Imperial Capital 15: War of words in the Golden Palace
On this morning, Xu Yushi submitted a memorial to the emperor, impeaching the Minister of Revenue, Ye Wenhua, for not educating his daughter properly. Xu Yushi was indeed born in the most scholarly family in the Great Chu. He wrote a memorial of impeachment with great fanfare, citing classics and describing how the fourth daughter of the Ye family was openly dating the Prince of Li when Miss Ye San’s engagement with Prince Li had not yet been cancelled, and how she did not have the demeanor of a lady from a noble family. Of course, all of this was entirely due to the fact that Lord Ye Wenhua, the Minister of Revenue, did not educate his daughter properly. What? You said Miss Ye San was also the daughter of Minister Ye? Miss Ye San was the granddaughter of Mr. Qingyun. Was there any need to doubt the bloodline and upbringing of the Xu family?
As Ye Wenhua's maternal family, the Xu family directed their firepower at the Ye family without hesitation, which was absolutely unexpected. It immediately made the Minister Ye, who was in high spirits these days, dizzy. Although he is now a second-rank Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Ye Wenhua still has great respect for his former father-in-law. His handsome face turned red, but he couldn't say a word to defend himself. Although several people from the Wang family wanted to come out to save the situation, it was a pity that their ranks were really not important. What's more, the group of people who were on the stage were all pure scholars and proud people. What's more, most of them were from Lishan Academy, and their eloquence was not for show. Although not a party to the impeachment, His Royal Highness Prince Li, Mo Jingli, was obviously implicated. His face was gloomy and he was very cold. Unfortunately, although Xu Yushi's official robe was a little thin, it was not cold in this April.
In the Golden Palace, the Great Chu Emperor Mo Jingqi, sitting high on the dragon throne, looked thoughtfully at the ministers with different expressions below. As an emperor, he didn't mind his ministers fighting occasionally, but he would be worried if they all huddled together. However, he didn't expect that the Xu family would attack Ye Wenhua without hesitation for a little Ye Li. Although the Xu family's influence in the court is now very small, in the eyes of the world's literati, the Xu family is still the object of their respect and worship. It seems... Minister Ye will not have an easy time these days. It's good that way, too much glory will make people think about things they shouldn't think about. Some people should be punished.
"Minister Ye, is what Xu Yushi said true?" Mo Jingqi asked Ye Wenhua with a smile. The king's warm smile made Ye Wenhua feel a little cold for no reason.
"Your Majesty... I, your humble servant, am wronged..."
"Master Ye, do you mean that Master Xu has framed his colleagues? But as far as I know, someone saw your daughter and His Royal Highness Prince Li going out together as early as last year's Double Ninth Festival. At that time... His Royal Highness Prince Li and Miss Ye San had not yet broken off their engagement?" Another Yu Shi stepped forward and glanced at Ye Wenhua. Although these officials in the Yu Shitai have no real power, they are all people with real talents and knowledge. Moreover, most of them disdain to go along with others, and of course they are not afraid of offending others. The censors will not be convicted, and as long as they are not talking nonsense, even the emperor cannot blame them, so what else can others do?
"Yes, I seem to have heard Madam mention this. I heard that Miss Ye Si also went to the Lantern Festival this year with... Miss Ye." Minister Ye's old rival, the Minister of Personnel, the father of Concubine Liu, naturally did not lag behind and added insult to injury. The daughters of the Liu and Ye families fought to the death in the palace, and the two families also fought openly and secretly in the court. Unfortunately, the Ye family has a weak foundation. Even if they have climbed up the big tree of Prince Li, they can't shake the Liu family for a while. What's more, Ye Wenhua is now impeached by his own family because of a fire in his own backyard. Minister Liu himself would feel it's a pity if he didn't take the opportunity to step on him. Although Prince Li is the emperor's younger brother and has the support of the empress dowager, his Liu family is not a pushover. His two grandsons and one granddaughter are the emperor's princes and princesses.
"Jingli, what do you say?" Mo Jingqi glanced at everyone in the hall, fixed his gaze on the gloomy Mo Jingli, and asked with a smile.
The hall was silent for a while before Mo Jingli said coldly, "I have nothing to say."
Some conservative old officials snorted in their hearts, and their evaluation of this prince was even lower. There was really nothing to say. This kind of thing was originally a matter of no complaint from the people, but once it was uncovered, any punishment would not be excessive. Who made Mo Jingli and Ye Ying so arrogant at the time that they thought no one dared to say anything and openly went out together. Not only officials in the court, but even ordinary people knew about it. Now that it was uncovered by the Xu family, the more they tried to argue, the more embarrassed they would be.
The ministers of Prince Li's faction naturally could not watch their master swallow this humiliation, and hurriedly stepped out to make a report, "Your Majesty, Miss Third Ye is unworthy of His Majesty Prince Li because she has no talent, no morals, and no looks. Moreover, His Majesty Prince Li is now engaged to Miss Fourth Ye, who was personally arranged by the Empress."
Xu Yushi sneered and said, "Since Prince Li doubts the talent, beauty and moral character of Miss Third Ye, he should just cancel the engagement openly and find another good partner. Why do he have to do such a sneaky thing? According to Xiaguan, Miss Third Ye did not show any violent reaction when her engagement was canceled, nor did she refuse to cancel the engagement. Miss Third Ye's moral character can be imagined. Moreover... the original engagement between His Royal Highness Prince Li and Miss Third Ye was... granted by the late emperor!" Which one has more weight, the engagement granted by the empress dowager or the engagement granted by the late emperor? To put it more seriously, the engagement granted by the empress dowager was completely contrary to the engagement of the late emperor, which already made her moral character questionable.
"..." The loyal minister retreated with a pale face. The others watched the excitement and sympathized with the man who was reckless and tried to compete with Xu Yushi in words. Anyone with a little knowledge would know that the second son of the Xu family became famous when he was only sixteen years old in a verbal battle with the six great talents of the Nanzhao Kingdom. Just because he has been keeping a low profile in recent years does not mean that he has suddenly become clumsy in speaking.
"Okay, does Minister Ye have anything to say in his defense?" Mo Jingqi stopped His Highness who was still eager to speak.
Ye Wenhua had worked his way up from an ordinary boy to a second-rank official for many years. He knew that Xu Yushi was prepared and that he had no excuse, so he simply confessed, "I have been neglecting the affairs of the palace for many years and have not been strict with my daughter. Your Majesty, please punish me." Men should not interfere in the inner court, so neglecting the affairs of the palace is completely understandable. The emperor obviously did not intend to get rid of his most useful minister and his most beloved brother because of such a trivial matter. Because he was very satisfied with Ye Wenhua's understanding of current affairs, if he continued to make excuses, he might be forced to punish him more severely. "In this case, Minister Ye will be fined one year's salary, and Prince Li will be fined half a year's salary. In addition, Miss Ye San is beautiful and virtuous, so I will give her two jade ruyi with 100 taels of gold as a gift to Mr. Qingyun's granddaughter."
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty." Minister Ye said with a sullen face.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xu Yushi said with a calm expression.
"Thank you, my royal brother." His Royal Highness Prince Li became even more gloomy.
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