Doulu Qinwang did not disappoint Li Xian. He lasted four months longer than Yang Zaisi. When the autumn wind swept away the withered leaves on the branches, it swept him away as well. Doulu Qinwang died.
Doulu Qinwang had been struggling at death's door ever since he had broken his head in the tug-of-war at the Black Tortoise Gate during the Upper Lantern Festival. He only died at the end of the year. In addition, he was already seventy-nine years old. It could be said that he had died a natural death.
Moreover, after Yang Zaisi's death, Li Xian had accumulated enough experience and was able to handle this matter with relative ease. However, whether it was out of guilt towards Doulu Qinwang or because of Doulu Qinwang's age and status, Li Xian had to personally pay his respects.
The Emperor's arrival caused the Doulu family to be in a state of chaos. But when the Emperor arrived, he only ordered his trusted eunuchs to light a stick of incense for him and then ordered someone to recite a eulogy written by Shanghai Wan'er on his behalf before leaving.
The Li family had inherited cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Taizong, Empress Zhangsun, and Emperor Gaozong all suffered from 'qi disease' or 'wind disease'. As Li Xian grew older, these diseases also began to become prominent.
He had been in Fangzhou for sixteen years. Not only had he lived a difficult life, he had also been worried and afraid, causing him to contract other diseases. As a result, his body became even weaker. Although this journey had not been long, he still felt extremely tired.
He boarded the imperial carriage and lazily lay down for a while. Feeling increasingly stifled, he said, "Open the curtain."
One of the four little palace maids kneeling in front of the soft couch immediately stood up and gently rolled up the curtain. At this moment, a loud shout was heard from the side of the road. "This subject is Xuzhou Military Advisor Yan Qinrong. I request an audience with His Majesty!"
Immediately after, there was a clamor. Among the countless commoners watching from the side of the road, a person suddenly leaped out and pounced on Li Xian's imperial carriage.
His roar was clearly heard by the winged cavalry, ten thousand cavalry, thousands of oxen, and the imperial bodyguards in front of the Emperor. Some of them had already brandished their sabers to slash at him, but upon hearing that he was an official of the imperial court, they hastily retracted their deadly sabers.
Although they did not kill, they would not allow this person to get close to the imperial carriage. This person was only a weak scholar. In front of these tall and strong imperial bodyguards who were well-versed in martial arts, how could he possibly break through? He was immediately pressed to the ground.
Li Xian frowned and ordered, "Stop, ask him why he wants to see us!"
Yang Sixun immediately shouted for the guards of honor to stop. Then, he rushed over to the Xu Province adjunct who was pressed to the ground. A moment later, he returned to Li Xian's side. With a strange expression on his face, he said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, that Yan Qinrong is impeaching …"
"Hmm?"
"Impeach the Empress, Princess Anle, Wu Yanxiu, Zong Chuke, Cui Shi, Zheng Qiao, and the others."
Li Xian's expression darkened. These people were either his relatives or his trusted aides. He could not question them on the streets. After a moment of silence, Li Xian slowly said, "Take him back to the palace!"
…
"Your Majesty, the Empress is promiscuous in the palace and preempts politics. The entire Wei family ascends to heaven and controls both civil and military affairs. The world only knows Empress Wei, not Your Majesty. If this goes on, the Wu family's disaster will be repeated. Shouldn't Your Majesty be vigilant?
Princess Anle is extravagant and takes bribes. The officials in the household are especially frivolous. They all come from families of butchers. Because they donate money to buy official positions, there are countless officials who are conferred titles. Most of the officials of the marquises and kings come from her family.
The Anle Temple and the Anle Buddhist Hut were all modeled after the palace. The craftsmanship was even better. When An Le built Kunchi, he used more than a hundred thousand people of the country for free. In order to curry favor with An Le, the Minister of Agriculture Zhao Lvwen acted like An Le's lackey. He used his third-rank official status to pull the reins and transport the soil!
An Le seized the Linchuan Princess Royal's old residence as his private residence. He tore down the houses of the commoners and complained. All the construction needs came from the inner palace. The forbidden land was empty. An Le built the Anle Temple and used millions of the Ministry of Revenue's money.
An Le and the other officials could not win. They sent people to the South Sea's River Temple on fast horses eight hundred li to cut off Bodhisattva Mojie's beard and used it as a rare grass. That beard was given by the Southern Dynasty's Xie Lingyun before he died. From now on, it no longer exists … "
When Li Xian returned to the palace, he dismissed his attendants and listened to Yan Qinrong's accusation. When he heard his daughter's absurd deeds, his face alternated between green and red. Some of these things he knew, some he didn't. But regarding the virtuous wife Wei Shi who was close to him, he absolutely did not believe it.
Li Xian wanted to ask clearly. Who knew that this Xuzhou Adjunct finally had a chance to speak. He talked non-stop and did not give him a chance to speak.
Yan Qinrong continued, "Zong Chuke and Wu Yanxiu conspired together. They asked for bribes and caused trouble at the border. Did they think the world did not know? These people who conspired against the country cannot be redeemed even with a hundred deaths. But these people stole high positions!
There are also people like Cui Shi and Zheng Qiao. They are not even forty years old and are only a fifth-rank official. They suddenly became the Prime Minister and entered the Political Affairs Hall. These people are also in cahoots with each other. They sold their positions and titles. As a result, the selection of officials has been ruined. Now the positions for the next three years have been sold. Your Majesty, do you know? "
…
There was no court conference today. Cui Shi, as the newly promoted Prime Minister, accompanied the Emperor to pay his respects to Doulu Qinwang's family. The carriage had just stopped when someone rushed to the front of the carriage and shouted, "Candidate of Jiannan, Han Xufeng, requests an audience with Master Cui!"
Cui Shi got off the carriage and glanced at the person. He saw that it was a man around forty years old. He was not tall but his appearance was decent.
Cui Shi walked up the stairs and did not pay him any attention. Ever since he and Zheng Qiao became Prime Minister, he was in charge of the Ministry of Appointments. He had great power. How could he stop to listen to a candidate's clamor?
Seeing that Cui Shi was ignoring him, Han Xufeng could not help but panic. He jumped and shouted, "Prime Minister Cui, your relatives have already accepted my monetary gift. Why is my name not on the list of officials?"
Cui Shi's expression changed when he heard this. He quickly looked to his left and right. There was no one walking in front of the Prime Minister's door. There were only his servants and guards. Cui Shi relaxed and immediately shouted, "Bring him in!"
Cui Shi hurried back to the residence and asked someone to bring Han Xufeng to the living room. He did not even bother to change his clothes. He asked in a deep voice, "Han Xufeng, you said that my relatives have accepted your monetary gift?"
Han Xufeng said, "Not a bit false. It's one million taels of silver. I still have a receipt here. Master, why did you leave me out of the list of officials?"
Cui Shi had already sold all the positions for the next three years. There was a lot of criticism from the officials in the court. He had no choice but to restrain himself. Originally, he had wanted to make one more payment before temporarily stopping. Yesterday, he had appointed the last batch of officials. Those who had not presented monetary gifts naturally had no chance.
Now that he heard that a relative had used his name to accept monetary gifts, Cui Shi could not help but fly into a rage. He said, "Let this prime minister see who dares to use my name to accept monetary gifts. This prime minister will capture him and beat him to death!"
Han Xufeng had just taken out a receipt from his sleeve. When he heard this, a strange expression appeared on his face. He said, "Master, please calm your anger. This matter must not be allowed."
Cui Shi glared at him and said, "Why not?"
Han Xufeng said in embarrassment, "Master, if you kill him, you will have Ding You."
Ding You? Ding You would only need to be removed from his position because of his parents' mourning. Then the person who accepted the monetary gift was …
For a moment, Cui Shi's face swelled to the color of an eggplant. He was very embarrassed.
…
Inside the Palace, Yan Qinrong knelt in front of Li Xian and talked non-stop for more than an hour. His voice was hoarse, but he did not stop. With great difficulty, he finally finished accusing these people of their misconduct. He kowtowed to Li Xian and wept. "Your Imperial Majesty, if we do not reform the country, the world will be rotten beyond repair!"
Li Xian's expression was calm as he asked, "You are an official in Xuzhou. How do you know what is going on in the capital?"
Yan Qinrong smiled sorrowfully. "Your Imperial Majesty, I have long heard rumors in Xuzhou. Today, the Ministry of Appointments had me return to the capital to report on my work. I clearly scored excellent in the exams, but I was removed from my position. This was to make room for the briber.
I have many old friends of the same age in the capital. After asking around, I found out that the rumors were not false. Your Imperial Majesty, these matters have long been known to the world. Only Your Imperial Majesty is still in the dark. Your Imperial Majesty only needs to investigate and you will know. I am not speaking nonsense! "
Li Xian's eyes narrowed slightly. Gritting his teeth, he asked again, "You say that the Empress corrupted the court. What proof do you have?"
Yan Qinrong straightened his body and said, "I do not have proof, but this matter has long been spread throughout the capital. Not only by the common people, even the low-ranking officials and high-ranking officials of the court have spoken with certainty. They even said the name and identity of the adulterer. Does Your Imperial Majesty think that this is false?"
Li Xian suddenly walked in front of Yan Qinrong. Because of nervousness, his voice had become as hoarse as Yan Qinrong's. "Who is it?"
Yan Qinrong boldly said, "Grand physician Ma Qinke and Imperial Guard Yang Jun!"
Li Xian's body shook. He suddenly remembered that Wei shi was not feeling well. She had said that Grand Physician Ma Qinke was the best at nursing. Recently, Ma Qinke was the only one treating her. He had seen him more than once when he went in and out of the Empress' palace.
He then thought of Yang Jun who was good at bowing. Empress Wei also liked to watch him play polo. Sometimes, she would go with the Empress to watch bowing. The Empress would always stare at Yang Jun and occasionally reward him. Could it be …
"It can't be, it can't be. The Empress and I have been in Fangzhou for sixteen years, sharing weal and woe. If it wasn't for her encouragement and support, zhen would have hung myself long ago. How could there be today? Now that the hardships are over, how could the Empress betray me? This must be … this must be … "
"Yes, this must be because the Empress is not feeling well and often has Ma Qinke to nurse her. When watching bowing, she was especially caring for Yang Jun and caused some people to be jealous and slander. They slandered the two of them and implicated the Empress."
Li Xian continuously comforted himself, but the cloud of doubt lingered in his heart and grew thicker and thicker.
"If Your Imperial Majesty does not believe, you can have your trusted aides investigate. These things cannot be hidden from the eyes and ears of others. Your Imperial Majesty will know once you investigate."
Yan Qinrong saw that Li Xian was in a daze and did not speak, his expression constantly changing. He thought that his words had reached the Emperor's ears and couldn't help but grow hope. He hurriedly tried to persuade him again.
Li Xian hesitated slightly and then waved his hand. "Go. Stay at the inn and wait for zhen's inquiry at any time."
Yan Qinrong was overjoyed. Kowtowing, he said, "This subject will obey!"
On Li Xian's way back to the Palace, someone barged in and asked for an audience. Afterward, the Emperor brought people into the Palace and dismissed his attendants to make a secret inquiry. This matter quickly became known and someone took the opportunity to tell Empress Wei. After Empress Wei heard, she immediately hurried to the Imperial Study. By the time she arrived, Yan Qinrong had already left.
Empress Wei saw Li Xian sitting on the throne with an ugly expression and a wandering gaze, ignoring her arrival. Her suspicions deepened and she couldn't resist asking, "Your Imperial Majesty! Your Imperial Majesty? Why is Your Imperial Majesty so distracted? "
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