Chapter 75: Chapter 75 Third Update At the beginning of the Chen hour, the early morning court session began. Last night, the emperor reviewed memorials until midnight. After going to bed, he kept dreaming and didn’t sleep well in the latter half of the night. He felt quite lethargic upon waking up in the morning. At this moment, he was sitting on the dragon throne, resting his right hand on his face, with his elbow on the armrest, lying sideways on the throne without any proper sitting or lying posture. The emperor frequently opened his mouth wide to yawn, lacking any imperial demeanor. Prime Minister He and several senior ministers stepped forward one by one to report important matters. The emperor listened drowsily. He waved his hand casually, indicating that he understood. After Prime Minister He and the others finished reporting important matters, the Imperial Censor stepped forward to impeach Prince Dai. The Imperial Censor had a strong voice, loud enough to startle the emperor, who was nearly asleep. The emperor’s right hand had gone numb, so he changed his posture and hand position, switching to his left hand to support his face, and earnestly listened to the Imperial Censor’s report. The Imperial Censor accused Prince Dai of being disrespectful, arrogant, and disdainful of the Crown Prince. He recounted all the rude actions of Prince Dai towards the Crown Prince when welcoming him back to the capital. After he finished, several other censors came forward to echo his words, saying Prince Dai, emboldened by his victories, disregarded the Crown Prince. Prince Dai did not take the censors’ reports to heart. The ministers supporting Prince Dai refuted the censors’ accusations one by one, saying that on that day, the Crown Prince greeted Prince Dai not as the heir apparent, but as an elder brother. Facing a brother did not require so much etiquette. The supporters of the Crown Prince’s faction thought they were being unreasonable and argued with them about ceremonial rules. The Crown Prince and Duke Zhen, Prince Dai and Marquis Xuanping, remained silent, standing aside watching the ministers debate over ceremonial rules. The Imperial Censor suddenly raised his voice, urging the emperor to deal with Prince Dai. He went on to say that if Prince Dai, relying on his military merits for Great Zhou, ignored the court’s laws and etiquette, he would certainly commit more egregious acts in the future. He further mentioned that Great Zhou was newly established and had just repaired its rituals and music. If, because of Prince Dai’s victories, they allowed him to disregard etiquette, then the effort Great Zhou spent on this would be for naught. Marquis Xuanping, seeing that the Imperial Censor had elevated the issue to the level of Great Zhou’s rituals and music, thought they could not let him continue, or else Prince Dai would become like Prince Yun of the previous dynasty. Just as he was about to speak, he didn’t expect the Imperial Censor to consult the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. The Minister of the Ministry of Rites was the cousin of the Fourth Prince, and a member of the Li Family. Back in the day, the Li Family was invited down from the mountains by the late emperor specifically to repair the rituals and music of Great Zhou. Nobody understood Great Zhou’s ceremonial rules better than the Li Family, so consulting the Minister of the Ministry of Rites was appropriate. The Minister of the Ministry of Rites did not expect to be consulted by the Imperial Censor and was momentarily stunned, then stepped forward to answer. He was not afraid of Prince Dai nor the ministers supporting him. He answered the Imperial Censor’s question objectively. In his response, he detailed which articles of the ceremonial law pertained to these matters. Upon hearing the Minister of the Ministry of Rites’ response, Prince Dai and his ministers frowned unconsciously. The ministers supporting Prince Dai did not dare to refute the words of the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, because everything he said was correct. Most importantly, the ceremonial laws were revised by the Li Family, and even if the ministers wanted to refute, they could not. Neither the Crown Prince nor Prince Dai dared to offend the members of the Li Family. The Li Family held a very high position in the court, even higher than the Kong Family. Back then, the late emperor paid three personal visits to invite the Li Family down from the mountains. To entice them, the late emperor promised some special privileges to the Li Family. The specific privileges were unknown to the ministers, as they were not made public by the late emperor, and the Li Family did not divulge them. Among the various speculations about these privileges, one conjecture was that the late emperor granted the Li Family a Death Exemption Token, which many ministers agreed upon. After the Minister of the Ministry of Rites finished speaking, the Imperial Censor once again urged the emperor to punish Prince Dai as a deterrent to others. At that moment, the hall fell into silence. The Imperial Censor and several censors were kneeling on the ground, and the standing ministers on both sides did not speak. The emperor straightened up and looked at Prince Dai standing below. Realizing the gaze of the emperor, Prince Dai’s heart jumped, and he hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, pleading guilty to the emperor: "Father, I acknowledge my fault. I should not have treated the Crown Prince as an elder brother. It was my misconduct. Please punish me, Father." At this moment, the Crown Prince also stepped forward, saluting the emperor: "Father, I greeted my younger brother, who had returned victorious, in the capacity of an elder brother and not as the Crown Prince. Furthermore, there is no need for so many rules and etiquette between brothers. I ask that you do not blame my younger brother." The emperor raised his hand to signal the Crown Prince and Prince Dai to rise. The Crown Prince and Prince Dai both said, "Thank you, Father." "On that day, I agreed to the Crown Prince welcoming Prince Dai as an elder brother. In that case, there was only the elder brother that day, neither the Crown Prince nor ruler and subject," the emperor said plainly, as if discussing a trivial matter, "Without ruler and subject, there’s no need to adhere to such etiquette." Prince Dai was delighted upon hearing what the emperor said. He knew his father would protect him. The Crown Prince’s expression remained unchanged, but the hand at his side clenched into a fist. "Your Majesty..." The Imperial Censor, displeased with the emperor’s favor toward Prince Dai, began to speak, but the emperor cut him off with a raised hand. "Prince Dai." "Yes, Father." "If you commit acts of misconduct in the future, I will not spare you lightly." "I will remember Father’s teachings." The emperor nodded, then said: "Write out ’The Rites and Laws’ a hundred times." "Ah?" Prince Dai was stunned; he hadn’t expected the emperor to punish him with writing ’The Rites and Laws.’ "What, do you think a hundred times is too few, then..." Before he could finish saying "two," Prince Dai hurriedly said, "No, not at all, I am willing to write it a hundred times." The emperor looked at the Imperial Censor and said: "Imperial Censor, once Prince Dai has written ’The Rites and Laws’ a hundred times, he will surely remember it by heart and henceforth will not violate it." The Imperial Censor remained silent. The emperor asked: "Imperial Censor, are you satisfied with this punishment?" The Imperial Censor was, of course, not satisfied, but he dared not say so. "I would not dare." "You may rise." "Thank you, Your Majesty." The emperor sat back down on the dragon throne, "Is there anything else?" "Father, I have a request," the Crown Prince suddenly said. "What is it?" "Father, next month is the anniversary of Mother’s death, and I would like to go to Hulong Temple to pray for her," the Crown Prince pleaded, "I wish to bathe and fast for seven periods of seven days for Mother, please grant it." The mention of the late Empress immediately changed the emperor’s demeanor, no longer as casual as before. "I am pleased by your filial piety. When do you plan to go to Hulong Temple?" "I wish to go to Hulong Temple tomorrow." "Then you shall go." "Thank you, Father." The emperor said nothing more. Sun Kui then asked the ministers, "Is there any other matter to report?" Seeing that the ministers had nothing more, Sun Kui loudly announced: "Court is dismissed!" "Long live His Majesty, long live, long live forever!" After the emperor left the grand hall, Minister Kong hastily followed. In the Imperial Study, as soon as the emperor sat down, he heard Minister Kong requested an audience. "Let him in." Minister Kong entered, bowing, then knelt down, kowtowing three times heavily to the emperor. Seeing Minister Kong perform such a grand gesture, the emperor knew his purpose in coming to the Imperial Study. "Beloved minister, why such a grand etiquette?" "Your Majesty, my youngest daughter is not worthy of being Prince Dai’s concubine. I beg Your Majesty to annul the marriage allotment," Minister Kong said directly. Hearing Minister Kong’s words, the emperor was not surprised at all. "Beloved minister, does this mean that you do not wish to become in-laws with me?" Minister Kong’s heart trembled, but he still tried his best to maintain a calm facade. "I do not wish to, nor do I want to be in-laws with Your Majesty!" The emperor did not expect Minister Kong to be so bold and straightforward, which surprised him somewhat. After speaking righteously, Minister Kong, pale-faced, prostrated on the ground, anxiously awaiting the emperor’s punishment.