These two men were equally handsome. One was wealthy, of noble birth, and the Emperor's new favorite; the other was powerful and a leading candidate for Crown Prince. Although they were twelve years apart in age, their auras were equally impressive, and neither was willing to give way to the other.
This scene quickly attracted the attention of many people, who watched as the two men confronted each other, and in an instant, the palace gates were completely blocked.
Fortunately, a eunuch soon came to announce that they could go in. So the two men who had attracted attention finally stopped their pleasantries and started walking towards the grand hall that everyone longed for.
It was Hu Mingmei's first time attending court. Fortunately, he wasn't completely clueless and quickly found his place. Coincidentally, he was in the same row as Prince Duan. When they entered the row, Emperor Jingkang hadn't arrived yet. Prince Duan turned around and gave Hu Mingmei a friendly smile. This scene was seen by Prince Cheng, who clenched his fist.
Although Hu Mingmei was expressionless, in Cheng Wang's eyes, Hu Mingmei's attitude was much better than when she was facing him.
However, Emperor Jingkang arrived soon afterward, and everyone present had no choice but to put aside their various thoughts and focus all their attention on him.
Emperor Jingkang, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, sat on the dragon throne amidst the shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" from the crowd. "Rise!"
Then all the ministers stood up again, and Emperor Jingkang's gaze fell on Hu Mingmei, "Grand Master of Ceremonies!"
Hu Mingmei stood up and obediently knelt down, "Your Majesty."
"How is your first day of court?" Emperor Jingkang asked gently. His gentle manner surprised everyone. Emperor Jingkang was actually being so gentle with Prince Chu. They really were having an affair.
Hu Mingmei replied in standard official jargon, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am fine!"
"Hmph!" Who knew that Emperor Jingkang would snort coldly, "Judging from your appearance, you obviously can't stand it anymore, get up!" He looked at Hu Mingmei getting up and said, "Originally, this position should not have been given to you, but recently the prices in the capital have been in chaos and the people are suffering. This matter was caused by you, so it is right for you to handle it."
"Yes!" Hu Mingmei knelt down again and bowed. "Your subject will certainly atone for his crimes and quell the unrest in the capital."
Everyone was stunned again. This wasn't right. According to Emperor Jingkang, Hu Mingmei was the one who made a mistake. Because of the conflict between the Hu and Zheng families, the entire capital had been plunged into chaos, so Hu Mingmei should be held responsible. This was Hu Mingmei's job, but there was no need to give him an official position, especially a hereditary one. No matter how you looked at it, Hu Mingmei had gained an advantage. Moreover, even if it was necessary to stabilize the capital, it wasn't necessary to use the Grand Master of Ceremonies. The Prime Minister could have intervened. Why give Hu Mingmei such an official title and rank?
What was Emperor Jingkang up to?
"So what will you do?"
Hu Mingmei said without batting an eye, "The Zheng family has disrupted prices in the capital and deserves to be punished!"
The crowd fell silent again. Wasn't it your fault that the capital was in this state? How could you so readily shift all the blame onto the Zheng family? Prince Cheng was still standing right here, and you so casually pushed the responsibility onto the maternal family of his future concubine. Didn't you even consider Prince Cheng's feelings?
One of them is completely incomprehensible, and the other is shameless; these two together are truly...
Emperor Jingkang didn't care what his ministers thought. After receiving Hu Mingmei's assurance, he was satisfied and signaled to Eunuch Qian that if they had anything else to say, they could speak; if they had nothing else to say, he would go back to sleep.
He was really sleepy.
How could we let Emperor Jingkang go back to sleep so soon? Even if there was nothing to say, we would find something to talk about. We chatted for a while until it was already bright daylight and the sun was high in the sky. Finally, Emperor Jingkang was able to get up from the main hall and go back to sleep.
Ministers dressed in their respective court robes filed out of the main hall. Hu Mingmei was the last to leave when someone called out to him, "Prince Chu!"
Hu Mingmei turned around and saw it was Prince Cheng. "Your Highness!"
King Cheng hurried over and stood beside Hu Mingmei. "Prince Chu, please wait a moment. I have two things I want to say to you!"
So Hu Mingmei stopped walking and said, "King Cheng, please speak."
King Cheng smiled, his smile exceptionally gentle and refined. He seemed to carefully consider his words before asking, "I wonder how you intend to handle the Zheng family's affairs?"
Hu Mingmei adopted an official tone, "This chaos was not caused by the Zheng family alone. Your Highness, rest assured, I will handle this matter impartially and will not let a bad person go unpunished, nor will I wrong an innocent person."
But you were involved too. If you hadn't gotten involved, the Zheng family wouldn't have taken the lead. But you've made such a mess of the capital, with small disturbances every day and big disturbances every three days. And yet you come out here, brazenly saying that disrupting the national economy and people's livelihood should be punished. You should be the first one arrested!
However, King Cheng could not say these words, and Hu Mingmei's words also put King Cheng in a difficult position. If Hu Mingmei pleaded for the Zheng family, wouldn't that mean that the Zheng family was the instigator of this chaos?
But this incident clearly has nothing to do with the Zheng family; the Zheng family was clearly manipulated by others.
Thinking of this, King Cheng cursed Huang Yi'an a hundred times in his heart. He had told him so many times not to rush into things, but Huang Yi'an just wouldn't listen, thinking that he had won just because Hu Mingmei had retreated.
What Prince Cheng didn't know was that if Emperor Jingkang hadn't intervened, Hu Mingmei would have truly retreated, and Huang Yi'an would have won. However, Emperor Jingkang suddenly intervened and broke Huang Yi'an's bone.
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