Chapter 402

Recently, another major event occurred in the imperial court. Prime Minister Lu was found guilty of cheating in the imperial examinations, accepting bribes, neglecting his duties, and forming cliques for personal gain. His crimes were heinous, and Emperor Jianyuan imprisoned him and executed his entire family.

Consort De, Lu Junyi, was also stripped of her title and demoted to a low-ranking concubine for plotting against the royal heirs, and was banished to the Cold Palace.

In fact, Prime Minister Lu had been wielding absolute power for quite some time, and Emperor Jianyuan had long been aware of his actions. However, Emperor Jianyuan had always turned a blind eye and had no intention of taking any action against Prime Minister Lu.

Prime Minister Lu was a former official of the previous dynasty and represented the former dynasty's power. Emperor Jianyuan, for the sake of stability in the court, had never taken action against Prime Minister Lu.

But this time, Emperor Jianyuan beheaded Prime Minister Lu with lightning speed, the whole process taking only a few days and catching everyone off guard.

It was only afterward that everyone realized that Emperor Jianyuan was cleaning up the harem for his new empress.

Consort De has been in charge of the harem for many years, and it will not be easy for the new empress to gain a foothold in the harem. It is imperative to bring down Consort De, and to deal with Consort De, we must also deal with Prime Minister Lu.

No one could have imagined that Emperor Jianyuan would go to such lengths for his new empress, but no matter what madness Emperor Jianyuan was going through, the position of prime minister became vacant, and various factions began to vie for it again.

Everyone wanted their own person to be prime minister, not only Prince Yi, but also the former officials of the previous dynasty and Emperor Jianyuan.

After the morning court session that day, Zhu Mingsi and a group of ministers went to the Imperial Study to see Xie Linyang, wanting to discuss matters concerning the appointment and removal of the prime minister.

A country cannot be without a prime minister for even a day; the position of prime minister is of utmost importance and has a great influence on the court.

They arrived at the Imperial Study, only to find the door tightly closed and Eunuch Shunfu standing outside. Clearly, there were other people inside besides His Majesty.

The ministers were puzzled, wondering who had acted faster than them? Coming to see the emperor immediately after court?

Eunuch Shunfu respectfully asked the ministers to wait a moment while he went inside to report.

Zhu Mingsi's eyelashes drooped.

Last night, he had met with Su Yanqiu, hoping that the other party would whisper in the new empress's ear and persuade Emperor Jianyuan to appoint someone from their faction as prime minister.

But Su Yanqiu not only rejected him, she also turned hostile.

For many years, no one had dared to show him any disrespect. In that instant, Zhu Mingsi almost killed Su Yanqiu.

However, Zhu Mingsi held back, and the two parted on bad terms.

Thinking of this, Zhu Mingsi's gaze turned cold.

Originally, there were plans to give Su Yanqiu an important position, but now it seems that Su Yanqiu is not up to the task, and more importantly, he has ulterior motives.

After a few days, Zhu Mingsi realized that Su Yanqiu harbored secret feelings for the new empress, his former widowed sister-in-law.

Perhaps the other party approached him in order to win back his widowed sister-in-law?

That's ridiculous.

Another person whose mind is full of love and romance is unlikely to achieve great things.

Moreover, it disregards all human ethics! It's utterly despicable!

Zhu Mingsi curled his lip in disdain, but he felt that Su Yanqiu could be used.

After waiting for a while, they saw Eunuch Shunfu come out of the Imperial Study. He shook his head at the crowd and said, "Your Majesty asks all the ministers to wait a moment."

Zhu Mingsi frowned first, and the other ministers were also somewhat puzzled.

Who is in this situation that is more important than national affairs?

"Crack!" The sound of porcelain shattering came from inside the room, loud and jarring, and the ministers looked at each other in dismay.

A soft, delicate female voice followed immediately, "So annoying, get out of here!"

She shouted sharply, her tone clearly showing impatience.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, never expecting that the person in the Imperial Study was a woman? And she dared to insult His Majesty so boldly? Wasn't she afraid of being beheaded?

Zhu Mingsi's eyes darkened.

Then, sounds came from inside the Imperial Study.

"Rong'er, I was wrong. Don't send me away. I was stupid! I can make tea. Please give me another chance, okay?"

The voice belonged to Emperor Jianyuan, but it was vastly different from usual, extremely humble, and he even referred to himself as "I".

And then there's the extremely gentle name, Rong'er.

Zhu Mingsi's eyes flashed, and he realized that the woman in the imperial study was the new empress, Princess Zhaohua, Rong Rong.

Several ministers quickly realized what was happening; some frowned, others were incredulous.

No one could have imagined that Emperor Jianyuan would behave like this in front of Princess Zhaohua.

Soon, the sound of porcelain shattering came from inside the house again.

"It's too hot!"

"Smack!"

"It's too bitter!"

"Smack!"

"It's too astringent!"

One sound after another.

The ministers' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Rong Rong tormented Xie Linyang relentlessly, only to discover that he was actually a yandere.

She falls for the spoiled princess act.

Rong Rong did this on purpose; perhaps Xie Linyang interacted with the original owner of this body in the same way when he was a down-on-his-luck prince.

With red eyes, Xie Linyang carefully poured another cup of tea.

"Rong'er, it's all better this time, it's really all better, I've tried it."

Xie Linyang held the teacup with both hands and brought it to Rong Rong's lips. Rong Rong glanced at it with disgust, "You've already drunk from it, why are you making me drink from it?"

"I used a different teacup!" Xie Linyang quickly explained.

Rong Rong gave a soft hum and finally lowered her head, intending to drink tea from Xie Linyang's hand.

However, she suddenly stopped and her gaze fixed on Xie Linyang's hand.

His hands were covered with cuts, some of which were oozing blood, making them look quite unsightly.

Rong Rong unconsciously frowned. Xie Linyang shrank back, wanting to withdraw his hand, but suddenly realized that he was still holding the tea. He was caught between hesitation and froze on the spot.

"Put the tea there and get out." Rong Rong said with disdain, turning around and lying down on the couch. She said in a cold voice, "I will drink it when I want to."

Xie Linyang let out a breath and obediently placed the tea on the table, but his eyes became even redder as he stared longingly at Rong Rong, reluctant to leave.

Rong Rong had her eyes closed, but she could feel Xie Linyang's gaze. She pretended not to notice, but the gaze grew increasingly intense and sticky.

At one point, Rong Rong turned over uncomfortably, and Xie Linyang finally looked away.

Then came the sound of footsteps leaving, the door opening and closing.

Outside the door, the ministers, who had been displaying various expressions, immediately composed themselves and lowered their heads upon seeing Xie Linyang.

Xie Linyang's cold gaze swept over the crowd, his body exuding a heavy aura of menace, as if the humble voices the ministers had just heard were merely their illusions.

"Follow me to the Mingzheng Hall."

Xie Linyang strode past the crowd and headed towards the Mingzheng Hall, with everyone following behind.

This was the first time they had encountered a situation where a minister came to the Imperial Study to discuss state affairs with the emperor, only to have the emperor leave the Imperial Study to the empresses and concubines and move to another palace himself.

Isn't His Majesty being far too indulgent towards the Empress?

In that case, could they really depose the empress?

For the first time, the ministers expressed doubt about the matter of deposing the empress, and even regretted their easy compromise at the time.

Zhu Mingsi lagged behind, taking one last look at the door of the Imperial Study, reconsidering Princess Zhaohua's importance in Xie Linyang's heart.

Perhaps he could bypass Su Yanqiu and directly seek cooperation with Princess Zhaohua?

Princess Zhaohua must hate Xie Linyang to the core, right?

Princess Zhaohua refused to marry Xie Linyang back then, and now she has no choice but to submit to him. She must be in great pain.