Chapter 273: Tongue Battle Among the Scholars

The officials exchanged glances, their eyes all showing the look of spectators enjoying a drama.

From the Prince's attitude, it seemed he was extremely displeased with Chi Nan Yi entering the court as an official.

Having offended this ancestor, could these two even endure it?

When the morning court began and the Emperor had not yet spoken, the censors on the Imperial Censorate could no longer hold back.

They stepped forward one after another to submit memorials, their words earnest and fierce, vehemently opposing a woman, Chi Nan Yi, holding office in the court.

"Your Majesty, since ancient times no woman has entered official service; please think it over!"

"I earnestly request Your Majesty to rescind the appointment! A woman meddling in state affairs violates propriety and rites, and is an ominous sign for the nation; it must not happen!"

"Your Majesty, such a precedent has never been set since antiquity; it contravenes ancestral rites, please reconsider!"

Seeing this, all officials knelt on the ground, echoing in unison: "Please reconsider, Your Majesty!"

Opposing voices rose and fell throughout the hall.

"Your Majesty, I, an old minister, am steadfastly loyal to the court; if you refuse to rescind the appointment, I shall remain kneeling here forever."

As the words fell, the censors consecutively said, "I concur."

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall grew exceedingly solemn.

Grand Preceptor Qin's lips curled slightly, a half‑smile, and he glanced at Chi Nan Yi with his peripheral eye.

As long as he is present, Chi Nan Yi and the Chi Family can forget about turning the tide!

Chi Nan Yi had long been prepared, having guessed they would not give up easily today; her lips twitched as she was about to speak, when a voice from ahead, lazy yet unyieldingly firm, said, "Gentlemen, are you threatening the Emperor?"

Hiss… Threatening the Emperor, that accusation is far too grave.

Everyone, hearing that, exchanged glances; just now Prince Li had been strongly opposed to Chi Nan Yi entering the court—how is he now speaking in her defense?

After a brief stunned pause, the pleading civil officials hurriedly said, "Your Highness Prince Li, we are not threatening the Emperor; in fact, such a precedent has never existed—ancestral law cannot be overstepped!"

Mo Junheng, who had kept a gloomy expression, stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over Mo Junyan's leg, and said calmly, "Father Emperor, I, your son, think the gentlemen are right; after all, Chi Nan Yi is a woman—how can she hold office? Moreover, I believe her medical skill is no extraordinary, and she is unfit for the Imperial Doctor‑in‑Chief position you bestowed."

The Emperor's face remained composed as he said lightly, "Crown Prince, why do you say that?"

"If she is truly a Divine Doctor, how could she fail to heal Prince Li's leg? More than a month has passed and his condition shows no change, proving her skill is not that superb; it's all self‑praise and exaggeration."

"Crown Prince, your words are reasonable; please rescind the appointment, Your Majesty."

The ministers' voices echoed through the great hall, while the Emperor's gaze remained heavy, and he said nothing.

At that moment, Xie Yuwei stepped forward and shouted, "May it be reported to Your Majesty, I believe Lord Chi is truly deserving of the Imperial Doctor‑in‑Chief role; had it not been for her, the epidemic in Liangzhou would have claimed countless lives. Across all of Daqi, no one surpasses her medical skill. If Your Majesty's dragon body were tended by her, it would surely enjoy longevity and enduring blessings."

When Xie Yuwei's words fell, the censors came out to rebut.

"Lord Xie, I just saw you chatting merrily with Lord Chi, seeming very familiar; now you step forward to defend her—what ulterior motive do you have?"

"I hear Lord Chi is still unmarried, and you, Lord Xie, are a student of Lord Chi's father; are you intending to marry her, using this to attach yourself to the Chi family?"

Mo Junyan, draped in a black robe, lounged lazily in a wheelchair, her slender fingers tapping the armrest briefly; she lifted her brows, her sharp gaze falling on the kneeling censor, and her imposing aura forced everyone's bent posture to lower a few more inches.

Especially the censor who had just spoken, whose body could not stop trembling.

Xie Yuwei's face flushed red; just as she was about to argue, a faint laugh came from her side.

"What great figures do I think the censors on the Imperial Censorate are? Turns out they are all mere fools who only stir up trouble and chase shadows."

The words caused an uproar in the hall; the censored censors, having been insulted together, shouted angrily, "What did you say? How dare you publicly insult us in the hall?"

"Insult? Do you now consider it an insult? When you slandered the relationship between me and Lord Xie earlier, did you ever think your words were more excessive than mine?" Her eyes blazed with endless fury as she said coldly, "Lord Xie is a student of my maternal grandfather; I am grateful for his teachings, and I personally witnessed my resolution of the Liangzhou epidemic that saved tens of thousands of citizens. Perhaps you are unaware that the locust disaster this year was also a method I presented to Lord Xie, that before the snow disaster I had Lord Xie stockpile grain, and that when this winter's heavy snow sealed the city and there was no food, I opened the granaries. Lord Xie defended me with a few righteous words, yet you call us unclear and say I am a petty person trying to cling to him—how utterly ridiculous. You care not about easing the Emperor's burdens, you do not verify my medical achievements, you only cling to others' private affairs. Are you not fools? So the Censorate does not do its proper work but acts as matchmakers?"

Chi Nan Yi launched a tirade, causing every official opposing her appointment to blush, especially the censors she had called fools.

"You! How disgraceful! You are unmarried, Lord Xie is unwed; a lone man and woman should avoid suspicion. Lord Xie breaking convention to speak for you inevitably sparks imagination. Moreover, a woman holding office is already against the rules..."

"Rules, rules—how then is it against the rules? You look down on women so much; did you spring out of a crack in a stone?"

As the words fell, that censor, furious, trembled all over: "Absurd!"

"Finding it absurd just because others say so is nothing but incompetence."

"You! Who do you say is incompetent!"

The audience below roared like a blaze, and the Emperor, watching Chi Nan Yi single‑handedly debating the multitude, saw a flash of admiration and satisfaction in his eyes.

These censors truly deserve someone to give them a proper lesson; their endless pedantry makes listeners' heads ache.

Thus, the Emperor felt his decision was all the more correct.

"I have saved the people from fire and flood with my medical skill, resolved the locust famine with my ability, earned the Emperor's favor, and entered office solely to protect the nation and its people, easing the Emperor's burdens. And you? Thinking that having read a few sage texts makes you superior, yet you possess neither talent to aid the world nor the capacity to tolerate others; you only rely on your censorial title to attack women in the hall, spouting endless Confucian platitudes, while in truth you are a scoundrel who is lenient with yourself yet harsh with others, blind to others' achievements. Such censors cling to ancestral rites; rules are dead, people are alive, the court changes, all things evolve. If we still bind people a century later with laws from a hundred years ago, such a court is doomed to be replaced. So you—are you the court's eyes and ears, or its parasites?"