I Can Hear Your Voice 07

"Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly it!"

When it came to being oblivious, Xu Jiao took the crown. She simply didn't notice anything amiss.

"Your Majesty! I am wrongfully accused!" After all, since the Emperor supposedly couldn't hear inner voices, if you accused someone out of nowhere, what could they do but deny it?

Immediately after, the two opposing factions launched into a shouting match.

Fang Zhiyi didn't stop them. The truth always requires a bit of arguing to become clear.

They would stop once they got tired.

Eventually, the Junior Minister of Personnel proposed an investigation to verify the claims. They only ceased their bickering after Fang Zhiyi nodded his approval.

Today, her inner thoughts were exceptionally sparse. Xu Jiao, who was usually the subject of gossip, happily became a spectator for once. As she enjoyed the drama, she continuously provided favorable clues to both arguing parties in her mind.

This conflict had barely drawn to a close when, just two days later, a new dispute erupted.

"So boring. Everything they say is so devoid of substance. I really want some drama... Hmm? Impeaching the Governor of Huaixi for embezzlement? How is that possible? He's an honest official, okay? More importantly, he's the future Right Prime Minister... You old geezer, you've really reached the end of the line. Why don't you mention how you indulged your nephew in beating someone to death?"

The elderly minister at the very front felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

Meanwhile, several other courtiers pricked up their ears.

"Your Majesty! The Governor of Huaixi was the top scholar personally appointed by Your Majesty. How could he possibly commit embezzlement? The Imperial Reader must have ulterior motives!"

"Me? Ulterior motives?" The Imperial Reader was so furious his beard bristled and his eyes bulged.

"Hmph! I wish to impeach the Imperial Reader for the incident where his nephew beat an innocent person to death!"

The Imperial Reader's nose twisted in anger. He subconsciously glanced at Xu Jiao, who was gleefully watching the drama. Fine, so this was how they were playing it now? Using that witch as a weapon?

The atmosphere in the court was exceedingly lively. If Fang Zhiyi hadn't summoned a few royal guards, they would have started a physical brawl.

Before these matters could be resolved, the Crown Prince returned in disgrace.

Greeting him was Fang Zhiyi's public reprimand.

"The official granary was robbed; how is that any different from a rebellion? Can I blame the disaster victims for rebelling? Crown Prince, are you trying to force me to become an unjust and unrighteous ruler?"

The Crown Prince kept his head bowed, but the bulging veins on his neck betrayed his defiance.

"Furthermore, look at this! The grain merchants have brought their complaints all the way to me. Look at what these are! Debt collection notes!" Fang Zhiyi threw the stack of papers down. "I might just be the first emperor in history to be chased for debts!"

The Crown Prince stared at the papers in disbelief. He remembered clearly that he had handled the matter.

"How did you handle it?"

The Crown Prince raised his head. "They... they are merchants. In times of crisis for the disaster victims, they have an obligation to provide grain..."

Fang Zhiyi laughed. "So that's how you threatened them? In your eyes, all merchants are profiteers, and all the officials you threw into prison are corrupt. Does that make me an incompetent ruler as well?"

The courtiers were already listening with trepidation. As soon as these words were spoken, they all knelt in unison. "Calm your anger, Your Majesty."

The Crown Prince knelt down somewhat reluctantly.

"I didn't mean it like that, but the situation was critical at the time..."

"The situation was critical? And who caused that critical situation? Don't you understand that disaster victims shouldn't be allowed into the city? Have all your years of study gone to the dogs?"

"If we didn't let them into the city, they would have starved to death!" The Crown Prince was already feeling emotional.

Fang Zhiyi stood up.

An inner voice chimed in at the most inappropriate time. "Exactly! Our Crown Prince brother is the one who truly cares about the people! You just sit here and talk big!"

Fang Zhiyi noticed that the Crown Prince actually smiled a little.

"Don't you know how to send people to set up porridge kitchens?"

"To answer Imperial Father, those corrupt officials swapped the disaster relief grain for stale rice and bran. It was completely..."

"Bran! Why don't you open your dog eyes and take a look! Wherever the disaster victims pass, even the grass roots and tree bark are stripped bare! And you, a Crown Prince who has never worried about food or clothing, are being picky about bran and stale rice! You can't even distinguish what is truly important! The most important thing is to let them survive first! Guo Hongru!"

Guo Hongru poked his head out.

"This bastard isn't dead yet? What a pity," Xu Jiao rolled her eyes at him.

Guo Hongru pursed his lips in embarrassment.

"Tell me, if it were you, how would you have handled it?"

"To answer Your Majesty, I would follow..." He originally wanted to say 'Your Majesty's instructions,' but upon seeing Fang Zhiyi's gaze, he smartly changed his tune. "According to past experience, I would first boil the stale rice and bran together into porridge and distribute it outside the city. At the same time, I would deploy soldiers to maintain order and stabilize the hearts of the disaster victims. If the grain wasn't enough, I would borrow grain from the merchants in the name of the imperial court, while simultaneously transferring grain from other regions..."

"Why not open the official granaries?" Fang Zhiyi asked.

Guo Hongru immediately knelt down. "Unless in times of war or extreme emergency, official granaries must not be opened. If I had exhausted all the aforementioned methods and the grain was still insufficient, I would definitely open the granaries to release the grain. Afterward, I would bind my own hands and return to the capital to plead guilty!" He kowtowed heavily on the ground.

Fang Zhiyi looked at the Crown Prince. "Do you see? Even a third-rank official knows better than you what needs to be done. Yet look at you! Your disaster relief nearly caused a riot! If the reserve army hadn't been passing by at that time, do you not know what would have happened?"

The Crown Prince's face darkened.

"Why are you being so mean to my brother! You stinky emperor!"

Fang Zhiyi almost lost his composure. Was this what they called a brainless fangirl? He realized he had overestimated this Xu Jiao.

The Crown Prince was once again sent away to reflect on his actions. In reality, it was just to stop him from acting as a loudspeaker for Xu Jiao.

Without the Crown Prince, the imperial court quickly returned to its previous state.

Xu Jiao mentally roasted the Emperor while simultaneously roasting the ministers. Anyone who hadn't spoken up for her 'Crown Prince brother' was singled out and roasted in her mind.

Thanks to this stunt of hers, the political landscape of the court instantly became clear. Even some officials whose factional allegiances were previously ambiguous were exposed by her.

The consequence of this was that the infighting between factions grew even more intense.

Today, Xu Jiao would mentally complain about an official causing trouble while driving a carriage, and someone would immediately step forward to impeach him.

Tomorrow, Xu Jiao would complain about an old minister's steward beating up a street vendor, and the opposing faction would jump out.

The day after, Xu Jiao would complain that a military general would collude with the enemy and betray the country in the future... Someone stepped forward, but when Fang Zhiyi asked in confusion what he had to say, the minister hesitated for a long time before finally just asking, "Your Majesty, may I take a day off tomorrow?" After all, for something like future treason, you needed solid evidence to accuse someone!

The courtiers' mutual impeachments also led to one outcome: in recent days, more court officials had fallen from grace than in the past several decades. As long as they dared to impeach, Fang Zhiyi dared to issue edicts to investigate. Once that was done, he would conveniently promote a few newcomers—he was quite familiar with this routine.

Gradually, the courtiers also began to realize something: continuing like this would only result in mutual destruction! Xu Jiao's inner voice indiscriminately attacked everyone; no one would be spared!

And so, the next time Xu Jiao started complaining in her mind, all the officials remained expressionless, adopting an air of unbothered calm.