At this moment, the atmosphere in Wanhe Hall was as heavy as lead.
On the dragon throne, Emperor Rongcheng, Shen Wanshan, wore a black dragon robe. His face was as gloomy as the calm before a storm, and his eyes seemed to be about to spit out fury.
"Smack—"
Emperor Rongcheng abruptly threw the memorial in his hand to the ground.
"This is truly a rebellion, a complete rebellion!"
"How dare the Marquis of Yong'an!"
Emperor Rongcheng slammed his hand on the imperial desk, causing the teacups on it to tremble and spill tea.
The ministers sitting below the emperor's desk, Imperial Censor Situ Qinghe and Minister Luo Kejin, paused slightly and immediately knelt down.
Emperor Rongcheng was in a berserk state.
He had already stood up, his chest heaving violently with anger.
He was muttering to himself as he walked.
"The Marquis of Yong'an has such audacity, such audacity!"
"He doesn't respect me at all!"
"How dare he substitute one woman for another, marrying a widow to the Third Prince? Does he think that anyone can marry my son?"
"This is blatant deception of the emperor!"
"Does he think my face isn't a face?"
"Or does he think that just because he saved me once, I can let him lord it over me?"
Situ Qinghe and Luo Kejin both spoke these words to Emperor Rongcheng, and were greatly alarmed.
They knelt on the ground, burying their heads deep, fearing that they might incur the wrath of Emperor Rongcheng.
But Emperor Rongcheng continued speaking:
"Gu Wei'ang actually dared to dream of marrying his ordinary adopted daughter to the Crown Prince!"
"I'm already doing him a favor by letting her marry the Third Prince!"
"But how dare he take advantage of my kindness! It's outrageous!"
Emperor Rongcheng grew increasingly angry as he spoke, until his eunuch Deshun quickly brought him another cup of hot tea and offered a few words of comfort, which calmed him down considerably.
He sat down on the dragon throne again, his gaze fixed intently on Situ Qinghe.
"Minister Situ, is what you've said true?"
Upon hearing this, Situ Chengrong silently looked at Luo Kejin.
Luo Kejin nodded almost imperceptibly.
Situ Qinghe then straightened up and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, I assure you that every word in this memorial is true."
"Moreover, this matter is not a secret in Tiandu. I suppose several aristocratic families have already guessed the intentions of Marquis Yong'an. After all, the banquet held by Marquis Yong'an to recognize his relatives was quite a grand affair."
"From then on, such words began to circulate in the capital."
At first, this statement didn't attract much attention, but as certain events and facts aligned, it began to spread among the people.
Actually, this matter was initially just something the people talked about after dinner. Although everyone spoke with great conviction, no one believed it to be true.
After all, the Marquis of Yong'an's household would be foolish to publicize something as deceiving the emperor as a capital offense.
However, as the rumors spread wider and wider, they naturally reached the ears of the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital.
It was only at this point that they realized this matter was not simple.
The person who spread these rumors and made them popular among the people is no ordinary person.
Therefore, when Luo Kejin learned that his son Luo Ziqian wanted to marry the long-lost daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an, he came to this conclusion and told the Imperial Censor without making a sound.
Over the years, the Marquis of Yong'an has become increasingly arrogant, and Situ Qinghe has impeached him several times, but none of these have had any effect on him.
However, he offended him because of this, and was secretly tripped up by him, almost losing his official position.
Now that Situ Qinghe knows about this matter, he will surely seize this opportunity to impeach him.
Therefore, he and Luo Kejin hit it off immediately and went to the palace to inform Emperor Rongcheng of the matter.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Rongcheng became even more furious and couldn't help but look at Luo Kejin.
"Minister Luo, what do you think of this matter?"
Luo Kejin quickly stood up and said:
"This matter is of utmost importance, Your Majesty should not draw hasty conclusions."
Your Majesty, I suspect that if the Marquis of Yong'an had such intentions, he would surely take action today. Perhaps Your Majesty should first go to Shou'an Palace to check on the situation?
Emperor Rongcheng's mind had calmed down considerably. He picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, remained silent for a moment, and then stood up.
"Set up the carriage at Shou Kang Palace."
As he spoke, he walked out.
Situ Qinghe and Luo Kejin exchanged a glance and quickly got up to follow.
Emperor Rongcheng took a step and then stopped.
He turned to look at Situ Qinghe, then at Luo Kejin.
"If this is true, how should it be resolved?"
He understood his third son; after all, his intelligence was limited. If he forcibly stopped him from doing something his son had made up his mind, it would certainly not look good.
Today is, after all, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. If a disturbance were to break out at this time, it would surely be ridiculed by the ministers and their wives. Emperor Rongcheng did not want to displease the Empress Dowager, so he stopped the disturbance.
Luo Kejin cautiously raised his eyes and met Emperor Rongcheng's gaze. He paused slightly, as if divinely inspired, and immediately knelt down.
"His Majesty!"
Luo Kejin spoke.
"Your Majesty, I have a request that may be made!"
Emperor Rongcheng stood with his hands behind his back, looking directly at Luo Kejin, but his voice carried a hint of amusement.
"If you have any requests that are difficult to make, please speak frankly."
Luo Kejin bowed respectfully before slowly speaking.
"As Your Majesty knows, my son is uneducated and incompetent, and has been instigated by treacherous people. He had some unpleasantness with me before, which caused quite a few laughs and almost offended Your Majesty's ears."
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