Patrol Captain

To some people, news within the palace walls is never a secret.

The four bodies on Chengtian Gate were beaten to death in court by order of Your Majesty, and their bodies were left exposed for three days.

Among them were the emperor's military supervisor and two sons of noble families from the three highest officials in the court.

At the Xuankong Mountain Imperial Guards camp, the Imperial Guards who had participated in the duel were ordered to be detained, and their direct subordinates, the General of the Central Army, were reprimanded.

The emperor was furious!
The censors knelt in front of the Taiji Palace and wrote a joint letter, requesting His Majesty to order an investigation into Chen Yuan, but His Majesty refused to see them.

Later, news spread in the palace that His Majesty summoned Xu Liang, the Junior Secretary of the Taichang Temple, to the palace to meet him. They had a secret conversation for half a cup of tea behind closed doors.

After coming out, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple frowned. After leaving the palace, he took a carriage back to his official residence and closed the door to refuse visitors.

In the imperial city, a group of officials were terrified. The chain reaction caused by a fight was greater than they had imagined.

The emperor was furious, and the sons of the three families were beaten to death by His Majesty and hung at Chengtian Gate as a warning to the three families.

As for the border general from Shu, he might cause trouble.

No one knows what will happen next, and there are many speculations and undercurrents.

It was not until the next day, after three blows of the whip, that all officials entered the palace. They were shocked to discover that two important officials of the court, Grand Marshal Gongyang Wu and Imperial Censorate Doctor Meng Ziyi, were not present at the meeting.

"Your Majesty, Elder Meng knows that his son has offended the Emperor and has received the Emperor's grace in vain. He is reflecting on his mistakes at home and begs Your Majesty for your approval."

"Your Majesty, General Gongyang is ill and at home, saying that his children are unable to share your worries, and that he is ashamed to see you."

Two officials from the Censorate and the Grand Marshal's Office came forward to explain the reason, causing a commotion in the court.

Everyone knows this, the real reason why the two ministers did not come. After all, when they entered the palace and passed through Chengtian Gate, the corpse hanging there was so conspicuous, how could the two old men not mind? This was also a disguised demonstration.

Thinking of this, many civil and military officials couldn't help but look at the figure leading the civil officials in the front.

Prime Minister Huangfu!

The prime minister was standing in the front at this time, with his eyes lowered and closed to rest. The wrinkles on his face had experienced the baptism of nearly a hundred years in the court. He had been in and out of the position of prime minister three times, but standing there, he had an imposing aura as unshakable as a mountain.

Facing the gazes of the civil and military officials, he did not even blink. Yesterday, a man named Huangfu Qi died in the Huangfu family. He was beheaded on the spot by the soldiers of the Ninth Mountain. This was even more ridiculous than the other two families who were beaten to death. Logically, he became a laughing stock, but the prime minister seemed unaffected.

On the high platform of the Golden Palace, the pearl crown hanging from Emperor Wu's head dulled the eyes of the emperor, and he spoke lightly,
"That's right."

He then said nothing and glanced at the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. The other party immediately raised his voice and the court meeting began.

Next, the process continued and the Tongzhengsi reported the memorials submitted by various ministries.

After Zhao Tianming, the Minister of Public Administration, finished his report, someone jumped out this time.

"Your Majesty, I would like to report that Mr. Zhao from the Ministry of Public Administration has deceived the emperor."

"The ninth officer of the Shu land will come to the capital. Such a big incident happened yesterday. Sir Zhao, do you think all the officials are fools? Why didn't you send the memorial?"

"Your Majesty is furious about the incident that harmed the Imperial Guards."

When everyone heard this, they were slightly startled and looked towards the person who jumped out.

When the window paper was broken, the civil and military officials were somewhat surprised. Sometimes everyone can act blind and deaf, it all depends on Your Majesty and the gentlemen.

Your Majesty had reached some kind of tacit understanding with the three parties in the court before. Now that things have happened, some people are eager to jump out, tear off the fig leaf, and risk offending others. Why is that?

Even though His Majesty was furious about what happened yesterday, even the people had started to spread the news. Everyone knew that the gods had sent a Lieutenant General from Shu. There was no need to continue the drama.

But there are some words that you cannot say, because saying them will offend people.

All the civil and military officials took a look and saw that he was just a low-key censor who liked to flatter the emperor.

Now, everyone looked strange.

In the court, there are many people who try to guess the emperor's mind and want to get promoted, but this person dares to say this, so he must have some explanation.

Zhao Tianming, who had just finished reporting the memorial, looked grim, and wished he could tear the censor's mouth to pieces. He could not bear such a big blame, so he knelt down quickly, terrified and fearful.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent. The Ministry of Public Administration did receive the greeting letter from General Chen, who was received by the Imperial Secretary. However, since it was his first time in Beijing, the general was not familiar with how to write a greeting letter, and there were some mistakes, so it was rejected and sent back for revision."

"These are all the rules. After all, they need to be reviewed by His Majesty, and we must not make any mistakes." Old Deng was quick to react and immediately found an excuse to cover it up.

But the censor was not relenting, "Lord Zhao is trying to treat Your Majesty and the adults present as if they were three-year-old children. From what I understand."

"A letter of greeting was rejected several times by Your Excellency, who didn't even read it. This was not intended to embarrass the general from Shu. This had a bad impact on the relationship between the court and the border troops, which led to yesterday's conflict. This matter is now a hot topic in the Divine Capital. How do the people view the court and Your Majesty?"

"Do you know, sir, that General Chen was summoned back to the court by His Majesty's order to appease the people? The people of Shu know this. If this matter spreads to Shu and triggers a mutiny, who will bear the responsibility?"

"Master Zhao, can you afford it?"

This censor's words were sharp, from small things to big things, and every word he said was murderous without leaving any trace.

This caused the eyelids of all the civil and military officials in the court to twitch and they couldn't help but gasp.

Because Your Majesty did not interrupt or stop it.

The wind direction suddenly changed?

Or does His Majesty want to find someone to take the blame? The Minister of Public Administration Zhao Tianming was one of the Nine Ministers, a second-rank official. He was furious at being impeached by this man just now. Now he came to his senses, sweat broke out on his forehead, his mind was tense, and the "trembling fear" on his face became more real.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent. This person is full of slander and makes false accusations. I hope Your Majesty will understand."

Just when the atmosphere in the court was tense, a heavy and vigorous voice sounded.

"Your Majesty, the memorials must be submitted to the Tongzhengsi by the Jieshizhong. Perhaps the Jieshizhong did not do his job well and delayed Lord Zhao. As an old minister in charge of government affairs, I have also failed to supervise. I hope Your Majesty will punish me."

Prime Minister Huangfu, who had been lowering his eyes to rest, suddenly raised his eyes, revealing a pair of sharp eyes like an eagle. He shook his scarlet sleeves, bowed slowly, and an invisible aura was revealed.

The censor who was about to continue arguing paused, fear appeared in his eyes, and he stopped talking.

At this moment, the noisy hall gradually quieted down.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Emperor Wu narrowed his eyes slightly, then slowly spoke,
"Come here, dismiss the chief official in charge of this matter and put him in jail."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Jinwu Guards in the hall walked towards the row of civil servants and came to the sixth row. Among them was an official in a green robe, who was one of the Six Ministries Censors who had ridiculed Xu Liang in the court. His legs went limp and his face turned pale.

This man was stripped of his official uniform by the Jinwu Guards and dragged out of the hall, but he never dared to say a word.

He knew that if he dared to speak, he would be truly dead.

At this moment, in the court, some people looked at each other, some frowned, and some were surprised and suspicious.

The wind direction changed too quickly!

The censor was obviously speaking on behalf of His Majesty.

Taking the opportunity to launch an attack and remove a Jieshi Zhong, Your Majesty is using yesterday's incident to warn Prime Minister Huangfu, or is he trying to appease the border general from Shu?
Therefore, it is difficult to guess the emperor's mind. For a moment, all the ministers in the court were confused and unsure.

But I feel that the court is about to change, there is an undercurrent!
Afterwards, the court meeting continued, but after the incident just now, it ended hastily.

What happened in the court this time spread quickly, and many people knew that the outcome would be revealed at the court meeting tomorrow.

A day passed like this.

The next day, at the hour of Mao.

"Boom"

"Boom"

"Boom"

The smoky blue morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the sound of the drum from the corner tower of the imperial city penetrated the deep palace gates of the Dragon Court.

One after another, mighty and strong warriors beat the court drums vigorously at the corner tower of Chengtian Gate.

"Boom"

"Boom"

"Boom"

Outside Chengtian Gate, carriages gathered and people in court robes got off.

But soon, low cries were heard.

"Lord Meng is here!" The Imperial Censor, who had been "reflecting on his mistakes" yesterday and examining himself three times a day, came today. He was wearing a scarlet robe with a crane pattern on it, had white hair and was nine feet tall. He was a Confucian gentleman, but in his early years he was good at subjugating people by force.

"General Gongyang is here too!" Another heavily guarded sedan chair arrived, and a middle-aged man in a red white tiger robe stepped down from it. He looked at the corpse on Chengtian Gate with sharp eyes, expressionless, and then walked into the palace wall with the gait of a dragon or a tiger. He did not look like he was reporting for illness at all, and all the officials passing by stepped aside to make way for him.

And this is not the end. Today, outside Chengtian Gate, many important figures who would not attend court unless there were major matters also showed up.

Three patrolling angels who are often elusive:
Served as the Prince's Tutor in the Eastern Palace;
Several princes who lived outside the Dragon Court and established their own palaces and government offices;

All kinds of evil spirits came one after another at this hour of the day, which is obviously not a special day.

When all the civil and military officials lined up on the white marble square outside the Golden Throne Hall, they found that the scene was so lively that it was no less lively than the grand court meetings in previous years.

One by one, important figures in the Daqian court showed up.

"Silent Whip——"

When the time came, a ray of golden sun broke through the sky, shining on the gilded imperial dome, reflecting a brilliant golden light that pierced through the sea of ​​clouds. The official of the Honglu Temple shouted loudly, and the ten-foot-long whip hit the ground heavily. Three crisp sounds suddenly rolled over the square like thunder.

Then, the dragon chariot flew from the royal road in the sky into the Golden Palace. Civil and military officials walked up the steps into the palace, shouting "Long live the emperor". Official hats and crowns fell like inky wheat waves, and the sound of tablets knocking on the ground was uniform and shook the sky.

Soon, a voice rang out in the hall, "Your Majesty, you have received the favor of Heaven and the saintly virtue of the universe..."

"Your Majesty, I, Zhao Tianming, respectfully report this to you."

"Today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs received a total of 71 memorials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the six ministries, and the Honglu Temple. Among them, General Chen Yuan from Shu was summoned to the capital and submitted a memorial of greeting. I respectfully present it to Your Majesty!"

"Oh, I heard that Shu was in trouble. This general has made great contributions. Call him in!"

"By order of Emperor Daqian, Chen Yuan, the ninth mountain general of Jiannan Road, enter the palace!"

A loud shout came from the Golden Throne Hall, passed through the nine-layered palace gate, and echoed within the walls of the Dragon Court Palace. (End of this chapter)