Daming Palace, Funing Hall.
Several important officials of the court were sitting in a row, with the little emperor sitting at the head, holding a cup of strong tea in his hand. He had not been able to sleep well for several days, and now he could only rely on this tea to stay awake.
"The Xichuan case involves a wide range of people," the little emperor said slowly, with a hint of fatigue in his voice. "Last year's drought was followed by wildfires, which already gave me a headache. Now, there is another incident of bribery and abuse of power."
He paused here, his eyes fell on Xie Shiguan: "It's possible that those officials made mistakes themselves, but they were afraid of taking responsibility, so they casually blamed the emperor's uncle..."
Before he could finish, Xie Shiguan suddenly opened his folding fan and interrupted him with a "swish" sound, saying in a cold and thin tone: "Are you just biting me?"
He laughed but paused, causing all the emperor and his ministers in the palace to break out in cold sweats.
At this time, only Man Changshan dared to speak up to break the awkward situation. He first coughed with an itchy throat, and then said: "Those officials were indeed recommended by Uncle Miao, and they all happened to hold important positions in the local area. They even dared to embezzle the relief grain approved by the court. They must have accumulated a lot of evil in the past and are beyond redemption."
"Also, the people sent by King Yan brought back several large boxes of account books, all of which pointed out that a large amount of money had flowed into the Miao Mansion in recent years."
He didn't say everything, but the young emperor knew that it was a foregone conclusion that the charge of seeking power and accepting bribes had fallen on Mu Zongping's head.
Between Xie Shiguan and him, Master Man always sided with him, but if the matters involved really affected innocent people, he would not give in at all.
But even so, he still wanted to keep Mu Zongping, so the little emperor stood up and slowly walked towards Xie Shiguan who was sitting below him. He lowered his posture and called him softly: "Uncle..."
Just let him go again. What's wrong with indulging him this time?
Although the emperor and his minister had had an unpleasant argument in the palace last time, he stubbornly believed that Xie Shiguan should understand him.
What does it matter if those civilians died? The weeds on the roadside were burned by wildfires, and the next year they would be green again.
But he will only have this one uncle in his life.
Unexpectedly, Xie Shiguan also stood up with him, walked around the table and came to his side, saying nonchalantly: "What should we do? Let's not talk about the officials in Beijing. I'm afraid that all the local officials will be sold out by the emperor's uncle. Abusing power for personal gain is one thing, and forming cliques and excluding dissidents is another."
Hearing these words, the little emperor felt colder and colder in his heart, his face gradually stiffened, and he opened his mouth to weakly defend himself: "He already knows his mistake, and it won't happen again."
"But no one is perfect," Xie Shiguan suddenly changed the subject unexpectedly, "Who among those who can sit in the position of the state uncle has not abused public power for personal gain? When the money was brought to the state uncle, they must have made up a lot of lies. How could the state uncle Miao tell the truth from the false?"
The little emperor's eyes immediately lit up. As expected, his uncle was still willing to love him.
Not only the little emperor, but almost all the officials in the hall looked at him, some were puzzled, while others were waiting to watch the fun.
"If you ask me, just punish the officials who made the mistake. There's no need to trace the cause or punish the whole group. If that happens, the officials will get scared and lose their support, which is not good."
Master Man couldn't stand it any longer, so he slammed the table, stood up, and pointed at his nose: "Xie Ling, what are you talking about? Your Majesty is ignorant, and you are also ignorant?"
"Miao Zongping was greedy for power, sold official positions, formed cliques for personal gain, and favored his party. He deserves death! How can we appease the people and calm their anger by getting around him so easily?"
Xie Shiguan smiled, indicating that he wanted to defend him unreasonably: "Hasn't Master Man heard of this saying? People always make mistakes, but they can change. What's wrong with forgiving him?"
"By sparing him this time, we can set a good example for other officials in the court! If everyone does the same in the future, officials will have a comfortable life, but what about the people below? Do they still want to live?"
"That's enough!" Xie Yizhi suddenly shouted, "Stop arguing."
The table suddenly became quiet.
With Prince Yan backing him up, the little emperor finally looked better and his back straightened. He returned to the high seat of the dragon throne, lifted his robe and sat down, then spoke calmly: "Prince Yan is right, the emperor's uncle may just be confused for a moment, but everyone makes mistakes. It's him today, if it's you tomorrow, I will also understand."
He thought that what he said was kind and generous, and that all his subjects should appreciate his kindness.
"But the uncle did make a mistake, so I'm afraid we can't not punish him. Hmm... I'm thinking of fining him five years' salary and confining him for another six months as a warning. This matter concerns the reputation of the royal family, so I hope you will not spread it around."
Everyone in the hall had their own thoughts, and only the Minister of Revenue, Chen Shangshu, responded with one sentence: "Your Majesty is wise."
Then someone else said, "Your Majesty is wise."
"Today's meeting is over now." Seeing someone agree, Xie Yizhi felt much more comfortable and breathed a sigh of relief, then said slowly, "My dear ministers, please go home."
The people in the hall left their seats, kowtowed, and then left the Funing Hall in an orderly manner.
Xie Shiguan and Man Changshan walked out of the palace gate side by side. The continuous spring rain finally stopped. It was a rare sunny day today. Looking around, there was a large area of sunset glow above the palace city.
A few clouds, covering the sky with golden red.
"The so-called grand scene," Master Man suddenly said without any context, "is actually quite desolate."
Xie Shiguan smiled and asked in a low voice: "Miao Zongping will definitely die, why did Changshan make such a fuss just now?"
"Wouldn't it make it more real if you just acted out a scene?"
The current emperor is too soft-hearted and childish, and he has someone he relies on in his heart. If he easily convicts Uncle Mu at this meeting, the young emperor will definitely delay and protect him.
Instead of getting entangled in this tangled mess, it’s better to just cut it off once and for all.
"Tomorrow, the news that Wu'an Hou was stabbed on his way back and was seriously injured and unconscious should reach your majesty's ears." At this point, Man Changshan sighed softly, "He always thinks that as long as he speaks up, everything can be resolved."
"When will I grow up?"
He is truly virtuous, devoted and loyal, but it's a pity that the emperor is still young and can ultimately not be of great use.
Xie Shiguan understood him and even admired his sincere loyalty, but he would never be able to become a person like Man Changshan in his entire life.
"At the court meeting tomorrow, all officials will kneel down and ask for the emperor's order to severely punish Miao Zongping. You don't need to take the lead in this matter," Xie Shiguan suddenly reminded, "Let them make trouble. The best policy for the Grand Tutor is to protect himself."
Man Changshan said, "As the emperor's teacher, I should uphold the emperor's majesty, help the country, and keep the country safe. It is my fault that I did not teach the emperor well."
If he just stood by and watched, trying to protect himself, he would no longer be Man Changshan.
Xie Shiguan knew that he was stubborn, so he gave him a warning, which was considered as the best he could do for his friendship for many years, so he just said two words to him: "It's up to you."
Because he didn't want to see Chen Que these days, Xie Shiguan asked Shen Xiangzhi to accompany him every time he went to the palace.
Originally, he thought that he was just temporarily obsessed with the mute, and thought that if he left him alone for a few days, he would be fine.
But who would have thought that after not seeing anyone for a few days, the anxiety in King Yan's heart became more and more intense, as if someone had set a fire in his heart, burning him dry and thirsty, but he couldn't find a drop of rain to quench his desire.
If you think about it carefully, the inexplicable resistance of the mute that night might be because he had made people too upset these days, so Shen Que wanted to hide.
So the prince raised his hand, lifted the curtain of the carriage, and asked Shen Xiangzhi: "Where can I buy lip balm around here?"
"The nearest cosmetics shop is in the West Market. If we want to go there now, we may have to take a detour."
"Let's go around," Xie Shiguan said calmly, "It's still early."
Shen Xiangzhi never asked the reason for what his master wanted to do. He just calmly directed the sedan bearers to change the lane and head towards the West Market.
at night.
Lin Xie had a white jade box of lip balm in his arms and a lamp in his hand. He walked slowly to the door of the mute. Before he went in, the man smiled.
This time he came back, he really prepared a gift with all his heart, and he was the one who spoke out first to ask for peace. It would be very wrong if this mute still didn't appreciate it.
If he refused to back down and still wanted to take advantage of Qiao, then he would be immature, and if he was immature, he would be punished. As for how to punish him, Lin Xie had already figured it out in his mind.
Seeing that all the lights in the room were out, Lin Xie took out the hook again and poked it inside with ease. After a long time, there was no sound of the bolt falling to the ground.
So he reached out and pushed the door, only to find that it was not locked at all.
He was the one who didn't allow the door to be locked, which showed that the little mute really didn't lock the door. But he wanted to tease her again: "You are really a playboy. Now you don't even bolt the door. Are you waiting for some wild man to come at night..."
At this point, he paused, and the orange light from the lamp in his hand fell on the couch, illuminating that small area -
I saw that the quilt on the bed was neatly folded and stacked together with the porcelain pillow. Apart from that, the bed was empty. Where could I find the figure that was sleeping?
"Ah Que," Lin Xie thought he had hidden himself, so he searched for him one by one with a lantern, "Where did he hide?"
There was nothing under the bed, in the suitcase, or behind the screen.
The anxious fire in Lin Xie's heart suddenly flared up again, his brows gradually tightened, and the smiling face was torn apart, revealing a somewhat hideous look.
"Stop making trouble," he suddenly said in a more serious tone, "If you don't come out, I'll be angry."
But the room was empty, and he was the only one making noises.
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