"Where is this Min Feng from?"
"Returning to Your Majesty, he is a candidate from Jiangnan." Tong Zhouyi had to answer despite his reluctance.
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed. In recent years, many officials from Jiangnan had joined the capital, so even rising to high positions. A surge of anger rose in his heart; these people had stretched their hands too far, and their ambitions grew ever larger.
If it were not for the sake of letting those officials from Jiangnan weaken the power of the aristocratic families in the capital, would he have turned a blind eye all these years? But now these people had beco excessive; it seed that if he did not do sothing, these officials from Jiangnan would beco uncontrollable.
"Hmph! Candidates from Jiangnan? Just frequenting brothels. Go ask those ministers whose sons don’t go to brothels? What? Do you think that just because my health is poor, you can start stirring up trouble in the court?"
The Emperor burst out in anger, throwing the booklet in his hand toward Tong Zhouyi, who was standing in front of the desk. The booklet struck Tong Zhouyi’s forehead, breaking the skin, and blood began to flow down.
Tong Zhouyi was taken aback and imdiately kneeled and kowtowed, "Your Majesty! I am wronged! It was not I who wanted to take down the top candidate."
The Emperor pointed at Tong Zhouyi and shouted, "Then who? You tell ."
"It’s, it’s..." Tong Zhouyi was suddenly alard, this was sothing Chief Minister Xia had asked for, could he say that? Even if the Emperor forgave him in the end, what would happen afterward? Would Xia Qing spare him?
The Emperor squinted his eyes, was he unwilling to tell? Who could this person be? Seeing Tong Zhouyi so frightened, could it be that this person wielded imnse power in the court, preventing Tong Zhouyi from revealing it?
"Hmph! I must see whether this kingdom belongs to Mrs. Zhao or to you all." The Emperor thundered, implying that soone in the court was more authoritative than him.
The Emperor’s words were severe, and Tong Zhouyi dared not argue, only repeatedly admitting fault through kowtows, filled with regret. He had truly been set up by Chief Minister Xia, who stayed in the background, using him as a scapegoat.
Even De’an and Xiao Quanzi knelt. De’an glanced at the enraged Emperor, noticing that although the Emperor was furious, he did not show symptoms of physical discomfort like last ti, which eased his worries.
This Tong Zhouyi was courting death; the Emperor already had a rough ti recently, easily tiring and quick-tempered. Who knew who had benefitted Tong Zhouyi; he was simply mindless.
De’an silently cursed Tong Zhouyi, then advised the Emperor, "Your Majesty, you must take care of your health!"
The Emperor recalled the Imperial Physician’s advice, took a deep breath, and sat back down at the desk.
At the door, Xiao Quanzi’s eyes darted around; only Chief Chen dared to interject at such a ti. After serving the Emperor for decades, the Emperor still held Chief Chen in so regard.
"I will give you one more chance; who instructed you to cross out Gu Chengyu’s na?"
Tong Zhouyi trembled violently, not daring to speak. "Your Majesty, I heard this matter from outside, so I removed him."
The Emperor saw that Tong Zhouyi was still unwilling to speak and let out a cold snort. Did Tong Zhouyi not realize whose hands his life was in? Changing his story repeatedly, did Tong Zhouyi think he would believe him?
"Since you won’t speak, I see you don’t need that official’s hat anymore. Guards!"
Soone in the court dared to act with unbridled power, it seed he needed to make an example, lest the ministers forget whose kingdom this was.
"Remove his official’s hat, take him away, and prosecute him!"
"Yes!" The imperial guards prepared to take Tong Zhouyi away.
Tong Zhouyi did not expect the Emperor to be serious and imdiately begged for rcy.
"Your Majesty, please spare ! I’ll speak, I’ll speak." Unfortunately, the Emperor no longer wanted to hear his words, only waving his hand to have the guards remove him.
The positions of power in the court are held by only a few; he didn’t need to hear it. Which of them didn’t have sches? What he wanted was deterrence; whether or not it was spoken now made no difference.
Tong Zhouyi was taken away, and De’an could still faintly hear Xia Qing’s na. He secretly glanced at the Emperor, who didn’t even lift an eyelid. The Emperor, who was so furious just monts ago, now acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. De’an found it hard to fathom. Could the Emperor swallow this insult?
No wonder the thoughts of emperors have been known to be difficult to predict throughout history. Even after serving the Emperor for decades, De’an sotis couldn’t grasp the Emperor’s temper; it seed the Emperor wasn’t ready to move against Xia Qing for now.
Gu Chengyu enjoyed two peaceful days, and in the evening, Yin Kun invited him to his mansion for a al and to discuss the arrangents for their teacher’s return. Since the teacher and his disciples hadn’t t in years, Yin Kun wanted to gather the senior brothers together to allow the teacher to enjoy so family joy.
Actually, Gu Chengyu was free at any ti but feared that eting between He Jisheng and the teacher might be awkward. Gu Chengyu later heard the reason for the fallout between He Jisheng and the teacher, which turned out to be about the teacher’s daughter.
However, He Jisheng had such a strong ambition that when the teacher had not yet retired, of course, he would treat that senior sister well. Once the teacher retired, He Jisheng might regret it, after all! If he truly loved her, he wouldn’t have imdiately turned to Dong Zhen from the Ministry of Rites after the teacher rejected him.
Gu Chengyu tidied up, then instructed Ming Yan to go with him to the Yin Mansion.
"You arrived just in ti, I was about to tell you that Guo Shi is dead." When Yin Kun saw Gu Chengyu arrive at the outer study, he hurriedly shared the affairs of today’s court with him.
Gu Chengyu hadn’t expected to hear such news upon arriving at the Yin Mansion, "How did he die?"
Yin Kun looked solemn, taking the teacup that Gu Chengyu handed over and continued, "It’s said he died of sudden death, according to Dali Temple’s conclusion. However, your ranking is now secure. Although I have made so arrangents, so high officials still wanted to bring you down."
Gu Chengyu didn’t need to guess to know it was Xia Qing’s faction. But he was curious about how it had beco secure. He thought he would need to devise another strategy after Yin Kun said that. And that Guo Shi, why did he die? With Guo Shi’s death, was the evidence against the Eldest Prince still valid?
Could there be more changes ahead? Gu Chengyu had a hunch that Hu Maoshen’s efforts might end up being in vain, or worse, he might even get chastised by the Emperor.
"Did soone co to help?" Gu Chengyu was curious about who that person could be.
Yin Kun chuckled, "You would never guess who it was."
Gu Chengyu ran through the people he knew in his mind; it couldn’t be his senior brothers, or they would have told him. Jiang Mingyuan was also improbable; he’d just been to his place the other day, and there was no ntion of this.
Suddenly, Gu Chengyu looked at Yin Kun in surprise, "Could it be the Emperor?"
Yin Kun was slightly shocked, "You guessed it? Indeed, it was the Emperor. Your na wasn’t on the list initially, but the Emperor got angry for so unknown reason and dismissed Tong Zhouyi, who drafted the list. A new list will be posted tomorrow."
Gu Chengyu deduced it was the Emperor because the only one in the court capable of overpowering Chief Minister Xia, besides the Emperor, was no one. Moreover, he had been on the Emperor’s mind before, so he must rember him.
User Comments
0 comments from readers