Chapter 281 282. Civil officials should be magnanimous when quarreling
As mentioned before, the old minister is a conservative who can't stand people who go against the norm.
But after following Marquis Changning all the way back to the escort agency and seeing the various ways of Marquis Changning and his wife, who were sometimes a little vulgar, but also had ingenious strategies that could hit the nail on the head and cure any illness, his attitude changed.
The old minister is still conservative, but not as old-fashioned. On certain levels, especially those that are good for the court and the people, he is willing to make some concessions.
Therefore, at today's court meeting, when someone impeached Marquis Changning for many crimes such as abusing his power, abusing his authority, threatening court officials, executing without authorization, overstepping his authority, and misconduct when he took over the escort agency, the old minister unexpectedly stood up to speak for Marquis Changning.
Lei Shengjiang's reputation as a "soft nail" is only known in the Hanlin Academy. This old minister is well-known for his ability to debate with scholars, and he is a veteran of three dynasties and is not afraid of anyone.
Wanqi Xia has been scolded by this old minister almost every year since he became emperor. He was scolded especially a lot when he wanted to appoint General Xiang as the empress.
The court meeting was in chaos.
Marquis Changning, who was ready for a big fight, did not even participate in the main battlefield. He was pushed to the side and could not even watch the excitement.
The innovative faction who had become fans of Marquis Chengning, led by the old minister, started cursing, some rolled up their sleeves, some pulled up their boots.
The half of the conservatives who were ready to follow the old minister in impeaching Marquis Changning were stunned at first, and then tried to stop the fight between the two sides. The other half of the conservatives who were at odds with the old minister and were unhappy with Marquis Changning started swearing and pushing and elbowing each other.
Military generals never participate in such large-scale quarrels between civil officials.
The military officers who were watching the fun stood on the side, relying on their height to watch the show happily. The military officers who were swept up stretched out their elbows to prevent the civil officials from hitting them. Some of them said "let go, let go", and the other half said "stop hitting, stop hitting, let's talk it over."
The melee inevitably affected the marginal areas.
Lei Li nimbly dodged a boot that came from nowhere, and found himself next to the solemn-looking Duke Su.
Duke Suguo is also a hereditary super-first-rank official, and is from a prominent and noble old family in Kyoto. It is not surprising to run into Lei Li here.
However, Lei Li really wanted to ask Duke Su what he thought about his youngest son pursuing his daughter Zhou Zhou. Even if he couldn't have a share of the melon at the court meeting, he could at least have a share of the child's melon.
Duke Suguo had a solemn expression on his face. He saw Marquis Changning only nodded politely without expressing any opinion. It seemed that he didn't know about Lin Zhong and Lei Zhouzhou.
It would be strange if you didn’t know.
Not only did Lin Zhong secretly court Lei Zhouzhou for three years, he also followed Lei Zhouzhou all the way to Qingyuan, where he was gone for several months. The Duke Su's Mansion was completely unaware of the situation, and all the people there really died.
It is estimated that as soon as Lin Zhong left the mansion, Duke Su knew what clothes he was wearing, what horse he rode, and who he left the city with.
Is this static braking?
Lei Li thought about it and nodded to Duke Su.
The two of them got along peacefully, which disappointed those who looked over here to watch the fun.
Emperor Wanqi Xia, who sat high above on the dragon throne, watched the show leisurely for a long time. Only when he saw that someone was about to die did he slowly stop the court officials.
The court officials returned to their respective positions.
The emperor did not ask what the result of their argument was. He was very arbitrary and domineering. As soon as he raised his eyes, the chief eunuch would come forward and announce the decree to commend the Marquis of Changning and his entourage.
When Lei Li just came back yesterday, he told the emperor what happened along the way. When he just attended the court meeting, he also briefly stated the whole process in court.
The old minister also made some additions, praising Marquis Changning very much in his words.
Then some people were dissatisfied and reported and sued Marquis Changning, and also impeached the old ministers for not giving timely advice, which allowed Marquis Changning to commit so many crimes.
And then...
It was the big melee just now.
“Your Majesty…”
When someone heard that the emperor only rewarded but did not punish the Marquis of Changning, they started to complain again, but Wanqi Xia ignored them. He raised his hand and left in a quiet manner, leaving only the chief eunuch's drawn-out words:
"Withdraw from the court——"
To be honest, Lei Li was a little speechless. He always felt that Wanqi Xia didn't really want to discuss state affairs by holding this crappy court meeting, but simply wanted to watch the ministers fight, and he was the match that lit the fuse.
Speechless.
As soon as it's time to get off work, Lei Li leaves faster than anyone else.
Duke Su had just walked halfway when Lei Li had already boarded his carriage and was nestling in Zhou Yi's arms to catch up on his sleep.
"When I have time, I will definitely submit a memorial criticizing this damned court meeting time!"
Lei Li muttered, "Not letting me sleep so late at night and rushing to attend the court meeting, what else can this be? He lives close to the palace, but we don't live close by."
After the emperor got up and attended the court meeting, he could go back to have breakfast and take a nap. But when they returned to the palace, it was almost noon and they had to have lunch and take a nap.
"Sleep well."
Zhou Yi helped him adjust his sleeping position so that he could sleep more comfortably. "Are you hungry? The family is already cooking. Do you want to eat first and then sleep, or eat after you wake up?"
"Eat and then go to sleep."
Lei Li was not actually very sleepy. After listening to the civil servants' vivid scolding all morning, his mind was quite excited and he also learned a lot of new words from them.
"Oh, right, I met Duke Su today. The old man had a very stern face, as if someone owed him tens of thousands of taels of silver and wouldn't pay it back. It was obvious that he wasn't someone who was easy to get along with."
"If our Zhou Zhou really gets together with Lin Zhong, I don't even want this in-law."
"Zhou Zhou..."
Zhou Yi paused and said, "Zhou Zhou went out with Lin Zhong again this morning. They said they were going to a farm outside Beijing to hunt. But there were other children with them, so they weren't alone."
"This kid..."
Lei Li tutted, "We've only been apart for a day and he's already clinging to our Zhou Zhou. Everyone in Kyoto knows how he feels about Zhou Zhou. Weren't those civil servants quarreling this morning?"
"There were a group of people watching the show nearby. When they saw me standing with Duke Su, they started muttering about Lin Zhong and our Zhou Zhou. Some were optimistic about it, while others were optimistic that it would not work out."
"I'm sure that old goat, Duke Su, heard it too. He had a stern face and said nothing. I don't know whether he agreed or not. I didn't even have the chance to ask."
"Since this involves two families, Duke Su will definitely be more cautious."
Zhou Yi said, "And I don't know what the emperor's attitude is. If the emperor doesn't agree, even if Duke Su wants to marry us, it won't work."
"emperor?"
Lei Li got angry when he thought of that dead man Wanqi Xia, who used him as a pretext to watch a good show all morning while he sat comfortably, causing him to stand all morning and his legs to be sore.
"I bet the emperor won't care about this. He knows our personalities and he definitely doesn't want Zhou Zhou to marry into a wealthy family like the Duke of Su. He has so many spies, he must know that Lin Zhong and Zhou Zhou are getting along."
"He's just eager to watch the show. What's the fun in interfering?"
"If he wants to intervene, he'll have to do it later, when Lin Zhong and Zhou Zhou are together and the Duke Su's Mansion doesn't agree, or when we both disagree."
"And did you notice?"
"What did you find?"
Zhou Yi didn't understand.
"The Emperor doesn't like those old-established aristocratic families, especially those ministers from those families who spoke out to stop him from appointing General Xiang as the Empress."
Lei Li curled his lips and said, "Why do you think the emperor asked that old minister to go with us to take over the escort agency? How many times have we argued along the way? Doesn't the emperor have any idea? He must know everything we argued about."
"He simply can't stand the old minister's faction. He wants to disgust the old minister and us as well. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent us out on a business trip right after Xiao Yuzhu was born."
"Although the escort agency was established by us and the Meng family, if the emperor really wants to take it back, he has plenty of people to help him and plenty of ways to do it, but he just wants us to go."
"Isn't it that he rejected his... What was that word you mentioned before? What about husband?"
"What husband?"
Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment and said, "Offer?"
"right."
Lei Li nodded, then snorted, "Isn't it just because I rejected him once, and you're forcing us to do something else? How petty."
Oh, that's not right.
He rejected Wanqi Xia more than once.
They rejected him once in person, and rejected the old eunuch who came to Sanlihe Village with the imperial edict again. It seemed that before that, the old man of the Meng family had invited them to Kyoto several times in words and deeds, but they did not realize it at that time.
By this calculation... I don’t know how many times I have rejected the emperor’s offer.
No wonder Wanqi Xia hastily promoted them to positions as soon as they arrived in Kyoto, and immediately sent them out on official business. Was it because he was angry and embarrassed after being rejected so many times?
If you think about it this way... Wanqi Xia is actually quite magnanimous. Who in the world would dare to reject the emperor again and again?
Zhou Yi thought silently in his heart.
—
After Lei Li and Zhou Yi returned to Kyoto, their lives did not become dull.
Not to mention the emperor's extreme praise for Marquis Changning's achievements, he gave him a lot of rewards and compliments, which made Lei Li hate him in the court and Kyoto.
Take the young master of Duke Su's mansion's passionate pursuit of the young master of Marquis Changning's mansion. He would appear in front of the mansion every now and then to pick up the young master for travel. This has become an enduring hot topic in Kyoto.
especially--
Lin Zhong was seventeen years old and Lei Zhouzhou was fifteen years old.
The prominent families in Kyoto are all watching and secretly placing their bets. The people in Kyoto are all betting on whether the Duke's Mansion and the Marquis' Mansion will marry and when.
The Duke Su's Mansion was as dead as a dead body and did not make any statement, as if it had not heard any news. The Duke Su's stern, dead face could not utter a single word.
The Marquis of Changning's Mansion is easy to talk to.
Unfortunately, no matter whether they asked openly or secretly, the masters of Changning Marquis Mansion all had the same idea:
Let it be.
When a new Ministry of Transport was opened in Kyoto, which was on par with the Six Ministries and was in charge of the logistics of the escort agencies in major prefectures, and Marquis Changning became the Minister of Transport, on par with the Six Ministries, the marriage between the two families was still uncertain.
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