The cheerful singing of the kingfisher lights up the first ray of morning light after dawn.
On the branches that extend diagonally from the red wall, a nest of birds dances in the sunshine. It seems that they should be a family. They are a little unfamiliar but still happily flap their wings. It is the chicks who want to fly. Every time they take off and land, they will Let these chicks sing with excitement.
The male bird squatted on the branch with squinted eyes, watching his children with dignity, and allowed the female bird to help him comb the feathers on his neck.
Outside the Qianqing Palace, the young eunuch Li Buquan folded his hands and looked at the birds with great interest.
Then he said softly to his companion behind him, "Hey, how do you think this bird made a baby?"
The little eunuch behind him was fair and fair, obviously not very old. Hearing this, he said in surprise, "Don't birds lay eggs?"
"Eggs are also children!" Li Buquan rolled his eyes at him and continued, "He...he lays eggs to give birth to children, doesn't he? He must have children...ah, right? I'll keep an eye on him. How many days have I not seen you?"
"What is it?" The little eunuch obviously didn't understand. After thinking for a long time, he chuckled and said, "You want to know? Go back and catch a few birds and turn them over to see if you can find out."
"Am I tired of living?" Li Buquan winced, "Those are the birds raised by Long Live Master. My godfather personally feeds them millet every morning. Catching them? My godfather can chop off my claws!"
"Just chop it!" The little eunuch smiled again, "You've already been stabbed once, why are you still afraid of this?"
"Go away, I'll fucking kick you to death!"
Li Buquan cursed and was about to take action when suddenly he stood at attention under the wall, not daring to express his anger.
On the square leading to the outside of the Qianqing Palace, a court minister was coming towards the Qianqing Palace. In the distance, several more ministers entered through the Duanmen and entered the duty room outside the Qianqing Palace, waiting to be summoned.
~~
In front of a mirror as tall as one person, Zhu Yunxi sat on a round stool with carved hollows, his hair disheveled, and stared intently at the memorial in his hand.
Behind him, the bastard was carefully holding an ivory comb and gently combing his hair.
Although the bastard could see the words on the memorial in the emperor's hand just by looking up, he still lowered his head and looked at the comb in his hand without squinting.
Suddenly, the hand he was combing his hair paused, and then while the comb was sliding, the wrist of his left hand shook quickly.
He thought it was done flawlessly, but the next second, the emperor's lowered head had been raised and he was looking in the mirror.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Yunxi asked softly.
"No..." The bastard smiled shamefully.
But facing the emperor's gaze, the bastard did not dare to lie. He spread his left hand with a long white hair between his fingers.
Zhu Yunxi put down the memorial, held the white hair in front of his eyes with his fingers, and said to himself, "It seems that there were no white hairs last year, but this year there are one after another!"
"Long live my lord, you are all tired!" The bastard continued to comb his hair and said worriedly, "Every night, you go to bed after midnight, and you have to get up and work again just a few hours after sleeping. In the early years, you could still work at noon. Squint for a while, but you have been doing nothing in the past two years." He said, sighing, "Your Majesty, you must take care of your dragon body!"
"Yeah, I got it!" Zhu Yunxi responded lightly and continued to look down at the memorial. Obviously, he didn't take the bastard's words seriously.
The bastard sighed silently, tied his combed hair into a bun, picked up the black gauze crown from the tray next to him, and gently put it on the emperor's head.
Then, he lowered his head and helped the emperor put on his white socks and carefully put on his boots.
He has been doing this set of movements for more than ten years, and his movements are smooth and natural.
At this moment, a young eunuch outside the palace whispered, "Your Majesty, Commander He Guangyi of the Imperial Guard has arrived!"
"Pass!" Zhu Yunxi put down the memorial.
After the voice of passing the message fell, all the eunuchs in the palace, including the bastard, bowed their heads and turned their backs to the palace door, facing the emperor and retreating step by step.
The next second after they exited, He Guangyi came in and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, He Guangyi kowtows to you!"
"Get up!" Zhu Yunxi raised his head, "Sit there and talk!"
In the time it took for the monarch and his ministers to say a few words, the eunuchs had already retreated ten steps away. At the entrance of Qianqing Palace, two guards with swords were stationed at the door.
~~
"What I told you last night, have you figured out again this morning?"
Zhu Yunxi was sitting on the Arhat bed by the window, eating thick pumpkin and millet porridge in small bites.
He Guangyi stood up, lowered his hands and bowed slightly, saying, "Back to the emperor, the people you asked me to pay attention to are all the people involved in the case in the early years..."
Zhu Yunxi suddenly raised his head, "What role did you play when handling Li Shanchang's case?"
Poof, He Guangyi was so frightened that he could not stand firmly and knelt down directly, with sweat on his forehead.
"I was just a commanding officer of Jinyiwei at that time. The case of Li Shanchang was personally supervised by Jiang Wei. He was responsible for the interrogation and search. I was only responsible for managing the oral confession transcripts!" He Guangyi's voice was trembling, "It is to tell the prisoners. Whatever happened, write it down one by one and give it to the Supreme Emperor!"
Zhu Yunxi was silent for a moment, "Are there any treasonous or curse words?"
He Guangyi's sweat dropped down along his temples, "I dare not deceive the emperor, there are some!"
Zhu Yunxi looked at him again and continued to drink porridge with his head down.
"Back to the emperor, Tang Shengzong, the Marquis of Yan'an, had three sons. The eldest son inherited some land and farmed in his hometown in Dingyuan, and his life was pretty good. The second son lived in seclusion in Changsha, and the third son changed his surname to Zhao and lived in seclusion in Yongzhou."
"Fei Ju, the Marquis of Pingliang, has been dismissed. His eldest son died in the battle to annihilate Fang Guozhen. The second son died of illness at the age of thirty-two. Now he has only one grandson, who is nineteen and unmarried. He is a student in the county school and failed to be a scholar three times! "
"Zheng Yuchun, Marquis of Xingyang, had six sons. After being questioned that day, all six of his sons were sent to Guizhou, and now they are all in the Guizhou army. His eldest grandson, Zheng Wang, is from the Wang family of Liu'an Marquis. In the 23rd year of Hongwu, the Wang family was investigated for the Hu Weiyong case. He won the title, but was not charged with any crime. Over the years, the Wang family has often supported this grandson. Zheng Wang is also doing well. He has passed the scholar examination in the Millennium Examination and is preparing for the provincial examination in Jinke!"
"Therefore, when the Marquis of Jining, Gu Shi, had four sons, all of them were executed because of the Hu Weiyong case... His grandson, Gu Yan, moved to Sichuan..."
Zhu Yunxi suddenly put down the spoon in his hand and sighed, "When I was young, I read the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Gu Shi, the Marquis of Jining, was the first person to follow the emperor's grandfather. When the emperor crossed the Yangtze River, he was the pioneer centurion under his tent!"
"Back to the Emperor! When the case of Hu Weiyong was being pursued in the 23rd year of Hongwu, the Marquis of Jining had died of illness. In order to reward his meritorious service, the Supreme Emperor posthumously named Teng Guogong! But..." He Guangyi said in a low voice and hastily, "The Marquis of Jining His eldest son was the governor of the Jinwu Guard at that time, and he had always been at odds with Jiang Wei. Jiang Wei was a villain, and he avenged his private revenge, forcing four men of the Gu family to die in prison..."
He Guangyi didn't know why the emperor suddenly asked about these former heroes and disciples, and also asked them in detail about their whereabouts. Moreover, in order to climb up the ladder, his role in the case was not that innocent.
Therefore, he had been very worried since he entered the palace. Now that he heard the emperor's words and regretted the fate of the Gu family, he quickly poured dirty water directly on Jiang Ying, who had long been turned into a mattress of human skin.
"Go on!" Zhu Yunxi glanced at him and continued in a low voice.
This glance made He Guangyi's scalp numb.
"Yang Jing, the Marquis of Yingyang, was also accused of Hu Weiyong that day, but he was not held accountable because of his death. His son Yang Tong Sijue is now the commander of Puding Guards. He also has a son Yang Da, who is now studying in the Imperial College and has been awarded the title of San.