Chapter 105: Officials Brawl
Li Chen picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then spat it out and put it aside.
It's cold.
"Go and fetch twenty planks."
Li Chen said lightly, "This palace is the most impatient when it comes to using people. If things are done well, there will naturally be rewards, but if they are done poorly, this palace is also stingy with giving another chance."
“Since this is your first offense, and you've also served with merit and diligence in the past, I shall spare you this time. However, if there is another such incident, you will be stripped of your rank as commander.”
Chen Tong, hearing this, was frightened and hurriedly said: "I know my fault, thank your Highness for your grace!"
Seeing Li Chen remained silent, Chen Tong cautiously got up and backed out of Xi Zheng Dian.
Moments later, the sound of wood slapping came from outside.
After a long while, Chen Tong limped back into the Xizheng Hall.
"Done?" Li Chen said faintly.
Chen Tong had sweat all over his face. He gritted his teeth and said, "It's done. Your Highness, please forgive me."
"Go find Zhang Hezhi and ask him to give you two patches of medicine."
Li Chen sent Chen Tong away and hadn't even had time to catch his breath when a report came from outside.
"Your Highness, there's been trouble at the Ministry of Revenue."
Looking at the eunuch who was gasping for breath, Li Chen frowned and said, "What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"
The Left Servant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Xu Changqing, and the Right Servant Minister of the Ministry of Works, Guan Zhiwei, got into a fight!
Li Chen was stunned.
Facing both the Empress and Zhao Xuanji, whom he could stand up to head-on, he now wore an expression of utter astonishment.
After a moment of stunned silence, Li Chen's face darkened instantly.
"Fetch those two good-for-nothings to me!"
They are already waiting outside the East Palace.
A moment later, Xu Changqing, with a bruised face and swollen nose, stood in the Xizheng Hall, his official hat tilted at a rakish angle. One of the buttons on his official robe was missing, and he glared angrily. Beside him stood Guan Zhiwei, with half a tooth gone and his cheek covered by his hand, his eyes dark circles from a beating, and even one of his boots had come off.

"The humble servants Xu Changqing and Guan Zhiwei pay their respects to Your Highness, the Crown Prince."
Li Chen sat high above, seeing the two in such a dishevelled state his face darkened.
"What guts you have!"
“A Left Attendant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and a Right Attendant Minister of the Ministry of Works, both high-ranking officials of the third rank, what do you think you are? Street thugs or hoodlums? To fight in public at the Ministry of Revenue is to make all civil and military officials laugh. In the three hundred years since the founding of the Qin Dynasty, only two of you have emerged as such extremes!?”
Xu Changqing and Guan Zhiwei looked embarrassed, both a little frightened.
"Your Highness, the humble minister knows his mistake."
Looking at Xu Changqing who was speaking, his official robe had drooped and hung limply, revealing the white undergarment beneath. Li Chen, filled with anger, said: "Speak! What's going on? If you two don't give this palace a satisfactory explanation today, be prepared to have your hats removed and serve as gatekeepers!"
Xu Changqing immediately pointed at Guan Zhiwei upon hearing this and said, "Your Highness, it's all because of this Guan Zhiwei who doesn't know what's good for him and is asking to be beaten."
"There are thirteen levee sections along the Yellow River in Xishan Province that require repair, and two more dams urgently need to be refurbished. He came to me with the Ministry of Works' approval document requesting funds, but Your Highness has decreed that all treasury funds must be used specifically for their designated purposes. Without Your Highness's authorization, not a single copper coin can be released. When I explained this, this ignorant fool dared to insult me."
Xu Changqing grew more and more aggrieved as he spoke, his anger mounting. "Your humble servant couldn't take it anymore," he said, "so I punched him."
On hearing this, Guan Zhiwei immediately flew into a rage.
"Xu Changqing, how can you be so good at distorting the truth!?"

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