Imperial Daughter Ji An Is an Inauspicious Person
What was originally a murder case had now become a loud commotion. Although not much could be determined about the official whose beads had been taken with just a glance, in truth, his family situation was not very good. He was part of an office that did not have much funding, and his family only had one wife and one son. As a third rank official, he did not even have a concubine. Of course, this was because he was loyal to his wife. The people that understood the internal situation knew that it was because he could not afford a concubine. Taking in a concubine in the capital cost quite a bit of money. Not to mention the cost of food, but a courtyard also needed to be opened up, and there was a need for maid servants and grannies. If a child was born, they also needed to be taken care of. He simply did not have the spare money. Coming into the palace for today’s banquet, the beads that had been thrown away by the ninth prince were borrowed to ensure that he would not be mocked, and he was to return them the next day.
Of course, Xuan Tian Ming also knew just how distressed this one was over that item, but he did not care. It was just a shoddy bead necklace. Who cared if it was high-quality glaze? His palace had plenty, and even that girl did not seem to care about such things. At worst, he would just send a few over later on. The important thing was to ensure that his girl would not be bullied by others.
Feng Yu Heng folded her arms across her chest and watched the scene unfold in front of her. From time to time, she would glance in the Emperor’s direction and found that the Emperor’s expression was gloomy, and he looked very unhappy. Thus she slightly shook her head toward Xuan Tian Ming to tell him not to go too far.
With Xuan Tian Ming finally heeding her advice, he told the third rank official that he would give him a few better ones later on. Only then did the matter come to an end. As for the officials from the eighth prince’s faction, they had some complaints that they could not voice. Naturally, they did not dare to openly try and reason with the ninth prince. Even looking to cause trouble for Feng Yu Heng was something that they had to grit their teeth and do. Because the eighth prince had come back, their pillar of support had returned. After he returned, he gave all of them a message. There would definitely be a big movement on this trip back, and they should do all they could to cooperate.
At present, two corpses were laying on the ground, and the governor, Xu Jing Yuan, had already sent someone to search for Grand Scholar Li. As for the Minister of the Board of Punishments, Lord Ma, and his wife, they continued to wipe away tears. On this side, the sixth prince was vouching for Feng Yu heng, while others clinged to the idea of her not being restrained to cause trouble for Feng Yu Heng. Now, it seemed like those efforts were not yielding any results. Imperial Daughter Ji An was never a weak girl that came from a large family. She was one that had come from the battlefield. Would she be tripped up by this sort of idle chatter?
For a while, the people did not know what new tricks they could use, and they were still in pain from being hit. Blood was trickling from the corners of their mouths, yet there was not a single imperial physician that stepped forward to examine them.
The eighth prince, Xuan Tian Mo, stood there with a cold expression, but after standing for a while, he said: “Younger sister really is… How could eighth brother say it? It seems that every time younger sister participates in a banquet, disturbances will occur. Although eighth brother has not been in the capital over these years, I was still able to hear about some things.”
Once these words came out, the officials that had run out of things to say immediately became spirited once more. Someone even counted on their fingers and began to count all of the things that had happened since the first banquet that Feng Yu Heng had participated in. Even Feng Yu Heng’s appearance in court was brought up. Bringing up all of these old matters, it helped her thoroughly summarize her time since being transmigrated. It was just that these people only counted the people that had died as a result of Feng Yu Heng’s influence. In regards to the contributions that Feng Yu Heng had brought to Da Shun, not a single word was mentioned. The production of steel, the aid during the disaster and handling of the pandemic were all selectively forgotten. These people really were shameless.
Very quickly, someone rushed to kneel in front of Feng Yu Heng and said with tears streaking down his face: “Imperial Daughter Ji An! Please do not continue to meddle in the affairs of the court. Da Shun has its princes and countless good young men working to contribute to the country. There’s no need for you to bring anything to Da Shun. You can just stay in your manor and be a noble imperial daughter. Do not continue to damage Da Shun!”
Once this shout came out, the people that had already prepared themselves kneeled on the ground and said similar things in unison. While speaking, they began to kowtow. There was even someone that began to plead with the Emperor: “Your Majesty, a girl appearing in court was already not in accordance with the rules. Every time that Imperial Daughter Ji An appears in the palace, some sort of disaster has occurred. She is an inauspicious person. Would Your Majesty please give the order to no longer allow Imperial Daughter Ji An into the palace!”
The Emperor was extremely shocked to hear this. Two people had died during the palace banquet, so should they not be rushing to handle the investigation? With the flow of the conversation, things had ended up becoming about Feng Yu Heng? And things had escalated to such a degree. His mind was a bit of a mess, and he briefly thought that he had not sobered up, thus he unconsciously pinched Zhang Yuan, causing Zhang Yuan to grimace from the pain.
The sixth prince, Xuan Tian Feng, could no longer bear to continue listening and angrily said: “Imperial Daughter Ji An is part of the imperial family. Are you wanting to stick your hands in and meddle with the imperial family’s matters?”
Someone from the eighth prince’s faction immediately said in a loud voice: “Your Highness Prince Xian, we old officials are only thinking for the sake of our Da Shun! We are Da Shun’s officials. It’s natural that we would need to be responsible to Da Shun and to the Emperor. Da Shun’s fate cannot be placed in the hands of a girl. This is a rule that has been handed down from our ancestors. I hope that Your Highness Prince Xian will be able to see it clearly, and I hope that His Majesty will be able to think of Da Shun and its citizens!”
“That’s right! Your Majesty, you must not allow Imperial Daughter Ji An back into the palace; otherwise, one disaster will follow another, and there will never be an end!”
“The capital also does not need imperial daughter’s Hundred Herb Hall. That’s nothing more than a means of accumulating wealth. Would Imperial Daughter Ji An return Da Shun to its former appearance and return the citizens their peaceful lives!”
“Your Majesty!” Lord Ma of the Board of Punishments and his wife also turned around to kowtow to the Emperor, “Your Majesty, Imperial Daughter Ji An is indeed an inauspicious person. Our daughter died a mysterious death. It was her that caused it!”
All of these accusations toward Feng Yu Heng blotted out the skies. It was as though it was a play, and all of their performances were quite good.
Feng Yu Heng looked at these people and found that even some of the neutral officials seemed to have been infected or been incited by others, as they also kneeled. There were many people present, and nearly half of them were kneeling. This was quite surprising.
The Emperor angrily looked at these people. Fuck, he finally managed to get a daughter-in-law that was capable in everything, and he was thinking of doting on her to have her help old ninth a bit more. Helping old ninth would be helping Da Shun! Thinking to after he ascended the throne, with the help of his wife, he would improve Da Shun’s power even further; however, who knew that these damn old geezers would actually come and cause him vexation at a critical time like this new year’s celebration. They described his most-beloved daughter-in-law as if she was some sort of monster. Even describing her as some inauspicious person. As he saw it, it was this damn group of geezers that were inauspicious! Damn, he would definitely have them all beaten to death today!
The Emperor began to pace around. While pacing, he looked all over. The people were puzzled as to what he was doing, but Zhang Yuan was the first to react. He quickly arranged for the imperial guards to step back.
Feng Yu Heng also did not understand what was going on and quietly asked Xuan Tian Ge: “What’s going on?”
Xuan Tian Ge pondered for a while then said: “It’s most likely that Imperial Uncle is looking for a weapon to begin handing out a beating.”
Sure enough, just as these words came out of her mouth, the Emperor angrily said: “Zhang Yuan! You traitorous thing, what are you having them all back up for? Are you wanting to rebel? Fuck, this great one can’t find a sword or spear, but a stick should be fine, right? If there isn’t a stick, a tree branch should be fine, right? This great one wants to see if they still dare to say anything if a branch is used?”
The Emperor did just as he said. There were many trees at the side of the lake. There were tall trees and shorter trees. Just reaching out, he snapped a tree branch then began to wail away at the kneeling officials.
The Emperor was a ruler that had personally been on the battlefield. His foundation as a martial artist was not weak. Although he had all kinds of small health issues from his time on the battlefield, and those issues were coming to the fore with his old age, he was still fully able to hit these officials that did not dare to strike back. He struck forcefully as if striking an enemy. As for the officials that were hit, they cried out loudly. Even if the clothes that they wore during the winter were thicker, being hit was still quite painful. They even began to suspect if this old emperor’s health really getting worse and worse? With him still having so much strength, how did this resemble an old man in his waning years?
While this side was a chaotic mess of loud cries, the remaining people could only continue to watch. The Empress wanted to go forward and stop him, but after a few attempts, she could not get close. There were even a couple times that the branch that the Emperor had picked up nearly hit her face, thus she was scared and no longer dared to go forward. The princes just stood there with their arms crossed over their chests as if to watch a play. Xuan Tian Ming even came up with an idea for the Emperor: “Go for the face and neck. Hitting the clothes won’t cause much pain.” Thus the next time the Emperor struck, it was aimed at the places not protected by clothing.
The eighth prince, Xuan Tian Mo, watched with a frown, but he did not step forward. He shook his head slightly to the officials that looked toward him then gave them a slight smile. The officials had received the secret order. Gritting their teeth, they began another round of shouting: “Your Majesty, even if you beat all of us officials to death, we must be responsible for Da Shun and its people.”
“Your Majesty! Imperial Daughter Ji An is an inauspicious person. Would Your Majesty please not allow her to meddle with the matters of the court. Would Your Majesty please think about the common people of the world!”
No matter how the Emperor hit them, these people seemed to no longer be afraid of him, as they repeatedly shouted similar things. They even continued to kowtow, with some people bleeding from the forehead from doing this. Gradually, the Emperor became tired, and his movements slowed down. Xuan Tian Ming could no longer bear to watch, and he glanced toward Xuan Tian Hua. The latter helplessly stepped forward and personally helped the Emperor back.
The Emperor still wanted to curse a little more; however, he heard Xuan Tian Hua quietly whisper to him: “You are the ruler. At this sort of time, you should not be cursing.”
That was right, he was the ruler. Being the ruler meant that he had to be a bit restrained and could not do as he pleased. He could not just continue in his own ways. Everyone said that the world would belong to him after he became the emperor, and he could do anything he wanted. But after he ascended the throne he finally found out that it was the opposite. After becoming the emperor, there were too many things that were not up to him. Even eating and sleeping had someone to keep an eye on him. Even the foods that he liked the most, he could only eat a few mouthfuls at most. If he ate any more, servants would take that dish away. Even when it came to the imperial concubines of the inner palace, there was a set limit. He could not go too often or too infrequently. It was as though he was a person with a mission, and he envied the common person to no end.
He had been bound by these rules and regulations for decades until the most recent years. He had become old, and his sons had grown up. His temper had also become worse. He was like a young child that argued with the rules, and he no longer wanted to follow them. He wanted to live like a normal person, but it was only at this moment when his seventh son mentioned it that he finally remembered that he was still the emperor. There were some things that he had to do even if he did not want to…