Chapter 244 Using a Stratagem to Our advantage, going with the flow
Standing on the throne, Li Yi looked at the Crown Prince kneeling in the center and squeezed his eyes shut several times.
This was so sudden.
Just a moment ago, Li Yi was still immersed in the glory of his great achievements.
In that instant, it felt like falling from the clouds, leaving my head buzzing.
He raised his hand and pointed at the top of the prince's head: "Say it again?" Then, he pursed his lips, "Have you thought it through?"
These words have a hidden meaning.
At that moment, Li Jin turned around and glanced at Prime Minister Zhao.
He looked bewildered and confused. Clearly, he hadn't quite recovered from this sudden and unexpected turn of events.
Everyone in the court knew that there was a marriage agreement between the Crown Prince and the eldest daughter of Prime Minister Zhao.
The Crown Prince, who is usually meticulous and always strives for victory, suddenly did something so mad at this juncture...
Li Jin narrowed his eyes slightly.
Glancing at the Crown Prince kneeling on the ground without uttering a word, and then at Li Yi, whose face was ashen on the dragon throne, he lowered his eyes, decided to play along, and chuckled softly: "Your Highness is truly a man of deep feelings, even discussing matters of the heart during the grand court assembly."
He deliberately leaned towards the Crown Prince and said with a smile, "Your Highness, it seems a bit inappropriate for her to bring a half-grown boy with her to marry into your Crown Prince's residence."
A boy who's not quite grown up yet?
The prince paused, remaining motionless.
Li Jin, putting on a convincing act, smiled broadly and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty, I have no intention of breaking up this loving couple. Please don't get agitated." Then, he raised his voice slightly, "But... hasn't Lord Yan mentioned to Your Majesty whose son that boy is?"
Li Jin deliberately kept everyone in suspense, clicking his tongue repeatedly: "If I were Your Highness, I would be afraid to sleep at night."
After speaking, Li Jin, without waiting for the officials to react or for the Crown Prince to respond, flicked his sleeves, crossed his arms, bowed respectfully, and said in a clear and resonant voice, "Your subject humbly requests Your Majesty to issue an edict, granting me, Jin Shu, the coroner of the Six Doors, the reinstatement of my official position, and allowing me to take up my post immediately."
Inside the main hall, before all the officials, Li Yi stood with his hands clasped, his eyebrows raised high.
His gaze swept over his two sons, and the surge of anger that had rushed to his head earlier had mostly subsided.
"The Crown Prince is still preoccupied with personal feelings during the grand court assembly. What kind of behavior is this!" Li Yi's voice was extremely deep. "I order you to immediately confine yourself to your quarters and reflect on your mistakes. You are not to step out of the Eastern Palace even once."
After saying this, he completely ignored the petitions from Xu Weiyou and Zhao Wencheng. After a moment's thought, he said, "Jin Shu, the youngest daughter of the Jin family, is exceptionally intelligent and has made outstanding contributions. Although she is disguised as a man, she is wholeheartedly pursuing fairness in the world, which I deeply admire. I hereby order the Ministry of Personnel to seriously consider and reward her, and reinstate her to her original position so that she can take office immediately."
At this point, the courtiers shouted "Your Majesty is wise!", thus ending the Crown Prince's carefully orchestrated scheme.
Crown Prince Li Jing of the Great Wei Dynasty, believing he had everything under control, and taking Yan Zhao as his son, outmaneuvered Li Jin at the morning court session after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Little did they know that they were already on someone else's chessboard, and every move they made was being calculated.
When the imperial edict, which embodied the will of the people, was read aloud in front of the palace gates, the ordinary people who had been kneeling by the roadside for two or three hours expressed their admiration for this prosperous era and their reverence for the emperor with their most sincere wishes and their most genuine voices.
The cheers, like rolling waves, surged towards the end of the Taiji Hall plaza.
Li Jin stepped over the threshold, lifting the hem of his robe, holding the imperial edict in one hand, and walked briskly at the forefront of the assembled officials.
He paused for a moment when he saw Jin Shu kneeling outside the hall.
Ten meters apart, yet it feels like another world.
Li Jin pursed her lips slightly, raised her hand to straighten her clothes, and for a moment she didn't know what kind of expression to use.
Then Liu Cheng'an, standing behind him, nudged him with his elbow: "What's with all the fuss, Your Highness Prince Jing?"
Li Jin turned around in surprise, meeting Liu Cheng'an's disappointed gaze.
"Oh dear, an imperial decree!" Liu Cheng'an smirked. "Or, shall I go in your place?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jin subconsciously pulled the imperial edict aside, glanced at Liu Cheng'an up and down, and then turned and walked towards Jin Shu.
He stopped in front of her. Li Jin, who had not lost heart all afternoon, was now slightly trembling as he held up the imperial edict.
Only after the words "So be it" were uttered did Li Jin reach out to help her up. After listening to the congratulations from the officials, he glanced at her face and asked in a low voice, "How long have you been listening here?"
Jin Shu touched the tip of her nose: "From beginning to end."
Li Jin was stunned, a slight blush rising to her cheeks. Her voice carried a hint of anger as she complained, "Who came up with this terrible idea, making you kneel here in the cold winter wind?!"
The crowd that had been surrounding them had vanished without a trace.
After Li Jin finished speaking, he looked around but couldn't find a way to back down.
Jin Shu sighed and turned to walk out of the hall: "My tea ceremony skills are poor. The prince is almost giving up tea. It's my fault." She smiled and said, "From now on, let Lord Zhou make tea for the prince."
Li Jin, dressed in a black court robe, stepped forward and glanced at her: "You can learn."
“That’s not what His Highness said in the hall just now.”
“The palace is the palace, and the Six Doors is the Six Doors.” Li Jin frowned, speaking seriously. “Making tea will also be one of your duties from now on.”
Before Jin Shu could reply, he added, "Now that you are a female official, your duties are subject to performance evaluation."
"Huh?" Jin Shu was taken aback, but seeing Li Jin walking forward without stopping, in a great mood, she quickly followed. "Your Highness, what are you doing..."
"If I fail the assessment, my monthly salary will definitely be reduced by a few taels of silver." Li Jin shook his head, spread his hands, and said helplessly, "I am also in a difficult position regarding the Ministry of Personnel's requirements."
After saying that, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Looking at him, Jin Shu's lips twitched.
Behind them, after the officials had dispersed, Li Yi stood at the entrance of the main hall, his hands behind his back, watching the two leaving side by side. He smiled, as if he were seeing himself and Consort Xiao thirty years ago.
Eunuch Chen stood to the side, holding the medicine prepared by the imperial physician. Following his gaze, he looked over and after a moment, lowered his eyes and said, "After this incident, His Highness Prince Jing is in the limelight." He paused, "His Majesty is truly wise."
In the cold wind, Li Yi turned around and walked towards the study.
As he walked, he said, "The most prominent moment is often accompanied by the deepest and most dangerous killing intent."
He stopped and looked toward the East Palace.
These two princes are equally matched in terms of political acumen and cunning, each possessing their own unique strengths.
However, when it comes to methods, the upright and honest Prince Jing may not be able to defeat the ruthless and vicious Crown Prince.
Having suffered such a major setback at the grand court assembly, the Crown Prince will definitely not sit idly by and let it go.
"But Your Highness, why did you still drag Mr. Jin into this at the last moment?" Eunuch Chen asked, standing behind him, puzzled. "Wouldn't saying something like 'one night' completely enrage Prince Jing?"
"Hmph." Li Yi felt a pang of heartache at this thought and let out a long sigh.
He was truly furious. A prince, and the crown prince at that, had actually ruined a young woman's reputation with just a few words for his own purposes.
That's so mean!
"He's too smart!" Li Yi sneered.
“If Jin Shu enters the Eastern Palace, and Prince Jing wants to dig up the case from six years ago to punish someone, it will inevitably implicate Jin Shu, making him feel constrained.” He paused. “Even if she doesn’t enter the Eastern Palace, this move in court will be enough to disgust Prince Jing for half his life, leaving him with a lingering resentment.”
He took a deep breath, took the medicine from Eunuch Chen's hand, and drank a big gulp: "He won't lose out by doing this."
Li Yi took the handkerchief and dabbed it on his lips: "But the only mistake was that the opponent we encountered was that Prince Jing."
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