Shipin Dalizheng

In the past few days in the court, some officials from the Ministry of Rites impeached Mrs. Tang for divorcing her husband for the crime of treason and hoped that he would intervene and issue an imperial decree to stop it. Emperor Xuanning prided himself on being a broad-minded person and always adopted a conciliatory attitude. He simply said that this was a family matter and the court should not interfere, thus shutting up those people.

Another real reason is that it was the Sima family who proposed the breakup. On one side was a fifth-rank official of the Ministry of Works who was neither more nor less than him, and on the other side was the Sima family who had the world's most skilled craftsmen. They knew clearly who was more useful to the court.

The one in front of him was Tang Tiantian, the daughter of Hu people, whom Tang Xunze regarded as a disgrace. She was also the one who was praised by Zhao Ling again and again in the past two days. She was smart and no worse than her brother.

Speaking of this, Emperor Xuanning also looked down on Tang Xunze as an emperor. The Hu bloodline was clearly passed down by him, but he was afraid of being ridiculed, so he beat and killed his children. He was so cruel and heartless that he was not worthy of being a human being.

He was an emperor with extensive knowledge. He knew that there were other small countries around Dai Viet, and he did not discriminate against the Hu people. After all, when he was a child, he had accompanied the late emperor to receive the royal family of the Western Regions. The late emperor also treated the royal family of other countries with great courtesy, regardless of status.

Even now, when he saw Tang Tiantian, whose appearance was different from that of the women from Dayue, he only felt that she was a pretty girl with curly hair, pleasing to the eye.

He casually asked, "She is your partner Tang Tiantian?"

Tang Tiantian knelt down and saluted, "I, Tang Tiantian, wish to see Your Majesty's blessing."

"Stand up, you and Zhao Ling are good friends, well, that's not bad."

Emperor Xuanning wiped his hands and let the others into the imperial study. Zhao Ling said happily, "Father, didn't you say you wanted to meet the young ladies who came to the Ministry of Revenue to check the accounts? Coincidentally, I saw them today at Minister Wei's residence."

Emperor Xuanning stroked his short mustache and asked casually, "Aren't there three? The other two are...?"

He Daban replied, "Your Majesty, the other two are the daughters of the Xie and Cui families."

Emperor Xuan Ning nodded and said, "You did a great job checking the accounts and found many problems."

Emperor Xuanning roughly knew that these girls were among those who had uncovered the major problems of the Liang family, but on the surface, the results they reported were all minor issues, not enough to shake the Ministry of Revenue. In order to protect their safety, Taifu Xie and Cui Jijiu both went to the palace to convey the message that no reward was needed.

"I heard that you guys have partnered up to set up an actuarial firm, specializing in helping people check their accounts. How's your business going? Is it booming?"

Zhao Ling pursed his lips. "Father, please don't mention it. We opened an actuarial society to help those clients with their accounts and prevent them from being cheated by people making false accounts. We also wanted to collect a small fee for our hard work. We didn't offend anyone and were criticized."

Emperor Xuanning was interested. "Who dares to criticize my princess?"

"It's that same chaste lady again. She sent us a notice today to invite us over so she could publicly criticize us. Miss Xie and Miss Cui left early, and Tiantian and I wanted to leave too, but she stopped us and even gathered dozens of people to bully Tiantian. If it weren't for Cousin Tang's protection, she would have written some kind of judgment against the inner court ladies. Father, she said she's a role model for women everywhere and can criticize anyone she wants. Is that true?"

Emperor Xuanning couldn't help but glance sideways. He had given such power to a concubine? How could he not know? She was a role model for women all over the country. Had he asked the Empress Dowager and the Empress?

Emperor Xuanning was an emperor who liked to smooth things over. He did not express his own opinion, but simply said, "The affairs of the imperial concubines are all managed by your mother. You can ask her. Perhaps she has given Lady Zhenlie some authority."

Zhao Ling tilted his head and thought for a moment. "That's right. If Mother really gave Madam Zhenlie the power to criticize whoever she wanted, then I, your son, should be more respectful when I see her in the future. Father, Tiantian and I will take our leave. While it's still early, let's go ask Mother."

Looking at the two girls walking away, Emperor Xuan Ning had a strange thought. Zhao Ling was going to cheat someone. Why did this feel so familiar?

Sima Zhi, seeing that there was nothing more for him to do, also bowed and took his leave. As he left the imperial study, he ran into Li Dequan, who came running in and reported, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Rites has brought seven or eight officials from the Ministry of Rites to see you. They are all crying and wailing, and I can't stop them."

Having just heard about Madam Zhenlie's meddling in other people's affairs, Minister Wei came out again. Xuan Ningbai was very impatient, "What happened to the Ministry of Rites again?"

After being summoned, Minister Wei burst into a tearful tale, recounting how Rong Tang had wreaked havoc in the Shangshu Mansion and driven his mother to the point of vomiting blood. Seven or eight other officials also embellished the story, adding details and exaggerating it several times over. According to them, Rong Tang deserved nothing less than stripping his title and imprisonment.

However, due to Princess Zhaoling's previous preparations, Emperor Xuanning had already formed a preconceived notion and believed that Rong Tang was protecting his fiancée. He was very displeased with the actions of Wei Shangshu and his mother.

An old woman of high rank gathered dozens of people to criticize a little girl.

A second-rank minister, the top official of one of the six ministries, and half of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, worked together to discipline a young couple.

Regardless of whether it was right or wrong, they used their numbers to bully the weak, and with such a huge disparity in strength, they actually didn't win. They suffered a loss and then came to him to cry. How shameless!

But seeing them crying, Emperor Xuan Ning didn't want people to think that he was biased towards Rong Zhan without knowing the truth, so he ordered Li Dequan to invite Rong Tang in for questioning. This was what Gu Zhongxun saw at that moment.

Rong Tang did not hesitate and followed Li Dequan into the palace and went straight into the imperial study to reply.

Minister Wei glared at him, and Rong Tang looked puzzled. "Hey! Minister Wei, it's just a few common sense questions that you can't answer. Why are you so distressed? Are you going to sue me?"

Minister Wei barely managed to avoid a violent outburst of curses. "Marquis Jian'an, you humiliate me and my mother. I will never let you go."

Rong Tang tutted his words. "You old man are being unreasonable, Your Majesty. I didn't bully them. They asked me questions first, and then I asked them questions. They couldn't answer, so they got angry out of shame. I've never seen someone who can't stand losing like this. You're unworthy of claiming to have read the books of sages for decades."

Minister Wei's defense broke down again. "Is that a normal question? What kind of pervert could answer that?"

Seeing that they were about to quarrel in front of the emperor, He Daban intervened on behalf of Emperor Xuanning, "Everyone, please stop arguing. Minister Wei, tell me, what perverted question did the Earl of Jian'an ask? I have read a few books, so I will answer it."

Minister Wei looked constipated. "First question, there are two silver notes on the ground, one worth ten taels and one worth a hundred taels. Which one did He Daban pick up?"

He Daban was shocked. This was a problem? A problem that stumped most officials in the Ministry of Rites?

This was the first time Emperor Xuan Ning had heard such a stupid question. "He Daban, which one did you pick?"

"Uh! I'm a greedy old servant, so I must have picked them all up. Ten taels is also silver!"

Emperor Xuanning turned to Minister Wei and asked, "So, my dear minister, you don't want it because you have enough money?"

Minister Wei panicked for no reason. "No, Your Majesty, I thought the question required you to pick only one, so I chose the larger one. The second question is about two silver notes, one worth ten taels and one worth one hundred thousand taels. How can you be my companion..."

He Daban was surprised and doubtful. "If I am not senile, we in Dayue do not have 100,000 taels of silver notes. Could it be that Minister Wei has seen it?"

"No... no..." Minister Wei panicked, wiping his sweat. "This old minister was careless. The third question is, why do toads fly in the sky? Your Majesty, we are all doing our duty and have never believed in supernatural things, so I don't understand this question."

Only normal people can understand what he means.

Emperor Xuanning looked at He Daban, who clapped his hands and said, "The toad has become an immortal."

Suddenly, Rong Tang burst into laughter.