Chapter 441 Imperial Censor Qian Yan
"A prince who breaks the law is subject to the same punishment as a commoner. Your Majesty must punish him severely. Otherwise, where is the law of the court?"
Emperor Longxing's face was somewhat gloomy. He glanced at the civil and military officials in the court. What happened today was normal yet abnormal.
Normally, the censor would report something he heard about, not to mention if it really happened. Even if he just heard about it, he would have the right to report it. As for reporting the emperor himself, it was not a big deal.
Although the imperial power is supreme now, even the backbone of civil officials cannot be compared with that in the past, but some censors are not among them.
The censors' pursuit was to be remembered for eternity. For these unyielding individuals, death was never a terrible thing . Emperor Longxing also prided himself on being a wise ruler, so even if the censors' reports were untrue, he rarely held them accountable.
The role of censors is immeasurable in determining whether a dynasty is clear and upright.
If even the censors don't dare to speak in the court, then the court is basically finished.
Therefore, generally speaking, the Longxing Emperor still had some preference for these censors. However, today's events were not normal.
It's true that the Censor is a tough guy, but he's not stupid either. Who among those who can serve as a Censor didn't study history books for more than ten years and pass the imperial examinations before entering the court?
Matters involving the prince were both state and family affairs, so one had to at least wait and see how the emperor would react. Furthermore, even if one reported the matter to the emperor, there would be some leeway. Otherwise, the emperor would be enraged and execute the entire clan. While this would certainly not be a problem in terms of making the name known in history, it would come at a high price.
After all, throughout history, people like Fang Xiaoru who do not take the lives of their nine clans seriously are ultimately a minority.
But now the censor did not leave any room for maneuver when he spoke, and it was obvious that he intended to fight to the death with the emperor. This was quite intriguing.
What made Emperor Longxing feel even more troubled was the identity of this censor.
Of course, it wasn't because of this censor's high status or family background. This man was Qian Yan, the head of the Censorate! Qian Yan had always been known for his toughness, and he was also a veteran minister of the Emperor's reign. Back then, even the Emperor had often been rendered speechless by this old man.
The trouble was because this old man was too stubborn. As long as he was right, he would dare to pull the sleeves of even the emperor and criticize him.
As for the imperial beating, others feared it, but he was proud of it. According to him, if a censor had never been beaten in the imperial court, could he really be called a censor? It was simply a disgrace to the censorship!
What is a court battle? A punishment? No, it's about seniority and merit!
Now, this old scholar is only one step away from leaving his name in history! It is said that for many years, every time this old scholar went to court, he would take out his surviving family and hand them over to his family, ready to die at any time.
In the court hall, he had long been coveting the pillar closest to him.
As long as he gets the chance one day, he wouldn't mind comparing his head to the pillar to test its hardness. Of course, it's impossible to win, but even if he loses, it's still a win.
Faced with such a stubborn and scoundrel old guy, what else could Emperor Longxing do except have a headache?
If this old scholar really got killed in the court, then Emperor Longxing would become a huge joke. Which imperial censor who killed himself would not make his name go down in history and bring eternal infamy to the emperor?
Besides, Emperor Longxing still had some respect for such a tough guy. Normally, when this old man was arguing with other civil and military officials, he would often sit on the dragon throne and watch the old man laugh. But this time, this old man was actually targeting him, which made Emperor Longxing no longer want to watch the old man laugh.
However, this old man, due to his advanced age, hadn't attended court in a while. A few days ago, he was reportedly seriously ill, and Emperor Longxing even personally sent an imperial physician to assist with medication. Who had bewitched him to come here today? Emperor Longxing himself wouldn't believe that no one had tipped off the old man.
"It's all because of these two bastards. They only know how to cause trouble for me. Now, you just leave and leave me with a lot of trouble!" Although Emperor Longxing's expression did not change, he scolded his two sons in his heart.
If it weren't for those two bastards causing trouble, would I be in such a difficult situation here?
"Who is it?" Emperor Longxing narrowed his eyes and looked at everyone. He didn't believe it was Jia Cong. Although Jia Cong and the Third Prince were at odds, this method of killing someone with a borrowed knife was not what Jia Cong liked.
That kid prefers to be straightforward. If he wanted to take revenge on the Third Prince, he would probably have led his troops to surround the palace.
Moreover, Jia Cong and Qian Yan had no friendship whatsoever. Since he hadn't punished Qian Yan severely for what happened yesterday, Jia Cong wouldn't be so blind as to embarrass him. Indeed, the person who was most embarrassed by the impeachment of the Third Prince wasn't the Third Prince, but rather the Emperor.
Suddenly, Emperor Longxing narrowed his eyes. Zhongshun did not come to court ?
As a prince, Prince Zhongshun's attendance at court, unless summoned by the emperor, was entirely up to his mood. However, after what happened yesterday, it seemed a bit deliberate for him not to come today.
"hiss!"
Emperor Longxing suddenly gasped. To be in this position, he must have been cunning and scheming. Furthermore, this tactic wasn't particularly clever; it was simply an overt scheme, one he had to face.
"Zhongshun, you are really good at scheming!"
As an emperor, virtue is extremely important. Some emperors do not care about reputation and virtue, but this does not mean that virtue and reputation are not important. If an emperor is notorious all over the world and has poor virtue, then he probably will not be able to stay on the throne for long.
Now Prince Zhongshun’s purpose is very clear, which is to ruin the reputation of Emperor Longxing.
The two unworthy sons had already been imprisoned, and now only Li Yu was nominally the only heir left. If Li Yu was dragged into this quagmire, not only would his chances of inheriting the throne become infinitely smaller, but his reputation as the Longxing Emperor would also be ruined! He was not only an emperor, but also a father. However, with three sons, two of whom had directly rebelled. If the remaining son's reputation was ruined, wouldn't it mean that he, as a father, had failed to educate him well?
Kill two birds with one stone!
"Well, Zhongshun, you really have a good method!" Emperor Longxing said to himself. And of course, he thought of more than just these. If it was really confirmed that Li Yu colluded with the gambling house and arrested the people without authorization, and if the people made some noise at that time, someone in the court might really mention that he, the emperor, should issue an edict of repentance.
If he really issued a confession of guilt, would he still be able to sit on the throne?
If he could no longer sit on the throne and needed to abdicate, who else could be more suitable besides Prince Zhongshun and his son?
