I am a commoner, but I will lead the empress to unify the world

Although Prince Rong is all talk and no action, he is a veteran politician after all, and his acting skills are impeccable. His howling and wailing are so sad that anyone who hears them will cry.

The Empress's face was calm and she said calmly,

"Uncle Wang, please stand up first. If you have any grievances, please speak up."

"Your Majesty, please help me. I was just outside the palace gate when my carriage accidentally hit someone. Grand Commandant Shen whipped me non-stop.

Now my clothes are torn and my body is covered with wounds.

It’s okay for the captain to go out and beat up the old minister, as long as he is happy.

It would be fine if I, an old minister, was beaten myself, but the key point is that I, an old minister, was wearing a royal robe and standing outside the palace gate, representing the face of our Great Yan royal family.

After all, I am a prince. Even if he wants to beat me, he has to wait until I take off my royal robe. This royal robe was bestowed by the late emperor.

He is not just slapping the old minister's butt, he is clearly slapping Your Majesty in the face!

Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, feel deeply distressed. I have brought shame upon the royal family and upon our ancestors. I deserve death!"

The people around twitched their lips when they heard this.

He is truly a veteran politician. He never mentioned punishing Shen Changgong, but only talked about his own faults. The more wronged he sounded, the greater Shen Changgong's sin was.

Yan Fuyao looked at Shen Changgong and asked,

"Captain Shen, what's going on? Why did you beat the prince during my birthday banquet?"

Shen Changgong stood up, clasped his hands and said,

"Your Majesty, I was merely acting impartially. Prince Rong was guilty of the offense, bumping into people in the street and assaulting officials. To ensure he doesn't miss the birthday banquet, I've given him a light punishment and allowed him in."

Yan Fuyao nodded and praised,

"Yeah, not bad, you're a nice person."

"Your Majesty, I am only fulfilling my duty."

Prince Rong was dumbfounded.

No, what does that mean? He hit me, and you're still praising him?

Do you think the beating I received was not light enough?

Your Majesty has indeed been bewildered by the beauty of Shen Changgong. What a foolish ruler!

So, Prince Rong turned around and winked at Duke Wen, Duke Cao and others.

Signaling that they could move.

Duke Wen understood it clearly.

He stood up, took out the memorial from his arms, knelt down with a thud, held the memorial high, and made loud accusations.

Skilled in making people feel distressed.

"Your Majesty! I want to impeach Shen Changgong for eight major crimes! I will die admonishing him, even if it means I will beg for my bones! I only ask Your Majesty to enforce the law impartially and listen to my words!"

Duke Wen held up the memorial, crying and sobbing. If you didn't know better, you would think that Shen Changgong had a grudge against him for killing his father and stealing his wife.

However, Yan Fuyao was not at all panicked, and Shen Changgong was as steady as an old dog, and was already used to it.

Duke Wen opened the letter and shouted,

"Shen Changgong is married to Your Majesty and is already a member of the royal family, yet he does not go to the ancestral temple to worship his ancestors and worship heaven and earth. This is a crime of great disrespect! This is the first crime!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at the empress, obviously wanting to accuse her of every crime one by one.

He killed the enemy right from the start, which is disrespectful to his ancestors. This is a serious crime no matter where he goes.

The empress was well prepared and said leisurely,

"My husband and I's wedding ceremony hasn't been completed yet, it's just been chosen. Feng Chang said an auspicious date is next month. How can we worship our ancestors if the ceremony isn't even complete yet?"

Fengchang was one of the Nine Ministers, responsible for matters concerning the ancestral temple and royal family.

Then, Duke Wen said the second sin,

"After Shen Changgong took office as Grand Commandant, he ransacked properties, intimidated officials, tortured them into confessions, and murdered loyal officials. This is the crime of tyranny and authoritarianism! This is his second crime!"

Yan Fuyao said,

"Which loyal and good person was killed?"

"England... Duke Liang and Chen Anmin of the Chen Trading Company!"

The Duke of England has already been convicted, and it was Your Majesty who made the conviction. It is not appropriate to overturn the verdict now, otherwise it would be a slap in the face of Your Majesty.

The Empress shook her head and said,

"There is irrefutable evidence that Chen Anmin evaded taxes and privately opened a brothel, and he has confessed. I have personally read his confession, and he admitted that he was instructed by Duke Liang. Duke Liang has yet to come forward to clarify, so I can only post a wanted notice.

Shen Changgong went to his house and seized a lot of illegal gains.

I hope anyone who knows where this person is hiding will report it. I will definitely reward him handsomely. Anyone who secretly hides the imperial criminal will be punished by me.

Okay, next one."

Duke Wen was so angry that he couldn't speak anymore. He continued,

"Okay, okay, the third crime. After Shen Changgong took charge of the security forces, the capital's security became increasingly chaotic. The security forces were arrogant and domineering, and the people were suffering. The people were living in dire straits. This is the crime of dereliction of duty and disturbing the people!"

This time Yan Fuyao didn't say anything. Gongsun Wan'er, who was standing beside her, asked two guards to come up. The guards took a scroll in their hands and slowly opened it.

There are names written on it one after another.

Gongsun Wan'er said loudly,

"Please look, everyone! This is the letter sent to the Imperial Palace by the citizens of the capital the day before yesterday. There are at least ten thousand names on it, all praising the Grand Commandant, praising him for his fearlessness of power and his good governance."

Then, another guard came up with a piece of clothing that was covered with patches. To be more precise, the clothing was made up of pieces of cloth sewn together.

"This is the Clothes for All People. It is made of cloth donated by tens of thousands of people, each family scrimping and saving, and stitched together stitch by stitch.

The people were afraid that he would catch a cold, so they made clothes specifically for him.

Since ancient times, there have been very few people who could earn the people's sincere care, but Shen Changgong did it."

After saying this, Gongsun Wan'er pointed at Duke Wen below and shouted,

"I simply cannot understand the people who are oppressed and exploited by the powerful, the people who are being squeezed dry and forced to sell their children, the people who have been driven to the point of having their families torn apart by you!

When they see a good official who dares to stand up for the people without fear of power, to kill the lawbreakers and powerful people with a knife!

What reason did he have to hate this person? What reason did he have to say that the people were suffering and miserable?

Aren't you the ones who abuse your power the ones who are causing the people unbearable suffering?!"

Gongsun Wan'er's passionate speech attracted the attention of many upright officials below, who all looked shocked.

Although they did not dare to applaud due to the pressure from the powerful, they were still excited and their blood was boiling.

Dayan needs a good official like Lord Shen!

Even Shen Changgong looked at Gongsun Wan'er with admiration this time. He didn't expect that she could be so sharp-tongued.

Although there was some personal vendetta against Gongsun Wan'er involved, the passionate speech still achieved the desired effect.

Immediately afterwards, Duke Wen accused Shen Changgong of several remaining major crimes, but they were all refuted one by one by Yan Fuyao, or rejected on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

All the people from Prince Rong's faction came out, shouting for His Majesty to investigate, and wailing on their knees as if their mother had died.

Prince Gong, who was standing by, watched coldly and then gave Duke Xin a wink.