Chapter 13：

At sunset, Lingmiao Temple beats bells and drums, and closes the temple to thank visitors. The little girl who had been peeking behind the tree before also sneaked all the way back to Jing'an Hou's mansion, and honestly reported what she saw and heard to Mingchu and Aunt Liu.

Mingchu listened, and said in contempt: "Seeing that Shen Yu today, I thought he was a plastic talent with a bit of blood and daring to fight and kill. He was much higher than his sister who could only recite sour poems, but I didn't want to It's also vulgar, seeing these delicate and soft women in Beijing, I can't walk!"

The little girl felt something was wrong.

Chanting acid poems, delicate and soft.

She couldn't help but sneak a glance at Aunt Liu.

Aunt Liu: "..."

Mingchu came to his senses and quickly explained: "Mom, I didn't mean you!"

That's all. Aunt Liu rubbed her forehead, she couldn't figure out how she could spoil Mingchu like this.

She waved her hand to signal the little girl to back down, and said helplessly: "Chuchu, how many times have I told you, my mother, that when I return to Shangjing, many things are different from before, don't offend Madam, and don't provoke Mingtan, why are you Do not listen?"

"I just asked someone to go to the temple to have a look, there is no trouble. Besides, I didn't let her be so ignorant!" Mingchu patted the table and got up unconvinced.

"Why don't you know how to check? You can't go outside to talk nonsense!"

"I know! I was just talking in my own yard, and you were too cautious after returning to Beijing." Mingchu was tired of being reminded every day, "Daddy promised a long time ago that he would find a good family for me, and you Why do you have to be so careful to make a small fuss against that Pei family?"

"I was..."

Seeing that Aunt Liu was about to persuade her again, Mingchu listened impatiently, took the soft whip and left the yard straight away.

"neat!"

"You stop!"

Aunt Liu yelled twice, but she didn't stop. With this temperament, she pinched the embroidered handkerchief, and her eyes couldn't help showing a little worry.

Day by day, except for Shen Yu's abruptness that day, Ming Tan lived a leisurely and clean life in Lingmiao Temple.

But evil comes with evil, her ex-fiancé Liang Zixuan has been in a state of desperation these days in the mansion.

In fact, Liang Zixuan knew that his mother would send Zhu'er away after Ming Tan fell into the water, and he knew that his mother would not let Zhu'er take care of the child. He will never have the chance to re-enter the mansion of the Duke of Heling in his lifetime.

But he didn't know that his mother wanted to hand Zhu'er to a village manager in Lizhou to fill in the house! This is really too absurd!

Maybe it's because of a man's inexplicable possessive desire for a woman - he can not want it, but he can't do it, but let other men get involved. Liang Zixuan, who was originally angry because of Zhu'er's troubles disturbing the yellow marriage contract, heard the reason for the trouble, and Zhu'er hugged the child in front of him and Lihua cried in the rain, all the anger was transferred to him who had been in charge of him for many years, accusing him of To the east, he dared not go to the body of his mother, Li Shi, to the west.

"Mother, Zhu'er has listened to your words and left obediently for the sake of my future. Why are you so cruel to her! And sister Tan, it is common for a man to have three wives and four concubines to have several sons and daughters. Said, she may not be unwilling to accept Zhu'er and Brother Min! If you didn't plan to fall into the water and anger the Jing'an Hou Mansion, how could such a good marriage come to this!"

"You scoundrel! Are you going to put all the blame on your mother now!" Mrs. Li was stunned for a moment. As a gesture, she picked up the tea bowl on the table and smashed it hard, "For this bitch, you actually talk to me in such a tone!"

Zhu'er hurriedly hid behind Liang Zixuan, weeping.

"Cousin, don't be afraid!"

Liang Zixuan stretched out his hand to protect Zhu'er, but he was far less calm than he appeared on the surface.

Li's power has been accumulated for many years, and her obedience and fear of her seem to have become an instinct, which will be difficult to overcome for a while.

Liang Zixuan has this instinct, and Duke Ling also has it. So even though the family was in such an embarrassing situation, Ling Guogong, the head of the family, always ignored it, as if these things had nothing to do with him, and he didn't want to take care of them, and he couldn't take care of them.

But the disasters in this world are never related to you if you don't intervene.

Zhu'er's incident turned the family upside down, but within two days, the teahouse in Jingzhong suddenly spread rumors about the secrets of their inner house in Duke Ling's mansion.

After the old Duke Ling passed away, because the old lady was still alive, the family has never been separated.

The old lady prefers the eldest son, and in her early years she forced the old Ling Guogong to ask for the crown prince for the incumbent Ling Guogong who has little talent.

In fact, in terms of his ability to be an official and how to deal with the world, the current Ling Guogong is far inferior to his second and third younger brothers, and even worse than the other two younger brothers who were born in concubine.

Now the five houses are divided into two mansions that live side by side, and there is a moon gate in the middle that communicates with each other. There are many people and miscellaneous people.

This time, the Jingzhong Teahouse spread the rumor that the inner house of Ling Guogong's mansion was densely packed, and the five rooms were not lacking in one room, and they were neatly rotten together.

Two of the most shocking things were—

Make the Duke of the state commit adultery with the concubine of the second-bedroom master Xinna;

Before Mrs. Ling Guogong got married, she was in love with the third-bedroom master. Because the third-bedroom master couldn't seize the title, Li had no choice but to marry the current Ling Guogong with hatred!

The storytellers spoke in unison, saying that they were well-known and well-organized.

Make the Duke's Mansion completely blown up!

On weekdays, when the whole family lives together, it is inevitable that there will be some discord, but outside the mansion, they are still a family that works together.

First, the old lady is still alive, and no one wants to take the initiative to bring up the charge of disobeying the family; second, the several families have their own strengths, and they all need to take advantage of the situation. Everyone can at least maintain the superficial harmony.

Unexpectedly, this time, the people in the several rooms don't want the slightest decency. They are quarreling, beating and scolding, and they are in a mess. They are about to find out the old and new grievances and settle them together. demeanor.

The outsiders were skeptical about what the storytellers said, after all, there is no evidence at all, so how can they say what is what is what, just listen to it. However, the subconscious reaction of Ling Guogong's mansion cannot be faked.

Especially the old man and wife of the third room have been at odds for a long time, and the relationship between husband and wife is very cold. Now knowing that the old man and sister-in-law still had an old relationship before they got married, and thinking of some unusual clues in ordinary times, the wife of the third room went crazy and made a fuss. Going back to her mother's house and insisting on reconciling, it can be regarded as taking 10% of the dirty affairs of the family in the Duke Ling's mansion.

In fact, there are many noble families in Beijing, and every family has a few secrets that cannot be revealed to outsiders. But there is really no second home that is as noisy as Ling Guogong's mansion, which is well-known in the streets and alleys.

In the past few days, the storytellers in teahouses and restaurants have been talking to their heart's content, and most of them will mention it again: the young lady of Jing'an Hou's Mansion is outstanding in appearance, good in conduct, and outstanding in talent. Fortunately, he divorced the Duke Ling's mansion in time, otherwise the pearl would be covered in dust, and it would be a waste of nothing!

Daxian set up the censor platform to pick up all the officials, and the censors "heard rumors and bombed people", and they just wanted to find something for you to read a book if you have nothing to do. With such a big handle, it can be said that he directly took over the monthly classes of all the censors.

The censors attended Ling Guogong for three days in a row, and even the second, third, fourth and fifth houses of Ling Guogong's mansion were officials in the court. One counted as another, and no one could escape.

Originally speaking of breaking the sky was nothing more than a lack of strict family management and a lack of personal morality, which was not a serious matter that could be discussed on the stage.

Unable to hold back for three days, the booklets were flying all over the sky, and Emperor Chengkang was forced to remember the affair of the aunts and concubines in the Duke Ling's mansion just by listening to people read the booklets to him.

On the fourth day when he went to court, the censor came out to be the first to attend the court, and it was Ling Guogong again.

Cheng Kangdi interrupted halfway through hearing this, and said annoyedly: "Since I have issued a decree to reprimand, these trivial housework should not be moved to the court anymore! Is this court an ancestral hall for their Liang family?!"

The censors were very unconvinced. How can there be no reason not to participate if the family style of the Duke's mansion has been ruined to this point, but only a small reprimand is made!

So after visiting the Duke of Linguo's mansion, he boldly remonstrated against Emperor Chengkang, saying that he was against the way of being a king by covering up and conniving with the Duke of Linguo's mansion!

In the next two days, Zhezi flew onto Cheng Kangdi's desk like snowflakes with increasing intensity. Besides, these speakers seem to have a strong relationship with Duke Ling's mansion. Didn't your Majesty say that these are trivial housework? Then find something that is not a chore to participate in together.

For example, the nephews and nephews of the Duke's mansion forcibly robbed the daughters of the people, the officials of the third house took bribes for the evaluation of officials, and even took part in the idle jobs that the Duke of Ling had held.

Emperor Chengkang suppressed it for another two days, and his participation remained undiminished, and the reason became more righteous, "the prince broke the law and the common people are guilty of the same crime", not to mention that he made the government of the state not even the clan's relatives, so why are they happy!

Emperor Chengkang seemed to be unable to bear the pressure. In desperation, he ordered someone to draw up an edict, listing dozens of crimes such as accepting bribes, lax family management, lack of virtue, and liking leisure and hating work. The descendants no longer enjoy the preferential treatment of the same rank as the nobility, and at the same time they were demoted to the far capital, and the rest of the officials who were officials were also demoted to varying degrees.

"What did you say? Demotion?"

When Ming Tan heard the news brought by Bai Minmin, he was so surprised that he even forgot to look at the exquisite tea that he had been craving for several days.

"Well, I heard that we are going to be on the road tomorrow, and now I'm finally venting my anger!" Bai Minmin gloated, "I heard that Liang Zixuan had a fight with his mother because of his good cousin. Now Ling Guogong... ah, No, the residence of the Marquis is full of smog, noisy all day long, and many servants who didn't sign the death contract have left."

Zhou Jingwan, who came together, added in a soft voice: "And yesterday, the officials participated again. After the Marquis Mansion was demoted, it failed to restructure in time according to the regulations. The Ministry of Rites has already sent people to supervise."

Bai Minmin: "Yes, it's really pleasing!"

Zhou Jingwan: "If you're not in Beijing in the future, you'll be out of sight."

Ming Tan paused.

Hmm... She is very happy to have caused the Duke's Mansion to suffer.

The worse the reputation of the Liang family, the more innocent she would appear.

But, "When did I know that there are so many secrets in Duke Ling's mansion? Aren't the few things I asked my uncle to find out only related to Duke Ling and his wife?"