Soon, following Dou Miao's instructions, Xiao Hong had the appointment edicts drafted and then sent them out.

When the contents of the imperial edict were circulated, it immediately caused an uproar.

No one expected the Empress Dowager to act so quickly. No sooner had the guests left than she arranged for a group of imperial relatives and in-laws to be placed in the new location.

In particular, the last edict stipulated that all officials must have their tax exemption privileges revoked.

This edict immediately aroused dissatisfaction among countless scholars.

At the Li residence in the south of the city, Li Jing, Han Ping, and other scholars gathered once again.

The people who were in high spirits last night, singing, dancing and feasting, now sat there looking as wilted as eggplants.

The atmosphere inside the hall was unusually heavy.

Li Jing, sitting at the head of the table, glanced at everyone with a bitter expression, then said in a deep voice:

"Gentlemen, you have probably all seen what happened today!"

"That's clearly the Empress Dowager conspiring with Cao Song, Yuan Feng, and others, using a feigned retreat to advance, taking advantage of the tax exemption issue to sweep us out of the court, and then installing those imperial relatives and in-laws!"

Han Ping's face was gloomy, and his brows were furrowed: "Now the court is full of their people, and with the Empress Dowager's edict to abolish the privileges of officials, our path to officialdom has been completely cut off!"

"Yes, to become an official, one must give up privileges, but what's the point of us studying if we don't become officials?"

"Indeed, the Empress Dowager's actions are an attempt to put us to death!"

Those present echoed her sentiments, their words tinged with resentment towards the Empress Dowager.

"Alas, we've made a mistake now, and they've exploited our weakness. We're in a very passive position, and it will be extremely difficult for us to make any moves!"

Li Jing sighed softly, feeling powerless in the face of the current situation.

Not only did they fail to achieve any of their previous goals, but they also suffered a complete defeat and were utterly ousted from the court by the Empress Dowager and Yuan, Yang, Xun and others.

Seeing this, Han Ping said urgently, "We can't just stand by and watch them act so recklessly! If this continues, we'll all be doomed!"

Li Jing gave a bitter smile: "It's come to this, what else can we do? We've lost our voice in the court, and we can't hold office anymore. It's all useless now!"

Han Ping narrowed his eyes slightly: "Now that things have come to this, the only thing we can do is try to persuade the Empress Dowager to rescind that edict!"

What can we do?

"Given the Empress Dowager's temperament, how could she possibly retract her edict?"

"Yes, if someone can be killed for negligence in their duties, how could she possibly back down?"

Upon hearing Han Ping's words, everyone in the hall shook their heads and sighed, clearly not optimistic.

"Ha~, we can't, but His Majesty can!"

"His Majesty.....?"

Everyone paused, looking at Han Ping with some confusion.

One person asked doubtfully, "But judging from His Majesty's attitude today, it seems that he also intends to revoke the tax exemption privilege?"

The Empress Dowager's edict conveniently helps His Majesty fulfill this wish, so how could he possibly go against her?

Han Ping smiled and said, "That's right. His Majesty is concerned about the affairs of the country and does intend to revoke the tax exemption privilege. But His Majesty did not say that one cannot serve as an official without giving up the privilege, did he?"

Moreover, as long as our people can re-enter the court, His Majesty will not easily take action, even if he wants to.

Furthermore, His Majesty had finally managed to suppress the power of the maternal relatives, but now the Empress Dowager has once again promoted them, which is clearly contrary to His Majesty's wishes!

Furthermore, the Empress Dowager is now forcing us scholars to abstain from officialdom, which will inevitably lead to a rapid expansion of the power of the imperial relatives and in-laws—something His Majesty clearly does not wish to see!

One person asked, "Hmm... does Patriarch Han mean to have the Empress Dowager return power to the Emperor?"

Han Ping nodded: "Indeed, the Emperor is wise, and the Empress Dowager should return power to the Emperor!"

“But what should we do? We have no say in the court anymore!” Li Jing looked at Han Ping with a worried expression.

Han Ping narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Just as we discussed last night, the only way is to use public opinion to put pressure on the court and the Empress Dowager!"

The Empress Dowager's recent edicts are undoubtedly against the will of the people. We can unite everyone and use them to put pressure on the Empress Dowager. Remember, "public opinion" cannot be defied!

"That's feasible...!"

The crowd nodded; in their view, they were sufficient to represent public opinion.

Li Jing still looked hesitant: "I'm afraid the Empress Dowager will ignore the will of the people and disregard public opinion. What should we do?"

"this....."

Li Jing's question was like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone's heads, leaving them looking at each other, unsure of what to do.

You might try to use public opinion to exert pressure, and others might listen to you, but the Empress Dowager, being a woman, might not care.

Empress Lü dared to openly defy the ancestral instructions of Emperor Gaozu and vigorously support the Lü family.

Back then, Empress Dowager Dou, Emperor Xiaojing's mother, dared to speak frankly and tell Emperor Xiaojing to appoint the Prince of Liang as the Crown Prince, and to carry out a large-scale purge of Confucian scholars who had been promoted by Emperor Xiaowu.

All of the above demonstrates that some empress dowagers of the Han Dynasty did not even care about ancestral rules, so how could they care about public opinion?

Seeing the crowd's hesitant expressions, Han Ping frowned and gritted his teeth, saying:

"If all else fails, then we'll have to resort to the last resort...!"

"The worst possible solution...?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback, but quickly understood what Han Ping meant by the worst possible strategy.

Wang Ji, standing in the crowd, also glanced at Han Ping subtly.

Han Ping stared at everyone: "That's right. Right now, the Empress Dowager is all-powerful in the court, making absolute decisions. This is not a good thing. If this continues, the court and the country will surely be thrown into chaos again by those relatives and in-laws."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!