Chapter 14: Rhetoric
The old man who stood out was wearing a dark blue robe, had a white face and a long beard, and looked smiling and in a good mood.
But everyone present knew that this Lord Left Prime Minister was not an easy person to deal with.
His name is Zhongyi, and no one dares to say anything about whether he is loyal or not, but he has nothing to do with the word righteousness.
He deceived countless officials in his competition with Xiao Yuan, but afterward he just shed a few tears and gave some money to his family.
The family members who were unaware of the truth were still deeply moved, but in fact those people were just pathfinders and scapegoats for the Left Prime Minister.
If Xiao Yuan can be moved down, that would be better. If not, someone else will lose his life.
This old man is sly and good at killing people by borrowing others' knife. Even the group of military commanders who dislike Xiao Yuan are ashamed to be associated with him.
Yet, such a person with a bad character not only passed the imperial examinations and possessed profound knowledge, but also earned a good reputation among scholars.
He was righteous and righteous, and he coaxed many young people into pledging their loyalty to him.
Needless to say, this stupid scholar today was probably the work of this old man.
It seems that there are too many liars and not enough fools.
Officials in the court were becoming increasingly difficult to deceive, so an inexperienced scholar was pushed out to handle such an unimportant matter.
Today's matter is a clear situation.
If Xiao Yuan did not kill the scholar, he would lose his prestige and would be encouraging this unhealthy trend.
In the future, those civil servants might become bolder and dare to speak out and complain for no reason.
If he was punished, he could be charged with the crime of arrogance and disregard for human life, and this could be used as an excuse to encourage his classmates in the academy to attack Dongchang.
Although neither of these two situations has much impact on Xiao Yuan at present, it is still very annoying.
For Zhang Zhongyi, harming others and benefiting oneself is the best. He is happy to watch the excitement even if it harms others without benefiting himself.
He didn't lose anything anyway.
Public opinion is something that is accumulated. It can be ignited by a small incident or a few idle words. With the right trigger, it can be ignited.
Xiao Yuan was highly trusted by the emperor, so they could only gradually disintegrate.
The silly scholar thought that Lord Zuo Xiang thought highly of him, but in fact the old man could remember his name because he was born with a photographic memory.
People don't care about him at all.
The reason I came out now is simply because I don't want this drama to end so early.
Not only Xiao Yuan could guess Zhang Zhongyi's thoughts, but many shrewd ministers also saw it.
Even Jiang Xinyu understood what the old man was trying to do after hearing someone calling him "Zuo Xiang".
It's nothing more than that he has a grudge against Xiao Yuan so he wants to annoy people at their wedding.
Speaking of this Lord Zuo Xiang, she actually had an impression of him. He seemed to be Zhao Chengye's teacher.
In the original book, Zhao Chengye's success and fame were largely due to the promotion of this old guy, but no one expected that he and Xiao Yuan had a grudge against each other.
This part is not described in the original book. It only says that Xiao Yuan was humiliated and beaten to death on his wedding day, which was very unpleasant.
After the banquet, he hurried back to the palace to work, and rarely returned to the outer residence afterwards.
Therefore, Li Mingyue was quite free after getting married. She could even visit Jiang Wanqiu often when she married into the Ningguo Mansion, and even had an affair with Zhao Chengye.
Later, at the instigation of Zhao Chengye, Xiao Yuan was framed, causing this powerful eunuch to meet a tragic end.
Thinking of this, Jiang Xinyu's heart suddenly moved.
Although she was sure that Xiao Yuan would not send her back, what if Zhao Chengye was shameless in asking for money?
If Xiao Yuan left in a hurry today, and found out that Zhao Chengye married Li Mingyue instead of her when he returned to the bridal chamber, would he want to exchange them for a few hundred thousand taels of dowry?
Xiao Yuan didn't care who he married, but if Zhao Chengye said that Li Mingyue was planning to marry someone else because she disliked the governor...
Damn, with Xiao Yuan's vengeful personality, there's a high probability that he'll exchange the person back to vent his anger.
You look down on me for wanting to marry you, so I won’t let you do as you wish.
When Jiang Xinyu thought of this, he suddenly felt panicked.
There has never been a single eunuch chief who was careless, so this situation is really possible.
If this is the case, then all her plans will fail.
No, she had to make public the fact that she and Xiao Yuan were getting married.
Zhao Chengye was a very proud person. Even if he was reluctant to give up his dowry, he would not go against the gossip of the people and take her back after she had married the eunuch.
Jiang Xinyu silently encouraged herself in her heart.
In order to live a comfortable life in the future, in order to have money and free time without a husband, she has to fight for it today no matter what.
Lord Zuo Xiang is worthy of being the top three scorers in the imperial examination. He has brilliant writing skills and can quote classics and make sense. He mocks Xiao Yuan for his narrow-mindedness and abuse of power for personal gain.
The scholar just said a few truths when he was drunk. Even if his words were unpleasant, it was just a verbal dispute at most.
Women in the market quarrel with each other in a more unpleasant way than this. Should all of them be thrown into jail?
As the sage said, if you can show mercy to others, then show mercy. How can a man be so narrow-minded?
Even if you are narrow-minded and want to argue with him, he just scolded you a few times and said a few unpleasant words, and you can just scold back if you are unhappy.
Or maybe just beat him up to vent your anger, but throwing him in jail is an overreaction.
This statement may sound reasonable at first glance, but in reality it is just pretending to be ignorant.
It is just talk that a prince who breaks the law shall be punished the same as a commoner. When has it ever been dealt with in this way throughout history?
It is just and proper for superiors to reprimand inferiors, but it is a violation of the rules for the poor to insult officials.
It's just that no one has brought this rule up to public notice, but everyone has been living this way for hundreds of years.
If it is true that the emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people, why didn't any of the civil and military officials fart when the emperor killed so many innocent people?
Xiao Yuan looked at Zhang Zhongyi and smiled coldly, "Lord Zuo Xiang has made up his mind to protect this crazy person.
Don't forget that the marriage between the Za family and the Emperor was arranged by the Emperor. Are you dissatisfied with the Emperor by protecting this person who messed up the wedding?"
Zhang Zhongyi was not frightened by Xiao Yuan's big hat at all. He stroked his beard and chuckled.
"Master Xiao, what are you talking about? I am just discussing the matter at hand.
His Majesty took pity on Governor Xiao's poverty and acted as a matchmaker for you, which was a benevolent act. I am truly fortunate to serve such a kind and wise monarch.
Because of this, we, the ministers, should be more kind and generous and repay evil with kindness.
Only then can we live up to the Holy Grace!"
Zhang Zhongyi's voice rose an octave when he said the last sentence with such passion that it was completely false and empty.
Everyone felt disgusted when they heard this, but all the officials still had to follow his example, bowing to the sky and muttering that they were not worthy of the emperor's grace.
His intention of singing and reciting this was to put Xiao Yuan in a bad light, as if he was not magnanimous enough to forgive this scholar for going against the emperor.
Xiao Yuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Forget it. Let this madman live one more night.
It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge.
There were many people who had bullied him since the day he was sent to the palace, but how many of them are still alive?
The longest one took him ten years to kill, and now he just stayed there for one more night.
He can wait.
Just when Xiao Yuan was about to swallow his anger and end the farce quickly, suddenly a strange cry broke the tense atmosphere on the scene.
Those who can stand in this wedding hall all have some knowledge.
Civil servants had to study hard for at least ten years, and military generals were all from aristocratic families.
Not to mention the guests, even the maids and servants serving them are the best in the industry.
In today's event, even third- and fourth-rank maids are not qualified to serve here.
Unfortunately, these people were well-informed and had never seen such a situation before, and the beads were about to fall off.
Xiao Yuan even frowned with a puzzled look on his face.
It was just to arrange for the old emperor to get married, but the "surprises" came one after another.
He wanted to see how many more monsters and demons could be uncovered today.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
