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The fifth prince closed his eyes and said, "Yes, everything is under control. If the third daughter of the Ji family had entered the palace, the situation in the palace would not be what it is now. The daughter of the Feng family is not good enough."
As soon as he finished speaking, he threw the chess piece. It hit the chess pot with a crisp sound.
The Crown Prince's power base may appear immense, but his true reliance lies solely on the Li and Ji families. The Li family, backed by the Empress, possesses immense influence and cannot be attacked first. The best strategy is to first bring down the Ji family before attacking the Li family. The previous arrangement, setting up a scheme to allow Ji Yunxi to enter the palace and spark a conflict between the Li and Ji families, leading to internal strife, was the best strategy.
After all, the concubines in the harem, even sisters, are bound to stand on the opposite side.
Unfortunately, this game was lost from the beginning.
Lost in——
Their new third place winner is Wu Weian from the Wu family.
And lost twice.
One time was about Yang Weitian, and the other time was about the palace examination.
"I originally thought that the palace examination would bring down Ji Mingxi, but I never expected that it would make the Ji family even more prosperous." It was unclear whether the Fifth Prince said this to the woman opposite him or to the adults in the hall.
The master in the hall hurriedly said, "Your Highness, Feng Qishi has contacted me in the past few days and seems to want to join Your Highness."
The Fifth Prince laughed when he heard this: "The Feng family is worthy?"
The lord in the hall said respectfully, "I think so too. The Feng family has only been able to get to where it is today thanks to some cleverness and the favor of His Majesty. Now that Concubine Feng has displeased His Majesty, I'm afraid the Feng family won't last long. So I'll try to negotiate with Feng Qishi first and coax him into causing some trouble for the Ji family."
The Fifth Prince hummed, "Regarding the imperial examination, have Feng Qishi advise the Emperor to transfer the position from the Ministry of Personnel to your Ministry of Rites."
The Minister of Rites was a little doubtful: "Your Highness, please forgive my incompetence. Will His Majesty agree to this?"
The fifth prince tilted his head, revealing a face that bore a striking resemblance to the emperor: "Father will approve."
All signs indicate that his father has long been wary of the Ji family.
The Ji family must have noticed this, and have become increasingly low-key and cautious in recent years. Ji Mingxi, on the other hand, speaks less and does less, seemingly letting things slide, but in reality, he's completely impeccable.
If he missed this palace examination, it would be difficult to find loopholes in Ji Mingxi. It would be better to transfer part of the powers of the Ministry of Personnel to the Ministry of Rites.
The imperial examination is a matter of great importance and is closely related to the capable people of the world, so he must take it into his own hands.
The two adults took their orders and left. A woman beside them remembered something and reminded them, "Your Highness, the third lady is getting married on the 18th of next month."
The fifth prince looked at the chessboard in front of him and said, "I was wrong."
The woman looked puzzled: "Why do you say that, Your Highness?"
The fifth prince said: "Ji Yunxi is not an ordinary woman. Back then, Yang Weitian was not favored by everyone, but Yang Weitian is very thoughtful and has a bright future. So, how could Wu Weian be bad?" He lost both games of chess to Wu Weian.
The Fifth Prince called the secret guards and said, "Go and investigate Wu Weian carefully."
At the court meeting on the morning of the second day, all the officials in the court argued fiercely about whether the imperial examination should be managed by the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of Rites.
Feng Qishi was deeply disappointed by the Crown Prince's attitude regarding the gambling house incident. He pondered the matter carefully, realizing that even if the Crown Prince ascended to the throne, his Feng family would ultimately be inferior to the Ji family. Furthermore, if the Ji family attempted to harm his family due to recent events, his family would be powerless to resist.
After all, the prince's heart is with the Ji family. Even the prince's maternal family, the Li family, has a good relationship with the Ji family.
Feng Qishi then took refuge with the Fifth Prince. Although the Fifth Prince hadn't yet relented, his intentions were clear. As long as this was accomplished, he would become the Fifth Prince's servant and enjoy his protection.
Therefore, Feng Qishi argued vigorously in the court: "The imperial examination here was really not conducted properly, and it almost caused dissatisfaction among scholars. It was only because of the emperor's wisdom that he immediately held the palace examination and invited Jiang Gong to come, so as to silence the scholars. If not, the consequences would be unimaginable, and Master Ji would be in trouble! Therefore, this matter must be handed over to the Ministry of Rites. The Ministry of Rites understands etiquette and laws, and can better handle the imperial examination, Your Majesty!"
Ji Mingxi, the Minister of Personnel, stood aside and listened, and nodded subconsciously when he heard the words.
Lord Li on the side glared at him fiercely.
Ji Mingxi covered his face and coughed lightly, not daring to nod again.
Lord Li stood up and said, "Lord Feng is wrong. The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for selecting and promoting officials. The imperial examination selects talented people from our Great Yu Dynasty, so they should naturally be placed in the Ministry of Personnel. How can they be placed in the Ministry of Rites?"
Lord Feng refuted this, saying, "Although the imperial examination is used to select officials, how in the process does it not require understanding etiquette and observing rituals? This is handled by the Ministry of Rites, the examination questions are set by the Hanlin Academy scholars, and the final selected Jinshi are assigned by the Ministry of Personnel. Isn't this more appropriate and will better prevent the leakage of examination questions and cheating?"
Lord Li was about to argue, but the Emperor interrupted him, "Lord Feng is right. I also think the Ministry of Rites would be more appropriate. Lord Ji, what do you think?"
Ji Mingxi then stood up and bowed towards the palace: "I obey your Majesty."
The emperor nodded and said, "Let this be the end of the matter. I dismiss the court."
Ever since the palace examination was suddenly brought forward and the Ministry of Personnel was left aside, people in the Ministry of Personnel have been in a panic these days, and the situation reached its peak today.
When Ji Mingxi returned to the Ministry of Personnel from the court, the assistant ministers, doctors, deputy ministers, and heads of various departments all surrounded him.
"Sir, what should we do?" The Minister of Personnel was filled with worry. "The emperor has entrusted such an important matter as the imperial examination to the Ministry of Rites. This shows his dissatisfaction with our Ministry of Personnel!"
"Don't worry, don't worry." Ji Mingxi comforted him with a few words and sat down in the main seat.
The servants knew his habits and quickly brought him tea. He took a sip and said, "Don't scare yourselves. Isn't this a good thing?"
Gentlemen, you look at me, I look at you: “???”
They really didn't see that this was a good thing. Their Ministry of Personnel's powers had all been taken away! The Emperor didn't even like them anymore!
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