Do Not Offend the Reborn Wicked Wife

Chapter 922: Chapter 922: Noble Families

Qi Jingyu drank that bowl of soup, looked at some more memorials, and then fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, he went to the Regent Prince Mansion, bringing along a few recent memorials.

In the spacious backyard, Long Yue and Yun Niang were doing needlework together.

"The child has grown up, and parents always have to worry more. Earlier I suggested you use ready-made clothes from our workshop, but you were unhappy and insisted on making them yourself. Look, you’ve hurt your hand."

Yun Niang glanced at Long Yue’s accidentally pricked hand, where bright red blood seeped out, and she seemed a bit reproachful.

Long Yue smiled slightly, "Isn’t it just a careless mistake? I’ll be careful next time. Look, this little bit of red on the clothes, is it pretty?"

"It’s pretty, like a plum blossom. Sadly, it will wash out."

She glanced at the drop of blood that fell from Long Yue, and chuckled lightly.

Long Yue pressed her lips, "What does it matter? I can embroider the plum blossoms with silk thread." She looked at the clothes, carefully examining them, "These clothes are just right for Yaoyao, that little girl has grown quite a bit lately!"

"Everyone says she’s grown, you should make the clothes a bit bigger. Before you finish, she’s grown again."

Yun Niang said with a hearty laugh.

Long Yue thought about it and nodded slightly, "Yes, these clothes are already much larger than before, she might find them a bit loose."

"Loose is good, a bit more comfortable."

When Qi Jingyu came in, this was the scene he saw.

"Imperial Aunt, where is Imperial Uncle?"

Someone wanted to announce his presence outside, but Qi Jingyu didn’t want much fuss, so he stopped them, which startled Long Yue.

"Insolent servant! How could you let His Majesty in without announcing? Someone, go get some tea!"

"Oh, there’s no need for such formality, Imperial Aunt, I came to find Imperial Uncle."

As Emperor, Qi Jingyu should have referred to himself as "We" in front of others, but when he saw Li Qingmu and Long Yue, he always referred to himself as "I", taking the position of a junior.

Long Yue smiled slightly, "A Mu is reading in the room, Ning Xiang, why don’t you take His Majesty over!"

"Yes!"

Ning Xiang responded, leading Qi Jingyu over.

In the study, Li Qingmu was tired from reading, so he lay down on the Zhuo Ai to sleep, completely at ease.

Qi Jingyu came in and encountered a room full of disorder.

He was speechless.

Imperial Uncle’s life is truly leisurely.

Grandpa entrusted the dynasty to him, asking him to help oversee it, and he agreed, yet he skipped court every few days.

Father entrusted the dynasty to him, asking him to help look after himself, he also agreed, yet he skipped court every ten days half a month.

Is such carelessness really okay?

Though he complained in his heart, Qi Jingyu’s lips curled slightly, revealing a satisfied smile.

He finally understood, why Grandpa relied on him, and Father did as well.

This Imperial Uncle, handles matters with such discretion.

Just like a few years ago, he almost ignored court affairs.

But when trouble arose in the court, just like here, when a succession issue emerged, he stepped forward without hesitation, turning the situation around with swift and resolute action.

In just a few words, he intimidated Empress Dowager Li!

He was like a... Buddha, suppressing the evil spirits!

With him around, the Dazhou Dynasty would surely be stable!

Thinking of this, Qi Jingyu strode into the room.

"Imperial Uncle! Imperial Uncle!"

"Hmm?"

Li Qingmu woke up groggily, seeing it was Qi Jingyu, the confusion in his expression quickly cleared.

He smiled and asked, "What’s the matter, Your Majesty, suddenly running over, is there anything you need?"

"Imperial Uncle, you said yesterday that if I feel any discomfort, I should come to the mansion and have Imperial Aunt take a look, she said there’s nothing wrong, and so I thought I’d come and chat with you."

"Oh? What does Your Majesty wish to discuss?"

"Here!"

As soon as Li Qingmu asked, Qi Jingyu handed over the memorials.

Li Qingmu was taken aback, "What does Your Majesty mean?"

"Imperial Uncle, there are many issues with the noble families and clans lately!"

Qi Jingyu handed a cup of water to Li Qingmu and then winked at him.

What kind of person was Li Qingmu? Unbelievably smart, of course he knew what he meant, and immediately said, "Your Majesty, please speak!"

"Imperial Uncle, look at the memorials first."

Seeing his mysterious demeanor, Li Qingmu didn’t hesitate, taking the memorials and began to read them one by one.

The more he read, the darker his expression became.

Finally, he slammed a stack of memorials onto the ground.

"These landed gentry, they are consolidating lands so diligently!"

Li Qingmu said, letting out a cold laugh, unable to hide the coldness in his eyes.

Qi Jingyu got up, picked up the memorials from the ground, and patted the nonexistent dust off, sighing, "Imperial Uncle, what should we do? If this continues, the people’s lives will become harder, and the power of those gentry clans will grow larger, often opposing the court’s intentions..."

As Qi Jingyu spoke, a complex emotion of conflict arose in his eyes because they included his grandmother.

Before Father passed away, he told him to never mistreat Empress Dowager Li, after all, she was his Imperial Grandmother.

But can he really afford not to take action against her?

Over these years, she hadn’t moved much, not because she restrained herself, but because she was operating behind the scenes all along.

Supporting those noble clans, arranging marriages between their families and the noble families, even manipulating the imperial examinations, allowing the noble family youths to enter officialdom more easily!

These, he knew better than anyone, but could he say no?

No, because these were all done in secret by Empress Dowager Li, he could only watch for accidents constantly, with no other recourse.

He couldn’t catch her, and if he confined her, he’d face public opinion.

Public opinion, seemingly intangible, is actually controlled by those noble families’ hands, who run schools with countless disciples. Whatever they say, a multitude of scholars will spread it throughout the Dazhou Dynasty.

This was the power of public discourse in that era.

Public opinion was spread by scholars!

Therefore, you could go against anyone, but never against those with pens and voices!

Throughout history, how many emperors and generals were defamed and left to infamy by idle literati?

Take Emperor Sui Yang of the Tang Dynasty, building the Grand Canal was a monumental achievement, he wanted to campaign Gaoli to clear border threats, but because he was at odds with the noble families, they secretly sabotaged, resulting in his downfall and infamy, losing the dynasty.

Meanwhile, the Tang Dynasty Li Family rose with the help of noble families but once they gained the throne, they feared retaliation from these families, and succeeding generations of emperors desperately tried to weaken the noble families’ power.

Anyway, that’s a digression.

Returning to the point, looking at the memorials’ contents, Li Qingmu’s gaze turned stern.

He had wanted to address the land consolidation issue before, but recurrent unforeseen events prevented him from handling it.

Then Qi Junlian passed, a new emperor ascended, and he couldn’t bring up the issue again to prevent court unrest.

After that, he withdrew from broader affairs, rarely managing tasks, making it even less feasible to address these issues.

He thought it was time for Qi Jingyu to face these challenges.

Yet unexpectedly, this little one still kicked this hot potato to him.

This little rascal, quite cunning!