It’s hard to break a phoenix’s destiny

Chapter 477: Face is important but people are incompetent

"What happened?" Yang Xianrong was no longer obsessed with pulling her hand out of Sima Chi's. Instead, she looked at him quietly and even comforted him like she was coaxing a child, "Take your time. There are many things that cannot be rushed."

When Sima Chi saw Yang Xianrong like this, his eyes became even more enthusiastic. "Help me!"

"Of course I will help." Yang Xianrong nodded and coughed twice, "But you have to let me know what happened, right?"

"Oh oh oh, then let me tell you about it." Sima Chi looked around like a child who had received affirmation before he started talking.

After Sima Yue left Luoyang, although he was still in charge of the overall situation in Luoyang, it was still a long way to go, and many things still needed Sima Chi's seal of the emperor to count. Gradually, Sima Chi began to sit in the court and listen to the various reports of these ministers. Although the people of Queen Liang's family also supported him behind the scenes, after all, her family's connections, knowledge and insights were not enough, and the pattern was even more petty. Whenever there was something that needed Sima Chi to make a decision, the answers they gave made people feel that this emperor was not generous.

One, two, three... When discussing Sima Chi's ability, everyone shook their heads, and some people whispered that they were afraid that he would be a fool emperor, etc. Sima Chi was young and hot-tempered, and he was very unconvinced, but when he saw that the level of Queen Liang's family was indeed not enough to keep him on the throne, he became even more irritated.

Yang Zongguan had been with Sima Chi all along, and he was also an old man in the palace, so he knew a lot of things. After all, their tentacles were more extensive, and they even knew clearly that a concubine in a minister's family was cheating on a man. When he saw Sima Chi like this, he couldn't help but said, "Why not ask Queen Hui for help?"

"What does this mean?" Sima Chi was stunned. After returning from Zijing Mountain, he only went to Tianyuan Palace twice. The reason was simple. He was afraid that Yang Xianrong would pass on her illness to him. When he was on the road before, he was unwilling to leave Yang Xianrong, but after returning to the palace, he felt anxious, short of breath, dizzy and swollen in less than half an incense stick of time sitting in front of Yang Xianrong's bed. The first time, he thought he was tired and didn't pay much attention to it. He went back and lay down for three days before he felt better. But after the second time, he only sat for a short while, and the feeling came again, which scared him and he left immediately. But this time, he lay down for most of the day before he recovered, and he was exhausted after serving for three or four days. He also lost all interest in the fine wines prepared by Queen Liang and the performances of the musicians in the palace.

Because the image of the jealous Empress Jia Nanfeng was too deeply rooted in people's minds, and she was the only woman left by Sima Chi's side, in order to show her image as a magnanimous and gentle empress, she had to find some women to fill the harem for the emperor. As a result, this move caused a lot of discussion among the people, and they said: "The throne is not stable yet, but he is thinking about finding women for himself. What a stupid emperor."

Empress Liang was still trying to establish a good image for herself as the empress, but Sima Chi could no longer sit still and thought that he must do something in the court. Many people knew the inside story of the suppression of bandits in Zijing Mountain, and it gradually spread, and more people began to distrust him.

A few days later, Empress Liang drew up a list of women who were to enter the palace. Seeing this, all the ministers were furious. When they went to court, their faces were all black. They no longer talked about anything. They just stared at Sima Chi, and then said, "There is nothing to report today." Then they turned around and left.

Sima Chi was confused at first, but after understanding the situation, he cursed Queen Liang for being stupid.

The family members of Queen Liang also felt very aggrieved, saying that they were just following the previous procedures. However, it was useless to say anything now, as things had already happened, and they could only think about how to deal with it.

Sima Chi carefully looked at the candidates proposed by Empress Liang and found that there were indeed many daughters of ministers, some of whom were even under the age of twelve, which was somewhat unreasonable. But if the list was withdrawn now, it would certainly be a loss of face for the Liang family. They had not recovered for a long time after being beaten by Yang Xianrong. If they were to be beaten again because of this incident, they would no longer have a place in the court of the Jin Dynasty.

What should I do?
He was also very worried.

Yang Zongguan found the right time and asked quietly when Empress Liang was not with the emperor: "Why don't you do something to change the ministers' views?"

"That's easy for you to say!" Sima Chi became even more annoyed and threw the bamboo slips on the ground. "What kind of nonsense do you show me every day? Lack of food, can I solve it? Lack of weapons, can I change it? One by one, they want rewards and land, it's really enough! Look, what else is there? There is a thief in the prison, but he refuses to admit his guilt. If he doesn't admit his guilt, just kill him directly! And you insist on making him confess his crime! How come he is the only one who knows about the 100,000 taels of gold in his hand? If they are powerful, they can find it! Why do you still interrogate him like this? It's really pedantic!"

Yang Zongguan bent down and picked up the bamboo slips. He looked at them carefully and found that the officials of the Shangshu Office wrote to Sima Chi and asked him to clean up the prisoners in the prison. Because Luoyang was also short of food, if these people did nothing in the prison and still had food to eat, wouldn't everyone want to commit crimes and come in to eat and drink?
Sima Zhong had approved this matter before, and released many people and executed some. But now there is a thief in the prison, Hong Tianquan, who is very annoying. This person is very cunning and often changes his confession. If he confesses today, he will overturn it tomorrow. The officials of the Shangshu Office are helpless with him. However, they also want to close the case as soon as possible and get back the 100,000 taels of gold.

After more than half a month of interrogation, there was no progress, and the matter was pushed onto Emperor Sima Chi, who was asked to use the emperor's majesty to intimidate this person.

Sima Chi was so angry that he flew into a rage, saying that he was the emperor after all, so how could he want to interrogate a thief?

He and the Shangshu Office were at a standoff, and both sides were very angry. Especially when the daughters of two officials of the Shangshu Office were included in the list of those who could enter the palace, the two officials were even more angry and said, "Does the emperor not even know how to judge a case? How can he hold the throne of the Jin Dynasty securely? How dare I send my daughter to the palace? I would rather die and take my family with me!"

It was a very tragic scene, and it caused more discussions within and outside the court, with everyone questioning Sima Chi's ability.

But Sima Chi also felt extremely aggrieved: This matter should obviously be handled by the people in the Shangshu Office, why should it be pushed to himself?

I'm really going to be pissed off!