After drinking some tea, Su Qing brought up the purpose of his visit again.
"Your Majesty, my beloved daughter is definitely not a demon. When my wife took our children to the Foxing Temple to pray for blessings, the abbot of the temple even said that my daughter was an extremely blessed child. Your Majesty met that child at the Yandang Mountain Villa. You should be able to see her good character too."
"Although I've never met the daughter of the Duke of Yong, my little girl has a close relationship with her. I also know a bit about her character. It's said that this child is straightforward, lovely, chivalrous, and enthusiastic. She even exposed the counterfeiting of several shops on her own. With such a character, how could she be a 'demon'?" Zhang Wentao said.
"Oh? She exposed the counterfeiting of several shops?" The emperor was a bit surprised, then he smiled and said, "Truly, like father, like daughter."
Thinking of Cang Xuan's protection and concern for that little girl, the emperor lowered his eyes, blew on the tea in his hand, and said, "What do you want?"
Su Qing knew there was hope as soon as he heard this. He said seriously, "Yesterday at the Prince Xuan's Mansion, when my sons resisted, they accidentally offended the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is the heir apparent. If he uses his status to pressure me or make things difficult for me elsewhere, my sons and I will have to swallow our grievances."
"I'm here today to request an imperial edict from Your Majesty for my little daughter to protect her life, so that she won't be easily bullied in the future."
The emperor pointed at Su Qing and said with a helpless smile, "Lord Su, do you know that no one has ever dared to come before me to request an imperial edict for their children. They usually come to request an imperial edict for marriage."
Hearing this, Su Qing's heart skipped a beat, and his hands trembled.
Seeming to find the expression on Su Qing's face very interesting, the emperor deliberately said, "If you want your daughter not to be easily bullied, marrying into the royal family is indeed a good way. What do you think, Lord Su?"
What, marrying into the royal family? Could it be that he wanted to take his Yuanbao as a concubine? This lecherous old emperor!
As soon as they heard that the emperor intended to bestow a marriage on Su Yuanyuan, Zhang Wentao and the others beside Su Qing either lowered their heads or closed their eyes, trying their best to reduce their sense of presence. After all, no one wanted their daughter to be taken fancy to by the emperor and enter the palace as a concubine.
At this moment, Su Qing really wanted to follow Cang Xuan's words - just rebel. It would be just right to make room for his good adopted son.
The emperor saw all their reactions and found it funny. Then he said, "Forget it. After much thought, those young men are not good. Marrying into the royal family would only wrong the daughter of the Duke of Yong. Forget it, forget it."
Su Qing couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Although the princes won't do, marrying a powerful official would be good too." The emperor suddenly said.
Su Qing's heart immediately tightened.
A powerful official? Which powerful official? Was it the one he was thinking of?
Su Qing couldn't help but swallow.
Zhang Wentao and the others either lowered their heads to pick at their fingernails or played with their sleeves and beards, looking as if it had nothing to do with them.
There weren't many powerful officials in the court who were well - matched with the Duke of Yong. They were all among them, but they were all married, and Zhuo Hong was even a grandfather.
Just as Su Qing was nervously waiting for the emperor to continue, the emperor sighed, "Forget it, forget it. The ministers above the third rank and below the first rank in the court are not only old but also married. Some even have a large family. It's not suitable, not suitable."
Zhang Wentao and the others nodded in unison.
Su Qing was so angry! This dog emperor had made his heart jump up and down!
The emperor smiled and said, "Alright, I'm just joking with you. I've heard everything you said today. It was indeed the Crown Prince's fault this time. I won't shield him. Whether it's the Duke of Yong, Lord Zhang, Lord Qin, or Lord Zhuo, I won't wrong any of you. Go home and wait for my imperial edict."
After a pause, he added, "Don't worry. I won't bestow a marriage."
Su Qing held his breath, stood up, and bowed, saying, "I take my leave, Your Majesty."
Zhang Wentao and the others said, "We take our leave, Your Majesty."
...
After leaving the imperial study, Su Qing and Zhang Wentao walked on the way out of the palace together.
Su Qing had never had any interaction with these ministers of the Three Judicial Departments before. They were not familiar with each other until today. However, after today, they all felt a sense of shared hatred.
As they walked, Su Qing stopped, bowed deeply to Zhang Wentao and the others, and said, "Lord Zhang, Lord Qin, Lord Zhuo, thank you."
He was not only referring to Zhang Yingxue and Qin Wanrong's willingness to speak up for Su Yuanyuan at the Qinyue Banquet yesterday but also to the tacit understanding of them all coming to the palace to complain to the emperor today.
If he had come alone, the emperor might have easily found an excuse to brush him off. After all, the person he was complaining about this time was not a small figure like Yan Huan. He was complaining about the emperor's legitimate son, the current Crown Prince.
Zhang Wentao bowed back and replied, "Your Grace is being too polite. Everyone has the heart to love their children. We're all doing this for our children. There's no need to thank."
Qin Xiao said, "If I were to thank someone, I'd like to thank Your Grace."
Su Qing asked curiously, "Oh? Thank me for what?"
Qin Xiao pulled at his lips and showed a somewhat forced smile. "My little daughter has been in poor health since childhood and rarely goes out to meet guests. So she has few friends in the capital. Even when she goes out occasionally, she's often ostracized because of her illness. I heard her say that at the Qinyue Banquet, it was your daughter who took the initiative to befriend her, so she stepped in to help. My daughter's health may not allow her to live past sixteen. There's only half a year left before her coming - of - age ceremony. To make a bosom friend before she passes away, it's not in vain for her to come to this world."
Su Qing was quite touched. "After my daughter returned home, she also mentioned Sister Qin to my wife. She said that if it weren't for Sister Qin lending her the qin, she wouldn't have been appreciated by Mr. Shanyin."
As for Zhuo Hong...
Zhuo Hong said, "There's no need to thank me. I just don't want to suffer such humiliation."
Yes, that's right. They just didn't want to suffer such humiliation, so they entered the palace early in the morning after learning everything.
Who didn't know that the Crown Prince was lustful? Who didn't know that the Wang family had great power? Who didn't know that in the current Great Chu, the aristocratic families were in power, and there were many cliques? Without a backer, one couldn't move forward.
But they were all among the few neutral factions in the court. They were already thorns in the eyes of the aristocratic families. If they let the Crown Prince succeed in putting the hat of a rebel on them this time, what future would they have?
Fortunately, the emperor didn't completely side with the Crown Prince and listened to their words. Next, they just needed to wait.
After leaving the palace and bidding farewell to the others, Su Qing rode his horse towards his home.
On the way, he stroked his chin.
He knew that the Three Judicial Departments were all neutral factions. After the Qinyue Banquet, they would probably be targeted by the Wang Party. In that case, he could try to win them over for Cang Xuan.
If Cang Xuan intended to restore Shu Moyun's identity in the future and use this to bring down the queen and the Wang family, the support of the Three Judicial Departments would be crucial.