Do you know that my grandfather was entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?

Chapter 16 Fu Bi Returns to the Position of Prime Minister

As for those who believe that Li Dalang should be executed, most of them are judging based on etiquette and law.

They may not have felt no sympathy for Li Dalang.

According to the principles of filial piety, both stepsons and illegitimate sons must respect their legal mother as their mother, and the principle of filial piety also places the legal mother in a position of utmost respect.

However, in most people's minds, the birth mother is more important than the legal mother.

However, due to etiquette and filial piety, regardless of their true feelings, they had to support the tradition of respecting the legal wife.

Therefore, after the government's verdict on Li Jia Dalang was announced, those who thought Li Jia Dalang should be severely punished only expressed some disagreement, but no one caused trouble or went to the government to petition.

Wang You was stunned when he heard the news.

Has Father finally seen the light?

However, Wang You was still very happy about this, even though Bianjing was going to be a place of turmoil.

If my father had been able to advance further earlier, he certainly wouldn't have been able to become prime minister in the future, but he would have had a good chance of becoming a vice minister.

If we wait until Zhao Zongquan ascends the throne and then go to the capital, given my father's age at that time, he will probably only be able to reach the fifth rank.

Going to Bianjing certainly carries risks. But as long as I persuade him, and with a reliable brother-in-law by my side, there shouldn't be any major problems.

…………

汴京

As the capital of the Song Dynasty, it was the most prosperous place in the Song Dynasty.

Bianjing's permanent resident population has long exceeded one million. Including those who pass through and visit, Bianjing's annual population is over one and a half million.

This population figure might not seem like much in later generations, but in ancient times when most houses were single-story, it was an astonishing number.

Throughout the thousands of years of ancient history, there have been very few capital cities with a population exceeding one million.

The large population made Bianjing very prosperous.

The streets were bustling with traffic and crowds of people, a truly prosperous scene.

The Imperial Palace, the Thousand Pepper Palace of the Inner Harem.

The emperor watched his son crawling around on the soft couch with a gentle smile on his face and his eyes fixed on him.

Whenever the young prince was about to fall, the emperor was always able to catch him immediately.

The little prince grinned from ear to ear, and then continued to climb up.

"My son, shall we rest for a while?"

The official was afraid that his son would get tired, so after he had crawled for a while, he picked him up.

The little prince, who was only one year old, couldn't understand anything. He was crawling around enthusiastically when he was picked up and started to cry.

Before he could even cry, the little prince saw the emperor's beard and, as if discovering a new continent, forgot all about crying and reached out to grab it.

"Ouch~"

Although the young prince wasn't very strong, it still hurt a lot when he pulled on the beard.

The official had been pampered since childhood and had almost never felt pain.

At that moment, his son grabbed his beard, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Ze'er, how can you pull on the Emperor's dragon whiskers? Let go quickly!" Consort Zhu said hurriedly.

Consort Zhu is the birth mother of the young prince. Originally, she was just a low-ranking concubine, but after giving birth to the prince, she was promoted several times in just one year and is now a first-rank consort.

"It's alright."

The Emperor waved his hand and said, "I was just teasing my son. How much strength could a one-year-old have?"

Seeing that the Emperor looked relaxed, Consort Zhu was relieved.

As the young prince was happily tugging at the emperor's beard, Eunuch Li entered, bowing respectfully: "Your Majesty!"

"What is it?" the official asked.

"The Ministry of Justice has already sent over today's petitions," said Eunuch Li.

The Office of Transmission was responsible for receiving official documents submitted by both internal and external officials.

All the documents needed to be copied and filed, then categorized and sent to the relevant departments or government offices.

Not all trinkets needed to be handled directly by the government.

There are generally two types of edicts handled by the emperor.

One type was documents that the ministers and the Six Ministries had already processed or were unsure about, which were then sent to him for review or instructions.

Another type was a petition directly submitted to him by local officials.

These kinds of memorials are mostly suggestions or impeachments, which do not need to be handled by the ministers, but are handled by him personally.

The official Li was referring to was this kind of trinket.

"I understand."

The Emperor handed his son to Consort Zhu and said, "I have official business to attend to. I will come over when I am done."

"Your Majesty, I respectfully see you off!"

Consort Zhu took the child and bowed.

Only after the Emperor's footsteps faded into the distance did Consort Zhu raise her head.

Watching the official's departing figure, she always felt that his steps were somewhat hurried, giving the impression that he was fleeing in panic.

Consort Zhu quickly shook her head, banishing the idea from her mind.

The official was diligent in his duties, which is why he was in such a hurry to handle government affairs.

"Fu'er, in the future you must become a good emperor who is diligent in governing and loves his people, just like your father, do you understand?" Consort Zhu whispered to her son.

…………

The emperor arrived at the Dragon Pavilion, sat down behind his desk, and picked up the topmost item from the stack of documents to read.

"Minister Fu..."

Upon seeing the contents of the memorial, the emperor was moved.

This memorial was submitted by Fu Bi. It contained what he had heard in the local area: that the emperor had become negligent in his duties after having an heir.

Fu Bi advised the emperor to be more diligent in his duties and set an example for the young prince.

After careful reflection, the Emperor realized that he had indeed become somewhat negligent in his duties since the birth of his son.

He was somewhat ashamed that Fu Bi, though not in court, still cared about the court.

"Draft an imperial edict!"

The Emperor said in a deep voice: "Fu Bi is hereby appointed as a meritorious minister who assists in governing with loyalty and strategy, concurrently serving as Chancellor and Grand Academician of the Jixian Hall, and is granted the title of Duke of Henan."

Upon hearing this, the Hanlin compiler on duty immediately picked up his pen to draft the imperial edict and handed it to the palace eunuch.

The palace eunuch presented the document to the emperor for review. After reviewing it, the emperor affixed his seal and then had it delivered to the Hall of State Affairs by a palace attendant.

The official composed himself and continued reading the memorial tablets.

When he saw the third set of arrows, the official frowned slightly.

This message was presented by Wang Min, and it begins by recounting how Li Jia Dalang murdered his stepmother.

It was then mentioned that this matter was not only highly controversial among the public, but even officials in Shouzhou had differing opinions on it.

He searched for records of similar cases throughout history and believed that the case of Fang Nian killing his mother recorded in the Tongdian was similar to this case. Therefore, he referred to this case and made a judgment.

Finally, it was mentioned that the imperial court should formulate corresponding legal provisions for similar situations, so that local officials would have a legal basis to follow in similar cases in the future.

After much deliberation, the emperor concluded that Wang Min's handling of the matter was without fault.

Although killing one's stepmother is an act of filial impiety, if one can remain calm upon learning of one's father's murder, isn't that also an act of filial impiety?

The emperor couldn't help but think of his birth mother, and his expression became somewhat sentimental.

He ascended the throne at a young age, and the Empress Dowager ruled from behind the curtain.

After he came of age, the late Empress Dowager was reluctant to return power. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied, she did not complain.

After all, the late Empress Dowager was his mother.

However, he did not know that his birth mother was someone else until after the Empress Dowager passed away.

But by then it was too late, because his birth mother had died not long before the late Empress Dowager.

If his birth mother had died early, it would have been fine, but his birth mother was clearly still alive, yet he was unable to recognize her before she died.

Li Dalang's story is different from the Emperor's experience, so the Emperor cannot empathize with it.

However, he also believed that Li Dalang should not bear the blame for "treason" for a stepmother who killed his father.