On the third day of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Huining, the inner prison.
　　The three officials assisted in the trial of the case of Shang Kai, the eunuch who held the seal in front of the emperor, who abused his power to invade the land, and Xu Xiang presided over the trial.
　　The door of the prison was opened, and the head of the eunuchs of the rear province, who used to wear brocade and gorgeous clothes, was escorted by the soldiers in the prison and knelt in the hall in a tattered prisoner uniform, with heavy chains wrapped around his hands and feet
　　. The torture room in the inner prison was dark and gloomy, but with the three officials by his side, it was inconvenient to torture him in a place that was easy to torture, so he was taken to a bright and clean hall.
　　Officials sent by various parties sat on both sides, looking coldly at the eunuch who once looked down on them. Instead, the chief judge Xu Xiang stood quietly in front of him, with a calm expression.
　　Shang Kai raised his eyes and looked coldly in all directions.
　　Xu Bingbi did not torture him, which was the intention of His Majesty the Emperor himself. From the outside, it can also be seen that there are no whip marks or bloodstains on his body.
　　Shang Kai's eyes passed over Xu Xiang, looked at the nearby Censorate and the Ministry of Justice, then saw the Dali Temple, and then looked behind the female official who was sitting quietly with a fan at the end.
　　Du Yuewan was listening in on the imperial decree, and on the right was the female historian, and behind her was Zheng Yuheng, who was very low-key and dressed as a eunuch.
　　Shang Kai looked around and even smiled.
　　The officials of the three departments all frowned and glared at this man. Xu Bingbi was very calm and asked someone to read out the crime Shang Kai committed.
　　Before he asked, a middle-aged official in the Ministry of Justice snorted coldly, the sound was neither loud nor soft, but just enough for everyone in the hall to hear clearly.
　　"Let the eunuchs try the eunuchs? Your Majesty doesn't believe in the Ministry of Justice, and doesn't believe in our government offices. These eunuchs who have no roots, except for gathering in groups, barking at each other, or protecting each other."
　　Xu Xiang didn't even look at him, and asked: "Shang Daban. Your Majesty has not dismissed you from your post, so I still call you that. Is everything written on the paper just now true?"
　　Shang Kai looked at his face and smiled: "Did you hear what he said? Xu Xiang, your Majesty asked you to try me, in their eyes, it's like a dog trying another dog, we are not considered human beings."
　　Xu Xiang was silent.
　　"These evidences can be buried and not mentioned - you have made such a big fuss just to kill me, and some people think that I, a eunuch, am causing chaos in the court and is an eyesore... Xu Bingbi, even though you are standing here now, the Queen Mother only treats you as a dog, but she has not abandoned you yet."
　　Shang Kai said so much, without any intention of admitting guilt. At this point, Xu Xiang hadn't changed much, but an imperial censor from the Imperial Censorate stood up suddenly, unable to bear it any longer, and pointed at Shang Kai and cursed: "Now you are no longer the eunuch in charge of the seal, but a prisoner! There is such a pest around His Majesty, and we, as ministers, are destined to clean it up for the current emperor!"
　　"You are ministers, and you want to be a good match between the emperor and his subjects, and to be remembered forever, but when have you ever regarded the emperor as your father?" Shang Kai asked.
　　He had been castrated for many years and accepted the physical defects. At this stage, his expression was actually very different from the sarcastic and pretentious look at the beginning. Shang Kai stared at the imperial censor who spoke, and his voice was full of grief and anger, sweeping away the usual gentleness, and instead questioned them fiercely and without giving in.
　　"The emperor has been on the throne for just over a year, and you all keep saying that you are ministers, and you say that you are thinking about the world, and you speak in a high-sounding manner, but what about the current emperor? You -" He raised his hand and pointed at everyone, and the chains trembled violently, "Your teachers, your elders, those courtiers who take advantage of their age, don't give face to the emperor in front of the civil and military officials! You worry about whether the ants outside are cold and hungry, but the person who should not suffer the most in the world is sitting on the throne, right in front of you."
　　Xu Xiang lowered his eyes and looked at him, and said, "Shang Daban, this is an interrogation. You can't say anything unless you are asked."
　　"I can't say. Haha..." He laughed, "Xu Bingbi, you just haven't suffered enough, and you haven't recognized the reality. Open your eyes and look at these important officials in the court and the public. They argue with His Majesty not for justice in the world, but to suppress the imperial power and the emperor! For themselves! You and I have masters, and only we are truly loyal to His Majesty and the Empress Dowager. Only we are for the good of our masters - I would like to ask which courtiers and which adults here have never given the emperor a bad look and caused trouble for them!"
　　The situation was already somewhat out of control. The two young censors of the Imperial Censorate stood up one after another, extremely angry at the words, and almost stepped forward, but were pulled back by the people around them. Someone urged loudly: "Xu Xiang, why don't you punish him? Are you really like this criminal slave said, colluding with him and colluding with him?!"
　　If any eunuch in the rear province heard this, they would definitely sneer. In the inner palace, Xu Bingbi and Shang Daban can be said to be two groups that are cold and frosty when they meet. But in the eyes of court officials, eunuchs are always in the same group as eunuchs, and they can never be integrated into the real identity of "officials".
　　Xu Xiang first said to the people in the three yamen: "Your Majesty's decree, unless he or the Queen Mother issues an order, no one shall be tortured to extract a confession or forced to confess."
　　"Isn't this an injustice to him! Don't you think it's important?!"
　　"Xu Xiang, why did His Majesty bring him to you instead of letting us in the yamen to try him? Are you..."
　　Just as the voices of doubt were endless, Du Yuewan, who had never spoken a word, coughed heavily.
　　She was a top female official, who was responsible for the waiting order of the Cining Palace, and often drafted documents and imperial edicts for Dong Lingjiu. When Du Yuewan's motionless gauze fan shook gently, these people suddenly remembered that they were under the eyes of the Queen Mother, and they all gritted their teeth and endured, and sat back.
　　In fact, there is no need to talk about these things. Just by guessing, Xu Xiang and Shang Kai can probably guess a thing or two. Because the contradiction between the eunuchs and the civil officials group is irreconcilable, Meng Cheng did not let these bureaucrats participate in the trial of the "Emperor's attendants", but let the matter end within the eunuch group.
　　In other words, this is the last time Emperor Meng Cheng showed mercy and favoritism to Shang Daban. If he is imprisoned in Xu Xiang, he will definitely obey the imperial edict and not use private punishment, but when he is in the Ministry of Justice, the jailers also have many ways to force people to be unable to live or die without any injuries on the surface.
　　After Du Yuewan spoke, Shang Kai's anger subsided. He sat in the hall and looked at her from a distance: "You are watching a joke here."
　　Du Yuewan said: "I am here to listen to the order of the Queen Mother."
　　Shang Kai was silent and sighed: "So my little master can grow up a little bit, be as smart and strong as the Queen Mother, and won't be bullied by these people."
　　"Then I will be deceived by you." Du Yuewan said expressionlessly, "When did the palace use such a sum of lamp oil money?"
　　Shang Kai completely relaxed and pinched his sore knees without hesitation. He had several old injuries on his body. When it rained or snowed, pain would arise from the bone joints... This was all caused by serving the young prince of the Eastern Palace in the past. When Meng Cheng was very young, Shang Kai was selected to enter the mansion and serve him.
　　He said: "That is indeed not a sum of lamp oil money."
　　This is admitting it.
　　The evidence is conclusive, and he has no way to shirk it. He didn't admit it before, because he still had hope for Meng Cheng's choice. But in the current situation, even if His Majesty the Emperor still has feelings for the old times, he has to give them up. Just like his teacher Mr. Li, his likes and dislikes are very simple, straightforward, and easy to judge. Asking him to abandon the people close to him is as painful as peeling off a layer of Meng Cheng's skin.
　　In this respect, he is different from the late emperor.
　　Shang Kai looked at her and said, "Du Shangyi has been in the palace for many years. He should know that all the expenses of the palace are controlled by the six ministries. Your Majesty's home is the country, and your Majesty's country is the home. He is young. If he wants to use something or reward someone, the reward must go through the accounts of their ministers. They must remember it clearly. If there is any waste, they will be accused and exaggerated."
　　Du Yuewan said, "So, you collected this money for His Majesty?"
　　Shang Kai smiled slowly. This smile was too hideous and split, as if his whole person was split from the center, half of him was loyal, and the other half was full of hypocrisy and calculation.
　　He coughed, his voice hoarse: "Whatever His Majesty wants, I will get it for him. Whatever he wants to eat and play, he doesn't have to be pulled and stared at. The master has me, I will always find a way."
　　Du Yuewan didn't speak for a long time. She raised her hand and moved the gauze fan in front of her to cover her expression, and said: "Please continue the trial, Xu Bingbi."
　　Xu Xiang nodded in agreement, and walked back to Shang Kai in the cold silence and the air burning with anger, and said to him: "Shang Daban, this is the imperial decree of His Majesty. This matter... Let it end with you and me."
　　Shang Kai looked at him and pulled With a smile on his lips and tears dripping from his eyes, he said: "Xu Bingbi, it was them who forced His Majesty to abandon me, and it was these people who forced His Majesty to be sad. Now that you are standing here, maybe one day you will kneel in my position, and these people will force the Queen Mother to kill you--"
　　Xu Xiang's eyebrows did not move, and his tone was somewhat indescribably cold. He replied softly: "On the day I was transferred to the inner factory, I had already thought of my ending. Shang Daban, if you kneel here to plead... For me, that is a luxurious way to die."
　　...
　　Click.
　　A moist chess piece fell on the chessboard, filling in the "tendons" of this piece, tightening the scattered chess shape, and having the momentum of Jackie Chan swinging his tail.
　　Meng Cheng sat opposite Dong Lingjiu, staring at the chess piece, and constantly fiddled with the chess basket with his hands. He was distracted, and it took him a long time to react to the exquisiteness of this move. He exhaled and said, "Mother, you are an excellent chess player. I can't compare to you."
　　Dong Lingjiu took a sip of tea, and asked knowingly, "Are you thinking about interrogating Shang Kai?"
　　"Yes." Meng Cheng was undecided and hesitated for a long time. Finally, he put down the chess piece for the time being. He folded his hands and supported his chin. He was silent for a long time before continuing, "Mother, you made a special trip to visit me. Is it to comfort me?"
　　"A little bit." Dong Lingjiu said, "More because... I have just felt recently that when a person is sad and tired, it is a great comfort to have someone close to him by his side. However, after you and Yingying were born, neither he nor I did a very good job. We were not able to accompany and teach you well."
　　The "he" here is no one else but Emperor Mingde Meng Zhen.
　　"Mother..."
　　"I think you will be very sad today." Dong Lingjiu said to him softly, "You won't be so sad that you will cry to mother, will you?"
　　Meng Cheng looked at her, rubbed his face hard, calmed down his emotions, and tried to make himself look more promising. He whispered: "Compared with you and father, I will never be good enough..."
　　He has grown up, and Dong Lingjiu is no longer the main care and concern. He has ascended to this position and should shoulder the responsibility of growth and transformation. Most of the previous things were to hone his ability to govern and the correctness of his judgment, but as an emperor, his character is the most important.
　　Dong Lingjiu reached out and stoked the flame on the candlestick, turned the gauze cover, and looked at the detailed painting of auspicious clouds and dragons on it: "Don't say that... You will be better than him one day, but the late emperor had suffered a lot and fallen many times when he was your age."
　　"Did father also have a time when he was young and ignorant?"
　　"Of course." She said, "People are not born to be called saints... Do you want to hear me tell you about him?"
　　Meng Cheng looked at her and nodded first, and then thought of Zheng Yuheng, his heart was blocked, and he said softly: "Your son can only hear what I want to hear in your story... "
　　The author has something to say:
　　Because of the well-known "Children's Day gift"... I rushed out this chapter in the early morning QAQ, help me orz.
　　The late emperor will appear in the next chapter. Although he was buried as soon as he appeared, he is indeed a male supporting role. (Convinced)