fifth form

Chapter 2548 The Choice Between Kindness and Violence
The government was somewhat chaotic after the great mourning.

The people in the main hall of Weiyang Palace were from Anle Palace, while the people in the side halls and the back hall were from Changxin Palace.

Many new-faced officials who had been granted special privileges came in and out of the palace, and it was almost as if their faces showed that they had been promoted and replaced.

Under such circumstances, the officials in the Weiyang Palace could not be expected to do their jobs.

Most people came in a hurry early in the morning, and in the absence of Prime Minister Xu Chang, they left in a hurry.

Zhuang Qingzhai submitted two memorials to the higher authorities to apologize, but his apologies were just apologies. Without the Anle Palace's intervention to review them, his memorials received no response and his position was not safely relinquished.

As usual, this was an uneasy day for Zhuang Qingzhai.

"His Majesty is here!"

"The Queen Mother is here!"

When the young eunuch shouted and the orderly footsteps of the guards outside the hall reached their ears, the loosely arranged officials in the Anle Palace hall were startled and stood up straight.

The new emperor rarely appeared at the back door of the hall and sat on the dragon throne. Someone brought a screen, and then a graceful figure appeared behind the screen.

"If there is something going on, go ahead and leave if there is nothing going on!"

The young eunuch shouted, and Zhuang Qingzhai felt that the voice was somewhat familiar. When he glanced around, he saw Zhang Xuezhou wearing a eunuch robe and shouting there.

Zhang Xuezhou was not an important official in the court, nor was he a weather vane of the court, but the arrival of the new emperor and the empress dowager meant that the negotiations within the royal family had ended, and they were now working together to clear the obstacles.

An official position in the imperial court could not be held by Zhuang Qingzhai alone. Countless ministers who did not know when to advance or retreat were hacked to death.

Zhuang Qingzhai just lacks the ability, he is not mentally ill and slow in reaction.

After a start, without waiting for the new emperor to subside his surprised expression after hearing Zhang Xuezhou's shouting, Zhuang Qingzhai quickly bowed.

"Your Highness Xu Guangyuan impeached the Imperial Censor Zhuang Qingzhai. Zhuang Qingzhai failed to do his best during the period of mourning for the Empress Dowager, allowing the sorcerers to come and go as they pleased without any effective countermeasures. Master Zhuang is guilty!"

"Your Highness Yan Yi impeaches Prime Minister Xu Chang. I personally saw Xu Chang being frightened by the Curse Master's form, causing his pants to get wet in the main hall of Anle Palace. This is a serious crime!"

Zhuang Qingzhai bowed his hands as a gesture, and before he could stand out, the people arranged by Zhuang Qingzhai had already stood up to impeach, and the people arranged by Xu Chang also appeared in the impeachment line.

Everyone knew that Changxin Palace was transferring officials to Chang'an City, and many officials in Anle Palace were mentally prepared to be criticized and transferred. However, before they could engage in verbal battles with each other, Zhuang Qingzhai and Xu Chang, who led the group, had already arranged their own people to carry out impeachment.

Many officials were shocked at the fact that someone would just lie down and admit defeat without even discussing the matter, and many marquises showed signs of panic, after all, Zhuang Qingzhai had never mentioned impeaching himself before.

But many people held their mouths shut, wanting to see to what extent the new emperor and the empress dowager in the court would punish them, and to judge themselves based on the situations of Zhuang Qingzhai and others.

Zhuang Qingzhai and Xu Chang did not wait for the Changxin Palace to find evidence of their crimes, but directly gave them the handle for criticism.

"Your servant Zhuang Qing Di is willing to take off the crown on his head to apologize!"

Zhuang Qingzhai made up his mind and admitted his guilt. He took off his crown and took out the seal from his waist.

"Zhuang Yushi was incompetent in handling the funeral, but facing those magicians who come and go without a trace, anyone would find it difficult to handle the funeral properly. Xu Guangyuan, you are too harsh!"

Weiwei Cheng Bushi seldom interrupted the court affairs. He spoke up and said something fair, which caused a lot of discussion among the officials.

"Your Highness Xu Guangyuan is only stating the facts. If the person in charge of the funeral was Marquis Wu'an, the truth of the matter would have been revealed!"

"Emperor Zhuang invited Taoist Li Shaojun but he still couldn't catch the criminal. Who do you want Marquis Wu'an to invite to help?"

"Does our Han Dynasty have no capable officials and can only rely on bravery and force to fight the enemy?"

"There are nearly 20,000 soldiers stationed at the four Sima gates in Chang'an City. If they are properly deployed, Anle Palace can almost become an iron wall!"

"You may have never seen the ferocity of that old lion!"

"What old lion? Can a lion withstand the swords of thousands of people?" "Any technique has its drawbacks. No matter how powerful the demons and cultivators are, they can't do whatever they want. They will get tired and need to rest. They will get hurt. What can't be stopped?"

……

If time could be turned back, Zhuang Qingzhai felt that he would definitely ask Cheng Buzhi to speak up.

As the Imperial Censor, Zhuang Qingzhai knew very well that the lightest punishment was always the one who directly admitted the crime. The more he argued in the court, the easier it would be to expose various gains and losses, turning minor crimes into major ones, and eventually getting out of control.

How could he have known that Cheng Buzhi, who usually disliked government affairs, would actually support him.

At this time, the discussions among the court officials had not subsided, and the emperor in the court was waiting for everything to be said, while the empress dowager behind the screen remained silent.

The noisy sound was endless. Zhuang Qingzhai held his crown as the Imperial Censor, his heart beating fast. He had no idea what the outcome he would face.

One wrong move led to another, and never before had he been so uncertain.

"What did Prime Minister Xu say?"

The discussion and criticism of Zhuang Qingzhai lasted for nearly ten minutes. Xu Guangyuan, who was responsible for bringing down Zhuang Qingzhai, was scolded until his face turned red, which also made Zhuang Qingzhai feel extremely bad.

After the voice in the court fell, the emperor in the court asked with a blank expression.

"Your Highness Xu Anru is reporting that my father Xu Chang was cursed by a sorcerer and is seriously ill. He feels so ashamed of himself for his disrespect for himself that he has neither the ability nor the face to enter the court again. He is willing to let Your Majesty deal with him!"

An old official stepped out from among the court officials, holding up a crown and a golden rope in his hands, and responded to the new emperor's question with great respect.

When fighting in the court to punish a crime, it does not simply involve one person, but is likely to affect the entire family.

Xu Chang did not come to the court, but Xu Chang's son Xu Anru was in the court and expressed Xu Chang's wishes very safely.

Just like Zhuang Qingzhai, Xu Chang at this time only hoped to escape from the vortex of the court with a minor crime, while safely maintaining the status of the Xu family's hereditary marquis.

As for whether the Empress Dowager and the new Emperor would be given a break, that would depend on whether the other party had prepared enough evidence of their crimes and whether they were willing to put an end to their affairs with this impeachment.

"Xu Chang, Zhuang Qingzhai!"

The new emperor was obviously very surprised and couldn't help but glance at the empress dowager behind the screen.

The handover in the court was unexpectedly smooth. There were almost no obstacles, and it did not cause any factional conflicts or contradictions. There was no need to use the imperial guards to maintain order.

Before the Empress Dowager could arrange for the people outside the hall to come to the audience and fight, Zhuang Qingzhai and Xu Chang had already taken the initiative to retreat.

This is almost the same as the abdication in previous eras.

Without mentioning things that happened too far in the past, the former Imperial Censor Zhao Wan was imprisoned for many days when he was impeached. There were also many Confucian scholars running around, and people from all levels of the court discussed and debated back and forth. The turmoil lasted for nearly two months.

Zhuang Qingzhai and others pleaded guilty and resigned from office willingly, and the situation could be settled almost within a day.

The new emperor had a grievance against Zhuang Qingzhai. After all, Zhao Wan and Wang Zang, who died after being interrogated by Zhuang Qingzhai, were his Confucian teachers.

He was somewhat angry and had thought about settling accounts with Zhuang Qingzhai in the future.

Although Zhuang Qingzhai and Xu Chang were not very capable, they still had some common sense as the descendants of aristocratic families.

With these two people taking the lead in taking off the crown, if Changxin Palace was not in control at this time, he could almost take over the jurisdiction of the court and command the ministers without any damage.

The new emperor was hesitant as to whether to impose severe punishment in a puppet state to establish his authority or to set an example for the officials of Changxin Palace.

Note: A brief explanation about the Han Dynasty can be compared with everyone's family situation. When did grandparents stop controlling the family? When did parents stop telling us what to do? Are parents the hub of relatives and social relationships or can we maintain relationships on our own?

In addition: all the major holy places and countries are similar. The first one written about is the internal strife between Zhu Jiuyin and Zhu Shiyin in the Xieluschuan Holy Land, the internal strife between the Master and the Venerable in the Yedihe Holy Land, the dispute among the Buddhist disciples of the Western Church, the people's hearts in the Kunlun Holy Land were scattered and left, the immortals in the Immortal Court were slow to react to small things and could not do big things, etc. Each family has its own affairs.