From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 105: Swords and Shadows in Chengtian Palace
"It takes only a few words to spread a rumor, but it takes a lot of effort to refute it. When faced with an unfavorable rumor, it is foolish to try to clarify it."

Li Chengqian held Fan Ruoruo's fair and tender hand and smiled softly, "Rumors need to be spread by word of mouth. The more people spread it, the more powerful it becomes. However, a person's energy is limited, and it's impossible to focus on multiple things at once. So, as long as we find the source of the rumor before it truly takes shape and eliminate it, and at the same time create enough big and sufficient news, even a small rumor will become nothing more than a threat."

"This time, it's me who has caused trouble for His Highness." Fan Ruoruo said softly with a slightly red face.

"This has nothing to do with you. It's that idiot Li Hongcheng." Li Chengqian frowned slightly. "He's in his twenties and still so naive. It seems that Uncle Jing is really afraid of my father!"

"Ah?" Fan Ruoruo raised her little face slightly and asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Because he wanted to train his son to be a good-for-nothing and make him a Taiping prince." Li Chengqian smiled, "Unfortunately, he hasn't succeeded yet. He has only trained him to be a fool, and a fool who refuses to be lonely."

"Oh." Fan Ruoruo nodded, not quite understanding. "Will this matter bring trouble to the prince?"

"There will definitely be trouble, but it doesn't matter. I just want to take this opportunity to help my second brother rally people's hearts."

"Help His Royal Highness Prince Zhao?"

"He's too immature. Those old foxes won't bet on him so quickly. If they don't, how will I have an excuse to deal with them in the future?" Li Chengqian patted Fan Ruoruo's little face and said with a smile, "How is your brother? Is he okay?"

"It's nothing serious. This time, my father got some information in advance and secretly sent a lot of guards."

"So, old ginger is still wiser." Li Chengqian smiled and said nothing more.

※※※

Linhu Palace

Emperor Qing sat in front of the brand new imperial desk, looking at Hong Sixiang. He seemed calm, but the sound of his knuckles tapping one after another showed that he was constantly thinking and pondering.

After a while, he looked at Hong Sixiang and asked, "Are you sure you couldn't raise any Qi at all at that time?"

"That poison is very strange. It can dissolve true qi. No matter how much true qi there is, it will be easily dissolved, just like sunlight melting snow." Hong Sixiang said with a wry smile, "I have never encountered such a poison. In addition, Gui Zitian's calculation of the effect of the medicine is also very accurate. After two quarters of an hour, the effect has indeed dissipated."

"But she also slept all day."

"Yes, after the effect of the medicine wore off, I fainted. Then I realized that it was not poison, but an anesthetic." Hong Sixiang's face was full of shame. As a ninth-rank upper-level strongman, generally speaking, he could be said to be almost immune to all poisons. But yesterday, he was actually knocked out, right inside the palace. If it weren't for the guards who saw the opportunity, he would have really lost his face.

"This Gui Zitian's ability to use poison is not inferior to Fei Jie's, and is enough to be comparable to that of a ninth-grade upper-level cultivator?"

"If there is no prior preparation, he can defeat several ninth-grade masters by himself." Hong Sixiang said.

"Okay, you go down."

Hong Sixiang bowed and left the Linhu Hall.

To be honest, he felt very aggrieved this time. He was knocked over by Guizi Tianyao without even moving his hands.

Gui Zitian was not only exaggerating himself, but also exploding the rumors about the Grand Master in the palace.

For a long time, Hong Sixiang has been considered the biggest suspect of the Grand Master in the palace, and one of the biggest confusing means used by Emperor Qing. Now, at least for the prince, his identity has become clear, just a ninth-rank official.

"Donggong, Guizitian, the Four Vajras..." Hong Sixiang sighed in his heart and suddenly felt very tired.

In Linhu Palace, not long after Hong Sixiang left, Eunuch Hou hurried into the palace with a hint of anxiety on his face.

"What happened again?"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has left the Eastern Palace and is heading for Chengtian Palace," Eunuch Hou whispered. "It looks like His Majesty will be attending court today."

"I understand." Emperor Qing said calmly, but his heart tightened for no reason. Is this little bastard going to cause trouble again?

In the past two years, Li Chengqian would never take the initiative to attend court meetings unless he had his own orders. Every time he went to court, he looked reluctant. But today, he actually took the initiative to go to court. Thinking about the scene that happened at the palace gate yesterday, he suddenly didn't want to go to court anymore.

※※※Chengtian Hall

The crowd was outraged, and almost all the civil officials looked at Li Chengqian who walked into the hall and Guo Baokun who followed closely behind him with angry eyes.

The two men looked calm, as if the ministers did not exist. They just nodded slightly to their father-in-law when they passed by Fan Jian.

"Huh, they're like the same raccoon dog."

Seeing the interaction between the two, low curses were heard among the ministers.

Li Chengqian stopped, glanced at the ministers indifferently, and a hint of sneer flashed across his lips.

Walking up to the Second Prince, he smiled at him and said, "Good morning, Second Brother!"

"Good morning, Your Highness." The second prince, or rather, Prince Zhao Li Chengze nodded slightly and met Li Chengqian's gaze.

As their eyes met, almost everyone could feel the strong smell of gunpowder.

Their eyes met, and Li Chengqian stood leisurely at the head of the hall, and the hall became quiet.

With the crack of the whip, Emperor Qing appeared on the stage and the court meeting began.

"Your Highness, I, Zeng Wenxiang, Grand Secretary of the Jixian Pavilion and Imperial College Priest, submit this report."

As soon as Eunuch Hou finished saying "If you have something to report, please do so. If not, please dismiss the court," Zeng Wenxiang rushed out immediately.

He had no choice. As the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, such a big thing had happened there. Not to mention the students who were beaten, even the other students were extremely angry. If he didn't take the initiative and ask for an explanation, it would be difficult for him to lead the team in the future.

"Go ahead." There was helplessness in Emperor Qing's tone. It seemed that a bloody storm was inevitable in the court today.

"I impeach the commander of the Eastern Palace guards, Qin Yuan, for leaving his body strewn in front of the Imperial College, leaving severed limbs and blood staining the sage's wall scripture, and fuming the halls of Minglun. He relies on force to overrule culture and insults the sages with blood. This act not only insults contemporary Confucian scholars and scholars throughout the world, but also tarnishes the ancient sages with his foul air. His perverse behavior is so perverse that if not severely punished, the foundation of humanities built by generations of sages will be destroyed. If this beast is not punished, how can we restore order? I request that his head be hung in Biyong as a blood sacrifice to the ancient sages."

Murderous intent, visible murderous intent, was gently exhaled from Zeng Wenxiang's mouth. Everyone gasped. Zeng Wenxiang was going to kill them!

"Zeng Wenxiang is going to fight to the death." Sitting on the dragon throne, Emperor Qing felt a tightness in his heart. He saw Zeng Wenxiang's determination. If he didn't give him a satisfactory explanation today, this old guy might really die on the spot.

"Sure enough, the old man has not been in the court for nothing all these years. A memorial avoided all the red flags and directly used flattery to pressure others and exaggerate the situation. Well, he is worthy of being the Grand Secretary of the Jixian Pavilion." Li Chengqian's face was calm, but a cold light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

At this moment, another person walked out of the team, it was Zhaojun Prince Li Chengze.

"I second the proposal."

Wow! !

As Li Chengze made his position clear, all the ministers in the hall knelt down immediately.

"I second the proposal!!"

Looking around, 90% of the civil servants knelt down. Lin Ruofu, who was standing opposite Li Chengqian, tightened his hands and pulled out a few strands of his beard.

It’s not that he doesn’t try hard, but that he can’t control it!
Zeng Wenxiang's memorial elevated the incident to the level of an insult to contemporary Confucian scholars and the world's scholars. With this big hat put on, all the civil officials in the court were immediately tied together. No matter who these court officials were, they were all civil officials. If they did not agree with the motion, they would be immediately expelled from the literati, which was something no one could bear.

"This minister, Guo Baokun from the Moral Review Department, reports."

"Go ahead." Emperor Qing felt tired.

Guo Baokun twisted his lips and glanced at the officials kneeling on the ground, as if he were looking at a group of pigs and dogs. He walked to the hall and said, "I have heard that the Imperial College is the foundation of the world's culture and education, and the model of morality for scholars. Today, the Imperial College's chief academic Zeng Wenxiang is not strict in his teaching. The students of the Imperial College are unruly and openly go in and out of brothels. They regard prostitution as a romantic thing and ignore the law. Now it has been verified that the students Ji Hao and others secretly accepted bribes from the Northern Qi, secretly colluded with the emperor, and secretly hid the Northern Qi assassins in the manor, plotting to do something illegal in the court. The Imperial College students..." "You are blind to your actions, yet you are a Northern Qi spy, inciting incitement within the Imperial College and gathering outside the palace gates. The students of the Imperial College have no moral integrity, but are content with sensual pleasures, forming cliques to pursue personal advancement. If such students were to remain at the Imperial College, they would dishonor the teachings of the sages; if they were to remain at the court, they would undermine the government. I request that the students who gathered at the palace gates yesterday be severely punished and their student status be revoked. This corruption of academic atmosphere is due to the incompetence of the Imperial College Priest. I request that the Imperial College Priest Zeng Wenxian be dismissed and that the Imperial College be reorganized to rectify the academic atmosphere!"

(End of this chapter)