Chapter 128: The Ministers of the Imperial Court, Each with Their Own Thoughts

Ying Ying Zi Ye started his return journey after handling the Lantian Camp matters.

On the way back to Xianyang City.

Ying Ying Zi Ye was taking a nap in the carriage.

Wang Li was traveling with dozens of soldiers.

At the same time.

The surprise actions of Xiao Ren and the others brought about a huge impact.

The entire Xianyang City was boiling over.

Led by Right Chancellor Feng Quji, Great Scholar Chunyu Yue, and Censor-in-Chief Lin Zhichong, over a dozen imperial court big shots gathered together.

They received the news almost at the same time that someone had started collecting taxes and fertile land from the surrounding nobles.

And they had even executed many nobles, making the nobles panic.

This trend not only didn't subside but grew even more wildly.

More and more minor officials joined in.

The army collecting taxes was also growing larger.

When the big shots first learned the news, they were somewhat incredulous.

Someone actually dared to bypass them and go to the nobles to collect taxes; had they eaten a leopard's gall?

Didn't they agree to trip Ying Ying Zi Ye up together?

How did it develop into this situation now?

"Everyone speak up, let's pool our wisdom; what should we do?"

Seeing that no one was speaking, Chunyu Yue broke the silence first.

"What else can we do? Those below aren't listening; replace those who should be replaced, suppress those who should be suppressed."

"That's how it should be; they actually ran off to collect taxes suddenly—did they not put us in their eyes at all?"

"But as far as I know, there are now over thirty of them going to collect taxes together."

"Suppressing three or five is fine, but suppressing thirty or fifty—that's not easy to handle."

"What are you afraid of? According to my opinion, suppress them all; what's the use of keeping people who don't listen?"

The people present criticized them one after another; without exception, they all wanted to suppress those who took the lead in collecting noble taxes.

Who told them not to listen and to be this "first bird."

Collecting taxes is fine, but they should have notified them so they could be prepared; otherwise, what did they take them for?

Bypassing them to do things—did they not expect them to know?

Everyone present was holding back a breath of stuffy anger.

"Chancellor, what do you think of this?"

The Censor-in-Chief looked at Feng Quji, wanting to see what this big shot had to say.

The rest of the people quieted down and looked at the Chancellor.

As long as the Chancellor nodded, they could punish those who didn't listen.

Feng Quji's brows were locked, and his old face was wrinkled beyond recognition.

"Although they are minor officials, there are too many of them; we can't touch them!"

"They are doing things for the Ninth Prince; whoever dares to touch them is going against the Ninth Prince."

"Do you dare to go against the Ninth Prince? If you provoke the Ninth Prince, what will you do if he gives you an execution of the entire clan with the authority to act first and report later?"

"This might be the trend of the times; someone opened this lead, and it won't stop, unless..."

Speaking of this, Feng Quji didn't dare to continue.

Unless someone could kill Ying Ying Zi Ye, but he didn't dare to say this.

Let alone let him do it; if this matter was discovered, it was a capital crime of exterminating three clans!

"Unless what? Chancellor, speak up!"

"Exactly, don't keep us in suspense like this; if you have a good method, say it quickly!"

"What's there to hide?"

"Chancellor, you've confused us all!"

"Please, Chancellor, do us a favor and tell us."

The ministers spoke up one after another, wanting the Chancellor to make it clear.

But Feng Quji just kept his mouth shut and remained unmoved.

Chunyu Yue and the Censor-in-Chief's eyes flickered, as if they had thought of something.

But the two of them didn't dare to say much in front of everyone.

After all, this matter was too big; if it spread, it would be no different from rebellion—this was a capital crime of exterminating three clans.

*Dong dong dong~~! *

Abruptly, there was a knock on the door.

It startled everyone present.

They had already arranged for no one to approach this place.

Why was there a knock on the door?

Everyone looked at each other, and the room suddenly became quiet.

Soon, a voice came from outside the door.

"Greetings, my lords, I am here to deliver the Ninth Prince's oral decree."

"I hope those present will not have any crooked thoughts about the first batch of people collecting taxes; otherwise, if discovered, they will be executed immediately!"

"Also, the soldiers surrounding the mansions of those collecting taxes have all been withdrawn, and things have returned to normal."

"I have other urgent matters to attend to; the oral decree has been delivered, I will take my leave."

Footsteps sounded, and the person outside the door seemed to have gone far away.

No one in the room dared to let out a breath.

They were discussing how to punish the first batch of people collecting taxes.

But the next moment, someone came to warn them and deliver the Ninth Prince's oral decree.

This meant their movements were all mastered by others.

However, what made them slightly relieved was that they hadn't hidden their movements.

Being found was understandable; otherwise, that would have been the most terrifying thing.

Everyone present had different thoughts and considerations.

After confirming that the person outside the door had really left, everyone's voices lowered.

"It seems we can't target them!"

"We haven't even started taking action, and the Ninth Prince has already sent someone to warn us."

"Targeting them is not feasible."

"Heavens, the troops were actually withdrawn?"

"This is good news!"

"As long as they participate in tax collection, the mansions surrounded by soldiers will immediately have the troops withdrawn!"

"The family members saw soldiers surrounding their homes and were very worried, fearing their homes would be confiscated."

"Yeah, the family members haven't even been able to eat recently, just like a knife hanging over their heads that could fall at any time."