The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 223 A country has loyal ministers; the dagger is revealed when the plan is unraveled.

The reason Shen Ye did not arrive at the Hall of Supreme Harmony on time for the court session was not because he was lazy or absent, but because he was summoned by Emperor Qianxi.

Before attending court, Emperor Qianxi instructed Liang Jiugong to invite Shen Ye to the Qianqing Palace.

Shen Ye thought his father had some important instructions for him, but Emperor Qianxi simply asked him to have breakfast with him before leading him into the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The two of them walked in together.

At first, Shen Ye was a little confused.

However, once he was in his place, he understood: the emperor was doing this to show all the officials that the crown prince was his son, and with his father protecting him, none of them could cause trouble for no reason!

This is an attitude!

Shen Ye understood, the other princes attending court understood, and Tong Guowei and his gang of old foxes understood even better. Therefore, the gazes they gave the Crown Prince were incredibly complex: envy, jealousy, and an undisguised chill and ruthlessness…

The eldest prince was overjoyed, but when he saw Emperor Qianxi walking out with the crown prince, his face instantly darkened.

However, since Mingzhu fell from power, he has become able to control his emotions with remarkable ease.

So soon, his face lit up with a nonchalant smile.

Father Emperor is determined to protect the Crown Prince and silence everyone.

It seems that this time, it's simply impossible to bring down the Crown Prince.

Fortunately, he never intended to impeach the Crown Prince and remove him from office. What he wanted was for the Crown Prince to lose face in this impeachment.

What he wanted was for everyone to understand that even the crown prince wasn't someone to be trifled with.

If you make a mistake, you will have to pay the price!

Many people share the same thoughts as the eldest prince, such as Tong Guowei, and so on...

Chen Tingjing stood in his seat, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, Emperor Qianxi's act of bringing the Crown Prince to court made him realize that Emperor Qianxi was clearly supporting the Crown Prince.

Earlier, Emperor Qianxi had specifically instructed him to convey a message to his subordinate censors, who outwardly agreed readily…

Thinking of this, Chen Tingjing's heart skipped a beat.

He felt he was probably in trouble!

What if someone ignores the warnings and suddenly jumps out like a reckless fool...?

Just as Chen Tingjing was feeling uneasy, Liang Jiugong's shrill voice rang out: "The Emperor has decreed that those with matters to report should do so immediately, and those without should leave the court!"

These were just routine platitudes that Chen Tingjing usually paid no attention to, but at this moment, his heart tightened, and he wished he could just shout "No one has the right to leave the court!"
Just as Chen Tingjing was worrying, someone loudly proclaimed, "Your subject, Chao Huajiao, Supervising Censor of the Censorate, has a memorial to present!"

Hearing Chao Huajiao's name, Chen Tingjing felt much more at ease.

After all, Chao Huajiao was not the main force that had impeached the Crown Prince in the past.

His memorial this time should not be an impeachment of the Crown Prince. As long as it is not an impeachment of the Crown Prince, then everything will be fine.

Unfortunately, Chen Tingjing soon realized that he had been too happy.

Before Chen Tingjing could even breathe a sigh of relief, he heard Chao Huajiao loudly proclaim, "I impeach the Court of Colonial Affairs for treating matters of national importance like child's play."

"In such an important matter concerning Tibet, they neglected their duties and even proposed the absurd method of using lotteries."

"Such actions will surely alienate the surrounding vassal states and tarnish the prestige of our Celestial Empire!"

"Your Majesty, I request that the Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs, Aling'a, be executed as a warning to others!"

Before Chao Huajiao could finish speaking, he had already knelt down with a thud.

Aling'a was so calm and collected just now, thinking that Chao Huajiao was one of his own, a staunch ally.

Unexpectedly, as soon as this person appeared, he started yelling at him to kill him and demand his head.

Although I know in my heart that this won't have any negative impact on me, I'm still a little annoyed.

Fine, fine, for the sake of the bigger plan, let's just bear with it.

Upon hearing Chao Huajiao's report, Emperor Qianxi's face revealed a hint of anger.

He had already suppressed the memorials impeaching the Crown Prince and even had Chen Tingjing specifically speak to these censors.

This matter ends here!

Unexpectedly, these guys were relentless and even wanted to impeach the Crown Prince.

Emperor Qianxi did not care about the impeachment itself, since the Crown Prince was not only without fault in this matter, but also had merit.

What troubled him was his loss of control over the court.

He had clearly already decided to keep the memorial in the archives and not issue it, and he had even had Chen Tingjing intervene.

Under these circumstances, those in the imperial court should already know their stance.

If someone acts so recklessly when they know it's impossible, it can only mean that their control over the court has diminished.

This was something the Qianxi Emperor could not tolerate!
Emperor Qianxi was a strong-willed man, and he did not want this situation to happen.

So he stared coldly at Chao Huajiao without saying a word, and the invisible pressure made Chao Huajiao's forehead begin to sweat.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard someone say in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, your subject Lu Dingwen, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Justice, has a memorial to submit."

"In my opinion, although the memorial was submitted by the Court of Colonial Affairs, it is inappropriate to punish Lord Aling'a because of it."

"Because it is clearly stated in the memorial submitted by the Court of Colonial Affairs that this is an imperial edict from His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"As the place where His Highness the Crown Prince observes the administration, the Court of Colonial Affairs must naturally obey His Highness the Crown Prince's arrangements."

"Therefore, it is not the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs who treat national affairs as child's play!"

Having said this, Lu Dingwen pulled out a memorial from his sleeve and said, "Your subject Lu Dingwen risks his life to impeach the Crown Prince for his improper conduct and childish treatment of state affairs. I beg Your Majesty for your wise judgment!"

As Lu Dingwen knelt down and presented his memorial, the air in the vast Hall of Supreme Harmony seemed to freeze. The true nature of things was revealed!
The moment of truth has finally arrived!
Some people are so excited that their hearts are pounding, but they insist on pretending to be calm and collected on their faces.

For example, the Eighth Prince stood behind a group of princes, his expression calm, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

But at this moment, he felt an excitement that was hard to hide.

He played a part in pushing this matter forward.

Although the crown prince will not be deposed this time, his reputation will be ruined.

"Your subject, Censor Chen Yilong of the Censorate, second this proposal!"

"Your subject, Censor Shi Longxing of the Censorate, second this proposal!"

"Your humble servant, the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue..."

With a chorus of secondings, more than twenty young officials stepped forward and knelt on the ground in unison.

Their ranks were not high, at most fifth grade.

They were able to stand in the Hall of Supreme Harmony because they were imperial censors.

According to the imperial court's practice of having smaller officials oversee larger ones, these censors were to keep an eye on the Six Ministries.

However, their simultaneous emergence immediately created a solemn atmosphere in the vast Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The officials watching the spectacle stared wide-eyed, for such a scene was rare indeed, and now that they had encountered it, they couldn't help but take a good look.

Some officials who are usually cautious are even more nervous, fearing that they might accidentally get into unnecessary trouble.

Meanwhile, the high-ranking princes and grand secretaries all remained expressionless.

Although they all have their own attitudes, at this moment, the best course of action is to not show any expression.

Only by remaining enigmatic can one be both offensive and defensive.

All eyes were on Emperor Qianxi and the Crown Prince, who were waiting to see the image of a loving father and son who had just attended court together.

While everyone waited, Shen Ye acted as if it had nothing to do with him, neither defending himself nor apologizing.

Emperor Qianxi laughed heartily: "Excellent! What a loyal minister the country has!"

"Very good, absolutely wonderful!"

At this point, he turned to Aling'a and said, "Aling'a, this matter arose because of your Court of Colonial Affairs. What do you have to say?"

Aling'a had already anticipated Emperor Qianxi's reaction.

So he knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, this matter is my fault."

"I failed to think things through, which led to this trouble. This is entirely my fault and has nothing to do with the Crown Prince!"

"I should not have asked the Crown Prince about such a trivial matter."

Ah Ling's words made someone's lips twitch.

Although Aling'a was apologizing, it also shows that the Crown Prince did not value state affairs, which is why such a thing happened.

This indirectly confirms that the Crown Prince treated state affairs as child's play.

Emperor Qianxi smiled and said, "Ah Ling, you may step down now."

At this point, his gaze fell on Tong Guowei again.

Although he didn't know whose people were leading the impeachment of the crown prince, Tong Guowei and others were all suspects in his mind.

After all, only these people have the ability to choose to impeach the crown prince even after he has given a clear order.

"Tong Guowei, what crime would it be for a subject to impeach the emperor?"

Tong Guowei hesitated for a moment before respectfully saying, "Your Majesty, for me to impeach Your Majesty is a grave offense of disrespect."

"But now, these censors are impeaching the crown prince, also for the sake of the court."

"I believe that this situation of ministers impeaching the emperor should not be ignored, and this trend should not be allowed to continue."

"However, considering their dedication to the court, their punishment will be reduced."

"I believe that each of these censors should be fined half a year's salary as a warning to others."

The censor's salary was not much to begin with, so even if he was fined for half a year, it wouldn't amount to much money.

However, the salary for these six months was enough to make these young censors famous.

Furthermore, their presentation this time will bring them a substantial reward, far exceeding what one or two thousand taels of silver could offer.

However, Emperor Qianxi did not respond, but instead looked at Zhang Ying: "Zhang Ying, what do you say?"

Zhang Ying was also very troubled at this time. He had always been a respected figure in the Qingliu faction by Emperor Qianxi's side, and now the person who was submitting the memorial was also from the Qingliu faction.

If he were to severely punish these people, his reputation would be ruined.

However, if he is not severely punished, how can he face the censure of Emperor Qianxi?

However, there was no time left for him to smooth things over. After a moment's consideration, he said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I believe the most important thing now is to reach a conclusion on the matter of Tibet."

"After all, this matter cannot be delayed any longer."

Zhang Ying's attempt to change the subject brought a knowing smile to Emperor Qianxi's face.

He didn't continue to make things difficult for Zhang Ying, but instead turned his attention to his sons.

He looked at the solemn-looking eldest prince, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Yunshi, what do you think?"

　The second update for today is here! Please vote with your monthly tickets, everyone!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)