Long before Li Chaoge and the others entered the palace, a servant told the Queen about the situation outside. The Queen's question now is nothing more than testing them.
Everyone present was fine, and no one spoke first. The empress looked at Li Chaoge, unable to distinguish between emotions and anger: "Chaoge, what's going on?"
Now that the empress has pointed to her, Li Chaoge didn't hold back, and said, "Come to attendant Yushi and lynch a scholar in the street, my son? But, I will come to attendant Yushi to ask for advice."
Although Li Chaoge filed a complaint, he did not clear his name and was very open and aboveboard. Lai Junchen curled his lower lips coldly, and cupped his hands to the queen above: "This minister is also trying to find out who wrote the letter as soon as possible, and seek justice for Wulang and Liulang. I really don't know? I don't know where I got offended Princess Sheng Yuan, Princess Sheng Yuan did not say a word? Do it. Please empress be careful."
Lai Junchen originally wanted to use retreat as an advance to sell misfortune, but his face was swollen from the beating, and several teeth fell out. These words were slurred, and he didn't feel pitiful, but rather funny. Lai Junchen was annoyed. When he thought about how he was beaten up by Li Chaoge in front of so many people today, he would have to bear this appearance. After a long time, Lai Junchen would want to tear Li Chaoge to pieces.
Although Lai Junchen couldn't speak clearly, he didn't need to say much. This scarred face was the best testimony.
But Li Chaoge didn't seem to have any repentance, she said coldly: "You don't even have any evidence, just because you think it's suspicious, you directly punish someone? He's a child of an ordinary farmer's family, how many? Over the years, I have worked hard and studied hard, studied hard, and never stopped, just to one day take part in the imperial examination and enter the court to serve the queen. There are so many? You don’t choose torture tools, but you choose finger clips. Come on, Junchen, dare you say you didn’t mean it ?"
Lai Junchen did not answer, but raised his hands high and said: "Everything I do is for the queen, Lang Lang's heart, the sun and the moon can learn from it."
"Why do you have to talk about loyalty when you come to serve the censor? Manchu Wen? Wu, are you the only one who thinks about the queen?" Li Chaoge attacked one after another, as if torn his face completely, "Are you really loyal to the queen? Or use the name of the queen to fulfill your selfish desires, you know it yourself. If you really want to share the worries of the king, why do you wantonly plunder money, why do you fabricate crimes to exclude dissidents, why force you to marry the royal daughter? When you do these things, you always use it as the queen The banner of serving your life, but did the queen really ask you to do these things? In order to seize power, you tarnished the reputation of the queen among the people, and sowed the relationship between the queen and her subjects in the court, I think? You are the one who deserves to be punished."
Wu Yuanxiao, Wu Yuanqing and Li Changle lowered their heads and held their breath, even Zhang Yanchang glanced at Li Chaoge in surprise. Although they couldn't see Lai Junchen, no one dared to confront Lai Junchen. After all, how many? One enemy is not as good as many? One friend, Lai Junchen didn't provoke them, why bother to fight against this mad dog.
Li Changle is full of contempt, but still treats Junchen as a guest in the future. Wu Yuanxiao and Wu Yuanqing also call Lai Junchen brothers and sisters when they meet, and they can't see any grudges at all. They didn't expect that Li Chaoge dared to beat Junchen and scolded him in front of the queen.
Why bother? The person who came to Junchen to be executed was an ordinary civilian, who had no relationship or reason with Li Chaoge, what happened to Li Chaoge? However, Li Chaoge seemed to be holding back for a long time, and spoke out his thoughts in one breath: "Empress, the reason you set up Tongjia? It is to uphold justice, understand the sufferings of people's livelihood, and truly seek benefits for the people. But now, come Junchen to fight Under your banner, wantonly oppressing the subjects, he is the cancer that sucks the blood of the people. The people have been suffering for a long time, and when everyone talks about him, they all grit their teeth and complain. Such a cruel villain, if he continues to stay, he will only Disasters and chaos are beyond the outline, please punish Lai Junchen severely."
The queen remained silent, with no thoughts on her face. Li Chaoge's heart skipped a beat. She and Lai Junchen's face has been torn apart. If you don't take advantage of today to pull him off the horse, tomorrow Lai Junchen will be charged with crimes. But the queen didn't respond. Could it be that the queen wants to protect Junchen
Lai Junchen sensed his opportunity and kept calling for grievances. Lai Junchen has done a lot of things for the queen, there is no credit but hard work, Li Chaoge wants to bring him down, it is wishful thinking.
Wu Yuanxiao and Wu Yuanqing dare not speak, Lai Junchen is a mad dog and a poisonous snake, the Wu family is fighting for the crown prince, how could they offend Lai Junchen at this juncture. Li Changle was even more wise to protect himself, and made up his mind not to say a word. Zhang Yanzhi wanted to speak, but was held down by Zhang Yanchang. Zhang Yanchang used his sleeve to cover up, and squeezed Zhang Yanzhi's hand hard, reminding him not to act rashly.
Lai Junchen and the two Zhang brothers were very affectionate, and this time he took the initiative to investigate the case for the Zhang family. How could the Zhang family tear down Junchen? As long as the Zhang family lives well, that's enough. The life and death of the people and officials has nothing to do with them.
Lai Junchen complained, but the queen remained silent, and no one in the palace spoke up. The situation is obviously in favor of Lai Junchen. Li Chaoge is considering what other reasons he can use to convince the queen. Gu Mingke stands beside Li Chaoge and suddenly speaks unhurriedly: "Today? There was a riot at the gate of Zhang's mansion, and many people took advantage of the chaos to beat up the imperial censor. And his cruel officials. They are so afraid of coming to serve the censor, but they still can't help but do it, which shows the deep resentment. Come to serve the censor and talk about serving the queen? But the people have so much hatred for him, see? Come, come to serve the Imperial History Office? What you say may not be true."
The queen's eyes moved slightly: "The common people also rushed up?"
"Yes." Li Chaoge turned his eyes in surprise, and saw that Gu Mingke's face was pale, his eyes were cold, and his tone was light and calm, "Chaoge is very powerful, and her injuries are more obvious, but in fact, come to serve me." Most of the bruises and scratches on Yu Shi's body were caused by the random beatings of the surrounding people."
Li Chaoge's wound was not so obvious. The queen was attracted by the blood on Lai Junchen's body just now, and didn't pay attention to other things. Looking at it now, she found that there was indeed a lot of mud on Lai Junchen's body, and his hair was also messed up.
The queen subconsciously thought it was Li Chaoge's masterpiece at first, but now that she thinks about it, Li Chaoge wouldn't use his fingernails when beating someone, and the bruises on his body wouldn't be so messy. This looks like kicked out by someone who has never learned how to punch.
The queen suddenly discovered that the cruel officials had aroused so much public outrage. She knew that many courtiers were eager to eat the flesh of cruel officials, but she did not expect that the folks would do the same.
The queen soon understood that if she... used Junchen again, the knife would come back to her... herself. The reputation of a faint monarch who reuses his courtiers? It's not a good thing. The empress wants the world to fear her? But she can't let the world scold her?.
The queen made up her mind in a flash, and said: "I have been in the deep palace for a long time, and everything I see and hear is reported by the minister, but I don't know that there are so many things going on outside. Thankfully, I still trust you very much, come here, In the future, Junchen will be taken down and thoroughly investigated what he has done these days."
Lai Junchen looked up in disbelief, apparently not expecting the Queen to kill him. What did Lai Junchen do? The empress knows all too well that he has offended so many people, just a single crime can make him die badly. The queen put Junchen in prison in the future, isn't she just executing him in disguise
The queen's words were like a thunderbolt, and the hearts of everyone inside and outside trembled violently. Lai Junchen couldn't believe that he fell out of favor in the blink of an eye, and the empress let him do things with great trust even yesterday. Lai Junchen wanted to argue, but the queen is such a heartless person, once she gave up, she wouldn't even want to hear the other party's begging for mercy. The queen said lightly: "Take him down."
The servant immediately stepped forward and dragged Lai Junchen out. Lai Junchen struggled hard, the servant was afraid that Lai Junchen would say something that shouldn't be said, and with a click, he took off Lai Junchen's jaw.
Lai Junchen could no longer make any sound, and was dragged out of the palace in vain resistance. The two Zhang brothers saw that Arai Junchen was being dragged away, and their hearts were filled with coldness.
In the daytime? Lai Junchen was still in a good mood, arrogant, who would have thought that he would become a prisoner in just a blink of an eye. After Zhang Yanzhi sighed, he also felt shocked.
Lai Junchen is like this? What about them? Could it be that they are the same as Lai Junchen? Today? A full house of guests is calling for the wind and rain, and tomorrow? They will die of guillotines without warning.
Lai Junchen, who had created a reign of terror for two years, just fell down like this. The two brothers, Wu Yuanxiao, Wu Yuanqing and Li Changle, were also terrified. They didn't expect that Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke's husband and wife could really bring down Li Juncheng, and they didn't even expect that the empress would
They didn't even want to understand which sentence offended the empress.
After Lai Junchen was dragged away, the palace became quiet again. The queen looked at Li Chaoge and said, "You are a princess, but you beat the court officials in the street. Do you know that you are wrong?"
Li Chaoge admitted his mistake without saying a word: "Your servant knows? I was wrong."
"Because you are a first-time offender, go back and copy the filial piety scriptures ten times, and think about it." The queen said with a tired look, "Okay, let's all go down."
"yes."
Everyone agreed and retreated slowly. Li Changle and the Wu family brothers came late, were closest to the door, and were the first to leave. They stood at the door and saw Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke stepping out of the threshold. Their eyes met, and neither of them spoke.
Gu Mingke accompanied Li Chaoge out of the palace. Li Chaoge walked down the steps and said, "A total of ten times the filial piety scriptures, in the past few days? Some have copied it."
"It's okay, I'll write with you..."
The voices of the two gradually faded away. Wu Yuanqing looked at the backs of the two people, and said in a low voice: "The couple's few words can make my aunt suspect Lai Junchen. My aunt really thinks too much of them."
Zhang Yanzhi came out of the palace just in time to hear Wu Yuanqing's words. He glanced around quietly, seeing Wu Yuanxiao's face was livid and silent, Li Changle lowered his head wondering what he was thinking, while Wu Yuanqing's eyes were full of fear. The servants and female officers guarding all around silently lowered their heads, as if they didn't hear it.
Zhang Yanzhi didn't feel relaxed, but felt heavy in his heart. After the empress sent Junchen down, she was in a bad mood and called Zhang Yanchang to bed at night.
The imperial palace is magnificent during the day, but at night, the wind howls outside the window, and the lights flicker in the curtains, giving it a somewhat eerie feeling.
The female officer serves the queen to remove makeup. The queen is very good at makeup. Usually, after putting on makeup, her eyebrows are black and her face is ruddy. She doesn't look old at all. Only when the makeup is removed in the middle of the night, can you find that the queen's youth is gone, and the years have left many traces on her face.
The female officer combed the empress's hair carefully, while Zhang Yanchang sat obediently on one side, loosening her shoulders and rubbing her legs for the empress. Usually the empress enjoys this moment of relaxation, but tonight, Zhang Yanchang has been serving the empress for a long time, and the empress does not seem to be very emotional.
Her mind was clearly not on intimacy. There are deep grooves on both sides of the Queen's cheeks. When she is sullen and silent, she is really scary.
The waiters both inside and outside were frightened, and the maid who combed her hair dared not breathe, for fear of hurting the queen's hair. The queen looked at herself in the mirror, was silent for a while, and asked, "What happened outside these few days?"
The female officer trembled when she heard this, and replied cautiously: "It's almost the end of the year, and most of the coppers are written to wish the Queen a happy New Year. Food prices are stable, and the place is peaceful. It doesn't seem to be a big deal."
The queen was noncommittal when she heard these words, and asked: "Today, when Chaoge and Lai Junchen clashed, what did the people outside look like?"
The eunuch next to him watched the empress's face carefully, and said carefully, "Lai Junchen put the torture tools in front of Zhang's house, which attracted a lot of people to watch. It's lively. There are too many people, and chaos will inevitably arise. When Princess Sheng Yuan and Lai Junchen confronted each other, the crowd It was chaotic, someone was pushed to the front, and Junchen was stepped on several times."
The eunuch was afraid that Lai Junchen would recover, so he cautiously used Lai Junchen's name instead of the prisoner's title. As for whether to "step on" or "kick", that's a matter of opinion.
The queen can imagine the scene just by listening to the description. Hearing that the gates of the Zhang family were smashed, and the people are so excited, it can be seen how much they hate Lai Junchen.
It turns out that the outside world has reached this level. The queen said with a straight face, "Why didn't you tell me about such a big matter before? I was almost deceived by the villain."
The maids and eunuchs all lowered their heads in fear, not daring to answer? The queen herself said that Junchen is a villain, but it seems that the one who came to serve the censor for a while is really over. After the empress finished speaking, she thought of Li Chaoge, and sighed, "Fortunately, there is Sheng Yuan. Sheng Yuan is outspoken, and when he sees injustice, he will appeal for the common people. It's gone when the strength passes. I didn't expect that the two of them have very compatible personalities now."
Gu Mingke has a very good reputation both among the people and the court. The people even call him "Yangchun with feet", saying that wherever Gu Mingke is, he can bring spring wherever he is, which shows the people's trust in him. The empress also believed that Gu Mingke was fair and upright. Even though Gu Mingke was closely related to the Pei family, the empress still dared to entrust Gu Mingke with important responsibilities.
Seeing this, the female officials followed the queen's wishes and said: "Princess Sheng Yuan and Gu Siqing share the same interests, and their love is stronger than gold. They are a rare couple. There are these two people who share the worries of the Holy One. Your Majesty can rest assured. "
The queen's expression was calm when she heard these words, and she couldn't see her emotions: "The two of them cherish each other, but Sheng Yuan is young and energetic, and he is too impulsive, but Gu Mingke is also idealistic, and he doesn't persuade her to be more. How can it be of great use in the past?"
The people around fell silent? Zhang Yanchang kept trying to figure out what the empress meant, and said cautiously: "Princess Sheng Yuan and her son-in-law are young, and still need the empress' advice."
The queen looked at the mirror and smiled inexplicably: "I am already old. I can't even recognize the people around me, and I have to rely on my daughter and son-in-law to remind me."
Zhang Yanchang was shocked when he heard the queen say "people around me". He thought he had discovered something for the queen, and his heart was pounding. It took Zhang Yanchang a long time to realize that the empress was referring to Lai Junchen.
Zhang Yanchang said flatteringly: "Your Majesty, don't blame yourself. You were just deceived by villains. Who knew? Dao Lai Junchen turned out to be such a person? It's not your fault."
The empress' expression remained unchanged, and she said indifferently: "I only thought that he was born in poverty, was competitive, and could actually do things for the people. I didn't expect that he would do things like beating people behind my back and taking advantage of the people. It was useless to waste me like this? Trust him .”
The servants around responded again and again, and Lai Junchen suddenly became a heinous courtier. They were still trying their best to curry favor with Lai Junchen this morning, but now, just? Anyone can step on him. Zhang Yanchang lowered his eyes, feeling a chill down his spine.
I don't know what charges the queen will give him when he is abandoned by the queen in the future.
Zhang Yanchang really felt that the woman in front of him was terrifying. Zhang Yanchang knew that she was the queen, but he never felt it. Once he thought this was an old and powerful woman, lusting after a young and beautiful body, no different from those guests he had seen before, except that she had more "power". But now Zhang Yanchang finally realized that it is very different?.
The empress was not the old woman he thought was nostalgic for youth, she was more an emperor than a woman.
Zhang Yanzhi is sitting under the lamp, compiling a book. Everyone in the ruling and opposition parties knew that he and Zhang Yanchang were male favourites, but the empress wanted more or less face, so she appointed the two of them as book editors, giving them legitimate reasons to stay in the palace all day. Zhang Yanchang was just putting on a show? But Zhang Yanzhi was different. He was really compiling a book.
The attendant came in to serve him. Seeing that it was so late and Wulang was still sitting under the lamp, he couldn't help persuading him: "Wulang, it's getting late, you should rest."
Zhang Yanzhi responded and said, "I know, this is the end."
The attendant went to the side to close the window, and complained while checking the door and window: "The monster who wrote in Erlang's mansion has not been caught yet. It's so scary in the cold winter."
A sarcastic smile crossed Zhang Yanzhi's lips. He put down his pen, looked at the thick and dark night outside, and mocked: "We are in the palace, what are we afraid of? What monsters?"
Here lies the most terrifying monster in the world.
·
Princess Sheng Yuan's mansion.
Li Chaoge finally finished copying a page, and immediately moved his stiff wrist. She flipped through the remaining pages of the book and said, "Too many?"
Gu Mingke sat next to her, holding a book in his hand, and said, "No rush, take your time. I'm always here."
Li Chaoge successfully brought down Lai Junchen, but she was also punished for copying books. Compared with the results, mere copying is nothing at all, but it does not prevent her from feeling that copying is tiring.
Li Chaoge put down his pen and moved his fingers slowly: "It's really troublesome. My handwriting is not standard lower case. I can't even find someone to write it for me."
When Gu Mingke heard this, he couldn't help laughing, and glanced at her shimmeringly: "Now I know that I regret it? I asked you to practice calligraphy a long time ago, so you must listen."
Li Chaoge's handwriting is so ugly that it can completely reach the level of knowing people by handwriting. Except for Li Chaoge, no one can really write about her? That awkward and uninhibited energy.
She? She was fined to copy the book ten times, yet Gu Mingke even made sarcastic remarks. Li Chaoge leaned hard on Gu Mingke on purpose. She felt uncomfortable, and Gu Mingke couldn't even think about it.
Gu Mingke didn't care about the sudden weight on his shoulders, he stretched out his hand, gently adjusted Li Chaoge to her comfortable angle, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Li Chaoge pinched the bridge of his nose, and said, "I always feel that it's too smooth to take down Junchen this time. Do we really have such a big weight in the eyes of the empress?"
"It's not that we have a lot of weight in the eyes of the empress, but that our reputation is of great weight." Gu Mingke said, "The empress doesn't care how many unjust cases Lai Junchen has handled and how many people have been wronged. She doesn't care. She never cares. It's all royal."
If it hadn't been for Gu Mingke to tell today? The common people rushed up to beat Lai Junchen, I'm afraid the empress might not have punished the cruel officials. Seeing little knowledge? It shows that the common people can go crazy together in the presence of officials, which shows the deep resentment towards Lai Junchen. The empress knew that too much was too late, she could look for the knife again, but it was not worth it if it hurt her own reputation.
Li Chaoge was silent. After a while, she asked: "Is this the art of the emperor? How exactly? Doing it makes a good emperor?"
Gu Mingke was speechless. When he first met Li Chaoge in the human world, she also asked him this question. At that time, Gu Mingke had many theories, but now, he is at a loss for words.
Li Chaoge waited for a while, got up to watch? He said, "Why don't you talk?"
There was water in Gu Mingke's eyes, and he looked at her innocently: "I have never been an emperor, how do I know? What do I call an emperor?"
Gu Mingke has spiritual consciousness, so he doesn't have to worry about being overheard by others, so the two of them are very comfortable talking in private. Li Chaoge was surprised for a moment, his eyes widened slightly, and then, I don't know? He hit him angrily or amusedly: "You have never been a man, so you dared to lecture me at length?"
Gu Mingke obediently let Li Chaoge do the work. He sat down with Li Chaoge in his arms, and said: "It's getting late, write another page, you should go to bed."
Li Chaoge looked at the densely packed filial piety scriptures in front of him, and felt a pain in his head. She didn't want to move, Gu Mingke held her hand, stained it with ink, and wrote on the paper at a leisurely pace.
Gu Mingke is very familiar with imitating handwriting. After all, when he was a child, what he was best at was imitating others.
When Gu Mingke took her to write, Li Chaoge didn't have to use any strength, and his wrist was much easier. She leaned lazily on Gu Mingke's shoulder, looked at it for a while, and said, "You're pretty good at learning. In the future, when you don't work in Dali Temple, you can consider forging documents."
Gu Mingke chuckled lightly, his chest trembling slightly: "I thought? He became the captain-in-law for me, and the princess' food and salary can always support me until I grow old. As a result, I still need to make a living by myself?"
Li Chaoge also laughed, and deliberately said: "It depends on your performance. If you become ugly, old, and lecherous in the future, and I don't want to support you, then you can only ask for more blessings."
Putting aside the ugly and lustful, Gu Mingke lowered his eyes and glanced at Li Chaoge: "You? Discriminate against other people's age like this?"
"I'm just talking casually, what are you in a hurry for?" Li Chaoge glanced at him unhurriedly, "Could it be that you are seated right?"
Gu Mingke pursed his lips and did not speak. After a while, Li Chaoge raised his eyes with a half-smile: "Are you angry?"
"No."
Li Chaoge nodded: "If you don't have one, it's fine, then I will stop coaxing you."
Gu Mingke choked, and his breath was low for a long time. Li Chaoge suppressed a smile, got out of his arms, hugged his neck, and pecked lightly on his lips: "Okay, I'm just joking with you. No matter what you become in the future, I will None will despise you."
Look at her? The word is used, disgusted. Gu Mingke glanced at her coldly, and couldn't hold back a smile on his lips.
Gu Mingke also didn't know that he was not despised by others, so what was there to be happy about.
Li Chaoge leaned back on him, appreciating his hand with peace of mind. Gu Mingke's hands are beautiful, his wrist bones are also exquisite and graceful, and his flesh and blood are well-proportioned. Gu Mingke grabbed Li Chaoge's hand, stuffed it into his palm again, and wrote with the posture of two people holding pens together. Li Chaoge was speechless for a moment, and said: "I didn't use any strength at all, but it took more effort for you to hold my hand. Why bother?"
"This is your task, you should write it yourself, you can't fake it."
Li Chaoge clicked his tongue: "You can take advantage of loopholes. Sure enough, the one who knows how to cheat the most must be the one who knows the rules best. Those who practice the law are really untrustworthy."
Gu Mingke didn't speak, he wrote very quickly, and finished writing on half a piece of paper in a blink of an eye. This posture reminded Li Chaoge of when she first learned to write, she asked, "What was the first character you learned?"
"king."
"Why? Why this word?"
"I don't know." Gu Mingke replied truthfully, "I've been thinking about it all my life, but I still haven't figured out what this word means."
What is the way of the king, what is the way of king? Back then, the second son of Kui Kingdom didn't understand, and now Gu Mingke doesn't understand either. Gu Mingke asked back: "What's the first word you learned?"
"It's my name." Li Chaoge gesticulated lightly on his palm with his little finger, "Chao. Old man Zhou only taught me this word. I always thought I was called brother Chao when I was young."
Gu Mingke frowned, feeling strange in his heart, and asked, "You said you can't remember the memories before you were six years old?"
"Yeah." Li Chaoge nodded and sighed, "There is a vague picture in my mind, but when I think about it carefully, I can't think of anything."
Gu Mingke didn't answer, Li Chaoge leaned against Gu Mingke's arms, and didn't see the suspicion in his eyes.
Since Li Chaoge couldn't remember what happened before he got lost, why did Zhou Changgeng know Li Chaoge's name