According to the laws of Daliang, death row prisoners are only executed during a fixed period of time in the spring and autumn of each year, which are called "Spring Jue" and "Autumn Jue". When He Jingzhong knew that his son had no hope of exonerating and could only be sentenced to death, he instead asked Qi Min to delay the sentence until after the Spring Festival Judgment, so that he could live longer and hope for another turning point.
But how could Bo Wen Yuan not know about He Jingzhong's idea. He now has a heavyweight witness in his hands, and the public opinion in the capital is also very biased towards him, so his attitude is even tougher. The crown prince had just lost the honor of the Household Minister's Book Building a few days ago. Now that he has this opportunity for revenge, how could he let it go easily? He instructed his subordinates, the censors, to keep a copy of the book, impeach Qi Min for neglecting his duties, and conceal the case without trial. After a few days like this, the Ministry of Punishment couldn't hold it anymore, and King Yu also felt that since they had all decided to kill, it would be meaningless to live for half a year, so he acquiesced to Qi Min, and he was promoted in a few days. After reading it again, it was determined that He Wenxin assaulted and killed because of his personal anger, and should be executed by beheading.
The day after the case was judged, He Jingzhong was ill in bed and was diagnosed by the imperial doctor as having lost his mind and his qi and pulses, and had to rest.
At this time of the year, the Ministry of Personnel has to conduct performance evaluations for all officials, and formulate rewards and punishments for the following year; officials in real shortages have taken advantage of the opportunity of the New Year to send New Year gifts to the capital; It is also rare for the alternate officials to walk around openly to clear up the relationship in the name of New Year's greetings. In any respect, this was the busiest time for the Ministry of Personnel. He Jingzhong's illness made the situation a bit chaotic.
Just as much of the hidden income of the crown prince came from the Ministry of Household, most of the extra income of King Yu came from the appointment and removal of personnel from the Ministry of Personnel. The opportunity to receive money like a stream of money at the Nianguan should not be affected by the illness of the minister of the Ministry of Personnel. .
But he was in a hurry, but He Jingzhong was really hit by his son. King Yu saw that the situation was getting worse and worse, and he had to summon his strategists to discuss how to deal with this matter.
Two days later, King Yu personally went to He Jingzhong's Shangshu Mansion, and after dismissing everyone, he kindly comforted his subject.
No one knows exactly how he comforted him. What everyone knows is that within a few days, He Jingzhong recovered from his illness and resumed his official duties, and quickly sorted out the previous chaos. Busy until late at night, he almost worked his life to do things for his master, and the appearance of turning grief into strength made the prince somewhat incomprehensible.
However, the prince at this time was not in the mood to pay too much attention to He Jingzhong, and his energy shifted to another matter, and this matter was exactly what the Ministry of Rites was currently struggling with.
At the end of the year, the most important thing for the royal family is sacrifice. Sacrifice to ancestors, sacrifice to heaven, sacrifice to earth, sacrifice to people and gods. For the court and the royal family, whether the regulation of rituals is correct or not is a major event related to the success of the coming year, and it should not be sloppy at all.
Xie Yu was keenly aware that an opportunity that was very beneficial to the prince had come.
According to the Liang etiquette, concubines below the inner palace were not allowed to accompany sacrifices, and they had to kneel and serve outside. However, according to the Liang etiquette, the prince must touch his parents' dresses and touch the ground after setting sacrifices and drinking wine to show respect and filial piety.
The contradiction is here. The Yue clan has been demoted to concubine, but she is also the biological mother of the prince. On the one hand, her status is extremely low, and on the other hand, her status is extremely noble, which makes it very difficult for the Ministry of Rites to arrange sacrifices.
Xie Yu secretly suggested that the prince should use this opportunity to enter the palace to express his regrets to the emperor and ask for the restoration of the concubine position. Staying at the emperor at night, slowly regaining the old love of the Sacred Heart.
When the prince got this idea, he was overjoyed immediately, prepared carefully, entered the palace and fell in front of Emperor Liang's knees and mourned and wept for a full hour, trying his best to show his heart of benevolence and filial piety.
Emperor Liang was a little embarrassed. The Yue clan was originally his most beloved harem, and he didn't want to take this opportunity to forgive him. But the Yue clan had only been deposed for a few months. If it was so easy to avoid the crime, I was afraid that Princess Nihuang would be chilled.
"Father, the county master will personally apologize and make amends." The prince was instructed, knowing what Emperor Liang was hesitating, he immediately hugged his leg and said, "The county master knows righteousness and must understand that this is all for the end of the year. Sacrificial ceremony. The child is willing to accept the punishment for the mother in front of the county master to atone for the mother's sin."
Emperor Liang was so moved by his tears that he ordered Chen Yuancheng, Minister of Rites, to be summoned. This Chen Lao Shangshu was a veteran of the two dynasties. He was born to not listen to a word, to rely on one person, and to recognize only one word "li" in everything. The Crown Prince and King Yu were so lively tossing him that they could not shake him in the slightest. Because of this old minister, the Ministry of Rites was lucky enough to become the only one of the six ministries that was not affiliated with any party and maintained a detached neutrality.
Chen Lao Shangshu didn't know the real reason for Concubine Yue's deportation. He only read the decree and thought it was probably a trivial dispute in the palace. He had always been worried about how to arrange the ceremony. At this time, when he saw the emperor to ask whether he should be restored to the concubine position of the Yue family, of course he would not object.
Although the Ministry of Rites had no objection and even strongly agreed, Emperor Liang was still somewhat hesitant. Just at this time, Xie Yu entered the palace to see him on the grounds of filing a report on the military supplies in the northwest. Emperor Liang didn't know the relationship between Xie Yu and the prince at this time. Thinking that he was also a member of the military, he ordered someone to call him in and ask him for his opinion on whether the Yue clan should be restored.
Xie Yu thought for a while and replied: "I think that the prince is virtuous, the Yue clan has made great contributions, and he has been in the harem for many years. He has always been loyal to His Majesty, and has never heard of any fault. A noble concubine of the first rank was demoted to concubine, which is a heavier punishment. At that time, there was a matter of discussion, but because it was His Majesty's housework, no one dared to talk about it. Now that His Majesty's Sacred Heart has returned, it is only a matter of will. , is there any doubt about it?"
"Hey, you don't know," Emperor Liang said in a slightly embarrassed way, "the Yue clan was convicted, and there are other reasons... She insulted Nihuang in the palace for the sake of the crown prince. I am worried that if you pardon it easily, it will chill the soldiers in the south. heart of… "
Xie Yu lowered his head and pondered, thinking for a while, then Fang slowly walked forward and said in a low voice, "If it's because of this, the minister thinks... it should be pardoned even more..."
Emperor Liang was startled: "What do you mean by that?"
"Your Majesty, please think carefully, as the imperial concubine and the mother of the prince, the Yue family is the king, and the princess of Nihuang is the daughter of the vassal, and the military officer of the imperial court, she is the minister. This is not the way to be a minister. Even though the county lord has high merit and deserves more favors, His Majesty has already made a clear decree to reprimand the imperial concubine and punish the prince. It is time to ask for forgiveness for the Yue clan. Of course... The girl's family is a little bit high-spirited and doesn't think carefully, so don't mention it. But the year-end ceremony is an important ceremony for the country, and the concubine of Yue clan is for the well-being of the country, the harmony of the people, and the happiness of both sides. It's obvious which is more important and which is more important, the Mu Wangfu will send an internal envoy to explain it in two sentences, too much favor will encourage arrogance." Xie Yu said here, with a meaningful smile on his face, "This minister was born in the army, so I naturally know that in the army it is most likely to grow people who are proud of their merits, so Your Majesty should deliberately suppress them."
Emperor Liang frowned, but there was no clue on his face, and he just snorted: "Nihuang is not such a person, you worry too much."
Xie Yu hurriedly apologized and said: "Of course I don't mean Princess Nihuang. It's just a reminder to His Majesty. Thinking that the Chiyan Army was so large back then, why wasn't it because he didn't control it early..." The muscles on the side twitched, and his fingers could not help clenching the armrest of the dragon chair.
When the edict came in, it was natural to draw up a decree. The prince couldn't control it for a while, and his face immediately showed ecstasy. Xie Yu gave him a secret glance, and hurriedly restrained.
"It's not a matter of urgency," Xie Yu said, "Since Your Majesty has internal affairs to deal with, Rong Chen will retire first."
"Hmm." Emperor Liang waved his hand, allowing him to withdraw, and leaning down a little tiredly, he supported himself with his hands. The prince hurriedly ordered someone to bring a soft pillow silk blanket and cover it with Emperor Liang himself.
"You don't have to wait here. I will announce today... Let your mother feel at ease..." Emperor Liang sighed and whispered.
"My son, thank the father for his long grace." The crown prince touched the ground with his forehead, kowtowed three times, and said, "Please rest assured, the son, I will go to Mu Wang's mansion tonight..."
"No," Emperor Liang raised a hand and stopped him with a gloomy expression, "Why can't you always remember that you are the crown prince, the Prince of the East Palace! You don't have to go to the Mu Palace, I will send someone there."
"Yes." The prince did not dare to refute, he hurriedly bowed his head, kowtowed again, got up and slowly exited.
The cold wind was blowing outside, and the prince wrapped tightly the fur hood handed over by the eunuch and walked to the outer hall on foot. In fact, as the lord of the East Palace, he originally had the privilege to ride a four-wheeled vehicle in the palace, but to show respect, the chariots of the East Palace were usually parked outside the gate of the outer palace, and the attendants were all waiting in the wind and snow. Come out, hurriedly greeted them.
"Go to the inner palace!" After simply ordering a few words, the prince took off his clothes and jumped onto his yellow-covered four-wheeled vehicle. His movements were urgent, as if he was afraid of the cold.
However, when the golden embroidered car curtain fell, blocking everything from the outside world, the Prince of the East Palace, who was originally calm, suddenly gritted his teeth, and a look of hatred flashed on his face, as if he was feeling resentment. Finally could not be completely suppressed.
The prince? Am I the Crown Prince? Father, if you really think I am the heir, why do you dote on King Yu so much and hold him to the point where you can be my enemy