Crown Prince returns to the court, he will definitely do something based on the Crown Prince's imprisonment. The court will definitely be in turmoil. The princess is reminding me that I must keep my head down and not get involved in the struggle between the big guys!"

The princess is such a good person!

＊

the other side.

Princess Xiangyang's Mansion.

Following the princess's command,

"Move this Huanghuali burl wood cabinet away!"

"Take this large Huanghuali wood and yellow marble screen away!"

"Take all these quilts and satin pillows and burn them. Who knows if he will be infected with the same disease as his uncle?"

"This set of blue and white tea bowls with saucers has never been touched by the prince consort, right? Okay, keep it."

When Princess Wanshou walked in, she saw that the servants were being directed around by Princess Xiangyang, and that all the items were being moved away or destroyed.

Princess Xiangyang was swinging on a swing, stepping back and forth. Under the stone bench next to her, there was a pair of exquisitely embroidered shoes lazily placed.

"Shengxian, what are you doing..."

Princess Xiangyang turned around and asked: "Fifth sister?"

She didn't come down either, but held the rope with one hand and asked with a smile, "Why did Fifth Sister come to my place?"

Princess Wanshou then told her the purpose of her visit.

€€€€It turned out that she wanted to ask this most favored princess to rescue the servants who had been implicated by the prince consort.

"They have never bullied me, and my indenture is in Liu Yi's hands. They are afraid of being beaten to death or sold off, so they dare not make a mistake, let alone treat me well."

Princess Wanshou seemed lost in thought and spoke slowly: "If you want to blame someone, it's only because I couldn't stand up on my own that day. How can you blame them for not helping me?"

"My father was furious and put them in jail, waiting to be executed in the autumn. I had never thought about it at first, but when I went to the Ministry of Revenue these two days, I heard the officials talking about their difficulties at home and how they had to humble themselves to make a living. I thought, at least they are also officials, and their lives are so difficult, not to mention those slaves whose lives and deaths are not decided by others."

But compared to her emperor father who was autocratic and indifferent to her, and her empress mother who was gentle and generous but they had only spent a few times together, the first person who came to her mind for help was her little sister who used to follow her around happily and call her "sister" before she got married.

The little girl tilted her head on the swing and looked at her.

Princess Xiangyang has always known her fifth sister's temperament. She is kind, of course, but only to "people", and servants are naturally not included.

She had only been on duty for a few days, but she could already see the suffering of the servants.

Just being an official... could it really change a person so much?

Princess Xiangyang suddenly became very interested in being an official.

So, after easily asking her father to release the slaves, she naturally said, "Daddy! I want to be an official too!"

The old emperor looked at her in confusion: "How can a girl like you be an official? Is that something you are capable of?"

"My fifth sister is also an official. She is good at accounting, and I am not bad at accounting either."

"Not bad, not bad, but your fifth sister was just a temporary recruit. And she was almost beaten to death by her husband, so she needed to find something to do. Can you do the same as her?"

Princess Xiangyang began to consider the possibility of capturing her newly divorced husband and forcing him to beat her to death with a stick.

Princess Xiangyang added: "And the one who beats the drum..."

"I need her to go to sea."

Princess Xiangyang was not happy: "Daddy! I want to be an official!"

However, this time, no matter how she made a fuss, the old emperor, who usually agreed to whatever she said, refused to give in.

＊

Princess Xiangyang stormed out of the palace: "I don't want to talk to my father anymore!"

Five days! She had begged her father for five days, but he refused to agree. He even asked her to copy the "Nujie" when he was pressed to the limit!

"I'm furious!"

"I'm furious!"

Two voices spoke in unison.

Princess Xiangyang paused, looked up at the opposite side, and couldn't help but let out a soft hiss.

What a handsome young man!

The other party also looked at him in surprise.

"What are you angry about?"

"What are you angry about?"

The two of them said in unison. After they finished speaking, they looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.

Princess Xiangyang: "My name is Gao Xiang, what's yours?"

"Gao? Or the national surname?" The other party smiled and said: "My surname is Xu, and my name is Xu Yanmiao."

＊

The two of them sat in the bustling teahouse, and Xu Yanmiao's voice was brisk and lively: "I have been looking for a new house these days, not to buy, but to rent."

"I put forward my request, and the Zhuangzhai Bank said it was fine and would definitely satisfy me, but it turned out that they lied to me!"

"I said I wanted a good-natured landlord, and they patted their chests and guaranteed that the owner of the house they chose for me would be easy to get along with!"

"In the end, I found a landlord who would collect the rent in advance and raise the rent while I was busy! Don't think I don't know. His last tenant's mother came to the capital to visit. When he found out, he deliberately took advantage of the fact that the mother needed a place to stay and raised 20% of the rent."

When he got excited, he knocked the table with his knuckles, like drum accompaniment.

Princess Xiangyang's eyes widened: "How hateful! We cannot live in the house of such a person!"

"Yeah, yeah, I think so too!"

"Then another time, I said I didn't want to live next to a ditch because sewage would come out of the ditch and flood into the yard when it rains. Even if there was no sewage, I didn't like a wet house. They agreed and took me to see a house. There was indeed no ditch nearby, but it was a thatched cottage in a remote area, and they swore to me that the roof would not leak!"

"How could there not be any water leaks? I've seen it all... I know everything. Every time it rained, every household had to put all their pots and pans out to work!"

"And more..."

Xu Yanmiao talked a lot, and Princess Xiangyang was amazed. She wanted to know where this man got his information. He was even more well-informed than the Beggars' Gang in the storybooks!

This made Princess Xiangyang want to talk.

So after Xu Yanmiao finished complaining about her experience of looking for a rental house in the past few days, she also started to complain: "My father is an old stubborn man. When I said I wanted to work in the family restaurant, he refused, saying that it was not good for a daughter to show up in public."

"He also said that I was spoiled and wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. I can't run a restaurant, but can I stand at the door to greet people? And I'm not bad at accounting. If he wants, he can find a seat for me. I can climb up by myself!"

"He just doesn't want to agree!"

After Xu Yanmiao thought for a few seconds, an idea suddenly popped into his head.

"I've thought of a way, but it might be a little unethical."

"It's okay! Tell me now!"

"Does your father have anything he loves or someone he particularly cares about?"

"My mother."

"That's easy! I tell you, hit the snake at its most vulnerable part..."

Xu Yanmiao muttered softly, and the more Princess Xiangyang listened, the brighter her eyes became.

That night.

In the Pepper Room, the old emperor held the spoon with great interest: "Sister, you love this chicken soup the most, I'll feed you, ah..."

Empress Dou's ears turned red: "How old are you!"

The old emperor: "No matter how old you are, you are still my sister. Come, ah..."

Empress Dou was embarrassed but was about to open her mouth very sweetly.

Princess Xiangyang: "Ah€€€€"

Old Emperor: "..."

Empress Dou: "..."

The old emperor was horrified: "Gao Shengxian! Why are you here!"

Princess Xiangyang held her face in her hands and said, "I came to visit my mother."

Empress Dou stood up suddenly, her neck flushed red, "You guys eat, I haven't finished my palace duties for today!"

The old emperor silently extended his hand, but the queen walked very fast, as if something was chasing her from behind.

...

The old emperor and the empress were strolling in the imperial garden.

When going up the stone steps, the old emperor pushed the palace maids aside and said, "Sister, I'll support you!"

Empress Dou stretched out her hand.

The two of them were very close.

Empress Dou said gently: "Wulang, do you remember that year..."

The old emperor was about to respond when he suddenly felt his hair stand on end. He was an emperor on horseback and had experienced countless crises, big and small. He immediately shouted, "Who's there?"

There was a rustling sound in the bushes.

The old emperor was almost about to kick him.

Princess Xiangyang came out and said, "Dad! Mom! What a coincidence!"

Old Emperor: "..."

Empress Dou: "..."

Princess Xiangyang: "By the way, mother, you and father were..."

Empress Dou coughed lightly and quickly recounted what happened that year. There was no trace of the romantic atmosphere at all.

Old Emperor::(

After this happened three or five times, the old emperor could no longer tolerate it and gave Princess Xiangyang an official position: "It's the New Year now, and I'm quite busy. You can take up the position after the New Year!"

"Okay! Daddy, you're the best! I'm going to live out of the palace for the next few days!"

Old Emperor: "..."

The next day, the old emperor went to court.

I heard Xu Yanmiao's happy voice.

[I finally found a house with a nice landlord, a good location, no water leaks, and neighbors who seem to be easy to get along with! ]

[Sure enough, good people are rewarded! ]

[This must be the reward from God after I gave Gao Xiang some advice! ]

[Gao Xiang said that her father asked her to go back to work after the Chinese New Year, and she didn't know what kind of job it was. Gao Xiang also said that her father was stingy and wanted to try her out for three months without paying her... Tsk tsk, he's as stingy as the old emperor.]

On the golden stage, the old emperor clenched his fists expressionlessly.

Xu Yanmiao, it turns out it's you.

Chapter 17: Four Ways to Write the Chinese Character Hui!

【There is murderous intent! 】

Xu Yanmiao suddenly let out a shocking shout.

The entire court was shocked.

They could have skillfully ignored some of Xu Yanmiao's less important concerns, and reported what should be reported, impeached what should be impeached, and quarreled with what should be quarreled.

But this "murderous intent" is really terrifying.

The officer quickly glanced around without making any noise.

Murderous intent? Where? No?

The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard stood on the west side of the throne, and almost reflexively wanted to draw his sword to protect the emperor. After he reacted, he glanced in the direction of Xu Yanmiao with resentment.

Can you please not be so startled? This is the court!

Xu Yanmiao looked around, still feeling happy.

[Wow, maybe it's an illusion? But this sentence is really cool, I've wanted to say it for a long time! ]

Happy and with a sense of beauty that doesn't care about the lives of others.

The old emperor looked at Xu Yanmiao slowly, with a sinister smile on his face.

illusion?

I'll let you know if it's an illusion!

"Xu Yanmiao!"

Xu Yanmiao was startled and stood up nervously: "Your Majesty?"

The old emperor: "I have heard that you have a quick mind."

Xu Yanmiao: "?"

[Who told you this? Am I not good enough to lie down and play badly? ]

The old emperor simply pretended not to hear and continued: "Do you know the literary leader of the late Zhou Dynasty, Quan Yingzhang of the Quan family of Tianshui?"

Xu Yanmiao nodded seriously: "I have heard something about it."

[Who is this? The leader of the literary world or something like that, sounds pretty high-class.]

Old Emperor: "..."

Ministers: "..."

I'm just being polite, you really don't know!

After taking the imperial examination, did you throw away all the knowledge points?

The old emperor was indignant, and his rising momentum was interrupted all of a sudden, because he had to explain clearly: "Quan Yingzhang was an official in the Zhou court, in charge of court documents, and the leader of the literary world for twenty years. After the fall of Zhou, he lived in Tianshui, wrote books, and was invited by the court many times but still refused to serve, saying that a minister should not serve two masters."

Xu Yanmiao nodded seriously: "Yeah!"

The old emperor said: "I heard that you have quick wits, so I will leave this matter to you. Go to Tianshui and persuade Mr. Quan to serve as an official in the court and serve our Great Zhou."

[So who on earth is saying that I have some quick wit? Damn it! I better not find it!]

[It's winter, and the New Year is almost here. Who would want to go on a business trip to Tianshui at this time? ]

[Besides, if she doesn't want to be your official, then she won't want to be your official. If you force her to do it, isn't that forcing her to become a prostitute?]

The old emperor was originally feeling proud that he had finally gotten the upper hand over Xu Yanmiao.

€€€€Don't you like to be lazy? I'll take you to work.

Then, it was created.

What does it mean to force a woman of good character into prostitution? Can you speak? You are the only one who has a mouth, right?

The old emperor stroked his beard angrily.

I feel that there were many famous people who were betrayed in the previous dynasty, and I want to give every famous person who was betrayed a home!

As for the ministers, they were already devastated by the word "prostitute" and could only stare at Xu Yanmiao without saying a word.

Xu Yanmiao looked obedient and said to the old emperor: "I obey your order."

Xu Yanmiao asked again in a clever way: "Your Majesty, as long as we can invite people here, can we use any method?"

The old emperor: "Yes, but they must come with you voluntarily and cannot be forced."

Xu Yanmiao: "Yeah!"

[So I burned his house down, and he ran back after me with a machete, so that counts as voluntary, right?]

Old Emperor: "..."

He gnashed his itchy teeth and said, "I must be willing to serve as an official!"

The two words "chu shi" (chu shi) are still emphasized.

Xu Yanmiao: "Hmmmm!"

[Strange, why does the old emperor's tone of voice seem a little strange? ]

The old emperor said expressionlessly: "You can set off now. The carriage is ready."

＊

Of course, Xu Yanmiao was not allowed to set off alone. Tianshui was thousands of miles away, and the old emperor also assigned a team of Jinyiwei for his safety.

When they finally arrived in Tianshui, Xu Yanmiao covered her butt which was broken into pieces by the shaking, and got off the car as if to escape.

The Jinyiwei asked him if he wanted to go to the inn to rest, but Xu Yanmiao refused outright.

"Get rid of it quickly so I can go home soon!"

He stood at the door of the great scholar and knocked respectfully. The other party knew that he was from the court and did not make things difficult for him. However, after inviting him in, the great scholar did not come out. Instead, he was received by his grandson.

The other party said politely: "Angel, please go back. My father-in-law is old and can no longer serve the emperor."

Xu Yanmiao did not continue to talk about this content, but just showed a shy smile: "I heard that Mr. Quan's academic research adheres to tradition and is proficient in ancient literature. I came to ask Mr. Quan for advice."

Quan Xie was very surprised: "You study classical Chinese? I mean, what do you want to ask my father-in-law?"

It was no wonder that he was so surprised. Nowadays, most students in the academic world study classics, which are divided into two major schools: modern text and ancient text. In the folk, there are many debates between the two, but in the court, modern text classics have already gained the upper hand.

The difference between the modern literature school and the ancient literature school is probably the difference between "Confucius is the most awesome, Confucius used ancient history to reform the system" and "Confucius is also awesome, but Duke Zhou is the most awesome, Confucius was just stating Duke Zhou's ideas."

The purpose of Modern Confucianism is to understand the classics and apply them to practical use, to adapt to the times, and the theories must be combined with the needs of current politics.

The study of ancient classics is more about pursuing the correct understanding of the classics, focusing on studying the ideological content of the classics and annotating the classics.

Xu Yanmiao: "I want to ask Mr. Quan..."

He looked at the gossip in the system interface that "Quan Yingzhang was eavesdropping on the conversation between Xu Yanmiao and his grandson Quan Xie" and smiled slyly.

"How many ways are there to write the word '回'?"

Quan Xie was confused: "What?"

What is the problem?

Xu Yanmiao spoke very sincerely: "I heard from the officials in the court that scholars of ancient classics often spend their whole lives studying the classics, and are especially good at nitpicking on words. They are the most meticulous in classics, and can even figure out the several ways to write the word '回'. I am very curious, so I took this opportunity to come and ask for advice."

The words are all good, but if you taste them carefully...

Anyway, Quan Xie's grip on the teacup tightened. If he hadn't thought that the person in front of him was the emperor's envoy, he would have thrown the teacup at him.

A loud shout suddenly came from the side room: "How rude of you!"

€€€€Who are you being sarcastic about?

An old man leaning on a cane rushed out aggressively and glared at Xu Yanmiao: "Who told you that ancient Chinese classics are so word-for-word!"

Xu Yanmiao answered very straightforwardly: "Everyone in the court said so."

He shouted happily: "Meet Mr. Quan!"

Quan Yingzhang glanced at him. Even though he knew it was a provocation, he couldn't bear to see his school of thought slandered: "Go back and tell them that modern text classics are the words of the barbarians in Qidong. How can a frog in a well understand the true meaning of ancient text classics?"

As for entering the government? It was just a trick. This guy looked down on him too much.

"Yes! I will definitely bring it to you!" Xu Yanmiao's eyes sparkled: "How many ways are there to write the word '回'?"

Quan Yingzhang said indifferently: "We have never studied this before."

"But the study of ancient Chinese classics explores the origin of sounds and characters, and the interpretation of chapters and sentences..."

"The learning of the mad and reckless is really vulgar! The interpretation of chapters and sentences is for exegesis, textual research, and seeking truth from facts, but you have slandered it as a thorough study of a single word, which is ridiculous! You are now learning to echo the emperor's policies, to extract classics to flatter him, and to speak of great principles to exercise power, so you need to pick out chapters and sentences and say trivial words!"

"Yeah!" Xu Yanmiao nodded seriously.

Quan Yingzhang waited for him to refute.

After a dozen breaths, Quan Yingzhang frowned: "You don't have anything to say?"

Xu Yanmiao shook his head honestly and said honestly: "I don't understand this."

Quan Yingzhang: "..." It felt like the breath he had just released was being held back.

Xu Yanmiao: "And more, they all say that Zhouli is a book of conspiracy, that it is based on feudal system, and that it promotes the well-field system similar to the royal field system. Such ideas are very flattering to the aristocratic families."

"Let his ancestors go!" Quan Yingzhang was furious: "The original name of Zhouli was Zhouguan. It is neither a classic nor a commentary. It just describes in detail the official system of the Zhou Dynasty, and tells history for modern people so that they can understand the ancient system."

Quan Yingzhang was particularly enthusiastic in his criticism: "It is because you, the followers of the present school, are greedy for power and often force the righteousness of the saints to carry out policies and satisfy the emperor's preferences. Your minds are full of business and your eyes are full of political intentions."

He looked at Xu Yanmiao with disdain: "Today's learning? It's just vulgar things made by vulgar people!"

Xu Yanmiao: "Yeah!"

He continued to nod vigorously: "You are awesome!"

Quan Yingzhang: "..."

Although the other party clearly agreed with the principles of ancient learning, Quan Yingzhang still felt particularly aggrieved.

Quan Yingzhang: "Is that all you want to say?"

Xu Yanmiao was very sincere: "I don't understand these things, and I don't know how to debate scriptures, but I feel that what you said makes a lot of sense! It's very profound!"

Quan Yingzhang was not happy at all, and the tightness in his chest became more obvious.

Xu Yanmiao: "And more..."

Quan Yingzhang interrupted angrily: "You don't understand the classics, why are you asking?"

"Ah?" Xu Yanmiao said cautiously, "I'm asking because I don't understand... Can't I ask? Everyone in the court is talking about ancient Chinese classics, so I want to verify it based on facts..."

Quan Yingzhang took a deep breath and said, "I am sleepy. You can go back first. If you need advice, I will talk to you next time."

"Okay!" Xu Yanmiao left happily.

Quan Xie glanced at his grandfather and said, "Grandfather, he is deliberately provoking you."

Quan Yingzhang nodded: "I know, I won't be fooled by such an easy trick."

...

midnight.

Quan Yingzhang sat up from the bed, getting angrier the more he thought about it.

"Shu Confucian!"

"Aisheng!"

"You are a vulgar scholar! You cling to your old ways! You don't examine the facts! You are a heretic! You are just talking nonsense!"

Today it seems that he has refuted the malicious remarks of the Modern Literature School against the Ancient Literature School, but Quan Yingzhang just felt as aggrieved as if he was bullying an illiterate person, and felt that the words he cursed out were just hitting the air.

I stayed awake all night, and the next day...

"No, I can't swallow this!"

Quan Yingzhang approached Xu Yanmiao and said, "I can go with you, but not to become an official, but to debate scriptures!"

Xu Yanmiao nodded, still so obedient: "Okay, Mr. Quan."

...

When Xu Yanmiao reported back, the old emperor was completely stunned: "How did you invite this person?"

Xu Yanmiao: "Mr. Quan is here to debate the scriptures."

At least it's an invitation! I've used the invitation of debate before, but the other party always politely refused.

do not care.

The old emperor was very shocked: "Xu Yanmiao, you actually have a quick wit."

I'm just saying it casually!

Xu Yanmiao: "Ah?"

The old emperor: "Oh, I mean, many people failed to invite Lord Quan, but you succeeded."

Xu Yanmiao's eyes wandered for a moment: "Your Majesty, I used a little trick and told a little lie, so... I hope my colleagues will forgive me."

Ministers: "???"

Some bad premonitions.

after awhile......

An eighty-year-old man with a black face stood in front of them angrily, slamming his cane on the ground.

"Whoever ridicules my study of ancient Chinese classics! Stand up!"

Ministers: "????"

Wait, when do we...

Although we study modern classics, why do we criticize classical classics? There are no people studying classical classics in the court, so who has the time to talk about that?

Xu Yanmiao whistled a gentle tune in her heart, with an innocent look on her face.

Chapter 18 Tear! Tear louder!

Ministers: "..."

hehe.

They could tell what was going on from the sound of the whistle.

One person stepped out from among the ministers, and under the gaze of countless eyes, he carefully chose his words: "Did Lord Quan misunderstand something? We have never..."

Quan Yingzhang narrowed his eyes.

He had a hot temper to begin with, and when he saw someone standing up, he asked directly: "Are you a person who studies modern text classics?"

The person who stood up - the henpecked former imperial censor Cui Yi - was very polite: "Mr. Quan is so honored to be here. I, Cui Yi, am indeed a modern scholar."

It would have been fine if he didn't admit it. As soon as he confirmed his school of thought, Quan Yingzhang's face turned pale in an instant. He suddenly raised his cane and smashed it over: "I asked you to write your reply in several ways! I asked you to write your reply in several ways! How dare you send a little boy to tease me!"

Cui Yi cried out, and squatted down with his head in his hands, as he was experienced in being beaten. He didn't dare to fight back, because the old man opposite him was already 86 years old! If he got hit a little, he would be drowned by the spit of this man's followers.

But I still struggled a bit...

"Mr. Quan! Don't hit me! Don't hit me!"

How many ways are there to write the word "回"?

Xu Yanmiao, what on earth did you do!

"You brat!" Quan Yingzhang became even angrier, and several officials came up to stop him but failed.

Quan Yingzhang has his own thinking logic.

During the eight or nine days that he followed the caravan to the capital, he talked with Xu Yanmiao every day. From the conversations, he found that this kid really didn't understand the scriptures. Perhaps the verse he recited most well was "It is a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar", but even such a simple verse from the Analects of Confucius, he would sometimes slip up and say "When a friend comes from afar, he must be punished, though he is far away".

How could such an illiterate person say such sarcastic words as "The ancient classics are best at quibbling over words, and when they have nothing to do they study the several ways to write the word '回'. Their style is shallow and exaggerated"? Someone must have secretly taught him the secret and let this young man lead the charge.

The entire court is a suspect! He will beat anyone who shows up!

€€€€If you didn't have something to hide, why did you jump out so quickly!

After all, he was a Confucian who wrote books on horseback and killed people on horseback. Although Quan Yingzhang was nearly 80 years old, he was very strong. He beat Cui Yi black and blue in the face with a few blows, and his voice was full of energy: "Qi cynics! Confucians falsely accuse Confucius of having great achievements. They are as stupid as sheep wearing tiger skins. However, the foundation of Confucianism is benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, trustworthiness, courage, and kindness. It is a human being! Not a god, not a saint, not a king! You worship Confucius but go against his teachings. You are really rebellious! You forget that he is a tiger in skins! You deserve to be killed!"

€€€€The modern literary school can be collectively referred to as Qi Confucianism, and the ancient literary school is Lu Confucianism.

Xu Yanmiao poked his good friend, the military officer, and said, "I know Zhongni, he is Confucius, but what is Zhongni's merit?"

The clerk of the Ministry of War looked at him as if he had seen a ghost.

Xu Yanmiao said confidently: "Of course I have to throw away the knowledge points after the exam! I just want to be a small official and wait for death, and I don't want to climb up."

Next to her, Princess Wanshou was also listening attentively.

She is not familiar with Confucianism, but if she wants to gain a foothold in the court, she must have sufficient understanding of Confucianism. She doesn't need to be proficient in it, but when the other party quotes from the classics, you must know what they are talking about.

The clerk of the Ministry of War wiped his face and explained helplessly: "In ancient times, people with noble merits but no throne were called Su Wang. Today's scholars respect Confucius, so they respect Confucius as Su Wang, and his kingly work is the Spring and Autumn Annals. But ancient scholars hated to deify Confucius. They believed that Confucius was neither a god nor a king, but a human being."

Xu Yanmiao suddenly understood.

【soga! 】

[Mr. Quan is just pointing his finger at the modern literary school and scolding it.]

[Haha, today's scholars go against Confucius' original intention, and the words they output are worthy of being called Confucianism? Are you also worthy of studying Confucianism? ]

The Jinwen School, who were originally calm, said: "..."

: )

After being scolded by Quan Yingzhang, the intensity of his emotions was not as great as Xu Yanmiao's plain translation.

When he heard this plain words, he got furious on the spot.

€€€€We just respect the elderly, but don't go too far, old man!

＊

In the disputes among schools of thought, no matter whether you are male or female, old or young, all heretics must be defeated!

Cui Yi rolled into the corner, gasping for breath. When her hand touched her face, it turned purple and she grimaced in pain.

But when he raised his head and glanced at Jin Tai secretly, his expression changed slightly.

The emperor's idea was not just to let the literary leader come to the capital for a tour. This matter of the other party questioning in the court had to have a beginning, but he couldn't just start by scolding the other party. He had to find a vent first.

If this punching bag has a high status, it will bring shame to the court; if it has a low status, it will not show the court's respect for Quan Yingzhang.

As a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue, he is just the right person for the job.

Cui Yi murmured: "I hope that Your Majesty will stop holding a grudge against me for what happened last time because of my knowledge and understanding..."

Cui Yi was angry and said, "Even if you hold a grudge, at least don't copy down what I said in the court and send it to my wife! I was just bragging outside to save face, I don't really want my wife to serve me tea and water, why say those things to her!"

He has been treated strangely whenever he returns home these days. Not only does his wife not let him into the room, but all the beds and couches in other rooms have been moved away. He has been sleeping on the floor for more than half a month!

Cui Yi wiped away her bitter tears and looked up at the debate between the Modern Literature School and the Ancient Literature School over there.

The atmosphere was quite good at the beginning, and the debate was serious.

Modern Literature School: Confucius is a god!

Ancient Literature School: Confucius is a human being!

Modern Literature School: Heaven and man are connected, and only when disasters come from heaven will society fall! Confucius' "Spring and Autumn Annals" records countless natural disasters under the rule of kings who lost their countries. Why did Confucius record them like this? Of course, Confucius wanted to use this to remind the rulers! Confucius hoped that they could learn from it and that the administration should follow the way of God!

Ancient literature school: You are talking nonsense! Confucius gave a detailed sequence of years and months in the Spring and Autumn Annals, which is enough to prove that the Spring and Autumn Annals is just a history book! Your history book does not record when and where there were natural disasters!

Modern literature school: You are talking nonsense! Although the Spring and Autumn Annals is a history book, it is not just about history. Doesn't it contain content related to the number of days? The book admits that Yao's giving up the throne to Shun was determined by the "calendar of heaven"! The Spring and Autumn Annals that you admire has never given up the traditional "mandate of heaven"!

Ancient Literature School: Then do you know what "not blaming heaven, not blaming people, learning from the lower and reaching the upper" means? Confucius did not deny the existence of "heaven", but he advocated doing one's best in human affairs! As you said, Yao gave up his throne to Shun as destiny, but at the same time, he also let Shun warn Yu that governing the country well must adhere to the middle way, otherwise the destiny will end. Do your best in human affairs! Listen to the destiny of heaven as a supplement! Do you understand?

Modern literature school: blah blah blah blah...

Ancient literature school: blah blah blah blah...

They argued over the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Zhouli, the Book of Rites, the Book of History, the Guliang, the Gongyang Commentary, and the Zuo Zhuan...

This is a dispute over the orthodox doctrine, and no one side is willing to give in.

The dispute over whether "The Book of Zhou Rites" was written by Duke Zhou or Confucius was enough to cause so much chaos that the sun and moon were eclipsed.

This was Xu Yanmiao's first time to come into close contact with a debate, and although he found it difficult to listen, fortunately there was a kind-hearted clerk from the Ministry of War who was interpreting it for him, allowing him to enjoy the conversation.

[Tear! Tear louder! ]

[Oh, why do I feel like it's not wrong to say that "The Rites of Zhou" was written by Duke Zhou, and it's also right to say that it was written by Confucius? ]

[Hey! Wait! Someone is smuggling something! Wuhu! Someone is secretly saying that "Zhou Li"... No, the "Three Rites" including "Zhou Li" are all forged by later generations! ]

Modern literature school: "!!!"

heresy!

They immediately found out who was taking advantage of the situation and criticized them harshly.

After Quan Yingzhang discovered this, he temporarily put aside his fight with the Modern Literature School.

The modern text and the ancient text worked together to suppress the heresy that said the Zhou Li was a fake. After that, the two sides continued to criticize each other.

Xu Yanmiao was chewing the melon with a crunching sound.

[Hey! Why is there still regional discrimination? ]

[That Dali Temple Secretary! Don't think I didn't notice! You said "Zhou Li" is Zhou Li, and you said that Mr. Quan is as cunning as the people of Fuzhou. The people of Fuzhou are eating your rice! ]

Fuzhou people in the court: "..."

: )

hehe.

[Let me see where you are from. Hey, you are from Jiangsu! Oh, no, you should be called Jiangdong people! Jiangdong people are very talented!]

Lü Yu, a doctor from the Ministry of Justice, who was from Fuzhou, immediately turned his guns around and said, "The people of Jiangdong are both arrogant and weak. Fortunately, you Jiangdong children were not used when conquering the world. Otherwise, it would be hard to say whether Your Majesty could have conquered the world."

Wang Gongda, the deputy minister of the Dali Temple, was about to retort, but Shang Yuan, the supervisory censor, quickly stopped him and said, "Calm down, we are all southerners, why do we have to quarrel with each other?"

[That's true. After all, some northerners have always looked down on southerners.]

[For example, that so-and-so... The Minister of War seemed to have boasted that the northerners were honest and upright, and their schemes and intrigues could not match those of the treacherous southern barbarians.]

Minister of War: "..."

Ah this.

There are four northerners and two southerners among the Shangshu. Now the Minister of War feels that he is being burned by the gazes of his two southern colleagues.

The clerk of the Ministry of War said: "Xu Lang..."

[Hey, is that Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry stupid? Even if he is anxious and the people around him can't criticize Grandpa Quan, he can't just use the map to say that Sichuan people don't know etiquette. What he said doesn't count! ]

The clerk of the Ministry of War said: "Xu Lang... Xu Lang..."

[But are people from Suzhou really so arrogant and extravagant? I saw an imperial censor say so a few days ago, but the clothes of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works do not seem like that. Am I mistaken? He is not from Suzhou? ]

Xu Yanmiao was immersed in the system.

He didn't notice at all that the clerk from the Ministry of War next to him was calling him and he was about to cry again.

Stop fanning the flames! If you keep talking, we're going to fight!

[Ah! I remembered it!!!]

What? Do you remember which bastard censor said something bad about Suzhou people?

Every Suzhou person in the court clenched their fists.

[The "Ancient Text Book of Shangshu" currently circulating seems to be a fake book...]

Modern Literature School: "?!"

Such an important thing! Why did you tell me now?

[Damn it, I can't remember where it was false. Who wrote a book to prove this? ]

[It seems to say something like... it is inconsistent with ancient books, historical examples, ancient history, ancient rituals, ancient calendars, ancient geography, exegesis, and morality.]

[It's a pity that I don't remember it at all, otherwise I could throw it out, it would definitely be fun! The scene would definitely be even more explosive! ]

The people of the Modern Literature School laughed.

Just because Xu Yanmiao is unfamiliar with the scriptures doesn't mean they are unfamiliar with them.

The imperial examination tests one's immediate recall of book contents, and they are best at this. Now that they have given the direction of the "Eight Incompatibilities", are they afraid that they won't be able to come up with one on the spot to slap the face of the ancient literature school?

Mr. Quan, although you can't hear Xu Yanmiao's inner voice, and our victory was somewhat unfair, the battle for academic orthodoxy is more important, so! I'm sorry!

These people were so excited that they did not notice that some people in the court had changed their expressions, frowned, and were ready to stand up.

Quan Yingzhang doesn't have an official seal, so he suffers a great loss because he can't hear Xu Yanmiao's voice.

But! They can hear it!

They were members of the ancient literature school, and they disguised themselves as members of the modern literature school in order to become officials.

Now is the time to stand up!

We have endured humiliation for many years, and now! We want to take back everything we have lost!

For the glory of ancient Chinese!!!

This text is heresy!!!

The author has something to say:

The regional black is based on the words of historical figures, the author himself is not a regional black [serious]

＊

The mind is like Fuzhou:

Yuling once asked Wen Gong: What do people outside think of Chen Shengzhi? Wen Gong said: Both prime ministers are from Fujian, and both governors are from Chu. How can the customs be close and solid? He asked again: What do you think of Wang Anshi? Wen Gong said: He is naturally eccentric and stubborn, and he likes to win but doesn't know how to deal with things. His stubbornness is like that of Dezhou, and his mind is like that of Fuzhou.

€€€€《Daoshan Qinghua》

Wu Er Jiao Cui:

The proud Wu children of a hundred years, the Jin scholars who only talk about idle things

€€€€《Spring Day》

＊

It is inconsistent with ancient books, historical examples, ancient history, ancient rituals, ancient calendars, ancient geography, exegesis, and morality.

€€€€《Shangshu Guwen Shuzhi》

＊

Do not blame the heavens or others, learn from the bottom and reach the top

€€€€The Analects

＊

Chapter 19: How dare you do this to an octogenarian!

The ancient literature school hidden in the court sharpened its knives and jumped out directly.

It's like the little chicks finally found their mother hen.

"Mr. Quan!!!" They were in tears: "You are finally willing to serve as an official!"

Quan Yingzhang was stunned, and did not even think of retorting "I don't want to be an official", and subconsciously said: "You are..."

"We are from the ancient literature school!!!"

We are from the ancient Chinese school!

The lingering sound lasts for three days.

Even the old emperor widened his eyes in shock, with a strange look on his face.

[You ancient literature school is still alive?! ]

The substitute appeared again, his voice full of shock.

The others nodded vigorously: Yes, yes!

Who could have thought of this?!

A colleague who usually drank wine and worked together and occasionally talked about modern classics, turned around and defected to the enemy!

Several people collapsed on the spot.

"My friend! You!"

"Teacher! I have been learning modern Chinese from you for half my life, and now you tell me that you are learning classical Chinese?!"

"Confidant! You! Me! You are a classical literature scholar, then what on earth are we discussing in our daily life! It's hard to find a soulmate, so when I was climbing up the official ladder, I pulled you out several times, fearing that you would be moved out of the central government, and then we wouldn't be able to drink wine and talk about scriptures together in the local area! But you are a classical literature scholar?! What's High Mountains and Flowing Water! What's Boya and Ziqi! I was wrong after all! What do my teachers, my peers, my relatives and friends think of me? What do they think of our relationship!"

"Actually..." the confidant said hesitantly, "The topics we usually discuss are all some obscure ancient Chinese classics that I found..."

His friend took three steps back as if struck by lightning.

Zhiji rushed forward and held his hand: "Zhiji! You are very talented in understanding ancient Chinese classics. Trust me! Come and learn ancient Chinese! You will definitely soar to the sky!"

"Ah? This...is not...me..."

His friend was dragged away with a hesitant look on his face, and he had no way to react. When others stood in the camp of the ancient literature school, the hesitation on his face gradually turned into determination: "Okay! Confidant! Let's continue to be confidants!"

He actually rebelled on the spot.

People from the modern literature school were so angry that they called him a traitor and a running dog of the ancient literature school!

Quan Yingzhang's head rumbled for a while, and when he came back to his senses, he laughed heartily: "Good! Good! I thought Gu Wenyu was no longer in the court! It turns out that you are all sleeping on straw and enduring humiliation!"

Xu Yanmiao: [Fight, fight! ]

He pounded his cane and looked proudly at the Jinwen School that had automatically split off to the opposite side: "My doctrine is not alone! What other fallacies do you have? Bring them out!"

Xu Yanmiao: [Fight, fight! ]

The group of people from the ancient literature school stood behind Quan Yingzhang, also looking at the opposite side proudly.

The people of the Modern Literature School sneered: "You are like an ant trying to shake a tree!"

Xu Yanmiao: [Fight, fight! ]

People from both the modern literature school and the ancient literature school suddenly said in unison: "Shut up!!!"

Xu Yanmiao's eyes lit up.

[Wow! A fight has started!]

The corner of the military clerk's eye twitched slightly.

This debate really cannot be won without a word from you! If a word from you is omitted, they can't start a fight.

The old emperor also enjoyed the fun and asked the Imperial Guards to bring in a dozen tables and cushions for both sides to sit and discuss.

€€€€The main reason is that Quan Yingzhang is old, and it usually takes several hours for him to finish the discussion. It is a pity that this old man has to stand here for so long. He has to be buried on the spot today.

The Modern Text School was the first to raise objections: "When the Ancient Text Book of Shangshu was first published, it was clearly stated that it had 16 more chapters than the Modern Text Book of Shangshu. The number has remained the same for 400 years. 400 years later, there was war and then peace. How come there are 25 more chapters? The number of chapters is inconsistent, so we know it is a fake!"

The people from the ancient literature school looked solemn.

Even Quan Yingzhang, the leader of the literary world, frowned.

They were having a serious debate, not a street fight. If it had been the latter, they could certainly have shouted at the top of their lungs, "The fact that there are no changes in official documents doesn't mean that it doesn't exist among the people. The private sector is so large, and books are scattered everywhere. Isn't it normal that they can only be found four hundred years later?"

But this is not the way to debate.

In a debate, you have to find relevant content from historical books to refute the other party.

Even if the whole world knows that Confucius is a man, if you need to explain this point during a debate, you have to find certain words in the classics to prove it. For example, after Confucius and Wei Linggong's wife Nan Zi stayed in the same room, even his disciples suspected that Confucius was not innocent. This can prove that Confucius was a man.

If you cannot make the argument, then once the other side gains official discourse power, Confucius' legendary life will probably have to include one more item: "Confucius' daughter was no less than others throughout her life."

If the official discourse power lasts longer, and the imperial examination questions are set by your school, and the answers must be based on your school's interpretation of the classics, generation after generation people will still secretly criticize this school for being so audacious that it forcibly changed the image of Confucius. They know that Confucius was a man, but for the sake of the imperial examination/to establish their own reputation, they can only claim to the outside world that they support this view.

But after the Five Dynasties, the idea that Confucius' daughters dressed as men would definitely become one of the mainstream ideas.

€€€€This is why schools of thought must fight for orthodoxy. If they succeed in gaining orthodoxy, it is equivalent to directly monopolizing the right to speak for a certain period of time. You can instill any ideas you want into scholars all over the world, no matter how outrageous they are.

The people of the ancient literature school were almost eager to defeat the other side.

So Confucius... Oh, that's not right, so why did the number of "The Book of Documents in Ancient Texts" suddenly increase?

The two friends looked at each other, and one of them said, "It is recorded in De Ming Xu Lu that during the reign of Emperor Xuan, a woman in Henei found three chapters of the ancient text Tai Shi in a broken house. These are in addition to the sixteen chapters of the Ancient Text Book of Shang Shu. Therefore, your statement that 'the number has not changed in the past four hundred years' is a lie! In addition to these, there are..."

They mentioned about three or four other books with similar content.

Now it is the turn of the Jinwen school to frown.

They had read some of these books, and had only vaguely heard of the titles of some of them. They did not expect that the person across from them had such a wide range of knowledge.

But it doesn't matter, they have other evidence!

Another person stood up and said: "Xunzi said: The human heart is dangerous, the heart of Tao is subtle. These eight words are quoted from the Taoist scriptures. And the Ancient Text Book of Documents also has a similar sentence: The human heart is dangerous, the heart of Tao is subtle. If the Ancient Text Book of Documents came first, why didn't Xunzi say that it was quoted from the Book of Documents? The Ancient Text Book of Documents! It's a fake book! It didn't exist before Xunzi was written, so it can't be quoted."

People from the ancient literature school: "..."

How dare you say that? It is their freedom to quote anything! Is it okay for Xunzi to quote Daojing instead of Shangshu?

but......

The people of the ancient literature school wiped their faces.

Debate!

This is how debate works. No matter how outrageous the question is, you have to answer it by citing scriptures.

＊

This question is particularly tricky.

Those from the ancient literature school either scratched the corners or dents of the table with their hands, or had wrinkles at the corners of their eyes, and they were slow to launch a counterattack.

Xu Yanmiao suddenly had an idea and poked the military official: "Can I find a way to prove that Xunzi did not quote the Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents because Xunzi had never heard of this book?"

The military secretary thought for a moment and said, "Then I can prove that the Ancient Texts of the Book of Documents is well-known and Xunzi has never heard of it, which means he is ignorant. Then, I can use this to attack your theory and say that the core idea of ​​your theory is that Xunzi is ignorant."

Xu Yanmiao's eyes widened.

The military official became interested: "If you are trapped by this view, then you will not be able to use all of Xunzi's views in debates in the future."

He is ignorant, so the arguments based on his point of view must be able to be refuted. Although I haven't found it yet, I don't need to look for it, because you have admitted with your own mouth that Xunzi is ignorant!

€€€€Use his spear to pierce his shield

Xu Bianjing Xiaobai's eyes widened even further.

【Isn't this just a nitpicker? 】

He suddenly realized.

[It turns out that the debate is a confrontation between two nitpickers! ]

€€€€Then he continued to mutter a lot in his mind. Anyway, the whole court knew what "杠精" meant.

Ancient literature school: That's right! Modern literature school is just a nitpicker!

Modern Literature School: What? Just because you can't win the argument, you call others a nitpicker?

The Modern Literature School challenged: "What? Have you thought of a way to prove it? Stop struggling. The Ancient Text Book of Shangshu is a fake book."

The people from the ancient literature school pursed their lips slightly. In the middle of winter, they were so anxious that beads of sweat appeared on the tip of their noses.

Quan Yingzhang pondered for a moment, as if there was a book in his mind. He flipped through the pages of the classics one after another, just to find that few words to refute.

"Xunzi said, 'Books are the records of government affairs; poems are the place where the middle voice ends; rituals are the major divisions of laws and the outlines of categories.'"

He actually found it.

"Poetry is the Book of Songs; ritual is the Book of Rites; and so is the Book of History. Xunzi used the Book of History as a record of political affairs, and the phrase 'the danger of the human heart, the subtlety of the heart of Tao' is an interpretation of 'the human heart should be always cautious, the heart of Tao should be cultivated to the extreme', which is related to the heart and nature, not to politics. Xunzi would naturally quote the Tao Te Ching, which is dedicated to the heart and nature, rather than the Book of History, which records political affairs..."

Quan Yingzhang spoke eloquently.

This time it was the turn of the Modern Literature School to be debated.

The people of the ancient literature school cheered for the big boss: "Not bad, not bad! That's it! Mr. Quan is extremely talented! Mr. Quan is knowledgeable! Mr. Quan brings glory to ancient literature!"

Modern Literature School: "I have another question. The Ancient Text Book of Shangshu describes that the Yellow River floats on Jishi Mountain. The person who excavated the Ancient Text Book of Shangshu made an annotation, saying that Jishi Mountain is southwest of Jincheng, where the river passes. However, Jincheng County was established after this person died. How could he know the name of the county after his death?"

People from the ancient literature school had sweat on their foreheads.

Quan Yingzhang: "The people who discovered the Ancient Text Book of Documents are descendants of Confucius. The Kong Congzi says, 'The teachings of the ancient sages are ancient texts on the wall... My family has been cultivating them for generations.' Some people also call the Book of Documents the Kong Family's Biography. Since it has been cultivated for generations, Jincheng County is naturally the place where later generations traced the book!"

Modern Literature School: "I have another question..."

Quan Yingzhang: "This question is absurd. I will prove it with one word..."

Modern Literature School: "I have another question..."

Quan Yingzhang: "I also have an answer..."

Modern Literature School: "I also have..."

Quan Yingzhang: "I also have..."

People from the ancient literature school had no say at all.

In addition to the fact that Quan Yingzhang, the real boss, was quick-witted, there was also the fact that although they were in modern literature but their hearts were in ancient literature, they usually used modern literature theories and arguments in debates. If they wanted to refute them with ancient literature, they could not think of suitable evidence for a while.

But it doesn't matter, they learned from Xu Yanmiao what is suitable for them to do.

Boss Quan: "You actually said that King Wen never changed the era name and proclaimed himself king, and you are trying to disprove the "Book of Documents" that talks about this. This is actually a fabrication. Let's listen to the historical records..."

Xu Yanmiao: [That's right! ]

People from the ancient literature school: "That's right!"

Boss Quan: "What do you mean by 'The Book of Documents in Ancient Text' was lost during the Yongjia Rebellion? 'The Chronicles of Emperors' says that the Grand Protector gave the ancient text to Su Yu of Fufeng... and 'The Biography of Confucian Scholars' says that it was passed on to... and 'The Commentary on the Book of Documents' says... and the historical records... it took four hundred years and was finally passed on to... you are confusing right and wrong, do you think I have a bad memory?"

Xu Yanmiao: [Big brother is awesome! Wuhu! Debate with scholars! ]

People from the ancient literature school: "That's right!"

Boss Quan: "You guys are really nitpicking..."

Xu Yanmiao: [Big brother is awesome! ]

People from the ancient literature school: "That's right!"

[But what's the point of the people of the Ancient Literature School defecting? Seeing that Lao Quan is too relaxed in criticizing the Modern Literature School, why should he go over and hold them back? ]

People from the ancient literature school: "That's it..."

...Hmm? Were they scolded?

Boss Quan: "Don't go too far with your words..."

Xu Yanmiao: [Tsk tsk, aren't the modern literary school ashamed? A group of people are totally unable to defeat an 86-year-old man! ]

"..." Never mind! Just scold her! At least Xu Yanmiao is on their side!

The ancient literature school continued to cheer: "That's right!"

The members of the Modern Literature School were so defeated by the debate that they could only struggle to hold on.

Seeing that people from the ancient literature school only need to mindlessly follow the boss, I feel angry and aggrieved.

€€€€They also have a boss! But the boss is probably still on his way back to Beijing! And even if he arrives in the capital, he will probably go to see his unlucky grandson nephew who was just imprisoned. He can't catch up at all.

angry!

"You are what you are!" The people of the Modern Literature School were angry. They couldn't deal with Xu Yanmiao, but they couldn't deal with you!

"A bunch of double-voiced insects, I am ashamed to be in the same court with you!"

The people of the ancient literature school were speechless for a moment, and they were too embarrassed to say anything in agreement.

And Xu Yanmiao...

The voice of the person who was having fun eating melons was very loud: [That's right! ]

Classical Chinese: "That's it..."

No, it's just what it is! Xu Yanmiao, whose side are you on!!!

The author has something to say:

＊

The reference to "Tai Shi" is from ["Bie Lu" says: "At the end of Emperor Wu's reign, a commoner found "Tai Shi" written on the wall and presented it to the emperor. He asked a doctor to read and explain it. After a few months, they all got up and taught others." €€€€"Shang Shu Zheng Yi"], and the text has been modified

＊

Use your spear to pierce your shield

€€€€Han Feizi

＊

People should always be cautious and cautious, and the heart of Tao should be cultivated to perfection.

€€€€"On "Danger" and "Micro" in "Xunzi's €€Jie Bi"

Jishishan is located in the southwest of Jincheng, where the river passes.

It is said that Jishishan is located in the southwest of Jincheng where the river passes.

€€€€《Yu Gong Cone Finger》

＊

Chapter 20 Woo! Where is my uncle?

Needless to say, of course we will support whichever side can watch the fun!

Fun people have no stance!

Xu Yanmiao only regretted that she had no melon seeds, peanuts and cola, so she couldn't enjoy the melon.

[It would be even better if we could fight! ]

[If they fight, Mr. Quan is simply invincible! Who dares to touch him at his age! He can kill his way through the ministers alone! ]

The ministers: "?!"

They were suddenly extremely grateful that Quan Yingzhang did not have an official seal and could not hear what Xu Yanmiao said.

【Wow! From the Book of Documents to the Analects! I know at a glance that you are not good at arguing. If you are good at arguing, you should argue about how many sayings there are in the Analects! If you can't tell, you are not good at learning! 】

Modern literature school: "..."

Ancient literature school: "..."

I've already said we're not nitpicking!!!

Isn't it nonsense to argue like this?

The ancient literature school slammed the table angrily and said, "People of the modern literature school, listen carefully! Since you are studying Gongyang, let me ask you, Gongyang Chunqiu is famous for its subtle words and profound meanings, so how many subtle words and profound meanings are there in it? What are they?"

€€€€We are not argumentative. But Xu Yanmiao's words are really useful, hehe.

Moreover, we have a reason and evidence. It is a bit unreasonable to ask how many "Confucius said" there are. However, the profound meaning of Gongyang Chunqiu is promoted by your school! In the end, you can't even tell how many profound meanings you have. Isn't it inappropriate?

After being stunned, the people of the Modern Literature School looked at each other and groaned in their hearts.

None of them noticed this loophole in their own family. Except for Xu Yanmiao, who would count how many "Confucius said" there were and how many profound sayings there were!

The masters of the modern literature school have not summarized and sorted this out! This is not as good as "Zi said"! "Zi said" at least can be counted.

€€€€The bigwigs were busy combining Modern Confucianism with politics. In their hands, "The Book of Songs" was a book of remonstrance, "The Spring and Autumn Annals" was used to decide cases, and the "Five Classics" could be used to guide the words and deeds of Confucian scholars and to formulate major national policies.

€€€€There are also prophecies and divinations, which annotate Confucian classics and directly override the Five Classics. For example, "Confucius was born from the essence of the Black Emperor by his mother, and there are many miracles", "The country has yin and yang and the five elements, and our dynasty can replace the previous dynasty because we overcome them", and also... "The connection between heaven and man".

Anyway, I did this and that, but never thought about improving the foundation of my life.

Now that the ancient literature school has seized on this loophole, they are all sweating profusely and speechless.

Xu Yanmiao cheered in her heart.

【pretty!】

[I didn't expect that the ancient literature school had this trick up its sleeve! ]

[This is aimed at destroying the Jinwen School! ]

The ancient literature school smiled shyly.

No, no, thank you for the compliment.

The clerk of the Ministry of War took one look at Xu Yanmiao and felt a toothache.

They were just debating! They really were just debating! Even though you started to fuel their arguments, it was still just a debate!

You first said that "The Book of Documents in Ancient Texts" seemed to be a fake, and almost made the ancient literature school a joke. If "The Book of Documents in Ancient Texts" is confirmed to be a fake book, then there will be no such thing as "ancient texts" from beginning to end. Without "ancient texts", how can there be an "ancient literature school"?

Now the Modern Literature School has been discovered by the Ancient Literature School that they don't even know how many "subtle meanings and great principles" there are in their own school. This is equivalent to saying that you worship Confucius, but you don't even know that Kong Qiu is Confucius. What the hell are you worshipping?

The two sides went straight from quarreling to stabbing each other. If they don't stab each other to death, they lose!

the other side.

Deep in the sky prison.

The Crown Prince has stretched his head out one thousand four hundred and forty-four times since he opened his eyes in the morning, an average of once every five breaths.

The fake prince curled his lips at the former prince consort: "His uncle will be back today."

"That scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion who is praised as the best writer?!" The former imperial consort showed an envious expression: "Mr. Ji is the leader of the modern literature school, and he is also the prince's guardian, and has a very close relationship with the prince. I heard that the emperor and the empress both have a very favorable impression of him, and he made his sister the crown princess, and married the crown prince's biological sister, Princess Qinghe, to him as his principal wife."

Moreover, since she was a daughter married off during the conquest of the country, she was not a princess yet, so naturally she could become an official.

This made the former prince consort very envious.

The fake prince suddenly turned his head, his pupils slightly dilated: "Here it comes."

In the dim prison, there were unhurried footsteps. After the flames on the wall flickered three or five times, half of a black boot emerged. Dark gold threads outlined mountains and rivers on it, which looked both dignified and complicated.

Then, a man came out from behind the wall. He looked pale and cold, but when he slowly lowered his gaze to look at the Crown Prince, he smiled warmly.

The crown prince threw himself on the prison door, half-knelt and raised his head, shouting with great emotion: "Uncle!"

Ji Sui felt very distressed. When had his nephew ever suffered such hardship? In a horrible place like Tianlao...his nephew had even lost weight!

After asking about the situation, Ji Sui's face tensed up, with wrinkles on his brows: "I know who did it."

A vicious look flashed across the Crown Prince's face for a moment: "Who is it?"

Who told the secret?

Ji Sui was about to say something when suddenly a fat man, obviously wearing the uniform of a minor official, rushed in with an agility that was obviously not in line with his body shape and whispered a few words in Ji Sui's ear. Ji Sui's expression suddenly changed and he stood up and was about to leave.

The Crown Prince: "Uncle!"

Ji Sui hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at the Crown Prince's greasy hair, which was dirty, tangled, and covered in dust. He wanted to touch his head and say something to comfort him. But...

€€€€He is a mysophobia.

In the end, he didn't have the heart to be cruel to himself. He just said anxiously, "I will definitely rescue you." Then he turned and left.

The Crown Prince was behind him: "Wow, uncle! I'll wait for you!"

...

As Ji Sui walked out, he took off his outer robe: "Why did Quan Yingzhang suddenly come to court? Why did the ancient literature school raise its head?"

The clerk was holding a set of folded official uniforms in his hands, and his waist was bent very low, but he walked quickly and followed Ji Sui closely: "It seems that he was invited back by a clerk named Xu."

What surprised the clerk was that he could actually recognize who the important figure in front of him was.

"Xu Yanmiao? Why is he everywhere?"

When he heard that it was the steward named Xu, the expression of this Prince's Grand Tutor and Wenyuan Pavilion Grand Secretary suddenly turned ugly.

After changing into his official robes, he rushed to the palace as fast as he could. As soon as he arrived, he heard the damned ancient literature school showing off: "You guys keep saying something about profound meanings, then what are the profound meanings of your Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals? Tell me! You can't say it!"

His expression suddenly turned stern.

Just walk in.

"The Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals contains 29 articles with profound meanings."

＊

Seeing that the people of the modern literature school were about to collapse, the people of the ancient literature school became more and more excited.

They really didn't expect that today they would be able to directly overthrow the modern literature school and restore the world to the rule of ancient literature!

At this moment, a cold voice suddenly came from outside the palace door.

"The Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals contains 29 articles with profound meanings."

The other person walked in and recited at the same time.

"First, revenge for the glory. Can revenge be taken after nine generations? Even after a hundred generations..."

"The second is to repel the barbarians. China is as strong as a thread. Duke Huan saved China and repelled the barbarians. He finally conquered Jing. This is the business of a king..."

"Third, honor death. When Choufu died, he sacrificed himself to take the place of Duke Qing of Qi..."

"Fourth, punish the rebels and bandits..."

"The fifth one..."

The man slowly walked between the Modern Literature School and the Ancient Literature School, and just finished reading the last word of the 29th article.

Then, he sneered, his aura and tone full of arrogance and contempt: "An insect from the ancient literature school..."

The tone of voice is low and slow.

"Are you qualified to discuss the meaning of the scriptures?"

Now the people of the literary school seemed to have seen a savior, and they all shouted: "Ji Gong!!!"

...

The waiting process is extremely happy and sweet.

The Crown Prince supported his chin with both hands, waiting for his uncle to come back.

€€€€My uncle must have gone to ask grandpa for mercy on my behalf!

...

Quan Yingzhang and Ji Sui, one was eighty-six years old and the other forty-six years old, each led the people of their own school, and they tore each other apart, causing the sky to collapse and the earth to split, and the grass and trees to lose their color. They didn't care about face or politeness anymore, and the words they said were sharp and harsh.

Don't think that intellectuals' verbal battles will always be literary. Those "unlucky death", "shortened life" and "stinky dog ​​slave" are already considered light punishments. What about "emperor's running dogs" and "raised by beasts who have forgotten their roots"? After all, Mencius also called the Mohists "beasts" and the Farmers' School "barbarians with barbaric tongues in the south".

This quarrel lasted from morning to noon.

...

The jailer brought food over and asked the crown prince and eldest grandson of the emperor to eat.

The Crown Prince said disdainfully: "No need, take it away."

I'm about to get out! Who wants to eat those nasty prison meals!

Quan Yingzhang rolled up his sleeves and said, "You are a pig without ethics! You don't care about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. How can you understand Confucius?"

Ji Sui slammed the table and said, "The righteousness of the king and father is the principle of heaven and the righteousness of earth. You are a beast without a king and father!"

...

The time went from noon to evening.

The jailer came over with more food.

The Crown Prince flipped the tray over with his hand in annoyance: "I told you not to!"

The food was scattered on the ground, but the Crown Prince didn't even look at it. His stomach was rumbling and he looked at the corner expectantly.

My uncle must be trying to save me!

...

"You brat!" A bunch of people pulled Quan Yingzhang, and the old man said with full energy: "Wait for me to go back and read the scriptures! I will argue with you tomorrow!"

"Old man!" Ji Sui retorted, "You came here by yourself! Why should I be afraid of you! The ancient literature school is such a heresy, I will make sure it is not tolerated by heaven and earth!"

...

It was three o'clock in the morning.

The Crown Prince was lying in a pile of straw, his stomach rumbling loudly, and he stared at the ceiling blankly.

Uncle, where have you been, uncle, wu ...

...

Ji Sui sat in the study, frowning, flipping through the pages of classics and history books.

The twelve-inch candle burned slowly, becoming shorter inch by inch.

The moon slowly sank to the west and the candle burned to the length of a finger.

As soon as the rooster crowed, Ji Sui stood up and stretched.

"I always feel like I forgot something?"

"etc!"

Ji Sui held a page of the classics that was blown over by the wind.

"So I forgot this sentence!"

He put on his official uniform and went out with great momentum.

"You thieves of the Ancient Literature School! Today you must kneel down and beg for mercy!"

The author has something to say:

The twenty-nine subtle words and great meanings of Gongyang Chunqiu are from "The Great Meaning of Chunqiu"

＊