Qiu Yizhi followed Heluo King Zhenghua to a room that was decorated like a study room, and replied: "I am feeling burnt inside and out, and I am at a loss. I am about to ask the prince if there is any way I can keep my foster father safe."
After hearing this, Zheng Hua opened and closed the folding fan in his hand, opened and closed it again, and said after a long time: "Now my second brother is being imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishments, waiting for the three halls to be interrogated for the Holy Lord's decision. Young Master Qingqing Qingqing said, Can you rescue your adoptive father?"
Qiu Yizhi raised his hand again and said, "I know that this is a difficult thing to do, but my adoptive father has been kind to me in raising me up, and I will be reborn with kindness. I will save my adoptive father even if my body is broken into pieces."
Zheng Hua said faintly: "I'm afraid that the young master will be shattered to pieces, and he may not be able to save the second brother. Instead, he will risk his life in vain. The young master is the adopted son of my second brother, although there is a father-son relationship, but after all, he is not above the famous brand. Why bother?"
Qiu Yizhi heard that there was no intention to help her in his words, and she sighed in disappointment and said: "Since the prince is in the same difficulty as the prince, I will not force myself. Please forgive me for being disrespectful. Please forgive me for being disrespectful. No more company." After that, he turned around and left.
"Wait a minute. Do you really want to save your adoptive father?" Zheng Hua asked.
Qiu Yizhi didn't turn around after hearing this. He only turned his head and replied: "I know this is a mantis arm blocking a car, but if I didn't block it, how could I know that the car is already heavily loaded and vulnerable?"
"Good! Well said!" Zheng Hua praised, "Young Master is indeed loyal and filial to my second brother! If my two sons have half the ambition of Young Master, I will laugh out loud in my dreams."
When Qiu Yizhi heard what Zheng Hua said, she felt happy. She turned around and said, "Your Majesty, if you have any way to save my foster father, please teach me!"
Zheng Hua waved his hand and said: "I am a man of idle clouds and wild cranes. How can I rescue people from the prison of the Ministry of Punishment? However, the emperor has appointed me, together with the two ministers of the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Rites, to interrogate my second brother. You can condescend to pretend to be mine." I will go with you. I am not very talented, so I hope you can have a few words with your second brother."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi was overjoyed. She didn't have time to consider whether Heluo King Zheng Hua was trying to trick you into a trap, so she agreed and asked: "I don't know when the prince will set off, so I can prepare for it."
Zheng Hua replied: "This is a special order, asking me to go to the Ministry of Punishment now. The young master's dress looks simple, and there is nothing eye-catching about pretending to be my servant. Come with me now."
The prison of the Ministry of Punishment is located in the northwest of Luoyang City, not far from the Heluo Palace. Zheng Hua took a light sedan and was in front of the prison door in just one meal.
Qiu Yizhi followed closely behind the sedan, his eyes unblinkingly observing the terrain inside and outside the prison.
I saw that in order to prevent imperial prisoners from breaking through the wall and escaping, the prison took advantage of the two walls on the west and north sides of Luoyang City and built it at the corner of the city, with tall and solid walls on both sides. The defenses on the city wall were intentionally strengthened, and soldiers armed with spears patrolled and guarded from time to time. On the east and south sides of the prison, five or six feet of open space was left open in the capital city where land was at a premium, allowing the soldiers stationed in the police building inside the prison to have an unobstructed view of the surrounding situation.
While Qiu Yizhi was observing carefully, he was quickly thinking of ways to rescue Zheng Rong, but he heard the officer guarding the prison gate say to Zheng Hua: "Your Majesty, there is an order from above that only you are allowed to enter."
Zheng Hua unfolded his fan and shook it: "What? When did your prison of the Ministry of Punishment come up with so many rules?"
The official said politely: "In normal times, it would be okay for the prince to bring a hundred people in. But today... The prince also knows the reason, and please be considerate of the villain..."
Zheng Hua nodded slightly and said: "I know the difficulties you have in doing things. However, I have been weak since I was a child. If I don't have someone to take care of me, I'm afraid it will be inconvenient..." He pointed to Qiu Yizhidao behind him, " That’s it, I’ll just take him in alone.”
The officer was very responsible. Although he didn't say anything, his face showed a troubled expression.
Seeing his appearance, Zheng Hua's face suddenly became tense and he shouted: "What? Isn't this allowed? Go and call out the person above you, and I will speak to him personally."
Seeing that Prince Heluo was angry, the official was a little scared, so he quickly apologized and said: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I'm just bringing a personal servant in, so it doesn't matter. I'm taking the liberty to make the decision here. Your Majesty, please calm down." That's it." After saying that, he made way for Zheng Hua and Qiu Yizhi to walk in.
As soon as he entered the prison, a sour and rotten smell rushed towards him, so fuming that Zheng Hua couldn't help but open his folding fan to cover his mouth and nose.
While Zheng Hua was taking a careful breath, he saw a prison head flashing out of nowhere. He was not too dirty. He knelt down on the ground that was dyed an unknown color by blood, dust and rough prison rice. He kowtowed three times in succession and said: "Young man, please pay your respects to the prince. Please go this way."
Zheng Hua finally got used to the turbid air in the prison and said, "Get up and lead the way. I will have a good talk with Yuwen Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment another day. This prison is too filthy, and I don't know how to clean it up every now and then."
The cell leader smiled apologetically and did not answer. He only led Zheng Hua and Qiu Yizhi towards the depths of the prison. While walking, Qiu Yizhi carefully inspected the internal layout of the prison—it turned out that all the cells in the prison were connected by a winding serpentine passage, and there were no other side roads. Therefore, no matter which cell the prisoner escapes from, he has only two choices: forward and retreat. Going forward will face the interception of countless prison guards and soldiers, while retreating will lead to a dead end. It seems that the person who originally designed this prison of the Ministry of Punishment was also Gong Yu. Scheming.
Qiu Yizhi followed Zheng Hua and walked in the prison for half an hour. He passed through countless iron gates and met countless dejected, bored, and bruised prisoners before walking all the way to the cell. deepest.
The room in the deepest part of the Penal Department Prison was quite spacious and clean. Several palm-sized transom windows were opened on the walls, making the air in the room slightly fresher.
Qiu Yizhi followed Zheng Hua into the room and saw two officials sitting behind a few desks in the room. They were all high-ranking officials wearing high-quality clothes. Seeing the arrival of Heluo King Zheng Hua, the two of them stood up at the same time to greet him. After bowing and bowing, they shouted: "Shi Liangzhi, the Minister of Rites, and Yuwen Guan, the Minister of Punishments, have met the prince!"
Zheng Hua was very easy-going and said with a slight smile: "Both gentlemen are the pillars of the imperial court, but I am the most idle person in the world. How can I deserve this great gift from you two? Sir, please get up."
After listening to Zheng Hua's words, Shi Liangzhi and Yuwen Guan looked at each other, stood up at the same time, and patted the dust on their bodies. I only heard Shi Liangzhi say: "The Holy One has decreed that we should try the crime of Youyan King Zheng Rong. Please tell me how to deal with it."
Zheng Hua unfolded the folding fan, shook it gently a few times, and said: "I don't understand the law of punishment and names, and I don't know how to ask questions. I'm afraid the Holy One just asked me to come here to sit on the book and make up for it. In my opinion, I'm still two of them. As the presiding judge, I will just listen quietly." After saying that, he walked to a few cases and sat down on the high chair in the middle. After Shi Liangzhi and Yuwen Guan heard what was said, they sat on both sides of Zheng Hua respectively.
Qiu Yizhi heard clearly from the sidelines - Zheng Hua shied away all his responsibilities in just two sentences, but underneath his words he also meant to personally appoint the two chief judges, truly holding on to his real power. —I really admired this humble prince, so he quickly took a few steps and stood respectfully behind Zheng Hua.
When Shi Liangzhi, the Minister of Rites, saw that everyone was already in their places, he picked up the gavel and slapped the cases hard, and shouted: "Bring the prisoners in!"
Not long after, four jailers were seen walking into the room with a very tall man with a few strands of beard on his face.
Qiu Yizhi looked through the dim light in the room and saw that this person was indeed his adoptive father, King Zheng Rong of Youyan. I saw that he looked good, but looked a little tired and haggard. His hands and feet were shackled with iron chains, and every step he took made a "dinging" sound.
When everyone looked at Zheng Rong, Zheng Rong's sharp eyes also scanned the "judges" in front of them, until finally they stopped on Qiu Yizhi's face. Zheng Rong was shocked when he saw that his son, the son of a cricket, was actually here. He knew that with Qiu Yizhi's intelligence and courage, it was extremely rare to see him here, so a smile flashed across his lips, Nodding slightly at him.
Zheng Hua was sitting in front of Qiu Yizhi. When he saw his second brother nodding towards him, he thought he was saying hello to him, so he stood up and saluted, and then said to the Minister of Punishment next to him: "Master Yuwen, the right way is to punish people." Doctor, my second brother has not been tried yet. He is still the son of the late emperor, the brother of the current emperor, and the uncle of the current emperor. Is there something wrong with wearing such a torture device? "
Before Yuwen Guan could reply, Shi Liangzhi on the other side said: "Your Majesty, this is what I want to do. Prince Youyan has nearly twenty troops under his command. He has many powerful soldiers and desperadoes under his command. If the guard is loosened, If he escapes, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the emperor."
Zheng Hua played with the folding fan in his hand very casually, looked directly at Shi Liangzhi and said: "I see that my second brother is taking this opportunity to express his feelings to the Holy Emperor, and has no intention of escaping. Otherwise, how could Master Shi be so relaxed?" Can you invite my second brother here?"
After listening to Zheng Hua's words, Shi Liangzhi remembered that during the unsuccessful trap half a day ago, if King Youyan, who had now become a prisoner, had not ordered his warriors to retreat, he might have become an unjust ghost among the armies. . He had no choice but to let King Zheng Hua of Heluo order: "Come on, why don't you take off the bracelets and shackles of Prince Youyan and serve him tea?"
The four jailers listened to the order and saw that Yu Wenguan, the chief officer of the punishment department, had no objection. They each took out the keys from their bodies, opened the torture instruments hanging on Zheng Rong one by one, and moved a chair for Zheng Rong to sit on.
Among Zheng Rong's four brothers, he had the best relationship with Emperor Zheng Yong of Daxing and the worst relationship with King Zheng Gui of Lingnan. However, he could not be said to be estranged but not close to his third brother, King of Heluo Zheng Hua. After I became a vassal of Youyan, I had even less contact, and only exchanged letters as a courtesy during festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lantern Festival every year. However, in this critical moment, Zheng Hua was able to speak for himself without hesitation. Although it was just a small effort, it was enough to make Zheng Rong very grateful. He rubbed his wrists, which were a little red due to the oppression of the iron chains, and sighed with emotion. He said: "You and I, brothers, have not seen each other for several years, but things have changed. Isn't it embarrassing?"
After hearing this, Zheng Hua actually recited two lines of poetry: "Who by the river sees the moon for the first time, and when does the moon shine on people for the first time? The changes in everything are inherently unpredictable. Although the second brother is currently in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, But after all, we are still the sons of dragons and phoenixes. As long as we can restore the Sacred Heart, we will still be the world-famous King Youyan!" (To be continued)