Chapter 309: Entering the Palace
If you must speak of bitterness, do not weep without end. You must smile….
“Court dismissed! Court dismissed! Court dismissed!”
The shrill voice of the ceremonial eunuch brought today’s morning court to an end.
It sounded like a school bell.
The officials surged out in an orderly fashion, like a tide.
Leaving early never ends well.
Take Lord Wang from the last court session, for example; before the court had even been dismissed, the Emperor had people drag him out.
Or take Prime Minister Lu this time; before court was dismissed, he was already being carried away by imperial physicians and guards.
Every court session actually takes quite a toll.
The Emperor holds court every ten days, and the officials gather their strength to handle major matters.
Something always happens during these sessions.
It’s a pity there are no newspapers; otherwise, a paper published after every court session would surely sell like hotcakes.
Censor He took on the case, and Vice Minister Jiang was released on bail pending trial—he didn’t need to be detained, just cooperate with the investigation and wait for the results.
But everyone already felt that things were settled.
The way everyone looked at Meng Qingshe and Minister Dong had completely changed.
This Meng Qingshe really has been blessed his whole life.
Living off his elders above and his juniors below, his luck never seems to run out.
When others are bullied, they beat the young and the old come out.
When he is bullied, the old come out, and then the young follow.
Having a capable father to rely on is one thing, but his son just happened to go out of the city and marry a girl who turned out to be Princess Huiyun’s own granddaughter—that’s just too much luck.
No wonder it was rumored his wife was better than Daji; she is Princess Huiyun’s own granddaughter, so of course, the student has surpassed the master.
Tsk tsk.
Even luckier is Minister Dong.
Who could have imagined that a daughter from Minister Dong’s household who had her engagement broken could end up choosing the most valuable golden bachelor in the capital right now?
Usually, members of the royal clan have their marriages arranged early on.
Although the royal clansmen have noble status, none of them are particularly accomplished.
However, the royal clan mostly keeps things within their own circle; even if you wanted to climb that social ladder, you couldn’t.
Even with Heir Han’s terrible reputation, people were still lining up for matchmaking; plenty of women wanted to marry him.
And yet, Minister Dong managed to snag such a good match for his daughter, despite her broken engagement.
Boohoo, whoever said Old Dong was honest and only knew how to do carpentry—he’s incredibly cunning.
And whoever said Censor He was incorruptible and couldn’t be swayed—he had already taken the youngest daughter of the Jiang Family as his closing disciple long ago.
Bah, shameless.
A certain Minister named Liu wore a bitter expression; he was the one who added the charge of “condoning his wife and children to bully others” to Vice Minister Jiang.
The reason was that Vice Minister Jiang’s daughter had used the Censor He family name to swindle and deceive, scamming his youngest son out of money.
Sob, sob, now it all makes sense.
Vice Minister Jiang’s youngest daughter is Censor He’s closing disciple, so her claiming to be from the Censor He family is acceptable.
More importantly, she is Princess Huiyun’s own granddaughter. Is it considered swindling for her to ask you for a few hundred taels of silver? That’s her doing you the honor of looking your way!
So unjust, so unjust; he raised a bad son and implicated the whole family.
The one who felt the most wronged was Vice Minister Liu.
At this moment, he was completely bewildered.
Just yesterday, he had taken his son to fight for a marriage proposal.
How thick-skinned could he be, to try and snatch someone that Princess Huiyun’s own grandson had taken a fancy to?
His son hadn’t even liked the girl, and now that girl was going to marry Princess Huiyun’s eldest grandson.
Because of his son, he had put a lot of effort into offending Jiang the Second and Minister Dong.
He had been running around like a headless chicken—it was over, completely over.
Just as court was dismissed, Censor He had glanced at him, and that look…
He just felt a chill rush up from his back, straight to the top of his head.
Some were happy, some were worried. Some were envious, some were shocked….
After court was dismissed, Princess Huiyun led her own son, granddaughter, and grandson in a grand procession back to the imperial palace.
The Emperor felt a sense of awkwardness, but upon reflection, he came to his senses.
No wonder he always felt a sense of familiarity whenever he looked at Second Young Master Jiang.
Standing together, mother and son did indeed look somewhat alike.
It was just that his memories of Princess Huiyun were something he tended to avoid; he didn’t dare to recall them easily, as doing so would cause him insomnia, which led to him failing to recognize Second Young Master Jiang.
However, even if he couldn’t recognize Second Young Master Jiang, he could tell at a glance when looking at the little girl beside him.
Because that little girl looked exactly like Princess Huiyun when she was young. Her expressions and mannerisms were incredibly similar.
There was no need for a blood test; anyone with eyes could see the family connection.
As for Jiang Feng, although he had just bestowed upon him the rank of a sixth-rank imperial guard—a very, very small position—it didn’t count as bullying. At least, not bullying on the spot.
The Emperor looked at Jiang Feng’s face and saw the scar there; his heart gave a jolt, and he felt inexplicably uneasy.
However, he preferred Jiang Feng’s appearance.
He didn’t know why, but upon learning that Second Young Master Jiang was Princess Huiyun’s son, he felt an inexplicable dislike.
Perhaps it was because Second Young Master Jiang looked more like that person. The Emperor detested Master Jingjue.
Through all the chaos and turmoil, many years had passed. That once brilliant and talented Buddhist monk should have already died in a foreign land on his journey to retrieve the scriptures.
In fact, back then, he had asked Master Jingjue if he was willing to marry Princess Huiyun. Master Jingjue did not respond, which was why he had found a consort for Princess Huiyun.
But what happened back then—a mistake was a mistake. The Emperor felt a bit guilty.
He had even intended to punish Second Young Master Jiang this morning. And it seemed it didn’t really have much to do with Second Young Master Jiang; he just couldn’t be bothered to deal with it.
Watching his subjects fight amongst themselves was one of the Emperor’s pleasures. Victory and defeat are common in battle, and whatever the outcome, they were all working for him.
At this moment, seeing his imperial sister’s furious expression, it was fortunate that a quick-witted eunuch had already picked up and put away the sword she had been carrying.
The Emperor hesitated for a long time. The first thing he said was, “The weather is really cold, isn’t it?”
Princess Huiyun puffed up her cheeks and said, “Not as cold as my heart. The child I finally found with such difficulty was almost killed by you, her own uncle.”
The Emperor rubbed his nose, feeling a bit guilty.
Accompanying the Emperor today were Eunuch Liu and Eunuch Duan.
Eunuch Liu felt regretful inside; he had almost offended Lord Jiang in order to help Prime Minister Lu.
He carefully recalled his past actions and thought he hadn’t offended him beyond repair. He hadn’t been obvious about it. He hadn’t managed to do anything yet.
Oh well, he wondered if sending a generous gift later would be enough to make amends. He would inevitably have to part with the benefits he had accumulated over the years, which pained him. But if he didn’t share it now, he wouldn’t have the life left to share it later.
Eunuch Duan was happy inside, thinking, “I’m truly lucky.” He had finally received an errand outside the palace, and he hadn’t expected it to be at Lord Jiang’s residence, which allowed him to establish a good relationship early on.
He hadn’t expected Lord Jiang to have such a background. He really had the God of Wealth on his left shoulder and Guan Gong on his right; he was truly lucky.
Mianmian followed them into the palace. This was her first time entering the imperial palace. She was slightly excited. No need to buy an entrance ticket. She just walked right in.
Grandpa Emperor looked very luxuriously dressed and was quite tall, but he was a bit old. His physique was still quite good—he was very upright, not hunchbacked, and didn’t slouch.
He had a large frame and was relatively thin. The imperial crown looked very heavy; if it were solid gold, it would easily cause a headache. Wearing something that heavy every day would put too much pressure on the head. Making it hollow would be better.
Looking at the dragon robe, it was shimmering with gold; she wondered if it was pure gold. If it were all pure gold, the clothes would definitely be very heavy. No wonder the Emperor didn’t like holding court; wearing this uniform must be very tiring.
The Emperor walked in front. He kept feeling an itch on his back. Someone was staring at him. No one in this world dared to stare at him.
He couldn’t help but look back. Then, he saw a cute, blank face staring at him blankly. When he turned back, she didn’t even hide.
He wanted to be more serious. Usually, as long as he frowned or glared, the concubines, eunuchs, and palace maids in front of him would have already knelt down.
He felt uncomfortable being stared at, so he glared. He then saw the little one curiously look back, see nothing, and turn her face back again.
The little one called out sweetly: “Great-Uncle, what are you looking at?”
The Emperor turned his neck back awkwardly. She called me Great-Uncle?
He just felt a warm current spread from his heart. The little one, who looked exactly like Princess Huiyun, appeared decades later and called him Great-Uncle.
Time flowed backward, shaping itself into a heart, and finally settled in the tip of his heart. The Emperor’s pace slowed down a little.
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