Minister Lu fainted and finally received the long-awaited Imperial Physician.
He was covered in blood.
It seemed that even if he could survive, he wouldn't be able to keep his position.
A group of officials who had built their network under Minister Lu were already thinking about alternative paths.
If Minister Lu was no longer around,
Then the plan to target Vice Minister Jiang naturally couldn't proceed.
After all, Vice Minister Jiang was Princess Huiyun's own son, the Emperor's nephew.
The Emperor had been so fond of Heir Apparent Han before that everyone suspected Han might be the Emperor's own child. Heir Apparent Han lived much more comfortably than the princes.
Now, was it a case of true or false Heir Apparent Han?
The Emperor loudly reprimanded Princess Huiyun in front of the court officials.
A quick-witted official immediately used the contents of official rules and regulations to plead for Princess Huiyun.
"The rules don't explicitly state that a princess can't strike the Prime Minister..."
Other officials turned their faces away.
How embarrassing, truly embarrassing.
Today you defend the princess.
Tomorrow when the princess's sword pierces your body, no one will defend you.
The Emperor eventually fined Princess Huiyun ten years' worth of her allowance.
He thought to himself that after court, he'd let his royal sister choose gifts from the treasury to compensate her.
As for Vice Minister Jiang's case,
Minister Lu had been carried away.
Who was next in line after Minister Lu?
The Emperor scratched his head.
He felt that Minister Lu had been quite efficient in his work.
With him suddenly being carried away, he didn't know who to turn to for the job.
He glanced at Inspector He, then quickly looked away.
Never mind, he worried that if he really called on Inspector He to investigate, He might actually find crimes worthy of executing Vice Minister Jiang's entire clan, which would include himself.
Unexpectedly, Inspector He voluntarily stepped forward.
The Emperor closed his eyes briefly, thinking, "Did you have to be so sensitive? It was just a glance."
This was why during morning court, the Emperor usually stared blankly ahead.
He feared that sudden eye contact might give some official strange ideas.
"This humble servant is willing to thoroughly investigate this matter. I have been upright all my life, yet I've been slandered with baseless rumors of an improper relationship with Vice Minister Jiang. Although I am the tutor of Vice Minister Jiang's young daughter, I am willing to disregard any suspicion and investigate who is behind these false accusations. Vice Minister Jiang worked diligently in Jingzhou. When he left Jingzhou, the people saw him off with great reluctance, following him for a thousand miles. How could such a good official be in the Capital City for just a few days and be falsely accused of so many crimes? This must be an organized and premeditated scheme..."
Princess Huiyun turned to look at Inspector He.
She seemed to recall this person, a former top scholar. She had seen him parading through the streets after the imperial exams. He had aged quickly; back then he had a square face, but now it had become more angular.
He was quite eloquent; the more he spoke, the better.
The other officials: ...
So this old Inspector He was actually the little princess's teacher??
This connection seemed too advanced.
Minister Dong looked up at the ceiling of the court, thinking the crossbeams looked quite nice.
His fingers fidgeted inside his large sleeves.
He had initially just wanted to find a suitable husband for his daughter.
To avoid rumors and gossip.
To stop the Liu family from occasionally making snide remarks, as if his daughter couldn't get married if she didn't marry their son.
He was clearly at a disadvantage, but couldn't move against Vice Minister Liu, always worried it might affect his daughter's reputation.
He could only endure it.
He never expected that just as he found a satisfactory match,
As soon as he came to court, his in-law was accused.
One of the accusations even involved him, claiming they were in cahoots. This was utterly ridiculous - who in the Capital City wasn't related by marriage to someone else?
No wonder the Liu fellow had been so brazen yesterday.
Minister Dong was quite nervous.
In a place like the imperial court, there was no such thing as the innocent being automatically cleared.
It was all about power struggles.
If you were weaker, you deserved to die.
As an in-law, Minister Dong hadn't thought about recusing himself immediately.
Firstly, he was a seasoned politician, and knew recusing himself at this point would be useless - if they wanted to implicate you, they would.
Secondly, he was also a scholar with integrity, and disdained the idea of recusing himself now.
Even in the most corrupt court, there were still some people with principles and beliefs.
But before he could think of a strategy,
The situation took a turn.
Several twists, in fact.
Initially, the Jiang Feng they found was a commoner.
When he came to propose, he had become a sixth-rank armed guard.
Just a day later, he turned out to be Princess Huiyun's grandson, a true member of the royal family.
So that explained the extravagant betrothal gifts that exceeded the norm.
It also showed that the Jiang family knew their own status but hadn't backed out. Instead, they sincerely sought the marriage. Those treasures weren't something even normal royal clan members would have.
The royal clan didn't have a good reputation in the Capital City. Represented by Heir Apparent Han, most of them were like that.
This circle seemed to repel knowledge, full of absurdities.
But the Jiang family was different. They had the noble status of the royal clan, but were outsiders, newly recognized, so they didn't have the messy habits of the royal clan.
His son-in-law was also very knowledgeable.
Minister Dong could only look up at the ceiling beams. He worried that if he didn't look at the beams, he might burst out laughing.
