"She was still at Lingyin Temple. Princess Yufeng was protecting her, so no one dared touch her. But this could not go on forever," Qiu Mochi said.
"The Office of the Imperial Clan is refusing to let this go... surely it is not for the sake of national law itself. What little scheme are they plotting?" Lin Su asked.
"As expected, you alone saw with piercing clarity!" Qiu Mochi explained...
At present, the Office of the Imperial Clan was openly and covertly challenging His Majesty!
The so-called Office of the Imperial Clan represented the interests of the entire imperial family. Behind it stood nearly every prince.
King Dong, King Bei, Prince Kaoshan, Prince Houyun, and Prince Luyang—these five princes bearing the Ji surname had the blood of the Ji ancestors flowing in their bones. They were entirely different from non-imperial kings such as Prince Nan and King Lei.
Over the centuries, these princely estates had been granted vast tracts of land and gathered forces from all directions. Nearly every one of them had become a state unto itself. Ji Shang had not dared touch them. After Ji Shang fell, they had not been implicated; their titles remained, and their power endured.
But the newly enthroned emperor had not indulged them.
Was there not a Tax System Reform last time? It abolished every privilege, including the privileges of princes!
The moment that move came out, the great princes refused to accept it!
And the Office of the Imperial Clan, as their representative, refused as well!
They insisted that the laws established by the ancestors could not be changed. Those ancestral laws explicitly stated that imperial clansmen had never paid taxes throughout the ages. How could a newly enthroned emperor possibly begin by cutting into his own people?
The tax law had