Chapter 78: Dugu's Unrestrained Movement
Many officials were filled with contempt, and were just about to attack again. To be honest, the old master's self-justification was really not worth refuting. The old master had always been a military general, and there was limited ink in his belly; it was already difficult for him to come up with a self-justification, let alone one that was flawless and perfect!
At this moment, a white-haired old man took a heavy step forward. The old man was tall and sturdy, standing with Jun Zhan Tian, like two magnificent mountains; his whiskers were like leopard's whiskers, his face full of flesh, his whole body wild, it was Dugu Laoye, the second most powerful person in the military after Jun Laoye, currently the number one crocodile in the capital, Dugu tyrannical!
The number one tyrannical figure in Tianxiang Kingdom! The number one thick-skinned person! The number one rolling meatball! The master of the largest family! He is a man with a face as thick as a master, using ignorance as knowledge, and wielding a big knife to reason; all civil and military officials in the court are wary of him three points, even the current emperor has no way to deal with him.
The old man finally showed up, and everyone realized that they couldn't help but whisper to each other: "Isn't this guy the one who hasn't attended court for years? How come he's here today?" It's quite unusual for this old fool to appear at such a sensitive time.
His eyes, round and big like a bear's in the mountains, stared fiercely as he clenched his fist and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, the princess was stabbed, all the officials were stabbed, it is indeed a major event that shakes the foundation of national stability. Fortunately, you made a decisive decision at the critical moment and eliminated this great disaster! I think your actions are not only blameless but also meritorious!"
A thin, bearded old man next to him sneered: "Such a treacherous and traitorous minister who brings disaster to the country and its people, stirring up chaos in the imperial court and the world, is actually considered meritorious? Doesn't this make the teeth of all under heaven cold?"
This scrawny, bearded man with barely half a catty of flesh on his bones is Meng Youfang, the third son of the Meng family. Last night, his home was destroyed more severely than anyone else's, and not even half a tile remained intact. A high-ranking official from the imperial court spent the entire night under the stars with his family in the prosperous and bustling capital city, feeling so stifled that he almost spat blood. Seeing these two military leaders reversing black and white before everyone, he couldn't bear it anymore and jumped out.
Du Guo's face turned red with rage, he spun around and glared at Meng Youfang, his big mouth open, revealing yellow teeth. His voice shook the rafters: "Damn your grandma! You're a sour dog shit! Are you saying that what I said is wrong? Huh?" As soon as he got angry, his hair and beard stood on end, his big mouth open, looking like he was about to swallow the scrawny goat-like Meng Youfang whole. He looked extremely ferocious.
Next to him, the great general Dugu Unbeatable immediately jumped out and shouted: "Meng Youfang, what do you mean?! My father is talking to His Majesty, can this old man interrupt?!" He stretched out his big hand like a fan and was about to grab his neck and lift him up.
Everyone looked at them with admiration. This father and son, are truly... invincible! They actually dared to show off their skills in the Golden Hall! The Emperor himself was the mastermind behind this play, and at this moment, he couldn't help but stare in shock!
"That's enough!" The Emperor shouted, furiously standing up: "A group of civil and military officials, speaking profanely in the Golden Hall, and even resorting to violence, what kind of behavior is this? Are you a fishwife scolding on the street?"
The emperor's anger was so great that everyone immediately fell silent, except for the old masters of the imperial family, the Dugu family, the Li family, the Meng family, the Song family, the Tang family, and the Murong family. All others, regardless of their official rank, knelt down and said in unison: "We are guilty, we wish to receive Your Majesty's punishment."
"Alright, this matter is now clear to me. Although your intention was to capture the assassin, you handled it improperly and caused chaos in the capital. You will be penalized a year's salary and ordered to reflect on your actions for three months. However, due to your merit in capturing the assassin, you will also be rewarded with 1,000 taels of gold, one thousand-year-old ginseng, and temporarily take charge of military affairs. As for the rest of you from the various families, regardless of right or wrong, you only care about your own losses and falsely accuse officials. Each of your families will be demoted by one rank. To avoid further chaos, all family-controlled military power will be recalled to the Ministry of War for a year. After a year, we will re-evaluate the situation."
A year's salary was deducted, and he was ordered to reflect on his mistakes for half a month. Then, he was rewarded with 1,000 taels of gold and a thousand-year-old ginseng! For the old master, this was still punishment? It was simply an open reward plus an open holiday...
It's just that there is only this sentence "the military temporarily has the overall control", which seems to have some other meaning, but it's also very unreliable; all the ministers looked at each other and thought: if it's really like this, it would be better for Jun Zhan Tian to continue in charge, these two father and son of the Dugu family are even more tyrannical than Jun Zhan Tian...
At least, Lord Qi was still quite reasonable at normal times, but for the Dugu father and son, it seemed that they had never been reasonable. Their own family's private army fell into the hands of this father and son, what else could be good? Could a few come back?
For a moment, almost everyone in their hearts was scolding Meng Youfang, who had just been beaten: The mastermind behind the emperor's back, Dugu and Zhong have already made their moves, you're still trying to intervene, isn't that not knowing your own strength, seeking humiliation? You're unlucky enough already, but you also have to drag us down with you, what are you even doing...
Almost everyone has a look of being lost and disheartened, let alone whether it's real or fake, but at least on the surface, each one looks very realistic. Standing in the imperial court, without some pretentious means, it is really difficult to last long.
Only about ten people still lowered their heads with a face full of anger and resentment, but these were truly angry and unwilling. However, these people were immediately secretly remembered by the big shots: those who can't even see through this little wind are destined to be useless! After going back, they must teach their own children and nephews to keep a distance from these few people, otherwise, it's uncertain when they will be pulled down...
"You are all pillars of the state, and yet you behave like this in the Golden Palace... I am truly disappointed! Extremely disappointed!" The Emperor was furious, his anger irrepressible! Almost immediately after announcing these punishments, he solemnly declared: "This matter is settled, no one needs to say another word! Dismissed!"
The Minister of Rites, Sun Chenghe, hastily shouted: "Please, Your Majesty, stay your steps..." This was none other than Tang Bao's father-in-law, who had not yet passed the door.
All the old men are just a wave of disdain, didn't you see His Majesty hurrying back to the palace to experience the "cool" feeling just now? With everything at his fingertips, he can play with and control everyone in the palm of his hand, suppressing all families in the capital and making the entire city calm and peaceful. What a cool thing this is! You're still lingering here, trying to hold back His Majesty, do you want to be good? You're really stupid!
"What else is there?!" The emperor's majesty was visibly furious, originally pretending to be, but one reserve remained, and the fake had a tendency to evolve into the real.
"Your Majesty, according to our dynasty's convention, today is the annual Golden Autumn Festival. Regarding the traditional Golden Autumn Banquet that has been passed down, what about...?"
This Minister of Rites is obviously lacking in brains. What a fool! All the high-ranking officials in the court are secretly sighing, what times are these? Every family is mourning, who still has the mood to care about the Golden Autumn Banquet? You little brat are simply the grandfather of foolishness - Old Foolish, be careful in the future, don't get together with this fool, or you might fall into his hands one day!
Indeed, the Emperor was furious and heavily said: "Golden Autumn Talented Youth Banquet? At this time of many things happening in autumn, what is the Golden Autumn Talented Youth Banquet? If I haven't remembered wrongly, two ministers responsible for organizing the Golden Autumn Talented Youth Banquet, whom I appointed a few days ago, are already on the list of those assassinated by assassins!" After finishing speaking, he heavily pointed to the list on the table in front of him with his finger, swung his sleeves, and left with a furious face.
No one saw that after the Emperor turned around, he curled up his mouth and seemed to be in a very comfortable mood...
Indeed no one saw it, but a group of old ministers also secretly had a good laugh, and it was indeed not the family's plan...
The emperor left, and all the people who were kneeling also stood up one by one, patting their knees. Several big shots looked at each other, and everyone's eyes had a "just as I expected" look. Li Shang hummed and glanced at Jun Zhan with a poker face: "Old Jun, congratulations to you. Is your grandson okay?"
Li Shangben deliberately brought up Jun Zhan Tian's painful past, even if he couldn't take him down this time. He wanted to make the old man angry and uncomfortable at least. But as soon as Jun Zhan Tian heard this, he was suddenly reminded of something and didn't care about Li Shangben anymore. He quickly ran in the direction the Emperor had left, shouting "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... lend me that imperial physician, it's urgent!"
Everyone is a stepping stone for others.
