The emperor looked at the group of people kneeling on the ground with mixed feelings, unsure whether he was angry or helpless.
Similar things have happened time and time again, yet some people still tirelessly try to drag the Lu family down. What are they after?
If the entire government and the public were of one mind with him, there would be no need to worry about other countries taking advantage of the situation.
He asked, somewhat bewildered, "Didn't you ever consider that this might be a scheme by someone with ulterior motives to retaliate against the Lu family? I wonder what kind of incompetent fools I've been keeping in my court, that you're being led by the nose by such a clumsy tactic?"
In fact, he knew in his heart that most of these people were conservatives. Jiang Jiuniang's previous remarks had offended them. Although he managed to suppress the matter later, these people were not convinced. So, as soon as there was any disturbance, they would take the opportunity to cause trouble.
Under normal circumstances, he could patiently explain to them, but now the outside world is in chaos, and disaster is imminent, yet they are still arguing over such a trivial matter. What is the point of the court paying them to do this?
In fact, these people don't care about so-called important matters at all. They only know that their interests have been violated. As long as the Lu family and Jiang Jiuniang are brought down, there won't be so many things breaking the rules, and they can protect their own interests.
"Your Majesty, this is no small matter! The weather in Beiyan is favorable now, a sign of great prosperity. It is the time to resolve these issues. If these issues are not resolved, the country will not prosper. This old minister is doing this for the good of the people!"
"The Jiang family of the Lu family is unorthodox and always does things that are unexpected and violate ancestral teachings. They are clearly trying to ruin the fate of our Northern Yan Kingdom. If this continues, who knows how badly the noble ladies in the capital will be corrupted. This is ruining a person from the root!"
"On the surface, Lady Jiang is doing good deeds, but in reality, she is leading a group of noble ladies to do immoral things, which has a huge impact. If the Emperor does not take this seriously, the consequences will be unimaginable. By the time things happen, it will be too late!"
The old minister spoke with great emotion, as if he had done countless painstaking things for the court and that no one was as capable as him.
Mr. Kang chimed in from the side, "Tch, all this talk is just because the noble ladies in the capital no longer stay at home waiting to be married, but go out to pursue what they like, which is why your grandson can't find a wife. Why make it sound so high-sounding!"
Mr. Kang had a thorough understanding of the people in the court, especially since the emperor had given him a spy from the Thousand Sails Pavilion for his exclusive use. He knew all the trivial matters in the homes of these court officials.
The old man who just slandered Jiang Jiuniang was simultaneously cursing the noble ladies of the capital for being shameless and showing their faces in public every day, while also worrying about his grandson's lack of a marriage prospect. None of the noble ladies he had previously despised for being shameless were interested in his grandson.
Firstly, they felt that his grandson was incompetent and had no future. Secondly, they thought he was an old-fashioned person, and his whole family was old-fashioned. They believed that if he really married into the family, he would definitely not have a good life. Therefore, they resolutely did not want to consider this family.
The old man was surprised to learn that the obstacle to his grandson's marriage was still Jiang Jiuniang. His hatred for Jiang Jiuniang reached its peak, and he would find any opportunity to make trouble for her. Yesterday, when the Lu family had an accident, the old man made an appointment overnight to impeach Jiang Jiuniang together this morning.
If it weren't for the fact that this old man is so old, and he might accidentally die of anger in the court, he would really like to stand up and give him a good beating, so that he wouldn't be so bored every day.
The old minister was surprised that Kang Chengzhi knew about this matter, and glared at him angrily, saying, "We have always kept to ourselves, so why are you being so aggressive?"
"So you know this is being aggressive? You know it's uncomfortable to be aggressive? Then why do you, a grown man, keep harping on Doctor Jiang? Why do you have to denigrate a patriotic heroine like her as a witch? You're a representative of the conservatives, you understand better than anyone how important a woman's reputation is, yet you don't care at all and just want to drag Doctor Jiang into the mud. How noble are you yourself?"
Mr. Kang has always been a loyal fan of Jiang Jiuniang. No matter when Jiang Jiuniang is slandered, he is always the first to stand up for her. If Lu Baichuan hadn't specifically told him not to overreact, he would have said much more.
Unable to argue with Mr. Kang, the old minister knelt on the ground and cried, "Your Majesty, you must do justice for me! I am only doing this for the good of the country, but they are making trouble and using my private affairs to attack me! Your Majesty should execute this witch as soon as possible and restore peace and prosperity to the world!"
"I think you're the one who's just being unreasonable!"
Upon hearing this, the emperor instantly flew into a rage, stood up from his dragon throne, and pointed at the old minister, ready to unleash a torrent of abuse.
Lu Baichuan stepped forward and said to the old minister, "Since Lord Li is so aggressive, I don't mind giving him a taste of his own medicine."
The old minister had no idea what Lu Baichuan was up to, and he became alert. A moment later, someone rushed in to report: "Your Majesty, a group of people are causing trouble in front of Lord Li's house. They say that Lord Li's grandson is possessed by a ghost, which is why he can't find a wife! They also say that Lord Li's family has bad morals because of the ghost, and that Lord Li's grandson has the appearance of being a jinx to wives. They say that the only way to drive away the evil spirit is to kill Lord Li's grandson, otherwise the ghost will continue to haunt him and threaten the neighbors and ordinary people!"
Everyone turned to look at Lu Baichuan, and then fell silent...
This is what he meant by "an eye for an eye."
Don't tell me, really don't tell me!
That's quite interesting.
The emperor almost burst out laughing. Lu Baichuan didn't have to tell Lord Li that he had arranged those people, but he insisted on telling him, deliberately letting Lord Li know that his grandson had been framed and that he was powerless to do anything about it.
"What a terrible thing!"
Lord Li was so overwhelmed with anger that he didn't have time to say anything before his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
From then on, regardless of whether the matter was true or false, the claim that his grandson was cursed to bring misfortune to his wife could no longer be explained. Not only noble ladies in the capital, but even girls from ordinary families were unwilling to enter his home.
This is all the fault of the Lu family. The Lu family wants to cut off the Li family's lineage!
When Lu Baichuan saw him faint, he kindly had someone take him down to see the imperial physician, since it would be very unlucky for him to die in the court like that.
The other kneeling people immediately dared not say anything. They believed that Lu Baichuan would attack each of them indiscriminately. They were all people with family records, and no one wanted their family members to be implicated. So they hurriedly apologized to the emperor, saying that they had been deceived by Lord Li and so on.
The emperor wasn't stupid; he knew what these people were up to. He couldn't eliminate them all at once, but he wouldn't let them off easily either. Each of them was fined a year's salary and demoted. The ringleader, Lord Li, was dismissed from office and suffered the worst fate.
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