I couldn't believe what I heard. The emperor and the princess were just like brothers and sisters in ordinary families, quarreling over trivial things! She will also treat her brother with cold eyebrows just like an ordinary girl's sister!
And the emperor was like that ordinary brother. He would smile at his sister who was grinning at him, and then just look at her indifferently without any explanation.
Could it be... could it be that what we met was a fake emperor and a fake princess? It was as if the two people in a dream had such thoughts in their hearts.
After a while, just when the two women thought that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was so eaten up by his sister that he would not make any excuses, the emperor actually spoke, and what he said almost shocked them both. The chin dropped.
"Are you annoyed? Do you want to be beaten again? You keep chirping. Don't you just think that I dragged you out? You also complained to the queen mother. If the queen mother knows that you told me what happened that day Let's go out and see who the Queen Mother will speak for? Don't take advantage of her and behave like one." The emperor spoke like a rogue in the market, even using threats and intimidation.
"Hmph, let's not talk about that matter for now, but what about today? You asked Pei Wanying and your son to deal with it. Do you understand that you want to let Pei Qing go? He is a corrupt and prostituted official in Suizhou. Now Except for Guo Jingzhi, the other officials are all Pei Qing's confidants, and they all gave money to Pei Qing. I think that Guo Jingzhi, who you have high hopes for, is probably because he has no money to give. It was revealed that Pei Qing accepted bribes. If he has money to give, hey... I don't know yet... "
"Can you not judge a gentleman with a villain's heart? Do you think there are no upright officials in this world? Don't Chen Jingzhi and Pei Xingjian count? How can people not be greedy or accept anything in their lives? Why should Pei Qing do this? Are you smart enough to use Li Ye? I am the emperor and he is still worrying about my family affairs and thinking about establishing a heir for me!"
"Yes, even if Pei Qing is wrong, what you, the emperor, did is right? Let your queen handle it..."
"Shut up, please." Li Hong picked up an orange on the table and stuffed it into Li Lingyue's mouth without peeling it. Then, looking at Li Lingyue's desperate posture, he held down the pair of fingers that pinched the soft flesh of his waist. Hand, sighed and said: "Isn't this something that can't be helped..."
"Come on, are you making an excuse? There are still things in this world that you can't do anything about? Ha, this is really new."
"Will you give me another one?"
"I don't have a hehe, okay?" Li Lingyue surrendered. She didn't know why he was so sensitive to hehe, and it wasn't a curse word. It was inexplicable.
Hongxiu and Tianxiang kept their heads lowered, still unable to believe that the people sitting opposite them were the current emperor and princess. Such scenes and conversations completely subverted their perceptions, and it was not at all consistent with the emperor they imagined.
Isn’t it said that emperors are the most powerful people in the world? Everyone must be frightened when they see her, and must be treated with caution. Why does the princess dare to quarrel or quarrel with His Majesty the Emperor? And His Majesty the Emperor actually beats people
The two women were trembling and lowered their heads, fearing that the emperor and princess across from them would notice the doubts in their eyes.
"I have no choice, so I asked Pei Wanying to handle it. By the way, Hua Meng, first go to the place where Dashi and the Japanese envoys are staying." Li Hong knocked on the car window, and then after speaking to the outside, he turned back and continued looking. He puffed up his cheeks and said to the disdainful Li Lingyue with an expression of displeasure: "Dashi, Japan, and other envoys have just arrived in Chang'an not long ago. If the scandalous things like Pei Qing and others are known to them, maybe these idiots will How can I use it to make a fuss? I don’t know what tricks they will come up with. Besides, I have established Li Chengji as King of Ling and Li Nan as King of Donghai first. If Dashi and Japan get the chance and try to do what the prince did, then they will do it. There is no telling what advantage they will take, so leaving this matter to Pei Wanying or you to assist Li Ye is the most appropriate way at the moment. "
"Then why don't you leave it to me? See if I don't spit out all the bitter juice that Pei put away. Since he took office, everything in Suizhou looks pretty good, but since Guo Jingzhi took bribes from him After he was exposed, he discovered that even the people of Suizhou hated him, not to mention the local officials in Suizhou. Everyone in Suizhou didn't know Pei Wanliang's name, right? Is this the nickname Pei Wanliang?" Li Lingyue said at the end, looking at Hongxiu and Tianxiang who kept their heads lowered.
The two women had been uneasy. The things they heard in the carriage seemed to be from another world. They were different from what they heard on weekdays. The trivial things in the building, which they thought were already huge, were too big for them. Compared with everything that has been said, it is completely different.
And even if they serve some dignitaries and wealthy families in the building on weekdays, even the banquets between official officials are not like the emperor and princess in front of them. The officials who were originally high in their eyes now seem like In the eyes of those officials, they were all so insignificant and unworthy of mention.
As for Pei Qing, for Hongxiu Tianxiang, he is the person who can control their life and death. Now that they have jumped up, if they can see Pei Qing again one day, their status and situation will probably be different. It's time to adjust them one by one. It's not that they are afraid of Pei Qing, but that Pei Qing should bow to them and do his best to please them.
"I've always been in the building, so... I haven't heard of it." Tian Xiang was a little bolder and had the courage to reply to Li Lingyue's words.
"What about you, don't you go out to relax on weekdays? Don't you go for an outing outside Chang'an City or to places like Qujiang Pond?" When Li Lingyue faced Hongxiu Tianxiang, her tone was worse than that of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Much gentler.
"On weekdays... Lord Pei will not let us go out at will, and neither will Master Wang. Even if we come in and out occasionally, we will follow Lord Pei to some adults' mansions to entertain us." The answer was still Tianxiang.
"So you are in Chang'an, but have you been to many officials' homes? The other girls in the building also went there, right?" This time it was Li Hong who asked.
"Yes. All the girls in the building will go, and those courtesans who are favored in Chang'an City... sometimes... will be left behind and will be sent back in a few days, or maybe the next day. And Sometimes, even the cooks and others in the building will follow. For example, if there is a happy event in an official's family, Mr. Pei will ask Wang Shishi to take us there with him," Tian Xiang continued, while Hongxiu on the side. From time to time, I will help fill in some leaks.
"Tsk tsk, the ostentation is really grand. This is an official family. House slaves and servants are not human beings at all in their eyes. Are there any girls in the building who have not been heard from or come back since they left?" Li Hong glanced at Li Lingyue. Li Lingyue obviously didn't quite understand Li Hong's sigh.
The existence of this class of domestic slaves has always existed, not only in this dynasty, but also in previous dynasties. Even if it is a big man, it will only become more serious than this dynasty. The buying and selling, life and death of slaves are like a dead guard dog.
And let alone domestic slaves, the status gap between wives and concubines is also extremely disparate. The main wife has absolute rights in a family that cannot be disobeyed. Although the wife and the concubine serve the same person, the wife can completely Even the government has no way to investigate the concubine's life and death. After all, these people are not in the household registration of the Tang Dynasty, but only exist as a commodity or livestock, attached to the master's family.
Historically, Wang Bo, one of the four great heroes of the early Tang Dynasty, killed his concubines. Even at banquets between officials, it was common for the concubines of some masters to be exchanged in turns. The guests fell in love with the domestic concubines, and as long as the master was willing, they would You can totally give it away.
As for the life and death of the concubine in the back, the master will no longer care about it. The guest got tired of playing with it for a while, and then gave it away. After changing hands several times, the identity of this concubine is like an animal and will never be seen again. Some people care, and it's not unheard of to end up naked in a mass grave.
Therefore, Hongxiu and Tianxiang were able to be noticed by the royal family from Shengyun Tower and then taken away by the royal family immediately. For them, it was undoubtedly a rebirth and a great opportunity for them to become human beings. It was also a great opportunity for the two women. The reason why I still can’t believe that all of this is true.
"Yes." Hong Xiu lowered his head, not daring to look at Li Hong, but still nodded quietly and replied.
"Is it much?" Li Hong asked again. The two women's small hands were secretly twisting their cuffs. It was obvious that the two women were still extremely nervous at the moment.
"In the beginning, it would happen two or three times a month, but then it gradually became less and less. Some of the girls in the building recognized it, and then... I gradually got used to it." Hong Xiu said softly, but fortunately It was so quiet in the carriage that all four of them could still hear.
"You don't want to ban..." Li Lingyue opened her eyes and asked worriedly.
"Why not? Class should not exist in the first place. People should be born equal. No one should be nobler than others and inferior to others. They are all born by parents and raised by their parents. Who is the parent? Isn’t he a thorn in his side? If I don’t ban him, no matter how rich and powerful I am in the Tang Dynasty, I will only be powerful on the outside..."
"But... this is not a trivial matter. If you want to put an end to these, you will not just have to fight with the wealthy nobles headed by Qi Wang, but also with... with...." Li Lingyue was at a loss for words. If the emperor really wanted to fight... If you make up your mind to do this, you are going against all classes in the world!
Just imagine, slaves who originally had no household registration and could be bought and sold suddenly had the status of civilians, and could also own land and household registration, becoming real citizens of the Tang Dynasty.
In this way, the ultimate loser will be the family that owns a few slaves or hundreds of slaves.
What's more important is that even the wealthy landlords in rural villages have a lot of domestic slaves in their hands. Although they are different from the domestic slaves in the city, their nature is exactly the same. In the eyes of domestic slaves, they are just like the domestic animals. They even eat and live with real animals. They are human but not human.
(End of chapter)