The one standing in front of him was an old minister around his 50s or 60s.
A look at his court uniform told him that he was second-ranked, a whole
rank higher than Jiang Suizhou.
When he saw Jiang Suizhou coming, the old minister turned his head and
nodded at him, as a greeting.
"Your Highness King Jing has come early today," he said with a light smile.
As he turned around, Jiang Suizhou read the writing on his court tablet.
Minister of Rites, Ji You; he was Jiang Suizhou's immediate boss.
He was detached and amicable, so he was probably not close to King Jing.
Jiang Suizhou smiled in response, also nodded at him and greeted him good
morning.
Ji You glanced around and found that the surroundings were quiet. There
wasn't anyone nearby, so he whispered, "Your Highness has suffered from
an injustice. Just bear it, and it will pass."
After saying that, he nodded at Jiang Suizhou with goodwill and then turned
around once more.
Jiang Suizhou didn't quite understand his meaning, so he responded and
ended the conversation with him.
…However, he soon understood what Ji You meant.
When the hour arrived, the morning sun jumped on the glorious golden
glazed roof, the drums sounded outside the Zhengyang Hall, followed by the eunuchs singing loudly.
History's most famous fatuous and self-indulgent ruler, South Jing's
Emperor, Emperor Jing You, His Majesty Jiang Shunheng, has arrived.
In the thousands of years of history, there were few who could be dubbed
"You" by posterity. After all, most emperors rendered great service. It was
ultimately rare to have muddle-headed ones whom the later generations
would take their posthumous titles to point at their noises and ridicule.
Jiang Shunheng and his father, whose posthumous title was "Ling",
accounted for two.
Jiang Suizhou followed the civil and military officials with the salute, then
looked up to the throne.
He only saw a puffy fat man in his thirties sitting in the middle of the
throne. He was wrapped in a twelve-chapter pattern black imperial robe. He
was sitting crookedly, and hangings on top of his head swayed to and fro,
tinkling loudly.
Before Jiang Suizhou could take a closer look, he locked eyes with the
latter.
The fat man's small eyes patrolled the courtiers, then precisely found Jiang
Suizhou. All at once, he revealed a look that harbored evil designs, yet with
an extremely joyful glow.
Jiang Suizhou's heart thumped.
As expected, the next moment, the Emperor of Jing spoke.
"Fifth brother, I gave you that beautiful concubine, did you enjoy him well
last night?"
He asked in a deliberately ambiguous measured cadence, and half of the
court ministers laughed along with him. The original solemn atmosphere of
the court hall suddenly became ludicrous.
Jiang Suizhou gritted his teeth.
The five-day dynasty will not be used to deliberate, was wrecked into this
way, not blame the history books scold you faint king, not blame you Jing
dynasty died.
The Great Court Assembly held once every five days was not used for
discussion, but was wrecked into this state. He shouldn't blame history
books for calling him a fatuous and self-indulgent ruler, or the fall of the
Jing Dynasty under his rule.
However, from that sentence, Jiang Suizhou pinpointed a different
undertone.
The Emperor of Jing arrived, harboring evil intentions, and the courtiers
either followed suit, or looked unsightly and kept their mouths shut. It was
obvious that the original owner wasn't popular in the court. The matter of
the emperor giving him a concubine was also killing two birds with one
stone, humiliating him on both.
Hence, he naturally couldn't show happiness.
With this thought, Jiang Suizhou gritted his teeth and showed a humiliated
look, as if reluctant to mention yesterday's incident. "This younger brother
thanks Brother Emperor for your reward."
The Emperor of Jing laughed uproariously.
"No thanks, no thanks! Hey, I heard that yesterday, you did not come out of
his room all night?" He said.
Jiang Suizhou, "…"
This fatuous emperor hasn't had enough yet.
As expected, there were indeed spies of the latter in his house. Moreover,
the latter also did not hide it in the slightest and said so openly.
…In all likelihood, it isn't that this fatuous ruler is frank and righteous, but
is indeed dim-witted.
Jiang Suizhou slandered silently, but his expression matched his words,
with traces of embarrassment.
When the latter saw his appearance, he really became more excited.
"When you got up early in the morning, did you call for a doctor? Fifth
Brother, you should take care of your health. You were born with this
ailment, so how can you stand the torment?"
After speaking, he also greeted a certain official in the front row, "Uncle,
did you see? My fifth brother's face is so white that I can see the dark
circles under his eyes from afar! Last night, there must have been a lot of
tossing and turning. Hahahahaha!"
Hearing this title, the minister he addressed was definitely Pang Shao.
Pang Shao was the brother of Empress Dowager Pang, and he has the
official rank of Grand Minister over the Masses. According to historical
records, he was restrained in the previous dynasty. After Jiang Shunheng
ascended to the throne, he revealed his true form and only focused on
seizing power by hoarding money. For Jiang Shunheng, he was a
connivance. For Jiang Shunheng, it was all but connivance and flattery.
Therefore, the empress also liked this uncle very much.
Seriously, upon hearing the Emperor of Jing's words, a low, muffled
laughter came from the front row of officials. There was no comment, nor
the slightest intention of admonishing him to restrain himself.
Jiang Suizhou even heard dashes of pleasure in his laughter.
It immediately became clear to him.
It turned out that not only did he have an ancestor who was going to kill
him sooner or later, but he was also in a tight spot in the court.
No matter how bitter Jiang Suizhou was deep inside, he no longer wanted to
dwell on it.
He stood there and listened indifferently to the emperor's wanton mocking
and sarcasm, responding now and then. The more he talked, the more
excited he became. It was obvious that he had exhausted his pitiful brain to
come up with this wonderful marriage, waiting for this day.
Jiang Suizhou was too lazy to retort and let him kick up a fuss.
Just then, there were a few faint, throat-clearing sounds coming from the
front row of officials. The Emperor paused and immediately looked in that
direction.
Then, he immediately showed a look of understanding and laughed out loud
some more.
"Fifth Brother, I have thought about it yesterday," he said.
Jiang Suizhou raised his head and saw him narrowing those small eyes and
smiling maliciously at him.
"The father of that Madam Huo in your house, wasn't he the Marquis of
Dingbei Marquis of our Great Jing back then? After all the ups and downs,
we've become a family again. Our Great Jing is also considered Madam
Huo's maternal family," he said.
"In that case, the rule of visiting the bride's home after three days can not
be abolished. I've decided. After three days, bring Madam Huo to the
palace to return to his maternal home. What do you think?"
Return to the bride's home?
Huo Wujiu exterminated the emperor's country, and the latter killed Huo
Wujiu's father. They were already at odds and ends, so how could he claim
that they were Huo Wujiu's family?
He said it was returning to the bride's home, but his unabashed tone clearly
showed his desire to find an excuse to taunt and humiliate Huo Wujiu.
With his knowledge of thousands of years of history, Jiang Suizhou also had
some understanding of this fatuous ruler.
The Hou Zhu, as stupid as he was, certainly couldn't have come up with
this humiliating trick to force Huo Wujiu back to his maternal home.
Jiang Suizhou caught the look shared between the Emperor and Pang Shao.
Nine out of ten, it was Pang Shao who was in cahoots with the Hou Zhu.
The latter wanted to take Huo Wujiu out, and Pang Shao wanted to please
him, so Pang Shao must have come up with this idea for him.
The two of them hit it off immediately. They would each happily obtain
their desires. He, on the other hand, would end up suffering.
Regardless of who wanted to humiliate Huo Wujiu, in Huo Wujiu's
perspective, he, Jiang Suizhou, and they were jackals of the same lair.
Jiang Suizhou didn't want to drive someone to their death. He could turn a
blind eye to it, but he didn't want to use his own head as a bargaining chip.
Jiang Suizhou gritted his teeth.
He had to refuse for Huo Wujiu, and he had to come up with a sound
reason.
He paused, and his exquisite, almost lush face showed tinges of revulsion
and embarrassment.
"Brother Emperor, that's unnecessary." He lowered his eyes, his slender
eyelashes blocking the emotions in his eyes and aptly posing a gesture of
refusal. "A cripple is hardly presentable and would only provoke Brother
Emperor's disgust."
He spoke slowly, exhibiting his disgust between the lines.
Jiang Suizhou wove his words beautifully, and each word was seemingly in
consideration for the latter. However, the people around him knew when
they heard him that he himself was disgraced in saying these words.
Of course, he was also a Prince of the country. The mere thought of entering
the palace with a prisoner of war "to return to the bridal home" was too
funny and too humiliating.
Many courtiers had a look of schadenfreude on their faces.
And when the Emperor heard this, he became even more spirited.
"What? Are you unwilling to bring him out? Fifth Brother, you've only
been with him in the bridal chamber last night. How come you are so
heartless today?"
When Jiang Suizhou heard his loony tone, he was inevitably disgusted, but
he had to continue acting.
He paused, as if totally embarrassed that he had been intimate with the
other party. After a while, he lowered his voice and said, "Brother Emperor,
this is different."
The Hou Zhu dissolved into laughter, and a cheerful atmosphere permeated
the entire courtroom.
Pang Shao cleared his throat again.
The Hou Zhu glanced at him and saw Pang Shao winking at him from
below, reminding him of the plan.
Long before the court session, his uncle told him that he could severely
humiliate Jiang Suizhou by proposing to let Huo Wujiu return to his
maternal home. That idea was fine. However, it was paramount to use this
matter as a bargaining chip in exchange for the goodies in Jiang Suizhou's
hands.
Although he was not interested in whatever good things Jiang Suizhou had
in his hands, he was ultimately delighted in the act of snatching things away
from him.
Even if he was now no longer the poor First Prince who was ignored by his
father and could only watch how loved Jiang Suizhou was, even if he was
now the Emperor, his hobbies remained unchanged.
He cleared his throat, shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, raised
his leg and stepped on the throne floor cushion.
"All right, since Fifth Brother is reluctant and wants to hide your wife in a
golden house, I will not force you." He stretched his voice and smiled. "But
then, since you want to hide your beauty, you've got to give something in
exchange. Don't you think so?"
Jiang Suizhou frowned.
Sure enough, he had guessed right. Pang Shao was behind the Hou Zhu's
evil tricks. Since he had made the Hou Zhu happy, Pang Shao naturally
wouldn't be without payment. If the Hou Zhu didn't plan on giving this
remuneration to him, then Pang Shao would obtain it himself.
But…He seemed to be merely an idle Prince with an idle post. What was
worth their scheming?
Jiang Suizhou paused and tentatively answered, "Brother Emperor, please
enlighten me."
The Hou Zhu cleared his throat.
"I have thought about it. If I want to build an ancestral hall in the palace,
the Ministry of Works should do it, not the Ministry of Rites. It just so
happens that Luan Zhaoyi has been begging me these days, wanting her
father to come and share your burdens. Fifth Brother, no matter what, we
can't let the beauty be sad, right?"
Jiang Suizhou's brow jumped.
Oh, I see.
During the reign of Emperor Jing You of Southern Jing, the corruption of
the court reached its peak when Pang Shao was in power. Officials have
been corrupt since ancient times, and construction projects were the easiest
way to launder money. The largest ill-gotten fortunes were certainly from
the construction of palaces.
For this reason, Pang Shao would let the Emperor build a palace whenever
he made a fuss about building a new one. In any case, when a palace was
built, the money would flow from the national treasury to his own pockets.
At present, the renovations of the palace must still be underway, so Pang
Shao was coveting this lucrative job. Nevertheless…Jiang Suizhou didn't
quite understand how such an obvious piece of fat meat fell into his hands.
He did not say anything for a while, his eyes roamed around the assembly
room.
Some people remained calm and composed as they watched the show, while
others were cold-faced and silent. A few officials looked nervous, glancing
straight at him.
Under the turbulent dark tide, there were clear distinctions, as if there were
two factions in the dark.
A terrible conjecture suddenly sprouted in Jiang Suizhou's heart.
From this situation…It seemed that he also had some hidden power in the
court. It was those people who found ways to stuff this errand into his
hands.