Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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It was April, and the weather was nice and springy.
The morning light shone through the eaves and feet of the glazed tiles of the Golden Palace, casting deep and shallow halos of light at the palace gate, making the hall look solemn and dignified.
In the hall, Right Prime Minister Gu, who was wearing purple first-grade court robes, walked into the hall with a tablet in his hand and a frown on his face, “Your Majesty, I have something to report.”
In the hall, the young emperor raised his eyes and glanced at him. His indigo dragon robe moved slightly and he raised his dragon-patterned sleeves to signal him to speak.
On the side of the emperor, the chief eunuch understood what was meant and stepped forward, quickly took the memorial from Right Prime Minister Gu, returned to the dias and presented it to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, I wish to impeach Left Prime Minister Xu.”
The emperor’s fingertips paused for a moment, and he said calmly, “Speak.”
Gu Xiangru was overjoyed and spoke earnestly, “During his tenure, Xu Xiang abused his power, suppressed loyal officials, formed cliques for personal gain, and accepted huge bribes. He acted arrogantly and domineeringly, and as if he was all-powerful. Although he is no longer in the court, he is still manipulating the inner circle of the court to disrupt the Spring Examination, hinder the court from selecting talents, and endanger our Nanshun country. His crimes are numerous and cannot be listed. I implore Your Majesty to order a thorough investigation to restore peace to the court, the imperial examination, and the people!”
After Gu Xiangru finished speaking, he waved his sleeves and knelt down without getting up.
There was total silence in the hall, and the air seemed to have frozen.
[When Gu Xiangru came out today, did he get his head caught in the door?]
[Gu Xiangru left in too much of a hurry and probably forgot about his home!]
[Oh my god~ He even dared to impeach the Left Prime Minister, so exciting!!]
[That’s not right~ According to the normal routine, either the Left Prime Minister himself would make a scene in the palace and ask to resign, or His Majesty would lose his patience and depose the Left Prime Minister in public. Hiss~ Right Prime Minister Gu forced himself to come out and add to the drama, I’m afraid it’s over…]
[Even if the Left Prime Minister was deposed, but that is still the Prime Minister~ The only person who dared to openly impeach the Left Prime Minister in the palace in recent years was Right Prime Minister Gu – uh, he might not be the last one.]
[Oh no, he mentioned the Left Prime Minister in front of His Majesty again.]
Right Prime Minister Gu knelt for a long time. There was no sound on the dragon throne and everyone in the hall was silent.
Right Prime Minister Gu began to feel increasingly panicked, as if his earlier confidence had disappeared. He shamelessly raised his head and secretly glanced up at the hall.
In the main hall, the emperor had a calm expression. He was holding a memorial in one hand and tapping the armrest of the dragon throne with the fingertips of the other hand. He seemed to be reading the memorial carefully while being lost in thought. His delicate facial features were hidden behind the twelve jade moss tassels of the crown, and his expression was unfathomable.
After a long time, the emperor finally slowly opened his mouth.
“He is a clean-handed scholar, and he has only three shabby houses…”
Tianzi lowered his voice slightly, “What is there to check?”
“Your Majesty?” Gu Xiangru looked up in surprise, his eyes almost popping out.
[Here it comes!]
[He has started protecting his calf!]
[The scholar with clean hands has arrived. Your Majesty must be missing the Prime Minister…]
[Well, there are indeed only three shabby houses. Anyone who has been there knows that they are drafty. When asked, the answer is “This is a humble house, but my virtue is fragrant.”]
[╮(╯▽╰)╭, when Your Majesty was in the Eastern Palace, the Prime Minister was his companion and he passed the imperial examination when he was young. After he entered the government, he was favored by Your Majesty and promoted all the way. He started as a deputy minister of the Ministry of Personnel, passed through the Dali Temple, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, and the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. It took him a little more than five years to become the head of all officials. It’s okay for Your Majesty to discipline the Left Prime Minister, but if someone criticizes the Left Prime Minister, Your Majesty will protect him. Now, not only does he criticize the Left Prime Minister, but he also stabs him. Can Your Majesty tolerate this?]
In the hall, the emperor stood up slowly, his long sleeves brushing across the dragon-patterned table in front of him. The sunlight passed through the palace, casting a majestic outline on the indigo dragon robe. While the emperor’s voice was indifferent, like a ripple in a calm well, “Right Prime Minister Gu did remind me that someone has been prime minister for three years in the court, and I have never rewarded him with a decent house…”
Gu Xiangru was stunned.
“Where does Mr. Gu live now?” The emperor walked slowly down from the palace in red shoes.
Gu Xiangru hesitated, “Your Majesty, Lu… in Luming Lane.”
“How many people are there in your house, and how many rooms are there?”
Gu Xiangru felt cold sweat pouring out of his back, soaking his clothes. His sweaty palms trembled as he clenched the tablet tightly, and he said nervously, “More than 180…more than 80 rooms.”
“Although Qinghe (Xu Xiang’s pet name) is not in the court, he has been worrying about the affairs of the court for me, which comforts me. I am also pleased that Right Prime Minister Gu cares about the country and me so much. How about Right Prime Minister Gu share my worries for me again?”
“Huh?” Gu Xiangru hadn’t reacted yet.
The emperor spoke again, “Would you like to exchange with him?”
….
As dusk approached, lights began to be lit in various places in the palace.
Outside the Minghe Hall, the ancient trees were towering, and the new green gradually faded away. At the end of the palace wall, the setting sun was slightly curling. Under the nearby palace lanterns, light dust was flowing, reflecting on the emperor’s profile, revealing half of a young and handsome outline, which was as delicate as if engraved, and carried a calm and majestic, unparalleled elegance.
Outside the palace, the eunuch quickly stepped in, “Your Majesty.”
“Speak.” Emperor Yuan did not raise his head. His eyes stayed on the memorial in his hand and he spoke in a calm voice.
The eunuch said respectfully, “Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has started his return to the city.”
Emperor Yuan paused for a moment, then uttered a light “hmm” while holding the pen in the air, still without looking up.
The Chief Inspector observed the man’s expression and said tentatively, “The Prime Minister went to the prison in Fancheng to pick up someone.”
Emperor Yuan then looked up at the eunuch, and without saying a word, he just closed the book of review memorials in his hand and put it aside, as if he didn’t care.
Since he entered the Eastern Palace, the Grand Eunuch had been serving the emperor and was the one who knew the emperor’s temper best in the palace.
At that moment, although the emperor did not open his mouth to ask, he had already put down the memorials in his hand and picked up the teacup on the side. This meant that although he did not say a word on the surface, he actually could not concentrate on reading the memorial.
Sure enough, Emperor Yuan took a sip and asked casually, “Who did you mention again?”
The eunuch took a deep breath and bowed, saying, “The flower thief who is being held in prison by the prefect of Fancheng…”
Emperor Yuan’s palms paused slightly, and his brows were furrowed with visibly angry expressions. “Issue an order. Fancheng prefect Lou Mingliang is lawless and must be dismissed and investigated from today. The Ministry of Personnel will appoint a new one.”
“Yes.” The eunuch fled.
“Besides.”
The eunuch had to turn around.
“Pass on my instructions.”
The eunuch raised his eyes to look at the emperor, knowing that this sentence was addressed to the Left Prime Minister.
“Get back here!”
….
Sunset over the long river, sandstorm outside the Great Wall.
To get to Beiguan City, you had to cross the dozens of miles of desert in front of the oasis.
Xu Xiang was riding a Bactrian camel with a water bag on his waist and a thick scarf wrapped around his face, which blocked the wind and sand along the way and also covered most of his face, leaving only a pair of bright and clear eyes.
At the frontier, just one look at such beautiful eyes seemed to make people reluctant to leave.
Originally, everyone thought that the owner of these eyes should be a woman. But seeing him in men’s clothing, his eyes were bright and clear, but when he glanced at them, the look in those eyes suddenly became sharp and penetrating. In addition, there were four or five guards with swords and eagle eyes following him.
Outside the Great Wall, you couldn’t be sure of the origins of such people, so it was best not to look at them too much.
The businessmen and travellers who had cast their glances on him earlier all withdrew their gazes.
Xu Xiang also retracted his gaze and looked towards the tavern in front of him.
The wind and dust outside the Great Wall made his clothes rustle and the camel bells beside him ring. A half-rolled red flag fluttered above the tavern, which was a place for merchants to rest and replenish supplies. It was also the only oasis in the desert with a radius of dozens of miles. It was marked as Xiaozhen on the map. It was the only way to Beiguan City. Most of the people traveling on the road were merchants from the border.
“Master Xu, let’s stay here tonight and leave tomorrow morning. You can reach Beiguan City around dusk.”
Peng Qinyun got off the camel and took off the covering scarf.
The wind and sand in the Great Wall make you squint your eyes, and you had to wrap yourself tightly to cover your mouth and nose to prevent the dust from entering your nose.
Xu Xiang also took off his scarf and entered the tavern.
Under the scarf, his face was not fair, and even a little wheat-colored. But even the wheat color could not hide the bright and delicate look between his eyebrows. If this bright and delicate look was matched with fair skin, it would be a rare beauty. Those merchants who had not given up just now felt regretful again. It was a pity that he was a man.
But after entering the wine shop, Xu Xiang did not take off the sheepskin gloves on his hands. When he was outside the Great Wall, Xu Xiang never took off his sheepskin gloves when there were other people around. It was easy to make his face tan, but it was not easy to make his hands tan. Because the tan on his hands was easy to fall off, and when it fell off, his slender hands were exposed, where his skin was as white as cream, it formed a sharp contrast with the tan on his face.
He rescued Peng Qinyun from Fancheng Prison a few days ago because he heard that he could cross the desert alone and reach Beiguan City; he could also cross the desert alone and escape unscathed after committing a crime.
Right now, he was going to the Beiguan garrison. The fewer people who knew about it, the better.
He wanted Peng Qinyun to be his guide.
T/N: During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were two prime ministers, a Left Prime Minister (左丞相) and a Right Prime Minister (右丞相). The Left Prime Minister was considered the higher-ranking official. These positions were abolished later, particularly during the Ming Dynasty, with the emperor taking on more direct control of the government with the assistance of the Grand Secretariat.
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