Children of Loulan

Chapter 289 Dengwengu

The Prime Minister narrowed his eyes slightly, keenly catching the hint of displeasure in her words, and asked softly: "I heard that you are planning to abandon Prince Xin and choose another son to raise?"

The virtuous concubine raised her eyebrows and said bluntly without any attempt to hide it: "Yes, it is true. If you want to blame someone, blame him. He is so stupid, just as dumb as a pig!"

Upon hearing this, the Prime Minister's face instantly turned livid, and he angrily slammed the chopsticks in his hand on the table, making a loud "bang". His chest rose and fell violently, and he snorted coldly: "Humph, confused! You are really confused! Since Prince Xin left the palace and set up his government, how many good deeds have he done in this capital to plead for the people and stand up for the common people? How deep is his prestige in the hearts of the people? Don't you know anything about these things? In recent years, in order to eliminate the king's suspicion of him, he has even had very little contact with his father. How dare you say that he is as stupid as a pig? In my opinion, the person who is really as stupid as a pig is obviously you!"

The virtuous concubine was frightened by the prime minister's harsh rebuke, but she was still unwilling to give in and wanted to say something in defense: "But...but he..."

However, before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the Prime Minister: "But he is already an adult! Besides him, there are also King Xuan and King Cheng, who have also grown up. If you choose to abandon King Xin now and train another child, it will take at least ten years. In this long ten years, the king may have already chosen a candidate for the crown prince. By then, you must not regret it!"

The virtuous concubine frowned slightly and said with a worried look on her face: "However, he has become more and more disobedient as he grows older. I am really worried that if he knows the truth about his biological mother's death one day, he will definitely break off with me completely and become my enemy! By that time, even if I have worked hard to support him to ascend the throne, I am afraid he will not be grateful to me!"

The Prime Minister agreed with what Concubine Xian said, and could not help but sigh heavily, and slowly said: "Is that why you set your sights on the fetus in Xilin's belly, and tried to replace him with this child?"

The virtuous concubine nodded without hesitation and said, "That's right. My daughter is thinking that as long as I can keep the baby in my cousin's belly and save her life, then when the child grows up, he won't turn against me!"

When the Prime Minister heard this, he showed doubt on his face and asked, "Is Xilin willing to do this?"

The corner of Concubine Xian's mouth slightly raised, and she replied with a bit of disdain: "Father, your question is very strange. Her father works under you, and she herself has no foundation or power in the palace, so naturally she can only rely on me. If I am unwilling to protect her, how can she raise the child smoothly by herself?"

The Prime Minister snorted coldly, a shrewd look flashed in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Humph, you think too naively. Your father has met Xilin once, and this girl is definitely not the kind of person who can be manipulated by you at will. From her eyes, you can see that the girl is very scheming!"

The corners of Concubine Xian's mouth slightly raised, revealing a contemptuous smile, and said to the Prime Minister: "Father, she had just entered the palace not long ago, and she was so ignorant that she offended the Queen Mother. What was the result? She was directly banished to the cold palace for three whole years! If it weren't for my daughter's help this time, how could she be pregnant with this baby? I really don't know when your vision of people became so bad!"

The prime minister frowned as he listened to his daughter's words, but he didn't refute her. After all, the most important thing at this moment was how to resolve the difficult situation his daughter was facing. The father and daughter talked for a long time, and after thinking it over again, the prime minister slowly stood up and prepared to leave. However, just as he stepped out of the palace gate, before he even had time to make any arrangements and deployments, a shocking event happened again in the capital!

All that was heard was "Dong, Dong, Dong!" Several deafening drum beats resounded throughout the sky, and the sound seemed to be able to penetrate people's eardrums and reach everyone's ears. Along with the extremely loud drum beats, there was also a woman's shrill cry: "I have been wronged, please, Your Majesty, redress my grievances!"

At this moment, many people gathered at the gate of the palace to watch. They were whispering and pointing, full of curiosity and anticipation about what was happening before their eyes. You know, this Dengwen drum was specially set up by the previous king to imitate the Tang Dynasty. However, since its establishment, no one has ever struck it. Today is the first time.

At this moment, people looked closely and found that the person who was beating the drum vigorously was actually a woman about 30 years old. The woman was wearing a coarse linen dress with many patches on it, which looked very shabby and shabby. Seeing this scene, everyone present couldn't help but discuss: "What kind of grievance could such a poor person have that she would risk being severely punished to beat the drum?"

It should be noted that if common people wanted to appeal to the king by beating the drum, they would first have to endure the punishment of thirty boards. Only by gritting their teeth and enduring it, would they have the opportunity to tell the king about their grievances!

As the heavy and loud drum beats continued, the bright red door of the palace finally opened slowly. Then, a thin eunuch walked out. He walked slowly, waved his whisk lightly, and looked at the woman beating the drum with an expressionless face.

In a cold and somewhat dignified voice, he shouted, "Who on earth dares to beat the drum here?"

When the woman heard this, her heart tightened. She quickly put the drumstick in her hand aside, then ran to the eunuch as fast as she could and knelt on her knees. Her face was as pale as paper, and her lips were bloodless. She spoke with difficulty: "My lord, I am the daughter-in-law of the original sinner Shangshu. Today, I dare to come here to beat the drum to sue the prime minister. This man is really insidious and cunning, with a vicious heart. He is doing something unjust. Moreover, he is secretly trying to kill the only bloodline left in our family!"

After hearing this, the eunuch's expression instantly became serious. He stared sharply at the kneeling woman in front of him and said righteously: "Then you know that if ordinary people want to redress their grievances through this report, they will have to pay a heavy price!"

When the woman heard this, she nodded heavily and replied in an extremely firm voice: "I know what you said, eunuch. As long as the common people sound the drum to report the crime, they will be punished with thirty lashes. I am not afraid of hardship and punishment. As long as you can redress my grievances, I will not hesitate to endure any physical pain!" After that, she kowtowed to the eunuch!