Jiang's mother, dressed in white and linen, knelt in front of the palace gate. There was a brass basin in front of her, with several pieces of yellow paper burning in it.
The rough yellow paper was swallowed up by tongues of fire and swirled up in the cold wind. The noses of everyone kneeling at the palace gate were stung by the unique smell of burning paper money, which made their noses and eyes sore.
"The wife of Jiang Qingzhou, the late Marquis of Chengyang Marquis Mansion, asks to see your Majesty."
Throwing a stack of yellow paper in her hand into the brass basin, Jiang's mother said in a hoarse voice: "Mother of Jiang Yi, the Marquis of Chengyang, please see your Majesty."
There was a commotion outside the palace. The palace door was still open before, but as more and more people entered the palace to see the emperor, the palace ordered the palace door to be closed tightly, and eight hundred imperial guards were sent to guard the place. There were tears in Jiang's mother's eyes. Every time she threw a stack of paper money into the copper basin, she would shout loudly to ask for an audience with the Holy Father.
More and more people gathered at the palace gate. Lin Jiayue pulled Jiang Xing and huddled in a half-opened grocery store on the street.
Behind her were servants from the Chengyang Hou Mansion who were printing leaflets.
"Sister Jiayue, is that Lord Song Fusong?"
Lin Jiayue stretched her neck and looked outside the shop, and saw that it was Song Fu whom she had met several times.
"It's him. It seems that the person who just entered the palace is indeed Song Lan'an."
As soon as she came out of the palace today, she quickly sent people from the shop to the Song Mansion to look for Ming Xiang, and informed Song Wan of his token and Suhe.
Now it seems that the Song Mansion has taken action.
Jiang Xing has never left the Chengyang Marquis Mansion since he was born. Today, when he went out for the first time and encountered such a scene, he couldn't help but feel a little timid. Huai Su stood behind her, gently stroking Jiang Xing's hair and whispered, Fifth Miss, "Don't be afraid."
"Huai Su, go and tell the old lady to stop shouting at the top of her voice and just show off. We still need to attract more people."
She was afraid that Jiang's mother would not be able to hold on and would collapse before dawn.
Huai Su nodded lightly, thought for a while, picked up the linen filial piety hat Lin Jiayue had prepared earlier and put it on.
Just as she was about to walk out of the shop, Huaisu stood under the threshold and looked back at her: "Aunt Lin, you and the Marquis met in Suhe, can you tell Huaisu where that place is?"
"Where?"
Lin Jiayue withdrew her gaze from the palace gate and looked at Huai Su with her eyebrows furrowed: "It's a desolate and poor place. If you don't have enough food, sleep, or good photos, it's far worse than going to Beijing."
She didn't know why Huai Su suddenly asked this question. She felt impatient and continued to stretch her neck and look outside.
Then she said to the manager behind her: "Go, find me the team that went to Beijing to do white things for people. Call me all those who mourn, blow trumpets, blow suonas, and play mourning music."
"If the emperor doesn't send troops to reinforce Suhe, no one in Beijing will be able to sleep!"
With a solemn look on her face, she vowed to force the Dog Emperor to come out and give an explanation to the Chengyang Marquis Mansion.
"Aunt Lin is going to..."
"Why are you asking so many questions? Concubine Jiang died tragically at the hands of her rivals. We can't hold a memorial ceremony in our house?"
Holding her belly with one hand, Lin Jiayue stuffed the hardened snack into her mouth with the other.
She was starving now, but couldn't eat. She was choking uncomfortably when Jiang Xing handed her a cup of warm tea and gently stroked her back. Huai Su frowned and said, "You are feeling heavy now, so it would be best to go back to your home and rest as soon as possible."
"Don't worry about that."
After swallowing the snacks in her mouth, Lin Jiayue began to point at the servant who was rubbing the leaflets to collect the things into the bamboo basket, and take advantage of the dark sky to find a high place to scatter them towards Beijing.
The wind is strong now, and she hopes that early tomorrow morning, the incriminating documents of the Dog Emperor will be paved on all the streets.
Seeing that she was too busy to move away, Huai Su curled his lips slightly and turned towards the palace gate.
"Old madam, I'm tired. Let your servant come."
She knelt down beside Jiang's mother, took the paper money from Jiang's mother and dropped it into the brass basin little by little.
Huai Su said: "Aunt Lin is right. If nothing happens, the Holy Emperor will not pay attention to it and will not send troops to Suhe to rescue the Marquis."
Mother Jiang's voice was hoarse, and her face looked extremely old from crying all night.
"Your Majesty, you are trying to destroy the roots of my Chengyang Marquis Mansion!"
"Will not."
Huaisu spoke softly and comforted Jiang's mother.
"There's always a way."
More and more people gathered in front of the palace gate. Previously, some people had doubts about the words on the paper, but there was never any sound in the palace. Some of the courtiers who failed to enter the palace that night sang a song. When Concubine Jiang was asked to see her outside the palace, no one came forward to respond.
The palace gate became increasingly quiet, and gradually everyone knew that the rumors were probably true.
Suddenly there was the harsh sound of chanting and mourning in the alley in the distance. Huaisu saw that the noisy sound was getting closer and closer, so he turned around and said: "The Marquis of Chengyang has been kind to Huaisu, but Huaisu has nothing to repay. Today..."
"You will be considered a slave."
Jiang's mother raised her head in astonishment, and Huai Su smiled slightly: "If the Marquis comes back, can the old lady help me bring a message to the Marquis?"
"you say."
Both of them had tears on their faces. Huaisu looked at Jiang's mother. There were so many words in his heart but he didn't know which one to start with. After a long time, he whispered: "Mrs. Wang will help the slave to tell the Marquis that Huaisu... no regret."
She stood up, walked towards the general who was guarding the city, and said loudly: "The Yu family of Jiangmen, the concubine of the Marquis of Chengyang Mansion, wants to see your Majesty!"
The leader of the forbidden army shouted loudly: "The palace gate is a forbidden area, and no one can come near it."
"The concubine of the Marquis of Chengyang's Mansion, the Yu family in Jiangmen, wants to see the Holy One!"
With each word, Huai Su took a step forward. The guard general drew out the sword from his waist. The cold light reflected on Huai Su's face failed to stop her in the slightest.
"The concubine of the Marquis of Chengyang's Mansion, the Yu family in Jiangmen, wants to see the Holy One!"
"stop."
"I, the Marquis of Chengyang, have been loyal to the imperial court for a hundred years. My late husband, the old Marquis, died in battle against the enemy at the border. My husband, my concubine, fought with the enemy and I don't know whether he will live or die. The Holy Lord wrote a false name for me, and I have a family full of loyal ministers and good generals. I, the Marquis of Chengyang..."
"injustice!"
The woman's shrill voice pierced the sky, and everyone in front of the palace gate was instantly speechless.
After Huaisu said this, he rushed towards the palace gate. The general who defended the city raised his sword and dropped it. Huaisu's head fell to the ground in an instant, leaving only hot blood on the ground.
The night wind blew, a strong smell of blood came, and a burst of sound suddenly broke out among the crowd crowded in front of the palace gate.
"Huai Su!"
Jiang's mother cried bitterly and crawled to her knees in front of Huai Su's body, wailing incessantly.
"The emperor is ignorant and ignorant, and the sincerity of the students in the cold world has made the world angry and resentful. He is unfit to be the king of Shen Congyi."
Among the students at Jingshan Academy, I don’t know who was the first to shout out a treasonous remark. This sound was like a basin of cold water being poured into a boiling pot of oil. It crackled and exploded in an instant, making everyone in front of the palace gate unable to hold back their anger.
Su Xie couldn't bear to see Jiang's mother kneeling on the ground and kowtowing, her head bruised and bleeding.
His throat moved, and he roared again: "We are the disciples of the Emperor, and the guards in the palace do not dare to attack us. Come on, even if there are corpses lying here today, we are bound to see the Holy Emperor."
"Let us ask the Holy Master on behalf of all the students in the world, what do the lives of our people in Dongning mean to him?"
After Su Xie finished speaking, a group of students pressed forward tightly, forcing the many imperial guards guarding the palace gate to retreat.
