Lu Qianxue naturally knew that Song Huan was doing it for her own good. She stretched out her hand and gently held Song Huan's hands together.
"Brother Huan, trust me, I won't become a burden to you!"
"You know my medical skills. If I can follow you into Anning County, I might be able to put it to some use."
"Brother Huan, just let me go with you!"
Seeing Lu Qianxue's gentle and firm expression, Song Huan pondered for a while and finally nodded.
To be honest, he didn't feel comfortable leaving Lu Qianxue alone outside the city gate.
In comparison, it is safer to let her stay with you!
Song Huan looked out the car window and sighed lightly.
Coming on this imperial mission is really uncertain, life or death is uncertain.
I just hope that the decision I made was not a wrong one!
…
Calm and calm, two days later.
Bianjing City, inside the imperial palace.
"Long live your Majesty—Long live—Long live—"
In the early morning session of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, all the ministers knelt down and shouted long live to Emperor Liang.
"My dear friends, please get back on your feet."
Emperor Liang had just recovered from the cold. Except that his face was still a little pale, he was in good spirits.
As soon as he sat down on the dragon chair, he saw Chen Shuang, the Minister of Rites, take a step forward and bowed.
"Your Majesty!"
"There is bad news from Huizhou. Ten craftsmen have died due to raw material problems when repairing the Gongyuan."
"Now the families of these craftsmen are gathering outside the government offices day and night, asking for an explanation from the court!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone started talking in low voices.
As the New Year approaches, Emperor Liang has repeatedly stated that he must be careful in everything and not make any more mistakes.
I didn’t expect such a big thing to happen in Huizhou!
Originally, if lives were lost during construction, it would be enough for the local government to directly ask the person in charge for questioning.
But repairing the Gongyuan is not a trivial matter, but someone directly sent by the imperial court to take charge of it.
The person responsible for this matter is none other than the current Prime Minister, Cheng Xun!
For a moment, everyone's eyes turned to Cheng Xun.
Cheng Xun was also shocked when he heard this.
"Master Chen, when did this happen? How come I didn't know about it?"
Cheng Xun once asked that any problems in repairing the Gongyuan should be reported to him as soon as possible.
No matter how big or small the matter is, he must personally deal with it.
There was no way that he would be kept in the dark when such a big thing happened!
Chen Shuang glanced at Cheng Xun and said coldly: "When did it happen? Does it matter?"
"The important thing is that these ten living lives were lost in your hands, Prime Minister!"
"It is said that it was precisely because the Prime Minister repeatedly cut back on expenditures and budgets, resulting in insufficient materials to repair the Gongyuan, that this catastrophe was caused!"
"The Ministry of Revenue has obviously allocated a lot of money to repair the Gongyuan, but the Prime Minister has been cutting back on expenditures."
"Could all the remaining money go into the Prime Minister's pocket?"
As soon as Chen Shuang's words came out, several ministers immediately echoed him.
"I'm afraid the Prime Minister only knows how to behave in front of His Majesty, and doesn't regard the lives of others at all!"
"Ten lives, that's ten broken families! It's so heartbreaking!"
"Your Majesty will definitely investigate the Prime Minister! I believe that this matter will never have anything to do with the Prime Minister!"
There are voices against Cheng Xun, and naturally there are voices in support of Cheng Xun.
"Your Excellency, the Prime Minister, is dedicated to serving the country and the country. This is a fact that even the people of the world know!"
"You are deliberately smearing the Prime Minister here. This is called having ulterior motives, right?"
"What do you want to do by throwing dirty water on an upright and honest official like the Prime Minister?"
Cheng Tianlin clenched his fists and wanted to say something fair for his father.
However, Cheng Xun repeatedly taught him that there are only ministers in the court, not father and son.
Although the relationship between their father and son is already known to everyone, in order to avoid suspicion, it is best to avoid some words!
Helpless, he could only clench his fists nervously and silently pray for his father.
Emperor Liang did not speak for a long time, but when he saw that the courtiers started to quarrel, he slowly spoke.
"Renovating the Gongyuan is a good thing."
"But when someone loses his life, a good thing turns into a bad thing!"
"The person in charge of the Prime Minister's affairs, why exactly people died, the local person in charge must not escape responsibility!"
Seeing that Emperor Liang had no intention of blaming Cheng Xun, Song Liang immediately glanced at Wang Shilu.
Although Wang Shilu was reluctant to speak, since Song Liang hinted, he did not dare to say a word.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the local person in charge is naturally responsible, but the Prime Minister, as the person in charge of repairing the Gongyuan, should bear even more responsibility!"
"Master Chen just said that if the Prime Minister hadn't repeatedly asked to save materials, such a disaster would not have happened."
"If His Majesty does not punish the Prime Minister in any way, and everyone follows the Prime Minister's example and causes another incident of human life, what should we do?"
"For the sake of those craftsmen who died innocently and tragically, and for the sake of Your Majesty's reputation, I sincerely request Your Highness to punish the Prime Minister!"
Zhao Xuanling also stood up quickly, cupped her hands to Emperor Liang and said: "The Prime Minister has been saving money again and again, and I don't even know where the remaining money went!"
"Your Majesty, please investigate this matter strictly!"
Seeing that Wang Shilu, Zhao Xuanling and Sun were performing fairly well, Song Liang was quite pleased for a while.
Emperor Liang cared about face the most. As long as issues related to Emperor Liang's reputation were brought up, he would definitely pay attention to them.
In the face of everyone's attacks, Cheng Xun had a clear conscience and showed no sign of cowardice or guilt in giving in.
"Your Majesty!"
"The original plan was to reduce the budget and use cheaper raw materials. I spent five days personally searching for the top stonemasons in Bianjing City before choosing the plan."
"Looking at the entire Daliang, except for some state capitals with strong wind and sand, all the other Gongyuan uses this kind of raw material!"
"A total of sixty-three tribute courtyards have been constructed without any problems."
"Weichen believes that this is not a problem with the raw materials!"
"As for the expenses saved..."
Having said this, Cheng Xun turned to Liu Delin, the Minister of Household Affairs.
"Half a month ago, Wei Chen told Master Liu about this matter."
“All the expenses saved have been returned to the Ministry of Household Affairs!”
"The specific details should also be in the household department. Mr. Liu only needs to check to find out the details."
Liu Delin nodded quickly: "The Prime Minister did meet this official half a month ago."
"I will immediately send someone to find out the details and report them to the Holy One!"
Cheng Xun turned to Emperor Liang again, his face calm but also slightly moved.
"Everything I do is for the country and the country of Daliang, and for the common people of the world!"
"Wei Chen dares to touch his own conscience and say something with a clear conscience!"
"However, Wei Chen is the main person in charge of repairing the Gongyuan after all."
"Ten lives were lost, and it was indeed a minor dereliction of duty!"
"Therefore, Your Majesty, please punish me for my sin of inaction!"
With that said, Cheng Xun faced Emperor Liang and knelt down.
