In the Royal Court, the civil and military officials listened to the contents read out by the attendants and gaped. They didn't seem to think that Rui Wang would commit so many crimes.
"Rui Wang, do you have anything to say?" He Heng's expression was calm as he looked at He Yuan standing below, "When fuhuang was here, he thought highly of you. Why did you commit such a great crime?"
"If the Emperor wants to kill or torture chen di, do as you please, there is no need to speak so much," He Yuan didn't beg for forgiveness. Disdain hung on his face, as though He Heng sitting at the front was a joke, "If fuhuang valued me, then I wouldn't be standing here today. You are saying so much, just to show that I am unfaithful and unfilial."
"Zhen has never had such a thought," He Heng sighed, "We were almost born in the same year, and played together when we were young. Zhen doesn't have the heart to kill you. Even more, many of the things were done by your subordinates, it doesn't have much to do with you."
He Yuan frowned and then smiled coldly. He wanted to see how He Heng would punish him.
The officials looked at the expressions of the two brothers. One, they were moved by how much the Emperor valued relationships. Two, they were helpless against Rui Wang's arrogance. These years, Rui Wang had been arrogant and despotic in Jing City for many years. Even with all the evidence, he was still so rebellious.
"Pass zhen's decree. Rui Wang is not strict with his subordinates and is unruly in his conduct. His salary will be forfeited for five years. He allowed his subordinates to sell salt illegally, buy positions and sell titles. Zhen's heart hurts. But because the late Emperor once said to me that he loved his brothers, I couldn't bear it and had no choice but to punish him. From today onwards, Rui Wang would not be able to enter the court again. His title would be demoted to Jun Wang, his salary would be forfeited for five years. He would also write a letter of his crimes and post it on the city gates of all the counties in Jiang Nan to obtain the understanding of the people of the world. The gold and silver taken from the Jiang Nan case will not go into the national treasury. Zhen will personally send people to Jiang Nan to use the gold and silver to build roads and bridges to benefit the people of Jiang Nan. "He Heng's face showed disappointment as he stood," Qing, leave. "
"Your Majesty is wise, we will take our leave," Everyone knelt to send the Emperor off, their respect for the new Emperor growing.
The Emperor didn't take Rui Wang's life and didn't remove him from the genealogy of the Imperial Family. That was out of filial piety. The Emperor punished Rui Wang and used all the gold and silver obtained from the confiscation on the public buildings of Jiang Nan. He also requested that he write his own crimes and paste them on the city gates of Jiang Nan. He didn't want to disappoint the people of the world. He really gained both fame and fortune, there was nothing to nitpick about.
This action seemed to protect Rui Wang, but upon careful thought, it was trampling Rui Wang's face into the ground. A wang ye that couldn't go to court, a wang ye that had written his own crimes in front of the people of the world, not only was he no longer a threat, he would become a stain on history. In the future, people would praise the Emperor for his loyalty, and people would curse Rui Wang for not knowing his place.
Faced with such a ruthless Emperor, they, as officials, naturally had to be more careful in their work. If they angered the Emperor, they would not be able to leave a good reputation even after death.
He Yuan stood quietly in the empty hall. The emperor on the dragon throne had left, and the ministers standing beside him had also left. He Yuan looked around calmly. After a long time, he smiled and said, "What a good move to kill without spilling blood. Truly my good brother."
"Your Highness," The little taijian guarding the hall carefully walked in front of him and said in a small voice, "It's time to close the hall."
Looking at the taijian whose calves were trembling, He Yuan actually smiled, "What, ben wang is very scary?"
The little taijian knelt with a bang in front of him, kowtowing as he pleaded: "Wang ye, forgive me, wang ye, forgive me."
"All right, get up," He Yuan didn't look at the little taijian, walking step by step to the door of the hall. Turning his head, he saw the little taijian was still kowtowing. He laughed lightly, seemingly mocking yet unconcerned, "What are you afraid of? Whatever happens, ben wang won't be standing here in the future."
The little taijian who was kowtowing froze. A beat later, he dared to turn his head to look at the door. He only saw the bright sun outside. Rui Wang had disappeared a long time ago.
He patted his knees and stood up, muttering to himself: "He really thinks he's still the Rui Wang Ye of the past, he's putting on airs."
The hougong was also very busy at this time. Because Qu Qing Ju had invited all the noblewomen of third-grade and above into the palace to admire the chrysanthemums, those in Jing that weren't bedridden had all arrived.
This was the first time the Empress had invited the noblewomen into the palace. No matter what the Empress's intentions were, the servants didn't dare to slight her. Some people speculated that the Empress was pregnant and wanted to pick a di daughter of an official's family to enter the palace as a fei to serve the Emperor. But no matter what, those that wanted to take advantage of the situation brought their unmarried di daughters. The smart ones came alone and weren't even willing to mention their own daughters.
There was no woman in the world that was willing to let another woman share her husband. Putting aside the fact that the Empress hadn't found out she was pregnant when she sent the imperial edict to invite her, even if it was found out, based on the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress, even if she sent her daughter into the palace, she wouldn't be able to gain anything, and would offend the Empress.
She didn't even think about where the Empress was living now. The rumor was that the Emperor disliked the smell of Kui Yuan Palace that had just been renovated and specially decreed that before the Empress was a month old, she couldn't move out of the rear hall of Tian Qi Palace.
The principal wife was living with her husband. You, a concubine, didn't have eyes to go over, wasn't that just asking for trouble?
As a pregnant woman, Qu Qing Ju didn't feel that there was anything different than usual. When she sat on the phoenix carriage to the Imperial Gardens, the people that should have come had already arrived. Once she came out of the phoenix carriage, a large group bowed.
"Furen don't have to be so courteous, please rise," Qu Qing Ju looked at the chrysanthemums placed in the yard and smiled as she said, "Ben gong has interacted with furen before. Furen, don't be so formal with ben gong just because the place has changed."
The noblewomen gave their thanks and sat according to their status. Very quickly, taijian came in with rare chrysanthemums to place them on the carved table in the middle for the masters to admire. After admiring each pot for a while, they would take it down and present an even more beautiful pot.
No matter if they were truly shocked or just pretending, their mouths continued to exclaim in admiration as though these chrysanthemums didn't belong to them and were bestowed to the Empress by the immortals.
Qu Qing Ju held a cup of red date tea and slowly drank. She didn't drink any other tea now, not even ginseng tea. Only red dates were good for her and the fetus so in the last two days, her appetite had slowly changed.
"This pot of flowers is slightly interesting," Qu Qing Ju pointed at a pot of chrysanthemums whose petals were white on the back and purple on the inside. She had raised this kind of chrysanthemum before but she didn't know its name. Because she was busy with work, she didn't have much time to take care of it and the flowers that bloomed weren't as beautiful as this.
"Empress, this pot of chrysanthemum is called Fragrant Mountain Young Phoenix. Because its petals are as beautiful as a phoenix, it got this name." The taijian that had held the pot of flowers answered with joy in his eyes. Originally, he had thought that this pot of flowers wasn't eye-catching and wouldn't catch the Empress' attention. Who knew that it was the only one that had caught the Empress' attention. It really was the blessing of his great-grandfather.
"Fragrant Mountain Young Phoenix?" Qu Qing Ju was silent for a beat, "This name is good. Mu Jin, reward."
Seeing that the Empress liked this kind of flower, the noblewomen also started to praise it. It caused this chrysanthemum that wasn't the most valuable to become rare.
"Chen nu thinks that chrysanthemums always grow together in shame and the plum blossoms envy the name of their predecessor. Today, to borrow the good fortune of the Empress to view so many chrysanthemums, it really is chen nu's good fortune," A female dressed in a light yellow dress said in a voice that wasn't too loud or too soft, "The golden dragon soaring through the clouds was also very beautiful."
Qu Qing Ju looked at the one who spoke. She saw it was a girl about fifteen or sixteen, her appearance outstanding. Even though she had her hair combed into two buns, it only made her skin seem even more pink.
"In zhen's view, that pot of emerald phoenix and auspicious clouds is the most beautiful," He Heng, with a group of attendants, strode in the direction that Qu Qing Ju was sitting. He looked at the young girl who had spoken, "Which family are you from?"
"Chen nu, Duke Jing's di granddaughter, Qin Chao Yun, greets the Emperor," The young girl saw the Emperor's inquiry and stood with a normal expression. She bowed gracefully to He Heng, "Chen nu's words have caused Emperor to laugh."
Qu Qing Ju looked at Qin Chao Yun's graceful manner and a trace of a smile appeared on her face. Wasn't Jing Guo Gong Qin Bai Lu's grandfather? Then wasn't this Qin Chao Yun Qin Bai Lu's sister or cousin? But this appearance, this manner, it was better than Qin Bai Lu's.
"En, you really have spoken too much," He Heng said neutrally, "There are so many noblewomen and elders here, how can you, a junior, speak." His words didn't give any face to Qin Chao Yun. As to Jing Guo Gong Furen's expression, he didn't care.
Qin Chao Yun didn't seem to think that the Emperor would speak to her like this. She first stilled and then her expression returned to normal as she replied: "Emperor's teachings, chen nu will remember them."
En, this conduct was even better than Qin Bai Lu's. If it was a normal person who was spoken to like this by the Emperor, they would have blushed already. But she acted as though the Emperor was teaching her for her own good. Qu Qing Ju sighed. It seemed that the Qin Family still had women with high fighting abilities. Qin Bai Lu and Wei Ran Shuang's mother could only be considered a failure of the Qin Family.
He Heng was also slightly surprised. He couldn't help but look at Qin Chao Yun. The other didn't seem to purposefully dress up but she gave off a feeling of elegance and didn't tarnish the reputation of the Qin Family. When his gaze landed on the embroidered shoes inlaid with pearls, he took his gaze away, his voice even colder as he said: "Zhen isn't teaching you, just reminding you. You are from a scholarly family, your words and actions can't tarnish the reputation of your family."
Everyone could hear that the Emperor didn't seem to like the Qin Family. Remembering that Rui Wang's wang fei was a daughter of the Qin Family and didn't have a good relationship with the Empress, their hearts were like a mirror. The Qin Family had married a daughter into Rui Wang Fu, but Rui Wang had fallen. They wanted to shove a woman into the palace. Did they really think that other people were stupid and couldn't see their intentions?
Some of the noblewomen examined Qin Chao Yun's appearance and thought disdainfully, with this appearance, she dared to seduce the Emperor. Could she even compare to one of the Empress' fingers?
The Duchess of Zhong Yi, Tian Luo shi, raised her tea to take a sip. She said neutrally: "The daughters of the Qin Family might have good manners, but if one or two aren't good enough, it's not good for their reputation."
Hearing this, the people around her all agreed. Old Furen of Jing Guo, who was sitting at one side, was so angry that her face paled.
He Heng didn't even look at these women, turning to walk towards Qu Qing Ju. What time was it, it was about time for the flower viewing to end.
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