Chapter 73

At the break of dawn, Yun Yaoyao headed to Xuanzheng Hall for the morning court.

Getting ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‍up early was no longer quite so difficult for Yun Yaoyao. She had discovered that she could now wake up right on time—or even before her alarm.

Ugh! Damn this morning court. Damn this biological clock!

Once she took her seat on the dragon throne, Yun Yaoyao looked down at the familiar mass of figures below. They had been apart for three days, yet she actually found herself missing them a little.

Had she really developed feelings through all this mutual destruction?

Just as she was lost in thought, a heavy thud rang out from below, followed by a heart-rending cry of protest that startled Yun Yaoyao.

“Your Majesty, this humble official has an important matter to report!”

As a censor, Ni Tieju had gone three whole days without submitting a remonstrance. During the three-day recess, he had racked his brains to collect every incident that could possibly be used to lecture the emperor.

Heaven rewarded the diligent. At last, he had found something. Before court that morning, he had rehearsed his speech several times in his head and gulped down a large cup of tea—all for this very moment!

Ni Tieju genuinely loved his work as a censor.

“Speak.” Yun Yaoyao tossed out the cold command.

“Your Majesty, even during the three-day recess, I did not forget my duty. I traveled among the common people to understand their hardships and ease Your Majesty’s burdens. Yet while among the people, I heard a story that has spread far and wide and had an enormous impact. I fear it may damage Your Majesty’s imperial authority, damage—”

Ni Tieju was just about to launch into a long-winded speech when Yun Yaoyao cut him off.

“Enough. I already know about it. Someone is deliberately spreading slander behind the scenes. There is no need to continue.”

Ni Tieju, whose spell had been abruptly broken: ???

Your Majesty, I still had at least three thousand words left!

Seeing this, the other censors stepped forward one after another to offer their remonstrances.

“Your Majesty, this matter is of grave importance. Please do not make light of it for the sake of Consort Miao!”

“Your Majesty, you must put the greater good first!”

Among the ministers, members of Prince Ze’s faction and the Du family faction also jumped into the fray, muddying the waters and throwing the court into chaos.

One or two ministers alone would not dare say much in the face of imperial authority. But when one group or another began speaking, they merely shrank behind the other officials, and suddenly they dared to blurt out any remonstrance they pleased.

Before long, more and more officials were stepping forward to speak about Consort Miao’s alleged affair with Prince Ze.

“This concerns the dignity of the imperial family…”

“There is no smoke without fire. Rumors do not arise from nothing…”

“This is a green hat of monumental proportions! If Consort Miao gives birth to a child, who can say whether it will be a prince or the heir to the throne…”

Remonstrances came pouring down like snowflakes. Even though Yun Yaoyao had prepared herself, the clamor still made her ears ache.

This was precisely what made Tushan Ze’s scheme so brilliant.

Everyone knew that rumors were half true and half false. But once the entire populace began spreading the same rumor, and the ministers started using it to make viciously insinuating remonstrances, could anyone remain completely unaffected by it? Could anyone truly avoid developing even the slightest suspicion or resentment?

Unfortunately for him, she and Tu Shanjin had exchanged bodies. Their interests were bound together, making their relationship unbreakable. They were each other’s closest ally.

At that moment, the Yun Yaoyao faction cleared their throats and launched their counterattack.

Di Shunzhi and Zhou Siren retorted bluntly. Lin Qingti hurled classical references and insults. And then there was Gao Chongguang, whose mouth was so honeyed that he could turn even a curse into a compliment.

The balance of power in the court immediately shifted, forming a deadlock between the two sides.

Ning Shouli’s lips moved as he also wanted to say something in the emperor’s defense. “Your Majesty must have investigated the matter thoroughly before reaching such a conclusion. What you are doing is exactly what the people behind the slander want—”

Before he could finish, a minister cut him off.

“Minister Ning, your father, Grand General Ning, has yet to clear his name of treason and collusion with the enemy. You should worry about yourself first!”

“You—!”

Ning Shouli flung his sleeve furiously and withdrew from the debate.

Seeing that the person seated above them remained silent, some of the officials who had deliberately come to disrupt the court grew even bolder. A few even went so far as to suggest that Consort Miao confess her crimes and relinquish her position as consort.

Many of the ministers wore smug expressions. They had never imagined that one day they would be able to remonstrate so forcefully that even the emperor would be left speechless.

Perhaps after finding himself a soft and beautiful refuge, His Majesty’s temper had become much more restrained. As for these trusted aides of his, each one had a mouth as foul as a cesspit.

Yun Yaoyao swept a chilly glance over the group and silently jotted their names down in her little notebook for officials awaiting dismissal.

“Have all of you finished speaking?”

The sharp, icy voice rang out, and every minister immediately fell silent out of sheer instinct.

Yun Yaoyao’s gaze swept over the officials like a blade.

“Deputy Director Li, you said that there is no smoke without fire. I happen to have heard a rumor as well. Deputy Director Li, I heard that you dote on your concubines while mistreating your wife, that your household is in constant turmoil, and that you even had an affair with your younger brother’s concubine. Is this rumor true?”

Deputy Director Li’s face went white. He dropped to his knees with a thud.

“Director Huang, there is a rumor that you embezzled several thousand taels of silver. It seems that rumor is true as well. Go home, summon your entire clan, and have all of them wash their necks clean while they wait to die.”

“Vice Chancellor Meng…”

Before long, the floor was filled with officials kneeling in neat rows, all crying out that they had been wrongly accused.

Yun Yaoyao let out a cold laugh. “Why aren’t you claiming that rumors are true now?”

“You hear a rumor and treat it as fact! The same is true of Grand General Ning’s case. The Xiongnu have yet to make a move, yet the court has already descended into chaos. This time, someone has deliberately slandered Consort Miao in exactly the same way!”

“Consort Miao built the museum, improved papermaking and printing, established the library and the literacy school. Ask yourselves—how many of you have achievements that can compare with hers?”

“Instead of finding ways to improve your own political record, you turn your blades against someone who has rendered meritorious service. I say there is something wrong inside your skulls!”

“If the ancestors buried beneath us knew you had done something this foolish, they would rise from their graves and drag you away themselves!”

After a tirade in which she berated them from head to toe, the ministers were thoroughly scolded. Their faces burned with shame, and they wished they could find a crack in the floor to crawl into.

Those who had just thought the emperor’s temper had improved now silently wept tears as wide as noodles in their hearts.

Gentle my foot! His Majesty’s blade strikes a vital point every time!

(ಥ﹏ಥ)

Yun Yaoyao knew that few of the officials permitted to attend court were truly stupid—with the exception of Gao Chongguang. Every one of the others was more calculating than the last.

They had acted this way because their factions and interests differed. Some had deliberately stirred up trouble, while others had allowed themselves to be used as weapons.

But that was precisely what made Yun Yaoyao feel exhausted.

They were all people of Yan Chi. Why couldn’t they stand united and face their enemies together when it came to matters of right and wrong? Why did they insist on turning their blades against their own people at every opportunity?

A bunch of treacherous ingrates. Sooner or later, she would reorganize the entire lot of them!

Yun Yaoyao’s gaze fell on the line of officials from the Ministry of Personnel where Du Guanliu stood. Slowly, it shifted to the man standing behind him.

Gao Dexiang, Gao Chongguang’s father, was the Vice Minister of Personnel.

People said that if the upper beam was crooked, the lower beams would follow. Like father, like son—this man was every bit as shameless as Gao Chongguang.

Gao Dexiang was a consummate fence-sitter, with flattery mastered to perfection. His most distinctive feature was that ingratiating smile of his.

The Gao clan had originally fallen into decline under his leadership. Yet somehow, by fawning over Du Guanliu, they had managed to rise again. Gao Dexiang himself had even climbed to the position of vice minister.

Du Luoling was a needle Yun Yaoyao had planted in the Du family, but she could only be of use at a crucial moment.

As for Gao Dexiang, could she persuade him to switch sides and turn him into a blade she could wield against Du Guanliu in the future…?

At the same time, in a dungeon within Xiongnu territory.

A tall, burly man with a braid lashed out with the whip in his hand, striking the bound prisoner with brutal force.

The barbs tore through flesh, sending wisps of blood and tissue flying like a crimson mist that splattered across Huyan Su’s face.

Huyan Su’s gaze was ferocious, his expression growing more excited as he whipped even harder.

The prisoner could no longer be called a man; he was more accurately described as a mass of mangled flesh.

Even so, that “mass of flesh,” relying on sheer strength of will, refused to utter a single plea for mercy. Only muffled groans of pain escaped him.

“The mighty and battle-hardened Grand General Ning has fallen into my hands, reduced to nothing more than a dog! Hahaha! No matter how tough your bones are, let’s see whether they’re harder than my iron whip!”

Huyan Su lowered the barbed whip and walked over to the brazier. Inside lay an iron whip, its length glowing red from the heat.

The iron was hard to begin with, and now that the whip had been heated until it glowed, a single strike could not only shatter a person’s bones but make them suffer until they wished for death.

Huyan Su slowly approached Ning Shoujiang and bent down, whispering into his ear, “You won’t live much longer anyway, so I’ll tell you the truth.”

“You miscalculated on the battlefield and fell into my trap because it was your own Yan Chi people who sold us the intelligence.”

Ning Shoujiang’s pupils contracted sharply.

After speaking, Huyan Su let out two sinister laughs, stepped back, and licked the corner of his mouth.

The iron whip in his hand was just about to come crashing down upon Ning Shoujiang’s body.