The Gilded Cage - Chapter 127

Returning – For the Last Time. (1)

The Qi family moved very quickly this time.

Five days later, a servant from the Ministry of Rites took the lead in giving the performance, telling the story of the married woman’s entry and exit of the palace at night in the court hall, and even openly accused the Emperor of his licentiousness, so he should reflect on himself and repent.

As soon as he said a word, seven or eight ministers immediately stood up and echoed, all pointing their fingers at the young Emperor.

Xiao Kezhi just sat calmly on his seat, carefully scrutinizing the expressions of these people. There was no expression on his stern face, making it hard to figure out what he meant.

Logically, an ordinary emperor would almost subconsciously feel ashamed and regretful when encountering such righteous accusations. If it were the former emperor or even the Crown Prince, he would have already admitted his mistake in fear.

After all, although the Emperor is the most respected in the world, anyone who still wants to be a wise emperor is most afraid of losing his virtue and being criticized by others.

But now, the new emperor has been on the throne for half a year. He had been in the frontier for a long time, so if he still didn’t understand the rules of the court at first and acted a little more ostentatiously, it was understandable. After half a year’s influence, he should understand.

But they still didn’t get a response from him.

Everyone hesitated. For a moment they didn’t know whether they were talking too seriously, or if the Emperor had other ideas.

At this time, Qi Mu, who had been silent since the minister of the Ministry of Rites brought up the matter, slowly got up from his seat, cupped his hands, and said, “Don’t worry too much, my colleagues. Your Majesty is in the prime of life. Occasionally, mistakes are made, but that does damage morals. In my opinion, this matter is more or less caused by the fact that there is no harem. There is no harem to clean up, and Your Majesty has no one to persuade him. This is not a long-term solution!”

Afterward, everything seemed to be rehearsed well. Several ministers said “I agree” one after another, and gradually changed the topic to how, for the emperor’s twenty-sixth year of age, he should get married as soon as possible, and have children to comfort the ancestors.

Xiao Kezhi listened patiently to what they had said until the palace gradually returned to calm and then said expressionlessly, “Have you finished your speech?”

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, nodding “yes” hesitantly.

“Now that you’ve finished speaking, it’s time for me to do so. I only have one sentence.” He sat up straight and glanced at Wei Fujing, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and others with half-smiles, “The East Palace is here, and the country is solid.”

After finishing speaking, he got up slowly, straightened his robe, and said in a deep voice, “Okay, that’s all for today.”

The courtiers who were left with astonished faces were silent for a moment. As if a pot had exploded all of a sudden, they all speculated with each other about the Emperor’s meaning.

Wei Fujing stayed where he was. His thoughts were so complicated that he couldn’t even listen to the discussions and questions of the people around him.

He had just heard the chorus of Qi Mu and others, and he already felt that it was very dangerous – once the Emperor got married and had children, it meant that the current East Palace would lose its function.

But who would have thought that the Emperor, who should have agreed, used the Crown Prince as an excuse to shirk the responsibilities?!

Everyone knew that the Qi family intended to send Qi Mu’s young daughter to the Taiji Palace to be the empress, but the Holy Majesty’s refusal was because there was a rift with the Qi family and they were secretly competing.

If this was the case, now was the prince’s good opportunity!

Thinking of this, his face changed again, and he simply left his colleagues who were still talking beside him and walked quickly towards his workplace.

…

Qi Mu’s words were blocked on the spot, so of course he would not be reconciled.

He waited several days for other political affairs to be discussed before bringing up the matter of persuading the emperor to marry again.

Everyone in the court knew that the Qi family wanted to send their sixth daughter into the palace as the empress. If he was rejected by the Emperor so easily, how would they treat the Qi family in the future?

And Xiao Kezhi, uncharacteristically, did not directly solve the matter with his usual tough tactics, but listened to some righteous words of advice every day with extra patience, and then used the same “East Palace is here, the country is solid” grounds for refusal.

It all seemed to be at a dead end.