Chapter 54: You

Li Chen, whom many ministers feared like a tiger, was thought by Zhao Wenyuan to be easy to get along with.

Because the late Emperor was very suspicious, he would find ways to supervise court officials or use imperial techniques to make some court officials uncomfortable.

It wasn't just the late Emperor; many Emperors throughout history were like this.

So Zhao Wenyuan had to be very careful in everything he did; even when drinking tea, he didn't dare to be too extravagant, just not wanting to give anyone a handle.

Usually, he also had to guess the intentions behind the late Emperor's every move to make plans for response.

Facing Li Chen, this new Emperor, you just don't provoke him, and he's too lazy to bother with you.

He doesn't worry that his subjects will rebel, because the subjects don't dare, and he isn't afraid either.

Everyone doesn't have to be so tired.

Isn't this the perfect Emperor?

So when Li Chen showed his card of 【Sage Realm】, Zhao Wenyuan also showed his card of 【Loyal Subject】, fearing that Li Chen would kill the wrong person.

Just after sending off Guo Zhenwei, someone else came to visit.

"Subordinate Pang Jin, pays respects to the Chancellor."

Pang Jin bowed as soon as he arrived in front of Zhao Wenyuan.

"How does Minister Pang have time to come to my place?"

Zhao Wenyuan's words sounded very polite, but he still sat on the chair, with no intention of getting up.

Whether in seniority or official position, there were few who could make him stand up to welcome them.

Not to mention this was just the newly promoted Minister of Justice, Pang Jin, whose official rank was much lower than his.

"Chancellor Zhao, in the morning court today, thank you for your grace of recommendation."

Pang Jin came here primarily to thank Zhao Wenyuan for his promotion.

Zhao Wenyuan had already guessed this when he saw him; after all, it was I who mentioned you in front of His Majesty, otherwise, where would it be your turn to sit in the position of Minister of Justice.

It is only right that you thank me.

After a pause, Pang Jin said again: "Besides this, I have one more thing I want to say."

Zhao Wenyuan said: "Speak."

His tone and demeanor were a bit of an imitation of Li Chen.

Li Chen spoke very straightforwardly; everyone should talk about things, and he was too lazy to talk nonsense with you for a long time.

Zhao Wenyuan subconsciously imitated Li Chen, which was also a kind of admiration for Li Chen.

But next, Pang Jin tactfully expressed that he was just a rough person, knowing some case-solving methods and having some brute strength, but he really knew nothing about court affairs.

The general meaning was, although you recommended me, I am very grateful, but I don't form cliques for private interests, so please forgive me, Chancellor.

It was said very vaguely; he didn't want to offend Zhao Wenyuan either.

Hearing this, Zhao Wenyuan laughed: "Haha, they all say you are a straight shooter; I think you are quite smart. You are right; you only need to be loyal to His Majesty, don't think too much about other things."

"Thank you for your guidance, Chancellor."

After speaking, Pang Jin left directly, not daring to stay for even a second, fearing that others would misunderstand something.

If this news reached Li Chen's ears, Li Chen might think too much; Pang Jin rarely contacted Li Chen, so he was very careful in doing things.

Actually, Zhao Wenyuan recommended Pang Jin because Pang Jin had the cleanest background in the Ministry of Justice.

Pang Jin was born in a hunter family in the west of the Tian Ce Dynasty, and because of his extraordinary talent, he was selected to enter the Imperial Capital's Combat Academy for further studies.

During his studies, he stood out from many geniuses and was specially recruited into the Ministry of Justice.

After taking office, he solved many major cases, won the appreciation of his leaders, and was promoted all the way to the position of Ministry of Justice Director.

From this background, he was indeed a person who could get things done.

As Chancellor, not to mention the data of officials large and small in the court, even the officials in various places were all in his mind. Photographic memory was just Zhao Wenyuan's basic ability.

Without some diamond drill, how would he dare to take on the porcelain work.

At the same time, inside the Imperial Study, there was a sound of crying.

Those who didn't know would think Li Chen had died.

"Speak up, what are you crying for? Can you tell me who died?"

Li Chen looked at these 6 ministers speechlessly; as soon as they came in, they knelt on the ground and wailed.

Saying things like sorry to His Majesty, they really had no conscience, and asking His Majesty to forgive their sins.

The main thing was, they knelt on the ground and cried for a long time, and Li Chen still didn't know what they were talking about.

Finally, he could only order them to stop crying, then pointed at one at random, telling him to make it clear.

This person knelt and moved forward a few steps, then opened his mouth to explain the matter of Feng Huai forcing them to sign a "pledge of allegiance" to defect to the Second Imperial Prince last night.

They repeatedly declared that they absolutely had no intention of betraying Li Chen and were forced.

!

One even added details, saying that there were blade-wielding men prepared by Feng Huai outside the room, and they had no choice.

Regarding Feng Huai's death today, they felt it was very satisfying and thanked Li Chen for saving them from fire and water.

Hearing this, Li Chen curled his lips and said: "I thought you killed the Crown Prince and came to me to surrender and beg for mercy; you came to me to cry for such a trivial matter."

This sentence directly turned the faces of the 6 ministers green.

Your Majesty, you can joke, but we don't dare to take it.

This charge cannot be randomly pinned on us; if it were really pinned on us, that would be a crime of exterminating the nine clans!

They were old ministers under the late Emperor, and according to Pang Jin's statement, there was no reason to take action against the Crown Prince.

Things like attempted rebellion by forming a clique were not big if said to be small, and not small if said to be big; it specifically depended on how Li Chen judged it.

Don't look at these 6 ministers as prominent power-holding ministers who made people fearful when they left the palace.

But in this Imperial Study, their lives were just a matter of one word from Li Chen.

Li Chen didn't take the Second Imperial Prince seriously in the first place, so he said casually: "In the future, just be worthy of this official robe in what you do; don't let it happen again."

Hearing Li Chen's words, the 6 ministers cried again.

This time it could be said to be truly grateful.

They had all prepared to go to prison, but not only were they fine, they were only verbally warned.

In the eyes of these old ministers, Li Chen was covered in a layer of holy light; this was simply an eternal wise monarch!

Seeing these old guys still crying, Li Chen said impatiently: "You'd better get out before I change my mind."

Hearing this, the 6 ministers hurriedly stood up, thanked him, and left.

One didn't know if his body was bad from kneeling too long, or if he had just cried too hard, but his legs were a bit weak.

He was dragged out directly by other ministers.

After they left, today's work was almost finished.

Li Chen knew those military officials were very anxious about the northern expedition, but being anxious was useless; after all, this kind of thing completely depended on Li Chen's mood, and he had absolute dominance.

"Finally off work!"

Stretching his waist, putting down the last memorial in his hand, Li Chen stood up and left the Imperial Study.

Just as he returned to the front of his bedroom door, before he could enter, he saw a beautiful figure rushing out from the door, instantly throwing herself into his arms, that soft, boneless body clinging tightly to him.

Li Chen felt the warmth and softness in his arms, smelling that faint fragrance, and the fatigue of government affairs was swept away.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 55 =====