There were two days off for the Lantern Festival. During the first morning court session after the festival, all officials discovered something strange. Lady Mu from the Ministry of Revenue seemed to have become more beautiful, and not just a little bit more beautiful. Everyone was stunned at the first sight of her. Although she was wearing the same official robes and had the same low eyebrows and pleasing appearance, she was indescribably charming. They couldn't help but wonder if they were blind before, why did they think she was plain?
Mu Zhuohua was secretly looked at, and she could only smile bitterly in her heart. The Queen Mother had revealed her secret, and His Majesty also knew about it. If she disguised herself again to cover it up, His Majesty and the Queen Mother would only think that she had ulterior motives. She had no choice but to give up the disguise and just draw her eyebrows a little sharper, with less girlish tenderness. However, the girl who had just experienced sex had a charming and romantic look between her eyebrows, and this three points of spring color was enough to melt seven feet of ice.
Everyone was talking secretly, and suddenly they saw a dark purple person striding in from the door. The King of State had a cold face, as if he was not prepared, and immediately suppressed everyone's discussion. All the officials looked at each other, secretly wondering who had offended the King of State. He seemed to be half a quarter of an hour later than usual today.
As soon as Liu Yan entered the door, he saw a petite figure in the crowd. She folded her hands in front of her, smiling, and her behavior was no different from usual, but her beautiful face attracted everyone's attention. She said nothing, but she seemed to be in the center of the vortex. Liu Yan was waiting for her to go to court together this morning. The carriage waited for a long time, but there was no sign of Mu Zhuohua. He thought Mu Zhuohua was unwell, so he sent Zhimo to ask, only to find out that she had already entered the palace. It was obvious that she was hiding from him. Liu Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, his heart was a little blocked. He was thinking about how to "teach" her with a gloomy face all the way. He heard the men's discussions before he entered the door, and his anger became even stronger. But when he saw her watery eyes, his anger was instantly extinguished.
Only a sigh remained.
Mu Zhuohua lowered her head and dared not look at him, for fear that she would reveal her emotions if she opened her mouth or raised her eyes. Liu Yan walked to her side and stopped. No one dared to look directly at Liu Yan, but he took this opportunity to cover her in his shadow, and with the wide sleeves as a cover, he quietly held her hand.
Mu Zhuohua froze for a moment, but did not dare to move too much, for fear of attracting other people's attention.
The man pinched her palm maliciously, and the numb and itchy feeling made half of her body numb, and her breathing became disordered. She couldn't help swallowing her saliva and lowering her head, for fear that others would notice her abnormality.
Liu Yan lowered his voice and said in a low voice that only the two of them could hear: "Wait for me after the court is dismissed, and we will go home together."
Mu Zhuohua remained silent, and the hand in her sleeve rubbed her vigorously. She trembled and had to nod helplessly.
Finally, it was time to go to court, and Liu Yan had to let go of her hand and separate from her. She stood at the end of the team, distanced herself from him, and her heartbeat slowly calmed down.
She really didn't want to see him now! Her waist was still sore!
All the officials entered the hall in a line, shouting long live the emperor three times. Liu Chen raised his hand to exempt himself from the ceremony, and saw all the officials stand up and stand on both sides.
Mu Zhuohua stood too far away and lowered her head. She was blocked by the heavy shadows. Liu Chen wanted to take a look at her, but he couldn't see clearly. Liu Chen withdrew his gaze absent-mindedly, but suddenly met Liu Yan's deep gaze. His heart skipped a beat, and he felt guilty for some reason. He turned his face away subconsciously, not daring to look at Liu Yan.
At this moment, Liu Yan stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have something to report."
Everyone looked at Liu Yan's back in surprise. The King of State rarely spoke, and the things that made him speak must be important, but they didn't know what he was going to say.
Liu Chen cleared his throat, collected his thoughts and said: "Please speak, King of State."
Liu Yan said: "Mu Zhuohua is still young and inexperienced. It is difficult for her to be the host of the emperor's banquet. I request your majesty to remove Mu Zhuohua from the position of the banquet."
When these words came out, everyone was shocked. If Mu Zhuohua hadn't been standing at the end, they would have wanted to look back to see her face. They couldn't help but think of the previous rumors. They heard that Mu Zhuohua had offended the King of State and was severely reprimanded, and their eyes were red. Some of them thought it was a rumor, and some thought it was just a small matter, but they didn't expect it to be true and so serious.
Mu Zhuohua was a lecturer earlier. Because of the injury of the prince, he was dismissed from his official position. Later, the new emperor ascended the throne and reinstated him. Now he was dismissed again because he offended the King of the Council of State. This ups and downs is really stimulating.
Mu Zhuohua is just a small official without a background. Although everyone has some pity for her, it is not worth it to go against the King of the Council of State for her. Therefore, after Liu Yan finished speaking, there was a dead silence in the hall. No one spoke, and no one cared why Liu Yan made this request.
Liu Chen looked into Liu Yan's eyes and suddenly understood what he meant.
He was worried about leaving her by his side. He was worried that the queen mother didn't like her, but he was more worried that he liked her...
Liu Chen clenched his fist on the dragon chair, and his knuckles turned slightly white. He suddenly felt that his throat was hoarse and uncomfortable, but he still said: "The King of the Council of State is right, and I approve it."
Although he was dismissed, Mu Zhuohua could only thank him respectfully.
Before everyone could recover from this incident, Shen Jinghong stood up again.
"Your Majesty, I have an important matter to report." Shen Jinghong held a memorial in both hands while speaking, and an eunuch immediately handed the memorial to Liu Chen.
"The Dali Temple received an anonymous tip-off, proving that the Minister of Works abused his power to build a palace and made a lot of money for himself. After collecting evidence and verifying it, the evidence is irrefutable!"
Shen Jinghong really did not stop until his words shocked the hell out. As soon as he said it, everyone in the room was shocked. Minister of Works Sun Ru widened his eyes and looked at Shen Jinghong in disbelief. After a long while, he reacted, pointed his finger at Shen Jinghong's nose and cursed: "You, you are making a false accusation!"
Sun Ru turned around and knelt down heavily in front of Liu Chen, kowtowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, please understand!"
Liu Chen's hands holding the memorial trembled slightly, his knuckles turned white, his face was gloomy, and he was obviously furious.
Shen Jinghong said in a clear voice: "The purchase of wood for the palace renovation was handled by the Tianxing Company. Tianxing is the leading company in Dingjing, with branches all over the State of Chen. However, according to investigation by the ministers, Tianxing deals in rice, cloth, and silver shops, and has no qualifications to deal in wood. The price of wood purchased from Tianxing is more than three times the market price."
Sun Ru interrupted coldly: "This is Lord Shen's ignorance. The wood used by the court to renovate the palace is all high-quality wood. How can it be compared with the inferior wood on the market? Since I am responsible for the renovation of the palace, I naturally cannot pass off inferior materials as good ones and deceive Your Majesty!"
Shen Jinghong smiled faintly: "This humble official also thought so, so I went to check the purchased golden nanmu, but I found something even more incredible. Lord Sun, 70% of the golden nanmu purchased by the Ministry of Works is actually yellow heart nanmu! Yellow heart nanmu is similar to golden nanmu, but the price is very different. This is what Lord Sun said, passing inferior goods as good ones, deceiving Your Majesty!"
"You are talking nonsense!" Sun Ru was furious, his face turned red and white with anger, "How could I do such a thing, this is a frame-up!"
Shen Jinghong ignored his accusations, he calmly stated what he had verified in court: "The Dali Temple investigates the case and dare not be careless. I am also worried that Lord Sun will be deceived, so I went to check the background of Tianxinghao, only to find out that the biggest owner behind Tianxinghao is the Jiangzuo Sun family! Sun Ru abused his power for personal gain, used the power of purchase to enrich himself, causing the court to lose hundreds of Ten thousand taels, please Your Majesty investigate and punish severely to serve as a warning to others!"
Sun Ru knelt and shouted: "Your Majesty, I am innocent!"
The memorial was thrown fiercely on Sun Ru's head, knocking his official hat askew. Liu Chen stared at his head sharply and sneered: "I also believe that the Dali Temple will not wrongly accuse a good person. If Minister Sun has a clear conscience, go to the Dali Temple and explain it clearly!"
Sun Ru's face turned pale immediately. The Tiger Prison of the Dali Temple was like the underworld. Zhuang Zixian confessed everything after a few days in prison. If he went in, would he be able to come out alive!
Shen Jinghong smiled and said: "Lord Sun, don't worry about no one to accompany you. The relevant people are already waiting for you in the Tiger Prison."
Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Zhou Cishan was good friends with Sun Ru. Seeing this, his heart sank to the bottom of the valley. He didn't want to cause trouble, but if Sun Ru was caught, he would be to blame, so he could only bite the bullet and stand up.
"Your Majesty, Minister Sun is old and virtuous. It is still unknown whether this matter is related to him or he was framed. How can you easily humiliate an old minister?"
Shen Jinghong glanced at him and said with a smile: "Please rest assured, I will treat Lord Sun well and will never use torture to force him to confess. We in the Dali Temple have always convinced people with reason."
Fuck you, convincing
people with reason. Zhou Cishan and Sun Ru cursed in their hearts. When Zhuang Zixian came out, they were dumbfounded. Although it was not Shen Jinghong who did it, the Dali Temple handled serious cases and was so cruel that it was unbearable to watch. No one has ever known how the Dali Temple dealt with suspects. No one who came out of the Dali Temple Tiger Prison could speak fluently. It can even be said that few people can walk out alive.
Knowing that there was no hope of pleading for mercy from Liu Chen, Zhou Cishan set his sights on Liu Yan. Thinking that the Sun family and Liu Yan had the intention of marrying, he might be able to ask Liu Yan for help, so he said, "This matter is of great importance, please make a wise decision
, Your Majesty!" Liu Yan's eyes swept across Zhou Cishan and Sun Ru, and finally fell on Shen Jinghong. Shen Jinghong smiled and returned Liu Yan's gaze neither humble nor arrogant. Everyone was waiting for Liu Yan to speak, and after a long while, they heard Liu Yan speak in a deep voice: "Since it is a major matter, we should obey the will of His Majesty."
This statement was the final word.
Shen Jinghong was crazy.
Everyone was thinking this sentence in their hearts. If he wasn't crazy, how could he dare to openly declare war on Sun Ru in the morning court?
Shen Jinghong received a secret report and investigated Sun Ru. Even the people in the Dali Temple didn't know about these things. Normally, for such a major event, he should have written the matter into a memorial and submitted it to Fenghua Palace for discussion, but he concealed it from everyone. It was not until this morning that he suddenly released this thunder, which caught Sun Ru off guard. With the irrefutable evidence in front of them, no one else dared to speak for Sun Ru. Only Zhou Cishan, as the hand of the aristocratic family, had to speak up as he was connected with the interests of the Sun family. Liu Chen was already dissatisfied with the aristocratic family. The Zhou family still had a layer of kinship with him, so they would give him some face. However, the Sun family relied on their deep foundation and did not take the royal family seriously. How could Liu Chen tolerate it by abusing power for personal gain?
Many people also had another layer of speculation in their hearts-did His Majesty transfer Shen Jinghong to the Dali Temple with the intention of taking action against the aristocratic family?
Was Shen Jinghong crazy and reckless, or was there His Majesty behind him to support him?
Mu Zhuohua left the palace with something on her mind. She didn't notice someone approaching her. She only felt her waist tightened, and then someone held her in his arms and rolled her into the carriage.
She was thrown into the layers of soft fur. The person who attacked her was obviously very careful and didn't hurt her at all. She was shaken, her official hat fell to the side, and her body tilted and fell on the cushion. Before she could stand up, she was shrouded in shadow again.
Liu Yan imprisoned her whole body under him, holding the back of her head with one hand, and without saying anything, he blocked her plump and soft lips. The complaint that she wanted to say turned into a soft whimper, which was swallowed into his mouth. The heat flowed from the lingering lips and teeth to her whole body. The gloomy breath occupied all her senses. The messy memories of that night came to her mind again. The soreness in her waist reminded her of the torment she had suffered, which made her like and fear it at the same time. She wanted to refuse, but her whole body was soft and unable to resist.
It was not until her face flushed and her breathing was disordered that he reluctantly let go of her slightly swollen red lips, and asked in a magnetic and low voice: "I asked you to wait for me this morning, why did you leave first?"
Mu Zhuohua blushed and stammered: "My waist is sore..."
She shouldn't have said this. As if reminding him, one hand pressed on her waist and kneaded it. It didn't matter whether it was sore or not, she was completely limp.
"I know your waist is sore, so I asked you to wait for my carriage." Liu Yan chuckled, and his hand did not stay on her waist, but was busy lighting fire on her.
The carriage started to move, and Mu Zhuohua's heart beat fast and chaotically. Thinking that there were people outside, she was embarrassed and grabbed Liu Yan's hand that was doing evil, lowered her voice and gritted her teeth and said: "You, you... don't do it to me again..." The word "do" was used very well, which made Liu Yan's heart beat faster and faster. He couldn't help but increase the strength of his hand by three points, and then heard Mu Zhuohua moan, and said with uneven breath: "You... this is killing the chicken to get the eggs!" Liu Yan was stunned for a moment, then hugged her tightly in his arms, buried his head in her shoulder and laughed softly. Mu Zhuohua clearly felt the vibration from his chest, and her face was red again and red, which was much more beautiful than the clouds. She pushed his chest depressedly.
"Liu Yan, don't bully me..." Her voice was low and soft. Although she was begging for mercy, it made people want to bully her even more.
Liu Yan held back his laughter and got up from her. He helped her sit on his lap and played with her white and slender fingers leisurely: "Zhuohua, you really don't understand men..."
This kind of unconscious temptation is even more difficult to control. Her self-righteous understanding is really limited. However, this kind of just right ignorance is also excellent.
He naturally wouldn't want her in such a place, it was just a small punishment, but seeing her seductive appearance, he couldn't get relief, it seemed that the punishment he received was even heavier...
Mu Zhuohua knew nothing about Liu Yan's mentality. She sat obediently on Liu Yan's lap and let him play with her fingers. Seeing that he didn't do anything more excessive, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"If I knew men too well, I'm afraid I would dislike them even more." Mu Zhuohua wrinkled his nose, rolled his eyes, and pulled Liu Yan's sleeve, "Liu Yan, I have something important to tell you. On the night of the Lantern Festival, Shen Jinghong asked me to sue Sun Ru for malfeasance and corruption with him."
Liu Yan's eyebrows moved, and he didn't seem surprised: "Oh? You refused." But
he used an affirmative tone. "His approach is inappropriate. Although it is true, using such a radical method may backfire. The reform of the system of favoritism finally gave in to the aristocratic families. He directly attacked the Sun family, which is to drag Your Majesty into the water." Mu Zhuohua's eyebrows were filled with worry, "Have you read his memorial?"
"I have read it." Liu Yan's face sank slightly, and he smiled meaningfully, "Zhuohua, stay away from him."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
