Chapter 127 Meteor streaking across the sky over the Imperial City (please subscribe)

After the selection of the best poets, the river became lively for a while.

As the night got darker, a group of great scholars returned home one after another. By the end of the day, the number of people on the streets was gradually dwindling.

Next, in Rouge Alley, on the Huafanglou boat, there will be some content that requires paying to watch...

In the inner city, the courtiers who had not yet heard the news got up at Yinshi as usual, washed up, put on their official robes, and rushed to the palace.

Today, there is a Umrah meeting.

Outside the Meridian Gate, it was still not bright yet, and civil and military officials from all dynasties were arriving one after another. Many elderly people were leaning in the leeward and taking a nap with their shoulders curled up.

Du Yuanchun stood in the darkness, as always, with an empty circle around him.

Today, there is another person similar to him, and it is Xu Shisheng who looks extremely poor.

"Oh, today's court meeting was really lively." Someone commented in a low voice.

His eyes drifted towards the two of them.

In the past two days, the story of Xu Shisheng's fight with the Zhenfu school captain had spread among the upper circles.

Speaking from a young age, it is truly legendary that a small captain could cause the Ministry of Punishment to suffer a huge loss.

To put it more seriously, the Punishment Department was humiliated, so it suppressed its anger and prepared to take the opportunity to launch an attack.

The Zhenfu Division has a hand in the cards, and he will definitely play them today.

The two sides fought each other, and the melon-eating crowd loved to see it. In comparison, the commotion caused by Qi Ping, in the eyes of the court minister, after all... was nothing.

"What do you think your Majesty will do with the person named Xu?" Censor Li Qi was there, chatting with his colleagues.

“This matter still depends on whether the ‘Yellow Party’ is willing to contribute,” said a censor.

In this fight in the court, the merits may not be important. If you want to kill someone, there will always be an excuse. If you want to let someone go, there will always be a reason.

After all, it still depends on the balance of interests behind it.

Li Qi knew this very well.

In the past two years, the faction headed by Zhang Shangshu has become more and more powerful in the court, while the faction headed by Huang Yong, the chief assistant, has been suppressed by the emperor overtly and covertly, resulting in the imbalance of power in the court.

The old chief assistant was also decisive. When he saw this, he neither got angry nor made a fuss. He patted his butt and told him that he was sick at home. The meaning was very clear. Your Majesty, if you want to suppress me, I would just lie down and see who is in a hurry.

As expected, from the beginning of the year, the emperor began to weaken the "Zhang Party", and the Zhenfu Department made a lot of efforts. The corruption case of the Minister of Civil Affairs was one of them.

When Zhang Shangshu received an iron fist in the recent Lin Guozhong case, the "Yellow Party" began to fight back and regain lost ground.

Therefore, in the current situation, if the Huang Party wanted to protect Xu Shisheng, the emperor would probably not investigate further.

The censor understood the key point and said this.

While chatting, the white fish belly appeared in the east.

An old figure slowly arrived at the Meridian Gate. It was the old chief minister who had not been in court for several months.

"Huang Shoufu is here...are you feeling better?" Someone was surprised and came up to greet him.

Huang Yong smiled and said: "Your Majesty sent some elixirs. After taking them, I feel much better."

There was a burst of congratulations from the courtiers. It was unclear how true or false they were.

"Boom!"

The tower bell rang, and the officials entered the hall in two groups.

After completing the procedure, the emperor sat high in the Jinluan Palace and said: "My dear friends, can you please report me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, dressed in a crimson robe, stepped out of the queue and said in a deep voice:

"I have a message! The day before yesterday, Lieutenant Qi Ping of the Zhenfu Division violated the ban with force. He broke down the gate of the Criminal Department with a weapon and injured several soldiers. The following offenses cannot be pardoned.

Du Yuanchun, the commander of the Zhenfu Division, is not strict in his command, has no control over his eyes, and regards the majesty of the imperial court as nothing. Please severely punish the Zhenfu Division, deprive Du Yuanchun of his official position, and behead the captain to rectify the law!"

Du Yuanchun, who was wearing a black and red brocade robe and whose temperament was incompatible with the courtiers, heard this and raised his hands to report:

"Your Majesty, I have something to say. Xu Shisheng, the Ministry of Punishment, secretly hid a huge amount of wealth, was corrupt, shielded his relatives, and abused power for personal gain... He also secretly retaliated and wanted to target the Zhenfu Si Yamen.

I deliberately angered the captain, and his heart is worthy of death. There are twenty-one cases involved. Your Majesty, please take a look."

With that said, he took out the memorial from his sleeve and presented it to the case by the eunuch.

Then, another official from the Ministry of Punishment jumped out and criticized him.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate, as well as other political parties, launched a counterattack one after another.

The two sides were quarreling endlessly, just like a food market.

The emperor was not surprised and opened the memorial. After a while, he put it down and the eunuch next to him whipped his whip:

"quiet!"

Everyone agreed to stop arguing.

The emperor pondered for a moment, looked at Huang Yong, and said, "What does the chief minister think?"

Huang Yong bowed and said: "Old minister, I dare not make rash judgments. However, it is obvious to all that Xu Shi was promoted to an official. There are mistakes, but most of them are not proven. What Mr. Du said is too much."

The emperor nodded, thought for a moment, and said:

"Xu Shisheng's case still needs to be investigated. He will be suspended from his duties until the follow-up investigation is clear, and then he will deal with it. Du Yuanchun is not strict and will be fined for half a year. As for the captain... he will handle it on his own."

Ah this...

In the court, all the ministers were startled, they did not expect such a punishment.

Xu Shisheng's suspension was not an accident. After all, the evidence was unfavorable, but the follow-up investigation... showed that there was room for relaxation.

As expected, Du Yuanchun was deeply trusted by the emperor and did not feel any pain or itching. As for the punishment of the captain, it was vague and excessive.

"Your Majesty..." The Minister of Punishment frowned, feeling dissatisfied and about to speak.

The young emperor said calmly: "This matter is settled."

All the ministers had no choice but to cease their activities.

…

After the dynasty was over, the emperor got up, left the Jinluan Hall, and went to the palace, where breakfast had been prepared in the imperial dining room.

When they arrived at the room, they saw a figure in purple waiting here.

With a look of tiredness on his face, he saw the emperor coming and asked:

"Brother Imperial, how is it?"

The emperor was helpless: "Yongning, why don't you ask me if I am tired?"

The eldest princess had an innocent expression: "Then...brother, are you tired?"

"Not sincere," the emperor waved his hand, called the girl to sit down, and ate together, and then said:

"As expected, the Ministry of Punishment launched an attack and brought up the captain. I blocked him and ordered Du Yuanchun to deal with it on his own. His life is safe, but he still needs to be punished. He must give an explanation to the Ministry of Punishment."

The eldest princess nodded. She was mainly worried that the emperor didn't know the situation and casually said "behead him."

"Tell me, what is so strange about that captain, that you should tell me specifically?" The emperor was puzzled.

When the eldest princess heard this, she pursed her lips and smiled, and said slowly:

"That's a long story..."

…

…

The Taochuan Poetry Club ended in a bustle. Only the extinguished lanterns on the river and the garbage scattered along the river proved the excitement last night.

When Qi Ping woke up, it was still dark.

The small courtyard was very quiet. Qi Shu was fast asleep in the room, catching up on her sleep. Fan Er stood up, holding on to the dark circles under his eyes. He just lit the lamp and opened the door with a yawn.

"No more sleep? Be careful of sudden death." Qi Ping reminded him when he saw this.

Fan Er chuckled: "I can't sleep."

Everything last night was so exciting that he couldn't sleep. When he came back in the evening, it was already late at night, holding the prince's handwritten letter and smiling like a fool.

Qi Ping was worried that he would follow in the footsteps of "Fan Jin" and laughed like crazy.

However, speaking of it, he did not expect the prince's mention of the word.

Did Anping tell his father? Ask her next time... Qi Ping thought to himself.

"By the way, I want to collect your poems and print them into a collection of poems. What do you think?" Fan Er asked.

Qi Ping waved his hand, not caring: "It's up to you."

…

Qi Shu didn't get up, so she didn't have breakfast. Qi Ping went to a nearby breakfast stall to deal with it, and with a lot of anxiety, he rode to the Yamen.

"Is there a court meeting this morning?" Qi Ping inquired as he arrived at the door.
To be continued...