A Little Chubby Boy 6

The officials from the Censorate immediately collapsed to the ground, their bodies going limp. Who would have thought they’d hit a brick wall today? Not only were they about to lose their official hats and suffer physical punishment, but they might also lose their lives. Especially Yan Lun, who had just been awakened by cold water splashed by the palace servants, only to hear about such treatment. He immediately rolled his eyes and fainted again, causing the entire court to laugh at him.

The Imperial Guards entered the hall, intending to drag the Censorate officials away. The cabinet ministers quickly stepped forward to plead for them, but before they could say much, the Emperor interrupted them coldly, “It seems that since this matter hasn’t fallen on your heads, you can speak without feeling the pain. If you were to lose your positions and be imprisoned just because of the Censorate’s impeachment, would you still stand up for these troublemakers from the Censorate?”

The cabinet ministers, all of whom were quite elderly and highly respected in the court, usually maintained a gentlemanly demeanor. They never spoke harshly, and no one dared to speak to them in such a crude manner. For a moment, they were at a loss for words. Moreover, they were not the victims in this case. If it were them, they might not be able to defend the Censorate officials so easily. Thus, they felt embarrassed and refrained from speaking further.

At this moment, Lin Lang stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, speaking frankly and advising is the duty of the Censorate. Their role is to gather information and submit impeachments, while verifying the truth is the responsibility of the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice.”

“If officials are imprisoned for false impeachments, who in the Censorate would dare to speak frankly in the future? Your Majesty’s actions are akin to blinding and deafening yourself.”

The Emperor was almost amused by Lin Lang’s words, thinking to himself, “What an ungrateful person! Who am I venting my anger for? And now he’s turning around to criticize me?!”

He couldn’t help but feel a bit angry and said, “These people only need to move their lips to impeach. If they don’t pay any price, won’t everyone in the court be on edge in the future?!” In truth, he wasn’t very concerned about whether the court officials would be on edge in the future. He just didn’t want to let the Censorate officials off so easily.

However, the court officials had never received such concern from the Emperor before. They were all moved to tears! The Emperor was so considerate of them, not wanting the Censorate to bite like mad dogs and insisting on muzzling them to protect them!

The officials were so touched by their own imaginations that they all stood up to express that the Censorate’s reckless impeachment behavior was unacceptable and must be punished!

Seeing this situation, Lin Lang’s eyes gleamed with a sly light. He only thought that the Censorate officials shouldn’t be imprisoned or lose their positions, but he never said they shouldn’t be punished. Now that the situation was laid out before him, he had to pretend to be reluctant and said, “Although the Censorate officials shouldn’t be imprisoned, they should indeed be punished. After all, impeachment shouldn’t be done recklessly.”

The Emperor snorted, “Oh, then according to Lord Lin, how should they be punished?”

The words were practically handed to Lin Lang, and he pretended to be troubled, “I think, as a mere sixth-rank Hanlin scholar, it’s too idle for these officials to spend so much effort impeaching me.”

“Why not let them empty night soil for a few months to experience the hardships of the common people, so they won’t have time to cause trouble—”

As soon as Lin Lang finished speaking, the faces of the court officials looked as if they were constipated.

The Emperor was also taken aback, thinking this idea was a bit too wicked, but he felt quite satisfied inside. Making the Censorate officials empty night soil wasn’t very harmful but was disgusting enough. It was much more satisfying than imprisoning them or beating them with boards.

He covered his mouth with his hand to hide his almost uncontrollable smile and said generously, “Since Lord Lin is so magnanimous, I have nothing more to say. Let’s follow Lord Lin’s suggestion and have the Censorate officials empty night soil for three months.”

The Censorate officials turned green, but this outcome was better than being imprisoned, beaten, or losing their official hats. Although it was disgusting, they could endure it, so they all knelt to thank the Emperor for his grace.

The court officials all kept their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, not daring to say anything more. After this incident, they had a clearer understanding of Lin Lang. They had thought he was as harmless as Ning Shizi, but in reality, he was not someone to be trifled with. He was much more formidable than Ning Shizi. If you offended him, he would definitely retaliate, and not only would he retaliate, but he would do it beautifully, leaving no room for criticism. Instead, people could only praise him for his magnanimity and righteousness, even if they were fed a mouthful of flies, they could only swallow it down.

The court was lively for a while, and by the time the court session ended, it was almost noon.

After returning, the Censorate officials recounted their experience to Censor Zhao Sui. Censor Zhao, who had been recuperating since he hit his head on a pillar last time, was able to return to duty, but the Emperor had exempted him from attending court for the time being.

Censor Zhao, looking disappointed, said, “I told you not to provoke Lin Lang, but you thought I was shielding him because I owed him a favor. You acted as if you couldn’t tolerate a speck of sand in your eyes. Now look, you’ve disgraced the Censorate!”

“This is only because Lord Lin is magnanimous and didn’t hold a grudge against you. He only made you empty night soil. Next time, if you encounter someone ruthless, you might not escape without losing a layer of skin!”

The officials were scolded like quails, each lowering their heads and saying nothing, looking like they had swallowed a bitter pill.

For the next period, palace servants could see the Censorate officials reluctantly collecting night soil from the Imperial Household Department and following the night soil carts out of the palace to deliver it to those who specialized in collecting it outside the palace.

Some senior officials from the Three Departments and Six Ministries, who were not afraid of trouble, came to watch the spectacle. Seeing the Censorate officials emptying night soil every morning was quite amusing. After all, the Censorate was always picking faults with court officials, and the officials didn’t dare to offend them. Now that they finally saw them in a difficult situation, they couldn’t help but gloat.

For a time, Lin Lang’s reputation soared in the court. To single-handedly make the entire Censorate suffer and then have them be grateful to him was unprecedented in the entire Cangxuan Dynasty! How rare! Even if Lin Lang had the Emperor’s backing, so what? Even the Emperor himself couldn’t necessarily get the better of the Censorate—

However, for Lin Lang, his days remained the same, peaceful and monotonous, repeating in a cycle. Every day, he would arrive early at Zichen Palace, sort and categorize the day’s memorials, then transcribe the daily records, and research and organize the Twelve Strategies for Governing the Country.

The Emperor often pretended to wander around him intentionally or unintentionally. Every time he saw Lin Lang transcribing the daily records, he would become embarrassed and angry, trying to disrupt him. He truly couldn’t understand why there was such a perverse thing as the daily records. Everything he said and did was recorded, even things he himself didn’t remember, but the daily records did.

Every time he saw it, he felt so embarrassed that he wanted to dig his toes into the ground, yet he had to watch Lin Lang seriously transcribe every word. It was like a public execution! Every time he told Lin Lang not to bother with this nonsense, Lin Lang would earnestly say that it was a task assigned by the Hanlin Academy and was essential for compiling historical materials of the Emperor’s reign, so it couldn’t be ignored.

The Emperor: …

However, Lin Lang, considering the Emperor’s feelings, tried to transcribe less under the Emperor’s watchful eyes, choosing instead to do it while the Emperor was in court. When the Emperor returned, Lin Lang would organize the necessary materials for the Twelve Strategies for Governing the Country.

The Emperor noticed this change but said nothing, only letting out a mocking laugh, “Lord Lin is truly full of ambition, how rare—”

To this, Lin Lang merely gave the Emperor a faint glance, which made the Emperor’s entire body tense up and shut his mouth. That feeling of being dominated by Zi Mo’s gaze appeared again—

When he came to his senses, he found it inexplicable why Lin Lang always gave him the illusion of facing Zi Mo, but Lin Lang clearly couldn’t possibly be his Zi Mo!