Chapter 748: Parading in the Street

Just after dawn, Ji Yuan, who was lying on his side on a straw mattress covered with a smelly and dirty quilt, was awakened by the sound of “clanging” of the door opening.

The voice came from the iron door at the end of the porch, followed by footsteps.

Soon, a dozen or so night watchmen appeared in the view of Ji Yuan, as well as all the officials in Yunzhou.

“Get up and take you out in the sun.”

A gong pulled out a key and unlocked the chain wrapped around the fence gate.

Ji Yuan was roughly yanked up by a silent gong and roughly shoved out of his cell.

It was his third day in the night watchman’s dungeon, and the dry straw mats and tattered quilts had saved his life from freezing to death in the bleak, cold dungeon.

But having grown up in a life of luxury, how had 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 color, and his hair was disheveled.

During the past two days, he had spent no time regretting taking over as an emissary of the peace talks.

Ji Yuan was erudite and eloquent, these were real talents, but he was after all a pampered, noble son who lacked a certain amount of social training and experience in the jungle.

Being talented doesn’t mean being resilient to stress.

Two days of encounters and trepidation about the future had left him on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

The only hope was that there was still value in himself, and Xu Qi’an should not kill him, but would use him as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Yunzhou.

It was this hope that sustained him through gritted teeth.

It s good to bask in the sun, continue to stay in the prison, I will freeze to death sooner or later ……… Ji Yuan stumbled and walked in the dark corridor, and more than twenty Yunzhou officials followed him.

Outside the door of the dungeon, the air was cold but sober, and the sun hung nonchalantly in the sky, bringing a hint of warmth.

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

Behind him, Causeway kicked him in the ass, sending him to the ground.

Ji Yuan climbed up with difficulty and cast an angry and stifled gaze at the gong.

“What are you looking at, or I’ll gouge your eyes out.”

That gong pressed the hilt of his sword with one hand, with little expression on his serious and stereotypical face, and said:

“Aren’t you arrogant, entering the capital to be greeted by the Minister of Rites, the current First Minister, and the Prince out of the city before you will enter the city.

“Didn’t you reprimand the princes in the Golden Palace and press the entire court to raise their heads.

“Didn’t you use a slight trick to make the people of the capital question Xu Ningyan’s prestige.

“You continue to be arrogant.”

Ji Yuan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to hold back.

In the coming day, when the iron hooves of Yunzhou conquered the capital, he would personally destroy the night watchman’s yamen, and these night watchmen who had friendship with Xu Qi’an, all of them would be lynched.

At that moment, a middle-aged silver gong walked over and swept his gaze sternly over the crowd.

The gongs had straightened their sashes and positioned their chest gongs, confirming that everything was symmetrical and there were no problems, and then they respectfully said:

“Guv.”

The middle-aged silver gong nodded slightly and withdrew his gaze in satisfaction, not bothering to look at Ji Yuan, whose hair was disheveled and whose prison uniform was dirty and covered with folds.

“Let’s go, don’t lose time.”

Departure, where to? Ji Yuan’s heart flinched and wanted to open his mouth to ask, but he felt that he was destined to not get an answer, and instead he would be beaten up.

The silent gong escorting Ji Yuan outside said casually:

“Chief, Ning Banquet is looking for us for a drink tonight.”

The middle-aged silver gong was silent for a moment:

“The Hook or the Rectory?”

“Hooker, I think; he says he won’t go to the rectory any more.” Tongluo replied.

The middle-aged silver gong was slightly relieved:

“A promise is worth a thousand pounds, and he’s always been a man of honor.”

Li Yuchun knew that when Fu Xiang died, Xu Qi’an had promised not to go to the Church Department in the future.

Zhu Guangxiao added after a slight silence:

“He said he could invite all the flower girls from the Churchyard to the Hook.”

…….. Li Yuchun didn’t want to talk.

Passing through the back of the courthouse, he walked out along the corridor, then through an office hall and courtyard, and finally came to the entrance of the courthouse.

At the entrance to the courthouse, a prison van was parked.

Zhu Guangxiao looked at Ji Yuan and faintly said:

“Go get a tan.”

Ji Yuan’s face stiffened and he froze on the spot.

…………

A new notice was posted on the walls of all the magistracies in the capital, and on the walls of the inner and outer city gates, in the early morning hours.

Notices were an important channel for the people of the capital to get official information on weekdays.

The common people do not pay special attention to the notice wall in the past, unless there is something big happening recently.

Right now in the capital, the biggest thing is to negotiate peace.

“What does the notice say?”

As soon as the notice was posted, the people around the area flocked to it, either to talk about it or to ask the official who posted the notice.

One hour before the posting of the notice, a mandarin would be responsible for “singing the list” and informing the people of its contents.

After all, there are still a small number of literate people in the city.

And this kind of official notice of the court, the reading threshold is very high, even if literate people, without a certain education, can not read the content.

In the end, it will become a situation where you know every word, but when you put them together, you don’t know what they mean.

“It must be about negotiating peace, the court has lost the battle, Qingzhou has been lost, I have heard that it seems like they want to cede land for peace.”

“A mere bandit state is so arrogant, since the new ruler ascended the throne, the people’s lives have gotten worse and worse, and corrupt officials are running rampant.”

“Hush, keep your voice down, don’t talk nonsense.”

“What are you afraid of, there’s no soldier on the side, and besides, everyone swears like that.”

Talking, the topic from the “peace” to the loss of Qingzhou this matter.

“Xu Yinluo didn’t even manage to defend Qingzhou? He’s the strong man who made the Witch God Sect’s 200,000-strong army all but disappear at the Yu Yang Pass with one man and one sword.”

“I’ve heard this question of yours countless times, who knows, speaking of which, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Xu Yinluo appear in the capital.”

“The story I’ve heard is that the Supervisors are all dead in Qingzhou, and Xu Yinluo is no match for the Yunzhou rebels.”

“Alas, no wonder Xu Yinluo is so low key, there’s no way, he can’t beat them.”

Emotions have been vented for so many days, most of the people, although their hearts are angry, but they have passed the most uptight, for the court and Yunzhou’s decision to negotiate peace, privately still cursed, but can not do anything about it.

Opposition is not as high.

Especially the loss of Qingzhou, Yunzhou mission to the capital, a series of rumors fermented, spread, the people of the capital has gradually figured out the ins and outs, and know the news that the Da Feng guardian deity Supervisor Zheng died in battle in Qingzhou.

Though in their eyes, the Supervisor was far less prestigious than Xu Yinluo.

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

At that moment, the mandarin standing by the notice raised his voice:

“Ancient ruler of the world is important in the preservation of the people’s lives, do not tolerate to raise people to harm people ……… I have been since ascending the throne, the governance of the country is unfavorable, so that the rebels in Yunzhou rose up, the Nine States boiled, the general situation of the critical situation, the megaboards of people in distress, the people are suffering, I am ashamed of my ancestors and ancestors ……..

“Eldest Princess Huaiqing, with her generous virtue, is much better than me. ……… That is to say, Eldest Princess Huaiqing will ascend to the throne, assisted by Xu Qi’an, to support the gods of the earth and grain, to pacify the rebellion, and to return the Dafeng to a clear and heavenly sky, is it not the best thing to do? I am honored.”

Notice sprawling more than four hundred words, the official read out, the people around the jaw, like a statue frozen in place.

“What, what does that mean?”

“It seems that …….. Emperor abdicated to the Rapunzel?” The speaker’s eyes snapped wide:

“The Rapunzel wants to be emperor?”

All of a sudden it exploded, and the crowd clamored like a boil.

The content of the notices caused a strong shock, shock, and bewilderment to the people.

This made them no longer care about the trouble coming out of their mouths, and they discussed it intensely.

“How can a woman be an emperor, it’s not nonsense. Is it possible to bring an official along to embroider?”

“Can she read and write, Princess? Why did His Majesty abdicate to the Princess, a woman as Emperor, not afraid of being laughed at by the world?”

Their first reaction was resistance, anger, and inability to accept it, thinking only that it was the first absurdity in the world.

Then someone said:

“Have you guys been listening to books at the teahouse? It seems like there used to be a woman who was emperor, called, what was it called?”

“The Great Yang Empress?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’ve heard that too.”

The clamor was slightly rested, and it was obvious that many people had also heard similar content in the past few days, in places of entertainment and recreation such as taverns and teahouses, green houses and brothels.

Then someone else said:

“The notice says that the eldest princess ascended the throne with the aid of Xu Yinluo.”

Oh, there’s Xu Yinluo assisting.

The objections died down a few more times, but there were still mutterings:

“Why is Xu Yinluo aiding a woman to become emperor, isn’t this nonsense. There is no such precedent in the six hundred years of my Great Feng’s founding.”

“Yes, I really can’t figure out what the officials and Xu Yinluo are thinking, negotiating peace with Yunzhou while holding up the princess as emperor.”

“Xu Yinluo is confused.”

The people, who originally regarded Xu Qi’an as a hero and protector, were disappointed with the loss of Qingzhou, and even more so with the negotiation of peace, although no one openly blamed Xu Qi’an, their hearts were definitely disappointed.

As soon as the notice was posted, disappointment immediately festered and turned to resentment.

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

Looking around, I saw a train of prison wagons slowly approaching, followed by a large group of people who kept throwing stones and spitting at the prisoners on the wagons.

Others carried toilets and threw feces at the prisoners in the vans.

One of the leading few riders, a night watchman, high on his horse, struck a gong and shouted:

“By order of Xu Yinluo, the Yunzhou rebels will be paraded through the streets.”

On both sides of the street, the crowd is excited, the people who heard the news to come over to join in the fun, some joined the ranks of stone throwing, some pointing and cursing, some high-fiving and singing, a great joy.

Ji Yuan’s head was covered in blood, and his heart was ashen.

The Yunzhou officials who accompanied him shivered and cried bitterly.

………..

Dusk.

In the imperial study, Huaiqing sat behind a large case covered with yellow silk, and in the hall were Liu Hong and Qian Qingshu, the two party leaders, as well as the Minister of Rites.

The Minister of Rites made a bow:

“Your Highness, the enthronement has been prepared.”

Huaiqing, who wore a plain palace dress, nodded slightly.

After the Minister of Rites returned to his position, Liu Hong stepped out and bowed:

“The city is abuzz today, the people’s resistance is still there, but it’s not serious, and Xu Yinluo’s reputation has improved. The people of the capital still love and adore the majority.”

Liu Hong couldn’t help but laugh as he finished:

“With Xu Yinluo’s reputation nowadays, it’s most suitable to protect His Highness. No one in the dynasty is more popular than him.”

Princess ascended to the throne as emperor, the aristocracy is actually easier to accept than the people, as long as the benefits to give in place, and then coerced by force, the submission of a few people.

Most of all, in the eyes of the ruling class, although Huaiqing is a woman, but after all, she is the root of the royal blood.

A woman’s claim to the throne is an exception, and the next new ruler is still the Daebung royal family.

This greatly reduced the resistance of the ruling class.

But the commoners don’t care about that. To appease the people and convince them, Huaiqing’s prestige is not enough, and neither is the prestige of the princes; only Xu Qi’an can do it.

Qian Qingshu concurred:

“Whether Your Highness can rally the people’s hearts depends on tomorrow.”

Huaiqing lowered his head, scrutinizing the folders in his hand, and without raising his head, he let out a “hmm”:

“It’s getting late, so a few of you will retire first.”

The three of them bowed and exited the imperial study.

Huaiqing hand folding is the cabinet handed up, the content is after the throne should be matters, trivia zero total, but there is an extremely important, that is, call the state ministers, all commanders, back to the capital to report duty.

It’s really a negotiation, pulling together, giving the big boys in the states a piece of their minds.

…………

The next day.

On this day, the atmosphere in the capital was extremely odd, from the princes and nobles down to the people of the city, all knew that this was a day destined to go down in history.

Because the First Princess, Huaiqing, ascends to the throne today, a precedent that has not been seen in the 600 years of the Daebung.

The emperor ascended to the throne, the ordinary people did not have the opportunity to see, but it did not prevent them from paying attention and discussing.

All classes had different views, the scholars and Confucians of the State Academy were bitter about Huaiqing’s ascension to the throne, and even if the Yunzhou mission was paraded through the streets, it could not win their favor.

At most, they wouldn’t scold Xu Qi’an.

The class of people in the marketplace had the most mixed opinions, some were unable to accept it, some were not concerned, and some chose to believe Xu Yinluo.

Xu Mansion, the aunt also expressed her views on behalf of the noblewoman class.

“Master ah, Ning Yan is not fooling around, how can a woman be an emperor. I don’t even dare to go out for fear of being recognized as Xu Ningyan’s aunt, what if I’m pelted with rotten eggs.”

Auntie was as gorgeous as ever, and the years seemed to have taken extra pity on her.

Although sitting with her daughter, she is not as girlish, but she does not look old, her face is tender and white without any wrinkles.

Uncle Xu looked down and ate without commenting.

“Big brother has his own way.”

Compared to her mother, Xu Ling Yue appreciated her big brother’s feat.

The aunt sighed as she saw her topic go cold:

“Qingzhou was lost, and Erlang hasn’t heard from him. Suzume is practicing in the Compass Clan, I don’t know how long it will take for her to come back, will she be bullied by the barbarians in the southern border.

“Xu Ningyan, this heartless bad seed, has returned to the capital and doesn’t know to go home and take a look around.”

As she was saying this, the aunt’s gaze froze and she looked straight out of the hall.

…………

PS: typos are corrected after the first shift