Ch. 24 - An Ordinary Class Person

Although the Sun Mansion was not far from the Imperial Palace, the ministers who could be privately summoned by the Emperor could only enter and exit through the Donghua gate.

So he had to follow the summoned eunuch and pass by his mansion three times like a fool. From the northwest corner of the inner city to the east of the imperial city.

Maybe the eunuch saw that Sun Shaozong was too big and majestic. The imperial guards guarding the Donghua gate took him to a room at the side and searched every inch of him twice. It was almost time for them to pull out his ”murder weapon” in his crotch and measure its length.

After successfully passing the ”security check,” he followed the summoned eunuch to walk around in between the palace walls, and he saw that the front view suddenly widened up and a magnificent hall flashed out.

Sun Shaozong knew that he had arrived at the palace. He was about to brace himself and deal with it, but he heard a noise coming from the left side of the hall door. "Oh, my God! What's wrong with this cart? Why is it at the gate of the Wenying hall?"

"What to do? What to do?! Inside carries the green stemmed rice that has just been paid tribute to. If we scatter it, we will all be dead!"

On his way to the left, he saw a flat carriage loaded with rice overturning on the side, and two eunuchs were jumping up and down, shouting around the carriage.

What a pompous performance!

Sun Shaozong had reached this conclusion when he only glanced at it twice.

The hill of rice bales on the wagon seemed as if half of the wheels were broken in two. At first glance, it appeared to be an accident brought on by an excessive load.

How vicious were Sun Shaozong's eyes?

A casual eye sweep of the scene revealed several flaws.

First was the wheel, it seemed that the fracture was too neat. There was no sign of bending. It was obvious that it was first removed from the cart and then cut off with a sharp weapon.

Secondly, it’s the rice on the cart. There was a rollover accident that happened, but the rice on the cart was neat without any inclination. It was fine if the rice was tied tightly, but with just a few small ropes, if it were to bear a sudden big load, it would be scattered on the ground.

Of course, the most obvious flaw was the dialogue between the two little eunuchs. It was in the midst of a cold winter, and it was impossible to produce any new rice at all. And which fool in the world would dare pay tribute to the Emperor for such old rice?

Therefore, just relying on the words ”the green stemmed rice that has just been paid tribute to,” was enough to prove that this was a well-designed farce.

As for the purpose of their performance…

Sigh~

Sun Shaozong sighed helplessly. The actors in the play were so bad that he didn't want to be the protagonist!

Unfortunately, it was the Emperor who made up this bad scene, and he simply could not stand his retreat on the spot. If he offended the director of the play, at most he would experience some of his scenes being cut off. However, if he offends the Emperor, his life would be the one that would get deleted.

"These kids…!"

The summoning eunuch complained about the fake play and turned to Sun Shaozong and said, "Please wait here outside. Let me head in first and report on your arrival in advance."

"Thank you, eunuch."

Sun Shaozong quickly bowed down and saluted.

Before he went out earlier on, his big brother specifically told him that these eunuchs were scared of losing faces, and no matter what his thoughts were, at least he could not lack the etiquette on the surface.

Of course, in addition to this, Sun Shaozu also took him to explain a lot of things that he didn't have to. To sum up, it was nothing more than eight words, “Think more and speak less, hide clumsiness, and show timidity.”

It was easy to understand the meaning of “think more and speak less.” As for the phrase "hide clumsiness and show timidity,” it meant to try covering up his shortcomings in front of the Emperor without appearing too smart.

As soon as the summoned eunuch entered the gate of Wen Ying Hall, the third extra actor, the third eunuch actor, came into the play.

He saw him holding a wooden wheel in his arms, running all the way and shouting, "It’s here, it’s here, here comes the cartwheel!"

Seeing that this guy was as thin as a hemp root but had no sweat on his face, he knew that he must have been hiding behind the palace wall, waiting for the right opportunity to come out.

"Great!"

The two young eunuchs beside the cart cheered, and then he mumbled in embarrassment. "With so many things on the cart, how can we change the wheels?"

The reason why he put a quotation mark on the word *“mumbling” was that these two eunuchs were talking too loudly. Fools could see that they were deliberately telling Sun Shaozong to help.

At this moment, eunuch A made a proposal, "Why don't you unload the rice from the cart first?"

"Do you wish to die?!"

Eunuch B took an orchid finger and poked at the eunuch's chest a few times. He said angrily, "If the rice for tribute is spilled, we will all lose our heads!"

Eunuch C suggested at the right moment, "Why don't we find some bodyguards to help lift the cart, then we can change the wheels."

As soon as the words fell, the three could not wait to turn their eyes to Sun Shaozong.

These acting skills…

It sucks, doesn't it?!

Sun Shaozong looked at them and felt panic for their ”eggs.” Compared with these three people, facial paralysis and buzzworthy young stars can be worthy of the word ”Professional.”

At that very moment, the three eunuchs all said, "My Lord, My Lord, can you give us a hand?"

If the Emperor hadn't directed the play, Sun Shaozong would have left without giving them face!

But now…

He could only come to the ”center of the play” step by step in anticipation of the three eunuchs.

Seeing that he was near, eunuch A immediately read his lines happily, "My Lord, let's have a try first. If we can't make it, we'll find others..."

But before eunuch A finished reading his lines, he saw Sun Shaozong snatch the wheel with his hands, reaching forward and clasping the bottom of the cart. With the strength of one arm, he lifted the overturned cart, aligned the clamping groove of the cartwheel with the axle, and slapped it in.

"Done."

He gently put the cart, weighing a thousand kilograms, back on the ground. Sun Shaozong waved his hand with little interest and said, "You're welcome. Goodbye."

The three eunuchs watched him dumbfoundedly back to the entrance of Wen Ying Hall. They were stunned for a long time before they remembered that there was a line, "General is mighty…" and forgot to say it.

Not to mention how many alpacas were running in the hearts of the three little eunuchs.

Not long after Sun Shaozong returned to the door of Wen Ying Hall, he saw the summoned eunuch coming out of the hall. He brushed his stick dust and said in a shrill voice, "Your Majesty has an order. Sun Shaozong, the Lieutenant Imperial Guard, enters the hall to meet the saint!"

Sun Shaozong hurriedly restrained his disapproval. He bowed and followed the eunuch into the hall respectfully.

The summoned eunuch also knew that he had not been trained in the ritual department, so he entered the hall door and led him forward for a few steps. He reminded him with a whisper, "Hurry and pay your greetings to the Emperor."

With that, he arched his hands to the front and said, "Your Majesty, Sun Shaozong, has been brought here."

Sun Shaozong did not have time to see what the Emperor looked like, and he hurriedly knelt and said, "General Sun Shaozong here, sending my greetings to Your Majesty!"

After waiting for a while, he heard someone say, "You may rise."

Sun Shaozong, taking advantage of the time to get up, secretly glanced at him. He saw that behind the bright yellow desk was an old man who was about half a hundred years old. The Supreme Emperor retired at the age of 70. Therefore, Emperor Guangde was already 43 years old when he succeeded to the throne. Nine years have passed, so he was naturally over half a hundred years old.

Although Emperor Guangde failed to fully control the political situation due to the existence of the Supreme Emperor during his nine years of accession to the throne, his long-standing momentum was far more comparable than others. In particular, his long and thin eyes were half-open and half-closed, making it more difficult for people to guess what he was thinking.

However, compared to Emperor Guangde, what made Sun Shaozong more concerned was that a middle-aged minister not far in front was staring fiercely at him.

Who was this?

"Sun Shaozong."

Sun Shaozong was guessing the identity of the minister when he heard Emperor Guangde casually asked, "I heard you just helped the eunuchs lift a cart full of rice for tribute?"

Tch!

This was an exact definition of “asking while knowing the answer!”

While Sun Shaozong was criticizing the unspoken, he hurriedly and honestly told the whole story of his encounter earlier.

After hearing this, Emperor Guangde was noncommittal but instead asked the minister, "What do you think of it, Earl Yong Yi?"

"Return to Your Majesty!"

Earl Yong Yi bowed down and said categorically, "I think this person should be dismissed and investigated. He should be blacklisted for all government-related jobs!"

Dismissal investigation? Blacklist?!

Hearing this, Sun Shaozong was a little dumbfounded. He still hasn’t said anything. Why must he be terminated first?

At this moment, he heard Earl Yong Yi's explanation, "He can't even see through such a simple setup, which shows that he is an ordinary person. The Qian Xiang embassy mixed in spies, which led to the assassination and death of the imperial envoy, all due to his incompetence!"

After a pause, he continued, "As for chasing the murderer for half a day, it's a strange story. I think if it's not for his luck, it might be the intention of the mastermind. It's not worth being a reason to offset his punishment! Therefore, I think it's better to dismiss and sack this ordinary person who has made big mistakes."

Holy crap!

After hearing this, Sun Shaozong was really speechless.

He was kind enough to cooperate with the Emperor in acting, but who knew that the other parties did not follow the normal routine and enforced an ”Ordinary Person” title on him!

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