Chapter 488 Lin Xiang's Trouble
Wang Meng led Xiao Ruoyu to the main hall. Xiao Ruoyu didn't say much. As soon as he sat down, he asked directly: "How is the situation of the Second Prince now? What are the arrangements for today's Double Ninth Festival?"
Wang Meng told Xiao Ruoyu in detail about the palace coup planned today. Xiao Ruoyu was shocked when he heard it.
...
When most of the moon was hanging high in the night sky, the palace banquet had reached its climax.
Everyone had drunk a lot of wine. Many princes and ministers drank a lot of wine and were inspired to write poems.
The little emperor had no interest in the Empress Dowager's affairs recently, but when he saw the ministers writing poems, he gradually became interested.
"Today is the Double Ninth Festival, I will also improvise a poem."
Everyone smiled and responded, "Okay, okay, please write it, Your
Majesty!" The little emperor stood up, glanced around the hall, and looked at the moon hanging high in the sky, and then chanted: "It is the Double Ninth Festival again, and the chrysanthemum fragrance fills the hall. The emperor and his subjects celebrate together, and I wish you a healthy year."
The guests immediately began to flatter him.
"Although your majesty is young, you are a great poet!"
"Your majesty's poems are really good!"
"Good poems, good poems!"
Just as everyone was praising him in turn, Minister Lin stood up with a wine glass.
In the court, except for Han Lie, Minister Lin was the most powerful. When everyone saw that Minister Lin had something to say, they immediately shut up and left the space for him to speak.
"Your Majesty, today is the Double Ninth Festival, and the poem you wrote is really appropriate!" Although what Minister Lin said was not wrong, his tone was a bit weird.
Xia Miaoyuan looked up at Minister Lin and said to himself: [I don't know how Yue Haoyun and the others arranged it today. Did they let this old man take the lead to cause trouble? ]
When the little emperor heard what Minister Lin said, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous, worried that Minister Lin would make trouble at the palace banquet. However, he still suppressed his inner worries and asked gently: "Prime Minister Lin, please stand up, but do you also want to compose a poem to cheer us up?"
Prime Minister Lin smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I am not good at composing poems, but I recently heard a poem that I found very interesting. Today is the palace banquet, and the emperor and his ministers are having fun together, so I want to tell Your Majesty about it."
The little emperor became even more uneasy, but Prime Minister Lin had already said it, so he had to smile and responded: "Okay, Prime Minister Lin, please go ahead."
Prime Minister Lin strode forward and stood directly in the aisle in the middle of the hall, chanting loudly: "The bamboo branches sway in the wind, and the sound of bells echoes through the sky. Lying secretly in the red tent, the joy is beyond words."
In an instant, Empress Dowager Zhu Ling, the little emperor, and everyone below all showed surprised expressions.
Zhu Ling was especially shocked, her face turned pale, she was angry and embarrassed.
Xia Miaoyuan was shocked beyond words, [Ahhh! Prime Minister Lin is really too crazy! ]
After a moment of silence, there were whispers from below.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall was very awkward. Prime
Minister Lin continued: "This doggerel was sung by children in the streets when I went out recently. I wonder if Your Majesty has ever heard of it?"
The little emperor's lips trembled slightly, and he suppressed his emotions and said: "No."
"Lord Lin, you are drunk, please step back and rest first!" Zhu Ling tried to speak in a calm tone.
But Prime Minister Lin seemed to have heard nothing and ignored Zhu Ling. Instead, he laughed meaningfully a few times. The laughter was full of sarcasm. The atmosphere in the hall became even more awkward. The faces of the Empress Dowager and the little emperor were frighteningly ugly.
Seeing this, the guests all kept silent.
Prime Minister Lin continued in a loud voice, "Your Majesty, you have also learned poetry from your teacher for many years. Do you know the meaning of this doggerel?" The handsome face of
the little emperor was already red with embarrassment. He gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know! " At this time, Prime Minister Lin turned around and said to the guests, "Hahaha, your majesty is still young, so it's understandable that you don't know the meaning of this poem. Do you know the meaning of this poem?" The Minister of Justice staggered and said, "Your Majesty, you are young, so it's understandable that you don't know the meaning of this poem. Do you know the meaning of this poem?" The Minister of Justice staggered and said
, "Your Majesty, you are still young, so it's understandable that you don't know the meaning of this poem. Do you know the meaning of this poem?"
He stood up, raised his wine glass, and said drunkenly: "This poem, on the surface, is an erotic poem, but it is actually an acrostic poem. If you read the first word of each sentence together, you will understand!"
Among the guests, someone shouted loudly, "It turns out that Zhu Ling was having a secret affair!"
In an instant, the whole hall was in an uproar. Some were laughing, some were talking to each other, and some were glancing at Zhu Ling, waiting to see her outburst.
"I heard that the people who were having an affair in the poem were the Empress Dowager and Mr. Liang."
"I wonder if she had any other male favorites besides Mr. Liang."
"They say that men are like wolves at 30 and tigers at 40, and it's true. The late emperor has been gone for five years, how can she keep it to herself?"
"Oh, what a sin, the Empress Dowager is actually having an affair with her son's teacher. How should Your Majesty deal with it?"
"It's really a shame for Dai Viet, the people have even made up doggerel and circulated their affair."
"It's a shame for Dai Viet to have such a shameless and vulgar Empress Dowager."
Xia Miaoyuan ate the grapes slowly, but her eyes were glancing at the Empress Dowager above, waiting to see her go off.
Zhu Ling's face turned pale and red, and sweat oozed from her forehead.
She was so angry that she was shaking all over and shouted in a lost mood: "What do you mean?"
"You are so bold that you dare to ridicule me!"
Facing Zhu Ling's impotent rage, Prime Minister Lin was not afraid at all. He pointed at Zhu Ling and said sternly: "Empress Dowager Zhu, you have no regard for propriety, morality, integrity, and have an affair with the imperial teacher Mr. Liang. You have disturbed the harem and are not worthy of being the Queen Mother of Dai Viet!"
"Now, your dirty deeds have spread among the people and have become a topic of jokes among the people. It is a shame for our Great Xia!"
"Today, as the Prime Minister of Dai Viet, I, Lin Feng, on behalf of all the ministers, present a joint letter of condemnation."
"It lists all the evils of the Queen Mother. We request that the Queen Mother be deposed!"
As he said that, Prime Minister Lin took out a memorial from his sleeve and raised it with both hands.
Prince Shen stood up and echoed loudly, "The Queen Mother is unworthy of her position. We demand that the Queen Mother be deposed!"
Immediately afterwards, the voices of many court officials rang out, "We demand that the Queen Mother be deposed!"
The little emperor was only fifteen years old and had mediocre qualifications. When he saw this scene, he was immediately frightened and could only sit there awkwardly, unable to utter a word.
Zhu Ling's face was distorted due to excessive emotion. She grabbed the teacup on the table and threw it to the ground with all her strength. The sound of porcelain breaking broke the shouts of the crowd, and the hall was greeted with a moment of silence.
Zhu Ling took advantage of the gap when everyone was stunned and shouted: "Rebellion! Rebellion! I strictly abide by the etiquette and have never done anything to let down the late emperor! You are slandering me!"
"Dare to slander the empress dowager, the crime is death!"
Then, Zhu Ling shouted at the door of the hall with all her strength: "Come! Arrest all these treasonous ministers!"