78 Dugu Zong Heng (1/2)
From the faces of all ministers, they showed a flurry of contempt and they prepared to start another verbal assault. To be honest, Grandpa Jun’s explanation and justifications were simply unbearable, it is easy to refute. After all, Grandpa Jun was first and foremost a general. His skills in civil topics are too confined. It was actually rare for him to simply make an explanation. Asking for a detailed and seamless explanation was absolutely ridiculous!
Suddenly, an old man with white hair and beard stepped forward. This old man possesses a stalwart figure. Standing beside Jun Zhan Tian, it felt as though there were two majestic mountains enforcing their grand aura in the Imperial court. His moustache spread out explosively to the side of his cheeks and beard. A wild looking face and a loutish frame. This was none other than Grandfather Dugu, the second most powerful individual within the military in Tian Xiang kingdom, and the primary predator within the capital city: Dugu Zong Heng!
He is the most savage person in Tian Xiang kingdom! The most unreasonable man! The toughest shank! The most brilliant family… great families’ House Master. This man has a skin so thick that he could be revered as the master in thick-skin! He is a character who would brandish his lack of expertise as knowledge! this is an individual who would converse about massive swords when discussing reasons! All the members of the Imperial Court, be they from the civil or military affairs showed some hint of fear towards him. Even the current Emperor was unable to deal with him.
It was only when he stepped forward, then the members of the Imperial Court realized his presence. They could not help but whisper amongst themselves, ”This old man had not attended the courtroom for years now. Why did he all of a sudden appear today? For him to appear at such a sensitive moment, is simply queer.”
Dugu Zong Heng’s eyes widened like a mountain bear. He then cupped his fingers and spoke in a hoarse voice. ”Your Majesty, the assassination attempt on the Imperial Princess and the officials of the Imperial court is indeed a nationwide situation that could cripple the foundations of the kingdom. Fortunately, this old bag… Senior Duke Jun Zhan Tian was swift and decisive in his actions, hence succeeding in averting this terrible disaster! This old man thinks that Senior Jun’s actions this time wasn’t a mistake! Not only is he innocent, he has also earned himself a merit! An astounding amount of merit!”
A slender old man with a sheep-like beard who was beside him sneered, ”After this traitor defied the authority of the ministers and disrupted the Imperial Court’s affairs, he's lauded as a person who earned himself a merit? If that is how the Imperial Court works, then won’t we become despised by the people of the world?”
This slender old man with barely any flesh on his frame with a sheep-like beard is one of the three most successful individual from the Meng family, Meng You Fang. last night, his house suffered the most amount of damage. Not even a single tile was left unscathed. A high ranking member of the Imperial court had to bring his own family out into the rich and bustling capital in the middle of the night to suffer the cold air and sleep underneath the starry skies of the night. The amount of suffocation he felt nearly caused him to puke out blood! Watching these military leaders reversing black and white, he was unable to bear it in anymore and decided to step forward.
Dugu Zong Heng became furious. He turned around and stared at Meng You Fang viciously, revealing a yellow set of teeth as he opened his mouth; his voice shook the tiles in the Imperial Court, ”Screw your grandmother! You’re worse than dog faeces! Are you suggesting that this senior is wrong? Hmm?” As if performing in concert along with his fury, his beard exploded out, his facial hairs standing upright. His mouth opened wide, as though he wanted to swallow the slender old man with the sheep-like beard, his whole body radiates a malicious aura.
Beside him, the great general Dugu Wu Di stepped forward immediately to help, ”Meng You Fang, what’re you trying to do? My father is conversing with his Majesty! Do you think someone like is qualified to disrupt them?” His hands extended outwards, his palm opened wide like a palm leaf, intent on catching him by his neck.
All the senior ministers rolled their eyes, ”This father and son duo is really… invincible (wú dí). They dared to bully others in the presence of His Majesty! His Majesty, the Emperor who was supposedly the most important individual of this play couldn't help but stare in a dumbfounded manner!”
”Enough!” His Majesty, the Emperor thundered loudly and stood up in fury. ”A group of civil and military ministers arguing with one another, and starting a fight in the Imperial Court! What do you plan to do next? Are you going to start throwing obscenities around?”
His Majesty’s wrath prompted everyone to turn silent, except the old Masters from the Jun family, Dugu family, Li family, Meng family, Song family, Tang family and Murong family. As for the others, they all knelt down immediately and spoke out in unison. ”This minister is guilty, I am inclined to accept Your Majesty’s punishment.”
”Very well, I’ve understood the gist of what happened. Firstly, Jun Zhan Tian wanted to capture the assassins but had made mistakes in his mobilization of the army. His actions brought about the kingdom to fall into chaos. As punishment, one year’s worth of salary will be deducted. Also, I decree that you aren't allowed to leave your residence for 3 months. However, in light of your contribution of capturing the assassins, I shall reward you one thousand gold liangs and a thousand-year-old ginseng. Military matters will temporarily be handed over to Dugu Zong Heng to deal with. Lastly, you great families chose to ignore the truth and focused only on your personal losses, blatantly accusing other ministers. All your positions are downgraded by one rank. In order to avoid riots from happening, all military authority of the great families must be returned to the Military Division. It will be reassigned again one year later.”
Deducting a year’s worth of income and prohibited to leave his home for three months; a reward of one thousand gold liangs and a thousand-year-old ginseng! How is this still be considered a punishment? In fact, this is a reward and holidays…
There was also the ‘Military matters will temporarily be handed over to Dugu Zong Heng to deal with’. This sentence seemed to be hiding a different meaning. However, there is an issue. All of the ministers looked towards the father and son duo - ‘tough shanks’. They were all thinking the same thing, ”If this is how is to end, wouldn’t it be better to have Jun Zhan Tian to retain his military hierarchy? The father and son duo from the Dugu family is a bigger threat than Jun Zhan Tian…”
At least, Old Master Jun is a reasonable individual. On the other hand, this father and son pair had never been reasonable at all. Now that their family’s private forces were about to fall into their hands, they wonder how many could return.