vrcanaries Chapter 363: Emperor Wen Jin's Test
Chapter 363: Emperor Wen Jin's Test
The news about Prince Yi's Mansion and Marquis Chengping's Mansion soon spread to the palace.
At this time, in the Qingyue Hall of the palace, Emperor Wen Jin was holding the bait and feeding the huge koi in the fish pond little by little. This fish was the one that Prince An had caught before, and Emperor Wen Jin kept it here.
"Your Majesty, this is what happened. There are many different versions of rumors about the Marquis' Mansion in the capital city right now." Fang Qi, the commander of the Imperial City Division, replied respectfully.
Emperor Wen Jin only found it funny. He naturally knew that Li had married into the Chengping Marquis's Mansion. However, Li died within a few years, which was quite a pity.
"Which version of the rumor do you think is closest to the truth?" Wen Jindi asked casually, but he did not stop feeding the fish.
Fang Qi lowered his eyes, not daring to look in Li Yuncheng's direction, and only said: "Your Majesty, I think the prince was seriously ill and dreamed of his sister. He thought of the past and couldn't let go of the knot in his heart, so it is most likely that he deliberately came to teach the old marquis a lesson."
"Yuncheng, what do you think?" Wen Jindi put down the bait and looked at Li Yuncheng.
Li Yuncheng smiled faintly, "What Commander Fang said should be about the same, but it is most likely the old princess's idea to take back my sister's dowry. After all, the old prince's treatment costs are not cheap."
Emperor Wen Jin nodded, thinking that what he said made a lot of sense.
"Come in with me." Emperor Wen Jin suddenly said.
Li Yuncheng didn't understand what was going on. He just exchanged glances with Fang Qi and followed Emperor Wen Jin into the palace.
"Take this!" Wen Jindi handed something to Li Yuncheng.
When Li Yuncheng took a look, it turned out to be the tiger talisman of Prince Yi.
"Your Majesty, this item is very important. You shouldn't give it to me." As he spoke, Li Yuncheng knelt down.
He lowered his head slightly and didn't look at Wen Jindi's expression.
At this moment, he was extremely shocked. He didn't know why Emperor Wen Jin handed the tiger talisman to him so easily. Was he testing him? Qing Wan was right!
Or does he really intend to give half of the world's military power to himself?
Emperor Wen Jin has been the emperor for so many years and is a very suspicious person. Although he trusts me in the past, everything I do is under his surveillance. Could it be that I have shown some abnormality and he discovered it?
In a flash, Li Yuncheng had thought about a series of things he had done recently, and there was nothing in them that would make Emperor Wen Jin suspect him.
"What? You don't dare to answer it?" Wen Jindi walked up to Li Yuncheng.
The bright yellow dragon robe was extremely eye-catching. Li Yuncheng still lowered his head, his eyes fixed on a corner of the dragon robe.
"The tiger talisman can mobilize more than half of the court's troops. It requires a virtuous general to receive it. I am too young and have no experience in leading troops, so I dare not accept it rashly. Please take back the tiger talisman, Your Majesty."
Li Yuncheng said directly that he knew that if he took the tiger talisman, he would not be able to walk out of the palace today.
"Oh! You kid!" Emperor Wen Jin sighed and helped the man up.
"Prince Yi is seriously ill this time. Where can I find another general as brave and resourceful as him?"
When Li Yuncheng saw Emperor Wen Jin put away the tiger talisman, he knew that he was right not to take it. Emperor Wen Jin was really just testing him, but this also made Li Yuncheng's nerves tense.
Something must have happened, otherwise Emperor Wen Jin would not have tested him.
"Your Majesty, there are many generals in the army. There will always be a suitable candidate. You don't have to rush." Li Yuncheng said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the young eunuch hurried in, knelt down and reported: "Your Majesty, the two cabinet officials have arrived."
"Let them in." Wen Jindi said directly.
Seeing this, Li Yuncheng bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I will take my leave first."
"It's okay for you to stay. It's a good opportunity to listen to what they say." Wen Jindi said.
Li Yuncheng was even more surprised. In the past, when important ministers met the emperor, he would always step aside. Why did he stay today?
But while he was thinking, two senior officials from the cabinet had already walked in. They were the two ministers of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant pays respects to the Emperor!" The two of them bowed to Emperor Wen Jin in unison.
"Get up!" Emperor Wen Jin sat on the soft couch beside him and asked the two to get up and answer.
The Minister of War was Prince Yi's eldest son Li Gongqiu, and the Minister of Revenue was Zhao He, the second son of Taifu Zhao.
"Lord Li, is the old prince feeling better?" Emperor Wen Jin asked.
Li Gongqiu stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, my father's health improved a few days ago, but he dreamed of my aunt, so I went to the Marquis of Chengping's mansion to check on her. I think she was pissed off again. After she came back, her condition worsened, and she hasn't gotten any better to this day."
The affairs between the two families had already spread throughout the capital, and the emperor must have known about it, so Li Gongqiu naturally told it out.
"Alas! The old prince has such a bad temper that he can't even stop being sick." Emperor Wenjin sighed, then waved for his personal eunuch to come over and ordered:
"You go to the Marquis of Chengping's mansion in person and warn the people there. If they make the old prince angry again, I will strip them of their titles, demote them to commoners, and exile them to the border town to repair the city wall."
The eunuch was stunned. He never expected that the Chengping Marquis' Mansion had angered the emperor again. They were so powerful!
"Yes! I'll go right away." After the eunuch bowed, he hurried out.
He was the emperor's personal eunuch, so he naturally understood the purpose of the emperor's words at this time. It was mainly for Minister Li and the people in Prince Yi's mansion to see, so it would be right for him to move faster.
Li Gongqiu knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will tell my father when I return."
"Alright! That matter is over, let's get down to business!"
Emperor Wenjin did this only to give face to Prince Yi's Mansion, and at the same time to warn those military generals that the emperor would not allow them to be bullied just because they left the army in the future.
Li Yuncheng saw it more clearly. This was just a tactic used by the emperor to show off to those who were unaware of the inside story.
Afterwards, he heard the two ministers mention the matter of transporting military pay to the border town. Minister Li meant that the cold weather came early this year, so food and supplies should be sent in advance, but Minister Yang of the Ministry of Revenue said that the silver and money had not arrived yet and could not be sent in advance.
The two of them argued fiercely. Wen Jindi pressed his forehead, his brows tightly furrowed, and he seemed to have a headache.
"Your Majesty, the border is already bitterly cold. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory estimates that winter will come early this year. If food and grass cannot be delivered to the border in advance, many people will probably freeze to death. Please agree to deliver supplies in advance." Li Gongqiu knelt down and said.
"Your Majesty, food and supplies need time to prepare. How can we prepare them in advance? Please think twice!" Lord Zhao also said immediately.
Emperor Wen Jin looked at Li Yuncheng, "Yuncheng, what do you think?"