Chapter 34

Xue Jin'an said his schedule was very full, which wasn't wrong. Although he only went to Yihe Palace, he obtained 1 GB of information data, which can be said to be very fulfilling.

Then the health app popped up a message in his background, telling him that he had taken 28,000 steps that day, ranking first.

Xue Jinan: This text looks so tiring.

Even though there was still a third of the battery left to do something, Xue Jin'an only wanted to lie quietly in bed after charging, just like a working person who just wanted to lie down and do nothing after getting off work. When faced with the schedule reminder that popped up on the calendar, he looked at the time and said, "I'll do it at 1:15 PM."

Then, about a quarter past the hour of Shenshi (3-5 PM), he said again, "By half past the hour of Shenshi, we will definitely..."

The point is to make it exactly on the hour, not even a second less. If it's a few minutes too late, then make it to the next hour, and keep doing that until you can't delay any longer.

Work is like this, fitness is like this, even sleep is like this. As long as it is something that must be done, it is destined to be procrastinated. This seems to be a symptom that is widespread among all humankind. Even becoming a cultivator cannot get rid of it - just look at otaku.

There's a saying that goes, "It's easy to learn bad habits but hard to learn good ones." Lying in bed with his live-streaming app open, Xue Jin'an thought that his phone spirit's laziness and procrastination were all the machine slave's fault.

Xue Jin'an felt a pang of melancholy and opened the recorded video in the local cache.

The video begins with the ministers entering the Hall of State Affairs. It's not yet time for the official court session, and the ministers are gathered in small groups, whispering amongst themselves; the atmosphere seems quite relaxed. The long, resonant sound of the morning bell at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM) echoes like a school bell, and the ministers quickly return to their positions.

The Grand Secretary, the heads of the three judicial departments, and the ministers of the six ministries, who had been summoned to the Emperor's bedchamber to see the six characters "Check-in, Sprinkle Flowers, Press Claws," quickly came out and stood in their places. Everyone straightened their clothes, took their tablets, bowed their heads, and remained silent. The atmosphere in the entire Hall of State Affairs immediately became solemn.

"His Majesty has arrived!" With Li Hechun's shrill announcement, all the court officials kowtowed three times and shouted "Long live the Emperor!" The Emperor, dressed in a black dragon robe and wearing a twelve-tassel imperial crown, strode in, flicked his sleeves, and sat down. "My ministers, if you have something to report, speak up; if not, leave the court."

"Your Majesty, we have a memorial to present." Two voices overlapped as the two Censors of the Censorate stepped forward from the crowd.

The Censorate was the highest prosecutorial body of the Great Qi Dynasty, responsible for overseeing all officials. Whether it was a family taking a concubine or a spoiled brat refusing to pay for a meal, anything related to officials, no matter how trivial, would be reported in a memorial, as if the department had quotas for impeaching officials. However, usually it was junior censors who handled this; the appearance of these two key figures today indicated that this matter was no small one.

The assassination attempt in the Imperial Study had barely occurred when Xue Jin'an had already guessed that the morning court session would be lively. Consort Rong and Consort Zhen, who were at the center of the storm, along with their powerful families, would inevitably be impeached. The only question was which side would be the focus of the criticism.

As expected, the two Censors-in-Chief stepped forward one after the other: the Right Censor-in-Chief examined Consort Zhen, and the Left Censor-in-Chief examined Consort Rong, clearly demonstrating a clear division of labor. Their texts were almost identical in style and word choice, obviously copied from the same template.

[Master of Balance X2]

The moment Xue Jin'an finished posting the comment, the scene of maintaining a neutral stance was broken.

The elderly Right Censor-in-Chief finished his memorial with an expression that said, "Today's KPI is done, I can leave now." Meanwhile, the middle-aged Left Censor-in-Chief, with dark skin, continued to elaborate on the matter.

He vehemently denounced Consort Rong for her arrogance and domineering behavior, for arbitrarily killing eunuchs and palace maids, forcing good people into thievery, which led to the assassination attempt in the Imperial Study, frightening the Emperor and the princes, especially the Sixth Prince who was injured in the neck. He condemned her as an unkind, unvirtuous, and morally flawed person...

These sharp and sarcastic words were completely different from the previous lukewarm and indifferent remarks. It was as if he was pointing at the emperor and telling him to depose her immediately. But it didn't matter how much he insulted her.

[Isn't that the one who criticized Consort Rong in the last trending topic about the "One Zhang Red" incident?] Xue Jin'an quickly identified the person and picked out all the plot points related to the other party in the original work. They were all scattered fragments, totaling no more than a thousand words. He was either criticizing someone or on his way to criticizing someone.

When the original story begins, the now elderly Right Censor-in-Chief has already retired. One of his two successors chose a side and was demoted and banished from the capital after the downfall of the eldest prince. The other, promoted from the local area, lacked a solid foundation and failed to gain a foothold. The Censorate became the sole domain of the Left Censor-in-Chief.

Fortunately, this censor was a staunch royalist who never took sides no matter how fiercely the princes fought for power. At most, he would submit a memorial summarizing the princes' lives after they lost. Otherwise, given the number of people he offended with his mouth, he wouldn't have survived to the end and was jokingly called the "settlement interface".

All the people Xue Jin'an has met so far, except for Consort Xian, are somewhat different from the descriptions in the original text. However, this difference is due to the earlier timeline and is not a big problem, as they are all within the scope of his character model deduction.

Xue Jin'an's deduction for this Imperial Censor suggests that the most likely candidate is that he is slightly less mature now than he will be in the future, and because he has someone above him who is not in a stable position, he will restrain his sharpness.

As it turns out, the settlement interface is just as consistent as Consort Xian.

They are forever young, and forever swear.

From the wrinkles that appeared on the Right Censor-in-Chief's face and the trembling, aged hands gripping the tablet so tightly they looked like they had Parkinson's disease, it was clear that these words were not what he expected and were entirely the Left Censor-in-Chief's own initiative.

Xue Jin'an had no doubt that if it weren't in the main hall, the Right Censor-in-Chief's ivory tablet would have been aimed at the Left Censor-in-Chief's head. However, under the emperor's nose, he couldn't hit anyone, so he could only move his lips and silently curse.

Xue Jin'an tried to read his lips, and the anti-addiction program for minors was activated, with a harmonious "beep-beep-beep" sound echoing throughout his brain.

Although I didn't hear anything, the insults were definitely very offensive.

"Is that unpleasant to hear? You're not really a child, are you?" The emperor, upon hearing the childish voice, feigned a smile and couldn't help but chuckle.

The emperor had heard the voice for quite some time. At first, he was in a daze, as if half-asleep. The voice was muffled and unclear, and his eyes seemed to be covered by something. He struggled to open his eyes wide before he gradually saw the light.

Then he found himself in the Hall of State Affairs, where a court assembly was being held. He saw all the civil and military officials, and himself on the dragon throne. Upon listening to the proceedings, he realized it was the content of today's morning court session.

Then he clearly heard the familiar boy's voice. This time it didn't just ring in his ears, but echoed throughout the Hall of State Affairs like a lingering melody. Only he could hear it, and no one else could see him.

"A dream? An illusion? Or... a soul-capturing spell?" The emperor tried to walk up to himself to verify, but he found that he had no control over the place at all. What he could see depended on what the voice wanted to see.

The emperor calmed down and realized that the person behind the scenes must be trying to get something from him. He began to concentrate and decided to listen carefully to what the other party had to say, and seized every opportunity to try to communicate with the other party. As a result, he has not received a response so far.

Moreover, the other party kept using a child's voice that was very similar to Xiaoqi's, as if trying to pretend that they were a child.

This voice sounds so much like Xiaoqi's. The difference is that Xiaoqi is more composed, speaks at a moderate pace with little emotional fluctuation, and has a calm and collected demeanor. This voice, on the other hand, speaks at varying speeds, sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly, and occasionally uses strange words that are hard to understand, such as "rwkk" and "daka shua anzhao" (a phrase used to describe checking in, scattering flowers, and pressing claws).

Of course, besides the details mentioned above, what convinced the emperor that the other party was not Xiao Qi was also the most important thing that Lu Bingzhu personally said that Xiao Qi had no internal energy at all.

When Lu Bingzhu was still the Grand Eunuch, he was already feared throughout the martial arts world and was considered one of the five greatest masters of the time. That is to say, there were only four people who could rival him. Now, more than a decade has passed, and his strength has improved even more, reaching the realm of returning to simplicity. He is especially skilled in internal energy cultivation, and no one in the martial arts world can hide their martial prowess in front of him.

Xiao Qi and that master of telepathic communication are not the same person, although it is absurd to suspect that a seven-year-old child is a peerless master capable of telepathic communication.

Since the other party was determined to play the child, he might as well play along and see what this person was really up to. Thinking this, the emperor concealed all his guard and vigilance.

He wore a helpless expression, as if he had been tricked by a child, and spoke in a very gentle tone, “I don’t know what kind of drug you gave me, or what special technique you used to recreate everything before me. If you just find the morning court interesting, there’s no need for all this trouble. I can take you to experience it for yourself.”

This time, there was still no response. At this moment, the events that happened during the morning court were still unfolding before their eyes. The Left Censor-in-Chief, who had been talking about Consort Rong for a while, suddenly changed his tone and turned his attention to the Ningguo Mansion. He criticized the Duke of Ningguo for failing to educate his daughter properly, and then used the argument that "If you can't sweep a room, how can you sweep the world" to prove that the Duke of Ningguo was a mediocre and incompetent person who held a high position.

The Left Censor-in-Chief delivered a passionate speech, and the Duke of Ningguo's lips twitched. He had no choice but to step forward and explain, "The Imperial Concubine's surname is Xiao..."

He was interrupted before he could finish speaking, "Is Consort Rong your cousin from the Ningguo Mansion? Did she live in the Duke's Mansion for three years back then? After her parents passed away, did you publicly acknowledge her as your goddaughter? Since you have such deep affection for her, what does it matter what her surname is!"

The Left Censor-in-Chief emphasized the phrase "deep affection and profound righteousness" to allude to the fact that the Ningguo Mansion broke with the Empress Dowager in order to allow Consort Rong to enter the palace, and that this had not been resolved to this day. Even the request to appoint a prince was suppressed by the Empress Dowager. During festivals, when the ladies of the Ningguo Mansion wanted to visit the Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager refused them all.

The eldest son of the Duke of Ningguo is already thirty years old, and his eldest grandson is engaged, but the title of heir apparent has still not been issued. Many nobles in the capital are secretly laughing at him.

If the deaths of the two Empress Zhongs were a thorn in the Empress Dowager's side, then the conferment of the title of Heir Apparent was a thorn in the heart of the Duke of Ningguo.

Duke Ningguo: "..."

The scene before him suddenly magnified: the layers of wrinkles on his face, the violent heaving of his chest, the trembling of his lips along with his beard… and the fleeting anger and ruthlessness in his eyes. Never before had the Emperor seen the Duke of Ningguo's expression so clearly.

At the same time, the emperor's vision blurred as a colorful array of symbols floated past, densely covering the old face of the Duke of Ningguo, making him appear as if he were... a person pierced by a thousand arrows?

[Pfft pfft pfft—]

As the emperor was wondering, he heard the sound of arrows piercing through bodies one after another. Upon closer inspection, he saw several arrows of unknown origin embedded in the heart of the Duke of Ningguo.

"My heart is pierced, bro," the child's voice said.

The emperor twitched his lips: "...So he was mocking the Duke of Ningguo."

If Xue Jin'an could hear him, he would definitely tell him that this was not sarcasm, but a creative barrage of comments.

Unfortunately, Xue Jin'an couldn't hear his voice at this moment, and the emperor found amusement in himself, and began to pay close attention to the changes in the expressions of his ministers. He was surprised to find that he could see everything with exceptional clarity, and could even see exactly how many wrinkles were on the old face of the Duke of Ningguo.

The emperor also saw himself. Perhaps it was the angle, or something else, but the emperor felt that he wished his figure were more imposing, and those few small freckles on his face... He hadn't thought much of it before, but now, looking at the magnified flaws on his face, he frowned with some displeasure.

"Just remove it." The thought flashed through the emperor's mind, and then, quite strangely, a line of words appeared before his eyes.

The font is very rigid. If you break down the strokes of each character and compare them one by one, you will find that they are surprisingly similar. The spacing between the characters is also exactly the same, as if they were written in the same mold.

You can't say it's ugly; it just lacks any spirit, which is why the emperor didn't like it. But dislike aside, this style of calligraphy has its uses. Ever since he designated the Taige style as the official script for court documents, his speed in reading memorials has noticeably increased.

[Beauty filters have been enabled for your live stream. The current beauty and skin smoothing settings are at their default values, and the filter is set to Natural. Please change these settings in your system settings.]

He recognized all the characters, but couldn't understand them when put together. Moreover, the line of text only appeared for a short while before disappearing. Afterward, the emperor felt as if a soft veil had been placed over his eyes, and from then on, everyone he saw was more beautiful than he actually saw.

It was as if some kind of halo was shining on his face, making even the Left Censor-in-Chief's charcoal-black face appear whiter, and his face seemed to have become thinner.

—Oh, actually, not all of them became more handsome. His ministers who were already handsome became somewhat awkward and strange. And those with fair skin, like Qin Lian, the compiler of the Hanlin Academy who was responsible for recording the content of the morning court, were already a bit dazzling. At first glance, it was as if you saw a ball of light, and you couldn't make out their features.

The emperor immediately realized that this was the result of the line of text from earlier. He had assumed it was just the other party's peculiar taste, and he muttered a few complaints to himself. He rubbed his eyes and looked away, no longer looking at Qin Lian.

Xue Jin'an, whose reputation was inexplicably damaged, touched his itchy nose. He was fearless because he had already turned on the eye protection mode when he discovered that the live broadcast room had a beauty filter.

The morning court session had progressed to the point where the Duke of Ningguo slid down to kneel, acknowledging his responsibility to teach, but then the conversation took a sudden turn, shifting the focus to something else entirely: "However, there are many suspicious points surrounding the assassination. The Imperial Concubine was suspected because she executed a spy, but how long has that been? The person was killed in the Censorate, and all the facts are clearly recorded. It wasn't without reason."

These words were a direct attack on Consort Zhen. All eyes turned to Chu Wenjing, who stood there motionless, arms crossed, as if he hadn't heard a thing, letting the Duke of Ning smear him. However, when the Duke of Ning said, "The Left Censor-in-Chief deliberately sought revenge; there was no evidence linking Consort Rong to the assassination attempt back then," Chu Wenjing suddenly retorted, "How can the Duke of Ning be so certain there was no evidence?"

Chu Wenjing engaged in a gentle debate with the Duke of Ningguo, eventually forcing the Duke to say that "even a search of the palace failed to find any evidence."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Duke of Ningguo felt a sense of foreboding. Chu Wenjing added the final blow in a nonchalant tone, "The Duke of Ningguo is indeed well-informed; nothing escapes your discerning eye."

These words truly put the Duke of Ningguo in a precarious position. Since the assassination attempt, the palace had remained closed to all, with no one allowed to enter or leave. Although everyone had their own channels and knew everything about the search of the palace, knowing was one thing, but speaking out was another, especially in front of the emperor. The Duke of Ningguo would have to bear the accusation of spying on the inner palace no matter what.

Afterwards, the emperor summoned Yang Cong, the Minister of Rites, and asked him, "Minister Yang, what do you think?"

Only the fifth and sixth princes were injured in the assassination attempt. The fifth prince was inextricably linked to the assassination, and at least on the surface, the assassination was caused by him. Therefore, the only truly innocent person was the sixth prince, who was completely taken in place of the fifth prince.

The Minister of Rites was the maternal grandfather of the sixth prince.

"This old minister believes that both censors are right. The matter of the assassin is still unresolved, and it is indeed inappropriate to convict him so hastily. However, the Ningguo Prefecture also has its shortcomings in education." Yang Cong seemed to be a fence-sitter, agreeing with both sides and not offending either, which was equivalent to casting an abstention vote.

In reality, his abstention sealed the outcome.

As expected, the emperor spoke last, without imposing any punishment on the matter, but he suppressed the memorial requesting the title of heir apparent again, and also arranged a sixth-rank sinecure for the son of the Duke of Ningguo in the Jingzhao Prefecture. In modern terms, it would be like a city management officer, responsible for a street, to give him some experience.

The emperor glanced at the Duke of Ningguo indifferently and said meaningfully, "We can't let future generations tarnish the prestige of our ancestors."

This may seem like a harsh punishment followed by a sweet treat, but in reality, it's an attempt to postpone the request for the title of heir indefinitely, or even never grant it, thus ending the title of Duke of Ningguo in this generation.

There is precedent for this. The title of Duke of Fuguo, who lived during the same period as Duke of Ningguo, was only passed down for two generations before being revoked by the Empress Dowager, who was then the Empress Dowager, on the grounds that "the unworthy descendants have brought shame to their ancestors, and if Duke of Fuguo knew this in the afterlife, how would he face the founding emperor?"

It was said that the position was left vacant to await future generations, but in reality everyone knew that the emperor wanted to centralize power, and the founding nobles would eventually decline, so the Great Qi Dynasty could not have another Duke of the State.

However, compared to the direct extermination of entire clans and the stripping of titles in previous dynasties, this method not only spared lives but also removed a non-existent carrot, making it quite mild.

Now that these two actions are placed side by side, some people have already realized how similar they are, and Xue Jin'an has also come to understand.

Xue Jin'an opened Li Hechun's personal space. He hadn't updated his status as emperor for a while. Around the time the morning court session started, he posted several updates as if he had diarrhea. Each update only had a few replies, which was very different from his usual posts that would be forwarded by hundreds of times. It was obvious that he had deliberately chosen his audience.

Xue Jin'an looked around and realized that the families behind the princes were all included. Li Hechun was cooperating with the emperor to fish for fish, and now the fish were all gathered together. One of them had already foolishly surfaced, so how far behind could the others be?

This must be the climax of the novel! Xue Jin'an immediately perked up, ready to see how the emperor would handle it.

However, the entire morning court session that followed was filled with bickering.

Although everyone was arguing eloquently, citing classical texts, and Xue Jin'an even opened his notes to learn a great deal about the art of human language, this could not hide the fact that the progress bar had not moved an inch!

Xue Jin'an: "..." I suddenly understand how otaku feel when they see a novel with a bad ending.

After the morning court session ended, the emperor, who was also a content creator, was still sitting on the dragon throne, and his live stream was still running. He was rubbing his temples and looked tired.

Xue Jin'an gave him a few quiet glances, then spat out comments one by one.

Kidney deficiency always occurs after one feels powerless to change their condition.

The emperor, who was observing his own expression, was taken aback. His face turned pale and then flushed, and he subconsciously retorted, "No! I'm fine, and my kidneys are in good condition!"

[Congratulations on successfully completing a morning court session! Your efficiency surpasses that of 1% of emperors worldwide. Keep up the good work!]

The Emperor: "This is the art of checks and balances for emperors!"

[Hey fisherman, don't look, it's a short seller!]

On the day the royal army pacifies the north and establishes a noble family, remember to tell your grandfather at the family sacrifice.

[See this emperor? He's dead. How did he die? He was dying.]

[The Great Revelation is complete!]

Unbeknownst to him, Xue Jin'an had used all the skills he had learned, forming a massive barrage of comments that densely covered the emperor's face, which was suffering from kidney deficiency.

After venting his frustrations, he felt refreshed and even considered using a rocket to clear away his emotional baggage. However, he discovered that his cleanable junk file, which had previously been 995MB, had dropped to 0MB.

Xue Jin'an turned off the live streaming app, opened the music app, selected the playlist "Selected Buddhist Scriptures in Sanskrit," and listened to the Great Compassion Mantra while keeping it on Do Not Disturb, and happily fell asleep.

As for the emperor, who had been silent for a long time... he broke down.

In the Qian Yuan Palace, the man who was fast asleep on the dragon bed suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.