The eldest prince was sentenced to confinement for one year
Chapter 42: The eldest prince was punished to reflect on his mistakes for a year 1
The urgent message, sent over eight hundred miles, stirred the emotions of the entire Fengjing, and everyone was speculating about the cause. Now, this urgent message, along with a new cotton-padded jacket, arrived on the emperor's desk.
The emperor opened the memorial and his eyes moved slowly as he read the information. Eunuch Quan stood by with his head down, serving him. Out of the corner of his eye he could only see the emperor's fingers holding the memorial gradually turning white.
His heart was pounding and he dared not peek at the emperor's face again. He stared at his feet obediently, waiting for the emperor's orders.
"Go get some scissors."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I'll get it right away." Eunuch Quan walked lightly to the tea room next door and quickly took out a pair of small scissors for separating tea leaves. The whole process took only a few breaths.
"Your Majesty, the scissors are here." Kneeling beside the emperor's desk, he raised his hands above his head and leaned forward slightly, holding the small scissors and placing them where the emperor could easily reach them.
The emperor took the scissors and personally cut a hole in the cotton coat inside the bundle. As the hole got bigger and bigger, the reed flowers struggled to come out of the hole one after another.
“Snap…”
Eunuch Quan, who was kneeling beside the emperor's desk, trembled in shock, and immediately bent down with his forehead pressed to the ground, saying, "Your Majesty, calm down."
Eunuch Quan secretly felt lucky that he didn't stand up and return to his original position, otherwise he would have been pricked by the small pair of scissors.
"Go and call the three elders and the six ministers over."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey your order." After paying his respects, Eunuch Quan quickly stood up, hunched over, and walked out of the imperial study at a brisk pace.
After he left the room, he closed the door behind him and signaled with his eyes to the eunuchs standing guard outside to follow him. Only when he reached the corner of the side room did he dare to give any orders.
"Go to the cabinet immediately and invite the three elders."
"Go to the Ministry of Personnel and invite Minister Zhong to come."
"Go to the Ministry of Revenue and invite Minister Wu here immediately."
"Go to the Ministry of War and invite Minister Wang."
"Go to the Ministry of Works and invite Minister Zhou over."
"Go to the Ministry of Justice and invite Minister Qi to come."
"Go to the Ministry of Rites and invite Minister Peng."
Eunuch Quan took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, then stood in the howling north wind waiting for these important officials of the court to arrive.
The summoned ministers immediately understood that the emperor wanted to discuss the urgent news from the northern border. As the crowd gathered at the entrance to the imperial study, they saw Eunuch Quan standing like a statue, realizing that something was amiss, and they all tightened their sleeves.
"Your Majesty, the three elders and the six ministers have arrived."
"Come in."
Eunuch Quan gently pushed open the door of the imperial study, turned sideways and extended his hand to invite the ministers and the chancellors. After the last chancellor stepped into the imperial study, Eunuch Quan gently closed the door and stood guard outside.
The three cabinet ministers who entered first took a quick look at the emperor, only to see him sitting expressionlessly on the dragon throne. On the imperial desk was a memorial and a cotton coat, and a pair of small scissors lay on the ground in front of the desk.
"Your Majesty, I bow to you. May Your Majesty live long and prosper."
"I can't be at peace now, just watch for yourselves!"
With a "pa" sound, he threw the memorial in front of the Prime Minister, meaning that these old guys should kneel down and read it. No wonder Eunuch Quan didn't come in and would rather drink the cold wind outside the door.
Li Min took the memorial and quickly read it, then passed it to Han Zheng. Han Zheng frowned after reading it and handed it to Zhao Zhengyuan, and then passed it to the next person in line until the Minister of Rites Peng Xuan finished reading it.
"Tell me, who among you was involved in this?"
"Your Majesty, we are unaware of this matter. I hope Your Majesty will understand."
The emperor looked at these ministers who were like pillars of the court, but were secretly doing things to destroy his country, and he could not suppress the anger in his heart.
"I'll give you one more chance. Confess now and I'll save your dignity."
"I beg Your Majesty to investigate and clear my name."
The emperor stared at these people, not missing any of their subtle expressions. He thought that if he put his head to the ground, he would not be able to see anything. He attended court every day for decades. You are familiar with me, and I am familiar with you.
Wu Yi's fingers pressed against the ground twitched unconsciously, and Zhao Zhengyuan leaned down lower than usual. This was the look Zhao Ge Lao would show whenever he felt guilty.
"Get up, the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Justice stay, everyone else get out."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. We will take our leave."
Those who were not called to stay quickly stood up and left. The oldest elders were very quick and agile, except for Elder Zhao who was a little slow.
The emperor spoke only after Eunuch Quan closed the door of the imperial study again.
"Qi Ying, you are fully responsible for this matter. This cotton coat was sent from the North. You should start your investigation from here."
"Wu Yi, the 200,000 cotton-padded clothes for the Zhenbei Army this year are all made of reed flowers. Do you really not know this? How dare you send the things purchased by the Ministry of Revenue to the army without checking them first?" The emperor had run out of patience at this point.
"Your Majesty..." Wu Yi's legs, which had been kneeling on the ground for a long time, were shaking even more violently.
After leaving the Imperial Study, Lord Zhao immediately ordered a carriage to be prepared, rushing to the Crown Prince's residence as quickly as possible. Upon hearing the servant's message that Lord Zhao had arrived, the Crown Prince's wife immediately put down the account book in her hand and led her men to the second gate to greet him.
"Grandfather, you're here. Please come in."
"Yan'er, where is the eldest prince?"
"In... in the backyard..." Zhao Yan'er saw that her grandfather had a serious face and his tone was no longer as kind as usual, so she stopped trying to hide the eldest prince's whereabouts.
"This bastard!" Lord Zhao cursed angrily and walked straight to the inner courtyard with the gait of a dragon and a tiger. Zhao Yan'er no longer cared about the rule that outsiders were not allowed to enter, and trotted all the way to keep up with her grandfather's speed, signaling to the servant Awang to quickly call out the eldest prince.
The eldest prince was currently in the chambers of Yilan Pavilion's newly acquired top consort, and even the maids and servants outside the courtyard could hear their master's flirting. Awang took a shortcut to the courtyard gate and breathlessly said to the maids, "The eldest prince's wife has ordered the eldest prince to come out quickly. Elder Zhao is already here!"
"Awang, this is the inner courtyard of the prince's mansion. Why is Lord Zhao here? You should find a decent reason to call someone on behalf of the eldest prince's wife." The maid Cui Liu stood at the door, with a hint of ridicule in her tone.
In just two sentences, Lord Zhao had already strode to the gate of the courtyard. Even if he didn't hear the conversation between the two, Zhao Zhengyuan could guess most of it with his experience. He pushed Awang away and slapped Cui Liu in the face, scaring the others to kneel down immediately.
"You are useless. You can't even manage the household. Sell this maid right now."
"My lord, this slave belongs to the eldest prince. You have no right to dispose of him. Woo woo woo..."
Seeing the situation, Zhao Yan'er immediately asked her confidant to cover Cui Liu's mouth, drag her away, tie her up and lock her in the woodshed.
"Bang!"
"Grandfather, how could you enter my inner courtyard?" The eldest prince was frightened and suddenly wilted. He took out his clothes and put them on while walking towards Zhao Zhengyuan.
"Snap!" His left cheek quickly turned red.
"Grandfather, how could you hit me? Even my father never hit me!"
Zhao Zhengyuan slapped him, but seeing that he was still using the emperor to pressure him, he laughed in anger and swung his hand to slap him again. When the eldest prince saw that his grandfather was really going to hit him again, he immediately squatted down, hugged his legs, and put his face on his thighs.
"Grandfather, if you have something to say, please speak nicely. Anger is harmful to your health."
"It was you who made the cotton-padded clothes for the 200,000 soldiers of the Zhenbei Army, right?" Zhao Zhengyuan lowered his head and stared at the top of the eldest prince's head, spouting out words one by one.
The eldest prince looked up in surprise. He did this behind his grandfather's back and was sure that no one would tell on him. How did his grandfather know about it?
Seeing him like this, Zhao Zhengyuan was full of confusion. This grandson had truly disappointed him. He turned his gaze away from the eldest prince's face, slowly raised his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
"Do you know that an urgent report from the northern border of eight hundred miles was delivered to Fengjing today?" Zhao Zhengyuan closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.
"Well, I haven't entered the study today, so I haven't received any news yet." The eldest prince began to feel uneasy when he heard that it was an urgent report from the north.
"Oh, then let me tell you, the Prince of Zhenbei rushed all the way to Fengjing and delivered a cotton-padded jacket to the emperor. Don't roll your eyes, it's the reed flower cotton-padded jacket you made!" Zhao Zhengyuan forcefully pried the eldest prince's hands apart and pushed him to the ground.
"Why, are you panicking now? It's too late!"
"Grandfather, please plead with our father for me. I know I was wrong!" The eldest prince rolled on the ground and hugged Zhao Zhengyuan's right foot again, his tone filled with fear.
"Get up, put on your clothes, and follow me into the palace now." Zhao Zhengyuan had controlled his emotions and regained his composure. He sighed in his heart. If he had known this would happen, he should have let his daughter give birth to another prince. At least there would be room for choice.
The eldest prince stood up trembling, and casually took out a new piece of clothing from the wardrobe and put it on. When her grandfather entered the courtyard, Zhao Yan'er drove all the servants out and stood guard at the door. Soon, her husband followed her grandfather out, one in front and one behind.
"Get rid of the people in the house and clean it up." Zhao Zhengyuan passed by Zhao Yan'er who was guarding the door and directly instructed his granddaughter to deal with it.
"Grandfather..."
"Why, do you still want to plead for the people inside?"
"No, no." The eldest prince swallowed what he was about to say under Zhao Zhengyuan's gaze.
"Yes, Yan'er understands, Grandfather, don't worry."
Zhao Zhengyuan brought the eldest prince into the palace. Seeing that Eunuch Quan was still standing at the door of the imperial study, he understood what the emperor meant.
When Eunuch Quan saw people coming, he opened the door sideways and waited for the two to enter the room. He still closed the door and stood outside. Today, he, Eunuch Quan, was the door god of this imperial study.
When they entered, they found a person kneeling in the study. Upon closer inspection, they saw it was the Minister of Revenue, Wu Yi. The eldest prince hurried forward a few steps and knelt firmly in front of the emperor's desk with a thud.
Before he could say anything, a folded book fell on his head. He didn't care about his bleeding nose and picked it up to read quickly.
The Prince of Zhenbei reported that a major patrol of the Zhenbei Army was caught in a sudden snowstorm, resulting in the freezing of over 2,000 people. Even though they were immediately sent back to the city for treatment, nearly 1,000 still froze to death. Additionally, over a dozen soldiers guarding the beacon towers froze to death. If the enemy attacked the northern border during this period, the northern border would fall to the Mongol iron hoof.
"I've given you so much silver, isn't it enough for you? You still want to find ways to make money!" The emperor raised his hand and threw the teacup at his eldest son, and the angle was slightly off when he threw it.
"Bang!" The teacup shattered in front of the left side of the eldest prince. The flying porcelain fragments scratched the back of the eldest prince's left hand, leaving a bloody mark.
"Father, please be merciful. I really didn't know it would turn out like this. Father, I never thought that the northern border might be lost. I didn't mean it." The eldest prince put down the memorial, ignored the fragments in front of him, and knelt forward to beg for mercy from the emperor.
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