Chapter 1707: Profound

The two old men were invited to the Kong residence to review a memorial. Minister Guo praised it, saying, "It's well written, but Wang Ji's impeachment isn't a big deal. His reputation at court hasn't been very good because of his caning of his nephew. The Imperial Physician's Office earns only two thousand taels of silver for these twenty positions. We're not worried about him suing. I'll have the officials from the Chancellery submit a defense. Minister Kong doesn't need to worry about it."

Kong Jijiu raised his eyelids and glanced at him, "Didn't you see the signature at the back?"

Guo Zhanshi nodded and said, "I have seen it. It is precisely because of seeing it that I feel it is unnecessary."

He said, "Although Zhou Man is His Highness's concubine, she is also favored by His Majesty and the Empress. A good sword should be used where it is needed. There is no need to involve her in such a trivial matter."

Kong Jijiu suddenly felt as if "a summer insect cannot talk about ice". At this moment, he really felt sorry for Zhou Man.

Although Zhou Man never said it explicitly, Kong Jijiu went in and out of Chongwenguan every day and heard her private conversations with Xiao Yuanzheng. He could see that Zhou Man was not the prince's person, and probably not the emperor and empress's person either.

The child is still young and has ambitious ambitions. She probably doesn't care about those people in the palace. You know, she has repeatedly refused to enter the palace to be a royal physician.

A group of people only saw that she got along well with the prince and was very close to him, so they thought she was the prince's person.

Kong Jijiu shook his head slightly and said, "The memorial has been sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and handed over to His Majesty. His Majesty specially sent it to me."

Guo Zhanshi fell silent immediately, and after a long pause, he asked, "What is your Majesty's intention?"

Duke Zhao knew the emperor better than anyone else. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Your Majesty, are you planning to clear the way for His Highness?"

Guo Zhanshi perked up, staring at the two men with a sharp gaze and asking, "What does this mean? Why is His Majesty suddenly so fond of the Crown Prince?"

Kong Jijiu and Duke Zhao both glanced at Guo Zhanshi. Why else could they do that?

Of course, it was because Prince Gong had revealed his true colors and was now detained in the palace. He no longer had the opportunity to cause trouble for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the voices in the court impeaching the Crown Prince instantly decreased by half.

And the prince is going to be a father;

In the past few months, the prince's temper has been tolerable and he has been handling things steadily, as if he has returned to his old self.

The emperor was not willing to depose the crown prince in the first place. When the crown prince was so absurd and self-destructive before, he was under pressure and unwilling to depose him. Now that the crown prince is getting better, he naturally has to pave the way for the crown prince.

Wang Ji was obviously chosen as the chicken, and Zhou Man's memorial was chosen by the emperor as the introduction. Naturally, these people were the knives.

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey. If the monkey still doesn't behave, there will be many more disputes in the future.

Kong Jijiu sighed inwardly, but kept it hidden from his face. He handed the memorial back to Guo Zhanshi, "I'll be on leave for the next two days. This memorial was selected by the Ministry of Personnel last night. Not many people know about it now, so you have two days to prepare."

Guo Zhanshi took it and read the memorial again, considering where to start.

Kong Jijiu turned around and sat down on a chair, holding a cup of tea. He said, "Actually, this memorial is very well written. Although the allusions and literary grace are a little lacking, the criticism is incisive and the charges have been listed. Holding office for nothing is the biggest taboo for an official."

Guo Zhanshi still didn't quite understand. "Anyone can write this memorial, why let Zhou Man write it herself? The Crown Princess is about to give birth, isn't it a good idea for her to get involved in these matters at this time?"

Until now, I still think that it was Kong Jijiu and the emperor who instructed Zhou Man to do this.

Kong Jijiu glanced at him and pointed out bluntly, "Mr. Guo, this memorial was written by Zhou Man herself. No one instructed her to do so."

Duke Zhao secretly drank some wine with the emperor yesterday afternoon, and he was sure that the emperor had no intention of dealing with Wang Ji and others yesterday.

He flipped through the folded book in amazement and said with a smile, "It's quite remarkable that a woman can have such insight."

After all, she was his subordinate. Kong Jijiu said with a hint of pride: "She is well-educated and has been familiar with Confucian classics since she was a child. Although she is a woman, she was trained as a scholar, so naturally she is not bad."

Guo Zhanshi glanced at him. Although he was not very familiar with Zhou Man, they both worked in the Eastern Palace. Moreover, because the only female official was in their Eastern Palace, his subordinates had discussed Zhou Man a lot.

He knew that compared to Confucianism, Zhou Man believed in Taoism more. He heard that when a eunuch in her East Palace was punished and blamed himself for his background, she also taught people to worship Taishang Laojun.

Not to mention, her teacher also served as a lecturer in the Eastern Palace. Although they had only met a few times and had not talked much, Guo Zhanshi also knew that when it came to state governance strategies, Zhuang Xun preferred Taoism and Legalism.

However, this is not the time to argue for credit. Now that I understand the emperor's intention and my position, I naturally have to discuss what to do.

After the discussion was over, Guo Zhanshi couldn't help but ask Kong Jijiu quietly, avoiding Duke Zhao, "Is this really what His Majesty intended? If he intends something else, what should we do?"

It implies that if the emperor is deliberately fishing to expose the prince's power, then the prince will not be able to escape the charge of forming a clique for personal gain.

As the Secretary of the Eastern Palace, Guo Zhanshi had to take this situation into consideration.

Upon hearing this, Kong Jijiu lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, saying, "Lord Guo, you're worrying too much. Your Majesty had plenty of opportunities to depose the Crown Prince over the past two years. Why would he do something unfavorable to the Crown Prince now? Besides, wouldn't Your Majesty know how many people the Crown Prince has under his wing?"

In order to fight against Prince Gong in recent years, the Crown Prince has played all the cards in his hand. He even lost the support of many ministers and subordinates because he had no children and his mood was unstable.

He believed that Prince Gong and other princes had secret operatives, but he really didn't believe it when it came to the Crown Prince.

"If you're really worried, just let the people in the open do the work and keep the people in the dark." Kong Jijiu couldn't help but ask back, "But, does the East Palace have any people in the dark?"

Guo Zhanshi: ...

When Kong Jijiu saw it, he snorted in his heart, it seemed that there was no more.

Guo Zhanshi lowered his eyes. The item was still there, but it was not in his hands, but in the hands of the prince.

Even he doesn't quite understand it.

Although Kong Jijiu had many complaints about the prince, he was still the prince's teacher. If the prince was not doing well, he might not do anything, but if the prince was doing well, he would still feel a little better.

Moreover, among the short people, the crown prince is the tallest one. Although he has many shortcomings, as long as there is a possibility of change, he is still much better than Prince Gong.

Therefore, Kong Jijiu also worked very hard to help the prince. As a result, many officials did not have a good time during the two-day holiday. They were all locked in their study to write memorials.

Manbao felt that after submitting the memorial, she would have nothing to do for the time being, so she left the palace excitedly. After eating a bowl of臊子面, she was invited by Duke Zhao's Mansion to visit Miss Zhao.

When she left the Zhao Mansion, Duke Zhao happened to come back from outside. He called her over, looked her up and down for a long time, then smiled and patted her shoulder, saying, "Women are as good as men."

Just as he finished speaking, he saw his youngest son Zhao Liulang coming back from outside with a horse whip in his hand, and the servant behind him was holding a lot of things in his hands.

Duke Zhao's expression suddenly darkened, and he turned to Zhou Man again, "How can a man compare to you?"

Manbao looked at Duke Zhao in bewilderment. Zhao Liulang, feeling he was being glared at for no apparent reason, said: ...

The next update will be around 11pm

(End of this chapter)