Playing bad and eating melons: The whole court is laughing? No, no

"This old minister has no such intention," the Right Prime Minister denied. "There is no precedent for this. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider."

"Your Majesty, please think again."

Except for the Crown Prince, Minister Jiang, the Grand Tutor and several civil and military officials, all other officials in the hall came out and begged Emperor Yuan to reconsider.

Seeing this, Emperor Yuan wanted to act arbitrarily, but when he thought of what the queen said to him last night, he swallowed his tough words.

Instead, he took a step back and asked, "What is the reason for the strong opposition from all the nobles? Is it because she didn't pass the imperial examination? Why not choose a date to hold the special examination for women?"

"No." The right prime minister objected again.

Emperor Yuan's face was gloomy. "Right Prime Minister, are you still going to insist that you don't discriminate against women?"

"Your Majesty, there is no precedent for this."

Emperor Yuan slammed the dragon table and said angrily, "Then I will create this precedent."

At that time, all the words that the Queen Mother had told him were completely forgotten.

The emperor was furious, and all the civil and military officials in the hall knelt on the ground.

Minister Jiang was in a dilemma, neither kneeling nor not kneeling. After a moment's thought, he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I understand that this incident is so sudden that it's understandable that everyone is having trouble accepting it. It would be better if I could allow my daughter to attend court with me for a few days, so that everyone can get to know her knowledge before making any judgments."

"What do you think, Right Prime Minister?" Emperor Yuan asked in a cold voice.

The Right Prime Minister still didn't want to agree, but he knew it was not a good time to anger Emperor Yuan again.

So he said, "Just as Minister Jiang said, I, an old minister, would also like to see Miss Jiang's talent."

Emperor Yuan snorted inwardly, "Do you have anything else to report?"

Concubine Wan's brother, Lord Qian, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Concubine Wan was wrong to offend Your Majesty, but her crime does not warrant banishment to the cold palace. Please show some mercy."

"Your Majesty, please show some mercy." Two more ministers followed closely and came forward to plead for mercy.

"Lord Qian, I wanted to tell you privately about Concubine Wan. Concubine Wan..."

When Lord Qian heard Emperor Yuan's tone, he couldn't help but hold his breath and felt a little uneasy.

"Princess Wan hanged herself in the cold palace last night. I, in accordance with her wishes, will keep her death a secret and send her back to her hometown for burial on a date to be chosen."

Master Qian fell to the ground with a thud, shaking his head repeatedly, "No... Impossible. Sister... How could Sister commit suicide?"

Emperor Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, "What do you mean, Mr. Qian?"

Lord Qian's heart skipped a beat, and he kowtowed quickly, saying, "I heard the tragic news about my sister so suddenly that I lost my temper. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"That's all. It's human nature."

Emperor Yuan glanced at Li Fuquan, who understood and said loudly, "If you have something to report, please submit it. If you don't, please leave the court."

After waiting for a while and seeing that no one came out, Emperor Yuan got up and left.

Lord Qian looked dazed and stumbled out of the hall. His colleagues all advised him to mourn less.

But he didn't know that while he was in court, the Queen summoned his wife into the palace.

Soon, Mrs. Qian brought the eleventh princess back to the Qian family.

When he returned home, he saw that Princess Eleven was stunned.

Madam Qian told Lord Qian what the Queen had said to her, and Lord Qian then learned the true cause of his sister's death.

"Sister is confused!"

***

Minister Jiang got off the carriage exhausted. It was the first time he felt so tired after being an official for so many years.

After the court session, he was called to the study by His Majesty.

His Majesty asked him to guide his daughter to eat the melons of the ministers in the court at all costs, so that his colleagues would agree to let his daughter attend the court to discuss state affairs.

They said they were discussing politics, but in fact they were serving as a knife for the emperor.

A sword to supervise all officials.

Alas~Who should I target tomorrow?

"Dad, you're back? Mom is waiting for you inside." Jiang Yueyang greeted casually and walked out.

Minister Jiang reached out and grabbed her collar and pulled her back, "Where are you going now?"

His Majesty just told him that the eldest daughter of the Lin family had an affair with someone because she found out about it while eating melons.

"I'm not going anywhere, just walking around the streets."

"You are not allowed to go anywhere today. I have something to tell you." Minister Jiang loosened her collar and walked straight into the mansion.

Jiang Yueyang glanced outside, then glanced at her father's back, and finally went back with her head hung.

In Minister Jiang's study.

"Yangyang, you will go to court with me tomorrow."

Jiang Yueyang didn't quite understand what her father said, and asked in confusion, "Dad, what are you talking about?"

"I said, you will go to court with me tomorrow."

"Why?" Jiang Yueyang shouted.

Minister Jiang was startled, but after a moment's pause, he said, "The Empress said you are profoundly knowledgeable, on par with the top scholar in the imperial examination. Therefore, His Majesty wishes to appoint you as a fifth-rank editor, responsible for repairing the books in the library."

"The Queen has been threatened?"

Minister Jiang: “…”

Jiang Yueyang understood his father's speechless expression, "Otherwise, why would the Queen say that I'm knowledgeable? I clearly told her that the poem was not written by me!"

"I do not know."

"Dad, why don't you explain it to me?" Jiang Yueyang complained, "No, this is not right. How could the civil and military officials agree to something that is against etiquette?"

"I disagree. Therefore, I will not grant you an official position for the time being. I will let you follow me to court for a few days to see how things go before I decide whether to grant you an official position."

"Ah..." Jiang Yueyang looked hopeless. "I don't want to go to work. Dad, go tell His Majesty that I'm not up to the task and ask him to find another capable official."

"I won't go. His Majesty has already said that he wants to see him alive or dead tomorrow."

Emperor Yuan: I didn't, I didn't say that. Don't slander me, or I'll sue you for defamation.

[Fuck! Is Your Majesty crazy? Woohoo… Little Melon, I don’t want to go to work.]

Minister Jiang: “…”

System: [From what I heard from your father just now, it seems that he will give you a few days of probation. If you pass the probation period, you will be given an official position. If you fail the probation period, there will be no such thing as an official position. Since Suzhu doesn't want to go to work, he will perform a little worse tomorrow.]

[Why are you acting so poorly? Dozing off during court? Being clueless about anything?]

[It is recommended that the host act in their true colors, so that it does not appear too fake.]

Jiang Yueyang: [...Little Melon, I think you are scolding me.]

Minister Jiang tried to suppress his laughter.

The system said seriously, "Host, I didn't. This is an objective analysis. Think about it, you're not good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy, or painting, and you haven't learned a thing about the Four Books and Five Classics. If you want to mess up your probation period, playing yourself is the best option."

[Okay... I really don't understand what's wrong with His Majesty. First he assigned me a secret guard, and now he's inexplicably asking me to attend court. The ancients were right; emperors are fickle.]

Minister Jiang coughed heavily a few times, "Alright, stay home today and don't go anywhere. Go to bed early tonight, and come with me to court at 3:30 AM tomorrow."

[What time is Maoshi?... Shit, it's five in the morning!]