Chapter 353 Stroke
In the court, it was like water poured into a frying pan, boiling and noisy.

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui walked around the screen from his throne on the high platform, came to the front of the line, and shouted, “Silence!”

After three consecutive shouts, the court finally quieted down.

Behind the screen, Emperor Tianwu asked calmly, “Do you have any evidence for what Li Qing said?”

“Have!”

Li Shengtian took out the booklet and letter from his bosom and presented them with both hands: “Although Lu Huaishen, the governor of Dongyang County in Jingzhou, was forced to go along with the officials of Jingzhou, he still had a sense of justice in his heart. He recorded in detail the bribery of the officials of Jingzhou to the left prime minister in recent years in this book. Your Majesty will know it after reading it.”

“In addition, I have in my hands letters written by Lin Wenxu, the former secretary of the Central Secretariat and the consort of Princess Deling, and Xu Huawen, the leader of the Salvation Cult. The evidence is as solid as a mountain!”

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui stepped down from the platform and came to Li Shengtian’s side. He took the evidence from his hand, then returned to the platform and presented the evidence to Emperor Tianwu.

While Emperor Tianwu was still reading, Li Shengtian bowed his head and said, “The governor of Dongyang County, Lu Huaishen, is outside the palace right now. If Your Majesty doesn’t believe it, you can summon him to confront him in front of you!”

For a moment, the atmosphere in the court became tense.

Junior General Xuntian attacked the Left Prime Minister in the court, and his words were so sure that it seemed that the evidence in his hands must be irrefutable and could not be refuted.

If the hard evidence is confirmed, I’m afraid the situation of Zuo Xiang will become precarious!

But who is the Left Prime Minister?
The most powerful minister in Daqian!

His students and former officials are spread across all departments of the imperial court, and the cronies of Wu’s party control important positions in the imperial court. He is a person who can make the entire city of Kyoto shake three times with just a stamp of his foot… will he remain indifferent?

“His Majesty!”

Soon, someone among the officials in the court stepped out of the line and bowed to answer, “Prime Minister Wu has made great contributions and worked hard. This must be a frame-up by a traitor! I hope Your Majesty will see clearly!”

As someone started to speak, more people came forward to speak out:
“Your Majesty, the situation is unclear right now. Your Majesty should not let the Astronomical Observatory’s words cover it up!”

Li Shengtian was furious. He turned his head and angrily said to the ministers who were leaving the line behind him, “If there was no irrefutable evidence, why would I report this to the emperor? Apart from other things, Lin Wenxu has been shot to death. When he died, he was mixed with the members of the Salvation Church. Everyone in Tianyuan County knows about this. Could this also be false?”

An official immediately retorted: “That can only mean that Lin Wenxu is colluding with the Salvation Church, but how can Lin Wenxu represent the Left Prime Minister? This is only Lin Wenxu’s personal behavior, and it does not implicate others!”

The official bowed and saluted towards the platform: “Your Majesty, I think the Astronomical Observatory wants to use this incident to suppress Prime Minister Wu. Please find another imperial envoy to investigate this matter thoroughly!”

“Your Majesty, please find another imperial envoy to investigate this matter thoroughly!”

All the officials of the Wu party stepped out and bowed their heads to ask for orders.

Emperor Tianwu was silent for a long time, his eyes fell on Wu Yong who had been silent the whole time: “Mr. Wu, do you have anything to say?”

“Wu Qing.”

“Wu Qing?”

Emperor Tianwu called out several times before Wu Yong raised his head and looked around with a confused look.

“minister……”

He saluted with both hands and was about to walk out of the train, but just as he was about to speak, he felt a sweetness in his throat and suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The next moment, Wu Yong felt his vision go dark, the world was spinning, and he fell straight backwards.

“boom!”

The old body finally couldn’t hold on and fell heavily to the ground.

“Prime Minister Wu!”

“Lord Zuo Xiang!”

There was a cry of surprise inside the train, and many people rushed forward to check and help.

A soft sigh was heard from behind the screen.

……

As Wu Yong fainted in front of the emperor, the court meeting was forced to stop and all officials were asked to leave the Jinluan Palace. But no one left the palace, and they all gathered outside the Jinluan Palace, discussing with concern.

“Do you think that the Left Prime Minister really fainted? Or is he using fainting as a pretext to buy time?”

“Didn’t you see that he coughed up such a large pool of blood? He must have really fainted!”

“The left prime minister is already eighty years old. I’m afraid his body can no longer support him…”

“If something really happens to the Left Prime Minister, then we will…”

“Ugh.”

Zhao Qi’an listened to the worried discussions of the people around him, and only then did he realize how many people in the court were deeply involved with the Left Prime Minister Wu Yong.

He watched the imperial doctors coming in and out, all of them with extremely solemn expressions, and he guessed in his heart that Wu Yong’s condition might not be very good.

After a while, the Fifth Thousand Years Old Marquis came out from the hall, and everyone immediately gathered around him.

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui said loudly: “Today’s court meeting is suspended, and all the gentlemen may disperse.”

“Fifth Lord, how is Prime Minister Wu?”

This is the most anxious issue in everyone’s mind today.

Be it the Wu party members, the neutral faction, or the military officers from the five prefectures… everyone is paying attention to this matter.

Wu Hou Qiansui looked around at everyone and shook his head: “Prime Minister Wu was so anxious and angry, coupled with his old age, that he had a stroke.”

“Stroke?!”

“How could this happen? Prime Minister Wu has always been in good health and has no symptoms. How could he suddenly have a stroke?”

“Is there still hope for treatment?”

Facing the anxious inquiries of the crowd, the Fifth Marquis Qiansui said expressionlessly: “Please disperse, my lords. As for Prime Minister Wu’s illness, I and the other imperial doctors will do our best to treat it, but birth, aging, illness and death are destiny, and whether it can be cured is unknown.”

After saying this, he no longer paid attention to the crowd and turned to walk towards the Golden Throne Hall.

All the officials outside the hall looked at each other in bewilderment, and for a while, they could be heard sighing and groaning.

……

After coming out of the palace, Zhao Qian’an always had a strange sense of absurdity in his heart that was difficult to dispel.

Wu Yong, who was so powerful in the court, did not die in the party and government struggles, did not fall because of losing the emperor’s favor, and did not fall into danger because of the many problems of Daqian… Did he fail due to a stroke?
But if you think about it carefully, Wu Yong did not practice martial arts, and apart from his status as the Left Prime Minister, he was just an ordinary old man. Now that he is over 80 years old, it seems normal for him to suddenly have a stroke.

But this made Zhao Qi’an feel like he was punching cotton.

In order to deal with the Left Prime Minister, he alienated the Second Prince from the Left Prime Minister, won over the Yangzhou Party, secretly joined forces with the Ministry of Personnel’s Heavenly Official Qin Desheng, and was even prepared to push the Marquis of Weiwu to the front to handle the matter…

After so many arrangements and so many methods, before he could really fight against Wu Yong, Wu Yong fell down due to health reasons.

Isn’t this… ridiculous?
Zhao Qian’an held his forehead, not knowing whether to be happy or sad for a moment.

Just as he was leaving the palace with mixed feelings and preparing to take a carriage back home, he found that a carriage had already stopped next to his carriage.

When Zhao Qian’an came over, a corner of the window of the strange carriage was opened, revealing the face of Qin Desheng, an official from the Ministry of Personnel.

“Hai Qingbo, come up and talk.”

Qin Desheng waved at him and motioned Zhao Qian to come to his carriage to talk.

Zhao Qi’an sighed softly. Although the Left Prime Minister had suffered a stroke, it was still unclear whether he could return to power in the future. At this critical juncture, Qin Desheng could no longer sit still.

He did not refuse and walked straight towards Qin Desheng’s carriage, lifted the curtain and entered the carriage.

(End of this chapter)