Chapter 14 – Speak Well, From Now On (1)
Yu Wenjie lowered his eyes, fixing his gaze on the copies. After a short moment, he reached down for a copy, leaned back on his chair, and slowly opened it.
It was written by those old ministers, who often didn’t agree with his decision, and this time it was even more for the harem.
With a sneer, Yu Wenjie looked up at the person in front of him. “Does the Prime Minister also think that Grand Preceptor Tang was right?”
Hua Chun stood straight, fixing her eyes on the jade paperweight in the middle of the desk, and took a deep breath: “What Grand Preceptor Tang wrote was not entirely correct, but it was quite reasonable.”
“Oh?” Yu Wenjie closed the note, threw it back on the desk, looked at her, and asked, “What’s right and what’s wrong?”
To put it bluntly, the ancient prime minister was merely a secretary. After reading it himself, he asked her to sum it up again. Hua Chun could not help but put on a strained smile. “Your Majesty wants to hear the opinion of the minister?”
“Of course.”
Fortunately, last night she had read all the writings that Grand Preceptor Tang wrote in the note. The traditional characters of this dynasty were not so strange that they could barely be recognized. Hua Chun cleared her throat, held her hands, and said calmly:
“Grand Preceptor Tang puts people first and hopes that the Emperor will consider the chaos first before building the palace. It was just right to win the hearts and minds of the people. But…”
Pausing for a moment, Hua Chun cast a glance at the Emperor before continuing.
“The Emperor is wise and powerful. How can he not understand the advantages and disadvantages? Grand Preceptor Tang has used too much ink and paper, and it is inevitable that you will underestimate what the minister is saying, but there is something wrong.”
Internally, Hua Chun felt as though her heart had turned into a drum. She felt like she was drowning as if big waves we’re about to crush her. On the outside, however, she appeared calm as she waited for the Emperor to respond.
After staring at her for a while, Yu Wenjie squinted his eyes and asked without warning, “Are you afraid of being beaten?”
‘What?’ Hua Chun thought to herself, shocked. She had run out of words to say and felt a shiver down her spine.
Yu Wenjie slowly walked out from behind the desk; his tall body blocked the light from the window and shrouded her in the shadow.
At the movement, Hua Chun could not help but be scared. She quickly bowed her head and dared not to raise it again.
“I am quite surprised that the Prime Minister had opened his mouth, but I am not used to it.” Looking at her, Yu Wenjie said, “Before, the Prime Minister once said that one should speak upright, not to be arrogant. I heard that. And now, your behavior doesn’t seem to match what you said.”
‘Was I really that gentle?’ Hua Chun twitched the corners of her mouth and tried hard to remember.
The reason why Prime Minister Hua was beaten so harshly was that he was too consistent with words and deeds. He said everything directly to the Emperor’s face without hesitation. Hua Chun must have touched the Emperor’s ego. In the first episode, the Emperor wanted to go and see the battle in the north. The other ministers either kept silent or admired his courage and that he could win the war as soon as he went.
Only Prime Minister Hua, who was not afraid of death, stood up and said, “Your Majesty! Have you forgotten what happened last year? During the Imperial conquest, three thousand soldiers of the northern army were killed because you were careless. I thought that the holy high seat in the temple would be enough, and the expedition must be handed over to the generals.”
With these words from Hua Chun’s mouth, the Emperor was not happy at once. He felt like being held up. Yu Wenjie was a war-loving emperor. He made a mistake once, and he already regretted it, so no one in the court dared to mention it again. But, only Prime Minister Hua dared to say so.
What’s loathsome was that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he said.
Yu Wenjie had no choice but to punish the Prime Minister.
Now that Hua Chun held this body as the Prime Minister, with so many tragic lessons from the past, will she still speak carelessly? ’Of course not, stupid!’