The Legend of Rebirth of the Demon Empress

Chapter 26 Penalty
Lin Wenjing was stunned for a moment, his father had always been reasonable, and he had never seen him be so arbitrary, when he was about to defend himself, he heard Lin Yuanzhi say again: "Elder sister, you will not be able to do this these two days. Stay at home and don't go out again, so as not to be bumped by irrelevant people."

Lin Zisu agreed softly, and secretly gestured to Lin Wenjing, telling him not to mention this matter again.

Lin Wenjing understood the meaning and swallowed what he wanted to say.

The meal of the Lin family was boring. After the meal and a cup of tea, the brother and sister got up and said goodbye.The two brothers and sisters walked one after the other. Along the way, Lin Wenjing kept thinking about the gossip he heard from his classmates during the day.

There are rumors outside that the eldest girl of Kang Pingbo's mansion is extremely fierce, beat up a group of dandies in Beijing and fled, and she behaved like this before she reached the point, she will be a "hagsha" in the future, and whoever marries will be unlucky.

Arriving in front of the arched door, Lin Wenjing suddenly stopped and said to Lin Zisu, "Sister, don't worry too much about the rumors outside, our house is clean, and my father is famous for being spotless, even if someone doesn't care Good intentions, it will stop in a few days."

Lin Zisu's heart warmed up, and she smiled at Lin Wenjing with a smile: "Brother, I am now a heroine who stands up for the heavens! Today, Zhuangyuanlou even released a storybook, and in a few days, I will definitely be the capital city." A household name here!"

Lin Zisu's smile was full of innocence, and the corners of Lin Wenjing's eyes twitched. Fortunately, he had been worried about Lin Zisu all day, but he did not expect his sister to react like this.

He was still thinking about the rumors of his classmates. Lin Zisu had already walked towards his yard, and after walking a dozen steps, Lin Zisu turned back to Lin Wenjing and said, "Brother, wait until you take a rest in two days. You can go to Zhuangyuan Building and listen to the obedient book, Li Siniang beat Jin Yulang angrily, it was me who wrote it."

As if infected by his sister's smile, Lin Wenjing's heart that had been hanging all day was finally relieved.

He was worried that his younger sister would be at a loss in the face of such rumors because of his young age, and he wanted to persuade his parents a few words, but his younger sister still had a calm expression, showing no sign of panic.

He stared at Lin Zisu's back disappearing, shook his head with a smile, and suddenly felt that his sister had changed a lot since she was possessed, and she really looked like a heroine in the storybook.

Well, you must go and listen to the storybook in Zhuangyuan Building.

The wind in the spring night was still a little cool, and the bamboo leaves trembled with the wind, startling a few resident birds. Two or three black shadows sprang out from the bamboo shadows, spreading their wings and rushing into the night sky.

Lin Zisu slept very well that night, woke up the next day, greeted Bi Shi, and went to Sun Duzhong's pharmacy to help.

Although Yuanzheng learned some medical skills from his grandfather when he was young, but there was an interval of seven or eight years, and besides acupuncture, he almost forgot everything else.He said he was going to help, but in fact, Sun Duzhong had been explaining the most basic pharmacology to her.

Sun Duzhong began to teach from the identification of medicines, and explained each one in detail from the simple to the deep. After listening to it, Lin Zisu learned a lot. He only concentrated on learning the pharmacology, but forgot to inquire about Sun Duzhong and his family's secrets.

The day passed quietly, and when Lin Zisu returned home, it was time to light the lanterns.As soon as she entered the flower hall, she saw her father sitting on the arhat bed in the east room, waving to her.

After Lin Zisu sat down, Lin Yuanzhi said with a smile: "Eldest sister, just after submitting the memorial for father's guilt, the court's punishment has already come down, guess what?"

Seeing his father's relaxed face, Lin Zisu felt relieved, and asked, "But you were fined half a year's salary?"

Lin Yuanzhi shook his head with a smile, and raised three fingers. Lin Zisu said with a smile, "It's still the emperor who knows everything, and has no intention of blaming father."

"The Holy One is a man of benevolence, and there are rules to follow in the administration of rewards and punishments, and he will not blame his subordinates indiscriminately."

Lin Yuanzhi was in a good mood, forgetting that he was at home, and blurted out a sentence of eulogy.

Lin Wenjing didn't think so. He also heard from his classmates that Dongchang was rampant and disregarded the laws of the court. He just heard his mother briefly say that his father's indiscriminate disasters were all caused by Dongchang. The emperor's handling in this way obviously put the blame on his father.

It is really unreasonable for the Supervisor of Rituals to stay out of the incident when he provoked it. Lin Wenjing frowned and said, "It is said that the Supervisor of Rituals will bring disaster to the country and the people. Does the Emperor still want to protect the Supervisor of Rituals this time?"

Lin Yuanzhi's expression changed instantly, and he said angrily, "Brother Jing, don't speculate on the holy will!"

Mrs. Bi also panicked, subconsciously looked out the door, and said in a low voice: "You child, it's okay to be frizzy on weekdays. Are these words just trying to kill us all?"

The cool wind was blowing outside the door, rampaging in the courtyard, throwing up all the lanterns under the eaves, and flying out of the courtyard wrapped in the light and shadow in the lanterns.

The lights of thousands of houses in the capital are all swaying with the wind, shining like stars in the night.

In the Jiyi Hall of the Forbidden City, the cool wind passes through the half-closed windows, turning the pages of the books on the case table with a rustling sound.

The emperor was concentrating on reviewing the memorial before the case, and did not notice the coolness at all.

The Jiyi Hall is the study room of the emperor, and it is also the place where the memorials are reviewed daily. It is related to documents and confidentiality, so often only the cronies around him are left to serve in the hall.

Huang Sheng stayed next to the emperor tonight. He was rubbing ink with an ink stick, but when the night wind picked up suddenly, he hurriedly put down the ink stick in his hand and went to the window to close the window, fearing that the sound of the wind would disturb the emperor.

Just as Huang Sheng stretched out his hand to close a window, he heard the emperor say: "Huang Sheng, you don't have to be busy. I just happen to be a little sleepy. It's good to wake up."

The emperor stretched his waist, pointed to a memorial that had just been delivered, and said: "This Lin Yuanzhi went with me, and I just punished him today, and the memorial of Xie En was sent up. If I had known that he was so sensible, I don’t need to pay attention to Cao Shouli today, and I will be this villain for nothing.”

Huang Sheng is the chief eunuch holding pens of the Ritual Supervisor. He reads the daily memorials before presenting them to the emperor. He knows which memorial the emperor is talking about without reading it. Rewards, when things happen, naturally they first think about sharing the emperor's worries, and the servants heard from the people in the Ministry of Industry that after Kang Ningbo received the order of punishment today, he shouted for the emperor's sage, and he must have had a plan in his heart."

The emperor nodded and said: "It is said that Uncle Kang Ning is pedantic and rigid, ignorant of the world, but I didn't expect him to be a transparent person. This time I have wronged him. It will be useful for me to find someone to talk to him later. I will not treat him badly."

Huang Sheng bowed and agreed, and suddenly remembered something funny, and a smile bloomed on his face.

Seeing him smiling so much that the creases at the corners of his eyes were squeezed together, the emperor laughed and scolded: "You old fellow, what are you doing for fun? Tell me and listen to me!"

Huang Sheng smiled and said: "Just now I heard the emperor talk about Uncle Kang Ning, and the servant girl remembered a rumor in Beijing these days, which has something to do with Uncle Kang Ning. It is said that His Royal Highness Dun and Prince Liang from the Duke of Chang's mansion molested Uncle Kang Ning on the street. The eldest lady of the mansion, and then was beaten by Miss Lin."

"This servant can be considered to have grown up watching His Highness King Dun. I have only seen His Highness bullying others. I never thought that His Highness would suffer from being bullied by others, but at the hands of a little girl."

Miss Canningbo Mansion?The emperor immediately thought of the pretty little girl at the Hundred Flowers Banquet.

He had a good impression of Lin Zisu, she was quiet yet generous, and had some talent. If she said that she beat someone in the street, he would not believe it no matter what. He immediately asked, "The fourth brother was actually beaten? And what about that?" Liang Mingtai was also beaten? Or that little girl from the Lin family? Old fellow, are you trying to make me happy, why don't I believe it?"

Seeing the emperor's interest, Huang Sheng said: "You servant dare not talk nonsense, I was shocked when I heard it at first, thinking that His Royal Highness King Dun was beaten, it was no small matter, so I asked the people below to check it out. , it's even more interesting."

When Huang Sheng talked about Xing Chu, he paused for a few breaths and swallowed his saliva. The emperor was very dissatisfied and urged: "Old man, don't be foolish, just keep talking!"

"His Royal Highness Dun met Miss Lin outside the city in February, and was whipped by Miss Lin with a tree branch because of her frivolous words; Mr. Liang was disrespectful to Miss Lin in his mansion two days ago. , was taught a lesson."

"My servant was a little strange at the time. The distance between these two incidents is so far away, why is there so much trouble in the city in the past few days? So I asked Dongchang to pay attention, and finally found out that the source of the rumors came from the servants of Prince Dun's Mansion."

Now the emperor became even more curious, only to hear Huang Sheng say again: "The maidservant is puzzled. I thought His Royal Highness Dun Wang had slighted the servant and was arranged by those blind things. It happened to be the servant of the ten princes' mansion. His Royal Highness King Song Fu is the servant's fellow countryman, and the servant got some words from him, so far, it seems that this rumor was spread by His Royal Highness Dun."

"How could it be him?"

The emperor picked up the teacup on the case, but did not lift the lid, just held it in his hand and stroked it, and asked thoughtfully, "What do you mean, fourth brother?"

"This servant is still investigating. The people below said that after His Highness King Dun was offended, it was not easy to question Miss Lin, so she used rumors to vent her anger. Miss Lin is 13 years old this year, which is the age for choosing a relative. With such rumors, I am afraid that it will be difficult to find a satisfactory family in the past two years."

The emperor squinted his eyes, and he knew something in his heart. He didn't expect that his son would fail to moles the other girl, and wanted to ruin the other's reputation.

He could tolerate Xie Xi's misbehavior, but he absolutely could not tolerate such low-handed means. The emperor suppressed the anger in his heart, and his tone was still as usual, and said lightly: "This time, you can't let the fourth brother mess around. Tomorrow Send someone to bring him into the palace, but I want to hear his explanation!"

Huang Sheng responded, but still said with a smile: "Your Majesty calm down, His Royal Highness Dun Wang has always been playful, these are just quarrels between children, the Emperor does not need to take it to heart."

The emperor put down the teacup, gave a serious meal to the case, and said, "My son, you also know that you are young and don't think about making progress, and you still learn to hide your strength and bide your time like others. This is already a king, and it is still such a nonsense. It’s fine for others to insult his reputation, but now he wants to insult himself, hmph, are you so afraid of your brother?”

"After all, His Highness Dun Wang is still young, and his temperament is not stable. In the past, he lived in the palace, and the emperor and the queen empress gave orders, and the Taifus often taught him, so there would not be too many mistakes. Now His Highness lives in the Tenth Prince's Mansion. Without restraint, there will inevitably be some nonsense. The slaves thought that the Second Highness, the Third Highness, and the Dun Wang Highness have all reached the age of choosing a concubine, so I wonder if the Emperor would consider it?"

"You reminded me rightly, this matter should be discussed by the Ministry of Rituals." The emperor stood up, took a few steps in the hall, and suddenly asked: "After King Dun was appointed, did he have any contact with the cabinet and the chief inspector? "

Huang Sheng's eyebrows twitched when the emperor said this out of the blue. The emperor most tabooed courtiers from getting involved with the emperor's relatives. Did the emperor suspect that King Dun was colluding with others to retaliate against Kang Ningbo?

This question is really difficult to answer, the cabinet and the supervisor of ceremonies cover too much scope, and he is also a member of the supervisor of ceremonies, so Huang Sheng could only bow his head and say, "Young servant, let's go and investigate."

A bright moon outside the window is already westward, and the moonlight casts on the curtain through the glazed window. The cold moonlight and soft light are mixed together, making people unable to distinguish the boundary between light and shadow.

The emperor stared at the curtain for a while, and there was a flash of sharpness in his eyes, and asked: "Have you found out the fire in Changning Palace? How did it start?"

"Chen Lang, the principal of the construction department, and Wang Ziheng, the deputy of the department, have always had feuds. Recently, Wang Ziheng did a few things behind Chen Lang's back, which won the favor of Cao Gonggong. Chen Lang felt that Wang Ziheng wanted to replace him, so he wanted to Take advantage of the opportunity in Changning Palace to burn him to death, and then put the blame on the cabinet."

"After the fire, Chen Lang recognized Eunuch Cao as his godfather, and Eunuch Cao said that his godson had been plotted against. This took advantage of the opportunity, and naturally someone posted it up. A lot of excerpts are all vegetarian meals for the cabinet corpses, which are unusable."

"That's not wrong. I let them put their hands into the palace, but Cao Shouli took advantage of it."

The emperor sneered, "My loyal ministers and good generals! They've all made good plans. Do you think I don't exist?"

Seeing that Huang Sheng didn't answer, the emperor asked again: "How is that Wang Ziheng injured?"

Huang Sheng responded: "Wang Ziheng's condition is not very good. At the beginning, doctors from the Tai Hospital treated him. Later, Chen Lang refused the diagnosis and treatment of the Tai Hospital on the grounds of non-compliance with regulations, thus delaying his injury. Now Wang Ziheng's The injuries are not serious, but there are a few scars on the body and face, which may not go away."

"That Wang Ziheng is still useful. It was a pity to put him in the palace after putting in so much effort. Since Chen Lang said it was not in compliance with the regulations, you should send someone to take care of him and send Wang Ziheng out of the palace for treatment."

The emperor thought for a moment, and then said: "Tomorrow morning, I will pass on my decree. Qi Tingtang, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, is old, and he will be given the title of Taibao. He will be allowed to serve. It is difficult to take on the big job, and the supervisor of ceremonies will choose another suitable candidate."

Five days had passed since the fire in Changning Palace. During these five days, the emperor let the cabinet and the inspector of ceremonies confront each other. Apart from punishing Lin Yuanzhi, the director of the Ministry of Industry and Repairs, he had never said anything else. The courtiers thought that This matter has been reversed.

At the court meeting in the early morning of the second day, the eunuch who announced the decree suddenly announced the decree, which exploded among the courtiers.

Although the decree did not mention the fire in the Changning Palace at all, the courtiers could guess the reason why the emperor made such a decree at such a time, and the minister of the Ministry of Industry and the Deputy Secretary of the Construction Department were withdrawn. Fifty large plates.

The contest between the cabinet and the inspector of ceremonies seems to be evenly matched.

(End of this chapter)