We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

After the Sentinel Commander left, Xue Zhen fell into deep thought.

I have known for a long time that Prince Ninggu would do something earth-shattering after he came out of seclusion.

I didn't expect it to start so soon.

What I didn't expect was that it was done so perfectly.

The Mohe people outside the Great Wall are the Limo tribe. The leader of the Limo tribe was personally appointed by Your Majesty. In name, they are a vassal state of Daqing.

A vassal king attacked the imperial court's vassal without any reason and was so ruthless that he not only killed the person but also stripped off his clothes.

If this matter were to be brought to the court, the imperial censors would probably impeach him fiercely.

"General, should this matter... be reported to the court?" asked the deputy general.

Xue Zhen glanced at him and asked, "What's the matter?"

"It's the Prince of Ninggu...Oh!" The deputy general looked at Xue Zhen with understanding.

Xue Zhen said calmly, "What did the Prince of Ninggu do? What does it have to do with you and me?"

The previous conflict was just acting. If I complain about what happened today, it will not be acting, but offending others.

The memorial impeaching Prince Ninggu for crashing into the gate had just been submitted, and now another one was submitted for massacring and looting vassal states?

No one likes a colleague who tells tales, not even the emperor.

It is better to have less trouble than more. Just destroy the Limo tribe. I guess Your Majesty has long forgotten the existence of such a tribe.

I don’t know what these barbarians are thinking. Why would they provoke the murderous Prince Ninggu for no reason?

Xue Zhen stood up and prepared to take a nap.

Suddenly he stopped and looked at the deputy general: "I remember there is a batch of changed bedding inside the pass, right?"

The deputy general was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, there are some."

"Pack it up and send it to Prince Ninggu." Xue Zhen said.

It would be too ugly if the news got out that a vassal king stole clothes from the barbarians.

. . . . . .

Imperial capital, early morning.

The prince, dressed in a dragon robe, stood before many ministers and spoke eloquently:

"The floods in the south are gradually subsiding, but the disaster relief situation remains grim, with widespread corruption of relief grain funds."

"I believe the imperial court should dispatch envoys to the local areas to take over disaster relief operations. Records should be kept of the expenditure of funds and grain, and special personnel should be assigned to oversee the relief porridge shops."

"After the disaster victims are properly resettled, they should be included in post-disaster reconstruction as soon as possible, using work-for-relief measures."

The prince's speech was clear and logical, and all the ministers nodded slightly after listening.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Emperor Qing had a blank expression on his face.

Even after he finished speaking, the prince did not see any look of approval on his face, and he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"Well, this matter will be handled by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works." Emperor Qing said briefly.

Then he looked at the ministers in the hall and asked, "My dear ministers, do you have anything else to say?"

According to the procedure, this was the emperor's way of telling everyone that he was tired and would go off work if there was nothing else to do.

But today is different.

An imperial censor straightened his clothes, stepped forward and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, I impeach the Prince of Ninggu for three crimes!"

"First, they looted shops, let their soldiers steal food, beat up court officials, and killed scholars in Yan."

"Secondly, the number of troops under his command far exceeds the standard for a prince, and he seems to have evil intentions."

"Third, allowing the troops to destroy the pass is arrogant and domineering!"

"I hope Your Majesty will punish the Ninggu Prince with due justice, to comfort the victim!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the ministers in the court were in an uproar.

If the three charges were proven, each would be a serious crime that could lead to the removal of the royal title.

At the beginning of the year, the two kings of Qin and Jin were also impeached, but their charges were nothing more than abusing their servants, being extravagant and debauched, and not doing their jobs properly.

On the contrary, Li Che, who was obviously the most honest and cowardly prince, had caused such a big disaster before he even arrived at his fiefdom.

Emperor Qing's expression remained unchanged as he said in a deep voice, "Bring the memorial up."

Behind him, the old eunuch Huang Jin hurriedly trotted forward, took the memorial from the censor, and handed it to Emperor Qing.

Emperor Qing opened the memorial, read it quickly, and then frowned.

Below the stage, the prince lowered his head and looked submissive, but he was already ecstatic in his heart.

Well, well, well, Li Che, you finally have come to this day!

Now the emperor can't favor him anymore, right? Strip him of his royal title and demote him to a commoner!

By then, won't you just let me do whatever I want?

The prince was lost in thought, imagining Li Che kneeling at his feet, crying and begging for mercy.

Emperor Qing spoke: "Is this true?"

The censor stood up and said, "There are witnesses testifying to this, so how can it not be true?"

Emperor Qing did not say anything, but just raised his head silently and looked at Qin Huizhi among the officials.

Qin Huizhi secretly groaned. He and Wang Yongnian had previously impeached the Prince of Ninggu, but His Majesty had caught them in the act.

Wang Yongnian's entire family was exiled to Ninggu County, but he was only demoted three levels.

His Majesty's look was very clear, asking me to come forward now to protect Prince Ninggu in order to repay the kindness he had shown me that day.

Qin Huizhi knew very well that if he spoke out on this matter he would offend the crown prince and other officials from aristocratic families.

But Emperor Qing's eyes were so scorching, as if they were real, falling on him, and he really couldn't withstand the pressure.

He stepped forward and said sternly, "Censor Feng, what you said is one-sided. Both the Anping City family and the Shanhaiguan commander were involved in the incident, and there is no other evidence to support it."

"The Prince of Ninggu is a noble prince. How can you convict him without solid evidence?"

The censor was speechless for a moment and looked at Qin Huizhi with hatred.

Emperor Qing nodded slightly. "Minister Qin is right. This matter requires careful consideration."

"Well, didn't I say last time that I would send 10,000 slaves to Ninggu County and order the Prince of Ninggu County to take care of them personally?"

"Although there is no solid evidence, the Imperial Censor has heard the news and reported that the Prince of Ninggu must have been misbehaving and should be punished more severely. We will add another ten thousand slaves to the trek along with these ten thousand."

"The Ministry of Justice will dispatch officials to question the Prince of Ninggu and investigate this matter. If what you report is true, I will punish you severely!"

The Minister of Justice hurried out to receive the order.

The censor had no choice but to bow and retreat.

You are still going to punish severely without mercy. What does it mean to punish severely without mercy? Are you going to send another 10,000 people to your son?

Those slaves were liberated thanks to Prince Ninggu. If you send these slaves there, they will immediately become loyal to Prince Ninggu.

All the officials finally understood that His Majesty had fallen back into his old habit of siding with his son in everything.

The matter was left unresolved and the court meeting ended.

The ministers walked out of the hall one by one, but Emperor Qing sat upright on the dragon throne, flipping through the memorials with no intention of leaving.

Huang Jin stood silently behind Emperor Qing and served him, when he suddenly heard Emperor Qing laugh out loud.

"Old Four and Old Six, these two idiots."

Huang Jin was shocked and quickly pretended that he heard nothing.

"The matter has been done, but they don't know how to deal with it cleanly. Won't they kill all the witnesses as well?"

"I have to clean up their mess!"