King Yueqing paused while holding the wine. He always felt that the emperor was telling him on purpose.
[Pfft, haha, the tyrant must have done it on purpose, to manipulate King Yueqing’s mentality and make him wander between you doubting him and not doubting him. 】
Naturally, the emperor did not miss King Yueqing's little move. The prince was originally not allowed to enter the palace without an edict, but King Yueqing had a special jade pendant given by the late emperor. He should consider taking it back now.
The King of Yueqing didn't care in Yueqing before, but now that he has returned to the capital, he can enter the palace at any time. Isn't this convenient for him to cause trouble?
"Now that the country is peaceful and the people are safe, who will add fuel to the flames?" King Yueqing asked pretending to be surprised.
In the past, the emperor always liked to lose his temper, which was easier to see through. Now King Yueqing found that although the emperor still liked to lose his temper, he often acted unreasonably, especially towards him.
Because his father was more partial to him when he was still alive, the emperor was not friendly to him at all, he was just on the surface.
But this time when he came back from Yueqing, he found that the emperor was very warm to him, which he couldn't understand at all.
"It's true that the country is peaceful and the people are safe," the emperor stared at King Yueqing and said meaningfully: "I'm afraid some people don't like how things are now, isn't that right, my brother?"
King Yueqing came to his senses and said, "How could it be? My brother likes it very much."
The emperor laughed loudly and sighed: "That's all, don't talk about this. You can have a nice drink with me today."
King Yueqing nodded, and the two of them went back and forth and drank a lot.
[Tsk tsk, the tyrant has a good capacity for drinking. How come he doesn’t feel drunk at all after drinking so much. 】
The emperor held the wine glass in his hand and curled his lips.
Luo'er is so stupid. He drank water, so of course he wouldn't get drunk.
He knew that King Yueqing would definitely enter the palace today. When he heard that King Yueqing was coming, Eunuch Cao went to do this.
"Brother Emperor, drink again."
King Yueqing was already a little drunk and had forgotten everything he wanted to ask.
After drinking a few more drinks, King Yueqing lay drunk on the table.
"Eunuch Cao, take down the jade pendant that the late emperor gave to King Yueqing."
Eunuch Cao stood up and took off the jade pendant and presented it to the emperor.
The emperor played with the jade pendant in his hand. Without this jade pendant, it would not be so convenient for King Yueqing to enter the palace.
[Okay, I finally know that I have taken back this jade pendant, but the life-saving edict left by the late emperor to King Yueqing is a headache. 】
The emperor does have a headache, but he can only take it slowly.
King Yueqing came to the palace to test him today. He probably won't take action against Qi'an and will probably restrain himself in the near future.
"Eunuch Cao, ask someone to send King Yueqing out of the palace."
…
When King Yueqing woke up, it was already dark outside. He raised his hand and rubbed his temples and sat up.
"My lord, you are awake."
King Yueqing remembered that he was drinking with the emperor in the palace, and why it was dark now.
Is he drunk?
Remembering what he forgot to ask, King Yueqing patted his head and thought that drinking would make things worse. He should drink less next time.
"Your Majesty, have some tea."
The subordinate went to pour a cup of tea and handed it to King Yueqing. King Yueqing took it and drank it in one gulp. He handed the cup to his subordinate and raised his hand to straighten his robes.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, King Yueqing noticed that the familiar jade pendant around his waist was missing. He stood up with a cold face and stared at his subordinates with fierce eyes.
"Tell me, did you take away the jade pendant from my waist?"
The jade pendant was given to him by his father when he was still a prince, so that he could enter and exit the palace at will.
But now the jade pendant on his waist is missing.
The subordinate quickly knelt on the ground and said, "My lord, you didn't have a jade pendant around your waist when you came out of the palace. I didn't take your jade pendant."
Did the emperor take it away?
King Yueqing calmed down. His jade pendant was indeed detrimental to the emperor, but the emperor should not be able to do such a thing.
After a visit to the palace, nothing was found. Instead, he lost this important jade pendant. King Yueqing only felt that his anger was rising again.
He suppressed his anger and asked his subordinates to step back.
After the others left, they couldn't wait to find the hidden edict and made sure it was well preserved before putting it back.
He comforted himself in his heart. Without the jade pendant, it was just inconvenient to enter the palace, but he still had the edict as a life-saving talisman.
But now it’s time to figure out why the jade pendant is missing and see if it can be taken back.
…
The next day.
The early court was destined to be unstable because of Qi'an's incident, and many ministers opposed allowing Qi'an to return to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The emperor took the jade pendant of King Yueqing yesterday, so he was in a good mood. Looking at the two groups arguing below, he did not interrupt them.
The people below argued vigorously at first. The people in the Ministry of Revenue naturally wanted Qi'an to come back, because if Qi'an didn't come back, they would have to go home and farm.
Those who objected felt that Qi'an's family had made a mistake, and the emperor's pardon was already a gift from heaven, and he could never return to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
"Have you said enough? Do you want me to serve you some tea and continue talking?" The emperor held Yu Yiluo in his arms and spoke in a gentle voice with a smile on his face.
The people who were arguing all fell silent after hearing this.
How could they dare to drink the tea given by the emperor? The emperor might as well get angry right now. He didn't know what he was holding back when he was smiling like this.
"Your Majesty, if Qi An really returns to the Ministry of Revenue, wouldn't others think it's unfair?"
[Are you afraid that others will think it's unfair or because Qi'an has offended you by collecting debts, so you don't want him to come back? 】
Yu Yiluo opened her mouth and yawned. She just saw that the people who objected were all the people Qi An went to collect debts.
The emperor nodded, and the speaker thought he agreed. Unexpectedly, the emperor said directly:
"Those of you who oppose it are quite vindictive. Why, you are worried that you will not be able to default on your debts after Qi'an returns to the Ministry of Revenue, so you strongly oppose it?"
In the hearts of these people, Xiao Jiujiu pretends that he doesn't know. They all hope that all officials are like them. It is best for officials to protect each other, and those who do not share the same path with them will be excluded.
"The Zhongshu Province has already counted all the officials. Instead of focusing on this, you might as well worry more about how long your official position will last."
Prime Minister Li took a step forward and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, now that the Household Department is short of people, it will only be beneficial for Qi An to return to the Household Department. If he does not do well, it will not be too late for the Emperor to convict him."
The Ministry of Finance is the best place to make money. Without an upright person like Qi'an, I'm afraid something will happen to the Ministry of Finance.
[Prime Minister Li understands the tyrant, and knows that the tyrant is too proud to have Qi An come back, so he hurriedly handed the ladder to the tyrant. 】
"Just do as the Prime Minister says."
The emperor waved his hand, and the matter was settled directly.
"Your Majesty, what about this year's top three?"
Prime Minister Li was worried that the emperor had forgotten. Several days had passed and the emperor seemed to have no intention of discussing the matter.
"This matter will be discussed later."
The emperor stood up and asked the four ministers from Zhongshu Province and Prime Minister Li to stay in the imperial study room to discuss matters, while the others withdrew from the court.
Several people thought that the emperor asked them to go to the imperial study room to ask about the assessment. As a result, the emperor sat down and remained silent.
