Tai Chi Hall.
This is the largest palace Song Xuan has ever seen, bar none.
Nearly three thousand officials went to court, but this huge hall actually seemed a bit empty and not crowded at all.
Song Xuan made a general observation and found that there were roughly four types of officials in the palace.
Civil servants, military officers, nobles, and senior officials of Xuanyi Guard.
They are arranged in separate positions, clearly organized, and highly identifiable at a glance.
Speaking of which, Song Xuan had not officially taken up his post at the Xuanyi Guard, and he was not wearing a commander's robe. However, the moment he entered the palace, two middle-aged men walked towards him.
The two were tall, with resolute faces, and were wearing black python robes. One of them had a strong blood-evil aura about him.
"Sir, please come first!"
Song Xuan smiled and nodded.
Among the senior officials of Xuanyi Guard, there is one commander, two deputy commanders, and four commanders. If nothing unexpected happens, these two will be the deputy commanders.
According to what Zhao Dezhu said when he was bragging and chatting after returning to the imperial capital, these two deputy commanders were in charge of the Judgment Department and the Law Enforcement Department respectively.
The deputy commander in charge of the Law Enforcement Department is named Du Sanshan. He belongs to the Du family of the Xuanyiwei hereditary family. He has a high position and belongs to the real power group. Even if Ye Tian is the commander, many things must go through him first. Only with consent.
As for the deputy commander in charge of the Judgment Department, his name is Ji Xiao. Just by looking at his surname, you can tell that this person is a member of the royal family and was inserted by the emperor in order to divide the power within Xuanyi Guard.
However, this person is also a ruthless character. In order to convince the public, he started directly from the grassroots level, solved countless cases, and was promoted all the way to his current position of deputy commander based on his merits.
According to the emperor's plan, he originally wanted to try to straighten Ji Xiao up after Ye Tian abdicated.
But unfortunately, he still underestimated the power of the Xuanyiwei family, and it was enough to put someone in there on weekdays. Ye Tian looked at it and turned a blind eye to the friendship he had had since childhood, but he wanted to get involved in the position of commander, even if Even Ye Tian couldn't tolerate it.
Due to various factors, Ye Tian chose to resign and replaced Song Xuan, who he considered a more ruthless character.
"grown ups!"
When the four commanders heard the commotion, they all hurriedly came over to greet them. At the same time, the directors and deputy directors of the Judgment Department, Inspection Department, Law Enforcement Department and others also gathered over one after another.
Among them were Zhao Dezhu, director of the Inspection Department, and his father-in-law, Lu Changhe, deputy director of the Law Enforcement Department.
This was considered a formal meeting with the senior officials of Xuanyiwei. Song Xuan greeted them one by one, then nodded with a smile and said: "The court meeting is about to begin. If you have any questions, we can talk slowly in our Yamen after the court."
The several commanders were the most enthusiastic. They nodded and bowed quickly to express their opinions. They would report to the commander as soon as possible after going to court.
Among the Xuanyi guards, Song Xuan stood in the first place without hesitation, Ji Xiao smiled noncommittally and stood in the second place, and Du Sanshan stood in the third place.
From this we can also see the status of these two people within Xuanyi Guard.
Although they are both deputy commanders, Ji Xiao's status is still higher than that of Du Sanshan.
Behind them are the four major command officers, the three major department directors and deputy directors, and more than ten people scattered here and there. Compared with the civil and military officials and the nearly 1,000-person noble group, the number of senior members of Xuan Yiwei is simply small. can be ignored.
But although the number is small, no one dares to underestimate them.
Xuanyiwei does not govern the country, but he is a sharp knife hanging over the heads of civil and military officials, and others cannot help but ignore them.
Therefore, when Song Xuan, a strange and young new face, stood at the first place in the Xuanyi guard queue, he quickly caused quite a stir in the hall.
In the hall, whispers suddenly sounded.
"Is that young man Song Xuan?"
Someone said with a proud tone, "It should be him. He beat my son when he was young. I met him once."
"Hey, this can be considered a chance encounter. I'm lucky, brother."
"It has been rumored before that the commander of the Xuanyi Guards will be replaced, and the legitimate son of the Song family will take over. I didn't expect it to be true."
"It's groundless. It's been rumored for so long and Xuan Yiwei hasn't come forward to deny it. It's basically true. It's confirmed today."
"I don't know how Commander Song will govern. If he continues to kill as often as he did in the local area, then we may have a difficult life."
"Who knows, I have been going back to restrain my family recently. If the new official takes office, he will be burned. Don't blame me for not warning you."
In the queue of military attaches, Changqing Hou Liu Changqing stood at the fifth position, staring at Song Xuan eagerly at this moment.
Previously, his youngest son had his leg broken by him and went to the Song family with generous gifts to apologize, but unfortunately, Song Xuan was not there that day. Although Song Yuanshan, the head of the Song family, came forward, he said that the feud between the two families was over.
But he really regretted not seeing Song Xuan.
Today was the first time he saw the legitimate son of the Song family. Putting aside everything else, his appearance and temperament alone made him extremely satisfied.
If such a young man could become his son-in-law... forget it, his daughter is not worthy.
It is said that the Song family and the Lu family are already discussing marriage with Cai Cai. Although he, Liu Changqing, has a high and powerful position, he still does not have the courage to challenge the Xuanyiwei family who has been waiting for three hundred years in the Lu family.
He was competing with the Lu family for a son-in-law. Even if Liu Changqing was buried at night, no one would dare to say a word the next day.
Looking back, Liu Changqing thought about it. Although his daughter was beautiful and had good martial arts qualifications, she was incomparable to the eldest lady of the Lu family. She didn't dare to expect anything like a real wife, but she didn't know about Song Xuan's recent past. Do you have any plans to take a concubine?
The legitimate daughter of his prince's family was offered as a concubine, and Song Xuan probably wouldn't refuse.
That's it. When word spread, the Marquis Changqing's face was a little ugly. With the bad temper of the envoys at the Yushitai, they would inevitably accuse him in the court of following the trend and selling his daughter for glory.
How shameless it is for the legitimate daughter of a powerful prince to be a concubine!
In the court, all the civil and military officials had different thoughts, especially some nobles who only had titles but no real power. Their eyes were even more eager when they looked at Song Xuan.
Song Xuan is too young. Being young means that this person will reign for a long time in the future. He will still have at least twenty or thirty years in the position of commander. If he can make good friends with him, two generations of the family can follow him. Take advantage of it.
Old God Song Xuan stood at the front of the queue, seemingly closing his eyes to rest.
Lu Changhe, on the other hand, glanced at those eager eyes and couldn't help but turned cold and snorted.
If you want to compete with me for your son-in-law, you don’t even know what kind of virtue you are!
At this time, in the back hall, the emperor, dressed in a black dragon robe, slowly walked into the front hall surrounded by eunuchs and maidens, and then sat on the dragon chair with a somewhat dull expression.
"Go to court!"
Cao Zhengchun, the chief eunuch, played a long voice. His voice was not loud, but it spread throughout the hall and could be heard clearly.
"My lord, please pay homage to Your Majesty!"
There is no saying "Long live my emperor", nor any kneeling down.
All civil and military officials bowed and saluted.
The Great Zhou Dynasty was very relaxed about kneeling and worshiping. Except for important events such as the emperor's enthronement or death and the ceremony to worship the heaven, officials below the congenital level need to kneel down. At other times, when going to court normally, officials only need to bow and salute. No need bow down.
