Medical Director Cai set his teacup down on the table, seemingly unintentionally with some force, producing a sound.
“Sir, I think things look bad. That Old Physician An must have pulled some strings…” Dong Lin said hurriedly.
“What strings could a cripple pull? If the Emperor hadn’t intervened in time back then, Prince Julu of the Sima family would have taken his life,” Medical Director Cai said indifferently. “He’s just asking that man surnamed Fang to look after him a bit, to spare Zhou Maochun from prison suffering. If he really had ability, he’d have that man surnamed Fang go before the Emperor to plead for his release. If that man surnamed Fang dared let out even a fart, I’d kowtow to him.”
That man surnamed Fang really wouldn’t dare let out a fart before the Emperor even if beaten to death…
Dong Lin couldn’t help but want to laugh.
“Enough, it’s only been two days. Just wait – at most one more day, and Zhou Maochun won’t be able to hide,” Medical Director Cai said, stroking his teacup. “The memorials from the Mobei Military Preparedness Circuit should all be delivered by now.”
At this moment in the imperial palace hall, the Emperor was holding court.
Besides the standing eunuchs, there were seven or eight officials standing with hands hanging down.
The room was silent as the grave.
On the dragon throne, the Emperor picked up a memorial, glanced only at the cover, then threw it on the table with a “slap.”
Gradually, the slapping sounds became more frequent, making the hearts of the ministers standing below skip beats.
“These are all memorials sent by the Mobei Military Preparedness Circuit?” the Emperor asked.
A red-robed official around sixty years old bowed and confirmed it was so.
“Zhou Maochun, one man, could provoke so many memorials? Is he too capable, or are all these Mobei Military Preparedness officials useless?” the Emperor asked slowly.
The red-robed official’s bow became even deeper.
“This subject is guilty,” he said tremblingly.
“Fang Shujun,” the Emperor called.
A minister standing nearby quickly bowed and stepped forward.
“Is your father dead?” the Emperor asked.
Minister Fang’s body trembled slightly.
“Thank Your Majesty for asking, this subject’s father has not yet…” he said.
Before he could finish, a memorial was thrown at him.
“If he’s not dead, have Zhou Maochun get his ass over here!” the Emperor shouted.
Minister Fang acknowledged the order and immediately walked out, his face showing undisguised worry.
It seemed things had gone bad this time. Originally, he had wanted to wait a few days for the Emperor’s anger to subside before Zhou Maochun appeared. Unexpectedly, just two days after arriving in the capital, the Emperor had summoned him, and in front of so many ministers for questioning rather than a private meeting for scolding first – this showed the Emperor didn’t want to give any face at all.
While Zhou Maochun was being hastily summoned to the hall, Qi Yue had returned home to see Chen Shi.
“Aunt, I want to enter the palace to have an audience with the Emperor,” she said.
Chen Shi was startled.
“I need to explain to the Emperor what we did in Mobei,” Qi Yue said, kneeling before Chen Shi and grasping her hands.
Chen Shi reached out to pull her up.
“What’s so important about that matter?” she said dismissively, then smiled slightly. “Don’t worry, I’ve already spoken to His Majesty, and he agreed. No matter how big the matter, you won’t have any problems.”
It was settled?
Qi Yue was confused. That day when Chen Shi came out from the Emperor, her expression hadn’t seemed too happy, so she thought it hadn’t gone well.
Chen Shi, holding her hand, was also somewhat lost in thought.
He had agreed to look after her, but she still needed to see him in person for it to be proper…
Hateful little rascal, knowing she wanted to make introductions but just wouldn’t relent.
“Master Zhou wants to take responsibility for everything. I need to have an audience to explain,” Qi Yue said, shaking Chen Shi’s hand. “I know this puts you in a difficult position, but I don’t know who else could get me to see the Emperor fastest.”
Chen Shi came back to her senses and pondered briefly.
This was indeed a good opportunity. Admitting guilt and fault…
“Alright, then let’s make the trip. I was just planning to see the Empress Dowager anyway,” she said.
Qi Yue thanked her joyfully.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry – no matter who has problems, you won’t,” Chen Shi said, smoothing Qi Yue’s hair with affection.
Qi Yue smiled bitterly.
She would rather everyone else be fine, even if she had problems.
When Chen Shi brought Qi Yue into the palace gates, Zhou Maochun was already standing before the Emperor.
Seeing Zhou Maochun’s ruddy complexion and having gained weight, the Emperor sneered twice.
“Master Zhou, you seem to be in good spirits,” he asked with a smile.
“Thanks to Your Majesty’s great fortune, not bad,” Zhou Maochun said with a bow.
Before he finished speaking, a memorial was thrown heavily at his head.
“But I’m in a very bad mood!”
The Emperor’s furious voice struck simultaneously.
Everyone was already familiar with the Emperor’s unpredictable moods and knew this meant the Emperor’s anger had erupted.
The hall immediately filled with sounds of “this subject is guilty,” but this couldn’t stop the Emperor’s furious cursing.
“…A mere thousand rebel slaves, twenty days, pillaging three passes, two provinces, nine counties – this is what you call your iron-bucket Nine Fortresses!”
“…What iron bucket? It’s clearly because the rebel slaves were severely wounded in previous years…”
“…Now they’ve recovered, and with one move they’ve slapped me across the face…”
“…You constantly boast about how well I govern, with strong soldiers and horses – this is me basking in the glory of the late Emperor and Great Ancestor!”
The Emperor grew angrier as he spoke, finally breaking into open cursing. No one knew where this Emperor, raised from childhood by the finest scholars in the palace, had learned so much foul language. It was said the Emperor often left the palace privately, which must be true – only in the marketplace could one hear such unimaginable profanity.
The ministers below couldn’t help but let their minds wander, but they were quickly brought back to attention by memorials thrown by the Emperor, who found cursing alone insufficient.
The eunuchs and ministers standing below all suffered, but none dared dodge, only kneeling and weeping in acknowledgment of guilt.
The Emperor tired of cursing and broke into a sweat. He swept his sleeves and sat back on the dragon throne, looking down at the people below with a dark expression.
“Zhou Maochun, if you have anything to say, say it quickly while I’m in a bad mood,” he said.
Zhou Maochun stood up, the memorial on his shoulder falling off.
“Your Majesty, what did this subject do?” he asked, blinking with an innocent expression.
The Emperor’s just-subsided anger flared up again. With no memorials to throw and having grown tired of cursing, he simply kicked the dragon desk, frightening the eunuchs on both sides to quickly kneel and support it.
“Was everything I just said for nothing?” the Emperor roared.
The other ministers kneeling below couldn’t help but mentally cry out: this stubborn old man is annoying enough at other times, but why is he still so sharp-tongued at a time like this!
“There was a military defeat. What does that have to do with this subject?” Zhou Maochun said persistently.
The ministers lowered their heads again – this was truly seeking death…
“Are you saying I’m being unreasonable, venting my anger over defeat by randomly implicating people?” the Emperor said ominously.
“This subject didn’t say that,” Zhou Maochun said quickly.
The Emperor laughed angrily and pointed at the memorials on the ground.
“Pick one up and read it,” he said.
Zhou Maochun obediently picked one up and saw it was from General Xiong Dashan of Gansu impeaching Zhou Maochun for delaying military affairs. He glanced through it.
“Did you do the things written here?” the Emperor asked.
Zhou Maochun nodded.
“Read another,” the Emperor said.
Zhou Maochun picked up another, seeing it was from Censorate Investigating Censor Wen Ding impeaching Zhou Maochun for absurd and disloyal behavior.
“Have you done these things?” the Emperor asked again.
Zhou Maochun nodded again.
“Yes, I have,” he answered honestly.
The Emperor kicked the desk again with a loud bang, making everyone in the room jump.
He stood up and pointed down across the desk.
“These are all impeaching you! And you still ask me what you did wrong! What you did wrong! An old man who won’t die is a scourge!” he cursed angrily.
Zhou Maochun’s expression remained unchanged.
“But these things weren’t wrong. This subject was just treating illness and injuries as part of his duties…” he said.
Before he could finish, the Emperor grabbed a vermillion brush from the desk and threw it, hitting Zhou Maochun squarely on the forehead, leaving a red mark.
“You dare treat my military and political affairs as a joke, dare toy with my soldiers and generals – what wouldn’t you dare do? Next time will you play with my head?” he cursed furiously.
These words were serious. The ministers kneeling below couldn’t pretend to be mute anymore and kowtowed one after another, with some standing up to scold Zhou Maochun.
It seemed Zhou Maochun was completely determined to anger the Emperor and seek punishment today.
The ministers sighed inwardly.
Just then, a young eunuch entered, hesitating against the wall. The eunuch beside the Emperor saw him and quickly walked over, listening as the young eunuch said something. His expression immediately became shocked, and he shook his head. The young eunuch also shook his head. The two communicated with their eyes for a moment before the Emperor’s eunuch had no choice but to turn back.
“Speak,” the Emperor said irritably.
The ministers below jumped, about to speak, but saw the eunuch crouch near the Emperor and whisper something.
“Get out,” the Emperor said directly.
The ministers below jumped again, but saw the eunuch roll away.
“Won’t see her?” Chen Shi’s expression showed slight anxiety.
“My young lady, His Majesty is at the height of his anger right now. They’re practically fighting in that hall,” the plump eunuch said in a low voice. “Please listen to reason and go back quickly. Don’t court bad luck.”
Chen Shi hesitated.
Fighting…
Qi Yue clenched her fists.
“Steward,” she stepped forward and said, “please announce once more that Qi Yueniang of Qianjin Hall requests an audience.”
Chen Shi quickly reached out to stop her.
“Yueniang, don’t be foolish. His Majesty won’t see you,” she said.
Even with her imperial edict from the Great Ancestor allowing free access, she couldn’t make the Emperor relent – how could you speaking possibly work?
The plump eunuch also smiled bitterly.
“Steward, I know this is difficult, but this is Yueniang’s sincere wish,” Qi Yue said, taking out a bank note and handing it over.
The eunuch was startled.
“Madam, this is slapping my face,” he said quickly.
But Chen Shi didn’t want Qi Yue to lose face, and since they were already here, they should at least try.
“Little Huang, this really is putting you in a difficult position,” she said.
The plump eunuch looked at her and sighed, reaching out to take it.
“Alright, I’ll go once more,” he said, turning and walking away.
Only when he reached the main hall did the plump eunuch casually glance at the bank note in his sleeve, and couldn’t help but jump.
Five thousand taels!
Good heavens!
This young lady was really generous!
In the main hall, the eunuchs had another round of eye communication, and finally the same eunuch walked toward the Emperor.
The Emperor turned his gaze to look at him, and the eunuch broke into a cold sweat under that look, finally dropping to his knees with a thud.
“Your Majesty, Qianjin Hall’s Qi… Qi…” Having communicated in whispers earlier, he hadn’t heard clearly, and being frightened by the Emperor’s gaze, the eunuch momentarily couldn’t remember the proper form of address and stuttered.
Calling a woman “madam” was surely safe.
“Qianjin Hall’s Madam Qi requests an audience,” he said, kowtowing.