Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 1072 Old Deng, is this endocrine imbalance caused by menopause?

Emperor Zhu glanced at Zhu Biao and Yang Shaofeng, then at the two stacks of confessions and memorials, and suddenly slumped into his chair, bending over and rubbing his face with his large, rough hands.

"This is never going to end."

Emperor Zhu buried his face in his hands and said in a muffled voice, "We can't catch them all, and we can't kill them all. It's like trying to put down one gourd only to have another pop up."

Zhu Biao and Yang Shaofeng remained silent. Emperor Zhu continued, "How high a rank is enough for an official? How much money do you have to amass?"

"We're all born of parents, so why do they have to ride on the necks of ordinary people and piss off them?"

"Why do ordinary people deserve to die?"

Seeing that Emperor Zhu had not straightened up for a long time, Yang Shaofeng simply tugged at Zhu Biao's sleeve, signaling Heizhi Tangyuan to go and fetch reinforcements.

Zhu Biao quietly left the Qianqing Palace, but Emperor Zhu straightened up and looked at Yang Shaofeng, saying, "Tell me, is there any way to completely solve the problem of these officials and gentry?"

Yang Shaofeng originally wanted to roll his eyes and say a few sarcastic remarks, but when he saw Lao Deng's dejected and dispirited appearance, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but sigh and advise, "To be honest, I don't have any good ideas."

"After all, officials and gentry are also human beings, and human beings have selfish thoughts and desires."

"However, the fact that the Censorate was able to catch the Jiangning County Registrar in a minor mistake shows that the reform of the Censorate has been effective."

"At the very least, it can serve as a warning to others, forcing officials and gentry in other places to curb their greed."

Emperor Zhu looked at Yang Shaofeng, and finally sighed, "You just said that officials and gentry are also human beings, but aren't the officials of the Censorate human beings too? Don't they have any selfish thoughts?"

Yang Shaofeng felt a bit lost.

Old Deng's current state is not normal.

In his normal state, Old Deng should have been furious, then ordered Xia Yu to arrest people, and slaughter them in droves, leaving a trail of heads and rivers of blood.

Now, Old Deng is actually worrying about philosophical questions like human nature and greed.

He must have been provoked too much by the officials and gentry, which has led to his current mental state being somewhat abnormal.

Or perhaps it's menopausal endocrine imbalance that leads to lethargy?

Emperor Zhu had no idea what Yang Shaofeng was thinking, let alone guess that Yang Shaofeng had already considered menopausal disorders.

However, just by seeing the complex and unfathomable expression on Yang Shaofeng's face, Emperor Zhu knew that his good son-in-law was probably thinking about him again.

"We're fine!"

With a dark and sour face, Emperor Zhu said, "I was just feeling a little unwell. I'm not as fragile as you think, and I certainly won't be so easily discouraged by the trivial matters of a few officials and gentry!"

Yang Shaofeng chuckled dryly twice, thinking to himself: You're not fragile? If you're not fragile, why are you covering your face and rubbing it?

Besides, Liu Furong once sang, "Men can cry, it's not a sin; even the strongest person has the right to be tired."

Old Deng, it's okay if you're a little fragile. Even if you cry, I will never tell anyone that you shed tears.

Seeing Yang Shaofeng's incredulous expression, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but glare at him fiercely before changing the subject: "Tell me, what will happen to those people who have been arrested?"

Yang Shaofeng cupped his hands and replied, "The people who were arrested have been taken to the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) office by my son-in-law. They will be detained for a few days and shown 'The White-Haired Girl' before being released."

Emperor Zhu nodded and said, "That's good. The common people were deceived after all. The methods used to deal with officials and gentry cannot be used on ordinary people."

After saying that, Emperor Zhu looked at Yang Shaofeng and asked, "By the way, where's Biao'er? You two came together just now, where did he go?"

Yang Shaofeng chuckled twice more, and unconsciously moved towards the entrance of the Qianqing Palace.

"Your Highness... Your Highness has probably gone to Kunning Palace, right?"

“He ran out by himself just now, and I didn’t see him.”

"Um, my family is still making soup for Jin'er..."

Emperor Zhu stood up abruptly, glaring at Yang Shaofeng who was almost at the entrance of the main hall, and cursed, "You two scoundrels!"

Damn it, are those two bastards deliberately trying to embarrass us in front of the girls?

No, Zhu Chongba has never done anything bad in his life, so how did he end up with two such scoundrels?

What a fucking monstrosity!

Just as Emperor Zhu was panting heavily to calm himself down, Zhu Biao's voice came from outside the Qianqing Palace, "Mother, hurry up, my father is really not behaving himself right now..."

Seeing that Yang Shaofeng was no longer at the entrance of the main hall, and hearing his eldest son outside saying, "My dad is really not right now," Emperor Zhu finally lost his temper and transformed into a desktop cleaning master, cursing, "You two bastards!"

Outside the main hall, Zhu Biao, who had been leading the way for Empress Ma, suddenly stopped, chuckled twice, and then ran off, calling out as he ran, "Um, my brother-in-law's family made some soup, I'm going to go fetch my sister first... Mother, you go in and see my father yourself..."

Empress Ma ignored Zhu Biao's attempt to flee.

My own son has angered his father more than once or twice.

Needless to say, her own son-in-law was a fine man, and his reputation as a fearsome figure in the imperial court was well-deserved.

When these two bastards get together, it's normal for them to cause a huge commotion.

Empress Ma strode directly into the Qianqing Palace, dismissed Chen Zhong and the other eunuchs and maids, and while picking up the confessions and memorials from the ground for Emperor Zhu, she said with a smile, "What's wrong? Did Biao'er and the other two make you angry again?"

Emperor Zhu snorted with a dark face, walked around the desk, and while picking up confessions and memorials with Empress Ma, said, "It's a registrar from Jiangning County who got involved in the Xinghua case."

"When Jiangning County and Yingtian Prefecture went to arrest people, the villagers of several villages were coerced by the local gentry to intercept the officials."

"In the end, it was those two bastards who led the guards of the Prince Consort's mansion to arrest the person and interrogate him."

"We just looked at these testimonies and felt a little uncomfortable."

Emperor Zhu waved the confession and memorial in his hand and continued, "They probably thought we couldn't handle this blow, that we would become despondent over such a small matter, so they specially came to you for help, asking you to persuade us."

Empress Ma chuckled and, together with Emperor Zhu, tidied up the confessions and memorials. Then she pulled Emperor Zhu back to sit down behind the desk.

"You don't need to argue with those two."

"Although these two children are... well... although they are a bit unreliable, they still care about your health and are both filial children."