Princess Promotion

Yao Chuguang supported his head and lazily watched Liu Yushi below speaking passionately, accusing Yao Chuguang of making Xue Qing a prince.

Xueqing should be rewarded for his meritorious service, but he should not act on impulse when he is sent to the border as an envoy to represent the reputation of Qi.

You should choose a girl from a noble family with a good character and a kind heart.

Just as Yao Chuguang was about to fall asleep, Censor Liu finally got to the point. He pulled a thick memorial from his sleeve and said passionately, "We, the ministers, have jointly submitted this memorial. We hope Your Majesty will revoke your order."

Yao Chu finally perked up and said "Yeah".

As if responding casually to a boring topic, he said, "Show it up."

Eunuch Feng immediately trotted down, took the memorial from Censor Liu, and ran back to Yao Chuguang.

Yao Chuguang took the letter, flipped it a few times, and then threw it back to Eunuch Feng.

After scanning the audience and finding Yu Zhijian, he said, "Let Yu Qing's family handle this."

Yao Chuguang's words were incoherent and all the officials were confused.

Yu Zhijian is not from the Ministry of Justice. He is just proposing to change the candidates for the border envoys, and this has involved the Ministry of Justice.

Censor Liu realized something, his face turned pale instantly, and he was about to kneel down and beg for mercy.

The imperial guards covered his mouth and dragged him away. In an instant, the surroundings became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Who is Yu Zhijian? He is a notorious murderer.

Anyone who falls into his hands is no different from meeting the King of Hell.

Now, Your Majesty has asked Yu Zhijian to take charge of this matter. What kind of joint letter was presented by Censor Liu? It is simply a book of life and death.

Yu Zhijian took two steps forward and said, "I accept your order, but this matter involves many things. I hope Your Majesty can provide some guidance."

What Yu Zhijian meant was, have all the people on the list been cut off?

Yao Chuguang thought for a moment and said, "How about this: check the names on this list. Anyone who advocated for and instigated this will be counted as the principal offender."

Yao Chuguang narrowed his eyes coldly and said, "The mastermind will receive twenty strokes of the cane, followed by at least ten years of forced labor. The blind followers will receive at least five years."

Yu Zhijian thought about it. He just glanced at the list and found that many of them were famous playboys in Yundu City.

These playboys probably signed their names without knowing what the memorial was about, or even signed without even reading it while drunk, without even realizing their names appeared on it.

Yu Zhijian has dealt with too many cases of drinking and causing trouble. The dandies who are still alive and hanging around in Yundu City are basically paper tigers who are just trying to get by.

Because those who had the courage to cause trouble had already been dealt with by Yu Zhijian, those who are left now are all honest.

At most, they just drink wine and play with cats and dogs.

If it was something else, like being taken advantage of while drunk, Yu Zhijian would basically turn a blind eye.

But now His Majesty obviously does not want to let it go lightly, and the names of these people appear clearly on the memorial.

Yu Zhijian asked, "Your Majesty, I saw a few dandies inside. I know them. Although they're not very decent, they're timid. Even if someone is instigating them, they probably wouldn't dare get involved. They might have been tricked into signing while drunk. How should this situation be handled?"

If an ordinary person saw that the empress was angry, he would definitely not dare to plead for these people on the spot.

But Yu Zhijian dared to do so and asked openly.

Yao Chuguang sneered, "How dare these people so blatantly exploit these good-for-nothings? They're just after their fathers and brothers who hold official positions."

"As a family member of an imperial official, you don't cultivate your moral character and do evil things all day long. It's okay for you to be used by others today, but can you say that you are also being used by others for abusing your power for personal gain tomorrow?" Yao Chuguang's voice revealed the atmosphere of impending storm.

Yao Chuguang looked around and asked, "Why aren't you talking? I'm asking you, do you think that just because you're an official's relative you're superior and can do whatever you want?"

All the ministers were like quails, with their heads lowered and not daring to breathe.

Yao Chuguang's brows were filled with sinister intent as he spoke, "It's the father's fault for not educating his children. Unless all ties are severed, every last one will be counted. These dandy youngsters have fathers, brothers, and relatives who hold official positions in the court, yet they don't even bother to discipline them. There's no need to worry about them. They should just be exiled to the border."

When these words were spoken, all the ministers knelt on the ground in fear, but no one dared to come out to plead for mercy.

Yu Zhijian said calmly, "I obey your order."

Yao Chuguang seemed to have just remembered something and added, "I seem to see some royal family members on it."

As soon as the words came out, even the breathing in the hall seemed to stop.

Yan Yunfan could feel that after Yao Chuguang said this, even Liang Xingli, who was just kneeling along with her, began to sweat coldly.

Being a descendant of the royal family, is that a Achilles' heel?

Yao Chuguang's expression remained calm as he said, "As a member of the royal family, you cannot set a good example and bring shame to the royal family. Your crime is even more serious. If you are the main culprit, you will be executed immediately. No further instructions are needed."

Yan Yunfan was stunned on the spot. Not only was the royal family's children not given preferential treatment, but their crime was even more serious?

In the past, when the royal family members of the State of Yan committed a crime, even if the crime was punishable by death, they would be executed in private and would never be made public to damage the reputation of the royal family.

To put it bluntly, royal family members have privileges. For the same crime, ordinary dignitaries may be beheaded, but for royal family members, they are easily forgiven and at most are imprisoned for a period of time.

The only two things that could cost the lives of royal family members were treason or mistaking one's position for another.

But for Yao Chuguang, the result was completely the opposite.

None of the ordinary nobles died, but the royal family members were executed later.

Yao Chuguang gazed at Li Yinhan calmly and said, "There is another person who can barely be considered a royal relative, Duke Li's brother-in-law, Cao Shijin, who will be executed in the autumn."

Li Yinhan's mind exploded, and he didn't care to shout directly in the hall: "Achu, please spare my uncle's life. You can punish him in any way, as long as you let him live."

Li Yinhan lowered his eyes and dared not look directly at Yao Chuguang. He knew that his uncle had gotten into big trouble this time.

The knife only hurts when it pierces your body. He knew that it was wrong to do so and it would make Ah Chu embarrassed.

But he was my mother's only younger brother, and he was her uncle who had played with her since childhood and loved her very much.

Li Yinhan really couldn't bear to watch his uncle die.

The ministers, who had already knelt down, lowered their heads even more.

Yao Chuguang was unexpectedly not angry, as law and emotion often conflict.

Even if Cao Shijin has a thousand or ten thousand faults in the eyes of others, it cannot erase the fact that he is Li Yinhan's uncle.

Yao Chuguang's eyes were calm as he spoke, "You too have fought on the battlefield and survived. If you weren't my cousin, but were an unknown soldier, fighting bravely to kill the enemy and earning merit, then others would say you weren't qualified to receive merit because your birth wasn't noble enough. So they're giving your honor to a noble who only knows how to hide in the background. Just because of his noble bloodline, he doesn't have to do anything to have everything."

Yao Chuguang raised her voice, "I'm just asking you, is this fair? Are you convinced?"

"Are you convinced?" Yao Chuguang glanced at everyone.

"I refuse to accept the defeat!" General Park was the first to stand up.

After the first one, there will be the second, the third, until all the generals have stood up.

"Your Majesty, I petition that if my family members are on the list, the crime will be even more severe. I am willing to accept twenty strokes of the cane." General Park asked for permission.

"Add one more general!"

"Me too!"

The military generals took the initiative to ask for an imperial decree to increase the crime.

The civil officials looked at the military generals with eyes that seemed to want to shut their mouths, because they really couldn't guarantee it.

They still know the character of their own family members, and they are afraid that they will lose their lives if they say too much.

Maybe my own evil son is on that list.

Li Yinhan felt as if a giant hand was pinching his heart, and the pain was so severe that he couldn't say a word.

Whether he was standing or kneeling, he couldn't breathe and his chest ached like a knife.

But he knew that he couldn't continue to be willful and put Ah Chu in a difficult position.

Li Yinhan propped himself up on his knees and tried with all his strength to stand up.

His shoulder was pressed down again by a soft force.

It turned out that Yao Chuguang had walked down and stood in front of him without him knowing.

Yao Chuguang lowered her body and gently hugged Li Yinhan and whispered, "Brother, just hate me!"

After saying that, Yao Chuguang let go of Li Yinhan and walked towards the palace door, saying as he walked, "Just kneel here. When you understand clearly, you can stand up again. Now, dismiss the court!"

Li Yinhan's eyes were instantly filled with mist. How could he possibly hate Achu?

Only after Yao Chuguang's figure completely disappeared from the hall did the ministers breathe a sigh of relief.

The ministers then stood up and left the hall in an orderly manner.

In the end, only Li Yinhan was left kneeling in the hall.

Yan Yunfan looked at Li Yinhan's lonely figure, feeling mixed emotions for a moment.

It was not until this moment that Yan Yunfan finally realized the gap between himself and Yao Chuguang.

When he was learning the art of being an emperor, he only thought about how to balance power and the art of strategy.

Yu Zhijian followed Yao Chuguang to the imperial study, and both of them were silent along the way.

Yao Chuguang's expression brightened slightly as he spoke, "I know about this. I'm sorry to trouble you. Everyone on the list has a strong background. I'm sure many people will come to you and ask for leniency."

Yu Zhijian is just about to make it clear that he will never embezzle or accept bribes, and that he is alone and has no evidence against him, so please rest assured, Your Majesty.

Yao Chuguang raised his hand to interrupt Yu Zhijian's words: "I said this to tell you that if anyone comes to you, you should open the back door for them openly."

Yu Zhijian showed a bewildered expression and repeated, "Your Majesty, are you asking me to openly accept bribes?"

Yao Chuguang said indifferently, "Those good-for-nothings whose bodies have been hollowed out by alcohol and sex, if we really follow the plan, few of them will survive. I never wanted to kill them in the first place, this is just a small punishment for a big warning."

Yu Zhijian didn't expect the situation to turn around so suddenly. He was on the verge of death in the hall and everything was fine the next moment?

Yao Chuguang leaned back in the soft chair and said, "I looked at the list, there isn't a single big fish, only small fish and shrimp."

Yu Zhijian's face was solemn. This incident had caused such a big stir, but the list was full of uneducated and dissolute young men. It was obvious at a glance that they were put forward to take the blame and test Yao Chuguang.

The barbarians have such a huge interest, and there are many people in the court who are jealous of them.

However, those old officials were very afraid of Yao Chuguang and did not dare to take action easily.

If one fails, everything might go to waste, so he finds a scapegoat to test the waters first.

See what Yao Chuguang’s attitude is, and then decide what to do next.

What they didn't expect was that Yao Chuguang was so cruel and didn't give face to anyone.

Yao Chuguang gently rocked the recliner and said, "Although I know they were pulled out to block the knife, they all have one thing in common."

Yu Zhijian looked puzzled and asked, "What is it?"

Yao Chuguang smiled and said, "They are all favored children of their families. You should clearly mark the price at the government office: 100,000 taels of silver for each year of corvée labor, and 10,000 taels of silver for each caning. You can reduce these two items by half at most."

Yao Chuguang winked at Yu Zhijian and said, "When you receive the money, you can take one percent."

Yu Zhijian was so frightened that he refused repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty, please humiliate me. I cannot do that."

Yao Chuguang waved his hand and said, "This is an imperial decree. Do not disobey it. There is no reason in this world that an honest official must be incorruptible. Can't an honest official gain both fame and fortune?"

Yu Zhijian was about to say that this was too much when Yao Chuguang interrupted him, "Besides, I know you're soft-hearted. Most of the cases handled by the Ministry of Justice are human tragedies. You can't help but help when you see them."

Yao Chuguang looked up at Yu Zhijian with disdain and said, "You say you've been an official for many years, but you still can't afford to buy even a new pair of boots. It's okay to eat in the cafeteria, but everyone else takes a portion of the packed cakes, but you stay there until the latest every day and take away all the cakes."

Being muttered by Yao Chuguang like this, Yu Zhijian lowered his head in embarrassment, and a warm feeling surged in his heart.

I guess His Majesty is the only one in this world who thinks he is a soft-hearted person.

Yao Chuguang waved his hand and said, "It's decided. There's no room for further discussion on this matter!"

Yu Zhijian hesitated, but still asked, "Since everyone else has received a light sentence, then what about Cao Shijin..."

Yao Chuguang's eyes darkened, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as he said, "Everyone else can be dealt with with care, but Cao Shijin must be eliminated."

Yu Zhijian was stunned. In his eyes, Cao Shijin was no different from those dandies. He was just relying on Duke Li to bully others.

As the recliner swayed up and down, Yao Chuguang's face flickered in and out of the shadows. "You think Cao Shijin is a good-for-nothing, a brainless person, so even if he's left alone, he won't cause any trouble?"

Yao Chuguang continued, "Since he's such a fool, it's not impossible to forgive him considering Duke Li has risked his life numerous times for the State of Qi and made such great contributions. It's not because I'm afraid of him, but because I simply don't want him to be distracted and worried about such a small matter. Being distracted on the battlefield is fatal."

Yu Zhijian didn't answer, but he did think so.

Yao Chuguang placed his hands on his knees and tapped his fingers. "From this perspective, there's really nothing wrong with letting Cao Shijin go, but what if we think about it from a long-term perspective?"

Yu Zhijian looked at Yao Chuguang in confusion. Will this case lead to other problems later?