Besides the Six Ministries and the Grand Chancellor Chen Yunsong, there is another powerful figure in the capital of Great Yan who is largely untouchable by the current emperor, and they generally keep to themselves.
Princess Yuwen Helan of the current dynasty.
Yuwen Helan is the current emperor's youngest sister and the youngest of the princes in those days.
"Did you see the Prince of Zhenbei at court today?"
A deep, magnetic voice rang out, and the speaker exuded nobility and elegance. Her long hair was spread out on the bed, and several men of similar age sat in chairs beneath it.
The woman's shoulders were slightly exposed, and she held a feather in her hand, swaying it back and forth.
“I saw it,” one of the men replied.
"how?"
"She's a woman with immense strength; she must be very skilled."
The eldest princess is thirty-five years old this year. As for the men sitting below her, each of them is outstanding in appearance and temperament. They can be noticed at a glance when they stand in a crowd. They are all outstanding individuals.
"Li Yi, what do you think?"
Li Yi is the son of the current Minister of War and is also quite knowledgeable in martial arts.
The woman glanced at him, and the man closest to her immediately handed her a peeled orange.
“Indeed excellent, even better than Xiao Lanyi.”
"Now my brother will be having trouble sleeping again."
Yuwen Helan sat up and put a few more orange segments in her mouth. Her red lips parted slightly, making onlookers envious.
"The Minister of Justice and Censor Fan got into a fight today," said the aloof man beside him.
The man in the blue robe had a cool and aloof demeanor. Although he seemed somewhat distant, he had already placed the comb in his hand on the woman's hair and was slowly combing it.
"Oh? Because of what?"
"Just because of that little thing in the east."
"The matter was originally the fault of the Marquis of Dongyu. There are witnesses and physical evidence. What's there to argue about? What's there to argue about?"
The eldest princess frowned slightly. She had always disliked her brother's timid and fearful manner towards the aristocratic families. He was afraid of what he should be afraid of, but he was like a coward when he shouldn't be afraid.
"The Ministry of Justice wants to take the witnesses to their own territory for interrogation."
"Interrogate? And then force a confession out of you?"
"Helan Moqi, with Imperial Censor Fan here, they will not succeed."
The sky outside was already pitch black. The last man picked up her embroidered shoes from under the bed and helped her put them on slowly.
"I'm eating, and thinking about these things just annoys me."
"What? Aren't you guys leaving yet?"
"The Prince of Zhenbei has just arrived in the capital and today is his first day of court. Has your family not summoned you home?"
The men, led by Li Yi, remained silent, gazing at the sky. Since they weren't leaving, whoever could hold out until the end would win the heart of the beauty.
"Oh dear, I think even my imperial brother would envy me. I, Yuwen Helan, am able to share in even a fraction of the power in the capital of Great Yan."
The three men in the room were the eldest sons of the ministers of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Revenue. Of course, in other words, they were also the prince's lovers.
But the kind that's presentable in public.
"Helan, please eat quickly. We can discuss official business tomorrow."
—The Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion.
Huo Xiaolong was also gossiping with his relatives about what happened today.
"I heard there's a Marquis of Dongyu in the east, and the emperor granted him a fiefdom near the border. But he went astray, abducting women and colluding with officials to buy and sell the best land from farmers. To survive, you have to rent land from him."
When farmers are turned into tenants, it naturally leads to widespread hardship and lawsuits.
"Then why hasn't the Emperor made the judgment yet? Isn't this a done deal?" the little girl asked while cracking sunflower seeds.
Now that the kids are getting good grades, they just eat them all up instead of saving them up.
"I think I heard from the Minister of Justice and his group that the Marquis of Dongyu had made great contributions when he was young, and that his family was a powerful and influential clan. The gist of it was that he had powerful backers and a family with a history of hundreds of years, so he was not easy to mess with."
"Just because of this?" Dani'er's eyes widened.
In Biancheng, let alone aristocratic families or powerful clans, if you dare to do this, either you're incredibly smart enough not to get caught by Huo Xiaolong, or you'll be dealt with.
"Just because of this."
"Did Long'er choose sides today?" Cen Ang asked.
He Yi, who was sitting next to her, was quietly listening to her daughter talk while working on her abacus.
The girl shook her head and said
"Not yet, I just arrived on my first day and don't know anything. If this is true, I'll help them out."
"but……"
"Mom, isn't Imperial Censor Fan really afraid of being assassinated?"
He practically cursed the Minister of Justice's ancestors eighteen generations back in court, but in a refined way, not with vulgar language.
“Anyway, Mom has been like this ever since she found out what kind of person he is,” Cen Ang replied.
Upright and incorruptible, quick-witted and eloquent.
This is also why Imperial Censor Fan remained in power in the imperial court regardless of dynastic changes.
Every emperor needs a sword in his hand, and he was the last pure land of the Great Yan, the last person who remained untainted.
That was the end of the topic, and Huo Xiaocheng then made a couple more sarcastic remarks about Erhei.
"How dare you sleep during court sessions?"
The two burly men stood in the middle, and luckily everyone's heads were down so they couldn't see them. The people standing around him must have heard his snoring. Huo Xiaocheng pinched him several times but he didn't wake up.
"I'm so sleepy. Luckily, I don't have to go to court tomorrow," Erhei said, scratching his head.
"Alright, everyone hurry back to sleep. It's so late, go quickly."
"Yes, Mother."
"Okay, godmother."
Only the girl watched her two brothers' retreating figures as they left, then she nestled into He Yi's arms and acted coquettishly.
"I want to sleep with my mother tonight."
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