I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 36 Court Meeting
The next morning, Li Chengzong was grabbed by Qin Yu early in the morning.

I changed my clothes and had breakfast in a daze. When I was about to leave Yuxiu Palace, I suddenly remembered something.

He has never attended court since he was born.

Fortunately, his mother knew all this and after asking, she found out that court meetings were divided into big court meetings and small court meetings.

The grand court meeting was held every three days. Originally, it was held in the main hall. Later, Emperor Qing felt that the main hall was too big, officials could not stand comfortably, and it was difficult to hear what was said, so he moved it to the Chaoyuan Hall.

There is no fixed date for the small court meeting. It depends mainly on the Emperor Qing's wishes and is held in the Hall of Calligraphy and Painting.

Yesterday was the grand court meeting held every three days, and Li Chengzong felt that his affairs should be handled in the Hall of Calligraphy and Painting today.

Qin Yu also thought so, so he asked Xiao Xizi to take Li Chengzong to the Hall of Calligraphy.

Just as Li Chengzong was heading towards the Hall of Calligraphy, all the civil and military officials in the court were heading towards the Chaoyuan Hall.

The reason why it was held in Chaoyuan Hall was related to Li Chengzong. Because of the chaos he caused, the court meeting yesterday was not over, so it was held in Chaoyuan Hall.

Fortunately, the two palaces were not too far apart, and Li Chengzong was not late, just a little late. All the officials in the court had already arrived.

At today's morning court, it can be said that except for Chen Pingping and the eldest prince Li Chengru who was far away at the border, everyone who could attend the court came. Even Prince Jing, who usually did not attend the court, was there. All the officials stood in their seats and whispered to each other, and the hall seemed a little noisy.

As many people whispered, they secretly glanced at the Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate and the Minister of the Supreme Court Shang Lian. If nothing unexpected happened, there would definitely be an impeachment today for the incident yesterday morning. They just didn't know how much of a commotion it would cause.

After a day and a night of fermentation, the news had already spread throughout the entire capital. All the officials present knew that the Third Prince Li Chengzong had killed all eighteen members of the Feng family, not even sparing children as young as five or six years old.

Why the eighteen members of the Feng family were slaughtered was not important to them. What was important was that the Third Prince had different ideas from ordinary dignitaries, acted without scruples, and was ruthless. The most important thing was that His Majesty still doted on him.

Therefore, the vast majority of officials had only one thought in their minds: they must not offend the Third Prince.

In front of all the officials were Prince Jing and two important ministers of the court, Prime Minister Lin Ruofu, and the top military official Qin Ye. Although Chen Pingping was missing, there were still three of them sitting.

Lin Ruofu sat at the front, with his head down, not knowing what he was thinking about; Qin Ye sat at the second seat, with his head tilted back and sleeping soundly; Prince Jing sat at the last seat, glancing at the officials from time to time, without any communication throughout the whole process.

On the other hand, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, who were standing opposite them in front of all the officials, were chatting and laughing.

"Brother, this loss is quite big. I feel really bad for you."

Although he said that, Li Chengqian's face was actually almost smiling.

"Why did His Royal Highness say this?"

Li Chengze shook his head and said, "Anyone can punish treacherous ministers, so how can there be any loss?"

"is it?"

Li Chengqian did not expose him, but laughed loudly and said, "Second brother, do you think I should thank my third brother?"

It took a lot of effort to win over a Supreme Court Minister, a Junior Court Minister, and a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, but in the end, they were all killed because of Li Chengzong.

Li Chengqian was naturally very happy, while Li Chengze felt distressed, but he did not give in and smiled calmly, "The Crown Prince should thank Third Brother very much, and I should also thank Third Brother very much, otherwise I might have been deceived by him and made a big mistake."

"My second brother has a really broad mind."

Li Chengqian smiled, "But I heard that my second brother got really angry yesterday."

"I've been eating too much hotpot lately, and I'm a little irritated, so I naturally need to vent my anger."

Li Chengqian nodded seriously and said happily, "Indeed, Second Brother likes to eat hot pot, so it's normal for him to have internal heat. Has Second Brother consulted the imperial physician?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I have already seen the imperial physician."

"That's good. I feel relieved now."

The two men exchanged verbal exchanges constantly, but on the surface they appeared to be brothers in harmony.

Just then, Li Chengzong walked into the hall.

For a moment, except for the three at the top right, everyone looked at him.

Li Chengzong didn't care about everyone's gazes. He walked directly to the upper right and called out "Minister Lin". After greeting him, he bowed to Qin Ye and Prince Jing and said, "Meet my uncle, meet my uncle."

Qin Ye and his mother have always had a bad relationship, and it has further deteriorated in the past two years. They used to be able to talk to each other during the holidays, but now it can be said that they have no contact with each other anymore.

The reason was not complicated, and Li Chengzong also knew that Qin Yu had somehow found out that Ye Qingmei's death was related to the Qin family.

In the past, he only targeted Qin Ye, but now even the younger generations of the Qin family are displeased with him.

However, Li Chengzong didn't have to cut off ties with the Qin family. As long as he didn't interact with the Qin family in front of her, she would pretend not to see it.

Li Chengzong and Ye Qingmei have no feelings for each other. It's just that due to his mother's mood, she has had less communication with her uncle in the past two years, but she has never lacked the necessary etiquette.

On the other hand, Qin Ye actually liked his nephew very much in his heart, but because of Qin Yu, whenever they met, they only exchanged polite greetings and never communicated too much.

For example, now, Qin Ye, who was sleeping soundly, opened his eyes, stood up, saluted, called "Your Highness", and then sat down and continued to sleep.

However, Prince Jing was very enthusiastic in communicating with Li Chengzong, and only then did he allow him to take the position of prince.

Li Chengzong came to the upper left, bowed and said, "Meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, meet my second brother."

Three years ago, during the Spring Examination, Li Chengzong sent a human head to the Eastern Palace, which made Li Chengqian extremely unhappy. Today, three years later, Li Chengzong sent him another big gift, causing the second brother to lose three senior officials in succession. Now he likes Li Chengzong even more.

"Thank you for your courtesy, Third Brother. I will prepare a big gift for you later."

He doesn't look like he's going to add insult to injury. Did Li Chengqian take the wrong medicine today?

Li Chengzong thought to himself, but said on the surface: "Your Highness, are you planning to take revenge on me today because of what happened three years ago?"

"Third brother is joking."

After hearing what Li Chengzong said, the prince was not angry, but became even happier.

After all, Li Chengzong's question clearly showed that he had no idea what was going on in the court, which meant that he really had no interest in the court.

How could the prince not be happy when a strong competitor is gone?

Li Chengzong did not comment, but he also saw some problems in Li Chengqian's attitude. He turned to look at Li Chengze and asked, "Is Feng Yuan, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, my second brother's man?"

"Yes."

Li Chengze did not hide anything. If the prince could see it, he could naturally see it too.

This younger brother really knows nothing about what’s happening in the court.

Li Chengzong said, "Second brother, be careful when you recruit people in the future. Don't accept just anyone."

"If I say I don't know what kind of person he is, would you believe me, Third Brother?"

If it was the prince, Li Chengze would not bother to explain anything and would just take ruthless action against his forces.

But he still has a lot of brotherly affection for Li Chengzong in his heart, and hopes that this brotherhood can continue forever.

He thought that he knew Li Chengzong quite well. He thought that he had been very smart since childhood, a very pure person, and did things uprightly. As long as he was not provoked, everything would be fine. He was a person who could be completely trusted.

Of course, Li Chengzong also knew Li Chengze better, so he nodded and said with a smile: "I believe it, but second brother should keep his eyes open when recruiting people in the future, and the same goes for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I don't like to beat around the bush. I still say that you can fight your own battles, as long as you give me face, I will naturally give face to the two brothers."

Li Chengqian opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a bell rang.

Everyone in the hall stopped talking and straightened their appearance, then Emperor Qing walked in and everyone bowed to him.

Once Emperor Qing sat down, today's court meeting officially began.

The ministers first reported on state affairs, such as disasters in certain places and border frictions between Daqing and Northern Qi, which were all state affairs. Li Chengzong became drowsy after listening to them. As the court meeting came to an end, it was finally his turn to talk about what he had done yesterday.

Lai Mingcheng, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Supervisory Office, straightened his court robes and came out of the office, saying, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

coming!

All the officials were shocked when they saw this scene. The Censor of the Inspectorate was a censor, and the duty of a censor was to impeach and report.

Everyone knows Lai Mingcheng. He is known as the mad dog among the censors. He is bound to bite people once he shows up. Recently, the only person who can allow the Left Censor-in-Chief to appear in person is the Third Prince Li Chengzong.

Emperor Qing sat high up at the head of the table and uttered something indifferently.

"Say!"

Lai Mingcheng looked at Emperor Qing with a serious and solemn expression.

"Your Majesty, I want to impeach the Shaoqing of the Zongzheng Temple, the third prince of our dynasty, Li Chengzong."

When they heard the title of Shaoqing of Zongzheng Temple, most of the officials had not yet reacted to who he was. But as Lai Mingcheng finished his words, all the officials looked at Lai Mingcheng with "admiration".

He is indeed the mad dog among the censors. Yesterday, the Third Prince slaughtered an entire family, and His Majesty backed him up. He even executed two high-ranking officials in the court to establish his authority. Yet, Lai Mingcheng actually dared to stroke his tiger's whiskers. He is truly not afraid of death.

Emperor Qing was not surprised and said calmly: "Li Chengzong, you heard it, Censor Lai wants to impeach you."

Li Chengzong naturally knew what kind of person Lai Mingcheng was.

This is a stubborn censor, upright and not one to fit in with the crowd. No matter who it is, as long as they break the laws of Daqing, he will bite them. He is known as a mad dog.

It can be said that he was equivalent to Wei Zheng of Qing State. Unfortunately, he did not have Wei Zheng's ability to adapt, and Emperor Qing was not Li Shimin, so he was finally beaten to death.

You may not like such people, but you cannot help but admire them.

Li Chengzong then stepped forward, bowed to Lai Mingcheng, and then said, "I wonder what Censor Lai wants to impeach me for?"

Lai Mingcheng held the memorial in his hand and shouted, "I want to criticize the Third Prince for being arrogant and perverting the law. He ignored the laws of Daqing, abused private punishment against officials appointed by the court, set up a private punishment hall, and took human lives lightly, causing the tragic death of 18 members of the Feng family. This case can be called the first tragedy since the founding of Daqing. I hope Your Majesty will severely punish the Third Prince and rectify the laws of Daqing."

The eyelids of countless officials in the palace twitched and they couldn't help but curse in their hearts. This had risen to the first tragedy since the founding of Qing Kingdom. They were trying to kill the Third Prince. Could it be that Lai Mingcheng had a deep grudge against the Third Prince?
Just as everyone was puzzled, Prince Jing stood up and sneered, "Lai Mingcheng, are you trying to kill my nephew? Did he dig up your ancestral graves, or kill your parents, wife and children, or are you colluding with the Feng family?"

Lai Mingcheng ignored Prince Jing and just looked at Emperor Qing who was sitting at the top.

"Li Chengzong, what do you say?"

Li Chengzong bowed and saluted: "Father, the Left Censor-in-Chief Lai Mingcheng framed the prince. According to the laws of Daqing, his entire family should be executed."

(End of this chapter)