Dachu Palace, main hall.
All civil and military officials went to court, arranged in two small square formations, shouting "Long Live the Mountain", and knelt down uniformly.
"Flat body."
On the dragon chair, Xiang Ning's expression was a little dull.
It has been more than a month since I returned home, and the preparations for the wedding ceremony of the queen are about to be completed. I am just waiting for the arrival of the Han Emperor's envoys.
As for Lu Fubao, because the imperial concubine is not the royal queen, there is no need for a wedding ceremony. She only needs to announce the canonization in the harem and that's it.
"I……"
Xiang Ning was about to speak, but stopped himself.
Fan Li did not go to court for more than a month, and she once thought that she could take charge.
Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager actually moved a chair behind the dragon chair, hung up a bead curtain, and went to court together.
This is the legendary listening to politics behind the curtain! ?
Xiang Ning was very depressed.
Since ancient times, only a weak leader and a cowardly king would get to the point where the harem could listen to politics behind the curtain.
She couldn't afford to lose face, so she once tactfully raised objections to the Queen Mother.
"You are young and ill-informed and have no political experience. Wouldn't it be a good idea for the Ai family to help you and remove the Fan family members from the court one by one?"
"Besides, you are a child of the Ai family. How could the Ai family, with the dignity of the Queen Mother, still compete with you for the throne?"
The Empress Dowager's reason was very good, at least Xiang Ning could not refute it.
She also admitted that since she ascended the throne, the Queen Mother has always been her strongest supporter.
The Queen Mother's prestige in Chu State is extremely high. As long as Fan Li does not go to court, the Queen Mother can definitely intimidate all the officials!
There is also Eunuch Chen, the top master in the palace, who is loyal to the Queen Mother!
Within a month, the Queen Mother listened to the government behind the curtain, issued imperial edicts in Xiang Ning's name one after another, and indeed dealt with many officials from Fan Li's faction.
At this moment, Xiang Ning looked at the ministers at the imperial level, all of them were obedient to him, as if Chu had never had a situation where the leader was weak and the ministers were strong.
But in Xiang Ning's heart, there was only a sense of unreality.
"Fan Li is no longer in court, why do I feel that I am still a puppet?"
"Among the officials who were dismissed by my mother, there were several of them with excellent talents and moral character. It is a pity that they should be dismissed from office."
"After the dismissal of office, my mother filled the vacancies with new people, but they were all alternate officials that I was not familiar with. I have never even heard the names of some of them."
Xiang Ning glanced back subconsciously and saw a golden phoenix crown faintly shaking behind the hazy bead curtain.
But the empress dowager's still charming face was very blurry and difficult to see clearly.
"Your Majesty has a decree!"
Eunuch Chen's soft and high-pitched voice brought Xiang Ning's thoughts back to reality.
She frowned slightly, suppressing the depression in her heart.
Your Majesty has a purpose?
It's so funny, even she herself doesn't know when she has a new will.
Obviously, this is what the Queen Mother meant again.
As soon as the civil and military ministers stood up, they had no choice but to kneel to the ground.
"Zhisu Neishi Gongsun Ou and Hu Cavalry Colonel Guo Ling have been in office for a long time, have not made much achievements, and have mediocre talents. They are immediately removed from their official positions and reduced to civilians."
Xiang Ning thought he was hallucinating!
Remove two more officials!
Gongsun Ou is a high-ranking official of the Nine Qing Dynasty who is close to the Fan family, and Guo Ling, the Huqi captain, is a famous garrison general!
"Is the Queen Mother too radical? This is blatantly targeting Fan Li."
Xiang Ning always felt something was wrong.
There must be some reason why the Queen Mother was so radical and completely gave up her previous tolerant attitude.
"Your Majesty, this is unfair!"
The two dismissed civil and military officials were dissatisfied and knelt on the ground to cry out for injustice.
Gongsun Ou was a civil servant with a gentle attitude, but he had tears in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, since I have been in charge of the history of Su Neishi, I have sorted out the old accounts of the late emperor and made up for the shortage of money and food. Now our Chu state has abundant treasury. I have no merit but hard work. How can I be dismissed from office for being mediocre?"
Guo Ling said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, General Mo was promoted to Colonel Hu Qi because of his merits. Where does the evaluation of 'no merit, mediocre talent' come from? Could it be that General Mo has been training troops to suppress bandits and kill soldiers in the past few years? Doesn’t killing the enemy chief count as merit?”
Xiang Ning felt so embarrassed!
Although they knew clearly that the two of them were members of Fan Li's party, they were both indeed talented and meritorious.
She even often envied Fan Li for being able to gather these talents under his command.
"Why didn't Queen Mother discuss it with me in advance? She dismissed the two of them for being 'incompetent'. It's impossible to prove the charges."
Xiang Ning was extremely depressed, restless on the dragon throne, and didn't know how to answer the questions raised by the civil and military ministers.
"Queen mother?"
Xiang Ning turned around and asked softly.
"I don't know anything about these two people. What do you mean..."
The empress dowager behind the bead curtain only made a nasal sound of 'hmm', seemingly dissatisfied.
Xiang Ning didn't know what to do, but Eunuch Chen moved.
The old eunuch's figure was as fast as lightning, and he arrived in front of the two kneeling people in an instant.
A violent crash!
Accompanied by a burst of purple light!
Gongsun Ou didn't even have time to protect himself with Haoran Qi, before he was hit in the chest. He flew upside down and fell out of the hall like a kite with its string cut off.
Guo Ling's cultivation level was obviously higher than Gongsun Ou's, and he at least made a resisting move.
When the old eunuch saw this, he just sneered.
Guo Ling's protective Qi, which was running hastily, instantly solidified, but was instantly shattered by the old eunuch's slap.
The next second, Eunuch Chen made a claw-like right hand and pierced Guo Ling's abdomen, pinching him inside!
The civil and military officials present vaguely heard a muffled sound, as if something had been crushed!
They knew that Guo Ling was a master at the Nascent Soul stage, but they were afraid that the condensed Nascent Soul in his body would be broken.
One of the eight captains of the Great Chu Guard Army, Captain Hu Qi, with a rank of 2,000 shi, was defeated by the harem eunuch in the court hall! ?
Gongsun Ou, who fell out of the palace, was later found out. His meridians were severed and he became a disabled person.
Eunuch Chen destroyed two people in one second!
In the civil and military affairs of the DPRK, all the officials of the Fan family were sweating coldly and did not dare to say anything.
Xiang Ning had just reached the Nascent Soul stage, and when she saw Guo Ling, who was at a higher level than herself, being deposed, she subconsciously covered her belly.
"Da Chu has the "Laws of Chu", how could Eunuch Chen attack the ministers without being interrogated by the court captain!?"
Xiang Ning thought this in his heart, but didn't have the courage to say it out loud.
She had an inexplicable feeling of alienation and fear towards Eunuch Chen, or the Empress Dowager who was loyal to Eunuch Chen.
This feeling was something she had never felt before when facing Fan Li.
In order to prevent another tragedy from happening again, Xiang Ning plucked up the courage and whispered, "Queen Mother, can you withdraw from the court?"
Retreating from the court would protect the remaining officials, even those from Fan Li's line.
Xiang Ning thought he had this face, but he heard the Queen Mother smile coldly.
"Withdraw from the court? Your Majesty is really good at joking. The morning court has just begun, and there are still ministers who have something to say."
Xiang Ning was extremely embarrassed.
Why doesn't the queen give herself any face?
Moreover, how did she know that a minister wanted to report something?
Could she tell fortunes?
Xiang Ning was just thinking wildly when he saw Zong Zheng, one of the nine ministers, emerging from the crowd of ministers.
"Weak minister Li Ban, I have something to report."
Zongzheng was an official in charge of royal affairs, while Li Ban was from the empress dowager's mother's family.
According to seniority, he should be considered Xiang Ning's uncle.
