I only heard the person outside the door say: "It's your blessing that I like you. You are a singing girl, why do you sell your art but not your body? You really think you are the eldest daughter of an official family."
When Yu Yiner heard the voice, her face changed and she immediately stopped what she was doing.
The woman he was harassing did not cry, but said coldly: "Master Wang, this is in the Imperial City, under the feet of the Emperor, not in your Jinluo. If you continue to force me to buy and sell like this, I will have to report to the police."
"Pah—" the man spat, "Do you think I can do nothing about you just because you escaped to the Imperial Capital? You've fallen into my hands anyway."
Then, I heard someone from the restaurant come to act as a peacemaker.
The man didn't give her any explanation and dragged the singer all the way to the stairs outside Shang Rui's private room.
Yu Yin'er cried anxiously, put down her piano and went out to help.
Ming Lian didn't want to cause trouble, so he stopped her and said, "Girl, do you know each other?"
"She is my biological sister, her name is Yu Huaer, and we are both from Jinluo. That prince has always wanted to take advantage of my sister, so we had no choice but to escape from him and run to the capital."
Hongwu was a hot-tempered person who hated evil, so when he heard about this kind of thing, he couldn't help but stand up for justice. However, since Shang Rui didn't say anything at the moment, he didn't dare to move.
Yu Yin'er was anxious and scared and couldn't help crying out loud.
Shang Rui was originally leaning on the back of the couch, fiddling with the dish of fried pine nuts with his fingers, and resting his eyes. When he heard the crying, he opened his eyes and said faintly, "I heard that this Wang guy is rich and powerful, and he is so interested in your sister. Wouldn't it be great to marry him?"
Hongwu thought Shang Rui would come out to uphold justice, but he didn't expect him to say such a thing and persuade people to marry that scoundrel. He was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
Yu Yin'er said with tears in her eyes, "But my sister already had a lover and was engaged. When the prince found out, he secretly sent someone to beat him up. He died a few days after returning home."
When Hongwu heard this, the anger in his heart burned even more fiercely.
But Shang Rui said, "If I were Wang, and I loved your sister so much, I would grind that man into powder."
His words almost choked Hongwu and Yu Yin'er to death.
"Young Master..." Ming Lian knew what he was thinking, but the other person was dying, and he couldn't be so confused about right and wrong and rub salt into the other person's wounds.
Shang Rui threw two pine nuts on the plate, patted the nut crumbs in his hand, and said to Hong Wu, "Go and have a look."
Hongwu could no longer sit still, so he took a big step and pushed the door open.
The man surnamed Wang and several of his servants were seen pulling a woman in white. The owner and waiter of the tavern were standing by to persuade them.
The woman struggled stubbornly. There were no tears on her face, but her lips had turned pale from fear.
Hongwu stopped him and said, "My dear brother, if you force a weak woman like this, don't you think there is any law?"
The man surnamed Wang saw that although Hongwu was muscular, he was dressed simply and looked like a rough man, so he sneered and said, "Do you think you can call me 'brother'? Do you know who I am?"
"I don't care who you are." Hongwu said as he gently cut off the other person's hand that was on the woman with one hand.
The man suddenly cried out in pain.
Hongwu took the opportunity to protect the woman behind him.
The other party was furious and shouted, "You bastard! Do you know my last name is Wang? Wang Kui, the official of Jinluo Prefecture, is my father, the current Prime Minister is my uncle, the Empress is my cousin, and even the Emperor has to call me brother-in-law when he sees me. Watch out for your life."
Hongwu was also a little dumbfounded. He never thought that this person happened to be Wang Kui's adopted son and the queen's cousin—Wang Gan.
That day, Wang Gan was stabbed in the chest by Chu Zhong, and he was almost dead. But his heart was shaped differently from that of an ordinary person. Normal people have it on the right, but his heart was on the left. The knife didn't hit the vital part, and after being fished out of the river, he was able to get out of bed and walk soon. Wang Gan usually did a lot of evil and had many enemies, so Wang Kui investigated the murderer in Jinluo, but there was no result. Fearing that he would be killed again, he simply sent him to the emperor, firstly to avoid the limelight and recuperate, and secondly to find him an idle position, so that he would not be idle and cause trouble again.
Hongwu was not afraid of the Wang family, he was just afraid of getting into the emperor's family affairs.
Wang Gan was a man who was good at observing people's words and expressions. When he saw Hongwu's hesitation after he announced his name, Wang Gan immediately felt that he was much more powerful, so he called the servants nearby to surround and deal with Hongwu.
Hongwu was undecided whether to strike or not, so he pulled his wrist back and held the woman tightly. Just when the situation was tense, a voice sounded behind him: "Just now, I didn't hear clearly, can you say it again?" The person who spoke was Shang Rui.
Hongwu turned around and found Shang Rui walking out slowly. There was no emotion in his tone, but the eyes staring at Wang Gan were extremely cold.
Shang Rui walked to Hongwu's side and slowly stood still.
Wang Gan snorted and repeated arrogantly: "Wash your ears and listen carefully. I am the nephew of the current prime minister, the cousin of the queen, and the brother-in-law of the emperor. Don't ask if there is any royal law, because what I say is the king's..."
Unexpectedly, before he could utter the word "law", Shang Rui suddenly raised his leg and kicked Wang Gan hard in the stomach, kicking him down the stairs in an instant.
Because the incident happened suddenly, no one except Hongwu saw how he kicked. Before Wang Gan could even say anything, he rolled down the stairs to the first floor like a ball.
Wang Gan had a chest injury and his flesh had not grown back. He was alone at home and thought of Yu Huaer's tender little hands. He was so eager that he secretly went to the restaurant to have fun without telling his family. He never expected to meet a tough guy like Shang Rui. Now he rolled down from the upstairs, his wound split open, blood gushed out, and he fainted immediately.
The four servants nearby were a little panicked for a moment. One of them crawled down to check on Wang Gan's injuries, while the rest rushed towards Shang Rui.
Hongwu didn't dare to wait for Shang Rui to make a move. In an instant, his feet moved quickly and he stood in front of Shang Rui. He kicked the nearest person quickly, and the person flew straight out and hit the two people behind him in succession. The three of them rolled down the stairs together.
Several people struggled to get up, knowing that they could not win, they dared not rush forward. Then they exchanged glances with each other, and then walked away staggeringly with the unconscious Wang Gan on their backs.
On the way back to the palace, Shang Rui remained silent.
Minglian was afraid that he would vent his anger on the Queen and cause other troubles, so he was nervous all the way.
When they arrived at Kangning Palace, Shang Rui suddenly turned around and stared at Ming Lian.
Ming Lian was startled: "Your Majesty?"
"Where are my fried pine nuts?"
Ming Lian breathed a sigh of relief: "I left in a hurry and forgot to take it. I will make it for the emperor tomorrow."
Shang Rui turned and looked at Hongwu.
Hongwu said hurriedly: "I didn't take it either."
Unexpectedly, Shang Rui said, "Go to Li Ji and tell Yao Chuang," he paused, "You must keep Min Xiayue and the jade cicada together."
Hongwu was smart this time. He took the order, turned around and walked two steps, then felt something was wrong and came back to ask, "Your Majesty, if Miss Min insists on leaving, how can Yao Chuang keep her?"
Shang Rui glanced at him when he heard that.
Those eyes looked particularly clear and bright under the moonlight, making people around them feel scared. Shang Rui only said six words: "Leave me a living one."
When he returned to the bedroom, his expression was calm. He neither mentioned Xia Yue nor Wang Gan. He coldly asked people to change clothes and wash up, then he covered his head and went to sleep.
The next morning, Shang Rui was about to go to the Queen Mother to pay her respects, and he met Yao Chuang as soon as he went out.
Yao Chuang followed beside him, and before Shang Rui could speak, he replied, "Your Majesty, nothing happened last night, she didn't leave."
"No?" He stopped and glanced at Yao Chuang.
"No. Neither she nor the maid left." Yao Chuang repeated.
He stood still, and the people following him didn't dare to move. After a moment of silence, he blinked, his eyes became clear, and then he said one word neatly: "Go."
Others couldn't see it, but Ming Lian knew that his mood was different, so he asked, "Where are you going, Your Majesty?"
"Aren't you going to pay respects to the Queen Mother? Where else can you go?"
When they arrived at Chengfu Palace, the empress dowager was too busy to handle everything.
The old lady's favorite dog recently gave birth to a litter of puppies. Last night, for some unknown reason, the dog threw all the puppies out of the den and refused to feed them. This made the queen mother very anxious.
Shang Rui sat far away, watching the Queen Mother carefully feeding the puppy with milk, spoonful by spoonful, very carefully, and muttering: "Slow down, slow down..."
"I never saw you loving me so much when I was a child." Shang Rui said.
"Isn't this just treating it as you?"
"… "
Since the last conversation, the relationship between mother and son has not improved. Shang Rui came to pay his respects every day, but he left after saying so coldly. This time, he said a few more words because of a litter of puppies.
Shang Rui walked outside Chengfu Palace and turned to Ming Lian and ordered, "Go ask the Queen Mother for one."
Ming Lian was stunned, but didn't dare to ask more questions and hurriedly did as he was told.
The Queen Mother was surprised: "Hasn't he disliked dogs since he was a child?" Although she said this, she still asked someone to pick out the strongest cub and give it to Minglian.
The Queen Mother paused for a moment, then suddenly understood, "Is your Emperor interested in someone and wants to use my treasure to please that person?"
Ming Lian lowered his head, not knowing how to answer.
"That's strange." The Queen Mother continued, "What do you think your emperor is thinking? I will definitely not agree to such a thing as favoring a concubine over his wife, but now he only goes to the Queen. Not to mention that he treats everyone in the harem equally, he should at least think about others. There are only two or three people in the harem, and Xu Zhaoyi has come to me and cried several times. I can't guess what he is thinking. If your emperor likes someone, as long as she has a clean family background, I won't stop her. I just hope that he can have another child soon. If you say he doesn't like women, he dotes on the Queen like his own heart..."
Ming Lian was nagged by the Queen Mother for a long time before he was able to get away, and then he sent the puppy to Xia Yue.
He Xiang teased the little black dog in the basket: "Miss, look, it's a good thing I didn't leave. Not only is nothing wrong, but Master Hong was afraid that you would be bored while recuperating, so he sent such a well-behaved little thing here."
Xia Yue glanced at him and then looked away: "If someone is being too attentive for no reason, he is either a traitor or a thief."
He Xiang took care of Xia Yue and the puppy at the same time. Although Xia Yue was very cold, He Xiang liked the puppy very much and named it A Mo.
For several days in a row, not only did Xia Yue not wait for "Hongwu" to bring people to arrest her, but she received all kinds of items sent by him, including snacks, fruits, and tea, with no regular pattern, as if he had eaten or drunk something good and gave her a portion.
She was prepared to fight to the death, but she didn't expect that she had nowhere to put her fearless determination to use.
three
During the morning court session, news came from the front line that the food supplies had been burned by the rebels, and Prince Huai personally led his troops to attack the military camp at night.
Shang Rui asked coldly: "Where is Xu Jingye?"
Tian Yuan knelt on the ground: "General Xu... has been captured."
After these words were spoken, the people in the court who were whispering suddenly became quiet.
Shang Rui slowly repeated the last three words: "Captured?"
He asked this, but no one in the hall dared to respond.
"You said that my General Xu Jingye, the King of Wei, was captured alive by that treacherous villain Wei Shangren?" His tone was extremely slow, and his words were like a bowl of calm water, without any ups and downs, but it made those who listened to it almost dare not breathe.
Helan Xun lifted the corner of his robe, knelt down first and bowed his head, saying, "Your Majesty, calm down."
Then the others woke up as if from a dream, and knelt down one after another, calling out "Your Majesty" and begging for peace.
"Who is in charge of the army now?" Shang Rui asked.
"General Xu and his deputy general Xu Zizhan." Tian Yuan replied.
Shang Rui sighed: "Zi Zhang has never been able to take charge of a task on his own. His father has been captured, so he may be impatient and unable to handle the important task." After that, he looked around at the people in the palace and asked: "What do you think?"
No one in the hall responded.
After a while, someone from the Ministry of War said, "Lord Sima is highly respected. Although he is old, Your Majesty can give him a try."
"Where is Sima Lin now?" Shang Rui asked again.
Tian Yuan replied: "Report from the front line, Lord Sima has been advising General Xu not to be impatient and reckless, but General Xu detained him in a camp 20 miles north of Canghuang..."
"He is so outrageous!" Shang Rui shouted in a low voice.
Hearing this, everyone took a breath.
This Xu Jingye is really lawless.
The court officials did not dare to look up and all remained silent.
At this time, Prime Minister Wang Ji stood up, knelt in the center of the hall, and said: "I have a memorial to make—"
Shang Rui waved his sleeves and said, "Wang Qing, please speak."
"The rebel Wei Shangren has set up camp in Canghuang, hoping to collude with King Liang. Now that the country is in chaos, I am afraid that the Wusun people in the Western Regions will take advantage of this opportunity. By then, it will be too late to make amends due to internal and external troubles. This time, we should fight and resolve the rebellion quickly. Now, in the most urgent situation, we should order Xu Zizhang to release Sima Lin and hand over the seal of commander to Sima Lin to stabilize the morale of the army. Although Sima Lin has not been in charge for many years due to injuries, he is resourceful and a master of military tactics, and everyone knows it. I hope Sima Lin will take on this important task with the determination to serve the country until his death. I also hope that Xu Zizhang will put the overall situation first when the court is in danger."
Wang Ji's chronic cough had not yet healed, and his voice was hoarse and unpleasant, but sonorous and powerful.
After listening to this, Shang Rui did not comment, but just raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at the sky outside the hall door.
Before Wang Ji stood up, his only son Wang Qing walked over. Others thought he was going to support his old father, but he actually knelt beside his father and said, "I also have something to ask for your Majesty's approval."
"You talk." Shang Rui said.
"Thanks to the late emperor's grace, the Wang family has a large area of fertile land in Xuzhou. My father has always ordered me to take good care of it. Last year, the weather was good and the grain warehouse was full. I am willing to donate all the stored grain and personally escort it to the front line."
After he said this, the ministers began to whisper, and Helan Xun clenched his fists tightly.
At this moment, the old general Li Bingli also bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have food at home, please send it to the frontline soldiers." If the Wang family has been rich for generations, then Li Bingli is completely the opposite. He was born in a commoner family, and he has achieved his current status by fighting alone and making several military exploits. His family background is very meager.
Prime Minister Wang Ji added: "Lord Li has always been poor, but he is full of sincerity. His loyalty is as bright as the sun and the moon. I hope Your Majesty will not refuse."
After Wang Qing said this, the others could no longer stand it and expressed their opinions to Shang Rui one after another.
For a while, voices came one after another in the hall.
However, some of Xu Jingye's party members took advantage of the situation and defected, while others did not move at all. Xu Jingye's capture happened suddenly, and there was no news before. Even those who had just received the news and went to the Queen Mother to inform her had not had time to return.
Shang Rui said: "I am very pleased that you are so loyal to the emperor and patriotic. I will leave the matter of food and grass to the king for the time being."
Wang Ji added: "Your Majesty, the commander-in-chief at the front has already made the decision."
Then, some people recommended Li Bingli to lead the army; some people said that Li Bingli was too old and not as good as Sima Lin; Xu's party insisted on Xu Zizhang.
At this moment, Shang Rui took a glimpse. Ming Lian bowed slightly and told Shang Rui that the Queen Mother had already arrived at the back hall.
Shang Rui sat on the throne and suddenly asked loudly, "Where is Xu Chengzhi?"
A tall man with a straight nose and a broad mouth walked out of the crowd and into the center of the hall: "I am your humble servant."
This man was called Xu Chengzhi. His father was Xu Jingye's cousin. Although he also held an important position in the military and was in charge of the Gyeonggi Camp, his branch was not as prominent as Xu Jingye's because his father died young.
"I have a mission for you to save the reputation of your Xu family army. I wonder if you dare to accept it."
Xu Chengzhi kowtowed and said, "I will not refuse even if my heart is broken."
Therefore, Shang Rui ordered him to lead 5,000 elite cavalrymen to Canghuang to cut off the rebels' food and grass, and then wait for the reunion with Sima Lin. Amid the controversy, Hongwu was sent to draw 50,000 reinforcements from Kaizhou, divided into two groups, to support Sima Lin on one side and cut off the momentum of the rebels and the King of Wu to encircle him on the other. Later, Li Bingli was ordered to take over the garrison of the capital from Hongwu.