Pei Yuanhao raised the corners of his mouth slightly and looked at them: "How will I punish your sins?"

As soon as these words came out, I felt that the atmosphere in the entire Imperial Study Room dropped, as if a black hand suddenly pinched everyone's heart, squeezing it gently or hard, making people suffocate, but not death.<

/p>

When the officials heard what he said, they all turned pale and knew that it would be difficult to escape this time. They kowtowed repeatedly and could not speak. The only sound that echoed in the imperial study room was the sound of their foreheads hitting the floor.
p>

Pei Yuanhao smiled slightly and said: "You are all the ministers left to me by the Supreme Emperor. In the past, when I was still a prince, I often heard the Supreme Emperor mention that you are worthy of great responsibilities. So over the years, I have relied on you a lot.

Although you are old and sick, I have not allowed you to resign and return to your fields." As he said, he sighed deeply: "In the end, it was me who delayed you."

Sure enough, as expected.

I listened quietly and was not surprised.

Pei Yuanhao looked at those pale and colorless faces, and suddenly changed his tone: "However, I have not let you down."

The ministers were a little stunned and looked up at him.

With a leisurely expression on his face, he said, "Sun Qing, you enclosed 6,000 acres of land in Huainan in the name of establishing a school, and fourteen villages were forced to relocate. You must have benefited a lot."

When Sun Yehong, the Minister of Household Affairs, heard this, his face suddenly turned purple and he shivered and was speechless.

Pei Yuanhao smiled again and said: "Wu Qing's family, you borrowed 70,000 taels of silver from the national treasury five years ago. Although a lot of taxes have been reduced and exempted in Jiangnan in the past two years, the national treasury cannot make ends meet, and I have not recovered the money. After all,

, these 70,000 taels of silver are enough for you to buy a few acres of land and some houses in your hometown, so that you can live a long life."

"..."

"Song Qing's family, I heard that your son just gave you a grandson last month. I'm very happy to congratulate you. Having a grandson is a joy that everyone can only ask for. Besides, the case of the household department's deficit has not been investigated clearly.

, why bother to work so hard?”

……

Every time he spoke, the people below trembled. In the end, all of these people had pale faces. You looked at me, I looked at you, sweating like rain, but no one dared to speak.

At this time, I heard the sound of the door being pushed gently from outside, and I thought about something in my mind. I was standing behind these officials, but at this time I didn't speak, and just quietly retreated to the outside.

As soon as he retreated to the door, he saw Eunuch Yu carefully pushing the door open.

As soon as he raised his eyes, he saw me, and he was shocked: "Yue——"

I lowered my voice and said, "What's the matter?"

"Master Shen asks for an audience."

I smiled in my heart and said: "The emperor is so angry, why would you bump into me at this time? Eunuch Yu, please give me some advice."

After all, he had been following the Supreme Emperor and Pei Yuanhao for so long. Naturally, he understood. He nodded to me knowingly and was about to turn around and leave. At this time, a gust of cold wind blew snow foam from the crack in the door.

When I came in, the room was warm and cozy. This mix of hot and cold made me suddenly shiver.

I suddenly thought that even if Shen Gongyi went back this time, these ministers would also go back in the evening, and then they would still——

With this thought in mind, I called Eunuch Yu again and said: "Eunuch, Taifu Shen came to the palace in the snow. He must have something important to do, so don't delay him. Well, Eunuch, I'd better find a place to sit and let him wait.

The emperor has finished his work here, so it won’t be too late to play again.”

Eunuch Yu glanced at me, then at the dim scene in the royal study, nodded, agreed, and turned around to leave.

I came to the door gently, then turned around and walked back, still standing calmly behind.

This time, neither the monarch nor the ministers spoke anymore, but the imperial study was not quiet either. I could almost hear everyone’s breathing and heartbeat. Mixed with the heavy wind and snow outside, it gave people the illusion that the world was about to be turned upside down.

.

I don’t know how long I stood there, but then I suddenly felt a dull pain in my ankle.

It seems that although Liu Qinghan rubbed the sprained area for me, it was still injured.

I frowned and tried my best to endure it. At this time, the ministers finally seemed to have made up their minds, and one of them kowtowed heavily: "What the emperor said is absolutely true. I am old and sick, and it is true."

It is difficult to assume the great responsibility of the emperor. Tomorrow, the old minister will write a letter, begging the emperor to take pity on the old minister's illness and allow him to return home."

After hearing what he said, several other people also said: "I beg the emperor to allow me to resign and return to my hometown!"

……

Under the flickering candlelight, Pei Yuanhao's face was as calm as ever, but a flash of light flashed in his deep eyes.

He stood up slowly and said, "It's embarrassing for me to say this." After being silent for a while, he said, "It's getting late now, it's windy and snowy outside, so you'd better go back first.

You must think carefully about your resignation and make up your mind before reporting it to the public. Do not act hastily."

The ministers said one after another: "I understand."

After saying that, they kowtowed again and then left.

I stood aside and watched coldly. What happened in front of me was their secret plan. Liu Qinghan and he may have been looking forward to it for countless **** nights before it finally came true. To the court and even to the court

It will have an earth-shaking impact on the entire Central Plains, but when it is done, there is nothing to be happy about. The dull pain in my ankle also makes me feel a little sleepy.

After those ministers had left, I stepped forward and said softly: "I have something to report to the Emperor."

He raised his eyelids and glanced at me.

I said calmly: "Taifu Shen just entered the palace to see the emperor. Seeing that the emperor was busy with government affairs, the minister took it upon himself to ask Eunuch Yu to ask the Taifu to rest for a while and wait for the emperor to be free before summoning him. I wonder if the emperor is now——"

Before I finished speaking, I raised my head and met his dark eyes. My heart sank, I closed my mouth and lowered my head.

As soon as I stopped, he didn't speak, and the royal study fell into silence again.

But this time, we couldn't hear each other's breathing. We could only hear the strong wind outside, which made the death-like silence inside even more uncomfortable.

I endured the slight pain in my ankle and didn't speak again. I just stood like this. After an unknown amount of time, I finally heard him say: "Yuquan!"

Eunuch Yu hurriedly walked in and said, "Please pass on your thanks."

"Yes."

When I heard this, I breathed a sigh of relief, raised my hand and said: "Since the Emperor and the Grand Tutor are discussing state affairs, I would like to inform you——"

"You stay." He interrupted me, got up and walked to the warm seat at the other end.

I usually handle official business here. If I sit in the hot seat, I just chat and narrate. And I saw a chess set on the table over there. I frowned slightly and heard him say: "Come here."<

/p>

"..."

Although I didn’t want to get too close to him, after all, Shen Gongye was coming soon, so I didn’t need to worry too much, so I endured the pain in my feet and slowly walked over. He didn’t say anything else. After a while, Shen Gongye

Then he walked in.

This important minister's face didn't look very good either. Perhaps because he came from the wind and snow, he was covered in cold air. As soon as he entered the door, he knelt on the ground and said, "I pay my respects to the emperor."

Pei Yuanhao glanced at him and said with a smile: "My dear, please come back soon."

Shen Gongye stood up. When he saw Pei Yuanhao sitting on the warm seat with a chessboard in front of him, he was stunned. He turned around and saw me still standing beside him. His face suddenly became a little uncertain. After thinking about it,

Still said: "Your Majesty, I am here to discuss the fraud case in today's examination room."

Pei Yuanhao said: "No need to say anything, dear, I already know."

Shen Gongyou saw that he was not furious, and there was even a smile in his eyes. He was a little confused, but he did not dare to speak easily again.

Pei Yuanhao said: "The imperial examination was originally an opportunity for the imperial court to recruit good talents for thousands of years, and I have attached great importance to it. But now it is used by some people to form cliques for personal gain, and to sell officials and titles. I am really heartbroken!"

After saying that, he hammered the table hard.

Shen Gongyi was startled and hurriedly knelt down: "Your Majesty!"

Pei Yuanhao said hurriedly: "Ai Qing, get up quickly."

Shen Gongye stood up again and looked at him with an increasingly uneasy mood. Pei Yuanhao said: "I have thoroughly investigated what happened this time. Those involved will be severely punished. If we do not use this as a warning to others, we will only

I’m afraid that fraud cases will continue one after another in the future, and then I will lose face in court!”

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Shen Gongyi saw that his words led to this, and was about to say something else when Pei Yuanhao suddenly waved his hand again: "Okay, let's not mention these troublesome things."

"Ah...?"

"Speaking of which, I haven't discussed chess with Aiqing for some time. I just happened to be a little interested tonight and Aiqing came to the palace again. Why don't you and I, the king and my ministers, play two games?"

Shen Gongye had been a little confused by his back and forth since he entered the door, but he didn't look like he wanted to punish him, and it seemed that the case of cheating in the examination room did not involve him, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

, then he sat sideways opposite the emperor.

Pei Yuanhao has already started to play chess: "Yue Qingying, holding tea."

"Yes."

I stood for a long time, and the pain in my ankle was getting worse. But he opened his mouth, and I had no choice but to force myself to walk over and take the tea tray. I carefully placed the tea on both sides of the table, with cold sweat dripping from my forehead.

When I got close to the candlelight, I even broke out in cold sweat.

He glanced at me, and I pursed my lips, which were fading in color, and stood aside again.

The two of them, the monarch and his ministers, started fighting on the hot seat in the imperial study room, going back and forth. It took nearly two hours to finish the game. Pei Yuanhao won the six pieces, but he said that Shen Gong had given up and wanted to play again.
To be continued...