Chapter 1333 Harem Attitude!
In the small courtyard, after listening to Ying'er's description of the court meeting, Murong Qingwu was silent for a while and then spoke quietly:
“Cui Shao finally took action against Hu Ming…”
Murong Qingwu had also heard about Cui Zibo's previous life of debauchery with Hu Ming and others, but she thought that the news related to Hu Ming and Cui Zibo's death was just a rumor and did not take it seriously. After all, many people had investigated the Cui Zibo incident at the time but had not found anything.
But judging from the fact that Cui Shao, this old fox, is making such a big fuss to kill Hu Ming, this matter may not be a rumor!
Thinking of this, Murong Qingwu couldn't help but feel a headache, because the affairs of Chu Zhiyi and Ye Dong had nothing to do with her, so in the affairs of Chu Zhiyi and Ye Dong, Murong Qingwu just took the attitude of eating spectators and watching the show, and didn't care much about who lived or died between Chu Zhiyi and Ye Dong!
But now the situation is different when Cui Shao attacks Hu Ming!
Murong Xinyun, who was sitting next to Murong Qingwu, looked a little confused when she saw her sister frowning.
This time, Murong Xinyun, the eldest daughter of a wealthy family, entered the palace. It was the first time in her life that she left her family and lived in a strange place. Therefore, Murong Xinyun was more or less uneasy and even afraid. So since entering the palace, she had been sticking to her cousin Murong Qingwu.
Only when he is with Murong Qingwu does Murong Xinyun feel at ease and a sense of security.
This grand court meeting in the Haotian Palace not only affected the entire court, but also the concubines in the harem were secretly paying attention to it.
So Murong Xinyun came to her sister early in the morning, wanting to learn about the situation of the grand court meeting with her sister...
Seeing that her cousin Murong Qingwu was worried about Hu Ming, Murong Xinyun hesitated for a moment but couldn't help asking:
"Sister, is this Hu Ming related to our Murong family?"
Her question interrupted Murong Qingwu's thinking, and Murong Qingwu said without hesitation:
"It doesn't matter now!"
After listening to the answer given by her sister, Murong Xinyun became even more confused and asked again:
"Since it doesn't matter, then why are you so worried when you heard Cui Shao take action against him?"
Murong Qingwu smiled bitterly and said:
"Just because it doesn't matter now doesn't mean it won't matter in the future!"
"This Hu Ming looked down on our Murong family before, and he only wanted to cling to Cui Shao's thigh. For this reason, he spent a lot of effort to befriend Cui Zibo!"
"But it is said that Cui Zibo's death was related to him, so Cui Shao chose to deal with him this time. He may have heard some rumors beforehand. When he followed His Majesty on the southern tour, he specifically asked His Majesty to let him stay in Jiangnan!"
"Jiangnan? And his surname is Hu? Sister, is he from the Hu family in Jiangnan?"
Seeing Xinyun's reaction, Murong Qingwu nodded and said:
“He is from the Hu family. He used to be the Minister of Rites in the Luoan court. After the surrender, His Majesty appointed him as the Minister of Revenue to work under Cui Shao. However, he received a lot of exclusion in the Ministry of Revenue. The title of Minister of Revenue is just an empty title with no real power…”
Murong Xinyun nodded after hearing this, but still spoke with some doubts:
"So, sister, what's bothering you?"
Murong Qingwu sighed before expressing all her concerns.
"Although His Majesty appointed my father as the governor of Jianghuai, there have been many voices of opposition to this appointment in the court. So in order to quell these voices, His Majesty has high economic goals for my father during his tenure as the governor of Jianghuai. In order to achieve this economic goal, my father has maintained very close cooperation with the Jiangnan business community, encouraging them to bring back the money they earned overseas and invest in businesses and develop the economy in Jiangnan and Huainan!"
"And this Hu Ming, because his family, the Hu family, is very prestigious in the Jiangnan business community. Hu Ming is also a rare person who came from the Jiangnan business community and became a high-ranking official in the court. Therefore, he has always been regarded as the representative of the Jiangnan business community in the court!"
Murong Xinyun is also a smart woman. When she heard her sister say this, she understood and said:
"So, sister, you are worried that if Cui Shao solves Hu Ming's problem, it will affect the confidence of Jiangnan business community in the imperial government, and then affect Second Uncle's mission to develop Jiangnan's economy?"
Murong Qingwu sighed, then nodded slightly to indicate that Murong Xinyun was right, and then said helplessly:
"In the past few years, it was a time of chaos, with wars all over the country and the imperial court unstable. For the sake of safety, the big merchants in Jiangnan did not bring the money they earned overseas back to the Great Zhou. They said that they did not want to put all their eggs in one basket..."
"An important part of my father's development of Jiangnan's economic figures is to encourage these businesses to bring their money back home, not to keep it overseas but to bring it back to invest in business."
"And now if Hu Ming is killed, even if my father takes some remedial measures, it will definitely have a negative impact."
Seeing this, Murong Xinyun hesitated for a while and asked tentatively:
"Sister, do you have any way to help Hu Ming?"
Hearing her sister say this, Murong Qingwu immediately showed a bitter smile on her face and said:
"My dear sister, you think too highly of me!"
"Who is Cui Shao?"
"He is a person who is second only to the emperor in Daqian. His followers are all over the court. Even His Majesty has to give him some respect!"
"For a person like this, let alone the evidence he has now to accuse Hu Ming, even if he doesn't have evidence, if he is determined to get rid of Hu Ming, no one in the entire court can stop him except His Majesty!"
Murong Xinyun couldn't help but blink. She had not been in Yijing for long with her family, so although she had heard from her family that Cui Shao was very powerful and had great authority in the court.
But she didn't have a specific idea, and now after listening to her sister's story, the little girl realized that Cui Shao was more powerful than she had imagined!
"Sister, since Cui Shao is so powerful, how does he compare to uncle?"
This question from her sister also made Murong Qingwu fall into deep thought. After a moment of silence, she slowly said:
"Although Cui Shao is very powerful, I think he is still not as good as my uncle in terms of intelligence and talent!"
"However, in terms of power in the court, my uncle is not as powerful as him. Although Cui Shao is now only the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in name only, and not the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, he is actually the Prime Minister of the Cabinet!" Hearing her sister say this, Murong Xinyun was also a little surprised and whispered:
"Then this Cui Shao is Shangguan Hongyuan, right?"
Murong Qingwu snorted and said coldly:
“If it’s the young master! Then he is not much worse than Shangguan Hongyuan…”
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Just when the Murong sisters were feeling distressed about Hu Ming's affairs, in Ye Cui's courtyard in the imperial palace, An Miaoyi and Ye Cui, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, were sitting opposite each other.
Listening to Nanny Wang's description of Ye Mingsheng's punishment of Ye Dong at the grand court meeting, the old lady Ye Cui couldn't help but frown. Seeing this, An Miaoyi knew what the old lady was thinking, and her expression was somewhat helpless. After pondering for a while, Ye Cui couldn't help but speak:
, "Is Mingsheng's punishment on Ye Dong too severe?"
"It's not enough to strip him of his title and dismiss him from his post, but he is also being confiscated and sentenced to life imprisonment. Isn't this a bit too much?"
After hearing what Ye Cui said, An Miaoyi really didn't want to pay any attention to it. After all, in her opinion, Ye Mingsheng had already shown mercy!
With regard to what Ye Dong had done, if it were anyone else, ten heads would be enough to chop off. But it was Ye Dong. Ye Mingsheng showed mercy and spared his life because he remembered that this little brother had been loyal and hardworking all these years.
Although An Miaoyi thought so in her heart, she certainly couldn't say it at this time. She could only keep silent and express her attitude with silence.
However, Ye Cui seemed unaware of her daughter-in-law's thoughts. Seeing that An Miaoyi didn't speak, she directly called out:
"Miaoyi, what do you think?"
An Miaoyi, who was named, could only preach helplessly:
"Mom, I tried my best. I persuaded my husband for several days before he agreed to spare Ye Dong's life. As for the others, I really couldn't persuade him anymore. Besides, for the things Ye Dong did, he should be taught a lesson..."
Hearing An Miaoyi say this, Ye Cui's expression became somewhat serious. Although she knew that Ye Dong would definitely receive punishment this time, she expected that with so many people pleading for Ye Dong, Ye Dong's matter should be able to be resolved by turning a big thing into a small one. Therefore, the heaviest punishment would be nothing more than demotion and stripping of his title. In this way, Ye Dong would still have a chance to make a comeback.
However, Ye Mingsheng's punishment completely shattered Ye Cui's expectations. Apart from sparing Ye Dong's life, Ye Dong's identity, status, wealth and even freedom for the rest of his life were completely deprived!
Ye Cui originally wanted to use the same old trick again and let An Miaoyi continue to persuade Ye Mingsheng to reduce Ye Dong's punishment.
But judging from An Miaoyi's current attitude, Ye Cui also realized that An Miaoyi was already feeling a little unhappy because of this matter.
So even though she felt a little regretful, in order to influence the relationship between herself and An Miaoyi, Ye Cui gave up this unrealistic idea and nodded and said:
"Miaoyi, you are right. Ye Dong is a greedy kid and he deserves a lesson!"
After saying this, Ye Cui seemed to remember something and asked again:
"Miaoyi, how much do you know about Hu Ming's affairs?"
An Miaoyi hesitated for a moment and said:
"Mom, this is my uncle's family affair. I am not aware of it..."
Ye Cui looked at An Miaoyi doubtfully, but didn't say anything. Seeing this, An Miaoyi didn't stay here for long. After a brief chat with Ye Cui, she left, making the excuse that she had something to do at the Ministry of Works.
Seeing An Miaoyi leave, Ye Cui also sighed and said:
"After all, we are not a family!"
Hearing what Ye Cui said, Nanny Wang's eyes flashed with a fleeting strange look and then she began to speak:
"Old Queen Mother, the Queen has spoken well of General Ye to His Majesty many times this time. General Ye has caused too much trouble this time!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Cui snorted coldly and said:
"I don't know how capable she is."
"She did try her best this time, but could she have tried her best if I didn't force her? Even so, she didn't try her best!"
"I know her little thoughts very well. She only wants to protect herself. Don't look at how kind and righteous she seems on the surface, but deep down she has no intention of contributing to the Ye family. She only thinks about how to keep her position as queen and her son's position as crown prince!"
"She is not willing to fight with Mingsheng for the Ye family!"
"She doesn't even think about how an old woman like me helped her in the beginning! Without me, would she still be able to hold the throne as the queen?"
Listening to Ye Cui's complaints about An Miaoyi behind her back, Nanny Wang didn't dare to say anything because it was too sensitive. She could only stand aside with her head down and kept silent...
Seeing that Nanny Wang was silent, Ye Cui felt that there was no point in complaining alone, so she didn't say anything more on this topic.
But after pondering for a while, Ye Cui seemed to remember something, and immediately asked Wang Ma:
"I remember you told me before that Ye Tie took Lin Huaiwu to Dongning?"
Upon hearing this, Nanny Wang nodded without hesitation and said:
"Old Queen, there is such a thing. A few years ago, Lin Huaiwu was the commander-in-chief of Yunbing. Because of his poor performance in combat and his corruption was exposed, Your Majesty dismissed him from his post, confiscated his property and exiled him to Liaoyang. However, Lin Huaiwu got rheumatism in Liaoyang and couldn't even walk!"
"Just when he was dying, General Ye Tie, thinking of the friendship between comrades, quietly took Lin Huaiwu to Dongning for recuperation. Currently, Lin Huaiwu and his family are living in seclusion in Dongning under the care of General Ye Tie!"
Listening to Nanny Wang's words, Ye Cui also praised:
"Ye Tie is a kind and righteous boy! He is worthy of being a good man of our Ye family!"
Facing Ye Cui, Kuzan Wang Ma hesitated for a moment and then continued:
"Although General Ye Tie was very careful in this matter, I heard that the Coordination Office still got the news and reported it to His Majesty, but it is said that His Majesty did not pursue the matter!"
Hearing this, Ye Cui became thoughtful. After a moment, she said to Nanny Wang:
“Since Mingsheng doesn’t bother with Lin Huaiwu anymore, do you think he can let Ye Dong go? Ye Dong has suffered a big setback this time. He has lost everything. If he is locked up again for the rest of his life, how is he going to live?”
(End of this chapter)