Chapter 87

Lin Nanqi couldn't help but ask, "Sir Huang, did your wife know that she has warned you time and again not to go to brothels to drink wine? Not to have affairs with other women or have mistresses? Did she tell you that if you do it again, she would definitely not treat you with respect?"

Huang Qian was stunned: "What did you say?"

His wife?

Sun Yunhai was also stunned, but he reacted very quickly and said immediately: "Yes, it is true! I have heard about it too!"

"Last month, I went to Huang's house and happened to see Huang Qian's wife, Yun, scolding him with a whip!"

Zheng Yongnian's beard twitched.

"What? It turned out that his wife hired someone to beat him up?"

All the civil and military officials present had expressions of shock. This was a tigress!

With this said, everything becomes complete.

He went to a brothel to pick up an Oiran, but was discovered by the madam, who hired someone to beat him up to vent her anger.

For fear of freezing, they moved the people to the pile of firewood.

Although it is not freezing cold at night in July, the concern is real.

Afraid that the bleeding from his head would not stop, he quietly stopped the bleeding.

Although he is ferocious, he still cares about the relationship between husband and wife.

Come to think of it, apart from my own wife, who else could have such complicated thoughts?

When he looked at Huang Qian again, he suddenly felt that the beating was not unfair!

However, some people thought that Huang Qian's wife, Yun, was too fierce. Tao Chongde, who had just impeached Lin Nanjie, stepped forward and said, "This ignorant lady is simply despicable! It is said that the husband is the rule of the wife, but she actually did not observe the wife's code of conduct and hired a thug to beat her husband. She should be severely punished and it would not be too much to divorce her!"

Huang Qian's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he immediately said, "I beg Your Majesty to help me. My wife is really vicious, and I am just a scholar, so I can't beat her. If Your Majesty can help me get a divorce, I will be very grateful!"

It was the first time that Li Chenghuan had heard such an absurd request for permission.

Before he opened his mouth, Lin Nanjie's eyes widened and blurted out: "Your Majesty! I will exercise the duties of the Left Assistant Military Governor."

As soon as Li Chenghuan saw Lin Nanjie's expression, he knew there was something else going on. He immediately sat up straight and said, "My dear minister, please speak."

Lin Nanjie walked up to Huang Qian, expressionless, and said in a thunderous voice: "I want to impeach Mr. Huang!"

The entire court was silent for a moment, and Huang Qian's face was full of disbelief.

"Impeach me?"

Tao Chongde, who was standing behind, couldn't bear the sight of Huang Qian with his eyes bruised and blood on his face. He had always disliked Lin Nan, and now he had found a reason.

He took a step forward and said, "Master Lin is so cruel. Master Huang has fallen into such a state, and you still want to impeach him?"

Lin Nanqi's expression was not affected at all by Tao Chongde's words. Instead, he said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Yes, I want to impeach Mr. Huang for three reasons."

The civil and military officials looked at each other in bewilderment and immediately began to discuss in low voices.

Not just impeachment, but three charges?

Tao Chongde pointed at Lin Nanjie and said, "You are fabricating charges!"

Everyone looked at you with contempt. You clearly wanted to give three reasons why Lin Nanjie couldn't be an official.

Li Chenghuan, who was sitting on the dragon chair, suddenly spoke up: "Let Lin Nanjie finish speaking."

The court then fell silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on Lin Nanjie.

Lin Nanjie stood tall and straight like jade, his eyes fixed straight ahead: "First, Lord Huang is an official appointed by the court, but he had an argument with Lord Sun in a brothel. In public, it undermines the dignity and solemnity of an official appointed by the court, and also undermines the dignity of the court."

No one expressed any objection to this.

It is indeed disgraceful.

Even Sun Yunhai honestly admitted his fault: "Lord Lin is right. I was reckless last night and damaged the dignity of Daqi officials. I am willing to accept the punishment."

Huang Qian had no choice but to follow suit and said, "I am also willing to be punished."

Lin Nanjie said, "Secondly, Mr. Huang is a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Personnel, with a monthly salary of 20 taels of silver. The minimum amount of money required to compete for the most beautiful lady in Ningxiang Pavilion is 200 taels of silver, which is more than Mr. Huang's annual salary. May I ask where this money comes from?"

Huang Qian snorted coldly: "Anyway, it wasn't stolen, robbed, or embezzled!"

Lin Nan laughed: "It was definitely not stolen, but it came as a dowry from your wife's family!"

As soon as Lin Nanjie spoke, Huang Qian was shocked and his face turned red.

How come Lin Nanjie even knows this?

Lin Nanjie continued, "Your grandfather, Mr. Huang, was once an official at the rank of Minister, but after he passed away, the family fell into poverty and all the family wealth was squandered. You passed the imperial examination and became a sixth-rank official, but the monthly salary of 20 taels was not enough for you to squander. So you managed to marry the daughter of a wealthy businessman in Yangzhou and received a dowry of over 10,000 taels. After the marriage, you invited your colleagues to dinner every now and then, and you also held a banquet at home once a month, not to mention that you would visit brothels from time to time, drink wine, and compete for the courtesan! You even wanted to buy the courtesan's body and keep her as a foster child! But you wasted your time on your pregnant wife at home!"

"It's a pity that your pregnant wife couldn't stand it any longer. She was so upset that she wanted to teach you a lesson."

"The third is that Mr. Huang is ungrateful and only cares about his own enjoyment, not his family at all. He even took his wife's dowry to give gifts everywhere, held banquets, and entangled officials. He is unrighteous as a husband and dishonest as an official!"

After hearing these three accusations, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were all surprised, amazed, puzzled, and disgusted. They didn't expect Huang Qian to be such a person, using his wife's dowry to do such a shameless thing. His wife was still pregnant, but he went out to spend money on wine and women.

Before Huang Qian got married, he was still an eighth-rank official who had never even stepped into the imperial palace. He was an honest man and was praised by the cabinet minister.

Unexpectedly, after getting married, he married the daughter of a wealthy businessman from Jiangnan and became extravagant, giving gifts everywhere. In just one year, he was promoted twice.

To be honest, my wife has made an indelible contribution!

I didn't expect that this is how he would treat his pregnant wife.

Oh yeah, what did he just say?

Want to divorce your wife???

What a jerk!!!

Huang Qian's face turned red and white. All his family assets were revealed by Lin Nanjie. It was as if he had been stripped in front of the emperor and all the civil and military officials.

"You...you are talking nonsense!"

Huang Qian argued cunningly, "You are slandering me. This is my family affair. What evidence do you have to prove that what you said is true? You were just a eunuch before. I'm afraid you don't understand the rules of the previous dynasty. Don't talk nonsense here."

Sun Yunhai was almost dragged into the water, but fortunately Lin Nanjie came out to speak, clearing him of suspicion. He couldn't bear to see Huang Qian's cunning excuses: "You can even use marriage to exchange for money, and you still dare not admit it! Even my family has heard about your mother-in-law abusing her."

"Your Huang family looks glamorous on the outside, but in reality it is just relying on the reputation of the late master to hold on. Poor Yun, she left her hometown and married to the capital, thinking it was a good marriage, but who knew she would meet a heartless husband like you, how pitiful!"

In addition to Sun Yunhai, several other people came forward to testify.

Huang Qian simply couldn't raise his head.

Li Chengzhen spoke slowly: "It seems that what Lord Lin said is absolutely true. Huang Qian will be fined one year's salary and his behavior during his tenure as the head of the Ministry of Personnel will be investigated. If he violates the laws of Daqi, has a bad moral character, or accepts bribes from his superiors, he will be removed from office and punished according to the law!"

"If the Yun family wants to divorce, they can report it to Shuntian Prefecture and grant the divorce, and the Huang family must double the dowry."

Huang Qian's face suddenly turned pale and he knelt down to beg for mercy.

"Your Majesty, please spare my life! I will never dare to do it again!"

Li Chengqian turned a blind eye and ordered people to take him away.

After the Huang Qian incident, no one dared to question whether Lin Nanjie was qualified to be the Zuo Qiandu Shi.

Lin Nanjie knew so many things on his first day on the job. Not only did he know about the competition for the most beautiful lady in Ningxiang Pavilion last night, he also knew such private family matters as Mr. Huang's entire life depended on his wife for his dowry.

Could it be that because he was once a eunuch, he is particularly well-informed?

What's more, the emperor did this on purpose!

After much deliberation, the ministers finally came to the conclusion:

You must not offend Lin Nanjie!

If the emperor lets him be the Zuo Qiandu Shi, then he should just do it. Who cares if he does it?

Li Chengqian did not forget to look at Tao Chongde: "My dear Tao, you haven't finished your third point just now."

Tao Chongde trembled and said, "Your humble servant, I take back what I just said. Lord Lin is indeed worthy of the position of Zuo Qiandu Yushi."

After the court session ended, the ministers knelt down in unison to see the emperor off respectfully.

Li Chenghuan stood up from the dragon body and fixed his eyes precisely on Lin Nanjie in the crowd.

Today is the Lesser Heat solar term, the weather in the capital is hot, the sun is rising outside, and it is already visibly fierce. The lychee ice cream in the kitchen is very good, Li Chengqian got up early and ordered it to be made, it is estimated that it will be ready soon.

When he was in Qianzhou, Lin Nanjie was afraid of the heat, so he should like this ice cheese.

Thinking of this, a slight smile appeared on Li Chenghuan's lips.

The ministers were kneeling on the ground, with their heads down and mist all over their faces.

Why did the emperor stop and not leave?

Those who were brave enough raised their heads and saw that the emperor had just stood up from the dragon throne, walked two steps, stopped, and looked down.

Following the Emperor's line of sight -

Oh, isn’t that Mr. Lin… Lord Lin?

Not to mention that the emperor had a smile on his lips, his eyes were gentle, and he looked in a very good mood.

Is Lord Lin's face blooming? Does he look so happy?

Lin Nanjie knelt there, feeling uneasy.

[There are so many people watching, why are you staring at me? ]

[What are you laughing at? This is really suspicious! ]

【Go, go, go, go, go! 】

Under Lin Nanjie's constant urging, Li Chengzhen finally spoke: "The weather is hot, and I appreciate your hard work. I will give you breakfast."

"Thank God for your grace!"

In the corridor of the main hall, the sun was not yet very strong and there was a slight heat. However, all the heat disappeared when the eunuch in charge of the kitchen presented delicious dishes one after another.

The eunuch in charge said, "The emperor understands the hard work of the ministers and has specially ordered the kitchen to prepare a richer meal. Please enjoy your meal."

The ministers said in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

This breakfast was extremely sumptuous. It included bird's nest porridge and lotus seed soup, as well as osmanthus cake, jujube paste cake, and stewed chicken soup. The ministers quickly sat down, led by Feng Yuanxiu and other elders.

Lin Nanqi was about to sit down when a young eunuch suddenly walked up to him and whispered, "The Emperor invites Master Lin to come over."

Lin Nanjie's knees, which had just bent halfway, stood up again in an instant: "The Emperor is looking for me?"

"Exactly."

The people around him also noticed the commotion, so Lin Nanqi had no choice but to say, "I'm sorry I can't accompany you."

Feng Yuanxiu smiled and said, "Since it is the Emperor who is looking for you, then go quickly and don't waste time."

Lin Nanjie had no choice but to follow the palace maid and leave in full view of everyone.

Arriving at the Purple Palace, Li Chengzhen pushed everyone away, pulled Lin Nanjie aside and said, "Today is the first day of court. How do you feel?"

Lin Nanjie: "There is a lot to learn from my colleagues."

After saying that, Lin Nanqi cast a resentful look at Li Chenghuan: "Why did you suddenly call me over? I wanted to have breakfast with the ministers and see what they usually talk about so that I can learn from them."

Li Chengqian laughed out loud: "There is a long way to go."