nashuaworldcup Chapter 240 Zhen Yuandao
Chapter 240 Zhen Yuandao
On the other side, An Lingrong sat upright in front of the couch, listening to Xiao Luzi reporting to her the news he had heard.
"Your Majesty, Chief Steward Su has asked me to quietly inform you that someone from the Censorate has impeached Lord Longkodo!"
Hearing this, An Lingrong's heart was shocked and her brows furrowed. The Censorate impeached Longkodo? Now the Censorate was headed by Zhen Yuandao. Regardless of whether this was Zhen Yuandao's idea or not, the Queen Mother would definitely put the blame on him.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but take a breath, and her understanding of the complexity of the situation became even greater.
No wonder the Queen Mother helped the Empress set up the Chun Yuan Clothing Bureau. On the one hand, it solved the hidden danger of Zhen Huan interfering in politics, and on the other hand, it was also a disguised warning to those who wanted to touch Longkodo to be careful.
An Lingrong snorted coldly, a disdainful smile appearing on the corner of her mouth. The Queen Mother, for the sake of her childhood sweetheart, did not hesitate to open the Emperor's wounds and sprinkle salt on them, using the Emperor's anger to achieve her own goals!
Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager, it’s no wonder that the Emperor doesn’t want to be close to you. All of this is caused by you. When the Emperor comes to his senses, Longkodo will be in even worse trouble!
In that case, Zhen Yuandao is also in danger!
An Lingrong closed her eyes and let out a long breath.
It's going to rain and my mother is going to get married. She has reminded them as she should have, but they won't listen. What else can she do now? She is just a woman in the harem. No matter how long her hands are, she can't reach the former dynasty!
When Shen Meizhuang came back, An Lingrong was already drowsy.
"Sister, how is she?"
"Alas!" Shen Meizhuang sighed, looking exhausted. "Even now, Huan'er still has some illusions about the emperor. I don't know how to persuade her."
She slowly walked to the table, sat down and poured herself a cup of tea, her hands trembling slightly as she held the cup.
An Lingrong rolled her eyes silently. It didn’t matter. She would soon be able to see the emperor’s true face!
"However, Su Ye told me that Huan'er should be giving birth in the next few days!" Shen Meizhuang took a sip of tea, her tone filled with worry and nervousness.
As expected, two days later at the morning court, the emperor stripped Zhen Yuandao of his post and imprisoned him, and confined his family members in the palace on the grounds that he "sympathized with the traitor and failed to live up to the emperor's grace."
When the news came, An Lingrong and Shen Meizhuang were having breakfast.
"Why?" Shen Meizhuang stood up in panic, the chopsticks in her hand fell to the ground with a "bang", and her face turned pale in an instant.
An Lingrong sat quietly at the table, her expression calm, slowly eating a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup.
Xiao Luzi carefully relayed the information he had gathered: "During this morning's court session, Lord Zhen submitted a letter to the Emperor, requesting that the Emperor cease his handling of the Qian Mingshi case and refrain from pursuing it excessively, lest everyone in the court become insecure and no one dares to speak freely. Zhang Tingyu and E Min claimed that Lord Zhen harbored disloyal intentions and showed signs of rebellion, so the Emperor charged him with gross disrespect."
Shen Meizhuang was puzzled: "But, submitting a letter to the Emperor is the duty of the Censorate!"
Xiao Luzi continued, "Qian Mingshi wrote a poem praising Prince Dun, and the Emperor ordered him to be expelled back to his hometown. All officials in the court were required to write poems condemning him, but Lord Zhen did not write one."
"Why doesn't he write?"
"Because he's stupid." An Lingrong took a sip of the noodle soup from her bowl, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and then spoke again, "When Qian Mingshi wrote a poem to curry favor with Prince Dun, he was just following the trend. Now that he's been asked to write a poem to denounce Qian Mingshi, isn't that also asking him to understand the current situation? He thinks he's very noble and has the integrity of a scholar. How could he possibly go along with the corrupt? But he's forgotten whose official he is and whose job he's serving!"
Shen Meizhuang was speechless for a moment.
After she finished speaking, without waiting for Shen Meizhuang to ask, she continued, "In the emperor's view, Lord Zhen sympathizes with his political enemies. Coupled with Sister Zhen's request for a title for Prince Dun's son, the emperor feels that they not only sympathize with the traitor in their hearts, but also take actual action. This problem is much more serious."
Is Zhen Yuandao wronged?
He wasn't wronged at all. His position inherently linked him to nepotism, and some in the court had already complained about it, but because the Emperor favored Zhen Huan, they dared not speak out. So many people had written poems condemning Qian Mingshi in this incident, and those who wrote poorly were dismissed and exiled. Why was he allowed to stay out of it? Just because he was Concubine Wan's father? If the Emperor didn't punish him, he would be a hypocritical and incompetent ruler!
An Lingrong's voice was frighteningly calm. "The Emperor, using Qian Mingshi's fame as an opportunity, posed a simple question: which side would the officials in the court stand on? Sadly, both Lord Zhen and Sister Zhen chose the wrong answer. The Emperor was still furious over the incident involving Chun Yuan's clothes, and with others fanning the flames, it's no surprise Lord Zhen ended up like this."
"What about Huan'er?"
"The Emperor has now understood that someone set up Sister Zhen with Chunyuan Guyi. He wants to use this opportunity to make Sister Zhen bow to him! So this news cannot be concealed. Even if the Emperor wants to let her know after giving birth, the Empress Dowager will probably take action. With the Empress Dowager here, it will be easy to pass a message to Suiyuxuan. No matter how powerful we are, we can't influence the Empress Dowager's decision!"
Shen Meizhuang fell into the chair, her eyes full of despair.
The two sat facing each other in silence. The air around them seemed to have frozen into ice. The deathly silence made it almost suffocating.
After a while, Xiao Shi hurried into the palace to report: "My two majesties, there's news from Suiyuxuan that Concubine Wan has requested an audience with the Emperor and is now heading to the Yangxin Palace!"
Shen Meizhuang quickly stood up and said, "I'm going to the Yangxin Palace now!"
An Lingrong was now on guard. Quickly, she grabbed her arm and said, "Sister, there's no point in you going. The most urgent thing now is to go to the Imperial Household Department and arrange for Sister Zhen's birth."
"You mean..."
"Yes, didn't you say yesterday that Su Ye said Sister Zhen was about to give birth? After this incident, she must be very upset and will definitely give birth. You should go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to arrange for a midwife and a female doctor." An Lingrong spoke very quickly while pushing Shen Meiyu out.
Shen Meizhuang didn't dare to delay and left quickly.