General Ye has always been loyal to Zhou Beichen, however, this time he was the first one who was unwilling to let Zhou Zhaonuan go to court, but he didn't dare to say it directly. Now, he was holding his breath in his heart, and he was about to suffocate to death. He planned to find an opportunity when Zhou Zhaonuan did something wrong, and drive her out of the court in one fell swoop, so that the emperor would admit from his heart that since ancient times, women have been inferior to men.
Since ancient times, men have been in charge of external affairs and women have been in charge of internal affairs. This has been an eternal truth. Now, this princess has entered the court. What a joke.
Shen Zishan didn't think so. Looking at his granddaughter, he felt so proud.
"Master Shen, congratulations! Not only have you made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion, but your two daughters are both imperial concubines and imperial concubines, your grandson is the Prince of Yan, and your granddaughter is the Regent Princess. In my opinion, your good days are really coming."
Shen Zishan lifted his eyelids calmly and stroked his beard. "Master Lian, a good life and a good future are earned by yourself, not given by others. I cannot waste the blessings of my grandson and granddaughter in front of the emperor. I am loyal to the emperor first and foremost."
Mr. Lian was the newly appointed Minister of Revenue. Seeing that Shen Zishan did not respond to his words, he looked a little ugly, was silent for a moment, and walked away with a laugh.
Forget it, forget it. People don’t want to form any cliques at all, so let him be alone and innocent.
Jinli watched all this silently from the side, and after a while, he came over, tugged at Shen Zishan's clothes, and whispered.
"Sir Shen, are you serious about the Emperor asking Princess Chang'an to attend court? You said it was natural for the Emperor to ask His Royal Highness Prince Yan to attend court, but asking Princess Chang'an to attend court is a bit..."
He looked around and lowered his voice, "This is unacceptable. If the future decision is good, it's fine. But if it's not good, if the princess gets into big trouble, do you think the emperor will punish her or not?"
Jinli has been in the Ministry of Justice for many years and has now been promoted. His career is booming. He frowned and thought deeply, truly considering Zhou Zhaonuan.
Shen Zishan knew whether it was true or false at a glance, and his expression changed slightly. Shen Nian'an looked at the golden dragon throne in the Golden Palace with a deep and dark gaze. After a long time, he murmured.
"Master Jin, the Emperor's decisions are not something you and I can judge at will. Since the Emperor has truly allowed the princess to come to court, he must have already made all kinds of foolproof plans. Let's wait and see what happens. Sometimes, blindly pursuing corruption isn't a good thing. Perhaps we should accept some new tasks."
Shen Zishan stroked his beard, squinted his eyes, and glanced at Jinli. The latter was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and laughed.
"Indeed, the Emperor has always made wise and decisive decisions. He has hardly made any mistakes in all these years. Why should I worry about it? I hope it won't be like the first time, where he lost both his wife and his army. That would be the end of him."
After getting a roll of the eyes from Shen Zishan, she went inside and went to her seat, intending to watch the fun quietly. The fact that the princess was attending court was something she had never heard of or seen before. She wondered what would happen on the first day?
If more officials were stripped of their official hats, it would be even more exciting to watch. When I thought of that scene, I rubbed my hands together, my eyes shining with excitement.
Zhou Zhaonuan and Zhou Zeyun both stood at the front, side by side, listening to the ministers whispering about this. They were all talking about, "Oh my! Our princess is truly amazing, incredibly amazing! She's unprecedented in attending court. This is against the law. I wonder if we'll all be punished by heaven together."
"Don't talk nonsense. The princess has been the apple of the emperor's eye since she was a child. We can't judge the emperor's decisions casually. Remember this from now on. When we work together, we must be careful with the princess and not offend her."
“…”
Zhou Zhaonuan almost couldn't breathe after hearing the sarcastic words. If she had a whip in her hand, she would probably have used violence in the Golden Palace. However, she didn't dare. As a person, you have to be cowardly when you need to be cowardly. You can't make a scene that will leave your father with no way to deal with it.
Just wait, there will be a future.
After waiting for a while, Zhou Beichen finally arrived. Following Deshun's high-pitched, shrill "The Emperor has arrived!", all the civil and military officials knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, your servants pay their respects to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"
Zhou Zhaonuan and Zhou Zeyun knelt down together, glancing downwards with dignified eyes. Zhou Beichen laughed heartily.
"No need to be polite."
The ministers stood up one by one, and before they could straighten their bodies, they heard Zhou Beichen's seemingly impatient voice coming from above their heads.
"You have been arguing for over ten days about the corruption and bribery of local officials in various flood-stricken areas. Today, if you don't bring this to a conclusion for me, you will bear the consequences."
The emperor's face turned grim, and all the ministers looked at each other in confusion. Finally, they had no choice but to knock their knees, which had just been raised, to the ground again.
"We are guilty and deserve to die!"
Zhou Beichen picked up a folder casually, opened it and took a look, sneering.
"You are guilty and deserve to die. I see that you are all afraid of death and no one wants to die."
Minister: "..."
Why, say it so... bluntly.
They thought about it, not knowing what to say, and finally, they could only kowtow again and reply.
"Your Majesty, I ask that you punish me."
Zhou Beichen: “…”
Looking down, everyone was kneeling with their heads down, only Zhou Zeyun and Zhou Zhaonuan looked up and stared at him. Zhou Beichen pointed and said unhappily.
"Look at you, this is you. Every time you encounter a major problem that can't be solved or discussed, you just say you are guilty and deserve to die, and then you put the blame on me. Tell me, what am I doing with a bunch of useless people like you?"
The emperor was furious, with a cold look in his eyes, and threw a memorial to the ground.
"Look, today's report to the local governor says officials have enriched themselves and once again added bran, tree bark, and grass roots to the food of the starving people. While this has saved their lives, it has harmed their bodies. There are very few corrupt officials in high positions, and they have all been executed. I ask you again, should these officials be executed?"
The crowd below was once again bustling with activity. "Your Majesty, I think they shouldn't be executed. There are very few high-ranking corrupt officials, so they can be executed. However, there are too many low-ranking officials. If we kill them all, who will do the work?"
"But if we don't kill them, how will we bear the suffering of those innocent people? Are we just going to watch these officials who line their pockets enjoy themselves all day long?"
One minister shook his sleeves, quite dissatisfied, and then another minister said.
"But if we kill them all, you'll be left alone to distribute the disaster relief food. Even if you work yourself to death, it'll be useless and you won't be able to distribute all the food."
"you......"
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