Greetings, Ninth Uncle

Chapter 141

Ch 141 – Suspicion

After Li Chengjing arrived at Qianqing Palace, he did not mention the encounter with Li Chengjun outside, nor did the Emperor say a single word of it.

Both father and son knew very well that the Second Prince had just left, but neither mentioned a word, as if they were tacitly avoiding the topic.

Seeing the Emperor massaging his forehead, Li Chengjing stepped forward and asked, "Does Your Majesty have a headache again?"

The Emperor sighed, "It has been getting worse recently. Just by using my brain to think a bit, the headache will flare again."

Li Chengjing frowned, "Your Majesty, let's summon an imperial physician."

The emperor waved his hand dismissively, "No need. It's the same old problem anyway, so it's useless for imperial physicians to come. Rather than that, there is another missive from the Jiangnan region. Take it and have a look."

The Emperor picked up a roll from the pile of memorials and handed it to Li Chengjing. The eunuch on the side quickly received the memorial with a tray and presented it to Li Chengjing.

Li Chengjing opened the roll and took a quick glance. The words were dense, full of flowery compliments addressed at him.

Li Chengjing's expression changed very slightly, but no traces could be seen on his face when he put down the memorial again. Li Chengjing returned the memorial back to the Emperor, cupped his hands, and said, "They are exaggerating. This son is not worthy of such excessive praises, for I just borrowed His Majesty's prestige to gain the respect of the local officials. If not for my imperial blood, the errand in Jiangnan wouldn't have gone so smoothly, nor would I gain such praises."

The Emperor threw the memorial back into the pile that he had read and then said with a meaningful tone, "You don't need to be so humble. Real fame needs no false reputation. So many officials took you in high regard, and even the people of Jiangnan seem to worship you so much. Of course you have done a good job. By the way, there is another one. Take a look. What do you think of this?"

The Emperor threw another memorial, which Li Chengjing opened and read. This one turned out to be a memorial impeaching Empress Yang. Dense letters filled the page, accusing the Emperor of condoning the inner palace's involvement with political affairs, allowing the Yang family to grow rampant and harm the previous empress. Now that the Yang family had been convicted, the daughter of Yang Fucheng was no longer qualified as the head of the inner palace and should be deposed.

Li Chengjing read the memorial carefully this time. He actually finished reading it in no time, but pretended to ponder the content word by word. Only after counting the time did he put the memorial down, "This person is the official from the Censorate Office, famous for never tolerating even the smallest misconduct. Among hundreds of officials in the central government, few have not been criticized for what he perceives as the violation of standards behavior demanded from an official. Now that the matter of the Yang family was in the teeth of the storm, it is understandable that he is targeting the Empress, although his method is considered crude."

"Oh?" The Emperor responded with a light glance, "Then what do you think about it?"

Li Chengjing lowered his gaze, suppressing emotions from showing in his eyes. His tone was as calm as usual as he replied, "Since this matter involves the Empress, this son dares not speak bluntly. However, those in positions of power must treat everyone equally and not show a double standard in one's conduct. When dealing with disputes, one should be objective and make judgments according to the law."