331, above the hall
331, above the hall
When all the civil and military officials of the dynasty arrived, they only saw Lu Mingfei and three others standing in the Golden Palace.
The young man standing in the center of the hall was wearing a crimson official robe and an official hat. He stood with his back straight, like a green pine tree, and seemed not to bend to anyone.
[Were they like this in the past? ]
[Since when did all of them become what they are today?] At this moment, many officials who saw this figure had these two sentences flashing through their minds.
Among the officials who came in, there were some who admired Lu Mingfei.
However, more officials still felt that Lu Mingfei was ungrateful. It was obviously a small matter, but he made such a big fuss about it.
When everyone arrived at the Golden Palace, no one greeted Lu Mingfei even when passing by him.
The Minister of Justice glanced at Lu Mingfei, his temporary subordinate, and stood in his seat, touching his beard with his hand. There was no expression on his face, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Your Majesty has arrived—"
"Long live the emperor—"
Hearing the eunuch's voice, all the officials present bowed in greeting.
As an official, Lu Mingfei only needed to bow when meeting the emperor and did not have to kneel.
However, the two cousins he brought with him were commoners, and the coroner was a minor official without rank, so they had to kneel when they saw the emperor.
The three of them knelt beside him, facing the direction of the dragon throne, and lay down.
The emperor, wearing a golden dragon robe and a golden crown, walked out slowly from behind, walked onto the platform, and turned to look at the ministers below. His gaze lingered on Lu Mingfei who was standing in the middle, then moved away.
"My dear ministers, please stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After the ministers bowed to thank His Majesty, they stood up straight.
Lu Mingfei also stood up straight.
However, the three people kneeling beside him had no choice but to continue kneeling until the emperor above them said anything.
The emperor sitting on the dragon throne glanced down and saw that the front seat was still empty. His face immediately darkened.
He, the emperor, has arrived, but his grandfather's minister has not arrived yet!
Our Prime Minister Wan's arrogance is even greater than that of the emperor!
The emperor was unhappy and his expression turned grim. Before this, he still wanted to save some face for his grandfather, but now that he saw that his grandfather's arrogance was even greater than his, he felt that there was no need to save face for his grandfather.
Prime Minister Wan's face is greater than that of the emperor. Why does the emperor need to give face to our Prime Minister Wan?
The emperor, filled with anger towards his grandfather, looked at Lu Mingfei standing below and asked, "Lord Lu, what grievances have you suffered today? Tell me in the Golden Palace, in front of me and all the civil and military officials."
"As long as the situation is true, I will definitely take care of it for you!" This last sentence also shows his attitude as an emperor towards this matter.
If this is the case, he will definitely not help his grandfather!
Lu Mingfei understood the meaning of the emperor's last sentence, and knew in his heart that the emperor wanted to use what happened today to slap Prime Minister Wan in the face, which was exactly what he wanted.
What he was most worried about was that the emperor would help Prime Minister Wan and not him as a minister.
However, he caused such a big fuss today that even if the emperor wanted to help his grandfather, he might not be able to do so.
Lifting his skirt, he knelt down, bowed to the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, today I am suing Chen Qing, the treacherous servant in Prime Minister Wan's residence, for using extremely cruel and brutal means to kill my eldest cousin Lu Dahua and the life of her unborn child."
"I beg Your Majesty to seek justice for me, my deceased eldest cousin, and my poor unborn nephew. Give my deceased eldest cousin and nephew justice."
"I beg Your Majesty to give justice to my poor elder sister." Lu Wulang then asked the emperor to give justice to his elder sister.
Lu Liulang knelt beside his cousin, also prone. Although he didn't say anything, his body and attitude were full of pleas to the emperor, begging him to judge for them, ordinary people, and give them justice.
What? The person Lu Mingfei wants to sue today is actually a servant in Prime Minister Wan’s mansion?
It turns out that this matter is related to their Prime Minister Wan?
Many officials present who belonged to Prime Minister Wan's faction were shocked after hearing this.
The emperor, sitting on the dragon throne, saw the expressions on the faces of his ministers and knew who was his grandfather's man and who was the true minister of him.
What shocked him even more was that he, the emperor, had very few ministers!
***
At this moment, a figure appeared outside the Golden Palace.
Prime Minister Wan walked in from outside, his eyes fixed on Lu Mingfei, who was kneeling in the hall, and asked with a sneer, "I didn't realize that the person Lord Lu wanted to sue was related to me!"
Upon hearing the voice, Lu Mingfei turned his head and looked back, and saw Prime Minister Wan striding towards the direction where they were kneeling.
Finally, when he reached the front of them, Prime Minister Wan finally stopped, straightened his back, and saluted the emperor. "Your Majesty, I greet you."
"Prime Minister, please don't be so polite." The emperor, sitting on the dragon throne, sneered in his heart as he looked at his grandfather who was bowing to him with his back straight.
In the past, he still thought that this was his grandfather, his closest relative, and it didn't matter whether he was polite to his grandson or not.
But today, in front of all the civil and military officials in the court, this grandfather was not only late, but also showed no respect to him as the emperor. He was not very happy!
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Wan put his hand down and turned to look down at the kneeling Lu Mingfei. He asked, "Sir Lu, I have at least eight hundred servants in my house. What they did is none of my business."
"This matter can be said to be related to you, Prime Minister Wan, or it can be said to have nothing to do with you, Prime Minister Wan." Lu Mingfei raised his head, looked at the aggressive Prime Minister Wan, and said.
"Oh, I don't know what Lord Lu means by this. I would like to listen carefully." Prime Minister Wan looked at the boy kneeling on the ground with disdain in his eyes.
He was just a boy from a poor family, who by sheer luck managed to become the top scorer in the imperial examination and became a minor imperial scholar.
Does he really think that he can rise to the top by relying on his good grandson? He even dares to run to the Golden Palace and challenge him, the Prime Minister, in front of all the civil and military officials?
Lu Mingfei could see the disdain in Prime Minister Wan's eyes. Sensing that he was being looked down upon, attempting to overpower him with his height and aura, he glanced at the Emperor sitting on the Dragon Throne.
The emperor immediately understood and raised his hand to Lu Mingfei, saying, "Lord Lu, please stand up and speak."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lu Mingfei stood up from the ground obediently.
Prime Minister Wan felt irritated when he saw his grandson, who was so disrespectful to him. If he had known that this grandson would one day look down on him, he should not have tried so hard to get him into that position!
After Lu Mingfei stood up, he was half a head taller than Prime Minister Wan. This time he was looking down at Prime Minister Wan, and the momentum of the two men suddenly reversed.
He was not at all afraid of the murderous look in Prime Minister Wan's eyes and said, "This humble official said that this matter has something to do with you, Prime Minister Wan. That's because the murderer Chen Qing is a servant in your house. He borrowed your power to dare to do such a thing that takes human life so lightly."
"I say you, Prime Minister Wan, have nothing to do with it because you, Prime Minister Wan, did not do it. You may not know that the slaves under you can be so cruel."
"Of course, if you want to protect this person, then this matter is still related to you, Prime Minister Wan. There is a clause in our Great Yan law that talks about the crime of harboring someone."
After hearing what Lu Mingfei said, Prime Minister Wan's face turned as cold as a cicada. If looks could kill, he would have killed Lu Mingfei a million times right here today.
The officials present gasped when they saw that this kid Lu Mingfei dared to speak to their powerful prime minister in such a way in front of so many of them.
Before anyone else could speak, the emperor, sitting on the dragon throne, spoke first, "The Prime Minister must not have known about this. It must have been one of his slaves who did the evil. The Prime Minister cannot be blamed for this."
"I and all the gentlemen present here know the Prime Minister's character. He will certainly not help such an evil slave."
"Prime Minister, is what I said correct?"
The emperor's words seemed to be in favor of his grandfather, Prime Minister Wan, but in fact they were in favor of Lu Mingfei, the minister. Because only by keeping his grandfather unaware of the matter and ignoring it could they deal with the evil slaves under the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Prime Minister Wan could clearly hear the hidden meaning in his grandson's words. He was filled with anger. When he met his grandson's gaze, he could only respond, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust in me!"
Some officials present echoed the emperor's words, saying, "Your Majesty has said it very well."
"The Prime Minister has so many servants in his household. How could he know what they do on a daily basis?"
“…”
Soon, a large group of ministers followed suit.
The Minister of Justice stood there, neither agreeing nor offering help to Lu Mingfei, as if he was just someone standing there watching the fun.
After the ministers stopped talking, the emperor looked at his good grandfather and said to the eunuch standing beside him, "Come here, bring the murderer Chen Qing here!"
"Tell him, Chen Qing will enter the palace——"
The chief eunuch standing nearby shouted.
After a while, the captured Chen Qing was escorted into the hall by two guards, one on the left and one on the right.
As soon as he entered the hall, he saw so many officials and the emperor sitting on the dragon throne. He was so frightened that his legs went weak. At this moment, he saw his own prime minister and shouted, "Master, master, save me..."
Prime Minister Wan was so angry that he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but he couldn't suppress the anger in his heart. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com