Yu Qizhe ordered Lu Jin to take the Jinyiwei to confiscate the Yang family's property. After counting, a full one million taels of silver were found to have entered the private treasury of Emperor Mingzheng. The houses and land that were not suitable for sale were confiscated and recorded in the book of the Ministry of Justice.
Emperor Mingzheng was so delighted that he couldn't stop smiling, and kept praising Yu Qizhe for his excellent work. Yang Xu and his son Yang Congwen were beheaded in public, the other male members of the Yang family were exiled, and the female members of the family were sent to the Jiaofang Bureau to become prostitutes or became slaves.
After the Yang family affair was settled, Emperor Mingzheng ordered the Ministry of Personnel to draft an edict to promote Yu Qizhe to the position of Dali Temple Shaoqing. This move shocked all the officials. After all, Yu Qizhe had only been on the list a few months ago, and in a short period of time he was promoted to the third rank, from a seventh-rank editor to a fourth-rank Dali Temple Shaoqing. Such a fast promotion speed is rare.
Even the Prime Minister Shen Tian had to endure for decades and survived two dynasties before he was able to sit firmly on the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet.
Furthermore, ordinary Jinshi who entered the Hanlin Academy would accumulate experience to serve in the six ministries, but there was no way they could directly become the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple in charge of criminal justice. Some officials in the court were quite dissatisfied with this, especially the prince's party. These people submitted memorials to express their objections, but they were all ignored by Emperor Mingzheng.
The Qingliu people also thought that Yu Qizhe was ruthless and left no room for maneuver, which was totally inconsistent with the style of Hanlin students.
The Shen party and Xue Rong were even more eager to win over Yu Qizhe. Several times, Yu Qizhe met Emperor Mingzheng in Wenhua Palace and was met by Xue Rong when he left the palace. He expressed regret that Xue Qingshang could not marry him. However, if Yu Qizhe was willing, Xue Rong could decide to marry him the daughter of a branch of the Xue family. Yu Qizhe declined.
Zhu Hui was very annoyed with Yu Qizhe. The prince's party was not as powerful as Shen's party. Yang Xu, as the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, could help him a lot, but now Zhu Hui had lost a powerful arm.
In addition, after the palace banquet ended, rumors came out from nowhere that Emperor Mingzheng wanted to depose the crown prince Zhu Yu to make room for the prince in Xue Rong's belly, and that once Xue Rong gave birth, the position of empress and crown prince would belong to her and her son.
When Zhu Eunuch heard this, he became extremely panicked. He smashed cups several times in the Eastern Palace and also went to Empress Feng to make trouble twice. Empress Feng now stayed in her own palace, eating vegetarian food and ignoring the disturbances outside. Zhu Eunuch's anger towards her was like punching the air. After returning to the Eastern Palace, he became even more furious and beat and scolded several servants.
When Xue Rong heard what her spy said about the Eastern Palace, she was so happy that she ate an extra bowl of rice. She asked people to check the bedroom every day to prevent Zhu Ying from becoming desperate and having evil intentions towards her unborn child.
"Ji Wudao hasn't come yet?" Xue Rong was sitting in the back garden, drinking a bowl of bird's nest, and asked her personal maid Yu Shu.
Yu Shu tiptoed and looked towards the palace road leading to Wenhua Palace. She fanned Xue Rong with a small fan and said, "I think you tripped over the emperor. If you feel hot, please go back to Changle Palace first. I will wait for General Ji here."
Xue Rong shook her head. "He pestered Shang'er so much that she was fed up with him and even complained to me. It's obvious that she was really annoyed with him."
Yu Shu said, "General Ji acted rashly. Even if he liked our county lady, he shouldn't have stopped her in the street to flirt with her. He even asked someone to send the betrothal gifts directly to her residence, causing people outside to say that General Ji and the county lady fell in love at first sight at the palace banquet. The county lady should be angry if this tarnished her reputation."
"He is not reckless, he is clearly frivolous! I rejected him at the palace banquet, so I wanted to start with Shang'er. After all, some words will be taken seriously if they are spread around." Xue Rong sneered, "He is just relying on his great achievements and the military power of Xuanfu. I will rely on him in the future and will not easily fall out with him."
Yu Shu lowered her voice and asked, "Then, Madam, have you thought about how to stop General Ji's plan?"
Xue Rong said calmly, "The emperor did not promote him to the rank of general when he returned to the capital this time. I think he felt that I was not paying attention to his affairs, so he wanted to marry Shang'er as his second wife. If we become in-laws, we will be tied together forever. Since he wants to be tied to me forever, I will fulfill his wish, and he will no longer think about marrying Shang'er."
"It's good that your Majesty has a solution." After Yu Shu said this, she saw the eunuch who was going to get information jogging over, so she asked, "Is General Ji coming over?"
The young eunuch nodded hurriedly, "General Ji has come out of Wenhua Palace and is walking this way."
Yu Shu waved his hand and the young eunuch stepped aside. Not long after, Ji Wudao walked over from the entrance of the imperial garden.
"Greetings to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine." Ji Wudao bowed.
Xue Rong smiled and said, "There are no outsiders here, General Ji, please don't be so polite."
"The imperial concubine wants to see me, but is there anything you want me to tell you?" Ji Wudao's mind was as clear as a mirror. He pretended not to know and asked deliberately.
Xue Rong smiled and said, "It's nothing, it's just that Shang'er came to me crying and making a fuss, which gave me a headache. I have spoiled her so much that she always gets whatever she wants. She won't give in if she's not satisfied. I shouldn't have indulged her so much in the beginning."
After complaining, Xue Rong changed the subject and asked, "General Ji is thirty-two this year?"
Ji Wudao nodded, "I am ten years older than Princess Changle, so it's okay for her to be a little spoiled."
Xue Rong smiled and said, "Logically, this is a happy marriage. I later thought about it and agreed with it. But Shang'er is ignorant. I can't do anything when she is stubborn. Marrying a wife is to establish a relationship, not to establish a grudge. You can't force a couple together and end up with a couple of grudges instead of a good one. There are other ways to strengthen the relationship. I am thirty-three this year, one year older than you. Are you willing to recognize me as your sister? Let's become sworn sisters and call each other brother and sister in private in the future."
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