Nightwatcher

Just after Mao Shi, Ji Yuan, who was lying on his side on the straw mat and covered with a smelly, dirty and torn quilt, was awakened by the sound of the door opening.

The sound came from the iron door at the end of the corridor, followed by footsteps.

Soon, more than a dozen watchmen appeared in the sight of Ji Yuan and the officials of Yunzhou.

"Get up and take you out to bask in the sun."

A gong took out a key and opened the chain that was wrapped around the gate of the gate.

Ji Yuan was roughly dragged up by a taciturn gong, and violently pushed and shoved out of the cell.

This was his third day in the watchman's dungeon, and the dry straw mats and tattered quilts saved his life from freezing to death in the bleak dungeon.

But who has been pampered since he was a child, how has he ever suffered such a crime?

In just two days, his hands and feet were covered with frostbite, his face was blue, his lips lacked blood, and his hair was disheveled.

In the past two days, he regretted taking over as the envoy of the peace talks all the time.

Ji Yuan is knowledgeable and eloquent, these are genuine talents, but after all, he is a pampered son who lacks certain social experience and world experience.

Being talented does not mean being able to withstand pressure.

What happened in the past two days and the fear of the future put him on the verge of emotional collapse.

The only hope is that he still has value. Xu Qi'an will not kill him, but will use him as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Yunzhou.

It was this hope that supported him to grit his teeth and persevere.

It's good to bask in the sun, if I continue to stay in the prison, I will freeze to death sooner or later. Ji Yuan staggered along the dark corridor, followed by more than 20 Yunzhou officials.

After leaving the door of the dungeon, the air was cold but sober, and the sun hung in the sky calmly, bringing a trace of warmth.

Ji Yuan stopped and held his head up, enjoying the feeling of the sun shining on his face.

The gong behind him kicked his ass, knocking him to the ground.

Ji Yuan struggled to get up, and cast an angry and aggrieved look at the Tongluo.

"Look at what, believe it or not, I gouged out your eyes."

The gong pressed the handle of the knife with one hand, with no expression on his serious and rigid face, he said:

"Aren't you very arrogant, you only want to enter the city if you want to go to the capital with the minister of the Ministry of Rites, the chief assistant of the court, and the prince who comes out of the city to greet you.

"Didn't you reprimand the princes in the Jinluan Palace, and the pressure was so overwhelming that the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty could not lift their heads.

"Didn't you make a small plan to make the people of the capital question the prestige of Xu Ningyan?

"You continue to be arrogant."

Ji Yuan clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth forbearance.

In the future when Yunzhou conquered the capital with iron hooves, he would personally destroy the prisoner's yamen, and all the prisoner who had friendship with Xu Qi'an would be late.

At this moment, a middle-aged Yin Gong walked over, his gaze swept over everyone severely.

The gongs straightened their skirts one after another, adjusted the position of the gongs on their chests, and confirmed that everything was symmetrical. After there was no problem, they respectfully said:

"Boss."

The middle-aged Yin Luo nodded slightly, looked away in satisfaction, and did not look at Ji Yuan, who had disheveled hair and dirty and wrinkled prison uniform.

"Let's go, don't waste time."

Let's go, where are we going? Ji Yuan's heart trembled, and he wanted to ask, but he felt that he was destined not to get an answer, and would instead be beaten violently.

The taciturn Tong Gong escorted Ji Yuan out, and said casually:

"Boss, Ning Yan wants us to drink tonight."

The middle-aged Yin Gong was silent for a moment:

"Goulan or Jiaofangsi?"

"Call it, he said he won't go to the Jiaofang Division in the future." Tongluo replied.

The middle-aged Yin Luo felt a little relieved:

"A promise is worth a fortune, and he always talks about credibility."

Li Yuchun knew that after Fuxiang died, Xu Qi'an promised not to go to the Jiaofang Division in the future.

Zhu Guangxiao was silent for a while, and added:

"He said that all the oirans of the Jiaofang Division can be invited to Goulan."

Li Yuchun didn't want to talk anymore.

Pass through the back of the yamen, go out along the corridor, and then pass through office halls and courtyards, and finally come to the yamen gate.

At the gate of the yamen, prison cars were parked one after another.

Zhu Guangxiao looked at Ji Yuan and said calmly:

"Go to the sun."

Ji Yuan's face was stiff, and he stood on the spot in a daze.

In the early morning, a new notice was posted on the notice walls of the yamen in the capital, as well as the notice walls at the inner and outer city gates.

The notice is an important channel for the people in the capital to obtain official information on weekdays.

In the past, ordinary people would not pay special attention to the notice wall unless something major happened recently.

In the capital right now, the biggest thing is to negotiate a peace.

"What did the notice say?"

As soon as the notice was posted, the people around rushed over to discuss or ask the officials who posted the notice.

An hour before the notice is posted, officials will be responsible for "singing the list" and telling the people the content.

After all, there are still a small number of ordinary people in the market who can read and write.

And this kind of official notice of the imperial court has a very high reading threshold. Even people who are literate can't understand the content without receiving a certain education.

In the end, it will become a situation of "I know every word, but I don't know what it means when connected together".

"It must be the content of the peace negotiation. The imperial court lost the battle and Qingzhou fell. I heard that it seems to want to cede the land for peace."

"A mere bandit state is so arrogant. Since the new king came to the throne, the people's life has become worse and worse, and corrupt officials are rampant."

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't talk nonsense."

"What are you afraid of? There are no soldiers around. Besides, everyone scolds me like that."

As we talked, the topic changed from "negotiating peace" to the fall of Qingzhou.

"Did Xu Yinluo not even be able to defend Qingzhou? He was a strong man who wiped out the entire 200,000 army of the Witch God Sect at Yuyang Pass."

"I've heard your question countless times. Who knows, speaking of it, I haven't seen Xu Yinluo appear in the capital for a long time."

"What I heard is that all the supervisors died in Qingzhou, and Xu Yinluo is not the opponent of the Yunzhou rebels."

"Hey, it's no wonder Xu Yinluo is so low-key, there's nothing he can do, he can't beat him."

After venting their emotions for so many days, although most of the people were upset, they still scolded the imperial court and Yunzhou's peace decision in private, but they were helpless.

Opposition has been less so.

Especially after the fall of Qingzhou and the entry of the Yunzhou mission to Beijing, a series of rumors fermented and spread. The people in the capital have gradually figured out the ins and outs, and learned that Dafeng, the guardian deity, was dying in Qingzhou.

Although in their eyes, the prestige of Jianzheng is far less than that of Xu Yinluo.

In the understanding of the people at the bottom, Jianzheng is just a title, a concept.

At this time, the official standing beside the notice said loudly:

"The ancient king of the world focused on protecting the lives of the people, and could not bear to harm others by supporting others. Since I took the throne, I have not governed the country at a disadvantage, so that the rebels in Yunzhou rebelled, and Kyushu boiled. Lie Zong.

"Eldest Princess Huaiqing, with great virtues, has surpassed me a lot. That is, the eldest princess Huaiqing ascended the throne in order, Xu Qi'an assisted, helped the community, quelled the rebellion, and made a big contribution to brighten the world. Wouldn't it be a good thing? I respect this."

There were more than 400 words in the notice, and when the officials finished reading it, the people around them were dumbfounded, as if they were frozen in place like statues.

"What, what do you mean?"

"It seems that the emperor abdicated to the eldest princess?" The speaker's eyes widened suddenly:

"The eldest princess wants to be the emperor?"

All of a sudden, the frying pan exploded, and the crowd was in an uproar.

The content of the notice caused a strong impact, shock and confusion to the people.

This made them no longer care about the disaster coming out of their mouths, and started a heated discussion.

"How can a woman be an emperor? Isn't this nonsense. Could it be that you bring an official to embroider together?"

"Is the princess literate? Why does Your Majesty abdicate to the princess? If a woman is the emperor, she is not afraid of being ridiculed by the world?"

Their first reaction was resistance, anger, and unacceptability. They just thought it was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

Then someone said:

"Have you listened to books in the teahouse? It seems that there used to be a woman who was the emperor. What's her name?"

"Empress Dayang?"

"Yes, yes, you have heard of it."

The noise stopped for a while, obviously, many people have also heard similar content in restaurants, teahouses, brothels and other places of entertainment and recreation in the past few days.

Then someone else said:

"The notice says that the eldest princess will be assisted by Xu Yinluo when she ascends the throne."

Oh, with Xu Yinluo assisting.

The voice of opposition was a little weaker, but there were still people muttering:

"Why did Xu Yinluo assist a woman to become the emperor? Isn't this just nonsense. I have established the country for six hundred years, but there is no such precedent."

"Yeah, I really don't know what the official and Xu Yinluo are thinking, while negotiating peace with Yunzhou, while promoting the princess as the emperor."

"Xu Yinluo is confused."

Originally regarded Xu Qi'an as a hero and protector of the people of the gods, he was disappointed with the fall of Qingzhou, and even regarded the peace negotiation as a shame. Although no one publicly accused Xu Qi'an, he must be disappointed in his heart.

As soon as the notice was posted, disappointment immediately fermented and turned into dissatisfaction.

Suddenly, a loud noise attracted the attention of the people around the notice wall.

Following the sound, I saw a train of prison cars coming slowly, followed by a large group of civilians, who kept throwing stones and spitting at the prisoners in the prison cars.

Some people carried toilets and poured feces on the prisoners in the prison van.

Among the leading riders, a watchman was on the back of his horse, beating a gong and shouting:

"Under the order of Xu Yinluo, parade Yunzhou against the party to the public."

On both sides of the street, there was a lot of excitement. Some people who came to join in the fun after hearing the news, some joined the ranks of throwing stones, some pointed and cursed, and some clapped their hands and sang loudly, cheering everyone up.

Ji Yuan's head was covered with blood, and his heart was ashamed.

The accompanying Yunzhou officials trembled and wept bitterly.

dusk.

In the imperial study room, Huaiqing sat behind the big case where the yellow silk was laid, and in the hall were the two party leaders Liu Hong and Qian Qingshu, as well as the minister of the Ministry of Rites.

The Minister of Rites made a bow and said:

"Your Highness, preparations have been made for enthronement."

Huai Qing, who was wearing an elegant palace dress, nodded slightly.

After the Minister of Rites returned to his position, Liu Hong went out to bow:

"Today, the whole city is boiling, and the people still have feelings of resistance, but it's not serious. Xu Yinluo's reputation has also improved. The people in the capital are still mostly admirers."

After Liu Hong finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing:

"With Xu Yinluo's current reputation, it is most suitable to escort His Highness. No one in the dynasty is more popular than him."

The aristocratic class is actually more acceptable than the common people when the princess ascends the throne and proclaims the emperor. As long as the benefits are in place and then coerced by force, there are not a few people who succumb.

The most important thing is that in the eyes of the ruling class, although Huaiqing is a woman, she is of royal blood after all.

It is an exception for a woman to proclaim the emperor, and the next new emperor will still be the Dafeng royal family.

This greatly eased the resistance of the ruling class.

But the common people don't care about this, they need to appease the common people and convince them that Huaiqing's prestige is not enough, and the prestige of the princes is not enough, only Xu Qi'an can do it.

Qian Qingshu echoed:

"Whether His Highness can unite the hearts of the people depends on tomorrow."

Huaiqing lowered his head, reviewed the paperwork in his hand, and said "hmm" without looking up:

"It's getting late, the love ministers should step down first."

The three bowed and exited the imperial study.

The paperwork in Huaiqing's hand was handed over by the cabinet, and it covered all matters after ascension to the throne. There were all sorts of trivial matters, but there was one extremely important thing, that was to call the chief envoys and commanders of all states to return to Beijing to report on their duties.

This is actually a negotiation, wooing, and doing ideological work for the big bosses of the states.

the next day.

On this day, the atmosphere in the capital was extremely strange. Everyone from the princes and nobles to the common people knew that this was a day that was destined to be recorded in the annals of history.

Because the eldest princess Huaiqing ascended the throne today, setting a precedent that has not been seen in six hundred years.

When the emperor ascended the throne, ordinary people had no chance to see it, but it did not prevent them from paying attention and discussing it.

All classes have different opinions. The students of Guozijian and Confucian scholars are deeply saddened by Huaiqing's ascension to the throne. Even if the Yunzhou mission is paraded in the street, they cannot win their favor.

At most, he would not scold Xu Qi'an anymore.

The ordinary people in the market have the most mixed opinions, some cannot accept it, some have nothing to do with them, and some choose to believe Xu Yinluo.

In the Xu family, Auntie also expressed her views on behalf of the noble ladies.

"Master, isn't Ning Yan fooling around? How can a woman be an emperor? I dare not go out, for fear of being recognized as Xu Ningyan's aunt. What if someone smashes her with a rotten egg?"

My aunt is as beautiful as ever, and the years seem to take pity on her.

Although she was sitting with her daughter, she did not look girlish, but she did not look old, her face was tender and fair, without any wrinkles.

Second Uncle Xu bowed his head to eat and did not express his opinion.

"Brother has his own measure."

Compared to her mother, Xu Lingyue admired her elder brother's feat very much.

Auntie sighed when she saw that her topic was cold.

"Qingzhou fell, and Erlang disappeared. Lingyin is practicing in the Gu tribe, and I don't know when she will come back. Will she be bullied by the barbarians in the southern border.

"Xu Ningyan, a heartless bastard, returned to the capital and didn't know how to go home and have a look."

Just as she was talking, my aunt's eyes froze, and she stared straight at the outside of the hall.

PS: The typo is changed first and then changed