Traveling through ancient times: living a different life

The carriage entered the palace gate and drove into a large square, where all the carriages were parked. There were already quite a few carriages parked there, all belonging to officials attending court. The family drivers all stayed in their carriages, waiting for their masters to dismiss the court before they could go home together.

The five people got off the carriages and walked towards the Taiji Hall. They stood at the door of the hall waiting for an incense stick of time. The team was divided into two teams, one for military generals and the other for civil officials. They stood there separately. It was May and the weather was cooler in the mornings and evenings.

Bi Yue looked at the two rows of civil and military officials, thinking, standing here waiting to enter the hall in this weather, not too cold or too hot, not bad, but what if it was winter, with wind, rain, or snow? She didn't know when the door of the hall would open, so she quietly asked Luo Chen, "When will the door of the Taiji Hall open? How long do we have to wait here?"

Luo Chen whispered softly in her ear, "The palace door will open at six in the morning. I just checked the alarm clock and it will open in a quarter of an hour. Please wait patiently."

"Isn't this too early? If I have to go to court every day, I won't do it. I want to sleep in in the morning. Can't I go to court at 7 o'clock in the morning?"

"This has already been postponed. In the past, the hall was opened at five o'clock, and the ministers at home had to get up even earlier. Of course, this was a matter of the previous dynasty. After the first king of our Changping Kingdom ascended the throne, it was stipulated that at six o'clock, all ministers could enter the hall and start discussing matters."

"It was only after the establishment of the new dynasty that the six o'clock time was stipulated."

Hearing him say this, I remembered the TV dramas I watched in my previous life. It seemed that the ministers got up at three or four o'clock and waited outside the palace. Here, court began at six o'clock. This really happened after the reform.

In my previous life, I worked at the police station and the work started at 8 o'clock in the morning. This is ancient times, and we still have to abide by the rules here in order to survive.

At this time, the gate of Taiji Hall slowly opened, and a eunuch standing at the door shouted loudly,

"Please come to the palace, ministers."

The civil and military officials on both sides of the door lined up and walked in in an orderly manner. They stood on both sides of the hall according to the size of their official rank.

Biyue is a princess of the first rank, and she stands at the front, along with the crown prince and several other princes.

The emperor was already sitting on the dragon throne, and all the ministers below were kneeling on the ground, kowtowed to the emperor, and shouted "Long live the emperor" three times.

The emperor said to his ministers, "My dear ministers, please stand up."

After the ministers stood in their seats, the crown prince was the first to step out, bowed to the emperor, and said, "Father, I have a memorial to report that Wang Jinze failed to discipline his wife's brother, causing the tragic deaths of many girls from commoner families. This is clearly written in the memorial."

After saying that, he handed the written memorial to the eunuch next to him. He handed the memorial to Jiang Yuchuan, who slowly opened it and started reading from the first page. After reading it, his face was filled with anger, and he said coldly to Wang Jinze below,

"Wang Jinze, you can't be unaware of this, right?"

When he heard the emperor calling his name, he was stunned for a moment, not knowing how he had displeased the emperor. In recent years, he had been working diligently and had not dared to make any mistakes.

After the emperor finished speaking, he threw the memorial to him. He quickly took it and read it from the beginning. The more he read, the more shocked he became. This incident happened nearly 20 years ago.

Moreover, according to investigations, in recent years that bastard is still doing this despicable thing of harming young girls. Compared with before, it has gotten much better, but three to five little girls still die every year.

Sweat slowly broke out on his forehead, knowing that he could not escape today and would be punished, and might even be demoted. It was not easy for him to climb step by step from a seventh-rank minor official to a third-rank Yinqing Guanglu Doctor over more than ten years.

It's not easy. Now that my wife's younger brother has caused such trouble, I'm afraid that all my efforts over the past twenty years have been in vain. My family members may also be implicated.

He quickly knelt down and kowtowed, "I know nothing about this matter. It was all done by my wife, my brother Qiao Tong from my mother's family."

The prince raised his eyebrows and scolded him, "Oh, you don't know anything at all? Your reputation as a henpecked man is well known to everyone in the court. You don't need to quibble. We have investigated the matter very clearly. If you want to quibble again, then take off this official uniform, be thrown into the sky prison, and confess the truth honestly."

The prince's words made him sweat. He knelt on the ground, panicking, and stammered as he told the whole story.

The ministers nearby sighed after hearing this. Even his uncle, the third-rank Taichang Shiqing, was a little uneasy to stand inside the hall. He was afraid that the matter would be implicated in his affairs, so he lowered his head, stretched his ears, and pretended to be a quail.

His Majesty also called him out by name, and he knelt on the ground and cried out that he was innocent, saying that no one had told him about this matter. After passing the imperial examination and entering the officialdom, he seldom went home, only occasionally going back every three to five years, and he was not aware of many things.

The Crown Prince and the Emperor knew that he wanted to clear himself of the matter, and with Wang Jinze as the cover, he could still be the Minister of Rites.

He still served as an official in the court with honor. It was impossible for him not to know about the scandals in their family. Many times, he might have cleaned up the mess for them and covered up for these criminals.

Otherwise, Qiao Tong would have been able to wantonly harm young girls for so many years. I don't know how many families had grievances but nowhere to seek redress, and had no place to complain about their sufferings, causing resentment among the people. It was also because of the two of them, who were high-ranking officials, but did not know how to control and restrain their relatives and friends, allowing them to commit such a terrible thing. It is not easy for them to get away with it easily.

"Leave this matter to the three divisions, Luo Chen will assist, and bring all the criminals to justice. No matter how powerful he is, he will be dealt with according to the law, and there will be no leniency."

After the emperor finished speaking, he took off a gold medal from his body and handed it to the eunuch next to him. He walked down the steps and handed the gold medal to Luo Chen. This was a gold medal with supreme power. Seeing this gold medal was like the emperor himself.

Luo Chen knelt on the ground holding the gold medal and kowtowed to the emperor, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Bi Yue came out and kowtowed to the emperor on the ground, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for upholding justice for these innocent girls. Some officials in the court rely on their power and influence to not discipline their subordinates and relatives, allowing them to rely on their power to brutally kill civilians, just like crushing an ant.

Your Majesty should issue a notice that if relatives of ministers in your family rely on someone in their family serving as an official in the court to act recklessly and harm innocent people, once they are found out, they will be implicated. Officials cannot be upright. If they cannot manage their own family affairs, how can they manage the affairs of the court? "

"Princess Rong'an said it well. If you can't manage your own family, how can you manage the affairs of the country? Write this notice immediately, post it on the pillars of the palace, and distribute it to the whole country. If anyone uses his power to oppress innocent people, he can come to Beijing to report it. The travel expenses, food and lodging will be reimbursed by the defendant."

Biyue nodded with satisfaction, this is what a wise ruler does.