Xuanxia

Chapter 499 Punishment
"What's the crime?"

Fu Qingzhou's eyes went dark: "Are you waiting for me here?"

Zhao Yuan laughed out loud: "Reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have made mistakes. This is what a wise ruler does!"

Fu Qingzhou sighed without saying anything. He helped Yue Heng sit down first, and then he sat back down.

"Brother Yue knew you were the emperor. It wasn't me who told him. He guessed it himself... But as for Jiaojiao, I did tell her."

He spread his hands and said, "There's no way to wash away this matter. I admit it."

"Oh?"

Zhao Yuan raised his eyebrows: "You are not a person who does not keep your word, why did you reveal my identity?"

"To comfort her." Fu Qingzhou said frankly: "You also know about her father's case. It has been delayed for nearly ten years. Now our investigation is also hindered. If we don't give her some confidence, she will be very uncomfortable."

"Ouch!"

Zhao Yuan slammed the table and widened his eyes: "You sold me out just for a woman?!"

“Don’t say ‘I, I, I’.” Fu Qingzhou rolled his eyes. “You can shout louder so that the entire Sword Academy knows your identity.”

"Ahem..." Zhao Yuan cleared his throat and sat back down: "You, you sold me out for a woman?"

Although it was the same words, the momentum was much weaker.

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Jiaojiao and I have been dependent on each other for many years. You won't understand."

"Tsk." Zhao Yuan shook his head and changed the subject: "So, you leaked my identity, what crime should you be punished for?"

Fu Qingzhou sighed: "You are the emperor, of course you have the final say."

"good very good……"

Zhao Yuan grinned: "You said so!"

After saying that, he slowly turned his gaze to Yue Heng.

Yue Heng shuddered in shock.

"Brother Yue."

Zhao Yuan kept smiling evilly: "I heard that you have been preparing for the minor imperial examination? Do you want to become an official?"

"Yes Yes."

Yue Heng took a breath, forced himself to calm down, and replied: "I am determined to serve the court and help Your Majesty govern the country and bring peace to the world!"

"That's it..."

Zhao Yuan supported his head with his hands and his eyes rolled around.

Looking at his appearance, Fu Qingzhou clearly had a bad feeling.

"So be it."

Zhao Yuan smiled proudly and said, "You two are brothers, and Brother Fu made a mistake, so you have to pay for it. I will punish you by not allowing you to take part in the minor imperial examination."

“What?!” Yue Heng felt like he was struck by lightning. He instantly became numb, his eyes dimmed quickly, and he slumped in the chair as if all the bones in his body had been pulled out.

Fu Qingzhou was also startled and stood up suddenly: "Zhao Yuan, don't go too far!"

"Hey, you're anxious."

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "It's not easy to push you into a corner."

"I'm telling you, you can punish me!" Fu Qingzhou glared, "Don't go after Brother Yue! How many years has he been busy preparing for the imperial examination? You beat him to death with just one sentence. If you do this, we won't even be brothers anymore!"

"Oh, Brother Fu, don't be anxious."

Zhao Yuan still smiled: "I haven't finished the second half of my sentence yet."

Fu Qingzhou sat back in his chair angrily: "Tell me, I want to see what you can say!"

Yue Heng had completely collapsed in the chair, as if he had lost his soul, and his eyes were extremely empty.

"I can't take part in the minor imperial examinations..."

Zhao Yuan said slowly: "But you can be an official."

"Ah?" Fu Qingzhou was stunned.

Yue Heng was also startled, and some light returned to his eyes.

"What's the point of taking the minor imperial examination and entering the Sword Palm Academy?" Zhao Yuan said to Yue Heng faintly, "You have already learned magic and have excellent talent for magic. If you enter the Sword Palm Academy, you will most likely be assigned to the Spiritual Arts Academy to specialize in magic. Is this what you want?"

Yue Heng regained his composure and said in a hoarse voice: "If I were determined to pursue a career in politics, then... then it might not be possible..."

"It doesn't count if you say so."

Zhao Yuan interrupted him and grinned, "Students trained by the Spiritual Arts Academy are all sent to the Mingjian Pavilion's Book Library..."

"In this world, among ten practitioners, only one can practice magic. Do you know that? Do you know how hard it is to find a talented and virtuous magician? Now the Book House is short of people, don't you know?"

Listening to his words, Fu Qingzhou seemed to understand a little: "You mean, if Brother Yue really entered the Palm Sword Academy, he would definitely be assigned to the Spiritual Art Academy because of his excellent talent in magic? In the future, he can only enter the Mingjian Pavilion Paishu Building? There is no other possibility?" "The owner of the Paishu Building is Ning Wuwang. He is the son of Ning Baimei. He is also a good brother who helped me skip classes from the teacher when I was a child and took me to see women at the intersection of Baishi Street when I grew up."

Zhao Yuan said slowly: "If he opens his mouth, even I will have to give him face."

Fu Qingzhou was silent.

Yue Heng gradually recovered, supported himself on the armrests of the chair and sat up straight again, and said softly: "So... Your Majesty thinks that I can not take the imperial examination, but directly... serve as an official in the court?"

"Yes."

Zhao Yuan tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair and said smugly, "But since it's a punishment, it can't be that simple."

Fu Qingzhou was no longer angry at this time, and said helplessly: "What bad idea are you going to come up with?"

Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "It's not a bad idea, Yue Heng... I remember that you are engaged to the daughter of Lin Zhongwen, the prefect of Qingyang City in Shu?"

"...Yes." Yue Heng replied softly.

"Then do you know whose son-in-law Lin Zhongwen is?" Zhao Yuan asked maliciously.

Yue Heng looked confused, but Fu Qingzhou reacted: "Yuan family!"

"Yes——"

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Lin Zhongwen's father-in-law is the real power in the Yuan family, Yuan Ye!"

"Yuan Ye?" Yue Heng frowned. "This name...Second Minister of the Cabinet, Lord Yuan?"

"That's right." Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Now, you know how strong your background is, right?"

Yue Heng opened his mouth in shock.

He never expected that the beautiful girl he had accidentally picked up could be linked to an official of such a high level!
"me……"

He murmured, "Am I a descendant of a noble family?"

Fu Qingzhou frowned: "Brother Zhao, in our last debate in the academy, you showed great hostility towards the aristocratic families..."

"As for hostility, I certainly can't say that."

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "But the aristocratic families have been controlling the government for a long time. Of course, I want to reduce their power."

"Then you still..." Fu Qingzhou was halfway through his words when he suddenly realized: "You want to use Brother Yue's identity to deal with the aristocratic family?!"

"I haven't figured out how to use it yet."

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "But wouldn't it be interesting if a descendant of an aristocratic family climbed to an important position in the court and turned around to deal with the aristocratic family?"

Yue Heng opened his mouth wide and stammered in silence.

Fu Qingzhou pondered for a moment and turned to him: "Brother Yue, what do you think?"

"I...I want to drink some wine." Yue Heng said in a low voice.

Zhao Yuan laughed: "No problem! We have wine!"

He immediately stood up and ran to the other corner of the second floor. He took out a pot of wine and stuffed it into Yue Heng's hand: "Liangshan wine, the officials in the court love to drink it, you should have some too."

Yue Heng didn't care about the emperor personally handing him wine. He tilted his head back, put the spout of the kettle into his mouth, and started drinking.

Perhaps because he was in a very excited mood, he drank quickly and hastily, finishing the whole pot of wine in a short while.

With a bang, the empty wine jug was thrown to the ground by him.

His face turned red from drinking, and the red even spread to his neck and arms, making him look like a cooked shrimp.

"Your Majesty! I ask you!"

He suddenly stood up, stiffened his neck and said in a deep voice: "If I were an official, I would only take care of the well-being of the people and punish injustice. Do you still want me to be this official?"

Zhao Yuan was not angry at his recklessness. He smiled and asked, "If you punish injustice and find that the source of the injustice is the aristocratic family, will you do anything about it?"

"Tube!"

Yue Heng patted his chest and said, "No matter who it is, I will take care of it!"

"Oh?" Zhao Yuan smiled even more happily. "That is to say, if you are simply asked to deal with others, you are unwilling to do so; but if there is an injustice that needs you to redress it, no matter who is behind it, you are not afraid of the powerful and the trouble?"

Fu Qingzhou sighed softly.

He knew that Zhao Yuan was clearly leading Yue Heng into a trap.

But... he also knew that with Yue Heng's character, even if Zhao Yuan was not around, if he became an official one day, he would definitely take this path.

So, he ended up saying nothing.

"Not afraid!"

Yue Heng patted his chest even louder: "I have no shame to the heavens above and the earth below, what do I have to fear!"

"Hahaha! Great!" Zhao Yuan clapped his hands and laughed: "Then Brother Yue, just go back and wait quietly - it won't be long before you can serve as an official in the court!"

(End of this chapter)