Chapter 75 The Emperor is Really Close to the People
Although he had long sensed something unusual in Wang Chengen's attitude toward Wang An, Fang Zhenghua was really shocked when he heard that Chongzhen was coming in person.

He didn't even bother to apologize to Wang An and rushed out in a panic.

Wang An didn't feel much about Chongzhen's personal visit, except that he was a little nervous.

After all, I have lived two lives, and apart from having seen scenes of filing complaints to the emperor in TV dramas and novels, this is the first time I have experienced it in person.

I just thought that the emperor had to be present in person when filing a complaint, and I also thought in my heart that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were really close to the people!

With this reason in mind, when the two young eunuchs used a screen to divide the room into two halves and hide Wang An from view, Wang An didn't think much about it.

Some people even think this is reasonable. After all, there are rumors in ancient times that the emperor is the Son of Heaven, a real dragon appointed by heaven.

It's good enough that he is willing to meet the people in person. If you are allowed to face the emperor directly, wouldn't there be no mystery at all?

When he thought about coming face to face with Chongzhen, the most miserable emperor in history, who almost had the chance to earn the temple name "Zhongzu", Wang An felt an indescribable strange emotion in his heart.

It’s hard to tell whether I was nervous or excited, or angry at their lack of fighting spirit or sad at their misfortune, or maybe it was a bit of all kinds of emotions, and in the end it just turned into a sigh.

However, after sighing, he became excited again when he thought about the speculation some time ago about whether Emperor Chongzhen was a "colleague".

Maybe the answer will be revealed today?

When Chongzhen walked to the waiting room, he raised one foot and was about to step over the threshold, but suddenly took it back.

I glanced cautiously at the scene in the room and saw that the large screen had been put up. I could vaguely see a blurry figure through the silk screen, and I felt inexplicably nervous.

"Don't let anything slip out later!" Chongzhen warned himself: "Zhu Youjian, you can do it!"

Seeing this scene, Shi Fenglai and his companion who had just arrived were completely confused.

What's going on here?

Your Majesty seemed... a little... nervous just now?
Wang Chengen happened to catch a glimpse of the two of them out of the corner of his eye and whispered to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen looked back and saw Shi Fenglai and the other man hurriedly saluted.

Just as they were about to shout "Long live the emperor", Chongzhen raised his hand to signal them to come over, and then waved to them.

The two of them didn't understand what was going on and came over.

Chongzhen lowered his voice, as if afraid of being heard, and whispered: "You two came at the right time. I am about to try a case against the emperor. You two can follow me in and listen. After that, you will know how to redress the injustice."

The two mortal enemies looked at each other, and deep confusion rose in their hearts.

After all, he had climbed up step by step from the grassroots level. Perhaps he was not as experienced in solving cases as the local officials, but he did not need Emperor Chongzhen to demonstrate it in person!

However, since the emperor had spoken, the two of them naturally had no objection and nodded their heads to accept the order.

However, they misunderstood Chongzhen. In fact, Chongzhen meant for them to listen and find out what kind of injustice their brother had suffered so that they could be more careful when it came time to avenge Wang An.

After giving the two of them instructions, he stepped out of the coup and into the waiting room.

Immediately, a eunuch shouted at the top of his voice: "The Emperor has arrived!"

Wang An immediately stood up from his chair, lifted his robe and was about to kneel down without any psychological burden... After all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Wang An could still tell whether the head or the knees were more important.

However, Chongzhen saw that Wang An was about to kneel, and immediately winked at Wang Chengen. Wang Chengen understood what he meant and immediately pinched his throat and shouted: "No need to kneel!"

Although Wang Chengen's voice was strange and Wang An always felt as if he had heard it somewhere before, Wang An was naturally happy to do so since he didn't have to kneel down.

I even sighed in my heart: Emperor Chongzhen is really close to the people! Well, he doesn't put on airs...

Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had stopped Wang Anzhen in time and did not force him to kneel down.

Although it was natural for the people to kneel before the emperor, Chongzhen still decided to win the hearts of the people before his identity was exposed.

In this way, even if my identity is exposed in the future, Wang An will probably remember that I am so respectful to others and will not feel alienated from me.

Thinking of this, Chongzhen felt that he was really great and worthy of being the emperor who restored the Ming Dynasty. His ability to win people's hearts was improving day by day!
After feeling proud for a while, Chongzhen strode to the other end of the screen and sat down. The eunuch who had already been rich spread out writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone.

Chongzhen picked up the pen and wrote a few words on the paper. Wang Chengen immediately took it and handed it to Fang Zhenghua, who had a strange look on his face.

When Wang Chengen was waiting outside the door to welcome him just now, Fang Zhenghua had already been informed by him and knew that he was asking him to pass on a message.

Although he didn't understand why the emperor pretended to be dumb, he couldn't disobey the emperor's order. Moreover, the order was just a little strange and not difficult, so he took the paper honestly, took a look at it and said, "Brother Wang An..."

As soon as he said this, Fang Zhenghua immediately felt Chongzhen and Wang Chengen's eyes on him. He was startled and immediately changed his words: "Wang An, the emperor wants to know what grievance you have."

Wang An was slightly stunned. Why was Fang Zhenghua the one asking the question?

But he thought that this was probably some strange court etiquette, so he didn't care about anything else and just howled.

"I feel wronged! Your Majesty, please seek justice for me!"

She had originally planned to pinch her thighs twice to bring out some tears, but now there was a screen between them, and Chongzhen couldn't see her anyway, so she could save herself the trouble.

However, Wang An's action made Chongzhen and others outside the screen dumbfounded. What was the point of him yelling without saying a word?

Who would have thought that this was entirely because Wang An was not a genuine Ming Dynasty person. He was not even clear about the routine procedures for ordinary people to sue officials, let alone file a complaint with the emperor.

I can only learn from the scenes on TV and cry first.

If we don't cry, how can we show how much we have been wronged?

To some extent, this operation is not wrong, but generally speaking, those who do this are ignorant women and children...

When a serious person makes a complaint, instead of getting right to the point, he starts by yelling something scary!
What’s more, filing a complaint with the emperor is the most prestigious judicial procedure throughout history.

Even a joint trial by three judges is weak compared to filing a complaint with the emperor, okay!

Fang Zhenghua came back to his senses and was a little worried that Wang An's actions would provoke the emperor to chop off Wang An's head. After all, Wang An respected him quite a bit, so he whispered a reminder: "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't howl!"

Wang An howled twice tentatively, and seeing that the emperor behind the screen did not show any reaction, he concluded that pretending to be pitiful did not seem to have any effect, so he stopped howling with a crisp "ka".

He cleared his throat and said righteously, "Your Majesty, please understand. I am about to be forced to death by Duke Cheng!"

(End of this chapter)