At the Mao hour, the sky was still pitch - black. Most families were still in slumber. At the palace gate, the energetic Su Qing showed his waist token to the guards and then strode into the palace.
After the battle at Yandang Mountain, Su Qing not only got the job of commanding the Jingji Army but also received a waist token that allowed him to enter and leave the palace at will. Today, this token finally came in handy.
Following the little eunuch step by step towards the imperial study, Su Qing straightened his clothes, trying to look more rushed.
Before long, they arrived at the imperial study.
The little eunuch said respectfully, "Your Majesty has not gotten up yet. Please wait here for a while, Duke Yong."
With a wave of his big hand, Su Qing said, "It's okay. Go ahead, little eunuch. I've got plenty of time."
However, Su Qing had only stood there for a short while when he heard another sound of footsteps behind him. He could tell at once that someone was coming this way. Su Qing quickly put on an extremely aggrieved look, turned around, and bowed towards the source of the sound.
"Your Majesty—"
When he saw the face of the person coming, the next words got stuck in his throat.
"Lord Zhang, why is it you?" Su Qing said with a gloomy face.
The person coming was Zhang Wentao, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. Seeing him, the other person was also very surprised. "Duke Yong, you're here too?"
Su Qing smiled subtly and asked, "What brings you here, Lord Zhang?"
Zhang Wentao said with a straight face, "I just have some government affairs to report to His Majesty."
Then, the two stood side by side outside the imperial study, but neither of them showed any intention of talking to the other.
Before a cup of tea had passed, there came another sound of footsteps from the way they had come.
The two of them turned around in unison and bowed towards that direction. "Your Majesty—"
Hearing the equally aggrieved tone beside him, Su Qing couldn't help but glance at Zhang Wentao next to him, secretly thinking that this Minister of the Ministry of Punishment was quite good at pretending.
But when the person showed up, both of them had the same constipated expressions on their faces. Zhang Wentao forced a smile. "Lord Qin, what a coincidence. You're here to see His Majesty too?"
Yes, the person coming was Qin Xiao, the Minister of the Court of Judicature, and also the biological father of Qin Wanrong.
Qin Xiao was very thin but quite tall, almost as tall as Su Qing, who had been riding horses and practicing martial arts all year round. Seeing that both Su Qing and Zhang Wentao were there, he seemed not surprised at all. He nodded to them, then tucked in his sleeves and stood beside Zhang Wentao with his eyes closed.
Su Qing remembered what Mrs. Mo had told him. At the Qin - appreciation banquet, the daughters of the Ministry of Punishment, the Court of Judicature, and the Censorate had all stood on the side of his daughter Yuanbao. He vaguely guessed something. His eyes swept across the faces of Zhang Wentao and Qin Xiao, and Su Qing grinned.
Great. It seemed he wasn't fighting alone.
Since the people from the Ministry of Punishment and the Court of Judicature were both here, wasn't it about time for the Censorate to show up?
Sure enough, not long after, Zhuo Hong, the Chief Censor of the Censorate, also appeared at the end of the path and walked towards them.
The actual power - holders of the Three Judicial Offices, plus Duke Yong Su Qing. Well, now everyone was here. Su Qing couldn't help but wonder how the emperor would deal with them later.
He felt a little bit of anticipation for no reason.
...
There was no court session today, so the emperor got up a bit later than usual. He lived alone in the Chengan Palace and didn't ask any concubines to accompany him. After waking up, he changed into his regular clothes under the service of the palace servants, had a simple breakfast, and then took the sedan chair towards the imperial study to deal with government affairs.
The emperor sat in the sedan chair with his eyes closed, resting. As they were walking, he suddenly heard a series of crying sounds coming from the front.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please do justice for me!"
"Your Majesty, I'm so aggrieved!"
These cries reminded the emperor of the ministers who had cried outside his door, begging him to take back his order after Yan Huan was dismissed from office. His eyebrows frowned involuntarily.
Again?
The sedan chair stopped accordingly. The emperor opened his eyes and saw four figures kneeling outside the imperial study, crying with snot and tears, as if they had suffered some great injustice.
All of these four figures were usually seen as majestic, upright, and serious in the eyes of others. But now they were crying like women, which really made the emperor feel a chill down his back.
It was okay for Su Qing, but why were the people from the Three Judicial Offices following his example?
Eunuch Bao was about to step forward to stop them, but the emperor stopped him, indicating that he wanted to hear what these people were crying about.
"Your Majesty, my son and I have been dedicated to the Great Chu whole - heartedly and never dared to slack off even a bit. But now we're being treated like this. I'm so heart - broken! Wuwuwu..." It was obviously Su Qing.
"My beloved daughter lost her mother at birth. She was born weak and has been sickly. The imperial doctor said she wouldn't live past seventeen. Yesterday, she finally had the energy to go out for a walk, but she suffered such injustice. After she got home, she fell ill again. I'm so heart - stricken!" This was Qin Xiao, the Minister of the Court of Judicature.
And from the Censorate: "As the Chief Censor of the Censorate, I've always enforced the law impartially. But I never thought I'd be framed as a traitor. I can no longer be the Chief Censor. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to retire and return to my hometown."
Minister Zhang: "..." These people had said everything. What could he say?
So, his cry was the loudest. "Your Majesty, please do justice for us!"
But the emperor knew these people were crying deliberately for him. After all, with Su Qing's martial arts skills, how could he not hear the movement behind him?
Having a clear idea in mind, the emperor gave a look to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch immediately announced, "His Majesty is coming—"
Only then did these people seem to wake up suddenly. They turned around and looked behind them.
Meeting the emperor's eyes in the sedan chair, Su Qing immediately knelt in another direction and cried to the emperor, "Your Majesty, please do justice for me!"
The other three also knelt down and said the same words as Su Qing.
The sedan chair stopped. The emperor got out and walked up to the four people. Looking down, he asked, "You all came into the palace early in the morning and cried so sadly outside my imperial study. What kind of difficult thing have you encountered?"
Su Qing felt that the emperor's tone didn't sound very happy. He secretly cursed his bad luck. He had come to the palace to seek an explanation today but had run into the emperor in a bad mood.
Pretending to wipe away the non - existent tears from the corner of his eyes, Su Qing said,
"This matter, well, it's quite complicated. It can't be explained clearly to Your Majesty in a short time."
Zhang Wentao said, "Yes. This matter involves the imperial heir. Please move to the imperial study, Your Majesty. We'll explain it to you in detail."
"Oh, really?" The emperor's eyes swept across the faces of these people. Suddenly, he laughed and said, "Then come in with me. I'd like to hear who on earth dares to bully the once - famous General who Pacified the Borders and the heads of the Three Judicial Offices, making you so aggrieved and angry that you even came into the palace to see me."
After saying that, the emperor walked towards the imperial study with his hands behind his back. Seeing this, Su Qing, Zhang Wentao, and the others quickly got up and followed him in.