Chapter 122: Apparent Praise but In Reality Criticism

The Jinwu Guards made a lot of noise while carrying out their mission. All the street entrances were blocked and the city gates were closed. The officials and families with a little sense of smell realized that something was wrong. Moreover, when the Jinwu Guards dealt with the Xue family, the Xue family wailed, which was particularly clear in this quiet snowy night.

Anyway, the neighbors around the Xue family were all as quiet as quails, for fear of disturbing the Jinwu Guards and breaking into the house. But they were also quietly paying attention to the movements of the Jinwu Guards.

"Have they withdrawn?"

"No, I don't think they are leaving in the direction of the government office."

"They went east."

They looked at each other in bewilderment. Their Chang'an City was rich in the east and rich in the west, and the north was solid and the south was empty. Are they going to move the nobles?

Qin Family

The Qin family was also very lively. Mrs. Qin and the third sister-in-law Nie Yunniang finally knew the deaths of Qin Yue and Qin Ming. The fact that Qin Yue died for the country had spread in the court, and it could not be concealed for long. Qin Ming's funeral also had to be arranged.

Upon hearing the news, Nie Yunniang immediately lost her pregnancy and began to give birth. In fact, it was time for her to give birth. She was helped into the delivery room, followed by two midwives. The maids in the yard began to get busy, and the kitchen was always preparing hot water and hot food.

The whole Qin family was awake, so they naturally knew about the Xue family's movements.

Lu Songli knew that this was not the end, but the beginning.

Xie Family

When Xie Zhan received the news, he was still reading in the study. Zhao Yutan smiled and poured tea and water for him, washed his brush and ground ink. Under the dim candlelight, it was a picture of a talented scholar and a beautiful woman.

The two got married yesterday, and they were in love. Zhao Yutan was very attached to Xie Zhan, and Xie Zhan was in a good mood recently, so he didn't dislike it.

He was still thinking about which family the Jinwu Guards would visit next, when he heard footsteps coming to the door, followed by the panicked voice of his confidant, "Young Master, the Jinwu Guards are coming to our side!"

When Xie Zhan heard this, he slightly pushed Zhao Yutan away and walked out, "I'll go see!"

Zhao Yutan chased him out, but found that he had already left.

Xie Zhan led his confidant to the main courtyard, "Are you sure they are coming to our Xie family?"

"Sure."

Xie Zhan's face was solemn.

The Fourth Prince, together with those ministers who wanted to gain the credit of following the dragon, killed the prince, and the Fourth Prince was spared by the Emperor. He didn't believe that the Emperor didn't resent some ministers of the original Fourth Prince Group. Xue Huaimin was extremely evil, and the others helped the tyrant. He didn't believe that dealing with Xue Huaimin was enough to make him calm down, and there must be other ministers who would bear his anger.

In theory, their Xie family belonged to the Fourth Prince's family later, and their Xie family should not be the second target of the Jinwu Guards.

However, the Xue family is in the West City, and their Xie family is in the East City. Now the Jinwu Guards have left those ministers alone and are heading straight from the Xue family in the east to the Xie family in the west. It can be seen that their Xie family is hated by the emperor. This made him wonder if something went wrong.

Unless he was exposed, it was impossible!

Xie Zhan immediately denied this guess. When he offered advice to the Fourth Prince, he acted very carefully. He dared to say that as long as the Fourth Prince did not expose him, no one would guess that he would be the Fourth Prince's new think tank. It will definitely be exposed later, but now he is still very confident that he can keep it secret.

His original intention was to put the plan of killing someone with a borrowed knife on the Fourth Prince. He hid behind the scenes and let the emperor see the Fourth Prince's strategy, but now the emperor is like this, doesn't the emperor believe that the plan of killing someone with a borrowed knife came from the Fourth Prince? Then he suspected that they, the ministers who sought to gain the credit of following the dragon, came to him?

In any case, their Xie family is in trouble.

The Jinwu Guards knocked on the door, and the Xie family's doorman opened the door tremblingly.

We can't not open the door, this is a group of killers.

Xie Zhan smiled and stepped forward, "Commander Lin, what is this?"

Lin Ran said with a serious face, "The emperor has an order! By the way, you go and invite Xie Jingyuan and Xie Yunsong together."

Xie Zhan's heart sank when he heard this. Xie Jingyuan and Xie Yunsong were his uncle and uncle, but they were both elders of the Xie family who combined fame and ability. Their existence played an important role in gathering the strength of the entire family.

The people of the Xie family were quickly gathered in the main courtyard, and Xie Jingyuan and Xie Yunsong were also invited. The former was already in his sixties and his face was solemn at the moment.

"Are all the people here?"

"Everyone is here."

"Then let's start!"

"The emperor has ordered, Xie Mingtang, Xie Jingyuan, and Xie Yunsong kneel to receive it!"

Led by Xie Mingtang, Xie Jingyuan, and Xie Yunsong, the rest of the Xie family members knelt down.

"The Emperor, in accordance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims that the Minister of Personnel Xie Mingtang has served as an official for twenty years, has performed his duties conscientiously, restrained himself and restored propriety, has not been corrupted, recommended the virtuous and promoted the capable, and avoided the virtuous..."

The whole article is full of praise.

Hearing this, most of the Xie family members were relieved. It turned out that it was not an imperial decree to punish them. Just now, the Jinwu Guard came out of the Xue family and went straight to their Xie family, which really scared them to death.

But the more Xie Zhan listened, the more he felt that something was wrong. None of these words praising his father matched his father's character and integrity.

Performing his duties conscientiously? It can be considered as such, although his father has used his position to seek profits.

Restraining himself and restoring propriety? That's not the case. His father has never been a restrained person in terms of selfish desires.

Not being corrupted means not being worn out or stained, which is a metaphor for a person's steadfast, noble and loyal quality in his feelings, which will not change due to external influences.

After just thinking about it for a moment, Xie Zhan understood that these kind words were actually the opposite! On the surface, he was praising his father, but in fact, he was scolding him, scolding him for having no moral integrity, poor self-discipline, being unfaithful to his wife, and having second thoughts towards the emperor. It is easier to understand why he recommends talents and avoids them. What he is talking about is that the Xie family is overbearing and has controlled the position of Minister of Dali Temple for so many years without letting anyone interfere.

Thinking about this, Xie Zhan's heart became heavier and heavier.

Looking at his father again, his face turned blue and white.

Xie Mingtang only felt that these good words sounded so harsh. Isn't this really a mockery of him?

Xie Zhan sighed in his heart. It seemed that the emperor had a very bad impression of the Xie family. Fortunately, the emperor is about to die and a new emperor is about to take over.

In the edict, the long words of praise for Xie Mingtang, Xie Jingyuan, Xie Yunsong and others were finally read out.

When Lin Ran saw the following words, he couldn't help but pause for a moment, and then continued to read: "I am very pleased with you and the three of you. I have specially declared my decree for Jinwu and added a gift to be buried with you. Now I give Bai Ling three feet and three feet. A glass of poisonous wine, choose one to kill yourself, no delay! Thank you for this!"

As soon as the emperor's words about the burial order were read out, the Xie family felt their ears rumbling.

Xie Mingtang: I’m so out of my mind!

Xie Jingyuan and Xie Yunsong also had shocked faces.

This is a funeral edict! Xie Zhan didn't expect that the emperor would come up with this move, it was really unexpected!

Sheng Huai'an listened to this strange edict without missing a word, and was amazed by it. After reciting these full words of praise, he was offered death, which sounds very ironic, okay?

In a word, the emperor thinks that your official position is very good and useful, and he wants to continue to use you when you are underground.

The Emperor likes your Xie family very much, so he has given you several places to be buried with the Xie family. It is not enough if you don’t use it, and it must be used up. Otherwise you refuse to give it a try?

He admired him very much. The person who wrote the edict to the emperor was also a talented person.

What he didn't know was that most of the rhetoric in the first half of these edicts was written by Lu Desheng. The part about death was added by the emperor's pen.

At that time, the emperor told Lu Desheng that he would grant favors to some people, including a few members of the Xie family and a few others who had trouble with him in the court.

Lu Desheng was filled with reluctance upon hearing this. The Xie family hated him to death, and so did his political opponents. The emperor just wanted to grant them a favor, but he still wanted to take charge?

He begged the emperor at that time and did not want to do this job. The emperor didn't agree, so he had an idea and came up with these words of praise that were clearly praiseworthy but actually disparaging.

What Lu Desheng didn't know was that after his work was completed, Emperor Kangcheng often lay in the rocking chair and asked Wei Zili to read these edicts, laughing hard while listening.

"The emperor is about to leave, and the civil servants and generals need to clear the way first! Are you unwilling?" Lin Ran asked coldly when he saw that the three people of the Xie family were motionless.

Xie Mingtang, Xie Jingyuan and Xie Yunsong looked at each other with bitterness in their eyes. They never expected that today would be their death day.

"I obey the order!"

The Jinwu Guards were watching with eager eyes, unable to help them resist, and the tribesmen were watching them.

The lives of the entire clan depended on their thoughts. Since they were destined to die, it was better to thank the emperor for his kindness and die generously, which would also make the emperor have a better impression of the Xie clan. It also allows the tribesmen to remember their good deeds more and offer more sacrifices during the New Year.

The most important thing is that after thanking him, he can at least keep his body intact.

All three of them chose poisonous wine.

Before Xie Jingyuan drank, he said to Xie Zhan, "The Xie family will be left to you, my uncle is gone." Then he drank it all.

Xie Yunsong also picked up the poisonous wine and gestured to him, then raised his head and drank it all without saying a word.

Xie Mingtang was scared, but he also understood that he had no choice, "Azhan, take good care of your brothers."

As soon as Jin Wuwei was sure that the three of them were dead, he left without stopping. They had to go to another family.

Xie Zhan was dealing with the funeral affairs with a heavy heart. But he still kept people paying attention to Jinwuwei's movements. When he later found out which houses Jinwuwei had gone to, he felt relieved.

Xie Zhan did not expect that Emperor Kang Cheng would be so angry and kill so many people after dealing with Xue Huaimin and others. Especially the two or three families that they later took refuge in were all taken care of by Emperor Kang Cheng.

From this point of view, Xie Zhan guessed that Emperor Kang Cheng was looking for him, that is, the person who lent the fourth prince the idea of ​​killing someone with a knife. Obviously, Emperor Kang Cheng was not sure who that person was. Therefore, the head of the family whom he suspected, as well as the person in charge of the family, were all taken away.

Emperor Kang Cheng probably wouldn't let it go even if he wanted to kill him by mistake.

His father and two uncles were burdened by his decision. But he has no regrets. After the new emperor ascends the throne, the Xie family will take a step further and even become the largest family in Dali!

Xie Zhan didn't know that Emperor Kang Cheng originally wanted to uproot their Xie family, but considering that he killed a lot of people this time, the impact was already huge. If you add anything else, it will push people too far and may cause turmoil, so I gave up.

Emperor Kang Cheng also didn't expect that just because of this difference in his thoughts, he would let go of the big fish he had been looking for.

In fact, it is understandable. After all, he has run out of energy and energy. How can his body still be able to bear such high-intensity mental activities?

"Chief, where will our next family go?"

"Third place, Duke Chengen's Mansion!"

Sheng Huaian hissed, "Mr. Cheng'en's Mansion, isn't that the Empress Dowager's family home? The uncle of the emperor? Without seeing the imperial edict, he didn't know what the uncle of the emperor had done to anger the heavens and the people, and make their emperor want to take him away?