Once the official appointment was bestowed, the matters awaiting discussion still had to be addressed.
Now that Jian Ruonan held office, Emperor Deyuan simply had her stand nearby and listen to the ministers deliberate.
Jian Ruonan had been sitting perfectly comfortably, only to suddenly be punished with standing. She was rather displeased.
She stared at the desk before Emperor Deyuan. [I want to flip that table!]
The ministers' eyes lit up.
Was she really going to flip it?
Go on, flip it!
Scholar-in-Waiting Jian had the privilege of flipping tables without punishment.
They wanted to see how Emperor Deyuan would react if Scholar-in-Waiting Jian flipped his table right now!
Heh, when watching someone else's drama, nobody minded the trouble getting bigger!
Scholar-in-Waiting Jian's thinking ran along peculiar paths, and her methods were unpredictable. Emperor Deyuan feared she really might flip his table. After all, there was an imperial decree—and Great-Grandma's warning.
If she really did flip it, he couldn't punish her. Wouldn't that make him, the mighty emperor, look utterly powerless?
Emperor Deyuan hastily ordered Eunuch Cao to bring her stool over and serve her pastries and tea.
The ministers: disappointed.
Emperor Deyuan, a mighty emperor like you actually compromised with a mere Subordinate Ninth Rank Hanlin Attendant.
Such an enormous disappointment!
"Continue the deliberations!"
Emperor Deyuan said, "The position of Minister of Revenue cannot remain vacant for too long. Do any of you have someone to recommend?"
The corruption charges against Minister of Revenue Hang Zhenghe had been substantiated. His property was confiscated, his entire family was exiled to Ningguta, and everything seized was added to the national treasury.
Even the Flower Bear at his Jiangnan estate—in other words, the panda—was confiscated.
The ministerial seat stood vacant.
The Grand Secretariat's six seats were generally occupied by the ministers of