It was clear that he could not sit still.
In a certain private residence, a trembling servant knelt on the ground. A pile of shattered porcelain was scattered on the ground, and a servant was bleeding. It was obvious how the wound came about.
"A bunch of trash! You've ruined such a good situation!" The man was so angry that his entire body trembled. Only now did he realize that every step the Imperial Court took was aimed at him.
He prided himself on being smart, but he did not even realize that he had fallen into someone else's trap.
And the Emperor, he had clearly disdained these things. Who was it that influenced him to bring up old scores?
The man could not figure it out.
No one could accept that his many years of planning had been destroyed in one day. After venting his anger, the man forced himself to calm down. "Tell me, what should we do now?"
Kneeling to the side, his trusted aide trembled as he raised his head. "Sir, this matter..."
He wanted to say that at this point, the matter was no longer under their control. They could only think of a way to withdraw as quickly as possible and not let the fire spread to them. But when he saw the angry face of the man, he swallowed the rest of his words. Because he knew that this was not what the man wanted to hear.
"The Emperor gave this matter to a few brats to handle. Should I say that he trusted himself too much, or that he underestimated the enemy too much?"
Under their careful planning, the matters of the past had already left a bad impression in the hearts of the people. Their original plan was to deepen this impression step by step until it reached a point where it could explode. Then, they would ignite it. The matter of Su Bei was the best fuse.
Just as the last step of their plan was about to succeed, who knew that there would be a sudden reversal. Not only did it change the impression of the Emperor in the hearts of the people, it also dug out the seeds that they had worked so hard to plant.
Now, there was no one outside who did not say that the Emperor was wise and heroic, wholeheartedly devoted to the people, and was a good Emperor. This was the complete opposite of what they had originally imagined.
After Jiang Huaiqing and the other two received the decree, they were called to one side by the Prime Minister.
"His Majesty has given this matter to you because he trusts you, but it is also a test. I will not participate too much in this matter. Everything depends on you."
Because of this matter, Jiang Huaiqing and the other two became even busier.
They checked the files, understood the whole story, and announced the truth. Every step could not be wrong.
Thus, a secret duel began.
"Brother Chengyu, have you noticed that our progress has been hindered recently?" Jiang Huaiqing asked as he flipped through the files.
In the beginning, things went very smoothly. Later on, no one knew when, but someone started to obstruct them openly and secretly. It was all very insignificant things. Even if it was brought out, it would be treated as an accident.
Jiang Huaiqing was very sensitive to the emotions of others. He could feel that these people were doing this on purpose.
"Yes, we have. We just need to do what His Majesty ordered us to do. The rest will be taken care of."
Naturally, the Hidden Dragon Guards also knew what was going on. The Hidden Dragon Guards were Shang Junlin's eyes and ears. Their discovery was equivalent to Shang Junlin's discovery.
"Your Majesty, why haven't you made your move yet?" Shen Yu put down a white piece.
In the pavilion, the two sat facing each other. On the chessboard, the black and white pieces fought intensely.
"We have to give them some time to catch their breath so that they don't cause any more trouble."
Jiang Huaiqing and the other two were in the open while the Hidden Dragon Guards were in the dark. Those people who could not sit still gave themselves away. The Hidden Dragon Guards looked for clues and caught the tail of that person.
"That person won't take the risk to hurt Jiang Huaiqing and the rest, right?"
"The Hidden Dragon Guards are following them. If they really make a move, I will not let them leave."
A few days later, Jiang Huaiqing felt more and more that something was wrong. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being spied on. He didn't know if he was the only one who had this feeling, or if the other two also felt it.
He found an opportunity to ask the other two secretly.
The three of them exchanged glances and confirmed that they were not hallucinating. Someone was really watching them all the time.
Other than Shang Junlin's additional orders, they were still working under the Prime Minister. It was only in the Prime Minister's residence that they did not feel like they were being watched.
After finishing the tasks at hand, Jiang Huaiqing hesitated for a while. In the end, he still told the Prime Minister about the strange things that happened recently.
After the Prime Minister heard this, he ordered someone to serve the three of them hot tea. He then said, "You are not wrong. The things that His Majesty ordered you to do have affected the interests of some people. They will not let it go. However, you do not have to worry too much. Just do your jobs well."
The Prime Minister's words gave them an answer and also hinted that their safety was a problem. After confirming their suspicions, the three of them continued to work on the tasks at hand.
As the investigation deepened, the past was revealed one by one. The true faces of the officials who died unjustly and thought that they were innocent were also revealed.
The past that was almost buried by time was revealed to the world again in a way that was completely different from the past.
The discussions about Subei gradually decreased. Instead, they were replaced by the past that was buried in time.
Because of what happened in Subei, the people still trusted the imperial court. The people's newspaper was a news channel that was directly controlled by the imperial court. The news that was published in the newspaper was recognized by the people. Once the news was published, it caused a huge uproar.
"I said that His Majesty would not kill innocent people. Look at the people that were killed. Which one of them was not covered in sin and deserved to be killed?"
"I remember that after the previous Prime Minister died, there were rumors everywhere about how he cared about the country and the people. He died under the tyrant's sword because he wanted to fight for the people. After his death, the tyrant was afraid of the rumors and changed the law. But today, the imperial court is telling us that the previous Prime Minister died because he obstructed the implementation of the new law. It was because he took the wealth of the people and bought and sold official titles … why is it completely different from what we know?"
This was not the only time that similar situations occurred.
The people went from shock and disbelief to numbness and then they became used to it. In the end, they even felt that it would be strange if they were not slapped in the face.
It was also at this time that they realized that there was something wrong with the entire matter.
"Once or twice can be said to be an accident. So many times, could it be that every time is an accident?" Someone said what they felt was not right.
"Actually, I also feel that something is not right. Think about it carefully. In the past, after His Majesty punished an official, would there be rumors that were unfavorable to His Majesty spread? Those people swore to say the so-called 'truth' and aroused dissatisfaction in our hearts toward His Majesty. Even in the matter of Subei this time, there were people who tirelessly poured dirty water on His Majesty. "
"Now that you mention it, I remember. Just a while ago, I went to the tea house to drink tea and heard people say that the drought in Subei was because Heaven was dissatisfied with His Majesty's actions …"
"I've heard the same thing before."
"Me too."
The people gathered around looked at each other and found that everyone seemed to have heard this before. The strangeness became more and more obvious.
After a moment of silence, someone couldn't help but say, "This is man-made, right?"
"If we did not know what the imperial court was doing beforehand, would we have believed those people?"
"So," the middle-aged man swallowed, "from beginning to end, there were people who deliberately aroused our dissatisfaction with His Majesty. What do they want to do?"
Everyone faintly had an idea, but this idea was too rebellious, so no one dared to say it out loud.
"Lord Feng seems to be somewhat absent-minded today. Did something happen?" After court, the aristocratic family officials gathered together to discuss the matter of Subei.
With so many empty official positions in Subei, it would be a lie to say that they weren't envious. They still couldn't understand His Majesty's thoughts, so they could only prepare early. It would be best if they could send more aristocratic family officials over.
After chatting for a while, someone noticed that Lord Feng wasn't in the mood. In fact, it wasn't just Lord Feng. Lord Duan, who was also a cabinet minister, also wasn't in the mood.
"The child in my family is naughty. I'm just thinking about how to discipline him. He's already so old, but he's still causing trouble." Lord Feng sighed.
The other ministers also knew about this matter. The youngest son of the Feng family had taken a fancy to a commoner girl and was dead set on marrying her as his first wife. However, this young master had long been engaged to another daughter of an aristocratic family …
Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but look at another minister. Seeing that his expression wasn't too good, they tactfully skipped the topic.
"His Majesty has placed He Chengyu and the other two in an important position. Perhaps he will transfer them to Subei."
"Not necessarily. If he transfers a group of Jing officials over, the empty positions will be just right for them. It seems that His Majesty is determined to promote them."
"The Prime Minister also has a good impression of them. He takes them by his side and teaches them step by step. How many people in the world can receive such treatment?"
"Ever since Shen Guijun entered the palace, His Majesty has truly changed a lot."
"When Lord Feng and the others first proposed to let the son of Duke Zhenbei enter the palace, they probably didn't think that there would be a day like this."
They originally thought that sending in a son of an aristocratic family would be beneficial to the aristocratic families. Who would have thought that it would catalyze the conflict between His Majesty and the aristocratic families.
"He's just a sickly person. What can he accomplish?" Lord Feng's mind was preoccupied and his tone wasn't very good.
"Speaking of which, Duke Zhenbei is also interesting. He doesn't take the legitimate son seriously and instead treats the son of a concubine like a treasure. In the end, he produced an ingrate who wholeheartedly favors outsiders."
The topic unconsciously deviated to another topic. Lord Duan glanced at Lord Feng who was more anxious than usual and slightly frowned.
In the palace, Shen Yu received a visiting card from Duke Zhenbei. Because Shen Yu's birthday was approaching, Duke Zhenbei wanted to take this opportunity to repair the father-son relationship between him and Shen Yu.
Shen Yu stroked the edge of the visiting card. His eyes were obscure. From childhood to adulthood, Duke Zhenbei had never celebrated his birthday for him. Now he remembered his birthday.
Shang Junlin came over and took the visiting card from his hand. He glanced at it and threw it aside: "A Yu's birthday, I want to hold a grand celebration."
This was Shen Yu's first birthday after entering the palace. Shang Junlin didn't want to make him feel wronged.
Shen Yu didn't want to hold a grand celebration: "The drought in the North of Su just passed. It's not suitable to hold a grand celebration at this time. I also don't like these things. Compared to being restrained in the hall with unfamiliar people, it's better to be with Your Majesty."
Shang Junlin was very tempted by Shen Yu's proposal, but he also wanted to hold a grand celebration to tell the world that Shen Yu was the person in his heart. He didn't allow anyone to slander him. He wanted to be tied to Shen Yu in the hearts of the people. When someone mentioned one of them, they would definitely think of the other person.
"Your Majesty, don't you want to be alone with me?" Seeing his hesitation, Shen Yu walked around the table to Shang Junlin's side. He raised his hand and put it on his shoulder. He leaned closer and whispered, "Except for Your Majesty and me, there won't be a third person. Your Majesty can do a lot of things for the whole day …"
"Anything?" Shang Junlin hugged Shen Yu's waist and asked in a hoarse voice.
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