Chapter 219 Willing to Be a Sharp Blade
Imperial Palace, Imperial Study.
At this moment, Mr. Lin was kneeling in the hall, and Emperor Sheng was standing behind the desk.
On the desk, a pile of notebooks were spread out.
If Jiang Xun and Cui Mingjue were here, they would recognize at a glance that what was placed on the table was the official calendar of Qingping City.
Eunuch Fushun stood aside, not daring to utter a word.
"Are all the officials in Qingping City your disciples?"
Emperor Sheng's voice was cold and deep, and at this moment his eyes were fixed on Elder Lin with a hint of urgency.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Lin shook his head.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Sheng's brows relaxed slightly and his expression brightened up a little.
However, the next moment, Elder Lin said respectfully: "Your Majesty, not all of them."
Emperor Sheng’s face suddenly froze.
What Mr. Lin said undoubtedly admitted that there were indeed his people among the officials of Qingping City.
Emperor Sheng slowly tightened his hands on the table, and then sneered: "Not all? How many are there? In addition to Qingping City, what about Pingxi City? What about Shun'an City?"
"Under the emperor's feet, among all the civil and military officials in the court, how many of them are the teacher's students?"
The last part of his voice sounded heavy and urgent, and Emperor Sheng flicked his hand, causing the calendar on the table to fall to the ground with a crash.
Despite such a loud noise, Mr. Lin still knelt respectfully with his eyes lowered, not moving a muscle.
Emperor Sheng took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slowly, and said in a deep voice: "In the second year of Yong Zhao, I had just ascended the throne. Did the teacher start burying the threads at that time?"
"I trust you so much that I personally appointed you as the chief examiner to select the best talents in the world. Is this how you treat me?"
If Cui Daoyuan heard this, he would be dumbfounded and horrified.
He had just guessed that this situation was set up by Emperor Sheng and that every aspect made sense, but he didn't know that even Emperor Sheng was confused at the moment.
Yesterday, an old lady came to the Dali Temple with her grandson to appeal for justice, and specifically asked Jiang Xun to preside over justice.
Emperor Sheng was already more concerned about Jiang Xun, and immediately sent people to Qingping City to find out what was going on.
This is also the reason why the people from the Dali Temple, although they caught Qingping City off guard, were still obstructed everywhere.
Because Emperor Sheng's men had already gone there, no matter whether Xie Hui wanted to retrieve the files or the A-calendar, Emperor Sheng's men were currently copying them, so the A-calendar library naturally could not provide them for a while.
The people sent by Emperor Sheng returned to the capital even faster, which is why Emperor Sheng sent someone to summon Mr. Lin as soon as the people from the Dali Temple returned.
Upon hearing this, Elder Lin touched his forehead to the ground, and said with shame on his face: "Power dazzled my eyes, and greed blinded me. I committed such a treasonous act. It is too late to regret it. I hope Your Majesty will punish me."
"nonsense!"
Emperor Sheng slammed the table so hard that Fu Shun was startled. He hurriedly whispered, "Your Majesty, calm down."
But Emperor Sheng had already walked around the jade table, walked quickly to Elder Lin, and said sternly:
"Others may not know that when I ascended the throne, the teacher had indeed made up his mind to leave. If I had not repeatedly persuaded him to stay, the teacher would have resigned and returned home."
"It's only been a year, and the teacher has become obsessed with convenience?"
The hem of the black brocade robe suddenly touched Elder Lin's hand which was resting on the green jade brick. It turned out that Emperor Sheng slowly squatted down in front of Elder Lin.
"Teacher, who are you doing this for? For Ji'er back then, or for Ye'er now?"
"Teacher, you are spending so much effort to build up your power. Are you planning to rebel against me for them?"
Emperor Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression was still as calm as water, without any ripples, as if what he had just said was just insignificant chat between the monarch and his subjects.
But when Eunuch Fushun saw this scene, he was worried about Mr. Lin.
Today...what happened? Mr. Lin, please don't offend the emperor again.
Old Lin was still wearing plain clothes. After listening to what Emperor Sheng said, he finally raised his head slowly, and his slightly turbid eyes met the cold gaze of Emperor Sheng.
Inside the hall, the atmosphere was as thick and urgent as frost.
Just when the atmosphere was so tense that it seemed like it was about to explode at any moment, Mr. Lin suddenly smiled lightly.
That smile was like a ray of warm sunshine penetrating through the thick dark clouds, making the wrinkles on his face appear even deeper and revealing a hint of kindness.
Emperor Sheng was stunned for a moment, and a hint of surprise flashed across his cold face.
"Your Majesty."
Elder Lin's eyes became softer and softer, he just looked at Emperor Sheng quietly, as if the person in front of him was no longer the emperor who ruled the world, but the ignorant boy who was listening to his teachings at his knees.
"I have known about what happened back then. Your Majesty took great pains to ascend the throne, and it was inseparable from the great help of Minister Cui."
"With such meritorious service, it is only natural that the emperor promised me the position of crown prince."
When Emperor Sheng heard this, his eyes widened instantly and he stared at Elder Lin. His usually dignified expression was cracked like porcelain, and a hint of disbelief was revealed on his face.
Elder Lin did not pause, and continued: "It is said that a king never jokes, but after His Majesty got what he wanted, he broke this promise."
"With Minister Cui's scheming and tactics, Your Majesty, how can he be willing?"
Emperor Sheng stood up suddenly and took a step back. Unexpectedly, Elder Lin not only did not stop, but raised the corner of his mouth and said something that made Eunuch Fushun tremble with fear.
"Your Majesty, the one you like in your heart is His Royal Highness Prince Rui, right?"
"But now that the Cui family is so powerful, and Prince Rui is very close to the Cui family, this is not a good thing."
"Your Majesty needs a knife, a knife that is heavy enough but will not hurt the father-son relationship between Your Majesty and Prince Rui. I, your humble servant, am willing to be this knife in Your Majesty's hands."
"Your Majesty, this old minister has been doing this from the beginning to the end... all for you."
Having said this, Mr. Lin leaned forward and kowtowed again, his forehead touching the green jade brick with a "dong" sound.
Emperor Sheng could no longer maintain his calm expression. He lowered his eyes to look at Elder Lin's graying hair, and his thoughts became confused for a moment.
"Did the Queen tell the teacher about the old events?"
Elder Lin shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, this old minister guessed it."
"After all, Prince Rong was at the height of his power back then, and Your Majesty had little chance of winning. But Minister Cui was willing to use all his wealth to help Your Majesty."
"And the Crown Prince at that time, that is, Prince Ji, was born with deficiencies. Even the imperial physician said that it would be difficult for him to live long."
"Your Majesty, everything has a traceable path."
"Your Majesty repeatedly asked me to stay, and every word was sincere. I thought that I should also prepare for the rainy day for Your Majesty to repay your kindness."
When Emperor Sheng heard this, his expression changed again and again. For a moment, he could not tell which of Lin Lao's words were true and which were false.
Just then—
"Your Majesty, Dali Temple Junior Official Jiang Xun is requesting an audience outside the palace."
The voice of Wen Chengye, the commander of the Imperial Guards, was heard outside the palace.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Sheng slowly raised his head, ignoring Wen Chengye, and said in a deep voice: "I heard that on the day Xiuzhi got married, he and his new bride knelt down and bowed to the teacher in the wedding hall."
"Teacher, you have done this with good intentions by removing Xiuzhi, but you have also tried your best to help me raise the second son. Aren't you afraid that the second son will not be able to tolerate Xiuzhi when he ascends the throne in the future?"
Upon hearing this, Elder Lin said respectfully: "In the heart of this old minister, helping His Majesty to fulfill his wish is the first priority."
"As for Xiuzhi, he is such a capable minister. I think Prince Rui has the courage to use him well."
When Emperor Sheng heard this, he curled the corners of his mouth in a somewhat sarcastic manner.
"The teacher's answer is really perfect."
"Since the teacher has such painstaking efforts, for my sake, please go to the imperial prison and endure the grievances for a few days."
When Emperor Sheng said this, his eyes were fixed on Elder Lin's reaction.
But Mr. Lin looked relieved and bowed respectfully to express his gratitude.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Sheng closed his eyes and waved at Fu Shun.
Fushun was shocked, but he didn't dare to show it. He hurried forward and bowed, saying, "Emperor Master, please come in."
Elder Lin knelt again and said, "I, your humble servant, shall take my leave."
Only then did he stand up and follow Eunuch Fushun out of the imperial study.
Emperor Sheng watched Elder Lin's figure go away, then walked to the desk and sat down. His expression was gloomy and he could not hide his annoyance.
The moonlight was like water, sprinkling coldly on the palace road, as if the vermilion palace walls and the gray floor tiles were coated with a layer of silver frost.
Mr. Lin's figure remained upright, every step he took was steady and powerful, and his face was calm without the slightest disturbance.
Fu Shun on the side opened his mouth several times but said nothing. For some reason, he seemed to see a determination to disregard life and death from Lin Lao's calm appearance.
The breeze blew gently, lifting a few strands of gray hair on Lin Lao's temples, but he seemed not to notice, and his eyes were looking deeply in the direction of the palace gate.
——Xiuzhi, you must understand what it means to be a teacher.
As soon as this thought came to his mind, a gentle smile appeared on the corner of Mr. Lin's mouth.
He continued to walk slowly, his figure stretched out in the moonlight, gradually blending into the night of the palace.
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