Chapter 923

The court has been very lively recently.

Emperor Jian Shi and Xie Changling, this pair of monarch and minister, are determined to drive the Prince of Chu to extinction to eliminate future troubles. Therefore, they attach great importance to the war in the south, to the point of temporarily abandoning the plan to recall Marquis Pingjiang.

Just at this time, a major case of grain embezzlement broke out. The front line complained to the Emperor, naming names and saying someone was embezzling. Of course, this case, investigated from the source, was broken by Yu Zhaoan.

Yu Zhaoan arrived in the south, and without military power in his hands, he stirred up trouble.

Thus, he exposed this major embezzlement case.

For this case, Yu Zhaoan made sufficient preparations. Time, location, transaction personnel, transaction materials, transaction quantity... sales channels in the market, sales amounts, the general whereabouts of the stolen money... everything was listed one by one.

In this way, even if someone wanted to refute, fine, follow Yu Zhaoan's train of thought and provide detailed rebuttal evidence. Give you a chance to retract your confession in court!

Can't provide it?

Then go to the big prison!

Emperor Jian Shi is ruthless, and Xie Changling is efficient. Regardless of innocence, he first rounded up the involved officials and threw them all into the big prison, then interrogated them slowly.

Immediately after, Xie Changling, in the capacity of the Xie family's sect son and future heir—not in the capacity of a court official—organized the noble families in the south to donate grain to help the front-line war, striving to take down the Prince of Chu in one go.

Privately, he gave promises; just wait until the Prince of Chu is taken down, and everyone will have benefits.

The Prince of Chu occupies such a large territory; when the war ends, it will be a new round of interest distribution.

If you don't help him now, don't think about participating later.

Helping him raise grain now means you are one of us. Later, I guarantee I won't treat everyone badly.

With the Xie family's endorsement, it is much more useful than the court's endorsement. The noble families in the south generously opened their purses to raise grain, and in a short time, they solved the biggest problem brought by grain embezzlement: the front line was running out of grain!

With enough grain, the court's army was like a hot knife through butter, singing and advancing, not far from the dawn of victory.

Seeing the situation was good, if they didn't stir up some trouble, the court officials wouldn't feel comfortable.

Thus, the court officials brought up the topic of establishing a Crown Prince again.

Emperor Jian Shi resisted with silence.

For the Emperor, silence is denial; he doesn't want to talk about the topic of establishing a Crown Prince. At least he doesn't want to talk about it within five years.

But the more silent he was, the more impassioned the court officials became, and the more excited they were.

Having grasped the Emperor's sore spot, if they didn't step on it hard, they would be sorry for the official hats on their heads.

Emperor Jian Shi:...

Looking at the full table of memorials requesting the establishment of a Crown Prince, his face was livid.

Preposterous!

They are all a bunch of bastards.

They don't know how to share the worries of the monarch and father, only knowing how to add blockages and find trouble blindly.

To deal with this public opinion, Emperor Jian Shi did not convene a meeting of the ministers of the Secretariat, but invited Pure Yang Zhenren of Yuquan Palace into the palace.

Pure Yang Zhenren originally thought it was just an ordinary lecture, and his mood was quite relaxed.

But unexpectedly, as soon as the Emperor opened his mouth, he was scared half to death.

"I heard that besides being good at alchemy, you are also good at physiognomy and divination."

Hearing this, Pure Yang Zhenren's heart trembled. If someone else had asked him, he would have responded directly. Now that the Emperor was asking him, one wrong answer would lead to endless future troubles, harming his descendants.

He took a deep breath, stabilized his mind, and said slowly: "This poor Daoist dares not deceive Your Majesty. Regarding physiognomy and divination, this poor Daoist only understands a little bit of the surface and dares not say he is good at it."

Emperor Jian Shi looked at his nervous appearance and laughed, "Daoist, don't worry, I don't need you to tell fortunes. I am the Son of Heaven, possessing the four seas, and my fate is precious; why would I need physiognomy? I also don't need you to look at the country or the major affairs of the military and state."

At this point, Pure Yang Zhenren secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as he didn't have to read the Son of Heaven's face, the danger was reduced by half.

"I have several imperial princes, each with different temperaments, characters, and talents. Recently, the court has been noisy, clamoring for me to establish a Crown Prince. Sigh, this matter is difficult! Since you have entered the palace today, why not take the opportunity to look at the princes for me, how about that?"

"This, how can this be!" Pure Yang Zhenren's face changed. Observing the princes, establishing a Crown Prince, and determining the heir—this matter has huge implications, even relating to the fate of the country a hundred years later.

How could he dare to participate in it?

Even if he wasn't afraid of karmic backlash or death, he had to think about his disciples and grand-disciples. He didn't want to become a sinner of the sect, harming his own school.

"It's fine! Just take a casual look."

At this time, the head eunuch Wang Defa took the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty, the flowers in the Imperial Garden are blooming brightly. The weather is very good today, and the Imperial Consorts and the princes are enjoying the flowers in the Imperial Garden at this moment. Your Majesty works hard for state affairs every day, so you should take care of your health and combine work with rest. Why not take advantage of this beautiful spring light to go to the Imperial Garden for a look, and let the flowers have a chance to show their beauty."

"Hahaha, not bad! Don't let down the beautiful spring light." Emperor Jian Shi laughed out loud, "Zhenren, please follow me to the Imperial Garden for a tour. It just so happens I have a few questions I want to ask."

What could Pure Yang Zhenren do?

He couldn't refuse and could only follow Emperor Jian Shi to the Imperial Garden.

Pure Yang Zhenren was familiar with the Imperial Palace.

During the late Emperor's time, he often entered the palace to perform rituals and pray for blessings.

But he had never been as nervous as he was today.

The late Emperor never asked about physiognomy or divination; the late Emperor only believed in himself, not in fortune-telling.

Who could have imagined that when it came to Emperor Jian Shi, he would actually use him to deal with the public opinion of court officials requesting the establishment of a Crown Prince.

This was putting him on a fire to roast; it was taking his life!

It was the height of spring, but Pure Yang Zhenren was sweating all over.

Arriving at the Imperial Garden, sure enough, the inner palace concubines and several princes were all there. It seemed they had received the news long ago and were waiting for this day.

The concubines were still quite composed, glancing at Pure Yang Zhenren but not looking much more.

The princes were young after all and couldn't hold their composure, looking at him frequently.

Pure Yang Zhenren:...

He could only put on the demeanor of an expert, seeing nothing and feeling no annoyance. He was unwilling to give any prince a straight look. He was afraid that if he looked too much, he would see something, feel uneasy, and reveal his tracks.

Emperor Jian Shi chatted with the concubines, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. Even if the concubines were jealous, they were very subtle. Anyone with a slightly larger heart wouldn't understand the hidden barbs in their words!

After chatting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Emperor Jian Shi suddenly said: "Zhenren, look at my princes, how about it?"

"The imperial princes are naturally rich and noble beyond compare." Pure Yang Zhenren made a Daoist salute, stiff and formal, not daring to be the least bit slack.

"Zhenren, why not bring out your true skills and look carefully for me. No matter what you see, speak the truth; I won't blame you."

Pure Yang Zhenren:...

He really looked up, his gaze sweeping over each prince's face one by one, looking extremely carefully.

But in the end, he said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This poor Daoist's meager cultivation really cannot see anything. I only see a mass of rich and noble Qi."