Chapter 104

But while full of gratitude, Jia Cong's heart couldn't help but rise with suspicion.

Actually, this kind of vague suspicion wasn't just from today; as early as two years ago, when Master Liu Jing'an suddenly recommended him to study at the Qingshan Academy, he had already had questions.

Because before that, he and Master Liu Jing'an only had one meeting at the Nanxi Literary Meeting, and after that, he suddenly recommended himself to study at the number one academy in the world.

Although Jia Cong was also full of gratitude at the time, he had also pondered that even if the old man had the intention of cherishing talent, it was always a bit abrupt and unreasonable.

Perhaps it wasn't just him who thought so; someone as worldly-wise as Jia Mu might have had this thought, but it was a good thing anyway, so no one would waste their brains on this.

And now that he was in danger, the old man didn't care about personal loss, extended a helping hand, and took him into the sect; such high righteousness was something ordinary people couldn't do.

Although there was some slight suspicion in his heart, it wasn't worth mentioning.

Master Liu Jing'an smiled and helped him up: "After this matter is over, you will return to Mount Luocang to pay respects to your teacher's wife and see the descendants of the family.

You have often come and gone these few years, and your teacher's wife likes you very much; knowing that you have entered my sect, she will definitely be very happy."

After the court session, he ordered Guo Lin to activate the Zhongche Office to secretly investigate all matters of the Rongguo Jia family, as well as the details of the dozens of prefectural examination child students who reported Jia Cong to the Ministry of Rites that day.

In these few days, there were three memorials impeaching the Ministry of Works' Vice Minister Li Dekang, one impeaching him for arbitrarily starting the Daci'en Temple construction, and the other two impeaching him for being muddled and mediocre, not matching his position.

Zhao Chongli, who was on the side, also stepped forward to offer congratulations; he was extremely happy that Jia Cong could be listed under Master Liu Jing'an's sect, and perhaps Jia Cong's background worries would have a turning point because of this.

Jia Zheng was even more overjoyed; my Jia family actually produced a disciple of a literary leader, how happy!

It was nothing more than Xiang Zhuang dancing with his sword, intending to kill Pei Gong; these people were still trying to dissuade the Emperor from building a temple to pray for his biological mother.

……

Not long after, the news that Jia Cong was taken as an in-room disciple by the literary leader Master Liu Jing'an spread quickly in the Jia family.

The Deputy Director of the Inner Court, Guo Lin, holding several gray-covered handbooks, walked quickly into the main hall.

These two days were cloudy, the sunlight outside was sparse, adding a bit of darkness and gloom to the vast Qianyang Palace; just past noon, the inner servants had already lit white candles in the main hall.

These memorials were all left by Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao without being issued, thrown to the side.

In the past, Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao had no impression of this Chen Minyan, which wasn't strange.

"Report to the Emperor, the latest secret document reported by the Zhongche Office has arrived; please have the Emperor look at it."

He even asked Guo Lin to transfer the files of Censor Chen Minyan from the Ministry of Personnel.

Those many faces in the Jia family who either held high and stepped on low, or watched the show coldly, were a bit at a loss for a while.

There were dozens of Censors in the thirteen circuits of the Censorate; how could the Emperor remember them all?

Yesterday, the Censor of the Censorate in the court impeached the Ministry of Rites for negligence and petitioned the court to dismiss Jia Cong's top rank merit.

In the bright candlelight, Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao was reviewing the memorials piled up on the imperial desk.

Great Zhou Palace, Qianyang Palace.

The ancients called them in-room disciples because it was a teacher-student relationship almost equal to blood descendants; only for true in-room disciples would the teacher introduce them to the inner relatives and descendants of the family.

In these two days, several civil officials in the court submitted memorials to exonerate the top rank of the current prefectural examination, Jia Cong, saying that Jia Cong was a leader of the Qingshan Academy, with outstanding talent, and his background was not enough to cover his talent.

These civil officials were all elites of the examination field back then, and the memorials were written with citations and brilliant literary talent; Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao read them with great interest.

But that day in the court, Chen Minyan requested the dismissal of Jia Cong's merit, his words were tricky, his reasoning was strange, and he was aggressive, making even the Ministry of Rites' Left Vice Minister Guo Youchang a bit speechless.

It was Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao who remembered this person; if Chen Minyan was inviting reputation by borrowing Jia Cong's matter, he could be considered successful.

But being remembered by the Emperor didn't necessarily mean being in the Emperor's heart.

A top rank in the prefectural examination, in the eyes of the Son of Heaven who faced the red and purple of the hall every day and held the ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains in his heart, was just a small person not worth mentioning.

Under normal circumstances, such a scholar who was just a bit outstanding wouldn't be noticed by a clean and noble yamen like the Censorate.

But it just happened that such a small person caused such a monstrous wave.

First, there were dozens of prefectural examination child students who gathered at the Ministry of Rites yamen in broad daylight, with a surging crowd, reporting that the top rank was lowly and didn't match his name.

The next day, a Censor immediately impeached him in the morning court, requesting the dismissal of Jia Cong's top rank merit and the permanent end of his imperial examination path.

Could there be such a coincidence in the world? It looked like a group of people had discussed it and performed a good play.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao was once the most inconspicuous among the Retired Emperor's sons, his biological mother's status was low, and he was introverted and deep by nature; compared to other flamboyant princes, he appeared mediocre.

But such an unknown prince had the last laugh, ascended to the position of the Son of Heaven, and could even make the Retired Emperor, who had talent for a lifetime, willingly retreat to the deep palace.

How many soul-stirring things must have happened in this? The imperial power was strict, and how much did outsiders know about the hardships and coldness?

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's wise and suspicious nature was perhaps cultivated in those extreme years.

Since he saw that the dispute over the top rank of the prefectural examination had some clues, with Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's sharp nature, how could he follow the crowd and be swayed by a few impeachments and a few memorials?

As a monarch, the most taboo thing is to be blinded and used by ministers!

He opened the first secret document presented by Guo Lin, which recorded in detail the various events that happened in the Rongguo Jia family recently, with the date as the outline.

Among them, during Jia Mu's birthday, how many people of Grade 5 and above arrived, how many civil and military officials of Grade 3 and above arrived, which noble family's head arrived, and how many princes and imperial sons-in-law arrived.

Even whose birthday gifts exceeded the norm, whose gifts were slightly presumptuous, etc., were all recorded in detail; I don't know how the Zhongche Office arranged the spies to be able to understand such details.

However, Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao only browsed through these contents and didn't investigate them in detail; when he saw the content of the next line, his gaze suddenly froze, and he read it carefully.

"Biological mother is lowly, a son doesn't dislike his mother's ugliness, ten months of pregnancy, the grace of birth and raising, is the most noble and precious woman in the world..."

Seeing the record of the secret document, Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's gaze softened slightly.

This statement is good; a son doesn't dislike his mother's ugliness, the grace of birth and raising, the grace is as deep as the sea; is there anything more noble than this in the world?

Between the lines, it seemed as if he could see a young man in his prime, standing proudly in front of people, speaking sternly to defend his lowly biological mother.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao was suddenly agitated, and a trace of moisture appeared in those sharp and deep eyes.

Back then, his biological mother was just a palace maid in the Jingxiu Palace, with a lowly status; even if she was lucky enough to give birth to a prince, according to the ancestral system and palace rules, she didn't have the qualifications to raise her own child.

Before Emperor Zhao was ten years old, he only knew that the Empress was his mother, but since he was young, there was a palace maid in the Jingxiu Palace who treated him extremely well.

She would often secretly watch him from the side; perhaps it was blood-related, and after a long time, he became familiar with that palace maid and would often secretly go out to find her to play.

At that time, he didn't know that she was his biological mother.

Every time that palace maid saw him, she would cry and laugh, holding him in her arms and reluctant to let go, and would bring him the osmanthus sugar cakes he liked most.

It wasn't until he was ten years old that he knew the palace maid he liked most was his own biological mother, so he became even more attached to her.

I don't know how the Empress found out about this, and after that, he was sent to the Upper Study to study, went to the Imperial Horse Supervisor to learn martial arts, and the time he could meet his biological mother became less.

Perhaps the faint and unspeakable estrangement between him and Empress Dowager Yizhang started from that time.

Now that he rules the world and possesses the four seas, thinking of the most happy and worry-free time in his life, it was actually the time when he was a child, the time when mother and son met without knowing each other.

That beautiful woman who grew old year after year in the Jingxiu Palace, until the day she died, was looking forward to being able to accompany him every day.

This had already become an inescapable hidden pain and heart knot in Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's heart.

(End of chapter)