Chapter 755: Rising to Prominence

Xun Junhui……Gaoyuan Marquis……

Upon hearing this name, Wang Fei became even more nervous; his heart nearly jumped out of his throat.

But apart from him, most of the others were not that nervous, all feeling that the Empress Dowager was just looking for an old acquaintance to start a conversation. Because the Gaoyuan Marquis and the Empress Dowager were truly old acquaintances. At most, they just felt the Empress Dowager was looking for trouble; back in Jingcheng, the Gaoyuan Marquis and the Empress Dowager had not been on good terms, and the Empress Dowager was the one who made the decision to eventually expel the Gaoyuan Marquis, who held the position of an official assisting in government.

Now that the Empress Dowager was on the city tower, surrounded by everyone like stars around the moon, it was not strange for her to think of a former defeated rival and summon them over, ostensibly to soothe them but actually to humiliate them; the Empress Dowager had never been a magnanimous person.

The court official who had submitted the memorial earlier said: "The Gaoyuan Marquis previously reported that they would come to the capital for an audience, but their whereabouts have not been seen for many days. Only two days ago did they report to the Ministry of Rites, saying they were ill and could not come. The Fuguang Marquis Tang Zhao, who was traveling with her, also did not come for an audience."

In peaceful times, if a feudal lord said they would not appear, they would at least be charged with the crime of disrespect, but in these times, even the Empress Dowager could not dispose of them arbitrarily, so the court official did not mention any crimes or punishments, which would have made everyone awkward.

Hearing the name of Tang Zhao, Wang Fei swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The Empress Dowager sighed immediately after: "Is that so? That is a pity. I heard that the Fuguang Marquis is a young hero, a rare talent, and I was just thinking of meeting him; to think he cannot come. Furthermore, I also wanted to see Junhui again; she is ill again. This is truly unfortunate. Come to think of it, Junhui's health has always been poor, so it is not strange that she is ill. So many years have passed, and we are all old. That place, Yunzhou, is of no benefit to her recuperation; she really should return to Jingcheng to recover. Moreover, the Emperor also needs a talented person like her to assist him."

The crowd was shocked, all feeling it was earth-shattering!

Was the Empress Dowager going to…… recall the Gaoyuan Marquis?

What did that mean? To invite back a feudal lord who had been driven away in the previous cycle of fighting?

Everyone present quickly set their minds to work, pondering the significance of this matter. Even if most people had no friendship with the Gaoyuan Marquis, they had no ill will either, simply treating this as a political event to weigh the gains and losses. A small number of people could not help but look at Shou Wang: if the Gaoyuan Marquis had any enemies, Shou Wang would be the first. Although driving away the Gaoyuan Marquis was the Empress Dowager's decision, it could not have happened without Shou Wang's planning and clamor; it could be said that the departure of the Gaoyuan Marquis marked the collapse of the previous political ecosystem and the formation of a new political situation. From then on, a political alliance between Shou Wang and the Empress Dowager lasting several years began.

Now, was the political situation going to change again?

What everyone thought of first was that something had gone wrong with the political alliance between Shou Wang and the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager wanted the Gaoyuan Marquis to return to court to keep Shou Wang in check. But then they thought: that's not right, is it? Does the current Shou Wang still need to be kept in check? Hasn't he already retired, focusing on seeking immortality? Even though he withdrew of his own volition, his decline in influence was real; he could no longer be considered a pole of the imperial government.

Furthermore, important personnel changes in the current government are not decided by the Empress Dowager alone, are they?

Now that the Emperor has married and the Empress Dowager has returned power, is such a major matter as recalling the Gaoyuan Marquis something the Empress Dowager can just say casually? If it were just chatting and offering suggestions to the Emperor in the inner palace, that would be one thing, but on an occasion like this, every word spoken is a stance, and such words will have an impact once said. What if the Emperor does not permit it?

Connecting this to what everyone thought of earlier, the Emperor is not here, and Xingwang is seated in the high seat……

Everyone had their own thoughts in their hearts.

After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, she did not mention it again, directly changing the subject: "Call the feudal lords up."

The first to come up was Shun Wang; he was considered quite special among the feudal lords, and strictly speaking, he was a vassal king of a fiefdom.

At the beginning of the Great Jin, there were many vassal kings, but there was a rebellion of the kings earlier, which basically wiped out the vassal kings enfeoffed in the early years. Later, the central government was severely damaged, and although it nominally restored the commandery-county system, it actually became a situation of warlord separatism. Later, when they wanted to enfeoff kings again, they couldn't, and the kings could only hide in Jingcheng.

Shun Wang was one of the few vassal kings who could stand firm in the local area; the Snow Mountain King, who had long shaken Kungang, was also one, but later the Snow Mountain King was recalled to Jingcheng, and Kungang was nominally placed under the commandery-county system, so it was no longer a vassal state. Now Shun Wang was the head of the vassal kings, and could also be said to be the head of the outer vassal lords, so there was no problem with him being the first to come up to pay respects.

The Empress Dowager was very amiable when she saw Shun Wang and said: "It has been more than ten years in a blink of an eye; Shun Wang has grown up and has truly turned out to be a man of talent, reminding me of your father. Come, Xingwang, this is your cousin; you are both the grandsons of Zhongzong, the closest of kin, and you must get along well in the future."

She took hold of Xingwang and made him stand by her side. In this way, when Shun Wang paid respects to the Empress Dowager, he would incidentally pay respects to Xingwang as well.

But in fact, according to status and age, Shun Wang should not have paid respects to Xingwang.

At this time, according to etiquette, Shun Wang should have paid respects, but he glanced at Xingwang and suddenly leaned forward, saying: "May the Empress Dowager permit me to speak; I have a word to submit."

The Empress Dowager was someone who had governed the country, so she immediately guessed what he was going to say, sighing inwardly: things were indeed not that easy; this was only the first one. And the State Preceptor, didn't he say he had already trained Shun Wang well? Why does it look like he is still going to stir up trouble?

And…… where has the State Preceptor gone these past two days? Why have her messengers not been seen?

Although she had made preparations for today's plan and theoretically did not need the State Preceptor to act, having the State Preceptor stand by would always make people feel at ease.

Could it be that he deliberately did not come to see if she had the ability to suppress everyone and pacify the world? If she disappointed him, would he come out and dispose of her as well?

Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager felt a bit panicked, but her expression remained unchanged, and she said slowly: "We are family, why be so polite? If you have something to say, you can naturally say it."

Shun Wang said: "Empress Dowager, governing the world lies in ritual and law, and ritual and law lie in order. Although Xingwang is the biological son of the late Emperor and the own younger brother of the Emperor, firstly, he is young and his order of seniority is behind the other kings, and secondly, he is after all a subject; how can there be a principle of a subject receiving the bowing ritual of a subject? If one forces the reception of the ritual, it will instead invite the jealousy of Heaven. The Empress Dowager has a heart of love for her son; she should plan for him with foresight."

These words were quite impolite, and the Empress Dowager said slowly: "Shun Wang, you are mistaken. Xingwang is the Emperor's messenger; he himself naturally cannot receive the ritual, but he is receiving the ritual on behalf of the Son of Heaven. You have stayed in Youzhou for too long; could it be that you have even forgotten that a subject must bow to the ruler?" As she spoke, her gaze stared coldly at Shun Wang.

Shun Wang paused and suddenly said: "How could I forget the ritual of ruler and subject? I, Shun Wang Yuanshengxiao, pay respects to the Emperor; long live, long live, long, long live my Emperor. I wonder if the holy body is well?" As he spoke, he directly performed the great ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows to Xingwang.

The Empress Dowager was instead taken aback; she actually had no intention of getting into a verbal battle with Shun Wang.

Right, she did not intend to persuade Shun Wang, persuade the feudal lords, or persuade the ministers to make everyone feel that bowing to Xingwang was a matter that conformed to ritual and law and was a matter of course.

Because this was obviously nonsense. In any case, the identity of Xingwang was simply not one that should receive bows; neither inner ministers nor outer ministers should bow. Even if the Empress Dowager could find one reason to allow it, those ministers who were well-versed in classics and history could find a hundred reasons to oppose it; arguing back and forth would only cause both her and Xingwang to fall into a passive position.

The Empress Dowager would not fall into the opponent's battlefield; was she here at Jindinglou to participate in a great ritual debate?

She came today to establish her authority on this battlefield that was backed by the State Preceptor and clearly defined. To put it bluntly, she was here to point at a deer and call it a horse. Because of her previous missteps, she had already fallen into an absolute impasse, and at this time, only a quick cut through the Gordian knot could solve it. Therefore, what she prepared was not a long-winded speech, but the power of a thunderous strike.

First, display her strength today to set the facts in stone, and then talk about it after going through the Jinluandian.

The first step in displaying strength is to find a scapegoat to establish authority.

For example, the first thorn who comes out to question must be killed.

Today is the Lantern Festival; who stipulated that one cannot kill on a festival? Killing can help add to the excitement.

That is why the Empress Dowager first called the feudal lords to pay respects to Xingwang, because in this way, this thorn would very likely appear among the feudal lords. Killing a feudal lord can both establish authority and have little impact on the political situation, much better than killing a close prince in the capital or an important minister in the court.

But she did not expect that it would be Shun Wang who rushed out. In her impression, Shun Wang was relatively slick; even if he wanted to oppose, he would be the mastermind behind the scenes, stirring up trouble and letting others come forward; how could he rush out himself? And Shun Wang was a powerful outer vassal, and also a pillar supporting the local area of the Great Jin; dismantling one's own load-bearing beam was absolutely an unwise move.

But since he rushed out, then it would be him. He must be killed. If he is not killed, and she turns to kill other people who are not strong enough, that is not called establishing authority, that is called bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Once this is done, it will be seen through by others, and then they will be attacked by everyone.

As for dismantling the roof beam, the house is used for people to live in; if the people are gone, who knows which bastard the house will end up benefiting. Let it be dismantled.

However, the Empress Dowager did not expect that Shun Wang would kneel, and kneel so decisively.

The thorn softening his stance was originally a good thing, but the Empress Dowager suddenly felt something was wrong.

He should still be……

Xingwang was suddenly subjected to the bowing ritual and was at a loss for a moment. After all, he was still a twelve-year-old child; although the Empress Dowager had explained many things to him and made many preparations for today, he was still a bit nervous, barely steadying himself, and said with a pale face: "Cousin, please rise."

However, Shun Wang did not rise, but instead asked again: "Is the holy body well?"

Xingwang was stunned for a moment and stammered: "Holy…… holy……"

Shun Wang did not wait for him to speak, looked up and said: "Xingwang, why can you not even say the three words 'is the holy body well'? Or is it that the Emperor…… the holy body is not well?" When he said this, he suddenly stood up tall.

Sure enough!

The Empress Dowager took a deep breath, preparing to act. Regardless of whether Shun Wang was bluffing or had really guessed something, since he was relentless, he deserved to die. He could not be allowed to continue his madness and rebellion.

Her hand under her wide sleeve changed its posture, waiting only to be slightly raised to give the order to attack.

At this time, Shun Wang had completely lost the humility of bowing down earlier, looking directly at Xingwang, his eyes bright and piercing; although he did not step forward, he had a posture of forcing, and his voice rose: "Because you know that the Emperor has already ascended to heaven! It is the Empress Dowager who personally murdered the ruler, calling you, this little child, to be a puppet Son of Heaven!"