Chapter 013 A Breeze Through the Hall, Better Than a House of Thousand Gold

After this little episode, the morning court continued.

It is unheard of that someone dares to fall asleep and snore in the Phoenix Palace.

"Fortunately" the person who committed the crime was the unlearned Sixth Prince. After the initial shock, the officials thought that this matter was not too outrageous.

What is certain is that His Majesty must be in a very bad mood right now.

The prince and princess have spoken, and even His Majesty has taken out 50,000 taels of silver from the treasury. Who would dare to disobey?

No matter how unhappy you are, you can't go against the grain at this time and your grades will be reduced in order.

The Prime Minister, a first-rank official, bid ten thousand.

Six-department chief, first rank, eight thousand;

Junior Secretary, Second Rank, 6,000...

Logically, everything should have gone smoothly, but an outlier actually appeared.

Jiang Jinxiao, the Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, should have offered six thousand taels according to his official position, but he only asked for one thousand taels.

"Your Majesty, I am from a poor family and have tried my best."

Jiang Jinxiao has always considered himself to be honest, and in the past he would occasionally support poor students.

The originally smooth quotation came to an abrupt halt, and many civil and military officials focused their attention on him.

Some are calm as water, some are contemptuous, and there are also a few idiots who agree with it.

Jiang Jinxiao spoke despite gritted his teeth, feeling rather uneasy.

His Majesty was unhappy in the face of the flood, but he had no intention of being different or seeking fame, and he did it out of necessity.

He has always prided himself on being honest and incorruptible, which is his way of being an official. He indeed lives a frugal life, and taking out one thousand taels is already the limit, no more is possible.

Jiang Jinxiao was like this before, and even received praise from His Majesty, but at this moment he suddenly shuddered.

He looked up secretly and found that His Majesty's eyes were fixed on him.

It's not quite accurate to say that. She was indeed looking in his direction, but her gaze seemed to pass through his body and look outside the hall.

For no reason, Jiang Jinxiao's heart began to beat wildly and he subconsciously lowered his head.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became strange, as if it was under a thick layer of clouds, and no one dared to speak easily.

After about ten breaths, the empress suddenly stood up and left the hall without saying a word.

All the civil and military officials were stunned, because this had never happened before.

"Withdraw from the court..."

It was not until the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department shouted to adjourn the court that they came to their senses.

This... everyone is inevitably worried.

Even if His Majesty dislikes Jiang Jinxiao's actions, disaster relief is a serious matter, so shouldn't we at least complete the fundraising process first? What does this mean now?

The hall was not a place for talking, and everyone's eyes were glued to Prime Minister Pei Xuanyun.

If we were to ask who has the deepest understanding of the court's direction, it would definitely be this only first-rank official.

Pei Xuanyun looked calm and walked out slowly.

The first one to come forward was Si Zheng of the Wanmin Department. He was in charge of the national treasury. If you asked who was most anxious about disaster relief, he would definitely be at the top of the list.

"Brother Zaizhi, please stay, please stay."

Zaizhi was Pei Xuanyun's courtesy name. The two were three years apart in age and were both veteran officials in the court.

"Brother Zaizhi, what does His Majesty mean? Disaster relief is urgent, but the treasury is empty..."

"Don't panic. I believe Your Majesty has a plan in mind."

"this……"

At this time, there were many people eavesdropping nearby, especially Jiang Jinxiao.

He wasn't sure if it was his "eccentricity" that annoyed His Majesty, but he had no choice.

I have always been honest and upright, so how can I come up with six thousand taels? I can only do my best.

"Sir Pei!" Although he was really nervous, he stepped forward and stretched out his hand to stop the prime minister.

Just as they were about to ask, a figure suddenly passed by the crowd, scaring everyone.

Looking closely, one could tell from her clothes and hair that it was the Sixth Princess who had just fallen asleep in the hall.

yes!

Jiang Jinxiao suddenly realized that His Majesty was most likely angry because of the Sixth Princess's misbehavior in front of the palace.

Thinking of this, I suddenly felt much more at ease.

Qin Zhaoyue was completely awake at this time. Without delaying for a moment, he ran out.

It was so painful that she actually fell asleep during the morning court session. No one else can be so lazy as her.

Go back home quickly. If the empress mother is in a bad mood and takes her back, where can she go to seek justice?

He jogged all the way to the palace gate, showing the same determination as when he ran the 800-meter race in junior high school.

But this body was even worse than the one in the previous life. After running about two or three hundred meters, he was already panting like a dog and bent over, holding onto the palace wall.

After finally catching her breath, she found that no one had come to see her from beginning to end. She finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowly walked towards the palace gate.

Jiang Jinxiao still asked the prime minister, but all he got was perfunctory comfort, something like His Majesty was worried about the flood disaster and it was not directed at him.

However, with the ridiculous Sixth Princess as a backdrop, he didn't take it too seriously. After leaving the palace, he went straight to the Wanhusi Yamen as usual.

What he didn't know was that before he left the palace, the Qilin Guards had already quietly set out.

At noon, the chirping of cicadas tore through the hot morning mist.

The old willow tree in front of Jiang Jinxiao's house had drooping branches and leaves, and the brick carvings on the moss-covered screen wall were bleached by the sun.

As the Qilin Guards' black iron boots stepped onto the coarse hemp stone steps, they startled the swarms of gnats that were nestling in the cracks between the tiles.

Bang!

The door was violently kicked open, startling the old servant sweeping the front yard. "You..."

The question was stuck in his throat. The servant in the house of the second-rank official had also seen the world. He recognized the identity of the visitor at a glance: the Imperial Guard, the Qilin Guard!

"grown ups……"

The leading centurion turned a deaf ear and the soldiers behind him rushed in.

He was the Junior Secretary of the Wanmin Department, but his residence was only a two-story house, and he was surrounded in an instant.

The population was simple, with only about ten people including the master and servants, and they were all taken to the front yard.

The old lady was calm and composed. "What can I do for you, sir?"

Qilin Guard Captain Zang Feng didn't even glance at her and walked straight in.

In the study room in the east wing of the second courtyard, there is a plaque with the words "Integrity and Honesty" bestowed by His Majesty himself. On the desk is a half-written draft of "On the Taxation and Labor of the People".

Zang Feng reached out to take the spear and pounded the ground with the handle, causing the blue bricks to shatter and reveal a golden luster.

"Building bricks."

"yes!"

The Qilin Guard is an imperial guard and has no authority to investigate cases. Even if they want to arrest a criminal, they cannot avoid the Department of Punishment.

The reason why they were able to so brazenly storm the residence of a second-rank official of the imperial court and even directly seize evidence was because they were following the orders of Xuanjitai.

There are three platforms and six offices in the court. Apart from the Fengge Platform managed by the prime minister and the most mysterious Ziwei Platform, the last one is the Xuanji Platform.

The empress is in charge personally, responsible for supervising the world and all officials. Not to mention the junior minister, even the chief minister of the six ministries can make moves!

The scabbard pried open the cracks between the bricks and lifted out all the floor tiles in the study.

After breaking the outer shell, there are gold bricks inside.

The people of Dagan only used copper coins and silver, and gold was strictly controlled.

Apart from large-scale transactions with the court, the only item that will be used is military expenditure.

Therefore, seizing such a large number of gold bricks from an official's home is already a serious crime, even without investigating the source.

Zang Feng raised his spear, and the tip of the spear landed on the calligraphy hanging in the study.

"A cool breeze blowing through the hall is better than a house worth a thousand gold", and now the spot of light leaking in from the window is shining on the ground where the gold is hidden, like a mocking eye.

When piles of gold bricks appeared in front of the old lady, she finally could no longer remain calm.

The color on his face instantly faded away, leaving him as pale as paper. He fell to the ground, his mouth opening and closing several times:

“This…this…”