Chapter 13 Previous Life
Wuyi Lane is on the south bank of the Qinhuai River. Since the Jin Dynasty crossed south, it has been the residence of the two powerful families of Wang and Xie. It is the most prosperous and beautiful scenery in Jiankang City. Since countless romantic figures from the Wang and Xie families came from here over the past two hundred years, this place has become the most talked about and most desirable legendary place.
These two powerful families have a long history, and they once became the heads of the families. They had many high-ranking officials for generations, and everyone thought they would be prosperous forever. But who would have thought that because of a rejected marriage, these two families would suffer the tragedy of annihilation? The Yi children disappeared from this world.
And the culprit of all this is because of her.
As the eldest daughter of the Xie family in Chen County, she has the most noble status and inherent arrogance. She will not marry a member of a poor family and will always stay away from the imperial power. It is her own responsibility to retain the strength and heritage of the family. She also followed the family motto she had inherited since childhood, so when Hou Jing proposed to Emperor Wu of Liang about marrying the Xie family, she refused without hesitation and said that she could roughly predict the future. In order to persuade Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty to drive Hou Jing out of Daliang, the old and dim emperor did not listen to the advice. Instead, he repeatedly promoted Hou Jing to officials and titles and sent money and materials to appease Hou Jing. The military and political forces as well as military supplies and supplies gradually became more and more favored, until finally they could shout "Qingjun side" to rebel.
However, until this step, Emperor Wu of Liang still did not arouse alarm, and even once again rewarded and appeased the foreigners who held high the banner of rebellion. Seeing that the capital was about to fall into the hands of the thieves, my grandfather had no choice but to use Emperor Wu's favorite nephew to Xiao Yuanming planned to kill Hou Jing with the help of Gao Cheng, a powerful official in the Eastern Wei Dynasty. However, he did not expect that the news would be spread to Hou Jing's ears unknown to someone. When the incident was revealed, Hou Jing was furious and launched a rebellion, summoning tens of thousands of troops to attack. Jiankangtaicheng.
The Jiankang nobles have always been pampered and unconcerned with worldly affairs. Under Hou Jing's brutal attack, they were unable to resist. Jiankang Taicheng soon fell, and his family, along with many other noble families in the South, were brutally tortured by Hou Jing. revenge.
After taking control of Taicheng, Hou Jing deposed the emperor and established himself. The first edict he issued was to execute the Wang and Xie families in succession.
At that time, under the cover of her family elders, she fled with her younger brothers and sisters. She finally escaped from Jiankang and wanted to join another tribe in the North. She did not want to encounter an ambush on the way and was killed by a group of black-clad people. Masked men attack.
It was that day that she died at the hands of that man. However, she didn't understand until her death that a man who doted on her to the point of obeying her without any complaints and ultimately wanted only her life.
The Chen State of the Southern Dynasties...it turned out to be Chen!
Xiao Jinyu stood under a big tree, looking at the abandoned mansions not far away, and laughed silently, with big tears rolling in her eyes.
Father, mother, grandfather, I am back again. Although I am no longer the Xie Yuqing of the past, I have become the Xiao Jinyu of twenty years later, but I will never let the Xie family be buried in the long river of history.
This was the last time I allowed myself to cry.
"Brother Qing - I found it."
Hearing Phoenix's voice, Xiao Jinyu immediately wiped away her tears, turned to the boy and nodded.
"Say it!" she said.
Seeing her reddish eyes, Fenghuang was stunned for a moment. Without revealing the pain in her heart, he just replied: "I just went to inquire about it. It is said that the Lanling Xiao family living in Jiankang City is... After the former Prince Zhaoming..."
"After Prince Zhaoming?" Xiao Jinyu was a little surprised.
Prince Zhaoming Xiao Tong was the first biological son of Emperor Wu of Liang, but he was not the eldest son. The eldest son of Emperor Wu of Liang was Xiao Zhengde, who was adopted from his elder brother. His paternal love was transferred to his biological son Xiao Tong, and the position of prince that originally fell on Xiao Zhengde was given to this biological son Xiao Tong without hesitation. He invited many knowledgeable celebrities in Jiankang City The great Confucians taught and educated Xiao Tong, and Xiao Tong lived up to his expectations when he grew up. He cultivated the Confucian character of "benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, and filial piety".
But he didn't expect that he would be suspected by Emperor Wu of Liang because of a wax goose incident, and he would eventually die in depression.
After the death of the prince, the princes of the Xiao family started to play the game of seizing the heir. When Hou Jing attacked Taicheng, they all stood by and watched, leaving his father and hundreds of thousands of people trapped in Jiankang Taicheng. Regardless, he sat back and watched the tiger fight, which eventually led to Emperor Wu of Liang starving to death in Taicheng, and 200,000 people in Jiankang either starved to death or died under Hou Jing's butcher's knife.
How ridiculous! Because of the ignorance of Emperor Wu of Liang and the selfishness and cowardice of the descendants of the Xiao family, Hou Jing, who only had thousands of soldiers and horses, destroyed the prosperity of the entire Nanliang and Jiankang City, causing thousands of people to be slaughtered and starved to death everywhere. The entire Jiankang City is inaccessible and smokeless for thousands of miles.
Her father, brothers and sisters were even more tortured and humiliated by Hou Jing's revenge.
At that time, she thought more than once, if Prince Zhaoming was still there...or even if Prince Zhaoming ascended the throne earlier, there would be no other kings trying to relegate him, and the tragic Hou Jing Rebellion would not have happened. Her family will not...
Thinking of this, Xiao Jinyu shook his head and laughed again. There was no what if...
However, I really didn’t expect that since the Chen family proclaimed the emperor on behalf of Liang, wouldn’t he follow Hou Jing’s example and exterminate the Xiao family? At this time, Fenghuang replied: "It seems that because Prince Zhaoming was highly virtuous, knowledgeable and a role model for scholars during his lifetime, Emperor Chen Wu appreciated his talents and retained this branch of the Xiao family as officials in the Chen Dynasty."
This is a good way to win people's hearts. The founding monarchs of all dynasties would do this in order to show everyone their wisdom and benevolence, but secretly there were endless assassinations.
"Then who is the head of this generation of the Xiao family?" Xiao Jinyu asked.
Phoenix replied: "Xiao Jian."
"Xiao Jian?" Xiao Jinyu frowned.
"Brother Qing, did you remember something? Do you know this person?" Seeing Xiao Jinyu's slightly surprised expression, Fenghuang asked again.
Xiao Jinyu shook her head. She really didn't know this person, and in her memory, there was no such person named Xiao Jian among the heirs of Prince Zhaoming.
"How is the Xiao family now? How many heirs do they have?" Xiao Jinyu asked again.
Phoenix thought for a moment, shook his head and replied, "More is not too much."
"How do you say this?"
Fenghuang replied: "That's right, I heard that Xiao Jian, the head of the Xiao family, originally married two wives for the sake of the prosperity of the Xiao family. If those two wives develop, there seem to be four or five legitimate husbands. , there are more than a dozen concubines, but what is very strange is that just a few years ago, the Xiao family seemed to be infected with the plague, and many people died. Now there are only two surviving concubines, Xiao Xian and Xiao Yun. "Brother Qing, you have also seen this Xianlang of the Xiao family today. I heard that he is also very weak and will not survive until the age of twenty-five."
"Also... I asked around, and no one knows that the Xiao family once had an aunt, and they don't know why the aunt left the Xiao family. Does the Xiao family still remember her?"
Speaking of this, the boy sounded a little disappointed. If the Xiao family refused to recognize Brother Qing, could he really return to the Xiao family just with those tokens?
"You don't have to be disappointed. I had no intention of living under anyone else's roof." Xiao Jinyu continued and asked, "You just said that Xiao Jian married two wives. Is he married to two wives?"
At this time, there was no such thing as equal wives, especially the sons of wealthy families who did not dare to go beyond the rules of etiquette, provoke criticism, and ruin their reputation. However, if the family did not have many children, an only son could inherit two clans at the same time.
Fenghuang shook his head and said: "No, the second wife married by the Xiao family leader seems to have been given a marriage by Emperor Wen. She is a princess of the Chen Kingdom. Since she is a princess, she must not want to be a concubine, so Emperor Wen followed suit. During the Jin Dynasty, Jia Chong gave the head of the Xiao family two wives. It is said that the right lady was more than ten years younger than the left lady. "
"Mrs. Zuo?" Xiao Jinyu murmured, and then asked, "Where is Mrs. Zuo? How is she doing now?"
"I heard it's not good. After the epidemic in the Xiao family, Mrs. Zuo lost several children and fell into a serious illness. Until now, she is paralyzed in bed and unconscious. Those who People also said that if Mrs. Right hadn’t hired a famous doctor to take care of her, Mrs. Zuo might have died long ago. Those people praised Mrs. Right quite highly." At this point, Fenghuang also added. One sentence, "Oh, by the way, this Mrs. Zuo, I heard she comes from the Yuan family in Chen County!"
"Mr. Yuan of Chen County?"
Phoenix nodded, and Xiao Jinyu's expression darkened.
Everyone knows that during the Hou Jing Rebellion, the city was massacred. The four major families with the surnames "Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xiao" who crossed the Yangtze River were all massacred. It is no wonder that the emperor of the Chen family dared to give Xiao Jian a princess. As the right wife, without the protection of the family, no matter how noble her status is, she is just tender meat that has been taken off the shell, ready to be slaughtered.
"Fenghuang, let's go to the Xiao family tonight." After thinking about it for a moment, Xiao Jinyu suddenly said, "Before that, you can send another letter to the Xiao family for me."
(End of chapter)