Zheng Ya, braving the wind and snow, listened to the clamor of the Dengwen Drum and waited on the platform in front of Emperor Chengping for an audience to file his complaint.
At the south gate of the imperial city, a man who shouldn't have been there stepped off his sedan chair and hurriedly entered the Gan Ning Gate. The guard recognized him as a nobleman and watched him head straight for the Golden Palace, lost in thought.
On the contrary, the guards at the gate were dumbfounded!
Despite the strict military discipline involved, the Imperial Guards were filled with questions, but no one dared to voice any dissent or risk being punished for violating the rules.
The person in question jogged, panting, to catch up with the procession of civil and military officials heading to court, and followed them into the Golden Palace.
The civil and military officials, divided into two lines, bowed respectfully to Emperor Chengping under the guidance of the chief eunuch, Dequan, who was wielding a whisk. They held their command tokens in unison and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
According to the rules and etiquette of the Celestial Dynasty, the eight bows and nine kowtows were performed to worship Heaven and Earth, and one had to kneel before parents, teachers, and ancestors. When attending court or during the yearly sacrifices, and when the emperor ascended the throne and received titles, a grand ceremony was performed to worship Heaven and Earth. At other times, except for when one was on trial for a crime or being executed, there was basically no kneeling ceremony.
The reason is that he adheres to the ambition of cultivating immortality. Cultivating immortality is like rowing against the current. If you don't advance, you will fall behind. He fights against fate and will never yield until death!
Commonly known as the backbone of immortal cultivation, it would rather break than bend!
This process, when it becomes the norm, consolidates the foundation of the dynasty!
The command tokens held by civil and military officials were divided into three, six, and nine grades: the super grade and the first to third grades held crystal jade tokens (crystal jade, top grade, upper grade, middle grade, and lower grade); the fourth to sixth grades held jade tokens (red jade, purple jade, and blue jade); and the seventh to ninth grades held gold tokens (white gold, purple gold, and gold gold).
The command arrow, resembling the command arrow on the judge's table, represents imperial power, official rank, and inherits the dynasty's destiny, wielding authority over the world.
Emperor Chengping stood quietly on the dragon throne platform in the Golden Palace, arms outstretched, and said with an imposing air, "All of you, rise?"
With a clatter, the civil and military officials finished their rites and returned to their places, standing on either side of the Golden Palace. Dequan raised both hands to invite Emperor Chengping to sit on the dragon throne, then turned to the officials and announced: "If you have something to say, speak up; otherwise, the court is adjourned!"
"Your Majesty, Fu Ya, a fourth-generation illegitimate son of the Duke of Fu, has struck the Dengwen Drum to accuse Prince Rong of lax management of his subordinates and of poisoning Fu Zhen, the head of the Fu clan, in the Emperor's Room of Fuxiang Tower. This is an act of insubordination and a disruption of the dynasty's order. Your Majesty, I request that Your Majesty execute Fu Ya as a warning to the world..." The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice stepped forward, bowed, and began his report.
Emperor Chengping looked down at them indifferently, when the Vice Minister of Rites stepped forward and echoed, "Your Majesty, what Vice Minister Huang said is very true. This is an act of insubordination, a transgression of regulations by striking the drum for petitioning the emperor, and a disruption of the dynasty's order. He deserves to die!"
"Your Majesty, I am safe and sound. It must be my clansman Fu Ya who was instigated by someone to cause trouble and plot something sinister."
"Before coming to court, your entire Fu family had already removed Fu Ya from the family genealogy. We earnestly request Your Majesty to take this matter seriously and severely punish Fu Ya and those who plotted against him!" Fu Zhen stepped forward, bowed, and reported this, drawing sidelong glances from all the civil and military officials.
Emperor Chengping said with great interest, "Viscount Fu is quite generous!"
"A stand-in puppet, a mere pretext to pave the way—Viscount Fu has given me a wonderful surprise!"
"Your Majesty, the fact that Viscount Fu has come to court proves that Fu Ya has committed treason and disrupted the established order. We humbly request Your Majesty to execute Fu Ya as a warning to others..." Civil and military officials stepped forward to echo this sentiment, uniting against the common enemy.
Wu Wei snorted and stepped forward to bow, retorting: "Your Majesty, there must be a hidden story behind this case. If we handle it hastily and let it go unresolved, it will be like raising a tiger to cause trouble."
Moreover, Fu Ya comes from the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect, a prestigious lineage.
Executing Fu Ya before the facts of the case are clear will inevitably lead to accountability from the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect, putting His Majesty in a precarious situation.
There's a real suspicion that this case hides treason, attempts to incite internal strife within the Great Li Dynasty, and even the extradition of foreign enemies to usurp the throne. This cannot be ignored.
“Princess Wu, are you implying to His Majesty that the Prince of Donglin is going to rebel?” Prince Rong stepped forward to counterattack, and then gave a wink to his own civil and military comrades.
The Vice Minister of War echoed, "Your Majesty, in recent years, the Prince of Donglin has taken advantage of the rampant pirates at sea to privately expand his army by 30,000, committing the crime of usurpation and suspected of rebellion."
The day before yesterday, Princess Wu—no, the Seventh Princess—had been poisoned. After the Vice Minister of Justice personally oversaw the investigation, evidence was found that the Prince of Donglin had murdered the Seventh Princess's niece to avoid suspicion, disrupt the dynasty's situation, and seize the throne. The conclusion was that the Prince of Donglin, in collusion with Consort Wu, the Sixth Prince, and the Seventh Princess, staged a ruse…
"Minister Huang, you're like a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken—you're up to no good!"
Evidence? I'm afraid the evidence you're talking about is all just reasoning, nonsense you've spouted.
"Don't you think that by fabricating facts like this, you are trying to disrupt the court and collude with foreign enemies to usurp the throne?" Wu Wei retorted indignantly.
Emperor Chengping seized the opportunity to spread rumors to Dequan: "Secretly summon Fuya to the palace to suppress and test him?"
"This servant obeys the decree!" Dequan bowed and accepted the order. Amidst the arguing of the court officials, he quietly withdrew from the Golden Palace and summoned Xiao Guizi, instructing her: "Secretly summon Fu Ya to the palace, but make him detour through the Tianwu Pavilion in the inner palace. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Xiao Guizi received the order and rushed to Qianqing Gate. He secretly summoned Zheng Ya to Tianwu Pavilion. Zheng Ya realized something was wrong and stopped outside the gate of Tianwu Pavilion, laughing, "This young eunuch has led you astray, hasn't he?"
"Heh heh, you've been holding back all this way, only speaking up now. Isn't it a bit late?" Xiao Guizi circled around Zheng Ya, admiring him and teasing him.
Zheng Ya felt a chill run down his spine under his gaze: "Young eunuch seems to have impure thoughts, secretly bringing me into the harem with ulterior motives, clearly courting death..."
"Hehehe, you illegitimate son, you broke into the harem and committed adultery with Consort Wu. You're dead, hehehe!" Xiao Guizi retorted without being moved.
In the midst of a fierce snowstorm in the inner palace, the Imperial Guards stood watch at the palace gates. The palace walls were fifteen or sixteen meters high, with an arrow tower every fifty meters. The Imperial Guards stood guard at the windows of the arrow towers, patrolling and keeping watch.
The palace was heavily guarded, and the slightest disturbance within it could not escape the notice of the Imperial Guards.
Seeing this, Zheng Ya's heart pounded. He forced a smile and said, "Esteemed sir, we have no past grudges or present animosity. Would you please do me a favor?"
"Heh heh, are you scared?" Xiao Guizi arrogantly sneered at Zheng Ya, who was only half a foot away from him. Zheng Ya almost vomited when faced with Xiao Guizi's androgynous, pink, hairless snake-like face. He forced a smile and said, "Your Excellency is wise. I am from the Qian Yuan Immortal Sect. I am not afraid of trouble, but I am afraid of causing trouble for my sect..."
"You illegitimate son, you're quite the braggart!"
You boast about some fictitious immortal sect as a shield, bullying others with your power. Do you think you're the only smart one in the world, and everyone else is a fool?
"How utterly ridiculous! You've offended the entire court and shown contempt for His Majesty. Your entire family is guilty enough to be executed. You're dead, you know that?" Xiao Guizi reached out and touched Zheng Ya's face, smugly enjoying the reprimand.
Zheng Ya, suppressing her disgust and humiliation, smiled and said, "Father-in-law, disciples of the immortal sects should not be insulted. Don't bring trouble upon yourselves. Enough is enough..."
"Haha, who are you trying to scare?"
"I'm going to favor you. If you dare to disobey me, I'll ruin your reputation and make you die in this very courtyard of Consort Wu. You'd better be sensible and make me happy. If I'm happy, I might let you go. Hehehe." Xiao Guizi smugly reached into Zheng Ya's underwear...
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