369 Listening to the Drum

Nanny Li hurriedly stepped forward and shook Yang Shuwan awake. “Madam, Madam, wake up quickly. Madam…”

Yang Shuwan screamed and waved her hands. It took a while for Nanny Li to shake her awake. She screamed and suddenly sat up from the bed. Her body shrank to the side of the bed and she trembled.

Seeing that her mother was in a bad mood, Yu Jianjia was worried. “Mother, Mother, what’s wrong? I’m Jia Jia…”

“No, don’t kill me…” Yang Shuwan muttered to herself as she cowered. It took her a while to calm down. She raised her head and looked at Yu Jianjia in a daze. After a while, she said, “Jia Jia, Jia Jia, why are you here?”

Yu Jianjia’s eyes welled up with tears. She said hoarsely, “I begged Grandmother to come and visit Mother.” Tears suddenly rolled down her face. She choked and said, “Mother, you’ve suffered.”

Yang Shuwan was extremely excited. She pounced over and hugged Yu Jianjia, crying. “Jia Jia, you, you’re finally here to see Mother. I-I thought you didn’t care about Mother anymore…”

The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried. Yu Jianjia choked and said, “On the day I entered the Tranquil Heart Residence, I fell ill. Father invited Imperial Physician Hu into the residence to treat me. It took me a few days to recover. Grandmother was worried about my health, so she refused to let me visit you. I’m sorry. I was unfilial and made you suffer…”

When Yang Shuwan heard that her illness had acted up, she became nervous. She quickly pushed Yu Jianjia away and sized her up carefully. Indeed, her face was pale and bloodless. Her heart ached. “My child, how are you? What did Imperial Physician Hu say? Is it serious…”

As Yu Jianjia wiped her tears, she cried. “Imperial Physician Hu said that my condition has worsened a lot and I have to recuperate carefully. I’ve already discussed it with Grandmother and decided to go to the hot spring manor in the suburbs of the capital to recuperate. Mother won’t be able to see me for a long time. However, although I’ve gone to the manor, I’ll often send over some things from the manor into the residence and give them to Mother…”

Yang Shuwan’s eyes widened for a moment as she screamed, “What? That b*tch, Yu Youyao, wants to send you to the manor. No, no, you’ve been weak since you were young. How can your days in the manor be better than in the residence? She’s trying to harm you in different ways. I-I-I’ll go look for her…”

She ran out barefoot in only one layer of clothes and her hair was disheveled. She looked messy and crazy.

Even Yu Jianjia was shocked.

Fortunately, Nanny Li pulled her back. “Madam, Madam, calm down and listen to Third Miss.”

Yang Shuwan lost her rationality and kept screaming, “What else is there to say? Yu Youyao, that b*tch, is clearly trying to harm Jia Jia…”

When Yu Jianjia saw this scene, she also knew that her mother was a little crazy. She felt a sense of sorrow.

During this period of time, her father did not dote on her as much as before and kept talking about Yu Youyao. Old Madam only had Yu Youyao in her heart. The huge family was handed over to Yu Youyao to manage. Her mother was despised by her father, and now, she had become like this. As the Third Miss of the Yu Residence, her status in the residence was not as good as before, and her days were not as glorious as before.

Without her mother to plan for her, what should she do in the future?!

Third Miss wanted to go to the manor to rest and recuperate, and the residence was carefully managed. Yu Youyao instructed the stewards of the residence to cooperate with the request of the courtyard, so she did not interfere in this matter.

Auntie Su was an efficient person. It took her two days to pack up.

She brought a few carriages’ worth of items to the manor first.

On the third day, the residence spent money to hire more than ten good armed guards from the Military Department of the Five Cities. They also sent a carriage to escort Yu Jianjia to the manor.

As the eldest sister, Yu Youyao should send Yu Jianjia off. She sent her out of the city gate and watched her carriage leave before returning to the city.

Thud…

Knock knock…

Dong dong dong…

Dong, dong, dong, dong…

Yu Youyao sat in the carriage and felt her ears go numb. The sound of the drum was like muffled thunder that kept erupting. It suddenly smashed into her ears and into her heart. It was heavy and smashed into her heart like rain, making her heart tremble.

“This sound is…” Yu Youyao’s face turned pale. She suddenly lifted the curtain of the carriage and instructed anxiously, “Go back to the residence immediately…”

As soon as she finished speaking, chaotic voices sounded on Chang An Street—

“It’s the drum. Someone has sounded it…”

“Oh my god, someone beat the drum…”

“Unless it’s a serious grievance, we can’t beat the drum. What happened…”

“Let’s go and take a look…”

“Dong, dong, dong…” The drumbeat resounded throughout the capital.

Yu Youyao pursed her lips tightly, and her thin body trembled slightly. She endured it again and again, but in the end, she still lifted the curtain. The commoners on the streets rushed forward, and the crowd ran towards Chang An’s right gate.

It was noisy and messy.

Emperor Gaozu ordered the drums to be placed outside the right gate of Chang An in the capital. He ordered the six divisions to take turns to listen to the drums.

Anyone who hit the drum for no reason would be punished with 30 strokes of the paddle. If they did not die, they could immediately go straight to prison and be personally handled by the emperor.

If anyone obstructed them, they would be treated as traitors.

Due to the rule of 30 strokes of the paddle, the commoners did not dare to make a scene. If it weren’t for a serious grievance, no one would dare to beat the drum. After all, it was still unknown if their lives could be saved after 30 strokes of the paddle.

Therefore, ever since the Great Zhou Dynasty was established, there had not been many times when the drum had sounded.

However, there were a few times it happened. Every time, it was a bloodbath.

When Emperor Gaozong was in power, there was a flood in Jiangnan one year. An official in Jiangnan beat a drum in the capital and reported that the eunuchs from the Ministry of Works and the supervisors were greedy for money to repair the river. There was a flood in Jiangnan, and the dam burst, causing countless casualties…

Emperor Gaozong personally handled this case and appointed the imperial envoys. He gave them the imperial sword and allowed them to be executed first before reporting. In the end, this imperial sword was used in the capital, Jiangnan and even the deep palace. More than 300 court officials, eunuchs, and nobles were killed until blood flowed like a river, killing everyone in the court.

In addition, anyone who heard the drum and reported secrets and valued relationships would be sealed.

Therefore, in addition to “claiming innocence”, there were also important and confidential reports.

Even though very few people beat on the drum, no one in the court dared to be negligent. They were afraid that they would delay important matters and their heads would still be cut off.

Yu Youyao did not expect to encounter this on her rare trip out. Her hands trembled as she lowered the curtain, and her face could not help but turn pale.

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