Author's Note: Zhu Ci: This is a must. The foundation of the law cannot be shaken; even when arresting people, there must be reason and evidence. A cat grumbling while pressing its paw print onto legal articles. jpg
This chapter also includes a spring outing red envelope~
The next update will be tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
By the way, here is a promotion for my upcoming work: "Becoming Emperor Wu of Han's Prime Minister with a Dancer System." If you are interested, you can add it to your collection in my column or use the link in the author's announcement to go directly to it~ The synopsis is below↓:
He was the longest-serving Grand Chancellor of the Han Dynasty of Emperor Wu. He was the only prince of a different surname in the Han Dynasty of Emperor Wu. He was the pillar of the state and a role model for the world, personally recognized by Emperor Wu Liu Che. He was the sage of the age in the mouths of the common people, the Great Han general whose name struck fear into the hearts of the Xiongnu..
And all of this began with a sudden transmigration.
System: Although you are already twelve years old, which is a bit old, your limbs are uncoordinated and your body is stiff, it doesn't matter. With my help, you will certainly become a peerless dancer in the spotlight!
Zhongli Yan: Can you help me cure Huo Shan first? If he isn't cured, I'll be exiled by Emperor Wu of Han!
..
When Huo Shan was ten years old, he fell suddenly ill on the pilgrimage of Liu Che's Fengshan sacrifices; in his final moments, he vaguely saw an immortal dancing gracefully.
It was the most beautiful dance he had ever seen.
CP Huo Shan, younger than the other, a former cheerful then domineering general top X a prime minister bottom who is skilled in both literature and dance
Chapter 166
Fu was somewhat caught between laughter and tears; how could matters of the law be treated so lightly?
Zhu Ci said, "That's normal. We have that where I'm from, but I didn't study it professionally, so I can't recall it when I don't need it."
In fact, the Great Ming Code does not lack the concept of reputation rights; it is just that there is no explicit definition, generally, such cases can refer to many different laws.
At most, Zhu Ci would just have someone consolidate and refine it.
Fu said, "Even so, it will still require a court discussion."
Mainly, this involves high-ranking officials of the imperial court, most importantly, with this law in place, everyone will have a layer of protection, making it difficult for Censors to impeach anyone in the future.
Zhu Ci didn't actually have any objections; this thing was actually a form of protection for most people.
He just looked at Fu with some confusion. "You're far too composed. Aren't you angry?"
Fu lowered his eyes and said, "The innocent remain innocent; what harm can such rumors do to me?"
Zhu Ci looked at him suspiciously: "Really?"
Fake.
The innocent remain innocent, but he is not innocent.
He would never resort to direct physical violence or even initiate conflicts at the time; instead, he would slowly plot his revenge after the fact.
However, after Zhu Ci took action, he not only failed to quell the incident but also joined in the fray himself.
He could use the excuse of protecting the Emperor to fool others, but he could not fool himself; even when people said he was using his charms to seduce the Emperor, his subconscious thought was that the Little Emperor didn't seem to care much for his charms either.
Before, when someone had proposed selecting an Empress, if he truly had the Little Emperor's best interests at heart, he should have advised selecting one, or even suggested that giving birth to a prince as soon as possible would be the most stable course of action.
But he allowed the Little Emperor to scold every single person who had made a proposal.
At that time, he admitted to having selfish motives; he enjoyed the feeling of being intimately close to the Emperor.
He enjoyed having a secret between the two of them that no one else knew.
Enjoying Zhu Ci's care and favoritism toward him.
He even wanted to take things a step further and hold them firmly in his grasp.
Fu never did things filled with uncertainty, yet in this relationship, he was the most passive.
If the Little Emperor were truly a lecherous man.. Never mind. If he were truly a lecherous man, Fu would have directly "held the Emperor hostage to command the lords" back then.
Zhu Ci asked a question, but seeing that he did not answer, he did not ask further and simply agreed to the court discussion.
Of course, there were those who opposed during the imperial court meeting, those who opposed were still the Censors of the Censorate.
Oh, not all Censors of the Censorate were against it; those who opposed it were the group led by the Right Vice Censor.
On the contrary, both Yan Yingyuan and Huang Chunyao were in agreement.
Zhu Ci looked at those people and asked softly, "Why do you disagree? Are you afraid of being imprisoned?"
The Right Vice Censor stepped out with a flushed face and said, "I have never insulted the Grand Secretary or His Highness the Prince of Ning."
As an important official, he naturally would not say anything too outrageous; after all, he was a high-ranking official in the imperial court.
It was merely a passing remark: "Grand Secretary, you should focus on rectifying yourself and avoid involving His Majesty."
This sentence was completely out of context; in truth, it could be interpreted in any way.
Yet, someone insisted on adding another sentence of their own: "The Grand Secretary lacks restraint in his words and actions; I fear the disaster of Dong Xian will repeat itself in the future."
This was not even a hint; it was practically an outright accusation.
In fact, many among the officials were also whispering about how the Emperor and the Grand Secretary had become too close.
It was no issue for the Emperor to favor his ministers, but staying overnight in the palace time and again was quite problematic.
The Emperor was still young and had not yet taken a wife; previously, anyone who offered remonstrance on the matter was struck down, the Little Emperor even grew uncharacteristically angry, leaving everyone too intimidated to "urge his marriage" again.
Aside from his extraordinary appearance, the Grand Secretary was also exceptionally handsome. Moreover, the Little Emperor didn't mind the Grand Secretary's looks at all; in fact, he seemed to quite like them, occasionally showing concern about whether the Grand Secretary would get sunburned or if the light would be too dazzling for him.
These two are together all day long, they frequently drive away all the female officials and eunuchs, refusing to let them approach.
This is a bit too suspicious.
The atmosphere in the Great Ming was already quite open, the Late Emperor was also a man who indulged in all sorts of pleasures, both licentious and otherwise.
And considering how he suddenly surrendered when the Grand Secretary's position was at its peak, at that time, the Little Emperor only held Suzhou.
He, Fu, controlled more than half of the territory in Zhejiang; this surrender was highly suspicious.
Could it be that even back then, Fu already had some ulterior motives?
Strange, very strange.
It was just that everyone had only been speculating before; there was nothing wrong with gossiping about the private lives of the Emperor and the Grand Secretary.
Others were merely speculating, but the Right Vice Censor believed it completely.
After all, in the Great Ming court, even good-looking low-ranking officials were often used for the amusement of high-ranking officials; it was far too normal for the Grand Secretary to have an affair with the Emperor.
It was just that, who could have imagined that the usually good-tempered Grand Secretary would turn his face upon hearing it?
At first, everyone was merely engaged in a battle of words; it was just that Fu scolded them all, but they could only attack Fu and did not dare attack the Emperor.
In the end, it was unknown which brilliant mind dragged the Prince of Ning, who had been occasionally backing the Grand Secretary, into the fray as well.
The Prince of Ning exploded on the spot and started a direct brawl, that was that.
The Right Vice Censor also felt it was quite unfair; he had merely wanted to remind the Grand Secretary that those who rise through opportunism rarely have a good end.
How did he suddenly end up facing interrogation?
No matter how much opposition there was, once the Emperor had made up his mind and the Grand Secretary supported him, even the Right Censor agreed, so it no longer mattered if others disagreed.
The minority must yield to the majority, especially when that majority consists of high-ranking officials with the power to decide policy.
As a result, several Censors and Secretariat Drafters were arrested on the spot and taken away.
Originally, Zhu Ci thought that this matter should have ended here; after all, Grand Secretary Fu had said that not many people in the civilian population were discussing it, so as long as it was stopped at the source among the high-level officials, there essentially wouldn't be any problems.
As it turned out, to his surprise, the matter actually continued to escalate.
At first, not many people were spreading it, but eventually, even the workers at the textile factory had heard such rumors.
The news was brought back by the female official assigned to the textile factory; it was said that the news had come from the fleets passing through Nanjing from the South.
After she left, Wu Xia asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, should I invite the Grand Secretary over?"
Zhu Ci rubbed a jade hand-piece carved into the shape of a tiger, pondered for a long while, then asked, "Where is Song Xiance? Why has he been so quiet lately? Call him here."
Song Xiance arrived very quickly. After paying his respects, he heard the Emperor ask, "Well? Do you have the results of the divination I asked you to perform?"
Song Xiance said with some hesitation, "Your Majesty, this lowly subject.. this lowly subject's knowledge is shallow, so I fear the result of the divination may not be accurate."
“Oh? In what way would it be inaccurate?”
Is the protagonist's halo really this strong? Even after being weakened like this by him, he still can't calculate it?
Song Xiance said hesitantly, "The person His Majesty asked this commoner to consult through divination should, by all rights, be in the North, but for some reason, no matter how the divination is performed, he is always in the South."
Zhu Ci listened and asked, "The South.. how far is it? Is it within the borders of Great Ming?"
Song Xiance immediately said, "No, it's even further south."
Zhu Ci closed his eyes. "Then that is correct."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Fine, we're about to catch the culprit. Evil kitty sharpening its claws. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 167
Song Xiance was somewhat puzzled. How did His Majesty know it was correct? Could it be that His Majesty already knew that person's whereabouts?
No, if he already knew the whereabouts, why would His Majesty bother to ask him?
Zhu Ci said, "As expected of Chuangwang's strategist, you indeed have some skill. Coincidentally, the Imperial Observatory is still short one Registrar; you should go."
Song Xiance, who had been speculating, was suddenly overjoyed and bowed repeatedly in thanks.
Although the Registrar of the Imperial Observatory was only of the eighth rank, which was not particularly high, it was nonetheless a position of real power.
Moreover, he had previously thought he would have to return to his old profession of making money through folk divination, so being able to secure even a minor official position was already quite difficult.
After Song Xiance left, Zhu Ci had someone call Fu over and said, "There is no need to deal with the rumors for the time being."
Fu looked up at the Little Emperor and said, "But.. Your Majesty's reputation.."