That night, the sky was pitch black, and there wasn't even a breath of wind.
Numerous assassins visited the Zhou and Zhao residences, but they were caught red-handed by Shi Zhu and Ji Shaocheng, who were well-prepared. In an instant, the night was filled with shouts of killing...
Chapter 93 The Pearl Princess's Arranged Marriage [Handwritten Text Version VIP]
As soon as it was light, someone reported to Qingqian Palace. This time, not only Ye Lingfeng but also Hai Ling were alarmed. The two of them got dressed and called Shizhu in to find out what was going on.
Sure enough, some people broke into the Zhou and Nian residences at night, intending to kill them to cover their tracks. Unfortunately, they were caught red-handed, but the people fought back desperately, and only a few dozen were captured.
All of these people are now imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, where they are heavily guarded.
Ye Lingfeng was furious. He skipped the morning court session and led all the civil and military officials to the Ministry of Justice to re-examine the arrested person and find out who had instructed him to dare to kill the Minister of Revenue and the Vice Minister of Revenue, among other officials.
However, those who were arrested stubbornly refused to confess. But when they arrived at the Ministry of Justice, under severe torture, few could survive. In the end, someone confessed that he had been ordered by General Chu Zhongyun to go to the Zhou and Zhao residences to kill people.
General Chu Zhongyun was still a famous general in Beilu, another tiger general besides the Ji family. Unexpectedly, he was involved in the assassination attempt on the imperial court. Ye Lingfeng was very shocked and heartbroken. He ordered people to go to the Chu residence to arrest him.
Unexpectedly, Chu Zhongyun committed suicide in the study of the Chu family mansion.
After investigating and investigating, this was the result. Ye Lingfeng was furious, but it was not advisable to drag it out any further. The more it was dragged out, the bigger it would become, and Bei Lu would become half of Kulong's dynasty. So, it was better to investigate and repair as needed, and investigate again after it was fixed.
The matter was thus settled.
The Chu family's property was confiscated, and the Minister of Justice and the Minister of War were demoted three ranks and transferred out of the capital.
The emperor then swiftly promoted three officials, all of whom he had personally examined and trusted, to the positions of Minister of War, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Revenue. Wenbin, the heir of the Marquis of Ningnan, was appointed as Vice Minister of War.
With these appointments, no one in the Northern Lu court dared to underestimate the current emperor. Instead, they were all awestruck by his iron-fisted methods, swift and unexpected actions that caught everyone off guard. As a result, everyone became cautious and no longer as careless and negligent as before.
Inside Cixi Palace, the Empress Dowager was unleashing a furious rage.
Unexpectedly, the Emperor appointed three officials but did not use the west family. Where does this leave her face?
Did they really think she was easy to bully? Especially Feng'er, she really disappointed her. No matter what, the west family was his maternal uncle's family. When he ascended the throne, the Xi family helped him a lot. How could this ingrate not help the people of the Xi family?
Does he know in his heart who will protect the land of Beilu in the future?
The Empress Dowager's face was dark and she was breathing heavily with anger, clearly very upset.
She had already ordered a eunuch to invite the Emperor over, and the old nanny Ying was trying to comfort her: "Your Majesty, don't be angry, the Emperor will be here soon."
The atmosphere in the hall was already tense, and just then, a eunuch came in to report: "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, Her Majesty the Empress has come to pay her respects."
"Hmph, she even bowed to me, just to laugh at me. She's got some nerve."
The Empress Dowager snorted coldly, her face darkening further. If she could tolerate Ji Hailing before, she was now furious. And her son, he had completely forgotten his mother now that he had a wife. If Ji Hailing spoke, he might not have ignored her, but he didn't even ask her a question. It truly broke her heart as a mother.
Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's angry words, Granny Ying quickly spoke up in a soft voice: "Your Majesty, the Empress may not know about what is happening in the court. Please don't misunderstand her."
The Empress Dowager knew she was furious, so she waved her hand and said, "Let her in."
When Hailing entered, she saw the Empress Dowager sitting at the head of the table with a dark face and cold eyes, staring at her as she walked into the hall. Hailing knew why the Empress Dowager was angry. The Emperor had dismissed three officials in succession, but in the end, no one from the Western Palace had gained any real power. Even Wenbin from the Ningnan Marquis's residence had become the Vice Minister of War. How could the old lady not be angry?
However, she pretended not to know and respectfully stepped forward to bow, saying, "Ling'er greets Mother."
The Empress Dowager nodded. Since Hai Ling was so obedient, she naturally couldn't lose her temper. She waved her hand and said weakly, "Sit down over there. I'm not feeling well today and don't have the energy to talk."
Hai Ling sat down to the side as instructed. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the voice of a eunuch outside the hall: "His Majesty has arrived."
A tall, proud, and robust figure in bright yellow walked in, arrogant and unrestrained. He went straight into the main hall and first paid his respects to the Empress Dowager on the throne: "Your subject greets Your Majesty."
The Empress Dowager remained silent, staring coldly at her son.
Ye Lingfeng didn't wait for the Empress Dowager to speak. He looked up and asked gently, "What's wrong, Mother?"
"You may all leave."
This time, the Empress Dowager waved her hand, dismissing all the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall. Once everyone was gone, she gritted her teeth and asked Ye Lingfeng fiercely, "Feng'er, you have truly disappointed me. Have you forgotten that the Western Palace contributed a great deal to your ascension to the throne? Now you don't value the people of the Western Palace, but instead value those incompetent nobodys. You've really made something of yourself."
When the Empress Dowager spoke, Ye Lingfeng's face darkened slightly, but because his mother was angry, he did not react and calmly reported back.
"It's not that I don't value the people from the west family, but rather that they lack such talent. If they did, why wouldn't they use them? Who does Your Majesty think is suitable?"
"Is your uncle Xiyu not qualified for these official positions?"
"Mother, the appointment has been made. If there are any positions available in the future, I will definitely use my uncle's position."
Ye Lingfeng didn't want to argue with his mother over this, so he postponed it. When the Empress Dowager heard this, her face darkened even more. She glared at Ye Lingfeng, and finally covered her chest with her hand and waved her hand, saying, "I'm old. You may all go back."
Seeing that she was indeed not in good spirits, Ye Lingfeng gave her a few words of advice, then said goodbye to Hai Ling and left.
As soon as the two stepped out of Qingqian Palace, they heard the sound of the Empress Dowager smashing things inside the palace, and couldn't help but exchange a wry smile.
Hailing sighed, "It seems that Mother is quite angry this time, so you'd better take it easy."
"I know, no matter what, I won't use people randomly. I will use them when they are truly capable."
Ye Lingfeng summoned a sedan chair and instructed someone to take Hailing back to Qingqian Palace. He also told Hailing to rest well, as he had many affairs in the court recently and did not have much time to accompany her. He told her to find her own fun, or to bring the young princess of Cangwang Mansion to the palace to keep her company. Hailing smiled and urged him to go and attend to his business.
"Go ahead, I'll find my own fun."
The two parted ways in front of Cixi Palace; one returned to the Imperial Study, and the other returned to Qingqian Palace.
Three days passed quickly. Xi Hanzhi had prepared 200,000 dan of grain. Ji Cong led 5,000 soldiers to escort the grain to Dengzhou. Hai Ling informed Ye Lingfeng and left the palace to see him off. This time, Ji Shaocheng brought a lot of his men, and there were no unexpected incidents.
After seeing Ji Cong off, the brother and sister returned to the city. Hai Ling did not return to the palace immediately, but went to find Xi Liang instead.
Having finally managed to leave the palace, she had no intention of going back so soon; she was suffocating in the palace.