"Aunt Shangyin? What does she want with me? My relationship with her isn't very good."
Zhao Qingqi frowned.
He had never liked this aunt.
A person who betrays her husband's family without hesitation can obviously betray others without hesitation as well.
This happened eight years ago.
He was only six years old at the time, but he remembers it very clearly.
That day, the usually composed Empress Dowager and Emperor got into an argument.
The emperor even slapped the empress dowager.
Later, his mother hugged him and cried.
The Empress Dowager talked on and on.
He doesn't remember much of it.
The only thing I remember is that my mother said not to get close to Aunt Shangyin.
Because her aunt betrayed the person who loved her most, she will definitely regret it someday.
Of course, in the past eight years, Princess Shang and he have lived in peace and never had any interaction. She also seemed to look down on him and preferred Consort Hui's second son, Zhao Qingchen.
"Please come in, Auntie." I wonder what brings you here? But it's definitely not good news.
But they've already come to our door. We can't just kick them out.
"Your Highness, what a grand display of power! You've kept this princess waiting at the gate for quite some time!"
"I don't think so. As soon as the servants announced it, I had someone invite Auntie in."
Shang Yin: "..."
That brat never knows how to give others a way out. With that kind of personality, how could he possibly be an emperor?
"I don't come here unless I have something important to discuss with you."
"Yes, that's true. Auntie rarely comes to the East Palace. Auntie, is there anything I can help you with? Let me see. If I can help you, I certainly will."
Shang Yin: "—"
That brat, Shangyin, gritted his teeth.
She really wanted to turn around and leave, but she couldn't. She had heard that the only person in the palace who could speak with the Ninth Prince was the Crown Prince in front of her.
"Some time ago, I heard that Your Highness had executed Minister Wang of the Ministry of Justice."
"That's true." He saw the file on his second day of studying with Ning Hongze.
The case file was filled with detailed records of Lord Wang's life and conduct.
Whether it was good or bad, it was all recorded on it.
Neither excessively extreme nor biased.
Everything is written down clearly and plainly.
Lord Wang is indeed a pretty good official.
However, he couldn't resist his selfishness.
Because of his selfishness, he has harmed many people.
"Your Highness?"
"Um?"
"Does the Crown Prince look down on me, his aunt?"
"Why do you say that, Aunt? I was just studying too late yesterday and I'm a little tired."
Even if you really don't like it, you can't just say it out loud.
Zhao Qingqi touched his nose.
"Your Highness is the foundation of the nation, so please take care of your health. Studying is important, but health is even more important. This teacher doesn't seem to respect the Crown Prince at all. Why don't we just have my brother change him?" This would save him from having too much contact with the Ninth Prince and ensure that the Ninth Prince would completely side with him.
“Aunt, you have great courage. To be honest, I have been feeling really tired these days.” Hearing Shang Yin say this, Zhao Qingqi’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you go and talk to the Ninth Prince? I’m so sorry to have troubled you, Aunt. My legs go weak when I see the Ninth Prince.”
"Should I go and tell them?"
Shang Yin's face stiffened. How could she dare to say it? She had once seen the Ninth Prince from afar.
My only impression of him was that he was quite good-looking.
She felt he looked familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before. Just as she was wondering whether to go up and say a few words, she saw him looking in her direction.
A pair of sinister eyes nearly made her heart leap out of her chest. Especially since the Imperial Guards were interrogating a case at the time, and two men lay dying on the ground, the ground covered in blood.
The wind blew, filling her nostrils with the stench of blood, making her face turn pale and her limbs go weak.
She dared not look any longer and quickly had the palace maid beside her help her away. From then on, whenever she saw Ning Hongze in her signature red dress, she would take a detour.
She had no doubt that even if this Ninth Prince really killed her, her brother would probably not blame him much, and might even find excuses for him.
"Although the Ninth Prince is incredibly powerful in the palace, you are the Crown Prince. How can you be afraid of such a eunuch?"
"It's my fault for being useless."
Zhao Qingqi didn't make any other excuses and admitted it directly. In the entire palace, who wasn't afraid of Ning Hongze? Apart from his father, the emperor, even his mother would avoid him.
He didn't think his aunt, who was good at seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune, would dare to say it.
Zhao Qingqi's eyes darkened slightly.
He didn't like being called a eunuch—
"Never mind, Your Majesty is doing this for your own good."
Since I dare not confront the Emperor, there is no point in saying more.
"Aunt, what brings you here?"
"Oh dear, look at my memory. I was talking to you and I forgot about the important matter. This shouldn't be too difficult for you."
However, his fear of the Ninth Prince is probably a bit too much.
"Why don't you tell me, Aunt?"
"With Lord Wang dead, isn't the position of Vice Minister of Justice vacant? I have a talented person here who I can recommend to you."
"Auntie, you've chosen the wrong person."
Zhao Qingqi lowered his head. "For such a big matter, you should go to your father, the Emperor."
"Now that the Ninth Prince is overseeing the country, you can go and talk to him."
"This—I'm not quite sure if Your Highness is willing to listen to me?"
"If Your Highness is unwilling, your aunt will absolutely not blame you."
Shang Yin patted Zhao Qingqi on the shoulder.
"Thank you so much, Auntie."
Heh—Zhao Qingqi sneered inwardly.
He does want to know about this, so why blame him?
The man Shang wanted to recommend was named Liu Zhishan, a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the thirteenth year of Chengye (646).
Second place, thirteenth.
This ranking isn't very good.
It's not bad, of course.
Generally speaking, it would be difficult to attract attention, but Liu Zhishan was exceptionally good-looking.
She caught the eye of Jiang Yingyue, the second daughter of Jiang Sheng, the Vice Minister of Revenue.
He was chosen as a son-in-law by Jiang Yingyue.
Liu Zhishan's family was fairly well-off, but they had no connections in the imperial court and were just ordinary landlords.
He knew that if he wanted to rise through the ranks in the court, he would need a helper. For ordinary people without exceptional talent, the path to officialdom would be extremely difficult.
Moreover, Jiang Yingyue was also very beautiful, so he naturally agreed.
Now, with the help of Vice Minister Jiang, he has become the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, while some of the candidates from the same batch as him are still serving as minor county magistrates in remote areas.
Even the top scholar in the imperial examinations is now only a fifth-rank Hanlin Academician.
However, the Court of State Ceremonial ultimately lacked real power.
He wanted power.
He wanted more people to bow down to him, just like the Ninth Prince—
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