Chapter 196 - 196 Helpless

196 Helpless

In the morning court assembly today, an official impeached Duke Lang, saying that he was bullying others and had no respect for his elders. He actually imprisoned his mother-in-law.

He spoke at length, with spittle flying everywhere.

The old emperor had already received the memorial sent by Xiao Juan and knew the whole story. After listening to the passionate accusation of the speaker, the old emperor spoke slowly.

“Madam Jiang colluded with a wanted criminal and attempted to murder the eldest daughter of the first wife. The evidence was conclusive. Even she had confessed. Duke Lang was able to disregard his personal feelings and enforce the law impartially. He was really a role model for the civil and military officials of the Dayan Dynasty. Not only will I not punish him, but I also have to praise him greatly! I want the world to know that as long as you break the law, you have to be punished no matter what your identity is!”

He said too much in one breath. The old emperor felt an itch in his throat and coughed.

Wei Huai En quickly brought warm tea to soothe his throat and served it to the old emperor.

At this moment, no civil or military officials dared to make a sound. The entire court was silent.

Especially the official who had stood up to accuse Duke Lang of treason. At this moment, he was kneeling on the ground, his face as pale as paper.

The old emperor finished his tea and felt his throat ease.

He spoke to the kneeling official.

“You didn’t even figure out the whole story before you hurriedly jumped out and accused Duke Lang. Don’t you think you were too rash?”

The official kowtowed and apologized. “I was wrong. Please punish me, Your Majesty.”

In the end, he was fined a month’s salary.

And Prince Lang had been rewarded with a good bow by the emperor.

Madam Jiang was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment.

But because the Dayan dynasty had special privileges for landowning families, the latter could make compensations with silver, which could offset the sentence for up to seven years.

In that case, Madam Jiang only needed to serve three years.

The matter was settled.

The bow and arrows were sent to the county palace.

Yu Niaoniao took a good look at the bow.

She had learned archery before she transmigrated, but she had not practiced it for a long time.

She raised her bow and aimed at the door.

At this moment, Xiao Juan walked in.

He saw Yu Niaoniao’s actions and paused.

“You can shoot arrows?”

Yu Niaoniao answered vaguely, “A little, I guess.”

Xiao Juan was puzzled.

Dayan was a progressive dynasty and it was not uncommon for women to ride horses.

But few women would learn archery.

After all, women did not have to go to the battlefield. Archery was useless to them. If they practiced too much, their fingers would be callused. It was very ugly.

Xiao Juan couldn’t help but ask, “Who did you learn archery from?”

Yu Niaoniao did not expect that the other party would ask her about it.

She said with a grin.

“My grandfather’s family runs an escort agency. They have a lot of escorts. I learned my horsemanship and archery from them.”

These words were half-truths. Even if Duke Lang wanted to investigate, it would be difficult.

Xiao Juan said, “Since you know archery, you can use this bow.”

Yu Niaoniao was very surprised. “This is a gift from the emperor. Can it be given to others casually?”

Xiao Juan was very calm.

“You’re not an outsider. You can take whatever I have.”

Yu Niaoniao was very happy.

There was a martial arts arena in Langjun Imperial Palace. She ran excitedly to the arena with her bow and arrow and shot two arrows at the target.

The first arrow missed the target. The second arrow did hit the target, but it was still far from the bull’s eye.

Xiao Juan walked behind her, grabbed her arm from behind, and raised it slightly.

“Keep your elbows in this position. Keep your hands steady. Don’t push your fingertips too hard. Don’t tense your body too much. Relax a little.”

Now they were very close.

From afar, it looked like Xiao Juan was hugging Yu Niaoniao from behind.

Yu Niaoniao did not notice anything wrong with this posture. Her entire mind was on archery.

After Xiao Juan’s careful guidance, the next two arrows she shot did not miss. One of them was very close to the bullseye and almost hit it.

She could clearly feel that her archery skills had improved a lot, and she was immediately even happier. Seeing her smile happily, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

In the following period of time, Yu Niaoniao would find time to practice archery every day.

With her strong memory, her learning speed far exceeded that of ordinary people, and her archery skills improved by leaps and bounds.

In a flash, a month had passed.

Prince Min and his father were almost fully recovered.

After careful consideration, father and son decided to leave the Imperial Capital and head to their fief.

As the emperor’s brother, Prince Min was conferred the title of Prince when he became an adult. He even received a sizable fief. However, because the fief was too remote and with the emperor and the empress dowager asking him to stay, Prince Min and his son stayed in the Imperial Capital.

The fief was managed by the officials of the Imperial Court, so there was no need for Prince Min to worry. He just had to sit at home and wait for the officials to deliver the annual tax money.

Originally, he thought such days were good.

But things were different now. Prince Min already knew the emperor was suspicious of him. If he continued to stay in the Imperial Capital, he would probably die soon.

So Prince Min wrote a memorial to the emperor, offering the idea of returning to his fiefdom to live.

The old emperor didn’t look happy as he read the memorial. He did not want Prince Min to return to his fief. Once Prince Min went to the fief, he would no longer be able to control him.

However, he could not directly reject Prince Min’s request. According to precedent, the prince was supposed to live in a fief and could not return to the capital without an edict. It made sense for Prince Min to ask to return to his fief.

The old emperor’s gaze shifted to the border map lying beside him. This border map of Liaodong County was presented by Xiao Juan.

Along with the diagram came a closing statement on the anti-government poetry case.

The anti-government poetry case was planned by Che Xuekun. His goal was to discredit the emperor’s image in the hearts of the people and disrupt the Dayan Court.

And these were just appearances.

What he really wanted was the border map of Liaodong County.

As long as he could send this map to the Chen Nation, then Liaodong County would become the territory of the Chen Nation.

When the Chen Country’s army captured Liaodong County, they could go all the way south and enter the hinterland of the Dayan Country.

The old emperor was annoyed.

The Chen Nation was just a small place, but they actually dared to invade the Dayan?!

If he could still be twenty years younger… No, as long as he could be ten years younger, he would immediately be able to lead the army north and personally defeat the overconfident Chen Country.

However, he was already old and his body was getting weaker by the day. There were many things that he could not do.

He threw the memorial hard onto the border map and instructed in a low voice.

“Huai En, send someone to fetch Duke Lang.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Soon, Xiao Juan appeared in front of the old emperor.

He bowed respectfully in greeting.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

The old emperor said slowly, “Prince Min wants his fief back. Do you think I should agree to him?”