Chapter 63: The Court Like a Vegetable Market
Concubine Shu also smiled and said, "That's right, all marriages in this world are destined. What is meant to come will come, it's just a matter of time."
The virtuous concubine picked up the bowl and chopsticks again, turned around and asked the Fourth Prince:
"Where's your great-aunt? Has she left?"
"When I came back, my great aunt was taking my father's pulse."
The virtuous concubine suddenly started eating quickly, thinking that she would find Li Yueyao to ask her clearly later.
When Concubine Xian arrived at Taiji Palace, she heard that Li Yueyao had already left.
He sat aside feeling very lost.
The emperor saw her coming and asked curiously, "What do you want from my aunt?"
The virtuous concubine looked up at the emperor and said mysteriously, "Your Majesty, I have discovered a secret of my aunt."
The emperor smiled and said, "Oh, what secret?"
"You know that the Right Prime Minister has a sweetheart he's been looking for for ten years, right?"
The emperor nodded, and then said, "Could this person be Aunt Jinyang?"
The virtuous concubine was surprised when she heard this and asked, "How did you know?"
The emperor took the book in his hand, tapped the virtuous concubine on the forehead and said:
"You call this a secret? I already knew it."
The virtuous concubine knew everything when she met the emperor, but she herself was unaware of her feelings.
Well, I still regard Li Yueyao as my best friend, but she didn’t let me be the first to know about such a big thing.
I will make her look good when we meet tomorrow.
The virtuous concubine turned to look at the emperor and asked, "How did your majesty know this?"
"My aunt has always loved looking at beautiful women, both men and women, since she was little.
How could the handsome Right Prime Minister escape the eyes of my aunt?
But you also know that my aunt just likes to watch and has never thought of taking her for herself, otherwise she wouldn't be still unmarried.
The Right Prime Minister was the same, often going in and out of singing houses and taverns, but he was never seen bringing any woman into the palace.
A few days ago, my aunt frequently mentioned the Right Prime Minister. Although she was talking about something related to the court, I just felt that they were up to something."
The virtuous concubine looked at the emperor who was swearing so confidently in front of her and wondered when did this damn man become so smart?
The emperor continued, "My aunt is as wooden as a log and doesn't understand romance. I wonder what tricks the Right Prime Minister must have used.
I heard these two have been hanging out together a lot lately.”
Xian Fei nodded and said, "Heng'er said that the relationship between the two of them felt sticky today.
Do you think it could be Junior Master-Uncle..."
The emperor shook his head after hearing this and said: "If there is any trouble between the two of them, it is more likely that my aunt will take action."
The virtuous concubine pondered for a moment and said, "Well, my junior uncle is very cunning and will definitely not make the first move.
I must get my aunt drunk first, and then let her take the initiative."
The emperor laughed and said, "Aunt's drinking habits... are truly beyond words."
The virtuous concubine laughed when she heard this: "The best hunters often appear as their prey.
My junior uncle is well versed in this."
The emperor smiled and said, "I dreamt of my father a few days ago, and he talked about my aunt's marriage.
I have thought about it carefully, and this Right Prime Minister is worthy of my aunt in terms of appearance, family background, intelligence and talent.
If they can succeed, it would be a good marriage."
The virtuous concubine nodded after hearing this.
The two people the emperor and his concubine were talking about were each preparing in their own residences for the grand court meeting on the tenth day.
One was busy organizing people to write a letter of impeachment.
Another person was arranging secret guards to investigate the background of people from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works.
Very busy.
The next morning, Concubine Xian came to Taiji Palace to block Li Yueyao, but Li Yueyao did not enter the palace today.
The next day is the tenth day, when the grand court meeting will last from the hour of Mao to a little after the hour of Si.
Several elderly and frail ministers could not bear it and fainted in the middle of the meeting.
The grand court ceremony only took half an hour, and the remaining two hours were spent by the ministers in the court attacking each other.
First, the Dali Temple impeached the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue for obstructing the investigation and having illegal intentions.
Li Yueyao had already discussed this matter with His Majesty. The emperor was immediately angry and reprimanded Qi Zhuo, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and ordered him to assist the Dali Temple in solving the case as soon as possible.
What happened afterwards was completely beyond Li Yueyao's expectations.
The people from the Censorate were impeaching people like crazy.
Let’s first talk about the white bone case that happened during the Qingming Festival in the Dali Temple. The case has not been closed for a long time, and the Dali Temple Minister was impeached for occupying the position without doing anything.
He then said that the Ministry of War's serious military expenditure had led to an empty treasury, and impeached the Minister of War for suspected corruption and dereliction of duty.
In the meantime, he impeached the Ministry of Personnel for favoring candidates from the south in this year's imperial examinations, and suspected that the chief examiner had accepted bribes and was suspected of cheating.
In the end, the spearhead was directed at Feng Shenyu, who was impeached for forming a clique for personal gain, abusing his power for personal gain, lacking personal morals, and being unworthy of being in the court.
The emperor and Li Yueyao were sitting at the top, both stunned.
According to the impeachment of the Censorate, half of the key officials in the six ministries of the court need to be removed.
The impeached person immediately came out to refute and impeach the people in the Censorate for a lot of dirty things.
Originally, the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice were neutral in the court and generally did not impeach people blindly.
But now the Censorate is right in front of me and if I don’t refute it, I will appear too weak.
So the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice dug up all the dirty cases they could remember about the Censorate, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Left Prime Minister, and impeached them in the court.
The two sides were fighting in a melee, and Li Yueyao and the emperor had no chance to get a word in.
The emperor felt dizzy from the noise. Li Yueyao was shocked at first, but as she listened, she saw Feng Shenyu watching the show leisurely below.
So I adjusted my mindset and looked at the current situation as if it were a play.
He glanced at the left prime minister Gao Hongchen with a gloomy face and a slight twitch of his mouth, as if he was cursing someone in his heart.
Finally, the old Grand Tutor Zong could no longer stand and was about to faint, and the court fell silent.
The emperor summoned the imperial physician to examine the old Grand Tutor.
Li Yueyao saw that the emperor was also exhausted, so she said:
"My dear ministers, this morning court session is too long.
Your Majesty is in poor health. If you have any memorials to make, please submit them to the Taiji Palace in the form of memorials."
After saying that, he glanced at Sun Fu.
Sun Fu stepped forward and shouted, "Dismiss the court."
Then he helped the emperor back to Taiji Palace, and Li Yueyao followed.
The court officials were divided into three groups, and the neutral group left first.
The remaining two groups looked down on each other and just left.
The Left Prime Minister looked at Fengshenyu with a sinister look and said, "It seems that the Right Prime Minister's strength should not be underestimated."
Feng Shenyu crossed her arms and smiled, "Must-do."
After sitting upright for more than two hours during the last morning court session, Li Yueyao felt like her waist was about to break.
After accompanying the emperor back to Taiji Palace, Li Yueyao collapsed in the rocking chair.
"Your Majesty, are you always this tired during every grand court meeting?"
The emperor was also very tired, and followed Li Yueyao's example and collapsed on the recliner.
Closing his eyes, he sighed comfortably: "No, this is the first time."
Seeing that both of them were very tired, the young eunuch hurried to serve tea and water.
When Concubine Xian arrived, she saw the two men lying like this, as if their skin had been peeled off and their tendons were pulled out.
"Why are you so tired?" asked the virtuous concubine.
"Alas...it's hard to put it into words. Today's morning court session is just like the vegetable market on the main street..."
Li Yueyao answered tiredly.
As soon as she answered, Li Yueyao's stomach started to growl.
Upon seeing this, Concubine Xian quickly arranged for someone to prepare meals.
After the meal was served, Li Yueyao was very hungry and concentrated on eating.
The virtuous concubine took care of the two of them, picking up dishes and serving soup.
"It seems that the Censorate and the Left Prime Minister in the court today planned this in advance, and they just threw a lot of punches."
The emperor heard this and said, "It seems that the Right Prime Minister is well prepared. We fought back and forth, but he didn't lose the upper hand."
"The people from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice are very clever and have good brains. They dug up the entire family history of those censors."
Li Yueyao laughed again as she spoke: "Today is just the beginning. There will be more excitement to come."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com