Chapter 40: Past life
Zhang Zhe was born as an official.
The official examination is different from the Jinshi. After the examination, the selected officials are different from the general officials who eat the emperor's salary. After being recruited into the public office, they are "used when things are urgent, and when things are settled." . There are regulations in this direction, "officials" can no longer be censors, and they can no longer participate in scientific examinations, so generally speaking, those who will take part in the official examinations are those who have failed repeatedly or come from humble backgrounds.
Zhang Zhe belongs to the latter.
He lost his father when he was young, and was raised by his widowed mother. Although he has excellent talents, he is not very proficient in stereotypes, economics, and tactics. There are geniuses in governing the law.
Therefore, Gu Chunfang made an exception and recommended him to the imperial court.
In the next three years, because he made a judgment on a suspicious case in front of the imperial court, he was favored by the holy majesty and appointed to the criminal department.
It's just that in the last life, his official career in the future was not very smooth, full of ups and downs.
Jiang Xuening felt her mouth astringent when she thought about it.
He could have been famous in history, staying away from the tumultuous battles of the court with "straightness" and "righteousness", but she was involved in it.
When Zhang Zhe was promoted to be the Minister of Criminal Affairs, Jin Yiwei wanted to fully control the power of punishment and prison, but Zhang Zhe felt that Jin Yiwei was acting arrogantly and abusing lynching.
Biansheng Zhou Yinzhi took charge of Beizhen Fusi.
He wanted to eradicate Zhang Zhe wholeheartedly, while Zhang Zhe wanted to take back the power of punishment and prison, and impeached Zhou Yinzhi many times for bending the law for personal gain and corrupting the government.
The two are incompatible.
Behind Zhou Yinzhi was Jiang Xuening, she was fighting against the Xiao family at that time, she was very useful to Zhou Yinzhi, so at the beginning, looking at Zhang Zhe was like seeing a stumbling block, no matter how you looked at it, it was not pleasing to the eye.
At the beginning, it was because of my position that I made things difficult;
Later, I found that this person had a cold face, and it was really fun to tease.
After all, she is a queen, even if her words and deeds are too much, Zhang Zhe can't afford to provoke her, so earlier, she mostly tolerated her and let her go, but she is not someone who just accepts her when she sees it, and on the contrary, she gets more and more aggressive.
Zhang Zhe often advised her with good advice.
At that time, Jiang Xuening was praised by everyone, and she didn't take these loyal words seriously. She only thought that this person was pedantic and stubborn. Until later, Xiao Shu and the Xiao family pressed harder and harder, and one day they took evidence of one of Zhou Yin's gangsters taking bribes for personal gain, exposed all the evidence, and deliberately handed it over to the Criminal Ministry for trial, so that the case fell into Zhang Zhe's hands .
The former dynasty is closely related to the harem.
Xiao Shu's heart is arrogant and arrogant, and she is aiming at the position of empress, and she is pregnant now, and it will be a big deal to give birth to an heir. If she is allowed to defeat her own power in the previous dynasty and succeed in getting the queen, then Jiang Xuening It can be regarded as a place of death without a burial.
After all, she fought so fiercely with Xiao Shi before.
She and Xiao Shu, no matter who got the chance, they would not let their enemies be safe and sound.
Overnight, Jiang Xuening suddenly found himself in a dilemma where he could only be killed.
People always love icing on the cake, but rarely give timely help.
The people who gathered when she was in full swing suddenly dispersed like the ebb tide.
But Jiang Xuening didn't want to die yet.
So, she chose Zhang Zhe.
On that day, Shen Jie summoned several cabinet ministers, including Xie Wei, and Zhang Zhe, who was in charge of hearing the case, in Qianqing Palace. The discussion was not finished until the key of the palace gate was issued, so he ordered several adults to stay in the palace. middle.
Jiang Xuening stood under the long palace wall and waited.
Her figure was covered by the shadow of the high wall.
The little **** who led the way lit a lantern in front of them, and according to the figures of the two in front and one behind, they approached from a distance.
The person walking in front is Xie Wei.
Probably because he got close, he recognized her at a glance, stopped in his tracks, and said, "Suddenly remembered that Fang Yupei was left in the cabinet for value in the morning. I'll go back and get it. Mr. Zhang, let's go first."
After that, he turned and went back.
One of the little eunuchs immediately followed with a lantern.
At this time, Jiang Xuening came out from the shadow, looked at the person who stayed there and said: "Master Zhang, I have something to tell you."
Zhang Zhe didn't seem to have expected that she would be so bold as to stop him in the palace in the middle of the night.
Not to mention there is Grand Master Xie accompanying him today.
He lowered his eyes silently, already guessing the reason for her visit, he only said: "Your Majesty's request, please forgive Zhang Zhe's difficulty."
Deep night, lonely men and widows.
One is the queen and the other is a foreign minister.
Although Zhang Zheli was upright, he was afraid of destroying his bones. After saying this sentence, he wanted to bow and bow to avoid suspicion, but just as he was about to walk away, Jiang Xuening reached out and grabbed his loose official uniform sleeve robe.
The footsteps that were striding forward stopped immediately.
She put her slender and white fingers on the dark embroidery pattern, looked up at him slightly, and there was a slight quiver in her voice: "Does your lord want to watch me die?"
Zhang Zhe was speechless.
Jiang Xuening's fingers slowly clenched. The transparent and round nails were bright red Kodan, and there was a kind of shocking beauty in the ambiguous night. She begged him with a soft gesture that she was not used to: "The carriage is coming from here!" Turning out on the post road, you would rather break your leg to protect me; the heavenly religion rebels assassinate me, and I hide in the wild grass, but you are willing to take the risk to lure them away. Zhang Zhe, you are so kind to me. Can't you be nice to me all the time?"
At that moment, he slowly clenched the stiff hand hanging by his side, and said: "The empress is the mother of a country, and Zhang Zhe is the minister of a dynasty. It is a matter of eating the king's salary and being loyal to the king. In case of distress, life is exchanged." The safety of the empress is a matter of Zhang Zhe's responsibility. However, the case of Zhou Yinzhi's henchmen is a state matter, and the rise and fall of a dynasty depends on it, so Zhang Zhe dare not play favoritism."
"A matter of duty..."
Jiang Xuening tugged at the hem of his sleeve robe, stubbornly refusing to let go, and when she heard this, she laughed, and looked straight into his eyes.
Just ask, "Really?"
Zhang Zhe finally avoided her gaze and closed his eyes. There seemed to be a struggle hidden in his rolling Adam's apple, and he said in a deep voice: "If the empress thinks that the minister's rescue in the past was really outrageous, I wish you be punished."
Jiang Xuening then slowly let go of her fingers.
The corner of the sleeve was a little wrinkled by her grasp, and it fell down.
She just said anxiously: "I know Mr. Zhang doesn't touch the sand in his eyes. These people in the court form cliques for self-interest, and there should be laws to punish them. But do you know what will happen to me if Zhou Yin falls? I don't want to ask Zhang My lord, please spare them for the rest of their lives, but please let me get through this difficult time, Lord Zhang. I will submit the crimes of these people in the future, one by one, to my lord's case, and let them confess their crimes and bring them to justice!"
Zhang Zhe stepped forward to leave.
Jiang Xuening didn't stop him anymore, but looked at his cold back that was about to disappear into the darkness, and told the biggest lie she had ever told in her previous life: "Zhang Zhe, help me. After this time, I will Be a good person, okay?"
Zhang Zhe stood there for a long time.
The sky was too dark, and although there was a hazy moonlight above her head, it was really hard for her to judge what Zhang Zhe was thinking at that moment.
All she could hear was her own heart beating like a drum.
That night, Zhang Zhe finally left without saying a word, and left under the long palace wall.
Xie Wei who went to pick up the jade pendant also didn't come back for a long time.
Jiang Xuening stood at night until the dew became heavy, and then returned to Kunning Palace after listening to the sound of the time telling in the palace.
Every day that followed was a torment for her.
Until half a month later—
The bribery case of Zhou Yinzhi's gangsters, after the joint trial of the three divisions, news spread that half of the people involved in the case had solid evidence and were dismissed from their posts or executed after autumn, while the other half survived because of vague evidence and inconsistent confessions. Some officials were demoted to one rank, while others were reinstated.
Moreover, during the trial of the case, it was found out that the Xiao family formed a party in the court, which aroused Shen Jie's fear.
Xiao's plan fell short.
Jiang Xuening's back position was preserved.
On that day, she was really happy from the bottom of her heart, and she sent people to ask when the next court was coming, even Zhou Yinzhi didn't want to see him, she just thought about where to stop Zhang Zhe and what to say to him.
But she never expected that the person who came back to report actually said that Mr. Zhang had been imprisoned.
The earrings she was picking up to hang on her ears suddenly fell off and smashed into pieces.
Thousands of calculations can't be calculated, and people's hearts are changeable.
Or, Zhou Yinzhi was just an unfamiliar wolf.
In this crisis, she tried her best to keep her own power and Zhou Yinzhi. But he didn't expect that Zhou Yinzhi had weighed the pros and cons as early as when this matter was first revealed, and at some point switched to the Xiao family and served Xiao Shu.
Whether that half of the people were really innocent, Jiang Xuening didn't know.
All she knew was that it was Zhou Yinzhi who presented conclusive evidence of these people taking bribes for personal gain after the interrogation of the three divisions, instantly putting Zhang Zhe, who had previously judged their innocence, in danger, and impeaching Zhang Zhe for favoritism He broke the law and accused him of having an affair with the queen.
Half his life was innocent, but eventually he was tainted.
In the past, he was Jin Yiwei's deadly enemy, once he was thrown into the Imperial Prison, how could he win favor under Zhou Yinzhi's hands? Not to mention that there is also Chen Ying, the right servant of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, who is good at various tortures.
Jiang Xuening didn't dare to think about what kind of life he lived in prison.
I didn't even dare to think, would he think that she was plotting against him, after all, to get rid of him.
All she knew was that within half a month after Zhang Zhe was imprisoned, his house was ransacked, and the unattended old mother was worried about the safety of her only son day and night.
Zhang Zhe was known as a dutiful son.
But in prison, he didn't even see her for the last time.
According to legend, the cold-faced Zhang Shilang wept bitterly in prison the night he learned of his mother's death.
He is upright, has settled countless cases, and has never made mistakes or omissions.
There are many virtuous names among the people.
At that time, none of the judges who tried Zhang Zhe's case dared or were willing to convict him, and there were many petitioners in the court. But in the end, on the third day after his mother died, he asked the prison guards to spread the pen and ink, picked up the pen, stated his crime word by word, and wrote the verdict of conviction for himself. It was cut after autumn.
The verdict was submitted to three divisions, and half the court was sighing.
Looking back now, the begging under the palace wall that night was actually the last time Jiang Xuening saw him.
I don't know if Xie Wei in the previous life will do what he says?
People had gradually walked away under the long street covered by the rain curtain. The wind came in from the window and blew into the cracks in the bones of the person. Jiang Xuening slowly looked away, and finally felt a little cold.
Raising his hands to his face again, his eyes were full of tears.
Zhang Zhe, in my last life, I was a queen, a bad person, and I owe you a lot.
In this life, I will not be a queen, but a good person—
Whether, can be matched with you?
"Girl, you, what did you see, why are you crying?"
Seeing her standing in front of the window without moving for a long time, Lian'er and Tang'er came to check, but she was stunned by the tears on her face.
Jiang Xuening smiled, took an embroidered handkerchief and wiped her red eye circles, and said, "It's okay, the wind is too strong, it's just that I lost my eyesight."
She asked the two maids to close the window, and when Yan Lin got tired of waiting, she rested on the imperial concubine's couch in the room, and when she closed her eyes slightly, her heart felt peaceful.
He only said softly: "Call me when Yan arrives."
Both girls responded in a low voice: "Okay."
But it's so late, will Yan Shizi still come?