Let Me Shoulder this Blame! 156

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Chapter 156

“Impudence! How dare you talk to the regent like-”

The imperial guard off to the side burst out with anger and couldn’t help scolding the prime minister, but Song Rong raised a hand to stop the guard.

“I read the reply you gave to the emperor. If you go on like this, you won’t have any wiggle room left.”

Song Rong was still standing just outside the door. He watched Lu Li’s departing back. His tone was sincere. “You did not try to dispute at all. I know you have resentment and indignation in your heart-”

“History is written by the victors. That is all. You are over thinking it, regent.”

As soon as he heard the other person’s tone, Su Shi suddenly had a familiar feeling that things were going to be bad, and he quickly interrupted him without hesitation.

The protagonist of this world was the new emperor, and Lu Li’s story was merely the beginning of it all.

All those criminal charges against him were indeed misunderstandings, but none of them were groundless accusations. Lu Li did indeed do those things, he formed a clique, created a dictatorship, acted as the regent, and forced the emperor to abdicate – he did everything that a chaotic courtier could do. In the end, he turned an imperial court that was about to collapse into a strong structure that would not topple over.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

Five years ago, the di daughter of the Prime Minister of the Left entered the imperial harem. From then on, she was the only one favored within the harem, and the rewarding and punishing of courtiers were given out based on just one word from Noble Consort Liu.

[*T/N: di daughter – daughter born from the main wife as opposed to born from a concubine]

The Prime Minister of the Left, Liu Shan, looked modest and upright on the outside, but he took advantage of the momentum in the palace to make a lot of money. He even reached his hands all the way into the funds and provisions for the troops on the front line.

Lu Li knelt outside the palace gate for three days in protest of the emperor’s actions. In the end he vomited blood and lost consciousness. When he woke from his coma, he abruptly threw away his noble, virtuous, and unyielding character. He threw away the hot-blooded passion with which he served the imperial court. He learned how to flatter his superiors and to take unfair advantage of those below him. He bulldozed his way into bureaucracy. From then on, everything went smoothly for him, and in three years time he became the Prime Minister of the Right.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you’re reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

Everyone tried to curry favor with the Prime Minister of the Right. Just to get through the door to see him cost two ingots of gold. Of the money that he got through these underhanded means, half of it went to procuring military supplies for the front line, and the other half were secretly given to those faithful officials who resisted mingling with the underworld gangster societies despite their dire straits.

He expelled all the loyal scholars and capable ministers from the capital with excuses, and then sent them to some out-of-the-way towns and counties to lay low. His purpose was to help them avoid the precarious state of the imperial court, which could get them killed.

The Prime Minister of the Left gradually started to feel threatened, so he had Noble Consort Liu urge the old emperor to change the crown prince to her young son.

Making use of the emperor’s imperial decree to change the crown prince, Lu Li led the private soldiers from his mansion into the imperial palace. He seized Noble Consort Liu at sword point, and ordered the late emperor to change his imperial decree.

As soon as the jade seal stamped upon the new decree, Lu Li slit Noble Consort Liu’s throat. The old emperor was scared to death.

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It was only after Lu Li’s death that the new emperor gradually found out about the things that he had done. As a result, the emperor pardoned the Lu family’s felony and recalled all the officials that Lu Li had banished from court. The new emperor strived to make the empire strong and prosperous and he did away with redundant officials. From then on the Xuan Dynasty began to recover.

Lu Li’s memorial tablet was brought back into the ancestral shrine and worshiped for many generations.

……

Su Shi looked through the plot from beginning to end three times, and did not find any mention of the regent.

Seeing that Lu Li was not speaking, Song Rong’s tone became more and more gentle: “I’ve been fighting on the borders for years on end. I don’t know anything about imperial court politics. I came to visit you today to ask for guidance about the happenings of court.”

After hearing him say this, Su Shi unconsciously raised his eyebrows slightly. Only then did he realize who this acting regent was.

Song Rong, the imperial uncle, has been leading troops to fight on the battlefield ever since he was of a young age, and he rarely returned to the capital. He was the regent, but he has never rashly intervened in politics. After the crown prince succeeded the throne and established a firm foothold, he politely refused the imperial power and returned to the borders. In the end, he died on the battlefield. When his coffin was sent back to the capital, the emperor personally left the city walls to go welcome him into the ancestral shrine. His offspring enjoyed the title of aristocracy for many generations after.

Song Rong was not a person with a scheming heart. The fact that he became the regent was merely coincidental.

At that time, the old emperor wanted to establish Noble Consort Liu’s young son as the next ruler and abolish the current crown prince, but because Noble Consort Liu’s son was too young, there needed to be an acting regent, so the old emperor chose his younger brother, Song Rong, for the job in order to make the court officials shut up about the topic. Song Rong was young and energetic, but also easy to deceive, making him a good puppet regent.

Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com

What ended up happening was that as soon as Lu Li heard about the edict, he took up a sword and forced the emperor to change the edict. Afterwards, he stabbed Noble Consort Liu on the spot.

Lu Li got the emperor to give the crown prince title back to the protagonist, but there wasn’t enough time to get rid of the acting regent title. According to the late emperor’s original posthumous edict, Song Rong was rapidly summoned back to the capital from the front lines.

Su Shi suddenly felt his stomach starting to hurt.

This regent was no doubt the very same general that Lu Li has been secretly and anonymously funding.

Lu Li didn’t want to let anyone know about this at all, so naturally he has already been very careful to conceal his deeds. But as long as an action has been taken, it would definitely leave some traces. Su Shi’s heart started beating rapidly. He’s been traumatized from being whitewashed so many times in the past. But he managed to make his tone even colder.

“I’m not explaining myself, because there is nothing to explain. I love being a powerful and unrestrained courtier. I’m not even afraid of retribution in the next life, so do you think I would be afraid of the executioner’s sword in this life?”

After saying that, Su Shi picked up his foot and got ready to leave, but he suddenly turned back around to grab the imperial decree on the table. Then he walked around the furniture screen and into the back garden.

Song Rong’s eyes followed him from start to finish.

The other person’s actions and demeanor were the same as when he was a teenager, but he was even more decisive than before. On his hurried journey back to the capital, Song Rong has heard countless people tell him how ruthless and domineering the Prime Minister of the Right was, but he just couldn’t connect the man of rumors with the teenager of his memories.

He finally saw Lu Li with his own eyes, but it only cemented his thoughts.

“What did the Prime Minister of the Right eat today?”

He suddenly turned to the side and asked in a low voice. The imperial guard standing by the door was startled and stumped for words. Then he knelt down and answered: “Replying to the regent, the emperor has decreed: The Prime Minister of the Right has been arrogant and extravagant all these years. He has eaten all the delicacies of the mountains and the seas. It’s no big deal even if he doesn’t eat for a day or two…”

The light in Song Rong’s eyes dimmed. He turned and left without saying a word.

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