The emperor listened to the advice of these ministers with a grim face, and the more he listened, the darker his face became.

Among these people, half agreed to enthrone Concubine Li as the queen, and the other half disagreed. Those who disagreed were all people who were good friends with Liu Dechang, and those who agreed were people who had close contacts with Yu Shiming.

He thought for a while and glanced at everyone with cold eyes. He originally thought that he was already an old man and would sit on the throne until the day he died and then pass it on to Leng Yu.

But ever since he took the elixir of immortality that Concubine Li gave him, he felt full of strength, so he concluded that the pill could really make him immortal.

As long as he lives, he can rule the world forever. Concubine Li has made such great contributions, so what if she becomes the queen?

Thinking of this, he raised his hand and said hatefully:

"Although I am old, I feel like I have endless energy. The greatest credit for this lies with Concubine Li. It is entirely reasonable to make her the empress. Minister Li, are you unhappy to see that I look so good?"

When the emperor said this, his eyes flashed with a strange look, which frightened Li Shangshu so much that he trembled all over and knelt down hurriedly, admitting his mistake.

"Your Majesty, I have no such intention..."

"Stop talking."

The Emperor suddenly swung his arms and roared, "You have no such intention, so why do you mention my advanced age? In the past few years, my health was indeed not good, but after the careful care of Concubine Li and Xi'er in recent years, I feel that my health is as good as when I was young. Why can't I enthrone a queen? Not only do I want to enthrone a queen, I have also decided to select concubines..."

His words surprised everyone present, including Leng Xi, who had not expected the emperor to say such a thing.

Leng Yu, who was standing in the hall, listened to his words with a gloomy face, and he suddenly wanted to laugh.

A few years ago, my father gave up the practice of selecting concubines every three years due to health reasons. Now, it has been more than ten years since he last selected a concubine. Now that he is in his twilight years, he actually wants to choose a concubine?

This is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.

Just as he was about to step forward, Liu Dechang hurriedly shook his head, signaling him not to be impulsive. He had just been deposed as the crown prince. If he spoke out against the emperor at this time, it would inevitably cause the emperor's dissatisfaction. At this time, he could not be the one to offend the emperor. He alone was enough.

Thinking of this, he bowed again and said:

"Your Majesty, I feel that you shouldn't be selecting concubines now. Even if Your Majesty is healthy, there are concubines in the harem who you haven't even met waiting for your favor. Moreover, selecting concubines at your age may cause criticism from the people!"

Minister Li, who had just been frightened by the emperor and was trembling all over, wanted to say something, moved his mouth, but ultimately did not dare to open his mouth.

Yu Shiming frowned upon seeing this, stepped forward and bowed, saying:

"Your Majesty, I suggest that the selection of concubines should wait until the empress is appointed. It would be most appropriate for the empress to handle this matter."

Yu Shiming's words made the emperor's eyes clear for a few seconds. He nodded, not looking at Liu Dechang's sullen face, and raised his voice to solemnly announce:

"Since that's the case, let the Ministry of Rites prepare to select a date to enthrone Concubine Li as Empress. No one is allowed to object."

As soon as he said this, Liu Dechang looked up at the emperor with a cold expression and asked word by word:

"Is the Emperor determined to do so?"

His questioning made the emperor stunned for a moment. When he thought of the imperial sword bestowed upon him by the late emperor, which was used to strike down tyrants and corrupt ministers, he frowned guiltily.

Seeing this, Yu Shiming snorted coldly and asked loudly:

"I'm afraid it's inappropriate for the Duke of the Protectorate to question the Emperor like this. The Emperor is still the Emperor of Daning State, and the position of Empress has been vacant for many years. Why can't the Emperor appoint a new Empress? Is the Duke of the Protectorate going to use the Emperor's advanced age as an excuse to forcibly stop the Emperor from doing so?"

Yu Shiming's questioning made Liu Dechang's face darken instantly. He looked at Yu Shiming, raised his voice, and retorted harshly:

"Master Yu, Noble Consort Li is the mother of your son-in-law. You certainly hope to enthrone her as empress, but the position of Crown Prince is still vacant. There are three princes in Daning State. If you enthrone Noble Consort Li as empress, what will happen to the position of Crown Prince?"

Seeing that Liu Dechang had spoken the truth regardless of everything, Yu Shiming simply snorted coldly and confronted him:

"General Liu, you've repeatedly prevented the Emperor from appointing a Queen. Are you worried that your son-in-law won't have a chance to become Crown Prince again? The Crown Prince made a mistake, and the Emperor deposed him. This is a fact known to everyone in the city. Even if the Emperor wanted to appoint another Crown Prince, he can only choose between Prince Xi and Prince Ming. What's the point of you joining in the fun?"

"I'm not trying to stir up trouble. I'm doing this for the sake of the people. Concubine Li has a very bad reputation among the people because of the Chu people's affairs. If she is made queen now, I'm afraid the people will not agree."

"The people? Does the Emperor need the people's consent to choose who he wants to be his empress? General Liu, what you said is quite serious."

"alright."

The emperor, seeing the two men arguing endlessly, suddenly became displeased and asked loudly:

"I am the ruler of a country. Can't I make the decision on such a trivial matter as appointing a queen? Just do as I said just now. Ministry of Rites, choose a date for the ceremony. Now, dismiss the court."

The emperor hurriedly said this, fearing that Liu Dechang would stop him again, he quickly stood up from the dragon throne, flicked his sleeves, and quickly went to the back of the hall.

The emperor left so quickly that no one present could react.

The moment the emperor turned around, Leng Yu couldn't wait to turn around and walk out of the hall. If he had a little respect for his father before, he was very disappointed now. The words and actions of this moody emperor were becoming more and more incomprehensible.

Seeing him leave, Leng Xi also left the hall with a smile on his face along with the other ministers.

Yu Shiming looked at Liu Dechang standing there with a frown on his face, a smug smile on his face. He pretended to be humble and came in front of Liu Dechang, lowering his voice and mocking him:

"General Liu, I thought you would use the imperial sword bestowed by the late emperor to suppress the emperor. Who would have thought that you didn't dare to mention it? Hahaha!"

His laughter instantly turned Liu Dechang's face as cold as if it had fallen into a cold pond. He looked back at Yu Shiming with a glare like lightning, raised his eyebrows and said with a forced smile:

"Master Yu, the morals of the world have really gone downhill. I remember you were an upright official back then, but now you've become profit-driven because of your own selfish interests. I never expected that."

"Profit-seeking? Hahaha..."