Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 733 Ignorance
in the palace.

The emperor looked at the memorial in his hand, a barely perceptible smile flashing across his face.

The King of Qin, who had just finished discussing matters with the Emperor, couldn't help but raise his eyes.

“Wang Yan is back,” the Emperor said. “The matter in Fujian has been resolved.”

The officials in the Chuigong Hall looked at each other. Xie Yizhi's case had finally come to an end. They wondered whether Wang Yan's arrival in the capital would settle everything or stir up new troubles.

The Emperor looked at Wang Bingchen, who was standing to the side: "Your Excellency has made a great contribution this time. I'm afraid that if it were anyone else, they wouldn't have been able to settle this matter so quickly. I intend to have him preside over the trial of this case. What do you think?"

Wang Bingchen replied, "The Emperor's order has been fulfilled. As someone who handled the case, he should recuse himself according to the law and should not participate in the subsequent interrogation. This case should be transferred to the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice to ensure the fairness of the law."

The Emperor's expression remained unchanged, but he pondered in his heart. If Wang Yan was involved in this matter, it was with Xie Yuyan. Xie Yuyan was Xie Yisong's daughter, and if Wang Yan were to propose marriage to her, he would naturally need to avoid suspicion.

Does Wang Bingchen's statement equate to his agreement to the marriage?
The emperor smiled and nodded, saying, "Very well, then we will do as you wish and select suitable personnel from the Court of Judicial Review."

Wang Bingchen bowed respectfully.

"Alright, that concludes today's political affairs. You may all leave!" The Emperor waved his hand, dismissing the officials.

Just as everyone was about to leave the main hall, the Emperor looked at the eunuch and then glanced at Wang Bingchen.

The eunuch understood and immediately stepped forward to stop Wang Bingchen: "Prime Minister Wang, please wait. His Majesty invites you to the rear hall."

It was common for the emperor to have officials privately meet with him in the inner palace. Wang Bingchen nodded and followed the eunuch to the inner palace.

The emperor sat in a chair, his posture more relaxed. A eunuch brought a chair and invited Wang Bingchen to sit down.

The emperor and his minister then spoke face to face.

"I've heard a lot of news lately," the Emperor said with a relaxed expression. "Is there some good news coming for the royal family?"

Wang Bingchen had anticipated the Emperor's question, and he replied directly, "If there are no surprises, that should be the case."

Seeing his chief minister looking so calm and collected, the emperor suddenly laughed out loud: "This has relieved you of a worry, but why do I feel that you seem somewhat troubled?"

Now that they were already in the back hall and there was no one else around, Wang Bingchen spoke frankly: "Your Majesty, please don't make fun of this old minister."

Lady Xie is no ordinary woman; just looking at her ruthless methods, no matter which family she marries into, it will make them uneasy. Especially recently, some people have mentioned that since Lady Xie is Xie Wenjing, she should marry the Prince of Huai according to the imperial decree…

In short, before the marriage was even discussed, many troubles arose. Not to mention that in the past half month, members of the Wang clan had been coming to his door one after another, trying to persuade him to choose another noblewoman as his wife. If it weren't for the fact that the clansmen had been greedy that night and ate too much river fish, which caused them to suffer from severe diarrhea and had to be taken to the estate to recuperate, this matter would still be going on.

This is just the beginning; who knows how many twists and turns will follow.

"A court official has brought a secret memorial," the emperor said, picking up the memorial in his hand. "He requests that I grant him a marriage with Lady Xie."

Wang Bingchen was startled, but he quickly calmed down. His son was capable of anything. He had written a secret memorial and sent it back to the capital early on. His intention was clear: to prevent the court from deciding on his reward by the time he returned to the capital.

The Emperor said, "I do not intend to agree. A decree of marriage cannot be issued twice for the same person. However… I will not interfere. Lady Xie has a clean background and has never violated the laws of Liang, so she can marry as she sees fit." This was why the Emperor had summoned him to the inner palace. Wang Bingchen rose and bowed, "Thank you, Your Majesty." The criticisms leveled against him in court had been raised again for disrespecting the imperial family; with the Emperor's words, the charges against him could be dropped.

The emperor nodded, signaling Wang Bingchen to step down. As Wang Bingchen slowly walked out of the main hall, he suddenly heard a cough behind him, and he couldn't help but pause.

Xie Yizhi's case still caused the authorities too much worry.

The Emperor is in poor health, and now it seems his old ailment has been aggravated.

Wang Bingchen frowned, a hint of worry on his face. The Emperor's health was crucial to the political situation of the Great Liang Dynasty, which was why the Emperor was pretending to be nonchalant in the main hall.

Thinking of this, Wang Bingchen calmed himself down, and his face regained its composure the moment he stepped out of the palace. As the prime minister, he naturally could not allow anyone to make any guesses about him.

As King Qin watched Wang Bingchen leave the palace, he stood there waiting for a long time, but no eunuch came to summon him to the inner palace. In recent days, the emperor had been summoning him to the inner palace to ask for his opinion on some memorials. In his view, this was to ask him to temporarily assist in governing the country.

Two days ago, this rule was suddenly broken, and the emperor stopped summoning him. The King of Qin couldn't help but feel anxious. After thinking it over carefully, he didn't think he had done anything wrong.

Where exactly is the problem? Could it be that the officials have become more enthusiastic and no longer need him?
To test whether his guess was correct, he specifically told the eunuch that he wanted to have a private audience with the Emperor today, but in the end, it was Wang Bingchen who was brought into the inner palace.

At this point, the King of Qin was certain that he had once again been deliberately neglected by the Emperor.

Without any thunder, a raindrop suddenly fell on the King of Qin. The King of Qin remained motionless. When the raindrops became a continuous stream, a young eunuch finally ran over.

Before the eunuch could speak, the King of Qin asked anxiously, "How is it? Have you found anything?"

The eunuch whispered, "Last night, His Majesty lost his temper with the Empress, and as a result, the Empress punished several palace servants and eunuchs."

Raindrops streamed down the King of Qin's collar, sending a chill down his spine: "What is it for?"

The eunuch said, "The palace servants are spreading rumors that the marriage between Wang Yan and Lady Xie was arranged by the Wang family. The Prime Minister Wang wants to use this to consolidate his position and let the whole world know that even the Prince of Qin's mansion can't suppress him."

The problem was clearly there. The King of Qin lowered his voice and asked, "Has the Queen Consort of Qin recently paid her respects to Her Majesty the Empress?"

The eunuch nodded: "It has been about four or five days."

The King of Qin took a deep breath, his face darkening. He said in a low voice, "Go. Send out any further news immediately."

The eunuch responded and, not daring to linger, quickly disappeared into the rain.

The autumn rain was particularly cold. The King of Qin walked step by step towards the palace gates. No wonder Jun Ge'er had told him a few days ago to order people in the palace to stop discussing the marriage between the King of Qin's palace and the Xie family. It would be best to spread the word so that people outside would also stop talking about the matter.

It turns out that someone took it upon themselves to deliberately provoke a conflict.

The King of Qin mounted his horse, pushed aside the large umbrella offered by his guards, and galloped towards the Qin Palace. This was not the first time Jiang Zhenru had targeted the Wang family father and son.

He wanted to ask Jiang Zhenru what she really wanted to do.

(End of this chapter)