Harue Kagetsu

The voice in the hall stopped in an instant, and everyone looked at Xiao Yongjia with envy.

The county magistrate of Huaide smiled and said, "On a birthday, even the empress will go out to the palace to celebrate her birthday in person. This kind of honor, A Ling, looking at the Southern Dynasty, you are the only one."

The crowd joined in.

Xiao Yongjia smiled slightly.

Luoshen sat next to her, and when she saw that she seemed to get up to meet her, she immediately said, "A-niang, you are inconvenient, so I'll go to meet A-sister on your behalf."

Luoshen arrived at the front hall and waited for a while, and sure enough, Gao Yongrong appeared. Luo Shen led a group of servants to greet him. He was already picked up by Gao Yongrong, smiling all over his face. He first complained that she never entered the palace to find himself to talk, and then said that this was home, and he just wanted to hear her call her sister.

Luoshen smiled and said, "Elder sister, A-Niang was going to come to meet her in person, but I stopped her. Sister wouldn't take offense, would she?"

"Today, on my aunt's birthday, I came here to celebrate my aunt's birthday. Who cares about these modesty? What's more, my aunt is inconvenient. Don't be so upset with my sister."

Gao Yongrong held Luoshen's arm intimately, talking and laughing all the way, went in, and soon arrived at the banquet hall.

Xiao Yongjia came out and greeted the female guests.

Gao Yongrong stepped forward hurriedly and personally supported Xiao Yongjia.

Xiao Yongjia had already ordered someone to set up a seat for her and invited her to take a seat.

Gao Yongrong grabbed Xiao Yongjia and led her back to the seat first, and then he took the seat and told everyone to be flat, so there was no need to bow. He said with a smile: "I lost my mother when I was a child, and Aunt Domeng took care of me. She treated me like a daughter, and my aunt was like my mother. I only hated that I was married far away before, but now I am confined in the palace all day, and I can't show my filial piety. Today is my aunt's happy birthday, I'm here to celebrate her birthday and to visit my family. If everyone can't let go because I'm here, that's my sin."

Seeing that the Queen had no air at all, her words were respectful and filial, and they became more and more envious of Xiao Yongjia. Several palace servants carried the birthday gifts carefully prepared by the queen, either precious or rare. The first two palace servants, one kneeling and holding a tray painted with gold and red lacquer, with a pair of gold inlaid Ruyi on it, the other holding a bird stand, on top of which stood a colorful parrot. Tie a gold chain, only teased, opened his mouth and said, "Eldest Princess Kang An Ruyi!"

Everyone laughed and praised.

Xiao Yongjia said with a smile: "Your Majesty the Queen is in the sixth palace, I'm just celebrating my birthday, which year doesn't this day? Originally, I was lazy to toss with these few seats today, and I was afraid that everyone would say that I was too big. Invite everyone to be entertained, Empress Lao is so troublesome, I am really sorry."

Gao Yongrong smiled and said, "Auntie doesn't need to see outsiders. Today is Auntie's festive day. No matter how many birthday gifts your niece prepares for Auntie, it won't be enough to express her niece's heart for her auntie."

She got up, took the pair of Ruyi, and presented it with her own hands.

"This pair of wishful thinking is nothing but an ordinary thing, but the ceremony is light and righteous. The niece has already prepared it, and on the auspicious day of the month, I hereby present it."

"I only hope that my aunt will be happy from now on and have the present day."

She stared at Xiao Yongjia and said word by word with a smile on her face.

…

In the evening, in the Taicheng government office, Gao Qiao had not left.

Today is Xiao Yongjia's birthday. A few days ago, she told him that she didn't want to make a big deal, so she could just invite a few clansmen to sit at home.

In the previous years, when the relationship between husband and wife was not good, Xiao Yongjia's daily life was extremely extravagant, and Gao Qiao just watched and did not dare to say a word to her. Seeing that her temperament has changed a lot now, not only is she gentle and lovely, but she no longer pays attention to those things in daily life, so she is naturally happy. This time when he met her birthday, he originally wanted to do it for her, but she didn't expect her to bring it up on her own initiative. .

He was a man of extravagance and prudence, and his wife said so, so she no longer insisted. Today, I have been thinking about it in my heart, and I want to go back to accompany her earlier. Seeing that it was evening, I stepped up to deal with some things, and left the rest to give up, and told the officials to disperse. When I was about to leave, I saw Xiao Daocheng coming, and the entourage followed him with a stack of files, saying that he was looking for something, so he had to stop again.

Xiao Daocheng handed over a directory and said with a smile: "This is a useful material recommended by various places. Your Majesty has already seen it, and everything is correct. I know that the minister is also very concerned about this, so I brought the directory first and called it. Take a look. I know that you are busy, and I have circled the outstanding ones. If the Prime Minister is worried, he can inspect it himself when he has time. If there is no mistake, His Majesty will appoint him by order. His Majesty also has many emotions, and all rely on the Prime Minister. Xian, only can the court have a good situation with a new atmosphere today."

Lu Guang died, Xu Mi was impeached, and he was actually half-hidden. Affected by this turmoil, many vacancies were vacated in the imperial court. These days, in accordance with the usual system of investigation and levy, Xiao Dao has drawn up this list of appointments for new officials and showed it to Gao Qiao.

Among the official positions that need to be reappointed, there are several positions, all of which are in key departments such as the Five Armies and the Ministry of Personnel. The positions are not low and very important.

Gao Qiao took it, took a look, saw the circled ones, most of them he knew, all of them were local Fangbo, either prestige or talented, after browsing the list, nodded: "I will tomorrow Just watch, after reading the performance, Your Majesty."

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered someone.

"Why isn't Yang Xuan up there?"

Xiao Daocheng shook his head: "I was just about to talk to Xianggong. It's a pity. Although Xianggong called him several times, he refused to return to the capital. According to the news that Fang received today, he went to Xuancheng to plead guilty. Not only did Xu Mi not blame him, He even killed his son Xu Chuo, saying it was to comfort the heroes of the dead Northern Expedition soldiers."

Gao Qiao was silent for a moment, then heaved a long sigh: "General Yang clearly has a righteous heart, but his luck is not good. It is really sad that such a loyal and fierce person cannot be used by the court!"

Xiao Daocheng sighed a few times, looked at Gao Qiao, saw him looking at the sky outside, smiled, and handed over another dossier, saying, "I know that Xianggong is in a hurry to come back today, so as to celebrate the birthday of the eldest princess, and also I don't dare to keep the minister. There is only one last thing. This is the dossier of the death row in the autumn queen. Please check it with Gao Xianggong. If it is correct, I will ask Your Majesty to sue. Then, order that entourage to present the dossier.

This matter involves human life, and Gao Qiao has always attached great importance to it. Every time there is a death row, before reporting for a jury trial, no matter how busy he is, he will definitely browse the dossier to avoid wrongful convictions. He nodded, turned over the thick stack of files in front of him, and said, "Leave it. I'll read it when I have time."

Xiao Dao agreed, and said again: "The solitary king has seen the files of these death row prisoners to be beheaded. All of them are extremely vicious people, and there are still others who die. There is only one of them. There are special things. I think the solitary king is abusing the law."

"Isn't the court made three orders and five applications before, so the celestial teachers can no longer stay in Jiankang to engage in activities? The solitary king knows that this matter is of great importance. After the minister reminded him before, the solitary king has been personally inquiring. Now many of those people have left. One of them is a female leader. , It is said that the incense owner, named Shao Yuniang, disobeyed the order and refused to leave. When asked who her old friend was, she refused to say. Gu Wang suspected that she was scheming, and even more to frighten the stubborn believers who were addicted to it. Thinking of killing chickens and making an example, he cast the first female sect on death row. cut."

"I know that Gao Xianggong has always attached great importance to human life, and he doesn't dare to make his own decisions. I think it is better to tell Xianggong first, whether to ask the beheading or not, it is up to you to decide."

He pulled out one of the files and handed it to Gao Qiao.

As soon as Gao Qiao heard the name, his expression changed, he took the file, quickly opened it, and glanced at ten lines, suppressing the incomparable surprise in his heart, looked at Xiao Daocheng, hesitated, and asked: "This Shao Yuniang, how old are you? Where are you from?"

"Thirty-five-six, she doesn't want to tell her origin. But according to her accent, her ancestral home should be in Jiangbei. It is said that there is a younger brother named Shao Fengzhi, who is also one of the backbones of Tianshijiao. That Shao Fengzhi is clever, and the court prohibits After a while, the person disappeared, and he should have left Beijing early..."

Before Xiao Daocheng's words were finished, Gao Qiao was already stunned, staring at the file in his hand, he suddenly regained his senses, and asked, "This Shao Yuniang is now on death row?"

Xiao Daocheng nodded: "Exactly..."

Gao Qiao put down the dossier, hurried out of the ya office with his feet up, rushed to the Heavenly Prison in one breath, reported the name of the death row prisoner, and was taken straight to a cell where the female prisoner was being held.

The prison is dark. In the space so narrow that no one could lie straight, the corner was occupied by a vent barrel, and the stench was overwhelming. The ground was littered with straw, and mosquitoes were flying. A female prisoner was curled up inside, in ragged clothes, with torture on her body, motionless, as if she were dead, her face was hidden by tousled hair, and she could not see clearly.

The accompanying prison officer said: "Gao Xianggong, this female prisoner is a person taught by Tianshi, and she blatantly disobeyed her orders and refused to leave. King Xin'an suspected that she had other plans, so she was put on death row. These days, she has been ill and everyone is burning. I was so confused, I didn’t even eat a few bites of food, the next official was afraid that she would die here, and was thinking about reporting…”

The female prisoner on the ground seemed to be awakened by the voice of the prison officer, and groaned, and from her mouth, which was covered by the messy hair, a weak low hiss: "Wrong..."

The prison officer looked at Gao Qiao beside him.

His eyes were fixed on the female prisoner on the ground, and his expression was very strange.

Over the years, this is not the first time he has returned to the death row to personally arraign death row prisoners, and the prison officials are not used to it. Then he shouted sharply: "Shao Yuniang! Do you know who this person is? He is Gao Xianggong, the minister of the court! He keeps saying that he is wronged, but he doesn't tell the truth. How can you be wronged?"

The female prisoner seemed to have been stabbed by a needle, and suddenly raised her head, her hair flipped open, revealing half of her face, her eyes opened, and her gaze fell on Gao Qiao's body outside the prison door.

Those eyes that could not see the slightest bit of anger, as if they were injected with something, suddenly widened and stared at Gao Qiao for a while, struggling to get up from the ground, and a vague whimper in his throat seemed to be smothered The sobbing "Gao Xianggong" rolled his eyes and fell to the ground again.

The prison officer hurriedly opened the cell door, went up to take a breath, and patted her face a few times. Seeing that her eyes were tightly closed and motionless, he hurriedly said, "She must have passed out!"

Gao Qiao looked at the female prisoner whose eyes were closed on the ground. At this moment, his inner shock was almost indescribable in words.

Although nearly twenty years have passed, he still recognized her face just now when he saw her exposed face.

It turned out to be the Shao Yuniang of the year!

He had always thought that this Shao Yuniang had already died on the way to Jiangbei. I would never have dreamed that she was alive. Not only was he alive, but he also entered the Heavenly Teacher Education, and now he was put on death row because of this status. In this way, he appeared in front of him again!

"Gao Xianggong, what should I do?" the prison officer asked him.

Gao Qiao calmed down. "Change her to a clean place and call a doctor quickly!"

The prison officer arranged it immediately. A strong old woman came and took Shao Yuniang, who had passed out on the ground, into a better cell above. After a while, Lang Zhong came, saw a doctor, and was fed some sugar water by the mother-in-law. Finally, the man woke up, slowly turned half of his face, looked at Gao Qiao, said nothing, and kept streaming. with tears.

When Gao Qiao was injured in the Northern Expedition, the Shaw brothers and sisters came to deliver medicine. At that time, they also took care of him for some time, which was a life-saving grace for him. Later, Gao Qiao took the sister and brother back to Jiankang, and those things happened. Moreover, it was because of her accidental death that directly caused the separation between him and Xiao Yongjia for more than ten years.

It can be said that in Gao Qiao's half life, Shao Yuniang did not appear for a long time. From the beginning to the end, it is not even a year.

But the influence this woman had on his life was not that big.

Gao Qiao wanted to forget, but he couldn't forget it.

People who thought they had already died suddenly appeared alive again.

At this moment, he had mixed feelings, and countless doubts accumulated in his heart. Seeing that Shao Yuniang was awake, she ordered everyone to leave the cell and asked, "You were still alive back then, and I sent people along the river to look for you. Why haven't you shown up? Why did you join the Tianshijiao?"

Shao Yuniang looked at him madly, and choked: "Gao Langjun, I was in love for you back then. I was confused for a while and did that wrong thing. After being reprimanded by you, I was extremely ashamed and made up my mind. , when I find a suitable place to stay, I will walk away from afar, so as not to be looked down upon by you and blamed by the eldest princess. I never thought, before I found a place, the eldest princess sent someone to chase me aggressively. The brothers and sisters returned to Jiangbei. I did something wrong first, and I had no choice but to rush to the ferry that day."

"I originally wanted to go back to Jiangbei, but if I died later, it was my own fault. I never imagined that the eldest princess would not let me go. It turned out that she wanted me to die and sent people to chase and kill me. I was forced to jump. Into the river. It is my fate, Adi is familiar with water, and after falling into the water, he protected me to the death. My brother and sister grabbed a piece of driftwood and floated for the night. They were rescued by the passing boat.

She burst into tears.

"Gao Langjun, you have always looked down on me, and the eldest princess hates me to the bone, and she is determined to take my life. After I escaped by luck, how dare I show up again..."

Gao Qiao waved his hand and interrupted her: "You must not blame anyone wrong. Those who intercepted back then had nothing to do with the eldest princess! She didn't know it at all. Those people were sent by Princess Yulin, Princess Zhu."

Shao Yuniang was stunned for a moment, and then cried: "Gao Langjun, can the Zhu family admit to you that she sent someone to kill me back then?"

Gao Qiao shook his head. "Even if you don't admit it yourself, it's the same."

"Gao Langjun, I heard that Princess Yu Lin had already died in a fire. Everyone died, and others planted something she didn't do on her head, and she couldn't prove her innocence. It wasn't me. I want to say that the eldest princess is not good in front of you. But firstly, Zhu Shi and I don’t know each other and have no grudges. Why does she hate me so much and want to kill me? Second…”

She wiped away her tears and said in a low voice, "When I was hunted down that day, I heard with my own ears the commander who was pretending to be a bandit, saying that if the eldest princess has spoken, you can't tell me to leave alive..."

"Bold! How dare you slander!"

Gao Qiao was furious and shouted sharply.

Shao Yuniang shivered, her face was pale, she struggled to get up, kept kowtowing, and sobbed: "If there is half a sentence that is not true, tell me to die! Gao Langjun, if you don't want to hear it, I won't say it again. It was my fault that day, and I deserve to die for my sins. Whoever sends someone to kill me is the same."

Gao Qiao calmed down and exhaled slowly.

"That's it! How did you join the Tianshijiao later, and why did you refuse to leave this time, so you were imprisoned?"

Shao Yuniang burst into tears.

"The owner of the boat who saved me that day was a leader of the Heavenly Master Sect. That's why I joined the sect."

"That leader coveted me at the time, I am a weak woman, how can I resist? Thinking of Gao Langjun, you look down on me, the eldest princess will not allow me to live in the world, and I have lost my body again, how can I go back to find you again? Hate and endure humiliation and dedicate myself to others. Over the years, I have been forced to be helpless, and I have done some wrong things. But I was tired of it and didn’t want to live like this anymore. I was sent to Jingkou to develop the congregation again. I was forced to take my life and offended Li Mu. I had long regretted it and wanted to quit, but I didn’t dare, because I was afraid that the people in the church would be bad for my sister and brother. The imperial court ordered that the people who were taught by Tianshi were not allowed to stop in Jiankang, so I secretly stayed, trying to escape their control. put on death row."

"These days, I've been beaten to death, and I'm so sick that I don't have the slightest energy. I originally thought that I would die in prison like this. I didn't expect to see you again, Mr. Gao Lang..."

Shao Yuniang cried with grief and grief, her whole body shivered, and she finally fell to the ground crying softly.

Gao Qiao looked at him, upset, and suddenly remembered that he promised his wife that he would return earlier today. After making up his mind, he said, "I know. I'll tell someone to remove you from the list. Don't worry, take care of your body here first. I still have something to do, so I'll go first."

He turned to leave when Shao Yuniang suddenly reached out and grabbed his leg. Seeing him looking down, he hurriedly withdrew his hand, and said timidly: "Gao Langjun, please, don't let the eldest princess know that I am still alive... I was in Jingkou before, and I met her on the road by chance, and I blocked her at that time. I wanted to back down after she said what she said, but I was sitting on the chariot and was pushed forward by the disciples behind me. She... She hates me even more... If she was told that the female Celestial Master was me back then, I would still be alive..."

She seemed to remember the past, a look of fear appeared on her face, and she wept silently.

Gao Qiao frowned, turned around and walked out.

The prison officer was still waiting outside, and when he saw Gao Qiao come out, he hurried up to meet him.

Gao Qiao instructed him to temporarily transfer the female prisoner inside to a cleaner female prison, and then ask Lang Zhong to continue to see her doctor, so that she must be taken care of.

The prison officer understood. This female prisoner is either very important, or she has some old memories with Gao Qiao. Although she is a half-old woman, she still has a charm. Since he didn't dare to ask any more questions, he repeatedly agreed.

Gao Qiao came out of the death row and returned home with a heavy heart.

At this time, it was already dark, and Xiao Yongjia's birthday banquet was coming to an end.

Gao Qiao learned that Gao Yongrong was here, and the rest of the female dependants were also from his own family. The county owner also knows it, so there is no need to avoid it. He changed clothes in a hurry, suppressed his worries, and hurried to the Shoutang.

Luo Shenzhi knew that his mother had been waiting for his father, but he did not return after waiting for a long time. Mother didn't seem to be doing well, and she was really anxious. She was about to get up and go to the front to take a look. Suddenly, she saw the figure of father appearing outside the hall from a distance. He was coming this way. Complaining: "Aye! It's A-Niang's birthday today. You promised to be back earlier, but why did you come back so late? A-Niang has been waiting for you!"

"It's not good to blame Aye! It's not good to blame Aye! Don't be annoyed!"

Gao Qiao hurriedly apologized to her daughter in a low voice.

Luoshen looked back at his mother who was talking and laughing with the county head next to him, and smiled softly: "I'm not annoyed. I'm afraid that A-niang is annoyed in her heart, but she doesn't say anything. When the guests leave, Aye Remember to make amends to A-Niang."

Gao Qiao nodded, entered, and stopped.

The people inside also saw him and looked over together.

Gao Qiao bowed to Gao Yongrong and smiled at the women: "Today, it's A Ling's birthday, I should have been back earlier, but something happened again in the government office and I was stumped. I'd like to help you all over the government to help you. She celebrates her birthday, she is pregnant and cannot drink alcohol, so I will give you a toast on her behalf."

A servant girl had already brought him a full glass. When Gao Qiao drank, everyone applauded.

The county magistrate of Huaide refused to let it go easily, and asked him to drink another cup to wish Xiao Yongjia his birthday.

In front of everyone, Gao Qiao couldn't help himself, but when he saw Xiao Yongjia sitting there, looking at him with a smile, with a thick face, he also said congratulations, and drank again.

Full of laughter.

But the county owner didn't give up, saying that he was late even today and wanted another drink to show his sincerity in making amends.

Gao Qiao agreed. The county chief asked someone to fetch a cup the size of a sea bowl, poured wine into it, and when it was full, held it, and asked Gao Qiao to drink it.

The women were stunned, and all followed suit. While smiling, Gao Qiao kept looking at Xiao Yongjia and cast his eyes for help.

Xiao Yongjia was a little annoyed at her husband. It was promised to be back early, but it was too late. No matter how busy things were, why didn't even remember to send someone back to say something. But at this moment, seeing him being teased by the county head, I guess he was in a hurry to get back, he must have eaten dinner, and he had already drank two glasses of wine on an empty stomach. Then he looked at Aju on the side.

Aju understood and was about to go up to help Gao Qiao, but heard that Gao Yongrong had already opened his mouth. He smiled and said: "Today, my aunt's birthday, and my uncle was late. I should have been punished. It's just that my uncle was caught in the affairs of my court. If I really want to punish, I should have punished your majesty and me. It's better for me to replace my uncle. I drank this cup to calm my aunt. What do you think?"

As he said that, he took the wine in front of him and looked at the crowd with a smile.

When the county owner and the women saw that the queen had spoken like this, they gave up. Seeing Gao Yongrong drinking, they all cheered.

Xiao Yongjia glanced at Gao Yongrong and smiled.

Gao Yongrong said again: "Auntie is heavy, so she must be tired. Let's all have fun here tonight. How about we get together again when we have a chance next time?"

The birthday banquet had been noisy for some time, and when the women saw Gao Qiao returning, they wanted to say goodbye. After hearing Gao Yongrong speak, they nodded and stood up one after another, telling Xiao Yongjia not to come out to see him off.

How can Xiao Yongjia want to be a big one? Armed by her daughter, she personally sent the guests out.

Gao Yongrong repeatedly told Xiao Yongjia to take good care of his body, and also told Luoshen to remember to come to the palace often, saying that he missed her very much, and finally got into the phoenix car parked outside the door and went.

Xiao Yongjia sent the rest away again, and was supported by his daughter back. After walking a few steps, she saw her husband coming out.

Gao Qiao asked her daughter to go back to the room to rest, and he supported Xiao Yongjia's arm, and said carefully, "Aling, are you tired today? I'll take you back to the room."