Chapter 68: Choose One
"Third brother, don't worry, we will never tell anyone. This is known to heaven, earth, you, and us." Lu Qionghua raised his hand and swore.
"Well, don't tell anyone. If you tell anyone, you might lose your special ability." Lu Heng pointed to the sky.
He felt that his sister must be a fairy sent by God to them, so she knew everything and helped his father to defend Daxia.
"Don't worry, I won't tell you." Lu Qiongying and Lu Qionghua both nodded seriously.
The three of them even made a pinky promise, indicating that whoever told anyone about it would be a traitor and would never be able to eat the food cooked by the chief steward of the Yu kitchen for the rest of his life.
Lu Qiongying and Lu Qionghua strictly abided by the agreement.
After Shen Liuzheng returned to the palace in the evening, he asked them how they had fun that day, but none of them told him that they had heard Lu Li's thoughts.
This resulted in the mother and her two daughters not knowing at all that each other could hear Lu Li's thoughts, and they were all secretly hiding it from each other.
…
The next day when he went to court, Lu Yanshi did not bring Lu Li with him.
He had a feeling that today would be a bloody day and it would be inappropriate to bring his daughter along.
What if some minister is so desperate that he insists on making a death-defying protest and bangs his head against the pillar on the spot, scaring Xiaojiu?
As expected, as soon as I went to court today, I received the news that the Grand Tutor was unable to come due to illness.
This was clearly soft resistance, expressing dissatisfaction with what he was about to do.
"The Grand Tutor is old, and it is inevitable that he will get sick. After the court session today, I will personally bring the imperial physician to visit him." Lu Yanshi still gave the Grand Tutor this face.
After all, we cannot disappoint all the old ministers.
After hearing what he said, the officials present looked much better.
It seems that the emperor still cares about them.
So they took the opportunity to object to Shen Liuzheng's appointment as general.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Shu has worked hard and made great contributions, but there has never been a precedent for a woman to serve as a general. You can reward her separately, but there is no need to let her continue to lead the army."
"My dear ministers, what you said makes sense. This matter is indeed not in line with the rules set by our ancestors." Lu Yanshi nodded.
The court officials were shocked. They didn't expect Lu Yanshi to be so easy to talk to. He was so determined yesterday, but he changed his mind today?
"Your Majesty, does this mean you agree not to appoint Concubine Shu as a general?" someone asked tentatively.
"Since all of you ministers disagree, I am not an arbitrary and tyrannical tyrant. Let's just forget about it." Lu Yanshi took a step back.
Everyone was overjoyed and praised the emperor for his wisdom.
"The issue of the college entrance examination was raised yesterday. Minister Ji, please draft an edict for me." Lu Yanshi directly called on the name of Hanlin Academician Ji Wenshu.
"Your Majesty, this won't do. Selecting officials is no joke." When the officials heard this, they immediately became anxious.
"But I have already made my statement, I cannot go back on my word to the people, right?" Lu Yanshi pretended to be helpless.
Who told you to say this without consulting us?
The court officials secretly complained in their hearts but did not dare to say it out loud.
I can only persuade him in different ways not to mess around and not to bother with the college entrance examination.
"This won't work, and that won't work either. What's the point of me being the emperor? Why don't you be the emperor?" Lu Yanshi shouted angrily, his face turning very ugly.
Everyone knelt down immediately and said they didn't dare.
"Either confer the title of General to Auxiliary the Country to Consort Shu, or publish the college entrance examination notice in two days. You choose." Lu Yanshi gave them two choices.
The court officials discussed it and decided that it would be better to let Concubine Shu be the general.
After all, if the college entrance examination is implemented, their own official positions may be lost. But letting the concubine be a general will not have such a big impact.
There will certainly be people in the army who are dissatisfied. How long this general can stay in his position will depend on Concubine Shu herself.
So the court officials compromised and did not let Concubine Shu become the second-rank general of the country, but changed her to the third-rank general of the army.
Lu Yanshi agreed, and today's morning court session ended here.
After a while, Qu Fufeng came over.
"Your Majesty, you have already announced the Advanced Examination. Are you really going to give up and not continue?"
He took the trouble to come up with so many test questions. If he doesn't do it now, then all his work would be in vain.
"When did I say I wouldn't continue? I just said we'll discuss this matter later." Lu Yanshi glanced at him.
Qu Fufeng couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.
He is worthy of being the emperor!
There are so many tricks.
"What does this gesture mean?" Lu Yanshi asked.
"It's an exaggeration to praise your wisdom and bravery." Qu Fufeng quickly put his hands behind his back and explained.
Why can't he control his hands?
Lu Yanshi seemed to be thinking about something, and waved his hand: "Okay, you can leave now. I have my own arrangements for this matter. The notice for the advanced examination will be sent out in two days."
"Yes. I'll take my leave." Qu Fufeng hurried away.
Lu Yanshi had Lu Li brought over. He had to ask his daughter to help him figure out whether the Grand Tutor was really ill or just pretending.
"The Grand Tutor is ill, and I am very worried. Xiaojiu is a blessed person, so why don't you accompany your father to visit the Grand Tutor? I believe that if you go, the Grand Tutor will surely get better soon."
[Are you sick? Could it be that your father got you sick because you were angry with me when I went to pick up the Concubine Shu yesterday?]
Lu Li muttered.
Lu Yanshi's face turned dark. What did he mean by being made sick by anger? The Grand Tutor is old and his ability to withstand pressure is not good. It is normal for him to get sick when he gets excited.
[Let me see how he is doing. Don't let him really fall ill. Otherwise, those civil servants will scold my father again.]
These words showed concern for him, and Lu Yanshi's expression became much better.
Lu Li opened the melon-eating system and took a look.
[Tsk tsk, the old man is actually pretending to be sick! Is he waiting for the emperor to give in? ]
When Lu Yanshi heard this, he knew what was going on. He didn't even bring the imperial physician with him and took Lu Li directly to the Grand Tutor's residence.
[This servant was really quick. As soon as Father arrived at the door, he told the old man to lie down on the bed.]
[Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter. The old man is so anxious that he hasn't even taken off his shoes.]
[Ouch, I was too anxious and fell down. Now I'm going to get sick even if I'm not sick.]
Lu Yanshi listened to the real-time report in Lu Li's heart with his lips tightly pursed.
The Grand Tutor is getting more and more outrageous as he gets older!
"Your Majesty, my father is ill and cannot get up to greet you. Please go back and don't let him pass on his illness to you." Yin Zhuan, the son of the Grand Tutor, came to see Lu Yanshi with a stiff upper lip.
He knew his old father was pretending to be sick, but he couldn't do anything about it.
My old father has that kind of temper. He won't go to court if he disagrees with something.
"It's okay. I don't mind. The Grand Tutor is ill, and as his student, of course I have to visit him in person." Lu Yanshi signaled his men to push open the door of the Grand Tutor's bedroom.
The Grand Tutor, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, immediately pulled up the quilt to cover his head, coughed twice and said, "Your Majesty, please go back. I will go to court when I am well again."
Lu Yanshi was both angry and amused.
As the Grand Tutor grows older, his temper becomes more and more childish.
"I came here to tell the Grand Tutor something. The civil and military officials of the Manchu court have approved my decision to let Concubine Shu serve as the heroic general." He spoke slowly.