Chapter 336 Oath

Besides, she had no reason to feel guilty. Neither she nor Wen Zhiming had done anything wrong. They were just two people in love who wanted to stay together forever. What was wrong with that?

Who decreed that the emperor's harem must consist of three palaces and six courtyards, a riot of beauties vying for attention? Which emperor made that rule is their business, whether they follow it or not. The current emperor is Wen Zhiming; he doesn't want to abide by that rule, he only wants to be with her. What's wrong with that?

Thinking of this, Meng Lingge looked up to meet the gazes of the officials, her demeanor open, fearless, and dignified.

The officials initially thought she was an easy target because of her darting eyes, and planned to start by getting close to her. But now that they saw her suddenly become sharp-eyed and without any shyness, they were both surprised and alarmed.

Yes, the Empress is someone the Emperor favors so much that he is willing to swear a solemn oath to curse her. She must be someone who is easy to deal with.

It seems that these two are both stubborn and difficult to persuade.

No matter how difficult it is, this matter cannot be left to the two of them to do as they please.

The officials exchanged glances, and soon an older minister stepped forward.

“This is absolutely unacceptable. This old minister believes that the Emperor and Empress are of one mind and are a blessing to the country. Therefore, the Emperor should take in more concubines and entrust them to the Empress for unified management, so as to show the Emperor’s benevolence and the Empress’s virtue as the mother of the nation.”

Wen Zhiming's lips curled slightly, and his sharp eyes swept over the official who had spoken: "So, Lord Chen wants me to break my promise, betray my oath, and be punished by Heaven?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant." Minister Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued boldly, "I have never heard of Your Majesty's oath. I suppose Your Majesty is using this as an excuse to achieve your goal. Matters of the harem are of utmost importance, Your Majesty should not treat them lightly!"

Wen Zhiming walked down step by step, strolled to Lord Chen's side, patted the trembling Lord Chen's shoulder, and laughed: "Lord Chen, are you upset that I didn't invite you to listen when I swore the oath, or do you want me to swear the oath again now? Also, did you just distrust me? Say that I treat the harem as a child's game?"

"I...this humble official...this is not what I meant." Lord Chen stammered, but he had spoken too quickly and directly just now, and that was exactly what he meant. Now, no matter how hard he racked his brains, he could not deny it.

Seeing his helplessness, Wen Zhiming coolly reminded him, "I just said that no one is allowed to advise or petition me to expand my harem. What will be the punishment for those who disobey?"

Lord Chen immediately knelt down, but had no choice but to reply: "To disobey is to curse the Emperor and put him to death, a crime equivalent to regicide."

"It's good that you admit your guilt." Wen Zhiming turned around and stood next to Meng Lingge again, then waved his hand towards the outside of the hall, "Someone come here!"

Lord Chen realized something was terribly wrong and hurriedly kowtowed to admit his mistake.

Other officials also knelt down to beg for mercy.

"Lord Chen was in a moment of panic and spoke without thinking. I hope Your Majesty will forgive him."

"Yes, Lord Chen was also considering the stability of imperial power and the patriarchal system. Considering it was his first offense, His Majesty should grant him leniency and pardon him."

They had prepared many words of advice, intending to add them after Lord Chen finished speaking, but now that Lord Chen had failed to achieve his goal, they could no longer speak their minds.

The officials realized that no matter what they said, the Emperor would simply say that if they wanted him to break his oath and suffer divine punishment, they would be burdened with serious crimes and have no way to resist.

The emperor's move was ruthless and cruel, leaving himself no way out and completely cutting off their means of remonstrating and submitting memorials.

Wen Zhiming took Meng Lingge's hand and said calmly, "My Empress is pregnant. The child she gives birth to will be a prince or princess. I have an heir apparent, so why should I worry about the stability of my imperial power? Besides, as for the patriarchal system, I killed my own uncle before I ascended the throne, which broke the patriarchal system long ago. Why should I fear adding another one?"

Not many people knew about Meng Lingge's pregnancy, and today she was wearing rather loose clothing. Upon hearing this, although the officials still harbored resentment towards the emperor for not establishing concubines, they could no longer voice their objections.

They all looked constipated and their complexions were terrible.

Meng Xingyuan, who had remained silent until now, spoke up when he saw the stalemate: "The new emperor has just ascended the throne, and there are many things to be done. There are endless official duties waiting for Your Majesty to handle. Now that there is a prince in the empress's palace, Your Majesty can focus on the court and the people, which is a blessing for the country. We will do our best to assist Your Majesty. As for the affairs of the harem, we can discuss them when the country is prosperous."

As the prime minister of the country, he also believed that the emperor's harem was a mere formality, with only one empress, and that this was not a sacred act.

As a father, he was pleased that his daughter had met a good man and wanted to help his daughter and son-in-law achieve their wish.

But because he had served as an official for many years, he understood the darkness and bloodshed of officialdom. For officials, the emperor's harem was ostensibly a matter of great importance concerning the succession and etiquette, but in reality, it was also a shortcut for many officials to gain promotion and wealth by currying favor with the emperor.

Throughout history, there have been numerous cases where a woman from one's own family became the emperor's woman, and the woman's favor led to the entire family being given important positions by the emperor. There were also many cases where people presented beautiful women to the emperor to curry favor and thus gained his trust.

Wen Zhiming's complete cessation of this matter is tantamount to harming the interests of these officials. People, driven by self-interest and with seemingly legitimate reasons, are easily prone to acting irrationally and harming others.

As a result, Meng Lingge and her child became the primary targets of these people's harm.

General Cao was a precedent.

As the saying goes, it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. When targeted by these treacherous people, it's inevitable that there will be times when one is less vigilant.

It would be better to take the easy way out and postpone it for a few years under the pretext of being busy with national affairs, so that at least a few years of stability can be achieved first.

Meng Xingyuan's explanation was clearly more acceptable to the officials, who all nodded in agreement.

The Emperor is young and inevitably has moments when he is troubled by love. Why bother arguing with him when his feelings for the Empress are at their deepest? Perhaps in a few years, when their passion fades, the Emperor will be attracted to other beauties and will take the initiative to take concubines without any persuasion from them.

After all, how many men in the world are not lustful?

Wen Zhiming flicked his sleeves and slowly sat back on the throne.

He had more or less guessed Meng Xingyuan's considerations and the thoughts of other officials, so he didn't explain further. He just wanted these officials to stop urging him to take a concubine.

"I have said all three things I wanted to say. Since none of you have any objections, you may all rise. As for Minister Chen..."

Lord Chen, who was being escorted by two Imperial Guards, was already trembling with fear. Upon hearing Wen Zhiming call his name, he hurriedly said, "I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness..."

The other officials, who were about to rise, dared not rise again and continued to plead for Lord Chen.

Wen Zhiming frowned and touched his forehead, seemingly still unwilling to let Lord Chen go easily.