Chapter 97 Demoted to the Third Rank

Before the Emperor could say anything, several rounds of applause suddenly came from outside the Jiying Hall. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. It was Qi Sian, who, supported by Shiguang, was wearing a dark blue crane cloak. His face looked even paler, and his lips showed signs of his poor health. Qi Sian coughed softly twice, bowed to the Emperor, and said, "Your servant originally intended to wait until Your Majesty had finished handling the matters before coming in. But I deeply felt that Miss Pan's words were truly reasonable, so I couldn't help but be a bit presumptuous."

The Emperor didn't blame him. After everyone greeted Prince Xiangyang, Qi Sian slowly sat down on the chair that the chief eunuch had ordered to be brought over with a wave of his hand. He leaned forward slightly and expressed his gratitude. The Emperor's tone was like that of an ordinary father, with a stern face, a bit of helplessness, and a hint of blame, "Your legs and feet are still not fully recovered. Why are you running around like this?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern," Qi Sian leaned forward slightly while sitting in his seat. It was as if the heat had rushed into his lungs, which had been chilled while he was standing outside the door, causing him to cough a few times. It took him a long time to take a dark pill from Shiguang's hand. After moistening his throat, he finally had the chance to speak, "But there are still some matters that I need to report to Your Majesty. However, Your Majesty, please deal with these matters first."

The Princess Anbei stepped forward, curtsied slightly to the Emperor, and said slowly, "Your Majesty, this humble woman has something to say." After receiving a gesture from the Emperor, the Princess Anbei turned her gaze to Old Madam Pan, who had already been fidgeting, "This humble woman has always heard that the Old Madam doesn't like this girl. In the past, whenever there were invitations, she would always take the concubine-born girls out. This is a family matter of Prime Minister Pan, and this humble woman doesn't want to comment. But I wonder if using such unfounded matters to accuse someone counts as deceiving the Emperor?"

After hearing the Princess Anbei's calm words, Pan Yueqing couldn't help but silently applaud in her heart. These were indeed unfounded matters that had been brought before the Emperor. It is said that there are no trivial matters in front of the Emperor. In a serious sense, this was deceiving the Emperor!

The Princess Anbei's eyes flickered, and she smiled gently, "Moreover, the Old Madam doesn't seem to be senile."

This completely blocked Old Madam Pan's way out. Her withered hands couldn't stop trembling, and her eyes stared fixedly at the Princess Anbei, who had always been almost aloof from everyone. She almost gritted her teeth and squeezed out a sentence, "Do I have any grudge against you?"

"Does the Old Madam have any grudge against the late Madam Su?" the Princess Anbei said with a faint smile. She really hit the Emperor's sore spot who was sitting on the high throne, "Why do you treat an unmarried girl like this?" Her voice was steady, but it carried a very cold feeling. She raised her eyes and met the Emperor's gaze.

But Pan Yueqing didn't wait for the Emperor to speak and said, "Your Highness, please don't say any more." Pan Yueqing sobbed, and her thick eyelashes seemed to hold back a pool of grievances. She slowly raised her eyes, blinking and still looking sensible, "This will make Father embarrassed. After all, Grandmother is my grandmother and Father's mother. I can't let Father be troubled by this matter..."

Qi Sian looked at her. He didn't show any emotion on his face, but he secretly laughed in his heart: These words were very well said. She neither said that she couldn't let go of this matter nor showed a stingy attitude. Instead, she showed magnanimity and made it clear that the reason she didn't want to blame was because Old Madam Pan was Pan Haiyun's mother. He glanced at the Emperor on the high platform. Although the Emperor still had an expressionless face, he was already somewhat touched.

Pan Yueqing bowed deeply to the Emperor and said, "Your servant earnestly requests Your Majesty to spare Grandmother's life considering her old age."

The Emperor looked at Pan Yueqing and said very calmly, "Is this your sincere words?"

Pan Yueqing nodded sincerely, "Forgive others when you can."

The Emperor stared at her for a while, and suddenly laughed heartily, clapping his hands and sighing. But before the Emperor could speak, the Sixth Prince Qi stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said with a righteous air, "But there is no reason to forgive those who have offended Your Majesty's dignity. Your servant earnestly requests Your Majesty to revoke the imperial title of Old Madam Pan."

"It's not appropriate," Qi Sian said slowly. He stood up and bowed to the Emperor, "Your servant thinks it's better to demote her to the third rank. Raising Prime Minister Pan is a great merit that cannot be ignored."

After hearing this, the Emperor raised his hand to stop the Sixth Prince Qi from retorting. After pondering for a moment, he asked Pan Haiyun in a deep voice, "What do you think, my dear subject?"

Pan Haiyun lowered his head even more. Originally, like all filial sons in the world, he would have expressed his willingness to take the blame for his mother in front of the Emperor. But at this moment, he just couldn't say it. A breath of resentment in his heart finally turned into an indifferent sentence, "Your servant is guilty."

Old Madam Pan looked at Pan Haiyun's appearance, and instantly half of her heart turned cold. She understood that even her own son didn't want to protect her today. At that moment, tears streamed down her face, but she didn't dare to make a scene. She left her seat and knelt shakily in front of the Emperor. She originally wanted to defend herself a few more words, but Su Jing spoke at this time, "Your servant thinks that Prime Minister Pan's fault is greater than that of Old Madam Pan."

When Old Madam Pan heard this, she immediately became anxious, "You are at least Haiyun's uncle! Why are you trying to harm him like this!"

Su Jing looked at Old Madam Pan as if he was looking at someone with a mental deficiency. After a while, he let out a soft laugh, "If one can't control the people around him, isn't that a fault? For a man of honor, if he can't even manage his own household, how can he govern the world?"

The Emperor slightly raised his eyebrows. He probably didn't expect the situation to develop in this direction. He looked at Su Jing and Pan Haiyun with great interest and let out a laugh. Pan Haiyun kowtowed with a look of deep remorse, "Your servant knows his mistake. Your servant requests to be removed from his position and reflect on his mistakes!"

The Emperor stared at Pan Haiyun for a while, and suddenly relaxed his tone and let out a soft laugh, "There's no need to remove you from your position. Prime Minister Pan is, after all, a model for all scholars in the world. Temporarily set aside your position as Prime Minister, and go back and reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors." After Pan Haiyun prostrated himself on the ground and expressed his gratitude, the Emperor waved his hand and ordered wearily, "As for Old Madam Pan... as Prince Xiangyang suggested, demote her imperial title from the first rank to the third rank. Retreat."

Old Madam Pan slumped to the ground, and tears streamed down her cloudy old eyes. She had only been granted the imperial title of the first rank when Pan Haiyun became the prime minister... Now actually... She let out two dry sobs and was dragged out by the eunuchs at the gesture of the chief eunuch's whisk. Everyone stood up and was about to retreat when the Emperor seemed to remember something, "Pan Yueqing? You stay behind."

Qi Sian watched as Pan Yueqing stopped among the crowd. She slowly turned around, furrowed her brows, and didn't dare to raise her eyes presumptuously. The Emperor stared at her for a while and then spoke, pointing directly at Qi Sian, "Aren't you going out?"

Qi Sian didn't know why the Emperor had left Pan Yueqing behind. He stood up and was about to take his leave with a bit of helplessness. A strange and quiet atmosphere was spreading among the three of them, and a gurgling sound from someone's stomach broke the silence. The Emperor and Qi Sian instinctively focused their gazes on Pan Yueqing.

Pan Yueqing said a bit embarrassedly, "I'm really sorry. Your servant is hungry."