After the family fell, I wanted to lie down

Chapter 105 Convicted by Poetry

The two officials bowed and thanked him immediately. "No, no, how dare we trouble you, sir? Please let us know and we will go get it ourselves."

"You're welcome." Xie Ping said.

Watching Xie Ping walk away, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No wonder people say that there are three things we are afraid of in the court: Lord Hu's dog, the King of Hell's smile, and the dung beetle brothers' ways. It seems full of enthusiasm and humanity, but it's as cold as the twelfth lunar month."

"Maybe he calls me brother no matter he is happy or not. In his eyes, brothers are not people at all, but just things."

Xie Ping entered Hu Gongye's duty room. He had put down his raised hands and his shoulders were drooping. He had lost a lot of weight and now huddled up like a ball.

"Master, I..." He had just stepped in to salute, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by Hu Gongye.

"Zijing, you don't need to use this title anymore. You are now a minister, so you should act like one."

Xie Ping stood up straight, looked at Lord Hu in front of him, and said solemnly. The next moment, he leaned down and said, "In front of outsiders, I still have to do it. In front of Lord Hu, I will always be the postmaster in front of you."

Hu Gongye ignored his words and just lowered his head to continue reading the memorial, with a hint of disgust and joy in his voice, "Do you have a grudge against me?"

Before Xie Ping finished listening, he knelt down and said, "Master, what did I do wrong?"

The two men were not much different in age, and both were wearing red robes. At this moment, one was sitting and the other was kneeling.

Hu Gongye said, "What's the matter? Get up."

Xie Ping immediately stood up, looking terrified and uneasy, and said, "Master, my love for you is known to all. Without you, there would be no me. If I have ever done anything to let you down, please let me know. I..."

Hu Gongye interrupted him and said, "Okay, I know that it was you who ordered Liao Chengyi to go to Mocheng."

Xie Ping straightened up and said, "Master, I just asked him to go to Mo City to test it out. You can see that he has already found out. Now there is a civil riot and they are even trying to stop them from investigating the case."

Hu Gongye asked, "Who do you think is more powerful, Liao Chengyi or Lu Gongqing?"

"Sir, of course Lord Lu is more powerful. How can Liao Chengyi compare to Lord Lu? Lord Lu, like you, was taught by the Emperor's Master. Of course, he can't compare to you. You were taught and instructed together with the late Emperor."

"How can I be the same as the late emperor? Since I am different from the late emperor, then there is no difference between what the four masters taught me and what Lu Gongqing taught me."

Xie Ping looked embarrassed, Hu Gongye said, "When I say powerful, I don't mean martial arts proficiency. In fact, there is nothing wrong with martial arts proficiency. Look, even martial arts proficiency was still killed by others in the end. I'm talking about the way people behave and do things."

Xie Ping seemed a little puzzled, and said, "I told him to just do things according to Lord Lu's instructions. Now it seems that people do things differently. Maybe it's because he is a new face, and the people he manages are inevitably a little inconsistent, so... After all, Lord Lu also faced a lot of obstacles at the beginning."

Hu Gongye threw away the memorial in his hand, and heard a snapping sound. He said, "Xiang, do you have any misunderstanding about Xiang? When did Lu Gongqing let the people of the prefecture city obstruct the work?"

This, it seems, has never happened.

Xie Ping said, "Yes, sir, you are right, but isn't the situation a little different now?"

Hu Gongye interrupted him again and said, "Why is it different? Is Liao Chengyi investigating the case? If he doesn't, isn't he also investigating our princess?"

Our Princess, after these words came out, Xie Ping subconsciously looked around, and then he heard Hu Gongye's chuckle behind him, and he remained silent again. He was also stupid. Is there any unsafe place in the imperial city? This was considered disrespectful to Hu Gongye.

He explained, "It's my bad habit. I always eavesdrop on other people's conversations at the post station, so..."

Hu Gongye didn't take it seriously and didn't speak. Xie Ping continued, "Sir, Lord Lu was so powerful, but he was still killed. I think it might be something that those armored soldiers could do, so we are suspicious."

"So there is no difference in what we did. We were all investigating the Ironclad Army. But now you see, we didn't catch the Ironclad Army, but we caused civil unrest instead."

Xie Ping was so ashamed, "There must be someone behind this. Even if it's not that group of people, it could be Shang Zichun and the others, as well as Liang Jingtian and the others. They all have bad intentions. Yes, that's for sure. Oh, by the way, Master, do you think they know something? They are both in Mo City now..."

Hu Gongye said, "It is indeed a coincidence, but weren't they all driven to Mo City by you because they offended you? Even General Liu seemed to have been driven back to his ancestral home in Mo City by you, right?"

When Xie Ping heard him say this, he shamelessly knelt down and said, "Master, I was ignorant and it was my fault."

Hu Gongye raised his hand and said, "Stand up and speak properly."

Xie Ping stood up in a hurry, feeling anxious and aggrieved. A man in his forties, he felt like crying.

Hu Gongye did not continue the topic, but said, "Lü Gongqing's cruelty was only directed at one person, one family, one clan, not the entire city. The matter he handled was generally smooth and no one dared to stop him. But what Liao Chengyi did this time was that he was prepared to treat the entire city as a suspect. Regardless of right or wrong, you can do this to one person or one family, but you can't do this to everyone. If you do this, it will force everyone to resist and not protest..."

"You know, if you deal with one person, they will just ignore it, but if you treat everyone the same, you see, this is the result now."

Before, Lu Gongqing only destroyed one family to show deterrence, so when the local big families saw it, they would only advise the family members to be careful in words and deeds to avoid getting into trouble. But now it is Liao Chengyi who has done something that cannot be dealt with, and it has to continue in the future. It is equivalent to everyone being in danger, and good fortune and misfortune will befall them. They can't avoid it, so they can only face the difficulty. Even ants try to survive, let alone humans.

Xie Ping seemed to have been reminded and awakened. He just smiled and said, "Your Excellency's words make sense. It is my shortsightedness. If Lord Liao also wanted to investigate those women like Lord Lu did, then things would not have become so ugly. I will go back and ask Liao Chengyi to come back. We will talk about the investigation later."

This kind of handling result can be regarded as a concession. I think the people in Mocheng should be satisfied, and Liao Chengyi can be regarded as having saved himself in this matter.

Xie Ping said bitterly, "No matter what, this Mocheng incited students to cause trouble, merchants and major families to go on strike, and took the opportunity to threaten the court. This is treason and must be severely punished this time."

Hu Gongye touched his chin and said, "This Mo City is indeed interesting. I didn't expect this." He lowered his head and looked at the memorial again, thoughtfully.

The memorials were written by different people, submitted by different people, and described from different angles, but through these we can roughly guess what happened in Mo City.

At first, students were arrested and their classmates asked about the interrogation. After this meeting, everything was calm. Then there were no results after the inquiries. Then the prefectural school and the local government asked. This series of inquiries made Liao Chengyi impatient. Then at this time, another woman was chosen to replace the woman who committed suicide before. Their family resisted. Liao Chengyi's patience became worse and worse. His temper was aroused. Then he wanted to use the power in his hands to deter Mo Cheng. Things got out of control in the end.

Then someone was handing out flyers on the street, which made Liao Chengyi even more angry. Students were arrested, and they were furious and started sit-in protests. More and more people in Mo City protested, and then Mo City was in a state of panic, and the whole city was in motion.

The process progressed step by step, without haste or impatience and in a reasonable and logical manner. The people of Mo City were united and eventually their emotions exploded.

If every step was an accident, then we can only say that Liao Chengyi was unlucky, but if every step was carefully designed by someone, then we can only say that Liao Chengyi was even more unlucky.

Xie Ping's eyes flickered slightly, and he stepped forward and said, "Master, do you want to give Mo Cheng a warning or something? After all, Liao Chengyi still has things to do next."

"Don't bother showing off your power. Lu Gongqing is dead after all."

Xie Ping said, "Although Lord Lu is dead, he is not the only one who can do this."

Hu Gongye threw the memorial on the table and said, "Lü Gongqing is dead, and two of the women who were selected as concubines are also dead. Their bodies are still in the lake. No one is there to deal with his death. The current situation in Mo City does not allow for any more disturbances. The families of the deceased are also clamoring to prove their innocence..."

"Sir, it's been soaking for several months, what else can you find out?"

Hu Gongye said, "Now the question is not what can be found, but why someone is holding on to this matter and won't let go."

Why else? It means someone knows about this. Thinking of this, Xie Ping couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat and his face changed instantly.

Hu Gongye said, "Don't you know how those two women died? The emperor has a divine vein, and it is said that drinking blood can cultivate divine skills. Didn't you tell him this? That's why he is so obsessed with drinking the blood of the princess."

Xie Ping bowed his head and said, "Master, I just read it casually in a book. Who knew that Lord Lu had no end in learning martial arts? I actually believed it."

"What is meant by learning has no end? It's better to say that greed never ends."

Xie Ping agreed in his heart.

"I only know that Liao Chengyi works for the court and has been working hard for so many years. It would be very embarrassing for him to go to Mo City and be provoked."

"Let's talk about it after the person comes back." As soon as the words fell, someone called out "Sir".

As soon as he walked out of the house, someone hurriedly said, "My Lord, Prime Minister Ji asked His Majesty for instructions on the matter of Mocheng in the court. The situation is not good. It seems that Lord Liao is going to be convicted."

Xie Ping was shocked and said angrily, "What do those old guys want? Why do they convict Lord Liao?"

The visitor's expression froze, and hesitantly said downstairs, "It seems to be because of a poem."

The gate of the Qinzheng Hall was wide open, and inside stood Prime Minister Ji Wuya, Imperial Censor Lu Liangcai and a dozen other red-robed officials. They were listening to a red-robed official who was short and fat, with a beard and hair, and was in his fifties or sixties.

"This is the second strike since the founding of the dynasty. It's such a disgrace," he sighed.

The current Prime Minister Ji Wuya was one of the ministers specially appointed by the late emperor to advise the emperor. He was the oldest and had the most respected status. He was the only one sitting in the court at this moment. Of course, except for the little emperor above the dragon, everyone else was standing.

"The Prime Minister is in a serious state."

"There must be some hidden secrets this time. We should find out the truth before making any conclusion..." several officials advised.

Prime Minister Ji waved his hand and said, "You all tell me about this poem." He unfolded the papers in his hand one by one. Everyone squinted their eyes and went forward to check.

When he heard this, several officials stepped forward and stretched out their hands, saying, "Prime Minister, let me read it."

Lord Ji handed the paper to him without hesitation. The official coughed and read, "On the jade steps, there was singing and dancing in peacetime, while the plains were filled with grief... The golden palace was filled with music and singing all night long... The dead cattle and sheep were left to the wolves, and I have failed the emperor's grace for you."

After listening to this, Prime Minister Ji said, "Come, listen to how the people under him curse him."

Some officials in the hall nodded in agreement, some put their hands in their pockets and looked down, and some shook their heads and said, "This poem can't say anything."

"Poetry is written from the heart. If you don't have feelings, how can you write such poems?"

Just as I said this, Mr. Hu and Xie Ping arrived.

"When did the Ministry of Justice cease to be one of the six ministries?" The general meaning was that as the Minister of the Six Ministries, he did not receive any news about the court meeting.

An official with a gloomy face said, "We have already gone to invite the minister, but we can't let your majesty wait any longer."

The two sides finally gave up after a tug of war. Many officials in the hall were watching the joke, and some even tried to stop them. Suddenly the court became noisy. "Okay, stop making so much noise. It's a sin to be disrespectful in front of the hall."

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. I am guilty."

The little emperor finally regained some consciousness after being reminded by the chief eunuch beside him. "No need to bow."

This time, Prime Minister Ji said, "Well, since Lord Hu is here, and you have read the memorials from all sides, you can tell me how to solve this matter."

What kind of person is Hu Gongye? He would not fall into this trap. He ordered people to distribute all the memorials and said, "Let's listen to everyone's opinions."

Boxes filled with memorials were piled up in the hall for officials to read, and discussions arose in the hall.

.......

The discussion in the hall then turned into a quarrel, and it was noisy. However, it was obvious from the quarrel that there were two factions, one was that Liao Chengyi was guilty, and the other was innocent. During the quarrel, Lord Hu and Prime Minister Ji kept silent with their hands in their pockets until the noise became too loud to be appeased. Hu Gongye said, "Let's not talk about the apology for now. The most urgent task now is to quickly resolve the strike in Mo City. Otherwise, if it goes on for too long, it will affect the lives of ordinary people."

Prime Minister Ji agreed with this point very much, and could only nod and say, "Hu Gongye is right. Does that mean we should convict Liao Chengding?"

Xie Ping argued, "What crime did Liao Chengyi commit? He was dedicated to serving the court, investigating the case and arresting the real culprit. Now, this person who worked for the court has become a guilty person? If this is the case, who will dare to serve in the future?"

Prime Minister Ji glanced at him and said, "Don't worry, Minister Xie. I didn't say that working for the court is a crime. I just said that Liao Chengyi is guilty."

"Your Excellency is a great word game. Anyway, the final verdict is that Liao Chengyi is guilty. I knew you would say this. It would be great if everyone could follow the golden mean. That would be good for you, me, and everyone else."

Prime Minister Ji smiled and said, "Thank you, sir, please listen to this first." As he was speaking, a curious person took the paper and read it out first: "Song of Water Melody, when will the bright moon appear? ..... When will the bright moon appear? I raise my wine cup to ask the blue sky..."

"It's just a poem. Is this the time to talk about it?"

"So what do you think?"

"Mid-Autumn Festival, all other poems are useless..."

Xie Ping was a little impatient. "Now is not the time to discuss this. Let's talk about business."

Prime Minister Ji asked, "Minister Xie, do you know who this poem was written for?"

"How would I know? I don't understand poetry."

On the other side, Hu Gongye's expression moved when he heard a complete poem, and then his frown relaxed, as if he had a lot of thoughts in his mind, but he still didn't utter a word.

Prime Minister Ji took out another memorial and said, "This memorial was written by Liang Jingtian, the prefect of Mocheng. By the way, there are two poems at the end. The author of the poems is a local student. The previous one, "A Thousand Bloods", and the later one, "Water Melody Song", were written by the same person. The former was written to Liao Chengyi, and the latter was written to Lu Gongqing. The former was criticized for the same behavior and the latter was praised. Can you tell me why this is? The same person, the same behavior, why are there different poems? Isn't it because of the person?"

"Speaking of conviction, if he is not convicted, those who previously praised Lord Lu for his good deeds will be disheartened. If he is convicted, Lord Liao will be disheartened. What do you think we should do?"

Xie Ping was a little surprised. What was going on? "I don't understand. Anyway..."

Xie Ping wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Hu Gongye, "Your Majesty is right. It was Liao Chengyi who acted without rules and regulations in Mo City, and acted tyrannically. He aroused the wrath of heaven and people, and he deserved to be convicted."

Xie Ping sighed and immediately said, "The Prime Minister is right. He must have done something wrong to be scolded."

Prime Minister Ji said, "Sir, you are indeed clear about rewards and punishments." He coughed and sat down.

"Then let's settle the matter of Mocheng like this for now."

So far, everyone has no objection.

"So long, we should follow the example of Su Yan of the previous dynasty and convict Liao Chengyi and bring him back to Beijing to appease the people of Mocheng and prove that the government is clean and honest."

Prime Minister Ji and Lord Hu both nodded in agreement, and the controversial court decision on conviction was finally settled.

The little emperor on the dragon throne was carefully poked awake by the eunuch, and said dazedly, "Approved, adjourn the court."