Chronicle of Emperor Jing

Wei Yan sat by the window and stared at the scenery outside in a daze.

The winter in Pingjing City will not really pass until March. The weather is still cold in this season, and the trees in the courtyard only have some bare branches, and there is nowhere to find even a touch of green.

It was only five short days since he was locked up that night, but he felt as if it had been a long, long time.When the sound of the door hinge sounded and the emperor pushed open the palace door and came in, he thought he was dazzled, but couldn't believe it for a while, and just stared at the door in a daze.

The two stood there facing each other, looking at each other for a long time without saying a word.

The emperor's eyes were gloomy and tired, and his own face probably didn't look good either.

The four eyes met and there was a long silence, the emperor finally came forward, hugged him tightly in his arms, and said in a hoarse voice:

"The queen mother said, you or the Wei family, I can only choose to keep one. Wei Yan, tell me that you are willing to stay."

So this is the final ending?

During these five days, Wei Yan thought over and over again, having considered all the possibilities, and was not particularly surprised by the emperor's words at this time.After all, the ending was better than he expected. The queen mother did not kill them all, but gave him a chance for the Wei family.

He slowly broke free from the emperor's arms and knelt on the ground. He didn't speak, but his posture had already said everything he wanted to say.

The emperor should understand very well that it is impossible for him to give up the lives of his entire clan and live on in a mere way, so why should he come to force him at this time?

"Wei Yan, is this your final choice?" Emperor Jing stared at the empty embrace, and spoke slowly, his emotions were unclear, and his voice was a little erratic.

"Please Your Majesty." The man on the ground slowly leaned over, with a steady tone without any strangeness.

"Wei Yan, you are willing to die for your family. Then what about me, don't tell me that in your heart, I have no weight at all, so you can give up so easily?" Emperor Jing couldn't believe that this person made a decision so cleanly. .

Although he had already been mentally prepared, Wei Yan would definitely not choose him.Although he had already helped Wei Yan make a choice in front of his mother, but in his heart, there was still a little luck in his heart, thinking that maybe Wei Yan would be willing to choose him, even if he didn't choose him in the end, at least there would be more Think about it for a moment.

But Wei Yan didn't even hesitate, and made a choice.At this time, if Wei Yan was willing to pretend to hesitate, he might feel much better in his heart.Could it be that in Wei Yan's mind, their relationship over the years is nothing?Or is it that once his family is involved, he is not worth mentioning at all and can only stand back?

Perhaps at this point, it is really stupid to compare himself and the Wei family, which is more important in Wei Yan's mind, but Emperor Jing can't help but compare, of course, after the comparison, he can only Make yourself sadder.

"For Your Majesty, I can sacrifice my life." Wei Yan answered the emperor's question in a deep voice.

If necessary, he can also be loyal to the emperor, so he doesn't think it has any conflict with his choice to die at this time, with filial piety.When loyalty and filial piety cannot be fulfilled, a courtier should choose to be loyal, but the current situation is that the Queen Mother ignores his loyalty, the loyalty of his family, and sets such a dangerous trap to force him to be filial.

He had no choice but to do so.

Emperor Jing squatted down speechlessly, and held him in his arms again.

Can he risk his life for him?

He remembered that this person stood in front of him when he was in danger many years ago. He remembered that this person had stayed by his side for so many years, always dedicated to protecting his safety. He knew that Wei Yan's words were not false. If necessary, Wei Yan would indeed die generously for him.

But why this person still doesn't understand, he is not arguing, whether Wei Yan is willing to die for the Wei family, or for him, he just hopes that he is so important to him that he is willing to die for himself survive.

As long as Wei Yan is willing to live, he doesn't care even if he has to exchange the lives of the entire Wei family.Although reason told him long ago, this is impossible.Wei Yan would never make such a choice, not before, not now, and certainly not in the future.

"I don't want you to die, and I will never let you die." Emperor Jing held Wei Yan tightly in his arms, and would never let go, he swore in his heart.No matter what price he has to pay, he will let Wei Yan live, together with the Wei family.

I don't know how long they hugged each other before Emperor Jing carried him to the couch.Wei Yan's eyes were bloodshot, and he must have not had a good rest in the past few days.Emperor Jing stayed by his side until he fell asleep, then quietly went out of the palace door, signaling to the servants waiting outside to go in and guard him carefully.

When he was a little farther away from the door, he ordered: "Xuan Xiaoyue sees you at Zhaoren Palace."

Soon, Xiao Yue, Minister of the Household Department, was called to come, and the audience room of Zhaoren Hall was enveloped in an unbearable silence.

Xiao Yue sat on the soft pier under the emperor's head, and kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.Ever since he heard the emperor's announcement of his intentions for coming today, he began to sweat hotly on his forehead and coldly on his back, both hot and cold, not knowing what to do with himself.

He opened his mouth several times, but he still couldn't make a sound. Whether it was "I can't", or "I can't", these three words were all heavy and couldn't be said easily.

The emperor wanted to use a large amount of silver, but he was unwilling to invent a decree, indicating that he would not disturb anyone, and secretly transferred it out of the treasury, and then smoothed the account.This sounds scary, but in fact it is not as difficult as imagined.Xiao Yue has been in charge of the household department for many years, so of course he has a way to do this, and he also knows why the emperor wants so many silver banks at this time.

In order to exonerate the Marquis of Yongning, the Wei family has already poured a lot of money down. What they want is not to stand in line, but to be neutral for those in key positions. The emperor needs so much money at this time, and what he wants to do is probably not good enough. not leave.

It's just that this kind of thing, no matter whether he does it or not, it will not be of any benefit in the future.If he didn't do it, the emperor might not do anything to him at this time, but his status as a confidant would definitely be lost, and naturally there would be no good end in the future.If he did, the emperor fulfilled his wish at this time, and he might think of his kindness, but when the emperor comes back to his senses in the future, will he have to settle the account with him for embezzling public funds?

"This matter cannot be tolerated according to the law. I won't force you. Xiao Aiqing can just think it over carefully." Emperor Jing stared at the screen in the palace and said lightly.He knew why Xiao Yue was so worried, but he would not give Xiao Yue the guarantee he wanted.

"Minister obeys the order." Hearing the words of the first emperor, Xiao Yue suddenly realized that this was probably also the emperor's temptation. The emperor was testing the loyalty of his confidants to him to the end when the current situation was not very favorable to the emperor. How many there are, I quickly settled down and knelt down to obey the order.

Being in the court, he couldn't help himself, he had no choice but to gamble that the emperor would not cross the river and demolish the bridge in the future, and take him for this matter.

After hearing this, Emperor Jing finally nodded in satisfaction.

In February of the eighth year of Tianxi, the case of Can Yongninghou, the magistrate of Youzhou, privately abusing the remnants of King You, was violent at the beginning, but after more than half a month of fighting, the outcome was beyond everyone's expectations.

Yongninghou was detained in the inner court from beginning to end, and was not taken to the Ministry of punishment for interrogation.The three judges worked together, although they forced the emperor to stop the court for several days, they still failed to achieve the goal of imprisoning Marquis Yongning.

Later, the palace finally came to order and issued instructions on the ruling of the case.In the last case-closing statement issued by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, the charge of "agreeing to commit treason" was deleted, and replaced by Yongning Hou's conclusion that "it was an unintentional mistake to be deceived by an adulterer, but the crime is serious, and he should be punished by exile".

When he was accused of punishing the nine clans, he was sentenced to exile as the Marquis of Yongning in the end, and his family members were demoted from officials and nobles.Anyone with a discerning eye can understand that this is the result of a compromise between the emperor, the empress dowager, and the empress. As for how much the emperor paid to satisfy the empress dowager, outsiders don't know.

"Wei Yan, come back to me alive."

Tomorrow Wei Yan will be escorted out of Beijing, and exiled to the barren mountain mine in the extreme north of Youzhou to serve hard labor. On the last night, Emperor Jing hugged him and confessed in a low voice.

"I know you have been wronged. But if you don't come back, I will soon forget you, and I won't avenge you. Your grievances can only be in vain."

"Wei Yan, if you really can't come back, don't worry, you won't be alone, I promise to send your family down to accompany you."

Although the emperor's words sounded like he was going crazy, Wei Yan knew very well in his heart that the emperor's words were quite serious now.If he really can't come back, the emperor is very likely to do those crazy things.

"I promise, I will come back." Wei Yan swore to promise, but in fact he had no bottom in his heart.

The punishment of exile for thousands of miles, since ancient times, very few can return, and countless died on the road. As for those who died in exile, it is commonplace, not to mention that the Queen Mother and Queen may not be able to let him reach the exile safely. Guarantee, whether it can be fulfilled in the end is really a big problem.

However, in order to appease the emperor and prevent the emperor from going crazy now, he can only guarantee this.Perhaps, on the day when the news of his death came, the emperor had already forgotten about him.