The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 89: The people are uneasy
Chapter 89: People are uneasy
More and more people were excited and willing to accept the punishment on behalf of the third daughter of the Bai family. Even a child of seven or eight years old stood up and said, “The Bai family protects the people, and the people can also protect the Bai family. Although I am young, I have read the books of sages. I am also willing to take the punishment on behalf of the sister of the Bai family!”
Seeing this, the criminal officer was even more afraid to take action. He was extremely shocked. He had never seen the people defend a family like this. He was shocked by the people who were so aggressive and demanded to take the court cane for the third daughter of the Bai family. He stood there at a loss what to do. He turned around and ordered the guards behind him: “Go and report to the top leader and see how to deal with it.”
Seeing this, the young eunuch who was hiding in Wude Gate to get information ran all the way to the emperor’s palace, crawled and ran to the door of the palace, and hurriedly said to Gao Demao: “Eunuch Gao, the eldest princess of the Zhenguo Mansion and several girls from the Bai family are beating the drum outside the Wude Gate, demanding that Your Majesty arrest Liu Huanzhang and kill Prince Xin to uphold the law! The people outside are all clamoring to have the third girl from the Bai family beaten with a stick in the court for beating the drum.”
Even someone close to the emperor like Gao Demao was shocked when he heard this. Prince Xin… that was the legitimate son of the emperor and the empress. Has the eldest princess gone crazy to dare to ask the emperor to kill his legitimate son!
Historically, unless a prince was guilty of treason, the most serious punishment would be imprisonment. The Bai family probably went mad after seeing all the men dead, so they just didn’t care.
“Eunuch Gao!” The young eunuch wiped his sweat with his sleeve, “Do you want to tell His Majesty?”
Gao Demao flicked his whisk and sneered, “Someone will report this kind of bad luck naturally, why should I rush to report it? Yesterday, His Majesty kicked Prince Xin, and today the Bai family is here to cause trouble. You guys should be careful with your heads these days, and don’t get implicated.”
As soon as Gao Demao finished speaking, the commander of the city defense came to report the situation.
After hearing this, the emperor smashed the porcelain teacup with a blue and white painting of a red plum blossom in his hand. He was so angry that he paced back and forth, and the light yellow tea instantly made a mess of the fine velvet carpet.
“How outrageous! The Bai family is so outrageous!”
Inside the hall, the palace maids and eunuchs knelt on the ground, holding their breath and not daring to speak.
When the emperor is angry, millions of people will die!
Who dared to speak in front of the emperor? Aren’t they afraid of being implicated? Even Gao Demao, who had a very high profile in front of the emperor, bowed his head to the ground like a quail, wishing he could shrink into a piece so that the emperor couldn’t see him.
“I sent someone to investigate before I dared to report to Your Majesty. I heard that before the funeral today, the servants of the Bai family who were ordered to deliver winter clothes fought hard to return the six bamboo slips covered in blood. The bamboo slips were read out in public by the daughter of the Bai family. The people were so angry that they all knelt outside the palace gate and asked for justice for the Bai family!”
The furious emperor almost couldn’t stand. He read it once in public at the Zhenguo Mansion and once again at the palace gate, fearing that the people would not remember it! He didn’t leave any room for maneuver!
The Bai family… is so bold!
The emperor supported the corner of the agarwood table with one hand, gritted his teeth, turned around and ordered: “Gao Demao, go! Invite the eldest princess in first!”
After all, she is my own aunt. I should first calm the Grand Princess down, and then the children of the Bai family will be easy to deal with.
The emperor made up his mind and looked at the corner of his clothes soaked by tea, and got angry again: “Why don’t you change my clothes?”
·
Outside the Wude Gate, Bai Qingyan, who was kneeling in front of the palace gate with the Grand Princess, saw Gao Demao, the chief eunuch beside the Emperor, jogging towards him.
Gao Demao trotted over, bowed, knelt beside the Grand Princess and said, “Grand Princess, His Majesty asked me to come and invite you…”
Seeing that the eunuch beside the emperor had come out, Bai Jintong put the drumstick back and knelt beside Bai Qingyan.
The eldest princess squeezed Bai Qingyan’s hand hard, stood up with the help of a cane and straightened her clothes.
“Miss…” Gao Demao said to Bai Qing with a smile, “Could you please give me this bamboo slip of the march record and present it to Your Majesty?”
Bai Qingyan solemnly handed the bamboo slips to Gao Demao, and spoke word by word: “I have read these bamboo slips, and every word is heartbreaking! I hope Your Majesty can give justice to the loyal souls who sacrificed their lives for the country! Otherwise… the Bai family will be uneasy, and the people will be uneasy.”
Gao Demao subconsciously glanced at the common people who were kneeling with the Bai family at the palace gate. The implication of Miss Bai’s words, to put it in a big way… was a threat.
Carefully taking the bloodstained bamboo slips, Gao Demao said, “Don’t worry, Miss Bai, I will definitely pass on this message.”
Bai Qingyan knelt here with his back straight, watching his grandmother enter from Wude Gate with Gao Demao…
“Eldest sister, do you think grandma will be persuaded by the emperor?” Bai Jintong clutched the mourning clothes tightly, frowning.
The Grand Princess’s attitude seemed clear, but not entirely clear. How could Bai Jintong not know?
She looked at the vermilion red door and her grandmother’s straight back, and her originally strong heart felt a little weak.
She only said: “The situation is pressing, and neither Grandmother nor the Emperor… can stop it!”
“Can the emperor really kill Prince Xin?!” Bai Jintong pondered over and over in his mind. In the history of the Great Jin Dynasty, there had never been a prince being executed. Even the second prince committed suicide after being imprisoned.
“If the Emperor does not punish Prince Xin, it will not be enough to quell the people’s anger! Once he does… his crime of greed for merit and recklessness that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jin soldiers, his crime of fearing responsibility and putting the blame on loyal souls, is enough to make Prince Xin incapable of aspiring for a high position in his lifetime, or he will be imprisoned… or demoted to a commoner!” She spoke slowly, murderous intent silently emanating from her eyes.
“He got it easy!” Bai Jinxiu’s face showed a rare cruel look, and tears kept falling.
“If the emperor can be so cruel as to kill Prince Xin, at least he can leave a good reputation in the hearts of the people. If he can’t bear to do so… he will push all the people’s hearts to the Bai family! The loyal and brave died tragically for the people, while the prince lived in disgrace and saved his life. Who is right and who is wrong is in the hearts of the people!” She took a deep breath of the cold winter air and straightened her spine. “The court does not allow women, but the people’s hearts are the same for both men and women. We have no power in the previous dynasty, and we can only win the hearts of the people!”
“Revenge is easy! As long as we are willing… we can always kill Prince Xin! Why should we let the emperor take advantage of us and gain a good reputation? Isn’t it good to hold such a powerful blade as the people’s will in our own hands?! Prince Xin is greedy for life and afraid of death, and he has abandoned the people. There are many people who want him dead. If he is accidentally killed in the dark and windy night one day, except for the royal family… I’m afraid no one will shed tears for him!” Bai Jinzhi’s fists were clenched so hard that they made a clattering sound.
After this experience, Bai Jinzhi is now willing to use her brain before doing anything, and does not rely solely on her own impulse. She feels deeply relieved.
·
Inside the hall, the emperor also saw the bamboo slips recording the march for the first time.
Every single detail… was recorded clearly!
He originally only knew that the battle was a disastrous defeat, but the marching records had not been submitted and the casualties had not been clearly counted.
He really couldn’t expect that he would be defeated so badly!