Zhang Hui was shocked and stared at Zhang Qing with wide eyes.
Suddenly having his identity exposed, Zhang Qing was quite frightened, and his face turned pale.
The others were secretly delighted, wanting to laugh out loud at the all-powerful Prime Minister to avenge the fact that their intelligence was often crushed by him!
Just as everyone was secretly pleased, the Crown Prince stepped forward.
“Father, I have also learned about Zhang Qing these days. She risked her life to send evidence of corruption to the capital for the sake of the refugees, and she worked diligently to establish girls’ schools. She is wholeheartedly for the people. She would never embezzle a single penny.”
After the Crown Prince finished speaking, the ministers all looked at him, each secretly wondering if the Crown Prince really had feelings for Zhang Qing.
The old man, the Minister of Works, immediately understood why Zhang Hui had pulled this stunt. First thing in the morning, he was trying to find a Crown Princess for the Crown Prince and then framing Zhang Qing. He must have seen the Crown Prince go to Zhang Qing yesterday and then assumed that Zhang Qing was plotting something.
Thinking of this, the Minister of Works felt quite embarrassed. He had only intended to annoy the Prime Minister yesterday, but who knew he would act so radically? However, he also looked at the Crown Prince, sharing the same thoughts as the other ministers: "Crown Prince, if it weren't for you, this matter wouldn't have escalated to this point."
The Crown Prince stiffened under the Emperor's gaze. When he looked up and met the Emperor's probing eyes, he blushed even more. At this moment, Chuanwen finally found out why the Crown Prince often went to see Zhang Qing.
[It turns out the Crown Prince wasn't looking for Zhang Qing, but rather, through Zhang Qing, to find Tian Wanyin, the successor of the Medical Sage... in order to treat the servant in his household who was helping him put on an act.]
Everyone was surprised. "Huh? Wasn't the Crown Prince frequently leaving the palace to see Zhang Qing lately?"
The emperor, who had just been feeling elated that he was finally going to have a daughter-in-law, suddenly became somewhat disappointed. His probing gaze towards his son turned into an eye roll. The crown prince: ......
For many years, the Crown Prince had been sending people to search for famous doctors. Many famous doctors were found, but none of them had much effect on Qi Feng's illness. Fortunately, one famous doctor said that if they could find the successor of the Medical Sage, there might still be a glimmer of hope.
The Sage of Medicine, Tian Xiliang, was a royal physician of the Jin Dynasty. Although he had retired and returned to his hometown during the reign of the previous emperor, it was thought that he wouldn't be difficult to find. However, his people found the Sage of Medicine's hometown but couldn't find any information about Tian Xiliang. After much searching, they finally learned some details from a jailer.
The jailer had arrested a group of bandits who had robbed a group of travelers. They hadn't gotten much loot, mostly books, so they killed the travelers and carried the books down the mountain to sell. Since the bandits were illiterate, the books were useless to them. They had initially thought they could make a good profit, as books were quite valuable in the Jin Dynasty. However, the buyer said the books were just useless miscellaneous writings, like storybooks, and would only take up space. The bandits, annoyed by the books' tattered state, were exhausted from carrying them down the mountain. Unwilling to carry them back, they brandished their knives, frightening the bookseller into buying them.
The bandit felt that this robbery was a humiliating and unprofitable deal, and he would curse at any scholar he saw with the surname Tian. He also heard about the jailer from his loud arguments in the jail.
Although it's unclear whether the bandits robbed Tian Xiliang, it's very likely. However, even the slightest possibility that it wasn't him, the Crown Prince must continue the search.
It's a pity that those bandits were executed long ago, otherwise they could have searched the box of books to see if they were Tian Xiliang's medical works.
Fortunately, his efforts paid off. Half a month ago, the people he sent to find the Sage of Medicine brought back news that they had discovered that someone was searching for and buying Tian Xiliang's medical works, and they followed the clues to find Tian Wanyin.
They speculated that the Tian family might not have all been killed by the bandits, and that Tian Wanyin, who re-collected the medical classics, was very likely a descendant of Tian Xiliang.
The Crown Prince immediately thought of Zhang Qing's perfect makeup skills, which were probably also Tian Wanyin's masterpiece.
So he contacted Zhang Qing to investigate Tian Wanyin. Sure enough, Tian Wanyin was skilled in medicine and had unique insights into medical principles. He originally planned to take Qi Feng out of the palace after court today and ask Tian Wanyin to help treat him, but who knew that such a scene would happen in the court.
Zhang Hui awkwardly dug his toes into the ground, never expecting that he himself would end up being the clown!
But Zhang Qing is actually a woman! Then she has another crime to add to her list: deceiving the emperor!
Although Zhang Qing did not plot against the Crown Prince, Zhang Hui had already made his move against him; once the arrow was released, there was no turning back.
He bent down and said, "Your Highness, you can't be short even for 365 days a year, let alone see through Zhang Qing's disguise in less than a month."
He then said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, I believe that Zhang Qing is a very problematic person. I request that Your Majesty thoroughly investigate this man!"
The emperor looked at Zhang Qing, somewhat troubled. Firstly, he still held a sliver of hope that Zhang Qing could become his daughter-in-law; secondly, he didn't want the prime minister to do something he would regret.
However, Zhang Qing readily admitted to being a woman at this moment and sincerely apologized.
Zhang Hui smiled dismissively. He thought, "I thought you, boy—no, woman—would have some kind of sophistry. I didn't expect you to confess so easily."
The emperor, however, tipped the scales in Zhang Qing's favor once more. He admitted his mistake and corrected it, and did not argue that he was now allowing women to enter officialdom. His character was indeed open and honest.
"It doesn't matter whether he's male or female. As long as he can contribute to the Great Jin Dynasty, he is a good minister." The emperor looked at Zhang Qing with more appreciation in his eyes. "Zhang Qing risked his life to deliver evidence to the capital in the case of embezzlement of disaster relief funds. He has made a contribution. Let's balance his merits and demerits."
Once the emperor spoke, the ministers knew this would be the outcome. Even if the emperor didn't care about the monks, he would at least consider the Buddha. Just because Prime Minister Zhang had made many contributions to the Great Jin Dynasty, he wouldn't punish Zhang Qing.
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