Chapter 109

#Minister of Rites Yang Cong suspended from his post#

#A Declaration Against Yang Shunzhi#

#Choi Jae-in-Chief Attends Court#

When Xue Jin'an saw these trending topics, it was already the next day. Before going to bed that night, he opened the recorded video and saw that the morning court lasted for a quarter of an hour, during which Cui Pengfei went all out and scolded the officials of the Ministry of Rites one by one like grandsons.

Cui Pengfei was highly politically astute. Although he mentioned the conflict between Xue Jin'an and the Rongdi, he omitted Xue Jin'an and instead focused on the Rongdi. He listed their inappropriate words and actions, as well as the Ministry of Rites' laziness and perfunctory work, regardless of right or wrong. Finally, he brought up Prince An as a target, praising his "courage and fearlessness," which can be said to have once again placed Prince An on the moral high ground.

Minister Yang was also a shrewd and calculating man. Upon seeing the situation, he immediately stepped forward, knelt on the ground, and, imitating the classic act of Minister of Revenue Feng Yinshou, removed his official hat and began to plead guilty and resign, while also recommending Prince An to temporarily take over the throne.

The current ministers of the Six Ministries, except for the Minister of Personnel who is about to retire, are all capable, shrewd, and have achieved political success. If Feng Yin's greatest achievement in the Ministry of Revenue was stability, meticulously managing the finances to help the Great Qi Dynasty survive its poorest years and achieving the ultimate in cost-cutting, then Yang Cong's greatest achievement in the Ministry of Rites was reorganizing its personnel, eliminating redundant parts, making the Ministry of Rites the most efficient agency, effectively promoting the emperor's benevolence, deepening the people's sense of belonging to the Great Qi Dynasty, and making outstanding contributions to the social stability of the Great Qi Dynasty.

The following sentences seem to exaggerate Yang Cong's political achievements, but this is not the case. The "three-day curfew for collective sacrifices during the Lower Yuan Festival" event that Xue Jin'an saw when he started his live broadcast was proposed and organized by the Ministry of Rites. However, Yang Cong knew the principle that a tall tree catches the wind, so he consulted with the ministers of the other five ministries and persuaded them to participate in part of it.

The Ministry of Revenue wanted to increase its revenue, so it entrusted him with the business of purchasing incense, candles, and paper money from the City God Temple, allowing him to pocket some of the profits. The Ministry of War was responsible for maintaining order in the city; the Ministry of Works was responsible for allocating stall locations on the major streets; the Ministry of Personnel organized a small activity that students could participate in; and the Ministry of Justice was responsible for providing fun legal education to illiterate people... It was all arranged very clearly, which led to the joint organization.

Those who can remain in the position of Minister for many years are all capable. The emperor is already familiar with this team and uses it very well. Although each department has some problems, they are far from reaching the point where the emperor can't stand it and has to deal with them, just like the previous Minister of Justice.

For the emperor, replacing the minister now would definitely do more harm than good, so it was obvious that he rejected Minister Yang's non-existent resignation letter, saying, "Why did you have to do this, Minister Yang!"

After rambling on for a while, the two successfully shifted the blame for the Rongdi delegation onto Prince An.

"He's got it all figured out; he's a real old fox." Cui Pengfei watched Yang Cong wipe away his tears with his sleeve and retreat back into the crowd.

"Same here, you old fox." Yang glanced at him briefly, but the man's eyes, though filled with tears, were devoid of any emotion.

The two who were just arguing have now amicably withdrawn from the battle, and the world where only King An is injured has been achieved.

Prince An, who had originally intended to handle the matter quietly and extricate himself from the situation, was speechless.

Prince An wanted to save himself by abandoning the country, and the emperor clapped his hands in approval: "Prince An has done a good job supporting the Great Qi Dynasty. He deserves a reward! All my ministers should remember this. I am very pleased."

As the emperor spoke, his gaze toward Prince An was quite meaningful. No one in the court dared to look directly at the emperor's face, let alone carefully observe and analyze his gaze. Xue Jin'an's view was not obstructed, but the emperor's face was covered by the beads on the twelve imperial crown, so he could not see the whole picture and his analysis would be inaccurate.

So, by some twist of fate, no one can say for sure what exactly was mixed in with the emperor's glance just now.

However, there was more than one person looking at Prince An in the Hall of State Affairs. All the court officials were stealing glances at him, and it was hard to tell what kind of looks they were giving. Although Xue Jin'an couldn't quite tell, he could sense the malice emanating from the people and, from the details, he could tell that this malice was basically directed at Prince An.

The ignorant people outside shouted that Prince An was "unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness," but those who played politics saw through it all. The slogans were loud, but in reality, Prince An did not take any action. This was mostly just a charade.

It's unclear whether Prince An was truly being manipulated by someone with ulterior motives, as he claims, or... deliberately trying to create momentum for himself. The old and young foxes in the court remained silent, but their thoughts were countless.

The usually amiable Prince An could no longer smile. Feeling the gaze from above, he could only force a stiff smile. He knew he had truly lost this time.

A sheep, some dubious public opinion, and a group of mindless江湖人 (jianghu people)... almost caused his reputation, which he had built up over many years, to collapse. His subordinates also became somewhat disobedient, and there was no one in the court who could help him. His advisors also advised him to make a decisive move as soon as possible, otherwise he would only end up with nothing.

He had no choice but to confront the Rong and Di tribes, and the thought of this only made King An feel extremely irritated.

In ancient times, one could kill two birds with one stone; now, one sheep can be eaten three times over—the one who suffers the loss gets the reward! What a clever scheme! If the person behind this is not torn to pieces, the hatred in his heart will not be appeased! Prince An concealed the fleeting ruthlessness in his eyes and continued to stand in meditation, eyes downcast and mind at ease.

In the end, Prince An silently swallowed this loss and took over the handling of the Rongdi envoys' "threat by Jianghu people" incident. At the same time, he also had to secretly organize his men to strike back against the Rongdi envoys, such as beating them up while they were masked.

Weng Tianxin rarely went out and spent his days holed up in the post station, doing who-knows-what. Prince Galdan became the target of Prince An's persona. However, Galdan clearly had his own tricks up his sleeve. He held a thin blade between his two fingers and, before the other party could react, slashed it directly at the most vital part of his neck. The blade was bright green, obviously poisoned.

The masked attacker narrowly avoided a fatal carotid artery, but still left a gash on his neck. He immediately turned grim and used a heavy blow.

However, by this time, Galdan's Rongdi guards, whom he had shaken off, had already arrived, and he had no chance to continue.

The masked man clicked his tongue and quickly left the scene; his agile movements suggested he was a regular at this kind of thing.

Galdan suspected that the man was working for Prince An, but he had no evidence and was instead silenced with evasive words: "I understand. I will definitely investigate this matter. Is there anything else, Your Highness?"

Galdan was furious and wanted to take his men and retaliate for all the humiliation he had suffered, but Weng Tianxin stopped him: "Your Highness, please bear with it a little longer. The Emperor's birthday is coming soon. Now that things have come to this, we can't let our plans fall through."

Bound by sunk costs, Galdan gritted his teeth and said, "I understand!"

Weng Tianxin sighed and said, "Stay at the post station these days and don't go out."

"Wouldn't that make people think I'm afraid of him? We Rongdi warriors have no cowards! Let's see who wins next time!" Galdan said viciously.

The Prince An, hoping the young Rongdi prince would wisely stay at the post station and not go out, was instead met with the prince's increasingly arrogant and domineering behavior: "..."

Prince An and the Rongdi tribes were fighting each other, both sides keeping track of when the Emperor's birthday would arrive. Meanwhile, the palace was about to hold the full moon banquet for the tenth prince. On the eve of the banquet, Consort Chen died suddenly in Weiyang Palace.

"Weiyang Palace?" Xue Jin'an was somewhat surprised. He refreshed the live stream several times, but Weiyang Palace was not open. It was clear that Weiyang Palace was still closed.

Fu Lu nodded and began to read the report: "Consort Chen, boasting of her merit in giving birth to the tenth prince, disregarded His Majesty's orders and trespassed into Weiyang Palace, resulting in her suffering. His Majesty was furious and immediately ordered the Imperial Guards to kill the murderer, avenging Consort Chen."

"It's more like silencing them," Xue Jin'an said.

Given the emperor's personality, he would have spared Xiao Shu's breath to interrogate her and extract information even if she spoke rudely and touched a sore spot. He shouldn't have killed the murderer directly. In any case, whether Chen Jieyu lived or died was not important to him.

Fu Lu stammered for a moment, then subconsciously asked, "Kill... silence them? Why?"

Xue Jin'an opened his mouth to answer the obvious question, but Fu Lu, who had just realized what was happening, quickly raised his hand to stop him. He covered his ears and said, "No, no, no, let's forget it. Knowing too much is not good. I'm afraid I'll be the next one to be silenced."

Fu Lu looked pitiful.

The death of Consort Chen was handed over to Consort Min for handling. Her death was not significant enough and the timing was inappropriate, so the news of her death was suppressed and handled in secret. Although Consort Min looked down on Consort Chen, she still officially notified her family to come and claim the body.

—There is limited space in the imperial concubine mausoleum. Not every concubine can be buried there after death. After all, the imperial concubine selection was held every three years. Even if the current emperor changed it to a selection every six years, there are still double-digit numbers of concubines. Burying them all together would take up too much space.

When a concubine of Chen Jieyu's birth and rank died, her family could only help carry her coffin back to her hometown. If no one came to claim it, the kinder ones would have it carried out to a field and buried there, while the less kind ones would just dump it in a mass grave, just like they did with Xiao Shu.

Xue Jin'an didn't pay special attention to this matter, but with Fu Lu around, he could know immediately what was happening in the palace.

"Chen Jieyu's sister came and took her coffin away; she didn't intend to stay for the Tenth Prince's full-month celebration." Fu Lu said, then sighed, "However, Chen Jieyu's sister looks completely different from her."

"Hmm?" Xue Jin'an looked puzzled.

"It was the messenger who drew a small portrait of the recipient," Fu Lu said, taking out the small red portrait tucked inside the letter. Now, the people in the palace responsible for collecting and transmitting messages have a set procedure, and for some newly introduced unfamiliar characters, they will also attach small portraits so that they can better recognize the person.

Incidentally, this portrait was created by the Third Princess. With the help of the Eldest Princess, the Third Princess successfully obtained the opportunity to leave the palace and learn advanced clay sculpting techniques from the masters of Jiutianyi.

The painting of the Third Princess was very lifelike, and it even incorporated some Western painting styles that Xue Jin'an had casually mentioned. The addition of appropriate shadows to the face made the character look more realistic and three-dimensional, which further convinced him that this person was the female protagonist in the original story, the Eighth Prince's future principal wife and empress, and also the one who killed him.

Lu Yaoguang, the Eighth Prince's Consort.