Chapter 24 The Golden Palace
A distant and solemn voice called out, "The Emperor has arrived!"
All the officials knelt on the ground in unison. In the Golden Throne Hall, Emperor Shunkang, wearing a yellow inner garment and barefoot, walked into the hall with heavy steps, and every step seemed to step on the heartstrings of his ministers.
His face was solemn and his eyes were as sharp as torches, scanning every corner of the hall, as if he could penetrate the morning mist and see into the deepest part of people's hearts.
The atmosphere in the entire Golden Palace dropped to freezing point, and even breathing seemed to freeze.
A sudden voice came from outside the palace: "Your Majesty, you have to make the decision for this humble minister..."
Lin Yuanfeng, wearing a white inner garment, walked in from outside the hall with tears and snot running down his face, and knelt directly on the throne room.
He was only concerned with letting Emperor Shunkang make the decision for him, and did not even look up at the emperor's expression.
Emperor Shunkang looked at his confidant who was pretending to be just like him, and finally said in a deep voice: "My dear, you are crying so sadly this early in the morning. What do you want me to do for you? Why don't you even wear court clothes when you go to court? This is so unbecoming!"
Ministers: You are not wearing a dragon robe today? And your big feet are exposed.
Emperor Shunkang: I want to wear it too, but I have something to wear. Do you think I want to go out like this? Although it is spring now, the ground is still very cold.
Lin Yuanfeng knelt on the ground, gritting his teeth and saying, "Your Majesty, you don't know. My house was robbed yesterday and everything was stolen. The worst part is, the thief pretended to be a ghost to scare me. My court robes were also stolen!"
The rest of the courtiers whose homes were stolen...
Fortunately, their house was only robbed and they were not scared by the ghosts. Why did they feel a little relieved for some reason?
I wish his family wasn't the victim!
"Your Majesty, although I wasn't frightened by a thief pretending to be a ghost like the Prime Minister, my mansion was also robbed, and almost everything in it was emptied out!"
"Your Majesty, the same thing happened to my house. All the valuables were looted!"
"Your Majesty, this old minister's house is also like this!"
…
If you didn't say anything, you wouldn't know. But once you said it, you would be shocked to find out that more than a dozen ministers had their homes robbed!
Emperor Shunkang had not paid attention to the clothes of the court officials at first, but now he saw that they were all wearing the same clothes as him, just in different colors. No, they also had a pair of shoes on their feet, but he didn't!
Shun Kangdi, who had originally felt a little more balanced, suddenly became unbalanced again!
We are both wanderers in this world, so why should we step on his sore spot again?
Lin Yuanfeng continued, "Your Majesty, you must quickly send someone to find this thief and have him hacked into pieces. It's no big deal that he stole from the homes of me and the other ministers, but I'm afraid he might sneak into the palace one day and disturb Your Majesty!"
Everyone in the court gasped. Prime Minister Lin, you are so bold to say that, and you were right. Didn’t the thief sneak into the palace?
Didn’t you see that the dragon throne was stolen?
Isn’t the emperor wearing a dragon robe today?
No socks to wear!
Upon hearing this, Emperor Shunkang's expression grew even gloomier, and an elusive light flashed in his eyes.
He didn't believe that anyone could be so capable as to empty out the homes of more than a dozen ministers in the capital overnight, and even the heavily guarded imperial palace.
Did these ministers commit theft and collude with the thieves? Are they trying to trick him today?
Then I thought about it and it was impossible, so I denied my idea in my heart.
"Lord Lin, you're absolutely right. The palace was also robbed last night. Your words are truly wise!"
Only then did Lin Yuanfeng look up tremblingly at Emperor Shunkang standing on the platform.
I was shocked when I saw this. Why can't I control my mouth? Why do I blurt out everything?
The key point was that he got it right.
"I am terrified. I didn't realize this thief was so bold as to actually steal from the palace. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
He slowly turned around, his gaze piercing the hall. Suddenly, a smile curled up at the corner of his mouth as he stared at Lin Yuanfeng. His voice was low and magnetic, "Since that's the case, pass on my decree. From now on, a city-wide search will be launched. We must not only find the thief, but also recover the stolen property. This matter will be handled by Prime Minister Lin. If the thief is not caught, you will lose your official position as Prime Minister Lin."
After he finished speaking, the hall fell into deep silence. The ministers looked at each other in shock and suspicion. Prime Minister Lin had walked into trouble.
But no one dared to speak any more, and could only watch how Prime Minister Lin caught the thief.
Lin Yuanfeng felt miserable. This man came and went without a trace. How could he catch him?
Emperor Shunkang swept his majestic gaze around and asked, "My dear ministers, do you have anything else to say?"
He had originally planned to punish Xuanyuan Yi tomorrow, but now he couldn't wait any longer and wanted to sentence him in the Golden Palace today.
Whenever he thought of the treasures in the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion, he would remember that when his father was alive, any good things would be left to his younger brother. There were many things that he, the ruler of a country, did not have, but Xuanyuan Yi had.
How could he not hate this? Fortunately, after today, these things finally returned to his hands.
He will not keep any of the noble families that are on good terms with Xuanyuan Yi.
Anyway, a ceasefire agreement has been signed with Beidi, and there will be no more war within ten years.
Helian Zhi and Ye Qingyu are two very good rising stars, and I plan to make use of them in the future.
Even if the Northern Di invaded again ten years later, he believed that his newly trained generals would be able to defeat them.
He looked for the Grand Tutor among the ministers, but he didn't see him after several rounds of searching.
He had discussed with the Grand Tutor that he would submit the evidence of Xuanyuan Yi's treason and the Prime Minister would provide it.
There was no sign of the Grand Tutor in the court at this moment, so he turned his gaze to Lin Yuanfeng who was still kneeling on the ground.
When Lin Yuanfeng received the look from Emperor Shunkang, he instantly understood what he meant. However, were the evidences he prepared stolen by the thief last night?
Even if he wanted to take it out now, he couldn't!
Now he can only pretend that he didn't see Emperor Shunkang's eyes!
Emperor Shunkang was so angry when he saw him like this.
"You are so good, Lin Yuanfeng, you actually pretended to be dead in front of me. Just wait for me."
He turned his gaze to the Minister of War again.
The Minister of War was also an old fox, and he immediately knew that his chance to show off had come.
He stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
"Permission granted!"
"This old minister wishes to sue the Prince of Zhennan, Xuanyuan Yi, for treason and collusion with the Northern Di. He has no regard for the lives of the people of Xuanyuan. This campaign, which could have been concluded in a few months, took him over three years, costing the people money and manpower, and causing them unbearable suffering."
"This old minister's daughter once witnessed with her own eyes the Prince of Zhennan and the Fifth Prince of Beidi plotting late at night how to prolong the battle, demand food and fodder from the court, and how to recruit soldiers. They would kill most of the men in Xuanyuan on the battlefield, leaving only the elderly, weak, women, and children. Then, they could join forces from within and annex Xuanyuan."
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