Chapter 27: Doing Evil
This matter involved His Majesty's favorite concubine, and the Dali Temple Minister was originally quite embarrassed, but fortunately His Majesty seemed to be in a good mood today, which made him feel a little relieved.
"Your Majesty, at the end of last month, a man went to the Jiangnan prefecture to beat a drum and complain, claiming his shop had been looted and vandalized, and his eldest son tragically collapsed and died in the thrashing. He and his family went to the Yuezhou government office to report the crime, but the Yuezhou prefect, in collusion with the thieves, had him imprisoned. While in jail, he heard the jailer explain that he had offended someone he shouldn't have, someone whose power was so immense that even the Yuezhou prefect couldn't afford to offend."
He paused, then glanced up to observe the Emperor's expression. Seeing no sign of abnormality, he continued, "It's said the man behind this is the Imperial Concubine's biological father. Ever since the Imperial Concubine's rise to favor, the Song family has prospered, becoming a powerful force in Yuezhou. The man didn't receive justice from the Yuezhou Magistrate, so after his release from prison, he appealed to the Jiangnan Prefect. However, since the matter involved the Imperial Concubine, the Jiangnan Prefect didn't dare to handle it on his own, and so he referred the case to the Dali Temple."
This case wasn't a big deal, but it involved the Imperial Concubine, currently at the height of her power, making it a rather thorny matter. He had no choice but to report it to His Majesty immediately. Ultimately, it all depended on His Majesty's attitude. If, out of pity for the Imperial Concubine, he simply brushed the matter aside, he would be unable to exonerate her even if he wished.
But when he looked up, the emperor's reaction was not what he expected. He was not angry because the matter involved his favorite concubine, but his expression was a little colder.
"Did anyone die?"
Chen Dingyao sensed something was amiss. Although Song Ming favored the powerful and sought fame and fortune, he hadn't given the Song family any special favors in this life. Chan Zhen had only been in the palace for a short time, so Song Ming shouldn't have been so arrogant. In his previous life, when Song Ming was first ennobled, he kept a low profile for a while. Seeing Chan Zhen's favor grow even stronger, he gradually became more arrogant. Businessmen are cunning and opportunistic. Chan Zhen's position wasn't yet secure, so Song Ming wouldn't drag her into this mess.
They randomly smashed up other people's shops, caused a murder case, and even let the reporter know that the person behind the scenes was involved with the imperial concubine. Oh, if the Song family really used the imperial concubine's influence to control everything in Yuezhou, then how did the reporter get out of prison and report to the Jiangnan prefect without any problems? It seemed so smooth that it was deliberately intended to expose this matter to him.
"This matter involves the Imperial Concubine. I dare not make a rash decision, so I come here to ask for an audience with Your Majesty to report the truth." The Minister of the Dali Temple bowed.
"Where are the man who reported the case and the imperial concubine's biological father now?"
Since this matter involves human life, it must be handled carefully no matter what to give justice to the victim. If someone deliberately designed it, he must catch that person personally and clear the obstacles on Chan Zhen's road to success.
The Supreme Court official replied, "Your Majesty, the person who reported the case is currently imprisoned in the Jiangnan prefectural prison, while the Imperial Concubine's biological father... is still safely at home."
Chen Dingyao sneered, "The reporter is in jail, while the suspect lives peacefully at home. I didn't even know that this is written in the laws of Daliang?"
His Majesty's intentions didn't seem to be to defend the Imperial Concubine, but rather to investigate the matter thoroughly. The Dali Temple officials felt somewhat relieved. His Majesty's excessive favor for the Imperial Concubine had worried the ministers, fearing he would be blinded by her beauty and act like a tyrant. It seemed, however, that His Majesty hadn't lost his mind and was still the wise ruler he had been.
"I am aware of this matter. Immediately order the man who reported the case and Song Ming to be brought to the capital. I will personally interrogate this case."
He had decided to let the Song family off in this life for Chan Zhen's sake. If the Song family continued to act like they did in his previous life, he would not let them off lightly. However, he should handle this matter more carefully, not involving Chan Zhen. It would be best if he could use this incident to completely sever Chan Zhen's ties with the Song family and rid her of this troublesome situation.
"I obey your command." The Dali Temple Minister finally felt relieved at this point. Since His Majesty intended to try the case personally, he didn't have to worry about how to explain it to the Imperial Concubine.
But the Song family is really rampant. His Majesty has always been wary of foreign relatives. This matter may affect the favor of the imperial concubine in His Majesty's heart. The former queen also disliked His Majesty because her mother's family took advantage of the situation to interfere in politics. She eventually died of illness in the deep palace and was never summoned by His Majesty. I am afraid that the fate of this new favorite imperial concubine will not be much better.
Just as the Dali Temple Minister was about to leave, he was stopped by His Majesty.
"You must handle this matter personally. Don't make a big fuss about it. Don't let anyone arbitrarily blame the Imperial Concubine before you find out the truth. Do you understand?"
The Dali Temple Minister was slightly stunned. He looked up and saw His Majesty looking at him calmly, with a hint of oppression in his eyes, which made him break out in a cold sweat.
"I know."
Only after he walked out the door did he dare to raise his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his head.
It seems that the status of this imperial concubine in His Majesty's heart is indeed extraordinary. Even if such a thing happened to the Song family, it would not affect the imperial concubine's favor. However, he had to find out the truth, but he could not involve the imperial concubine in a high-profile matter, which really made him feel difficult.
After the Dali Temple Minister left, Chen Dingyao remained there thinking for a while. After a long time, he called Guo Kai, who was on duty outside, in.
Guo Kai naturally didn't know what the Dali Temple Minister had reported to His Majesty. He just saw that His Majesty had a calm expression, but his knuckles were tapping lightly on the table. The slow sound gave people an invisible sense of oppression. He thought to himself, "Oh no, His Majesty doesn't seem to be in a good mood."
He suddenly wanted to curl himself up into a ball, stand there with his head down, and not dare to move at all.
"Go check if there's been any movement in the harem lately, especially if the three concubines have contacted anyone at home."
Chen Dingyao has never been afraid to think of the worst. Chan Zhen's favor has offended countless people. He protects Fengqi Palace so well that it is hard to guarantee that someone will have evil intentions and start with her family.
Guo Kai hadn't expected this matter to involve the harem. He nodded and agreed, then asked with some embarrassment, "What about the Imperial Concubine? Do we need to investigate further?"
Chen Dingyao thought about it for a moment, but he still felt relieved, so he said, "Check the people in the imperial concubine's palace again to see if anyone has any connections with other places."
Even he couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be any mistakes, and if this mistake fell on Chan Zhen, he wouldn't be able to bear any harm to her.
"As you command." Guo Kai lowered his head, realizing that the matter that the Dali Temple Minister came to report involved the Imperial Concubine, which made His Majesty uneasy. He didn't know which blind person had walked into the trap.
…
Chan Zhen had nothing to do in the back, so he tidied up his desk and started practicing calligraphy. Before he finished writing two pages, he saw His Majesty coming back, but his face was a little colder than when he left before.
She put down her pen and went to meet him with some worry, "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Did something important happen in the previous dynasty?"
Seeing her worried face, Chen Dingyao relaxed his expression slightly and smiled at her: "It's not a big deal. I will take care of it. Chanzhen, don't worry."
After saying that, he took her in his arms and sat down.
He was unwilling to tell her about this before finding out the truth. She has always been emotionally sensitive. Although Song Ming is not a good father to her, they are related by blood after all. Knowing that Song Ming has done such evil things under her name, she must feel very guilty and sad.
"Let me see, you've practiced a few pages."
Chanzhen didn't know much about the affairs of the previous dynasty, so she believed what he said and felt relieved. She couldn't provide any help to the emperor in political affairs, but just hoped that he would feel better, so she presented him the paper she had written like a treasure.
"Your Majesty, what do you think of my writing? I think I have improved a bit compared to my previous writing."
His Majesty had helped her correct her posture step by step before. After practicing with her once, she felt that writing became much smoother. She also felt that she had made considerable progress after writing a piece of calligraphy. Unfortunately, she was not very proficient in calligraphy and painting, so she could only seek advice from His Majesty again.
Chen Dingyao took the paper she had written, carefully read it from beginning to end, nodded and said, "Chan Zhen is indeed smart and can understand things easily. This page of calligraphy has made great progress."
Chan Zhen rarely received such recognition and praise for his calligraphy and painting, and he immediately smiled in surprise: "Your Majesty, are you just trying to please me? Have I really made great progress?"
Chen Dingyao smiled and held her in his arms. He found another page she had written on and compared them side by side for her to see: "Zhenzhen, look, isn't the handwriting on this new page much neater and more powerful?"
The two pieces of calligraphy that were not much different were placed together. Chan Zhen looked at them again and again but couldn't tell the difference. However, His Majesty always had authority in her eyes. Since he showed it to her so seriously, she believed it.
She nodded seriously, "Well, thank you, Your Majesty, for your personal instruction. I will practice even harder."
As a royal concubine, it is very necessary for her to have good handwriting. The account books that have passed through her hands must not be laughed at by others because of the handwriting.
Chen Dingyao now feels that it is good that Chanzhen is obsessed with reading and writing. As long as he focuses on this, he will not be affected by other things in the outside world. During this time, he can also focus on solving the Song family's problems.
He had previously planned to separate Chan Zhen from the Yuezhou Song family, recognize Song Ge as his sworn brother, and include him in the Beijing Song family tree. Now that the Yuezhou Song family had this incident, it was a good thing. If this matter could be properly resolved, it would not only make a decision between Chan Zhen and his family, but also give him the opportunity to pave the way for Chan Zhen's path to becoming queen.
However, he did not expect that he had just met with the Dali Temple Minister the day before, and the next day the news that the imperial concubine's biological father abused his power to do evil spread rapidly throughout the palace and the court. At the same time, countless insults against the imperial concubine surged up like a tide.
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