Chapter 806 The Curtain Falls - Dismissal from Office

It seems that what his brother told him before has come true once again.

"You gentlemen are overthinking this. You are all senior officials in the court. As a lady of high rank, Shu'er would never do anything to you."

However, that doesn't mean I won't do anything.

Gu Renjie silently added in his mind, then glanced at everyone, "Since all of you have come to personally escort me back to the palace, I shall not linger any longer."

After Gu Renjie finished speaking, he raised his hand and said, "Someone, go and see if the Empress is ready. It's time to set off back to the palace."

Gu Renjie's words confirmed Empress Mengwei's identity. The servant beside him was about to leave when the Grand Secretary stopped him.

"Wait! Lady Meng is of lowly status and is unfit to be Empress."

As expected, the old scoundrel still wouldn't give up. Gu Renjie's eyes narrowed dangerously. If the old man dared to say anything more today, he would shut him up forever.

The murderous intent in Gu Renjie's eyes flashed and disappeared in an instant, so fast that no one noticed.

Just then, a person walked in gracefully from outside the door. Meng Wei, with her hand on her maid's arm, asked the Grand Secretary as she walked, "I have never been disrespectful to my parents-in-law or harsh to my brothers since I married into the Marquis's mansion. I have also served my husband with all my heart. On what basis does Your Excellency say that I am unfit to be Empress?"

Yesterday, Meng Wei simply stood quietly to the side, so many people overlooked her.

Looking at this woman again today, everyone couldn't help but take a few more glances. She walked with great steadiness, and her demeanor was something that many people couldn't imitate.

Everyone here has daughters, and to be fair, just based on this walking posture alone, Meng Wei has already won.

But the Grand Chancellor didn't care about any of that. He gave Meng Wei a disdainful look and said, "How can the daughter of a mere fifth-rank official like you be worthy of the title of Empress?"

Hearing the Grand Secretary's words, Meng Wei smiled: "Although my father is only a fifth-rank official, he is still the Marquis of Anping, personally appointed by His Majesty. How could I, the legitimate daughter of a marquis, not be worthy of being the Empress? Or does the Grand Secretary think that his unmarried illegitimate granddaughter is of a higher status than me, his legitimate daughter?"

Meng Wei's expression suddenly turned cold, and the aura of a superior instantly erupted, stunning all the ministers.

In the past ten years or so, almost no one had heard of any special products from this eldest daughter of the Meng family, and many ladies didn't even remember her.

But who would have thought that such an unremarkable woman would have such a powerful aura?

Gu Shuyan breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Meng Wei intimidate everyone.

"Let's go back!"

Gu Shuyan waved her hand and quietly slipped out.

Upon hearing Meng Wei's words, the Grand Secretary blushed, whether from anger or annoyance, it was unclear.

"You are being unreasonable." The Grand Secretary didn't know how to refute him, so he simply turned around and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Gu Renjie. "Your Majesty, Lord Meng has not made any contributions to the court. I'm afraid that hastily bestowing a title upon him will cause dissatisfaction among the officials. I beg Your Majesty to rescind your decree."

"Your Majesty, please rescind your order!"

Since Meng Wei wanted to use the title of nobility as a pretext, he then asked the emperor to revoke the title of Marquis of Anping.

In his opinion, although Meng Wei could not be the empress, she was still the emperor's legal wife. Even if it was just to compensate her, it would be fine to grant her a noble title.

But now Meng Wei is actually using these words to shut him up, which is absolutely outrageous.

Gu Renjie thought the Grand Secretary must be crazy, otherwise why would he say such a thing?

His brow furrowed, and he said, "In the eyes of you gentlemen, do I look like a fool? If I withdraw my order, do you think the imperial edict is just for show?"

"Your subject dares not!"

Several people said in unison.

Seeing the way they were acting, Meng Wei couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"It seems you gentlemen are truly getting old. A gentleman's word is as good as his bond, especially since His Majesty is the ruler of a nation. A ruler's word is law and cannot be questioned. If all the civil and military officials were like you gentlemen, constantly asking His Majesty to retract his orders, then our Great Zhou Dynasty would be destroyed by people like you sooner or later."

Although Meng Wei has not yet moved into the Empress's palace, it is clear that she already possesses the aura of an Empress.

Seeing Meng Wei's change, Gu Renjie couldn't help but smile slightly.

He never expected his wife to have this side to her; it was quite a surprise!

“Every word we uttered was for the sake of the Great Zhou Dynasty; you are misleading His Majesty.”

The Grand Secretary naturally couldn't let Meng Wei pin such a label on him, and immediately refuted it again.

This time, however, he was met with a gloomy-faced Gu Renjie. "Enough! You have disregarded my decree and challenged me time and time again. Do you even respect me as the emperor?"

As Gu Renjie spoke, he shouted that he was a member of the Imperial Guard. When the commander of the Imperial Guard stepped in, Gu Renjie ordered, "Send the old gentlemen back to their residences and retrieve their official robes."

Gu Renjie was clearly going to dismiss these people from their official posts. The men were confused by Gu Renjie, and by the time they realized what was happening, they were already being escorted away by the Imperial Guards.

"Your Majesty, I am a veteran of three reigns; you cannot dismiss me from my post!"

Several people called out to him one after another, but no one paid any attention to him.

Gu Renjie glanced at the silent, trembling crowd and slowly said, "Anyone who wants to plead for them, please step forward as soon as possible!"

Having just witnessed several veteran officials being carried away, how could these people dare to make a move? Moreover, the dismissal of those old fogies wasn't necessarily a bad thing for them; at least it created some vacant positions ahead of them, giving them hope for promotion again.

With their own thoughts, everyone escorted the emperor and empress back to the palace. From then on, no one dared to mention that Lady Meng was unfit to be empress.

After all, they had personally witnessed how this empress, with just a few words, angered the emperor and dismissed veterans from three reigns. They all wanted to maintain their positions in the court, so how could they dare to court death?

Of course, Gu Renjie wasn't really that heartless. After the old ministers returned home, Gu Renjie not only gave them money for their retirement, but also issued them an imperial decree.

At first, some people were very resistant to the imperial decree, and they even cursed when they thought of Gu Renjie. But when some people went to the academy in accordance with the decree, their resentment towards Gu Renjie gradually changed.

In particular, the Grand Secretary, on his deathbed, lamented, "If it weren't for His Majesty, I fear I would have been trapped in the vortex of power for the rest of my life."

Of course, that's all in the future. After the emperor returned to the palace, many people thought that the position of Grand Secretary would fall to Gu Jin.

After all, Gu Jin was the Minister of Personnel and the emperor's adoptive father, so it was appropriate to give him to him both morally and logically.

But who would have thought that Gu Renjie would promote Vice Minister Geng to Grand Chancellor, and the position of Vice Minister of the Grand Chancellor would fall to the young Ji Wenjin.