Chapter 511 512 [Extremely Vicious]
When the queen mother returned to the palace, she saw Xiangyun who had sent the manuscript to Ouchi.
"Xiangyun, a civilian girl, kowtowed to the queen mother, a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old!" Xiangyun Yingying bowed down.
"Hey, are you the woman that Ji Xiaolan traded for three ancient paintings?" The Queen Mother immediately asked gossip when she heard her name, "You really look good, no wonder Mr. Ji is tempted."
"Queen Rong Bing, Mr. Ji saved me not out of personal affection." Xiang Yun explained quickly after hearing this.
"Okay, tell me." The Queen Mother said with interest.
Everyone has curiosity, and the Queen Mother is no exception. What's more, Xiang Nan is an important minister of the court and the most talented person in the world, so his love affair with Fengliu is naturally worth listening to.
Xiang Yun immediately started talking.
How she married Chen Weiyuan, how she was sent by Chen Weiyuan to work as an undercover agent beside Cao Xueqin, how she preserved "Dream of Red Mansions", how she met Du Xiaoyue and Xiang Nan... everything was explained.
After listening to Xiangyun's story, the Queen Mother couldn't help but shed tears, "It turns out that you are also a poor person. Mr. Ji exchanged three ancient paintings for you, which is actually a good deed."
"Thank you Queen Mother for your pity." Xiang Yun bowed down.
"Okay, you go down to receive the reward." The queen mother said again.
"Xiangyun can't leave." Xiangyun refused.
"Why?" The Queen Mother was puzzled.
"The original manuscript of "Dream of Red Mansions" was messy. Mr. Ji was afraid that it would be inconvenient for the Queen Mother to read, so he left Xiangyun to read with him." Xiangyun explained.
Hearing this, the Empress Dowager felt ironed in her heart, "Mr. Ji is a caring person."
Xiang Yun immediately talked about "Dream of Red Mansions" for the queen mother, and the queen mother was fascinated and delighted.
…
In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Qianlong summoned Heshen and Fukang'an to discuss matters.
"Do you think "Dream of Red Mansions" is really an anti-book?" Qianlong asked, "After reading this book, I really didn't find the intention of anti-Qing and restoring Ming Dynasty. It seems that I made a wrong order before."
"Your Majesty, you can't say that." He Shen quickly waved his hands and said, "Although "Dream of Red Mansions" has no intention of reversing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, the intention is very sinister and goes against the principles of Confucius and Mencius."
"Oh?! What's the explanation?" Qianlong was startled, puzzled.
"Your Majesty, do you think that Jia Baoyu, the protagonist of "A Dream of Red Mansions", never liked to read the Four Books and Five Classics, but only liked to read books like "The Romance of the West Chamber" and "The Peony Pavilion". Isn't this contradictory to the teachings of Confucius and Mencius?"
"Well, it makes sense, let's go on." Qianlong nodded.
"Yes, Your Majesty. There is also Jia Zheng, who is a well-learned man, but he is written as a stubborn, disgusting hypocrisy and a hypocrite. It is disgusting." He Shen continued, "Isn't this against enlightenment? meaning."
"Hmm." Qianlong deeply agreed.
"So my lord, if people read this book and follow Jia Baoyu as an example, and don't read the Four Books and Five Classics, then who do you rely on to govern the country?" He Shen said alarmistly.
"Oh, the words with Aiqing hit home!" Qianlong clapped his hands excitedly.
"Your Majesty, the slave also agrees with His Excellency's point of view. In the past few days, the slave has investigated the anti-book case and found that there are many people who privately engraved and copied "Dream of Red Mansions".
When Qianlong heard this, he frowned.
Now that "Dream of Red Mansions" has been widely circulated, it is not appropriate to create a literary inquisition for such a book.
If all those who hide, read, pass on, copy, engrave, sell, and sell are really arrested and brought to justice, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people may be implicated.
The killing is too heavy, and it will inevitably arouse civil uprisings. You know, although the imperial court had run a literary prison before, it only arrested a few hundred people at most.
"Your Majesty, this slave thinks that banning is worse than repairing." Seeing this, He Shen suggested with a smile, "Let's delete the outrageous words in the book and replace them with the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. This book can still be published."
"He Aiqing thinks this is appropriate?" Qianlong was a little worried.
Since "Dream of Red Mansions" is privately engraved and copied by the people, it is definitely not possible to make major revisions. If the revision is not as good as the original version, everyone will still read the original version, and the new version will be useless.
"Your Majesty, the last forty chapters of "Dream of Red Mansions" have been lost. The ending of the story and the fate of the characters are all presented in the last forty chapters. If we let Jia Baoyu also learn stereotypes, test his fame, marry a wife and have children, honor his ancestors and continue to be a loyal minister Dutiful son...doesn't this round out the story?"
"It makes sense, it makes sense, okay, let's do it this way." Hearing this, Qianlong said happily, "He Aiqing is worthy of being the pillar of the country, with a high vision, Fukang'an, you have to learn more from He Aiqing."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Fu Kang'an said quickly.
…
"Your Majesty, there is still a problem with this matter." He Shen suddenly said again.
"Oh, what's the trouble?" Qianlong frowned.
"Xiangyun, the civilian girl taken in by Ji Xiaolan, is Cao Xueqin's dying maid. She is the one who knows the story of the last forty chapters." He Shenhui reported, "If she jumps out and says we changed the last forty chapters, isn't Cao Xueqin's original intention, I'm afraid it will make waves on the ground."
"Yes." Qianlong nodded upon hearing this.
Xiang Yun is Cao Xueqin's dying maid, and this title represents the authority of "Dream of Red Mansions". If she jumped out and said that the last forty chapters were not corrected well, and then cooperated with the bookseller to rebuild the last forty chapters, then the imperial court's plan would come to nothing.
"According to He Aiqing, how should we deal with this matter?" Qianlong asked again.
"Your Majesty, Xiangyun was originally the wife of the bookseller Chen Weiyuan, who was bought by Ji Xiaolan in exchange for three ancient paintings. Now she lives in Ji's Mansion, neither a master nor a servant, and has never married a concubine.
The government and the opposition were discussing a lot, and the slaves thought it was very inappropriate. It will not only damage the reputation of Ji Xueshi, but also tarnish the face of the court. What's more, it is not good for people's moral education to work from top to bottom. "
He Shen suggested, "That's why the servant suggested that Xiangyun return to Chen Weiyuan and let him discipline him strictly. Xiangyun is a woman who is raised in a deep house compound and is not allowed to meet outsiders, so naturally there will be no trouble."
"Well, this performance with Aiqing is very good, sure." Qianlong nodded.
He Shen immediately laughed when he heard this.
He knew that since Xiang Nan was willing to exchange three priceless ancient paintings for Xiangyun, he must have fallen in love with her. That being the case, he couldn't make Xiang Nan proud, he had to separate the two of them.
The more Xiang Nan suffers, the more proud he is.
…
Subsequently, He Shen instigated Chen Weiyuan to file a complaint in Shuntian Mansion, saying that Xiang Nan bullied others, used officials to oppress others, threatened himself to write a divorce letter and divorce his wife, and begged the government to uphold justice.
According to He Shen's instructions, Shuntian Mansion Yin directly sentenced the defendants Xiang Nan and Xiang Yun to be invalid without even arraigning them, and asked Xiang Yun to return to Chen Weiyuan's side.
Fortunately, Xiangyun is currently speaking for the queen mother in the palace, and he will not be able to leave for a while, so even if Chen Weiyuan regains Xiangyun, he will not be able to see her for the time being.
(end of this chapter)