My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 402 - 273 Phoenix’s Reminder

In the last few days, Chang'an had mysteriously whipped up a campaign to purge treacherous officials.

The spearhead pointed directly at Minister of Justice Li Xuanjing.

For nearly twenty years, the matter of Li Xuanjing being a corrupt official, in both the court and among the common people, had been an indisputable fact.

Many had sought to eliminate this treacherous figure, but all had failed without exception.

To this day, Li Xuanjing remains active in the court, and although the common people would curse these miscreants behind their backs and accuse them of filling the court with foul smoke, they dare not discuss it too openly.

However, these past few days, things had begun to change.

The evil deeds once committed by Li Xuanjing were being unearthed one by one and wildly spread throughout Chang'an.

While the common people had no way to handle such a powerful figure, once public opinion was fully aroused, it was not easy to quell.

Public sentiment even affected the academies.

The scholars from the Four Great Academies, along with those from smaller ones, were already preparing to submit a joint petition to the court, demanding a thorough investigation of Li Xuanjing.

These scholars, though not currently court officials, would be the source of future courtiers, and the court always held the views of academy scholars in high regard.

In the past, there had been instances of officials being dismissed due to student protests.

Because of the recent turn of events, topics that the common people had previously feared to discuss openly were now being debated publicly.

"I hear that the nobles are preparing to take action against Li Xuanjing."

"It's not just the nobles, I heard that the academy scholars are also planning to march and press the court to clean up the imperial entourage!"

"It's been twenty years, I really hope they can get rid of that grand traitor!"

"This time, they seem serious, it looks like the people will have better days ahead!"

...

In a corner of Chang'an where people gathered to gossip, a different voice emerged from the crowd, "Heh, a bunch of fools, being used and they don't even know it, yet here they are, happy..."

One person, looking at the figure who had spoken, said discontentedly, "Hey, you there, watch how you speak!"

Others in the crowd were indignant, "Isn't the court's removal of treacherous officials a good thing?"

The man leaned against the wall and spoke leisurely, "Treacherous officials, what are treacherous officials, and who defines them? You say Li Xuanjing is a treacherous official, has he ever harmed the people? On the contrary, it's the oppressive nobles and officials who have killed countless people and redressed many grievances for the populace..."

Seizing the moment while the crowd was stunned, he continued, "Twenty years ago, what was Chang'an like? Officials were lawless, nobles committed all kinds of evil, and the common folk were treated as nothing. Could your wives and daughters dare to go out freely?"

The voices of the crowd gradually diminished.

Some of the older folks indeed began to recall certain events from those years.

Foll𝑜w current novels on fɾēewebnσveℓ.com.

Back then, Chang'an was completely dominated by officials and nobles. With officials colluding with businessmen, the nobles were utterly above the Law, and ordinary people could be beaten to death for merely offending nobles and left as corpses in the streets. Young women barely dared to make a public appearance on the street with any semblance of dignity.

However, such situations had been improving year by year, and today, they had almost completely vanished. The populace had become fully accustomed to today's Chang'an and had long forgotten the darkness of the past.

That man scoffed disdainfully, "Do you think today's Chang'an comes from those people suddenly growing a conscience? It's because they fear Li Xuanjing, who dares to execute them if they violate the Law, regardless of whether they are nobles or officials. Guess what will happen if Li Xuanjing dies; who do you think will be unlucky?"

"Hiss!"

"This..."

"What he's saying kind of makes sense."

"I also remember when Li Xuanjing first joined the Ministry of Justice, there were daily executions of corrupt officials at the vegetable market."

"I remember now, back then, he set up a government office in front of the Ministry of Justice for the public to air their grievances. The son of the Chang'an Prefect, who had raped a girl from our neighborhood, and the Chang'an Prefect who had protected his son, both were beheaded by Li Xuanjing..."

As the crowd muttered softly, someone said, "Don't be fooled by his words. Li Xuanjing is no good person. Everything he does is for political strife. Many good officials have died at his hands, he even killed those who possessed the Vast Righteous Qi!"

The man laughed coldly, "So what? It doesn't matter whether he's a good person or bad, as long as it's beneficial for us commoners. If Li Xuanjing dies, those corrupt officials and Imperial Relatives and Nobles will have no one to fear, and what happens to you all then... only heaven will know..."

The person who had spoken earlier stared fiercely at the man, asking, "Who exactly are you, and who taught you to say all this? Are you a cohort of that treacherous official..."

The man shook his head and said, "I am just a passerby who couldn't stand idly by; to be swayed so easily without knowledge, pity, oh, what a pity..."

Having spoken, he turned and left.

The onlooker gave a signal, and immediately, two people from within the crowd followed after him.

Meanwhile, the man stayed amongst the crowd, saying, "Don't be deceived by him. That person speaks so in favor of Li Xuanjing, he must be one of his cohorts. We need to stand united. As long as the will of the people is clear, the court will surely punish the treacherous officials!"

This time, however, the crowd did not look at him but went their separate ways.

They were just going with the flow, echoing slogans about punishing the wicked and removing the treacherous.

The words that man just uttered made everyone think hard and realize they made a lot of sense.

The guy was right, who cares if he's a treacherous official or a loyal minister, what matters is whether his actions are good or bad for the people.

Before Li Xuanjing, no one could kill so many officials and nobles. Those high-in-the-sky figures, only Li Xuanjing could handle them.

If he were to die, hard times for the people would be on their way.

"Alas, let's break it up!"

"I certainly don't want Chang'an to go back to the way it was before."

"So it seems, better not to get rid of this treacherous official..."

The crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only a shadow standing still, with an extremely ugly expression.

A moment later, the two men returned, downcast, "We've lost him..."

The man's face grew even uglier, knowing that whoever spoke those words and managed to evade these two trackers was no ordinary fool; this person was purposefully whitewashing Li Xuanjing.

He spoke with a stern face, "Return and report!"

King Han Mansion.

King Han received news continuously, starting from yesterday, people everywhere in Chang'an were whitewashing Li Xuanjing.

This had a tremendous impact on their plan; one indispensable step before purging the court was to create momentum.

If they could enlist the support of the entire city of Chang'an – the people, the scholars, the nobles, the courtiers – even the Father Emperor would have to yield. Then, if they were to storm Li Xuanjing's home and execute him on the spot, they could claim it was to quell public unrest.

Not even a Death Exemption Token would be of any use.

But with this sudden interference, public opinion had crumbled as if it were rotten wood. It was now nearly impossible to rally.

Without the support of the people, calling for a purge of the court lost much of its conviction.

Although the Spiegel Bureau had extensive reach, inciting public opinion wasn't their forte.

The mastermind behind this was extremely adept at manipulating public sentiment.

The momentum they had worked so hard to build was completely undone in a very short time.

Damn it, who's meddling?

Beside him, the middle-aged man waved his hand, "Those fools don't matter. I have made arrangements within the academy and the court; we merely await the right moment to act in unison... More than a decade ago, Li Xuanjing escaped death by chance. This time, he won't be so lucky."

Jade Sound Pavilion.

The old crone, with her arms crossed, looked at Phoenix and said, "Does this count as personal use of national powers?"

Phoenix glanced at her and replied, "How is this personal use? I barely managed to infiltrate Li Mansion and haven't even made much of an impact. If Li Mansion falls, wouldn't all my efforts be in vain? This is also for the greater cause..."

The crone lowered her arms, "We'll set aside this matter for now. But even if you undermine public opinion, it's of no use. This time, the Princes and nobles are united, with many officials in the court responding, and even the academy scholars have been incited by them. Do you really think the Li Family can avoid this..."

...

Li Mansion.

After teaching Yiren a set of swordsmanship, Li Nuo rested by the stone table. Phoenix, sitting across from him, gave him a look that seemed hesitant to speak.

Li Nuo straightforwardly asked, "What is it?"

Phoenix thought for a moment, then said, "These past few days, I've heard some disturbing news that might be unfavorable to Lord Li..."

Before Li Nuo could inquire further, she continued, "Led by King Han and King You, several Princes have banded together with a group of noble officials and academy scholars. It seems they intend to purge the court..."

Li Nuo asked, "Where did you hear this?"

"You know the guests at Jade Sound Pavilion include many distinguished officials. They inadvertently revealed this after drinking too much..." Phoenix looked at Li Nuo and added, "They come with ill intentions; don't you need to make some preparations?"

Li Nuo picked up the teacup and took a gentle sip.

King Han and King You were about to face great trouble themselves, yet they still dared to cause trouble for them.

However, based on what Phoenix had said, it seemed they were planning something big this time.

Within the bounds of propriety, Li Nuo had nothing to worry about.

But if they intended to disregard the rules, even the combined forces of Li Mansion and the Spiegel Bureau would not be able to withstand a joint attack from those people.

For safety, he indeed needed to make some preparations.

Li Nuo returned to his room, took out a piece of paper, and began to write, "To my esteemed master..."