Ming Li: ...?!
Seeing that Su Ziyuan below made no further moves, Ming Li left the palace with boredom.
The bright moon hung high in the sky, and Ming Li walked alone to the bustling Zhuque Street. People bustled all around, the scene exceptionally lively. Ming Li bought a candied haw from a vendor, holding it in her mouth as she walked back. Suddenly, Ming Li stopped in her tracks, pondered for a moment, and changed direction. She decided to pay a visit to those princes and ministers.
The princes and ministers: ...?! Did we provoke you? Are you here to wreak havoc upon us!
Ming Li spent half the night visiting all the officials who had influence in court. After a friendly round of visits, Ming Li went to the dungeon. If not for the system's reminder just now, she would have almost forgotten that she had a mission target in prison.
Arriving at the dungeon entrance, Ming Li seized the opportunity when the guards were not paying attention and successfully slipped into the dungeon.
The environment inside the dungeon was rather dark and damp, with a faint smell of mold in the air. There were many prison cells, but most of them held inmates. Ming Li wandered around the dungeon and finally found the Prime Minister's family in one of the many cells.
Ming Li looked at the Prime Minister, who seemed to have aged by more than a decade in the prison, and felt a strange pang.
Ming Li became displeased, and the princes and ministers suffered greatly.
By the next morning, news had spread throughout a large portion of the capital.
The Emperor issued an imperial decree, declaring the Prime Minister and Minister Lin innocent, and ordering their release from the dungeon.
It was also rumored that this imperial decree was requested by all the ministers kneeling in the Golden Hall during the morning court session.
...
Time returned to the morning court session.
Nangong Jin looked at the ministers kneeling on the ground: ...?! His face was filled with bewilderment.
The ministers kneeling below: ...They dared not look at Nangong Jin's expression sitting on the dragon throne.
The ministers felt bitter. What else could they do? If they didn't do as that female demon commanded, they might be finished tonight and wouldn't see tomorrow's sun. Thus, they could only inconvenience Nangong Jin, the Emperor.
Nangong Jin: ...?! So I became Emperor just to be wronged?!
However, in the end, the young Emperor Nangong Jin couldn't resist the shrewd old men kneeling before him. With a displeased face, he drafted an imperial decree and released the Prime Minister and Minister Lin.
Therefore, the Prime Minister remained the Prime Minister, and Minister Lin remained Minister Lin, as if nothing had changed, yet as if everything had changed.
This matter leaked out of the palace and was exploited by those with intentions. The news that reached the common people was: the Prime Minister and Minister Lin were innocent from the start; it was just that the Emperor disliked them, so he fabricated a charge and threw them into the dungeon.
The common people who heard this news: ...?! My heavens! Could this Emperor be a tyrant?!
Tyrant Nangong Jin: ...?! He was utterly stunned! He himself didn't know when he had become a tyrant?! Who spread such rumors? Even more absurdly, all the common people now believed it.
Nangong Jin: ...Suddenly feeling that being a good Emperor is so difficult!!
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Author's Note:
Thank you to the little cuties who sent gifts yesterday! Sending virtual hugs! ❤️