Chapter 102

Last night, a palace servant reported to Li Tianyi that the Crown Prince had come by, and he was not surprised that the Crown Prince might have designs on him.

No one in the world could remain unmoved upon seeing Rong Rong. Even fathers and sons, brothers and sisters would turn against each other for Rong Rong, let alone his relationship with the Crown Prince.

Moreover, the royal family is inherently ruthless.

Li Tianyi understood this and did not intend to depose the Crown Prince because of it. He would not have children, and the country would still be handed over to the Crown Prince. However, he would never allow the Crown Prince to bully Rong Rong.

Li Tianyi calmly gazed down, listening to the ministers' reports.

In the crowd, Xie Tianrui carefully concealed the hatred in his eyes, and Li Tianyi, fully aware of this, didn't give him any extra glances.

After finishing discussing other matters, Li Tianyi finally brought up the matter of the empress's investiture ceremony with the Ministry of Rites.

"The date is set for ten days from now. It must be a grand affair, and there must be no negligence whatsoever!"

When the topic of the coronation ceremony came up, Li Tianyi rarely showed his emotions, and his face showed uncontrollable excitement.

"Your Majesty!" A certain imperial censor suddenly stepped forward, "Please, Your Majesty, select beautiful women to fill the harem."

After this person finished speaking, another minister immediately submitted a memorial, "Your Majesty has few children. We hope that Your Majesty will hold a selection of candidates as soon as possible so that the young women can bear children for the royal family and continue the lineage. Only in this way can the country and the nation be stable!"

"Your Majesty, please select concubines to fill the harem!"

In the vast majority of the court, dozens of ministers knelt down and shouted in unison, creating a powerful and deafening roar.

Then came a deathly silence.

Li Tianyi gripped the handles of the dragon throne so tightly that he almost crushed them.

His face was expressionless, but anyone could tell it was the calm before the storm.

The atmosphere was extremely oppressive, and many ministers were already sweating profusely.

They hadn't seen Emperor Chengyuan like this for many years; every time they had seen him before, someone would bring up the matter of the imperial concubine selection.

Now that Emperor Chengyuan has clearly agreed to establish a new empress, everyone thought that the past was over and that mentioning the imperial concubine selection wouldn't be a big deal. But unexpectedly...

Some people quietly wiped their sweat, but the kneeling ministers remained resolute, refusing to believe that the new empress could hold a position in Emperor Chengyuan's heart comparable to that of the former empress.

After a long time, Li Tianyi finally let out a cold laugh. They had just started preparing for the coronation ceremony, and this group of people had brought up the selection of concubines first. They were only so reckless because Rong Rong was an orphan with no maternal support.

"What, are you all dissatisfied with the Crown Prince? With the Crown Prince around, how can the empire be unstable?"

Li Tianyi spoke in a deep voice, and despite his physical weakness, his aura remained undiminished.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone knelt on the ground in unison, "Your Majesty, please forgive us! We dare not!"

"Dare not?" Li Tianyi scoffed. "I think you're quite bold!"

"The coronation ceremony hasn't even been held yet, and you're already thinking about selecting a concubine? I don't see any sign that you dare to do so!"

"They used to talk about ancestral etiquette all the time, but now they all have this kind of hypocritical face!"

"Imperial Censor Wang has failed in his duties and is hereby dismissed from office, effective immediately!"

"Your Majesty!" Imperial Censor Wang exclaimed in alarm, kowtowing repeatedly. "Your Majesty, please forgive me! Please forgive me!"

At this moment, Imperial Censor Wang deeply regretted being misled and being the first to propose the selection of concubines.

He thought, he thought, that the new empress was not a threat, but he never expected that Emperor Chengyuan was still the same Emperor Chengyuan!

But there's no going back in life. No matter how much Imperial Censor Wang begged for mercy, he was quickly covered by the guards and dragged away.

The others remained silent, showing no emotion whatsoever at Wang Yushi's fate. Only when Emperor Chengyuan called them to rise did they slowly stand up.

Aside from the ministers who had previously supported the selection of officials, they stubbornly persisted in their opinions, kneeling on the ground and demanding that Emperor Chengyuan select officials.

Their meaning was simple: they agreed that His Majesty should appoint an orphaned girl as Empress, in exchange for His Majesty agreeing to a selection of concubines.

This has always been a tacit understanding between the emperor and his ministers; they firmly believe that Emperor Chengyuan will eventually compromise.

"Your Majesty!" Xie Tianrui suddenly spoke up, "With the coronation ceremony for the Empress imminent, I believe now is not the right time to select a new Empress!"

As Xie Tianrui finished speaking, many people, whether openly or secretly, turned their gazes toward him.

It's no secret that the new empress is the former wife of the Marquis of Jiangyang.

Xie Tianrui's words in support of the new empress surprised everyone.

Even after becoming a cuckold, he still works so hard for the other party. At this moment, many people suspect that Xie Tianrui deliberately offered his wife to the emperor, selling his wife for personal gain.

Xie Tianrui ignored everyone's gazes and looked sincere. He just didn't want Rong Rong to suffer any injustice.

Just as everyone turned their attention back to Emperor Chengyuan, someone unexpectedly spoke up.

"Your humble servant also does not support the talent show!"

At the head of all the officials, Grand Secretary Yu stood bowing outside the ranks.

Many people exclaimed that the Grand Secretary carried considerable weight, and his opinions often influenced Emperor Chengyuan's choices.

No one expected that Lord Yu would support the new empress.

Everyone stared at Lord Yu with curiosity, scrutiny, or thoughtful expressions. Even the ministers who had just been calmly requesting Emperor Chengyuan to select candidates for the imperial concubine selection finally showed signs of panic. Only Lord Yu remained as composed as a mountain, respectfully bowing his head, making it impossible to discern his true thoughts.

Lord Yu was somewhat helpless. Last night, his unfilial son came to him as soon as he returned to the manor, clamoring that he should become the new empress's backer.

When asked why, he hesitated and said that he found the new guy pleasing to the eye and thought he was a good person, so he wanted to protect him.

As a father, how could he not understand his own son?

His son has probably fallen deeply in love with someone.

Lord Yu did not find it absurd, nor did he get angry. On the contrary, his son's previous condition was what worried him the most.

However, she was just a woman who had climbed the social ladder and become a prince. Whether she would live or die was another matter. She was not worth her son's grief. It was actually a good thing that her son could shift his focus.

Moreover, to be honest, he's already fed up with cleaning up his son's messes. His son is a womanizer and has been getting involved with other men's wives. He'll be beaten to death sooner or later.

It's fine now. If the new empress can make her son obedient, then so be it if he's rebellious. Anyway, her son has no chance to stand in front of His Majesty, so he can only keep his thoughts hidden deep inside and His Majesty won't find out.

Lord Yu smiled and immediately agreed to his son's request. After thinking about it later, he realized that he had no daughters, only one son, Yu Yingyan. He thought it best for the Yu family to truly become the new empress's maternal family and provide her with support!

In this world, alliances are not only formed by blood ties. Sometimes, the bond of interests is even stronger than blood relations!

Everyone present was shrewd, and soon some of them understood Lord Yu's intentions.

Everyone secretly sighed that Lord Yu was indeed a cunning old fox, his skill in taking advantage of others was first-rate.

“Your humble servant also opposes the talent selection!” Lou Boshan stepped forward immediately afterward.

He was a rising star in the court, someone Emperor Chengyuan had specially groomed for the Crown Prince, and was even regarded as the successor to Grand Secretary Yu. His words carried considerable weight.

With three heavyweight figures appearing in succession to oppose the selection process, the officials who supported the selection instantly panicked.

However, that wasn't the end of it. Several more people then stepped forward to oppose the talent show.

Princes, censors, officials of the Six Ministries of the fifth rank or above...

They were all high-ranking officials, and more importantly, all of them had wives or children who had attended the Grand Princess's banquet the day before.

In addition, they have some things in common.

Either they had no daughters at home, or their daughters were already married, or they felt sorry for their daughters and were unwilling to send them to the palace.

As a result, the entire court was divided into two factions: the selection faction and the opposition faction.