In the last year of the Qianlong Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, a major case occurred in Huazhou, the rich family Chen Yuan, the defendant fornicated with the White Lotus Sect, plotted a rebellion, a family of twenty-three were beheaded, only his son Chen Qi survived. A few years later, Chen Qi was praised by the imperial court for his meritorious efforts in suppressing the rebellion, and the Chen family's unjust case was also rehabilitated, and it turned out that the root of everything was a character.
Chen Yuan, a merchant from Huazhou, married a woman from the same city, Wang Shi, at the age of seventeen, and gave birth to a son Chen Qi two years later. Chen Yuan had a good way of doing business, and when Chen Qi was fifteen years old, the Chen family was already one of the richest merchants in the same state. In the spring of that year, Huazhou was newly appointed as a Zhizhou named Cao Ji, who had a good relationship with Chen Yuan, but it was this Cao Ji who killed the Chen family.
The story begins in the second year of Chen Yuan's marriage. That year, Chen Yuan went to Kaifeng to trade, and when passing through Henan Province, he saved a down-and-out Xiucai, and this Xiucai was Cao Ji. Cao Ji is a native of Shichi, the same age as Chen Yuan, and this township test is a broken boat and a desperate bet, because the family's house and land have been sold, who knows that Cao Ji set out shortly after, the money was robbed, and he ended up in such a situation.
Chen Yuan, who was righteous, took Cao Ji all the way to Kaifeng, and when they were separated, Chen Yuan returned Cao Ji fifty taels of silver. Cao Ji was extremely grateful, thanked Chen Yuan, and swore that if he became rich and wealthy, he would repay Chen Yuan generously. Cao Ji is very talented, and he won the township examination that year, and he won the jinshi in the second year's meeting test, and has since embarked on his career.
Coincidentally, fourteen years later, Cao Ji was transferred to Huazhou as Zhizhou. The day after taking office, Cao Ji inquired about Chen Yuan's address and went to the door to thank him, Chen Yuan knew that Cao Ji had fulfilled his wishes, and he was also happy for him. After this, the two became good friends, and Cao Ji also became a regular visitor to the Chen Mansion. Frequently going in and out of the Chen mansion made him feel the wealth of the Chen family, his own cold window for ten years, more than ten years of career, and now you are in Zhizhou, the family wealth is not even Chen Yuan's tail, and his heart is inevitably unbalanced.
Once there is a change in people's hearts, it is inevitable that their emotions will leak out. Chen Yuan's father, Chen Taigong, was wise, and after sensing Cao Ji's changes, he reminded his son Chen Yuan: Cao Ji is a man with a strong sense of utilitarianism, and he will still have less contact in the future, and be careful of suffering losses in the future. Chen Yuan did not care about his father's words and was not defensive against Cao Ji.
On this day, Cao Ji came to Chen Yuan again to drink tea and play chess, and accidentally saw a painting of Zeng Gong of the Northern Song Dynasty collected by Chen Yuan. Cao Ji saw it like he had found a treasure, after all, for the reader, Zeng Gong's words were too tempting. Cao Ji and Chen Yuan discussed and were willing to pay a high price, but Chen Yuan was very stubborn and refused to cut love, and Cao Ji had no choice but to give up.
In the spring of the following year, the prefect of Tongzhou, Lord Chen, fell seriously ill, and the prefect was vacant, and Cao Ji wanted to fill the position. Soon after, the Envoy of Shaanxi Province came to Huazhou for a tour, and during the conversation, he learned that the Envoy was very fond of Zeng Gong's characters. This news made Cao Ji mixed, happy to know his boss's preferences, worried that Chen Yuan was stubborn and refused to cut love.
People say that as soon as they enter the official field, they become ink, and Cao Ji is no exception. In order to get that pair of words, for the sake of his own career, Cao Ji had a bad heart. At this time, Bai Lian was in rebellion, and Cao Ji bribed two scoundrels, Cai Guang and Feng Da, to pretend to be Bai Lian's rebels and break into the Chen family, while Cao Ji instructed the messengers to arrest them. Above the lobby, Cai Guang and Feng Da framed Chen Yuan as a member of the White Lotus Sect, and Cao Ji naturally sent the Chen family to prison for treason.
At that time, the imperial court was harsh on the White Lotus Sect members, and once discovered, they were not tolerated, and they were all punished for treason, and the Chen family was sentenced to be beheaded. Zhao Yi, the cell leader of the death row, had been favored by Chen Yuan, and it just so happened that a nineteen-year-old murderer in the prison was seriously ill, and this prisoner had no relatives and no reason, so Zhao Yi used this death row prisoner to secretly exchange Chen Yuan's only son, Chen Qi, to leave a bloodline for the Chen family.
After the punishment department, Chen Yuan's family of twenty-three members was beheaded, the family property was confiscated, Cao Ji stole half of the Chen family's family property, and the word Zeng Gong naturally fell into his hands. Cao Ji bribed the envoys with Zeng Gong's characters and a lot of money, and before long, he sat in the position of the prefect of Tongzhou as he wished.
Speaking of Chen Qi, after being rescued by the cell boss Zhao Yi, he fled to Chuanzhong, and on the way, he met the officers and soldiers who went to quell the chaos and was arrested by Zhuang Ding. Although it was Cao Ji who harmed the Chen family, it was under the guise of suppressing the White Lotus, so Chen Qi also hated the White Lotus Sect to the bone. Chen Qi was tall, tall, unusually brave, and had hatred for the White Lotus Sect in his heart, so he fought very bravely, and was entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the famous general Yang Yuchun.
A few years later, Chen Qi was promoted to Dusi for military merit, and on this day, Chen Qi's men caught a small soldier who had escaped, and Chen Qi was shocked to see the small soldier, who turned out to be the rogue Feng Da who had framed the Chen family. In front of Chen Qi, Feng Da told the truth of that year, it turned out that after Cao Ji killed the Chen family, he wanted to kill Cai Guang and Feng Da to kill him, Feng Da was alert, fled in advance, and later went into the army in desperation.
Chen Qi learned the truth of that year and went to the imperial court through Yang Yuchun. The Jiaqing Emperor remembered his merits and sent Liu Yongcheng, a servant of the Punishment Department, to investigate the case. Liu Yongcheng was capable, and it didn't take long to investigate clearly, and restored the reputation of Chen Jia Zhaoxue. Cao Ji was the culprit in this case, but the envoy who accepted Cao Ji's bribe had been promoted to the center of the imperial court, and with his protection, Cao Ji was only deposed and sent to Shi in advance.
At this moment, Chen Qi saw the darkness of the official field, and after resigning his official post and returning to his hometown in anger, he rebuilt the grave for his family, and disappeared. One night three years later, a large family in Shichi County caught fire, and all seventeen members of the family were buried in the sea of fire, and the owner of this family was Cao Ji of Zhishi.
Editor's Note:
In order to seek family property and a word, but also for promotion, Cao Ji actually lost his heart and killed twenty-three members of the benefactor's family, such a great evil, rare in the world, perhaps in response to the saying "once you enter the official field, you become evil."