novelhk Chapter 310 Slapping the Face of the Treacherous Regent 5
Chapter 310 Slapping the Face of the Treacherous Regent 5
The words sounded familiar. Leng Yuexing raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Your Majesty is of imposing stature; this servant is ashamed of his own inferiority."
"I grant you permission to no longer refer to yourself as a servant in my presence," Shangguan Jingzhi suddenly said. He disliked Leng Yuexing's self-reference, as it made him feel uncomfortable.
Leng Yuexing didn't like this self-reference either. Since Shangguan Jingzhi had said so, he smiled and nodded, saying, "Then thank you very much, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, rest assured, I will be very steady and gentle when I insert the needles."
After Leng Yuexing finished speaking, she picked up the longest silver needle and held it in her hand, then walked towards Shangguan Jingzhi with a smile.
Shangguan Jingzhi visibly stiffened slightly, then closed his eyes, coughed, and turned his head to one side.
"Hurry up, I have important matters to attend to later," Shangguan Jingzhi said in a low voice.
Leng Yuexing chuckled and responded, then began to needle the acupoints on Shangguan Jingzhi's body.
He was very familiar with the acupoints on the human body, after all, cultivating spiritual power also requires allowing spiritual power to flow through the acupoints of the whole body.
After having several important acupoints on Shangguan Jingzhi's body opened with silver needles, Shangguan Jingzhi felt a surge of heat sweep over his entire body, and his body seemed to become lighter.
After the acupuncture, Leng Yuexing helped Shangguan Jingzhi put on his robes, then went to the desk and wrote the prescription on a blank sheet of Xuan paper.
He handed the prescription to Shangguan Jingzhi and asked him to have someone bring it over so he could personally prepare the medicine.
Fearing that Shangguan Jingzhi wouldn't listen, he added, "I modified this prescription. Some of the ingredients were just to mislead people, so you can only drink the medicine if I personally brewed it."
Shangguan Jingzhi looked at the densely packed medicinal herbs on the Xuan paper and replied after a long while, "I understand."
Shangguan Jingzhi had mixed feelings. Because of his weak health, he had to drink Chinese medicine every now and then to regulate his body, so he had some knowledge of medicinal herbs.
The herbs on this prescription are either bitter or sour and astringent. Even before Shangguan Jingzhi has tasted it, he can imagine how unpleasant the Chinese medicine must be.
Leng Yuexing was unaware of Shangguan Jingzhi's thoughts. There was very little ink left on the desk, so he walked over to the desk to continue grinding ink.
Just as he picked up the ink stick, the eunuch guarding outside the door announced that the Vice Minister of War had come to pay his respects.
Leng Yuexing put down the ink stick, wanting to avoid it, but Shangguan Jingzhi grabbed Leng Yuexing's hand and pulled him to his side.
"You'll soon be the leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so there's no need to avoid it. It's good to learn more about these ministers," Shangguan Jingzhi said, pulling Leng Yuexing's hand as they walked toward a side hall.
After settling into his seat on the throne, Shangguan Jingzhi immediately summoned the Vice Minister of War to the palace for an audience.
Chen Guangfan, the Vice Minister of War, stepped into the hall and saw Shangguan Jingzhi sitting upright on the imperial throne. He calmly knelt down and bowed, saying loudly, "Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty!"
"Get up," Shangguan Jingzhi said slowly and deliberately, his voice deep and authoritative.
The oppressive aura of a superior filled the hall, and Chen Guangfan's expression became even more respectful.
Although he knew that the current emperor was weak and that most of the imperial power was in the hands of the Left Chancellor, he never dared to underestimate the emperor in front of him.
His intuition told him that the imperial power would eventually return to the young emperor, and that the Left Chancellor would only face certain death.
From the conversation between Shangguan Jingzhi and Chen Guangfan, Leng Yuexing realized that Chen Guangfan was neither an vassal of the Left Prime Minister nor a defender of imperial power.
Chen Guangfan doesn't seem like a straightforward military general; he's more like a profit-driven businessman who will gravitate towards whichever side is more advantageous.
Now, in his view, the emperor might have the power to rival the Left Chancellor, so he defined himself as neutral.
He came to see the emperor today to review the military equipment reports of the various garrison troops that Shangguan Jingzhi had previously arranged for him to investigate.
After handing over the military report to Shangguan Jingzhi, he stood silently in place, waiting for Shangguan Jingzhi's questioning.
The military equipment report listed very few items for the city's garrison, but that was already an embellished version. If Shangguan Jingzhi knew the true extent of the garrison's equipment, he believed he would be furious.
Even with the revised military equipment, there was still very little. He knew that Shangguan Jingzhi would definitely question him, and he had already thought of his words, just waiting for Shangguan Jingzhi's question.
Chen Guangfan waited with his head down for a long time before finally hearing a "bang".
General Shangguan Jing slammed the military supplies report onto the table and asked in a deep voice, "We just distributed various military supplies to the troops defending the city last year. How come they have decreased to this extent in less than a year? What happened?"
Chen Guangfan thought to himself, "Just as I thought," and then he pretended to be terrified and hurriedly knelt on the ground, saying, "I'm innocent, Your Majesty! I sent people to investigate the military equipment and found that the equipment sent last year was of extremely poor quality, and some of it was completely unusable!"
"Then why didn't you find it last year?" Shangguan Jingzhi asked coldly.
"Your Majesty, I am filled with fear!" Chen Guangfan cried out as he knelt on the ground, but he refused to answer why the reason for not being able to find out the reason.
Even if Chen Guangfan didn't say it, Shangguan Jingzhi knew perfectly well.
The Left Chancellor was insatiable and had already amassed wealth before taking sole power; however, no one expected that he would even plunder military equipment.
Chen Guangfan did not intend to implicate the Left Prime Minister, after all, he knew that even if he did, the current emperor would not be able to give the Left Prime Minister a fatal punishment.
He was waiting for the emperor to order him to conduct a thorough investigation, after which he could find a scapegoat to settle the matter.
He had no idea that Shangguan Jingzhi would suddenly call out a name that was both unfamiliar and familiar.
“Leng Yuexing!” Shangguan Jingzhi said in a deep voice.
Leng Yuexing walked to the center of the main hall, knelt down, and said, "This servant is here!"
"The case of falsifying military equipment is full of doubts. I intend to restart the Embroidered Uniform Guard and put it in charge of supervising all officials."
"I hereby appoint you as the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and select suitable individuals from among the Imperial City Guards to serve as Embroidered Uniform Guard Envoys, to investigate cases together with you!"
Leng Yuexing said loudly, "Your Majesty, I thank you!"
"Please rise, my dear minister," Shangguan Jingzhi said gently.
Chen Guangfan stood there, mouth agape in shock. He had never imagined things would turn out this way.
He never expected that the Emperor would reinstate the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the opportunity for its reinstatement was actually something he had personally presented to the Emperor.
After carefully recalling the name "Leng Yuexing" in his mind, he was surprised to discover that Leng Yuexing was the only son of the former Right Chancellor.
He remembered that the Right Chancellor's only son had been exiled to the border, but he never expected that he would come to the palace and become a eunuch. Chen Guangfan was filled with complicated feelings.
He stood there blankly until Shangguan Jingzhi coldly told him to leave. Only then did he come to his senses, and after a dazed bow, he tried to leave.
Unexpectedly, a eunuch's stern shout suddenly came from outside the door: "Prince Xuan! You are not allowed to see the Emperor without his summons!"