Chapter 413: Extra 04 Imperial Statement (first update)

Chapter 413: Extra 04 Imperial Statement (first update)

Chapter 413 Extra Chapter 04 Imperial Form (1st update)

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Concubine Yang held the drumstick high in her right hand and continued to beat the Dengwen drum in front of her.

So decisive, so sad.

Compared with the petite woman, the bright red Dengwen drum looks huge and heavy, making the woman even more frail.

It is easy for people to sympathize with the weak. Seeing this scene in front of the onlookers in the back, their sympathy for Princess Yang became even stronger.

Everyone said that Gu Jin was unfilial to his stepmother, accused the queen of favoritism, and pitied Princess Yang for being an old monarch who should have enjoyed her old age, but was bullied by the younger generation.

The private chatter of these onlookers also reached the ears of Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen who were behind. They wore magpie masks on their faces, and their eyes exposed from behind the masks were all smiling.

Shen Qianchen stood on tiptoe slightly, leaned close to Gu Jue's ear, and whispered to him: "This is really interesting."

Gu Jue then lowered his head to her ear and whispered: "It's better to come early than to come by chance."

If they came back later, they would miss this wonderful show.

The two of them were so excited to sing this part of Concubine Yang's performance that they held hands and walked out of the crowd towards the Meridian Gate.

Since the Dengwen drum is being beaten here, it must be reported to heaven.

No one noticed that Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen came and left. Everyone's attention was focused on Princess Yang.

The judge's head hurt even more, and he kindly advised: "Mrs. Yang, you need thirty sticks to hit the drums."

He was kindly reminding Concubine Yang that if Concubine Yang hurried away now, it would still be too late. He could turn a blind eye or close one eye and avoid the penalty of thirty years with the imperial staff.

Of course, Mrs. Yang understood what the other party meant, but she had no intention of leaving.

She was also afraid of being punished by a cane, but she felt that her coming to beat the drum was justified. Now that there were so many pairs of eyes watching the development of the situation, the new emperor would not beat her for the sake of reputation.

Concubine Yang assumed a righteous and awe-inspiring posture, raised her eyes and looked directly into the eyes of the judge, and said sternly: "You don't have to persuade me, I want to see the emperor, and I can't watch the emperor being deceived by a traitor."

She did not say that the emperor was partial, but only pointed the finger at Gu Jin and Shen Qianchen.

The common people and students couldn't bear it. Even a strong man with a thirty-year imperial staff couldn't bear it. What's more, Mrs. Yang was just a weak woman who looked like she was gasping for breath after walking a few steps.

In the midst of the commotion, Li Juren said to the other students righteously: "It is really unfair that the victim wants to be redressed but has to be punished by the court!"

"Brothers, in order to seek justice, the concubine did not hesitate to take risks and fight hard. Her spirit is commendable. Since we are here today, we cannot let such injustice happen."

"My little brother has a suggestion. How about we jointly vouch for the concubine?"

When he said this, several people were touched and nodded, moved by Mrs. Yang's willingness to bend rather than bend.

Among the voices of approval, some people also raised questions: "Brother Li, if you listen to both, you will be enlightened, but if you believe only, you will be dark. Now it is just the concubine's one-sided words. It is hard to say whether it is right or wrong."

It was the proclaimer who spoke, and another square-faced protégé next to him also echoed: "What brother Xuan said is true. Logically speaking, Zong Ling and other royal relatives should have witnessed the separation of the clan. The queen is partial to it." His uncle, what about the other royal family members?"

"Joint guarantee is by no means a trivial matter, and we should be cautious..."

As these advocates talked, they started arguing again. Some people supported the joint list guarantee, some ridiculed the advocates for being afraid of trouble, and some were hesitant.

Before they could figure out the reason, Pei Linye led several imperial guards to the right gate of Chang'an.

"Taifei, Your Majesty invites you." Pei Linye extended his hand to Taifei Yang in a gesture of invitation.

Concubine Yang was ecstatic when she heard this. She finally put down the drumstick in her hand and said with her head held high, "Let's go!" She suppressed the excitement in her heart and told herself that this was just the first step.

After two cups of tea, Princess Yang was taken outside the Huagai Hall by Pei Linye.

Pei Linye went into the palace to tell her to wait outside.

This wait lasted for half an hour, which made Mrs. Yang's legs numb and exhausted.

Just when Concubine Yang was about to wonder if Gu Jue was playing tricks on her, she saw the Minister of Punishment, the Minister of Dali Temple, the Censor of Zuodu, and Prince Li hurriedly coming from the direction of the palace gate.

Obviously, these four adults were temporarily announced to the palace by Gu Jue.

The four adults were actually simmering with anger in their hearts. It was so late at night that after finally resting, they were temporarily admitted to the palace. Who would be happy? It happened that Concubine Yang beat the drum and complained. According to the law, the emperor had to accept the case. Even the emperor was disturbed and could not rest. How could they, as ministers, complain.

The Minister of Punishment, the Minister of Dali Temple, and the Yushi of Zuodu represent the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Procuratorate respectively. The presence of these three people means that what follows is not only a personal trial by the emperor, but also a joint trial by the three bureaus.

Concubine Yang secretly breathed a sigh of relief: It would be best to have these three adults present as witnesses, and it would be more beneficial to her.

Immediately afterwards, Princess Yang, Prince Li, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment and others entered the main hall of Huagai Hall. Lanterns were lit in the hall, illuminating the inside as bright as day.

Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen were sitting on the main seats right in front. They were still wearing the clothes they had worn when they left the palace, but they had taken off their masks.

"See your Majesty, the Queen." Concubine Yang and the other four people saluted Gu Jue and his wife.

While bending her knees, Concubine Yang glanced at Gu Jue without leaving any trace. Gu Jue was sitting leisurely on the golden lacquered dragon chair, with his dark hair half tied back casually, and his eyes were deep and cold.

When Mrs. Yang's eyes accidentally met his, she felt an inexplicable pressure in the other's condescending gaze. In an instant, the hairs on her entire spine stood up and her heart tightened.

Never show timidity at this time. Concubine Yang warned herself in her heart, cocked her neck proudly, and looked at Shen Qianchen, who was sitting next to Gu Jue. Hatred and disgust surged up from the bottom of her heart in an instant.

The person that Mrs. Yang hated the most was Shen Qianchen.

In the past, when Shen Qianchen was not married to Gu Jue, Gu Jin and Shen Wan had always been "obedient". But since Shen Qianchen and Gu Jue got married, Gu Jin's family seemed to have found a backer. Lai Yue doesn't take her stepmother seriously.

Concubine Yang's well-maintained hands were clenched tightly into fists, her nails pinching the palms of her hands. She remembered that a few days ago, she went to Gu Jin to borrow money but was kicked out by Shen Wan.

She has never been kicked out like this in her life!

Concubine Yang was ashamed, annoyed and resentful. She felt that Gu Jin and Shen Wan dared to do this to her because of the support of the queen, Shen Qianchen!

Hum, this Shen Wan is a hen that can't lay eggs, and can't even give birth to a son. There is only a little girl in their family, why should Pianzi inherit 70% of the family business of the county prince's palace? All this money should belong to his grandson.

The more Princess Yang thought about it, the more righteous she became, secretly scolding Gu Jin for being despicable and taking advantage of others' danger.

Concubine Yang was suffocating with anger and couldn't help but said angrily: "Why is the Queen here?"

Her words were almost like a question.

It is true that Shen Qianchen should not have appeared in the Huagai Palace in the outer court. Several other people present were also surprised, but no one was stupid enough to argue with the new emperor.

Shen Qianchen drank tea leisurely, with a slight smile on her lips, elegant and calm, as if Mrs. Yang had not caught her eyes at all.

Concubine Yang wanted to say something else, but the next moment, Gu Jue's cold yet majestic voice came from the front: "Anyone who beats the Wen Deng drum will have thirty sticks."

Gu Jue waved his hand briefly, and two tall and mighty Jinyi guards entered the Huagai Hall and approached Concubine Yang menacingly.

Concubine Yang was so frightened that she almost took a step back and blurted out with twinkling eyes: "Stop!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the judge hurriedly walked in and walked to Mrs. Yang's side.

He held a fold with both hands and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers outside have just signed a petition, requesting that Concubine Yang be exempted from the responsibilities of the staff. The petition is here."

A middle-aged chamberlain took the petition and presented it to Gu Jue.

Concubine Yang breathed a sigh of relief and her expression softened slightly.

Gu Jue picked up the petition and glanced at it, then casually threw it on the case, and then ordered calmly: "Drag it down and beat it."

Concubine Yang: "!!"

Concubine Yang couldn't believe her ears, her eyes widened: "Why?!"

Why can Gu Jue completely ignore the petition of his disciples? Isn't he afraid of causing public outrage? !

Shen Qianchen chuckled lowly. Her laughter was not particularly loud, but in the empty and silent Huagai Hall at this moment, it seemed extremely clear, and even had the effect of lingering for three days.

"It's just a petition? Don't you think of it as the Queen Mother's decree?" Shen Qianchen said as he put down the tea cup. His movements were elegant and his manners were generous. There was a calm demeanor in his eyes, obviously. She is just a teenage girl, but she seems to have experienced such situations countless times.

Concubine Yang: “…”

Shen Qianchen said calmly: "What qualifications do you have to shake the holy will?"

"What they say is right, and if the emperor accepts it, it is a petition. What they say is wrong, then it is just a piece of waste paper."

"What do you think the concubine thinks?"

Concubine Yang almost vomited blood because of Shen Qianchen's naturally arrogant attitude. Her throat was slightly sweet, and she held her neck and said unconvincingly: "Don't you think the emperor cares about public opinion? Aren't you afraid of losing the support of the people?!"

Shen Qianchen smiled sweetly and wrote lightly: "Tiffany, the law is above all else." It is written in the laws of Daqi that anyone who beats the drum of Dengwen should have a staff of thirty.

Gu Jue didn't say anything and looked at his little girl with a smile on his face. He liked her sharp-tongued look the most. She was so lively. She should be so lively at her age.

Concubine Yang was so angry that her face turned red. Things had reached this point and she could not allow her to retreat.

She took a deep breath and said plausibly: "Queen, since you know that the law is above all else, you should know that the country has national laws, the family has family rules, and the rules and etiquette cannot be abolished."

"This is the outer court, the emperor is here, what qualifications does the empress have to speak arrogantly here?"

Her words were tantamount to scolding Shen Qianchen's harem for interfering in politics, and the Minister of Punishment and others took a breath.

They couldn't help but look at the emperor's expression, but they saw that Gu Jue didn't even move his eyebrows, just drank tea, and didn't seem to hear him at all.

Shen Qianchen smiled instead of being angry. Her smile even deepened by three points, her eyes narrowed slightly, like a delicate and dazzling rose suddenly blooming.

Everyone knows that roses have thorns.

"The concubine can say it, why can't I?" Shen Qianchen asked.

She didn't give Concubine Yang another chance to speak, and directly ordered: "Take her down, stick her for thirty first, and then speak."

Shen Qianchen was smiling, and Gu Jue was still smiling. From the beginning to the end, he looked at Shen Qianchen with doting eyes.

The Minister of Justice and others couldn't help but sigh in their hearts: The new emperor was too indulgent to the queen.

The two Jinyi guards restrained Concubine Yang without any courtesy and dragged her forcefully out of the palace.

"Let me go! Let me go..." Concubine Yang screamed hysterically while struggling. Her little strength was not enough to stand up to Jin Yiwei, and she was dragged out of the Huagai Hall in a few seconds.

The Minister of Dali Temple thought for a while and tried to intercede for Concubine Yang: "Your Majesty, Concubine Jingjun is also a member of the clan. Is thirty-year cane punishment too heavy? Why don't I ask her first what grievances she has."

Daqi's regulations stipulate that those who beat the drums must have a thirty-year staff. This is to prevent people from maliciously petitioning for no reason. As long as Mrs. Yang proves that she has a reason, it is reasonable to be exempted from the responsibility of the staff.

Gu Jue calmly repeated what Shen Qianchen said just now: "The law is greater than everything."

Minister of Dali Temple: "..."

Dali Siqing's eyes twitched. To put it bluntly, what is more important between law and reason is a matter of one word from those in power.

Gu Jue raised his lower lip with a smile but not a smile: "Thankfully, you are still the minister of Dali Temple, in charge of the trial of prison cases, and you are among the nine ministers. Your respect for the law is not as good as that of the queen."

Minister of Dali Temple: "..."

When it came to this topic, the minister of Dali Temple could only bow his head knowingly and said: "I made a mistake, thank you for your advice."

Since the new emperor is determined to teach Concubine Yang a lesson, then they, the ministers, can't persuade her anymore because their arms can't twist their thighs.

Gu Jue looked down from the high throne at the Minister of Dali Temple, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, the Yushi of Zuodu and Prince Li. It was only at this moment that he really got to the point: "Since the Crown Princess of Jingjun has filed a complaint, then I will naturally Examine her carefully and give her an explanation."

The Minister of Dali Temple dryly praised "Your Majesty is wise," and he had a vague intuition in his heart that there would be some commotion tonight.

"Pei Linye," Gu Jue then ordered Pei Linye, "let the Jin Yiwei go outside and ask the four officials to come in and listen."

Pei Linye immediately took the order and left.

Next, the Huagai Hall became quiet.

The night outside the palace was like water, and one could only hear the sound of a stick being scolded and the shrill screams of Princess Yang one after another, along with the dry counting sounds of the Jin Yiwei: "Three, four, five..."

The three adults including the Minister of Dali Temple did not speak and stood in a row with their heads bowed silently, waiting.

The Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate often come into contact with prisoners, and they are not surprised by sticks and other punishments. However, in this dark night, hearing the screams of women still makes people feel a little scared. It feels like there is a woman. It's like a ghost is coming to claim your life.

The most comfortable people here are probably Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen, who are enjoying themselves drinking tea and eating snacks, as if the screams outside are just the sound of silk and bamboo to add to the entertainment.

"...twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two..."

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty."

When the thirty count was over, there was a dead silence outside the hall, and the night breeze occasionally blew into the brightly lit canopy hall.

The Minister of Dali Temple almost suspected that Concubine Yang had been beaten to death by those thirty big boards.

In this strange silence, Pei Linye and several royal guards entered the palace with four disciples.

These four people are all different from each other in terms of age, appearance, temperament and clothing. They are also very unfamiliar with each other and seem to be complete strangers.

The four officials stood in the center of the main hall, nervously bowing to Gu Jue and saluting: "See you, Your Majesty."

As a scholar, everyone dreams that one day they can pass the imperial examination, then enter the palace to take the palace examination, be named on the gold list, and have the opportunity to serve the court and the emperor.

But they never expected that the first time they entered the palace, the first time they met the Holy Emperor, would be under the current circumstances. No one dared to raise their head to look at the new emperor on the dragon throne, for fear that their behavior would be inappropriate.

"Flat body."

A cold and calm male voice sounded from the front. The young man's voice was very young and clear, with the calmness and determination unique to those in power.

The proclaimer standing on the far right felt that the voice sounded familiar, and he was sure that he had heard it somewhere.

Yes, and just recently.

The advocate and the other three candidates stood up at the same time. The other three people still lowered their heads and did not dare to look at Gu Jue. Only the advocate had the courage to glance in Gu Jue's direction.

He originally only planned to take a glance, but when his eyes met an extraordinary and handsome face, he was stunned.

The young man who looked like a banished immortal looked so familiar, especially since the advocate had just met him an hour ago, and he was still wearing the green lotus-colored Hufu he had worn in Mingfang Teahouse.

Moreover, even the young woman sitting next to the young man cannot be mistaken...

It's them!

The advocate's body trembled violently, first shocked, then surprised.

The young couple he met by chance at Mingfang Tea House tonight turned out to be the emperor and empress!

At this moment, his ears couldn't help but think of the words the young man said in the teahouse: "...listening together will lead to enlightenment, and partial belief will lead to darkness."

thumping! thumping! thumping!

His heart was beating faster and faster, as if it was about to burst out of his heart. The various feelings in his heart finally condensed into an emotion called reverence.

Suddenly, he had more confidence in the new emperor;

Suddenly, he understood why he was chosen by Jin Yiwei to appear here. It was obvious that he had not left his name on the petition at all.

He gritted his teeth, knowing the stakes in his heart, so even if he recognized Gu Jue, he didn't say anything.

The change in the advocate's expression in just a moment did not escape Gu Jue's eyes, and Gu Jue smiled and nodded at him.

When the other disciples saw the holy face, they did not dare to speak freely.

Gu Jue played with the folding fan that Shen Qianchen had just given him as a gift today. He fanned the folding fan twice casually and said straight to the point: "Just now, I saw the petition you submitted and I know that you are doing something for Jingjun." The princess petitioned, so I asked you to come and hear the trial."

"There is a saying in Daqi Law that anyone who beats the drum of "Dengwen" is thirty years old. As a scholar, you have studied hard for many years in a humble window. You are also a learned and wealthy generation. You don't know this."

"The law may not be reasonable and can be modified, but it cannot easily exempt those who break the law, otherwise it will not serve as a warning to others."

To put it bluntly, the law is to maintain order internally and is used to intimidate the world so that people will not dare to violate the law, so that the country can be stable.

In addition to the propagandist, the other three candidates had left their names on the petition. At this moment, Gu Jue said that he was very ashamed. Indeed, if everyone comes to beg for forgiveness after breaking the law, then what use is the law? !

One of them, a gentle-looking man in his early forties, said boldly: "The student has benefited a lot from His Majesty's guidance and will definitely remember it in his heart."

While he was talking, a tall imperial guard came in. Behind him were two chamberlains carrying a stretcher. The sickly Princess Yang was lying on the stretcher. Her hair was messy, her face was pale, her eyes were red, and her lips were trembling slightly.

She was like a dying flower that had been beaten by wind and rain and was about to fall from the branches.

Thirty strokes with the cane were not light. Concubine Yang could not get up at this time and lay weakly on the stretcher. When the stretcher landed on the ground, she gasped and her body trembled, as if it had touched the injury.

The tall imperial guard cupped his fists at Gu Jue and said, "Your Majesty, Concubine Yang has been under the imperial staff for thirty years. The imperial doctor has examined her and given her medicine."

There are two updates

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(End of chapter)