NFBE Chapter 365: Banished to the Cold Palace Before Getting Married
Chapter 365: Banished to the Cold Palace Before Getting Married
Shen Nanzhi recently summarized his experience of searching the capital, and felt that he had gone in the wrong direction. There were many people in a large family and they were all gossipy, so no one dared to hide Shen Kening privately. After all, Duke Shen had a bad reputation, and if anyone dared to kidnap his daughter, he would beat the whole family to death.
Therefore, they will find a place that ordinary people would not think of, which is safe and guarded, and will not be discovered.
The people living in Luzuo are the descendants of criminals, commoners, and untouchables. They have no identity, no freedom, and they cannot even leave Luzuo. The government will guard the gate and no one will come to redeem them, so they can only stay there for the rest of their lives.
This group of people lived a very difficult life. They had no land and no ability to make a living. They could only rely on the relief food distributed by the government every month to barely keep themselves from starving to death.
Shen Nanzhi didn't understand why there were such untouchables. Killing people was not the right thing to do. If they were guilty, they should be sentenced directly instead of torturing them like this.
Captain Zhu was a smart man, better at scheming than Chen Yongwang. Seeing that she asked about the situation in Luzuo, as if she didn't understand, he took the initiative to explain to her: "These lowly people and common people all have their origins. Some of their ancestors are descendants of the royal family, some are descendants of powerful officials, and some are descendants of hostages and captives from other countries.
If we kill them, it will not be appropriate, as it will make the court appear cruel. If we don’t kill them, they are born with original sin, so we can only keep them in custody to prevent outsiders from using their identities to cause chaos.”
Shen Nanzhi understood that this was not the modern society where people were the most important and human rights were above everything else. This was an era where the entire clan was punished for no reason and collective punishment was legal.
It doesn't mean that you are innocent if you didn't do anything. The crimes committed by your ancestors must be borne by their descendants from generation to generation. Killing someone means destroying their heart.
Shen Nanzhi felt that it was not good, but he could not say it. If people knew about it, they would think it was the Regent's intention. What did he want to do?
"Let's check first, don't alert the enemy. If these people want to leave Luzuo, what can we do?"
"Find someone to guarantee and spend money to redeem someone. Most people would not go through this trouble. Even buying someone to be a servant is risky, so it is difficult for them to leave."
"So how do they live?"
"I don't know about this."
He would not worry about how the untouchables lived. It would be best if they died. It would also save the need for officials to guard them and save manpower.
But how come this group of untouchables never die out? How can they still have children and raise them to adulthood? It’s really puzzling.
Shen Nanzhi did not ask them, but later learned that some dirty and tiring work that normal people were unwilling to do would be assigned to them. They only needed to be given some money and food, and their work might even be deducted. Only then could these people barely survive.
For example, washing clothes, doing some rough manual work, and collecting manure from each household and selling it to people outside the city.
Shen Nanzhi sighed. Life was born unfair. What fault had they done? They were born to be looked down upon, discriminated against, and live at the bottom of society.
The area of Luzuo is a cancer and also the place where the most crimes are bred. The Ruyi Sect uses this place to hide their crimes.
The people from the Imperial City Bureau were not as good at disguise as those from the Ruyi Gate, but fortunately they were almost the same. They dressed up as stewards of a wealthy family, made clothes for the servants, and swaggered in.
Captain Zhu was personally in charge of the matter. Fearing that he could not handle it, Shen Nanzhi asked An Xin to accompany him and serve as his servant so that he would not miss any clues.
Shen Nanzhi sneaked in at night to investigate, but she felt more at ease doing it in person.
Just as she left the house, someone followed her. Shen Nanzhi turned around and hit him. How dare he follow her? He was courting death!
"It's me. The girl's martial arts have improved again. It seems that she has practiced a lot along the way."
It turned out to be Qi Yunxu. Shen Nanzhi said unhappily, "As the regent, you have to follow others. Do you have any shame?"
"I'm worried about you. I want to spend more time with you. You see, I'm busy with government affairs during the day, and you're focused on being your deputy director. We can't even see each other for meals. You go out at night, and I can't sleep alone in the empty room, so I had to follow you."
"Stop talking nonsense. I'm so busy, isn't it just to share your worries?"
"So I have to help you share your worries, girl. If we work together, it will be more efficient."
“Isn’t it tiring for men and women to work together?”
"Yes, Nan Zhi always speaks insightfully."
"The key is that there are no women officials in your court. I have to dress up as a man to be a deputy director. If I am discovered one day, how will you explain it?"
"No need to explain. The Imperial City Department is independent of the imperial court and is only responsible to the imperial family. Even if I only employ female officials, those old officials can't control me."
Shen Nanzhi rolled his eyes at him. He really was worthy of being the Regent. He was very cunning and had planned everything out long ago.
The Imperial City Bureau is similar to the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty. It is notorious and only obeys the emperor's orders. It supervises all officials, which is a double-edged sword.
They can share the emperor's worries, but they are also the most powerful one, above all other officials, making them fear and hate them. This also easily leads to the Jinyiwei becoming arrogant and doing whatever they want.
All the commanders in history did not have a good ending as they offended too many people. What awaited them after a brief period of glory was a miserable end.
There were even commanders who were too ambitious and wanted to rebel. The benefits always outweighed the disadvantages, and finally the royal family had to set up the East Factory to check and balance the Jinyiwei.
After the East Factory, the West Factory was established, which further fostered the eunuchs' ambitions, leading to an abnormal court with eunuchs' dictatorship and rampant power.
"What are you thinking about?"
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Qi Yunxu thought that he had offended her in some way, or that the people from the Imperial City Bureau were not respectful enough, which made her unhappy.
"Nothing, just some random thoughts. Of course, it has nothing to do with me, but I just can't help thinking about it."
"Tell me about it. I have always been your housekeeper, sharing your worries. Maybe I have the answer to what you don't understand."
"It's not important. It's not a big deal. No need to talk about it."
Qi Yunxu's eyes were full of resentment. Did she still not trust herself, or did she not like chatting with herself?
Am I going to be banished to the cold palace before I even get married?
Seeing his look, Shen Nanzhi sighed and said, "I want the Imperial City Division to travel outside the court. Is this good or bad?
Of course, now that I am in charge of the Imperial City Bureau, I naturally hope that the Imperial City Bureau will have as much power as possible. Even the royal family members and noble ministers have to give me some space. I can walk sideways in this court and no one dares to mess with me.
But what if someone with more ambitions were to take over? The Imperial City Bureau has its own private army and controls the privacy of so many court officials, so it wouldn't be difficult for them to rebel."
"Are you worrying about me?"
"Let's talk business. If you keep talking nonsense like that, we won't be able to have a conversation."
"No, it's my fault. The late emperor had thought about this before. Every head of the Imperial City Department was a member of the royal family and the person the emperor trusted the most, so I will take on this position.
But according to the rules of our ancestors, once you become a Sizhu, you can never become an emperor. This prevents rebellion and also prevents Sizhu from coveting the throne. "