I'm watching the gate in the jail

The day eunuch Liang Fang was executed in the street at Xisi Pailou, the whole capital was shocked.

Several streets around the archway were blocked by crowds of people. People from Jinyiwei and Xicheng Bingmasi had to set up fences and barriers in several nearby streets, but they still couldn't stop the influx of people.

"What's so interesting about this? Is it beautiful to have a royal guard washing an elephant?"

Wanda, who was sitting in the restaurant opposite the execution ground, looked at the Wuyang Wuyang crowd underground and kept shaking his head in amazement.

It is said that the boxes and private seats along the street of these nearby restaurants and teahouses were all booked up a month ago, just to be able to witness the tragic scene of the eunuch being hacked to death at close range.

Not to mention wine shops and teahouses, when Wanda and the others came all the way just now, they found that as long as there were windows facing the direction of the execution ground, even ordinary people began to provide paid viewing services.

"Five copper coins, you only need five copper coins to see the grand scene of the villain Ling Chi! There is still tea in the little old man's house, so hurry up and go upstairs, gentlemen."

The small households along the street were yelling loudly to the outside, and a few people who couldn't get a seat in the teahouse and didn't want to follow the punks and idlers to climb the big tree actually followed upstairs.

"The people of Ming Dynasty are too crazy. Just killing a eunuch will cause the whole city to revel..."

When Wanda passed by the door of that family just now, she was shocked by the continuous stream of people walking inside.

What is "entertaining to death"?

The people in the capital of the Ming Dynasty regard watching executions as "entertainment"!

Although it is already the turn of summer and autumn, the weather in the capital is still scorching hot this year, and the sun shining in the west in the afternoon can still make people sweat all over.

After Wanda sat down, she took two sips of herbal tea, and then hastily took out a fan to fan herself.

The last time the capital was so sensational, it was the annual Jinyiwei Elephant Training Center, where the elephants in the elephant room were pulled to the Jishuitan to bathe the elephants.

Last year and the year before last, Wanda failed to catch up with the Sanfu elephant washing activity. This time, he dragged his sick body to the Linshuiju on the other side of Haizi to watch the grand scene of "Jinyiwei civil servants taking a naked bath in the street" at close range.

In order to meet the requirements of his little lover, Yang Xiuxian booked the entire third floor of Linshui Residence half a month in advance.

In addition to Wanda, Qiu Zijin and a group of people, a group of brothers who were not on duty that day from Beizhen Fusi were also invited to join in the grand event.

First came the Range Rover, and second came to celebrate Wanda’s recovery, and he will be able to return to Beizhen Fusi to continue working in a few days—yes, although Xiao Wang Zhi still can’t understand it, Wanda insists that he can stay in Jinyiwei to shine and shine, and to relieve the country’s worries.

Dongchang or something, please ask Gao Ming to go.

On the day of washing the elephants, the atmosphere in the entire capital was like a festival. From the west of Xuanwumen to Haizi, colorful sheds were set up along the way. All the way out of the institute.

There is also a guard of honor in front of the elephant team. It seems that they are not sending the elephants to take a bath, but to participate in a beauty pageant.

The last time Wanda saw elephants was at the wildlife park, and he could only look at the four or five elephants in the huge garden from a distance, and ignored people.

The elephants in the Ming Dynasty were different. Speaking of which, they were still "colleagues" and worked together in the Jinyiwei Yamen.

Not only are these elephants involved in daily guard work not afraid of crowds, they may be a little "crazy".After entering the water of Jishuitan for the second time, these giants would either roll in the sea, or slap their ears and scream loudly, and spray each other with their noses after drawing water, causing the men and women watching around to scream frequently.

The most embarrassing thing is that these elephants who are kept in isolation in their own cages on weekdays, after coming to the wild, a few of them actually moved "Spring Hing", and the beasts who don't know what shame are under the gaze of tens of thousands of people The subordinates began to make peace, no matter how the elephant slave pulled or whipped, he would not be moved.

Now the entire pool of water was like a frying pan exploded, and the screams came and went.

The elderly audience laughed loudly, the brave local ruffians stared at it with wide eyes, and the famous ladies blushed and closed their eyes, dumbfounded.

As for the men from Beizhen Fusi, as if they had agreed, Qiqi turned his head from the outside and cast a "compassionate" look at Wanda.

"Look at me!"

Wanda angrily knocked on the table with the handle of her fan, "Is there an elephant that looks good on me? Hey!"

Everyone turned around laughing, and decided not to irritate their immediate boss.

After Wanda recovered from his injury, he entered the second palace, and then he knew that the instigator of all these rumors was his beloved brother-in-law.

After Yang Xiuxian came out of the closet in Yuqian, his brother-in-law made such an interpretation of his "bitter trick" this time, and directly characterized him as "inhumane" in front of his sister Wan Zhener, dispelling her sister's desire to give herself The idea of ​​marriage.

Wanda thought it was different from what Xiaoqiu and I discussed.

Xiaoqiu asked me to "self-mutilate", thereby further confirming Zhou Shou's crime.

Everyone is a "foreign relative", so there is no question of who the emperor protects.Even if the Queen Mother Zhou interceded, she was powerless.In this way, His Majesty's confidant's troubles were solved, and if he had a showdown with His Majesty in the future, he would have more chips in his hand.

Who knows that the situation has changed like this during the few days when he was in a coma... Although in the end, he and Yang Xiuxian fulfilled his and Yang Xiuxian's careful thinking by mistake, but the price is that Wan Xinghai has been "destroyed" from now on. .

It can only be said that the emperor's "imperial-level understanding" is many times higher than Qiu Zijin's "Tanhua-level understanding".

After a month, the people in the capital reveled again, but this time it was not for the elephants, but to watch the Ministry of Punishment torture Eunuch Liang.

"You don't know, don't you know that there are countless people in Beijing who hate Uncle Qing Yun. Especially those families whose daughters were ruined. Before, they thought their daughters were missing or dead. Who knew it was... Mo Speaking of these, it is the crime of raising the price of food in the capital, which makes people want to see what happens to Uncle Qing Yun and his accomplices."

Yang Xiuxian said with a smile.

Qing Yunbo's Huangzhuang in Tongzhou was confiscated, and the land was reclassified as county property.The grain produced was also washed away and brought into the national treasury to make up for the loss of Taicang during the Dragon Boat Festival.

His Majesty has already dispatched additional manpower, recruited manpower and started corvée service in the Jiangnan and Jiangbei areas, dredged the Grand Canal and repaired the sluices along the way, hoping to solve the urgent need of food in the capital to some extent.

"Where's Xiao Qiu? Why doesn't he come to watch the fun?"

Wanda circled around twice, and found that apart from him and Yang Xiuxian, Gao Hui was the only one who attended the event today, and Qiu Zijin was absent again.

I said "again" because he didn't come the last time the big guys watched the elephant take a bath together.

At that time, it was because Xiaoqiu's mother's case was still under trial, so he couldn't even leave the house to avoid suspicion.

Now that the trial of the case is over, Qiu Zijin returned to the Ministry of Criminal Justice two days ago to be on duty, so why didn't he show up today.

Could it be that after a case was settled, Xiao Qiu still had a life separation with them?

There was a burst of joy downstairs, Wanda looked down and saw the prison cart carrying eunuch Liang with a heavy shackle coming from the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. All kinds of rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves greeted the kneeling people on the prison cart along the way. The soldiers guarding near the prison car also inevitably suffered disaster.

Today's eunuch Liang was tortured, and the people in the capital were so excited. They didn't know how excited they would be when they waited for Uncle Qing Yun Zhou's birthday to be tortured in the autumn.

"Lord Qiu left the city today to send his mother back to her hometown."

Gao Hui sat sideways beside the two of them and said.

"Ah... so it's today. Xiaoqiu is really serious, he didn't tell us about such an important matter. Otherwise, we can go to give it off together."

Wanda said regretfully.

"He didn't tell us, he just didn't want us to know... Qiu Shusheng has deep thoughts and wants to save face, so let's pretend we don't know anything."

Yang Xiuxian sighed lightly.

Half a month ago, the case of Uncle Qing Yun, Zhou Shou and Liang Fang of the Jingdezhen Imperial Ware Factory was finally concluded. Except for the two of them who were destined to die after His Majesty opened the mouth, the case of the other people also came to a conclusion.

First of all, it was the shopkeeper of Rongbao Building. He was accused of stealing and smuggling royal belongings, and the crime of abducting and trafficking women from a good family made him escape death.The Rong family was also completely ransacked, and all members of the Rong family were exiled to Lingnan.

Because Ms. Rong was also considered a victim, she was not exiled because she confessed many secrets about the Rong family and Uncle Qing Yun during the trial process.She was sent to a nunnery outside the capital, and after giving birth, she became a nun, and from then on, the Qingdeng Ancient Buddha lived her life.

All the merchants who did business with the Rong family basically encountered the fate of ransacking their homes, including Qiu Zijin's family.

In the huge Qiu family, only the ancestral land and ancestral graves were left. The imperial court took back the title bestowed on Qiu's mother and the Enrong memorial archway. Wealth accumulated over generations was wiped out.

Fortunately, for Qiu Zijin's face, Qiu's mother was not sentenced to death or humiliated during the trial process, maintaining the final dignity of the head mother.

Qiu Zijin took out all his savings and the emperor's reward to redeem the copper for his mother, exempting her from the crime of being exiled, and commuting her sentence to returning to her hometown to perform hard labor.

Under the Baqiao, the grass is setting in the sun.

Qiu Zijin led the pony and sent his parents to Changting in the suburbs.

In addition to Qiu's father and Qiu's mother, soldiers from the Ministry of Punishment escorted them along the way.

Qiu's mother took off all her silk and satin, and changed into a coarse cloth dress. On her head, she just tied a bun with an ordinary wooden hairpin and covered it with a piece of blue cloth.

Qiu's mother used to have an ordinary face, but now she is dressed like this, and she can't tell the difference from ordinary village women.

Qiu's father and Qiu's mother are not as simple as just wearing common clothes now. Both of them have shackles on their hands and chains on their feet. The blood bubbles have been ground out.

"Brothers, please take off the shackles on my parents for the sake of this official, at least when they are on the road."

Qiu Zijin couldn't bear to see his parents suffer so much, he took out two pieces of silver from his sleeve, and wanted to give it to the two soldiers who were in charge of escorting, but they refused with a wave of their hands.

"My lord, you don't have to be like this. Everyone is working in the Ministry of Criminal Justice. In the future, we brothers will still be taken care of by your lord."

The leader captain squatted down courteously, and without a word, untied the anklets tied to Mother Qiu's feet, and removed the wooden shackles weighing three to five catties for her.

This lord Xiaoqiu was able to do such things as righteousness and extermination of relatives, and he was rewarded by His Majesty afterwards. He will surely rise all the way in the Ministry of Punishment in the future, with a bright future.They still have to give this face.

After being unloaded from the heavy shackles, Qiu's mother was really "relieved", and let out a long sigh of relief.

"My lord, it's still early, so you can chat slowly. The two of us brothers went to the nearby tea shed to drink a bowl of water. It's still hot today, so why don't we leave when it's cooler."

As he said that, he pulled another soldier, cupped his hands towards Qiu Zijin, and walked quickly to the side.

Qiu Zijin and the two bowed gratefully, and as soon as they turned around, they were slapped heavily on the face.

"Mother……"

The young man covered his cheeks in surprise, and looked back at Mrs. Qiu who was full of anger.

"Hey, ma'am, what are you doing?"

Qiu's father saw that Qiu's mother wanted to hit her again, so he hurried forward and stopped her.

"Shouldn't he hit him? What good has he done, shouldn't I hit him?"

As Qiu's mother said, she pushed her husband away and hit Qiu Zijin fiercely.

Qiu Zijin simply knelt on the ground, neither resisting nor avoiding, and let Qiu's mother beat him.

Mother Qiu's long nails scratched Qiu Zijin's delicate cheeks, leaving two long red bloodstains.

"You don't move now, you know how to pretend to be filial now? What about before? When your biological mother was locked up in prison, where were you?"

Mother Qiu beat and scolded.

"Do you know what you did? You ruined the Qiu family, all my hard work, and your own future. What is your intention? Are you crazy?"

Mother Qiu couldn't help crying as she spoke.

"Why have I worked so hard all my life? Why have I raised you so much? Your wings are hardened, and you don't want to repay your mother or your clan. You actually did such a rebellious thing. Are you a white-eyed wolf? ?”

As he spoke, he beat Qiu Zijin's back fiercely, and knocked his hat to the ground. Qiu Zijin's bun was untied, and his long hair was instantly scattered on his shoulders. His cheeks were swollen, and he was extremely embarrassed.

On a tall tree not far from the long pavilion, the layers of branches move automatically without wind.

"My mother has worked so hard for so many years to raise her son, and my son should be grateful."

Although Qiu Zijin was kneeling, his spine was straight.

"But it wasn't the son who ruined the Qiu family, it was the mother herself. The person who almost ruined the son's future was none other than the mother herself."

He raised his head, looked directly at Mother Qiu's unbelievable eyes, stood up slowly, and picked up the hat on the ground.

"The son didn't destroy the Qiu family, but saved the Qiu family. If it weren't for the son, the Qiu family would have been ransacked. At least no one died now, and the ancestral graves and ancestral fields have been preserved. If the descendants are lucky, it will not be a big deal to make a comeback in the future Can't."

"You, you 'anti-bone'. Husband, listen, listen to what your good son is saying? Is he speaking human language?"

Qiu's mother took Qiu's father's arm, pointed at Qiu Zijin's nose angrily and shouted sharply.

"If my mother returns to her hometown this time, if she can let go of the past and start over, with her ability, I believe the Qiu family will be able to regroup soon."

"Regroup? Do I want 'regroup'? Originally, our Qiu family could 'fly to prosperity'! I gave you all the roads and paved the way for the Qiu family, but you treated me like this!"

"Mother, you don't understand yet!"

Qiu Zijin raised his head, and stared at the slender phoenix eyes, "Mother is not helping me, you have been for yourself from the beginning!"

"what……"

Qiu's mother was full of disbelief.

"You married into the Qiu family, spurred your father on, revitalized the Qiu family's business, and forced me to study and improve—all of these things were not for me, not for me, but for yourself—you wanted to become a wife, You want to monopolize the Qiu family's property. You even want to make friends with officials in Beijing, and it is you who want to climb the dragon and become the phoenix! What does all this have to do with me? Don't use me as an excuse for you to climb up, I don't have it, and I don't need it! "

If I, Qiu Zijin, want to cling to wealth, I don't need to rely on Eunuch Liang and Uncle Qing Yun.

Is the road in Xinlebo Mansion not wide enough?

Which of the other civil servants from Jiangxi didn't want to recruit themselves as son-in-laws?

"you you……"

Qiu's mother pointed at Qiu Zijin with her trembling fingers, and he was so angry that she trembled all over.

"Mother, my son will walk his own path. I don't want others to lay it down for me, even if that person is you."

Tears made two circles in the eye sockets, but its young but resolute owner never let it shed.

Qiu Zijin knelt down again, and bowed heavily to Qiu's father and Qiu's mother.

"Father, mother, forgive my child. The road I will take in this life is destined to be the road of 'a lonely minister and a wicked son'. Zijin's heart is very narrow, and he can't let go of fame and wealth, and he can't let go of his children's affection. From now on, only 'Serve the country with allegiance'."

After speaking, Qiu Zijin shook the dust off his clothes, and stood up slowly but resolutely.

"Okay! What a 'lonely official and evil son', what a 'now and now, serve the country faithfully'."

Qiu's mother sneered, "You were born by me, do you think you can hide it from me? It sounds grand, but you just don't want to be controlled anymore. Money can't bind you, family affection can't bind you, you are in the name of 'righteousness' , I really want to be alone, and escape from this world from now on!"

Qiu Zijin's thin figure swayed, and he took a deep look at Qiu's mother, but he didn't say anything to refute.

"Qiu Zijin!"

Mother Qiu yelled and raised her right palm.

"If you really want to sever justice with the Qiu family, you can swear by high-fiving your mother. From now on, what happens to the Qiu family has nothing to do with you, Qiu Zijin. What happens to you, Qiu Zijin, has nothing to do with the Qiu family. Your father and I will die , you don’t even need to wear mourning to go to the funeral—do you dare? If you can really do this, you can be regarded as a real "lonely minister and evil son", if you can't do it, then don't speak so convincingly!"

"lady!"

Qiu's father was shocked when he heard the words, wouldn't this move completely push his son into a desperate situation?There is no room for maneuver, isn't this completely pushing the son out?

"Mother...you actually..."

Qiu Zijin looked at Qiu's mother with a determined expression in disbelief, and his hands beside him trembled uncontrollably.

What Mother Qiu meant was to completely sever ties with him.

"dare!"

Mother Qiu raised her palms high.

"Madam, you can't, absolutely not."

Qiu's father rushed forward to pull Qiu's mother's arm, but she pushed him away.Father Qiu had no choice but to turn his head to persuade his son.

"Ah Jin, don't be impulsive. As the saying goes, 'blood is thicker than water', how can this mother-child relationship be severed like this? Your mother is in a daze, so you must not be in a daze, don't do stupid things."

The branches on the big tree shook for a while.

"Why are you persuading him? If he still has his parents in his heart, he won't give me a high-five. If he doesn't, it's useless to persuade him."

Mother Qiu scolded with red eyes.

"I don't care if you want to be an 'lonely minister'. If you want to be an 'evil son', come and give me three high-fives! From now on, the love between you and my mother and son will end. Do you dare?"

"Ahhh!"

Facing Qiu's mother's pressing every step of the way, Qiu Zijin hugged his head to the sky and screamed.

In the depths of the forest, crows and sparrows flapped their wings together and flew towards the end of the red sunset.

Qiu Zijin gritted his teeth and slowly raised his right arm.

Mother Qiu's pupils shrank suddenly, and she gritted her teeth with a sneer.

Seen from the side, the shadow of the setting sun shone on these two who were also thin and deserted.

For the first time, Father Qiu discovered that this son who was said to be more like himself than his mother since birth, his profile was exactly the same as his mother's.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Three crisp high-fives echoed in the empty field. The mother and son looked into each other's eyes, pressed the corners of each other's mouths firmly, and then put down their hands at the same time.

Qiu Zijin's face was like gold paper, and he looked at his palm in despair.

Has the 17-year relationship between mother and child been completely cut off like this?

"Master Qiu..."

Tears fell from the corners of Qiu's mother's eyes. This tough woman bowed deeply to Qiu Zijin.

"The prisoner, Mrs. Qiu, farewell."

After finishing speaking, she turned around quickly and walked towards the teahouse where the two soldiers were sitting not far away.

"Madam... son..."

Father Qiu looked at his son whose eyes were starting to wander, then turned to look at Mrs. Qiu's back, finally sighed heavily, and ran towards Mrs. Qiu's direction.

Maybe he is not a student, and his business is not the best, but he really respects and loves his wife.

Everyone in the Qiu family may have a stubborn temper, and they will go all the way to the dark after finding a way, but they express it in different ways.

Standing at the intersection, Qiu Zijin watched as two soldiers escorted his parents back home.

He just watched alone.

See their backs getting smaller and smaller.

See Jin Wuxi falling.

Saw the moon climb up the treetops.

Until the cold night wind dried the tears on his face, Qiu Zijin lowered his head, turned around, and walked towards the gate of the city silently.

From now on, "Qiu Zijin" is just "Qiu Zijin".

On the tall tree, a figure floated down gently. He looked at that thin but firm figure, and sighed with heartache.

"'Lonely minister and evil son'? Qiu Zijin actually gave his mother three high-fives, completely severed the relationship?"

In Zhaode Palace, Zhu Jianshen listened to Mei Qianzhang's narration and narrowed his amber eyes.

Mei Qianzhang lowered her head and remained silent.

"It's so far. Qiu Tanhua... I still underestimated him."

It is the so-called "joining the WTO" for others to study and become an official, and seeking success is the economy of official career.

Qiu Zijin unexpectedly "born" through his official career, and with a heart of loyalty and love for the emperor, he resisted the shackles of the family and the world.

This is more open and aboveboard than the outsiders who "retire from the world" by becoming a monk, and it is impossible for people to blame them.

Zhu Jianshen couldn't help but sneer.

Uncle Xiao Lang was right, if a scholar becomes "bad", it really isn't bad at all.

From now on, the Qiu family and Mrs. Qiu will no longer be able to control their son.

Thinking of this, Zhu Jianshen's eyes darkened.

Not for anything else, but for the empress dowager of Ningqing Palace.

With autumn approaching and Eunuch Liang having been executed by Ling Chi today, the date for the execution of Uncle Qing Yun is imminent.

In order to rescue her younger brother, the Empress Dowager Zhou has done everything she can.

Instructing the officials of the DPRK and China to write a letter to intercede is not counted, and they even ruined the Holy Eucharist and hunger strike as a threat.In addition, Guangtou's suicide trick has been used several times.

Sure enough, as Zhu Jianshen expected, those officials who scolded the influence of the Empress Dowager Zhou's relatives some time ago turned around and put an "unfilial" hat on his and Chief Wan's heads when they saw the Empress Dowager like this.It is against the Son of Man's morality to say that no matter what, the Queen Mother cannot be forced to such a state.

At this time, Zhu Jianshen couldn't help but envy Qiu Zijin.

At least he can rely on the name of being loyal to the emperor to get rid of the shackles of his mother. As the emperor himself, he has to endure the torture from his biological mother and the accusations from the officials under the banner of "filial piety".

"His Majesty……"

At this moment, Eunuch Wynn walked in quickly, with a serious expression on his face. It seemed that something important had happened.

Mei Qianzhang disappeared knowingly, leaving the side hall to the master and servant.

"An accident happened in Ningqing Palace again."

"What is it this time? What new tricks did the mother come up with?"

Zhu Jianshen rubbed his temples wearily.

"This one was discovered by the spies of Dongchang from Ningqing Palace..."

Wynn licked his lips, took out two objects from his sleeve, and put them on the table in front of Zhu Jianshen.

The dolls, one big and one small, are all quite exquisite.

The big doll is wearing a palace skirt, and the small one is still in its infancy.

Zhu Jianshen's pupils constricted suddenly, he stretched out his hand tremblingly, and turned the puppet over at the same time.

The cloth strips with the birthdays of Wan Zhen'er and the eldest son of the emperor caught the eye.

Is this... the curse of witchcraft?