In Crape Myrtle Palace, Li Mu hid behind a pillar, wishing he could tear Zhou Zhong's mouth apart.
He still had his Yang energy. Not only did he not feel ashamed, he even felt a little proud.
If it weren't for the fact that his Primordial Yang was still there, how could this case be explained so quickly?
But pride was one thing. Pride and making the case known to the whole world were two different things.
That damned Zhou Zhong. He had been a bachelor for decades. What right did he have to criticize him?
After Zhang Chun's incident, the order in the imperial court was a little chaotic.
Many people knew that Li Mu was sent to the Ministry of Justice's prison yesterday and later came out. But they only knew the result, not the process.
Some people even guessed that His Majesty had secretly instructed the Ministry of Justice. If that was the case, whether Li Mu had fallen out of favor would have to be re-evaluated.
But then again, this case was really a disaster.
No matter how many people hated Li Mu, they had to admit that he was as handsome as Cui Ming. He was the most handsome man in the Divine Capital. If he was willing, countless women would throw themselves at him and be his groom every night. But the truth was that such a person was just a virgin.
Even the person who framed him must not have thought of this. Otherwise, he would not have framed Li Mu for rape.
Today's morning court session ended quickly. To everyone's surprise, His Majesty did not say a word about Li Mu's being framed.
This confirmed a conjecture.
That person had really fallen out of favor.
After the court, Li Mu went to Changle Palace to seek an audience with the Empress. But he was still rejected, and he left the palace alone.
All of this was seen by a palace maid at the entrance of Changle Palace.
The officials in the palace, such as the Palace Secretary and the Minister of the Three Provinces, also saw Li Mu's lonely figure leaving the palace.
This news quickly spread to all the residences in the North and South Courtyards.
Zhu Residence.
Zhu Qi was lying on his bed. In the morning, his cultivation had been restricted, and he had been caned ten times. He had just taken a medicinal pill to treat his injuries. When he heard the news, he immediately sat up in bed and gritted his teeth. "Li Mu, just you wait!"
Then, a scream came from the room, followed by the sound of something heavy falling on the bed.
Wu Manor.
Although the old Taichang Temple Deputy had supernatural powers and cultivation base, his cultivation base was limited when he used the cane. He endured ten canes with his old bones. At this moment, he was also lying on the bed and asked, "Is what you said true?"
A middle-aged man said, "It's absolutely true. He was framed, and the Empress didn't say anything. This time, he must have really fallen out of favor …"
Taichang Temple's Deputy Prime Minister said gloomily, "When I recover in two days, it will be the time of Li Mu's death!"
Wei Estate.
Wei Teng was limping around in the courtyard. He had taken some medicinal pills and used Fu-lu. His injuries were much better now. When he heard about what had happened after the court was dismissed, he was overjoyed.
This would be the last time he suffered a loss at the hands of Li Mu. As long as the Emperor no longer protected him, with the power of the old party, Li Mu would be at their mercy.
Ministry of Rites Assistant Minister's Estate.
A woman said hatefully, "I didn't succeed last time. This time, I'll make sure she dies without a complete corpse!"
The news that Li Mu had fallen out of favor caused quite a stir among the officials and nobles. In front of the Li Manor, Zhang Chun knocked on the door with a worried expression.
This time, he was really panicking.
Li Mu had been framed, but the Emperor was indifferent. After the court was dismissed, he went to see the Emperor but was rejected. The matter was much more serious than he had imagined.
He didn't want to live in a big house with five entrances. He also didn't want to have a group of maids and servants. As a friend, he had to remind Li Mu to leave the Divine Capital as soon as possible. He had to get further and further away from here and never come back.
As for himself, he had to consider resigning from his position.
Zhang Chun knocked on the door of the courtyard. As soon as the door opened, he smelled a fragrance.
It was the familiar fragrance of hotpot.
Li Mu stood at the door and asked, "Why are you here, Ol 'Zhang?"
Zhang Chun was about to speak when he suddenly saw a figure beside the stove in the courtyard. It was a beautiful woman. She was putting a piece of tofu from the pot into a bowl.
The moment he saw the woman's face, Zhang Chun's head buzzed.
The news that Li Mu had fallen out of favor had spread like wildfire. Who would have thought that the Empress would refuse Li Mu's request to see her and eat hotpot with him in the Li Manor an hour later?
No one would believe it if he told them about it.
When he came back to his senses, he immediately looked at Li Mu and said, "It's nothing. I just came to tell you that we should have a meal together when you're free …"
Li Mu said, "We're eating. Do you want to come in and eat with us?"
Zhang Chun quickly waved his hand and said, "I can't today. Maybe another day. My wife is waiting for me at home. Goodbye …"
He turned around and left. However, he did not return to his residence. Instead, he went to a broker in the Divine Capital and said to a broker, "Check if there are any empty courtyards in the Divine Capital. I won't consider those below the fifth rank. As long as they're above the fifth rank …"
Ministry of Justice.
After the director of the Ministry of Justice reported to Zhou Zhong, he could not help but ask, "Sir, has Lord Li really fallen out of favor?"
Zhou Zhong said calmly, "I'm afraid only His Majesty knows about this."
The director shook his head and said, "What a pity …"
He then realized that he had misspoken. He looked up and was relieved when he saw that the assistant minister did not hear him.
Zhou Zhong stood up and walked out of the Ministry of Justice. The director hurriedly chased after him and asked, "Where are you going, sir? I still have some things to report …"
Zhou Zhong waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about it tomorrow. I have an appointment with a friend today. We're going fishing outside the city …"
Ministry of Rites.
An official walked into a government office and said to someone in the office, "Director Liu, the assistant minister is going to impeach Li Mu tomorrow. Should we follow him?"
That person looked up at him and asked, "Why should we follow the assistant minister's impeachment?"
The official said, "The assistant minister has this intention. You've just come to the Ministry of Rites, so you shouldn't curry favor with the assistant minister. After all, Li Mu has fallen out of favor. You don't have to worry about His Majesty blaming you for impeaching him. Perhaps His Majesty is waiting for someone to impeach him …"
That person waved his hand and said, "If you want to go, you go. I'm not going …"
The director of the Ministry of Rites left helplessly. The Ministry of Rites originally only had one director. Later, for the imperial examinations, the imperial court added another one. However, this new director Liu did not seem to understand the ways of officialdom. Director Zhu was biased towards the old party. However, he did not dare to disobey the assistant minister. He had just come to the Ministry of Rites, but if he did not listen to the assistant minister, he would not have a good life in the future.
After the director of the Ministry of Rites left, Director Liu curled his lips and said, "Impeach my ass. A bunch of idiots …"
Prince Shou's Residence.
Prince Shou liked to listen to operas. In addition to the stage built in the residence, there was also more than one opera troupe.
Today, he seemed to be particularly interested. After listening to a few plays, he waved his hand at the performers on the stage and said, "I'm not listening to Prince Consort Cui today. Sing 'Taizu Fishing' for me …"
Zhou Residence.
During the meal in the Zhou Residence, Zhou Xiong ate a few mouthfuls and put down his chopsticks. He looked at Zhou Jing and said, "Big Brother, this time, Li Mu will not be able to escape this calamity. Should we call Fourth Brother out? If he sees this scene, he will be very happy …"
"Will not be able to escape this calamity?" Zhou Jing looked at him and asked, "How so?"
Zhou Xiong said, "Li Mu has already lost the emperor's favor. As far as I know, this time, whether it's our people or the old party, they all want to get rid of Li Mu completely. Fourth Brother hates him to the bone. We have to let him see it with his own eyes."
Zhou Jing put down his chopsticks and said, "Use your brain and think about it. With Wu 'er's personality, even if it's not her close official, if any official in the imperial court was framed and slandered in such a despicable way, she will not do anything. Will she not let the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court investigate?"
Zhou Xiong was stunned and said in shock, "This …"
Zhou Jing said, "How can I not understand my own daughter? If she wasn't really angry, she wouldn't have done this. The next morning court will probably be very lively …"
Zhou Xiong's expression changed and said, "What should we do? The matter of framing Li Mu was obviously instigated by my sister-in-law. The Director of the Ministry of Rites is in danger. We have to remind him that the imperial examination is imminent. Nothing can happen to him …"
"It's too late."
Zhou Jing said, "Last time, the Zhou family didn't do as she wanted. Now, she hates you and me to the bone. She won't even return to the Zhou family and won't listen to you. If she had succeeded in framing Li Mu last time, it would have been fine. But if she had failed, the Director of the Ministry of Rites would have been lost. It's too late for you to remind her now …"
Zhou Xiong was stunned and muttered, "Could this be Li Mu's scheme again?"
Zhou Jing didn't deny it and said, "I'm afraid that even his fall from grace last time was fake news released by him and Wu 'er."
Zhou Xiong said with a sullen face, "Her Majesty used to be so naive and pure. How did she become like this? She couldn't think of such a method. That Li Mu is as cunning as a fox. He must have taught Her Majesty the wrong things …"
He thought for a moment and asked, "Should we remind the others?"
"No need." Zhou Jing shook his head and said, "If they can't even see through such a simple trick, they are useless. They should give up their positions as soon as possible and let someone capable take over …"
Li Residence.
Li Mu put the fish and tofu that the Empress liked to eat into the pot and asked with concern, "How is Her Majesty's inner demon?"
Zhou Yi picked up a piece of tofu and blew on it gently. She took a small bite and said, "It's all thanks to the chant you taught me. It's much better now."
For some reason, ever since her inner demon first appeared, she would see Li Mu and it would throb uncontrollably.
But after the morning court session, even without the chant, the inner demon didn't appear again.
Perhaps it was because she imagined that Li Mu had been through hundreds of battles, which left such a shadow in her heart. But in reality, he was just like her, inexperienced. After realizing this fact, she felt much better.
Li Mu was relieved when he heard this and picked up a piece of tofu for himself.
According to the Empress's intentions, she would expose the director of the Ministry of Rites during today's morning court session, cripple his cultivation, and banish him. But Li Mu stopped her.
Li Mu knew very well that the director of the Ministry of Rites and the mother behind him weren't the only ones who wanted his life.
This time, he might as well take advantage of the situation and give them a collective surprise.
So he proposed to join forces with the Empress and pretend that he had fallen out of favor. This would send a wrong signal to those who were ready to make a move. Finally, with the help of the case of the assistant director of the Ministry of Rites, they could catch them all in one fell swoop.
After this incident, he believed that the remaining people would be much more obedient.
The Empress agreed to Li Mu's plan without even thinking about it.
The two of them had already put on the show and released the bait. Now, they were just waiting for the fish to take the bait.
…
Crepe Myrtle Palace.
Today's morning court session was held as scheduled. Since the end of the previous morning court session, many people in the court had been looking forward to today's session.
The morning court session had just begun when another official stood up and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have a memorial!"
The minister counsellor of the Ministry of Revenue held up a memorial and said, "I would like to impeach the constable of the Luoyang yamen, Li Mu. During his patrol, he often hung around the music hall and neglected his duties …"
As soon as he finished speaking, the director of the Ministry of Rites also stood up and said, "I would also like to impeach Li Mu. During his tenure, he accepted bribes from the people …"
The deputy director of the Taichang Temple also stood up and said, "I would like to impeach Li Mu. As the Imperial Censor of the Palace, he used his position to suppress dissidents and abused his power …"
"I would also like to impeach Li Mu …"
"I would like to impeach Li Mu …"
"I would like to …"
…
After the minister counsellor of the Ministry of Revenue, the director of the Ministry of Rites, and the deputy director of the Zongzheng Temple stood up, a few more officials stood up one after another. The target of their impeachment was also Li Mu.
Without a doubt, this was a premeditated impeachment.
These officials had already discussed this matter before going to court.
Among these people, there were officials from the old party and also officials from the new party. Among them, officials from the Ministry of Rites made up the most.
However, after these people stood up, they looked at each other and saw the confusion in each other's eyes.
According to their guesses, there were countless people in the court who wished for Li Mu's death. However, at this moment, there were less than ten people who stood up. This was far from the number they had expected.
What were the other people in the court waiting for?
Although the assistant director of the Ministry of Rites was also puzzled, there was indeed no one who stood up to impeach. According to the procedure, it was time for him to appear.
He walked out with his ceremonial tablet and said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Censor was originally a clear stream in the court. The Imperial Censor of the Palace, Li Mu, has many controversial actions and is no longer suitable to be the Imperial Censor …"
He did not impeach Li Mu. He just took the opportunity to raise a request that sounded reasonable.
The Imperial Censor was an honest official. With so many officials impeaching Li Mu, it meant that he was no longer suitable to be the Imperial Censor. Moreover, the reasons for their impeachment were not groundless.
In the past three days, he had put in a lot of effort to impeach Li Mu.
If Li Mu was not the Imperial Censor, he was just a lowly constable in the Divine Capital.
A lowly constable could be easily transferred out of the Divine Capital for any reason.
By then, they would have the final say on how Li Mu would die.
After the assistant director of the Ministry of Rites finished speaking, the court was very quiet. The important officials in front of him did not agree or disagree. Most of the other officials were also quiet.
At this moment, the Empress's voice came from behind the curtains.
"You want to impeach Li Mu?"
The assistant director of the Ministry of Rites walked forward and said, "Your Majesty, we want, want …"
Li Mu!
At this moment, nearly ten officials behind him, including the assistant director of the Ministry of Rites, were stunned.
Li Mu?
Hadn't Li Mu fallen out of favor? Why was the Empress still addressing him so intimately?
They dared to impeach Li Mu because Li Mu had fallen out of favor. If Li Mu had not fallen out of favor, then …
They looked at each other, their hearts sinking into a bottomless abyss.
Oh no, they had fallen into a trap!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
