What he said was true. After he learned about this, his first reaction was a bolt from the blue. But before he was allowed to regret it, he was escorted away by officers and soldiers, and his father actually never stopped him from the beginning to the end.
The night in jail was the longest night Xie Shensi had ever spent. He almost had his intestines broken. Therefore, after being summoned to Jinluan Palace, he hurriedly confessed everything.
At this time, face is not as important as life.
Although Xie Shensi has been in the business world for many years, when he saw the emperor, he immediately became timid.
Seeing him telling the whole story and putting aside all the dignity, someone's face showed a mocking look.
Emperor Jing pondered for a while, but did not draw a conclusion immediately. Instead, he asked the officials present, "What do you think of this matter?"
He may not have asked for mercy because after all, Xie Shensi's matter was big or small, and it concerned Xie Shengli, so Emperor Jing still wanted to sell some face to the Xie family.
Unexpectedly, as soon as his words came out, some ministers immediately retorted, "Your Majesty, I think he is lying!"
The person who spoke was Li Shilang from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who had always been at odds with the Xie family.
Hearing this, Emperor Jing was a little displeased, but his face remained calm and he asked, "Why did Aiqing say this?"
Li Shilang said respectfully, "Back to the emperor, I have learned that Xie Shensi's concubine once had a close relationship with the fifth prince. At that time, there were rumors that she intended to get married! In this case, how could we not know about it? Love? In my opinion, the Xie family must have seen the failure of the fifth prince's rebellion and were afraid of being implicated, so they hurriedly broke off the relationship!"
It's okay that he didn't say this. As soon as he mentioned it, Xie Shensi was so angry that he almost jumped up. The expression on his face was as ugly as possible. He kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, your Majesty knows only one thing and doesn't know the other." Second! The fifth prince once took advantage of his daughter and encouraged her to murder his biological grandfather, which almost led to a big mistake. Later, when the fifth prince saw that his daughter did not do as he was told, he actually took advantage of the daughter's punishment to eat in her meal. He was drugged with the intention of killing the little girl!"
At this point, Xie Shensi changed into an indignant look again and said, "With such sworn hatred, how could the common people get involved with him? The common people are really unjust!"
Emperor Jing's expression changed when he heard that this happened. He never thought that Xiao Junyi would do such a thing that was worse than a beast! How stupid and cruel it must be to instigate a woman to murder her elders!
Xiao Junxi had been listening quietly to the side, and it was not until this moment that she stood up, "Father, I believe that the Xie family has been loyal ministers for generations, and they will never do anything that betrays their master. And this matter Inside, the Xie family was originally the victim, and even though the three sons of the Xie family were a little confused, in the end this crime would not affect the Xie family."
His words spoke to Emperor Jing's heart. Emperor Jing did not want to get too entangled in this matter, so he waved his hand and said, "What you said makes sense. According to my decree, the three sons of the Xie family have behaved inappropriately and contrary to the moral customs. Because the Xie family did not teach their children well, I fined Xie Shengli three years' salary as a warning to others."
This punishment can be described as picking it up high and putting it down gently. He was given a big hat, but in the end there was no substantial punishment.
The people of the Xie family didn't understand that Emperor Jing was trying to help them, so they immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said in thanks, "Long live my emperor!"
The other ministers wanted to say something, but when they caught Emperor Jing's gaze, they immediately shrank. Emperor Jing was determined to give face to the Xie family. If they said anything else, they would be in trouble for themselves.
This matter has been turned over, and other matters should also be put on the agenda.
After settling the matter with the Xie family, Emperor Jing issued two more decrees, both of which were about Xiao Junhan.
After waiting to go to court, Minghuang's imperial edict was sent directly to Prince Qi's Mansion.
Shen Jingci was serving Qin Wanyi in the main courtyard. When she heard the news that she was called by the eunuch to receive the order, her eyes suddenly lit up. It's just that she has been with Qin Wanyi for a long time, and she suppressed the joy in her heart. It wasn't until Qin Wanyi went out first that she slowly followed her.
People knelt down in the courtyard, with Qin Wanyi in front and Shen Jingci in the back, who clearly understood all the words in the imperial edict.
The previous words of praise were secondary, but the last sentence made Shen Jingci's heart skip a beat.
"Concubine Shen is bestowed with the title "Shu", two second-grade female officers, two nuns to teach, four palace servants, and four chamberlains. I will also choose an auspicious day to add the title. I admire this."
The pride in Shen Jingci's eyes could no longer be concealed. She happily thanked her and took over the decree. From the corner of her eye, she also caught a glimpse of the expression on Qin Wanyi's face that had lost all color.
Throughout the ages, the side concubine has been given the title, which means that she is on par with the main concubine. What's more, Emperor Jing also assigned her a female officer and a nun according to her position as a principal concubine. Those are the benefits that only a principal concubine can have! Emperor Jing obviously wanted to promote her.
The eunuch who came to convey the order also had a smile on his face and said, "Concubine, please excuse yourself. The emperor has said that you are a rare understanding person in the Shen family. Now that I see him, I know that what the emperor said is true. Look. Look at the air of his whole body, he is a rare and transparent person."
Shen Jingci asked Shi Mo to stuff a red seal into the eunuch's eunuch, and said with a smile, "My father-in-law is so complimentary. There is good tea in the house. If you don't mind, come in and have a drink."
How can the eunuch dare to drink? At that moment, he waved his hand and said with a smile, "Concubine Concubine's tea is the best, but I still have important things to do. Let's wait for another day. Thank you Concubine Concubine."
After being so polite, the eunuch put the red envelope filled with money into his sleeve and went out of the house with a smile.
After the eunuch left, Shen Jingci turned around and saw Qin Wanyi still standing where she was.
Shen Jingci smiled slightly and said, "Sister, it's windy outside. You'd better go back to the house quickly."
Qin Wanyi's expression remained unchanged, but she said firmly, "Since the Emperor has a reward, then you can continue it, but this rule cannot be changed. Don't forget your position just because your status is elevated! A concubine is a concubine. , even if you are given a word, it will be the same, sister, can you understand?"
Hearing this, the smile on Shen Jingci's face froze. Just as she was about to speak, she heard footsteps approaching from far away. She immediately knelt down and said, "What my sister is teaching me is that if I am taught in person, I will definitely not..." Dare to go against my sister’s wishes.”
She was a little choked when she spoke, which made people think that Qin Wanyi had bullied her.
Xiao Junhan, who had just entered the door, thought so too.
When he entered the mansion, he happened to meet the eunuch. When he entered the door, he saw Shen Jingci kneeling in front of Qin Wanyi and saying these words, which made him unable to think too much about it.
Xiao Junhan came over immediately and asked, "What's wrong?" While saying this, he helped Shen Jingci up.
Ever since Shen Jingci took the initiative to hand over the Shen family's soldiers to Emperor Jing and blocked a knife for Emperor Jing, Shen Jingci's status in Emperor Jing's heart had changed. Emperor Jing's decree this morning in front of all the civil and military officials may not have meant to save Shen Jingci's face.
After being helped up by Xiao Junhan, Shen Jingci quickly wiped the moisture from her eyes and said with a forced smile, "Sister is teaching me the rules of the body. Please give my regards to the prince."
No matter how stupid Qin Wanyi was, she could still see that she was being plotted, and her face immediately changed and she said, "My lord, that's not the case, I'm just—"
Before she finished speaking, she was interrupted by Xiao Junhan, who said coldly, "There are so many things in the house, and the princess still has the leisure to stand here and teach others the rules. It shows that she doesn't care about other things. If the princess is unintentional, Just take care of it and leave it to Ci'er."
Hearing this, Qin Wanyi's face instantly turned pale, and she defended herself, "My lord, please listen to me..."
But Xiao Junhan was not willing to listen to her. He immediately took Shen Jingci's hand and turned around and left, without even letting Qin Wanyi finish her sentence.
On the other hand, Shen Jingci, who was caught by Xiao Junhan, did not forget to turn around and say, "Princess, I retire."
But the pride in her eyes could not be concealed no matter what.
Qin Wanyi stood there, biting her lower lip till it turned bloodshot, and some tears gathered in her eyes.
However, the guards around Xiao Junhan couldn't bear it, and reminded them in a low voice, "Princess, the emperor just issued an imperial edict in public this morning, saying that the prince and his concubine made contributions to the suppression of the rebels this time, and specially sent them to The empress was also taken out of the cold palace and given the concubine the throne again. Now that the prince is grateful to the concubine, why do you bother yourself at this time? "
Qin Wanyi glanced at him and sighed, "I have never made anyone unhappy, but these rules are greater than heaven, and she doesn't even want to abide by them—"
At this point, even she felt that it was useless to tell a guard, so she waved her hand and said, "That's all, you go follow your prince and serve him well. I, the princess, will go back first."
After saying that, Qin Wanyi turned around and walked away a little disappointed, leaving behind a somewhat desolate figure.
"What, Concubine Xian was released?"
After hearing the news, Xie Ruzhuo was immediately shocked. This time Shen Jingci took the initiative to hand over the people left behind by the Shen family to Emperor Jing. She had already thought of Emperor Jing's reward for her. However, Xie Ruzhuo never expected that Emperor Jing would release Concubine Xian together.
Xiao Junxi shook his head slightly and said, "You, why are you still so restless?" As he spoke, a cold look flashed in his eyes, and he snorted, "Father, this is a combination of kindness and power. After all, Xian Concubine is the biological mother of King Qi, and my father will always have to express their contribution this time. What's more, the only candidates he can consider now are me and King Qi."
When Xiao Junxi said this, Xie Ruzhuo immediately understood.
Xiao Junxi's biological mother was the late empress, and she was fostered by Concubine Ye. However, Xiao Junhan's biological mother is now locked up in the cold palace. If she is not released, from this point of view alone, there will be no check and balance.
The reason why Emperor Jing wanted to seek a balance was simply because he had not yet decided to establish a prince.
Or maybe he has someone in mind and wants to test those people who are trying to make a move behind his back.
No matter what the reason is, this wise concubine must be released. Just because she had made such a big mistake before, she was naturally not qualified for this concubine position, but it could not be too low, so a concubine position was a plan carefully considered by Emperor Jing.
Xie Ruzhuo thought about it for a long time, then rubbed his forehead and said distressedly, "Things in the palace are really messy. Thinking about it for a while will make your head ache."