Chapter 92: Outrageous
But just as she walked out of the inner hall, a young eunuch in a brocade robe ran towards her, looking panicked, "Yang Shangyi, please stay!"
The visitor was Chang Xiaoxi, the adopted son of Chang Ying, the chief eunuch of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Yang Manyan was stunned. "Eunuch Xiaoxi, why did you come here in person?"
Chang Xiaoxi wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, panting, "Yang Shangyi, didn't you send someone to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to pass on the message? Godfather asked me to come and tell you that you should go to the Palace of Heavenly Purity later!"
"What's wrong?" Yang Manyan asked in surprise, "But your Majesty is busy with government affairs and it's inconvenient to meet you?"
Chang Xiaoxi looked embarrassed and said hesitantly: "Because of Lord Yang's affairs in Jizhou, there is no peace outside the Ganqing Gate at the moment..."
Yang Manyan frowned slightly when he heard this.
The reforms implemented by my father had already touched upon the interests of the aristocratic families, but due to the influence of the Eastern Palace, the civil and military officials in the court did not openly express their opposition.
Now that there is unrest, it seems like these people are going to take this opportunity to make a big fuss and force the reform to stop.
After a moment of silence, she took a deep breath and said with a smile, "Then I have to go to the Palace of Heavenly Purity."
"Ah?" Chang Xiaoxi was surprised.
Did Yang Shangyi not understand what he said?
Before he could come to his senses, Yang Manyan had already stepped onto the sedan chair with the help of palace servants, stepping on the gilded stool.
The Qianqing Palace is located in the northwest direction of the East Palace. As soon as they walked out of the Baoshan Gate in the northwest corner of the East Palace, they heard crying and shouting one after another, echoing between the palace walls and palaces.
"I am willing to die to give you this advice. Please revoke your order!"
"The Ding tax is a guarantee of stable income for the national treasury. Yang Qianxing's actions are simply child's play!"
"Yang Qian's reforms have disrupted people's livelihood, causing countless casualties among officials and civilians. We ask the emperor to order an end to the reforms!"
"Your Majesty! Yang Qianxing has no regard for the lives of the people. He is clearly seeking fame and reputation. I beg Your Majesty to see clearly!"
Yang Manyan sat in the sedan chair and lifted the brocade curtain to look outside. He saw all the ministers gathered in front of the Qianqing Gate, kneeling and crying for advice, with a huge momentum.
Although she had expected that these people would throw dirty water on her father, when she heard it with her own ears, her eyes still turned red and her hands hidden in her sleeves trembled uncontrollably.
After slowing down, she signaled the sedan to stop and walked straight to the front of the crowd.
The palace servants who came with her were startled and looked at each other, not knowing whether they should step forward to stop her.
After standing still, Yang Manyan looked at everyone present one by one, "My Lords, what are you doing?"
The atmosphere was stagnant for a moment, and all sounds disappeared in an instant.
Dozens of civil and military officials could not hide their surprise. Why did Yang Shangyi come here?
The Left Censor-in-Chief Zheng Jingheng and the Minister of Revenue Mo Rongchen, who were leading the charge, looked at each other, and a trace of contempt flashed in their eyes.
They were certain that Yang came from a humble family and was only beautiful, so she would not dare to do anything to them.
There were even ministers below who poked their heads out to look at Yang Shangyi, who was rumored to be very beautiful, without any respect at all.
Yang Manyan said calmly, "My father promoted the new law and fought for the benefit of the people without any selfish motives."
"You are obstructing us in every possible way. Are you hindering you, the aristocratic families, from plundering the people's wealth?"
Everyone's expression changed when they heard this.
Censor Zheng's face was livid. "Please be careful with your words, Yang Shangyi. We are dedicated to serving the people. The reform has made the people of Jizhou suffer terribly. We must not let it go on like this!"
Yang Manyan's eyes fell on him, "Left Censor-in-Chief Zheng Jingheng, right? Your cousin Zheng Jingmao is the current governor of Gansu?"
She had an excellent memory. In the past, during the New Year banquets, she could remember the appearances of most of the court officials, and could even recognize their relatives and family members.
In addition, she had often reviewed memorials and secret reports with the emperor recently, and she was well aware of all the matters concerning these aristocratic families.
Censor Zheng was stunned. He didn't expect that Yang Shangyi could recognize who he was and even tell him the official position of his cousin.
He had a bad feeling, but he could only say "yes" reluctantly.
Yang Manyan continued to ask: "Is Censor Zheng trying to save Zhao from Wei?"
Although her voice was soft, every word was sonorous. "Although the Gansu fraud case has not been thoroughly investigated and closed, there is already a lot of evidence. Officials throughout Gansu Province colluded with each other to fake disasters under the pretext of disaster relief, which also led to the Northwest Hui Rebellion being unable to be quelled.
"The one with the greatest suspicion is your cousin, Zheng Yushi. Once he is convicted, all of you in the Zheng family will be implicated."
With every word she spoke, Censor Zheng's expression became uglier.
He originally thought that Yang was just a beauty who served men well, and once Yang Qianxing was overthrown, she would be abandoned sooner or later.
Who would have thought that Yang was so sharp-tongued and hit the nail on the head with one word.
The Minister of Revenue, Mo Rongchen, also stood up and said sternly, "Yang Shangyi, how can you confuse these two completely unrelated matters?"
"Yang Shangyi may not know that the reform of dividing the capitation tax by the amount of land implemented by Minister Yang has great drawbacks. If the people do not pay the capitation tax, how can the court control and manage the population?"
Yang Manyan retorted, "It is precisely because of the heavy taxes and corvée that many people would rather become refugees than register their household registration."
"You own countless fertile fields, but because of your achievements, you never pay a cent of tax to the court. Your cry and remonstrance seem to be loyal to the emperor and the country, but in fact it is all for your own selfish interests."
Mo Shangshu's expression froze slightly. "Minister Yang's experiment with reforms in Jizhou has already caused civil unrest. Why should Yang Shangyi continue to defend your father?"
Yang Manyan looked at him and said, "Reducing the burden on the people has caused unrest. Minister Mo must know the inside story."
At this moment, a deep and cold male voice came from far away: "Why listen to their nonsense, just let them drag him out."
The man was wearing a dark brocade robe with a dragon pattern on it. He was tall and imposing, with sinister eyes and a sharp aura around him.
The emperor's wrath was chilling. The blood drained from the faces of Censor Zheng and Minister Mo, and their hands were covered with sweat.
The others were also in a state of panic, and they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, we pay our respects to you!"
Yang Manyan bit his lower lip lightly and bowed politely.
The emperor frowned slightly and stepped forward quickly to help her up.
Yang Manyan reacted a little faster. He immediately dodged him sideways and glared at him warily.
This happened in front of others, and it would be inappropriate if the two of them were to argue with each other.
The emperor's Adam's apple rolled, and indescribable emotions surged in his eyes.
Minister Mo, Censor Zheng and others were still hoping for a lucky break and were thinking quickly about how to break the impasse.
It was almost noon, the sun was blazing high in the sky, and the ministers had been kneeling on the ground crying and making remonstrations for a long time. They were already sweating profusely, and even their official robes were faintly stained with sweat.
With his mind racing, Censor Zheng calmed down and said, "Your Majesty, the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs, but Yang Shangyi is interfering in government affairs and hindering our ministers from making suggestions. Please, Your Majesty, make the decision for us!"
Yang Manyan sneered, "Forgive my ignorance, but I would like to ask Censor Zheng, which article or volume of the Daliang Law Collection mentioned that the harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs?"
Censor Zheng was speechless. There was indeed no explicit record that the harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs.
He had no choice but to place his hopes on the emperor.
His Majesty has always been autocratic and will definitely not tolerate such an arrogant and domineering Yang Shangyi!
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