Shipin Dalizheng

He Daban exclaimed, "Lord Jian'an, did this old servant answer incorrectly?"

Rong Tang suppressed a laugh, "No. Taking the elixir is the same as becoming an immortal."

"Oh……"

He Daban turned to Wei Shangshu again, "Anything else?"

Minister Wei felt a little desperate for some reason. "But he asked again, 'Why did the snake fly up to the sky?' We answered that it took an elixir, but we were wrong again. Your Majesty, we are already in our forties..."

The pleading expression on his face was so strange it made people feel uncomfortable. Emperor Xuanning could only droop his eyelids and not look at him. "He Daban, why did Minister Wei and the others answer incorrectly?"

He Daban asked Rong Tang very carefully, "Lord Jian'an, how many elixirs are there in total?"

Rong Tang clapped his hands, "Look, He Daban, the elixir is so precious, it's unparalleled in the world."

He Daban immediately realized, "I must have eaten a toad."

Minister Wei was ready to die, but he still struggled. "How can He Daban be so sure? The toad has already become an immortal. How can it be eaten so easily?"

He Daban said, "Who knows? I only know that since the snake flew up, and there's no elixir, it must have eaten the magic toad. Isn't that certain? How come Minister Wei didn't give any correct answers?"

Minister Wei: “…”

He doesn't want to live anymore, let him die.

"That's all? That's it?"

Rong Tang coughed softly, "There's another simple one. He Daban, please don't ask. The officials in the Ministry of Rites have studied for decades, and it's not easy for them. If they can't answer a question that even a three-year-old can answer, they'll be embarrassed."

Minister Wei and other officials from the Ministry of Rites looked pale.

Emperor Xuanning was unwilling to do so. "Come and ask me. I want to know what kind of answer even a three-year-old child would know, yet it has stumped half of my Ministry of Revenue."

Minister Wei refused to speak, so Rong Tang could only say, "I also feel that it is not easy for the adults. I picked up a simple one, why can eagles fly in the sky."

Emperor Xuanning grabbed the paperweight from the imperial desk and threw it at Wei Shangshu and his group, narrowly avoiding swearing. "A bunch of idiots! An eagle has wings, so of course it can fly. You're all idiots, and you still have the nerve to come here and complain? I think you all paid for your honors when you took the imperial examinations!"

He Daban advised him, "Your Majesty, don't blame the adults. It seems that this old servant is a pervert, so he answered that way."

As soon as he reminded him, Emperor Xuanning remembered that Minister Wei had just said that anyone who could answer that question was a pervert, so wouldn't that mean he was...

"Get out of here, you bunch of trash."

Minister Wei's legs and feet were sore and he was still shaking when he got up. He suddenly remembered that Rong Tang had led him into a ditch. The fundamental reason why they came to sue Rong Tang was not just this one thing, but also because of his treasonous words. He knelt down again and took out a box of candies from his arms tremblingly.

"Your Majesty, I would like to accuse the Earl of Jian'an of treason and spreading false propaganda. His family's candy shop produces a candy with a very explicit and lascivious name, calling it the Twelve Palaces of Handsome Men, in order to attract young ladies from the imperial court to buy it for profit. Your Majesty, I beg you to punish him."

This was the first time Emperor Xuan Ning had heard of such a name, so he asked He Daban to hand over the candy box. When he opened it, he found that the glutinous rice paper had melted and stuck together because it had been kept in his arms for too long, making it look a bit ugly.

"Isn't it just candy? If you think it's too expensive, you can just not buy it. But what's the point of buying it and then suing them?"

Emperor Xuanning's words hinted at favoring Rong Tang. Minister Wei wiped his sweat, "Your Majesty, please look! This candy box is printed with twelve different, extremely handsome men, and the candies inside also have their portraits. It's so explicit, how is it any different from reselling pornographic images? This is blatant moral corruption, abducting decent girls into lustful pursuits. I urge Your Majesty to punish them severely."

Other officials of the Ministry of Rites, both great and small, also threw their heads to the ground, shouting, "We hope Your Majesty will punish us severely."

Emperor Xuanning looked displeased and said to Rong Tang, "Marquis Jian'an, what do you have to say?"

Rong Tang bowed, "Your Majesty, I certainly have something to say. First, Minister Wei's accusation that candy resembles pornographic paintings is ridiculous. The men in the paintings are all dressed elegantly and appropriately; how could any of them be naked? Has Minister Wei been saturated with pornographic paintings and developed aesthetic fatigue?"

Minister Wei's face flushed red. "Marquis Jian'an, what's the meaning of the description on this box? Where is there a country of women, and where is there a queen? And... male concubines of the twelve zodiac signs..., you are rebelling against the Heavenly Gang, you are extremely treasonous, and you have disturbed the world. You are extremely disrespectful..."

Rong Tang said calmly, "Minister Wei is so eager to accuse me of a serious crime. What are you afraid of?"

Minister Wei gritted his teeth and asked, "Why should I be afraid of you?"

"For example, in front of King Rui and King Huai, I asked what the saying 'a good bird chooses the right tree to roost in' means."

Minister Wei stumbled, fear instantly filling his heart. "Marquis Jian'an, you are talking nonsense. I never asked such a question!"

Emperor Xuanning looked at this and that, then asked tentatively, "Minister Wei, are you still going to pursue this candy matter?"

Minister Wei's forehead was sweating profusely, and he couldn't wipe it away in time. "Your Majesty, after careful consideration, I think I may have misunderstood Earl Jian'an. The colorful painting on the box was simply to attract people's attention and stimulate their desire to buy. Earl Jian'an didn't force anyone to buy it with a knife. I won't sue you for this."

Emperor Xuanning said expressionlessly, "No more complaints, please leave!"

Minister Wei said yes and led his officials away in shame.

As soon as they left, Emperor Xuanning's face turned gloomy.

A wise bird chooses its tree for roosting! He is not dead yet, and the gang has already chosen a new tree.

He Daban changed the subject, "Marquis Jian'an, why don't you tell His Majesty the origin of these twelve beautiful men's palaces, so that His Majesty can have fun listening to them."

Rong Tang smiled naturally and said, "Actually, there's nothing mysterious about it. Maybe He Daban still remembers it. The Muya tribe, one of the nine tribes in Southern Xinjiang, still has a matriarchal society. Their chief cave master is a woman. According to our Dayue name, she is also the Queen of Southern Xinjiang."

He Daban immediately remembered, "Yes, there was such a person. I remember that more than 20 years ago, the nine tribes of Southern Xinjiang came to the capital to pay homage. The female cave master was called Muya Ali. Was she the leader of the tribe?"

"At least that was the case before Xiaotang arrived. Since women are respected in the Muya tribe, it's only natural for them to have three or five wives. Xiaotang simply exaggerated their story a bit and beautified the characters, which was just to add a selling point."

This explanation is reasonable and logical. Even Emperor Xuanning did not feel uncomfortable after hearing it. He is the emperor with three palaces and six courtyards, so isn't it normal for the queen to have three or five husbands?

He Daban sighed, "My goodness, this has been passed down from generation to generation. Is the Muya tribe still safe?"

"Why isn't it stable? The Muya tribe is based on the system of primogeniture. All her children are legitimate, with no distinction between illegitimate children and those born from concubines. They are all guaranteed to be her biological children. Not to mention the distant past, from what I know, Xiaotang, the Muya tribe has been passed down for at least a thousand years and is still one of the top three tribes."

Hearing his words sound less and less like that, Emperor Xuan Ning picked up a pen holder and threw it at him, "You little bastard, what nonsense are you talking about? All children born by women are your biological children, and those born by men are... just..."

How the hell does a man give birth?

Rong Tang moved quickly, catching the jade pen holder with both hands. Seeing that the material was good, he said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."

He put it in his arms in front of Emperor Xuanning and He Daban.

"Your Majesty, in fact, you may not want to accept it, but the incense passed down by a daughter is the real incense. After all, a child born from a woman's womb is definitely her own, but for a man, whether it is his own or not depends on luck."

Emperor Xuan Ning cursed loudly, "You bastard, where did you learn such outrageous words?"

He wanted to throw him, but when he thought of the pen holder that had just been extorted from him, he gave up.

"Go back and reflect on your mistakes."