Chapter 1424 The Foolish Empress 47
This is enough to make people's noses crooked with anger. With this kind of treatment, they still say that they eat and drink for free.
Go? If you can't leave, you've already reached this point. How can you leave? That means you have no integrity.
The seven ministers had no choice but to endure hunger, suffer from the stench, and live a difficult life.
When family members want to visit, hundreds of taels of silver notes are stuffed into the hands of the cell boss or the jailer.
They didn't push it, just held it in their hands: "It's not that they are unreasonable, the higher ups have ordered that no one is allowed to visit, and no food is allowed to be brought in. All the money given will be turned over to the treasury. The younger one wants the money, but is more afraid of losing his head." So sorry!”
You can't bring food in. You shouldn't be trying to starve people to death.
After hearing this, some family members cried on the spot.
At this time, the words came: "But as mentioned above, as long as the five hundred taels of silver are given, although no one can enter, the letter can still be handed in. If you have any words, just write them down. Go. There is no paper, ink, pen or inkstone next to it. If you don’t know how to write, someone can help you write it. Just give it a thumbprint at the end.”
They are all the family members of Beijing officials and come from scholarly families. There is no one who is illiterate.
I quickly ran out of money, so I made up my money and went to write a letter.
The cell boss and jailer also reminded me very thoughtfully: "Write more, it doesn't matter, otherwise it will cost another five hundred taels of silver to hand in the next letter."
Besides reporting safety and urging them to come out, what else could I write? What I write is watched by others, and I will definitely report it to you. If you dare to write rebellious words, are you seeking death?
Of course, there were also people who wrote to hold on and wrote when they got home. After taking it, they saw that the jailer was about to tear it down and quickly stopped them.
The jailer still smiled and showed a rare good temper: "I have orders from above. As long as you don't write insulting words, whether you are trying to persuade me to stay or to leave, I will pass."
Now it was the other party's turn to glare. "Above" should be the Empress. Does the Empress really not mind?
Sure enough, the jailer opened the letter, read it, and put it in: "Okay, I will give it to Lord Shen."
I didn’t forget to say: “If you still have a letter, feel free to bring it.”
A letter, five hundred taels of silver, whoever has time and no time can't live with the money.
Prince Duan looked at Zha Zi for another two days and wanted to return home, but the empress refused.
Xining sniffed and his eyes were porphyrinized again, with a pitiful look: "Brother, my body has not recovered yet, please help me."
King Duan gets a headache when he hears the word "Brother Huang". Can you not call him Brother Huang?
"But Chen..., Chen..." I couldn't speak at all, and all the excuses I thought of during my spare time flew to nowhere.
"Did the people in the palace not serve her well, or did she neglect her food and drink?" Xining blinked.
The service is very good, probably the same as serving the empress. She wears clothes, reaches out for food, and opens her mouth. There was also a good place to sleep, and a palace was specially allocated for him to live in. He slept until midnight without anyone waking him up.
But when he woke up, washed and ate, he was sent to Qinzheng Hall to read his papers.
"Is it possible..." Xining seemed to understand something, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face, which made King Duan feel uneasy.
That night, those concubines who were rewarded were chosen to be in good shape. There were fifteen of them in total, and they were all brought into the palace and stood side by side in front of King Duan for selection.
King Duan...
In fact, he didn't mean it like this, but since he sent it, it would be disrespectful.
Xining soon received the news that King Duan had left two behind.
Xining...
With this kind of management of state affairs, two people can still be left in good health. "Send the others back first, and then send them to King Duan for selection tomorrow." Xining was washing before going to bed.
"Yes~" The chief steward outside the curtain saluted and left.
The next day, King Duan stayed with two more people. They spent the whole night sleeping, and the three of them didn't wake up until three o'clock in the morning.
After King Duan woke up, he was immediately attended to and his two concubines were sent back to his house.
The same was true on the third night. On the fourth day, King Duan did not leave any concubines. This happened every night, which was too much for even the ironclad.
Xining went over to take a look and saw that King Duan suddenly lost weight and fell asleep while holding his zhazi. He couldn't help but laugh. No matter how thick-skinned Prince Duan was, he still turned red.
So Xining ordered his concubines to be sent out every three days for King Duan to choose.
Soon it was time for King Duan to leave the capital.
The governor of Jingzhao went to the prison in person. He covered his nose and endured the stench and shouted: "My lords, tomorrow is the day when King Duan will leave the capital. Your Majesty has an order. All officials of the sixth rank and above will see you off together."
"Now is your only chance to leave the prison. Starting tomorrow, all ministers who have not left the prison will not be allowed to leave."
"There are also letters from your family here. Come and pass them over to your lords."
These letters cost no more than 500 taels of silver, so it is rare that they are free. If I want to hand over money in the future, I may not be able to send a letter.
The seven ministers tremblingly accepted the letter. Their family members advised them to come out quickly. The empress had ordered Prince Duan to be sent to him. If he was still in prison, it would be disrespectful and disobedient. There is news that if he is still in prison by then, his whole family may be exiled to accompany those who went to King Duan's fiefdom earlier.
You know, it's easy to go, but it's difficult to come back. I have to wait until Xinyang is rich and wealthy to ask for an order to come back. I don't know, it will have to wait until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse. The whole family was exiled there, and it really took root there.
The ministers who have been in jail for almost a month have long wanted to leave. In fact, it was all about saving face and suffering, no reputation, no admonishment. Now that King Duan is leaving, what reason is there for staying in this ghost place?
Upon hearing this, everyone struggled to stand up, held on to the wall and walked out.
They haven't taken a shower for a month, have no clothes to change, and eat rotten rice and moldy cornstarch every day. They are all so thin that the wind could blow them over, their hair is disheveled, and they look out of shape. There was already a carriage sent by the government waiting outside. Seeing his master like this, he almost shed tears.
After seeing him, he said a few words casually, got in the car quickly, and left the prison as if running away.
After returning to the house, take a shower first. The bath water was as dirty as mud water. I changed into clean clothes and drank vegetable porridge and ginseng tea.
There is no need for the elders in the family to complain, they all feel stupid this time.
Xining personally delivered it to the city gate and said reluctantly: "Brother, can't you stay for a few more days? Next month is also a good time to set off."
Still staying? If you stay any longer, you will be drowned by the sky full of zazi. If I hadn't relieved my anger from my concubine and could fall asleep, I would have been criticizing my essays in my dreams at night.
King Duan was so frightened that he immediately bowed: "Although I can't bear to leave your majesty, I still go to the fiefdom as soon as possible. According to the ancestral system, it's time for me to leave."
Xining sniffed: "Brother Emperor is leaving, and I can't bear to leave. From now on, I will be the only one to see those princes."
He knew that the reason for keeping him was to deal with those piles of takus. This country did not belong to him, so he had better hurry back to the fiefdom. There were not so many takus there, and there was no need to worry about things not being handled well. During this period, it seemed that he was assisting the government and was very prosperous, but in fact he was walking on thin ice.
"I have to say goodbye after a long journey. Brother Emperor, take care and come see me often when you have time." Xi Ning is so reluctant to let go. He really is. He won't have such a good helper to help him with all the mess in the future.
"Your Majesty, you take this very seriously." King Duan took advantage of this opportunity, saluted quickly, got in the car and left.
(End of chapter)