After discussing various important matters concerning people's livelihood, the morning court was finally coming to an end.
Throughout the whole process, the Emperor, who had watched Shang Mozheng make decisions on affairs without being able to say a single word, looked listless, with suppressed dissatisfaction in his eyes.
Was this Uncle's warning to him?
Was he trying to tell him that it didn't matter if there was no Zhu Chengjie, for the power over the court was still firmly in the hands of the Regent?
The more Shang Luoze thought about it, the angrier he became. Being an Emperor like him was truly pathetic!
"Your Majesty, I think this method is feasible. I wonder what Your Majesty thinks?"
"If Uncle thinks it's feasible, does my opinion still matter?"
The young Emperor sneered, his words dripping with sarcasm.
The Regent didn't take his nephew's sarcasm to heart. After all, he held the real power, and those words were of no consequence to him.
Shang Mozheng said, "It's getting late. Do any of the ministers have anything else to report?"
His gaze swept around casually, and everyone lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes. Shang Mozheng retracted his gaze in satisfaction and was about to announce the end of the court session.
However, just then, someone stepped forward from the front of the queue.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report."
The angry Shang Luoze immediately perked up, for the one who spoke was Prime Minister Lu Wenhan. He knew this official well. Usually, he rarely spoke, but once he did, it was never a trivial matter.
The slumped Emperor straightened his back, and his voice became more forceful: "Prime Minister Lu, please speak."
"I, Lu Wenhan, want to impeach the Regent Shang Mozheng!"
The court was in an uproar.
Even Shang Luoshu, who had been a mere backdrop throughout, was stunned for a moment. He couldn't help but look in the direction of the dragon throne, just as Shang Luoze's gaze happened to glance over.
The two brothers reached a certain consensus without a word. The next moment, Prince Jing continued to be a backdrop.
The young Emperor glanced at the Regent below from the corner of his eye and said with a touch of schadenfreude, "What does Prime Minister Lu mean by this?"
"I suspect that there may have been malpractice in this year's spring imperial examination. The Regent is in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and the spring imperial examination is also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites. Therefore, the Regent should be impeached!"
No one dared to respond. For a moment, the ministers didn't know whether they should be more surprised by the malpractice in the spring imperial examination or by Prime Minister Lu's audacity to impeach the Regent.
"Prime Minister Lu, some words can't be said casually."
"Your Majesty, every word I say is true. Yesterday, I looked through the examination papers of this year's imperial examination and found that the essays of several successful candidates were almost identical. The officials of the Ministry of Rites clearly knew about it, but no one raised any objections!"
"If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, Your Majesty can order the examination papers to be retrieved for inspection."
Believe? How could Shang Luoze not believe it? But he also knew that these alone were not enough to impeach Shang Mozheng.
His gaze shifted downward, and the Emperor selectively skipped over the Regent and focused on another official.
"Lord Kong, you are the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Do you know about this?"
All along, the spring imperial examination has been the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, and the Emperor would appoint two examiners. Generally, the examiners were the left and right prime ministers.
However, in this year's spring imperial examination, Lu Yinjian also participated. So, to avoid suspicion, Lu Wenhan didn't interfere at all. For some unknown reason, Prime Minister Zhang also resigned from the position of supervisor.
Therefore, this year's supervision and marking of the spring imperial examination were all handled by the Ministry of Rites, and no one else intervened.
"Y, Your Majesty..."
Kong Ren walked out of the queue trembling, his eyes darting around but refusing to speak.
Shang Luoze wasn't in a hurry. He just smiled and said, "Minister Kong, if you don't say anything, I'll take it as your admission."
With a "thud", the Minister of the Ministry of Rites finally couldn't hold on and knelt on the ground, with cold sweat constantly pouring from his forehead.
"Your Majesty, I'm wronged! I don't know anything. I really don't know anything!"
Ignoring his plea for mercy, Shang Luoze turned his attention to the other prime minister of the Great Qi: "Prime Minister Zhang, how do you think this matter should be handled?"
"Your Majesty, I think that malpractice in the spring imperial examination concerns the lives of scholars across the country and should be thoroughly investigated."
That was exactly what the Emperor wanted to hear. Immediately, he happily slapped the dragon throne.
"Very good. I also have this intention. In that case, I'll leave this matter to you. Court is adjourned!"
Before the officials could react, Shang Luoze had already left his seat with a flick of his sleeve.
Along with him, the rumor that Prime Minister Lu had impeached the Regent also spread.
When Lu Wenhan returned home, the Prime Minister's Mansion was in a complete mess. The reason was simple. When Lady Lu was having breakfast with the fourth young lady in Luoxia Courtyard, she suddenly vomited blood and fainted.
Just then, the mansion doctor had just entered the mansion and was diagnosing Lady Lu's pulse.
"What's going on? Why did Lady vomit blood? How is she now?"
The calmness that Lu Wenhan had maintained all morning was suddenly shattered by this news. He grabbed a passing servant, his breath held tight.
After learning the inside story, he quickened his pace and rushed into Luoxia Courtyard.
As soon as he entered the inner room, he saw the doctor packing up the pulse - taking case.
"Doctor, how is my wife? Is there anything serious?"
Seeing the master of the mansion return, the doctor immediately told him everything he knew: "Don't worry, Prime Minister. Lady has just suffered from a rush of qi and blood. There is no serious problem. Just take a few doses of medicine and she'll be fine."
The Prime Minister finally let go of the heart that had been hanging in his throat and immediately planned to go in and see his wife.
However, before he could take a step, he saw his youngest daughter walking out of the inner room with a solemn face. She stopped when she reached his side.
"Father, could you please come out with me?"
Seeing the genuine concern on his face, Lu Yinxi added, "Mother has fallen asleep, and I'll ask Hongmei and Liusu to stay here. You don't have to worry."
With the doctor's words and his daughter's comfort, Lu Wenhan hesitated for a moment but finally agreed.
The father - daughter pair walked one after another to the main house. Then Lu Yinxi dismissed all the serving maids.
At this point, there were only the two of them in the room.
The young girl's eyes were like sharp arrows, tightly fixed on this so - called father in front of her. Her lips were pursed into a straight line, and her long crow - feather eyelashes cast a shadow. The upturned phoenix eyes were extremely sharp.
After a while, she spoke: "Father, what kind of grudge does our family have with Shang Mozheng?"
So much so that when Mother heard that Prime Minister Lu had impeached the Regent, she suffered from a rush of qi and blood, vomited blood, and fainted.
At first hearing "Shang Mozheng", Lu Wenhan didn't react. When he realized that his daughter was talking about the Regent, his eyebrows couldn't help but twitch slightly.
"Xier, I'll handle this matter. You don't have to worry."
"Father!"
Seeing his extremely resistant expression, Lu Yinxi pursed her lips, and the determination in her eyes became even stronger.
"Father, the Regent's target is me, right?"
His eyebrows twitched a few more times. A crack appeared on the Prime Minister's calm face but quickly disappeared. However, the hand behind his back had already been clenched into a fist.
Seeing this, the young girl wasn't discouraged. Instead, she planned to press on.
"Then let me put it another way. Instead of saying I'm his target, it's more accurate to say that the Regent wants to get me, right?"
"How dare he!"
The calm disguise was broken. Lu Wenhan completely lost control of his facial expressions. His whole face contorted, looking as if he was about to fight someone.
Seeing his appearance, Lu Yinxi had a glimmer of understanding in her heart.
"So, I guessed right!"