Chapter 399: Court Session

Clang~ Clang~ Clang~

The bells on the Meridian Gate tower rang, the palace gates opened, and the officials entered in order through the Left Auxiliary Gate and the Right Auxiliary Gate, crossed the Golden Water Bridge, and arrived at the square in front of the Fengtian Hall.

Yan Song walked at the very front, eyes fixed straight ahead.

The officials following behind him, however, began to talk in low voices, and as time passed, it became increasingly noisy.

The route was wrong.

According to the previous plan, today was supposed to be Yan Song leading the hundred officials to force the Emperor's hand, forcing the Emperor himself to appear. The location should have been outside the Meridian Gate.

The Emperor had rarely held court in these years of laziness, and many officials who had been promoted later had never even entered the Meridian Gate. But today, the Meridian Gate opened automatically, welcoming them in.

This didn't look like forcing the Emperor's hand at all... instead, it looked like holding court.

The officials walked forward, and the Fengtian Hall came into view.

Outside the hall, an old eunuch stood holding a long whip, expression solemn and eyes lowered. Seeing the officials pouring into the square, he slowly relaxed his shoulders and raised the long whip high—and then suddenly lashed it out!

Slap!

The long whip struck the ground, the sound shaking the hall.

Slap! Slap!

Officials who had experienced the Emperor's early diligence in holding court were shocked and stopped talking one after another.

This was the "Three Sounds of the Silent Whip"; anyone who spoke after this was guilty of deceiving the Emperor!

And... they widened their eyes, looking ahead.

After the "Three Sounds of the Silent Whip," it should be—ascending the throne!

Sure enough, in their shocked gaze, a touch of golden yellow slowly drove over.

The carriage was square, made of wood lacquered in vermilion, with four pillars wrapped in gold, topped with a three-layered circular golden roof, hanging twelve strings of jade beads, with golden-copper decorated hubs, vermilion spokes, shafts two yards long, the four sides of the carriage painted with the twelve patterns including the sun, moon, stars, mountains, dragons, and flowers, the door curtains embroidered with golden dragons, and jade bells hanging from the four corners.

The Imperial Carriage, and the highest specification among Imperial Carriages, the "Great Carriage."

And sitting upright on the Imperial Carriage with lowered eyes, who else could it be but the current Son of Heaven!

The Minister of Rites following behind Yan Song thought to himself that it was bad. Although today was aimed at Zhu Zai, the reason was to request the Emperor to take personal charge. But before they could force the Emperor's hand, the Emperor himself had come out, and the previous calculations were basically void!

What should be done!

He looked toward Yan Song, trying to communicate, but before he could speak, he saw Yan Song lift the front hem of his robe and kneel down gracefully, bowing his head to the ground.

The next moment, the surrounding Embroidered Uniform Guards suddenly struck the ground with their scabbards and chanted in unison: "Line up—"

He suddenly reacted, hurriedly kneeling down and shouting loudly.

"Long live! Long live! Long live!"

The event happened suddenly, and the officials had no psychological preparation. The sound of the chanting was chaotic at first, then gradually became uniform, and finally converged into one, spreading out along the square.

Yan Song, kneeling on the ground, sighed in his heart.

This is imperial power.

This is the authority to act as one pleases!

No means were needed; just by appearing, just by three sounds of the whip, the raging fire he had painstakingly ignited in the hearts of the officials was immediately extinguished by thirty percent.

No matter how dissatisfied they were with the Emperor handing over great power to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the officials could only bow their heads, perform the five kowtows and three prostrations. Because this is imperial power, this is the Son of Heaven!

Perhaps others would feel the urge to retreat because of this, but only in Yan Song's eyes did greed become increasingly apparent... it was precisely this unparalleled power in the world that was worth his life to gamble on!

Being below one person and above ten thousand, how could it compare to having the four seas bow down and acting as one pleases! If the Emperor himself didn't have an accident, he would never have the opportunity to lay his hands on this greatest power in the world... but it was precisely Zhu Zai who gave him this opportunity!

Getting rid of a Zhu Zai was far simpler than seizing power from the Emperor himself!

After performing the final kowtow, Yan Song slowly stood up, bowed respectfully, his eyes filled with gloom.

"The Emperor has been forced out, and today's goal has been achieved."

"It's your turn to make a move."

He scanned his gaze toward the Emperor's side.

There were two people there.

Zhu Zai, who was wearing a green python robe like him, and Li Miao, who was wearing a flying-fish robe and clutching a golden melon hammer in his hand. "As that eunuch Liu Jin said, the Emperor is now just a puppet, and the ones who truly decide everything are these two."

"Come on, come on, let me see what means you have prepared to suppress this surging human heart!"

Yan Song's gaze shifted to Li Miao, a look of disdain curling the corners of his mouth.

Just at this moment, Li Miao's gaze also projected over.

The two locked eyes across the air.

The corners of Li Miao's mouth also slowly curled up, revealing his stark white teeth. His lips moved, forming a few silent words.

"What, are, you, smil, ing, at?"

Yan Song's smile vanished.

The next moment, the Emperor on the dragon throne spoke indifferently.

"Today, I and all the beloved ministers can be considered to be of one mind. I originally wanted to summon the hundred officials to discuss matters, but I didn't expect that all the beloved ministers would happen to come, and I am very comforted."

"Before discussing matters, I have three things to announce."

"The first is the plague in Tai'an Prefecture last year."

Yan Song frowned.

After colluding with the Eastern Depot, Liu Jin naturally told him everything Li Miao had done. He naturally knew that the Tai'an Prefecture matter was a conflict between the Ming Sect and Li Miao.

But this matter had already been settled, and even the Ming Sect had been wiped out. What did the Emperor want to do by bringing this up now?

The Emperor waved his hand.

"Beloved Minister Zhu."

Zhu Zai turned and bowed, then walked forward a few steps, expanding his voice with true energy.

"According to the investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the plague in Tai'an Prefecture was caused by Liu Zhe, the Commandant of the Southern Depot of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, colluding with the Ming Sect to spread poison into the city, intending to use this to plot rebellion."

He waved his hand.

A team of Embroidered Uniform Guards turned out from behind the hall, pushing out a middle-aged man in tattered clothes and covered in wounds, pressing him down under the steps in front of the main hall.

The man raised his head, looked at Yan Song just inches away, his eyes brightening as if he had seen a savior, opening his mouth to speak, but only emitting a confused whimpering sound.

His tongue had already been cut off.

Yan Song looked expressionlessly at the man, or rather, the Commandant of the Southern Depot of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Liu Zhe.

Since he knew he was opposing Zhu Zai, he naturally had to plant some nails in the other party's camp. Liu Zhe, who lived in the capital for a long time, didn't go on field missions, and looked more like a civil official than a military general, was the target he had chosen.

And he had also successfully turned Liu Zhe; the reason Liu Jinyi was able to lurk by Zhu Yijing's side for so long before being discovered was precisely because Liu Zhe had put in the effort.

But he didn't expect that this nail had already been wasted before it could truly begin to play a role.

Yan Song and Li Miao's gazes met in mid-air.

Li Miao smiled and waved his hand suddenly.

Pfft! ——

The head fell to the ground, rolling to Yan Song's feet, its hollow gaze looking at his face, the eyes gradually losing their luster.

Yan Song moved his feet slightly, kicking Liu Zhe's head away.

He heard the Emperor say in a deep voice.

"Li Miao, Commandant of the Northern Depot of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, has made significant contributions in the Tai'an plague matter and is promoted to Assistant Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 400 =====