Chapter 18: Wow! I was so angry that I vomited blood! (2 / 2)

The old emperor said again, “But I think there’s some truth in what Wen Xingyi said. The husband is the head of the wife, a worldly standard. If I forcefully intervene, wouldn’t that be foolish?”

Cui Yi, after hearing this, made a smile: “If it were an ordinary family, the wife would naturally ruin her husband’s family, which is a serious matter of family ethics. But here, in the imperial court, in the royal family, what does that matter? Is it worth bringing it up in court?”

The old emperor slightly raised his eyebrows.

Cui Yi continued, “Moreover, as your subjects, we sit in the court, supported by the people, and enjoy the emperor’s grace. We should not be focusing on such trivial matters, whether a family can adhere to the husband’s dominance over the wife. It is absurd!”

He took a step forward, his voice thunderous: “If all we discuss in the court every day are such matters, wouldn’t the noble ministers be a laughing stock? They would become greedy for petty gains, creating positions where they are only filling empty seats!”

Xu Yanmiao almost slapped his thigh.

Brilliant!

Cui Yi really knows how to speak. His self-preservation is impressive.

He couldn’t help but feel regretful—why couldn’t he learn this? If only he could, he might be in the emperor’s favor by now.

The old emperor was satisfied. He waved his hand, interrupting Cui Yi’s further declaration of loyalty: “Since that’s the case, the decision on the Duke Song’s family will remain unchanged. You’ll report to the Ministry of Revenue later and serve as the Minister’s Assistant. By the way, Princess Wanshou is also in the Ministry of Revenue, serving as the Ministry’s assistant.”

Cui Yi hadn’t noticed that Princess Wanshou was also present in the court. Upon hearing the emperor’s words, he barely suppressed his derogatory words about women in office. He carefully embraced his nine generations of ancestors and said cautiously, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace.”

Then, he added, “So His Highness is the Ministry of Revenue’s Assistant, responsible for handling incoming and outgoing documents?”

He then made a respectful bow toward Princess Wanshou from a distance and said, “I hope to receive more guidance from Your Highness in the future.”

Cui Yi was no naive scholar; he understood the meaning behind the emperor’s words.

— It meant he would support Princess Wanshou in the Ministry of Revenue. Alright! He would support her!

The old emperor was even more satisfied.

Meanwhile, Xu Yanmiao continued pestering his colleague: “What rank is the Ministry of Revenue’s Assistant?”

The Minister of War’s Official numbly replied, “Fifth rank.”

Xu Yanmiao, naive and foolish, said, “From the fourth rank to the fifth rank, it’s not such a big drop.”

The Official replied, “You can’t say it like that. The position of the imperial inspector is very special; they have the privilege to report rumors without evidence. The Ministry of Revenue’s Assistant, on the other hand, is rather plain.”

Xu Xianmao nodded eagerly, [“I see! So it’s like falling from heaven to the mortal realm.”]

The clerk, exasperated, thought to himself, “That’s not entirely wrong.”

The rest of the court session passed without much of note, and soon the assembly was dismissed.

— Many officials were a bit disappointed, hoping Xu Yanmiao would reveal some other explosive news.

The old emperor, riding his palanquin to the Wuying Hall to review documents, was in a very good mood after his great victory in the court that day.

His eyes glued to the documents, he said without raising his head to the chief eunuch, “How come no one has any awareness? Why hasn’t the empress’s soup been brought to me yet?”

After an awkward silence, the chief eunuch, somewhat clumsy, replied, “Your Majesty, there… there’s no soup.”

The old emperor suddenly looked up, his eyes widening. “Impossible! The empress always brings me soup after court.”

The eunuch hesitated, but then said, “Your Majesty, there really is no soup.”

The emperor raised his voice, emphasizing, “Impossible! It must still be on its way. You old servant are too lazy to go check.”@@novelbin@@

The eunuch quickly acknowledged and left, and the emperor, satisfied, returned to reviewing documents. After a while, the doors were pushed open again, and the emperor looked up, only to see the eunuch return empty-handed.

“Where’s the soup?”

“Your Majesty, I went to the empress’s palace, but Her Highness said…” The eunuch was sweating, unable to wipe it off, stiffly continuing, “Her Highness said, if Your Majesty wants soup, you should ask the kitchen.”

The emperor slammed the table, furious, “She—”

“How dare she!”

The emperor, enraged, shouted, “Is she ignoring me just for a lowly concubine who’s gone astray?”

He continued grumbling, “I’ve been too lenient with her!”

The emperor clenched his pen, “Let’s see how long she can stay in her palace without me visiting!”

He lowered his head to review the documents, and an hour later, raised his head again. “Has the empress come to apologize?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm.” The emperor nodded indifferently and continued with his work.

Two hours later.

“Has the empress come to apologize?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm…” The emperor moved his legs, stretched his hands, and glanced out the window.

Three hours later.

“The empress—” The emperor paused, placing his pen on the table with a “thunk,” stood up abruptly, pushing his chair back. “Let’s go! To the Jiaofang Hall! I want to see if she’s truly gone mad!”

…

Princess Wanshou, holding the official seal, entered the palace. She had planned to discuss government matters with her father, but finding that he wasn’t in the Wuying Hall, she nervously asked the guards, “Where is my father? Hmm? Jiaofang Hall? I’ll go there, you don’t need to follow me.”

She walked to the Jiaofang Hall and found it strange that there were no guards at the door.

Confused, she approached the door and faintly heard her father’s voice inside.

“Don’t be angry, if not execution, can we just exile her?”

“Alright, alright, no exile, no exile, we won’t exile her, let her go to the Yeting Palace…”

“Okay, okay, no Yeting! You’re right, you’re right. After she has the baby, she can go to the temple to meditate. We’ll be magnanimous, we won’t argue with her!”