The surrounding civil and military officials looked over in surprise, never expecting that Chen Fan would be so biased towards Cao Song.
What they didn't understand was that Chen Fan had his own reasons for doing this. Recently, a trend of empty talk and disrespect had suddenly emerged in the court. People didn't know how to be practical and only knew how to find fault. If this trend continued, it would inevitably greatly damage the emperor's prestige and the enthusiasm of those pragmatic officials.
As is the case today, setting aside Cao Song's contributions, just based on his status as one of the Nine Ministers, he is far superior to those few upright officials. Such insubordination is unacceptable. If they were to gain control of the discourse, what would become of them?
"The Grand Tutor is right! Ha~ These people call themselves the 'pure stream,' but in reality they don't do anything practical. They don't care about right or wrong, good or bad, they only care about what they like or dislike. They oppose for the sake of opposing. How is this any different from forming cliques for personal gain?"
Seeing the upright officials in front of him being reprimanded by Chen Fan, Cao Song sneered and casually pinned a big label on them.
As soon as Cao Song finished speaking, the expressions of the others changed. This was too much to bear; they dared not accept it. The old man quickly looked at Chen Fan.
"Grand Tutor, we..."
Before they could explain, Chen Fan looked at Cao Song and said, "Grand Minister of Agriculture, don't speak recklessly. Although their words may have been inappropriate, they don't amount to forming cliques for personal gain!"
Hearing Chen Fan speak up for them, the expressions of the officials from the Qingliu faction softened considerably.
Cao Song merely glanced at them indifferently and said nothing more.
"The time is almost up, everyone return to your positions!"
After saying this, Chen Fan walked towards the palace gate, with Cao Song following closely behind.
Before long, Dou Wu, Yuan Feng, Li Ying and others also arrived here one after another. After greeting the officials, they walked towards Chen Fan's position in front.
As they waited for the palace gates to open, a sudden gust of cold wind blew by, causing the civil and military officials to shiver involuntarily.
"It's so cold! I even wore two extra layers today, but it still couldn't keep out the cold wind!"
Among the officials, one official, with his hands tucked into his sleeves and his body trembling, complained to his colleague beside him.
“Yes! Wearing so many layers, the cold wind will see right through you!” another official echoed, shivering as well.
"I think it's because you're getting old and your health isn't good enough. If you can't, then hurry up and resign and go home to retire! Why suffer in this cold wind here?"
Behind the two men was a middle-aged official who, upon seeing their appearance, couldn't help but make a few sarcastic remarks. Although his body was also trembling slightly, he looked much better than the two men.
"Nonsense! Look at the Grand Tutor and the Minister of Works, they're both so old, how come they're fine? What does age have to do with this?"
The trembling official, upon hearing this, immediately objected and retorted.
The surrounding colleagues also noticed the commotion on the three's side, and upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but look at Chen Fan and the others at the front of the group.
Sure enough, they stood there calmly, chatting and laughing, seemingly unaffected by the cold weather.
One of the ministers couldn't help but say, "Huh? I see that the Grand Tutor and the Minister of Works are wearing clothes that are quite similar to those worn by the Minister of Agriculture."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked intently and indeed it was true. Apart from the difference in the sash indicating official rank at the waist, their styles and workmanship were almost identical.
"I think I just heard the Grand Minister of Agriculture say that the cotton-padded coat he's wearing was a gift from His Majesty, filled with cotton from the Western Regions. Its ability to keep warm is many times better than 'fluff'!"
Upon hearing this, everyone then saw Cao Song, his face glowing with health, chatting and laughing with Liu Mian, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, seemingly unaffected by the cold wind.
Then everyone noticed that not only the highest-ranking officials and the three highest-ranking officials, but even several agricultural officials under Cao Song were wearing the same cotton-padded clothes.
An official spoke up at the opportune moment: "I've also heard that not only these individuals, but also several doctoral students from the Imperial Academy, the College of Engineering, the College of Medicine, and the College of Agriculture have received rewards from His Majesty!"
Upon hearing this, the officials felt a pang of jealousy. Was His Majesty being too biased? It was understandable that the rewards were given to Chen Fan and others, given their status and position. It was also acceptable for Cao Song, as the Grand Minister of Agriculture, to receive a reward. But what about those agricultural officials and the doctors of industry, agriculture, and medicine? Why did they receive such a reward?
Cao Song, who was chatting with Liu Mian, suddenly asked out of the blue, "Grand Master of Ceremonies, did you have breakfast today?"
"Uh... I ate it!"
Liu Mian nodded blankly. They were just having a good chat, why did they suddenly start asking about these things?
Cao Song: "What did you eat?"
Liu Jian: "Millet!"
Cao Song: "Is the millet delicious?"
Liu Jian: "It's alright!"
Hearing the conversation between Cao Song and Liu Mian, the surrounding officials were speechless. The Grand Minister of Agriculture and the Grand Master of Ceremonies were both high-ranking officials among the Nine Ministers, yet they were talking about such a boring topic.
"Sigh~ I used to think millet was edible, but after eating the rice His Majesty bestowed upon me recently, I find millet quite hard to swallow!"
After saying this, Cao Song couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
"This one too, the rice definitely tastes much better! It's a pity we finished it a while ago! It's all gone!"
Liu Mian nodded as well. Since eating rice, it was indeed a bit difficult to get used to eating millet again.
The surrounding officials also nodded in agreement.
"Grand Master of Ceremonies, would you like to taste the rice again?" Cao Song smiled slightly, moved closer to Liu Mian, and asked in a low voice.
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