Chapter 923: Contempt of the Imperial Court
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It wasn’t like they hadn’t done such a thing before, right? King Li of Zhou’s case was cleared, and it caused a huge commotion. In the end, didn’t it calm down just like that?!
It happened again. They were familiar with it.
“The Shanxi and Shaanxi areas are also more seriously affected areas.” The Empress Dowager glanced at Elder Han and her tone became very cold. “However, the local n.o.bles did not a.s.sist the government to help the local refugees. Most of the local refugees fled to Liaodong. The Imperial Court can’t take out money to help the refugees. If the n.o.bles did their best, it’s not appropriate for the Imperial Court to ask anything.”
Elder Han had a bad feeling.
Indeed!
The Empress Dowager suddenly grabbed the teacup and used all her strength to smash it at Elder Han’s feet. Then, behind the curtain, there was another series of suppressed and painful coughs.
The court officials lowered their heads and were silent.
After a while, the Empress Dowager continued, “Accommodating and settling the refugees is also part of the national policy. Since Elder Han has agreed, it means that the n.o.bles of the North have also agreed to help the government and King Yue Fei implement the national policy. Now, may I ask how much food and supplies the Han Clan has donated to the refugee camp after the national policy was issued?”
Elder Han was speechless and did not dare to say anything.
The Empress Dowager’s voice became even more hoa.r.s.e. “You don’t dare to speak, but everything donated by the n.o.bles of the North to the camp is recorded by the government. You can’t fool them even if you want to.” As she spoke, she threw a booklet out from behind the curtain and it fell to the ground with a bang. “Your Han Clan is the number one n.o.ble clan in Shaanxi. You didn’t want to set an example and skimped on the national policy. You’re disregarding the rules of the court and the dignity of the royal family.”
The court officials looked at Elder Han’s dejected face and felt the Empress Dowager’s monstrous anger.
In every dynasty, the Imperial Court had implemented national policies for the sake of the country. It represented the might of the Imperial Court. If the country was conquered, the first thing they needed was the support and cooperation of the local n.o.bles.
Since the n.o.bles of the North, led by Elder Han, had agreed to follow the national policy, they should do their part and use their local influence to cooperate with the Imperial Court.
The words of looking down on the court and ignoring the dignity of the royal family immediately made Elder Han’s expression change in shock. “Empress Dowager, please calm down. My Han family has been loyal to the Imperial
Court for generations. There must be some misunderstanding…”
He kept saying that it was a misunderstanding. Not only was the Empress Dowager sick of it, but even the court officials looked over.
“l know very well if it’s a misunderstanding or not. Don’t use such light and light words to brush me off.” The Empress Dowager did not fall for his tricks. “If something happens in the camp, Princess Shaoyi’s reputation will be ruined. King Yue Fei will be questioned by the Imperial Court, and I won’t be able to absolve myself of the blame. Should you jump out and attack the royal family to take the opportunity to take over?”
Behind the curtain, there was another violent cough. The Empress Dowager had spoken bluntly and did not hide it at all. The court officials broke out in a cold sweat.
Elder Han and the others even felt a chill run down their spines. Even their teeth cracked.
However, the Empress Dowager was not finished. “Should you, the n.o.bles of the North, jump out again and give a large number of supplies to the refugees, using the refugees to benefit yourselves and make the refugees feel grateful for you? If King Yue Fei’s reputation is damaged and he is questioned by the Imperial Court, the best outcome is that he will continue to be restrained by the n.o.bles, and the n.o.bles will naturally continue to control the North.”
As expected of the winner of the last palace battle. The Empress Dowager had completely seen through this matter. The n.o.bles were targeting her, and there was a deeper layer of benefits behind this.
The few northern court officials led by Elder Han knelt on the ground and cried out for justice.
The Empress Dowager sneered. “Don’t cry out for injustice. The n.o.bles of the North have done so much. To put it bluntly, it’s because they’re worried that King Yue Fei has implemented a national policy in the North and is even more famous than before. They’re worried that they won’t be able to suppress King Yue Fei and will be suppressed by him in the future. They won’t be able to continue being your local emperor! ”
The refugees were everywhere, and the Shanxi and the Shaanxi areas had the most riots. Therefore, the Imperial Court issued a national policy, and the n.o.bles of the North agreed with it with both hands. However, as soon as the threat of the refugees was resolved, the n.o.bles couldn’t sit still anymore. Worried that King Yue Fei would threaten them, they planned to use this matter to suppress him.
The court officials knew very well how King Li of Zhou had died back then.
Once King Yue Fei took control of the North, how could the n.o.bles survive?
The words “local emperor” made the atmosphere in the royal court drop to the freezing point. The court officials lowered their heads and did not even dare to breathe loudly.
Elder Han and the others were even more shocked.
“This. Is. Simply. Wishful. Thinking.” The Empress Dowagers voice was hoa.r.s.e as she enunciated word by word, “I’m a descendant of the Imperial Family and have the orthodox bloodline of the royal family. How can I allow you to be unruly and young? When a tiger falls to the ground, dogs will bark at each other!”
Elder Han’s body went limp, and his vision darkened as he fell straight to the hall.
Before he fainted, he thought to himself, “It’s over, it’s over.” The Han Clan was finished.
They had originally thought that since King Yue Fei had successfully implemented the national policy and his reputation had become greater than before, he would already be considered to have contributed more than his master. The Han Clan had taken the initiative to use the matter of national policy to suppress King Yue Fei. This was a result that the Imperial Court, the emperor, and even the Empress Dowager were willing to see.
This was nothing.
Previously, when King Li of Zhou was guarding the North, they had also done the same. It was impossible that the Imperial Court did not know anything and had even been indulgent about it.
It was fine as long as they couldn’t find any actual evidence.
If a scapegoat fell, there would still be thousands of other scapegoats.
What were they afraid of?!
However, this time, the northern land-owning cla.s.s led by Elder Han had never expected that Ye Xiaoci would interfere and even openly catch the
land-owning cla.s.s red-handed.
At this moment, Elder Han could not understand why. Although the Ye family of Linjiang was from the royal faction, their stance was more neutral. As a local official, Ye Xiaoci had not been involved for many years. The va.s.sal lords and n.o.bles were competing.
Why was it different this time?
Next, the Empress Dowager sent five decrees in a row.
First, she rewarded Princess Shaoyi for her kindness and kindness, and ordered someone to give her a reward.
Second, she ordered Youzhou Governor Ye Xiaoci to investigate the case involving the Han Clan and not let it go private.
Third, King Yue Fei was specially ordered to help the government office investigate the case involving the Han Clan. This case was not to be tolerated.
Fourth, it was emphasized again that the n.o.bles of the North should cooperate with the government and King Yue Fei to implement the national policy. Anyone who was perfunctory would be treated with contempt for the court and cause chaos.
Fifth, under Elder Han’s lead, all the descendants of the Han family who were officials in the court were locked in the residence from today onwards. They would be dealt with after investigating the case involving the Han family. In an instant, it went from “go home and rest well” to being “locked.”
This was not a big difference.
Therefore, some people could sense the Empress Dowager’s determination to “overthrow the Han Clan”. The Han Clan immediately became the target of public criticism.
When the news reached the harem, Imperial Concubine Xu, who was behind the Han Clan, gritted her teeth. She hated Yu Youyao, who was the instigator of all this..