Qin Yu made his decision immediately.
"A risky move!" He then whispered, "From here on out, do this..."
Upon hearing the emperor's plan, Zhu Fei was greatly alarmed.
"Isn't this a bit too risky?"
Qin Yu sneered and remained silent.
Seeing the emperor's reaction, Zhu Fei's heart sank.
Too.
You can't get anything done if you're timid and hesitant.
With a determined look on his face, he bowed and accepted the order.
"This humble general will certainly handle it well!"
After Zhu Fei left, Qin Yu went straight to the Empress's palace.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yan was sullenly rolling a cigarette in the palace.
Looking at her beautiful back, Qin Yu felt a little restless and quietly walked in.
Suddenly, he attacked from behind, grabbing Zhao Yan and his wicked hands began to roam.
"Ah! Your Majesty!"
The latter let out a cry of surprise, but upon seeing that it was the emperor, he showed some joy, yet deliberately feigned anger and turned his head away.
"Your Majesty, you've been very busy these past few days, unable to even spare the evenings. There's no need to waste your time on me."
"Yan'er, what are you saying?"
Qin Yu knew that he had been so busy these past two days that he hadn't been able to spend much time with Zhao Yan, and that the girl was probably angry.
Are you angry with me?
"Yan'er wouldn't dare."
"Then why are you still rolling cigarettes for me?"
Qin Yu smiled and skillfully put the rolled cigarette on the table into his mouth, lit it, took a deep drag, and then pushed her down.
"Hehe...Didn't you complain that I didn't spend enough time with you? Now I'll spend all my time with you."
After saying this, he began to distribute silver in broad daylight.
Once the emperor entered his bedchamber, he didn't come out for two whole days!
At dawn, Anfu's familiar voice rang out once again.
But the emperor did not appear for a long time.
"Everyone may return. His Majesty is unwell. The memorials will continue to be submitted. Once His Majesty is fully recovered, they will be reviewed and dealt with!"
The group of officials felt they had gotten up very early, but arrived late.
New officials who had never experienced this before were still wondering why the emperor didn't hold morning court sessions, but the veteran officials were already used to it.
Feeling unwell?
fart.
That's because he played with women in the harem too much, and he couldn't even get up for the morning court session!
He left the palace after court.
Weng Tonghe went straight to Sima Lie.
"Prime Minister, His Majesty has missed the morning court session for two days."
A hint of disdain appeared on the latter's face. "Hmph... Sima Jing has already reported that the tyrant is keeping himself locked up in the Empress's palace day and night, indulging in pleasure."
Upon hearing this, Weng Tonghe immediately hatched a wicked plan.
"In that case, shouldn't we take some action? After all, wasn't Song Zhenglian's current status and position all given to him by that tyrannical emperor?"
The thought that the poor, lowly official had suddenly been elevated to the same status as himself filled Weng Tonghe with intense resentment.
Even before going to bed at night, he would still have to curse Song Zhenglian a few times.
Sima Lie knew that Weng Tonghe was angry, so he immediately asked him about it.
"What do you want to do?"
"......"
Although the imperial court gave reasons for charging examination fees and registration fees for the imperial examinations, this fee was unprecedented in the past thousand years.
Even in the poorest of times, the imperial court would never charge these candidates a single penny.
It should be noted that many candidates traveled long distances to take the imperial examination in Beijing. Some even traveled from their distant southern hometowns, crossing most of the country, to reach the capital six months in advance.
The journey had already cost a considerable amount of money, and now that they had arrived in the capital, they heard that they would have to spend even more money on the exams, which immediately caused great resentment among some of them.
Now, rumors are spreading, and a message has suddenly appeared among the test takers.
The eight taels of silver for the examination papers in the imperial examinations were collected on the advice of Song Zhenglian!
With the imperial examinations approaching, the candidates, who were usually studying in restaurants, are now gathering in large groups at banquets.
Their expressions were all filled with righteous indignation, and each one was full of passion and fervor.
"Eight taels of silver! That's eight taels!"
"We can tolerate the fees, but he even said that serfs could take the exam. Gentlemen, can we tolerate this?"
"Yes! Those lowly peasants and serfs are being compared to us scholars? This is a blatant insult!"
"I used to respect him as a learned and respected senior! Now, I spit on him! He'll stop at nothing to enrich that tyrannical emperor..."
"......"
No matter how many people gathered, the topics of discussion were always similar: first, they complained about the cost of the exam papers, and then they used the superiority complex of scholars to criticize the fact that farmers could take the exam.
The final blame was all pointed at Song Zhenglian!
By the next day, the candidates' anger had reached an unbelievable level.
A large number of candidates gathered in front of the Imperial College.
"Strike back on the exam! Let's strike back on the exam!"
"That corrupt official is wreaking havoc on the court! He disregards us scholars and deserves to die!"
"As long as Song Zhenglian remains in office, we will not be able to take the imperial examinations!"
The boycott of the exam shocked the court and the public, and the officials discussed it extensively in the court the following day.
But the emperor still did not appear today.
An uneasy atmosphere pervaded the court, and the indignant voices of the examinees could even be faintly heard.
Sima Lie and Weng Tonghe exchanged a smile. They were not flustered at all, because they had deliberately spread this rumor, and the outcome of the whole event was also driven by them.
Anfu announced as usual that the emperor was unwell, but at this moment, Sima Lie spoke up directly to report.
"The students' strike is no ordinary matter; Your Majesty, please step in and resolve it!"
Anfu feigned innocence and waved his hands.
"But His Majesty is currently bedridden and unable to handle the situation."
"Can't handle it?" Sima Lie chuckled coldly, turned his head, and looked at the assembled officials.
"So how should we handle the boycott now? And what should we do about the candidates' demands for the dismissal and punishment of Song Zhenglian?"
Sima Lie's faction of ministers immediately understood the meaning and spoke out one after another.
"Punish Song Zhenglian! Dismiss Song Zhenglian!"
Sima Lie turned his head again, and said with a hint of pride, "Eunuch An, you see? This is the will of the officials."
The latter replied helplessly, "I understand, and I will report to His Majesty as soon as possible."
After announcing the end of the court session, Anfu rushed to the Empress's palace in a panic.
The palace was filled with the aroma of hot pot, and Zhao Yan's melodious laughter echoed throughout.
Qin Yu lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and felt quite content.
That tyrant's life is so good!
If the Great Xia Dynasty I transmigrated to hadn't had so many problems, I would have lived like this every day.
Just then, Anfu rushed in and immediately reported the candidates' strike.
"What should we do, Your Majesty? Sima Lie has now mobilized all the officials, demanding that Your Majesty punish and dismiss Song Zhenglian!"
"Judging from this situation, if you don't take any action soon, Sima Lie will order his men to deal with Song Zhenglian!"
Sima Lie wielded immense power and was incredibly audacious. If the emperor didn't respond soon, he might actually do just that.
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