Chapter 45: After the execution, the house was confiscated
A feeling of panic!
Su Chen sat on the horse, looking through the windy and snowy night, and the uneasiness in his heart grew stronger.
This feeling...
Did something happen to my eldest brother?
"Longevity."
On the other hand, Dong Zhuo thought that Su Chen tilted his head because he couldn't bear the killing of these prisoners. He took a bite of the mutton and chewed it hard in his mouth: "The reason why Dong did this was to practice A group of tigers and wolves, who are excited when faced with blood and do not retreat when given orders, are the elite soldiers!"
The Yanshan Racecourse is guarded by a thousand people, including 500 soldiers, and the rest are herders of horses and cattle and sheep! , but they also carried weapons with them. Eight hundred Xiliang soldiers crossed the mountains and ridges, and ran for a long distance. They relied on the snow and night as cover. Under daily brutal training, they endured the coldest time in the middle of the night and launched an attack on the sleeping horse farm soldiers. Attack and kill the guards, and then turn around to clean up the herdsmen.
"These prisoners cannot be kept. They have seen us and were later interrogated by the court. Their appearance, accent, and clothing are all extremely unfavorable to us."
Dong Zhuo is still talking. , Su Chen, who was next to him, turned his head and came back, urging his horse to pass Dong Zhuo, with cold eyes: "Everyone listens to the order, kill the prisoners, slaughter the cattle and sheep, pick the meat and bag it, and take away the qualified war horses here!"
Originally, he planned to take away the cattle and sheep, and then bring all the horses back, but now Su Chen felt something might have happened and didn't want to delay.
In response to this order, the Xiliang soldiers sped up, and the second batch of twenty prisoners were pushed up. A group of prisoners cried and begged, and some prisoners knelt on the ground, struggled and cursed: "Here is Your majesty’s horse farm, the Yanshan cavalry will crush you sooner or later!”
Amidst the curses, these prisoners had their heads chopped off and piled into small piles.
Soon, the horses that the ranch will provide for next year were brought out. There were more than 500 horses, and 500 people were selected to mount the horses. More than 20 female relatives in the house also dragged the horses on their backs with noisy Xiliang soldiers. In front of you.
They were not very good at riding horses, so they took more than 20 women with them, and they had to go a little slower. After leaving the ranch, they still returned the same way they came.
"But what happened?" Dong Zhuo urged his horse to catch up with Su Chen.
"I feel more and more uneasy. I feel like something big is about to happen. Let's go back to Ding'an City first."
Su Chen couldn't possibly say that he had a premonition that something happened to his elder brother, so he could only find a vague As an excuse, Dong Zhuo and Dong Zhuo followed the cavalry in front, followed by more than two hundred people walking on foot with the wounded and some beef and mutton, which was relatively slow.
"Changsheng simply led the soldiers on horseback back to Ding'an City first, and followed me on foot."
It was windy and snowy, and it was night again. We marched long distances on foot, bringing a large number of supplies and wounded people with us. , it consumes a lot of physical energy and is really not suitable for traveling for a long time.
Su Chen thought for a while, then accepted Dong Zhuo's proposal, and immediately rode up to catch up with the cavalry in front.
"Speed up, let's leave first."
Yanshan Ranch is located in the northwest of Rongzhou and borders the grassland. It is still more than two hundred miles away from Yunqi County to the east and Ding to the south. Anseong is further away, almost five days' journey away.
At this time of night, the capital of Yanjing was mobilizing troops and horses frequently, and the palace was brightly lit. It was already the fourth watch, and the emperor was still in the study with no intention of sleeping.
He looked at the "General's Night Banquet" unfolded by the two eunuchs and carefully examined every character's face and clothing, probably trying to see something from it.
Outside, a eunuch's voice sounded: "Your Majesty, Taishi Xiao is back."
"Let him come in."
Kita Miyano straightened up and waved slightly, and the two eunuchs He wisely rolled up the painting, put it in a sleeve, and took it to the back hall. Here, the door opened, and an old man in black robes came in and raised his hands to the emperor behind the desk above.
"Chen, Xiao Wenbi pays homage to Your Majesty."
"Where is the person?"
"Your Majesty, someone... someone is dead. When I arrived, I had been hacked several times by everyone, and he himself raised the dagger to kill himself." Xiao Wenbi sighed, turned slightly sideways, and walked along the stone outside the door. After going down the steps, a carriage stopped outside. A body wearing a white brocade robe was lying on the thatch. The robe was soaked red with blood. The neck was cut open to reveal the severed blood vessels and throats inside, and there were three other things on the face. Bone incisions can be seen deep down the road, and there are also obvious holes poked by spears in the chest, abdomen, and legs.
The emperor stood at the door of the study and watched in silence for a long time. He walked down the stone steps and came to the side of the carriage. Looking at the corpse above, he could still vaguely see the appearance of the prince of Ding'an. contour.
Suddenly, Kitamiya lifted the palm of the corpse, rubbed the palm and the tiger's mouth, and then turned around and returned to the eaves without saying a word.
"Draft the decree!"
The emperor slowly turned around and glanced at the body on the carriage again. His voice was cold: "Su Yong, the prince of Ding'an Hou, the king will cheat. He deceived his Majesty and tried to resist, but he would rather die than regret it. Today, Su Yong's crime is still there. Su Congfang, the Marquis of Ding'an, failed to teach his children well. Cults were rampant under his rule. He was guilty of dereliction of duty. He was deprived of the title of Marquis and his whole family was escorted to the capital to await execution! "
"Your Majesty!" Xiao Wenbi hurriedly stepped forward, "There is something wrong with this edict. Su Yong is dead, and his crime should be exonerated. If the Marquis of Ding'an is implicated in this matter, the princes in the capital will be panicked, and the princes in the various states are afraid of thinking too much. Your Majesty This is what I mean, not to mention that according to the laws of Yan, the crime of deceiving the emperor is nothing more than confiscating the house."
The emperor turned around and looked straight at Master Jia Taishi. Then he said 'hmm'.
"What the Grand Master said makes sense, but I am too impatient, so I will change the following to: In memory of my ancestors who fought for the country and worked hard and achieved great results, and then people were stupid and slow. Today, I am abandoning my hereditary throne and depriving myself of the title of Marquis." The Su family is not allowed to live in Ding'an City. They must move out of the Marquis' Mansion within two days after receiving the order!"
"These are my wishes. Write them down carefully and send them to Zhongshu Province. , made an edict overnight and sent it to Ding’an City in Rongzhou to inform all states!”
"Let Fei Zhong, one of the commanders of the imperial city, lead five thousand imperial city soldiers and one thousand Yanshan cavalry to accompany him. Tang Huaiyuan, the governor of Rongzhou, will also lead his troops. By the way, just in case, I will send two more first-grade masters to go forward. Go, if there is stubborn resistance, kill without mercy!"
Xiao Wenbi looked at the figure who turned and walked into the study, his eyes flickered, he raised his hand slightly, and the soldiers behind him pulled the carriage and the body in the carriage together. Walk. The eunuch who recorded it turned around and ran away, conveying this decree to Zhongshu Province. A group of officials, including Zhongshu Ling and Zhongshu Shilang, who had already fallen asleep, drove back to the government office overnight until the sky became dim and bright, and the rhetoric was corrected. The imperial edict was sent out first by fast horses, followed by the notice, and another group of fast horses followed closely out of the capital.
At the same time, the documents of the announcement and the soldiers and horses of the imperial city followed them out of Yanjing. The documents they carried were read out along the way. When they arrived in Rongzhou, it was already the morning of the third day. Tang Huaiyuan was so shocked when he heard the news that he could not speak. It turns out that he has a good relationship with the two princes of Rongzhou, Su and Wu. He also knows Su Yong's character, how could such a gentle and kind person do such a thing.
But the edict has arrived, so he can only accept the emperor's decree, accompany the reading envoy from Yanjing, and the imperial soldiers and horses to Ding'an City to read the edict.
The news that the Su family had been deposed as marquises, eliminated hereditary officials, and even wanted to confiscate their homes, was like a sudden thunder, resounding throughout Rongzhou.
On the evening of the seventh day of the first lunar month, when Fang Wenye heard the news, he was having dinner with his family at home, and his granddaughter Fang Xuejun was also there. For a moment, everyone in the Fang family was stunned, and then they sent people to the government to inquire and got the news. After proving the evidence, the old man called everyone to the atrium hall.
"The Su family is finished."
"What should we do? Will it affect our Fang family? You must know that Xue Jun and Su Chen are still engaged!"
"It shouldn't affect us, but if the Su family loses its power, why should they have an in-law relationship with them!"
"Why don't we break off the engagement?"
Some members of the Fang family in the hall said this unspeakable words, but it was also what everyone was thinking, not because they were afraid of being implicated in the crime, but because they were afraid that the emperor would vent his anger on the Fang family.
"Then..." Fang Wenye pursed his lips and nodded with some difficulty: "Then let's do it."
"I don't agree!"
Among the Fang family members sitting in rows below, a woman's voice suddenly rang out. Fang Xuejun ignored the pull of her father beside her and said, "Why do you decide my marriage? When you flatter others, you want to put your face to it. Go up, now that the engagement has been agreed, and I dislike the decline of the Su family, I want to withdraw the engagement. You are not ashamed, but I am!” "The person in the second room stood up. Before he finished speaking, Fang Xuejun held up a chair with one hand and threw it at him.
The man was hit so hard his head was covered in blood.
"Since I have made a marriage agreement with the Su family, it is my own business and has nothing to do with you!"
Fang Xuejun pushed her cousin away and pulled her, turning He turned around and strode out. Leaving behind a group of red-faced homeowners, Fang Wenye squeezed the armrest tightly, and the veins on his forehead were pulsing.
......
Su Chen, who had entered the boundaries of Ding'an City that afternoon, also learned about this incident from the businessmen who passed by. Hearing that his brother had died and his house was ransacked. In an instant, he became indifferent, and the hand pressing the sword hilt trembled slightly.
The deputy general of the Xiliang Army on the side urged his horse to approach: "Third Young Master, come with us into the mountain."
"My parents and brothers are still in the city. You can take your troops and horses back to settle down. You are not allowed to go out of the mountain without orders. By the way, send a fast horse." Tell General Dong behind you to just do what I just said."
Su Chen looked at the other party and watched the five hundred cavalry move and turn towards the mountains. He just grabbed the horse's belly. He rode towards Ding'an City and arrived at the city gate. When the guards saw him, they couldn't bear it and shouted: "Third Young Master, please take care of yourself."
Su Chen nodded to them and dismounted. Holding the reins and walking into the city gate, people were coming and going on the street. Some people who looked familiar to Su Chen silently raised their hands. One of them said, "Third Young Master, we don't believe that the Crown Prince is like that!" As soon as he finished speaking, He was blown away by a group of patrol soldiers whom he had never seen before.
They saw Su Chen, and one of them stepped forward and took the horse from Su Chen, "Mr. Su, this horse also belongs to the property of the Hou Mansion. It will be taken away, as well as the one on your waist. ”
Su Chen just nodded in agreement and did not embarrass these soldiers from Yanjing. He took off the sword from his waist and handed it to them.
Then, we walked towards the familiar streets.
(End of this chapter)