The emperor was starting to get a headache. Knowing Zhang Hui's ways, he had already impeached all the officials, and now it would be his turn next. He was exhausted and wondered if his minister would impeach him again for not having many children or for making too many southern tours.
However, when he looked up, he saw the Prime Minister glancing in another direction. Following that direction, he saw that Chuanwen had almost leaned against the pillar, and was now concentrating on leaning against the pillar little by little.
"Your Majesty, I have more to report!"
Chuanwen didn't care at all, letting it go in one ear and out the other. Let them criticize her, it has nothing to do with her anyway. However, the emperor and his entourage looked at the fourteen-year-old girl with pity and sympathy.
"A message from the second legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Changxing!"
Zhang Hui spoke with righteous indignation, when Chuan Wen suddenly heard his own name called out, "Ah? Who called me? Grandpa's here!"
......
An eerie silence fell over the scene. The old lady of the Marquis of Changxing felt so ashamed that she could hardly face anyone. When she looked at Prime Minister Zhang's face, she saw that his face was already ashen!
The emperor and the officials who had just been impeached by Zhang Hui gloated. Hahaha, Prime Minister, just tell me, did you deserve it or not!
Zhang Hui practically gritted her teeth. "As a woman, you have no manners at all! Even though you grew up in the countryside, now that you're in the capital and in the palace, how can you be so lacking in etiquette? What kind of behavior is this! If word gets out, people will laugh at you!"
Could it be that Grandpa Zhang has gone insane from the mess at home? If people laugh at us, it'll be the Marquis of Changxing's family that's laughing at us. What does it have to do with him?
Chuanwen looked bewildered, inwardly thinking:
Besides, it's his own fault for climbing onto his concubine's roof to play around; otherwise, he wouldn't have discovered the concubine and the guard on the roof beam.
"shut up!"
Zhang Hui roared, his beard trembling with each shout. Chuan Wen was startled, his bewildered eyes gradually softening with pity as he looked at the pitiful old man Zhang. [He's really gone mad, hasn't he? Nobody's saying a word.]
The emperor and the kneeling officials, their faces dark with shock, quickly realized what had happened after a few seconds of stunned silence. They had been so dismissive of the young girl's thoughts in court, but it turned out she had secretly climbed onto the roof herself. No wonder the thief hadn't been caught!
The sudden realization gradually turned into suppressing laughter.
Pfft~ Haha, haha
The officials, who had been criticized, immediately felt much better. Their faces were no longer dark or gloomy, and they straightened their backs.
On the other hand, Zhang Hui's face turned bright red as she glared at Chuanwen resentfully and snorted, "As a woman, you have no manners or etiquette. You should be punished by copying the 'Precepts for Women' ten thousand times!"
The punishment was so severe that even the emperor was stunned; it must have been partly due to personal grudges.
However, the emperor readily agreed and even set a deadline for the delivery of the document.
"Ten days later, personally deliver it to the Prime Minister's residence for the Prime Minister to inspect. If it is not up to standard, copy it again."
Several officials cheered inwardly, "Yes, yes, that's the way to do it. She made a mess of her own business, so let her suffer the consequences herself. Don't let the Prime Minister cause them any more trouble."
Especially the short guy, he was afraid that if something really happened, the Prime Minister would dig it out, so he laughed heartily.
The emperor smiled with satisfaction. "I am truly a good emperor. He did all this so that his beloved ministers would not suffer the same fate as the prime minister. It was not out of personal grudge for the little girl comparing him to a scruffy chicken. Hahaha."
Chuanwen was filled with regret. She went to the palace and got nothing good. Instead, she was given a plate of unpalatable pastries and was forced to recite the "Women's Precepts" ten thousand times. You know, she would never come back if she threw a tantrum.
[Oh dear, you're the one laughing the loudest, aren't you? Does your wife know you're keeping mistresses and having two illegitimate sons who are older than your eldest son?]
Hey oh oh oh, uncle, are you grinning like that to catch some manure? I hope you can still laugh this happily when you find out your eighty-year-old father is keeping male prostitutes.
[And you, you're so happy to see a little girl being bullied? Once the emperor finds out you embezzled disaster relief funds, you'll be going to jail!]
Enraged, Chuanwen began indiscriminately revealing information. Although she was only venting her frustrations in her mind, she didn't realize that her true feelings could be heard.
At first, everyone was just laughing along, saying things like, "Yeah, yeah, does your wife know?" "Yeah, yeah, let's see if you can still laugh so happily now?" "Yeah, yeah, just wait and see, you're going to jail..."
Um?
He laughed for a moment, then realized what he meant: jail time! Embezzlement of disaster relief funds!
Chuanwen took his reward and went home, but the official was kept behind. Chuanhai also didn't get home until very late that day, and he sighed deeply when he returned.
He had made some progress in the past few days, but when he got to Cao Huan, the chief clerk of the Ministry of Revenue, he was completely stumped, and even if he suspected him, he had no evidence whatsoever.
Although Chuanwen revealed today that Qiu He, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, had been ordered by the Emperor to investigate, he was still struggling to find evidence. Qiu He insisted that Chuanwen's words were unreliable, and there was nothing Chuanwen could do.
Chuan Hai and Chang Xinghou, both looking worried, whispered to each other in the study for a long time before bringing a box of pastries to Chuanwen Academy.
At this moment, Chuanwen was hunched over the table writing something. Of course, she couldn't possibly be copying the "Admonitions for Women" ten thousand times. Instead, she planned to expose the officials who embezzled disaster relief funds, hoping to redeem herself and that the emperor would surely spare her the punishment of copying the "Admonitions for Women" ten thousand times.
However, she couldn't reveal the plot in any way, so the writing had to be very skillful. It had to be subtle enough that the reader couldn't tell she was exposing the plot, but also that the person reading the letter could tell that those people had embezzled the disaster relief funds.
Alas, it's difficult. Chuanwen held his pen and pondered for a long time but couldn't write a single word.
Chuan Hai and Marquis Changxing entered at this moment. When they saw Chuan Wen holding a pen, they assumed she was copying the "Precepts for Women" and quickly brought up some snacks.
"Come on, it's so late, stop copying and have some snacks first."
Marquis Changxing handed a crystal-clear persimmon cake from the box to Chuanwen, inwardly complaining about how cruel the emperor was to make a little girl copy the "Precepts for Women" ten thousand times in ten days!
Chuanwen took a bite of the persimmon cake, touched. It was so sweet. [If only my uncle could find Zhang Qing. If he could solve the case of embezzling disaster relief funds, the emperor might even spare me out of pity.]
Chuan Hai's eyes lit up. Zhang Qing? He remembered him as last year's top scholar, but there had been no news of him since he requested a post outside the capital. However, Chuan Hai carefully and briefly recalled in his mind that the place Zhang Qing had taken office in seemed to be in the drought-stricken area. Could he have evidence?
Marquis Changxing and Chuanhai exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with excitement.
Chuanwen, on the other hand, wanted to see the gossip about Princess Chaoyang and Zhang Qing after thinking about Zhang Qing. She hadn't paid attention to the two of them for several days, but she was shocked when she found out.
Wow, Princess Chaoyang is fast! She's already confessed her feelings to Zhang Qing forty-eight times.
[Wait, why did Zhang Qing only reject her forty-seven times? Could it be...?]
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