Marquis Guanjun’s residence covered quite a large area. The siblings deliberately slowed their pace, and by the time they reached Qiao Wan’s quarters, Qiao Zhao had already briefly recounted the situation in the south.
“Elder Brother—” Qiao Wan heard the commotion and came running over, lifting her skirts. She was startled when she saw Qiao Zhao.
Qiao Zhao was equally stunned upon seeing Qiao Wan.
After several months’ absence, her younger sister had grown much taller.
Thinking of her current height, Miss Qiao suddenly felt a bit dejected.
Everyone in the Qiao family was tall. Qiao Wan would surely not be short in the future. She seemed to be in a bit of trouble…
“Why isn’t Wanwan speaking?” Qiao Mo touched Qiao Wan’s head.
Only then did Qiao Wan come to her senses, biting her lip and calling out “Sister Li.”
Qiao Zhao smiled and replied: “I came in a hurry and didn’t bring a gift. I’ll make it up to you next time.”
“No need, I’m not a child anymore.” Qiao Wan quickly refused, rolling her eyes as she asked: “Sister Li, you went out with my brother-in-law, didn’t you? Where is my brother-in-law?”
“Your brother-in-law has business to attend to. He probably won’t return until dark.” Qiao Zhao said naturally.
Qiao Wan frowned, feeling that this Miss Li’s tone was somehow strange, but she couldn’t figure out what was strange about it. She finally sighed: “I thought I could see my brother-in-law right away.”
She had grown taller and more beautiful. Brother-in-law would surely be happy to see her.
Shao Mingyuan, who was being thought of by the young lady Qiao Wan, was currently standing with his head bowed in the imperial study, feeling the emperor’s wrath.
Emperor Mingkang still hadn’t held court, casually wearing a common robe. His face was as dark as water as he stared at Chief Minister Lan Shan: “Lan Shan, wasn’t Xing Wuyang recommended to me by you? At the time, you said this person had a loyal heart and righteous courage, with pure blood and sincere dedication, capable of being a good general. And now? Colluding with Japanese pirates, oppressing the people into rebellion, and even inciting military mutiny. Is the next step to usurp my empire?”
Emperor Mingkang slammed the dragon desk in anger. Chief Minister Lan Shan knelt below, honestly kowtowing: “This old minister deserves death, this old minister deserves death. This old minister forgot that people can change. It’s this old minister’s poor judgment and inability to recognize people. Please punish me, Your Majesty!”
Emperor Mingkang stared at Lan Shan without a word. Lan Shan, having thrown caution to the wind, raised his hand and viciously slapped himself.
The spacious imperial study was now crowded with people. Besides Shao Mingyuan and Chief Minister Lan Shan, there were Jinlin Guards Commander Jiang Tang, Vice Minister Xu Mingda, Minister of Rites Su He, and the highest officials of the Three Judicial Offices—the Ministry of Justice, Censorate, and Court of Judicial Review.
Everyone stood trembling in the imperial study, listening to the slapping sounds, not daring to make a sound.
Though their emperor often skipped court every few days, he was not a weak and incompetent ruler. If one truly angered the emperor, one had to be prepared to face consequences at any moment.
However—
Everyone kept their heads down, stealing glances at Lan Shan from the corners of their eyes.
As the current Chief Minister, to slap himself at the emperor’s word, even when facing the sovereign, this wasn’t something every minister could do.
Sure enough, Emperor Mingkang spoke coldly: “Enough. A Chief Minister slapping himself like a slave—are you afraid others won’t say I’m incompetent?”
Lan Shan immediately stopped, repeatedly kowtowing with an extremely humble attitude: “This old minister is guilty, this old minister is guilty. I only hope Your Majesty won’t damage your health from anger over this old minister. That would be this old minister’s blessing.”
Everyone collectively rolled their eyes.
To flatter to Chief Minister Lan’s extent—they had to admire him.
Emperor Mingkang looked down at Lan Shan from his high position. Seeing his sparse gray hair disheveled from repeated movements, looking extremely bedraggled, the hair on top unable to cover his scalp, his heart couldn’t help but soften somewhat.
This was an old minister who had followed him for over twenty years. He still remembered once praising Lan Shan’s fine beard and hair, worthy of being called “Beautiful Beard Lord.”
In the blink of an eye, the former Beautiful Beard Lord had become a nearly seventy-year-old bald old man, making one’s eyes water to see.
Life was short, time merciless. Indeed, one must firmly walk the path of immortal cultivation to eternally rule the empire. Emperor Mingkang sighed inwardly.
Perhaps thinking of the path to longevity, Emperor Mingkang’s anger diminished somewhat as he raised his hand slightly.
Wei Wuxie, the brush-holding eunuch who had been standing behind Emperor Mingkang like an invisible person, immediately presented silver ear soup at just the right temperature.
Emperor Mingkang moistened his throat and said indifferently, “You all speak up. How do you plan to handle Xing Wuyang’s matter?”
Lan Shan, kneeling below, dared not show any change in expression, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had temporarily passed this hurdle. As for Xing Wuyang, he could only pray for his fortune.
Emperor Mingkang had vented his anger and thrown out the most troublesome problem. All the ministers present kept their heads down in silence.
“Why aren’t you speaking now?” Emperor Mingkang’s face became even more somber.
He wasn’t feeding these wine bags and rice sacks to be wallflowers!
The ministers’ scalps tingled as they exchanged glances, all thinking the same thing: You all better start talking—if no one speaks, the emperor will get angry!
“Hmm?” Emperor Mingkang hummed through his nose.
The ministers’ legs trembled, determined not to be the first to speak.
Setting aside Xing Wuyang’s relationship with Chief Minister Lan Shan, whoever spoke first would be targeted by Lan Shan forever after. Most crucially, Xing Wuyang’s crimes warranted death by a thousand cuts as a light punishment, but he had dominated Fudong for years. Whoever suggested the appropriate course and forced Xing Wuyang to rebel would be repeatedly punished by the emperor.
Emperor Mingkang’s sinister gaze slowly swept over everyone, sneering inwardly.
Don’t think he didn’t know what these bastards were thinking—not one wanted to take responsibility!
Each one was an important state minister, a pillar of the court. If they didn’t take responsibility, what did they want to do? Why were they so eager when sharing his immortal pills?
Emperor Mingkang’s gaze finally fell on Minister of Justice Kou Xingze.
Kou Xingze was precisely Qiao Zhao’s maternal grandfather.
“Minister Kou, your in-law didn’t die by accident but was murdered, and his house burned. What are your thoughts?”
Kou Xingze immediately knelt: “This minister humbly requests Your Majesty to severely punish the murderer.”
“Hmm, the murderer isn’t just Jianan Prefect Li Zongyu—it’s also connected to Xing Wuyang.” Emperor Mingkang said with a half-smile.
Cold sweat broke out on Kou Xingze’s back as he thought: They had accumulated several lifetimes of good fortune to encounter such a difficult emperor to serve. The emperor was forcing him to state how to deal with Xing Wuyang.
“Your Majesty, this minister believes that although we have Censor Xing’s account books proving Xing Wuyang’s crimes of embezzling military funds and colluding with Japanese pirates, regarding the Qiao family fire, we still need the Three Judicial Offices to jointly try the suspects and interrogate witnesses to determine whether this matter is truly related to Xing Wuyang.”
Emperor Mingkang’s lips twitched.
The old fox was good at passing the buck.
Hmph, when it comes to passing the buck, who could outdo him!
“Minister Kou, I recall previously ordering Vice Minister of Justice Li Guangyan to investigate the case in Jia Feng. At that time, didn’t he conclude that the Qiao family fire was purely accidental!”
Kou Xingze wiped away sweat: “Your Majesty, please forgive me.”
Emperor Mingkang snorted coldly and looked at Vice Minister Xu Mingda: “Vice Minister Xu, how do you think Xing Wuyang should be dealt with?”
Xu Mingda’s heart jumped as he carefully said: “By rights, Xing Wuyang’s crimes are unforgivable, and how to deal with him shouldn’t be controversial. It’s just that he’s been in Fudong for years with deep roots. If not handled properly, it could very likely cause unrest—”
At this moment, Censor Xing spoke up: “Your Majesty, this minister has something more to report.”