Chapter 978 Familiar Scenes
As the Left Chancellor of the Secretariat, He Yi should have stood under the main hall with all the civil and military officials, but because of Zhu Feng's current special situation, he did not do so.
Instead, he stood in the main hall, behind the concubines.
Stand with the eunuchs.
He looked around and suddenly frowned. Immediately, a familiar figure came up from behind the crowd and stood beside him, panting.
"You're finally here."
He Yi said calmly, "I thought you would be angry and not attend tomorrow's enthronement ceremony."
"snort!"
Ye Zheng stood beside him, looking displeased as he said, "Do you think I really want to come? I'm already busy with things at home. But with such a big event like today, how can it be held without me?"
"What's going on at home?"
He Yi turned around and looked at him in confusion, and immediately found a few barely noticeable scratches on his fair face.
When he looked at him, Ye Zheng immediately felt uncomfortable and wiped his face with his hand.
"Is it still obvious? I can't see it anymore."
"Ran Xiaoyu caught it?"
Facing He Yi's half-smile, Ye Zheng sighed helplessly and said, "She gets angry and starts to attack. What can I do? I can't catch her back."
He Yi couldn't help laughing, but his expression gradually became serious. He said, "She already knows that the Emperor has conferred the title of Consort Ning today?"
"I wanted to hide it from him, but the news has spread so widely that I can't hide it anymore."
"She's very angry, right?"
"Needless to say, who wouldn't be angry?"
Ran Xiaoyu and the Imperial Concubine not only have a deep affection as master and servant, but also as sisters. Now the Imperial Concubine has been kidnapped and her life or death is unknown, but the Emperor wants to confer the title of Concubine Ning on another woman and even holds a grand ceremony to confer the title.
Although they were all Zhu Feng's confidants, and should have favored the emperor over the imperial concubine, they did feel sorry for the imperial concubine in this matter.
But they were also very clear about the emperor's situation.
We can only say that it was a joke of God.
He Yi said, "How is Ran Xiaoyu now?"
"She was making a big fuss the past two days. I tried to persuade her for a long time today, and she finally calmed down. I asked her to stay at home and not come with me, so that she wouldn't be upset by watching this grand ceremony."
“…”
He Yi turned and looked at him.
Ye Zheng felt uneasy at the sight of his penetrating eyes and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
"..." He Yi was silent for a moment before he continued, "It's rare for Ran Xiaoyu to be so obedient."
Ye Zheng frowned slightly when he said this.
But at this time, he didn't have time to think too much.
When he looked up, Concubine Ning, with her luxurious makeup, was already facing north and kowtowed three times and nine times respectfully.
After this ceremony, the female official who led the ceremony came forward and said loudly to the audience in the hall, "Read the imperial edict."
The Grand Secretary walked over and picked up the document of Concubine Ning's enthronement from the table.
The emperor and the empress stood side by side, watching this scene.
Suddenly, Xu Miaoyin felt Zhu Feng beside her shake slightly again. He put his hand on his forehead and let out a very low hum.
"Well."
"Your Majesty? What happened to Your Majesty?"
“…”
That familiar feeling came again.
Zhu Feng felt incredibly strange, but the ceremony had already taken place, so naturally, there couldn't be any mistakes. He simply waved his hand gently at Xu Miaoyin and whispered, "I'm fine."
Xu Miaoyin looked at him again.
This is the Grand Secretary opening a book and reading aloud: "Heaven and earth are in harmony, all things begin——"
"etc!"
A voice suddenly sounded from below the hall, interrupting the reading.
Everyone was shocked again.
In fact, from the moment we entered the palace today until now, everyone has had a feeling that the ceremony of conferring the title of Concubine Ning is almost identical in form to the ceremony of conferring the title of Imperial Concubine.
For Concubine Ning, this naturally meant surpassing Concubine Gui.
But everything is too similar.
Even when the Grand Secretary was reading the book, he was interrupted at this word.
Zhu Feng only felt that a huge wave was rising from somewhere and hitting his head hard.
The waves broke into countless splashing waves.
And among these waves, it seems that a person's face is reflected.
He frowned and tried hard to see clearly, but he couldn't see anything. He just felt dizzy, as if he was standing on the clouds and was about to fall down at any time.
What a strange feeling.
But Concubine Ning on the other side didn't notice this. She just saw someone coming forward to stop them and immediately frowned.
I knew that today's enthronement would not go so smoothly.
But when she saw the people coming out from below, her face turned ugly.
Liu Yueze.
The new director of the Ministry of Justice who took office a few days ago.
At the same time, he is also the uncle of the imperial concubine and a disciple of Gu Tingqiu.
But these are not important. What is more important is that Qin Ruolan remembered that it was this person who handled the case in which he framed King Wei with anti-government poems.
What is he going to do now?
Thinking of this, Qin Ruolan's face turned ugly.
Zhu Feng had already taken a step forward, looking down at the figure below: "You——"
"Your humble servant, Liu Yueze, Director of the Ministry of Justice, risks his own life to make this suggestion."
"Risting your life to offer advice?"
Zhu Feng's brows furrowed as he said, "You disrupted the ceremony of conferring the title of Consort Ning. This is indeed a capital offense. What do you want to say?!"
Everyone just looked at this fair and gentle young man. He stepped forward, holding a scroll high in his hand, and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, Da Yan is about to perish. Please save the country in this critical moment."
"What did you say?"
Not only did Zhu Feng's face darken when he heard these words, but the people around him were also shocked.
Is Da Yan about to perish?
Isn't this a curse on the dynasty and the emperor?
Does this person really not want to live anymore?
Zhu Feng's face turned pale, and he said in a deep voice, "You said that Great Yan will perish. Give me a reason, otherwise, I will punish you for deceiving the emperor!"
Facing him, Liu Yueze was fearless and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, since the founding of the Great Yan Dynasty, the world has been governed by etiquette and the people have been governed by law. However, your actions today are disrespectful and lawless, and you have disregarded etiquette and law."
“…”
"If the emperor does this, chaos will soon descend upon the world. Isn't the fall of the Great Yan Dynasty imminent?"
Zhu Feng's brows furrowed even more tightly. "What do you mean by saying that my actions today were disrespectful and illegal?"
Liu Yueze pointed and said loudly: "This woman is a criminal recorded in the Ministry of Justice. Her body has not been cleared and her name has not been proven."
“…”
"How can the Emperor appoint such a person as his consort and set an example for the whole nation?"
Qin Ruolan's face suddenly turned pale.
Without waiting for anyone above him to react, Liu Yueze spoke loudly again, "Concubine Ning is ranked last among all the concubines. Our dynasty has a rule that except for the enthronement of the Empress and the Imperial Concubine, a grand ceremony must be held. For the enthronement of other concubines, no grand ceremony can be held."
“…”
"And the Emperor is conferring the title of Consort Ning today. The ceremony is no different from that of conferring a Noble Consort."
“…”
"What the Emperor did today is the epitome of both disrespectful and illegal!"
“…”
"Isn't this a sign of the nation's demise?!"
His words, one by one, resounded like thunder in the hall and exploded above everyone's heads. No one had expected that a handsome, even frail-looking scholar could say such thrilling words in front of Zhu Feng.
Zhu Feng, on the other hand, couldn't utter a single word.
Not only that, he was stumped by the question.
More importantly,
Imperial Concubine!
These two words came out of nowhere, without him being able to prepare for them, and they stunned him completely for a moment.
Imperial Concubine... Imperial Concubine...
If the familiar feeling I had felt in this enthronement hall before was like the impact of surging waves, then these two words were like ice spikes and knives mixed in the sea water.
Stab into his body again and again, even into his brain.
Suddenly, a sharp pain came.
Zhu Feng's expression suddenly changed.
When the people around heard the word "Imperial Concubine", they were also caught off guard and showed expressions of astonishment. Xu Miaoyin almost subconsciously turned her head to look at Zhu Feng.
Oh no!
She hurriedly reached out to support Zhu Feng and said softly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, how are you?"
"Well--"
Zhu Feng was speechless.
Imperial Concubine... Imperial Concubine...
Someone kept shouting in his mind, as if someone was stabbing him with a knife, and he was in great pain.
Qin Ruolan was also furious, and immediately pointed at Liu Yueze and said, "You, you are so brave!"
“…”
"I am in the process of conferring the title of Emperor. How can I allow a mere official from the Ministry of Justice to speak nonsense and disrupt the rules of this grand ceremony? Come, arrest him!"
The guards around were hesitant for a moment.
Although they should obey orders, Concubine Ning has not yet been successfully enthroned. Even if she is successfully enthroned, her status is indeed not enough to give them orders.
The emperor hasn't spoken yet.
At this moment, a cool voice sounded beside him——
"Why are you so alarmed?"
Qin Ruolan turned around and saw Consort Kang Wu Wan standing in the crowd, looking at her with a sneer: "Consort Ning... Oh, the title hasn't been conferred yet, I called you too early."
“…”
Qin Ruolan's brows were twisted into a knot.
She couldn't help but wonder, could it be that Wu Wan was in cahoots with this guy named Liu?
It's impossible. Liu Yueze must be on the side of the Imperial Concubine. Concubine Kang and the Imperial Concubine were originally enemies. It is impossible for them to unite after the Imperial Concubine was kidnapped.
She let out a deep breath: "What does Concubine Kang want to say?"
Wu Wan said slowly, "I just think that what the head of the Ministry of Justice said seems to be correct."
“…”
"No matter what the etiquette and laws are, you are still a criminal registered with the Ministry of Justice."
“…”
"Besides, this Lord Liu is discussing etiquette with the Emperor."
“…”
"Every word he said was for the sake of the orthodoxy of our Great Yan Dynasty. As the saying goes, punishment does not apply to officials, and courtesy does not extend to common people. Why are you asking them to drag him down? This—are you feeling guilty?"
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