Outside the Palace, Zhao Mansion

Zhao Jingwu looked at the distinguished guest in front of him with a respectful look, then knelt on his knees to receive the bright yellow imperial edict, "I obey your order."

The prince helped him up. "General Zhao, please stand up quickly. This is a serious matter. Please bring more elite soldiers with you."

Zhao Jingwu looked puzzled. Isn't it just to suppress bandits? How many people would be needed to deal with a bunch of rabble? The prince didn't say anything else, but handed him the secret order.

Zhao Jingwu suddenly realized, "I understand."

Late at night, the lights in Qionghua Palace were on brightly, and Concubine Shu's eyes, red and swollen from crying, were fixed on the little baby on the bed.

I was afraid of missing the moment when Yaoyao woke up, and I was even more afraid that she... would never wake up again.

In the space of consciousness

Chu Yaoyao was so anxious that she turned around and around, "System, what's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly drag me in?"

My mother must be very worried.

System: Isn’t it because you, the host, revealed the plot?

System: The host's soul is not from this world. To the world consciousness, you are abnormal data, so they will pay more attention to you. Once you violate the rules of the world, you will be rejected at the very least, or even wiped out at the worst!

It took it a lot of effort to evade the strict defense of the world consciousness and distribute the novice rewards to those people.

"Then what counterattack mission do you want me to do?"

So this is still a high-risk job? Chu Yaoyao squatted on the ground, holding her chin with both hands, and sighed deeply, "Alas."

System: Host, don't be discouraged. As long as the counterattack progress reaches halfway, we can gain the recognition of the world consciousness and no longer need to be so cautious.

Looking at the progress bar that was almost zero, Chu Yaoyao chuckled twice and said, "Thank you." But she didn't feel comforted.

"How long will I be here?"

System: You need to stay in the small dark room for twelve hours.

Hearing this, Yaoyao lay down directly. Staying in this shabby place for half a day? Let it be destroyed.

The palace was quiet late at night, but many people stayed awake all night.

…

Hall of Supreme Harmony

The morning court session began. As soon as Emperor Qixuan sat down, the Minister of War Xiao Wentao stood up.

"Your Majesty, Zhao Jingwu is so late for such an important event in the morning court. He simply does not take Your Majesty seriously and is really a betrayal of the Emperor's grace. Please punish him severely."

The prince silently took a half step back and came.

"Bang!"

Emperor Qixuan slammed his hand on the table and said, "Minister Xiao is well-informed. Why didn't anyone report the serious bandit problem in Xuzhou that burned a lot of good farmland?"

The ministers looked at each other. They really didn't know, but they didn't dare to say it.

So they knelt down and pleaded guilty, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, I am incompetent."

"I have sent Zhao Jingwu to suppress the bandits. Does Minister Xiao have any objection?"

Xiao Wentao's forehead was covered with cold sweat, "I dare not."

"If you have nothing else to do, please leave."

Censor Zhou stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Emperor Qixuan turned the ring on his finger, and it finally came, "Approved."

"I want to impeach Li Yan, the head of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of War, for embezzling food and military pay."

When the prince heard this, he immediately became alert. It turned out that his father wanted to use Censor Zhou to expose Li Yan's corruption.

Emperor Qixuan raised his eyes and looked over, pretending to be puzzled, "Is this really true?"

"Where is Li Yan?"

Li Yan walked out of the team tremblingly.

He originally wanted to use Minister Xiao's hand to flatter Zhao Jingwu in front of the emperor. Yes, it was he who reminded Minister Xiao that Zhao Jingwu was late.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Jingwu was fine, but he was impeached.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent." As he said this, he shook his old official uniform, raised his hand to wipe his tears, revealing his undershirt with sleeves full of patches.

There was a trace of impatience in Emperor Qixuan's eyes. He was so pretentious and noisy. If he had not seen the account book with his own eyes, he would have really been cheated by this man.

"It's not right for Censor Zhou to say anything without evidence. Speaking of which, I heard that Censor Zhou's grandson had an argument with Lord Li on the street a few days ago. I'm afraid it might be..."

Upon hearing this, Censor Zhou took out the memorial and the account book and said, "Here is the evidence, Your Majesty, please take a look."

Emperor Qixuan took the two items presented by Su Maowen. Although he had seen the account book once, the numbers on it were shocking every time he looked at it.

"Bang!" He smashed the memorial directly onto Li Yan's head.

"How dare you! Come! Take Li Yan down and keep him under strict guard! This case will be tried jointly by the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice. Once the embezzled silver is found, behead him in public! If any accomplices are found, they will all be executed!"

As soon as Censor Zhou took out the account book, Xiao Wentao had already returned to his seat in dejection.

However, Censor Zhou did not intend to let him go.

Censor Zhou knelt on the ground with a plop, his face full of grief. "Your Majesty, I have served two generations of monarchs and have worked in the Censorate for decades. I have long sworn that I would never betray the trust of the late emperor and Your Majesty, even if I were to die. I have never abused my power for personal gain or abused my authority. Now Xiao Wentao has actually slandered me for using public tools for personal gain and not distinguishing between public and private!"

As he spoke, Censor Zhou hugged the pillar of the hall and said, "I have been honest and upright all my life, and I will never accept such slander. I am willing to die to show my determination. Today, I will stain the Tai'an Hall with blood! My late emperor, I am here to accompany you!"

Having said that, he was about to hit the pillar.

The incident happened suddenly and the ministers were all terrified.

"Censor Zhou!"

“No way!”

"Minister Xiao is really going too far."

"That's right, we should apologize to Mr. Zhou."

…

Looking at Zhou Chengyuan who was leaning his head against the pillar, and Xiao Wentao who was being pointed at by thousands of people and had a dark face.

Emperor Qixuan felt inexplicably relieved.

This Censor Zhou was indeed loyal to the emperor and patriotic, but he was too rigid.

Even the most trivial matters in the palace would be brought to the court for discussion. As an emperor, this man was in charge of who he favored and how many women he had.

He always threatens to hit someone with a pillar.

But there is nothing we can do to him because he has the imperial sword bestowed by the late emperor, so he cannot be hit or scolded.

Now it is no longer me who is forced into a difficult situation.

Emperor Qixuan's mood was just like drinking a pot of refreshing herbal tea in the hottest days of summer.

So cool!

"cough!"

The show has been watched, and it's his turn to appear.

"Come here, help Lord Zhou up quickly. Censor Zhou's loyalty to the emperor is known to the world. I know this clearly. But it's Minister Xiao."

Emperor Qixuan glanced at Xiao Wentao and said, "You are not able to distinguish right from wrong and defend the treacherous ministers. Considering that you may not be aware of the situation, I order you to plead guilty to Censor Zhou in public and fine you half a year's salary!"

Xiao Wentao pleaded for Li Yan. Was it out of friendship or... Could it be that these two had some kind of collusion? We still need to investigate him.

Then, Emperor Qixuan looked at the man clinging to the pillar and asked, "What do you think, Censor Zhou?"

Xiao Wentao walked over, bowed, and gritted his teeth as he faced the gazes of the courtiers. He said, "I trusted you wrongly and was deceived by you, so I couldn't tell right from wrong. I hope Lord Zhou will forgive me."

Zhou Yushi looked at him and snorted. "Do you think you can clear yourself of all charges? It's no use apologizing. You actually spoke for corrupt officials. There is definitely something wrong with you. I will keep a close eye on you in the future!" The goal was achieved. Emperor Qixuan didn't want to continue watching the intrigues among the court officials. He gave Su Maowen a look.

Su Maowen understood and said loudly: "Withdraw from the court——"

Emperor Qixuan stood up and walked quickly down the stairs, saying, "Hurry up, hurry up, I still have to go see Yaoyao."

After the court was adjourned, Censor Zhou was surrounded by several ministers and walked out.

"Master Zhou is really amazing. We were all fooled by Li Yan. Master Zhou is very perceptive and is a role model for us."

Censor Zhou stroked his graying beard and said, "No, no, I am only serving Your Majesty."

An official asked curiously, "I wonder how Lord Zhou saw through Li Yan's disguise and found the evidence?"

Censor Zhou paused, he didn't know either.

If I tell you that the things were placed on my desk when I woke up, would you believe it? On the other side, Emperor Qixuan and the Crown Prince had just walked to the gate of Qionghua Palace when they heard the cheers of the palace servants.

The little princess wakes up! (End of this chapter)