My Husband Is Not Easy To Mess With. - Chapter 13: The Man Who Can't Go Home
Chapter 13: The Man Who Can’t Go Home
The food from the Imperial Kitchen was exceptionally good.
The officials were very satisfied with their meal.
Especially the military officials, who had never eaten such delicate and delicious food. Most importantly, not only was the food tasty, but they could also get refills.
Pure bliss!
“Haha! So refreshing!” The military officials not only ate a lot but also drank heavily. A group of colleagues gathered and quickly emptied several large jars of wine.
All of it was good wine.
“No wonder the Lord wanted to push back the time for the morning court; it turns out there’s food in the palace!” Good wine and good food, and it was free.
Truly worthy of being their Lord.
So clever!
“The wine in this palace is truly mellow! I’d be willing to come to court every day if it’s like this!”
“Hahaha… me too!”
A group of grown men.
They were laughing and exclaiming at the new Emperor’s generosity, as if they had never tasted anything good before. Only a few said they also had such wine at home and invited a few well-connected friends to drink at their place another day.
Nie Yao looked utterly blank.
He glanced at the few people who offered to host, and unsurprisingly, they were all bachelors.
Spend money as soon as they get it.
“Vulgar,” a civil official muttered quietly, disgusted by the scene.
Most of the people opposite were young military men, and their hearing was exceptionally good.
Upon hearing the comment, they all glared at the official, eyes bulging.
The young official’s body stiffened, his chopsticks dropped, and he felt a sense of crisis, as if being stared at by a pack of wild beasts.
“Uh, sorry everyone! We’ll keep it down,” the military official’s face was flushed with wine, but he was still sober. He stood up, offered the official a bowl of wine as an apology, and sat back down after the apology.
Following that, the group’s noise level dropped.
Their voices were suppressed extremely low, guaranteed not to be heard two meters away.
Occasionally, when they discussed something happy, they would open their mouths wide as if letting out a “Hahaha” laugh to the sky, but the action produced no sound.
How strange.
The civil officials exchanged glances, all thinking the people opposite were sick.
And seriously so.
After eating and drinking to their fill, the meeting continued.
The civil officials tacitly avoided speaking nonsense. Matters that could be delayed were forced to be postponed, and only urgent affairs were handled today.
As soon as five o’clock arrived.
Nie Yao, signaled by the new Emperor’s eyes, proposed to adjourn for the day.
The civil officials were internally indignant, but since the Prime Minister hadn’t spoken, no one dared to refute his words.
Thus, the court session ended in a muddle.
Just as he walked out of the hall doors.
Nie Yao was stopped by the Minister of Justice, Guan Gu.
The old man ran really fast.
Seeing that Guan Gu was still panting heavily but insisted on pursuing him, Nie Yao stopped.
“Hoo, hoo-hoo—” Guan Gu regulated his breathing, his face serious, “Minister Nie, your edge is too sharp. This will ruin your reputation and even implicate General Nie.”
This old man cared more about Nie Lingfeng’s reputation than Nie Lingfeng’s own father did.
Nie Yao said, “Minister Guan is still so fond of meddling. Is the lesson of having your property confiscated and being exiled not enough?”
Guan Gu’s confiscation was many years ago.
Nie Yao was still at the border then.
However, Guan Gu was very famous.
A talented top scholar, he later insisted on being a clean-stream official despite the murky court, and his upright, unyielding attitude offended many people.
He was abandoned by his family.
And later framed by his colleagues.
Miserable enough.
In his forties, his hair was already gray, and he looked no different from an old man.
Perhaps some people just can’t be broken?
Nie Yao thought to himself.
“The ancestral system must not be violated,” Guan Gu did not answer Nie Yao’s question, but only warned him, “Brutal methods can suppress the conservatives for a time, but they cannot silence them forever. Once they recover, everything that happened today could become the root cause of the Nie family’s destruction.”
What a jinx.
Did the old man, perhaps dissatisfied because Nie Yao had slapped him yesterday, specifically stop him today to utter a curse?
Nie Yao backed away in disgust.
“Minister Guan, this is not something you should worry about. You are a civil official.” Don’t get involved in matters that belong to the military officials’ fists.
You wouldn’t understand.
Nor can you handle it.
Guan Gu: “Minister Nie, you are also a civil official.”
The Minister of Revenue, what is he if not a civil official?
Nie Yao was momentarily speechless.
He remembered that his current title was indeed that of a civil official. Everyone had silently accepted him as the head of the military officials for so many years that he had almost forgotten.
“Did Minister Guan stop me just to say this?”
Of course not.
Guan Gu advised him to restrain himself and not be so arrogant, “No one else is allowed to sleep soundly beneath the Emperor’s couch. The Nie family’s prominence is too great, and this is not a good thing. You have made too many enemies, and it will inevitably…”
“Minister Guan, one should reflect on oneself before admonishing others.” You yourself are a troublemaker, and yet you come here telling me not to be too arrogant?
Listen to yourself, does that make sense?
Nie Yao said, “Minister Guan, you have your own persistence, and so do I. I may not look like I’ve lived as long as you, but I have a brain.”
Not wanting to listen to his nonsense anymore.
Nie Yao directly stated his position.
“No matter how much I restrain myself, as long as the military power remains in the Nie family’s hands, the three of us will inevitably be thorns in the eyes and flesh of those with intentions. Must I hand over my military authority and exchange a lifetime of danger for temporary peace?”
Wouldn’t that be pure foolishness?
Nie Yao said, “As for having a poor reputation, neither my father nor my A-die care about these false names.” So you, an outsider, shouldn’t worry about it.
After speaking, Nie Yao ignored Guan Gu.
With long strides, he quickly distanced himself from the talkative old man.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t walked far.
“Minister Nie,” Little Douzi saluted him, “His Majesty requests your presence.”
Again?
Nie Yao was not an idle person; he had work to do too.
Many matters at home were waiting for him to deal with.
“What does His Majesty want with me?” Nie Yao asked casually, adding, “I am very busy and have other matters to handle today. If His Majesty’s matter is not urgent, then I will come tomorrow…”
Little Douzi: “Regarding the matter of the reward, His Majesty invites you to discuss the details.”
Nie Yao remembered. The new Emperor had indeed said he would reward him during the morning meeting.
But it wasn’t mentioned again later.
He had thought the Emperor just said it offhandedly, especially since he had already received quite a bit of gold.
He hadn’t expected the new Emperor was serious about giving him a reward.
In just one night, Nie Yao had realized the new Emperor was a great local tyrant.
So, he no longer hesitated.
He walked ahead of Little Douzi in three quick steps, urging him, “Hurry, hurry! Don’t let His Majesty wait.”
In the new Emperor’s sleeping quarters.
He was changing clothes.
When Nie Yao entered, his dragon robe had just been pulled down past his shoulders.
In a careless moment.
He saw it.
Nie Yao’s pupils constricted violently. He stumbled on the threshold while anxiously retreating, nearly falling awkwardly to the ground.
“Minister, are you alright?” Little Douzi stepped forward to help him.
Nie Yao repeatedly backed away, “I’m fine, I’m fine…”
While saying he was fine, his expression was very strange.
“I just remembered the fire at home… the fire is still on! I have to go back!”
He ran incredibly fast.
In a blink of an eye, he ran out of the sleeping quarters.
“Minister,” the Dragon Guards were already waiting outside, “His Majesty has ordered that you must stay.”
Nie Yao: “…”
A cold gust of wind blew, and his mind returned.
“What, are you going to fight me?”
The Dragon Guards neither yielded the path nor fought Nie Yao.
Instead, they took out a gold brick from their embrace.
“Please accept this, Minister.”