Mediocre People

Sun's residence was actually not far from the imperial palace, but the ministers who were summoned privately by the Emperor could only enter and exit through Donghua Gate.

Thus, he had no choice but to follow the summoning eunuch, passing by the gate three times like a fool without entering, all the way from the northwest corner of the inner city, painstakingly circling to the east side of the imperial city.

Perhaps seeing that Sun Shaozong was born too burly and strong, the Dragon Forbidden Guards guarding Donghua Gate specially brought him to the side room and searched him inch by inch twice, almost pulling out the fierce weapon in his crotch to measure its length.

After finally passing the 'security check', he followed the summoning eunuch, circling around in the palace wall passage, and saw a magnificent palace suddenly open up in front of him.

Sun Shaozong knew that he had arrived at his destination, and was about to brace himself to deal with it properly, when he heard a burst of noise from the left side of the palace gate:

"Oh heavens! Where couldn't this cart break down, why did it have to break down in front of Wenying Hall?!"

"What to do, what to do?! This is Big Geng Rice that was just presented as tribute, if it spills, we'll all be finished!"

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw not far to the left, a flatbed cart full of rice overturned on its side, with two eunuchs jumping up and down around the cart, shouting and yelling.

What exaggerated acting!

Sun Shaozong only glanced at it twice before coming to the above conclusion.

The rice bundles on the cart were piled up like a small mountain, and half of the wheel was broken into two pieces. At first glance, it did look like an accident caused by being unable to bear the weight.

But how sharp were Sun Shaozong's eyes?

With just a casual glance, he saw several flaws.

First of all, the wheel, the break looked neat, without any signs of stress or bending, it was clearly removed first, and then cut off with a sharp weapon.

Secondly, the rice on the cart, after the overturning accident, was still neatly arranged, without the slightest tilt - it would be fine if it was tied particularly tightly, but it was just a few thin ropes, if it really suddenly bore the force, it would probably have scattered all over the ground.

Of course, the most obvious flaw was the lines of the two little eunuchs - it was now the cold winter months, and there was no way there could be new rice produced, and in this world, how could there be a fool who dared to offer the Emperor old rice as tribute?

Therefore, based on the words 'Big Geng Rice that was just presented as tribute' alone, it was enough to prove that this was a well-designed farce.

As for the purpose of their performance...

Alas~

Sun Shaozong sighed helplessly, the actors in this play were so bad, he really didn't want to be the protagonist!

It was a pity that the person who arranged this bad play was the Emperor, and he couldn't allow him to back down on the spot - offending the director would at most get some scenes cut; offending the Emperor would get his life cut short.

"These little brats!"

The summoning eunuch complained pretentiously, turned his head and instructed Sun Shaozong: "Wait outside, this old one will go in and report for you first."

"Thank you, Eunuch."

Sun Shaozong hurriedly bowed and saluted.

When he left, his cheap older brother had specifically instructed him that these eunuchs valued face the most, no matter what they thought in their hearts, at least the superficial etiquette could not be lacking.

Of course, in addition to this, Sun Shaozu had also pulled him aside and told him a lot of nonsense, which could be summarized in eight words: 'think more, say less, hide clumsiness, reveal timidity'.

'Think more, say less' was easy to understand, as for the four words 'hide clumsiness, reveal timidity', it meant to try to conceal one's shortcomings in front of the Emperor, while at the same time not appearing too shrewd.

It was said that as soon as the summoning eunuch entered the gate of Wenying Hall, the third supporting actor... uh, the third little eunuch made his debut.

He was seen holding a wooden wheel in his arms, trotting all the way and shouting: "It's here, it's here, the wheel has been found!"

Seeing how skinny this fellow was, like a hemp stalk, yet without a single bead of sweat on his face, one could tell he'd been hiding behind the palace walls, just waiting for the right moment to appear.

"Wonderful!"

The two little eunuchs beside the carriage cheered in unison, then 'muttered' with some difficulty, "But with so much stuff loaded on the carriage, how are we supposed to change the wheel?"

The reason for putting quotation marks around 'muttered' was because these two were speaking so loudly that even a fool could tell they were deliberately saying it for Sun Shaozong to hear.

Eunuch A suggested, "How about we unload the rice from the carriage first?"

"Are you courting death?!"

Eunuch B made a feminine gesture, poking Eunuch A's chest a few times with his orchid finger, and said coquettishly, "What if we spill the tribute rice? Wouldn't we all lose our heads?!"

Eunuch C timely suggested, "How about we find a few big brother guards to help us lift the carriage and then change the wheel?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the three of them couldn't wait to turn their gazes towards Sun Shaozong.

This acting...

Is simply terrible, isn't it?!

Sun Shaozong, watching from the side, felt embarrassed for them; compared to these three, even a poker-faced young idol could be considered 'professional'.

Just then, the three eunuchs began to call out in unison, "Sir, this sir, could you lend us a hand?"

If this play wasn't directed by the Emperor, Sun Shaozong would definitely have covered his face and left!

But now...

He could only step onto the 'center stage' step by step, under the 'expectant' gazes of the three little eunuchs.

Seeing him approach, Eunuch A immediately recited his lines with great enthusiasm, "Sir, let's try it ourselves first, and if it doesn't work, we'll look for other..."

Before Eunuch A could finish his lines, Sun Shaozong snatched the wheel, stepped forward, reached out and clasped the bottom of the carriage, and with a single arm's strength, lifted the overturned carriage, aligned the wheel's slot with the axle, and slapped it in with a bang.

"Done."

Gently placing the thousand-pound carriage back on the ground, Sun Shaozong waved his hand with little interest, "No need to thank me, goodbye."

The three eunuchs stared blankly as he returned to the outside of Wenying Hall, and after a long daze, they remembered that they had forgotten to say the line 'General is mighty'.

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

Let's say that not long after Sun Shaozong returned to the outside of Wenying Hall, he saw the summoning eunuch come out from inside, flick his horsetail whisk, and say in a high-pitched voice, "His Majesty has decreed, summon Sun Shaozong, Commandant of the Dragon Forbidden Guards, to enter the hall for an audience!"

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

The summoning eunuch also knew that he had not been trained in the Ministry of Rites, so after entering the hall, he led him forward a few steps and whispered a reminder, "Hurry up and kowtow to His Majesty."

As he spoke, he cupped his hands towards the front and said, "Your Majesty, Sun Shaozong has been brought here."

Sun Shaozong didn't even have time to see what the Emperor looked like before he hurriedly knelt down and said, "This humble general Sun Shaozong, kowtows to Your Majesty!"

After waiting for a moment, he heard someone say faintly, "Rise."

Taking advantage of the effort of getting up, Sun Shaozong secretly glanced up and saw a middle-aged old man sitting behind the bright yellow desk – the Retired Emperor had abdicated at the age of seventy, so Emperor Guangde was already forty-three years old when he ascended the throne, and now that nine years had passed, he was naturally over fifty.

Although Emperor Guangde had not been able to fully control the political situation in the nine years since he ascended the throne due to the existence of the Retired Emperor, his aura of being in a high position for a long time was far from comparable to ordinary people, especially his slender eyes, half-open and half-closed, made it even more difficult to fathom what he was thinking.

However, compared to Emperor Guangde, what Sun Shaozong was more concerned about was the middle-aged minister not far in front of him, who was glaring at him with his eyebrows raised.

Who is this again?

"Sun Shaozong."

Just as Sun Shaozong was guessing the minister's identity, he heard Emperor Guangde ask casually, "I heard that you just helped the little eunuchs lift up a carriage full of tribute rice?"

Tsk~

This is what you call 'asking the obvious'!

While Sun Shaozong was slandering inwardly, he quickly and honestly explained what had just happened.

Emperor Guangde didn't comment after listening, but instead turned to the minister and asked, "What does Earl Yongyi think?"

"Your Majesty!"

Earl Yongyi bowed and said decisively, "In my opinion, this person should be dismissed from his post and investigated, and never be employed again!"

Dismissed from his post and investigated? Never be employed again?!

Sun Shaozong was dumbfounded when he heard this—he hadn't even said anything yet, so why was he being dismissed first?

Then he heard Earl Yongyi explain, "Failing to see through such a simple setup shows that he is a mediocre person—the Qianxiang Embassy infiltrated spies, leading to the assassination of the court's envoy, all due to his incompetence!"

After a pause, he continued, "As for the matter of catching the murderer in half a day, it is truly a strange story. I think it's either due to his luck or the mastermind deliberately arranged it, which is not enough to be a basis! Therefore, I believe that it is useless to keep such a mediocre person who has made a big mistake. It is better to dismiss him from his post and be done with it."

What the heck!

After hearing these words, Sun Shaozong was truly speechless.

He kindly cooperated with the Emperor in acting, but who knew that the other party would not play according to the rules, and insisted on giving him the title of 'mediocre person'!