Chapter 440: Rebellion?
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Prime Minister Shen accepted bribes, disregarded human lives, and endangered the Imperial Court. Your Majesty, please order a thorough investigation!” Jia Kun ignored the Emperor’s words and responded in a deep voice.
Since Jia Kun had decided to stir up trouble, how could he give up his plans just because of a sentence from the Emperor?
The Emperor was really too much. He knew that Prime Minister Shen had committed many crimes all these years. Now, Jia Kun had even brought the evidence directly to the Emperor’s face, yet he still refused to punish Prime Minister Shen.
Was Shen Hongyu that important to him?
As soon as Jia Kun finished speaking, the whole court fell silent.
None of the officials dared to speak.
They all looked at Jia Kun and Prime Minister Shen.
It seemed that the Emperor’s birthday today was not going to be peaceful.
Shen Hongyu’s gaze met Jia Kun’s, and his gaze seemed to be saturated with poison.
He hadn’t even made a move on Jia Kun, yet the latter had already launched the first move to make things difficult for him.
When he saw this, Jia Kun smiled smugly.
Hehe! If he didn’t have full confidence, would he have made the first move?
Prime Minister Shen’s heart tightened when he saw the other party’s reaction. He quickly frowned.
Then, he hurriedly got up and walked to Jia Kun’s side before bowing to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty is wise and perceptive! Please investigate!
“Lord Jia must have been instigated by a traitor to make things difficult for me.
“Your subject has been an official for more than twenty years. Although 1 have not made many achievements, I believe that I have not let the Emperor and the Imperial Court down. One does not need to worry about rumors if one is upright. I deny all the allegations that Lord Jia has leveled at me.” After saying that, Prime Minister Shen knelt down in front of the Emperor.
The Emperor frowned.
At this moment, Empress Jia also sensed that something was wrong.
After taking a look at the Emperor, she turned to look at her elder brother.
She had long known that there were conflicts between her elder brother and Prime Minister Shen.
However, her elder brother did not discuss this with her beforehand and actually did this on the Emperor’s birthday. He was a little too brazen.
When Jia Kun saw Empress Jia’s expression, he did not feel guilty or regretful at all. Instead, he felt… a little smug.
Empress Jia frowned when she saw his expression.
At this moment, the Emperor spoke.
“Of course, I trust you, Prime Minister Shen.
“However, since Lord Jia has delivered the evidence here, then I have no choice but to investigate.”
“But…”
As the Emperor spoke, he looked at Jia Kun.
“Today is my birthday, and Prime Minister Shen is the pillar of the state. There is no good reason to judge and convict him straightaway.
“How about this? The birthday celebration will continue for now. As for the rest of the matters, 1 will arrange and deal with them in tomorrow’s morning court session.”
Jia Kun’s eyes darkened at once.
The resentment he felt towards the Emperor grew even stronger.
Even at this juncture, the Emperor was biased toward Shen Hongyu.
Narrowing his eyes, Jia Kun once again bowed to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, you mustn’t!
“The crimes that Prime Minister Shen committed are simply heinous! If Your Majesty doesn’t order an investigation and punishment at once, I’m worried that if it’s too late… there might be changes.” As he spoke, he looked at Prime Minister Shen once again.
“Your Majesty, please investigate! Lord Jia harbors ulterior motives and has framed me! He is even trying to alarm people and interfere with Your Majesty’s birthday,” Shen Hongyu also said loudly.
“Please punish him and ensure a correct understanding of the facts, Your Majesty!”
“You…” Jia Kun was so angry that he pointed at Shen Hongyu’s nose.
“I what?” Prime Minister Shen didn’t give in at all and raised his eyes in retaliation.
Thereafter, he turned around and bowed to the Emperor.
“Just yesterday, someone sent me a secret letter. In the letter, it mentioned that Lord Jia had committed many major crimes. There were also many letters affixed with Lord Jia’s personal seal as evidence.”
As he spoke, Prime Minister Shen glared at Jia Kun furiously.
He then continued to tell the Emperor. “I was worried that someone might be trying to frame Lord Jia, so 1 didn’t hand over the evidence.
“To my surprise…” When he said this, Prime Minister Shen’s eyes were already filled with anguish and resentment.
“To my surprise, though I thought in this manner, Lord Jia did not extend the same consideration to me.”
“Your Majesty…”
“Lord Jia must have found out that 1 have already obtained evidence of his crimes. That’s why he deliberately launch his attack first on today’s birthday. The thief cries thief first. He wants to ask Your Majesty to convict me so that I can’t expose him!”
So he had evidence? Who didn’t have evidence?
Since he didn’t want everyone to live in peace, then Prime Minister Shen might as well break off all relationships with him completely.
He wanted to see who the Emperor would protect in the end.
The various officials exchanged looks with one another.
They couldn’t interrupt a fight between goliaths.
When he saw this, Song Rui exchanged glances with Qin Xiaoyao. His eyes were filled with intrigue.
The Emperor frowned even more as he sat on his throne.
He hadn’t even dealt with Jia Kun yet, but Prime Minister Shen was already making a scene.
If this continued, weren’t these two worried that things wouldn’t end well?
Just as the Emperor was about to speak, Jia Kun opened his mouth again.
“What evidence do you have against me? Even if there is, it must be you who framed me!
“Your Majesty! Please issue an edict to investigate Shen Hongyu! As long as the investigators search the Prime Minister’s residence, they will definitely be able to find more evidence!”
“Your Majesty!” Minister Shen also shouted.
Their antics infuriated the Emperor.
“Enough!” The Emperor slammed his palm on the dragon throne.
Finally, Jia Kun and Shen Hongyu were forced to stop arguing.
In spite of this, the two of them still glared at each other, neither of them giving in to each other.
“I have already said that the matter between the two of you will be dealt with during tomorrow’s morning court session,” the Emperor bellowed.
“Whoever brings up this matter again today will be sent to the Court of Judicial Review at once!” He just wanted to celebrate his birthday in peace. Couldn’t these two characters stop?
At this point, the Emperor looked at Empress Jia beside him with an unpleasant expression.
The reason Jia Kun was so bold was because of his connection with the Empress.
The Empress was too accommodating toward her elder brother.
When Empress Jia met the Emperor’s gaze, her heart skipped a beat.
Thereafter, she looked at Jia Kun, and a look of reproach appeared in her eyes.
Recently, she was not feeling well and rarely showed any concern for the Jia family’s matters.
She didn’t expect her elder brother to be so brazen. He didn’t even discuss it with her before carrying out this deed.
Worse still, he even chose to act on the Emperor’s birthday. His behavior was simply too reckless and outrageous.
When Jia Kun saw Empress Jia’s expression, not only was he not afraid, but his face turned even more chilly.
His younger sister always said that she had the Jia family’s interests in her heart.
However, a daughter who was married off was like water that had been poured away. Even though she had reached such a powerful position, she still did not want to let the Jia family advance further.
Forget it…
Jia Kun decided to risk it all.
Following that, he straightened his back.
“Your Majesty, you’re wrong…” He raised his head and looked at the Emperor.
At this moment, not only the Emperor, but all the civil and military officials in the court displayed a drastic change in their expressions.
Lord Jia was actually so bold as to refute the Emperor.
The Emperor became enraged.
Just as he was about to unleash his might, a troop of palace guards suddenly barged in.
The scene changed abruptly.
All the civil and military officials in the Imperial Court were immediately taken under control by the palace guards.
The Emperor sat on the dragon throne, frowning deeply. Only now did he realize that something was wrong.
When he saw Jia Kun laughing outrageously, he turned his head to look at Empress Jia beside him.
Empress Jia shook her head and hurriedly explained to the Emperor.
“This has nothing to do with me. I did not know in advance what my elder brother was going to do.”
After saying that, Empress Jia looked at Jia Kun.
“Elder Brother, what are you doing? Are you trying to stage a rebellion?” she said angrily.
Hadn’t the Jia family gained enough all these years?
Why didn’t they know how to be content?
Jia Kun smiled.
“Rebellion?
“Haha! Your Royal Highness has spoken too harshly.
“I just can’t bear to see the Emperor being instigated by crafty sycophants and am preparing to purge evil ministers from the Emperor’s side.”
He could not afford to shoulder the crime of treason. Wasn’t it much more elegant to phrase it in another way?
As soon as he utter these words, everyone stared at Jia Kun..