Free Web NovelChapter 246: Chapter 246: Where to Live? Sovereign and Subject Confrontation
After a few brief words, the Empress Dowager had Fanghua take Ji Qingyuan to settle into the palace that had been prepared for her.
’Why haven’t they arranged a palace for me?’
Ji Qingwu asked, "Empress Dowager, where will I be staying?"
The Empress Dowager said, "Qingwu, sit down first. We can discuss where you’ll be staying later. For now, I’d like to have a little chat with you."
Observing the Empress Dowager’s expression, Shixi led the other maids out of the room.
’I have a bad feeling about this "later,"’ Ji Qingwu thought. ’And it seems the "chat" the Empress Dowager wants to have now is the kind of "family talk" that outsiders shouldn’t hear.’
The moment the hall doors closed, the Empress Dowager spoke. "Qingwu, there’s no need to hide what’s going on between you and the Emperor from me any longer."
Ji Qingwu immediately nodded in terror. "So the Empress Dowager knew all along."
The Empress Dowager’s eyes and tone conveyed an air of confident certainty.
"You silly girl, what is there to hide from me?"
Ever since Emperor Wu Su ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager had been trying to place women by his side. However, the imperial selections of the past two years had already picked over all the eligible daughters from the influential families who had helped him secure the throne.
The only one missing was the Ji Family.
Ji Qingyuan had beauty but an unlikable personality. Then, after much anticipation, the long-lost Ji Qingwu was found and brought home, but she too was thought to be useless.
But now, in a surprising turn of events, Emperor Wu Su himself had made an exception for her.
Seeing Ji Qingwu again, the Empress Dowager felt a sense of relief and satisfaction; the more she looked at the girl, the more pleasing she found her.
Seeing Ji Qingwu purse her lips with a troubled expression...
The Empress Dowager said, "I don’t mean to blame you. The Emperor is not my biological son, so at the end of the day, his heart is not with me. If your surname weren’t Ji, you probably would have entered this palace long ago."
"The entire Ji Family relies on me for support. I don’t want the Ji Family to fall into decline after I’m gone."
Ji Qingwu matched the Empress Dowager’s cadence and pauses, nodding and humming softly at the appropriate times, even finding the perfect moment to sigh.
A vertical crease appeared between the Empress Dowager’s brows. She said, "Qingwu, can you understand my painstaking efforts?"
Ji Qingwu played along perfectly, immediately nodding with an expression of profound suffering.
The Empress Dowager asked, "Ah, Qingwu, what were your thoughts on what happened that day in the Diligent Governance Hall?"
’I thought I just had to listen, not that I’d be quizzed.’
Her eyes flickered as she gave an ambiguous answer.
"Replying to the Empress Dowager, I have many feelings about it. For something like that to happen... it was beyond anything I could have imagined."
The Empress Dowager nodded in agreement. "I couldn’t have imagined it either."
"The brother Princess Consort Wei has always relied on was kneeling outside, while my own niece was sitting inside the Diligent Governance Hall. Just thinking about that scene is so satisfying."
’I wonder if I should remind her...’
’...that her own son, Prince Yong, was also kneeling miserably outside.’
The Empress Dowager seemed to envision the glorious rise of the Ji Family in the palace’s future, and her mind buzzed with excitement.
She then took Ji Qingwu’s hand and rambled on for a while longer.
Before she knew it, the Empress Dowager had spoken a great deal. Her mouth dry, she picked up her teacup, took a sip, and leaned back on the Queen’s throne.
"I am tired now. You may leave."
Ji Qingwu’s back had grown a little stiff from sitting for so long. She stood up, but just as she was about to walk out, she stopped.
She turned back and called, "Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager asked, puzzled, "What is it?"
Ji Qingwu sounded even more puzzled than she was. "Where would be a suitable place for me to stay?"
The Empress Dowager touched the phoenix hairpin at her temple and gave her a sidelong glance. "You silly girl, do I really need to teach you?"
’She won’t arrange a place for me, and she won’t give me a straight answer. She wants me to take the initiative and get close to the Emperor myself.’
Ji Qingwu played dumb. "Empress Dowager, I could just squeeze in with my fourth sister."
The Empress Dowager felt as if she had just wasted her breath. The girl was suddenly not so pleasing to the eye anymore.
She frowned. "Do you even know why you’re in the palace?"
Ji Qingwu clasped her hands in front of her and said demurely, "I’m here to help the Empress Dowager prepare for the Longevity Festival, of course."
*
「At court this morning.」
After being demoted two official ranks, Wei Ting was once again the subject of a memorial submitted by the Imperial Censorate.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Mr. Wei was appointed Commander of the Vanguard Camp, yet he has been neglecting his duties. Over the past two days, many have seen him at a medical clinic in the city during broad daylight."
Although his gift of the thousand-year-old orchid was rejected, Wei Ting continued to send flowers, plants, birds, and fish to the clinic every single day without fail.
Yesterday, he had sent a green-haired turtle.
Upon hearing the words "medical clinic," Emperor Wu Su’s posture shifted slightly. The secret reports Si Hai had delivered over the past few days had included information about that very clinic.
Down below, Lu Juan glimpsed the Emperor’s movement and, for the first time, couldn’t guess whether it signified pleasure or displeasure.
Emperor Wu Su said, "Is Mr. Wei perhaps dissatisfied with his position as Commander of the Vanguard Camp?"
Wei Ting stepped forward, head held high, and clasped his hands. "I was General Zhenbei at the Northern Border for many years. This sudden appointment as some Commander of the Vanguard Camp... I’m not yet accustomed to it. I often forget I even hold such an important post. I’m getting old, and my memory isn’t what it used to be."
As soon as he finished speaking, a deathly silence fell over the hall.
Wei Ting was growing bolder and bolder, daring to talk back to the Emperor in open court.
Emperor Wu Su’s voice was low. "Your memory isn’t what it used to be?"
Wei Ting was unafraid. "Precisely."
Emperor Wu Su’s gaze hardened, and a heavy pressure descended not only upon Wei Ting, but upon every official standing in the hall.
The officials held their breath. No one dared to step forward and intervene while the Emperor was in such a rage.
At that moment, one man stepped forward.
"Please, Your Majesty, calm your anger. This old official wishes to say that General Wei Ting has long served on the border, fighting for our nation on the battlefield. He is a bit blunt in his speech, but he means no disrespect to Your Majesty."
Emperor Wu Su looked at the man who had stepped forward. He was a high-ranking minister, dressed in purple robes.
"Prime Minister Su, I recall you have no friendship with Mr. Wei. Why do you step forward to speak on his behalf?"
Su Fengyue was nearly sixty, his temples streaked with white, and he had the bearing of a truly upright official.
"This old official stands only on the side of reason. Even if Your Majesty finds it unpleasant to hear, I must still say this: do not chill the hearts of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers at the border."
Emperor Wu Su’s gaze turned chillingly cold. "They say honest advice is harsh on the ears. But is this truly honest advice, or is it merely that the one speaking is a treacherous minister with no intention of showing me deference?"
The two words "treacherous minister" were a charge no official in the hall could bear. Even Su Fengyue, the Prime Minister, could not speak again.
Wei Ting turned. "I am grateful to Old Lord Su, but there is no need to speak for me. I believe that justice resides in the hearts of the people."
"What a fine ’justice resides in the hearts of the people’!"
Emperor Wu Su flung his sleeve, sending a memorial from a previous discussion crashing down onto the golden-tiled floor.
"Wei Ting has acted perversely, neglected his duties, lacks the resolve of a loyal official, and disregards the court’s grand strategies. He is hereby demoted to a subordinate officer in the Foot Army Camp!"
A subordinate officer in the Foot Army Camp was a City Gate Officer, a minor seventh-rank official.
Since his return to the capital, Wei Ting had plummeted from a First Rank military general to a third-rank Commander of the Vanguard Camp, and now to a seventh-rank City Gate Officer.
It was clear to all that the relationship between this monarch and his subject had completely disintegrated. And everyone knew the reason: military authority.
Emperor Wu Su’s voice was cold. "May you all take this as a warning, and as an outrage!"
Wei Ting stared back at the Emperor and declared in a loud voice, "Your subject thanks Your Majesty for this immense grace!"
Emperor Wu Su roared, "Court is dismissed! Wei Ting, you will wait in the Diligent Governance Hall for the imperial edict. Once you have it, report to your post at the city gate!"
