Chapter 432: He was questioned before the emperor and was dismissed from his post

The imperial palace was shrouded in dead silence late at night, and the gargoyles on the eaves looked like man-eating beasts in the moonlight.

Lu Jiangnian escorted the bound Zhou Jianming through the palace gates, his black official boots making a dull sound as they stepped on the bluestone slabs.

"Your Majesty, Lord Lu and Zhou Jianming are waiting for your order outside the palace."

When the emperor's personal eunuch bowed to report, he caught a glimpse of the red pen in his hand paused slightly.

"Xuan."

The emperor's voice came out from between his teeth, filled with suppressed anger.

Lu Jiangnian escorted Zhou Jianming into the hall and made him kneel on the ground.

The emperor's gaze was like a knife, piercing past the trembling Zhou Jianming and straight into Lu Jiangnian's straight back.

The news of Liang Yuhua's death had already spread to the palace, and this carefully placed chess piece was broken just like that.

"My dear, why did you come here so late at night?"

The emperor's voice was as cold as ice.

Lu Jiangnian kowtowed heavily, and the jade crown hit the golden bricks with a crisp sound: "I am guilty."

"My cousin Zhou Jianming, under the influence of alcohol, committed a crime with the intention of defiling Miss Liang, causing her to be unable to bear the humiliation and hit her head against the wall and commit suicide."

His voice was steady and powerful. "I have failed the grace of the Emperor, and I have come to apologize."

"oh?"

The emperor suddenly sneered, and when he stood up and paced back and forth, his dragon robe brought up a gust of cold wind.

The soles of the black dragon-patterned boots rolled over Zhou Jianming's trembling fingers fiercely. "The person I appointed can't even keep his innocence in the Lu Mansion?"

The emperor's voice became even more sinister and cold, "Tell me, who gave you the courage?"

Zhou Jianming was shaking like a sieve, and his clothes were soaked with cold sweat.

He never dreamed that he would meet the emperor one day, let alone under such circumstances.

The throat seemed to be strangled by an invisible hand, and could only utter intermittent sobs: "Fuck... grass..."

A fishy smell suddenly spread in the palace - this once arrogant and domineering playboy actually lost control of his bladder in front of the emperor.

"presumptuous!"

The emperor shouted angrily.

Zhou Jianming's eyes rolled back and he fainted completely, collapsing on the gold brick like a pile of mud.

The palace servants nimbly carried the unconscious Zhou Jianming out. Several young eunuchs knelt on the ground and quickly wiped the urine stains on the ground with handkerchiefs soaked in perfumed dew.

However, the fishy smell still lingered in the palace. The emperor stood up with a gloomy face and said, "Move to the side hall."

In the side hall, the ambergris was rekindled.

The emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, his sharp eyes fixed on Lu Jiangnian who was standing with his head bowed. The palace was so quiet that one could hear the ticking of the bronze clock.

"Lu Jiangnian," the emperor suddenly spoke, his voice as cold as ice, "What do you think I should do about this matter?"

Lu Jiangnian raised his head and met the emperor's unfathomable gaze - which was filled with obvious suspicion and scrutiny.

"I am guilty."

He knelt heavily, his forehead touching the ground, "Today happened to be my sister's wedding, there were many people in the mansion and many things to do, I was negligent for a moment, and was unable to protect Liang Yuhua."

His voice was steady and powerful. "Zhou Jianming deserves death. As for me, I will not complain if the emperor punishes me."

"Yeah?"

The emperor sneered and tapped the armrest with his fingers. "Is the truth of the matter really so simple?"

He suddenly leaned forward and said, "I heard that Liang Yuhua has been in the mansion for half a month, and you have never been close to her. What's wrong? Are you dissatisfied with my order?"

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense.

Lu Jiangnian remained kneeling, but his back remained straight: "Your Majesty, it is precisely because I remember your grace that I dare not offend Liang Yuhua."

"What a sharp tongue!"

The emperor slammed the table and stood up, "Then what happened today, do you dare to say that you didn't kill someone with a borrowed knife? Wasn't it your resistance to my marriage?"

Lu Jiangnian's expression remained unchanged, but he lowered his head even lower: "I dare not, Liang Yuhua's death was an accident. If the emperor does not believe it, you can send the Ministry of Justice to investigate."

The emperor narrowed his eyes and his gaze moved back and forth over Lu Jiangnian's body like a knife, as if he wanted to see through his internal organs.

After a long while, he said coldly: "Really?"

"You still dare to say that you are not dissatisfied with me?"

"I heard that you have never looked at Liang Yuhua since she entered the mansion. Isn't this a silent resistance?"

Lu Jiangnian's voice was as steady as an ancient well: "Your Majesty, please understand. The imperial decree granting marriage came suddenly. I have never been interested in women. I already have a virtuous wife at home. Really..."

His throat moved slightly. "We are not ready to accept new people yet."

"Snap!"

The emperor slammed the teacup down on the table, and the tea splashed all over the tabletop: "I gave you a beauty, but it turned out to be an injustice to you, General Lu?"

"I have absolutely no such intention."

Lu Jiangnian rested his forehead on the cold gold brick.

The emperor suddenly sneered: "Lord Lu, who can command the three armies, can't protect a weak woman?"

"I think you are deliberately trying to slap me in the face."

Lu Jiangnian's pupils suddenly shrank, "I dare not."

The emperor sighed in his heart, and he stood up, "From now on, the position of Weiweiqing will be taken over by someone else."

"Since you love Yuanshi so much, you should stay at home and cultivate yourself well, and continue to love Yuanshi."

Lu Jiangnian dug his fingertips into his palm, and blood seeped into the cracks in the gold bricks: "Your Majesty... obeys your order."

These three words carry a lot of weight.

-

"Master Lu was dismissed from his post?"

"I heard that it was because of the beauty given by the emperor..."

"Shh——"

The dismissal of Lu Jiangnian caused a great uproar in the court. After the incident with the second prince, the emperor's every move became more and more unpredictable.

The prince was the first to jump out and plead for Lu Jiangnian, but unfortunately the emperor would not listen to a word he said. Instead, he harshly rebuked the prince for overstepping his authority.

"Father, Lord Lu is loyal..."

"Your Highness, are you going to teach me how to do things?"

The emperor interrupted with a sneer, "Or... have you already colluded?"

These words were like a sharp sword, piercing the prince's heart.

He rested his forehead against the cold gold brick and felt a sense of sadness in his heart.

"Father, what do I mean to you?"

He looked directly into the emperor's eyes, which were filled with grievance and unwillingness.

The emperor met the pair of eyes that most resembled the late queen's and quickly looked away.

"How dare you! Are you questioning me?"

"Prince, don't forget, this is my world, it's not your turn to make the decision."

The prince laughed miserably.

He never thought about it and couldn't wait to get to this position.

However, his father now regards him as a thorn in his side.

Why did the relationship between father and son come to this?

Like an enemy that will never die!

-

The official position vacated by Lu Jiangnian was quickly filled by someone.

The new Wei Weiqing was actually a member of the Jiang family, that is, the Jiang family of Madam Zhaohua’s maternal grandfather.

Not only that, in the following period of time, several officials who clearly supported the prince were dismissed from their posts on various grounds.

The vacancies they left were quickly filled, and the people who took over were almost all from the Fifth Prince's faction.

The discerning people in the court have already seen that the emperor wants to support the fifth prince to compete with the crown prince!

"The wind direction is not good." An old minister sighed in a low voice.

But as subjects, what can they do?

I just hope that the emperor won’t be confused.