The Crybaby Prince is Reborn, Where is the Prince Going?

Chapter 153 Imperial Power and the Nobles

On the other side, Jinyou followed Qingxi to Rendeok Palace.

The atmosphere was oppressive along the way, and the two of them were silent. Qingxi wanted to speak to Jinyou several times, but seeing his sad face, he kept silent.

When we arrived at Rende Palace, we found that the palace was deserted and dead silent. The guards were gone, but half of the seal on the vermilion gate was still floating in the air.

Jinyou paused outside the red gate, then stepped over the threshold and walked into the familiar palace.

He Zhiyi's funeral hall was decorated very simply, even to the point of being crude would not be an exaggeration.

There was only an ebony coffin, and He Zhiyi was lying quietly inside.

Jin You knelt on the mat and kowtowed three times, muttering to himself, "If Aunt is reunited with the Sixth Prince in the underworld, I must take good care of him... The Emperor is kind and has already intended to forgive Aunt, but why were you so foolish as to commit suicide... Aunt and I didn't have much time to spend together during her lifetime. Now that Aunt is gone, I, your nephew, will fulfill my filial duty and send her off on her final journey..."

Qingxi stood not far away, watching Jinyou with a bit of envy, feeling that the young master was truly miserable. He had to support such a huge palace by himself, and now he had to personally bury the body of his loved one and send him off. What a pitiful child.

Just as Qingxi was thinking about this, he saw Jinyou slowly stand up after bowing and walk straight towards the ebony coffin.

"Your Highness!" Xi Qing thought to himself that something was wrong and hurried forward to stop him: "Your Highness, the face of someone who committed suicide is not beautiful... Be careful not to scare you..."

But before he could even touch the corner of Jinyou's clothes, Jinyou had already come to the side of the coffin and looked inside.

He Zhiyi's face was blue and purple, a piece of tongue was sticking out of her mouth, and there was an obvious mark of strangulation on her neck.

Jin You took a quick glance. He was not a coroner and could not tell whether He Zhiyi committed suicide or was murdered. He memorized the key points at a glance, and then he lay on the coffin, slowly sliding down with fear and heartache, and knelt on the ground, crying bitterly.

"Wuwuwu...Auntie...Wuwuwu...You'er doesn't have an aunt anymore..."

Qingxi felt a little sorry for him, so he grabbed Jinyou's arm and dragged him away from the coffin.

But Jinyou clasped the coffin tightly with both hands, crying and shouting, "I won't go, I won't go! I don't want to leave my aunt!"

It is really heartbreaking and makes people cry when they see it.

"Your Highness... the noble lady committed suicide... Suicide is a capital crime. The Emperor has granted Your Highness a moment to bid farewell to the noble lady. This is a great favor. Your Highness, please do not embarrass me any further."

"But the person lying in that coffin is my aunt! I only have this one aunt! I will never have an aunt again!"

Qingxi tried to comfort him, but his strength did not diminish at all: "Prince, when a person dies, it is like a light going out. The deceased is gone. Please take care of yourself! I have already said goodbye to you. Please do not cry when the coffin is sealed later."

Jinyou understood what he meant. Suicide is a crime in itself. At this time, there were only the two of them in Rendeok Palace. Qingxi could cry and pretend not to know, but he had to restrain himself in front of others to avoid giving anyone a handle and becoming evidence of his crime.

Jinyou thanked him and then slowly fell silent.

"Thank you, Eunuch Qingxi, for your advice. I wonder when my aunt will be buried?"

Qingxi sighed, "It's rare for the Emperor to allow the nobleman's body to rest in the palace. If I'm not mistaken, the body will be taken to the Imperial Mausoleum for burial in about half an hour."

But the reality was not as it seemed, as if several people broke into the Nintoku Palace the very next second after Yoshinobu finished speaking.

When they saw Qingxi, they were stunned at first, then saluted: "Eunuch Qingxi, why are you here?"

"Of course, you're accompanying His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to see the noble one last time. You guys are so short-sighted. This is the Regent Crown Prince. Why don't you come and pay your respects to him?"

Several people knelt down hurriedly to pay their respects, explaining their purpose. "The time has come, sir. It's time to set off... May I know, the prince?"

Tears welled up in Jinyou's eyes again, and he said tearfully, "Then let Auntie go..."

Several people said "yes", then went to the coffin, closed the coffin lid, nailed in the coffin nails, tied a knot, shouted "one, two", and lifted the coffin up.

After bidding farewell to the two, the group left with the coffin.

Jinyou wiped away his tears again, calmed down, and returned to the Qianqing Palace with Qingxi.

At this time, in the Qianqing Palace, Ji Zhonghuan had already submitted the list of people buying and selling official positions.

Emperor Xuan was also furious.

"I have established a precedent of holding imperial examinations twice a year, recruiting scholars from all over the world to fill the court. What is the purpose of this?"

The court officials are in a state of transition and are dominated by aristocratic families. Only by opening up the imperial examination and lowering the threshold can more talented students be recruited to serve as officials in the court. Within ten years, the aristocratic families will decline, and no matter who is in power at that time, there will be at least a five-year buffer period.

Emperor Xuan originally thought that this plan would subtly cultivate students from poor families who would be able to replace the aristocratic families, but he did not expect that the aristocratic families also had ways to deal with it - buying and selling official positions, or directly replacing the grades of the students from poor families!

What use will these plans be if they are cut off by the nobles?

The nobles are still in power, competing with the imperial power and holding half of the country!

This is the real reason why Emperor Xuan was so angry.

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Ji Zhonghuan knelt down. "Your Majesty's concerns are unfounded, but if these aristocratic families are indeed involved in the sale of official positions, we should use this opportunity to purge the court... and allow more students from humble backgrounds to have a place in the court."

Emperor Xuan was silent for a moment, and had to say that Ji Zhonghuan's words were very touching.

But Emperor Xuan also had his own considerations.

For example, the list cannot be verified to be true. For example, most of the people on the list belong to the old aristocracy, that is, people from He Qianzhao's faction.

He strongly suspected that someone was taking the opportunity to frame him and sow discord between him and He Qianzhao so that they could reap the benefits.

At this time, Qingxi brought Jinyou back to the Qianqing Palace. Emperor Xuan's eyes suddenly lit up and a plan came to his mind.

"Jinyou, let me ask you, how do you view the relationship between imperial power and the aristocracy?"

Jin You was startled for a moment, then he lifted his robe and knelt, his back straight. He replied in a steady voice, "Imperial power should be concentrated in the hands of the emperor, but the power of the aristocratic families is now so vast and deeply entrenched that they are threatening to undermine the imperial power. Furthermore, the wealth accumulated by the aristocratic families could fill two national treasuries. If the national treasury is empty now, a simple confiscation of property would fill it immediately."

Jinyou paused, and then saw Emperor Xuan nod approvingly.

He naturally knew what Emperor Xuan wanted to hear. When he came, he was thinking about how to make the plan feasible. The only thing was to let Emperor Xuan get tangible benefits. For example, filling the national treasury would alleviate the food and grass problem on the border, and he could even recruit more men into the army to intimidate the two border countries with force.

Therefore, filling the national treasury was an urgent need for Emperor Xuan and an irresistible reason.

But Jin You changed the subject and said, "Although the aristocratic families are extremely powerful, not all of them are the kind that exploit the people. Some of the most trusted ministers also come from aristocratic families and have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the court. If such aristocratic families are also eliminated, I am afraid it will hurt the ministers in the court."

Therefore, I believe that aristocratic families can be eliminated, but there must be a limit. Pulling out some termites can also serve as a warning to others."