When he arrived at the court, Feng Changye subconsciously looked at Zhu Huaining among the ministers.
My father-in-law drank so much yesterday. Did he get punished by my mother-in-law when he got home?
I hope that both the father-in-law and the son-in-law...will suffer the same fate.
This way he can find a sense of balance in his heart.
He looked over and happened to see Zhu Huaining looking over as well.
The father-in-law and son-in-law looked at each other——
Feng Changye immediately noticed the dark circles under his father-in-law's eyes. They were so obvious, as if he had not slept well the night before.
Zhu Huaining also noticed that Feng Changye was in a depressed state and looked like he had not slept well.
The two of them showed the same look—
Drinking has ruined things. I can’t do this again!
After the eye contact, Feng Changye started today's business.
Deal with the Empress Dowager's family.
He originally wanted to wait for a while before dealing with the people from the Queen Mother's family, but he didn't expect that his mind-reading ability was almost exposed last night. Now he had to deal with the Si family before the Queen remembered them.
Otherwise, if she thought that he thought of dealing with the Si family because he listened to her thoughts, he would not be able to explain himself.
"Where is the Dali Temple Minister?"
He glanced at the civil and military ministers.
A burly official, over forty years old, stepped forward immediately and said, "Your Majesty, Qin Qi is kneeling to listen to the Emperor's instructions."
Feng Changye asked, "A few days ago, I entrusted you with a task. So much time has passed. How is your investigation going, Qin Aiqing?"
Qin Qizheng looked up at the majestic emperor sitting on the dragon throne and replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, the emperor has asked me to privately investigate whether the empress dowager's brothers have committed any crimes in recent years. I have already obtained a lot of evidence, but some officials who went to various places to collect evidence have not yet returned to the capital, so I have not yet reported it to the emperor."
Feng Changye nodded.
He shifted his gaze from Qin Qizhen to look at the civil and military officials in the court.
Meeting the stunned gazes of the entire court, he said indifferently, "My dear ministers, you must be wondering why I would investigate the crimes of the Empress Dowager's brothers out of the blue? The Empress Dowager's brothers are my uncles. Why would I suddenly start settling accounts with them?"
All the civil and military officials in the court looked up at their emperor. They were indeed shocked at this moment.
People are all biased, and emperors are no exception. The emperor's relatives are all royal nobles. Generally, if these people make a small mistake, the emperor will turn a blind eye and not care.
Unless these royal relatives and nobles committed heinous crimes and were reported to the government office with conclusive evidence, the emperors would reluctantly punish them.
But now, they haven't heard of anyone complaining about the brothers from the Empress Dowager's family.
Since no one reported it to the emperor, why should he investigate it himself?
Could it be that there really was a life-and-death conflict between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and the Emperor was completely disappointed with the Empress Dowager and decided to uproot her family?
Thinking of the imprisoned King Jin...
Thinking back to what Concubine Song said that day, that the Emperor had imprisoned the Empress Dowager, and might even have killed her...
The ministers thought that the Empress Dowager's family, the Si family, which had once been glorious throughout the capital, was about to collapse.
Feng Changye glanced at everyone and continued, "I want to move against the Si family. This all starts with Si Quan, the eunuch who holds the seal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
Thinking of the eunuch who tortured countless young girls, he couldn't help but feel disgusted.
"Over the years, I have been very indulgent towards the Empress Dowager's family. As a result, I had no idea that they had become so arrogant and domineering!"
"A person with the same surname and no connection to the Si family actually dared to commit crimes and take human lives under the guise of being a relative of the Empress Dowager's mother's family!"
"A few days ago, the Dali Temple reported Si Quan's evil deeds to me. Each of those horrific crimes chilled me to the bone. I couldn't believe it. How could a human being do such a thing? He's worse than pigs and dogs!"
"After calming down, I couldn't help but ponder. A relative who wasn't even close to the Empress Dowager could act so recklessly. Then, have my uncles and cousins, who have the Empress Dowager's backing, also committed many unknown evil deeds over the years?"
"If they are as evil as Si Quan, and I allow them to run rampant in Kyoto, won't even more innocent people die tragically at their hands?"
"Therefore, I have reflected deeply and ordered the Dali Temple to conduct a thorough investigation of all members of the Si family. I will not pardon any of those found guilty!"
Listening to their emperor speaking so passionately, the ministers naturally guessed his determination to get rid of the Si family.
They were sensible and no one rushed to persuade the emperor to forgive the empress dowager's family for the sake of the mother-son relationship.
Isn't it asking for trouble to go against the emperor?
Besides, those people from the Empress Dowager's family have done a lot of things that make people hate them over the years, relying on the fact that they have the Empress Dowager's sister and the Emperor's nephew.
The emperor has decided to sacrifice his own family for the sake of justice. That's perfect. Let's all work together to get rid of this corrupt Si family!
"The Si family has committed countless evil deeds. The emperor is willing to sacrifice his own family for the sake of justice. This is a blessing for the people of Daning and the world!"
Everyone knelt down and sang praises to their emperor.
Feng Changye glanced at these ministers and sneered.
"Since you all know that the Si family has committed so many evil deeds, why didn't anyone tell me?"
He scolded, "I have lived in the deep palace for a long time, unable to leave easily. Therefore, the security of the capital, and who is arrogant and doing evil, are required to be reported to me! Yet, you are receiving my salary, knowing that there are such bullies in the capital, but no one has told me. Is this your way of protecting yourself as an official?"
He sneered, "On a normal day, you guys are quite good at interfering with my actions and advising me on how to act in front of me, but when it comes to matters truly concerning the country and the people, you start to play it safe and pretend to be deaf and dumb again!"
All the ministers knelt in unison, sweat dripping down their backs. "We are guilty, Your Majesty, please calm down."
Feng Changye glanced at Zhu Huaining, who was kneeling in the crowd. "Duke Zhenguo, please stand up. The Duke has been fighting at the border for many years. Like me, he is unable to understand what is happening in the capital. The Duke Zhenguo has not failed in his duties."
Zhu Huaining indeed has a clear conscience.
He had been fighting outside all the time, and all he paid attention to was the movements of foreigners. He really had no idea what the Si family had done.
So he stood up calmly.
Feng Changye looked at the others, including his brother-in-law Zhu Xuanyuan.
I originally wanted to let my brother-in-law stand up, but I can't be too partial to him, otherwise he will give people a chance to talk about him.
"You are indeed guilty of a thousand deaths!"
He said, "You knew someone was committing evil right under your noses, yet you turned a deaf ear and remained dumb! You only know how to whitewash everything in front of me, telling me all day long that the country is peaceful and the people are prosperous. You have failed your official duties, and you certainly deserve death!"
Seeing that everyone was sweating with fear, Feng Changye changed the subject.
"But you are not the only ones who deserve death. I am also at fault. My fault is far greater than yours."
Hearing his words, all the officials looked up at him in shock.
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