Chapter 037: Crow Night Cry (VI)
The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, and the struggle between the Hanlin Academy and the Censorate has become increasingly fierce. The name "Ni Qinglan" has been mentioned repeatedly, and these civil servants of the Great Qi Dynasty are eager to use all their tricks to refute the other side.
The Censorate believed that Wu Jikang, the emperor's brother-in-law, was responsible for Ni Qinglan's death through negligence, and that Ni Qinglan eventually died of starvation due to his inability to eat due to the soul-leaving syndrome, so Wu Jikang's crime did not deserve the death penalty.
The Hanlin Academy believed that Wu Jikang first bribed Du Cong to commit fraud and then imprisoned Ni Qinglan, causing her to suffer from soul-leaving syndrome and ultimately leading to her death, and therefore he deserved the death penalty.
The two sides were arguing, but Emperor Zhengyuan still claimed to be ill and did not attend court. The memorials submitted to the Qinghe Hall by the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy fell on deaf ears.
Emperor Zhengyuan's attitude further boosted the arrogance of the Censorate.
"Ni Qinglan's incident has become more and more serious these days. It has spread all over the market. I have also gone to the teahouse to listen to the story. The storyteller told the story vividly, even describing how Wu Jikang came up with the idea and how he imprisoned and tortured Ni Qinglan. Many scholars cursed Wu Jikang, the uncle of the emperor, in public. The curse was really ugly..."
Pei Zhiyuan said as he peeled peanuts.
"I heard that many students from Guangning Prefecture went to ask how Ni Qinglan's case would be resolved yesterday, especially those poor students who entered the academy. They were filled with righteous indignation and were about to cause chaos."
An official took over.
"You also said that he was from a poor family. Among the scholars in the world, except for those from official families, how many of them would not be disheartened after hearing about his story? If the government does not punish Wu Jikang, I'm afraid they will not give up."
Another official sighed.
Who among those young people without a family background does not worry that they will become the next Ni Qinglan? As long as the powerful and wealthy are willing, they can make their ten years of hard study go to waste, or even pay with their lives.
The reason why this matter caused such a stir among scholars was that it just hit the hearts of those young people who were full of vigor and enthusiasm.
"Let's just discuss the new policy and not get involved in the affairs of the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy..." someone whispered before Hanlin scholar He Tong arrived.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone saw Mr. Zhang and Mr. Meng come in, and they stood up and bowed.
"Let's all get down to business."
Meng Yunxian seemed not to hear what they said. He walked in with his hands behind his back and motioned for them not to be polite. Then he sat down and started talking about business with Zhang Jing.
Although the emperor was still ill, the new policies discussed in the Council of State still had to be submitted to the emperor's desk. The officials did not dare to chat anymore and were busy with the tasks at hand.
It was dusk when Meng Yunxian returned home from the palace. When he heard from the maid that a guest was coming, he was too lazy to change his clothes and went straight to the study.
"The Ni Qinglan incident caused such a big stir in Yunjing City. Was it your job, the Night Office?" Meng Yunxian asked the person sitting next to him after the eunuch who served tea left.
"It was Ni Qinglan's sister Ni Su, but our family also used some tricks to let Zhou Ting spread the testimony of the book boy Jia Yan. In this way, the storytellers in the teahouse will have more to say."
If Han Qing hadn't done it on purpose, the outside world wouldn't know so many details about Wu Jikang's crime.
“This girl…”
Meng Yunxian was stunned for a moment, holding the tea bowl but not drinking, "He is such a stubborn guy."
There was a hint of appreciation in his tone.
"Could it be that she wants to go to Dengwenyuan?"
Meng Yunxian realized.
"If not, why would she spend money everywhere to make this matter bigger? I thought to myself that she had to go to Dengwenyuan."
When Han Qing talked about this girl, there was some complicated emotion between his brows.
"How can a weak woman like her endure the punishment in Dengwenyuan?" Meng Yunxian took a sip of tea as tea smoke rose. "But her doing this does make it easier for you and me to act."
"The emperor has always been concerned about the opinions of the people, and now that Mount Tai is being worshipped, I think the emperor must be even more concerned about these things. Ni Qinglan's matter has been reported to Dengwenyuan, and the emperor can't just sit back and do nothing. He must make a decision."
But how to decide? Everyone in the capital is watching this case, and those scholars from poor families are even more concerned about themselves because of Ni Qinglan's incident. If the government is still determined to protect Wu Jikang at this time, I am afraid that things will not end well.
That Ni Su is forcing the government.
Thinking of this, Meng Yunxian couldn't help but sigh: "Han Qing, I think she is a bit like you back then."
"If our family could have gone to Dengwenyuan back then, we would have definitely gone there."
A smile appeared on Han Qing's face.
At that time, Han Qing was only eleven or twelve years old. He was a eunuch with no power in the palace. A palace slave like him was not qualified to enter Dengwenyuan.
Fortunately, he came to Meng Yunxian for help and was able to save his sister's life.
Meng Yunxian pondered for a moment, resting one hand on his knee, and said, "Just wait until she files a complaint with the emperor at the Dengwen Court, and the emperor will definitely summon me."
…
September 9th is Double Ninth Festival.
Ni Su got up very early and added incense and candles to the incense table. She saw the dogwood that Cai Chunxu had sent her yesterday. A vermilion branch was inserted in a vase. She thought about it and broke off a piece to pin it into her hair.
“Does it look good?”
She turned around and asked the person standing on the porch.
Xu Hexue looked at her. She was dressed in white as white as frost, with her hair tied up in a bun. She had no other ornaments except a string of dogwood hairpins in her hair. They were extremely white and red, and so eye-catching.
"Um."
He nodded.
Ni Su smiled. She looked a little pale and thinner. She broke off another piece of dogwood from the bottle, walked up to him, pulled his belt and wrapped the dogwood around it, saying, "Today you have to accompany me to climb a very high mountain. You must wear this."
That very high mountain is in Dengwenyuan.
"Ni Su..."
Xu Hexue lowered his eyes and watched her fingers hooked on his frosty white belt, his Adam's apple moved slightly.
"Listen to me,"
Ni Su interrupted him, "You must not help me today, and do not let anyone know of your presence."
After wrapping the dogwood, Ni Su's gaze moved from the bright red dogwood fruits to his neat white collar, and then up to his face.
Xu Hexue pursed her lips and curled her fingers in her sleeves.
"I'm being tortured, will you take care of me?" Ni Su's tone was very relaxed, "If you don't take care of me, I'll be miserable."
"I can."
He said.
"Um."
Ni Su's eyes curved slightly, "Then let me thank you first."
The drum for reporting was outside the imperial city gate. Ni Su walked over from Nanhuai Street. The morning mist had dissipated a lot and the sunlight was becoming brighter.
There were many people walking on the street. Among the crowd, she saw the soldiers outside the imperial city gate, all of them wearing armor and with solemn expressions.
Beside the Dengwen Drum, there were some servants guarding.
No one noticed Ni Su until she walked up to the Dengwen drum and looked up at it.
The sunlight was bright and dazzling. The drummers were pushing each other, staring at the girl who suddenly approached, and began to whisper.
"What is she going to do?"
"Are we going to beat the drum? No one has dared to beat the drum for many years..."
"Isn't she afraid of being punished?"
As the drummers were talking, they saw the young woman take the drumsticks off the wooden stand. They watched her raise her hands high and hit the drum hard.
There was a loud "bang".
The drum surface vibrates.
Many pedestrians were startled by the drum sound and quickly gathered in front of the Dengwen drum. The drum sound became duller and more rapid than the last.
"Quick, go and report to the drum master!"
A drum watcher pushed the person beside him.
The drum supervisor was a eunuch in the palace. The news was sent into the palace along with the sound of drums, and then sent to Dengwen Drum Court by the drum supervisor. This delayed a lot of time, but the drum sound never stopped.
Ni Su's forehead was covered with sweat and her wrists were sore, but she still held the drumstick tightly until the gate of Dengwen Drum Court on Xuandemen South Street opened.
"Who's beating the drum here?"
The drummer shouted at the top of his lungs.
Ni Su's temples were wet with sweat. She turned around, bent her knees, knelt down, raised the drumstick high, and said loudly: "I, Ni Su, seek justice for my brother Ni Qinglan!"
Ni Qinglan's three words almost immediately caused a stir in the crowd.
"Is that the scholar who was killed by Wu Yanei?"
"I heard about it, too. It seems that he was tortured by Wu Yanei to the point of suffering from soul-leaving syndrome. He refused to eat or drink and starved to death..."
“What a sin!”
The drum supervisor wiped the sweat off his forehead with a towel, called the drum guards over, and said, "The judge has arrived, bring her to the drum hall!"
"yes!"
Look at the drums responding quickly.
Ever since the rule that one must be punished before filing a complaint with the emperor was established, Dengwen Drum Court had been deserted for a long time. The judge of Dengwen Drum Court also served in the Jianyuan, and was arguing with people from the Hanlin Academy in the palace. When he heard the Dengwen drum, he thought he had heard it wrong, until the supervisor of the drum sent someone to look for him, and then he hurried to the Drum Court.
Sitting in the hall, Judge Tan was a little uncomfortable seeing so many people gathered outside the gate. He straightened his official hat, wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve, and then sat upright, examining the young woman kneeling in the hall: "Who is here? Why are you beating the drum?"
"I, a commoner named Ni Su, accuse Wu Jikang, the son of the current Grand Tutor Wu Dai, of murdering my brother."
Ni Su leaned forward and kowtowed.
Judge Tan obviously had not expected that he would be involved in Ni Qinglan's case. His expression changed slightly, and he looked at the woman again, and said in a deep voice: "Do you know that if you go to Dengwenguyuan to file a complaint with the emperor, you must be punished first?"
"I know. If I can redress my brother's injustice, I am willing to be punished!"
Judge Tan narrowed his eyes. He thought that this woman was ignorant and didn't know the severity of the punishment in Dengwen Drum Court. So he put aside other matters and raised his chin to the jailer in the Drum Court: "Come on."
The jailers quickly brought a dusty stool. One of them hastily wiped a handful of dust off it with his sleeve, and the other two then pushed Ni Su onto the stool.
Ni Su rested her cheek against the cold bench and heard Judge Tan in the hall say solemnly, "Ni Su, I'll ask you again, do you want to file a complaint with the emperor?"
"I want to sue."
Ni Su said.
"good."
Judge Tan nodded and said to the jailer holding the cane, "Torture him!"
The jailer had no pity for her because she was a girl. At the judge's order, he raised the cane and beat her hard.
The pain that shook her flesh and bones almost made Ni Su unable to hold back her screams. Tears welled up in her eyes and her whole body was shaking with pain. This was a more painful punishment than the killing stick in Guangning Mansion.
The jailer hit her with a few boards in a row, and the people standing outside the door could hear the dull sound of the boards hitting flesh. Cai Chunxu was helped out of the carriage by Miao Yiyang, and just in time she heard the trembling screams of the woman inside the door. Her knees went weak and she almost fell off the carriage.
Cai Chunxu quickly ran to the door and pushed away the people blocking her way. She saw at a glance that under the broad daylight, the woman was pressed on a long square stool, her frosty white dress was stained with blood.
"Sister Axi..."
Cai Chunxu's eyes became hot and he murmured incoherently.
"Ni Su, I have another question for you, are you still going to sue this imperial petition?" After a few strokes of the board, Judge Tan raised his hand to signal the jailers to stop for the time being.
"tell."
Ni Su's lips trembled.
There was a hint of surprise in Panyuan Tan's eyes. He did not expect that these few beatings could not scare the woman away. Thinking of the current hostile situation between the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy, his expression was not very good and he waved his hand.
The jailer nodded, and the two of them took down the boards one after the other.
Ni Su clenched the corner of the stool tightly with her fingers in so much pain that her knuckles turned white. She gritted her teeth but could not bear the pain in her body and she shed tears in agony.
It was not the first time that Xu Hexue saw her being tortured, but this time, he felt even more reluctant. He could not even bear to see her tears. The cane fell again. He clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes.
"Ni Su, tell me, what is your request for redress?"
Judge Tan, who was sitting in the hall, said in a cold voice.
What are you seeking?
The guard hadn't stopped yet. Ni Su was in so much pain that she was in a daze. She murmured, "What am I begging for?"
Another board fell down, causing her to burst into tears and scream. She breathed hard and cried:
"I want him to die if he kills me! I want him to give my brother his life! I want him to give my brother his life!"
Why?
Why was her brother's life not as important as that man's? Why was the murderer able to escape from prison without a doubt?
"Sir, if I cannot redress my brother's injustice, I am not afraid of death!"
"Stop hitting her!" Cai Chunxu was stopped outside the door by the police. She watched helplessly as another cane was struck down. She shouted anxiously, "Sir! Stop hitting her!"
But the servants turned a deaf ear to it.
Xu Hexue watched the bright red dogwood between Ni Su's hair fall to the ground. Her body was covered in blood, and the cane continued to beat her hard.
His jaw was clenched, but he could not bear it any longer. He stretched out his hand, put two fingers together, and the silver-white dust gently attached to her body like a soft cloud.
The jailer hit Ni Su with his stick again and again, but Ni Su found that he could not feel anything.
She raised her eyes slowly, and the tears on her eyelashes slid down. She saw dust floating around him and bright red blood dripping from the edge of his sleeves.
She saw that the wound on his wrist was cracking inch by inch, and even his collar was stained red. Perhaps more and more wounds were showing under his clothes.
His face became even paler.
Ni Su's cheek was pressed against the bench. Her voice was already very hoarse. Her lips moved slightly, and her voice was so weak that only she could hear it:
"Xu Ziling, please leave me alone, okay?"
"I really don't want you to feel any pain."
