At today's morning meeting, I don't know if it was agreed upon or not, but five ministers submitted memorials in succession to impeach Concubine Ji.

One of the reasons was that Wu Huahou, as a member of the Censorate, not only did not set a good example himself, but also secretly accepted bribes.

The second reason was that Concubine Ji secretly used her power to send her brother to the Imperial Academy. In the Imperial Academy, her brother relied on Concubine Ji's power to act arrogantly, openly extorting students' money and property, and disrupting the school atmosphere.

As all these crimes accumulated, the ministers criticized Concubine Ji as worthless.

Of course, there are other reasons behind this - recently, Concubine Ji has been the only one standing out in the harem, and the emperor seems to have forgotten all the other concubines.

Only when they overthrow Concubine Ji can their own sister or daughter have the opportunity to take the position.

With a righteous face, Jiao Canling cried out to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have been a soldier all my life, and I only have one son, Suoying! When Suoying returned home from the Imperial College yesterday, he looked very sad and had no appetite. I was worried, and after asking him carefully, I found out that he actually cried because of Wu Zida!"

After saying that, Leader Jiao's body shook, and his knees landed heavily on the ground with a solid and powerful sound.

"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, 'A man doesn't shed tears easily.' Suo Ying has a strong character. If he hadn't suffered unspeakable injustice, how could he have ended up like this?"

The emperor's teeth ached: "..."

Old man, you have no shame.

If he were a civil official, he would not be able to bring himself to complain in front of him. Only someone like Jiao Canling, who was born a military officer, would cry and complain in the palace.

Jiao Suoying is a famous playboy in the capital. How could the emperor not know about this?

It's good enough that he doesn't get into trouble once a month. Being bullied by others? I'm afraid he's the only one who bullies others.

The emperor didn't believe a word of the claim that Wu Zida openly extorted money and property from students, and even extorted the money from Jiao Suoying.

Seeing that the emperor looked indifferent and unmoved, Jiao Canling gave him a look.

In an instant, the five ministers knelt down in unison, each with an expression of loyalty and unyieldingness on their faces.

"Your Majesty! You can't favor Concubine Ji so much that you even ignore the government—"

An old general said this in a crying voice, with a long chorus at the end. The emperor shuddered, thinking that he had really done something wrong.

The emperor asked in a deep voice: "What did the Dali Temple say?"

His gaze passed through the ministers and fell on the Minister of Dali Temple.

The Dali Temple official stepped out and reported respectfully, "Your Majesty, the Dali Temple has thoroughly investigated the case and it is beyond doubt. Wu Huahou was corrupt and took bribes, accepting more than three thousand taels of silver."

"The Dali Temple also found many personal belongings of students from the Imperial Academy in Wu Zida's house, which shows that what Lord Jiao said is correct. The evidence is irrefutable. I hope Your Majesty will make a wise judgment."

Upon hearing this, Jiao Canling knelt again and said, "Your Majesty - you must punish Concubine Ji -"

The emperor lifted his dragon sleeves lightly and said nonchalantly: "Since this is the case, we will follow the law. Wu Huahou should be demoted and his property confiscated."

The emperor's light words shut up Leader Jiao.

Canling Jiao had never expected that the emperor would handle the matter so decisively. Without much talk, he had set the tone for the Wu family's affairs.

——Shouldn’t it be a laborious task to make the emperor harden his heart?

The emperor changed his posture and said with a half-smile, "My dear ministers, do you have anything else to say?"

The ministers looked at each other, and no one dared to speak rashly.

Before the court meeting, the old men agreed to bring down the Wu family today. To this end, they specially prepared various evidences and strategies, thinking that this would be a tough battle.

——Who knew it would be so easy?!

The emperor stood up and said, "Since there is nothing else to do, let's go." After that, he was the first to leave the court.

After paying their respects, the court officials dispersed one after another, except Qin Lixue, who looked worried.

…

"…Empty three thousand taels?"

Wu Qing was shocked when he heard the ghost girl's words. [Damn, she's richer than me.]

Wu Qing once asked Jinxiu to spread the word that she was in the deep palace and it was not convenient for her to accept money, so that anyone who wanted to curry favor with her in a crooked way would give up his idea.

When others heard this, they thought, hey, if it's not convenient to collect money in the palace, then it's more convenient outside the palace, right? They also found out that many concubines had asked their families to send silver to the Wu family before, which made them more certain of their guess.

The people of the Wu family were greedy by nature, and they did not even let go of the tight monthly salary promised by Wu. After seeing the "filial piety" of others, they could not even walk.

——Wu Qing didn’t even have to do anything, the Wu family had already dug their own graves.

The female ghost added: [In addition, Fang also sent two thousand taels back to her parents’ home without telling Wu Huahou.]

[…Good fellow, does the Dali Temple know about this?] Wu Qing asked.

[The Dali Temple hasn't found out yet, because Fang didn't record it in her account book.] The ghost girl's voice was a bit gloating, [But it will be soon. The Wu family's doorman has been dissatisfied with Fang for a long time and is on his way to the Dali Temple to expose it.]

[If the emperor does not take your face into consideration, according to the imperial law, Wu Huahou will be confiscated, dismissed from office, and exiled three thousand miles away.]

Wu Qing asked: [What about Fang and her two children? ]

Female ghost: [No one in the Fang family dares to take them in. They will probably go on the road with Wu Huahou and leave the capital.]

Being exiled three thousand miles away would take the Wu family at least half a year, and they had no idea how much suffering they would have to endure along the way.

The female ghost in the mirror sighed: [It turns out that it is such a simple thing to get them out of the capital, why couldn't I do it back then. ]

It was also her fault for tying herself up in knots and not daring to take the first step like Wu Qing.

Wu Qing rubbed his hands and asked: [Have you resolved your obsession? ]

[It's a little loose, but not much. Maybe it's because... I hate Qin Lixue even more.]

Wu Qing recalled the nausea he felt every time he saw Qin Lixue, and nodded in agreement.

The female ghost reminded: [The emperor has left the court, you can go to the Yangxin Palace. ]

Wu Qing nodded: [Leave it to me. I will never let him show mercy to the Wu family’s men.]

…

In the Yangxin Palace, the emperor had just sat down in his seat when he saw the chief eunuch hurriedly walk in.

There was an indescribable subtlety in his expression as he said that Noble Lady Ji had arrived.

The emperor was surprised. "She has learned to follow the rules and knows how to wait for the order before entering? This is rare."

Just now at the court meeting, the emperor was ruthless about the Wu family.

Now, the emperor's tone towards Concubine Ji was so intimate that the eunuch was unsure of the emperor's thoughts.

"Perhaps...perhaps Concubine Ji has been with the Emperor for so long that she has become more tactful?" The chief eunuch could only try to find words to smooth things over.

The emperor waved his hand, "Forget it, I will not meet with her today, let her go back. Something happened to the Wu family, she should also avoid suspicion for a while."

The chief eunuch finally understood—the affairs of the Wu family had not affected Concubine Ji at all.

He put on his usual flattering smile again, and went out to say to Wu Qing: "Mrs. Ji, the emperor said that he is very busy with government affairs, and he may not be able to spare the time to meet you these days. You should come back later."

Wu Qing shouted across the screen: "Is this true? Your Majesty, I still have two thousand taels of dirty silver in my house that you haven't found yet, don't you want it?"

The eunuch's mouth twitched slightly: "..."

My ancestor, is the Hall of Mental Cultivation a place where you can shout and scream? Listen to what you said again, is this something you can say?

Her voice passed through layers of screens and reached the ears of the emperor and everyone in the Yangxin Palace.

"... Hurry up and come in. You don't feel ashamed, but I do!"

Inside the room, the emperor said through gritted teeth.

Wu Qing chuckled, rushed into the warm room, and moved a bench to sit next to the emperor.