Chapter 63: Impeachment in the Golden Palace [Happy Dragon Boat Festival to Everyone]
After returning to the Song family with his wife, Li Nuo also took a special look at Mu'er.
He was worried that the assassination on the street during the day would cause her some psychological trauma, but it turned out that Li Nuo was overthinking it.
The little girl was still lively and active. When she was practicing, she took the initiative to practice for another half an hour. After the practice, she said to Li Nuo seriously: "I will practice well and protect Brother Li Nuo in the future!"
Song Muer felt very guilty. She had said before that she would protect Brother Li Nuo, but today when they were walking on the street, that man stabbed Brother Li Nuo with a knife, and she did not react at all. If it weren't for Sister Jiaren, Brother Li Nuo would have been in danger.
This is why Li Nuo prefers Mu'er. Who wouldn't love Mu'er like this?
Li Nuo rarely even read a book this afternoon, and made time to play with Mu'er.
If she wanted to throw sandbags, she would throw sandbags; if she wanted to play Gobang, she would play Gobang; if she wanted to play house, Li Nuo would accompany her to the end. Although such games were too childish for an eighteen-year-old adult, who could make Muer happy?
Song Jiaren leaned against a pillar at the door with her arms folded, watching the two people sitting on the stone table, using a jade bowl as a pot and a few leaves as ingredients, cooking in an orderly manner and having a lot of fun. It was funny, but also a bit heartwarming.
Before getting married, this is what he and Mu'er played when he came to the Song Mansion for the first time.
He had changed a lot during this period of time, but this was the only thing that hadn't changed.
At this moment, behind the Moon Gate, a hidden figure was looking at the two of them from afar, listening to Song Muer's silver bell-like laughter. In addition to regret, his heart was also filled with jealousy.
Although Brother Yu dotes on her very much, he would never play house with her. He said that it was a game for children and it would be embarrassing to play with her. But why doesn't Brother Li Nuo feel embarrassed?
Oh, if only I had played sepak takraw with him back then.
She knew him earlier than Song Muer.
I didn't play with him at that time, so Song Muer took advantage of me...
…
Early in the morning, Li Nuo sat up from the bed and stretched comfortably.
It's so comfortable to sleep with my wife by my side.
Although only one day had passed, Li Nuo's mentality had changed greatly.
It was already late. In the past, he might not even have breakfast and would rush to the county government to judge the case.
After getting up today, Li Nuo washed up slowly, ate his breakfast slowly, walked around the yard for a few laps to digest the food, said goodbye to his wife and Mu'er, and then got on the carriage to the county government office...
Just as the carriage was slowly driving towards the Chang'an County Government.
In the Imperial Palace, above the Golden Palace, the atmosphere was a little tense.
Yesterday, Prince Chun was unwell, so the court meeting on the first day of each month was postponed for one day.
Since Your Majesty has stopped caring about state affairs, he has ordered the adult princes to take turns to serve as regent.
Including Prince Ji, who just came of age this year, there are a total of eight adult princes, each of whom serves as regent for one month.
The Crown Prince died of illness ten years ago, and Your Majesty has not appointed another Crown Prince.
Over the past ten years, the princes have been fighting for power. Except for the young Prince Ji and Prince Xuan, the other six princes have already established deep-rooted power in the court.
The regent this month is Prince Chun. Just now, several censors jointly impeached the Supreme Court Minister Li Xuanjing for acting recklessly and disregarding human life, which made the atmosphere in the court meeting suddenly tense.
Although Li Xuanjing was all-powerful in the court, the censors did not care whether they were honest officials or treacherous officials. Even if they saw that some princes did something wrong, they dared to point it out in front of all the officials.
In Daxia, those who could become censors were mostly those who practiced both Confucianism and Legalism, and their Confucian cultivation was above the third level. Among them, there were many great Confucian scholars who were at the fourth level or even the fifth level.
Those who are above the three realms of Confucianism must be people with little selfishness, dedicated to the country and the people, upright and righteous, and loved by all people.
Even if they cursed His Majesty, His Majesty had to endure it. Li Xuanjing had been extremely powerful over the years, but he had never touched a single censor.
Above the Golden Palace, on a seat to the left of the dragon throne, a middle-aged man wearing a four-claw dragon robe looked at an official and asked, "Xu Yushi, is what you just said true?"
The censor said calmly, "Your Highness, the Dali Temple official beat to death an assassin who tried to kill his son at the gate of the Chang'an County Office yesterday. This was witnessed by countless people. How could it be false?"
Upon hearing this, Prince Chun's face changed. He immediately stood up and looked at a figure in front of the crowd. He asked with concern, "Why didn't Xuan Jing tell me about this? Is my nephew injured? Do you want me to send a royal doctor?"
A figure walked out slowly, bowed to Prince Chun, and said, "Thank you for your concern, my son is not injured."
Prince Chun heaved a sigh of relief, sat back in his chair, and said, "That's good, that's good..."
The censor couldn't hold back his face anymore. He coughed and said, "Your Highness, assassinating the relatives of an official in the street is a serious crime, but it is not punishable by death. The Dali Temple Minister's actions are clearly a disregard for the law and a wanton act. Your Highness, please take a closer look!"
Several imperial censors beside him also spoke up: "Your Highness, please investigate carefully!"
The censors spoke passionately, but most of the court officials looked calm, and some even couldn't help yawning.
They are both court officials, but Prince Chun calls one "Xu Yushi" and the other "Xuan Jing". Doesn't this make the problem clear?
Prince Chun was just a prince who had lost his power in the beginning. It was because of Li Xuanjing's support that he had the status he has today and was able to compete with other princes. Asking him to deal with Li Xuanjing would be equivalent to asking him to cut off his own hands and legs. Would Prince Chun do this?
Above the Golden Palace, Prince Chun looked at Li Xuanjing and said, "Xuanjing, do you have any explanation for this?"
Li Xuanjing raised his head and said, "Your Highness, the assassin is not just an assassin, he is also one of the masterminds of the Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan's kidnapping and trafficking of good women. He is a wanted criminal by the court for a year. Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan, as an official appointed by the court, colluded with bandits and broke the law knowingly. During his three years in office, he kidnapped and trafficked countless good women. His crimes are so heinous that they are too numerous to list. As one of the masterminds, he must be killed to appease the people's anger and to deter the villains..."
"Well done!"
Prince Chun slapped his thigh, stood up and said, "Such a heinous person deserves death, he should be executed by slow slicing, caning to death is already a mercy of the Dali Temple. Censor Xu, if you want to impeach someone, you should investigate thoroughly first. If you impeach without investigation, aren't you wrongly accusing a good person?"
Several imperial censors were left speechless.
Is Li Xuanjing worthy of being called a good person?
The case of Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan also caused a sensation in the court a year ago.
Of course, it was not because of this little magistrate of Xuanzhou, but because, during that period, in order to expand the followers of Prince Chun, Li Xuanjing purged all the officials in Xuanzhou, demoting those who were demoted and exterminating those who were exterminated, and then replaced them all with Prince Chun's people...
The case of Qinghe County Magistrate Gu Wenhan was just the prelude to this party struggle.
Perhaps Gu Wenhan was really wronged, because Li Xuanjing wanted to use his case to change the situation in Xuanzhou and help Prince Chun seize power. Li Xuanjing was fully capable of doing such a thing.
It is now unknown whether Gu Wenhan actually did those things. Whether he was really guilty of a heinous crime or was wronged by Li Xuanjing, the case had already been concluded and Xuanzhou had become the sphere of influence of Prince Chun. Even if they wanted to overturn the verdict, they had to get the consent of the Dali Temple.
They didn't even know whether the assassin was really related to the case or just an identity that Li Xuanjing had randomly assigned to him.
He was beaten to death in public, so naturally there was no way to verify it.
However, in their opinion, the assassin who was beaten to death was more likely to be a righteous man. Because he assassinated Li Xuanjing's only son, he angered the ruthless Dali Temple Minister, so he was beaten to death directly at the gate of the county government office to make an example of him...
That person had been silenced, and Li Xuanjing was left to tell the truth. The imperial censors had not expected to bring down Li Xuanjing with this little incident, but as imperial censors, since they knew about this matter, they could not remain silent.
After being scolded by Prince Chun, the few people said nothing more and slowly retreated back to the team of court officials.
This impeachment against Dali Temple Minister Li Xuanjing ended in vain, no different from any previous court meeting.
After the court session ended, all officials returned to their respective offices. Prince Chun also returned to his residence, lying comfortably on the couch, and said with emotion: "These people seem to stop talking every time they attend court unless they impeach Xuan Jing..."
The butler of the palace came up with a wooden tray and said with a smile, "Your Highness, these are fresh peaches that Lord Wei sent early this morning. They were cultivated by a powerful farmer from the fourth realm. They are extremely delicious. Would you like to try them?"
Prince Chun took out a large peach from the wooden tray, wiped it casually with his sleeve, and took a bite. He felt that the fruit was extremely crisp and sweet, and the juice flowed in his mouth. He couldn't help but praise it, "It is worthy of being cultivated by a farmer. The taste is really good. Doctor Wei is thoughtful..."
Although it is just a peach, it is far more valuable than ordinary rare treasures. The powerful farmers in the Sinong Temple, although they are officials, have never been involved in court struggles. They just focus on farming, and the precious fruits they cultivate have always been hard to come by.
Even though he was a first-rank prince of the current dynasty, even if he asked in person, people might not give him face. It was only because Doctor Wei was a relative of a powerful man from the fourth realm of a farming family that he had this good fortune.
Just as he was about to take the second bite, Prince Chun suddenly put down his hand and said, "Such a rare thing should be let Xuan Jing taste it. How many are there in this Tao Mansion?"
The housekeeper said, "Dr. Wei sent four. Excluding the one in Your Highness's hand, there are three left."
Prince Chun thought for a moment and said, "Send two to Xuan Jing, and leave the last one to the Crown Prince..."
The butler bowed and said, "Yes."
He was about to do as His Highness ordered, but Prince Chun seemed to have thought of something and said, "Wait."
Prince Chun stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "My nephew Li Xian has just got married, and he has a new wife at home. Sending only two may not be enough. How about this, send all three to the Li Mansion..."
The housekeeper was stunned and asked in a low voice: "What about the prince?"
Prince Chun waved his hand and said, "I won't send it to the prince. He doesn't like to eat peaches..."
After the butler left, Prince Chun finished eating the peach in his hand and felt relaxed all over, as if he had become several years younger. He thought that the things grown by farmers were really good.
At this time, a nobleman in brocade clothes and jade belt walked into the hall quickly. As soon as he stepped into the hall door, he couldn't wait to say: "Father, I heard that someone sent a few peaches cultivated by a strong farmer..."
Prince Chun collected the remaining peach pits without leaving any trace, looked at the noble son, and asked in confusion, "What peach?"
(End of this chapter)
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