Chapter 117: King Song Loses Influence! (1/2)
Hu!
A frenzied wind blew past, and the dark skies and ominous clouds loomed above the capital, as though reflecting King Song’s mood.
‘Rest well at home’, it was just four simple words, but it created a huge fissure between him and the royal court. It wasn’t a command, and it didn’t say that he did anything wrong either. It was a simple letter of ‘friendly’ advice that excluded him from the royal court.
‘The orders of the emperor are absolute’. No matter how much preparations he did in advance, it had all gone to waste.
“To think that…”
King Song clenched his fists and he slowly shut his eyes. A frosty feeling grasped his heart.
He had been in the royal court for twenty years now, and he had forged a deep bond of trust with the emperor. This was the first time King Song was given such an edict. The content of it was simple, and there wasn’t any additional adornment to it.
Cold intentions emanated from the imperial edict, and King Song could feel them clearly. Using such a method, the Sage Emperor had clearly expressed his view.
“King Song, receive the edict!”
Eunuch Yu lifted the edict highly as he glanced at King Song coldly.
“Yes, you’ve been troubled, gonggong!”
King Song received the imperial edict from Eunuch Yu’s hands respectfully.
Holding the imperial edict in his hand, King Song fell into a daze. He sat blankly in the main hall for an entire day.
King Song, receive the edict!”
Eunuch Yu sneered coldly as he passed the edict in his hands over. This was already the second day that King Song received such an edict. There wasn’t even a single change in its contents!
The third day, the fourth day! …
Initially, King Song was still filled with determination. He wanted to contact the various officials and create a storm in the royal court so as to stop the Sage Emperor.
But as the days went by, King Song’s heart grew cold.
“Your Highness, this isn’t good!”
Lu Ting walked from the left to the right of the main hall, worried about the turn of events.
“This is already the fifth day. His Majesty seems to be determined to stop you from going to the morning assembly. Without your presence to hold up the situation in the Bureau of Punishments, royal court, and Bureau of Military Personnel, the situation is getting out of hand.”
“It is fortunate that Lord Wang Gen is still around, so the situation in the royal court is still under control yet. However, there are many matters that requires one’s attention in the Bureau of Punishments and Bureau of Military Personnel every day. Without Your Highness’s presence, it won’t be long before someone takes over your original responsibilities. King Qi is already trying to send people to replace you. If this goes on, King Qi will succeed in slowly excluding from the royal court.”
Even though King Song couldn’t attend the morning assembly, Lu Ting could. However, he was only an academic, and he didn’t wield any influence in the royal court.
Thus, he could only watch on in panic.
“I understand…”
King Song sat at the top of the main hall in a daze. The actual situation was much worse than what Lu Ting had said, King Song was well aware of it. His Majesty was using this method to slowly expel him from the royal court.
Different from the other occasions, King Song could clearly sense his cold and stiff determination.
After being involved in governance for more than two decades, this was the first time King Song was losing influence in the royal court.
“The imperial edict arrives!”
Carrying the imperial edict, Eunuch Yu walked in with wide strides, as he did in the past few days. A contemptuous smirk hung on the corner of his lips.
“In place of the heavens, the emperor proclaims: King Song has been too worried about national affairs and overexerted himself, so he is specially excused to rest well at home. Without my consent, he is not to attend morning assembly! End of the edict.”
Hong long!
The moment Eunuch Yu finished reciting the edict, King Song and Lu Ting’s face paled. This imperial edict seemed no different from those before, but a few additional words were added behind. ‘Without my consent, he is not to attend morning assembly’!
These few simple words changed the entire meaning of the edict.
“How did it turn out like this?”
Shocked, Lu Ting stared at Eunuch Yu with widened eyes.
“I knew it, I knew it! I knew it would turn out like this! …”
King Song’s heart turned completely cold.
‘Without my consent, he is not to attend morning assembly’, these few simple words were the greatest blow to King Song. Even though he didn’t fault King Song, and he didn’t strip him of his nobility as well, these few simple words had effectively expelled King Song from the royal court.
From now onward, without the Sage Emperor’s orders, King Song wasn’t allowed to attend morning assembly, needless to say, participate in the governance of the empire.
“Your Highness, receive the edict!”
With a smirk on his fair face, Eunuch Yu passed over the imperial edict with a single hand.
How audacious was it for a mere eunuch of the royal court to mock a king? If not for the Sage Emperor’s imperial edict, how could he possibly dare to do so?
“Thank you, Yu-gonggong.”
With a pale face, King Song respectfully received the imperial edict from Eunuch Yu.
“Your Highness, pardon me for interfering, but I wish the best for you for the Consort Taizhen incident!”
Leaving behind these words along with a cold sneer, Eunuch Yu turned around and left.
If the master was unhappy, it was impossible for the servant to be happy. Everyone in the royal palace knew that the number one figure opposing to the Sage Emperor and Consort Taizhen coming together was King Song Li Chengqi.
Thus, all of the eunuchs in the royal palaces viewed him as their enemy, and naturally, Eunuch Yu wouldn’t treat King Song amiably either.
After Eunuch Yu left, the main hall descended into a lengthy period of silence.
Looking at the imperial edict in King Song’s hands, everyone’s heart felt heavy.
Soon, everyone would know that the most prestigious ‘Daming Palace’ would become a faraway existence for King Song.
(Daming Palace is where the morning court assembly is held in the palace.)
Unless with the personal consent of the Sage Emperor, he didn’t have the authority to step into the Daming Palace ever again.