Chapter 699 - 701: Voicing an Injustice
Chapter 699: Chapter 701: Voicing an Injustice
"Mr. Zhou, please wait." Chen Zishu hurried to catch up with Zhou Shicong.
Zhou Shicong stopped and looked at him coldly. In the throne room just now, these people hadn’t said a single word in his defense. ’What could he possibly want now?’
"Mr. Zhou, surely you’re not planning to just back down like this?"
Any fool could see the provocation in his words. Zhou Shicong sneered, "Mr. Chen, are you here to kick a man while he’s down?"
"How could I?" Chen Zishu said, stroking his beard. "I just feel it’s a pity, Mr. Zhou. You may be in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, but it seems you’re nothing more than a puppet on a string, unable to make your own decisions. I merely find it unjust."
"Mr. Chen, you are mistaken. I am serving the sovereign. The Ministry of Revenue naturally belongs to the Holy Emperor. I understand my duty as a subject."
But inwardly, he thought, ’This old fox Chen Zishu isn’t here to commiserate; he’s here to rub salt in the wound.’
"I refuse to believe you can’t see it, Mr. Zhou. The Holy Emperor is starting to find us old ministers to be an eyesore." The two had reached the palace walls, and seeing no one around, Chen Zishu finally dared to speak his mind.
Zhou Shicong didn’t believe for a second that Chen Zishu was here for a heart-to-heart or to comfort him. ’This old fox is probably scheming something wicked.’
Chen Zishu didn’t mind his silence. "There are fewer and fewer matters in court that we can influence now. Once the Holy Emperor has made up his mind, how often have we been able to defy him?"
"If this continues, I’m afraid there will be no place left for us old-timers in the court."
Zhou Shicong replied, "Minister Chen, you are mistaken. Lady Chen is in the palace with the Sixth Prince by her side. As the Sixth Prince’s maternal relative, are you saying this to show off to me, Mr. Chen?"
But Zhou Shicong had a dark thought: ’The Sixth Prince is still just an infant. We’ll have to see if the Chen family has the good fortune to see him grow up.’
"Alas, Mr. Zhou, you’ve misunderstood me. What is there to show off? The palace is not short of Princes these days. I can only hope the Sixth Prince can grow up safe and sound, to be a source of support for my daughter. That alone would be the greatest blessing."
"I only stopped you today, Mr. Zhou, to speak my mind. This really isn’t the place to talk. The cold wind is chilling these old bones to the core. Let’s find a place for a cup of hot tea to warm ourselves up."
Zhou Shicong did not refuse. Although the Zhou Family had the Empress in the Central Palace, she held nothing but animosity for his branch of the family and could never be their pillar of support.
’This Chen Zishu’s luck is quite good,’ he thought. ’His own daughter gave birth to the Sixth Prince for the Holy Emperor, and his granddaughter, Chen Ziyan, was made a Princess and sent off for a marriage alliance.’
’Even if not for the monk’s sake, then for the Buddha’s. Even if the Holy Emperor wanted to make an example of someone, he wouldn’t pick this old fox.’
’Now that the other party is extending an olive branch, it would be foolish of me not to accept it.’
The two had only just left together when Hua Shunming, in the Upper Study Room, received the news.
"These people are so full of schemes and plots. If only they’d apply that cunning to proper business," Hua Shunming commented while reading a memorial.
"How are the wedding preparations for Marquis Cheng’en coming along?" Hua Shunming asked suddenly.
Le San answered cautiously, "Your Majesty, all the necessary rites have been completed. The auspicious day has been set for three days from now."
"So soon?" Hua Shunming paused his brush. "When the time comes, remember to remind Us to bestow a reward."
After saying that, he felt it wasn’t quite right. Marquis Cheng’en was his own brother-in-law, and the Zhou Family had been loyal for generations. A mere reward would be a slight. "Go and inform the Empress. In three days, We will attend the Chengen Marquis Mansion with her."
Empress Zhou had already requested permission to return to her family’s mansion for the wedding after he had issued the decree for it. For them to now go together to the Chengen Marquis Mansion would be seen as a wonderful gesture.
Le San quickly assented. However, when he went to the Empress’s palace to relay the order, his demeanor was even more cautious.
For Zhou Shixiong’s wedding, everything was handled according to regulations. With the Empress sending several female officials to personally oversee the arrangements, everything was in perfect order, even without any female relatives in the mansion.
The various noble houses in the Capital who had hoped to see a joke were disappointed. Instead, they left the wedding banquet fuming.
No one had expected that for a simple wedding banquet, the Emperor and Empress would personally attend, bringing their two legitimate princes with them.
This was a greater display of favor than any lavish reward, and it demonstrated the Zhou Family’s importance in the Emperor’s eyes.
Some even secretly speculated that by placing Zhou Shixiong in such a prominent position, the Emperor was preparing to name his eldest legitimate son as the Crown Prince.
After all, the Eldest Prince held the advantage of being the legitimate firstborn. Even if others wanted to object, they had no grounds to do so.
Others thought about it and then dismissed it, since it had little to do with them.
But in the family mansions of the few consorts who had borne Princes, who knows how many teacups were smashed that night.
As the end of the year approached, auspicious dates became plentiful. Jin Qianqian not only married off several of her personal maids at the same time but also began to arrange Gu Yi’s wedding.
But this was different from the maids’ weddings. Not a single step of the traditional betrothal process was skipped. Even for the betrothal gifts, Gu Yi did his utmost, taking out every silver tael he had on him to pay for it all.
Jin Qianqian wanted to add to it, but Gu Yi refused.
"I know Seventh Sister-in-law cares for us, but it’s not scarcity we should worry about, but inequality. There are so many brothers and clansmen after me. It’s best to follow the rules."
If a precedent was set with him, it would be difficult to handle things later on.
He wasn’t clueless; naturally, he didn’t dare to ask for an inch and take a mile.
Jin Qianqian really wasn’t short on money, but she appreciated his good intentions.
When it was time to send the betrothal gifts, Jin Qianqian still added a few things, and in a way that couldn’t be refused. "This is a small token from me and your Brother Qi. Even if you were getting married back in our hometown, we would still give you a wedding gift."
The items weren’t particularly valuable, but their worth lay in their rarity; they were all curiosities collected from various places during the sea trade expeditions a few years ago.
Gu Yi was even more grateful. In the days that followed, he studied with greater diligence, hoping to be able to share Gu Wenheng’s burdens sooner.
Meanwhile, before the year’s end, Gu Wenheng received the two hundred thousand taels of treasury silver allocated from Shangjing.
Seeing such a large sum of treasury silver enter the vaults, his subordinates were all stunned.
They were only ever responsible for sending silver *to* Shangjing. When had they ever gotten to take silver *from* the capital?
But this was reality. Faced with the gleaming silver, many suspected their eyes were playing tricks on them. Someone even gave themselves a hard pinch.
The two Deputy Envoys, Cen Gaosong and Li Mingyun, stood to the left and right behind Gu Wenheng.
They only let out a long sigh of relief after all the silver was stored in the vault and the doors were locked.
Cen Gaosong could no longer hold back and asked, "Mr. Gu, the Holy Decree states that this sum of silver is at your free disposal. May I ask what this means?"
In all their years as officials, only for disaster relief or war would the Ministry of Revenue allocate so many silver taels. This was the first time they had ever encountered such a baffling and vaguely worded Holy Decree that gave no explanation.