sjar Chapter 644 Every single one of the court officials...
Chapter 644 Every single one of the court officials...
On the dragon throne, the emperor's expression froze for a moment.
He was initially taken aback, but then that surprise transformed into an indescribable sense of amusement.
He leaned back slightly, shifting to a more comfortable position, and a barely perceptible smile curved his lips.
He wanted to hear what earth-shattering gossip this little girl, who was so pampered by Gu Junze, could tell him.
Every single official in the court held their breath.
The entire pilgrimage temple was so quiet that you could hear each other's heartbeats.
Everyone was straining their ears, desperately trying to catch that child's voice that seemed to be falling from the sky.
Inside the attic, Gu Qingchen was completely unaware of the eerie atmosphere below.
She cleared her throat, lowered her voice, and spoke to the young prince and Qian Zhenyun beside her in an extremely mysterious tone.
"Did you know that the Emperor chose Consort Zhou last night, but..."
She deliberately dragged out her words, building up the anticipation.
The young prince and Qian Zhenyun tensed up, pressing their ears even closer and staring wide-eyed.
Every word she uttered was clearly transmitted into the main hall.
"But Consort Zhou ate three bowls of braised pork knuckle specially supplied by the imperial kitchen beforehand, and burped all night!"
"The burp was loud and long, and it had a rich soy sauce flavor."
"The emperor was so overwhelmed by the fumes that his face turned green, so he had no choice but to go to his study to sleep in the middle of the night, clutching his pillow!"
"puff--"
At the end of the line, a young official who had only recently entered the bureaucracy was the first to lose his temper.
He let out a loud, muffled laugh, as if he had been kicked hard.
The murderous glares of his colleagues instantly fell upon him.
The young official's face flushed a deep purplish-red, and he wished he could disappear into the ground on the spot. He lowered his head desperately, but his shoulders were still trembling violently.
That laugh was like a lit fuse.
In an instant, the entire pilgrimage temple was out of control.
Li Taifu, who was known for his seriousness, trembled like a leaf with his white beard shaking.
Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of War bit his lip hard, his face turned red, and his shoulders shrugged as if he were having an epileptic seizure.
Even more extreme, some people covered their faces with the wide sleeves of their court robes, their bodies convulsing violently as they tried to suppress their laughter.
They wanted to laugh, but dared not laugh out loud.
That strange, suppressed sound echoed throughout the hall...
On the dragon throne, the emperor's expression underwent a spectacular transformation.
It turns from white to blue, from blue to purple, and finally, it becomes so black that ink can drip from it.
He certainly remembered the embarrassment of last night.
What came out of Zhou Meiren's small, opening and closing mouth were not sweet words, but rather a strong aroma of braised pork knuckle that could send him away.
He still feels lingering fear from the disheveled way he fled in panic.
Such intimate secrets of the boudoir, which can only be understood but not spoken, were actually... actually revealed in front of the entire court!
However, Gu Qingchen, perched on the roof beam, clearly had no intention of quitting while he was ahead.
Her "explanation" continued enthusiastically.
"And the day before yesterday! He bestowed upon Consort De a bolt of newly made Jiangnan brocade, praising it as the most unique material in the world."
"Then, in the blink of an eye, he gave the exact same material to the Empress!"
"Guess what? This morning, two empresses, dressed in exactly the same clothes, bumped into each other in the Imperial Garden!"
"Oh my, what a scene! The Empress's face turned pale, and Consort De's eyes immediately turned red. The two of them are still giving each other the cold shoulder in the palace!"
This caused even the royal relatives standing at the very front to lose their composure.
A prince suddenly lowered his head, covering his mouth, which was almost stretched to his ears.
The other person coughed violently, so violently that tears streamed down their face.
It's unprecedented to discuss the private affairs of jealousy and rivalry in the imperial harem in the solemn and majestic Golden Palace!
The emperor felt as if his skull was about to be ripped open by his rage.
His dignity as the supreme ruler, the prestige he had painstakingly cultivated, was at this moment being trampled on the ground by a young girl with blond hair!
He could even feel that the ministers below, though their heads were bowed, were practically burning through his dragon throne with their barely suppressed laughter!
"enough!"
The emperor finally reached his breaking point.
He slammed his hand on the armrest of the dragon throne and let out a deafening roar.
"boom!"
The loud noise made the air in the entire hall tremble.
All the laughter and twitching sounds vanished instantly.
The officials were utterly silent, each one hanging their heads as if they wanted to bury their heads in the ground.
"Someone is coming!"
The emperor's voice trembled slightly with extreme anger, carrying a hint of ferocity from clenched teeth.
"Bring those reckless fools hanging from the roof beams down to me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several imperial guards standing outside the hall rushed straight to the narrow staircase leading to the roof beam on one side of the hall.
In the attic.
Gu Qingchen, the young prince, and Qian Zhenyun were leaning against the railing, watching the suddenly enraged emperor and the guards rushing up menacingly below.
The three little ones finally realized, belatedly, that something terrible was about to happen.
They froze for two seconds, then huddled together and let out the most terrified screams of their lives.
"what--!"
That night, the sound of children being beaten echoed throughout half of Beijing.
At the residence of Grand Tutor Li, the highly respected old Grand Tutor, with a fierce expression and a feather duster in hand, chased his eldest grandson all over the yard.
"I'll teach you to talk nonsense! I'll teach you to disgrace the family!"
The residence of Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of War was even more lively.
Vice Minister Wang raised his hand to hit his son, shouting, "You little brat, I'll beat you to death!"
His son stubbornly retorted, "I didn't say anything wrong!"
Before Vice Minister Wang's slap could land, his ear was grabbed.
The notorious shrew of the capital, Madam Wang, sneered and twisted his ear. "You still have the nerve to hit your son? You can't control your own eyes, yet you blame your son for being too talkative! Go, kneel on the washboard!"
Chaos erupted at Minister Shen's residence.
Lord Shen, his face alternating between pale and flushed, chased his son Shen Yu around the courtyard with a stick in hand.
"I'll beat you to death, you bastard! You've made me lose all face!"
Compared to the hustle and bustle outside, the imperial study in the palace was eerily quiet.
The little prince knelt upright on the cold floor tiles, his face pale, his lips tightly pressed together, and he didn't utter a sound.
Emperor Zhao Yunci stood before him expressionlessly, holding a thin whip in his hand.
"Snapped!"
The whip pierced the air and struck the young prince's back with a dull thud.
The young prince's body trembled violently, but he clenched his teeth tightly and didn't make a sound.
Qian Zhenyun, kneeling to the side, was already so frightened that his face was covered in tears and snot, and he was trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind.
Gu Qingchen also started trembling.
She stared intently at the whip in the emperor's hand, then glanced at the bloodstains seeping through the fabric of the young prince's clothes.
Was the Emperor Uncle good-tempered?
Which bastard said that?!
When her father got angry, the most he would punish her was to copy books; her hands would just get sore, but it wouldn't hurt.
The emperor, on the other hand, just whipped people!
Gu Qingchen instinctively shuddered; her small frame couldn't withstand such a blow.
How to do?How to do?
After defeating the Crown Prince, is it her turn next?
The moment that thought crossed her mind, her blood ran cold.
No!
Her eyes darted around, and just as the emperor raised his whip again, she suddenly straightened up and fell backward.
"Qingchen!"
"elder sister!"
The young prince and Qian Zhenyun panicked and, disregarding their fear, rushed over in a flurry.
Gu Qingchen lay on the ground, her eyes closed, motionless.
Emperor Zhao Yunci's hand, which was holding the whip, froze in mid-air.
He looked at the "unconscious" little brat on the ground, and his lips twitched involuntarily.
So easily intimidated?
You pretend quite well!
His anger was forced back down, leaving him stuck in a rut.
Zhao Yunci's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and she squeezed out three words through gritted teeth.
"Mr. Xuan!"