Chapter 1186: Stirring Up Trouble (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Little did they know, it was truly unfair to pin the blame on Qi Shan.
Qi Shan was utterly innocent: "How could I have known that?"
Qin Li frowned: "You recommended her, are you sure you didn't instruct her to do this? Really? I don't believe it."
Qi Shan said irritably, "Believe it or not!"
Even if he had no morals, he would never instigate his own people to abduct the soon-to-be-married prince consort of an enemy state and elope with him! When the news came back, his shock was no less than anyone else's! It was simply outrageous that the envoy who went to collect a debt had taken a liking to the young and handsome man who received her, and when he failed to collect the debt, he ruthlessly abducted him.
Upon hearing Qi Shan's words, Qin Li almost sneered and threw the memorial in his face: "If you hadn't instigated her, where would she have gotten the guts?"
Kidnapping the prospective imperial son-in-law was just one of the minor incidents!
Yes, you read that right, it's just a small matter!
This envoy named Li Wan, during her mission, acted like a tyrant in the local territories, engaging in seven or eight conflicts, provocations, and brawls. This doesn't even include the embarrassment she caused the hosts at their welcoming banquet; she could find fault even with a passing dog. Her debt collection methods were even more in line with the essence of local thugs.
They practically have "If you're a brother, come and chop me up" written all over their faces.
and--
Ning Yan looked at Li Wan's resume and felt a throbbing pain in her head.
"Isn't her name Li Wan?"
Ning Yan oversaw the first three graduating classes of the academy, and continued to monitor the subsequent classes. She remembered the students with exceptional talent and outstanding grades, and even more so the troublemakers, Li Wan being a prime example. She was involved in almost every instance of student misbehavior, and she tried every disciplinary method the academy employed. Since the academy's founding, only a handful of students had achieved this distinction. Ning Yan's deep impression of Li Wan stemmed from her name—"A beautiful woman, graceful and elegant."
Then look at Li Wan's string of disciplinary actions that almost prevented her from graduating.
Isn't this name too deceptive?
When Qi Shan recommended Li Wan as an envoy, Ning Yan assumed he was just some rising young talent and didn't even consider Li Wan. It wasn't until this bombshell news dropped, and the court officials discussed it, uncovering Li Wan's background, and until someone dragged Ning Yan into the controversy by pointing out Li Wan's educational history, that Ning Yan realized this man was actually her student.
Let her see which student dares to be so bold!
Upon seeing her former name, Ning Yan fell silent.
"Minister Ning, whether her name is Li Wan, Li Wan, or Li Wan, it doesn't matter! What matters is that as an envoy, she openly undermined diplomatic relations between the two countries and provoked conflict, which is truly—"
An elderly minister with graying hair stepped forward and delivered a passionate speech.
He felt that Li Wan should be severely punished!
The mission of an envoy is to fulfill the emperor's orders and demonstrate the grandeur of Kangguo as a great power. Li Wan not only failed to collect the debt, but also instigated a war for his personal pleasures, right at the end of the year! He is truly disloyal to the country and unjust to his superiors!
I do not recommend severe punishment, as more people will follow suit in the future!
This is outrageous!
The state is no longer a state, and the minister is no longer a minister!
The old minister, hot-blooded and spittle-fueled, failed to notice the many officials rolling their eyes or turning their faces away. After criticizing Li Wan, he moved on to criticizing Qi Shan, who had recommended Li Wan—he was unaware of the details of Qin Shaoshi's accusation that Qi Zhongshu was involved in instigation and had no evidence, so he wouldn't discuss that matter.
However, he also criticized Qi Shan for being blind to talent, misusing his cronies, and failing to recognize capable people, for which he should also bear responsibility!
Qi Shan opened her mouth.
I wanted to swear, but I managed to hold it in.
"In your opinion, how should this matter be resolved?"
The old minister said, "First send someone to intimidate them, then appease them."
Show your fist to tell them that what Kangguo did was indeed unfair. We are all educated people who know our place and should apologize when we do wrong. Kangguo has apologized, so you should accept and forgive them; otherwise, you're ungrateful.
The old minister believed that his actions were quite dignified.
This would both save face for Kangguo and quell the trouble.
Qi Shan gave a barely perceptible sneer. The old minister was just old, not deaf. He immediately raised his white eyebrows and demanded, "What do you mean by this, Secretary Qi? If you think there is anything wrong with what I said, just point it out to my face. I am not an unreasonable person!"
Qi Shan said, "There's nothing wrong with it."
He said to Qin Li, "Anyway, I didn't instigate it, and I didn't know anything about it."
Why only criticize him?
If he recommends someone to be held accountable, shouldn't Ning Yan take the blame even more?
Qi Shan glanced at her group of colleagues, each with their own hidden agendas, and quickly saw through them. Envoys naturally have missions, and Li Wan's reckless actions were clearly orchestrated by someone behind the scenes. Judging from her lord's reaction, she was more surprised than delighted; judging from her colleagues' reactions, they were more delighted than surprised. Heh heh heh, the case is solved without even an investigation; they're definitely involved.
Qin Li: "If it wasn't you, then did she act on her own initiative?"
Qi Shan snorted, "Who knows? Could it be that Young Master Qin is having problems in his own backyard without even realizing it?"
Qin Li was angered by Qi Shan's cynical tone.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw the opposing military officer winking at him, his eyelids twitching so hard they almost cramped. Qin Li suddenly realized this, and his fair face stiffened. Seeing him fall silent, Qi Shan's smile became even more unrestrained and arrogant: "Young Master Qin, what do you say?"
Qin Li: "..."
Fortunately, the Lord intervened at this time to smooth things over.
A clear and authoritative female voice quelled the commotion among the officials, possessing an unyielding force: "The matter has come to this point, and there's no point in pursuing it further. Regardless of what Li Wan did, whether it was right or wrong, she is, after all, an envoy from Kang. Even the greatest mistake should be handled by the Ministry of Justice of Kang. How dare outsiders interfere? Tell them that if she dies, well—it's the New Year, and we're just killing time anyway. Don't blame us, the men of Kang, for razing their capital to the ground, adding a bit of festive spirit to this year's bleak atmosphere!"
That's unreasonable! Absolutely unreasonable!
The favoritism and bias have reached an unreasonable level!
Is that unreasonable?
Shen Tang doesn't think so.
She felt she was being very reasonable!
Didn't the other side first send so-called "national gifts" to try and get into her bed, along with a dowry of over twenty people? They talk about the close friendship between the two countries, but what are they really up to? They actually want to exploit her and prevent her from having any offspring!
She's not a man; she can't have multiple partners get pregnant and give birth at the same time. Who will give birth? In the end, it will definitely be her! Giving birth to one child takes a year.
In other words, she can only have a limited number of children in her lifetime.
The fact that so many men were sent over there is because they're taking advantage of her. Give her over twenty men and let them drain her savings; then make her give birth to an heir and take up her work time. With both of these options combined, they can justifiably default on their debts, and Shen Tang can't afford to be unreasonable over a sum of money for worm medicine.
It sounds incredibly shabby, unbecoming of a ruler of a great nation.
If she becomes obsessed with beauty and fails to control herself, indulging in sensual pleasures every day, how can she possibly unify the world? This scheme is truly wicked!
Shen Tang would naturally not let the scheme succeed!
Li Wan's actions were indeed somewhat bizarre, but not entirely incomprehensible. He was just an unmarried imperial son-in-law, not a married one. To put it bluntly, even married men can get divorced.
Even if we take a step back and say that punishing Li Wan is a matter for Kangguo!
Who do they think they are?
"We can't just listen to their side of the story. What does 'eloping' even mean? It's only elopement if it's consensual! Could Li Wan have handled this alone? Didn't the man also agree? So why don't they look for excuses in their own carefully chosen prospective son-in-law? Why are they blaming everything on Li Wan?" Shen Tang stood up and gave the final verdict, saying, "We'll demand him from them! If we can't get him, we'll have to find him ourselves! We need to see him alive or dead. Court adjourned—"
After saying that, he waved his hand and left the DingTalk meeting.
Seeing that the emperor had all left, the ministers also gradually withdrew.
Before Qin Li left, he saw that Zhao Feng's lips were curled up in a smile.
Zhao Feng noticed Qin Li looking at him and his heart skipped a beat. After court, his true form snapped open, grabbed his outer robe from the pile beside him, threw it on, and hurriedly ran outside. As he ran, he followed the lady who had come in to deliver the knife, instructing her, "Madam, if Gong Su comes later, just tell him I took Dawei on a blind date and I'm not home right now. He'll come in a few days!"
"Isn't Dawei stationed abroad?"
Do you think Gong Su would believe this reason?
Zhao Feng doesn't care about anything else.
If Qin Li found out he had gotten involved, he would be in big trouble. Without turning his head, he said, "Don't worry, he believes me!"
This isn't just a way of fooling people.
Zhao Feng is so worried about his daughter Dawei's marriage that he can't sleep at night—the difference in their tastes is too great! He doesn't like the men who are willing to marry into the family; and his daughter dislikes the men he likes! His daughter basically doesn't participate in the matchmaking process, and the men don't want an arranged marriage either. The matchmaker also needs to know about the woman's situation before he can make a marriage proposal, so Zhao Feng takes the lead himself.
Zhao Feng was wearing old clothes left at home by his daughter.
He was a burly man, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a leopard's head and ape's arms, over two meters tall, his muscles so bulging and firm they seemed to stretch his clothes to bursting. A slight lift of his arm could make the fabric ripple: "This is roughly what my daughter looks like!"
The Ice People: [...]
They dared not look at Zhao Feng's full beard, much less at the powder on his thick lips and the two patches of rosy cheeks.
General Zhao Feng was indeed a hero of great vigor and strength.
But his daughter looks like this too—
No wonder she hasn't been able to find a suitable son-in-law after looking for many years.
Upon hearing this, Qin Li remained silent for a long time.
[Does David know you did this?]
Zhao Fengdao: [Dawei knows, she also said that daughters resemble their fathers!]
Qin Li: [...]
Zhao Wei always managed to trick her elderly father into attending the blind dates she couldn't refuse. Therefore, Qin Li would believe Zhao Feng when he said he was going out to help Zhao Wei with her blind dates! Belief aside, Zhao Feng was blocked at his own courtyard wall by a wall of scholarly elegance. The young master Qin, draped in a fluffy white mink coat, asked in a slightly breathless tone, with a nonchalant air, "..."
"Which blind date is Da Yi going to?"
Zhao Feng: "..."
Qin Li tied the man up from the wall and dragged him down.
The sight of two high-ranking officials of Kang State standing face to face on the wall was truly shameful. Qin Li rushed over immediately after court to intercept and interrogate him, and Zhao Feng could not keep the secret from him.
He confessed everything in detail.
Qin Li asked, "How many people? Can you give me a precise number?"
He wanted to know how many officials were secretly stirring up trouble!
Zhao Feng grunted, "Not much, is it?"
Actually, he felt that Li Wan's actions were not a big deal.
It was nothing more than eloping with a prospective imperial son-in-law, a few provocations, and a few street fights. The other side could tolerate it if they wanted, but if not, they'd just flip the table and start a fight. It's not like Kangguo forbids flipping the table!
If you've got the guts, then flip the table and fight!
Zhao Feng whispered, "If it were Old Qian, he might be able to have a fleeting affair with one of the imperial concubines on the other side."
If the Empress Dowager were still charming, it wouldn't be a bad idea.
Qin Li angrily retorted, "Does he dare?"
Zhao Feng: "..."
Qin Li was absolutely furious.
Zhao Feng and the others have been under the Lord's command for far too many years, haven't they? Have they forgotten what it feels like to be feared, suspected, and guarded against?
Because of the lord's trust, military generals must not overstep their bounds!
When love is at its peak, it's a tacit understanding between ruler and subject; when things fall apart, it's seen as acting arbitrarily—all irrefutable evidence for future retribution! Zhao Feng said in a low voice, "After all, the law doesn't punish everyone..."
Qin Li's face almost turned green.
Could Zhao Feng really say, "The law does not punish the masses"?
How many people were involved in this matter and fueled it?
Knowing he was in the wrong, Zhao Feng shrank back. His mountain-like figure looked particularly endearing as he cowered in the air!
While Kang Guo verbally demanded accountability, he had actually begun reorganizing his troops and procuring provisions, with his generals and soldiers already prepared. However, when the story circulated among the common people, it became a different version.
Have you heard?
"What did you hear?"
"Our neighbor actually sent their son-in-law to seduce our envoy, trying to make him betray the country. This is utterly despicable!"
"What? Is that true? Is it real?"
"How could this be false? Don't you know that the other day, the neighbor sent a male tribute to our lord? Isn't that seduction?"
The tribute boy actually seduced the master!
Therefore, they concluded that their imperial son-in-law also seduced the envoy, and now they are even turning around and falsely accusing the envoy of seducing the imperial son-in-law to elope, which is even more hateful! Not only that, they also owe a large sum of money for roundworm medicine and refuse to pay, which is simply despicable!
When everyone found out how much roundworm medicine was owed, they were all shocked.
How can we tolerate this?
This is absolutely intolerable!
Who in Kangguo doesn't know that their lord is the most gentle, kind, and honest man? He only cares about his own little plot of land, spending all year building bridges, roads, and houses. He even nags about things like marital relations, postpartum recovery for mothers, children's education and upbringing, and even whether his children have roundworms in their anus.
In Kangguo, the vast majority of commoners (excluding the former Shiwu and Beimo regions) do not believe that Shen Tang is a tyrannical ruler. Words like "decisive in killing" and "killing without restraint" are simply slander against her!
The common people don't understand the intrigue and power struggles among the bigwigs. They only know what kind of person the king is. Based on the principle of "birds of a feather flock together," most of the officials in Kang Kingdom must also be honest, kind, and easily bullied people!
When something happens, it's always the honest person who gets bullied.
Moreover, it was bullying that they couldn't even express their grievances about!
Meanwhile, the protagonist of the elopement story.
Li Wan countered the man before him with a sword strike, and sneered under the man's shocked and fearful gaze: "You've got brains, but not many!"
The elopement was fake, but the fact that he ran off with her was real.
All you need is the ability to briefly control the mind of someone else.
|ω`)
I put a license plate on my little pineapple, hehe, it's still a 25*0 license plate. Actually, there are 250 numbers out of 50, but I didn't dare to choose it, afraid of getting beaten up.
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