Chapter 1905

Boom!

The impact of this scene far exceeded words!

Removing the crown!

Kneeling to the ground!

Kowtowing!

These three actions were fluid and seamless, yet carried a decisiveness that severed all ties, leaving the officials terrified and utterly shocked.

Wu Zhao looked at the purple-gold crown that had fallen into the dust—a symbol of the supreme glory and trust she had once bestowed—and watched as Gao Yang kowtowed to resign in the most humble yet resolute posture!

In an instant, a surge of blood rushed to her head, as if it would incinerate her reason entirely; her phoenix eyes turned blood-red.

Even though Wu Zhao tried her best to endure it, her delicate body could not stop trembling violently!

She gripped the armrests of the dragon throne so hard that her knuckles made a teeth-grinding creaking sound, and her noble face turned deathly pale.

"Gao Yang, today I broke precedent to name you Duke of Zhenguo and bestowed upon you the Python Robe. Is this how you respond to me?"

Wu Zhao's phoenix eyes were filled with tears of blood, carrying an indescribable heartache.

Her voice was icy, as if every word were squeezed out from between her teeth.

In the vast Jin Luandian, the air seemed to freeze instantly, solidifying into heavy lead that made it impossible to breathe.

The officials all lowered their heads, not daring to even draw a full breath; some of the older ministers had layers of fine sweat seeping from their foreheads.

Within their line of sight, there was only the purple-gold crown fallen in the dust and that back, deeply kowtowing and resolute as iron.

Facing Wu Zhao's questioning, Gao Yang said nothing.

Inside the Jin Luandian, there was only a deathly silence.

Wu Zhao's inner rage was sweeping through her, but she suppressed it tightly; she had not expected Gao Yang to prepare such a "surprise" for her.

"Good!"

"Gao Yang, you really are something!"

Wu Zhao rose indignantly and strode toward the side hall, her voice, which seemed to carry extreme coldness, echoing through the Jin Luandian.

"Follow me!"

Gao Yang stood up slowly and followed in the direction Wu Zhao had left.

Xiao Yuan faced the officials and said, "There is no further business today; court is dismissed. My lords, please return."

After saying this.

Xiao Yuan also stepped forward and walked away in a hurry.

She, too, had never expected that Gao Yang would actually resign, and so resolutely at that.

And this resignation wasn't happening a few days early or a few days late, but precisely during these few days.

After Wu Zhao and Gao Yang left, the cold, murderous atmosphere in the Jin Luandian also vanished.

But the civil and military officials remained in a daze, not yet having fully recovered their senses.

Everything in court today was too dreamlike, too unreal.

Cui Xinghe stood frozen in place.

At this moment, everything was clear.

No wonder Gao Yang wasn't short on money, yet still held a charity auction and released that kind of news.

So... that was it!

"The sky has fallen... Da Qian is about to change!"

Lu Zhen grabbed the silent Gao Feng and growled, "Old Gao! What the hell is going on? Has your son gone mad?"

Gao Feng only shook his head, his back looking desolate.

The officials walked out of the great hall, the golden sunlight shining on their official robes; they felt as if they were in another world, a sense of unreality washing over them.

It was not hard to imagine that what happened in the Jin Luandian today would spread through Changancheng at a terrifying speed.

And everyone was waiting... waiting for a result.

If Gao Yang truly resigned, it would be no different from a massive storm sweeping across the entire Da Qian, and even the entire world!

"..."

The Imperial Palace.

In the long corridor leading from the Jin Luandian to the Imperial Study, Wu Zhao's robes fluttered, her pace extremely fast, the rage surrounding her barely concealed.

The eunuchs and palace maids in the palace watched from afar, their hearts trembling.

Some of the palace maids and eunuchs who had served Wu Zhao that morning were deeply confused.

Before the morning court, Wu Zhao had been radiant, shining with a brilliance that made her seem like a different person.

Now... what had happened?

"Kneel!"

Wu Zhao passed the palace maids and eunuchs on the side, her red lips parting slightly, her tone icy.

In an instant.

Swish, swish, swish!

The palace maids and eunuchs along the way all felt their legs go weak and hurriedly knelt on the ground, not daring to look up.

They pressed their foreheads tightly against the cold ground, holding their breath, fearing that even the slightest sound would bring about a catastrophe.

Wu Zhao strode toward the Imperial Study amidst the trembling of the kneeling maids and eunuchs on both sides.

Gao Yang followed honestly behind Wu Zhao, saying nothing.

It was not until Wu Zhao and Gao Yang had gone a long way that these eunuchs and maids dared to stand up, though they stared at the direction Wu Zhao had left with lingering fear.

Creak.

Wu Zhao pushed open the doors of the Imperial Study and then said coldly.

"Everyone out!"

In a moment, only Wu Zhao and Gao Yang remained in the Imperial Study.

Xiao Yuan even took care to close the door.

Inside the Imperial Study.

Wu Zhao stood in front of the dragon desk, looking down from above at Gao Yang, who was bowing his head like a quail, her eyes filled with an unquenchable fire of rage.

If this were anyone else, no matter who, if they dared to treat the Duke of Zhenguo title she had bestowed as worthless in the Jin Luandian, she would never tolerate it.

Simply because the majesty of the Emperor cannot be violated!

But this person was Gao Yang, the Gao Yang for whom she had recognized her own heart, whom she viewed as her salvation, the only ray of light in the darkness!

Therefore, Wu Zhao suppressed her rage, her phoenix eyes staring fixedly at Gao Yang, and said as calmly as she could.

"Gao Yang, give me a reason—a reason that I can understand—why you would choose today, when I bestowed upon you the title of Duke of Zhenguo and the Python Robe, to show me no face at all in front of the entire court, even humiliating me, and insist on resigning!"

"Why, exactly, is this?"

Wu Zhao's voice was cold as iron, echoing in the Imperial Study.

Gao Yang lowered his eyes, deliberately avoiding Wu Zhao's piercing gaze, his voice calm and waveless.

"Your subject is of shallow talent and meager virtue, unworthy of the position. After witnessing the bloody slaughter in Hexi, I cannot sleep at night, exhausted in body and mind, and find it difficult to assist Your Majesty in building the foundation for Da Qian's ten thousand generations. I implore Your Majesty to grant me grace and allow me to resign and return to the fields!"

Wu Zhao stared at Gao Yang in the center of the Imperial Study, and the rage she had been struggling to suppress could no longer be held back!

Bang!

Wu Zhao slapped the imperial desk, making the memorials on the table jump.

Her voice rose sharply, carrying a heartbreaking chill.

"Shallow talent and meager virtue? Unworthy of the responsibility? Gao Yang, do you take me for a fool?"

"The three policies for famine relief and the policy of using labor for relief were proposed by you; the three policies for Hexi were offered by you; divine objects like gunpowder and cement were created by you. Among the civil and military officials, who can compare to even a ten-thousandth of you, Gao Yang?"

"You, the number one vicious advisor of Da Qian, the Living Yama feared by the world—you fear blood? You cannot sleep at night? Beneath the walls of Changancheng, when you burned the Great Chu rattan-armored soldiers and witnessed it with your own eyes, why didn't you say you feared blood then? Why didn't you say you couldn't sleep at night?"

"Gao Yang, are you treating me like a fool?"

Gao Yang cupped his hands, bent his waist, and said as calmly as possible: "Your Majesty praises me too much. I have only fulfilled my duty as a subject. Now that the work is done, it is only right that I retire!"

"Your Majesty possesses great talent and bold strategy, and Da Qian is on the rise; there will naturally be other wise talents to assist you."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The rage in Wu Zhao's eyes grew even more intense.

She walked around the imperial desk, descended the steps, and approached Gao Yang step by step, staring fixedly into his eyes.

"Gao Yang, do you think I will believe these words of yours? Look me in the eyes and tell me, is it because of the Xiongnu... that I forced you? Is it because I... did not stop the 'four great gifts' sent by the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu?!"