20demayo Chapter 109
Chapter 109
the daughters of these two men were in the emperor's harem, so they might have framed him to compete for favor.
so, having an extremely brilliant and formidable father isn't always a good thing. prime minister song still hasn't realized that it's not jiang yankun and jiang hewei who want him dead, but the emperor himself.
"with both witnesses and evidence at hand, and even those officials in prison confessing that the song family instructed them to commit evil deeds, how dare you still quibble?"
the xuanwu emperor spoke these words with great skill, not mentioning prime minister song directly, nor uttering a single word about prime minister song.
in the end, whether prime minister song took all the blame upon himself to clear his family's name, or prime minister song sacrificed himself to save his son, the emperor would profit greatly.
in truth, the person the xuanwu emperor most wanted to bring down wasn't the son, but the father.
song jiangming was merely a obedient puppet under prime minister song's tutelage. his position as the current prime minister was entirely due to having a good father.
though he lacked great talent, he also had no wild ambitions. whatever prime minister song said, he would do. his strength lay in his docility and obedience, which allowed him to sit firmly in the prime minister's position for decades.
as long as prime minister song fell, the song family would no longer be a threat.
song jiangming truly didn't understand. his father's actions had been so covert, how on earth did jiang yankun and jiang hewei uncover them?
he cast a venomous glare at jiang yanxi, who was cowering in the corner. it was all because of this meddler. if he hadn't reported the corruption of the qinzhou prefect, how could the emperor have followed the trail to the song family?
jiang yanxi felt he had been wronged!
he had only accidentally discovered that the prefect was privately selling spots for the summer palace retreat. he thought that by reporting it to the court, perhaps the higher-ups would commend him, and this achievement would make it easier for him to get promoted in the future.
he had used a bit of cunning, mixing his report in with the prefect's letters to be sent to the capital. it was his luck that the song family's servant sorting the letters was unwell that day, dizzy and mistaking the report for a "letter of recommendation."
in the great yan dynasty, there were two paths to officialdom: the long and arduous path of the imperial examinations, or the shortcut of being recommended by a fourth-rank or higher civil or military official.
the song family servant directly treated the report as a letter of recommendation, sorting it together with the memorials to be given to the emperor.
"i say this is all because of that jiang yanxi from the jiang family. we've never heard of this person before, and he suddenly appears now. it must be that jiang yankun's doing. i heard his daughter was once punished by concubine li when she entered the palace, and they became enemies because of it."
"ni er has made too many enemies in the palace these past few years. she doesn't know how to conceal her sharp edges. now that she's offended so many people, she's finally hit a snag! i said from the beginning that her temperament wasn't suitable for the palace. it would have been better to send my daughter instead. she's the most cautious and prudent, and would never make enemies everywhere."
concubine li hadn't even fallen yet, and someone was already thinking of replacing her, and this person was from her own clan.
prime minister song gave a cold smile, straightened his robes, and rose from his chair: "very well, then i shall go to the ministry of justice now and persuade jiangming to confess and accept his punishment."
everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.
if song jiangming were sentenced to death, the position of prime minister would be vacant. with their clan leader's abilities, the prime minister would still be someone from the song family, and each of them would have a chance.
"your highness! your highness! something terrible has happened!"
for the first time, xia he was so lacking in decorum, bursting into concubine li's chambers.
concubine li frowned severely. there was still sweet seedless watermelon chilling in the ice basin in front of her couch. she rose impatiently: "what are you doing, being so flustered?"
xia he's face was full of panic: "the prime minister... prime minister, has been... no... chief minister... no, no, prime minister song has been arrested by minister jiang and secretary jiang from the ministry of personnel. the chief minister is now at the ministry of justice, removing his hat to confess his crimes in order to save the prime minister."
"how dare they?"
concubine li suddenly stood up from her concubine's couch, running out barefoot.
xia he hurriedly picked up the embroidered shoes adorned with south sea pearls and chased after her.
"bang!"
consort shu had just stepped down from her sedan chair when a slender figure pushed her backward. "out of my way!"
concubine li didn't even look as she shoved the person aside, quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.