The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 851 - 851 390 Overbearing (Second Update)_2

Chapter 851: 390 Overbearing (Second Update)_2 Chapter 851: 390 Overbearing (Second Update)_2 That’s not right either!

Xiao Liulang had the audacity to use the late emperor’s name in creating the couplet!

He, he, he must have done it on purpose!

You, Xiao Liulang!

Yang Zhou, the Attendant Reader, was so angry he felt like his lungs were about to explode. At this critical moment, he couldn’t care less about the scandal of ghostwriting being exposed. He clasped his hands and said, “Doctor Han, I must confess, the eulogy was written by Xiao Liulang! He wrote many of them! They were all on my desk! If you don’t believe me, I’ll go and get them now!”

Having said this, he put down the eulogy and dashed off as if his feet had grown wings.

However, to his despair, the eulogies that had originally been on his desk were all gone!

He was completely panicked: “What’s going on? Where are the eulogies written by Xiao Liulang? Where are those thick dozens of eulogies? Where have they gone? Where have they gone? Where have they gone…”

At that moment, Changsui, the aide to Scholar Han, came over: “Attendant Reader Yang, Doctor Han wants you to confront Xiao Liulang.”

“Xiao Liulang… Xiao Liulang!” Yang Zhou, grinding his teeth, made his way to Doctor Han’s office and upon entering, he lunged at Xiao Liulang, “Was it you? Was it you who did this!”

Whether Xiao Liulang was guilty or not was another matter, but the way Yang Zhou was acting like a mad dog lashing out was truly unbecoming of a Hanlin official.

Scholar Han frowned.

Xiao Liulang appeared very calm. Although he was the one with a limp among them, he stood erect, like a pine or cypress, exuding a remarkable aura.

By contrast, Yang Zhou seemed all the more disheveled.

Yang Zhou was an old Hanlin official; when he left the academy, he had been examined on the law and had done quite well, or else he would not have been retained at the Hanlin Academy.

He knew very clearly in his heart the grave sin of defiling the late emperor’s name.

He looked toward Scholar Han in terror: “Doctor Han! Believe me! It was he who sabotaged me! It was him! He’s to blame!”

Xiao Liulang said lightly, “I’m afraid I don’t understand what Attendant Reader Yang is saying. I have no grudge against Attendant Reader Yang, so why would I harm him?”

“Because…” Yang Zhou almost blurted out that it was because you were dissatisfied with me making things difficult for you, but he bit his lip hard, “I should have explained it to you clearly for this incident. I was thinking, since it’s your first time writing a eulogy, I wasn’t sure if it would meet Doctor Han’s expectations. If it didn’t, I’d take the criticism for you, but if Doctor Han truly liked it, I would then tell him it was written by you.”

He was trying to explain to Scholar Han why he initially claimed that Xiao Liulang had copied the work.

Unfortunately, that was not the point.

Doctor Han was only concerned about who actually wrote the eulogy!

Xiao Liulang had already figured out what was going on. He said, “I do not know the late emperor’s childhood name.”

Scholar Han suddenly understood.

Indeed, the late emperor’s childhood name was not something common like a nation’s title or an era name; how could everyone possibly know it? Yang Zhou knew it because when he left the academy, he was examined on the history of Zhan Country, which included the Imperial family’s annals.

But Xiao Liulang had only joined the Hanlin Academy a few months ago, and he had not yet studied that far.

He was a successful examinee from a humble family in the countryside, not nobility or royal kin; it was impossible for him to know the late emperor’s childhood name without having studied the Imperial family’s history.

With that, any suspicion on Xiao Liulang was completely eliminated.

Scholar Han did not think that Yang Zhou had the intention of offending the late emperor; it was most likely that he himself had forgotten it, and accidentally used the late emperor’s name.

“Regarding this matter…” Scholar Han looked at Xiao Liulang.

Xiao Liulang bowed slightly, “Please, my lord, handle it with impartiality.”

Scholar Han closed his eyes, sighing. This was not an easy person to deal with.

Truth be told, since Yang Zhou was a first-time offender and as long as the three of them remained silent, Scholar Han could have used this opportunity for a minor punishment and a major warning and brushed the matter aside. However, Xiao Liulang clearly did not wish to cover for Yang Zhou.

If the affair got out, Scholar Han himself might be accused of lax discipline and unfair handling of the matter.

Scholar Han sighed, “I understand. You may leave now.”

Yang Zhou’s official position could not be saved.

Scholar Han wrote a memorandum to the Cabinet, as the dismissal or appointment of officials of such rank is generally handled by the Cabinet.

By the afternoon, Yang Zhou had been demoted two ranks and had become a proofreader of the seventh rank at the Hanlin Academy.

Meanwhile, Xiao Liulang’s position was that of a compiler, a sixth-rank official.

After finishing his duties for the day, Xiao Liulang was discussing visiting Ning Zhiyuan’s home during his next time off when Yang Zhou, raging with anger, charged towards him.

Seeing trouble, Ning Zhiyuan stepped in to block him, “What’s going on?”

Although Ning Zhiyuan was a civil official, he was quite a large man and had grown up enduring hardships, which gave him much more strength than these officials from the Capital City, to such an extent that Yang Zhou couldn’t even push him away!

“It’s okay, let him come over,” Xiao Liulang said calmly.

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