To avoid suspicion, this time it wasn't Rong Sui who led people to arrest Rong Xuan. Instead, he specially asked the officials from the Supreme Court and the Censorate to conduct a joint investigation.
The accuser was quickly found. It was a palace guard. Rong Sui was a member of the Imperial Guard. Only during large - scale palace events would some members of the Imperial Guard be brought into the palace to allocate manpower. The palace guards were not under his jurisdiction.
More precisely, the emperor had kept a backup plan. Most of the palace guards were firmly in his own hands.
Rong Sui exchanged glances with the crown prince. It was obvious that this incident was the work of the eldest prince. After all, Lord Liu, the magistrate of the capital, had a round - about in - law relationship with the Dong family.
That palace guard was on duty at a secondary palace near the imperial palace when he noticed Rong Xuan leading a decent young woman into the secondary palace residence. Due to Rong Xuan being the eldest grandson of the Duke's Mansion, the guard felt extremely uneasy. Coincidentally, it was time for shift change. He asked his comrade to keep an eye on Rong Xuan and also mentioned it to another guard.
By chance, this guard was Lord Liu's son - in - law, so he told Lord Liu about this matter. Lord Liu was extremely anxious, so he had no choice but to disturb the emperor.
A talkative woman scoffed, "Well, I've never heard that the shift on palace duty can be changed at will!"
The woman's sister - in - law glared at her, and they all fell silent.
The emperor leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. When he opened them again, he cast a sharp look at Concubine Dong.
Concubine Dong shivered. She quickly selected a fruit herself and presented it to the emperor.
The emperor didn't eat it. He just waved his hand to the side and said, "Feifei, today's fruits were sent from Prince Zhuang's orchard. They are fresh and juicy. I remember you like fruits. I'll bestow them on you."
Zhao Feifei stood up, bowed to express her gratitude. The maidservant quickly stepped forward and presented the fruit selected by Concubine Dong in front of Zhao Feifei.
Some concubines couldn't stand it. The Virtuous Concubine, who ranked below the imperial concubine, advised, "Your Majesty, Lady Zhao is from a merchant family. She has been in the palace for five years without giving birth to an heir. Your Majesty has shown such great favor to her and conferred the title of concubine. If Your Majesty continues to dote on her like this, it may not be appropriate, right?"
The eunuch noticed the emperor's movement and quickly picked up a piece of fish and put it into the emperor's bowl.
The emperor picked up his chopsticks, put the fish into his mouth, then spat it out and threw the chopsticks on the table.
The Virtuous Concubine beside him narrowed her eyes and said, "Since ancient times, a hero's origin is not questioned. Lady Zhao has served Your Majesty well, so it's quite normal for her to be promoted. Sister Virtuous Concubine holds a high position. How come you don't even understand this principle? If you don't understand, you should study hard and talk less. That's the proper thing to do."
After saying that, she opened her eyes, looked at the fish in front of the emperor, and smiled, "Your Majesty, in the past, I didn't like fish very much. But now I find it quite appealing. Just now I saw that Your Majesty didn't enjoy eating it. May I be so bold as to ask Your Majesty to bestow this fish on me?"
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Granted."
The maidservant quickly stepped forward and presented the fish in front of the emperor to the Virtuous Concubine.
After this, everyone in the hall kept their eyes down, not daring to make a sound.
The Virtuous Concubine took two bites of the fish, covered her mouth with a handkerchief, and smiled again, "Your Majesty dotes on me, and my face is getting thicker. Seeing the aged Duke kneeling on the ground, I can't help but think of my long - unseen father. He must be just as old and decrepit. I also miss the days when the Great Zhou was in a precarious situation and the successive victory reports from Wuyun came, relieving Your Majesty's worries. May I be so bold as to ask Your Majesty to show more kindness and allow the Duke of Rong to rise?"
The emperor seemed to notice Rong Jian kneeling on the ground only then. A look of regret appeared on his face, "The Duke of Rong has made great contributions to the country. And because of his illness, he has difficulty walking. I was really muddle - headed to let you kneel on the ground for so long. If it weren't for my beloved concubine's reminder, wouldn't I have hurt the heart of a loyal official?"
He told Rong Jian to rise and asked the Rong family to return to their seats.
Rong Feichi didn't dare to stand up. He kept pleading guilty, "Your Majesty, I'm incompetent in teaching my son. I'm not worthy of the reward. Please, Your Majesty, let me kneel."
The emperor granted his request. He just looked up at the Virtuous Concubine with a half - smile and said, "The Virtuous Concubine understands me best."
This Virtuous Concubine was not very good - looking. Her family was not in the capital. In the early years, she gave birth to two princes, but unfortunately, they both died prematurely. It was the empress dowager who took pity on her and gave her the current position. The Virtuous Concubine had always been honest. She didn't even like to speak during banquets, let alone take the initiative.
At this moment, the Virtuous Concubine remained calm and replied in a low voice, "I thank Your Majesty for the praise."
The emperor smiled faintly. He picked up a fruit himself, ate it, spat out the seed, and then said, "The Virtuous Concubine has held a high position for a long time. She may have forgotten how to write the characters for 'humility'. Let her go to Zhongcui Palace to reflect on her mistakes for the time being. She doesn't need to take care of the affairs of the harem anymore. The matter of assisting in managing the six palaces will be handed over to the Virtuous Concubine."
The Virtuous Concubine gritted her teeth and tightly held the silk handkerchief in her hand. Finally, she managed to hold back. Her daughter, the princess, had a good relationship with the eldest prince since childhood. Her father was the Minister of Revenue, and his backer was Lord Dong. Now that the emperor was suppressing her, it was also a way of suppressing Concubine Dong.
After a while, the Minister of the Supreme Court personally led Rong Xuan into the hall.按理说, this Rong Xuan should have been drunk and involved with other young women. But the Rong Xuan in front of them didn't show any sign of being drunk.
When Rong Xuan saw his father kneeling on the ground, he was quite surprised. He quickly knelt down and pleaded guilty, "Your Majesty, I'm guilty. It's all my own fault and has nothing to do with my father. Please forgive my father's sins, Your Majesty."
The emperor said "Oh" and asked, "What crime do you have?"
Rong Xuan looked blank. He looked around, as if he didn't understand what had happened at all. After stuttering for a long time, he lowered his head dejectedly and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know..."
The emperor "thumped" the bead string on the table again and sneered, "Since you don't know your crime, why do you plead guilty?"
Rong Xuan lowered his head and replied, "I... saw my father kneeling here and was urgently summoned by Your Majesty. I thought I must have committed an unforgivable crime."
The emperor nodded and asked again, "Then think about what crime you have committed."
Rong Xuan thought for a while and still shook his head, "Your Majesty, I really don't know."
Rong Feichi couldn't wait any longer. He slapped his son on the face, blushed with anger, and scolded, "Don't tell the truth in front of the emperor. Did you drink today?"
Rong Xuan quickly kowtowed and pleaded guilty, "Your Majesty, Father, I didn't drink today."
Rong Feichi shouted again, "Didn't you pull a decent young woman at the royal villa today?"
Rong Xuan was greatly shocked. He kept shaking his head, "Your Majesty, I was on duty today. Even if you gave me a few more guts, I wouldn't dare to neglect my duty, let alone do something to bully a decent young woman."
Lord Liu was the first to lose his temper. He said, "Rong Xuan, you said you didn't bully a decent young woman. Let me ask you, have you ever been to Chengjiacun in the western suburbs of the capital?"
Rong Xuan shook his head, "I'm an official of the Military Police Department, in charge of the eastern part of the capital. How could I go to the western suburbs?"
Lord Liu glared at him, "Then... what about Miss Lv'e and Miss Qiao'er?"
Rong Xuan blushed. He quickly turned his head to look at Mrs. Shao. He saw that Mrs. Shao's eyes were red and she was stubbornly pursing her lips. He turned back and gritted his teeth, "Lord Liu, this is such a private matter. You insist that I say it in front of everyone. Forget it. It's all my fault. I'll just say it straight."
"Qiao'er is a girl from Cuixiang Tower. At the beginning of last month, I was with a friend - your son, Minister Wen of the Supreme Court, was also with me at that time. That Miss Qiao'er wouldn't let go of me. But I have a wife and children at home, so I wouldn't do anything to let them down. But that Miss Qiao'er just wouldn't let me go. She got me drunk, and I muddled - headedly said that I would pay the bill that night... But... but I had no money with me, so I had to go back... to find my wife..."
Mrs. Shao nodded, "Yes... It was five hundred taels of silver that day."
Rong Xuan continued, "Although I work in the Military Police Department, my family is very strict. My brothers and I only get a monthly allowance of fifteen taels. Since I'm married, my mother was afraid that I wouldn't have enough money to buy something for my wife and children, so she gives me an extra five taels every month. Five hundred taels is a large amount. My wife used her dowry money to subsidize me..."
As soon as these words were said, everyone present couldn't help but gasp. Five hundred taels of silver was indeed a large amount, but as the son of the Duke of Rong's Mansion, having only fifteen or twenty taels of monthly allowance? The Rong family was really stingy.
Not only did everyone think so, but Shi Ning'an was also stunned. Did they only have fifteen taels of monthly allowance? Why did she have sixty taels? Or was Rong Xuan lying?
Shi Ning'an carefully sized up Rong Xuan. No, Rong Xuan had always been honest. It was already difficult for him to act. He would never lie in this situation. Could it be that their monthly allowance was really only fifteen taels?
She subconsciously looked up at Rong Sui and saw that Rong Sui was also looking at her. Maybe it was just an illusion, but she thought that when Rong Sui looked at her, there was a smile on his face.
Shi Ning'an quickly withdrew her gaze. Her heart was pounding. Could Rong Sui smile? It seemed... not the first time she had seen it, but every time something had happened. This time, nothing had happened. Why was he smiling?
Could it be that he was smiling because their plan was a success?
Rong Xuan raised his hand and slapped himself twice, "At that time, I swore to my wife that I would never drink again. But later... later I still couldn't resist the persuasion of my friends and went to Cuixiang Tower again. Coincidentally, that day was Miss Lv'e, the top - ranking girl in Cuixiang Tower. I... I..."
Lord Liu pressed on, "What did you do?"
Rong Xuan stared blankly for a moment and then shook his head, "I got drunk and don't remember what happened. When I woke up, my wife was beside me. She said that Han'er was sick and crying for me. She had waited for me all day. Later, I found out that that day when I got drunk, it cost another one hundred taels of silver. Again, my wife used her private dowry money to subsidize me."
Lord Liu couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. One hundred taels of silver couldn't buy a night's company with the top - ranking girl in Cuixiang Tower. It meant that Rong Xuan only drank that night and didn't seek pleasure.
Maybe because the matter involved his own son, Minister Wen of the Supreme Court said, "All in all, he just drank in Cuixiang Tower twice. Cuixiang Tower is there for people to drink. If everyone who has been there has to be accused like this by Lord Liu, it would be better to close Cuixiang Tower."
Lord Liu was not very happy, "You can't say that. I did receive an accusation from someone, saying that Rong Xuan molested a decent young woman. It's just that Qiao'er and Lv'e are not decent young women."
Minister Wen sneered, "Lord Liu is really strange. Since there is an accusation, there should be evidence. Lord Liu can't just convict Rong Xuan with empty words, right? If everyone is like this, wouldn't the capital be in chaos?"
Lord Liu's face turned red. He forced himself to say, "Didn't Minister Wen go to arrest Rong Xuan just now? Why did you only bring back Rong Xuan? Where is the woman he bullied? Why didn't you bring her here together?"