Chapter 129: Words That Stab the Heart (First Update, Seeking Monthly Votes)

Above the grand hall, there was a bustle of activity.

Compared to the daily morning court, it was more like a noisy marketplace at this moment.

With the Emperor not at home, everyone felt much more relaxed.

Without the constraints of the etiquette between sovereign and subject, the officials had few scruples, and regardless of where they were, they simply gathered in groups to discuss.

They were the civil official faction; to put it plainly, the Prime Minister was their leader.

Ever since Wang was appointed by the Late Emperor, this veteran of three reigns had remained in the position of Prime Minister.

His astonishing political longevity, while maintaining the political stability of Beigan, had also caused an awkward situation.

He had blocked the path of promotion for everyone else.

As long as he did not fall, others could see no hope of rising at all.

But then the problem arose: this Prime Minister Wang was a pillar of the Divine Dynasty, and even if Li Long replaced all the civil officials, he would not move him in the slightest.

Ran Guifei covered her lips with a look of surprise, as if puzzled that she could actually say such mean-spirited words.

The Crown Prince had not yet been established, so everything was possible.

At a time like this, one should be standing firmly and unswervingly behind His Majesty!

……

The middle-aged man was definitely not ugly, but that full beard on his face made him look somewhat fierce.

Before they could finish being happy about the news and start suspecting each other, and before they could start taking action against their brothers, Li Long had directly cut off their thoughts.

Do you think any of the sharp-witted people present couldn't figure this out? But have you seen anyone speak up?

As expected of someone who switched from a military official to a civil official, this brain is just not sharp.

You, you had better just shut up.

After he spoke, the previously lively officials quieted down, all looking with strange eyes at this civil official whose appearance was too prominent.

Shi Mingwu and Shi Anqi, these two brothers, were not similar in any way, but they had an astonishing consistency in one point.

Feeling that it was uninteresting, the Shi Family Patriarch stopped speaking, folded his hands, and continued to be his old transparent self in the crowd.

On the matter of choosing sides, these two had never made a major mistake.

"It seems that great minds think alike, hahaha."

"You want to be Prime Minister? Who agreed? Why don't I remember such a thing?"

"Everyone, who do you think this position of Prime Minister will fall to among the Princes?"

Wasn't he supposed to be the one to become Emperor?

How did he end up becoming Prime Minister?

This question had troubled the middle-aged man for a long time.

We still know what the black ash piled up and pushed out of the Imperial Study in recent days originally was.

"Ran Guifei is joking; how could His Majesty not know of the sincerity in Yao'er's heart?"

What is wrong with being Prime Minister?

It is not as if one cannot become Emperor after becoming Prime Minister.

Ran Yeting was willing to cause trouble for her good sister.

There was no other reason; Shi Mingwu's political aptitude was truly too poor...

"Those with opinions submit a memorial, those without, dismiss the court!"

"Indeed, Mr. Zhang is right; we have all seen what the Second Prince has done over the years, it is truly for the sake of the people and the country."

Heh heh.

"Even between husband and wife there are gaps, let alone father and son; didn't the previous Eldest Prince... oh! Look at my mouth, why did I touch upon Empress sister's sore spot again."

Not to mention how important the position of Prime Minister was for the struggle for the throne.

Although the ministers were discussing it loudly, under the deliberate guidance of some interested parties, plus the active silence of others, the general trend had largely been set.

Empress Zhao narrowed her eyes without turning her head and said indifferently:

Tricky, oh...

"In my opinion, the Second Prince is the top choice in terms of both virtue and the hearts of the people."

Then, the great cause is promising.

Ran Guifei's words could be called heart-stabbing, with consecutive slashes and critical hits, every blade cutting into the Empress's pain.

"I don't care! I want to choose the Prime Minister I like in such a playful way!"

The contemporary Emperor had recently returned to that self-important temperament of his youth.

"However, has anyone thought about what would happen to the throne if the Second Prince successfully became Prime Minister?"

Empress Zhao: "..."

Just looking at his statement just now, he was not even as good as a novice who had just entered officialdom.

Laughing eerily twice, Ran Guifei said faintly:

Coupled with his somewhat overly robust physique compared to other frail civil officials, although he wore the court robes of a civil official, he looked even more like a military general than a military general.

The ridiculous thing was that this group of old civil officials had waited from middle age to old age, with half their bodies already in the grave, before waiting for Prime Minister Wang to retire.

This young man, rotten wood cannot be carved!

"Lord Shi is joking, heh heh."

"It's just that I don't know if such great power will make His Majesty have some thoughts in his heart?"

Shi Mingwu felt the various disgusted gazes of the crowd and scratched his head without much decorum.

Hey, look at how you say that, Your Majesty, as if we would submit a memorial and you would actually read it.

When that time really comes, who else could be his opponent?

Even if the struggle for the throne fails, when the new Emperor's foundation is unstable, wouldn't one still have to heed the Prime Minister's words?

"Huh?"

Having stood in the officialdom for so many years, Shi Mingwu was not entirely without shrewdness; he muttered to himself in his heart:

"But, why do I feel that it is you all who are thinking about this incorrectly?"

Although this lucky fellow who had been favored by the Princess had joined the civil official faction for over twenty years, he had never successfully integrated into this circle.

According to Shi Mingwu's current intuition, he would not choose either the Prince or the Princess.

Such were the arguments and so on, but just when the general trend seemed to have been decided, a middle-aged civil official who had not participated in the discussion spoke up:

Support the Second Prince!

The civil officials who had previously been fence-sitting and wavering now had slogans louder than one another:

"Li Fengyao is the one the people look forward to!", "He is the Destined Person!", "If you don't choose Li Fengyao, you are not a person of Beigan!"...

His Majesty is still here!

But just when she was at her happiest, the leisurely voice of Ran Guifei rang out again at just the right moment:

"Oh my, the ministers appreciate the Second Prince so much; it seems your Feng Yao has truly won the hearts of the people!"

Shi Mingwu, the current Patriarch of the Shi Family, holds a fourth-rank official position.

As long as the Second Prince can use the Prime Minister's status to act as regent for a period of time, he could cultivate a large number of followers during this time.

"Could it be that you really think His Majesty is just a decoration? What you have thought of, would he not have thought of it too?"

Behind the hanging screen, Empress Zhao listened to the ministers' discussion, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly.

"This old man feels the same; compared to that Jia Ming of unknown origin and the third person who has yet to be decided, His Highness the Second Prince is the most suitable."

Does this place of heartbreak refer to "husband and wife at odds," or does it refer to "father and son becoming enemies"?

Ran Guifei: Tee-hee, surprised? It's both!

As the two vied with each other, the other imperial concubines present dared not interject a single word; one by one, they let their minds wander, and some simply closed their eyes to feign sleep.

"This Inner Palace, it's getting harder and harder to get by..."