The neatly arranged ranks of civil and military officials fell deathly silent in an instant, leaving only that rhythmic, effeminate voice echoing through Fengtian Hall.
As the lingering echoes faded, one could have heard a pin drop within the grand hall.
Yet, far more than awe, the silence masked profound astonishment and bewilderment.
The reigning Emperor had not held court for over a decade. Throughout those ten-odd years, the imperial court had been turbulent, the political strife fierce to the extreme.
The high officials of the Five Commissions and Six Ministries, as well as the dukes and marquises among the nobility and imperial in-laws, had risen and fallen repeatedly. Aside from the dozen-odd political evergreens, a significant portion of the ministers had never even seen what the Emperor looked like.
Why had he suddenly appeared for court today?
Doubts aside, any official who had attained the rank to enter the hall and deliberate state affairs had practically maxed out their political acumen.
While seeing a single spot might not reveal the entire leopard, it was at least enough to grasp the general outline.
For the Emperor to suddenly attend court after so long, there was bound to be a profound motive behind it. First, according Prime Minister Xu state honors and throwing open the Meridian Gate to welcome him, combined with the memorial General Huaiyuan had just presented...
No one spoke, nor did anyone transmit their voices, yet glances were exchanged.
Officials of the same bureau and allies of the same faction looked at one another, each catching the profound meaning in their peers' eyes.
Some cast gloating glances toward the hall below, looking at the Crown Prince seated behind the low, python-horn desk.
Some wore expressions fraught with worry.
Others adopted an attitude of detached indifference, keeping themselves above the fray.
Yet compared to the varied expressions of the officials below, not the slightest anomaly showed on the face of Li Yucheng, who sat behind the python-horn desk; in his eyes, there was even a flicker of joy.
Amidst the hushed hall, Li Yucheng rose from behind his desk. After smoothing the python robe he wore, he stepped sideways to the head of the nobles' column, quietly awaiting his imperial father's arrival.
Suddenly—
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
Three cracks of the silence whip sounded from behind the screen at the rear of the hall, signaling the imperial audience.
*Rustle—*
Led by the Crown Prince, the officials throughout the hall knelt in unison.
*Tap.*
*Tap.*
*Tap.*
Red walls, green tiles, and sky-propping pillars; white jade balustrades upon the floor.
In the silent hall, solemn and stately, all the officials prostrated themselves on the ground. No one made a sound, no one raised their head; only the slow, rhythmic sound of footsteps echoed.
Finally,
the footsteps halted before the Golden Throne.
Without the vast retinue of attendants prescribed by Great Yan court ritual,
standing alone above the hall,
Li Yaoxuan let his cloudy, indifferent gaze sweep over the ministers below, finally coming to rest upon the sole figure wearing a black dragon robe who remained standing.
“...”
Their gazes clashed for a brief instant beneath Fengtian Hall.
A trace of amusement surfaced in Li Yaoxuan’s eyes, the corner of his lips faintly curving:
*What, you will not salute?*
At those words, Xu Yinhe lowered his eyes. Without replying, he clasped his hands and bowed.
Seeing this, Li Yaoxuan shook his head in boredom, leaned back, and sat down upon the Golden Throne.
As he seated himself, a soft cough sounded from the Investigating Censor.
“Long live our Emperor! May Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years!”
“Long live our Emperor! May Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years!”
The civil and military officials prostrated on the floor cried out in unison. As the cry carried out to the circular courtyard beyond Fengtian Hall, the hundreds of court officials and the saber-bearing Imperial Guards all knelt and shouted in unison.
A mountainous cry of ten thousand years! It echoed to the clouds!
Leaning gently against the dragon throne, Li Yaoxuan looked down upon this familiar yet estranged spectacle. He realized he had nearly forgotten how it felt to sit upon this throne.
Without his realizing it, his wrinkle-covered palm gently caressed the millennia-old carved reliefs upon the dragon throne.
Li Yaoxuan suddenly smiled, speaking with a touch of melancholy:
*Chancellor Xu, as dusk approaches, I suddenly find myself reminiscing about the days when we stood side by side beneath this hall. Treading on thin ice, every step fraught with peril... Heh.*
“...”
Hearing the transmission, Xu Yinhe slowly raised his gaze. Seeing that the once-spirited youth of yesteryear was now in the twilight of his life, a complex look appeared in his eyes.
After a brief silence,
he sighed softly:
*Your servant reminisces as well.*
Hearing him actually respond, a smile appeared on Li Yaoxuan’s wrinkled, aged face:
*Reminiscing, are you? If we could start over, I would never let you grow so powerful again.*
Xu Yinhe shook his head, offering no further response, and reminded him:
*Your Majesty, you did not come to this court assembly to reminisce with your servant. It is time to bid them rise and deliberate business.*
Li Yaoxuan’s hand caressing the dragon throne paused slightly. The cloudiness in his eyes vanished in an instant. He gave Xu Yinhe a deep look, then said in a clear, resonant voice:
“You may rise, my ministers.”
The voice was vigorous and commanding, ringing throughout the palace within and without, devoid of any sign of decay.
*Rustle—*
After the civil and military officials rose to their feet one after another, Li Yaoxuan glanced at the Crown Prince standing at the head of the nobility. His voice was placid:
“Yucheng, during all these years I have secluded myself deep in the palace, you have worked hard.”
Hearing this, Li Yucheng immediately stepped sideways, bowed with meticulous courtesy, and replied:
“Imperial Father, sharing your burdens is your son’s bounden duty.”
Leaning back against the dragon throne, Li Yaoxuan looked down upon his eldest son and let out an inscrutable chuckle:
“Very good.”
With that, he raised a finger and pointed toward the low, python-horn desk set below the dais:
“Why are you standing there? Go sit back down.”
“...”
A flicker of hesitation surfaced in Li Yucheng’s eyes:
“Imperial Father, you...”
A faint smile appeared on Li Yaoxuan’s weathered countenance:
“I am exhausted in mind and spirit, with no heart to handle state affairs. I merely came to observe. Carry on.”
Having said this, Li Yaoxuan paid no further heed to the hesitation in the Crown Prince’s eyes, turning instead to the Chief Palace Eunuch beside him:
“Mingyou, where were the deliberations just now?”
Dressed in a python robe, the Chief Palace Eunuch bowed at once:
“In reply to Your Majesty, General Huaiyuan had just presented a memorial requesting that the Second Prince be commissioned to command troops.”
“Oh?”
Li Yaoxuan’s drooping eyelids lifted slightly. “Does this imperial son of mine not know that once a prince establishes his own manor and military command, he may no longer lead armies? This... is a grave taboo.”
With that,
he turned his gaze toward Xu Yinhe below the dais and asked with a smile:
“Chancellor Xu, what is your view on this matter?”
Xu Yinhe’s expression remained unchanged. Raising his eyes to glance at him, he said in a deep voice:
“Your Majesty surely has your own considerations. It is not appropriate for your servant to say much.”
Hearing this reply, Li Yaoxuan lightly tapped the dragon throne twice with a fingertip, looking somewhat displeased:
“I merely wish to hear Chancellor Xu’s opinion. There is no need for reservations; speak candidly.”
“By law, the Second Prince’s actions warrant stripping him of his imperial princely status.”
“...”
When the words fell, the hall was dead silent.
Ever since the world of sects had evolved into an empire of imperial dynasties, struggles between sovereign authority and ministerial power had occasionally flared up between emperor and chancellor. Yet in this current generation, it had essentially become a struggle between two emperors.
Except that one of the emperors still wore the guise of a prime minister.
Because of this, what seemed to be a casual consultation between emperor and prime minister took on an entirely different weight in the ears of the court’s high ministers.
Each of them privately dissected the implications beneath those succinct words.
With the Emperor’s level of cultivation, it was impossible that he had failed to hear the deliberations in the hall. Choosing this precise moment to emerge, and making his very first statement after taking his seat an address regarding the Second Prince, already made his stance clear.
Yet Chancellor Xu, who had previously maintained a neutral stance, had directly turned hostile over this matter.
What did this signify?
Was he addressing the matter on its merits, or using it as a pretext?
Varying degrees of political sensitivity spurred different calculations and schemes in the hearts of the many high officials.
“Chancellor Xu’s words are reasonable,” Li Yaoxuan concurred after a brief silence. But then his tone shifted: “Yet Chancellor Xu, according to Great Yan law, how should a high court minister who secretly raises a private army be dealt with?”
Xu Yinhe replied directly in a grave voice:
“According to Great Yan law, all nine familial branches should be executed.”
Pausing for a fraction of an instant, Xu Yinhe looked directly into Li Yaoxuan’s eyes:
“Only, your servant does not know which high minister Your Majesty refers to?”
“...”
Hearing this, nearly all the officials present, including Crown Prince Li Yucheng, lowered their heads.
Yet before Li Yaoxuan could speak, a middle-aged scholar below wearing the robes of a Censor-in-Chief stepped forward, his voice brimming with fury:
“Xu, you scoundrel! Who are you trying to fool? Those hundreds of thousands of Black Scale—”
As he shouted,
time suddenly seemed to slow to a crawl.
Amidst the Censor-in-Chief’s furious outburst, the gazes of Li Yaoxuan and Xu Yinhe clashed once more.
Then—
*BANG!!*
Without the slightest warning, the head of the speaking Censor-in-Chief blew apart.
Bright red blood splattered across the dignified, solemn vermilion pillars and floor tiles. The headless corpse stood for an instant before collapsing limp to the floor, crimson blood gushing from the ragged neck and pooling across the ground.
Who had struck?
Most of the officials in the hall possessing high cultivation had already been deployed elsewhere. At present, the highest-ranking ministers remaining within Fengtian Hall were merely in the Origin Realm, yet they could not detect in the slightest who had made the move.
Though they could not be certain who it was, a method capable of eluding even the Origin Realm could only be narrowed down to two individuals:
The Emperor, and the Prime Minister.
The blood-stained Fengtian Hall instantly turned murderously chilling. Most present fell as quiet as cicadas in winter.
Except for a few political evergreens, who had long grown accustomed to such sights.
Wasn't it just killing someone before the throne? These two masters had done it plenty of times in the past; they had even blown people into minced meat and plastered them across others' faces.
Looking at the headless Censor-in-Chief, Li Yaoxuan showed a look of pity in his eyes and said nonchalantly:
“Someone, find out who did this.”
As soon as the words fell,
the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard appeared silently outside Fengtian Hall. His cold gaze locked onto the back of the black dragon robe, and resting his hand on his saber, he walked slowly toward him.
Sensing the locked-on qi, Xu Yinhe showed not the slightest reaction, remaining quietly where he stood.
In the silence,
the grinding of the Commander-in-Chief’s armor as he walked was remarkably piercing.
*Shing—*
A cold gleam flashed suddenly, and the blade cleared its scabbard, cloaked in an eerie blue glow of qi.
*Pfft!*
The Commander-in-Chief’s blade pierced clean through the chest of a young Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel.
Thrust in, pulled out, returned to the sheath.
Having done this, the Commander-in-Chief cupped his hands with an expressionless face:
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the culprit has been executed.”
“Step down.”
Looking at the two corpses in the hall, Li Yaoxuan sighed softly:
“All are colleagues; why resort to underhanded murder? What do you say, Chancellor Xu?”
Xu Yinhe’s voice was indifferent:
“Your Majesty speaks with absolute accuracy.”
The loss of two lives meant the matter was swept under the rug. With a wave of the Commander-in-Chief’s hand, the two corpses along with the spilled blood vanished without a trace.
Having accomplished this, he walked expressionlessly out of the Gate of Fengtian, leaving behind an assembly of high ministers who were terrified into silence.
Accompanying a sovereign was like walking with a tiger—to say nothing of having two sovereigns in the same court.
Li Yaoxuan suddenly glanced sidelong at the Crown Prince below:
“Yucheng, why are you standing there dazed?
“Tend to state affairs. Your second brother is still waiting for your decision.”
“...”
Li Yucheng looked up at his imperial father, then down at Chancellor Xu. Taking a deep breath, his fingertips trembling slightly beneath his sleeves, he bowed:
“Yes, Imperial Father.”
With that, he walked slowly back toward the python-horn desk positioned just beneath the steps.
His pace was very slow, the look in his eyes exceptionally faint.
Though the deaths of the Censor-in-Chief and the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel seemed like collateral damage from the clash between his imperial father and his teacher, it had actually just been an accident.
While his imperial father appeared to be questioning his teacher’s stance on Li Zhaoyuan requesting military power, it had in fact been targeted at him.
Although Li Zhaoyuan claimed he would recruit from the populace, how could soldiers be recruited from the common folk?
Common peddlers and peasants with no cultivation? Or that undisciplined rabble of martial apprentices?
The only way to form an army swiftly was through the sects.
And allowing private sect armies to openly march into the Northern Border under the imperial court's banner?
Whether out of selfish motives or for the grand ideals of his teacher, there was no way he could agree to it.
With his teacher refusing, as a member of the imperial clan he naturally could not stand on his teacher's side—at least not in front of his imperial father.
His imperial father was forcing him to watch helplessly as his second brother grew powerful in the Northern Border.
A warning. A reprimand.
It seemed his private contact with his imperial younger sister had indeed displeased his imperial father.
Amidst his contemplation,
Li Yucheng sat back down behind the python-horn desk with an impassive face and said in a low voice:
“General Huaiyuan.”
The middle-aged man in military robes immediately clasped his hands:
“Your servant is here.”
Looking at him, Li Yucheng took a deep breath:
“My second brother has already established his own manor and military standard. While leading troops in the field deviates from ancestral custom, desperate times call for desperate measures. The Barbarian scourge and natural disasters have ravaged the three northern provinces, causing misery to the common people. Since my second brother harbors such wholehearted devotion, we naturally cannot chill his enthusiasm. Does the General know what scale of formation he desires?”
General Huaiyuan kept his eyes downcast as he replied:
“In reply to Your Highness, the Second Prince is facing battle for the first time. There is no need for too many troops; two divisions will suffice.”
The moment the words were spoken,
Xu Yinhe raised his eyes toward Li Yaoxuan on the Golden Throne, a glint of killing intent flashing deep within them.
Two divisions—one hundred thousand men.
To allow a sect army of a hundred thousand to enter the Northern Border... Li Yaoxuan, what are you trying to do?
Li Yaoxuan nodded faintly toward Xu Yinhe, his cloudy eyes as tranquil as water, showing not a hint of what he was thinking.
Seated behind the low desk, Li Yucheng naturally noticed the change in his teacher, so he did not answer immediately.
He wanted to wait—wait for someone from the Chancellor's faction to voice opposition.
Even if they could not reject it outright, they should at least be able to reduce the numbers.
Unfortunately, Fengtian Hall was utterly silent; not a single official spoke on the matter.
Seeing this, Li Yucheng sighed internally:
“Since none of you ministers object, let the matter be decided thus. Two divisions of troops are granted, under the army title Fengyuan.”
General Huaiyuan’s eyes lit up with delight. Dropping to one knee, he clasped his hands to receive the order:
“Your servant obeys the command.”
Li Yucheng smiled gently:
“Although my second brother has military experience, it is still shallow compared to my imperial sister's. I trust General Huaiyuan will ensure my second brother’s safety during this northern campaign.”
General Huaiyuan replied in a deep voice:
“Your servant shall serve unto death.”
With that, General Huaiyuan returned to the ranks.
Seeing this, the Chief Palace Eunuch called upon the last official who had lightly coughed earlier:
“Minister Jiu, what matter do you have to memorialize?”
At this, an official said in a low voice:
“Nothing further.”
Hearing this, Li Yaoxuan suddenly spoke up:
“If that is so, Yucheng, you shall continue presiding over the court. I am weary.”
With that, he rose directly from the dragon throne and walked toward the side hall.
Yet halfway there, Li Yaoxuan suddenly paused in his tracks, looked back at his old friend below the dais, and said in a low voice:
“Chancellor Xu, come with me. There is something I must tell you.”
Chapter 353