The crown prince died, and soon after, Gongziping also committed suicide in prison.

When Xiong Huai heard this, he asked Gongzi Yu to collect the bodies of Prince Heng's father and son overnight and choose a place to bury them.

The next day, the crown princess heard that the prince's father and son had died, and they also died.

When Gongzi heard this, he buried the prince and his wife together, and buried Gongzi flat on one side, without setting up a tombstone or making any markings, and took people away.

It's just that after returning to Shouchun, Gongzi Yu did not go to the palace to restore his life, but went back to his house directly.

On the other side, Xiong Huai heard that the crown princess was also dead, and his heart was angry, and he said angrily: "The prince's whole family is dead, and the only thing the widow can do is to send those who follow the prince to rebel, as well as those who betray the prince, and send them down to the prince to be buried with the prince, so that the prince's family will not be too lonely on Huangquan Road." ”

Saying that, Xiong Huai immediately shouted: "Come on, bring in all the people outside the palace who ask for guilt." ”

"Yui."

Soon, those Jianghuai nobles who participated in the prince's rebellion and then betrayed the prince, and knelt outside the palace gate all night, were rudely rushed to the palace by the soldiers.

As soon as those nobles entered the hall, they saw that the king of Chu was already sitting on the throne, and he was exuding a chill all over his body.

"King~~" Yingjun and the others hurriedly stepped forward.

Xiong Huai saw that the Jianghuai Fengjun who betrayed the prince was coming, and without waiting for them to ask for guilt, he said in a cold tone: "Last night, the prince died of illness. ”

As soon as Xiong Huai's voice fell, Yingjun and the others, who were still walking forward, heard that the prince was dead, and their knees were weak, and they all knelt in the hall with a "bang".

Then, Yingjun and the others all showed a look of fear.

Originally, yesterday he collectively betrayed the prince and raised troops to fight fiercely with the prince in Shouchun, just to atone for his sins and pray for the king of Chu to surround their lives.

The worst is to follow the example of the Jiang and Han nobles, they can die, but the family's title fief can still be retained.

This is the root cause of their escape after kneeling outside the palace gate all night last night, and no one thought about fleeing.

But now, Prince Heng actually died of illness last night.

You must know that more than 20 years ago, Gongzi Zilan was forced to death by the ministers, and the king killed dozens of Jianghan feudal monarchs in one go, and interfered in the selection of the heir of the feudal monarch.

Now, the prince is dying of illness in prison, so these people...

Thinking of this, Yingjun and the others bowed in unison: "King, the ministers are guilty of capital crimes!" ”

Xiong Huai saw that the Jianghuai nobles were asking for death, and continued expressionlessly: "Also last night, Gongziping committed suicide. ”

"Death penalty, capital crime!" When everyone heard that Prince Heng's only son, Gongzi Ping, had also died, they were all terrified.

For a while, everyone broke out in a cold sweat, instantly wetting the outer robe.

At this time, Xiong Huai continued to say expressionlessly: "Just now, the crown princess also committed suicide, and the prince's family died. ”

"Puff... Puff...

More than ten people collapsed in the hall in an instant, and a series of "poof" sounds were heard.

As soon as Yingjun heard that the prince Heng's family was dead, except for the queen and grandson of Yan who was married far away, everyone else died, and immediately knew that he could no longer continue to ask for guilt, otherwise, the king of Chu would really put all the blame on his own people. That—

All the people present had to give their lives to the burial of the prince's family.

Thinking about it, Yingjun hurriedly said: "The king, I was bewitched by the prince before, and the prince said that he would invite the king to return to Zhanghua Palace for retirement, so we believed the prince, and we have no intention of killing the king!"

Later, when the crown prince forced the king to hang himself, the ministers and others woke up, and then immediately put the crime and meritorious service to set things right.

Please also ask the king to be clear, and the ministers are loyal to the king. ”

When the other nobles heard this, they echoed and said, "King Mingjian, we are all loyal to the king. ”

Xiong Huai heard the defense of the ministers, and asked sarcastically: "Oh, it turns out that you are still loyal to the widow!" ”

When Yingjun and the others heard this, they knew that the king didn't believe them, and of course, they didn't believe it themselves.

So, Yingjun's mind turned, and he immediately grabbed the ground with his head, and wept again and again: "The king is gracious, the king is gracious, although we should be cut with a thousand knives, but I am equal to the merit of the country, and the merit of the country!" It was the ministers who put down the Shouying Rebellion for the king and saved the country from the catastrophe.

So, we are meritorious, meritorious. ”

When Xiong Huai heard this, his heart became even colder.

It was these people who betrayed him, the king of Chu, first because of the new law, and then betrayed the prince because the prince was preparing to flee to Yingdu, before and after, all for their own considerations, and they had no loyalty at all, nor did they have any consideration for the Chu State.

That's it, they still dare to say that they are loyal, and they dare to say that they have meritorious service to the country.

Thinking about it, Xiong Huai said in a cold tone: "Yes, although you are all guilty of heinous capital crimes, you also have a small contribution to recovering Shouchun."

Originally, according to your crimes, the widow should have exterminated you, but for the sake of your merits, the widow decided to let your people go, and only demoted them to the rank of commoners, and sent them to the frontier to reclaim the wasteland. ”

Ying Jun and the others breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.

Just now, when they heard that the prince's family was all dead, they were almost scared to death.

But fortunately, the king of Chu still talks about the rules, the merits are clear, and the rewards and punishments are clear.

Thinking about it, Yingjun and the others saluted one after another: "Thank you for your kindness, thank you for your kindness." ”

Just when Yingjun and the others thanked him, Xiong Huai commanded expressionlessly: "Spread the edict, Yingjun and others participated in the prince's rebellion, and their crimes will not be forgiven, but you will make up for your mistakes when you are lost." Therefore, the widow decided to give death to all those who participated in the rebellion and had a knighthood, and your people will be assigned to Lingling to reclaim the famine and guard the tomb for Emperor Shun. ”

Yingjun and the others just breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that their people didn't have to die.

But in a blink of an eye, he learned that all his children, wives and daughters were sent to Lingling.

This was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue, and they were stunned.

Originally, they thought that their family would send Dongting, but it turned out to be Lingling.

What is Lingling?

That place is notoriously poor mountains and bad waters, miasma, tigers and wolves are rampant, and even the wild geese flying south only fly to Hengshan, and are unwilling to go to Lingling further south.

Lingling's place is really a place where birds don't lay eggs, and even Emperor Shun was dying of thirst there during his southern tour, and the bones have not been found yet. Among the three emperors and five emperors, only Emperor Shun died the worst, the bones were gone, the mausoleum was unknown, and everyone had to build a temple for Emperor Shun on the outside of Jiuzhi Mountain for sacrifice.

Even Emperor Shun died there, and their heirs, wives and daughters went there, how could they have a way to live, and they must have either died painfully in illness or in the mouth of tigers and wolves.

Therefore, the king of Chu is looking at their merits to spare their clansmen's lives, which is obviously to viciously grind their whole clan to death and avenge the prince's family.

Thinking of this, everyone grabbed the ground with their heads and cried:

"The king spares his life!"

"The king is gracious!"

"King, we are meritorious, you can't be so ruthless!"

“···”

For a while, the hall was full of the crying of Yingjun and others, as well as the sound of hitting their heads on the ground, and in an instant, the entire hall was filled with a sad atmosphere.

At this time, Xiong Huai saw that Yingjun and the others were all hit on their heads and bleeding, so he was unmoved, waved his hand, and said indifferently: "Pull it out, pull it out and cut it outside the palace." ”

As soon as the voice fell, a group of soldiers immediately entered the hall, and then dragged Yingjun and the others away.

Then, Yingjun and the others saw that the king of Chu never changed his mind, as if he was determined to exterminate them.

So they commanded and scolded:

"Faint King, your rewards and punishments are unknown..."

"Faint king, you can't die well..."

"Tyrant, you will be punished, I will wait for you below..."

"Tyrant, if you kill ministers and kill excessively, you will be punished by heaven..."

"If you do many injustices, you will kill yourself, tyrant..."

After Yingjun and the others were dragged away, Xiong Huai said coldly: "Three days ago, you followed the prince to rebel, and you betrayed the widow. Then, just yesterday, you betrayed the prince again.

Don't you know that the prince is the prince of the widow after all, and your betrayal of the prince is equivalent to betraying the widow!

In just three days, you have betrayed the widow twice, you should not exterminate the clan, who should exterminate the clan! ”

After that, Xiong Huai instructed again: "Pass the edict to the general Song Yi, and ask him to immediately lead 50,000 Chu troops to sweep away the Jianghuai rebellion, arrest the rebels, and after being caught, all of them will be sent to Lingling." ”

"Yui."

"Pass the edict to the right Sima Zhuangji, let him immediately lead 100,000 Chu troops to sweep the Jiang and Han dynasties, and all the nobles who participated in the rebellion will be exterminated, and then take back the title and fief."

"Yui."